We will never use Royal Caribbean again.
Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 65
7 Night Canada & New England (Boston Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 08, 2017
Ship: Serenade of the Seas
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 8571
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
The ports we visited and the 4 other couples made our trip fantastic. The ship itself was poorly designed and poorly managed. Royal Caribbean managed to up-sell me and then fell short of their promise costing us close to $400 extra to get on the ship. They could have offered some on board credit or upgrades but did not concern themselves with us. We will NEVER use Royal Caribbean again. The overall rating makes this ship look better that it is. It would be more accurate to rate it without the ports of call.Embarkation
We arrived early having checked in online and were herded in like good little sheep and thrilled to be on the ship. Our issues were before this point. We purchased our airplane tickets (paying higher prices and additional fees) through RC under the agreement they would insure we got on our ship. Our flights were changed and we were never notified. We were forced to come a day early and pay for a Hotel in Boston plus travel from the airport and to the port as well as extra meals. Quite an added expense but RC did not offer any help at all. If left up to them we would have missed our ship completely.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The choices in the main dinning room did not compare to what we had on the Carnival Triumph 3 years ago. We managed to find things on the menu we like but there was not much choice, we ate the same items most nights. They only had one dessert I really loved and it was only served one night. I do not pay for specialty restaurants. I feel I have paid enough so it was disappointing that so much of the ship was taken up by 5 specialty restaurants. The buffet was really just ordinary and disappointing. Food was warm not hot and often dried and crusty on top. Breakfast was cold from the dinning room as well as the buffet. Ended up eating pastries and bacon. Again maybe we were expecting too much after being on the Carnival Triumph.
Onboard Activities
We enjoyed the pool and hot tubs. We were not only disappointed but shocked by the pianist "trying" to sing in the lounge but we found a guitarist who sang and encouraged crowd participation that we enjoyed. The only problem was he did the same songs and jokes all three times we saw him. We wanted to play shuffle board but they chose the day we were at sea to repaint it so it was not accessible. On the next day at sea they had the inside pool closed for some reason and it was far to cold to be outside. Why wouldn't they do these repairs and maintenance when a majority of us were off ship in port?
Entertainment
We really enjoyed the stage shows and comedian in the theater.
Service and Staff
Our servers were all very good as well as the room steward. (Although I would like to have had more towel animals, but I just like that sort of thing) My only complaint was the constant reminder to give them a good review. Also when the dinning staff did there little show they were completely out of sight from our table. The Carnival Triumph made sure to include all and even danced with us at our tables a little.
Ship Quality
Huge problem with the layout, mostly stemming from the fact they had FIVE special restaurant that you had to pay extra that took up PRIME space that could have been used. They had a lot of performances that were done in the Centrum Bar that were a big draw but the seating was so limited that it was standing room only. People were lined up at each overlooking balcony on every floor. So only a select few could participate/dance on the bottom level and a few more could see from the balcony but no one could see over them. So we just had to miss out. Five star for cleanliness though.
Cabin / Stateroom
Good size for inside room, Clean and comfortable. We had curtains that you could draw to close off the bed so if your husband was up the lights did not disturb you so much (Not all with us had these curtains) also you could stay in bed while he let the room service in. Here is the problem, room service was so bad. If you asked for coffee between 7 and 7:30 you got a "on the way call" at 6:45. They brought EXACTLY one cup of coffee each and the bagel (as in one) was literally burnt as in black.
Plenty of storage and a safe and frig. I would suggest bringing extra hangers.
Ship tip
DON'T use Royal Caribbean !!! Try Carnival, I would have given them five stars on every category. We took the fall New England Canada cruise. Keep in mind if you take this cruise it will be full of elderly people. Love them but you have to have patience with all the canes and walkers. Good practice for us though, Made us feel young. ha ha
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We had not planned to come in early and we were there years ago. Great place, just not on our agenda this time.
We took a free bus ( provided you have a National Park Membership) through Acadia. Took the Sandy beach loop and went to the top and hiked down to the beach, caught the bus and went back to Bar Harbor for lunch. We figured it to be 4 or 5 miles. LOVE IT! The rain came as we hit town but we had a good lobster roll and found inexpensive T-shirts then went back to the ship for drinks. We enjoyed the tender as we had never done that before.
Here we took the Portland by land and sea tour. I am not a fan of the narrated bus tour but some like it. The Schooner ride was FANTASTIC. We were so lucky to have good weather. We saw three lighthouses from Casco Bay. This tour was not narrated but they would answer any questions you asked and welcomed them.
We took the excursion to St Martins to see the sea caves. Again the first part was a narrated bus tour (boring) but the sea caves were awesome as well as the little harbor village we visited. The seafood chowder was the best I have ever had. Well worth the time and money.
No excursion here. Make some plans before you go because there is a lot to see and it really is not close enough to walk to all. We hiked up the hill to see the Citadel. Tough walk but worth it. Our group got a little turned around here due to not planning and ended up missing the bus that would take us to the cemetery and then back to park point. My husband and I went for a walk down the harbor and really enjoyed the atmosphere, shops and ice-cream also had our first Poutine (Fries with cheese curds and gravy).
Disembarkation
Very organized we were off the boat waiting for Uber in about 35 minutes. They will encourage you to take their shuttle for $54 (for two) but the Uber was less than $20 for us both and easy to find.
Traveler Photos
6 Comments
krisortom 7 years ago
We went on Seranade last Oct. Had a great time loved every min. of it. We too had flight change but because we book so far in advance that when we chose to come in the day before we actually got $500. Back for coming in the day before. Because the flight was cheaper.. So we chose to use that for a room and having a great time. The cruise is all of what you make of it. That was our 7 cruise and have been on both RC and Carnival we prefer RC. Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip.
modomom 7 years ago
We were told if we booked our flight with them they would guarantee we got on the ship. They only offered AA which was higher than most plus a fee for booking through them which didn't show up under flight charges but I found it in/with various other fees. Our flight was rescheduled for later and we would have missed the ship. I only found out because I was looking to see where our seats were. We had to come in a day early and find a room in Boston. Had to pay for upgraded seats just to do that. The $400 was not the up charge it was the additional charges for the room, two ubers, dinner out and I forgot to add in the added expense for the seats on the airline which didn't seem any different just closer to the front.