Serenade of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Our 11 day cruise of the southern Caribbean on Serenade of the Seas was one of the best cruises we have taken. The itinerary was perfext as we had the first two days at sea so we could relax and partipate in the ship's activities. The daily trivia in the Schooner Bar was so much fun. we enjoyed early dining, and Royal CaribbeN has recently updated their menu, so the food was varied and delicious. We booked shore excursions on each of the six islands we visited, and we loved all the excursions. We snorkels in Aruba and the water was beautiful. We took an island tour in Bonaiire and were impressed with the friendly people on the island. We leaned so much aboutt Grenada on an island tour there, and spent the entire day touring. Our favorite stop was Barbados where we swam with turtles and visited a beach nearby that had the clearest water we had ever seen. We hiked near the Pitons in St. Lucia and enjoyed the beauty there. We toured Antigua and again met with so many friendly island natives. This 11 day itinerary is just perfect, and the crew in the Serenade of the Seas made our vacation perfect. This is a trip to take!

Serenade of the Seas - great captain, great cleaning staff and food staff - went above and beyond to make voyage experience a great one. The ship is clean with some surface rust - in anchor area.  The crew were performing painting of exterior hull surfaces while in ports.

The ocean days were full of activities - as much or as little as one wanted to participate in.

Ports of Call were interesting - comments noted were:

Aruba - berthed in port - so the environment was full of containers. Gave feeling of 'mini-Miami

Bonaire - great atmosphere and environment

Grenada- great environment - pretty island - enjoyed the spice island specialty

Barbados - great environment

St Lucia - very pretty island - seemed most visible with security

Antigua - jewel of the Caribbean

had a great time !!

I don't know how to start but when I got to the port to check in my first disappointment was that I was taken the my time dining that I was originally given and was told to take matters when I enter the ship.  When I spoke to the head person at the desk for reservation was spoken to as if so what deal with it, flat out I was told that my dining was for 5:30 and that nothing could be done about that.  That night trying to get some answers at guest services I was sent me back to dining room to speak with the same person I had the bad experience with I was given a really hard time and was sent to talk to the head person in charge, he then assured me my reservation was set for 6pm and even wrote it on my seapass, well you think that would have set things for a relax and enjoyable dinner.  every night was an issue and for me it was very upsetting that at the beginning you go through hell to be seated.  The good part was that once at my table the service with the waiter was superb and the best anyone could ask for. But I ask myself why something so simple at the beginning had to be so horrible.  The first night I felt so bad that while talking to the head person my tears just came out, this is how bad I felt.  Will I allow this bad experience stop me from cruising with royal Caribbean, no, because the rest of the crew was awesome and the service everywhere else was great. One night after sitting at the dinner table I felt so bad I got up and left to the windjammer.  This has never happen to me in all the other cruises that I have been with Royal Caribbean.

My husband and I went on this 10-day cruise because the price was too good to pass.

It was only our 2nd cruise (of 21 total) with Royal Caribbean having been disappointed with the first one.

But this one was really quite better: the staff was very well trained and the food first class especially in the dining room.

I am not sure that the added cost we paid for "a better cabin" higher up was worth it since closer to the pools and one was filled up during an entire night after repairs: one sleepless night hearing water running in the walls. Had it not been for that one incident, I would certainly rate this cruise a 10/10. The entertainment was superb except for that one free evening, boring without a show in the theatre. We also complained about the football game being shown on the large pool screen but WITHOUT sound. What impressed us most was the willingness of the entire crew to go out of their way to serve us.  The ship is not new and maybe a bit outdated but of the perfect size to not have to walk miles to every destination and with fast elevators for a change. Also very clean. All in all, we will not hesitate to go back on the same ship, especially if a different itinerary is offered, for a bit of variety.

Very Good Value.  Really good ports.  Superior staff.  Very energetic entertainment staff. Good food in the main dining room - exceeded our expectations.  The ship felt  more crowded than the Allure, a much bigger and newer ship, which was able to spread around  its 6000 passengers better.  

The atmosphere of the ship was laid back and relaxing. We enjoyed the ports, especially Domenica where  we went to the  Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls.  The food was good.  My husband had three lobster tails on the second formal night while I had prime rib.  Mini golf course was fun,  Billiard tables were awesome and the basketball courts were good. Shows were entertaining with three different comedy venues...don't miss these. Our balcony stateroom was quite large with good closet space. Express departure got us off the ship before 8 am, even though we really didn't want to go. 

trfa

We loved very much our Serenade of the Seas.  We will travel again with Royal Caribbean next year.  We enjoyed the hot tubs, the music  by the pool and the different activities, such as Zumba class and other  activities.  We loved your cruise.Thank you.

 Having to wait in line for 12 people to get an omelette in the morning is ridiculous. It could easily be solved by having one or two more people making omelettes for a timeframe from 830 to 10 o'clock. 

Rule number one for a successful business is; never make people stand in line. 

We were disappointed in the condition of the ship.  DEFINITELY needs refurbishing.  Many pieces of furniture look pretty sad with frayed and very warn cushions. Rust noticeable in may areas of the ship.   Food was ok but found it ridiculous to have to pay extra for many things on the menu above what was already charged..

First time on this length of a cruise. We did only two shore excursions (Harrison Cave in Barbados and St. Lucia Rodney Beach) and both were excellent. More relaxing that looking for adventure but it was well worth it. Antigua was the only port where the cabbies were too thick and followed you and made themselves nuisances. Entertainment was really very good. I heard there was one "bad" show but we missed it so I have nothing but good to say about the ship and guest performers. Centrum performers were good, too. Guitarist, pianist, a duet and a band that could do soft and harder rock - again, very good all of them.

The six islands were nice although there is not much on Bonaire. Had to cancel snorkeling due to silty water after rain. The tropical islands are much nicer than Aruba or Bonaire. The ship itself was small and old or dated. Room was clean and comfortable and service was very good. Entertainment was spotty. Two nights were very good but all others were not good at all. I assume because the ship is small RCI doesn't spend much on talent. The ships dancers/singers were high school quality. One singer was dressed inappropriately for a plus -sized figure. One of the excursions took snorkel era out to deep, white-capped waters. It was awful. Fish were deep in the water and the sea was rough. It had rained earlier so maybe water was murky but they should have canceled rather than put us through that. I would try RCI again but not this ship. 

Some nice venues during the cruise, and some good entertainment (and some not so good).  The ship is obviously aging, but it is still reasonably well maintained.  We never did get an inside table in the Windjammer, and always had to find a spot outside.  This could certainly be improved.  Automatic gratuities are not appreciated - Royal Caribbean needs to pay its employees better, so that their passengers are not saddled with these add-on taxes.

In general this was a very good cruise. We liked the itinerary and the staff was wonderful. The ship was clean and the food was good. The wait staff in the dining room was exceptional.

The only negatives on the cruise were the beverage and cold water situations that I explained earlier.

We expected to enjoy this Fall Foliage Cruise with views of colorful scenery and picturesque villages. Our mistake not realizing we were cruising at night, and in ports 10 days.. The only way to see anything was to go on excursions,several disappointing, otherwise spent the time in Port Villages....mostly the same shops. The Excursion to Peggy's Cove was very good...great Guide. Kennybunk Port....not so good..disappointed. Ft.Lauderdale tour was great, and Guide, Lauri was fantastic. Flight from Atlanta was canceled (mechanical trouble), and United Air Lines did a very poor job rescheduling us. With this in mind, I would always plan to get to departing port city a day early.

Although I truly enjoyed all the ports of call, I did not enjoy the ship. The cabin was way to small, the elevators was a major problem, the Centrum shows was a joke. You vied for a space over looking the Centrum for a show that lasted maybe 10 minutes, Th food in the Windjammer was just OK not the quality of the big ships. I did not like this ship and would not recommend it to anyone.

My husband and I enjoyed getting away together for some down time after tending to my mother after three falls in a week! The food was good, especially the pumpkin rolls, baked Alaska, prime beef(rib?) and lobster! The 11th floor dining choices were OK with more bulk high carb pasta food that isn't as healthy. It also would be nice to vary your desserts more upstairs. Maybe add toppings for the ice cream for variety.

We met some Very nice people! We said that we would Share Seating whenever we dined which gave us a nice mixture of new friends. Would highly recommend having tables for six instead of twelve as you can't hear everyone or enjoy their company when they are on the other end.

The shows were Very fun and a nice variety. The comedians having fun with aging were my favorites as I LOVE to laugh. It is SO therapeutic!

A couple of the excursions were Very interesting like the Titanic graveyard and the plane and car museum. The weather was better at home And the trees were in full color there BUT we enjoyed the new scenery. 

A really nice cruise with a very friendly crew and lots of very good service and food.  I think Royal Carribian did all they could to give us a great vacation for the money. Thank you!

The crew of the ship were professional and friendly as we expected.  One of the reasons we took this trip was to view and photograph the fall foliage.  I was disappointed in that regard.

The lack of brilliant color in the foliage in the US portion of the is certainly beyond the control of all humans but my disappoint lay with the lack of opportunities to take photos while on the RC excursions.  The buses used were clean and most of the tour guides were competent, a few were even outstanding, but overall there were too few stops and shooting quality photos thru bus windows is not the preferred method for acquiring quality photographs.

Two excursions in particular were very disappointing. 

The tour thru Boston was a complete waste and the guide was poor at best.  Too few stops, virtually no stops at historic sites, probably because the roads were too narrow, and gridlock traffic. 

Secondly the tour of Acadia with a trip to the peak of Cadillac Mt. was disappointing because the park was so full of people the bus driver was unable to use his regular stops. Additionally I would not have taken this tour if I had known, prior to booking, that tour buses, and hence its passengers, were only allowed to spend 20 minutes at the peak of the mountain.  The driver was very good and the guide was outstanding. 

I think we were spoiled by the wonderful excursions we experienced on the RC Alaska Land and Sea cruise we took a couple of years ago.

The trip was nice.  The dining room staff were great, so very attentive.  Was a little disappointed in the activities around the ship.  We usually cruise with NCL.  The ship is setup with this circular area in the center of the ship ad they kept having venues for the whole ship to see, and it is only possible for like 150 of the whole ship to see the entertainers.  We just didn't get that.  The rooms were nice.  And they should dock in towns along the coast where you don't have to take a tender.  We happen to talk to the Mayor of Rockland while waiting to get back on the ship, and asked why more stores weren't open since it was a Monday.  And he said, they wanted us to be able to see regular life in a new England town.  The town is very small, not much to do, you would think shops would want to be open with huge cruise ships coming in.  We didn't understand that.  The ship would generate a lot of revenue for the town.  Oh well!  Rockland was boring!

our cabin attendant was great, our head water was above normal, so was the assistant to head water.  They made our dining very enjoyable!  The off shore trips were good. Entertainment was good.  Over all it was a good cruise!