Serenade of the Seas

[anamarieus]

I found a cruise on this old girl that travels to Aruba. Curaçao. Bonaire and Key West!!

 

Does she have a good spa?? What about the food??

 

Pls tell me what u know. I have watched all the YouTube videos and read all I could get my hands on.

 

I am very interested as this ship stays in Bonaire all day next December and I would love to have time to snorkel in bonaire ⛵️

[Coralc]

The ship is not old. Radiance class and Serenade in particular, is our favorite ship. The 10/11 night itineraries out of FLL next year are fabulous. We did a similar itinerary on Vision in 2013. The snorkeling in Bonaire is most impressive. We went on Woodwind, with a professional underwater photographer and purchased a CD ($25) with over a 100 great photos of our trip.

 

We are booked on Serenade next February, and contrary to Vision, we have a short port stop in Bonaire and a long one in Grenada. Which is good, because we didn't see Grenada last time with the short stop. :)

 

I haven't been to a ship spa since 1992. I prefer land services. The Radiance class does include thermal suites, with heated loungers that look out over the ocean. (for an extra fee)

Edited January 2, 2015 by Coralc

[IrishCC]

I love her . . . Spa was great as well as the food. Service was awesome and everyone was super friendly & attentive. We were on her in August and are going back next week for a cruise out of New Orleans. Also we have one booked on her for March 2016. She is a radiance class ship . . . . one of the smaller ones with tons of glass!

[JasonTehGreat]

Chef's Table on Serenade in February was awesome

[Langley Cruisers]

Serenade is not old. She has been refurbished and is in great shape, nice crew and good food. Great gym.

 

There are many threads and reviews for Serenade; just use the link above where you see all the ships' names listed, or search within the forum.

[anamarieus]

Thank you everyone! This is great news. I really am glad to hear about the spa, IrishCC.

 

CoralC: Thank you for the information about Woodwind. I have been reading about them and they have gotten great reviews. Did you get seasick at all on their boat?

 

I am going to read up on Radiance class. I really really want to go on the NCL Getaway because of the slides, but I want to go on the Serenade of the Seas because of the itinerary! And I want to get a picture with the statue of the large man with the innertube around his belly at the pool!! :D

[C2174]

We are booked for next November on Seranade and are looking forward to it! :-) The 10 night. Looking forward to the smaller ship and island time! :-)

[LEtue]

I just sailed the Serenade in October to the Med and she is in great shape! Excellent crew and service all around. The radiance class ships are just perfect! Go and enjoy :D

[anamarieus]

She has a beautiful atrium. Just stunning from what I have seen in pictures.

[Scoobydobe7]

We are booked for next November on Seranade and are looking forward to it! :-) The 10 night. Looking forward to the smaller ship and island time! :-)

 

We are on her in April of 16 for the 10 night -- can't come quick enough (hoping to jump on something last minute in between) I hope you post a review!!!!

[stones902]

The Serenade is our favorite ship hands down.

 

Everyone has their preferences, and admittedly we don't have young children anymore so we don't value the water park, flow rider, etc like others might.

 

RCI's Radiance Class ships are beautiful, easy to navigate and get around, the Windjammer is large and never tough to find a seat and there are some interesting and different shows in the Atrium. We also enjoy the R Bar on deck 4 and the Vortex on 13. If you are D+ or above or have a suite the Concierge Lounge is a beautiful spot with a comfortable bar as well.

[KeywestK]

Absolutely gorgeous ship. We loved our cruise on her last year.

 

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[Langley Cruisers]

We actually prefer Jewel to Serenade, except for the glorious Diamond Lounge on Serenade - fabulous. We sailed Jewel first and then Serenade, and were chatting with the Hotel Director on Serenade when it hit us: they removed the beautiful glass stairs between decks 4 and 5! She nodded yes, and it seemed to her this was a bit of a loss as well. No big deal, just an observation. :)

[Merion_Mom]

I did Woodwind's snorkeling excursion in December and November.

 

They are utterly incomparable. I have never enjoyed the people, activity and ambiance of an excursion so much.

 

http://www.woodwindbonaire.com/

 

Dee and Ulf are amazing.

 

Do this. You will be happy that you did!

 

BTW, there is plenty of time to do a tour in the morning and Woodwind in the afternoon.

 

And if you don't already own one, get an underwater camera before you go.

 

:)

[Clarea]

I did Woodwind's snorkeling excursion in December and November.

 

They are utterly incomparable. I have never enjoyed the people, activity and ambiance of an excursion so much.

 

http://www.woodwindbonaire.com/

 

Dee and Ulf are amazing.

 

Do this. You will be happy that you did!

 

BTW, there is plenty of time to do a tour in the morning and Woodwind in the afternoon.

 

And if you don't already own one, get an underwater camera before you go.

 

:)

Agree 100% about Woodwind. We did it on our 12/4 Explorer cruise. Best snorkeling ever. Really good lunch too.:)

[cruisingsince94]

I found a cruise on this old girl that travels to Aruba. Curaçao. Bonaire and Key West!!

 

Does she have a good spa?? What about the food??

 

Pls tell me what u know. I have watched all the YouTube videos and read all I could get my hands on.

 

I am very interested as this ship stays in Bonaire all day next December and I would love to have time to snorkel in bonaire ⛵️

 

We just sailed on Serenade and she is more beautiful than ever since her refurbishment in November 2012. The crew is great, yes the spa is nice, as is the workout areas. The centrum was beautifully decorated for the holidays and the entertainment was better on Serenade than almost all of our prior 20 cruises. For those of Diamond status or above the private lounges were fantastic and never crowded. The Safari Club was also a quiet place most of the time to relax, read, have a drink, and watch the calm waters.

Food is always subjective but we enjoyed most every meal we had be it in the MDR, WJ, or in our case Chops on 2 nights. We were blown away at how good everything was on our 1st visit but the 2nd visit was anything but memorable. It was still okay but not worth $30 p.p.

[Coralc]

Thank you everyone! This is great news. I really am glad to hear about the spa, IrishCC.

 

CoralC: Thank you for the information about Woodwind. I have been reading about them and they have gotten great reviews. Did you get seasick at all on their boat?

 

:D

 

Nope, didn't get seasick at all. It is really great excursion. It is drift snorkeling, and the boat drops you off at one end of the underwater preserve and the current carries you along. The boat picks you up at the end. It is like watching a fabulous underwater nature movie. :D

[Coralc]

Those were really neat stairs! I do miss them. Here is CD Ricky Matthews making his grand entrance:

 

Pool guy with life ring has gone through various color schemes and finishes over the years. Here are 2 that I could find quickly from our photo collection:

 

Edited January 2, 2015 by Coralc

[stones902]

Those were really neat stairs! I do miss them. Here is CD Ricky Matthews making his grand entrance: [ATTACH]335270[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

Pool guy with life ring has gone through various color schemes and finishes over the years. Here are 2 that I could find quickly from our photo collection:

 

 

 

[ATTACH]335271[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]335272[/ATTACH]

 

 

Ricky Matthews was our CD on the Serenade previously too. My favorite CD of all time. An understatement to say he's a high-energy guy!

 

 

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[Gasdoc]

We did the excursion with Woodwind in 2011 in Bonaire. First snorkling experience. It was amazing. Not to be missed. The owners do a fantastic job.The problem is that it was so good that other snorkling experiences have paled in comparison.

I would recommend this cruise just for the stop in Bonaire.

Sailing on Serenade in March. Did Jewel last August. Love the Radiance class ships.

[NotPennysBoat]

I just disembarked off Serenade last Saturday! I didn't use the spa but I can say I didn't have a bad meal. Some were better than others and I'd recommend going with whatever your waiter recommends. When he said the prime rib was fantastic, I ordered a chicken breast that was OK but my fellow travelers raved about the prime rib. My favorite aspect of the ship was the outdoor seating in the Windjammer. It's so nice to sit outside for breakfast.

[MichaelCMTX]

Unless things went shockingly downhill in the past year... and no reason to indicate they have... you should enjoy Serenade as much as we did.

[wassup4565]

Serenade was in beautiful condition for our Med cruise in Oct/14 (Hi LEtue!). Food was great, staff were great, and the CDs were great. But above all this is a lovely ship with open views almost everywhere, and yes, you can get outdoors behind the Windjammer and enjoy your meal in the open air.

 

I would go back to Bonaire in a minute. Lovely, low-key, no pushy tourist hassling. For non-snorkel fans, look at Achie (no r, not Archie) Tours. They were good enough for the King and Queen of the Netherlands, and they gave us a great fair-priced tour.