Serenade of the Seas - SHIP OF ‘NO’

[ryano]

she owes nothing to anyone. People assumed it was her kids playing until 2-3am when in fact it wasnt. Telling others how to raise kids...Never ceases to amaze me.

 

I totally agree. That seems to be the Cruise Critic way these days though. :o

[SteelMagnolia9]

 

We will probably cruise again, but are unsure on which cruise line or ship.

I'm not sure if we will sail RC again. Even though they have most recently offered us some good discounts for a future sailing after our complaints, we are not sure if we are willing to risk another vacation. Not to say we did not have a good time with the company we had, we just had a better time on Norwegian.

 

We will probably take the GOOD advice of some of the intelligent, less uptight members of this forum, and cruise on one of the larger ships with more to do (Water-park, etc) and more to eat later at night.

 

Any suggestions??

 

Thank You again!! :):):)

 

As you had a good experience on Norwegian, perhaps you should sail with them. Take a look at the Norwegian Escape which is a brand new ship which will be sailing out of Miami beginning Nov. 2015. It's going to have a lot of family amenities and of course, lots and lots of different venues for dining. You can find some videos about the new ship on You Tube and on the NCL website.

 

The Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas with Royal are also good choices for families, if you're inclined to give Royal another try. Lots to do to keep all ages busy. Good entertainment.

 

I'm booked on both the Allure and the Escape later this year.

 

Happy planning!

[sippican]

I'm not sure if we will sail RC again. Even though they have most recently offered us some good discounts for a future sailing after our complaints, we are not sure if we are willing to risk another vacation.

 

Were these discounts in response to your "NO list" of complaints? IMHO, nothing there makes me feel you were entitled to any type of compensation whatsoever.

[Paul65]

counter productive is accusing these woman for having her kids playing basketball at 2am when in fact they did not bother to read what she wrote . Its counter productive to tell a parent how to raise a child when she did nothing wrong...She posted her opinion on the cruise..

 

True, but I was just suggesting that the name-calling was a counterproductive way to respond. You can't control other people, but you can control your response. Admittedly, it was advice I don't always follow myself, as I found myself calling you a jerk earlier for accusing me of "lying", because I you didn't like my choice of words.

[CruiserPICC]

Yes. I would suggest not joining in on the name-calling. People get very opinionated on just about every internet forum I've ever seen. Calling the "uptight" or any other such designations is counterproductive. . . .

 

You are correct Paul65. I apologize if I offended anyone.

 

Cruise ON ! :cool:

[Donna_In_India]

On Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, and Princess they serve eggs benedict in the buffet.

 

They do on Disney too.

[Donna_In_India]

Well, it was my intention to take a European cruise on Disney in the summer of 2016. Their itineraries came out today and either didn't appeal to me or didn't fit into our schedule (family wedding, special b-days, etc.). So I started poking around all the cruise line sites to see what was out there. Came across an amazing cruise on Serenade, which happens to be the last RCI ship we sailed on back in....2007, 2008? Came over to cruise critic to find some recent reviews and well....here I am.

 

I don't think some of the issues of the OP would apply to us - and reading some of the positive posts have helped - just a little. I figure that it's a port intensive cruise....we'll have breakfast, dinner, and sleep on the ship. A good show here or there and maybe one or two swims would be a bonus. We do have a young daughter but she's a super traveler and is happy to be on vacation.

 

To the OP, so sorry that your cruise did not live up to your expectations. I've done 1 family reunion cruise (NCL Breakaway) and have another coming up in August (NCL Getaway). I would highly recommend either of those ships for your group - or the newest, Escape. There is so much to do for the kids, shows are excellent, etc. (Although I haven't sailed the Allure or Oasis - the lack of open deck spaces turns me off. The waterfront areas on the NCL ships are SO nice.) Do a lot of research before you book - everything from reading a particular ship's daily listings of activities to checking all the reviews. There is so much information available these days. And...there are so many cruise lines & ships that there really is something for everyone!

[P&O Lynn Knickers]

I don't pump my kids full of drugs to make them sleep.

 

This does not need any further comment.

 

 

 

 

.

[mommasharn]

Donna- just booked a European Cruise on the Navigator in June of 2016. Can't wait! Going on the Navigator this Sunday, so I will get to actually know what the ship experience will be beforehand. Like you said, most of the time will be spent at ports, so the rest is just a place to sleep! Good luck choosing a cruise.

[NightOne]

Always disappointed that on Cruise Critic, those who provide their opinion that does not match with cheerleaders is bashed or shamed. As many pointed out, it's a place to do research to see if it matches with what you want in a cruise. Not sure I can feel comfortable providing a review that is less than "everything was wonderful".

 

...

 

Planned to write a review of my cruise, but don't want to be bashed or shamed. Just want to provide my opinion on the cruise.

 

 

Just write it and post it. I am still working on mine. (About 1/2 way through)

 

:)

[Donna_In_India]

Donna- just booked a European Cruise on the Navigator in June of 2016. Can't wait! Going on the Navigator this Sunday, so I will get to actually know what the ship experience will be beforehand. Like you said, most of the time will be spent at ports, so the rest is just a place to sleep! Good luck choosing a cruise.

 

I couldn't pass it up! Booked it last night. Now comes the very long wait. I'll pass some time researching the ports. Enjoy your cruise(s)!!

[Donna_In_India]

Always disappointed that on Cruise Critic, those who provide their opinion that does not match with cheerleaders is bashed or shamed. As many pointed out, it's a place to do research to see if it matches with what you want in a cruise. Not sure I can feel comfortable providing a review that is less than "everything was wonderful".

 

Planned to write a review of my cruise, but don't want to be bashed or shamed. Just want to provide my opinion on the cruise.

 

Cruisers tend to be VERY brand loyal. I feel the same way over on the Disney boards if I say something not so positive. No cruise is perfect and in some situations, I don't agree that a cruise "is what you make of it". All of my cruises have been different - some I enjoyed more than others. Write your review. Not everyone is going to agree with it but others may find it helpful.

[Paul65]

You are correct Paul65. I apologize if I offended anyone.

 

Cruise ON ! :cool:

 

Like I said, it's advice that I don't always follow. If someone gets snarky with me, I can have a tendency to shoot right back. But it's rarely a productive exercise. :o

[soxin2000]

This post has me very nervous. We are leaving on the Serenade on April 11, 2015…. Yikes

[cricketts]

This post has me very nervous. We are leaving on the Serenade on April 11, 2015…. Yikes

 

 

I followed this thread out of curiosity because the OP's views of the same trip was very different than ours. Our March 7th cruise was our 3rd time on Serenade [emoji3] She's a lovely ship and has been made even nicer since the dry dock. We had a great time, no need to be nervous [emoji572]️[emoji295]️

[Bamagirl_gina]

I followed this thread out of curiosity because the OP's views of the same trip was very different than ours. Our March 7th cruise was our 3rd time on Serenade [emoji3] She's a lovely ship and has been made even nicer since the dry dock. We had a great time, no need to be nervous [emoji572]️[emoji295]️

 

Definitely agree with you. We leave Saturday for our second cruise on Serenade (and considering an 11 niter on serenade out of Miami later). We sailed her last year and had a great experience. I can say it's not all that "kid focused" but that's one of the reasons we liked it. We had nothing less than great service--much better than the cruise before that one which was on Voyager. Of course, we were looking for a more relaxed, slow-paced cruise so I can see if someone is looking for an action-packed cruise that's more kid friendly, they may not appreciate the Serenade as much as we did. But that's not to say that there wasn't plenty of activities, and some days we had a hard time choosing. We love this ship (in case you couldn't tell, lol)

[tip]

This post has me very nervous. We are leaving on the Serenade on April 11, 2015…. Yikes

 

We shall be on the same cruise with you and none of the OP's concerns make us nervous. I am sure that she felt that she had legitimate gripes, but...

• We do not care for mussels.
  
• If one buffet line is closed, we can walk over to the other side in a matter of seconds.
  
• We have no desire to have toasted bread at midnight.
  
• "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I are in ours sixties and will have no children with us who will want to climb the wall after is closes for those under a certain age at 5 p.m.
  
• We do not go to the pub for pub food.
  
• With all of the selections for breakfast foods in the buffet, the lack of Eggs Benedict is not a deal breaker for us.
  

 

We are really looking forward to our cruise and try not to sweat the small stuff!

 

I have noted that you have not signed up for our roll call. Come on over to the roll call boards and see how many of us are positive and not dwelling on negatives (real or perceived)!:D

 

P.S. Okay, my only concern for the cruise and it is a very small concern is that we shall be at sea on April 13th and there will be no way to watch the Red Sox home opener on television!:eek:

 

Sox in 2015!

[Mikew0805]

Well we all have different likes and dislikes. I have been on both of these ships, and LOVED the Serenade, and did not like the Star at all.

 

That big yellow slide by the pool was an eyesore, and completely blocked the views from one side to the other. The ship was not maintained well up until that point, with broken benches, torn carpeting everywhere, worn out handrailing throughout.. It was somewhat embarassing. Also, the assault by a crew member may have influenced my enjoyment of that ship, but that was one crewmember, not NCL.. NCL's response, with the video footage, was disgraceful. There were many things I liked including the itinerary, but the bad, unfortunately way overshadowed the good.

 

Anyway, I thought I would not sail NCL again, however time kinda heals wounds, and overall I love to just be on a ship, so I would definitely try Breakaway class. Maybe the Radiance class is not for you, and you should try another class of RCI ship... Then again, I prefer Carnival over either RCI or NCL.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Mikew0805
poor choice of words

[Langley Cruisers]

This post has me very nervous. We are leaving on the Serenade on April 11, 2015…. Yikes

 

A negative review can do that to you sometimes but remember the general rule with reviews: throw out the best and the worst, and you'll have a fairly accurate description of what's left.

 

We shall be on the same cruise with you and none of the OP's concerns make us nervous...

 

There you go. Good attitude! Serenade is a wonderful ship. I know you will all have a great time. :)

[Proseknitic]

I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful responses. :)

You people really get into it.

 

I would like to reiterate that I was only comparing the only 2 cruises that I have ever been on. (RC Serenade of the Seas and NCL Star ).

 

The problems I had on the Serenade I did not have on the Star.

The customer service was far better on the Star.

Maybe I was spoiled (not entitled) on the Star... I don't know. I'm only telling you the experience I had and aside from the dinner service on the Serenade, the Star was better in every aspect.

 

All in our party after the cruise on the Star last year were so impressed and pleasantly surprised by our very first cruise, we all wanted to sail again.

This year we chose to sail with RC because every single cruiser (and I mean every one of them) we talked to said RC was way better in every aspect.

And would get to see New Orleans which we all can say was the hi-lite of our trip.

So, we eagerly followed their advice and were unfortunately let down by the Serenade.

 

It may have been just this particular ship or crew or or just this particular week.... I don't know. But when members of the crew also tell you something is wrong..... hmmmm Well, then something is wrong. :(

 

We will probably cruise again, but are unsure on which cruise line or ship.

I'm not sure if we will sail RC again. Even though they have most recently offered us some good discounts for a future sailing after our complaints, we are not sure if we are willing to risk another vacation. Not to say we did not have a good time with the company we had, we just had a better time on Norwegian.

 

We will probably take the GOOD advice of some of the intelligent, less uptight members of this forum, and cruise on one of the larger ships with more to do (Water-park, etc) and more to eat later at night.

 

Any suggestions??

 

Thank You again!! :):):)

I have sailed numerous times on both NCL and RCCL (as well as a few other lines..) and find that a lot depends on the particular sailing as the crew, the route and the other passengers who make or break the cruise. With the exception of one cruise (believe it or not - the Star in Alaska) all of my kids prefer NCL. Brighter, shiny ships - excellent multi-language teen programs when they were in that age, well run open dining, good music. Rules strictly enforced on passenger behavior). There is also the slight issue of water slides.... NCL has Royal completely beat on that one.

 

I generally prefer RCCL as the loyalty benefits are superior and the cabin set up (below suite level) is better and roomier. I like the 24 hour dedicated lounges. The food is adequate to occasionally brilliant on any ship. The dining rooms on Royal are normally multi-tier and much noisier than NCL.

 

I would look at what is important to you - and in no particular order - route, price, child friendly (or not), facilities on ship, ease of getting to port. Dining venues - times and choice.

 

Specifics: I am currently on the Serenade NOLA->Boston run with follow on to Copenhagen. There are essentially no children on board (five - all belonging to crew). I don't like the MDR. Too many tables jammed too close together and extremely noisy. Food is good so far. This is my second cruise on her. Most of the staff is excellent, a few of the policies I don't understand. There are too many senior cruises (Loyalty Club) which means that other passengers might not get the quality of service they are expecting.

 

The Star - Two of my adult children did an Alaskan Cruise on her. There was a group that had booked over 30% of the ship. They were loud, demanding, rude and generally drove the other passengers and crew insane. A good time was not had. Evicting that many passengers for shoving into lines and sticking fingers into the buffet food would be a challenge for any ship.

 

Don't stop cruising and don't worry if a ship (or line) doesn't make you thrilled enough to go back. Kind of like an airplane flight - sometimes you don't get the toddler kicking your seat back.....

 

-Holly

so many ships, so little time...

[Ocean Spirit]

I've cruised on both the Star and the Serenade of the Sea's. I had good experiences and not so good experiences on them both.

 

First of all your first cruise will always stand out in your mind and will always be special for those of us who fell in love with cruising.

We've sailed on 5 different lines and we've come to the conclusion that each line has it's own personality and we appreciate each line for different things.

 

We love the ships of RCCI especially the Voyager class and up. So when we sailed on the Serenade, it really wasn't are favorite ship. We prefer bigger ones (but not the Mega size ships such as the Allure) We enjoy the traditional dining over all so the first time we sailed on NCL, we weren't thrilled with the Free Style dining. However after a few trips with NCL, we fell in love with it especially for cruising the Med.

 

For me, I have no desire what so ever to sail on the Serenade again but I would sail on the Star. Does that mean the Serenade is terrible, no it isn't. It's a very pretty ship, the entertainment was good, the food was good, the service was good.

 

Go and enjoy your cruise and appreciate what the ship has to offer.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Ocean Spirit

[70Superbee]

Wow - funny how some people find so much to complain about.

We were on the March 7th cruise on Serenade of the Seas to Key West, Nassau and Coco Cay.

My complaints - the pool cue tips and the cheap darts in the bar.

Other than that, you clearly have issues.

 

ships of No's - maybe you just ask way too much, one of those people never happy and think you should get what ever you ask for

- if rock climbing ended 5 minutes ago then it ended don't even ask.

-If one side of the buffet is closed, go to the other.

-Bring your own conditioner (just like we did ).

- If they don't have eggs benedict, then they don't have it - what you want, for them to whip it up just for you.

-They don't serve food in the pub - so get over it and stuff your face elsewhere, there was no shortage of food

- Asking to get your bread toasted at midnight, OMG, clearly you want and you should get.

 

Coco Cay was great, 3 ships docked and not even close to crowded, had a great time, food served was good, snorkeled for hours, even saw a shark. Tender boats were fast - NO COMPLAINTS

[cruisevv]

Thanks for the honest review. It has me checking out the Radiance class ships and whether its better to book the bigger venues now.

[spartancruisers]

OP: "NO, your child cannot go up the rock climbing wall. Free climb is over at 5pm and it is 5:05 pm (It was still open for adult speed climbing)."

 

The only thing I want to add to this is times are posted in the compass everyday. Why did you get to the rock wall 5 min late? And why would you expect or want your child climbing up the wall when you have adults there for fast climb? Sorry but some things you need to do better research and others I agree some NOs aren't the ships fault.

 

I 100% agree with this comment. You come across as a little self-important expecting (to the point of criticizing the cruise line for not permitting it) them to react to every single complaint you have, including YOU being late. I have six kids, my life revolves around them. I do not, however, expect everyone else's to.

 

I respect RCI for not letting kids and parents with kids to dominate every single aspect of a cruise, even if it's five minutes.

Edited May 20, 2015 by spartancruisers

[villager70]

Hi Cruisers: We are on The Serenade on Nov. 13th, doing the 10 day after she returns. We just got off the Brilliance the end of April and have also sailed that class on the Jewel. We like the mega ships but found this class to be very nice and the decor on the Brilliance to be like the old class of ship sailings. Wood type moldings in cabin. alot of dark wood, trawler lights, etc. in windjammer. We would not hesitate to sail the Radiance class again. Bob &Nancy, The Villages , Florida