Never again on RCI - Serenade Mini Review

[corstr]

I was posting over at the HAL board (I'm taking my first HAL cruise this month after six straight on RCI) and I realized that I had never posted my review of the Serenade of the Seas 10-day Hawaii cruise from last May that my wife and I were on. I guess I was so let down by the whole experience I lost all interest...

 

But I recently started a thread over on the HAL board asking for comparisons of HAL vs. RCI, and it reminded me that I should at least drop a few comments about why I felt the Serenade experience was so inferior.

 

At first glance, the ship is beautiful. The atrium is incredible as are the sea-facing glass elevators. Lots of light, great art, clean as can be. The spa is tremendous, especially the thermal suite.

 

But peel back the onion and you have some serious design flaws on this ship. The main pool area on the Radiance class is pathetically small, especially compared to the Vision-class. It was rediculous, you couldn't even get rail space to watch the belly flop. And they've wasted a ton of space on this joke of a waterpark that was closed two-thirds of the time and barely used when it was open. They could have easily ditched this and built a much larger main pool area and solarium. The result is a claustraphobic and cramped cruising experience compared to the open and spacious feel on the Vision class.

 

And the Solarium, don't get me started. having the curved layout wastes space plus all the tables near the windows are hardly ever used, compared to several mores rows of lounges on Vision. Everyone was fighting over seating and it was a nightmare. It is also cluttered with pointless sculptures and trees that do nothing but take up space and block what little sun comes through.

 

The Junior Suite was OK but drab in design compared to Vision's IMHO. No crown molding and very inferior couch/chairs, etc.

 

And the food - oh the food - what a disgrace. I've never had worse aboard any vessel, the main dining room fare was hardly edible. The plates and serviceware were a half-notch above a hospital cafeteria. The food was bland bland bland, completely uninspired. I must say, in fairness, that the dining room service was pretty darn good....but there is only so much they can do serving that slop.

 

The specialty restaurants were definitely good, worth the money, and the windjammer was very good. But there was a reason why the main dining room was more than half empty half-way through the cruise.

 

Art auctions were excellent (we pickup up some incredible bargains on a Miro and a few other pieces) and well-run.

 

Overall, RCI had better turn it up a notch in ship design and food service....or they will find themselves in a "no-man's land" between lower end products like Carnival and better products such as Princess, HAL and Celebrity.

 

I guess they will always draw a clientele from the masses who like rock-climbing, ice skating and walking through a mall to go to the show, but otherwise they've lost me for good until they can decide what kind of product they are.

 

Just my two cents. Praying that HAL will blow me aware (after all, the bar is set so low), otherwise I guess I'll have to save up and just to Silversea and Seabourn once every three years.

[ckrobyn]

Is it just me, or is anyone else suprised this review has received so little attention? :rolleyes:

[mattyd831]

Is it just me, or is anyone else suprised this review has received so little attention? :rolleyes:

 

Yeah when I saw the number of replies so far I was like :eek: !

[Cruising89143]

I don't pay attention to reviews that offer no sense of balance. When all a preson can do is tell all the negatives then I ignore it. I hope that he is happier on HAL. Also to the OP, RCI is a mass market line and are not considered premium.

[Travelgrrl]

The menus on the Serenade and the Vision are exactly the same. They might differ in their speed of service, or whatever, but the menus are exactly similar; if "The food was bland bland bland, completely uninspired" then I assume it was "uninspired" on the Vision too.

 

I've been on the Vision and also Radiance class ships, and while I find much to appreciate in the smaller ships, to say that the Serenade is has much less to offer is ridiculous. The pool area is configured differently, but the pools are small on all ships. Overall, the pool deck on the Radiance class is bigger, so even if there is space devoted to 'waterpark' it should still be a similar amount of space. Similarly, the Solarium.

 

And if I was unhappy with the food on the Serenade, I would eat at Chops and Portofino's every night. The nominal charge would still be far less than Seaborn or other high end lines.

 

But as long as the art auctions were good...! :rolleyes:

[Coralc]

It's really not a very interesting review. We are taking the Hawaii route in the Fall, so I would be interested in reading about the ports. I disagree with the OP about his perceived "design flaws" in the Radiance class of ships, We have been on all RCCL classes except Empress, and agree that Radiance and Vision are our preferred classes. And Food is subjective and changes regularly. So I didn't find it to be particularly informative, but thanks for sharing, almost a year after your cruise.:)

[mark290]

I don't pay attention to reviews that offer no sense of balance. When all a preson can do is tell all the negatives then I ignore it. I hope that he is happier on HAL. Also to the OP, RCI is a mass market line and are not considered premium.

 

Seems balanced to me. The OP liked:

 

The ship-

 

"At first glance, the ship is beautiful. The atrium is incredible as are the sea-facing glass elevators. Lots of light, great art, clean as can be. The spa is tremendous, especially the thermal suite."

 

Specialty restaurants and Windjammer -

 

""The specialty restaurants were definitely good, worth the money, and the windjammer was very good""

 

Art Auctions -

 

""Art auctions were excellent (we pickup up some incredible bargains on a Miro and a few other pieces) and well-run""

 

Thought the room was OK:

 

""The Junior Suite was OK but drab in design compared to Vision's IMHO. No crown molding and very inferior couch/chairs, etc""

 

Did not like:

 

Design flaws -

 

""But peel back the onion and you have some serious design flaws on this ship""

 

 

Solarium design -

 

""And the Solarium, don't get me started. having the curved layout wastes space plus all the tables near the windows are hardly ever used, compared to several mores rows of lounges on Vision""

 

Some food -

 

""And the food - oh the food - what a disgrace""

 

While it may not be the review you would post it does seem to have plenty of balance.

[bplazo]

We did the southern route on the Serenade and I thought that the ship and the crew were great. It was by far the best cruise that I have taken. I did think that the food was not as good as on other cruises but I never went hungry.

[xpcdoojk]

I agree with Gordon and Pbhunt. Really, it is not a balanced or interesting review. It is, also, a boring rant. Kind of makes me wonder why the OP bothered to post it. Yawn.

 

jc

[prairie_fox]

When no balance it means they came with the idea that what ever was there they would not like no matter how it was. Smaller ship=smaller pools. And for the belly flop times...ummmmm its always packed around the pool at that time so everyone and their uncle can see who hits the water and what pain it sends them into. Sorry not a review that I take past a grain of salt.

[Inshape]

Are the menus different on each ship? We did Mariner and the food was great. Doing Mariner again in Oct and just thought all the ships had the same menus. That is a lot of different menus if they are all different.

[caviargal]

The menus on the Serenade and the Vision are exactly the same. They might differ in their speed of service, or whatever, but the menus are exactly similar; if "The food was bland bland bland, completely uninspired" then I assume it was "uninspired" on the Vision too.

 

I've been on the Vision and also Radiance class ships, and while I find much to appreciate in the smaller ships, to say that the Serenade is has much less to offer is ridiculous. The pool area is configured differently, but the pools are small on all ships. Overall, the pool deck on the Radiance class is bigger, so even if there is space devoted to 'waterpark' it should still be a similar amount of space. Similarly, the Solarium.

 

And if I was unhappy with the food on the Serenade, I would eat at Chops and Portofino's every night. The nominal charge would still be far less than Seaborn or other high end lines.

 

But as long as the art auctions were good...! :rolleyes:

 

My Vision cruise had the worst food of any of my RCI cruises, second only to Voyager. I thought the ship was lovely but missed the specialty restaurants.

 

On Serenade, the dining room food was decent but I did choose Portofinos two nights and Chops one. The ship is beautiful and I personally enjoyed her more than any RCI ship in quite a while.

[Travelgrrl]

After 12 RCI cruises in the past 5 years, I can attest that the food is exactly the same fleetwide. Meaning, when they implemented the new lunch menus (instead of different lunch menus for each day of the week, they now have the same lunch menu in the dining room for every day, with a 'special' and 'made to order pasta in addition), then they implemented that fleetwide.

 

They occasionally make changes to the menu, but again, fleetwide.

 

So I know: First night, I'll be having the Tuscan Tomato Soup, the Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts, and the Chicken.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

[quote name=corstr

I guess they will always draw a clientele from the masses who like rock-climbing' date=' ice skating and walking through a mall to go to the show, but otherwise they've lost me for good until they can decide what kind of product they are.

 

quote]

 

Why is it that the way that is phrased about "the masses who like rock climbing, ice skating, and walking through a mall" that it seems that those who do like these activities are somehow inferior in taste and income?

 

If someone doesn't like those activities, fine, but why make it seem as if those who do are an inferior clientele, pedestrian and too numb to the delights of truly superior ship architecture and cuisine to notice or appreciate the difference between a rock climbing wall and five star, five diamond cuisine.

[LarryF]

Everyone is unique and has their own wants and needs. We have sailed on 14cruises on NCL, RCCL, Princess, HAL, Carnival and even the Big Red Boat and enjoyed everyone of them. Food was better on some and entertainment was better on others. Some had nicer pool areas and others had nicer rooms, etc., etc., etc. I've been on lots of cruises that I thought were great, but read reveiws from others that complained. I think the main reason we've never had a bad cruise experience is that we choose to make our vacatoin a great time and don't set any large expectations on the cruiseline to "make" us happy. Only we can make us happy!

 

I hope to have the money one day to cruise on the Silversea or Seaborne. I am sure we would love that experience. But just as we love going to 5 star restaurants on occasion, we love going to our down to earth favorite restaurants just as much or more!

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy the Serenade Cruise to Hawaii and hope you have a great time on HAL. We sailed Zuideram 3 years ago and had a great time.

 

We can't wait for our cruise or Serenade next month. I know we're going to have a great time!

[KamloopsCruisers]

Different strokes for different folks. We sailed on the Vision in December and enjoyed ourselves very much. We've also sailed on the Voyager class ships and also thought they were fun. But, for us, the Radiance class ships are by far our favourite. So much so, that we've got two upcoming cruises booked on these beautiful ships.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I agree about this being a boring review.

Nothing good but the art auction :eek:

Oh well, all the more room for us on RC....hope the OP enjoys HAL. :D

 

***

[megessey]

After 12 RCI cruises in the past 5 years, I can attest that the food is exactly the same fleetwide. Meaning, when they implemented the new lunch menus (instead of different lunch menus for each day of the week, they now have the same lunch menu in the dining room for every day, with a 'special' and 'made to order pasta in addition), then they implemented that fleetwide.

 

They occasionally make changes to the menu, but again, fleetwide.

 

So I know: First night, I'll be having the Tuscan Tomato Soup, the Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts, and the Chicken.

 

But the same chefs aren't cooking it.... same menu, different food.... so that's really not a viable argument. I'm just sayin.....

[karcruiser]

LarryR, I couldn't have said it better....thank you!

[chorder]

Hey I definitely think the food on RCCL has gone down in quality since our 1st cruise in 99. But I think bland slop may be a little too much of a criticism.DW and I cruised on the Radiance last April thought the food was pretty good although we don't have to many 5 star restaraunts here in Bangor,me. to compare it with. We did think the ROS was a beautiful ship,but we did like the way the Grandeur was laid out a little better, easier to get around the ship. We have never cruised on any line other than RCCL (5TH cruise coming up on 4/29 on the Voyager) we will have a great time.Hey this is an RCCL board don't let this reveiw get under your skin.To most everyone on this board RCCL is the best and always will be.

[corstr]

Certainly folks have a right to rock climb and ice skate, etc. I'm not passing judgment on this....

 

What was a HUGE letdown for me was how the Radiance class was built up to be such a Premium cruising experience (and priced above Celebrity BTW for the itin we were on), hence my HUGE disappointment with what was really a bottom-of-the-line dining and shipboard experience. RCI is really Carnival with a 10+ year average age.

 

My issue is that RCI is trying to pass itself off as a premium product with gorgeous interiors and design, meanwhile they drop the ball in terms of food quality and ship layout. I have every right to be incensed that I paid $3k per person for a "premium" experience and could have eaten better out of frozen dinner trays at home. Or at least had a cushioned lounge on the pool deck (assuming of course that people weren't fighting over the cheap mesh ones that were offered like a pack of rabid dogs).

 

And, nobody can argue with me that the Radiance class main pool is smaller and far more cramped than on other RCI ships or that the Solarium is poorly designed. End of story.

 

I identified the positives that I saw....I think it is only fair for RCI die-hards to call a spade a spade and face the music. RCI has some serious work to do on their identity. They need to move up market in food quality or join Carnival where they belong.

[airbysea]

The only issue with this review is its 10 months too late. Can someone that has been on the same ship and same itinerary recently compare the reivew? Things can change alot.

[abridalmaven]

Having been on the Serenade in the same time frame, I say boulderdash! Personally I would never go on those freighter ships of HAL, talk about ugly and design flaws, I see garbage scows in NYC that look nicer. So to each their own, besides I question anyone's perception of nice when the criteria for judging the pool is viewing the belly flop contest.:eek:

[zotzer]

I think it is only fair for RCI die-hards to call a spade a spade and face the music. RCI has some serious work to do on their identity.

 

The Radiance class is the favorite of many RCI die-hards, so you are right....probably not the line for you. Have a great time on HAL, and we'll catch you in port. :)

 

Tracy

[zotzer]

Nothing good but the art auction :eek:

 

Talk about different strokes for different folks.....

 

The only thing I truly disliked about my Radiance cruise this past December: the constant, loud, and annoying art auctions in the Centrum. LOL

 

Tracy