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Rc: Serenade of the seas - never again!

bugsy777

By bugsy777,
in Royal Caribbean International

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bugsy777

bugsy777

Posted
Posted

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.

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CRUISEBOY305

CRUISEBOY305

Posted
Posted

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!

 

and fyi.... I generally sail royal caribbean but I'm pretty sure with most of the cruise lines, guest services will have copies of the daily planner available should you not receive a copy in your stateroom.

 

as far as the announcements in the stateroom, I'm an early riser however there are plenty of people that enjoy sleeping in and would probably find an announcement in there cabins at 9am to be somewhat of a nuisance.

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gerif

gerif

Posted
Posted
Sounds to me like you should stick with Carnival. Happy Sailing :D

 

Totally. One Carnival cruise was more than enough for me and I particularly hated those annoying announcements in my cabin. If the ship is sinking, OK, make an announcement - otherwise let me nap in peace.

 

I wasn't on your cruise so can't speak to many of your issues but the pool water comes out of the ocean so the salt content is what it is. No lobster on European sailings. You could have gotten extra copies of the Compass at guest services while you were waiting in line.

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bouhunter

bouhunter

Posted
Posted
first review I've ever heard that said the were spoiled by Carnival

 

When did cruiselines start salting pools, LOL?

:D:D:D

 

Yeah, those darn salted pools. Maybe the first post I've ever seen that said Carnival was Soooooooo superior to RCCL:rolleyes:

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ryano

ryano

Posted
Posted
first review I've ever heard that said the were spoiled by Carnival

 

This ^.

 

Also I had to chuckle at "Do not expect the grandeur of Carnival's ships". Grandeur? :confused: Really? I find most Carnival ships hideous in appearance.

 

I mean afterall, give me this

 

Serenade%20Centrum3.JPG

 

Over this ANY day :eek:

 

8265494108_13573a9511_z.jpg

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matj2000

matj2000

Posted
Posted (edited)

The complaints might not seem that bad at first glance, but sometimes things go wrong, they seem to snowball and get worse.

 

People always do not understand that unless it happens to them.

 

They just come here to tell their story and vent which makes them feel better.

 

Unfortunately that is almost impossible.

 

The hard-core loyalist get so angry and defensive.

 

This one is twice as bad because they like Carnival better.

 

Which really infuriates folks around here.

 

The next thing they will do is start looking into past posts

 

and dig up anything to make your post seem as worthless as possible.

 

I say leave the OP alone, maybe he will tell the good stuff about the cruise.....

Edited by matj2000
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Toddcan

Toddcan

Posted
Posted

To be fair to the OP:

 

I too would be upset if I didn't have a Cruise Compass delivered to my room. Personally, yes, I would have asked the cabin attendant for one - this is a big thing for me. I really live by those!

 

The rest of it seems to be mostly personal choice, except for a few things.

 

But also, remember, that the OP is comparing the Serenade, which is 11 years old, and much smaller than the Carnival Magic or Glory. The Legend is about the same size and age as the Serenade. OP - if you are dead set on staying with Carnival - no problems! But, should you ever get the chance to sail on the Freedom, Independence, Liberty, Oasis or Allure - it will be a TOTALLY different "wow" factor than your Serenade cruise.

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blueblock

blueblock

Posted
Posted

Everyone should sail on the cruise lines that make them happy. Nothing wrong with trying a line and finding it doesn't work for you.

 

I'm going to guess your cruise stopped in Turkey. On cruises that stop in Turkey, passports are collected prior to arrival in Turkey - my understanding is that the purpose of this is to make port entry faster. The Italian authorities have nothing to do with it, and I don't think it's unique to Royal Caribbean. I'm sorry this was upsetting to you; it's happened to me on every Mediterranean cruise I've done.

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CPPADILLA

CPPADILLA

Posted
Posted

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.

 

To the OP thanks for sharing your Serenade experience. I have been on one Carnival cruise and once was enough. I do find the changing of meal times odd, I have never ever experienced that situation on any cruise I have been on.

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Capella Black

Capella Black

Posted
Posted

Heya, sorry you didn't have a good time. Personally I love Royal, but have never sailed Carnival (due to the aforementioned not in Europe issue) so maybe I don't know what I'm missing! As people above have suggested, the 'wow' in each ship differs with Royal - my OH was spoiled by having his first cruise be on Liberty of the Seas, which has plenty of wow, a bigger buffet, and more gizmos and things to do than some other ships.

 

If getting to Carnival cruises is now a problem, I would suggest Liberty, or one of the new mega boats - Dynamic Dining in particular would seem to cater to a number of your issues (range of dining rooms, range of styles). If that also doesn't fit the bill, then Royal probably isn't the right fit, but I wouldn't base the whole line on one old small ship.

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Langley Cruisers

Langley Cruisers

Posted
Posted

Serenade%20Centrum3.JPG

 

Beautiful. :) But to be fair, Ryan, Serenade doesn't look like this anymore. They took the stairs out in the refurb. I was speaking to the Hotel Director on our March cruise and she shook her head in agreement that it was an interesting choice to do so. I, for one, loved the stairs in the Centrum. Jewel still has them. :)

 

Thanks for the review. There is a cruise line out there for everyone. Some prefer Carnival, others are diehard Royalists. Enjoy your next cruise no matter the cruise line.

 

Agreed, and eloquently stated, as always. :)

 

.

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