Yes or No, Serenade of the Seas

[Konde]

I love Serenade.

All the sunlight (not on ships with promenade), restaurants (aft wj terrace), good service, not too much to do.

I'd choose Radiance class in a heartbeat.

[msmayor]

We loved our sailing on Serenade last March...we could always find someplace to sit and enjoy looking out at the sea.

 

LOVED the outdoor seating aft for the Windjammer...we sat out there every single time we had breakfast or lunch there. Beautiful Schooner Bar was a favorite spot as well, great views outside and a lot of seating.

 

We had nearly every dinner in the MDR and found the service and food to be just fine. We did the Mystery Dinner at Giovanni's and enjoyed the meal and entertainment very much.

 

We would sail her again in a heartbeat.

[KeywestK]

Yes! Love, love, love the Radiance-class ships, and have enjoyed all four of them. They would be my first choice for any cruise, anywhere, anytime:):cool:

[Dett]

We sailed on Serenade last December for a B2B. We liked the ship. However, they don't know how to do MTD. We made reservations but they were never honored and we had to wait sometimes for 30-45 minutes. We might as well not have made a reservation. After complaining the first cruise, it got better for the 2nd leg but we had to call the restaurant manager from the Concierge Lounge before we headed to the dining room. Having said that, we have 4 cruises booked on her so it didn't keep us from sailing on Serenade again. Two of the cruises that we have booked had already had MTD booked with the lower gratuity so we didn't change that. The other two that we booked later we scheduled late seating. I would advise not booking MTD on this ship. We had an aft balcony on all of the cruises and it is a great view.

[cruiselvr04]

The DH likes Voyager class and above but I like the Radiance class for more if a feeling of being on the sea. Variety is the spice of life!

[John&LaLa]

I was thinking...

 

"The solarium is covered. You can't tan in there!"

 

Small pool deck

[negc]

We have our next three cruises over the next five months booked on Serenade so I guess you can conclude that we love this ship and this class of ships, though we would not turn down a cruise on any other class of RCI ship.:D

[bmc alabama]

Just throwing in my thought. We have done a number of cruises. 4 Princess ships, all 4 Disney ships, as well as the Carnival Sunshine in addition to a 7-night on the Serenade out of New Orleans. We all agree that the Serenade was our least favorite.

 

 

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[sellwingri]

We love this class of ships and really loved Serenade. We sailed her in March and will sail her again in March next year.

[Sequim88]

We did Serenade not too long before the 2012 refurb and there was no sign at all that it needed it. Everything was perfect. That cruise has a special place in our hearts as it was Mom & Dad's 60th anniversary trip that Dad paid to take my two brothers and our wives on. He said he didn't want to leave us money when they were gone - just happy memories. Mom is gone now but I'll never forget signing with her and my brothers at the piano in the Schooner Lounge.

 

Comparing Brilliance (also Radiance class) with Mariner on our TAs the larger Mariner was noticeably more stable in rough seas. Serenade is fine for Caribbean but in storm season or for a TA it might rock & roll a little more.

[stones902]

We are HUGE fans of the Serenade, our favorite RCI ship by far. Of course everything is personal preference but if you like the smaller, more elegant ships and can do without a Flowrider than the Radiance class might be for you.

 

I have to also give a shout out to the best concierge in the entire RCI fleet, Mario Reyes on the Serenade. It's worth booking a suite just to hang out with him in he CL.

[critterchick]

We sailed on Serenade last December for a B2B. We liked the ship. However, they don't know how to do MTD. We made reservations but they were never honored and we had to wait sometimes for 30-45 minutes. We might as well not have made a reservation. After complaining the first cruise, it got better for the 2nd leg but we had to call the restaurant manager from the Concierge Lounge before we headed to the dining room. Having said that, we have 4 cruises booked on her so it didn't keep us from sailing on Serenade again. Two of the cruises that we have booked had already had MTD booked with the lower gratuity so we didn't change that. The other two that we booked later we scheduled late seating. I would advise not booking MTD on this ship. We had an aft balcony on all of the cruises and it is a great view.

 

We've had that problem on Jewel and Radiance, too. When we sail on Radiance class we go for traditional late seating.

 

Will they change your gratuity if you change your dining time prior to sailing?:eek:

[Iluvcruising2]

Where do you intend to sail to and what choices do you have?

 

We wanted to do a short (7N) Baltic Cruise and Serenade of the Seas was the most suitable. We had a wonderful time, sailing out of Copenhagen, from late May to early June 2016.

 

I have put many videos of the ship and the ports (still ongoing). Do check them out if you want to see firsthand what the ship looks like.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2367291

 

Did we have a good time? Yes. Awesome!

 

Are we easy to please? I guess so. :):)

[Iluvcruising2]

We are HUGE fans of the Serenade, our favorite RCI ship by far. Of course everything is personal preference but if you like the smaller, more elegant ships and can do without a Flowrider than the Radiance class might be for you.

 

I have to also give a shout out to the best concierge in the entire RCI fleet, Mario Reyes on the Serenade. It's worth booking a suite just to hang out with him in he CL.

 

Yes, Mario Reyes is a good man. Another thumbs up for him. :):)

 

He was the Diamond Concierge when we were sailing on the Serenade.

[Iluvcruising2]

Oh, if you ask me what is the one outstanding or most interesting aspect of our May/June 2016 Serenade cruise, it would be our cabin.

 

Blew us away, given what we got for the price we paid.

[YOUTUBE]SOe2UQj8j1E[/YOUTUBE]

[cruizers]

Absolutely YES! In fact we will be on again in August. We love the Radiance class ships.

[Dett]

We've had that problem on Jewel and Radiance, too. When we sail on Radiance class we go for traditional late seating.

 

Will they change your gratuity if you change your dining time prior to sailing?:eek:

 

I am afraid that if we change to traditional that they will change the gratuities to the new rate. I might call and ask about doing that.

[Lois R]

Interesting thread and glad I found it:)....my sister and I will be sailing

this ship for the first time in October.....Itinerary is New England and that

is mainly why I booked it but the ship sounds very nice. Smaller

and lots of glass (from everything I have been reading) and as many

people say about things:

Different strokes for different folks:);)....we prefer this size to the mega

ships.

[Grandma Dazzles]

An additional comment to my original post #13, everyone is commenting on the beautiful views/glass, which I totally agree with. However, I use my balcony quite a bit, regardless of the ship I am on, so this is not something I particularly think of as important.

 

One of my biggest complaints was about the shows being in the centrum and thus so crowded. This is not the case with the Radiance and Jewel - have sailed both and never had that problem as shows were in theater. A lot of people complain about this plus the noise it creates for nearby cabins. Noise was not an issue for me, but did notice the main doors to the cabin hallways were often closed. I was told because of noise complaints.

 

Ship was definitely more crowded. No seating ever available at promenade cafe because it was inside solarium and people used the few tables available for the day. Design of coffee shop also had no seating available if you wanted to have a coffee and snack.

 

Did comment in my review about strong smell of smoke permeating areas near casino.

 

I probably would cruise the Serenade again, if the price was right; however, it is not my favorite ship, and definitely has differences when compared to the Radiance and Jewel. Can't compare to Brilliance as I have not sailed her.

[boscobeans]

The Serenade was last into drydock in 2012 and isn't due again until 2017......

 

Do you know when in 2017 the drydock is scheduled to take place?

 

We are booked on a March sailing.

 

bosco

[John&LaLa]

Do you know when in 2017 the drydock is scheduled to take place?

 

We are booked on a March sailing.

 

bosco

 

Likely in the fall. Look for voids in her schedule.

[island lady]

Loved our cruise on Serenade, and also in the "I Love the Radiance Class" group. :)

We were on last February and are booked again for next February. Would have loved

to do a B2B as was very popular with many.

 

Only thing I did not like was the LA on board. She was the worst ever, but I

understand she has been replaced.