Our family of 11 just returned from a GREAT cruise aboard the Serenade of the Seas. The cruise exceeded all expectations for everyone in ALL areas: drop dead beautiful scenery, magnificent weather every day, fabulous daily excursions-in some ports 2 excursions/day, every kind of animal sightings possible (including 3 black bears 15-20' away at Mendenhall Glacier, dolphins, large sea otters, seals & sea lions, bald eagles, humpback whales, both from the ship & a smaller whale watching one), awesome glaciers, we plowed through ice, to view Hubbard Glacier, occasionally hitting submerged icebergs, which caused a vibration we could feel, viewing glaciers "calving", followed by a thunderous roar, private scenic flight over Glacier Bay, where you are 500' over the mountain peaks, while viewing crevasses, blue ice & moraines, a beautiful ship w all glass central atrium, viewed from 12 decks, beautiful, original art seen throughout the ship, all glass elevators, with both outside views & inside, lots of areas to explore, although there were 2000 passengers & a crew of over 800, one never felt crowded, a great gym, which was never too crowded.

There were very entertaining shows:"Bowser", from "Sha Na Na",and Mike Price, an excellent juggler, a very funny comedian, etc.....very good food, very comfy beds, w excellent linen-no yucky bedspreads...more like a 4 or 5* hotel w fresh duvet covers. Our 16 mo old granddaughter couldn't have been better treated by the crew. She went just once to the Fisher Price program, run by Canadian & American college grads, just too many other things to do, although her mom said it was a very good program, only 2 other toddlers showed up...She loved the smaller kiddie pool & slide...there were 2 good size adult pools, & another childrens' pool w a large water slide...basketball court, where the guys played, entered free throw contests, played dodge ball, a mini golf course, ping pong, pool...the only thing they didn't have time for was the rock climbing wall.

The crew as wonderful. Within 1 day our cabin steward, Fernando, knew all of our names-11 people...Every night, we, esp the kids amongst us, looked forward to the towel animals he created in our rooms. The entire crew responded to requests of any nature w "My pleasure, madame" or something similar. Our waiter, assistant waiter, & the head waiter were very patient with our many food changes & particular requests. The hygiene practiced aboard was excellent. In one of the dining rooms, where we chose to eat lunch & breakfast, they had Purel dispensers, which you only needed to put your hands under & it would dispense a small amount of hand sanitizer-you didn't touch it at all...the crew was constantly cleaning the ship...The 1st & only night when our granddaughter was having a problem sleeping, her mom put her in her stroller & roamed the hallways at 4AM. Everywhere she looked there was cleaning of some sort going on, she said. Read more