Wonderful smaller ship with a great crew

Item: Serenade of the Seas
Rating: 3.7
Author: ChrisBehrens

Serenade of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

ChrisBehrens

Contributor Level: Second Mate

5 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 24

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

4 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 18, 2021

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 3022

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Great little ship, but no Windjammer for dinner :-/

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

I was a little disappointed to find the Windjammer is CLOSED during dinner hours. I intentionally did not bring formal clothes, since I had no intention of eating in the MDR during formal nights, but with the Windjammer closed, I was forced to show up in the MDR under-dressed.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Bingo was a huge ripoff. They took in an estimated $5k in card sales, and only gave out a total of ~$800 over the course of three games. The whole thing was over in a flash, leaving most of us wondering where our money went. I could have made that same $59 last WAY longer in the casino.

Casino Royale

5 out of 5

I LOVE the casino on a smaller ship. Within minutes, everyone knew your name. The drinks were tasty and the refills were right on time. Zero and double zero roulette. (better than Carnival's 3-green numbers). Casino manager, Yalcin is a wonderful conversationalist, pleasant and genuine.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

I saw the two comedians. The first one was dismal and a lot of people walked out. The second one was funny, but I had to walk out in the middle for another event in the casino.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Waiters were ALWAYS spot on. Room stewards were fast, efficient, and pleasant. Bar staff were always smiling. Casino staff blew me away. They were ALL professional, pleasant, good conversationalists, and the bar servers were always right on time.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

She's an older ship with plenty of rust, dings, worn furniture and older color schemes. I refer to this as CHARACTER, and wouldn't have it any other way. But if you're not into that, she's going into drydock for a sprucing up in a few weeks.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Room was kinda tight. I could walk to the door OR open the closet. Can't do both at the same time. The furniture was older, worn out, and chipped, faded, broken, and musty.

Ship tip

Be prepared! The Windjammer is NOT open for dinner! Breakfast and lunch ONLY!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

2 out of 5

Got off the ship and was immediately immersed in a shopping area, complete with hand-painted (made in China) trinkets. Thoroughly unimpressed, I went back to the ship.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Easy peasy. I love Royal's method of asking you to stay IN your cabin until your departure number is called. Much nicer than Cernival, where you have to be out of your room by the crack of dawn and wander the ship with your luggage. The only thing that would havbe been better is facial recognition cameras for Customs/Immigration (like at Port Canaveral).