Just a Few Thoughts from Serenade TA

[sjb317]

Hard to believe that it's been 6 days since we disembarked from our Serenade TA. I noticed some pretty negative reviews prior (ship of NO) to our cruise so would like to give our opinion on what was a great cruise.

 

Embarking in Copenhagen was super easy, maybe took 20 minutes from time we got out of taxi and walked on the ship. The porter at the dock wrote our cabin number on some luggage tags, we stood in line for a few minutes, and walked on. Our luggage was waiting outside our stateroom when the rooms became available at 1pm. Everything on the ship appeared to be in good shape and very clean. We liked our stateroom 7536, it was in a great location, just a few rooms forward of the front elevators which made it a short trip down to the casino.:D

 

Food was, for the most part, very good! There were a few dishes in the MDR that I did not care for, but overall, I was happy. The food in WJ was exceptional, we ate breakfast there almost every morning. The egg station was wonderful and there was a crepe station where you could have a savory or sweet crepe made everyday, with exception of the last morning. This is also the first ship where I have enjoyed the breakfast foods in the Park Café, I've always thought the Park Café was over rated. Giovanni's was the only specialty restaurant we dined in but we enjoyed it so much that we went back a second time.

 

Service throughout the ship was wonderful. The DL and CL were both very crowded each evening but the wait staff did a wonderful job of keeping drinks flowing. Our stateroom attendant, Forba, was excellent, very efficient. I have nothing but praise for the crew.

 

Entertainment was typical cruise style entertainment. The only outstanding show to me was a male singer, Mario something :o. He had a wonderful voice and very entertaining performance. There were two bands on the ship, the Just Us Duo and a quartet named 12 Bar Band that were great for dancing.

 

A very nice Meet & Mingle was held in the Safari Lounge and was very well attended. The food provided did give me a laugh, it consisted of several large trays of baguettes with a fairly good size ball of tuna salad on top of each one. I noticed they were not disappearing very quickly!:D Also, this is the first cruise I've been on where the ship held a luncheon for CC members which I though was a very nice touch. The food was good and wine was included.

 

My only "complaint" was the difficulty in trying to get a seat in the solarium. The weather was not that great on the sea days, so most people were staying inside. I was amazed at the number of bags & books enjoying the loungers for the entire day. Lots of signs regarding no saving seats but no one paid attention to them. I think some people must have camped out each night to get their chairs. :D Also, with so many Pinnacles, D+ and D's on board, it was very difficult to find a seat in the lounges.

 

Anyway, it was a great cruise, I would love to do it again. Disembarking was very easy for us but I'm not sure that was true for everyone.

 

Sherri:)

 

One last note: just checked my cruise record on Royal and our points for this cruise have been added. 6 days! I think that may be a record.

Edited September 22, 2015 by sjb317

[Langley Cruisers]

Hard to believe that it's been 6 days since we disembarked from our Serenade TA. I noticed some pretty negative reviews prior (ship of NO) to our cruise so would like to give our opinion on what was a great cruise...

 

I know, right? I took it with a grain of salt. That reviewer didn't seem too happy with anything, so that's the first clue (no offense - it;s true).

 

Thanks for the review, glad you had a good time overall. :) We are on in 6 weeks.

[davidsmum]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing her in November so it's very encouraging to hear that your experience was overall such a good one.

 

I do take the negative reviews with a grain of salt....for every negative there is an abundance of positive out there!

[balanceok]

I would be interested in what ports were visited on your TA and what you did. We will be making a TA on this ship next year.

 

Thanks.

[July4]

Thanks for the great review, we are doing this trip next year. Started looking at the CC reviews for this trip and ports. :)

[sjb317]

I would be interested in what ports were visited on your TA and what you did. We will be making a TA on this ship next year.

 

Thanks.

 

Copenhagen is a great city for walking, we were there 3 days before the cruise and explored the city mostly on foot. We did do one of the canal cruises and I prebooked on line a castle tour from Stromme which was great.

 

We had been to Oslo in 2004 so we just explored on foot. We walked out to the Opera House which is magnificent, explored the City Center, the palace & gardens, the waterfront, and the fortress across the street from the ship's dock. There is a WWII resistance museum that is interesting there.

 

Kristiansund was cold and rainy so we just explored the city center and market.

 

Klaksvik, Faroe Islands was a tour arranged through the Tourist Information Center arranged through their website. We had prebooked this tour, but getting registered at the Tourist Center was a chaotic mess, not very well organized. The tour was cheap, and it was interesting. We went by bus & ferry to Kalsoy, then drove to 3 villages. We were able to see the statute of the Seal Woman and drive through some amazing countryside.

 

In Reykjavik we did the Golden Circle Tour through Iceland Intro (thanks ,Yvette!) which was amazing even though the weather was a cold, drizzling rain. The 2nd half day we walked to the City Center & Opera House.

 

Akureyi was another exploration on foot for us. We walked up the 113 steps to the church and walked through the botanical gardens.

 

Halifax is also great for walking. We walked up to the Citadel and did a group tour there which I would highly recommend,watched them fire the noon cannon which is done everyday, explored the military museum, then walked through the town back to the waterfront to tour the Maritime Museum. There are lots of small souvenir type stores/restaurants/pubs along the waterfront.

 

We had a great time!:)

 

Sherri:)

[sjb317]

I should add this was our 7th TA from Europe, but our first one to leave from the Northern Atlantic. Weather was cold, rainy, & very foggy for most of the crossing. Our first sea day after leaving Copenhagen was very windy with very rough seas. A lot of the passengers and quite a few crew members seemed to be having problems with sea sickness. My husband and I are fortunate that it does not bother us, but I did wake up a few nights feeling like I was going to fall out of bed.:D There were several days on the crossing when the pools were closed and drained due to wave action.

 

Sherri:)

[Compass Rose Monica]

Thanks for a great review. I'm going on the Serenade in April 2016 to Copenhagen. I haven't been on RCL since 1997!! I've done a lot of Celebrity cruises, so I don't know what perks I would get on the Serenade as an elite plus on Celebrity. Glad to hear the food is good.

 

Did you stay in Copenhagen before the cruise or fly in the day of the cruise? If you stayed in Copenhagen, what was your taxi fare to the port? Edit: I didn't read your other posting where you said you spent three days in Copenhagen.

 

What is DL and CL in your comments?

 

Does RCL host an officer's party like on Celebrity?

 

I guess there are chair hogs no matter which cruise.

 

Thanks,

 

Monica

Edited September 22, 2015 by Compass Rose Monica

[Clarea]

... I've done a lot of Celebrity cruises, so I don't know what perks I would get on the Serenade as an elite plus on Celebrity....

 

You would get the perks of Diamond level on Royal:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/benefitsLoggedout.do

 

What is DL and CL in your comments? ...

The DL is the Diamond Lounge and the CL is the Concierge Lounge. You would have access to the DL as a Diamond level member. You would have access to the CL if you are in a Grand Suite or better.

[rcclfanbp]

Also, this is the first cruise I've been on where the ship held a luncheon for CC members which I though was a very nice touch. The food was good and wine was included.

 

Thank you for your review Sherri. I hope to board the ship in several weeks. This is the first time I read about a CC luncheon. That was a very nice touch. Kudos RCI! No chance of that happening on my cruise as we have over 350 Meet & Mingle registrants. (LOL)

[Desert Cruizers]

Thank you for your review, we board her on Oct 19th and looking forward to our cruise from Quebec.

[blueblock]

I had a terrific time on this cruise too. Interesting ports, a nice mix of people, and excellent service all around. I agree that the crepe station in the Windjammer was a nice touch, and I agree that finding a seat in the Solarium was almost impossible. (The Windjammer could get pretty crowded too!) I thought there were hits and misses on the Main Dining Room food, but overall the MDR was pretty good.

[sjb317]

Thanks for a great review. I'm going on the Serenade in April 2016 to Copenhagen. I haven't been on RCL since 1997!! I've done a lot of Celebrity cruises, so I don't know what perks I would get on the Serenade as an elite plus on Celebrity. Glad to hear the food is good.

 

Did you stay in Copenhagen before the cruise or fly in the day of the cruise? If you stayed in Copenhagen, what was your taxi fare to the port? Edit: I didn't read your other posting where you said you spent three days in Copenhagen.

 

What is DL and CL in your comments?

 

Does RCL host an officer's party like on Celebrity?

 

I guess there are chair hogs no matter which cruise.

 

Thanks,

 

Monica

 

We stayed at the Adina Apartments which was about 10min from the port. I think we could have walked to the port if we had not had luggage to drag. The taxi was 70kk plus tip. Our only other paid transportation while in Copenhagen was the train from the airport to our hotel. The train was cheap, and easy to drag suitcases onto. Trains ran from the airport to the city center about every 10-15min. We had planned to buy a City pass which enables you to ride buses, etc but ended up just walking.

 

Bob answered your question regarding DL/CL but let me add that cocktails were from 430 to 8pm each evening, including the day of boarding which is different from Celebrity. There is no officer's party.

 

You are right about the chair hogs!:D

 

Sherri:)

[sjb317]

Thank you for your review Sherri. I hope to board the ship in several weeks. This is the first time I read about a CC luncheon. That was a very nice touch. Kudos RCI! No chance of that happening on my cruise as we have over 350 Meet & Mingle registrants. (LOL)

 

This is the first time I've ever seen a ship hold a luncheon for CC. It was well attended!

 

Sherri:)

[rcclfanbp]

Thank you for your review, we board her on Oct 19th and looking forward to our cruise from Quebec.

 

I'll be there with you Gay. Seems like our cruise took forever to come...but not long now.;)

[sjb317]

I had a terrific time on this cruise too. Interesting ports, a nice mix of people, and excellent service all around. I agree that the crepe station in the Windjammer was a nice touch, and I agree that finding a seat in the Solarium was almost impossible. (The Windjammer could get pretty crowded too!) I thought there were hits and misses on the Main Dining Room food, but overall the MDR was pretty good.

 

Glad you had a good time, too .:) We did not have a problem with finding seats in the WJ but we were probably never there at peak times.

 

 

Sherri:)

[Cruzin-K]

This is the first time I've ever seen a ship hold a luncheon for CC. It was well attended!

 

Sherri:)

They did that for us on the April repo from Nola to Boston as well. It was a nice touch :)

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[SelectSys]

Hard to believe that it's been 6 days since we disembarked from our Serenade TA. I noticed some pretty negative reviews prior (ship of NO) to our cruise so would like to give our opinion on what was a great cruise.

...

 

Thanks for this alternate perspective from the "Ship of No" thread. I will be on Serenade in November and your review gives me additional confidence that cruise will be fine.

[Desert Cruizers]

Brian & Cassandra, just checked, we now have #365 signed up for the M&M, that is the 2nd largest turnout we have seen. Looking forward to meeting you both and everyone on our cruise.:) 26 days until we leave for a couple days in NYC then Quebec on the 18th.

 

Gay

[rcclfanbp]

Brian & Cassandra, just checked, we now have #365 signed up for the M&M, that is the 2nd largest turnout we have seen. Looking forward to meeting you both and everyone on our cruise.:) 26 days until we leave for a couple days in NYC then Quebec on the 18th.

 

Gay

 

That sounds great Gay. We arrive in Quebec on the 16th and may see you at some point at the Fairmont before the cruise.

[Desert Cruizers]

Our flight arrives at 3:04 so should be there by 4 PM, John will want a beer and relax so could be hanging around the lounge area after we get checked in.:) For those wishing their name tags I have everyone at our hotel in a separate zip lock bag to pass out.

 

Gay

[Compass Rose Monica]

We stayed at the Adina Apartments which was about 10min from the port. I think we could have walked to the port if we had not had luggage to drag. The taxi was 70kk plus tip. Our only other paid transportation while in Copenhagen was the train from the airport to our hotel. The train was cheap, and easy to drag suitcases onto. Trains ran from the airport to the city center about every 10-15min. We had planned to buy a City pass which enables you to ride buses, etc but ended up just walking.

 

Bob answered your question regarding DL/CL but let me add that cocktails were from 430 to 8pm each evening, including the day of boarding which is different from Celebrity. There is no officer's party.

 

You are right about the chair hogs!:D

 

Sherri:)

 

Thanks Bob and Sherri for answering my questions. It's nice to hear RCL has a longer cocktail evening and on embarkation too!

 

I'm staying at Hotel Bethel, which is located right next to the Nyhvan canal. There's a metro station very close that we can use to get to the airport at the end of our trip.

 

Monica

[sjb317]

Thanks Bob and Sherri for answering my questions. It's nice to hear RCL has a longer cocktail evening and on embarkation too!

 

I'm staying at Hotel Bethel, which is located right next to the Nyhvan canal. There's a metro station very close that we can use to get to the airport at the end of our trip.

 

Monica

 

You are in a great location, very easy to walk to various sites. There are lots of restaurants/pubs along the canal, although we thought the food was better at restaurants away from the tourist area. And cheaper!:D

 

Sherri:)

[pilotboy1985]

Hard to believe that it's been 6 days since we disembarked from our Serenade TA. I noticed some pretty negative reviews prior (ship of NO) to our cruise so would like to give our opinion on what was a great cruise.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your TA. I live in Halifax, NS and was walking by the farmers market/ Pier 21 when you guys docked. Lovely looking ship. I hope you enjoyed your day in my home city.

Here is a picture I took of your boat while in Halifax.

 

[Desert Cruizers]

pilotboy1985, we will be arriving in Halifax next month. Ny last visit was in 2005 when we visited my cousin and her husband who lived in Berwick at the time. I think we will be there on Oct 25, will look at the schedule.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Desert Cruizers