Rhapsody vs Serenade Seatle vs Vancouver

[cruz guy]

Help!!!

 

Planning 1st cruise to Alaska and am not sure which to go with.

Suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Wondering which way to go for a cruise to Alaska in summer of 2008.

Should we do the Rhapsody roundtrip from Seatle

or

the Serenade round trip out of Vancouver?

 

Also how much are RCCL's transfers from Seattle to Vancouver?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[dirtgirl]

I am about to do the Serenade round trip. I would pick the Serenade, as the ship is newer, bigger, has more amenities, and most importantly, the itinerary is better. You have to go to Prince Rupert on the Rhapsody, and that is a waste of a port, plus you only get 2 Alaskan ports.

 

Sorry, I can't help you with the transfers. I wouldn't want to go that route though; it is far more convenient to fly to Vancouver even though it costs more. The border crossings are ALWAYS backed up something awful. ;)

[robtulipe]

Serenade is 6 years newer (2003 vs 1997), is 15% larger but only has 2.7% more passenger capacity (2501 vs 2435) and it's cabins offer more square footage in all similar categories especially in the lower priced interior and ocean view ones where the extra space is much appreciated. An extra 30 sq.ft. in a Serenade's interior cabin (165 sq.ft.) is almost 1/4 larger than Rhapsody's 135 sq.ft. small interior ones.

We were on Serenade last Feb. for a Southern Caribbean Barbados route and it is a great and beautiful ship that has lots of glass for viewing especially on a very scenic cruise like Alaska which could have cool or possibly inclement weather . It's 7 nites Alaska itinerary is better also than Rhapsody's.

This is why we booked it's sister ship, Radiance, for our 14 nites Alaskan and West Coast cruise next month since it's itinerary was better for us than Serenade's similar 13 nites repositioning cruise.

It is something like a 4 hours transfer to Vancouver from Seattle, crossing one of the busiest border crossing between the US and Canada. I would fly in to Vancouver where the cruise pier is less than a 1/2 hour taxi ride away.

[maccruiser22]

Serenade of the Seas is a beautiful ship and Vancouver is a far better port. Vancouver is a great place to spend some pre or post cruise days.

 

Serenade is a newer ship plus because of its us of glass everywhere in public spaces there are great views from all over the ship, geat for seeing the Hubbard glacier.

Vancouver has so much to do like go see the famos stanley park thats right in the downtown, the sailout on the ship is amazing going under the Lions gate bridge.

 

There is so much more . . .

[CruiseQueenie]

Help!!!

 

Planning 1st cruise to Alaska and am not sure which to go with.

Suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Wondering which way to go for a cruise to Alaska in summer of 2008.

Should we do the Rhapsody roundtrip from Seatle

or

the Serenade round trip out of Vancouver?

 

Also how much are RCCL's transfers from Seattle to Vancouver?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

We just got back from our cruise to Alaska. We were on the Serenade. It was a very nice ship. The concierge Martiza was the best!

We went out of Vancouver and loved it. We did a two day pre and there was so much more we wanted to do there but then it was time to board the ship.

I am sure whichever ship and port you choose, you will love it. Alaska is breathtaking!

Enjoy!!!

[cruz guy]

Did anyone take the Seatrac bus to Vancouver from Seatle or the RCCL transfers?

 

Seems like everyone prefers the Vancouver route to the Seatle route...now I need to figure out the best way to Vancouver.

[sailor moon]

We took Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver the morning of the cruise - it leaves Seattle around 7:40am and gets to Vancouver at 11:35am. It was a great way to see the scenery and very relaxing! We took the RCCL transfer back to SeaTac at the end of the cruise. I think it was about $65 pp.

[Sue L]

I just got off the Serenade cruise on August 11th and it was wonderful. We flew directly to Vancouver and stayed overnight. The ship is all glass so there are amazing views where ever you look.

 

Click on the link in my signature for pictures and if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them

 

I wrote a review if you would like to read it

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=609141