We sailed Royal Carribean's ship Serenade of the Sea departing San Juan on October 30th for a 7 night adventure, with ports in St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao. My parents are repeat cruisers who have sailed several different lines. RCI has been their favorite hands down, and the Serenade of the Seas is their favorite ship so, when my husband and I were booking our first cruise to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary, they encouraged us to sail on this ship! In fact, my parents got so excited, they booked a room and joined us on this adventure to the Southern Caribbean.

SIZE: This is a beautiful ship! They said it boasts more glass / windows than any of RCI's fleet per square foot, and all of the natural lighting makes a big difference for never feeling like you are trapped inside a boat when at sea. The ship has a beautiful central atrium (the "Centrum") with glass eleavtors and many windows on the port side providing extra natural lighting during the day. This size of the ship is really nice. It is small enough that there were little or no lines for any of the meals or activities, you can meet and get to know a lot of the fellow passengers, crew and staff, it is easy to find your way around decks, and there was always a seat for the nightly shows. But, the ship is also large enough to boast many great activity options, such as the rock-climbing wall, basketball court, minature golf course, stadium seating movie theater with surround sound, etc. We tried out everything, and had a lot of fun! The only thing we did not fully enjoy was the movie theater. It is unfortunately located in the back of the Casino and does not have a door that closes. Guests enter through a hallway that curves to block outside light and noise, but it does not block the cigarette smoke from the casino from wafting in. Breathing the smoke fumes for 2 hours was not pleasant! If you go to a movie onboard and are sensitive to smoke, I recommend sitting on the first 2-3 rows to be as far away from the entrance as possible.

EVENTS: There were always fun events planned on this ship and plenty of ways to interact with fellow passengers and get a good laugh. The cruise director Ricky Matthews is about the most wild and crazy man we've ever met! His enthusiasm was contagious and really got all of the passengers to let loose and enjoy themselves. Largest activities are held in the Centrum, which allows observers to look down from the 7 balconies above, as well as be on the floor. We particularly enjoyed the Halloween Party + Costume Contest, and the nightly music and dancing. Competitions are frequently held on the ship, and top 3 winners receive gold, silver and bronze medals. My husband formed a dodgeball team and they won the bronze. As a professional singer, I was excited about the Karaoke contest event. I love to entertain, and all the prizes were really awesome (grand prize was a cruise!). I felt I had a pretty good chance of winning something and I was looking forward to singing. However, I found out it was being held in the Vortex, an adult-only club on the top deck that allows smoking. Cigarette smoke is the absolute worst torture on a singer's vocal cords! I cannot tolerate it, and I am sure most others cannot either, so it is very unfortunately a singing contest was placed in that venue, and I did not get to participate. Read more