Serenade or Jewel

[Dett]

We were on the Jewel in December 2022 and Serenade January 2023.  I only remember a few differences.  Jewel had the CocoCola freestyle machines in WJ and Serenade did not.  Also the loyalty ambassador offices were in different places.  The pub on the Jewel had a bigger bar, the pub bar on serenade was smaller but had more seating space.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Dett

[lovesthebeach2]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:01 AM, orville99 said:

We were on Jewel in December and will be boarding Serenade next Wednesday. All four of the Radiance class ships are essentially the same other than the names of the various venues on board. I'd comment on food, but that is so subjective, that anyone's opinion should be taken with a pinch of salt. We don't cruise for the food - we cruise for the ship and itinerary - and quite frankly, Jewel (20+ years old) was in much cleaner and better maintained than Wonder (less than one year old) when we sailed on her in January - Wonder's pool deck was a daily pig sty compared to Jewel.

We also were on Jewel in December and I thought it was in great shape too. 
 

We’re also boarding Serenade next Wednesday and I remember last time we were on it we had issues with our cabin that lasted the whole cruise so Im hoping it’s better this time. 
 

We love all Radiance class ships. We’ll be on Brilliance next month too.

[island lady]

16 hours ago, mac66 said:

 

I was aware of that it is offered in legs. Still...62 or even 20 days is a long time to be on board a ship. The longest we've gone is 12 days and we were tired of the food and drink after 9 or 10 days. But...I could suffer through (being factitious) a much longer cruise if I had too.😁

 

Sounds like a once in a lifetime trip. Enjoy!

 

Thanks.  And thank goodness we are not all alike.  Can you imagine the world with only one flavor of ice cream?  😄 

 

We are currently about to  finish up a  B2B2B (Voyager) which is pretty common for us.  Already those 21 days are feeling too short.  Wonder B2B in the Med a couple of months ago, followed by the 2 week TA (total 48 days) also flew by for us.  Not to mention we will only be home 5 days on Sunday (laundry time!) until we board Jewel for B2B.  

 

 

[Reijo]

On 2/14/2023 at 3:41 PM, island lady said:

 

Sure...pay for it.  😉 

Obviously aware of this.  Just asking a simple question.............

[Reijo]

On 2/15/2023 at 1:19 AM, Coleclan said:

We were on the Jewel last week and had lunch in the solarium.

We were on the jewel last week and have lunch in the solarium.

At the Park Cafe???  Didn't realize they were open on Embarkation Day.  Thanks for your response.

[John&LaLa]

Sailed Jewel on NYE and Serenade last week

 

Condition of ships are about the same, tired.

 

Jewel has the sports bar vs a pub, but it wasn't open near as much as pub on Serenade. Also don't recall any entertainment in sports bar other than a dozen or more TV's

 

Food and service are hit or miss. Will likely vary week to week anyway

 

Clientele out of PC is definitely younger

 

Jewel has nicer equipment in the gym

 

Jewel has a better Colony Club area since LA is not taking up some of that space

 

Jewel LA location on deck 12 above Centrum is an interesting hideaway. It isn't accessible on Serenade now

 

When are you sailing? Serenade will be getting ongoing upgrades all year. New beds, refrigerators, recovering furniture, possible new TV's, and eventually 3 laundry rooms.

 

Forgot one thing, both ships have Starlink, but the signal in our cabins, as well as in several public areas, was way better on Serenade

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by John&LaLa

[mafig]

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Sailed Jewel on NYE and Serenade last week

 

Condition of ships are about the same, tired.

 

 

 

When are you sailing? Serenade will be getting ongoing upgrades all year. New beds, refrigerators, recovering furniture, possible new TV's, and eventually 3 laundry rooms.

 

 

 

 

We are sailing Serenade April 30.  Do  you think some upgrades will be done by then to make her less "tired."?

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, mafig said:

We are sailing Serenade April 30.  Do  you think some upgrades will be done by then to make her less "tired."?

 

I wouldn't count on it. It's going to take several months to spruce her up. 

[sgmn]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:33 PM, island lady said:

 

Now...they have broken it up even further.  Our first quarter leg is now broken up into 3 legs, with 3 different reservation numbers.  So I guess it is officially now a B2B2B for that former "1st leg".   

Are these smaller sectors up for sale now ?

[Bailey & Sophie]

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 Serenade will be getting ongoing upgrades all year. New beds, refrigerators, recovering furniture, possible new TV's, and eventually 3 laundry rooms.

 

 

John, do you think Serenade will keep the laundry rooms after the WC? 

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

John, do you think Serenade will keep the laundry rooms after the WC? 

 

I believe so. That's what the HD told us

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, sgmn said:

Are these smaller sectors up for sale now ?

 

Not yet

[island lady]

17 hours ago, Reijo said:

Obviously aware of this.  Just asking a simple question.............

 

Sorry...and I was just being silly.  Bad Island lady...bad girl.  I will go hide in a corner now.  

[island lady]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

Are these smaller sectors up for sale now ?

 

Not sure.  Never bothered to check since we suddenly became a B2B2B versus a "first leg".   And no plans on changing cabins anyway...unless I can finally upgrade (fat chance of that happening).   

[Bailey & Sophie]

7 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Not sure.  Never bothered to check since we suddenly became a B2B2B versus a "first leg".   And no plans on changing cabins anyway...unless I can finally upgrade (fat chance of that happening).   

 

Do you get any OBC?...

I was reading on the HAL board about booking a world cruise as one trip vs many b2b trips.

If booked as 1 cruise the poster said they received only one "trip's" worth of obc.

When booking as several b2b's for the exact same cruise they received perks for each leg. They received much more in perks that way.

[island lady]

14 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

Do you get any OBC?...

I was reading on the HAL board about booking a world cruise as one trip vs many b2b trips.

If booked as 1 cruise the poster said they received only one "trip's" worth of obc.

When booking as several b2b's for the exact same cruise they received perks for each leg. They received much more in perks that way.

 

All I got was the 250.00 OBC for "over 14 days" from RCI stock for the first leg (62 days).  Nada, nothing for OBC from RCI, even with booking with Next Cruise on board.  

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

All I got was the 250.00 OBC for "over 14 days" from RCI stock for the first leg (62 days).  Nada, nothing for OBC from RCI, even with booking with Next Cruise on board.  

Did you transfer it to a Travel Agency to see if you could get more OBC that way? I would not spend that kind of money on a cruise and  not expect more OBC from somewhere?

Edited February 18, 2023 by Jimbo

[Surfguyxxx]

I did an 8 nighter and a TA on Jewel in March and April of 22 and loved them both.  I also did a Panama Canal cruise in October of 22 and imho, the Jewel was a better ship for me. A bit cleaner with more staff it seems cleaning.  A little more friendlier staff and the food was better.  Not that I had a bad time at all on Serenade; it was just different.  In your photo, it looks like a younger gentleman so if he's going with you, I'd say the Jewel because there seemed to be more kids his age. 

[Jimbo]

What's Royal reasoning of breaking up the 4 segments into even shorter cruises, seems that would just make it more of a pain for passengers that aren't doing all these little cruises with more embarking  and disembarking days.

Are they having trouble filling the ship for even now the 4 segments?

 

I can imagine the pricing of these cruises is becoming into a nightmare. Got to hope booking the 3 mini portions doesn't get cheaper then booking 1  of the 4 segments. If that happens going to have a lot of unhappy people.

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

All I got was the 250.00 OBC for "over 14 days" from RCI stock for the first leg (62 days).  Nada, nothing for OBC from RCI, even with booking with Next Cruise on board.  

Agree. We've never received any OBC for booking a future cruise with RC while onboard. At least Celebrity will give you OBC based on the number of nights and the stateroom type when booking a future cruise while onboard. Also a B2B discount for each leg per cabin. The amount depends on the number of nights for each leg.  

Edited February 18, 2023 by davekathy

[njkruzer]

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

Agree. We've never received any OBC for booking a future cruise with RC while onboard. At least Celebrity will give you OBC based on the number of nights and the stateroom type when booking a future cruise while onboard. Also a B2B discount for each leg per cabin. The amount depends on the number of nights for each leg.  

We've always gotten obc for booking a cruise onboard. 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, njkruzer said:

We've always gotten obc for booking a cruise onboard. 

Bummer for us. I'll ask again on our next cruise. 

[island lady]

12 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Bummer for us. I'll ask again on our next cruise. 

 

Dave, we have received 100 OBC on different ships booking with NC...but was during promos only.  Ironic there was no OBC for booking the pricey World Cruise.  😮 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

Dave, we have received 100 OBC on different ships booking with NC...but was during promos only.  Ironic there was no OBC for booking the pricey World Cruise.  😮 

That's what I thought. Thanks for the clarification. I'll always ask. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I would have thought an OBC would have been a little extra bonus for booking the WC. 

[LAKaye]

On 2/15/2023 at 3:13 PM, Dett said:

We were on the Jewel in December 2022 and Serenade January 2023.  I only remember a few differences.  Jewel had the CocoCola freestyle machines in WJ and Serenade did not.  Also the loyalty ambassador offices were in different places.  The pub on the Jewel had a bigger bar, the pub bar on serenade was smaller but had more seating space.

Thank you.  This is useful, specific information 💖