Serenade review

[xxHadleyxx]

Hello all,

 

I am working on a review or trip report of our Serenade trip that ended Sunday. I am not going day by day this time, and the review will not compare to that By Stef or some of the other amazing ones on here--but it has lots of photos and Halloween, etc.

 

The first two entries are on my blog. One about Halloween:

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/halloween-on-serenade-of-seas-2013.html

 

and one that is pretty much all photos of the ship:

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/serenade-of-seas-ship-photos-from-fall.html

 

I am also going to try to write some things here in the next 1-2 days on our impressions of the staff, food, etc.

Edited November 5, 2013 by NHDisneylover

[boaterette]

Sounds like halloween was a blast. Thanks for sharing.

[xxHadleyxx]

Thanks--yes Halloween was a ton of fun onboard. We were really impressed with how well the staff did in making it into such a great evening.

 

Which leads me into some reviews of staff, etc that I can post directly here :)

 

Cruise Staff:

 

Overall this was a particularly impressive group. They were super energetic--dancing more dances and for much longer than any other staff on any other cruise we've taken and with dance heavy skits, etc throughout all the parties--they did not turn things over to the J at parties until half an hour to an hour later than staff on other ships--they really kept the energy going, even with tired passengers after long port days.

 

Several of the activities felt a bit personalized and were very fun. They had different question for trivia, different ones for Majority Rules, almost all new to us ideas of things to bring up for the Quest, etc.

 

There was progressive trivia, over 4 days, which we thoroughly enjoyed, and another top pick was the very fun (and great calorie burning) 4 session Thriller Dance Class with Flavio. I am still a crappy dancer after all that, but it was tons of fun trying and we even performed on stage at the end of the talent show (which would have seemed slightly less pathetic to the audience had the pros not done it two days earlier on Halloween :p ).

 

The main staff were Flavio, Tori, Sara and Vinnie. All spoke English very well and were friendly and easy to talk to.

 

The activities director (Rod) was hit or miss. He did a great job scheduling activities (for the most part--11:00 on sea days always had a bunch all stacked together) during the day--with a good variety and plenty going on. He was always quick to say hello and very friendly but almost a little of a used car salesman vibe behind it, if you know what i mean (I am not sure how to best describe it).

 

What I did not like about Rod was that he seemed to give out a LOT of misinformation. All the time. The two examples I recall are:

 

1. On the first sea day Progressive Trivia and Sushi making classes at Izumi (ad the meet and mingle and a few other things lol) were scheduled simultaneously. We asked if the schedules for fixed for the sea days at the end of the cruise an if not, would it be possible to schedule them at separate times as we would really like to do both--but you can't just skip out on one day of progressive trivia; it's not fair to the team. He told us just to go up to Izumi and ask for a private class--that they often do them for groups of 3 or more.

That sounded off to us, but we went ahead and asked at Izumi, where we were everyone looked confused and a it annoyed that he would have suggested such a thing and told us it was not possible and had never happened.

 

2. There was a professional face painter on board for just the sailing. I heard someone suggest to Rod that they should have a photographer by her to photograph the awesome facepainting she was doing in Venice on our overnight (I would have bought that photo--that I do not have from anywhere else). I get that it is not his department, and had he said that, I think it would have been fine. Instead he went on a soapbox about how they are "not legally allowed" to take photos while in port, that is why there is not one there, etc. So not true. They take photos in port all the time, including trying to waylay us for them as we got off the ship in Venice that day. They cannot sell them while docked, but they can take them.

 

There were several other weird little things like that. I got to where I did not feel like I could trust a word he said--and that bugged me (probably more than it should have).

 

The Cruise Director was Casey. I was also kind of hot and cold with him. He was likeable enough when he was around--but he really gave off the vibe of just going through the motions and not really liking his job, and he ducked out of events and parties faster than any CD we have ever seen and failed to even show up for many events. Maybe he is just ready for a break, or maybe he wasn't feeling well, who knows? I am not sure who is responsible for scheduling the shows, but if he was, that was a big fail. Over half the time there was only one show (and twice that one was at 10:15 with an early port the next day). Even one of the two productions shows only ran once. This was a source of much complaint among the passengers and also seemed to make issues for the dining room (which was already struggling--more on that later).

Edited November 6, 2013 by NHDisneylover

[xxHadleyxx]

Here is a new post with photos of the following types of staterooms:

 

Studio Interior (SI)

 

Interior (N)

 

Deluxe Ocean View with balcony (E1 and E3)

 

Family Ocean View (FO)

 

Superior Ocean View with balcony (D2)

 

and Grand Suite

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/photos-of-staterooms-on-serenade-of.html

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your Blog.

 

Keith

[xxHadleyxx]

Thanks Keith :)

 

When talking about the cruise staff--I forgot to mention the DJ! Oops! DJ Sunil did a particularly good job of keeping people up and dancing and never playing one of those songs that clear the floor--something some of the RCI DJs in the Med seem to struggle with. He was also very nice, always willing to write down the names of songs or artists that we recognized from previous sailings but never could find when we got home, etc.

[xxHadleyxx]

ONboard entertainers

 

The production cast (singers and dancers) were very good. The four vocalists were particularly impressive. The dancers seemed good, but it was hard to tell with the choreography they had to work with.

 

There were two productions shows (which seems light for a 12 night cruise). One (Stage to Screen) only ran once and the other (Vibeology) did do the two performances in the same evenings (as usual)--oddly THAT one was on the same night as 70s night and the 2 of the singers and 2 dancers then also had to perform at that, whereas there was nothing else going on which involved the cast on the night Stage to Screen only ran once.

 

Again, we thought the performers did a nice job with what they had to work with, but we were not overly impressed by either of the mainstage production shows. Song choices were mediocre, as was choreography. We were not wowed at all.

 

The two main Centrum ariel shows, on the other hand, were very impressive. Our favourites we have seen by a long shot (it probably helps that this Centrum is so much taller than those in Splendour and Legend). The Jack and the Beanstalk show and Acquatronica are not to be missed in my book. FABULOUS.

 

Otherwise:

 

Simon John was the best piano player we have heard (it is never really my "thing" so we only bop in and out a bit, but this one was good, and not cheesy at all). The Schooner's Bar layout is also just nicer and roomier making listening to the piano there much more pleasant.

 

There was a guitarist, Eugene Apa was also very good and I very much enjoyed sipping a drink and listening to him play on several occasions.

 

The Latin trio, "Latin Vibes" was pretty good, but the volume on their sets was ALWAYS too loud. You would think after a while they would realize that if the pool deck clears nearly instantly during every set they need to change something. :rolleyes:

 

The other house band "Just Us" was very so-so.

 

As far as special entertainers brought on board, this time around they ranged (for us) from "talented but not our thing and not interesting enough for us to sit through the whole show" to "what were they thinking bringing this onboard?" Nothing jumped out to us as anything we really want to see again.

 

As I mentioned earlier--it was an issue that often the main show was only scheduled once. Two nights this was at 10:15--which many complained was isply too late. Other nights it was at 7:45--causing a rush in the dining room of people trying to eat an still make the show. We have seen only one show 1-2 times in a week on a few cruises, but never so often (and never with the production cast). It felt odd and I heard MANY complaints about this. We managed okay, and were not unhappy, but wondered what the reason for this might be.

[Bobal]

Looking forward to reading this. We were on Serenade in September and really enjoyed our time on her. I was interested to hear what you said about the activities staff. I would agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Casey Pelter - not impressed with him at all. As you say, going through the motions, there for the big stuff (and a bit Corny Collins-like) but otherwise did not engage with anyone (even his own staff).

 

I have to also agree about the other activities staff - very involved and really engaging and some of the dancers and singers also got involved with stuff when they didn't have to eg dance parties, Murder Mystery. They work long hours and have to be 'on' the whole time and sometimes don't get the credit they deserve.

 

As for shows, we found most nights there were 2 shows so maybe the cast is just coming to an end of a long and tiring season and decided they can't manage 2 shows a night.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Bobal

[xxHadleyxx]

Oh I hope I didn't indicate that it was in any way the CAST's fault that the shows were limited. I am sure they had nothing to do with the scheduling--and as you say they went above and beyond and were out a lot. The dancers all learned the Thriller dance, had plenty of time invested in make-up and outfits for that and performed just for this ONE cruise, and there were centrum shows (the two ariel ones, song sets, etc) and they were out dancing and singing at the 70s party (having performed twice that night already on stage) and still giving it their all. They were great.

 

It was the scheduling that felt off. I just counted--5 of 12 nights we had only one performance of whatever was going on in the theatre. And in Venice they only showed movies (makes sense, really with the overnight there)--so that is basically half the time.

 

The single performance, at 10:15 pm, of Stage to Screen, on a night when many wanted to turn in early to get a jump on getting into to Rome the next morning, was just odd from a scheduling standpoint. I almost wondered if someone in the cast was not feeling well, but even then it would have seemed to make more sense to schedule it a little earlier then (maybe that 7:45 slot that many were in that hits between the two main seatings).

 

We were not heading into Rome the next day, so it was not a problem for us at all--I just know it upset others who really felt they were being left out of the big shows. There were quite a few older cruisers who told us they did not want to be up so late regardless of what was happening the next day.

[xxHadleyxx]

Food

 

In general the food was good, but not excellent. Nothing much to complain about, but nothing stood out as fabulous either. The food on Splendour three weeks earlier was much better.

 

WindJammer lunch selections were a little disappointing to me. It was heavily geared towards meat and starch with hardly any other vegetables (other than the salad bar, which was also a little skimpy). It was common to have mashed potatoes, potato wedges, fries, steak fries, rice, plain pasta, and couscous out all at once and then not a single hot veggie, or just one (broccoli or carrots or greenbeans).

The fish and chips that were out twice were really good though, as was the fajita bar on one day. Mmmmmmm. So, I guess I was wrong--those DID stand out :D

 

Dinner was, um, interesting? We had My Time Dining. We also had this on our Splendour cruise a year ago (also over Halloween). It worked great on the Splendour. WE were able to look at the Compass each evening and then schedule a meal for the next day that worked around what we wanted to do and what the kids wanted to do in the teen club. We were always given the option of sitting at a large table (we like that) and service was stellar every night.

 

For this cruise, while lining up at the escalator in the terminal in Barcelona, staff were asking those with My Time Dining to go ahead and book a time slot for the evening. We explained that we wanted to see a compass first and would call and book a slot as soon as we knew. We kind of got pressured into booking right then and there--I think 3 guys surrounded me taking fast and telling me there was only the one 7:45 show and that a 6 o'clock dinner would get us out in plenty of time and to go ahead and book. I almost felt the same way as I do when the taxi drivers come after you in Naples! LOL It was not a relaxing start :cool: but we went ahead and took a 6 o'clock reservation just to get them to leave us alone.

 

We arrived at 6 to find a long line of people waiting to be seated. Those with reservation waited about 10 minutes for seats--those without walked up and were seated immediately (this was a pattern for most of the cruise).

 

We asked for a larger table and were told those were all reserved for large groups and were seated at a tale for four. Okay. Not a big deal--but a bit of a surprise based on our previous experience.

 

We started off pretty well. We had appetizers and entrees and our plates had been cleared by about 6:45. Still an hour to go before the show. And no one came by, or was able to be flagged down. and then it was 7:00. We still had not even seen a dessert menu or been offered coffee. Our assistant waiter was running like crazy covering what seemed to be a huge number of tables. We had not seen our actual waiter in over 20 minutes.

 

About 7:15 we finally flagged down the assistant waiter and ordered coffee and got the dessert menus. Coffee did not arrive until 7:30 at which point we still had not been given the opportunity to order dessert. This is now a good 45 minutes after our entree plates were cleared.

 

We gave up on sweets and headed out to the show. Us leaving without dessert caused our waiter to suddenly come flying over, as well as the head waiter and assistant--and another head, all wanting to know why. Um, the show starts in 10 minutes and we haven't even ordered yet. We emphasized that it was no big deal, but they kept swooping around us. It was hard to get out of the room, and our poor DD was getting anxious from the way they kept questioning (we tried very hard to downplay it and not get anyone in trouble--we couldn't even tell where the issue was).

 

The result was that the next day (also with a 6 o'clock reservation) we were bombarded with lots of service early on, told time and again to tell them if we "need to be in a big rush" etc. Though, by dessert we were back to a 20+ minute wait to be allowed to order that night and every other one we ate in the MDR (except once when we joined friends downstairs at fixed dining--they had empty places and their waiter said it was okay and we had a LOVELY time and ate a meal in less time than upstairs, without any fuss or feeling rushed at all).

 

We were also really pressured to pick ONE dining time and stick with it all 12 days--which we did not want. For us that defeats the MTD point. We did eat at the same time most nights, and had the same table most times, different twice (once we even got to sit with others) and, for the first time in 25 cruises ate in Windjammer for dinner twice--because that was more pleasant than the mismanaged dining room.

 

We honestly do not think it was the servers' fault. They all seemed crazy busy and trying very hard. it seemed to be a management issue. Every. single. night there were lines to be seated and at least one group being held up at the door because even though they had reservations there was not a place for them (and we mostly dined at 6, so it would not be caused by other diners lingering). We were really wishing we had fixed dining as there did not seem to be ANY of these issues downstairs.

 

Food itself was good in the MDR, but not great. I eat a lot of chicken and it was often rubbery.

 

We also bought the $55 a person package that included meals at all three specialty restaurants.

 

Giovanni's was okay but not great to us--but that was largely that nothing on the menu was super appealing to any of us. We will probably not dine there again.

 

Chops was very good.

 

Izumi was by far the best meal on the ship and we all four loved it (and two of us do not eat sushi at all). Mmmmmm. Service, food and atmosphere were top notch.

[xxHadleyxx]

Crew

 

Other than the few hiccups in staffing already noted; the crew was overall wonderful. Lots of very friendly and happy people.

 

A few things that really stood out:

 

--The officers were out and about and very approachable; it felt almost like Celebrity in that way. We were amazed at how often they were out, how talkative they were, etc. (we literally saw more of the captain than the reclusive CD lol).

 

--Our stateroom hostess was out ill for three days. The host from down the hall covered for her, which meant at times that he was working until 9-10 to get everything done. Yet, every time we saw him he laughed, joked, smiled, etc. He could not have been nicer or harder working. AND it turned out he was also one of the dancers in the housekeeping staff's 10 year anniversary celebration, that they performed one night near the end of the cruise. He had been rushing off to rehearsals from that straight after finishing work. Wow. He pulled Marika up to dance with him at the end, since she was one of "his" people--which she got a kick out of.

 

--As noted above, the production cast and the main activities staff (including DJ) were all great.

 

--The sports staff (at the rock wall) were also very friendly and nice.

[MrsB05]

Thanks for the review and pictures. We'll be on her in December for a 9 nighter. Can't wait!

[xxHadleyxx]

You're welcome! She is a lovely ship and a great crew overall (and you will have a new cast, they only had two more cruises after we got off) but I am sure they will be good. I bet you will have a wonderful time.

 

I still have a few more things to say--and will post port photos/reviews from my blog, but I have had too much going on today to think clearly enough to write anything long :rolleyes:

[yancycruiser]

Thanks for posting all of those wonderful pictures. We will be on the Serenade in 11 weeks out of New Orleans.

[xxHadleyxx]

I've added three new posts. Two are simple ones with photos of Cannes and La Sepzia (we jsut wandered both ports on foot--it was raining).

 

The third (here: http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/ ) has a detailed account of how to get to Heculaneum from the cruise port in Napoles on your own as well as our impression of that site and lots of photos.

 

Thanks for posting all of those wonderful pictures. We will be on the Serenade in 11 weeks out of New Orleans.

[xxHadleyxx]

and here is a photo heavy post about sail in to Venice:

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/sail-in-to-visit-on-serenade-of-seas.html

[Coralc]

What a great review! Your photos are wonderful. :D

 

Thank you so much for the information on your visit to Heculaneum. It looks like a fascinating visit. :)

 

I really enjoyed the ship photos too. We will be boarding Serenade in about 30 days. We will be able to see it all decorated for Christmas.

[xxHadleyxx]

What a great review! Your photos are wonderful. :D

 

Thank you so much for the information on your visit to Heculaneum. It looks like a fascinating visit. :)

 

I really enjoyed the ship photos too. We will be boarding Serenade in about 30 days. We will be able to see it all decorated for Christmas.

 

I am glad you are enjoying it. Thanks so much for reading :) Herculaneum was great; I really recommend it (and it was so easy to get to, too! Crazy cab drivers and all :p ).

 

I hope you will post a review and photos when you get back. I bet Serenade will be gorgeous with Christmas decorations up. I'd love to see that.

[xxHadleyxx]

I have my Venice posts up (I split it in two, in addition to the sail in).

 

We ended up not following our original plans and having a it of a non traditional day in Venice.

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/venice-part-1.html

 

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/venice-without-hitting-any-major.html

[inmanfamily]

Great review and beautiful pictures! We loved our trip on Serenade in October. She is a beautiful ship!

[xxHadleyxx]

Great review and beautiful pictures! We loved our trip on Serenade in October. She is a beautiful ship!

 

I am really enjoying your review--and yes she IS a beautiful ship :)

[xxHadleyxx]

I got my post up on Dubrovnik--it was one of my all time favourite cruise ports. A lovely town we really want to go back to (which means there are tons of photos on this post--not sure if that is good or bad :o )

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/11/one-fine-day-in-dubrovnik.html