Rc: Serenade of the seas - never again!

To the OP,

We will sail with the Serenade next year. I have read your review with interest. Many of the things you have described were also my impression on the Brilliance of the Seas, so I know you are not inventing things. I have never sailed Carnival and I do like Royal Caribbean a lot. Despite liking Royal Caribbean I respect your opinion. Sorry that the things you have described have let you to conclude that you do not wish to cruise with Royal anymore.

Enjoy your cruises and thanks for posting here to give your opinion.

That's sounds like an empathic, genuine, kind, constructive post. Thanks from me - even though it wasn't for me !!

 

:)

Edited October 9, 2014 by delirious9876

 

Carnival do operate in Europe - they're known as P&O Cruises and Celebrity !!!

 

 

Carnival owns Princess. Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean.

 

Carnival do operate in Europe - they're known as P&O Cruises and Celebrity !!!

 

 

 

Carnival owns Princess. Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean.

 

Maybe they meant Costa. They're operated by Carnival, correct?

Edited October 9, 2014 by OfTheSeasCruiser

This is the first time that I am writing a review but I feel compelled to do so.

 

We sailed the Caribbean with Carnival Glory in 2010. The Grand Med on the Magic in 2011. Northern Europe and Norway on the Legend in 2013 and now 17th Sept 14 on RC Serenade of the Seas, the Adriatic.

 

We were obviously spoiled by Carnival as our latest cruise did not meet our expectations at all.

For the first two days we had no idea what was happening on-board as there were no announcements in the room and somehow the daily "Compass" had not been delivered! Our first thought was, did the cruise director jump ship? Upon enquiring we were told that they stopped making announcements in the rooms as there had been too many complaints...surely the choice should be left to the guest to opt to have the system on or off. So that was a very bad start.

 

The ship: Do not expect the grandeur of Carnival's ships. The bars on Serenade are tastefully decorated. The theatre is nothing to write home about and there is only one. The cinema is terrible. There is only has 1 main dining room for its 2100 passengers. The Windjammer is definitely much better in appearance than the Lido but that is where it stops.

There is no serenity, the deck chairs are plain plastic without any cushions, so they are uncomfortable and are crammed so close together that it is difficult to sit down on one as you have to climb onto them...difficult for seniors!

The two pools are very much over salted and hurt your eyes.

The staterooms are much smaller than Carnivals and the bathroom is minute, there is only one wardrobe to be shared (on Carnival you have his and hers) and in it are the worst shelves that I have ever encountered they were hopelessly inadequate in depth therefore whatever you packed on them fell off.

 

The food: RC must be on a big saving spree, to same food seems to be dished up day after day not much to choose from and is typically canteen type food.

Admittedly Carnival's food was not much better but there was FAR MORE variety to pick from. One thing is to be said, the deserts at the Windjammer were very good. Now and then the Windjammer had something special on offer at 6pm but invariably when we decided to eat there after 7pm these dishes were not replaced and we had to ask the chef why, he then very kindly brought us a big plate of the missing item to our table.

The lunch time menu was disgusting and so was the room service. The room service coffee was undrinkable.

BTW do not expect a "gala" welcoming lunch on embarkation day, you will just get the same slop as any other day!

Oh and I forgot to mention that the best kept secret is when they will serve the shrimps, that day the electronic display of the menu outside the dining room, was mysteriously out of order!!! Gone are the days when they served you lobster!

 

The entertainment: mediocre to say the least; some shows were not repeated to accommodate both dinner sittings, which was no great loss as they were luke warm. Do not expect illusionists, comedians, acrobats and Las Vegas style dancing. There was one decent show but it lasted only 10min in the sentrum, all this on a 12 night cruise!

 

Ports of call: These were great, but unless you are going on the ship's excursion do not expect any information to help you find your way in and out of the port, this should be the cruise directors field but no…sort yourself out before the cruise or pay through your neck for the excursions! They also did not stay in port for as long as possible thereby not leaving us enough time to do all we wanted to do.

 

Customer services: Poorly managed. On embarkation day in Civitavecchia we were told that all Italian passports were to be kept by them but no explanation was given. You would at least expect to receive a copy of an official letter by the Italian authorities informing you of this rule to be applied and the reason why. The second incidence was on the last evening, we received a note saying that we were on a cash basis and had to pay our account. We had given our credit card details TWICE but they did not have it on record! So we had to stand in a queue for 40min to sort this out as they only had 2 consultants to help at such a peak time...most upsetting!

 

The staff: They were great, well trained and very helpful, no complaints there.

 

Lastly another annoyance was that they kept on changing the meal times so you could never count on e.g. breakfast to be served until a certain time, they said it all depended on the time we docked in the port.

 

Yep, we were definitely spoiled by Carnival, unfortunately they are no longer operating in Europe.

We got off Serenade in August and we thoroughly enjoyed it . . . . in fact we're going back on her in January. I'm with the others . . . . go ahead and stay with Carnival/WalMart!

We got off Serenade in August and we thoroughly enjoyed it . . . . in fact we're going back on her in January. I'm with the others . . . . go ahead and stay with Carnival/WalMart!

Walmart comment - mean/judgemental

 

:( :( :(

We will be on the Serenade for the first time next Oct, why did they take those beautiful stairs out..

 

The stairs were removed, presumably to make more room in the Centrum. There are chairs and tables where the stairs used to be (more drinkies, more revenue). They now have aerial performers who use the entire width and length of the Centrum, many decks high. It's a bit of a "trade off", I suppose. While I did enjoy the aerial performances, I do miss the beautiful stairs. Now, you walk around to the main staircase to move between decks when before with the stairs, it was a quick jump between Deck 4 and 5. No biggie, just different. :)

 

.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Langley Cruisers

What puzzles me it the Serenity complaint... The Solariums on Royal are beautiful. AND there are padded loungers.

What puzzles me it the Serenity complaint... The Solariums on Royal are beautiful. AND there are padded loungers.

 

I'm sorry, I don't know Carnival, what is the Serenity???

I'm sorry, I don't know Carnival, what is the Serenity???

 

It is Carnival's adult only areas. It isn't covered by a glass roof, most don't have pools, and isn't decorated as nicely.

 

 

Isn't it boring compared to this...

 

 

EDIT: The OP complained that there was no Serenity. Sure, there wasn't, but there is Heaven ;)

Edited October 9, 2014 by kwazi07

It is Carnival's adult only areas. It isn't covered by a glass roof, most don't have pools, and isn't decorated as nicely.

 

 

Isn't it boring compared to this...

 

 

EDIT: The OP complained that there was no Serenity. Sure, there wasn't, but there is Heaven ;)

 

OMG that looks so blah.....yeah I agree. The Solarium is way nicer from what I can tell in the photo. Though I will admit, I prefer the Solarium on Radiance and Oasis class. Not crazy about it on Freedom class.

OMG that looks so blah.....yeah I agree. The Solarium is way nicer from what I can tell in the photo. Though I will admit, I prefer the Solarium on Radiance and Oasis class. Not crazy about it on Freedom class.

Same... The ones on Voyager and Freedom classes just seem to be like glorified pool, not something really unique like on the Vision/Radiance/Oasis classes.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Edited October 10, 2014 by kwazi07

Same... The ones on Voyager and Freedom classes just seem to be like glorified pool, not something really unique like on the Vision/Radiance/Oasis classes.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

yes I love Vision class solariums too.

There is only has 1 main dining room for its 2100 passengers.

 

Bugsy, The MDR is a two deck dining room with one name, Minstrel Dining Room. Were you not able to eat there? This is a complaint that I just cannot understand. :confused:

 

In all honesty I thought I was reading an episode from Keeping Up Appearances ;)

 

Hope you find the cruise line that satisfies you. You should check out Celebrity Equinox. We like her very much!

Bugsy, The MDR is a two deck dining room with one name, Minstrel Dining Room. Were you not able to eat there? This is a complaint that I just cannot understand. :confused:

 

In all honesty I thought I was reading an episode from Keeping Up Appearances ;)

 

Hope you find the cruise line that satisfies you. You should check out Celebrity Equinox. We like her very much!

 

I didn't understand that complaint either. Yes, there is only one MDR, but that's all that is needed. :confused:

What puzzles me it the Serenity complaint... The Solariums on Royal are beautiful. AND there are padded loungers.

 

AND.....it's protected against the rain and wind. When we were on the Magic we never used to serenity area because the wind was so bad we would have had to nail everything down.

I wonder if some of the complaints would be the same on other lines for that particular itinerary?

 

I guess Serenade does not have freshwater pools, but other Royal ships do.

 

Lobster is not served on european itineraries, but is served in Caribbean, I know.

 

It sounds like they didn't ask for compasses. Maybe they were being placed differently than they expected in the room and didn't see them? I can see one night they weren't delivered, but not multiple nights.

 

As for entertainment, I've always seen illusionists and production shows. That seems odd to me that they weren't..but again, it could have been due to the port intensive European cruise vs. a Caribbean cruise?

Where, exactly, in this thread did anyone get nasty? :confused:

 

The OP chimes in with a dramatic "never again" title to his "review", calls the food "slop", goes on to bash most everything about his cruise and people are just suppose to not say anything back at all but "Im so sorry you didnt enjoy your cruise"?

 

Even the comment about the pools was not nasty at all.

 

The actual comment was....

 

"Pools over salted"? They don't salt the pools! That's the ocean!!!!!

 

It didn't seem nasty to me.....

my point is that the choice should be ours, whether to switch the sound on or off.

As a long time cruiser with RCI....I agree...I hate having to open my cabin door to hear an announcement...being able to turn up my in cabin speaker should be my option

Not trying to beat a dead horse, as I see many of the "issues" have already been addressed, but just want to add my experience and opinion. I agree that comparing different class ships between lines can be an inaccurate/unfair comparison. I have sailed the Carnival Elation, which does not even compare to Freedom of the Seas, but I would not expect the Elation to compare to the Breeze either.

 

I could make many of the same complaints about the Elation that were made in the OP about the Serenade (which I have also sailed on and enjoyed very much, but not as much as FOS). In my own personal opinion, the Lido buffet was small, boring, and unappealing. One of the production shows on the Elation was completely boring, while the 2nd one was very good. If I had only attended the 1st, I would certainly be likely to think that the entertainment was poor compared to other lines. (There's even a production show on Royal ships that I have given 2 chances, but from here on out will choose to skip because it just isn't to my liking).

 

The 2 MDR on the Elation were a pain! The deck plans were confusing as you would often run into a wall when trying to get from one end of the ship to the other, requiring that you go back and go "up, over, and down" to get where you wanted to go. Also, people frequently arrived at the wrong dining room, creating confusion as they had to turn around and discover the "up, over, and down" method for themselves. Personally, I much prefer a 2 or 3 level MDR, as it is much more elegant, more visibly appealing, and easier to navigate. I'm also not sure why "only 1 MDR" (which is 2 levels on Serenade) was a complaint. It easily serves it purpose. My only thought is maybe the OP had MTD and did not make reservations ahead of time, therefore having to wait for a table? Otherwise, the OP would have a table assignment and seating in the MDR should not have been an issue.

 

We have always had traditional dining times on Royal and never had a problem making the shows in the theater. Which makes me think again that the OP had MTD and did not plan their meal times around the showtimes.

 

And I would personally take any Solarium on any Royal ship over the "Serenity" experienced on Carnival. Just my opinion.

 

Can someone please tell me which Carnival ship has more than 1 theater?

Edited October 10, 2014 by renee1222

It must have been a different Seranade than we were on for a B2B. We spent 2 weeks sailing, and I have to say, I thought it was a very beautiful ship. I've been on Carnival Valor, which I would describe as gaudy, and Carnival Breeze that I would say is very pretty and contemporary. The service we got on Seranade was very good, certainly not below Carnival standards, but everyone is different. Sorry it didn't work for you....

This is the first time that I am writing a review but I feel compelled to do so.

 

Ports of call: These were great, but unless you are going on the ship's excursion do not expect any information to help you find your way in and out of the port, this should be the cruise directors field but no…sort yourself out before the cruise or pay through your neck for the excursions! They also did not stay in port for as long as possible thereby not leaving us enough time to do all we wanted to do.

 

.

 

OP, sorry you did not enjoy your cruise. Would you be so kind to elaborate what you mean by they didn't stay in port as long as possible. Did they shorten port times or were you disasstisfied with all aboard times. I am a little confused by what you are trying to convey:confused:

Where, exactly, in this thread did anyone get nasty? :confused:

 

The OP chimes in with a dramatic "never again" title to his "review", calls the food "slop", goes on to bash most everything about his cruise and people are just suppose to not say anything back at all but "Im so sorry you didnt enjoy your cruise"?

 

Even the comment about the pools was not nasty at all.

And what, exactly, would be the problem with doing just that? Why is it that certain posters on this board feel it necessary to berate the OP for expressing his opinion? Or to try to convince the OP (or perhaps others who might be reading this board) that his opinion is "wrong." Can someone else's opinion even be wrong?? Why does it make a difference to anyone on this board that someone else disliked an RCCL cruise?

 

Those who like RCCL will still like it, and will still cruise on it, in spite of the OP's unfavorable review. And if others, perhaps those considering RC, read the OP's bad review and decide not to cruise either on Serenade or on any Royal ship, so what??? This also has no impact on those who like RC. I seriously do not get it! The OP didn't love his cruise -- what is the problem with that? He expressed an opinion different than that of many on this board -- what is the problem with that? Why does it matter that the OP was dramatic? How does that affect, in any way, folks who like RC? Why is the expressing of a different opinion perceived as an attack?

 

And while it may be true, as some posters suggested, that someone posting a negative review about a Carnival ship on the Carnival boards, or about any ship on that line's boards would also receive a lambasting, that doesn't make it right, nor reasonable.

 

This phenomenon of "killing the messenger" is common on Cruise Critic, but it makes no sense to me. Can anyone here explain it?

OMG that looks so blah.....yeah I agree. The Solarium is way nicer from what I can tell in the photo. Though I will admit, I prefer the Solarium on Radiance and Oasis class. Not crazy about it on Freedom class.

 

I love the design of the Solarium on the Oasis class but it is just way too hot in there.

"Pools over salted"? They don't salt the pools! That's the ocean!!!!!

 

We could see the salt particles floating, now maybe the Adriatic is like that, but I think they added salt for sanitation purposes. My eyes were blood shot for 20 min, not pleasant. I noticed that some cruisers wore goggles to prevent that...I wish I knew that in advance... it was un-expected as the ships I sailed had normal chlorinated water. No big deal by itself but it just added to the problems I experienced.

I didn't understand that complaint either. Yes, there is only one MDR, but that's all that is needed. :confused:

the MDR is too small for the amount of passengers, the tables are too close together for comfort. Now admitedly this is my first RCCL cruise and maybe I went on the "better" Carnival ships by pure chance, but Serenade did not meet my expectations.