Highly Recommend Norwegian Arctic Cruise

Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 60

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Serenade of the Seas

11 Night Arctic Circle (Copenhagen Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 09, 2019

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9608

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

First time we cruised with Royal Caribbean. Overall, no real complaints, but feel Princess has the edge. Crew members were generally friendly. Ports and sights were fantastic.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Embarking from Copenhagen presented no real problems.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Food was generally good, but not what I would call exceptional. Soft drink package was overpriced for what you got, which was just fountain drinks. (Other lines included fruit juice and non-alcoholic cocktails for a lesser charge.) Main complaint was no food available after 11:00 p.m.; other lines generally have at least snack area available 24 hours.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
First time I've seen a pool table on board any ship. Ship activities seem more like afterthoughts.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Ship had a small dedicated movie theater which I liked. (I'm not a big fan of watching movies on the open decks.) Stage shows were entertaining, but generally cruise ship standard.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Staff was courteous throughout.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Serenade of the Seas is one of the older ships; wasn't impressed with general layout. No elevators in aft section; if you have a cabin near the stern, be prepared to do a lot of walking. Common areas were clean.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Closet space was somewhat small. Cabin had a couch, which was nice. Shower had plastic closing doors and a hand held shower head.

Ship tip

This is one ship where the desirable cabins are more forward.

Ports of call

Geiranger, Norway

5 out of 5

Honningsvag, Norway

5 out of 5
Nothing much in Honningsvag itself, but you have to visit North Cape if for no other reason than to say you've been to the top of Europe. Probably the northern most place you'll ever visit.

Tromso, Norway

5 out of 5
Most northernmost city larger than 50,000 population. (Actually has about 65,000.) Interesting place to visit.

Flaam, Norway

5 out of 5
Pleasant enough town, but basically a tourist area.

Cruise Arctic Circle

4 out of 5
Be christened with ice water, get your nose marked blue, and earn your Blue Nose certificate, wimp.

Stavanger, Norway

4 out of 5
Probably see some oil rigs near the port.

Copenhagen, Denmark

5 out of 5
Interesting city; good size; plenty of activities. Worth a visit.

Alesund, Norway

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
No major problems.
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2 Comments

cruisereckoning    4 years ago

Thanks for the review

CruiseQueenNH    5 years ago

Nice clear review!

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