Serenade of the Seas Review, (with pictures) June 10th - 22nd

[lorrdean]

 

[leeselee]

This is my report of our cruise and the ports we visited. I hope you enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures. Any questions; please ask and I will try to answer them.

First a little bit of info about us. We are from Scotland and this was our second cruise. Our first was last year, on Grandeur of the Seas. On our last cruise we, were seated at a table for ten in the MDR. Four couples all got on so well, that when we returned, we decided to book another cruise so we could meet up again. But, one couple had their hearts set on doing a Caribbean cruise, which they did, in March of this year. So that left us and two other couples, on this year’s adventure. Ship and itinerary chosen, we exchanged emails and phone calls all year, deciding on what we all wished to see and do. All couples would be travelling separately to Barcelona, two of the couples from Manchester International Airport, one the day before, one on the day of the sailing, and us from Glasgow via Amsterdam.

I will do this review as though it is “live” with the day to day happenings.

 

 

I have really enjoyed your posts and thank you for posting it.

 

 

The block seating policy has been something of an annoyance to me as when we first sailed with RC they ensured family were together on the plane, we made a request with the flight department and it was done. Last year they stopped doing this as it took up too much time. (so I was told) We managed to make someone in BA take pity on us and they ensured we sat together both ways. I don't want to sit in a particular seat, anywhere, but together.

 

This year even though we are on a block booking, you do have separately numbered tickets that BA can access (we have spent several telephone calls establishing this). They say you can wait until 24 hours before the flights and get the seats you want. But as we have had previous experience of this going horribly wrong with technical issues, we decided to pay £10 per person to book the flights seats in advance. With there being three of us, there are not as many options on some flights and plane configurations to sit together.

 

Whether you are in an inside cabin or a Royal Suite, if you book your flights at a premium with RC, they should arrange for your family (or a couple) to sit together. Just my opinion, but there, said it.

 

Isn't Venice wonderful?

 

We sailed from Venice for the first time last year and I actually had tears in my eyes. That comes from someone who has been to Venice over ten times, it just makes it so special to sail away.

 

 

 

Now, I have a couple of questions please as we sail on the Serenade this August:

 

1. what time are the show times? We have MTD and I do not want to rush around.

 

2. Civitavecchia - we have been to Rome and I do not know if we want to go again this year (like you, we plan a longer trip to Rome at a later date). We get there on a Sunday, is Civitavecchia worth looking around or a two minute wonder?

 

3. What was the reason for not going to Cannes? We are supposed to be going to Cannes and I have no interest in Monte Carlo. I have been to Cannes before and liked it so much, dearly want to walk around again.

 

4. Tired - would you mind elaborating slightly? We were on Splendour last year in the summer, in the Autumn/Winter she went in for a refurb. I was scared then as I did not want to go on a tired/worn ship, but honestly found it near perfect (No more worn that the Brilliance the year before). When you say tired, was that in the staterooms? MDR? Serenade is also due a refurb and I do not fancy any nasty surprises!

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[lorrdean]

Now, I have a couple of questions please as we sail on the Serenade this August:

 

1. what time are the show times? We have MTD and I do not want to rush around.

 

2. Civitavecchia - we have been to Rome and I do not know if we want to go again this year (like you, we plan a longer trip to Rome at a later date). We get there on a Sunday, is Civitavecchia worth looking around or a two minute wonder?

 

3. What was the reason for not going to Cannes? We are supposed to be going to Cannes and I have no interest in Monte Carlo. I have been to Cannes before and liked it so much, dearly want to walk around again.

 

4. Tired - would you mind elaborating slightly? We were on Splendour last year in the summer, in the Autumn/Winter she went in for a refurb. I was scared then as I did not want to go on a tired/worn ship, but honestly found it near perfect (No more worn that the Brilliance the year before). When you say tired, was that in the staterooms? MDR? Serenade is also due a refurb and I do not fancy any nasty surprises!

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

Show times, early shows started around 7.30pm with late ones around 9.30pm

 

Civitavecchia, it was ok to wander around the market was on when we were there, but I honestly don't know what there would be on a sunday :( i imagine that most place may be closed.

 

cannes, not sure why we didn't do cannes. it was originally meant to be our first port of call, but due to RC switching our itinerary, we missed it out al together :( you might still be going there, have RC changed your itinerary?

 

Tired : guess by this i mean, carpets looking a bit worn in places, windows needing a good clean, settee in our cabin worn out on the arm rests. nothing major at all. in fact they replaced the carpet at the lifts on deck 2 while we were on the cruise and were varnishing the wooden panels in the lifts. we even saw them painting the outside of the ship while docked in Ravenna.

[CyberTag]

We just got off the SOSs (same sailing) and also had MTD. We went to 2 shows (the others didn't interest us) and had no problem making the 2 we went to.

 

We too noticed ship was a little tired. Nothing major, but some things need an overhaul. We were on deck 9 in an E1 balcony cabin. The arms of the loveseat were a bit worn, we had an old "tube tv" in the stateroom, some of the towels need to be replaced. Nothing major. We did ask for an 'egg crate' for the bed so that helped make it more comfortable. Heard they will all be replaced when the ship is in dry dock.

[ucfknight07]

Thank you for a great review.

 

We will be on Serenade of the Seas on July 16 and I ave a couple of questions:

 

1. You mentioned a 10 picture package for $149.99. Do you recall if they had a package that included all prints, and if so, what the price was for that package?

2. There are reports on CC that the Barcelona cruise terminals have a duty free liquor shop. I'd like to pick up a small bottle to enjoy a drink on the balcony while my wife gets ready in the evenings. I've heard that RCI makes you go through a second security point when boarding the ship (so after the first security and duty free shops). Do you recall going through security twice, and if it was only once, was it entering the terminal or at boarding the ship?

 

Thanks a lot!

[toosuite]

Thanks for the review . We are sailing on the Serenade on July 4th. How many 'formal' diining nights did you have.

[gelo7]

Great review.

[AF-1]

Thanks for your review with pics. I am glad u had a good time. Loved your desserts from Portifino's.

[lorrdean]

Thank you for a great review.

 

We will be on Serenade of the Seas on July 16 and I ave a couple of questions:

 

1. You mentioned a 10 picture package for $149.99. Do you recall if they had a package that included all prints, and if so, what the price was for that package?

2. There are reports on CC that the Barcelona cruise terminals have a duty free liquor shop. I'd like to pick up a small bottle to enjoy a drink on the balcony while my wife gets ready in the evenings. I've heard that RCI makes you go through a second security point when boarding the ship (so after the first security and duty free shops). Do you recall going through security twice, and if it was only once, was it entering the terminal or at boarding the ship?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

yes there was another photo package, $299 (i think) for as many as you wanted.

 

and yes Barcelona does have a duty free shop after their security, BUT, RC also have a second security when you are boarding, ( thats after the duty free shops) i never noticed if they took alcohol off anyone, but after one of our excursions, we had a bottle of lemoncello (which is alcohol) and we passed through no problems.

[lorrdean]

Thanks for the review . We are sailing on the Serenade on July 4th. How many 'formal' diining nights did you have.

 

Hi, we had three formal nights

[CyberTag]

yes there was another photo package, $299 (i think) for as many as you wanted.

 

and yes Barcelona does have a duty free shop after their security, BUT, RC also have a second security when you are boarding, ( thats after the duty free shops) i never noticed if they took alcohol off anyone, but after one of our excursions, we had a bottle of lemoncello (which is alcohol) and we passed through no problems.

 

We did notice they were confiscating alcohol after the the second security check point. However, in the ports the alcohol we purchased was not taken. We didn't advertise that we had it did the whole "don't ask don't tell" thing and it wasn't an issue.

[ucfknight07]

yes there was another photo package, $299 (i think) for as many as you wanted.

 

and yes Barcelona does have a duty free shop after their security, BUT, RC also have a second security when you are boarding, ( thats after the duty free shops) i never noticed if they took alcohol off anyone, but after one of our excursions, we had a bottle of lemoncello (which is alcohol) and we passed through no problems.

 

We did notice they were confiscating alcohol after the the second security check point. However, in the ports the alcohol we purchased was not taken. We didn't advertise that we had it did the whole "don't ask don't tell" thing and it wasn't an issue.

 

Thank you both for the info.

[nycruiser80]

Day 7 – Ravenna:

This now seems like a “why do RC stop here?” Apart from the churches and mosaics, there is not a lot else to see or do IMHO. The men in our group had chosen to do the RC excursion to the Ferrari museum, cost $99 each. The journey took 2hrs there and 2 hrs back with approximately 45 mins to 1 hr time in the museum itself. All three men enjoyed viewing the cars, but felt that it was a very long way for a very short time. They also felt that RC charge was a bit excessive; as the entrance fee into the museum was only €13 ($16) thus leaving the travel costs at $83!!! A little bit expensive for a bus ride. While the men were off car spotting us ladies went into Ravenna to do some shopping. The town is too far away to walk, you NEED to take the transfer that RC provide, at a cost of $15 return and takes about 20 mins to get there. There is nothing at the port; in fact a lot remarked that the ship looked out of place here. Maybe RC knows something we don’t, and that Ravenna will soon be an up and coming hub of delights.

This was also formal night.

 

 

 

 

 

Love the review! I am looking into the Serenade cruise next summer. From what I was able to see on RCI's site it said that in Revenna you could go visit Bologna. I know they have an archaeological museum there and you could hang around the main Piazza there which I believe is Piazza Maggore. Maybe this is why RCI goes there?

[lorrdean]

We did notice they were confiscating alcohol after the the second security check point. However, in the ports the alcohol we purchased was not taken. We didn't advertise that we had it did the whole "don't ask don't tell" thing and it wasn't an issue.

 

Maybe that is the way to go :D

[Nesset]

Thanks for the great pics! Here's another one from your trip taken from AOS on the 19th when you sailed out from Civitavecchia:

 

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=F0B2B08076C99C99!164

[Ebbwboy]

We were on this sailing and were incredibly lucky with the tender in Split, we were in line for tender tickets at 9.30 when they announced that anyone who was ready could go on the first tender which was waiting to go. We shot down the stairs and onto the half full boat and were in Split at 9.40 with no wait at all!

[CyberTag]

We were on this sailing and were incredibly lucky with the tender in Split, we were in line for tender tickets at 9.30 when they announced that anyone who was ready could go on the first tender which was waiting to go. We shot down the stairs and onto the half full boat and were in Split at 9.40 with no wait at all!

 

Wow! You got incredibly lucky! We got in line for our tender ticket right before 10:00 am and didn't get off the ship until 12:30! We weren't happy!

[lorrdean]

We were on this sailing and were incredibly lucky with the tender in Split, we were in line for tender tickets at 9.30 when they announced that anyone who was ready could go on the first tender which was waiting to go. We shot down the stairs and onto the half full boat and were in Split at 9.40 with no wait at all!

 

Wow you were lucky. :)

[lorrdean]

Wow! You got incredibly lucky! We got in line for our tender ticket right before 10:00 am and didn't get off the ship until 12:30! We weren't happy!

 

It was a bit disappointing that they hadn't got this better organised, better in Laspezia.

[lorrdean]

Great review.

 

thank you

[lorrdean]

Thanks for the great pics! Here's another one from your trip taken from AOS on the 19th when you sailed out from Civitavecchia:

 

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=F0B2B08076C99C99!164

 

thanks for sharing the picture :D