Serenade of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great way to see the Scandinavian countries! Also ship was great! St. Petersburg was hectic but so worth it! Shows were varied and good,service was great

We had a wonderful Baltic cruise for our 1st wedding anniversary! The ports of call were all wonderful despite a little rain, the onboard entertainment was wonderful, and the service was excellent. Be aware of the nickel and dime-ing that goes along with any cruise line (exorbitant drink packages, photos and specialty restaurants), but we had a wonderful cruise.

The itinerary was good, although I probably would have preferred Lithuania over Helsinki. Tallin and St. Petersburg were outstanding. Also, instead of cruising back so slowly on the last day, maybe we could have seen some fjords or something beautiful instead.

The ship staff is helpful. There are many details in a ship that is tired although the staff tries to be prompt in responding to feedback. For example, phone was dirty in room but as soon as I mentioned it, the attendant took care of it and did a fine job cleaning it. We had an unpleasant experience with food at Giovanni's but the manager went out of his way to make sure everything was corrected. The only detail that I did not appreciate, was booking a balcony cabin, only to find out that it had an obstructed view. They need to do a better job of informing passengers what they are getting. 

St. Petersburg although very crowded was fantastic. Our tour guide was great.

Food on the boat was generally very good although at times hard to find a table in the buffet restaurant. Evening buffet meals were quite satisfactory with lots of choices.

The entire cruise was lovely. The only negative on the tour side was the tour guide in Riga Latvia. He was not informative and had a very difficult time expressing himself in English. We came away from there knowing almost nothing about the people or the countries history.

The other negative was the beds. We had a Jr. suite and both the king bed and the hide a bed were AWFUL! We have been on this ship twice before in ocean view with balcony and never had this problem. When u pay this much money for a cruise you expect restful sleep.

We are RC loyal and have never and don't plan to ever change cruise lines unless something isn't done about the beds. They are truly unacceptable!!

All of the ports had exciting things to see except Klaipedia, Lithuania.  In Rostock we took the train to Lubeck which was an excellent choice.  I liked the sequence of the itinerary  because each port got increasingly better, culminating with the king of all ports, St. Petersburg.    The ship is clean, easy to maneuver, the food was very good, and the service was impeccable.  

We were aware that some of the berths/terminals were not the usual ones so knowing & planning ahead of time ensured us a very pleasant, satisfying experience. 

The cruise was more then expected.  The Artic circle crossing event was a real surprise and a joy to participate in. One disappointment was the King Crab Safari which was booked on the website as having the opportunity to view take photos of a king crab, and wild life followed by a trip to a Sami experience of fresh caught and cooked King Crab.  The excursion turned out to be only photo.  

I've had a great time but just a little note that it would have been an excellent 7 day cruise if only if it wasn't too cold and it would also been so much better if the excursions were much longer and more time to explore every Scandinavian countries. Almost every excursions except for Estonia were short and I felt like I was more of a tourist instead of a traveler. On top of that the staff were very friendly and the food were very delicious.

The destination was fabulous, the trip of a lifetime. Copenhagen was a wonderful city to explore and Tallinn, Estonia was our favorite port. We hadn't been on Royal Caribbean for several years, the last ship being the Allure of the Seas, but found this ship to be a good size, very clean and updated. The Windjammer breakfast buffet was excellent, I've never seen so many options for breakfast before on any other ship. It was unfortunately very crowded on port days, it was difficult to find a table. They even made an announcement that if you were finished with your breakfast to please leave so others could enjoy theirs. The lunch and dinner options in the Windjammer café were also very good. The cruise director Topi was very friendly and talented and really set the tone for an enjoyable time.While I don't spend a lot of time in the cabin, it would be nice if there were more TV channels to watch. The same show episodes were played over and over again the entire week. Embarkation and Debarkation were very organized and ran smoothly. All the shows started precisely on time. I would definitely sail with Royal Caribbean again.

Dining experience has been average on this ship, especially compared with other cruises we have done on NCL and Carnival. It is very difficult to find a table around breakfast and lunch time. We were moved to a different table on main dinning and was asked to move again the 2nd night. One of us had hair in the soup. Food is very average and generally tastes just ok

The ports of call for this cruise were the main attraction.  There are not many cruises that visit Norway.  May is just the beginning of Spring and the weather illustrated that fact.  At one of the ports many excursions had to be cancelled or modified because the roads were still closed due to snow fall.  We had two spectacularly beautiful days and two cold rainy days.  My only complaint concerns the excursions.  The excursions, in general, seemed to be much more confused for this cruise than or any of the others I've been on.  We signed up for three excursions in advance of departure, at least a month before.  We were notified about a week before departure that one of the excursions had been cancelled and an alternative was suggested.  When I went online to book the suggested alternative, it did not show up as a possible selection.  For this port we waited to board and then went to the excursion desk onboard to choose an alternative.  The person who was manning the excursion desk was positively rude to us.  She ignored our presence for about five minutes and when she finally acknowledged us she was less than helpful.  We did choose an alternative excursion.  Upon boarding the ship we received information that another cruise had been cancelled because of road closure.  We did not choose an alternative for this one.  The night before the third excursion was scheduled we received a voice mail message on our cabin telephone informing us that excursion had also been cancelled.  We ended up with only one excursion for the four ports of call.  That was disappointing.

All of the ports were great but Geiranger was absolutely wonderful. We rented a "TWIZER" small tandem electric car and drove almost to the glacier. Had to turn around almost to the top because it was so windy.

11 days is a nice cruise duration. It also can be exceptionally frustrating if issues that are not good are not quickly addressed. The "Stateroom" was the size of a walk-in closet. The Bed was so short my legs were hanging over and mattress was incredibly uncomfortable. Everything on and about this cruise ship line was focused on a 100% ALA-CARTE menu. Meaning they wanted to make you spend loads of money once you got onboard. Nothing and I do mean nothing was FREE on this ship. I asked to print out my boarding pass only quick and simple right ?They refused saying you must pay $20 to buy THAT SERVICE for one day. One time I needed to write something down. So i asked the Guest Services for a pen and piece of paper. (LOL) They said they would write it down for me as they could not allow me to keep the pen. There were at least five other stories that can be mentioned all centered around the same point. The people at least in my eyes on this ship. They are trained to be task oriented and Tip conscientious. One persons perception. But if you have paid 100% for your vacation. And were never explained that the ship has an ala-carte menu. That would be an expectation not meet. Thus I did Challenge and question Royal Caribbean on all the snafus that had occurred. Their answer to me was "We" did our job. Your expectation was not meet. Really poor attitudes in their customer service department in Miami. Person I spoke with yesterday told me she would intake info. Then document, Then offer to a higher level for arbitration. Was on phone for 92 minutes. Explained every issue in detail. She was telling me oh my thats terrible. They should never have done it that way. At end of conversation she tells me that there will be no further challenges or offerings. If anyone wants to enjoy themselves. Buyer beware.

Being on the Baltic Sea was so calm and often we saw land.  It was much better than the ocean.  Ports were nice, St Petersburg - a MUST.  Best dinner group EVER.  Great cruise director and activity director. Smaller of the large ships so nothing fancy, no extra dinner nights or prettiness.  Some said not enough options for activities.  I was never bored though.

I would recommend to all fun loving vacationers out there to take a cruise ship for your vacation next time you want a real vacation.Its a very  fantastic way of just having a good time from busy day schedule when at home and/or office. The in house entertainment is gorgeous, the food is excellent and the service is welcoming. No worry about where to go, calling a taxi, or anything to spoil your day of excitement. Sleeping quarter or suite is clean, well taken cared out by on duty maid servant, bed is made and linen and towels are changed when you want it. Its worth the price you paid for the whole trip. Lots of activities to chose from. What you need is more than 24 hours in a given day if you want all of it between waking up and going to bed.My wife and I travels just the two of us, no children. But there are activities for children. So its for family too.

The Serenade of the Seas from Royal Caribbean NEEDS URGENT REFURBISHING!! The cabin was very small, there was mold on the shower, the sofa was small ,soggy and frayed. The Windows on the balcony very dirty. Most of the social areas were OK but old.The cleaning was not the best.I will not book a cruise in this boat until is updated.

The ports were good and Royal did a good job of getting us into another port (Dover, England) when there was a strike in France. The food was average, not very good. The service was average to poor, they seemed to be short handed. The tours were priced a little high and there was no shore ambassador on the ship to ask question which we have on other cruise lines,  The shows on the ship were good although the show times were very bad. Would not recommend Royal Caribbean to others.

Overall a very good cruise.  The cabin was sufficient, but the bathroom sink did not always have hot water.  The shower was fine and the cabin attendant excellent.  The entertainment was good and the bar staff superb.  The itinerary was very nice, except we were not able to go to Le Havre (due to dock workers on strike).  Dover, however, was a great substitute.

6 time cruiser; been aboard Norwegian (good), Royal Caribbean, and Carnival (very good).  The Serenade wasn't a bad ship or unclean, but the food was cafeteria quality at best.  (You'll need a lot of salt and ketchup!)  The entertainment was basically the same show with some variation night after night.  The guest service was inattentive to the point that just stopped asking for an extension chord for our stateroom and eventually canceled a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries that I had pre-ordered to be in our room when we arrived but wasn't there (canceled on the third day after begging for them!)

Been on 2 Royal Caribbean ships but won't be on a third.  Norwegian I would do again but by far my most satisfactory cruises have been on Carnival ships.

My favorite part of the cruise was the shore excursions. The dolphin swim was the best part of all. I've been telling all my friends and coworkers about the trip since I've been back. I have and will continue to recommend this cruise to everyone that I know.