DanOO Posted February 13, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Deciding between Serenade of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas. I would like to go on the best of the two. I know they are both Radiance Class. Is one in better condition or has been refurbished. Thank you for any feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njkruzer Posted February 13, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 13, 2023 4 minutes ago, DanOO said: Deciding between Serenade of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas. I would like to go on the best of the two. I know they are both Radiance Class. Is one in better condition or has been refurbished. Thank you for any feedback. Sailed 3x this past yezr. No complaints. I can't imagine there's much difference between the 2. Have sailed all the Radiance class ships and love them all. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashland Posted February 13, 2023 #3 Share Posted February 13, 2023 We sailed on the Jewel in July 2022 and Serenade September & October 2022. No real complaints as they were both in great condition. Go for the itinerary, either ship will be fine. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastern flygirl Posted February 13, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I have not been on the Serenade in a while, but just cruised Jewel two week ago. The food was unacceptable in the Windjammer and cold in the MDR. The beef was a poor grade and not able to consume. This was just as the new menus came out, so they may have improved. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 13, 2023 #5 Share Posted February 13, 2023 For purposes of picking a cruise, they're identical. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruzerci Posted February 13, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Eastern flygirl said: I have not been on the Serenade in a while, but just cruised Jewel two week ago. The food was unacceptable in the Windjammer and cold in the MDR. The beef was a poor grade and not able to consume. This was just as the new menus came out, so they may have improved. Exact same experience on Jewel and Serenade last month. Additionally, the Serenade was in very poor condition. It was seriously neglected looking inside and out (filthy windows and mirrors, shattered outdoor windows, broken drink stations everywhere, musty carpeting). Imo the Jewel was in better shape, but the food was equally poor. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac66 Posted February 13, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Just off the Serenade last Saturday. Seemed to be in pretty good shape IMO. Beautiful ship and the food was pretty good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted February 13, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Serenade in rougher shape, but experienced good service and food. Jewel is in better shape than Serenade, but IMHO the service and food was sub par. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveru621 Posted February 13, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 13, 2023 The ships are the same. Go for the itinerary. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaireA1978 Posted February 14, 2023 #10 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Sailed both and pretty much identical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted February 14, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 14, 2023 All four sisters are identical...basically. It's the crew that makes the difference. Radiance class is still my favorite of the RCI classes. Other than that...pick for port and itinerary. Will be getting very familiar with Serenade by December. 😉 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted February 14, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 14, 2023 17 hours ago, kruzerci said: Exact same experience on Jewel and Serenade last month. Additionally, the Serenade was in very poor condition. It was seriously neglected looking inside and out (filthy windows and mirrors, shattered outdoor windows, broken drink stations everywhere, musty carpeting). Imo the Jewel was in better shape, but the food was equally poor. 16 hours ago, mac66 said: Just off the Serenade last Saturday. Seemed to be in pretty good shape IMO. Beautiful ship and the food was pretty good. Just goes to show how much opinions on this board vary..............2 passengers pretty much on the same ship at exactly the same time but 2 totally different views of the ship. Go figure? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare orville99 Posted February 14, 2023 #13 Share Posted February 14, 2023 We were on Jewel in December and will be boarding Serenade next Wednesday. All four of the Radiance class ships are essentially the same other than the names of the various venues on board. I'd comment on food, but that is so subjective, that anyone's opinion should be taken with a pinch of salt. We don't cruise for the food - we cruise for the ship and itinerary - and quite frankly, Jewel (20+ years old) was in much cleaner and better maintained than Wonder (less than one year old) when we sailed on her in January - Wonder's pool deck was a daily pig sty compared to Jewel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reijo Posted February 14, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 14, 2023 For anyone that has been on Jewel....on embarkation day, is there any place for lunch other than Windjammer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted February 14, 2023 #15 Share Posted February 14, 2023 18 minutes ago, Reijo said: For anyone that has been on Jewel....on embarkation day, is there any place for lunch other than Windjammer? Sure...pay for it. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted February 14, 2023 #16 Share Posted February 14, 2023 40 minutes ago, island lady said: Sure...pay for it. 😉 I always find the Schooner bar is an excellent place for lunch. 😁🍻 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coleclan Posted February 15, 2023 #17 Share Posted February 15, 2023 We were on the Jewel last week and had lunch in the solarium. 9 hours ago, Reijo said: For anyone that has been on Jewel....on embarkation day, is there any place for lunch other than Windjammer? We were on the jewel last week and have lunch in the solarium. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted February 15, 2023 #18 Share Posted February 15, 2023 13 hours ago, davekathy said: I always find the Schooner bar is an excellent place for lunch. 😁🍻 Oh yeah...go for that liquid lunch. 😄 🍺 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac66 Posted February 15, 2023 #19 Share Posted February 15, 2023 23 hours ago, Jimbo said: Just goes to show how much opinions on this board vary..............2 passengers pretty much on the same ship at exactly the same time but 2 totally different views of the ship. Go figure? Yeah, go figure....The serenade is being used for the world cruise later in the year. Will be refurbished sometime before leaving. Talked to some world cruisers who were on board when we were on her and they seemed to like her and were looking forward to their trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted February 15, 2023 #20 Share Posted February 15, 2023 31 minutes ago, mac66 said: Yeah, go figure....The serenade is being used for the world cruise later in the year. Will be refurbished sometime before leaving. Talked to some world cruisers who were on board when we were on her and they seemed to like her and were looking forward to their trip. Put it this way, they better like her because they are going to be on her a longgggggggg time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac66 Posted February 15, 2023 #21 Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Jimbo said: Put it this way, they better like her because they are going to be on her a longgggggggg time. Yeah. We kind of liked the ambiance on the Serenade. Lots of wood throughout. Not much variety in the windjammer but the food was decent. Didn't have to wait in line or search for a table like on the bigger ships. Didn't like having to walk through the very smokey casino to get to the pub and theater We were on the explorer in early December when they still had a full menu in the MDR and as many lodsters as you wanted. The Serenade had the new limited MDR menu. The limited menu wasn't an issue with us. The food was good but would get old on a longer cruise. Can't imagine spending months or even more than a couple weeks on a cruise ship. Edited February 15, 2023 by mac66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjb317 Posted February 15, 2023 #22 Share Posted February 15, 2023 46 minutes ago, mac66 said: Yeah, go figure....The serenade is being used for the world cruise later in the year. Will be refurbished sometime before leaving. Talked to some world cruisers who were on board when we were on her and they seemed to like her and were looking forward to their trip. We were on in November, 2021 and said many times, we were happy we did not book the world cruise as we could not imagine being on Serenade that long! And we had done several TAs on Serenade prior to the pandemic and enjoyed them. Serenade definitely needs refurbishment! Sherri🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted February 15, 2023 #23 Share Posted February 15, 2023 You do realize you don't have to book the whole 274 days...right? 😏 They first offered the whole thing at 274 nights, with the choice cabins (JS and above) disappearing fast. Then, after initial offering of the whole thing they came out with the 4 legs (we are leg one and leg four...both 62 nights each). Now...they have broken it up even further. Our first quarter leg is now broken up into 3 legs, with 3 different reservation numbers. So I guess it is officially now a B2B2B for that former "1st leg". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted February 15, 2023 #24 Share Posted February 15, 2023 3 hours ago, mac66 said: Yeah, go figure....The serenade is being used for the world cruise later in the year. Will be refurbished sometime before leaving. Talked to some world cruisers who were on board when we were on her and they seemed to like her and were looking forward to their trip. Won't be a total dry dock. They are now simply doing "updating" as they go along...with pax on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac66 Posted February 15, 2023 #25 Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) 30 minutes ago, island lady said: You do realize you don't have to book the whole 274 days...right? 😏 They first offered the whole thing at 274 nights, with the choice cabins (JS and above) disappearing fast. Then, after initial offering of the whole thing they came out with the 4 legs (we are leg one and leg four...both 62 nights each). Now...they have broken it up even further. Our first quarter leg is now broken up into 3 legs, with 3 different reservation numbers. So I guess it is officially now a B2B2B for that former "1st leg". I was aware of that it is offered in legs. Still...62 or even 20 days is a long time to be on board a ship. The longest we've gone is 12 days and we were tired of the food and drink after 9 or 10 days. But...I could suffer through (being factitious) a much longer cruise if I had too.😁 Sounds like a once in a lifetime trip. Enjoy! Edited February 15, 2023 by mac66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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