Serenade of the Seas 7/2 - Mini-review

[buzzandjulie]

It is too bad you had a bad expereince i am going on cruise #18 in 2 weeks and most of the last 6 have been on RCI. I must say that last year the Alaska cruise we took on Serenade was the BEST i have ever been on. Perhaps the Alaska route was not your thing, the Carribean cruises have many moree activies thru out the day. I would recommend you take a few months off from thinking about the BAD things and think of all the good things about cruising and perhaps give RCI another change. I personally was extremely disappointed in Carnival so like they say not everyone loves the same things about a cruise

[emilygrace]

Having sailed to Alaska on the Serenade last September I was a bit shocked at this review. I know you can't please everyone, but my God, was there not ONE good thing about your trip???

 

As for the cost, you only have yourself to blame, since you booked so close to sailing. We had a balcony cabin and spent approximately half of what you did per person.

 

Buffets are buffets, but after sailing on 3 other cruise lines (including Cunard) I have to say I find the Windjammers on RCCL the best. I've only been on Radiance class ships (on RCL) and I love the way it is set up.

 

But, to each his own, and hopefully you will not sail on RCL again. As my mother used to say, "good, more for us!"

[dizbuster]

Odd. I was on the 6/18 Alaska sailing of the Serenade this year and thought the ship and service were excellent. It was my first cruise and I was going in with very low expectations. I expected the main dining to be at the level of an average mainstream restaurant (OliveGarden, etc.) and was pleasantly surprised that it well exceeded that expectation. Except for the pasta dishes, they were consistently uninspiring to bland. (But I am not a pasta lover so take that with a grain of salt). The alternate dining room, Chops, was top quality. The dining room service was simply outstanding and was one of the high points of the cruise for me! I might have lucked into a great wait staff but most of the other tables around us seemed to be enjoying the experience as much as I was.

 

I agree with most of your comments about the Windjammer though. The buffet was edible at best. Even breakfast (which is hard to screw up) there was below expectations. I was grateful for the snow globes though. There were some outbreaks of Norovirus on a couple of the other lines ships on the Alaska route just prior to my sailing.

 

I did not notice any of the RV toilet or other smells you reported at all.

 

I had an aft balcony cabin on Deck 10 and enjoyed it tremendously. I was worried before the cruise that the cabin would feel cramped and uncomfortable, but it was cozy and relaxing.

 

I also booked very early and paid considerably less than what you did. In fact, I liked the Serenade and Royal Caribbean so much that I immediately booked a suite on a Caribbean cruise for this December on the Voyager of the Seas. I fell asleep while viewing the dance shows in the theatre because they were so boring, but that was the only major complaint I had.

 

Serenade of the Seas - 6/18/06 Alaska

 

Upcoming Voyager of the Seas - 12/18/06 Caribbean