Royal Family Suite - Serenade or Radiance

[famcruisefun]

Cruise planning time again. We are going to try Alaska this time. There are 7 of us in the group. We're thinking of trying a Royal Family Suite (for 5 of us) on either Serenade or Radiance. A couple of questions:

Any difference between the RFS on deck 9 vs. deck 8 or deck 7? I notice that on Serenade the stateroom description says "private balcony (except on deck 8)". If anyone has experience with this particular cabin - 8668 - could you tell me about the balcony. We absolutely want a great balcony for this trip.

We are hoping to put 5 of us in the RFS (myself, my husband, teen son and daughter, and my sister.) Then we'd get a D1, E1, or E2 for my parents. Any reccomendations as to which side of the ship they should be on. The RFS is only available on the Starboard side - should we put them on that side too, or would it be better to have them on the port side. I'm thinking about any sight-viewing we may want to do from our cabins - is one side better than the other on an inside passage cruise?

Any other insight anyone might have to help us decide between the two ships would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Kelley

[natesfirewife]

The Serenade and the Radiance are sister ships. I would look at the time in Port and see which offers more time. The Serenade is newer than the Radiance. We loved the Radiance when we took her to Alaska last summer and are trying the Serenade next summer with the CC Group Cruise 08/07/05. I did not prefer one side of the ship to the other because there are great views everywhere you look and alot of times you will be out of the room. I don't have the deck plans in front of me but are there any Royal Suites on the aft of the ship? Then you would see both sides from your balcony. :)

 

Misty