Serenade-Food Good or Bad?

[niso2]

Hi All,

We are clsoe to making final payment on Serenade of the Seas. My hubby is a bit concerned about the food and the previous reviews regarding food on this paticular ship. Has anyone sailed on her recently that could share their opinion on the food quality? I understand food is objective and have been on a few cruises recently that met our expectations.

My husband has suggested to change to Celebrity for the food- but I thought I would check with you all before changing.

Thanks so much in advance!

[triplej2484]

Was on Serenade a few weeks ago. The food in the Windjammer was really good as was the Sea View..the dining room was excellent..there was only one night I didn't like the selection. Changing a cruise based on food reviews would be foolish..have you read most of the reviews on this site? Most of them are useless whining that make me wanna smack the reviewer in the head (I'm sure you would find Celebrity reviews that say the food was awful, also). Go in with an open mind.

[Coralc]

I don't know if anyone can really answer that. Sometimes the dining room food is good, sometimes not so much. What I would like, you might not like. Serenade has a Portofino and Chops restaurant, alternative dining with extra charges...but very good steaks, other meat and seafood. There is also a Seaview Cafe with good, hot food. The Windjammer and the solarium....you should be able to find something you like, somewhere.

 

Serenade has a lot of very good food CHOICES. A lot more than the Vision class ships. :D

[GoofingOff]

My wife and I thought the food was really good on the Serenade. I would not let food (or anything else for that matter) disuade you from taking a cruise on the Serenade. We would love to sail on the Serenade again.

[winnie123]

We were on the Explorer of the Seas 2/24/08 and 11/09/08 The first cruise the food was really bad but the second cruise the food was very very good. We usually cruise Disney, the food is great but they are expensive plus add airfare and we like Cape Liberty. On the first cruise we ate in Windjammers several nights and the food was good but we had good table mates and choose company over food

[waterbugohio]

We were on the Serenade just three weeks ago. while this was our first cruise and have nothing to compare to, we though the food was very good. We did one night at Chops (steak was great) one night in the Windjammer (to much rum punch on an excursion to make it to the dining room) And the rest of the nights we went to the MDR. The menu was good and the food was always good and hot. We had no complaints at all.

[mikepmcm]

We were on the Serenade just three weeks ago. while this was our first cruise and have nothing to compare to, we though the food was very good.

 

Gotcha!

 

Looks like waterbugohio has succumbed to the cruise bug. I looks like the only remedy is to wonder aimlessly on these boards until "The Right Cruise" appears before your eyes. When it does don't blink, don't ask your DH or DW, and cruise for the cure!

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Mike

[waterbugohio]

Yes Mike, the cruise bug has bitten.

 

This years Christmas List:

new watch

Wii fit

Deposit on next cruise

[alicam]

My wife and I were on the Serenade this past March...let me say...the food was very good...no complaints whatsoever.....that being said, I really have one complaint....and it was already stated above...about the incessant whining that goes on by people this board....I'm sure they take delight in it....IMHO

[02143]

Compared to what? That's the problem.

 

This was my first Royal cruise. See my sig for my history. I found the food a step down from Celebrity. But I knew that going into the cruise.

 

I thought it was consistently ok. It was exactly as I expected. There was a big variety of food at a consistently moderate-to-mediocre level of quality. I never went hungry and I never had anything I thought was awful. Yes, in the Windjammer the eggs are reconstituted, the ketchup is in packets, the fries all came from the same frozen batch, and the desserts were good-college-cafeteria quality. However, the entrees and the sides were tasty and there were many to choose from. The fresh fruit was quite good. The dining room was better than the Windjammer. I have no actual complaints.

 

My waitress told me I was the first person she ever saw complete the smoked salmon pasta entree, so take that into account. :)

 

If you're foodies and that is an important part of your vacation, you may want to go on Celebrity. If you're concerned that the food will be bad, inedible, or boring, that is not the case on the Serenade.

[wrangler4u]

We were on the Serenade in October. I happened to enjoy the food in the MDR. I found it to be very good to excellent. The Windjammer was good for buffet style. ( I personally don't like buffets) There was a great selection and huge variety of food as stated by previous poster. Lots of fresh fruit, salads, etc. The scrambled eggs were reconstituted, but they are on Celebrity as well (at lease 5 years ago they were). In the windjammer there was an omelet station which was very good. We almost exclusively ate in the main dining room however because we had such great service from the wait staff. I just cant say how amazing the service was. The serenade is a beautiful ship and I would love to be cruising her again!

[fkalish]

I have been on Serenade twice in the past few years, love the ship, food was very good, no complaints. Chops and Portofinos were excellent. And if you don't like the 1st thing you get, they will bring you something else. I eat pretty small portions and the waiters were all hovering asking if I would like something different, they didnt' understand I was just filled up!!

[MDSue]

We sailed the Serenade last April. We ate in the main dining room everynight. The food and service was excellent. On the last night it was announced by the Maitre D that the Serenade's restaurant was voted the best out of Royal Caribbean 32 ships. I didn't try any of the speciality restaurants so I can't comment on them. I can't see paying for a meal when the food in the dining room was very good. The ship is classy and elegant, the staff is excellent and the food is very good. I think you will have a very enjoyable cruise on this ship- all the way around.

[bb24]

We were on the Serenade a few weeks ago and the food was wonderful! After reading these boards for many months I was nervous about the food, but it was great. We ate at the Windjammer for breakfast every morning and I am still missing the omelet station! We never missed the MDR for dinner and we were never disappointed. Maybe we are easy to please, but we really enjoyed the food. There were a few things that weren't quite my taste, but I always found something.

[Slowboat2]

We sailed on the Serenade 11/22/08. The service was excellent, the quality of the food was really good. But I have to say, compared to other cruises we have taken on RCCL, I thought the portions were smaller than usual.

 

I didn't starve, but didn't walk out stuffed, like normal. Serenade is still my favorite ship.

[waterbugohio]

We didn't mind the smaller portions, we didn't feel as bad that way ordering more than one item. I ordered soup and salad several nights and my DH ordered an full entre and then an extra meat or fish.

[niso2]

I think I was just getting nervous because of the previous reviews regarding the food. After looking back, it seems most posters were first time cruisers complaining and perople with MANY cruiseas under their belt! With that said, I certainly do not expect 5 star dining, but I will be staying with the Seranade,This trip is kinda special as we will be in the Caribbean rather than Mexico, so it is a bigger investment for us if you know what I mean.

Thank you all for chiming in- CC is great!

[rhodester]

Just got off the Serenade and while i am hardly a food snob, I was not impressed with the food. I sailed on the Liberty of the Seas in April and the food was much better IMO. Having said that, there are much more important things to me than the food. The service on the Serenade was excellent all around, and the Carribean itinerary is fantastic. I am considering doing this cruise again next time.

[petesweet]

We did a B2B in September/October, and the Serenade has become my favorite ship.:)

 

The food in the main dining room was fine. Even if it had been awful, the service by our wonderful wait staff would have still made eating there a pleasure. As some people have commented, there is more fish and pasta than before, but fish is good for you, so enjoy. If you don't like fish, there are other entrees to choose from (including the daily steak or chicken). I don't like my pasta al dente, so I never had it.

 

On the second leg of our B2B, we ate every night in the Windjammer, and we loved that as well.

 

It's so nice to be able to try different things, and if you don't like it, you can get something else instead. We loved it.