My wife and I just returned from a 7 day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. I wanted to share some hints to others that may make their cruise a bit more enjoyable, and share some things I could have lived without.

First the good. The Serenade of the Seas is a clean, beautiful, well kept ship. On-board activities were awesome. The food was fantastic. 99.9% of all personnel were very friendly.

So lets address the .1% who were not. During one of our few trips to the formal dining room (which I despise), we attempted to use RCCL's "My Time Dining". We ended up in a line of passengers, and were asked to step aside to wait for a table. Another couple were then allowed to go before us to the table we were waiting for (an obvious lack of communication between the host and hostess). My wife was unhappy with the event and after airing her concerns over the event, she was told she was being rude. Then, while video taping and creating some memories around the ship, I specifically asked if I may video tape in a specific area of the ship, and was told yes by a crew member. Upon entering the area (a public area), I was seen with my camcorder by other crew members and even waved at. Then, at my suprise and displeasure I was approached by a gentlemen with a mob boss attitude and told to stop recording (which I did). I explained I had been told it was okay. He then questioned me as to who had given me permission (as if I was lying). Read more