I will say the emarkment and departure went pretty smooth. The food was mediocre and the service just ok. This being my first cruise with royal Caribbean I was excited to hear about the high standards they had. I paid a high price for my junior suite which was lovely - on the 10th floor with no refrigerator. The elevators were a nightmare and the people that were on them were very rude and acted like elevator gastopos. The same with trying to get a chair at the pool! What a nightmare! Previous passengers on this cruise were very proud of that fact and made sure to let you know that they were special. The towel attendant did put an end to saving chairs on the last two days of the cruise, which thoroughly upset the passengers that had came down early to put towels down then left and came back at any time of the day. My sister was down there the first two days at 7:30 am to get chairs the first two days of the cruise then finally just gave up. We were not the only passengers upset about this situation! Our time at the ports were lovely and the people were very kind and always had a smile, not so much on the ship. We will not be sailing Serenade of the Seas again and not so sure if we will even use Royal Caribbean. It would be nice if they tried to treat their first time customers a little special as well!