Good cruise, not great.

Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Serenade of the Seas

7 Night Bahamas (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 29, 2014

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8170

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

Our ports were Key West, Nassau and Coco Cay.  Due to weather, we were not able to make Coco Cay because they could not tender us to the island safely.  The problem with this, after talking to others on the ship, is that this happens often.  One person we spoke with has taken this same cruise 4 times and they have never made it to Coco Cay.  If it's that unpredictable, at least have a back up plan.   It made for a long 3 days at sea, which became monotonous since nothing extra was planned or no special activities. 

While the bedding was good, they definitely need to update to new pillows and mattresses.  

And as most cruisers know, cruise ships have been cutting back.  Many were disappointed that there was not a lobster night, even on formal night.  Now, you can purchase a lobster in the main dining room for $25 or so any night that you choose.  With that said, we did upgrade to the specialty restaurants 4 out of 7 nights and really enjoyed those.  It's just sad, that you have to pay extra to get a great meal when that used to be the norm. 

Overall, we had a wonderful cruise.  The staff was wonderful, the ship was beautiful and always immaculately clean, the food was good, etc.  This was a fun time and a really good cruise. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
No lobster night. We thought that was very "cheap" on the cruise line's part.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
We absolutely loved our room. Looks just like the picture. The balcony is to die for! We thought we would lay out on the balcony during the day, but we didn't get much breeze, so it got really hot. But at night, ooooohhhhh. It was lovely! Also, there are curtains that separate the bed from the sofa/tv area. So while I went to bed early, my husband could stay up and watch tv. It was perfect.

Ship tip

A tip, if you are going to enjoy any of the entertainment in the Centrum (middle of the ship with bar), get there early. Seating is very limited. They had some arial shows (which were good) and dancing every night.

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5
Key West was great, but we were only there for 5 hours. They should have allowed more time.

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5
Not much to do here and the shopping is the same every 5 stores or so. Atlantis is good but expensive. Go after 6 at night and The Dig is free.

Cococay (Cruise Line's Private Island)

3 out of 5
We didn't make it so I can't rate. Very disappointed.
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