Rc: Serenade of the seas - never again!

[Luvfuninthesun]

I had no idea! Thanks for the info :) I loved those steps on Radiance and I bet even without them, Serenade still has more "grandeur" than even the newest of Carnival ships ;) Based on all the pictures Ive seen of every one of their ships, I find them pretty hideous in decor.

 

 

As someone who sails both on carnival and Royal Caribbean, and is booked for a December cruise on the serenade, I would mostly agree with you, but carnival Breeze is beautiful.

[sowhat]

We were on Serenade in July this year, The food was the was very poor in all areas, cold and taste less. We had dinner with the captain in chops, very poor and cold

[ryano]

but carnival Breeze is beautiful.

 

I watched Guys Family Cruise which was filmed on board Breeze. I would very much like to try that ship sometime :)

 

I have no problem with Carnival whatsoever and would leave on a Carnival ship tomorrow. Im not crazy about their decor, at least based on all the pics Ive seen, but I dont cruise for decor. My first cruise was on Carnival on board a ship even the most loyal Carnival cheerleaders hated. had a wonderful time!

Edited October 9, 2014 by ryano

[KuffMUp]

I like to be able to read bad reviews if they accurately communicate what was wrong. "They put too much salt in the pool." It is taken from the sea and therefore no ship that doesn't have freshwater pools can control what nature has put out there. "Only one theater". I have been on Carnival and only know of one theater on the ships I was on. "Only one dining room". Most of the ships I have been on only have one MDR. I was on one Carnival ship who's MDR was divided into 2 with the galley in between. The only way to get to the second half was to go up two floors, head aft, then down two floors. I have never had anyone tell me about the ports with the exception of the nice maps they give out to point to the Diamonds International and other "best places to shop".

 

Now, that said...I am sorry that the food wasn't to your liking. Reading these and other boards seem to indicate that many cruise lines are cutting corners. I myself have not yet had what I consider a bad meal, but that's just me. I have seen enough posts complaining about it to know it isn't a one time occurrence. I understand you like to hear the announcements and that maybe they should allow the passenger to choose to hear them or not. Perhaps an explanation should have been given as to why the passports were taken. I read the boards a lot, so I have seen other posts about it. There is a cruise line out there for just about anyone. I didn't care for the Carnival product and you don't care for RCCL. Hopefully we will both have many pleasant cruises in the future!

[Nan1052]

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.

 

 

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

[Luvfuninthesun]

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

 

 

Why to be so mean? Enough people already made that point.

[Moltar]

Sorry to hear you didnt enjoy Serenade. Me and my wife on the other hand had a marvelous 9 night cruise on Serenade last month. One of the best. Miss her already. Sounds like Carnival though is more your cup of tea, stick with it. I just can't bring myself to try a Carnival cruise, I dont like the gaudiness of the public areas and yes the rumors still continue that its a hard drinking cruise line.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Moltar

[steveru621]

I know nothing about Carnival so it's unfair for me to criticize the OP point-of-view. I would like to make some points however.

 

I've done a similar cruise out of Civitavecchia, 12 days of pure joy.

 

You cannot compare cabin sizes between different classes of ships, even on RCI. Serenade's E3 cabins are small, I agree. I'm biased, but Serenade is one of the most beautiful ships anywhere. This class of ship has saltwater pools, water filtered direct from the ocean. Maybe the Solarium was not to your liking but there are padded deck chairs.

 

You should stick with Carnival, but posting this review on the RCI board is not likely to sway any opinions.

[PerferWarmWeather]

Some people like Carnival, some like RCCL. We tried them both and wouldn't go on Carnival if they paid me! JMO

[molsonschooner]

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

 

 

Over this ANY day :eek:

 

Our first cruise was on the Carnival Triumph. I remember driving to the port in a cab and as we got close to the port we saw her. My reaction was, " holy ----" look how big it is. When we walked onto the ship we felt like tourist in a big city for the first time. Simply amazed at the look of the centrum, the stairways, the glass elevators. Since then we have only cruised with Royal and we do like their ships,even more the the Triumph, but if we weren't impressed with the Triumph we might not have taken any more cruises.

[aloha43]

Why to be so mean? Enough people already made that point.

 

 

It didn't seem mean to me....just funny!

[molsonschooner]

MATJ2000-

Well said and I agree with your post

Unfortunately, a poor review of an RCL ship is not well tolerated on these boards. And some write scarcastic replies.

 

Its just one man's opinion

It seems funny to me that someone agrees with MATJ2000. Even when he makes a good point a lot of people have issues with him

[delirious9876]

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.....

I think that's the first of one of your posts I've agreed with ! Lol

 

:) :) :)

[Desert Cruizers]

We will be on the Serenade for the first time next Oct, why did they take those beautiful stairs out, in the above photo is that the new look now for the Centrum. Since RCL uses salt water for their pools not sure how they would be over salted.:D

[delirious9876]

Why to be so mean? Enough people already made that point.

It's sad, but it's because there appear to be a lot of nasty people on cruise critic (and many good ones of course :) )

 

:( :)

[ryano]

It's sad, but it's because there appear to be a lot of nasty people on cruise critic (and many good ones of course :) )

 

:( :)

 

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.

[deliver42]

Enjoy you Carnival cruises. RCCL for me after 3 Carnival cruises.Never again.

Edited October 9, 2014 by deliver42
left out a Carnival ship, the Triumph

[magicolor_girl]

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.....

 

Well said!

[delirious9876]

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.

Luvfuninthesun asked a question and I answered with my view of cruise critic as a whole - not specifically this thread.

 

:)

[Sailor_Sally]

I have sailed both lines several times . I never noticed the decor of ships until I went on the Carnival Legend . That ship is beyond ugly with all the urns .

[kebhouse]

My first years as a cruise critic reader were all spent on the Carnival board. I've got my first Royal cruise coming in two weeks, so I've spent a lot of time on this board recently. IMO, the Carnival cheerleaders are far nastier than the Royal cheerleaders.

 

I like Carnival a lot but the line hardly 'spoils' anyone and the decor is downright dreadful so it's hard to take the OP's complaints seriously. They clearly have on "Carnival-only" blinders.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[FCCWIFE]

Your review reminds me of my experience with Carnival, which is the reason I am now a loyal RCCL cruiser! :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited October 9, 2014 by FCCWIFE

[GOWONSTOKE]

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.[/quote

 

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

[Folk Singer]

I think that's the first of one of your posts I've agreed with ! Lol

 

:) :) :)

 

 

:):)

[travelberlin]

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.