Serenade of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The Serenade of the Seas was nice, would recommend this cruise ship for "older" cruisers.  Also, it is not the top of the line in the RC fleet.  The ships staff and on/off boarding processes were one of our better experiences.  Our ports of call were:  Tortola, St Kitts, Martinique, Antigua, St Marten.  We were disappointed in Tortola, Martinique & Antigua. Tortola's shopping area just opened the week before we arrived and very few stores were open.  In Martinique, there was little shopping, language barriers, and an uncertainty of exactly where things were.  We were also told it was a long walk back to ship and we should take a taxi.  We over heard another passenger say "follow the blue sidewalk to get you back to the ship" - that was good advise.  The walk was less than 10 - 15 minutes.  Again, in Antigua there was little shopping close to the ports.  Our experiences in St Kitts and St Marten were much better and would enjoy going back to these ports.  In St Marten, we went scuba diving and would recommend Octopus Diving for a fantastic experience (we are not certified and were given great instructions prior to our two dives).  It was the highlight of our trip and look forward to scuba diving again. 

We do plan on cruising again soon.  No matter the age of people on the ship, your cruise is what you make it.  We introduced ourselves, mingled and met some wonderful people from all over the world/country, participated in events and made the cruise interesting and enjoyable.  The much needed time away was great and again look forward to our next cruise. 

Only negative was smoking in the Casino.  The days they made Casino non smoking, it was packed with happy gamblers.  Make an outside area for smoking. Food was outstanding.

Royal Caribbean is a great company and goes out of their way to make sure you have a good cruising experience.  Our only complaint was the overbooking of the My Time Dining.  We booked ahead of time online for a 6:15 dinner time.  There were 6 of us traveling together.  Each night we went we were taken down a flight of stairs (one of our travel companions had a hard time with this as her knee is really bad, and we tried to explain this to the hostess...). On the 3rd night as we were enjoying our coffee and conversation, we were very politely told that they were going to need to start setting up our table for the 8 o'clock seating.  Seems that the downstairs was for the set seating times (5;30 and 8:00) and upstairs was My Dining.  The next few nights we skipped formal dining and went to the buffet, which was fine as the variety and food were really good.  I finally spoke to the hostess in formal dining and that night we were seated upstairs, but had to wait until 7 p.m. to get a table.  After complaining to guest services, the next evening we were upgraded to one of the specialty restaurants,  The next night our table was ready at 6:15 upstairs.  There are a lot of cruise lines to choose from and they bent over backwards trying to make it right.  Wish we would have complained sooner.  They say no reserving  lounge chairs, but that is a crock, especially in the Solarium, where every chair had a towel or book or something on it by 6:30 in the morning and deck chairs not much after that, so on sailing days you'd better get out there quick!  Port days were much easier to find a place.  The staff in the restaurants, bars and our room steward were great.  Debarking started a little late, but once it did, went smoothly.  Just have to be patient, there are a lot of people trying to get off.  Just try to book later flights if you are worried.  Would definitely cruise with them again.

My husband and I are in our late 50s and our 2/26/16 cruise on Serenade was wonderful, although the ship is looking it's age in places and the entertainment was just OK.  

The ship is showing signs of rust and peeling paint in places, yet very clean. The crew was polite, friendly and helpful.

Giovanni's was a highlight and so good that we went twice during our 10 night sailing.  The MDR food was adequate.  There were some highlights, but other nights not so much.  I continue to believe that RCCL understaffs their MDR on all their ships.  It's just too many diners for the number of wait staff available, particularly on formal nights and lobster/prime rib night.  

The entertainment was hit or miss.  A couple of the headline shows were awesome!  A gentlemen that played violin was oh so much more than you could have imaged.  He played pop, classical, and blue grass while dancing and strolling through the theatre. Also The Alleycats, an acapella doo wap group were outstanding.  

As for the 2 production shows, the 1st one was satisfactory, but the second, a retrospective of hits from the 60s-90s, was pretty horrible.  Although the singers had good vocal skills, with the exception of the nasally tenor, I didn't understand the singing assignments.  They just weren't singing the pieces that could have been performed much better by different cast members.  The dancers looked confused and out of sync.  Very disappointing.

I do wish there had been more activities on the ship with 4 sea days.  There are only so many trivia contests and towel and spa demonstrations that you want to attend.  

The usual deck chair saving issue was very bad.  My husband and I arrived in the Solarium (a wonderful spot to be) at 11:00 AM one morning on an in port day and found a couple of vacant chairs.  Next to us were 4 chairs with towels on them.  At 1:30 we had yet to see anyone show up there, when a couple of ladies looking for seats asked out the space.  They proceeded to claim 2 of the chairs with their personal items and went off to the pool.  10 minutes later the group of 4 arrived and threw those items on the deck and reclaimed the chairs.  Well, a real shouting match began and the pool attendant arrived, only to allow the group to stay and assisted the 2 ladies in finding alternate seating. I thought that was terrible.  The 30 minute rule was clearly posted but I guess that doesn't mean much.  

All in all we enjoyed our 10 day vacation, but probably would not sail on Serenade again.  

I have been planning for this cruise for over a year.  I was able to spend quality time with some dear friends and relax.  I was not happy with all the way Royal Caribbean was treating the elderly people on this particular cruise once someone had a minor injury. The port calls we're nice but the meal selection had a lot to desire after 8pm. The midnight snack was below expectation.  The entertainment was fair. Need to have more show or events set for the total of 4 days at sea.  Please ensure you are catering to everyone on the cruise vs. one age group.  

As a 20 year loyal Royal Carribean customer it is obvious that either management does not care about the smaller older ships or is trying to improve the bottom line by cutting the quality of food. They continue to have crews that are exceptional and friendly but the staterooms are getting shabby and the deployment of on deck services are not thought out. They seem to be jammed into spaces that do not fit. I accept I am not on the Oasis. If I wanted the Oasis I would book on the Oasis. 

A sorry excuse  use for a mattress, noisy decks playing reggae music blasting with nowhere to hide. Inappropriate for age of passengers. Chops had the worst sirloin steak I ever tried to eat. Rained the night I had an appointment to Izumi. Difficult and dangerous to access restaurant by open wet and windy deck.

Getting us out of our staterooms on the last morning and waiting almost two hours beyond our scheduled departure time is not fair.  It has been months since Customs staff have been cut. We had 3 agents to check 2000 passengers. Not RC's fault but keeping the situation from us is not fair.

Seems new management lacks sensitivity needed for a SERVICE industry.

Do not know if I will return.

My husband and I thought an 11 day cruise would be too long. However, much to our surprise we actually thought we could stay on the ship much longer.  The service and entertainment were exceptional, the food was good; we especially enjoyed the specialty dining.  The ports of call were excellent and the boat excursions were delightful.  Our cabin was located centrally and the bars and restaurants were great.  If there were one area that needed to be redone it would be Vintages; bar stools were too short.  Other than that I have no complaints and highly recommend this cruise.

We had a great cruise with 6 great ports of call.  We thought the ship was just the right size and had a lot of old world charm with dark wood and decorated nicely.  Staff was good and food was good in the most part but thought some items were too salty.  Scrambled eggs in Windjamer buffet were awful.  Had to switch to fried or hard boiled eggs.  Entertainment was average.....some acts great and others kind of boring.  One comedy act was flat.  Also thought there should of been more variety of activities to do through out the day.  Would we go on this ship again....yes!  Smaller ships are my first choice.

We were very satisfied with this criuse. Food was very good. Windjammer was always hot and plentiful. Dining room great all but one night. But service was outstanding! Wilson was our server,he was awesome and fast. We had a balcony room in great location..bed & pillows OK and had plenty of storage. One thing I was a bit disappointed in is this ship has a small centrum. Everything happens there and if you didn't get there early you had to stand. 

 Also thought they could have had more activities around the pool for a 10 day criuse. We will definitely be sailing again.

The cruise to the Eastern Caribbean was excellent. The food and personnel on the ship were outstanding. Rooms ere always clean and neat. We had an outside cabin which was a little small. The only issue was my time dinning which the ship took reservations for which I never experienced and all the early times were booked. If you take Royal on a cruise book early for my time dinning. All stops on this cruise was very enjoyable and I would recommend this itinerary for all ages. 

Ship was in excellent condition.  Rooms extremely clean.

Service of crew - excellent.  Entertainment was fair - but there are a variety of entertainment choices.  Food: wide selection.  Casual dining fine, Finer dining excellent.

Our cruise experience on the Serenade of the Seas on Jan. 15, 2016 was nearly a perfect experience. The weather was between 80 and 85 degrees all week. The saltwater pool was very comfortable. Our room was perfectly located for a quick trip to dining and swimming and disembarkation from the ship at each Island.  The my time dining was a little disorganized the first two days, but was quickly fixed to our satisfaction. The Dining in both the Windjammer and the main Dining room was very comfortable and the food was excellently served by very efficient servers. Entertainment was satisfactory.

The Serenade is a beautiful ship that, because of its smaller size, is very easy to navigate. Most of the crew could not have been nicer or more efficient.  I would give our experience 5 stars except for the very bad experience regarding payments that I made over the few months prior to sailing directly to RCCL. for all 5 shore excursions. We arrived at the pier, were directed to a desk where  the rep. informed us that he must collect $74 from us but he could offer us no reason for this. I paid the amount even though no one was able to explain the extra cost. Invoices from RCCL and BJ's indicated we were paid in full, and, may I say it was paid in full far in advance of sailing. After boarding, I went to Aninka at customer service to find out that we now owe  an add'l  $279 but again, she could not give the reason.  Sometime later, after multiple trips to guest services, I was finally informed that the travel agency had not paid my excursions.  I then spent an hour on the phone with Webster bank who very definitely documented proof that all debits to my account had been cleared and cleared by RCCL, not BJ's. Webster did send RCCL proof of this but I was told again to notify our travel agent BJ's.  I finally called BJ's and spent an hour on the phone with Meg who was able to speak with Patsy at RCCL corporate office.  Thankfully, I purchased international time on cell service otherwise call would have cost me hundreds. Then the account was reported to be paid in full. But the on board account showed that the original $74 was a courtesy credit which was very disconcerting as they OWED this amount to us.  (It was not a courtesy) Because of the large amount that was supposedly owed by us, i was afraid to spend any money on the ship that could put us over our budget.  This was one of the worst, if not the worst experiences of a cruise ship.  If not for the help of Aninka and  Meg with BJ's, I am not sure the cruise would have been a true enjoyable vacation. What was so frustrating was to get anyone on RCCL, other then Abinka to listen to me. I feel they could have had some better customer service involved with this matter especially for people who are repeat RCCL customers. What kills me is the corporate office had documented proof tht the payments were made and cleared by RCCL from Webster bank.  I really would like someone explain this to me as it was very stressful 

My husband and I had a wonderful time on this cruise!  This was a smaller ship than our last cruise and other than my sea sickness on the voyage home, everything was great!  We found all the islands intriguing and will definitely revisit Aruba and Antigua...possibly Barbados.  Scenery was absolutely breathtaking!  The only complaint we had was on Grenada and St. Lucia, all the locals we encountered had their hands out.  Beaches we were taken to were filthy, I recommend bug spray!  By the time the cruise was over, we were tired of opening our wallets.  We will most likely just do an all-inclusive trip to our favorite islands and spend a week so that we can see more.   

Although I was concern sailing on a smaller ship than previous cruises, the Serenade of the Seas was excellent. There were no "surprises".  The islands we visited were enjoyable and excursions were fun and informative with each have unique features.  The food on the ship was very good and the service was excellent.  The pools were small but not overly crowded.  The casino was average.  The entertainment was good and enjoyed the bands that played in the centrum and the piano players in the other lounge areas. Embarkment was quick and easy while disembarkment  was very slow.  Enjoyable time.  

We loved this cruise ship and the staff. They are there for your every needs!!! The food and the entertainment were Awesome! The ports of call and the excursions that we did were great. We did zip lining in St. Lucia and UTV riding in Aruba!

There is something for everyone. As a solo traveler I booked this 12-night cruise on Serenade of the Seas approximately one week before sailing – 7 day cruises do not cut it for me anymore. I wanted to be on a beautiful ship for Christmas and New Year's and that's exactly what I got. The ship was beautifully decorated and the planned activities were appropriate. As I have been on several Caribbean cruises, I decided to forego the tours and just enjoy the ship.

My Time Dining was the only option available. While I prefer a fixed dining time, this option allowed me to meet several other solo travelers, some of whom became friends.

Your survey does not give a choice of FAMILY only--without designation of children.  W/older children implies children who are teenaged.  My sister and I are in our 50's and 60's and traveled with our 90+ year old mother.

The midnight LOUD announcement:  ALPHA, ALPHA, ALPHA was VERY, VERY disturbing.  Woke us and many other passengers out of sound sleep with NO INDICATION THAT IT WAS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.    Most of us were alarmed not knowing what was wrong.  If only we had known that it was a medical emergency, we could have gone back to sleep!!!!!

There is no stern elevator or stairs EXCEPT for the crew, It is over 200 yards to the center elevators, one of which did not work the whole cruise. Getting an elevator during peak times was nearly impossible without a VERY LOT of patience. The many people in wheelchairs and scooters and all the people with them were given priority in every line. Why? They are sitting down!

The crew and service was great but the ship not passenger friendly.

Most meals were overcooked or under cooked,except Chops Grill.  Elevators don't stop at floors just wiss by empty. One crew member stated this is a training ship for new employees,and that's why the food service is poor. Talked to chef about overcooked carved entrees and the next day fried chicken was under cooked and bleeding inside.Key West immigration  check was a real farce with lines winding throughout the ship very poorly organized!!!.