Tell me all about the Serenade

[Ocean Dancer]

DH, his brother and I (two balcony cabins) are sailing on the Serenade over Thanksgiving. What is not to be missed, or any secret places? This is an 11 day Southern. We have sailed on Enchant. Voyag, Explor, Granduer, Empress and Anthem, and I think I'm missing a few. Edited to add Splender.

 

Have also been to all the ports...Antig, Bonaire, Aruba, Grenada, St Lucia, Barbadoes, not in that order.

 

Any new ideas port wise? We do have a few cat/snorkel excursions booked. We are active mid 60's.

 

I'll appreciate any info or ideas. I'll be back tomorrow.

 

Thanks in advance :):)

Edited September 5, 2016 by Ocean Dancer

[Clarea]

Here is a good place to start:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/royal-caribbean/serenade

[Desert Cruizers]

Radiance Class ships are known for all the glass providing you with great views. They won't have all the Bells & Whistles of your larger Class ships but I feel they make up for it with a wonderful crew, which seem to provide a more personal feel.

[IsanTom]

It's a cruise ship, so enjoy!

[cb at sea]

We love the outdoor seating area at the WJ on Radiance class....but, I dislike the enclosed Solarium...can't tan in there, since they never open the so-called "retractable" roof!

[Sailing Grandma]

Our first cruise over 10 years ago was on the Serenade and it turned us on to cruising. (Before that we kept saying that we never wanted to cruise.) We love the Radiance class ships for their smaller size, open air dining by the Windjammer, and all the glass to see out to the ocean. For me, I feel as though I am on a cruise ship and not on a huge floating resort. That is just my opinion, but I think you will have a wonderful time on this cruise.

[Trainman-2]

Here are two photos of the open air dining area at the rear of the Windjammer Buffet.

 

They are one of our favorite places on the Radiance Class ships.

 

 

 

 

 

They have all kinds of activities in the Centrum! People line the railings on every deck to watch.

 

 

[msmayor]

As others have posted, the outdoor seating area of the Windjammer is awesome. Every breakfast and lunch we enjoyed from the buffet was eaten outside.

 

We also loved the Schooner Bar as the huge expanse of glass across from the bar provided lots of comfortable seating to watch the sea go by.

 

Another spot great for watching the sea is the Safari Club...and area that never seemed to be used much. Its beyond the Schooner Bar and towards the back of the space there are comfortable chairs that give a great aft view. I found my husband sitting there reading one afternoon after I returned from the spa as we were pulling out of St. Maarten.

 

We walked everyday on the track; plenty of chairs available up there if you don't need to sit by the pool. There were usually regular chairs in the shade, which we would choose if we wanted to rest a bit. We had a D1 balcony on the hump (9076) and really spent our lounging time there.

 

One spot we didn't really care for was the shops area...way too congested at times, especially when they put the tables and displays outside the shops with 'sale' items.

 

Overall, loved this ship and will definitely consider the Radiance class again.

[cruzgryphon]

A couple of things:

1) The helipad at the front of the ship is great place when sailing into the port

2) In between the safari club and the schooner bar are pool tables with gyroscopes. Even if you don't play pool, it is amazing to watch the pool tables move in response to the movement of the ships (also good place to check if you're wondering if the motion is due to the ship or how much you've had to drink :p )

[Ocean Dancer]

Thanks to Bob for the link, Trainman for the pics and thanks to everyone else for your replies.

 

I'm happy to hear about all the glass for viewing. Although Anthem was our last cruise and was awesome, she lacked the viewing spots and felt more enclosed. We had all the bells and are looking for a more traditional cruising experience. Of course she was built for cooler climates.

 

My dad was a semi-pro pool player who passed in 1974. He would be amazed about a pool table at sea. Anthem has one in upper Music Hall.

 

Sounds like we made a good choice.

 

Anyone else ?

[ravensbad]

Thanks to Bob for the link, Trainman for the pics and thanks to everyone else for your replies.

 

I'm happy to hear about all the glass for viewing. Although Anthem was our last cruise and was awesome, she lacked the viewing spots and felt more enclosed. We had all the bells and are looking for a more traditional cruising experience. Of course she was built for cooler climates.

 

My dad was a semi-pro pool player who passed in 1974. He would be amazed about a pool table at sea. Anthem has one in upper Music Hall.

 

Sounds like we made a good choice.

 

Anyone else ?

 

I don't really have more to add beyond what everyone else has said about the ship. I will say that we feel fortunate we ended up on the Serenade for our first cruise. We loved all of the views of the sea. Every restaurant, bar, and in fact, most of the public spaces (other than the shops, centrum, and theater) have views of the ocean. We really felt like we were on a cruise (we were in an interior, so no ocean views from the room), it was awesome. We were on the 10-day itinerary last December and loved it so much that we booked the 11-day itinerary for this December. I've done some researching and have found that most of the newer ships don't have nearly the same amount of views available and I'm afraid that after being spoiled by the Radiance class we will be disappointed sailing anything else. We don't really care for all the bells and whistles that appeal to a lot of people (Flowrider, iFly, Ropes Course, North Star, etc.), anyways.

 

Service was superb across the board, and that is not an exaggeration. People genuinely went out of their way to make us happy. A good example was the bartender at the casino bar. I was waiting to get my soda refilled and he was pretty busy, so I decided to try again later and went back to what I was doing (a CC organized slot pull). Well, when it died down the bartender actually came and found me and asked if he could refill my drink. He had noticed I walked away because he was busy and wanted to make sure I got what I needed.

 

The 10-day itinerary is changing next year so I'm hoping to book it again and enjoy a 3rd cruise on this ship.

[Ocean Dancer]

Thanks, Ravensbad......sounds like we we in for a wonderful cruise experience.

 

With 11 days, I assume we will have two formal nights?

 

I booked the drink package today before prices increase.

[ravensbad]

Thanks, Ravensbad......sounds like we we in for a wonderful cruise experience.

 

With 11 days, I assume we will have two formal nights?

 

I booked the drink package today before prices increase.

 

We did have 2 formal nights on the 10-night cruise so I assume there would be 2 on the 11-nighter as well.