Serenade of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
As luck would have it, this was our second repositioning cruise with RCCL and the same ship - Serenade of the Seas. We were out for 16 days. There is much to be happy about when cruising with Royal Caribbean. Number 1 is the staff, they are accommodating from food service, guest services, stateroom, attendant, head waiter, activities, etc. The ship is easy to navigate but i will never understand the elevator system. On most occasions an empty or less than full elevator would pass us in our selected direction of travel. As a techie, I can only guess that the software is set up to pick an elevator at the time the button is depressed without regard to total availability as to first arrival.
A 16 day cruise is a challenge to the kitchen, for sure. That said, the majority of the nights, it proved to be a challenge to find something to eat in the main dining room. Whoever heard of zucchini piccata as a main dish. You get tired of selecting from the Classic menu. Breakfast an lunch were terrific all over the ship, including the dining room.
There were 2 nights where there is only one time for entertainment. The late dining crowd grabs the seats and us early diners have to wolf down dinner, trying to get to the theater for a seat. this simply does not work.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
The cabin was quite comfortable and located starboard about midship.
Port Reviews
Amsterdam
This is a very convenient port to get to transportation to the city. The Central train station is but a 10-15 minute walk, where you can catch a tram to all over the city. It is my surmise that all trams return to the Central station, as this was our experience.
Copenhagen
My recommendation is taxi because of the luggage. With Tip, it was about $30 US. The port is a fair distance from most hotels and the taxi made more sense. Our opinion of Copenhagen is it is very overpriced with hamburgers running $20 US and beers running $8-10 US. Denmark is on their own currency and have no plans to convert to the Euro. Can't say I blame them but it means the visit is yet another money exchange.
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
quick embarkation and good service
Cobh (Cork)
How can one fault pub food and Guiness. you can't Ireland is magic at all times
Brugge (Bruges)
This is an awesome port to visit. At Zeebrugge, a private concern offered a trip from Zeebrugge to Bruges and return for 20 Euros. My caution is to make sure of departure and return times. No one asked and after boarding the 11:00 AM bus, we were told the tickets would give us a 2:30 PM return. 1/3 of the bus exited and elected to use the next bus, which returned at 4:30 PM. We were told that the bus would not leave until 12:00 PM. However, due the unexpected return time of the earlier bus, the bus filled up quite quickly and left 10 minutes after the previous bus at 11:10 AM,, giving us almost 5 hours in Bruges to walk around.