My wife and I were on our 22nd cruise, 6th with RCI, and 3rd on the Serenade. Another couple joined us. Embarkation went well, in fact smoother than normal. The ship is older but well maintained and easy to navigate. We of course knew this in advance. But the atmosphere was tainted by the smell of cigarette smoke coming out of the casino into the Centrum and around Deck 6 daily. Also we noted many non-smoking areas were not enforced with individuals smoking.

Our primary reason for selecting this cruise was the itinerary. We have been to all the islands several times except Grenada and Bonaire having been only once prior. Most excursions were quite good with the best being Coast to Coast on Barbados and Kukoo Kunuku(party bus) on Aruba. The latter was a blast.

On the first day we sensed a real difference from previous trips mainly with what appeared to be reduced staffing, particularly obvious with waits at the bars. The first evening in the dining room we experienced what was an exceptional main server (Nensi) but a totally inadequately trained assistant server. She interpreted here role as filling water glasses and serving rolls. Language problems also were obvious. We reported this to the head waiter of the area but very little was done. This was only her second trip in this role and he seemed to cover for her. Every evening, we were the last to be served because the head server had to do most everything. Dining room food was just average. Desserts in particular were tasteless. Surprised at the many people in the dining room wearing shorts even though the daily Compass said "not permitted". Another example of a slide in rules. Read more