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Serenade of the Seas

Jewel of the Seas

Brilliance of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

Rhapsody of the Seas

Raiatea

Took this cruise to relax and enjoy the Fall foliage. Beautiful color in each port. Especially liked Bar Harbor and Kennebunkport. Nice boardwalk in Nova Scotia. Great clam chowder and lobster everywhere. Locals in every port were very friendly and welcoming. Went to specialty restaurant Chops Grill and Izumi. The food, atmosphere, service at was excellent at Chops Grill. Izumi asian restaurant was very enjoyable with lots of beautiful sushi choices.  Bingo sessions were fun, especially since several at my table won money or give-aways (t-shirts, gift certificate to spa, ship photos, etc.) Enjoyed a Swedish Massage on board during one of the cruising days. There were two formal nights on this cruise. Professional ship photo area was good, but twice the on-line photo review PCs has issues with allowing the customer to order or update information. As a result, self-service digital orders that would have normally been done on the PC had to be manually recorded on paper by a cruise employee, which caused some confusion. Embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly and were well organized. Will definitely consider taking this cruise again.

Wonder Fall Cruise

We just got back from the Canada New England cruise. I will start out with our meals at night, they were absolutely delicious-every single night from the appetizer to the dessert.  Also, we had exceptional service from our waiter Ikadek and his assistant Marcos. They both had had great sense of humor, and had great attention to every detail, we always looked forward to seeing them at mealtime.  Next our room attendant was Shawn and our room was cleaned twice a day with the cutest little towel animals on our beds at night.  We ate in the Windjammer at breakfast and lunch and so many choices and everything we had from the waffles, ham that melted in your mouth to the carved meats for lunch and also hotdogs and hamburgers.  The shows at night with the dancers and singers were Spectacular!!  Those people are really talented.  Now for the reason we will forever cruise with Royal Caribbean, one of the days Nick, the Activities Director, had all the veterans meet in one of the bars to meet each other and tell what branch of service and a little about what they did, that was so special, and if that wasn’t enough, on another day, they had all the vets meet in the Centrum and had the band the song for each branch of service and at the end they played God Bless America. There was not a dry eye in the house.  I told Nick, “I will Love You Forever for doing this.”

Wonderful Cruise

We've taken this cruise before (although with different cruise lines) because it offers a nice getaway without the airport hassle.  Our balcony (partially obstructed view) was fine.  Actually, the shower was somewhat larger than we anticipated.  One major complaint is that this ship does not have an aft elevator (only mid-ship and forward.)  Since our cabin was near the stern this resulted in many long walks...  The food was fair/good.  The variety and taste left much to be desired -- same two vegetables every night --  fine if all you like are carrots and broccoli.  With just a few exceptions, the desserts do not seem fresh, but rather frozen and reheated -- have they done away with a pastry chef?  Only one place to buy specialty coffee.  We chose late traditional seating for dinner at a large table -- they seem unable to accommodate the request for dining companions; only two other people were assigned to our table for 8.  Several nights we sat by ourselves.  The entertainment was standard, but OK.  There was absolutely no cultural presentation / information.  I would hesitate to take a longer or more expensive Royal Caribbean cruise.

Quick getaway - Boston - Halifax - Boston.  

Sailing to Bermuda for our 40th wedding anniversary. We were unexpectedly treated to a special cake at the Chef's Table dinner one night. Meals were very good, and the specialty restaurants were fantastic! The main dining room was good, with a buffet offered at breakfast, as well as the order off the menu. The main buffet offered a wide variety, from salad to pizza to Indian and Chinese food. There were always a lot of entertainment going on. Music in the Centrum, which could be heard up several levels varied from Regae to accoustic guitar. There is a piano in one of the lounges, and that was good too. The movie selection was bad, mostly old movies, and the one that was new was only shown once, and conflicted with something else we had scheduled. If you're into wine tasting, there were several opportunities. I wish the lounges and pub would serve finger food so we had something to eat while having drinks. We loved the ship, and would definitely sail again.

Accessible accommodations were very good

BACKGROUND-  We are Crown&Anchor Emerald. We have sailed on a variety of RCCL ships...big, small and in between. 

THE KEY— Excellent! Embarkation was so easy; lunch in the MDR was delicious; our carryon bags were placed in the closet while we were at lunch; expedited debark upon arrival in Bermuda; internet was slow but a nice-to-have benefit; reserved seats in Theater a definite plus; debarkation was a serious breeze.

DINING ROOM SERVICE — Excellent service was provided by Jonathan and Octa at table #256, My Time Dining. 

DINING ROOM FOOD —Breakfast/ gave up eating there. Nothing was hot. Dinner/ Prime Rib, Steak, Chicken Breast, Lobster Tails all delicious. Other entrees mediocre.  Everything seemed to be tepid, not hot. Last few nights, the Caesar salad dressing was like nothing I have ever tasted before, and not in a good way.

WINDJAMMER SERVICE — Breakfast service was better than any other meal. But that being said, we spent time cleaning off our own tables most of the time. 

WINDJAMMER FOOD — Breakfast/ good to very good.  Lunch/ good to very good.  Dinner/ We ate one dinner in the Windjammer. It was Italian Night. Does anyone in that kitchen taste anything before it is served??? I mean this seriously...I could not cut the meatballs. No one in our party of four could. Left the lasagna after two bites.  The bolognese sauce was  not the traditional recipe, but it was ok. Aside from the ok sauce, we hardly ate anything but salad.

BAR SERVICE — Again, we ended up cleaning off our tables before we could sit down. On one occasion, I gathered up 8 champagne glasses off a table and brought them to the bar.  Only one waiter in the Rbar before dinner.  Service was better in the Schooner Bar, but again only one waiter.

ENTERTAINMENT — The Three Las Vegas Tenors were fantastic!  Excellent show. The Music VS Magic show was an embarrassment as far as the magic was concerned. The concert pianist was wonderful. He should have been a solo act.  The musical productions were a mixed bag. The four singers were very good; dancers and choreography were lacking. Music in the lounges was very good. 

CABIN ATTENDANT — Edwin was excellent!!

SHIP’S TOP TIER EVENT — Who thought it was a great idea to schedule this event for 7:30 pm, when the premier Three Tenors show was scheduled for 8pm?  Was this a way to cut down on the number of attendees? 

MAJOR PROBLEM — This ship is understaffed.  There are not enough crew members in key areas to get the job done. I have never had to clean off tables and wipe them off before sitting down as much as on this sailing. I have seen this mentioned on previous reviews.  It is absolutely true.

CONCLUSION — Sadly, we have sailed our last Royal Caribbean cruise.

Not Our Best Royal Caribbean Experience

We got to embarkation on the early side and waited in a line at the port for a little bit, but once it got moving, the process went quickly. The first thing we noticed was there were a lot of retirees. Always the best part...we see them and smile, they see our kids and become skittish. (They always realize we have great kids. It just takes them a bit to come around!)

Our room was 3076 and it was a quad with 2 beds coming from the ceiling. Our cabin steward was great, always had a smile, very thorough. We even got towel animals. The cabin was bigger than some of the Princess ones we've been or (or configured better). The location was perfect...low and mid. We didn't have any issues with seasickness.

We were originally slated to dine at a table for 12 (hoping to meet new people), but the head waiter called on the first day and asked if we wouldn't mind moving to a table for 4. No problem! Well, I guess we were in the "overflow" area at that point because we were suddenly in the "card room" for dinner. Haha. It was actually very private but the poor waiters were nowhere near the kitchen, so I know it was harder for them. They also had tables in the main area, but they did amazing. They were both very friendly and we enjoyed talking to them. There were 3 or 4 other tables in the same room and at one point, I heard a woman say she should "complain more often" because they liked the arrangement. From the bottom of my heart, please don't complain MORE. 

As far as the food goes, I have celiac disease so my opinion is very different than my husband's. I thought the gluten free menu options (which were very well marked) were amazing. The fact that I didn't have to call out that I was on a "special" diet was so cool. I usually cringe when I have to order at other restaurants, so high maintenance! On RC, everything was labelled (most of the time) and I was able to ask for what I wanted if I couldn't find it. They were not without judgement at the buffet in the morning when I would ask them to toast my bread in the GF toaster (which I assume was in the bowels of the ship because very few volunteered to go do it! Ha), but generally, they were good about it. I got the impression that the cooks/staff weren't necessarily annoyed at the GF requests, just that they weren't convenient for them. I don't know the inner workings, so I cut them some slack and got other food while I waited. 

My husband, on the other hand, wasn't as much as a fan. It wasn't that the food didn't taste good, it was just that they didn't mark which meals would be available daily versus which were there for just that night. So he'd order something thinking, oh, I'd better get that tonight and then he'd see it again the next day. I think they should take a page from Princess on this one...daily offerings on the left, nightly offering on the right. A reasonable fix and I put that in my suggestions. I thought their desserts were amazing---because they were GF. Hubby thought they were so-so.  The buffet had some great GF goodies (cakes, mousse, etc.) but NO cookies! What??? And they don't advertise it, but one night in the buffet, they had chicken wings that were GF and they were downright amazing! (There were 2 other ones I couldn't try but hubby did and he liked them). We basically had a 2nd dinner. LOL.

The entertainment was a little off their schedule due to the weather. We saw a comedian on TV the first night (we were too tired to go to the show) and we still never found out if the show was from our sailing! Ha. He was funny. We went to the Elton John show, the stage production with the singers and dancers and the comedian on a unicycle. They were all awesome. The confusion came in when they had to reschedule a show due to the ship rocking too much, then we were in port, but they had already cancelled it. Then when they rescheduled it for the final night, I guess it was the comedian instead? Either way, it didn't bother us and we understood things happen. 

Our kids have always been wishy washy about the childcare. Some cruises they want to go (if they get unlimited video games), other times, they want to hang with us. This cruise was hands down, the best experience for them in childcare. They are 9 and 10 and they asked to go back everyday. (This was their 10th cruise, 5th cruise line, so they have a lot to compare it to), The staff at the climbing wall were great. We went to do the water slides with the kids and there wasn't nearly enough water pressure, so that made for some great laughs and memories. (Let me just say, it wasn't pretty trying to move down a water slide with no water.) We loved the mini golf and the shuffleboard. Yep, my kids love shuffleboard! As a reminder of just how much they loved it, my 10 year old son started line dancing after dinner last night and I was like, where did you learn that? In the child care. Awesome.

I've already mentioned the service on the ship. I don't know if it's because they don't see a lot of kids during the fall and it makes them miss their own, but the staff was great with our kids and we really had a good time.Since it was a family trip, we didn't get to use the indoor pool (16+), so we froze our little tushies off in the outdoor pool and the kids made some friends. The weather turned, unfortunately, so a lot of what we enjoyed at the beginning of the cruise was closed by the end of it (mini golf, climbing wall, pool). Definitely a risk sailing the Atlantic in October!

Ports:

Portland, Maine: We did a tour on our own through Lucky Catch. They were fantastic! We really enjoying catching lobsters and I even got to pick one our fot lunch, walk it over to the local restaurant and they cooked it for me. (Not vegan friendly, folks!) A seagull pooped on me while we were on the boat and I even got a free t-shirt! I highly recommend this tour! (It was not through the cruise line).

Bar Harbor, Maine: We walked around this port and had fun throwing rocks into the ocean. We were able to walk a nice path, walk around town and have some blueberry ice cream. YUM!

Saint John, New Brunswick: We did the Hop On/Hop Off tour through the ship and stopped at the farmer's market (which had a mall), went for a beautiful walk at the pavilion and stopped at the bridge near the reversing rapids. Just a few stops (didn't want to overdo it with the kids). They had a great time, and so did we.

Halifax, Nova Scotia: We went to Peggy's Cove on a tour through the ship. It was a little chilly so we made it pretty quick but we loved it. My kids finally tried lobster (lollipops). After a little time in the gift shop, we were happy to get back into the warm bus. I loved watching the scenery on the trip there and back. We finally found our fall colors!

Boston, MA: We did a bus tour through the cruise line that included a transfer to the airport to see a bit of history and kill time before our VERY late flight. The guide was great, but a bus tour might not have been the best idea with so much history. I basically have a lot of blurry pictures of "?". Next time, we'll get out and do a walking tour! Haha. We got the airport around 11am and our flight wasn't until 5:40pm, then delayed. I've never been happier to see an indoor playground at an airport. The kids played for hours (and even found a baby from the ship that my daughter was enthralled with). Sure, my son had a cold a few days after, but it was worth it! LOL. 

Overall, an amazing experience with polite retirees. Even with late arrivals and delayed departures, it seemed like most passengers were well-traveled and took it all in stride, just like our family did. I would recommend this trip for all ages, as there was so much to see and do. People have the expectation that kids are going to be unruly and what could they possibly want to see in New England and Canada, but they had an amazing time and I got to take a trip off my husband's bucket list. Young families have the expectation that the older passengers are going to be curmudgens and complainers, and the ones we met were fabulous!

My kids sailed with 2400 grandparents and had a blast!

Most of the food was not fit for wild animals. The eggs Benedict was a hard boiled egg  on an english muffin that I couldnt cut with a knife. The hollandaise sauce was a cold goo. The buffet was disgusting and always a line. Never any clean tables to eat at, we had to clean our own or sit outside in 45 degree weather. All of the tables and bar surfaces were dirty with rings from glass and plate marks, I never saw a table or bar surface cleaned.

In the dining room I had one good dinner, all of the others were awful. The calamari I bit into and pulled with both hands and couldnt rip it apart. the ice cream was always served half melted. The fish was so dry it couldnt be eaten. The shrimp appetizer had no flavor and was mushy. The kitchen didnt get the memo that pasta needs to be stirred when cooked. The pasta was stuck together so it didnt get cooked thru in many places. I had pasta 3 times and it was always the same, crunchy in some places, firm in the most cooked areas. We had our reserved dinner time but always had to wait up to 30 minutes. It took 30 minutes to get a glass of wine with dinner. The warm meals were served at room temperatures and the cold meals were served at room temperature. The servers were very good and friendly but they were very understaffed.

There were crowds everywhere due to the ship being understaffed. We waited in long lines for everything.

Pretty much everything was an up-sale. All prices were stupid high based on the level of service, or lack thereof. 

I will Never go on a RC ship again, even if it were free. This was my 6th cruise and my first and last on RC.

Everyone in out group of six people agreed with my review.

Horrible.

We did the seven day New England itinerary with ports at St John, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Bar Harbor and Portland, Maine.

Our cabin 3576 was tended by Gede, great caring, very quiet, good location and Gede kept us tidy and neat.

We opted for late dining our wait staff was Grace and Omar.  No complaints at all.  Felt the selections on the menu were very adequate and the food was always hot and well prepared.  Bogdon, whom I believe was the Maitre 'D was great.  Visited our table (325) each meal to insure we were satisfied.

Dined at Chops twice, served by Diego whom we highly recommend.  The food was fantastic, well prepared and plentiful.

The Windjammer was typical for the buffet.  I know a lot of folks complain about variety, but I say if you can't find something to eat there, you're too fussy.  We had no complaints.

Shows were good, we saw a comedian and an Elton John impersonater'esque.  Both shows were good however there were a lot of empty seats.

The casino took too much money from me, but thats always expected.

Bar service throughout the ship was fine.

Diamond lounge was great.  Only had one little glitch.  One evening a group brought in small children,  Kinda threw me off as I felt that was an adult venue, obviously I wrong according to RCCL policy.

Cleanliness of the ship was stellar.  Considering they have 2,400 passengers every week walking through their living room so to speak, the ship was spotless and staff cleaning were always visible.

Embarkation/Disembarkation:  The best, quickest, easiest we've ever done.  The longest line was going through security.

My four star rating in no way indicates we had problems.  We enjoyed every aspect of the cruise.  Only disappointment was the weather in St Joh and Halifax, wet, cold and windy, we didn't get off the ship.  Bar Harbor was windy and chilly, but tolerable and Portland had the best weather.

Pretty good cruise

The first issue was the fact that we got rerouted to Portland Maine for a day (which I could drive to from NH any day for an hour and a half). So we really only had two days in Bermuda. The first day we had a good time at horse show bay. The second day we went to a beach closer to the cruise ship since we had to revised by 4:30 to make it back before leaving. The beach was suppose to open at 9 and they told us we had to wait until 10:40 because the Disney cruise that just came in had to do their excursions before we could go in. Well they were late so finally at 11 after the two excursions came in and filled up the beach us low class royal carribean cruisers who also paid a lot of money for our cruise got about a 10x10 spot that was left on the beach. We bought the deluxe drink package but every time we tried to get s drink it took forever and we had to walk to other end of the ship since there was no waiter by the kids pool area. The drinks also tasted like they had no alcohol in them. The food in the windjammer was always gross , but the food and service at reflections was good. When I went to buy a shirt off the ship the price had gone up because I “ missed the time “ of our cutoff to buy them . Which also just happened to my wife when she tried to buy our pictures that people took of us all week the whole trip we were here. They just told her we had to order them yesterday . We’re still sitting on the ship! I would never recommend this cruise to anyone nor would I ever go on it again. Also anyone who doesn’t smoke probably won’t enjoy it because all you can smell through out the whole cruise ship is cigarette smoke since they let them smoke in the casino. It was nauseating.

First and last cruise 

We have done many cruises in and out of Boston.  We have taken the Maine/Canada cruise on the Serenade three times, we enjoy the ship and decided to try Bermuda this year.  Since it is hurricane season we took a chance that we would end up in Canada again. It was touch and go for about a week, and we did head to Portland Maine for a day, and lost one day in Bermuda.  We still throughly enjoyed the cruise and found it very relaxing as usual.  

The captain was Stig Nilsen, we have sailed with him a few times on different Radiance class ships.  Carly Boileau was the cruise director, she creates a great atmosphere around the ship along with Nick her Activities Director.  Nibu Sayed was the Hotel Director there was incredible Indian food in the Windjammer.  Denis Loncarica was the Chief Engineer.  There was no Captains Corner this time which we usually enjoy, seeing the film about the behind the scene’s working of the ship, and having the officers speak and answer questions.  

We decided to try the three day specialty restaurant package when it went on sale we bought it before we sailed, it was a good value.  We were not disappointed, and enjoy dinner in Chops, Giovanni’s, and Izumi.  The food was great, and wonderful service as usual.  We each tried to hot rocks dinner in Izumi, it was OK, I am not sure what all the rave reviews are about.  They have moved the tables in Chops so they are not so close together and the atmosphere is calm and relaxing.   We ate in the MDR only once on formal night.  It was crowded, and too much rushing about by the staff as they try to serve everyone.  I did notice that people in the area we sat were dressed up, suits and a few tuxes on the men, and lots of evening gowns and cocktail dresses and fancy tops on the women.  Once we left the dining room it was very mixed and we saw lots of shorts and t-shirts.  We ate in the Windjammer several nights, it is much quieter than the dining room, and lots of great choices for food and fantastic deserts.  

The staff was welcoming, helpful and always smiling.  Rocky our room steward was outstanding, kept the cabin spotless and was an expert at towel animals.  

The ship is in great condition, but I can’t help not liking the changes.  I miss the library, though I found a good book to read in the bookshelves by the pool tables, I used to enjoy sitting there reading and listening to the music in the Centrum.  The area above the Centrum that used to be the Loyaly area is still closed even though the aerial show is long gone where they stored the equipment.  It is wasted space now.  I used to like the glass area in the floor where you could look down into the Centrum, I understand it is still there on the Jewel and Radiance of the Seas.   Speaking of the Centrum they are still doing all the activities that used to be held in the Safari Club there.  The Captains reception seems like an after thought in the Centrum so we just kept walking.  It used to be a very special event.  The International Parade of Nations is impossible to enjoy in the Centrum. They have had complaints about noise in the cabins near the Centrum, even with the closed doors, but they just keep doing it.  It makes no sense.  

The production shows were very good as always, Stage to Screen was outstanding.  We did not see Vibology this time.  The commedian was not our favorite, but the commedian juggler was very funny.  

We used the gym, lots of people did still it was not crowded. 

We spent no time at the pool but anytime I walked by, there were plenty of chairs.  There were few children on this cruise.  It was very calm, no crowds, no problem getting restaruant reservations once on board.  We had a small Meet and Mingle, wished more had attended.  

Boarding in Boston was different this time.  We were met by a worker with a tablet who checked us in, and took our picture with it.  When we arrived their were no lines at all.  We usually arrive around 1pm and find few people but this time we just went through security and checking with no waiting.  I guess the new method works well.   

Next year the Brilliance will be sailing out of Boston, we are booked for the 10 day cruise to Canada next fall.

A Detour to Maine Before Heading to Bermuda

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