Well done Serenade! We are experienced cruisers, but this is our first Royal Caribbean cruise. We were pleasantly surprised. In brief:

The Ship: Overall it’s beautiful, clean, and well maintained. Embarkation, muster, ports, and disembarkation all went smoothly. We found the wine bar on Deck 6 to be a good meeting point for our small group excursions in the mornings.

The Cabins: We had an interior cabin on Deck 9. We chose this location because of the quick access to Deck 11, but in retrospect it may not have been worth the extra money. There are quite a few elevators, and they’re even pleasant with views overlooking the Centrium or the sea as you ride. We’d heard complaints about cabin size, but it was better than expected. There is a love seat, desk, mini-fridge, and decent closet. The only electrical plug is by the desk. The shower is small but functional. Our friends had a balcony room, which was almost identical, except for the balcony of course. Sure, we would have loved to have a window or balcony, but on a summer Baltic cruise it’s not all bad to have a dark room at night. Our cabin steward was pleasant and efficient. Read more