Review of Serenade 7 Night Baltic & Russian Cruise, 29 MAY through 5 JUN 2016

[aviator1945]

Here is an attempt at telling the story of a Seven Night Baltic & Russian cruise that DW and I plus two close friends of ours took on aboard Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas, starting from Copenhagen on 29 May 2016.

 

The Serenade was built in 2003 and weighs in at 90,090 gross tons. She is one of four ships in the Radiance class (the others are named Radiance, Brilliance and Jewel). This was our third cruise with the Serenade, the other two having been in the Mediterranean; in all, at the end of this voyage we will have sailed a total of 29 nights with her, the largest number among the entire Royal Caribbean fleet. This is our second Baltic cruise, the previous one having been a four nighter on the Vision of the Seas.

 

I will try to post daily, with a review of the previous day's highlights. I'll also try to post a few pictures and maybe also some snippets from cruise compasses; I'm definitely not an expert at blogging, so please bear with me if there are some glitches in my efforts. From what can be seen in other threads on Cruise Critic, it is my understanding that wifi on board the Serenade, even after the recent introduction of "VOOM", leaves much to be desired. Therefore I won't be subscribing to ship's wifi, except for the two sea days, when DW and I have one free internet day each, as C&A Diamond members. I'm fairly confident that the internet service via 3G/4G during port calls in EU countries will be reasonably priced, since we are European residents. I'm not sure of the pricing in Russia, so I might decide not to post from there.

 

Feel free to ask if you have any questions; I'll try to answer to the best of my ability, FWIW.

[cruisingbajan]

Looking forward to your review and pics.

[Boobila]

Can't wait to hear as well be doing it next week!

[sjpsoccer14]

I look forward to following along with you during your journey.

[LT Hambone]

Any update on VOOM? Fast, slow, average? Have heard VOOM does not work very well that far north - true or false?

 

 

Thanks!

[Clarea]

Any update on VOOM? Fast, slow, average? Have heard VOOM does not work very well that far north - true or false?

 

 

Thanks!

True that VOOM performance falls off north of Spain.

[Tommy the crack]

We are booked for 2018. South Carib. Thank you for posting. Just tell us anything you feel talking about. Thanks again.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[aviator1945]

Any update on VOOM? Fast, slow, average? Have heard VOOM does not work very well that far north - true or false?

 

 

Thanks!

 

I guess that download at 0.47 Mbps and upload at 0.13 Mbps with Ping at 764 ms says it all. And those numbers are at 4.25 am, when just about everybody else is sleeping. Not worth paying for. Would definitely not recommend anyone to preorder Serenade's VOOM at northern latitudes. And right now we are at about the most southerly latitude that the ship will be over the next three months.

 

Now and then getting intermittent 3G signal from Denmark and Germany, later in the day also most likely from Sweden.

[aviator1945]

DAY 1: COPENHAGEN: SAILAWAY

 

The four of us had agreed to meet at at the main railway station right across from the Tivoli Gardens a few minutes after 11 am, and all of us were promptly on time. We caught a cab which took us to the pier, Oceankaj, a ten minute ride. During our journey we noted that a few people were walking, with bags and all. From the station that would have been just a bit too far, particularly in light of some mobility challenges that I have to contend with. As our taxi pulled up at the pier, we saw two other cruise liners: HAL's Zuiderdam, also on a Baltic & Russian cruise, and which we would encounter a couple of times later during our voyage; and the MSC Musica, with a Norwegian Fjord itinerary. We stepped out of the cab at 11.30 am, bypassing the baggage tag line, since we had already arranged home printed tags. Joined the checkin line at the entrance to the cruise terminal, and eventually loaded our bags onto the conveyor belt. No porters in sight. Filled in the usual health forms. Went through Security, and could then proceed to the checkin counter. Priority was offered to C&A levels Platinum and above, and an agent was available as soon as we reached the counter. Non-priority guests had to stand in a separate line, I would guess that there were around fifty people there, waiting their turn. After receiving our Seapass cards, a quick photo by the ship's photographers, and then boarding. No stairways or escalators involved in the boarding process, we entered the ship from ground level. Total time from leaving the cab until stepping onto the gangway was 30 minutes.

 

As usual, up to the Windjammer, which on the Serenade is at Deck 11, aft. Arrived there just in time to get a table; the buffet was quickly filling up with guests. After a tasty lunch we split up: the ladies went sightseeing onboard, while I went to the MTD dining staff, seeking to get us a window table. I was successful. Next stop was GS, where a hole was punched in my Seapass card so that it could be fastened to my lanyard. While I was at GS, it was announced that the cabins were now available for occupancy, more or less exactly at 1 pm.

 

Took some pictures while our cabin, an OV on Deck 3, port side, aft was still tidy. Used my phone to scan the Day 1 cruise compass plus some other documentation. Hopefully these will all be available on my WordPress blog, but first they will need to be uploaded. Stay tuned to this channel for the URL.

 

At 4.15 pm it was time for the customary muster drill. Attendance was checked manually; there was no scanning of Seapass cards like is done on the larger ships. Sailaway was pretty well exactly at 5 pm.

 

Our dinnertime for the entire cruise would be at 5.45 pm; it's good to have plenty of time between the meal and evening entertainment. At our table we introduced ourselves to our dining staff, waiter Romeo (from the Philippines) and assistant waiter Daryna (from the Ukraine). I ordered double starters, St. Petersburg ham and Borsht (Russian beet soup). My main course was Chicken Kiev, which I must confess was a bit bland, it was as if the chef had forgotten the spices. I had two desserts, first a cheese plate and then a scoop of coffee ice cream. Normally I'm on a low carb lifestyle, but this is very difficult to maintain when travelling, so I guess I'll be cheating a little during the days to come. Looks like there will be some fasting in store for me after the cruise.......

 

After dinner it was time to go to the theatre, where CD Topi hosted the Welcome Aboard proceedings. Topi is one of our favorite CDs, we really enjoyed his work on a previous Norwegian Fjords cruise a couple of years ago. During his introduction he announced the top ten nationalities among the cruise guests:

 

United States 844

United Kingdom 295

Denmark 149

Canada 128

India 98

Israel 64

Brazil 63

Mexico 59

Germany 55

Ireland 53

 

After the Welcome Aboard show we split again, the ladies partaking of the musical entertainment in the Centrum area, while I decided to go to our cabin to check out the land-based internet. We still had a Danish 3G and Edge signal, albeit sometimes intermittent. Not bad, keeping in mind that I was on Deck 3 near the water line. Higher up in the ship the 3G signal would most likely have been somewhat stronger.

 

While we were having dinner, our cabin attendant Erasmo (from Panama) had arranged the beds and had also provided us with complimentary bathrobes, as well as some toiletries (shampoo, conditioner and body lotion) as part of our C&A Diamond benefits. Already before our embarkation he had provided some biscuits and bottled water.

[aviator1945]

I guess that download at 0.47 Mbps and upload at 0.13 Mbps with Ping at 764 ms says it all. And those numbers are at 4.25 am, when just about everybody else is sleeping. Not worth paying for. Would definitely not recommend anyone to preorder Serenade's VOOM at northern latitudes. And right now we are at about the most southerly latitude that the ship will be over the next three months.

 

Now and then getting intermittent 3G signal from Denmark and Germany, later in the day also most likely from Sweden.

 

As we were off the Danish island of Bornholm we were receiving a good 3G/4G signal from land, at times as good as 18 Mbps download, 10 Mbps upload and ping 72 ms, even though we couldn't visually see land. A lot better than above...... Signal lost now, but we expect a reasonably acceptable one when passing off the southeast corner of Sweden as well as off the island of Öland in about three or four hours from now.

[Saab4444]

Hello, is Captain Tor Olsen still in charge? Have a great trip!

[cinnamon]

Following along. Bon Voyage.

[Clarea]

I guess that download at 0.47 Mbps and upload at 0.13 Mbps with Ping at 764 ms says it all. And those numbers are at 4.25 am, when just about everybody else is sleeping. ....

Was this surf only or surf & stream?

[javasa]

Thanks for sharing, we'll be doing a similar trip (departing from Stockholm instead) in July!

 

Any tips will be welcome

 

Regards and enjoy

Javier

[tampadee]

We are going to the Baltic on Navigator of the Seas next month. Interested in your experiences at the ports.

[aviator1945]

Was this surf only or surf & stream?

 

VOOM only.

 

And this post is via 4G from a location halfway between the Swedish islands of Öland and Gotland. Provider is the Swedish branch of a Norwegian company named Telenor. From previous (land-based) experience in Nordic countries they are the best 4G provider in the region. Current download is 3.5 Mbps, upload 0.25 Mbps. And we're in the MDR on Deck 5.

[Clarea]

VOOM only.

 

And this post is via 4G from a location halfway between the Swedish islands of Öland and Gotland. Provider is the Swedish branch of a Norwegian company named Telenor. From previous (land-based) experience in Nordic countries they are the best 4G provider in the region. Current download is 3.5 Mbps, upload 0.25 Mbps. And we're in the MDR on Deck 5.

Thank-you.

[gateford]

We are booked for 27th May 2017 so looking forward to this review

[aviator1945]

Hello, is Captain Tor Olsen still in charge? Have a great trip!

 

Affirmative, Capt. Tor Isak Olsen is still in charge. He is a great captain.

[aviator1945]

After 24 hours of inactivity, ship's wifi is now offering me to renew my account. Well, they can forget about that! Now we are at the beautiful entrance to the port of Stockholm. I expect that we'll be cruising through the area for the next three and a half hours, before finally arriving at our dock.

 

Telenor 3G is currently giving me download at 14.49 Mbps and upload at 2.56 Mbps with ping at a mere 26 ms. And as we approach downtown Stockholm I expect that it will only get better.

[aviator1945]

DAY 2: SEADAY: FORMAL EVENING

 

I woke up bright and early around 4 am and decided to avail ourselves of one of our two free internet days. Had nothing but difficulties trying to connect, even asked for assistance from GS, but they too were unable to rectify the problem. It was evident that they were aware of the weakness of the VOOM system onboard. But at least by using a freebie I didn't lose any money. Several times later during the day I tried again to connect, with iPad as well as iPhone, but to no avail. DW managed to connect a couple of times with her iPhone, but mostly she too was unsuccessful.

 

But I had a surprise when I found that here and there we actually got 3G/4G land connections, intermittently. Approximately half of the day we could use these. But we had to adjust carrier settings on the phones to "manual" in order not to be offered "Cellular at Sea" roaming connections, which would be quite expensive with our European subscriptions, which considered "Cellular at Sea" to be a North American carrier, thus outside the jurisdiction of EU telecoms regulators. But switching from automatic to manual carrier settings enabled us to chose a carrier with which we knew there were roaming agreements within the EU framework. We chose Telenor, since we had experienced good performance previously from them during land journeys.

 

Eventually it was time for breakfast in the WJ, which we almost always choose, considering the rather slow pace of MDR breakfasts. At 10 am it was time for M&M, held in the Vortex lounge on Deck 13, and hosted by Activities Manager Aysy (from Russia). There was the usual raffle combined with a trivia contest; I was very lucky, winning two of the five prizes (but I'm still not going to push my luck in the casino.....). Captain's corner was held at 10.45 am in the Centrum area. I always enjoy listening to the maritime expertise of the Master of the ship and his or her senior officers. And this time it was no different; in particular Captain Tor, with his many years of experience in the company was very interesting to listen to. For unknown reasons this event on the Serenade is always held in the Centrum area, not a good location for spoken events considering its limited capacity and poor acoustics; having the event in the theatre, like on the Allure, would make it more enjoyable for those of us who have a keen interest in all things pertaining to the seas.

 

Originally there was a barbecue planned for poolside, but due to rather windy conditions it was instead held in the WJ. After lunch I went to the theatre for an Enrichment Presentation by AM Aysy on the topic of Understanding Russian. It was one of the very best lectures that I have attended on any ship. She is very young and talented, and given more time and experience I'm sure that she is good CD material. BTW she has a North American connection, having spent a year in a West Virginia high school as an exchange student.

 

Eventually it was time to dress up formal, for dinner and the Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception. Among the gents I noted very few tuxedos but also very few that were poorly clad. The vast majority wore suits and ties. For dinner I continued my two-starter streak, with lobster bisque and a salad. Main course for me was tenderloin, followed by double desserts: strawberry cheesecake and two scoops of butter almond ice cream. Later, CD Topi hosted the Headliner Showtime, featuring Mel Mellers in a rather amusing show.

[aviator1945]

Now I'm doing something that I have never before done. I'm not at all sure that it's going to work, but if I don't try, then I know that it will never work.....

 

Below are a number of attempts at links to some cruise documentation that might be of interest to a few of you. Please note that the files are quick and sometimes dirty scans done with an iPhone by an amateur (myself), but at least they can give some flavor of what a cruise like this is like.

 

Please note that the material only applies to the Seven Night Baltics and Russia cruise that departed from Copenhagen on 29 May 2016. Similar cruises but of different duration will obviously be different. There is, however, a good chance that the specialty restaurant menus will be similar, if not entirely identical.

 

If any of the links are broken, please advise, and I'll try to mend them.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGQ2dZUUNweVFZYVk

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGdHNIaWpSTzJpY2c

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGQjdQUEdobjFtRE0

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGaHBsOFdmRmxGaTA

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGbE45LW44Vm5Hb1k

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGQlBWNXZfem0tTVU

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGWnhYQ0hHOFBESDQ

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGSEQxVDc5UUVvRDQ

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGSEdQNWlBNXJnOUU

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGU3VwVlZ2M0RxUDg

 

Day 1

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGRHVXTm51Rm9ZVTQ

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGTEhQZFBRS0JtZDQ

 

Day 2

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGc3ZoX0VYck1mZ3c

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGeGxhNWM4MWJyYVU

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGN1BKemh3cmQ0Zjg

 

Day 3

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByO8508n_ivGNTg0ZUl4RFhVR0E

 

- END -

[Gabrielle R.]

Well... at least for me... but I do have Google Chrome ;)

 

Thank you for the information! Looking forward to hearing about your travels! DH & I board Serenade in December.

 

Looking forward to hearing about the ship. What you liked/didn't like.

 

Where is your room? How is it?

 

Any dish/dining venue that you really enjoyed?

 

Thanks for the information!!! Have a great time!

Gabrielle

[Cruising-Snowbird]

Captain's corner was held at 10.45 am in the Centrum area. I always enjoy listening to the maritime expertise of the Master of the ship and his or her senior officers. And this time it was no different; in particular Captain Tor, with his many years of experience in the company was very interesting to listen to. For unknown reasons this event on the Serenade is always held in the Centrum area, not a good location for spoken events considering its limited capacity and poor acoustics; having the event in the theatre, like on the Allure, would make it more enjoyable for those of us who have a keen interest in all things pertaining to the seas.

 

 

Interesting.... We were on the Serenade 4 times over the past year and the Captain's Corner was always held in the theater a day or two before the end of the cruise. But, on each of these cruises, there was a different Captain and Cruise Director than you have. It was always well attended with many people still wanting to ask questions when the allocated time ended.

 

The location and day of this activity must be decided by either the Cruise Director or the Captain. Sounds like something to add to the post-cruise Survey....

Edited May 31, 2016 by Cruising-Snowbird