Serenade 11 Night Review

Hi all. I apologize for the delay of my review as we got home a couple weeks ago and a bad cold sidelined us a bit. As the Serenade has repo-d after our sailing, I guess this may not have as much impact, at least maybe not until next year. But If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I'll be happy to answer whatever I can.

Us – We are from the Carolinas so we flew in the day beforeand stayed at the Best Western Airport/Cruise hotel. It was affordable, offered free airportshuttle and breakfast and is walkable to a decent strip mall with everythingfrom a Big Lots and liquor store to restaurants and a Winn Dixie.

The day of the sailing, we took the shuttle from the hotel (using All-Stars) to thepier. Easy Peasy and even with a train crossing and a delay getting through the port security checkpoint due to an outboundvehicle problem, we were at the port in no time at all.

We checked our 2 larger pieces of luggage, checked in and were on the ship probably in less than 10 minutes. We headed up to WindJammer to have lunch and kill a little time before the cabins opened. In heading to our cabin later in the afternoon, wesaw luggage lining the hallway. Oddlyenough, hubby saw his suitcase halfway down the hall from our cabin. I started looking and found mine a few cabinspast that one. I don’t know if they werejust unloading it in the hall wherever there was an opening or what. This is the first time we didn’t get ourchecked luggage near our cabin. Speaking of cabin, we were in cabin 9568. We had thought of trying for the JS nextdoor(corner aft) but actually glad we didn’t’ get it. Our balcony was nice and elongated with plentyof shade. We peaked at the cornerbalcony and other than upgraded chaise loungers, it had virtually noshade. Our balcony not only offered 2loungers and 2 chairs, but also a table to dine on as well as a small coffeetype table as well as about ½ the balcony’s worth of shade. The other added bonus was the divider betweenour cabin and the next one was a solid metal wall. This offered not onlyprivacy but extra darkness which made for better star gazing. (hubby even saw ashooting star one night).

More to come in a bit. Trying to post while at work (and in meetings). After all, I work to cruise.

Erika

Okay, that meetings overwith.

Our cabin steward, Albert, was excellent. After the first day when we asked for ourrobes (we’re diamond), there was nothing else we needed and he did an amazingjob taking care of us. We even stoppedand chatted with the deck manager, Svetlana, to tell her how great he was. She agreed and thanked us for tellingher. She was so sweet.

Our official M&M was at the Vortex lounge other morningof the first sea day and the Activities Director raffled off a few prizes. We had a good group on our Meet & Minglethread so we scheduled a Slot pull for the first sea day I spoke with the casino host and he providedus with 4 nice prizes for the slot pull. A CC member also scheduled and ran the dice game LCR for each seaday. Everyone that participated had agreat time.

Our dining staff, Danny & Zhenglie (Sophia) were bothexcellent. They took amazing care of useach night. This ship is now using therevised menus where appetizers, meals and desserts were all on the same menuboard. This did help streamline dining and worked very well. Unfortunately, most of the menu choices werevery uninspired. There were a few decentitems here and there but overall, we kept hearing that the windjammer hadbetter meals. We stayed with MDR as wehad 2 other couples at our table and didn’t want to leave them. Plus we doenjoy the dining experience and socializing with other people. One happy note - they had the vidalia onion tart back on the menu. YEAH. Granted with 11 days, I was hoping that would have happened more than once. And it wasn't till towards the end of the cruise.

Speaking of MDR. One other thing I like is to have lunch onsea days there. We did that on the firstsea day. Unfortunately, hubby got a cold burger and asked twice for a condimentwhich he never got. And breakfast thatsame day in MDR was also slow service and the meal was warm-ish. So… we didn’t do lunch or breakfast at MDRthe rest of the week. I was so looking forward to 5 sea days I could enjoy the MDR lunch. Oh well. Not like I was really hungry anyways. LOL.

Erika

We had 3 repeat ports, Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia. We just wandered around and shopped atAntigua and St Lucia. We booked an RCIexcursion for Barbados, Tiami 5 Star Catamaran Swim with the Turtles. And it was5 stars. The Tiami crew wereexcellent. They were all about safetyfirst, but it in no way negatively impacted everyone’s fun. They were personable, knowledgeable, fun andeveryone had a great day.

We booked the tour Discover Curacao via RCI. The tour was informative and still leftplenty of time to shop afterwards. Curacao is a beautiful town. It was very hot and sticky. We enjoyed it.

For Aruba, we booked with Fantasy Aruba. And although the tour was okay, it leftthings to be desired. Tour was supposedto start at 9:30, but pick up time was 9am. We (along with others) were thereearly. All the other tour operators werethere and pounding the pavement. We mentioned we were waiting for them and theysaid they would be there. One even called her. After 2 calls, our tour person arrived about 9:10. Some folks were about to go with one of theother people when he finally showed up. The drive was nice enough. Somepeople wanted the whole day which included a little beach time. Some didn’t want beach time, so theycoordinated to have Jacky (owner) to come pick up the people to go back to townso the driver could take the others to Baby beach. But people asked WHY would they be therefor such short time. She said to allow driving time back and forth. BUT theyeven told us Eagle Beach is the top beach in the Caribbean and it was closer tothe port. Since all beaches are public beaches, none of this made sense. Just saying.

Lastly, we stayed in town after the sailing, again at theBest Western. We were going to visitwith friends before they did their TA back to the UK. We booked a tour with the Everglades SwampTour. They were very nice and easyenough to get to (assuming you have a car). One item to note, I booked our reservation before we flew to FL. Once we got to the hotel, there were couponsfor $10 off for an adult. I didn’t bother saying anything. We also went to the Seminole Classic Casinoand Hard Rock (also Seminole). All I cansay is if this is how Vegas casinos are running now, I probably won’t beinterested in going anymore. We also went to Sawgrass Mills. OMG, this has to be THE largest collection of stores I've ever seen. I think we would have needed a full day (or 2?) to shop all of the ones that interested us.

To sum things up. Serenade. Loved the ship, the crew and our trip (enough to rebook for similarsailing on her in 2020, same cabin). MDR service was great, food was meh. WJ- food was very good as was service. One item to note, if you’relooking for a place to sit for breakfast, head through the doors to Rita’sCantina. It’s available in the morning and there’s nice open air views fromthere.

If you have any questions, feel free to post.

Erika

First, every trip report can be helpful to someone in some way. The ship may be repositioning but it's still the same ship. :)

I'm collecting info for our Alaska Southbound trip on Radiance next month (yes, I've read your 2017 Radiance trip report, you even answered several of my questions when we thought we were doing a RC pre-tour although we have since switched to a longer DIY).

Anyway, since you've been on Radiance in Alaska and just got off Serenade, I'd say that makes you pretty well-versed in current Radiance-class info as well as Radiance in Alaska. I've only spent 4 nights on a ship smaller than Voyager (and that was Enchantment) so I'm mostly looking for the tips/tricks/highlights of Radiance. We stopped eating in the MDR a few cruises back for various reasons (unless it's a family cruise and we have no say). I know there's the outdoor seating area of the WJ but the going through Rita's tip sounds good. Any reason it wouldn't apply in Alaska, weather permitting? Anything else of note for someone has never been on Radiance-class? Food-related opinions are always welcome. Did you happen to check out the WJ for dinner even though you ate in the MDR? How about the Radiance-class version of Park Cafe? I know from Enchantment it doesn't have everything it does on Oasis class but it's usually one of our favorite lunch/snack spots.

I'll shut up now before I ramble further. Thanks in advance for anything else you'd like to share.

Thanks for your review. We love the Serenade and the aft cabins. We did a B2B again this year and had corner aft cabin 8168. We grab the corners whenever we can. We have this cabin reserved again for 2020. You are so correct about the sun, though,...we sure had a lot of it on our balcony.....but we still love it. We have always had such great service from everyone on this ship. All the crew members are wonderful.....we've never had any complaints at all. And you are so right, eating breakfast or lunch in the Windjammer, people should always go sit outside......it's beautiful out there. Great ship, especially when you are looking for a longer cruise.

First, every trip report can be helpful to someone in some way. The ship may be repositioning but it's still the same ship. :)

 

I'm collecting info for our Alaska Southbound trip on Radiance next month (yes, I've read your 2017 Radiance trip report, you even answered several of my questions when we thought we were doing a RC pre-tour although we have since switched to a longer DIY).

 

Anyway, since you've been on Radiance in Alaska and just got off Serenade, I'd say that makes you pretty well-versed in current Radiance-class info as well as Radiance in Alaska. I've only spent 4 nights on a ship smaller than Voyager (and that was Enchantment) so I'm mostly looking for the tips/tricks/highlights of Radiance. We stopped eating in the MDR a few cruises back for various reasons (unless it's a family cruise and we have no say). I know there's the outdoor seating area of the WJ but the going through Rita's tip sounds good. Any reason it wouldn't apply in Alaska, weather permitting? Anything else of note for someone has never been on Radiance-class? Food-related opinions are always welcome. Did you happen to check out the WJ for dinner even though you ate in the MDR? How about the Radiance-class version of Park Cafe? I know from Enchantment it doesn't have everything it does on Oasis class but it's usually one of our favorite lunch/snack spots.

 

I'll shut up now before I ramble further. Thanks in advance for anything else you'd like to share.

Hi Mike. Thanx for the feedback (on both reviews).

Not sure if I would say I'm that well versed in all things Radiance class, but at least recently versed. LOL

The seating you refer to for Radiance if I remember correctly, is actually still WindJammer and not Ritas. Nor do I remember it being 'open' out there. For Serenade, there actually is no glass for that section furthest aft in Ritas.

I never checked out WJ dinner myself, but one couple that was at our MDR table did and enjoyed it very much. Hubby also peeked in there after dinner once and said the choices looked great. I will say the hamburgers we had on Radiance in WJ were THE best I've had at sea. I don't know how they actually grilled them, but they tasted like they were cooked on an actual grill. Yum.

Park Cafe wasn't very big (nothing like Oasis class), but decent enough. Sorta more like a Promenade Cafe that served the roast beef sandwich.

Feel free to continue rambling. Always happy to share what I can. I know everyone's has different perspectives and interests when cruising so I may not have touched on something someone else wants to know.

Erika

Thanks. Park Cafe sounds like the one on Enchantment. It's not the real thing but it will serve its purpose. I guess the Rita's trick won't work on Radiance, oh well. Glad to hear positive feedback on the WJ for dinner. We're eating there either way but still nice to hear. Not that you asked, but I like buffets for variety and volume and my wife is so picky that when forced to eat dinner in the MDR she winds up with Caesar salad, grilled chicken and veggies, and plain ice cream at least 5 of the nights... leaving me hungry and feeling bad for her, so the WJ works much better for us. I'm hoping (for her) to find cook-to-order stations like we had on a couple ships before Oasis came to PC. When she can pick her own ingredients for pasta or wok dishes she's set, not to mention it takes the "food has been sitting out" issue at buffets out of the equation.

While I'm on the topic of the WJ, were there cook-to-order items for breakfast and/or lunch? I assume they had an omelette station for breakfast but anything else interesting like crepes? I know we've seen them on various ships for various meals.

BTW, whatever we find will be fine, I was just taking you up on your invitation to ramble.

First of all thanks for your review. I've found it very helpful since that itinerary is one my wife and I are looking at for a future cruise. I have a question.

In post #3 you said " We just wandered around and shopped at Antigua and St Lucia."

Is there shopping at the pier where the ship docks at both Antigua and St Lucia?

Thanks. Park Cafe sounds like the one on Enchantment. It's not the real thing but it will serve its purpose. I guess the Rita's trick won't work on Radiance, oh well. Glad to hear positive feedback on the WJ for dinner. We're eating there either way but still nice to hear. Not that you asked, but I like buffets for variety and volume and my wife is so picky that when forced to eat dinner in the MDR she winds up with Caesar salad, grilled chicken and veggies, and plain ice cream at least 5 of the nights... leaving me hungry and feeling bad for her, so the WJ works much better for us. I'm hoping (for her) to find cook-to-order stations like we had on a couple ships before Oasis came to PC. When she can pick her own ingredients for pasta or wok dishes she's set, not to mention it takes the "food has been sitting out" issue at buffets out of the equation.

 

While I'm on the topic of the WJ, were there cook-to-order items for breakfast and/or lunch? I assume they had an omelette station for breakfast but anything else interesting like crepes? I know we've seen them on various ships for various meals.

 

BTW, whatever we find will be fine, I was just taking you up on your invitation to ramble.

The WJ on Radiance was one of the best WJ's I've ever eaten at. As a matter of fact, we ate dinner there the last night (long story. see my review re:MDR servers issues). We were very happy with everything we had at Radiance WJ. If I remember correctly, yes, they had the omelette station. I honestly can't remember much else besides all the standards. As far as the Serenade breakfast, they not only had the omelette station but a yummy waffle station, with great toppings. Not being a waffle person, I never even notice it. But on Serenade, hubby had one the first morning and I was hooked (had to be the chocolate and whipped cream toppings). On Serenade for lunch they also had things I had never seen before. They had a roast suckling pig (BBQ), a huge nacho tray and flat pizzas with shrimp or sausage, or whatever. They even had a HUGE cast iron tray of cobbler (right where you walked in, they were serving this) I'm sure there were other things, but we didn't eat there everyday.

Keep rambling. I love reliving my cruises. Especially when at work. LOL

Erika

First of all thanks for your review. I've found it very helpful since that itinerary is one my wife and I are looking at for a future cruise. I have a question.

 

In post #3 you said " We just wandered around and shopped at Antigua and St Lucia."

 

Is there shopping at the pier where the ship docks at both Antigua and St Lucia?

There is absolutely shopping at both ports near the ship. In Antigua, we literally docked feet from all the shops. And for St Lucia there are some shops right at the dock. There is also a water ferry (or you could walk, 15 minutes) to get to the town which has some more shopping.

Erika

I've seen that massive nacho tray before. It looks like it's meant for a Super Bowl party for 100, lol. I'd love to see a suckling pig... only b/c it would freak my wife out. She's not a vegetarian or anything but she doesn't eat any pig products out of pickiness and I can already picture her reaction. Don't remember seeing unique pizzas before, that could be interesting. Waffle station sounds good too, don't think I've seen that before either.

I'll keep rambling but I have to stop talking about the WJ as I'm trying to eat healthy between now and our trip and that's not gonna help. I've already gotten the impression that things are more casual in Alaska and since we skip the MDR, the only reason I'd get slightly dressed up at night is for the DL. Are jeans and a nice looking shirt/sweater OK? I wear khakis and polos in the Caribbean but I'm trying to keep the packing to a minimum given that we'll be gone for 18 days. I've been told that should be fine in other threads but asking again can't hurt.

BTW, apologies to others for semi-hijacking a thread that was meant to be about Serenade in the Caribbean. You can blame the OP though, she told me to ramble. :)

I've seen that massive nacho tray before. It looks like it's meant for a Super Bowl party for 100, lol. I'd love to see a suckling pig... only b/c it would freak my wife out. She's not a vegetarian or anything but she doesn't eat any pig products out of pickiness and I can already picture her reaction. Don't remember seeing unique pizzas before, that could be interesting. Waffle station sounds good too, don't think I've seen that before either.

 

I'll keep rambling but I have to stop talking about the WJ as I'm trying to eat healthy between now and our trip and that's not gonna help. I've already gotten the impression that things are more casual in Alaska and since we skip the MDR, the only reason I'd get slightly dressed up at night is for the DL. Are jeans and a nice looking shirt/sweater OK? I wear khakis and polos in the Caribbean but I'm trying to keep the packing to a minimum given that we'll be gone for 18 days. I've been told that should be fine in other threads but asking again can't hurt.

 

BTW, apologies to others for semi-hijacking a thread that was meant to be about Serenade in the Caribbean. You can blame the OP though, she told me to ramble. :)

We found that Alaska was as casual as the Caribbean. Perhaps even more so. We had the opportunity to do some laundry at a few of the hotels we stayed at in Alaska. One other suggestion is to bring some magnets and bungee cords. Then you could wash an item or two on the ship and hang to dry overnight (if you're a balcony, you could, but we only do that when not in port and not when the room steward or his boss might come in).

Erika

Yeah, we already have laundry plans for the tail end of our 10 days on land. We were going to do laundry at a laundromat in Seward (obviously our last stop, we're spending two nights there before the cruise) but since it's not in the hotel and our days are pretty full with plans, we switched the plan to doing laundry a day earlier in Girdwood (also at a laundromat but we have more free time that day and it's located near a restaurant recommended to us). Two other hotels we're staying at (out of our six, lol) have laundry rooms, but naturally one is the first and the other is also earlier in the trip.

I may be a tad anal about my packing but the logic was to only bring stuff that goes with jeans as far as shirts/shoes go. Bringing a nicer pair of pants would then lead to having to bring other stuff. Hope that makes sense.

I'm not sure why I'm worried, I know the dress code thing is one of the most over-discussed topics here and I personally don't really care what other people wear within reason (don't think gym clothes are appropriate) but at the same time I'd rather not feel under-dressed. As I mentioned, I've been told by others than jeans are fine in the DL in Alaska, I was just re-asking.

Yeah, we already have laundry plans for the tail end of our 10 days on land. We were going to do laundry at a laundromat in Seward (obviously our last stop, we're spending two nights there before the cruise) but since it's not in the hotel and our days are pretty full with plans, we switched the plan to doing laundry a day earlier in Girdwood (also at a laundromat but we have more free time that day and it's located near a restaurant recommended to us). Two other hotels we're staying at (out of our six, lol) have laundry rooms, but naturally one is the first and the other is also earlier in the trip.

 

I may be a tad anal about my packing but the logic was to only bring stuff that goes with jeans as far as shirts/shoes go. Bringing a nicer pair of pants would then lead to having to bring other stuff. Hope that makes sense.

 

I'm not sure why I'm worried, I know the dress code thing is one of the most over-discussed topics here and I personally don't really care what other people wear within reason (don't think gym clothes are appropriate) but at the same time I'd rather not feel under-dressed. As I mentioned, I've been told by others than jeans are fine in the DL in Alaska, I was just re-asking.

Re-ask away. Can't be worse then on our first Alaska cruise. There were 2 gentlemen that came to the MDR together and one was wearing bunny slippers. Yepper. Sure were. Hmmm. Gotta wonder.

Seriously though, with the laundry, I brought a few of the 'solid' laundry tabs (do they still make them?). That way I knew I had what I needed and didn't have to worry about anything 'bursting' in my luggage.

When it comes to Alaska, the only clothes I really worried about were my layers. I packed a fleece hoodie, hooded rain slicker, ear warmers and gloves.

Erika

Bunny slippers were one of the pairs of shoes I planned to wear with my jeans. Are you saying that's a bad idea? ;)

We're set with the cold/wet weather stuff. We grew up in the Philly suburbs and aren't worried about the cooler weather. I'm not a big fan of being out in the rain but will just have to hope we get lucky there and we have rain gear if we don't.

How many formal nights did you have on the 11 night cruise? Thanks

Bunny slippers were one of the pairs of shoes I planned to wear with my jeans. Are you saying that's a bad idea? ;)

 

We're set with the cold/wet weather stuff. We grew up in the Philly suburbs and aren't worried about the cooler weather. I'm not a big fan of being out in the rain but will just have to hope we get lucky there and we have rain gear if we don't.

I say pack the bunny slippers if you have the room to spare. Lol

Erika

How many formal nights did you have on the 11 night cruise? Thanks

There were two. The first was the first sea day and the second was the second to last sea day.

Erika

Hi Erica, thanks for the review, interesting to read your opinion of things, had to agree with most of them. It was good to meet you and your husband after all the months chatting on Cruise Critic. We originally had a Celebrity cruise scheduled for next April but when we got back I cancelled it and booked another on Serenade! Basically the same itinerary we just did however we're stopping in Bonaire instead of Barbados on this one. Thanks for keeping things moving on the roll call and all your input on here. Take care, Steve and Sharon.

Hi Erica, thanks for the review, interesting to read your opinion of things, had to agree with most of them. It was good to meet you and your husband after all the months chatting on Cruise Critic. We originally had a Celebrity cruise scheduled for next April but when we got back I cancelled it and booked another on Serenade! Basically the same itinerary we just did however we're stopping in Bonaire instead of Barbados on this one. Thanks for keeping things moving on the roll call and all your input on here. Take care, Steve and Sharon.

Hey there. Glad to hear our opinions were along the same line. Enjoy next year on Serenade. Hope to get to sail with you guys again.

Erika

Thanks for your review. We were on Serenade for this same cruise in February/March, and would agree with your opinions. It is a lovely ship and of a pleasantly human size.

I'd also agree with your disappointment with the MDR. I don't expect five-star dining on a cruise ship. The kitchen is preparing thousands of meals each night, and the most I would expect is good catering-venue food. However, even with these low expectations, we were very disappointed. The choices were extremely limited and repetitive. Salmon used to be available several times; on this cruise. only once. The fish choices were very poor, and no one at our table of eight ever ate the ones they ordered. I ordered the scallops as an appetizer one night, and our waiter brought me two portions because they were small--two bay scallops. He seemed embarrassed to serve them. The meal service was not as professional and polished as we've been accustomed to receiving. On the last night I still had to ask twice for lemon for my tea; in the past, the wait staff knew your preferences by the third night. We tried the WJ one night but don't really enjoy buffets. Sitting out in hot trays does nothing to improve food quality, and we really enjoy sitting and conversing over dinner and not jumping up and down to serve ourselves.

For the most part, we've enjoyed our RC cruises in the past. However, this experience has prompted us to look more closely at other lines after our next Anthem cruise in July.