good but not great
Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas
7 Night Bahamas (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 27, 2014
Ship: Serenade of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9588
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
I am a long time cruiser..started in 1984. Have cruised luxury lines as well as more common lines. Am noticing a shift which is making cruising less special and more like a VRBO vacation. I enjoy royal carribean. This is my third time on the Serenade of seas...staff very friendly and accommodating and did their job well..ship is in great shape for its age...but the thing that is changing and not in a good way is the cuisine. The dining room was extremely over crowded and poorly laid out (we were on late seating as my time seating was full). There was no room for the wait staff to move around freely to even serve water..glasses had to be brought across the table to them. The service seemed rushed,no time to enjoy the meal. The menu was uninspired.Some entrees were excellent (ie shrimp dishes) most beef was low cost cuts. Even in the specialty restaurant there was a surcharge on top of the charge to get aged beef cuts. There was a premium charge in the main dining room for lobster. My feeling is that if the cruise line can no longer afford lobster as an entry on formal night then make due with special shrimp dish or fish dish and take it completely off the menu...also too many additional charge specialty restaurants... It gives the impression that there is no good food in the main dining room...one of the most redeeming qualities was the lunch at the main dining room..fresh made salad to order...breakfast buffet was the same every day very boring choices.. Overall the food experience was not up to what I remember from Royal carribean. Perhaps the face of cruising is evolving from elegant dining with special memorable experiences to rock wall climbing and eating at Denny's..too bad...it seems that by offering such"low" prices for their sailings they have sacrificed what was the hallmark of cruising's extra ordinary vacation... I WOULD cruise this line again but with the above knowledge..therefore managing my expectatikns.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Would try to get balcony cabin away from the midship area if you want quiet.although the cabins in the bowed out area of the ship are larger they are by the atrium which has now been turned into an entertainment venue..it gets loud despite closing doors
Ports of call
Cococay (Cruise Line's Private Island)