Serenade Review

[toothy26]

:) Having just returned from my 6th cruise with Royal Caribbean, I can say that this was my favorite. My husband, myself and 14 year old son sailed on the Serenade! We have previously sailed on the Explorer, Adventure, and Majesty. The Serenade is a beautiful ship full of glass that allows you to see the ocean almost from every place you look. It is a large ship with an excellent lay out. The decor is beautiful and not gaudy. We were on the starboard side of the ship and all of the decorations were floral in nature. We had our first balcony cabin and as they say...once you go balcony you never go back. I loved sitting out there any time I was in my cabin. We were lucky enough to get a hump midship.

Service onboard was excellent especially our room steward (Mark). All of the staff were accommodating, engaging and fun. The cruise director, Matt Sole was funny and not too over the top. The entertainment was some of the best we have ever seen. The production shows were top notch and the comedians funny. They also had an awesome juggler who juggled glow in the dark balls and pins so as to make it almost look like fireworks.

We did a few shore excursions. In St Lucia we went on the Brig Unicorn.

 

This was the sailboat used in Pirates of the Caribbean and Roots. It was a fun trip. I got to steer the ship and we met a crew member that has been in both pirate movies and will also be in the third. We stopped at Pidgeon Island for a treasure hunt and we won a bottle of rum. Another excursion we went on was in antigua. It was the off road 4x4 trip. This was one of our favorite excursions mainly because our driver/tour guide(Kenmore) was totally awesome. He was very entertaining and pointed out all points of interest. This tour also stopped at Turner beach which was beautiful.

The only slight downside to the cruise was the dining experience. The food was not as good as we have experienced in the past. Some items such as the lamb, duck, lobster tail, and grand marnier souffle were excellent. Most items were just average however, and the selection was not very vast. We have also had better wait staff in the past but they were ok.

Embarkation and disembarkation both went very smoothly. Being platinum members also helped. In conclusion, I had the best cruise in my sailing career so far. While onboard we gave deposit for a future cruise still to be determined. I am leaning toward the Jewel as I have decided that the Radiance class is the best way to travel.

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: 04/10/07

[waf125]

Can you tell me what cabin number you had?? Any description would be wonderful!

 

Glad you had such a good cruise!

[kingsgirl]

Who was Captain while you were onboard?

 

- THANKS!

[toothy26]

Cabin #9586 Midship hump. It was perfect but compared to some descriptions of other balconies I guess this was just average. Only had 2 chairs and small table but I loved it.

 

The captain was Stig Nilson. He was very low key but seemed good. He di take us very close to the Pitons in St Lucia but no sail by of the other islands or Monserrat

[Italy52]

In your review of the Serenade you mentioned "being platinum members also helped" with regard to disembarkation. How so? I am also Platinum and considering RCCL for Alaska in '08.

[Janiekins]

Hi Toothy26, did you like the Serenade better than the Adventure? I just booked the Serenade for February, 2008 w/ hubby and 2 sons (17 & 18). Just about everyone told me to book the Adventure for teenagers but I went w/ the Serenade because it is a little bit smaller and more elegant. The Adventure almost seems too big. Do you think I made the right decision?

[jakohlba]

:) We also just returned from Serenade of the Seas 3/31-4/7 2007. It was our first cruise and I think we have forever been spoiled. It was the best vacation our family has ever had. We had cabins 1502 & 1507 on Deck 10. Our kids were in 1507 (1 bed & a bunk) and we were across the hall. We loved having a balcony and felt it was worth the cost. I agree with toothy that the entertainment was very good. The comedians were OK for kids except for the midnight show and it was not good anyway. They did tell us ahead of time if the activities were age appropriate. I also agree with her food review. Seafood was excellent. I did have some tough steak. We did not pay extra for Chops or Portofino, although I did look at their menu. The captain's name was kind of swedish, cannot find my papers right now. Maybe last name of Steij. Our cabin steward Marc was excellent and our wait staff of Anthony & Francis were equally as good. Anthony did magic tricks to entertain us. They crew was constantly cleaning or painting and we found the ship very clean. I'd be happy to answer any other questions.

[toothy26]

As far as being platinum members, I just meant that we didn't really have any lines to wait in when we embarked. It was fast and simple but that could have also been the time we arrived (around 1pm).

 

In my personal opinion, I loved the serenade bettet than the adventure (except for the ice skating show), however, I really liked the explorer (same class as adventure). I do have a 14 year old son but he hangs with us the whole time and doesn't participate in the teen activities. He was very happy on the serenade and considered it his favorite ship except he missed the promanade on the voyager class. As i said in my review i am probably planning the Jewel for next year but will probably try the freedom class at some point.