Satisfied the need to get away!

Item: Serenade of the Seas
Rating: 4.6
Author: MurrayHunt

Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review

MurrayHunt

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 56

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5

7 Night Canada & New England (Boston Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 06, 2019

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 7504

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Overall we were happy with the trip. The cities were safe and the pushy hassel that you get in the islands with hair braders such were no exisant. Look forward to revisiting

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Quick and easy. Outside of the Harmony in Ft Lauderdale, this was the easiest. We.were.outnof the taxi and on the ship in less that 30mins. However: I was very disappointed in the luggage service. Most sailings the luggage finds its way to the room or somewhere remotely close. Not this ship. We walked the ship at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and around 3:30pm we found our luggage way down the hall. By that time, it was time for muster. Then it was time for 5:15pm dinning. Our outfits was travel worthy, but NOT main dining room decent. Oh well.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

IZUMI Izumi for a sushi making class while headed to Halifax. Learned the types of sushi 🍣 and how to make each. Then we made it and ate it. Delicious. Giovanni‘s we did the mystery dinner theater at Giovanni’s for $75 a person. The meal started in the Safari room with a small plot involving two mob bosses. The plot was entertaining and involved a murder that you had to solve. The biggest issue we had was the condensed menu. we were hoping for the full Giovanni‘s menu, and when we signed up we were led to believe that that’s what we would get, so we were disappointed. The food we had was good but it was not what we expected

Reflections Restaurant

5 out of 5

Day 1. Waiter Jonathan assistant Anna. Table 607The food and service were wonderful. The prime rib was spot on as requested and the horseradish was delicious. Don’t miss that apple pie. Day 2. Meals were ”ok” We left hungry and ended up at the wind jammer. Found dinner there to be much much betterDay 3. Meals were much better. Day 4 A My Time dinning fail. We lost our waiters and assistant waiter and our view. Off to table 513 with Jaromy and Lanfang. What we lost we made up. Jaromy was awesome. “If you don’t like it, tell me and I will fix it.” That was his motto. He held to it when my mother found her meal to be less than the expected standard. Jaromy was also good for some laughs. Anna did see us and walked all the way across the dinning room to make sure we were happy with our dinner. Day 5 was spend at sea with a ”Show.” more on that later. Day 6. Back to our wonderful Joh Day 7. 5:15 heartbreak. After meeting with Rale on day 2 before the dining room opened and being assured we would have our waiters we arrived only to find someone sitting at our normal table. Apparently they were the late dinner group after us who showed up early or changed their reservations snipping our waiter. This forced us to change our dinner to 7pm very much upsetting my mother termindusly. Ruel Rathan head waiter.

Café Latte-tudes

5 out of 5

The service was quick and friendly. Never an issue. WARNING 🚧 I HATE plastic Straws. I hate paper starts in my mouth. Glad to see RC move from plastic. However, the Frappuccino‘s and paper straws just don’t work. Collapsible stainless steel or reusable plastic straw is a must bring.

Safari Club

5 out of 5

Ashford, the bartender. Not only does he make a good drink, but his upbeat attitude and general enthusiasm could not be beaten.

Vortex Nightclub

5 out of 5

We went in to get sodas before bed and found the place to be a quite place for just sitting. It was amazing. We got to meet Gojko the bar tender from Bosnia. He told us all about is country, is people, and the customs of his land. Amazing gentleman.

Windjammer Cafe

3 out of 5

Day 1. Total subpar for the windjammer. Very disappointed.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Rock Climbing Wall

1 out of 5

Disappointed. Never opened it. Even in port on warm days and clear sky’s.

Vitality Spa

5 out of 5

Well outfitted. To busy after day 1 to hit it again.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

RC knocking it out of the park as always. We did not get to the headliner show as it was not our thing, but every other event we hit was a blast.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Adventure Ocean

5 out of 5

Got the kiddo all signed up with Hebe who was absolutely wonderful on day 1. My daughter demanded to attend Adventure Ocean every day. She fell in love with the staff there and we actually had to bribe her with soft-serve ice cream every night to leave.She loved everyone at Adventure Ocean but her favorites were as follows: Mermaid (Mairead), Turtle (Michelle), and Hebe.

Video Arcade

1 out of 5

Way to expensive.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

She’s an older lady for sure. Kinda reminds me of the Grandeur, older but elegant. She is very clean and very well maintained. Whoever oversees these tasks really knows how to get their people to pay attention to details. Only hang up - lack of plugs. Bring those long phone chargers.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Not at all what we expected, it was better. Large with lots of extra room and storage. Problem: at the front of the ship. Lots of motion of the ocean taken in. For a trip in the North Atlantic that caused a few restless nights, but wow, so much room.

Ship tip

Be ready and go with the flow The North Atlantic can be very unforgiving. Trust in your captian Don’t waste your money on the internet

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Portland, Maine

4 out of 5

Spent the day walking the city. Was ok. Would have enjoyed more nature to our visit. I could skip this stop and spent more time in Bar Harbor.

Thumbs Up 0

Bar Harbor, Maine

5 out of 5

Bar Harbor could be a one-stop cruise destination. Take me there and let me spend the whole week. Nothing could make me happier than that. Pick an adventure and do it. Time is not on your side in this port. There is so much to see and so many experiences to be had, and there is not enough time.

Thumbs Up 2

Saint John, New Brunswick

5 out of 5

What a great walking city. We enjoyed it a lot.

Thumbs Up 0

Halifax, Nova Scotia

5 out of 5

What a beautiful city. We can't wait to return and visit other sites outside of the town. An awe-inspiring town that was clean and comfortable. The people were friendly. Be ready to walk some hills or grab a cab.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

The easiest most organized craziness ever. Once we were told it was our turn, we were off the ship and in a cab in less than 20mins. We were group number 26.

Traveler Photos

$Holy Donut \360\237\215\251 is a must visit when you get in to port.$

2 Comments

Ana70 5 years ago

We loved the serenade in november 2018 Radiance was our first cruise in 2006 so the sister ships where quite the same and so many years in between the serenade is still a great ship and we would definetly do a cruise on her again👍👍👍❤

Thumbs Up 0

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Diamond54 5 years ago

When in Portland take the Casco bay Lines cruise to many of the islands in Portland Harbor. It’s like ten dollars for a two and half hour cruise. Can sit on the upper outside deck if nice out. A great way to see seals and how the island people live.

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