Serenade Review from May 15th

[indiaksue]

Just a little background on us. My DH and I have taken 10 cruises. This is our 2nd on RCCL. First I will say that our first cruise with RCCL was on the Liberty of the Seas. We liked that cruise the least of any cruise we have been on so really hadn’t considered RCCL again, however we earned this particular cruise through a contest with our company, so we went. I am always one to say that you can’t judge a cruise line by one cruise on one ship so we were hoping for a better cruise this time.

 

Pre-Cruise

We flew into San Juan the day before hoping to go to the beach. We chose LaConcha Renaissance hotel because of its location and the reviews I have seen. Unfortunately it was raining when we got there and we were never able to use the beach. We did however get a great upgrade to a suite that was very nice. There are lots of restaurants and shops around the area if you want those options. The hotel lobby and pool areas are beautiful. The service was also excellent and we will definitely consider staying there again. It is a short 10 minute ride to the cruise port from the hotel and cost about 20 dollars for a taxi.

 

Embarkation

We arrived at the port at 11:00 am. There was no one there to take our luggage; instead there was a line formed and a luggage desk. We have embarked in 6 different ports and have never seen it done this way. At about 11:15 they started accepting luggage and then we got in line at the door, where we stood for some time. It started raining heavily but we were under the roof so wasn’t really a problem. Finely they opened the doors and let us in. The rest went really fast and the whole process took about 1 hour. The only down side was there was no where to sit, we had to stand the whole time. Not really a problem for us luckily, but could be an issue for others. They let people on the ship up until 7:00 PM so I am sure later in the day there wouldn’t have been the wait. We like to get on the ship early and eat lunch then sit at the pool. It is like an extra sea day. This time it started raining again so no pool day today. Our luggage came at 3:00 so we unpacked.

 

Room

We had room 7602 which is a hump balcony. This is our very first balcony and will never go back to less. It was the highlight of our trip. We were directly above the Champagne Bar and I had concerns about noise at night, but we never heard anything. The best part of this room is the location. It is right in the center of the ship and so convenient to everything. I thought there might be noise from the stairs and elevators but never heard either one. Also it is a closed off hallway and only people that are in these few rooms really came down our hallway so there was no talking or loud noises from people walking by. There was adequate storage space in the cabin but not quite enough in the bathroom.

 

Service

I really thought the service was great in many areas and not so great in others. I noticed many staff stopping to talk to passengers quite often. I think that speaks volumes about how the crew is trained. They were always friendly and helpful. The part that lacked was bar waiters. Maybe there were not enough on duty, but we waited quite often for someone to come ask us if we wanted a drink, in the theater, in Vortex nightclub, in the Centrum and on pool deck. Usually you have waiters coming by often, but this time we went and got the drinks ourselves a lot of the time. Our room steward was Carlos and we didn’t see him much but was always friendly when we did. He did a good job and so we were very pleased. The dining room staff were very good, however the Windjammers evening service was not so great. We missed most of the evenings in the dining room because of our busy port schedule so we had dinner most in Windjammers. No one was really helping much with water or bar service like we had on the Liberty OT Seas. Also the ships photographer was really not around much. I didn’t see him on deck for the sail away party, in fact we only saw him taking footage for the DVD once, so no chance we are buying that.

 

Ports

We visited St Thomas, where we took the ship’s excursion over to St. John to tour the island. It was a beautiful island and it managed to hold off on raining that afternoon.

 

On St. Kitts, we took the ship’s excursion a Catamaran cruise to Nevis. This is an excellent excursion and the best Catamaran cruise we have ever taken. The crew was awesome; they kept the complimentary drinks flowing and anticipated our every need.

The snorkeling wasn’t the best I have done but it was okay, especially if you are a beginner they give an extensive amount of instruction. We sailed over to Nevis for a BBQ lunch that was very tasty and then gave us time to swim. I highly recommend this excursion.

 

In Aruba we were planning on taking the bus to Palm Beach but it rained and we went shopping instead. There were lots of shops and that was fun as well. I do wish it would quit raining. I guess that is just what to expect in May.

 

Curacao was a shopping day as well. It is very picturesque with the Dutch architecture and there were lots of shops and restaurants.

 

Food

Food is a rather subjective thing so I will just say, I am not picky, as long as I don’t have to cook it, I am happy. So take that into consideration when you read this. The food was okay to good, maybe a 3.5 on a scale of 5. Breakfast in Windjammers was for the most part pretty good and quite a variety. They never changed the menu though throughout the week so I suppose it could get boring after awhile. I did not care for their sausage gravy with bits of green peppers in it, but that was about it. I liked everything else.

Lunch was okay also, usually a wide variety of items to choose from. Dinner in the MDR was okay but I think Princess and Carnival have a better selection of entrees to choose from. I did like all the food I had in the MDR but I wouldn’t say the quality was any better. What was really good was Portofino’s. Their filet steak was the biggest I have ever had and the service was really wonderful. It was the highlight of our trip. Another area we loved was the Seaview Grill. They had really good fried food, sandwiches and salads and we would go after dancing to get a bite before bed.

 

 

Entertainment

I have heard differing opinions on entertainment on this ship so I went with no real expectations. We don’t really care for the main shows so we usually don’t go. We did see the magician/Comedian, Scott Alexander and thought he was really funny in

a dry sort of way. The music of Domenick Allen, a former member of Foreigner, was wonderful. He was very talented in singing and played numerous instruments. We also liked Tony Tillman who was a very entertaining singer. Those were the only shows we saw and the rest of the time we really struggled to find something to do. This was the main reason we didn’t like the Liberty also. There is a real void in things to do from 7:00 to 10:00 PM. If you don’t go to early or late seating and then your show time, there is nothing else to do. We find ourselves on other cruise lines struggling to fit dinner in somewhere because there are too many things going on so we were disappointed here. We spent the later part of every evening at Karaoke and the Disco, which we really enjoyed so no problems after 10:00. The other big let down was the Sail Away party, or lack there of. There was no live band and no cruise staff getting people pumped up. I participated in a line dance with just a few other people and that was about it. It was a really big let down to the start of the cruise.

Ricky was our cruise director, and we loved him! He was one of the best we have ever had, very funny and highly energetic, just wish he had more things planned to do.

 

Ship Overall

I loved the size of this class of ship. It didn’t feel crowded except after 1st sitting and before 2nd sitting in the Centrum. The disco up in the Viking Crown Lounge was our favorite so far on any cruise. It had a large dance floor, awesome lighting and DJ Ron played great tunes. The music that was played in Windjammers and on the pool deck was always really good too. I will say the Lido deck was a huge disappointment. There is only 1 pool outside and not much space for deck chairs. In fact on sea days they set up shopping off in a corner that could have held a lot more chairs. Then there are no drink stations with coffee and water out on deck. You have to dry off and put on something and go all the way into windjammers to find water. This applies to food as well. Other cruise lines have food and drink available outside on deck. There are also no restrooms out there which same procedure applies as getting food or drink. This is a very poor design for a Lido deck. The Centrum is beautiful with all the glass and the décor is really nice. The theater and Windjammers seemed adequate for the amount of people. One thing about Windjammers, if you can’t find a table there is a small space up at the front called the café veranda and you can go and eat in there, it is a little more quite and we never had a problem getting a seat.

 

Debarkation

This was smooth. They called us by our flight times instead of decks. I liked this concept better. San Juan doesn’t offer Express Luggage service so we didn’t like that because we have become accustomed to it and love the convenience. We were off the ship quickly and on our way to the airport for a 1:15 flight. One note about the airport for those of you that have never flown out of San Juan, you have to take your luggage to the USDA area and have them scan it and put a red sticker on it before you check in with your airline. We didn’t know that until we had been standing in line at the Airtran counter for some time.

 

 

Overall

My opinion of RCCL is better from this ship, we really did like it better than the mammoth Liberty, but we still are not sure we will choose to cruise RCCL again.

Even though I think the RCCL fleet have the most beautiful ships we have been on,

in our opinion the food, entertainment, service, etc. is no better than Carnival and Princess but the prices are much higher. If something really stood out to us about RCCL that would make it worth spending more, that would be one thing, but for now value is

really important to us. Who knows if there was a really good sale and we got a good deal, we would consider cruising RCCL again. :)

[vermontcruisers]

Thanks for your honest review.I agree,food is very subjective.My opinion is that food in the Windjammer is better than the buffet on Crown Princess.However,the food in the dining room was better on Princess than RCI.That's my opinion.Yes,prices have risen on RCI but we still prefer to cruise with them.Carnival is probably the best "bang for the Buck".

[indiaksue]

I really prefer Princess myself and my DH loves Carnival so we do both. We have talked about doing one really nice cruise in a year but 2 cruises that are less expensive always win out.

[readytogo2]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review. We are looking forward to being on the Serenade in Oct.

[indiaksue]

We really enjoyed leaving from San Juan, even though it rained the whole time. Would love to do another cruise from here. I am so glad I have another cruise booked, something to look forward to after the post-cruise depression of having to go back to reality.

[daveky]

We were on the same cruise with you. Enjoyed reading your review. Felt like I was back on the cruise again. On embarkation was there early also standing. Agree, first time I had never seem reps not there to take luggage, etc. We also took the cat trip from St Kitts to Nevis with you guys and maybe the St Thomas to St John's trip. Did you do the cat trip on this one? On Aruba, we took the cat trip (in the rain) over to Palm beach and by the time we got there, rain had quit. Agree, had never seen so much rain on a cruise. But, not enough to bother us. Really enjoyed this cruise. CD Ricky Matthews was great. Never seen Soooo much energy in a CD. On the USDA line at the airport, I luckily picked up that info on cruise critic before I left and asked alot of questions from Guest Relations before debarkation. The Concerige on the ship even told me she took her luggage thru USDA but forgot to send thru her carryon to get the sticker, went thru security and was sent back thru the USDA line again. My TA called day after cruise to check on me and mentioned about all passengers having to take luggage and carryover thru the screening process at USDA, he said you mean the pick out certain people to go thru, I said no, all has to go thru. He's from England and travels alot and not aware of this.

Glad you had a good trip as we did. Looking at Oasis this fall for my withdrawl trip.

Happy cruising.

 

Dave

[indiaksue]

Dave,

We didn't do the cat cruise to St. John. We did that a couple of years ago and loved the beach at St. John we went to. Decided this time to just take the island tour to get a better feel for it. It is a beautiful island for sure with magnificant beaches.

[TxStacey]

Thanks for your review.. I will be on the Serenade in 3 weeks:). My family is really excited about sailing out of San Juan since we have never been there. I will have to agree with you on the lack of activity in the evenings on RCI vs Carnival. This will be my third Royal Carribean cruise and I really enjoy thier ships..however, Carnival wins hands down for food and fun..I guess it just depends on what you are looking for in a vacation. Our itenerary is different from yours..Antigua, Barbados, St. Marteen, St. Croix, and St. Lucia..very port intensive..so Im thinking we wont really need alot of late night activity..I am super excited to be on a cruise..no matter what!

I also miss having the drink stations on the lido and the grill..but that's one of the cool things about Carnival ships is that they have outdoor tables and chairs to eat by the pool. It's nice to not have to get dressed to go in and eat. Glad you had a great cruise!! I see your next cruise is with Carnival. Ours probably will be also on the Magic which is coming to Galveston.

[indiaksue]

Thanks for your review.. I will be on the Serenade in 3 weeks:). My family is really excited about sailing out of San Juan since we have never been there. I will have to agree with you on the lack of activity in the evenings on RCI vs Carnival. This will be my third Royal Carribean cruise and I really enjoy thier ships..however, Carnival wins hands down for food and fun..I guess it just depends on what you are looking for in a vacation. Our itenerary is different from yours..Antigua, Barbados, St. Marteen, St. Croix, and St. Lucia..very port intensive..so Im thinking we wont really need alot of late night activity..I am super excited to be on a cruise..no matter what!

I also miss having the drink stations on the lido and the grill..but that's one of the cool things about Carnival ships is that they have outdoor tables and chairs to eat by the pool. It's nice to not have to get dressed to go in and eat. Glad you had a great cruise!! I see your next cruise is with Carnival. Ours probably will be also on the Magic which is coming to Galveston.

 

We are also considering the magic. I love the short non stop flight from Wichita to Houston. We are a little hesitant for the size of this ship, considering we don't really like the Conquest class because of the crowding, and this one only being bigger. Now that we are booking balconies only though, I do have that place to go and be alone.

[14Terry]

Thanks for the review. Sailing on the Serenade in July. We've been to San Juan twice on cruises stops, but have never cruised from there. Great information about what to expect at the air port!

[indiaksue]

Terry,

The other thing I observed at the Airport was the large amount of people. Our ship and Carnival Victory both docked on Sunday and almost everyone at the airport had been on a cruise. There were large crowds of people so make sure to get a flight as early as possible. We had a flight at 1:15 and were glad we were some of the first people off the ship. We went straight to the airport and still stood in line for check-in and then a lot longer yet for inspection. If you have a later flight in the afternon or evening they won't let you check in your luggage till afternoon, so then you might want to do a tour or something. I would suggest if possible to delay flying home until Monday if you can and spend another whole day in Puerto Rico, there is so much to see there and the airport will be so much better.

[14Terry]

Indiaksue,

Thank you for the information! This is just one example of why I am hooked on CC! I can get all my cruise questions answered here. Happy cruising to you! :D

[debshomespun]

Our very first cruise was out of San Juan. We have had port stops in San Juan, but not taken a cruise since out of there. We are looking forward to cruising out of San Juan after 25 cruises! We plan to arrive a couple days early and enjoy the time before we board the Serenade. We will probably stay after another day or two.