Serenade of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It was a good cruise for relaxing and seeing new places.

I loved this itinerary and would definitely do it again given the opportunity. Plenty of ports and sights to see. It's a great ship with plenty of activities for all ages.

Had a really good time, everybody on the ship was very friendly and helpful. My only complaint would be the Wi-Fi reception, it was very hit and miss. We had the surf package the cheapest one so perhaps the streaming one would be better. Food was great at all restaurants, good choices and quality. Our weight stuff was amazing, some of the best we’ve ever had. Room was always made up very quickly. Chip is not as fancy as some of the bigger ones, but we were there for the scenery and ports of call. Very smooth sailing, ship is very quiet with no vibrations.

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. 

It was a great week and a good time was had by all. We enjoyed our first time on Serenade. My young adult children didn’t enjoy the ship quite as much as I did but I booked this trip for the itinerary and not the ship itself.

We continued our transatlantic cruise vacation back-to-back with this 7 nighter to the fjords of Norway.  The itinerary was exceptional with the crowning experience being Geirangerfjord. The absolute beauty of this port can't be captured with words. It is something that one needs to experience. Pros: We enjoyed our cruise because of the great crew who took care of us for our entire vacation. Paola and Andreea in MDR, Pedro (Maitre d'), Marisha and Jerome (MDR), DouDou and Ricardo (stateroom). Each of these people really understood how to make someone feel welcomed and not so far away from home. Itinerary was fabulous if you wanted to see more of Norway and experience the fjords. The simple beauty of this country is breathtaking and every one we met was friendly and engaging.   I also want to give a round of applause for the entire food service department.  Honestly, the food was miles better than we had on the Celebrity Reflection a couple months ago. Cons: The Serenade needs a refurb. I've mentioned this in all my reviews. It does a disservice to the crew who work tirelessly but there is just so much one can do to make a silk purse, as they say. Stateroom: After staying in a 'deluxe' balcony stateroom for the first leg of our vacation, we looked forward to moving to a "superior" one but quite honestly, we saw no appreciable difference between the two. The website boasts superior being larger than the other but our stateroom was the same confined small space. I really don't get how RCC charges more for the same cabin ~shrug~ Entertainment: Fair quality of uninspiring entertainment.  Highlights included Segundo on the spanish guitar.  He was awesome.  

Fun holiday Southern Caribbean cruise. Staff outstanding, ship we’ll appointed, Fabulous ports. Prefer Freedom and Oasis class ships but met great new friends on this size ship. We will always have great memories with Serenade of the Seas

From beginning to end we felt pampered, listened to and provided with food we desired. Only 922 passengers, but believe this will continue as numbers increase.

Overall we were happy with the trip. The cities were safe and the pushy hassel that you get in the islands with hair braders such were no exisant. Look forward to revisiting

My favorite port was Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Half of the island is Dutch and the other half French. It was the time of year when the butterflies come out and they are everywhere. Very enchanting! I loved Maho Beach where you can almost touch the planes as they land (wouldn't advise trying).

this was my 3rd Royal Caribbean Cruise and have to say I was very disappointed. The ship is very old, small, and looks like it needs so TLC. The customer service overall is great expect for the guest services whom are clueless on what is going around the ship. our room attendant I think her name was Alideia was fantastic always greeting us with a smile, helping open the door when our hands were full. We did the 8:30 dining and it was awesome but the food had good and bad days for sure. The windjammer always packed breakfast always the same thing, lunch changed but hard to find a place to eat. Each morning I started off with my drinks at The bar in the Solarium Randy Opena is beyond outstanding. In the evening Paul Williams in the pub knocked me off my feet with his knowledge of wines and beers. the main pool was cold and small spent time in the hot tub which the first 2 days was cold but then was nice and hot. everything closed early on this ship like 6ish which was odd and the solarium had kids constantly in and out so rules not enforced. The activities i tired to see each main show after 15 mins I would walk out because it was that bad. this ship was very much geared to 50 plus if not older. Overall we meet some wonderful people and enjoyed most of the ports expect Finland. I will still sail Royal as overall they do have great customer service.

Fabulous, loved every minute of it. Will book again for next year.

Just home from an 11-night southern Caribbean cruise on the Serenade. This was our 2nd time onboard in the last 3 years. As usual, the crew, for the most part, are passionate about what they do and it shows in how they conduct themselves. The ship, however, is showing her age. Cabins need repair, public areas of the ship are not functioning (there use to be an aerial show in the centrum but was told the mechanics were damaged; the bar in the vortex lounge no longer lights up or rotates; etc.). The onbaord RCCL singers and dancers were good, but most of their production numbers were "watered down" versions of what we saw 3 years ago. It was still a great trip and worth the cruise price. I'm going to hold off on rebooking this ship until after the next remodel and update. 

I really wanted to have enjoyed this cruise. But there was no way. I was loyal to Royal Caribbean, but after this one, I will avoid them. In a nutshell, I felt like in a 3rd class ship. The boat was falling apart, filthy rooms, bathroom smelled like pee, the crew was overworked as always but this time they were aggressive and would confront you if you take a complaint to the service desk, pool was cloudy and under construction, water fountain unsanitary and a lot of times there were no cups, food choices very limited and bad quality, safe deposit and tv did not work, no shore excursions available, the specialty coffee was only offered in one location, shows were cheap, and the programming was sad and constantly trying to sell you something. To make matters even worse, when I complained to one of the crew members he said that he could "leave" me in one of the inhabited islands making me feel very unsafe in that boat.  This was the absolutely worse vacation I have ever had, thanks to Royal Caribbean...Very sad. 

This first round was great. We loved it. I wrote a blog about our cruise, you can read it if you like: http://www.nagykati.hu/blog/karib-szigetek/ Ask me, if you like to know more...

I fell in love with cruising and am now a fan of RCCL. The Serenade is the right ship if you are looking for a smaller crowd, excellent ports and fine with a less hectic atmosphere. Definitely a winner.

Overall a wonderful cruise with fantastic ports of call. There was a large group that took over the Solarium, and the ship is in need of some cosmetic attention. The spa services were incredible - we tried out couples massage, pedicure, and hair treatment. All were above and beyond our anticipation. We love the smaller ships and the more intimate connections we make on board them. The food was a touch below our previous experiences, but still good. Staff and crew were, as always, polite and helpful. Based on this trip, we booked full transit of the Panama Canal for next Spring out of Panama - no need to fly to California. We have several more cruise dives planned, and I will put all the details on my blog at DeepWaterHappy.com. We just completed ABC Aruba/Bonaire/Curacao trip and St. Kitts, Nevis, Maarten recently, so had lots of recent experience for comparison. Our shore excursions will be covered on the blog - we book with RCCL as well as with outside companies regularly, and I'll cover those details thoroughly. Kim and Bill - about to be Diamond Plus on our next cruise!

Embarkation was very chaotic and no real direction. Worst one out of 8 prior. Cruise itself was fine. I was going in with low expectations because I like the Caribbean cruises and Alaska was beautiful but not my kind of cruise. I had to pack way too much, layers, sweatshirt, hats, gloves. Many people this is their bucket list and you should see the beautiful mountains of Alaska. For us RC just dropped the ball when my husband tested positive.

A wonderful cruise with an amazing itinerary. Staff on board were very dedicated and were good through to excellent.

This is my first time on a Royal Caribbean cruise, and it was a nice experience.  The boat was nice and clean, the staff were friendly and always willing to help.  The main dining room always had great choices for dinner and it was always delicious and fresh.  The main server and assistant servers made the trip memorable.  They are always willing to go the extra mile to make out trip fun and easy going.  My stateroom was always neat and clean.  I can be gone for an hour and come back to a freshly made bed.  Our room steward was friendly, helpful and informative.   The ports on this route were Key West, Nassau, and CocoCay.  Key West was beautiful and full of fun as soon as you stepped off the boat.  The area was made for tourism.  The houses were cute, the shopping areas were great and plenty of choices for food.  If you get a chance, swing by Two Friends Patio Restaurant and have some of the key lime pies (TO DIE FOR)!  CocoCay was a great stop to.  It was nice to just hang at the white sand beaches with its crystal clear waters.  I didn't do an excursion on this port, but you won't need to with all the things you can do for free on this island.  Nassau was nice, but as soon as you got off the boat and went to the end of the port, there were so many salesmen trying to get you to book one of their taxis.  It was a little unnerving and annoying.  Once you got on a taxi and made your way to the Atlantis Casino and Resort, it was nice and beautiful.  The casino is large and the shopping ares were nice and clean.  If you go to the beach area, you will have more salesmen trying to rent you a beach chair and an umbrella.  Other than the annoyance of feeling forced, it was an ok port.  All in all it was a nice and relaxing trip.  Next time if my trip takes me to the port of Nassau, I might stay on the boat and find more fun things to do without the haggle and hustling.