EMBARKATION: I stayed at a Hilton the night before the cruise and took the hotel shuttle to the cruise port in Bayonne. We arrived at the port around 10:45 to sit in a 45 minute line, 3 lanes wide. When the bus finally find a place to park, we had to sit another 30 minutes until enough port staff was available to unload the baggage. Once all the luggage was unloaded onto carts, we were ...
Embarkation was smooth and easy in Bayonne. Once our lyft driver dropped us off, we walked right up to an Ipad wielding staff person who retook our pictures (even though the ones we submitted were according to instructions) and then we waited behind 4-5 others in a short security line and within 10 min of walking in the door, we were on our way onto the ship at 11am! One note I noticed -- there ...
We had traveled on Royal Caribbean in 2012 (repositioning cruise from Miami to London), and enjoyed the cruise, very much. This 2018 cruise, we were celebrating my one-year survival and almost no evidence of disease (cancer).
On board, the rugs were stained in the halls and our cabin; tablecloths were stained for two meals. Glass windows and portholes were grimey. As obaumlackl wrote, two ...
View Fall Foliage in Canada and New England areas.
There was NO fall foliage. Local guides told us Fall Foliage appears from mid to late October, we were 4-6 weeks too early. embarkation was smooth with no delays. Day 1 had excellent weather sunny and 75-80 degree temps. Day 2 cold, windy, and rain. Windjammer buffet had average tasting food, no variety 95% of the food was the same every day. ...
Very easy to get around the ship. Very colorful, always some sort of the entertainment in the Centrum. EVERYONE aimed to please! Particularly Vince and Julius at Vintages Wine Bar. They remembered what we drank and when we arrived our drinks were poured even before we could sit down -- loved that! The food was exceptional. There were 6 of us and we ate dinner in the MDR each night. Our ...
We have done this cruise over and over, it never gets old there is always something new to see in Maine and in the Canadian ports. We booked the highly coveted Junior Suite aft cabin 1100 over a year ago. It was our first time in an aft cabin, and what a spectacular one. They have reupholstered the furniture and the cabin is in great shape. The huge balcony was perfect for this cruise with ...
The Serenade of the Seas had the worst food that I have had on my 8 cruises. During the day, the Park Café was mediocre with mini quesadillas being the best thing on the menu. At night, the available food was cut in half and the Panini sandwiches were heated using a microwave. No one could tell us way the Panini Press could not be used at night. The cakes and cookies at the Park Café were always ...
My hubby and I just returned from a New England/Canada cruise on Serenede of the Seas. We had a wonderful week leaving from Boston and going to Portland, Bar Harbor, St. John and Halifax. Serenede is a wonderful ship just the right size. Not too big to get lost and not too small that it never felt croweded. Our favorite places on the ship were the Schooner bar and Safari Club.
I loved the ...
Having read so many negative reviews prior to leaving, I was curious as to what tragedy awaited us on this journey. Happy to report that the Serenade, Royal Caribbean, and cruising in general remains a great vaca option. For myself and DW, both 60 and working, this was our 12th cruise and 9th with RCI. While the mega-ships offer a huge amount of cool stuff to do, the smaller ships sometimes ...
Starting with my first Royal Caribbean Cruise 15yrs ago, then multiple Carnival Cruises after that, we decided to choose Royal Caribbean again because of how much we enjoyed the first one. After 5 Cruises prior to this one in 2018, I’d consider myself experienced and because of that, I have realistic expectations of what a Cruise should entail.
Well, unfortunately this one was the WORST ship ...