Fair experience - many disappointments

Item: Serenade of the Seas
Rating: 3.6
Author: janlcarter

Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

janlcarter

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5

10 Night Southern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 26, 2018

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Not as impressive as a previous Royal Caribbean experience a few years ago.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Excellent: quick and staff were extremely helpful.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Food in main dining room was repetitive, often lukewarm, and uninspired. Service by table waiter was excellent, but this person was clearly overworked and under supported by other staff, including kitchen where food came out after lengthy delays. The buffet food was usually excellent and offered many options. Did not go to any specialty restaurants.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Due to poor weather, the pools were often closed during the at sea periods, as were the whirlpools. When open, they were clean and well supervised. Did not experience any other onboard activities.

Solarium

5 out of 5

What a beautiful area - nice and quiet, well taken care of by staff, and nice layout.

Entertainment

2 out of 5

LOUD! Wayyy tooooo LOOOOUUUUD!!!! Why was everything - from announcements to live music - so loud?

Children's Programs

No children.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Room steward was excellent: friendly, helpful and professional. Main table waiter was excellent. Wine server nowhere to be found after initial appearance. Senior dining staff overly solicitous after concerns expressed (which then became complaints).

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Ship was clean and tidy, but it has seen better days: carpet edges in hallways and common areas were frayed, chairs in the dining room came apart (headboards fell off easily when trying to move chairs to let people in) with holes in fabric, and tables in dining room placed too close together preventing waitstaff from being able to easily serve everyone around the tables.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Cabin was larger than expected, and - due to everything being so LOUD - wonderfully quiet. It had good layout, plenty of storage space, and was quite comfortable. Only issue: tv received intermittent signal.