Just OK

Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 93

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Serenade of the Seas

7 Night Canada & New England (Boston Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 18, 2016

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9632

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

The bad:

1. Shore excursion options are ridiculously overpriced.  One example was the Titanic exhibit excursion in Portland.  Royal Caribbean offered this tour (which is self-guided) for I believe $49/person.  The museum was a 10 minute walk from the port, and the ticket for an adult was $20.  Having 4 people in our party, we saved quite a lot by doing this on our own.  
2. The drink packages are ridiculous.  In order to have a juice drink package we would have to pay almost $30 per person per day.  Orange juice was $3.50 per glass.  In order to make the drink package worth it, we would have to drink over 8 glasses of juice per day.  That's a ridiculous amount of juice/pop drinking.  
3. Speaking of orange juice, that juice should NOT be $3.50 per glass.  It is concentrate mixed with way too much water, and tastes awful.  We did complain and got our money back, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place.  If you charge money for a glass of orange juice, it better be actual orange juice. 
4.  The food was not impressive at all.  I couldn't even eat some of the meals in the dining room.  There were maybe a total of 5 dishes that I was impressed with during the entire cruise.  The rest was bland and some even inedible.  It was difficult to find anything good in the Windjammer buffet as well.  
5. When we mentioned the quality of the orange juice at Guest Services, the girl gave us attitude and that in itself was not a pleasant experience.  

On to the good:
The head waiter took care of special food allergies and he was incredible.  
The staff in Adventure Ocean (kids club) is wonderful, the kids loved going there daily and loved the whole cruise because of this.  
Apart from the negative experience at the Guest Services, everyone working on the ship has been great, the service is really wonderful, and everyone is always willing to help out.  We really appreciate that.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 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
It was nice and had a bunk bed!

Ports of call

Boston, Massachusetts

5 out of 5

Portland, Maine

5 out of 5

Bar Harbor, Maine

5 out of 5
Acadia National Park is a must!!! Absolutely beautiful!

Saint John, New Brunswick

3 out of 5

Halifax, Nova Scotia

5 out of 5
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5 Comments

askoleern    8 years ago

Don't go cruising try camping that way you can make all your meals the way you want them

bluskygrl    8 years ago

Any other excursions on the NE cruise you recommend?

bluskygrl    8 years ago

How was your internet service on board?

canalview    8 years ago

The Royal Replenish is the one,FRESH JUICE,BOTTLED WATER,SODA,PREMIUM TEA &COFFEE,NON A\CC COCKTAILS,fits the bill if you did use anything stronger,if you had done your research,you could have enjoyed yourself,instead of moaning

kknorr0320    8 years ago

You don't have to get a drink package. If the only thing you want it for is juice then it's not worth it. If you used it for soda, juice, bottled water and coffee it would probably be worth it.

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