July 2015 - 13 Night Ultimate Scandinavia & Russia (Stockholm To Copenhagen) Cruise on Serenade of the Seas
Good Ports-Questionable excursions!
richb395b
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Joined 08/2015
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Helpful VotesPast cruises
Serenade of the Seas
Sail date: July 26, 2015
Good Ports-Questionable excursions!
If you want a snapshot of the Baltic this is the cruise to take. The ship was very comfortable and our cabin near the Centrum deck 9 was very quiet. Centrum entertainment was very good and half of the Showroom presentations were of high quality while the rest was just OK.
The food and variety was very good, especially lunches in the Windjammer. Unfortunately Windjammer experiences can be poor as there is not enough seating or staff to continuously clear tables. We only had dinner there once after a long excursion to Berlin; however this was a terrible ordeal because many excursion returned to the ship late forcing most people to the Windjammer and not the Dining Room. My Time dining in the Reflections dining room was very good. Reasonable variety and very good service.
The quality of the excursion guide often dictated the quality of the excursion. If your guide had a clear loud voice or provided headsets and receivers. This should be a requirement for all excursions! Since Royal Caribbean provides little information on the excursions or the ports you really have to do your homework to decide an itinerary.
We have used the excursions offered by United Cruises and found then to be of high quality and good value. Groups are smaller and they are offered at lower prices. Since we tend to be risk averse we only use them when the ship is not leaving port. With the higher priced ship excursion you are guaranteed that the shop won't leave with out you.
Brilliance of the Seas
Sail date: July 27, 2018
Good itinerary and entertainment but dinner in dining room has gone down dramatically
Beginning embarkation and final disambarkation excellent. Embarkation in ports suffered from poorly staffed security as long lines and only one scanner of two manned. Cruise director, staff and entertainment excellent as was most of the service staff. Omnipresent load music in Windjammer, even at 5:45 AM, and on deck by pool. Great itinerary. Overpriced excursions containing large groups making it impossible to hear guides; the prices charged should have justified “whispers .” At least one bus was packed as close as airline economy seats. Air conditioning was not always used even during extremely hot weather. Dining room food on previous cruises was very good however food on this cruise was mediocre in quality and poor selections. Wait staff was excellent and concerned that you get a good experience.
Cruise tips
Brilliance of the Seas
Better food selections and “quality “ tended to be better in Windjammer. Lunches in dining room, only open while at sea, was very good.
Beautiful Medieval town, unfortunately tour guide did not have much to say. Narrow streets and very crowded look-out points
Berlin tour was excellent, albeit long-12.5 hrs. The Warnemunde area looked like a ni9ce place to explore
Beautiful quaint and friendly city. Get a map from the information booth and spend the day exploring.
City highlights gave good insight as to life before and after independence
City excursion including Vasa Museum had a very poor guide that had a low voice and talked into her shoulder; she did not respond to complaints. This and all the other tours had large numbers making it difficult to get up close and in the direction of her talking.
Serenade of the Seas
Do your homework on the ports. The ship gives out little information because they want you to buy their excursion. Some of which had questionable value. This is important since the ship descriptions are incredibly vague making it difficult to make a good choice.
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If you want a snapshot of the Baltic this is the cruise to take. The ship was very comfortable and our cabin near the Centrum deck 9 was very quiet. Centrum entertainment was very good and half of the Showroom presentations were of high quality while the rest was just OK.
The food and variety was very good, especially lunches in the Windjammer. Unfortunately Windjammer experiences can be poor as there is not enough seating or staff to continuously clear tables. We only had dinner there once after a long excursion to Berlin; however this was a terrible ordeal because many excursion returned to the ship late forcing most people to the Windjammer and not the Dining Room. My Time dining in the Reflections dining room was very good. Reasonable variety and very good service.
The quality of the excursion guide often dictated the quality of the excursion. If your guide had a clear loud voice or provided headsets and receivers. This should be a requirement for all excursions! Since Royal Caribbean provides little information on the excursions or the ports you really have to do your homework to decide an itinerary.
We have used the excursions offered by United Cruises and found then to be of high quality and good value. Groups are smaller and they are offered at lower prices. Since we tend to be risk averse we only use them when the ship is not leaving port. With the higher priced ship excursion you are guaranteed that the shop won't leave with out you.