Serenade of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We chose this cruise because it will be one of the last Royal Caribbean vacations out of the beautiful city of New Orleans.  The Port, Embarkation events, and parking was a wonderful experience.  Tampa should take notes.

The ship and its crew did all they could to insure a safe and wonderful voyage.  

Key West and Nassau were great destinations, and the early arrival at Key West was wonderful.

We couldn't have enjoyed the trip more.... 

Was a very relaxing and enjoyable cruise. Service was great, bartenders were terrific, all the crew were pleasant and efficient. Special thanks to Priscilla and Ramon at the Schooner bar, they are the greatest. This cruise met all our expectations of Royal Caribbean International.

My husband and I celebrated our granddaughter's 12th grade graduation (senior this year) with a cruise to the Bahamas.  My 18 and 20 year old granddaughters and their parents and grandparents (I'm Nana) loved the fine dining.  I felt like the splendor of the Titanic in the dining room...only with a happy ending.  The food and service were wonderful.  Our waiters made recommendations on what to order and even helped my granddaughter cut up her duck when he saw her struggling with cutting it up.  We saw a lot of "live entertainment", movies, swimming and GranGran & Nana played ping pong a lot (good for memory & balance).  "Gus" kept our stateroom in good order; all staff were efficient and courteius.  I wanted to sign up for another cruise, just didn't know when we had some days available.  I WANT ANOTHER CRUISE!!!!!

1. Entertainment very good

2. Centrum area too small for number of people on cruise. Not enough space or seating

3.Quality of food just mediocre

4. Service people excellent

5. No enforcement of formal attire. We had jeans and a baseball cap at our table on formal night

6. Coco Cay was a nice idea with great potential, but not not developed enough for older people.

Quite a great first cruise experience! The weather was fantastic, hardly a spitting of rain. We were amazed by the amount of detail and attention paid to keeping our state room clean and tidy, with the bed being made every time we came back to it. The bathroom and middle area were the same was as well. So great! The food! Our dining experience was amazing as well, with great quality food being cooked expertly. That experience was made all the better by our Head Server, Ivo Vas. He was very professional, and took his work very seriously. At the same time, he was so good humored and truly enjoys being around people. We looked forward to dining each night (and sometimes breakfast too!) because of Ivo. Truly remarkable experience! 

This was our first cruise and we LOVED every minute of it! The ship had excellent staff in all areas.  Everyone was pleasant and helpful with all our questions.  The excursion process was smooth when we left the ship and when we returned.  The food was SO good and the service as well.  The activities staff provided a variety of things to do that catered to a number of different tastes. We will certainly be booking another cruise with Royal Caribbean!

Being first time cruisers this was such a JOY to experience. 

We had one glitch: Our ship left Jamaica about an hour later than usual due to late passengers returning to ship. It happens and sometimes cannot be helped. We understand that. But...

Our time in Grand Caymen was cut short. We did not get to take the excursion we booked with to the turtle refue and to the town of HELL. We were supposed to dock at 7 but it was l 9:30 and then lhad to be back by 3:15 to leave early to make Cozumel on schedule. Being that we had to take tender boats to shore we did not make our excursion. Yes, disappointed. I did buy trip insurance and hopefully will be able to get some type of refund for this excursion. 

Everything else from start to finish was perfect. The crew was so accomodating and friendly. Lots of smiles and laughs throughout the week. The sea cooperated with smoothe waters for the duration of the trip. Our room was wonderful. The balcony surely was a big plus and we enjoyed it day and night. The entertainment was good at night. There was so much to do we were busy all the time. Food was good both at the Windjammer buffet and the main diningroom. Our server, Jose, and his assistant were excellent. We met new people with whom we hope to be in touch through emails and txts. We enjoyed this trip so much we plan on another next year. 

Royal Caribbean will not sail from New Orleans in 2016. Perhaps the approx. 8 hours it takes from port out away from the Mississippi River is one reason. Our next cruise will be booked out of Galveston. Looking forward to the Liberty of the Seas in 2016.  

A big thank you to Jackie Greenwood who answered my silly questions, helped me register online, and gave us great tips to make our first cruise a memorable one. 

All in all, this was a very enjoyable cruise. lots to do onboard and the staff was very friendly. The one complaint We had was that we prepaid our gratuities so we could enjoy the my-time dining, which allows you to eat whenever you want. But when got our seapass, it was written on it with a 8:00pm assigned dinner time. When we talked to the customer service on the ship they informed us that they had overbooked the my time dining and we would have to come at the time that was on our seapass, which was the 8:00 time. We were not happy. Every night we had to go over with the waiter why we didn't want the 8Pm time.  They really need to limit the amount of my time dining times to avoid this overbooking. Our cabin steward and staff were very nice and our twin 15 yr. olds loved the teen center. Entertainment was ok, would have loved to see more broadway type shows. Their cruiseline dancers and singers did ok, but the shows only lasted around 40 min.

we had a good experience on our Royal Carribean Cruise to the Western Carribean. my only suggestion to the cruise line is: when you book passengers that are dog lovers ei (K9 college) out of respect to fellow passengers it is only fare to alert them before purchasing . Several people in our group have alligeries to dogs and pet dander, causing discomfort to their cruise. Just saying it would have been nice to lknow several pets were going on the cruise with us and in the dining room.

Our stateroom attendant (Ernesto) was the best we've ever had.  Good variety of music. Team at Schooner Bar was excellent.  A nice, moderate-sized ship. Great ports of call.  Don't miss swimming with the dolphins at Chankanaab Marine Park in Cozumel.  Excellent dinners in Reflections Dining Room, but waited 10 - 40 minutes to get seated at appointed time.  Dinner buffet (Windjammer) stops too early (8:30 p.m.)  Although the small Park Cafe in Solarium serves until 2:00 a.m., its menu is limited.  Windjammer buffet offered vast selections, however they were the same items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner day after day.  Lousy elevators - slow every day, and five of us got stuck between floors for 15 minutes on day three.

Was completely satisfied with my first cruise experience. It was fun and full of things to do!! Our statesroom attendant, Rio, was great and attentive. But it has to be our main dining room experience that set this cruise over the top. Our service was amazing and the food was unbelievable!!!!! Would for sure recommend this for any family!!!

Excellent service from everyone and very nice boat. The first trumpet player in the orchestra was a little crazy with the high notes even when he struggled to hit them. The shows were good and the game shows were great.

Loved our service in the main dining room!!! Great food!!!!!! Had fun!!! Great for families and people traveling with kids. Would not go during spring break again. Too many college kids.

We chose this cruise in a large part because we wanted to visit New Orleans. Since it was an older ship, my expectations were not that high. The ship was absolutely beautiful! Well maintained, very clean. The food was better than we experienced on the Freedom in November. The crew was very friendly. The cruise exceeded my expectations all around.

Everything was first-rate on the Serenade of the Seas that sailed from New Orleans. Getting on and off the ship was fast and efficient. Food was fabulous! But what was really special...The service on the ship. The captain was approachable and quite visible throughout the cruise. The room attendant was the best we have had on our six cruises.

Before we left, I printed directions from the Royal Caribbean web page. The directions put us on the wrong side of the parking area. We saw a traffic barricade that sent us to the correct spot. There was a problem with the parking lot capacity, so they sent us to another lot. They did provide a shuttle but all the waiting took about 2 hours to get parked and to the terminal. After entering the terminal, I asked about a wheelchair for my wife. The attendant told us to ask at another place. We went there, the attendant told us to ask at another place. We went there and the attendant told us we should have asked at the entrance. I told her we did and then she contacted someone and we got a wheel chair. We got to our room and it was hot, so I adjusted the thermostat down. Room didn't cool much, so I called to see if they could adjust it. 2 more calls finally got the temp down enough to  tolerate it (day 3) Had lunch at the main dining room. Food was not very good. A supervisor asked me if I didn't like the food. I said it wasn't very good and he walked away. Hallway by glass elevators on deck 10 smelled like sewer. Time at Key West was too short. Time at Nassau was not planned very well. Cococay was too crowded. The Windjammer had a few days with decent food. The cruise sailed from New Orleans, La, but most of the tv channels were in Spanish.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise from start to finish.  We disembarked quite relaxed and content. 

The staff made it for us.  Our steward was amusing and on the ball and very attentive.  The critters he made were adorable.

The wait staff did a great job considering their immense undertaking of feeding so many people at one time. They were always pleasant and attentive.  Our head waiter remembered our names and likes after one meal.  That was most impressive.

The event and shopping staff far exceeded my expectations in their implementation of their jobs.  They went over and above.  Craig, the shopping guide took a personal interest in my concerns and was extremely helpful with an in port purchase.

Carly B., the event planner, out did herself with her additions to each of the shows.  She was funny and enthusiastic and obviously loved what she did.  She was fabulous.

Though the food was somewhat disappointing, it was good.  The specialty restaurants were better. It didn't seem fair that we had to pay extra for a really good meal, but it was worth it. We were however, very disappointed that there was no food available for late night cravings like we had found on other ships.

Overall, the cruise was wonderfully relaxing and fun.  The entertainment was superior and the activities plentiful.  If one is bored on a Royal Caribbean cruise it is there own fault!  We look forward to cruising again.

The cruise was great.  The only thing I was not impressed with was that there were no servers walking around with drink of the day or in the bars areas you had to go up to the bar to get a drink they didnt come and serve you!  I guess if I pay for a cruise and they charge me gratuities I should be able to get service without going to get it myself.  Otherwise the rest of the areas on the ship were excellent.  There was wonderful service in the buffet area and in the dining room.  Not sure why they can't do the same for the bar areas!  The other cruises I have been on (which were on a different cruise line) were much better with their service in all areas of the ship! 

I spent a great Journy.Customer service and restaurant services are 5 stars. But some small flaws. I was 11AM when boarding, can not stay booked rooms. We visited the ship with full luggage. I feel very bad. If you can not be admitted immediately, you should notify us in advance boarding delays, or someone to help guests have a look at the luggage on board, so that we do not ship ran full luggage.

We had a great time on this cruise!  The ports were perfect, the ship was great - although for some reason it was rockier than other cruises we've been on.  This is the first time using the Premier Drink Package and loved it - no shock at the end!  But we did notice that servers at the bars and around the pool are more difficult to come by.  I guess they feel since they already have your money they don't have to be as attentive.  :(