I was so excited about Royal Caribbean bringing a cruise ship back to New Orleans that I booked 3 cruises for the short time the ship will be here. I want Royal to do well so they will bring a better ship here in the future. On this first cruise out of New Orleans, I sailed with a friend. If this had been my first cruise on Royal, I would never come back. Fortunately for Royal, this was my 24th cruise with Royal so I know they can do better. Vision of the Seas is a small, 20 year old ship. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the larger, newer ships. But that wasn’t the issue with this cruise. On Day 3 of the cruise, we came back from a shore excursion to see blowers in the hall and a card in the door from the floor supervisor. Our junior suite #8546 was in total disarray with a huge blower in the cabin. A pipe had broken in the wall and flooded the carpet in our cabin. They said they needed us to move to another junior suite on the other side of the ship for one night. They couldn’t move us for the rest of the cruise because someone had booked it and might show up in the next port!!! They would rather inconvenience us than a no show who may or may not show up! So we moved everything we needed to get ready for dinner and to sleep and cancelled our shore excursion for the next day since we needed to move back to our original cabin early in the day in case the mystery guests arrived in Roatan. In turns out we would not have wanted to stay in junior suite 8044 anyway because it was hot and located right under the ping pong tables. We ended up wasting the entire day. A day later, we came back into our cabin to wet carpet again. The floor supervisor claimed it was a different pipe this time. They decided to replace the carpet this time and were supposed to do it while we were at dinner. We came back after dinner to find the suite in total disarray again. Another call to the floor supervisor revealed that the carpet team was so busy cleaning carpets from seasick passengers that they didn’t have time to finish the job in our suite. At this point, we were just done! They eventually replaced the carpet and put the beds back in place. With much back and forth with the guest relations manager, we negotiated for a future cruise credit equal to what we paid for the cruise. At least Royal will get a do over for this disaster. Read Less

The night of 22 January, 2015, the Serenade of the Seas experienced an electrical malfunction and subsequent flooding of 199 cabins. The damage was not repairable in time for our sailing on 24 January. (Later, 119 more cabins were added to the unavailable list.) What we experienced on January 24, 2015 We faced locked doors when we arrived at the New Orleans RCI terminal for a 7 day cruise on the Serenade of the Seas. No official from Royal Caribbean was telling us what was going on. One person who directed car traffic told us to go to Door Three. There we found no chairs, no representative. We found no help. We have been on over fifty cruises. Eleven have been with Royal Caribbean. We arrived before 11:00 AM. We were denied any communication. We waited and waited. There were no chairs, no food, no water, and no help. We were promised help with wheelchairs when we booked our cruise. I have arthritis and so does my husband. My husband also has diabetes. We needed wheel chairs. We needed something to drink. My husband fortunately brought some energy bars. With diabetes you can get into health problems when you do not eat regularly. We got on the ship at 5:30 PM. It took hours before we found out if we were affected by electrical problems. This is not acceptable. We were never shown a complete list of rooms affected. Even when we finally got our Sea Passes; we knew very little about what would happen. All of this left us in a poor, exhausted condition. I never was able to feel less stressed and able to ease my arthritic pain the entire cruise. I know I felt a lot better before we got to the cruise terminal on Saturday where I stood and waited and waited. I also should mention the bathroom facilities were extremely poor. We felt sorry for newly weds and families who traveled to New Orleans to make this cruise. We saw children and other people upset and crying. We would have gladly given up our place to one of these travelers. We are retired and we were making this cruise to rest after the Christmas holidays and to celebrate my husband’s birthday. I gave him a cruise because he loves to sail. His birthday celebration on the ship was not done on the day stated on our booking. Our table guest made our waiter arrange a song and a candle on a small desert. On other RCI we received a small cake or I have arranged for him to get his favorite ice cream. RCI apparently had no plan to deal with the over 800 passengers who were denied boarding. I talked to one couple who were prepared to yield their cabin to one of the displaced couples. They were told they would be charged for cancellation. One of the desk representatives, told a guest the cruise was free. The next day the same statement was made. Later that day a different desk representative told guest the home office was still evaluating the situation. Finally we were told each cabin would get $200.00. We did not. We got $125.00. Was my discomfort any less than guests in other cabins? I saw champagne delivered to many other guests on our deck at 7:30 PM. on the last night. Travel agents usually give their clients this on the first day of the cruise. Was this another benefit for some guests but not all? I like quiet times. Deck 5 should have been the place I could go to read, enjoy the ocean and meditate. There were no chairs out at times you would expect them out. No adjustments were made to enable the guests to have an enjoyable time. The deck had to be washed at a time you would be outside, enjoying the fresh air. On Deck 11 no service was readily available. You had to get up and look for a waiter. I had little purchases on this cruise because they were not readily available. Our Room Stewart Evert was very nice and efficient. When we asked; he did provide. I asked for a room mini bar price list, he provided it. I asked for lotion and he provided it. I asked for Kleenex and he provided it. He kept ice in our room which we really did appreciate. Evert told me only upper decks got lotion. RCI’s decision to remove this from the cabins is a shame since the comfort of guests should always be considered. Guests often get dry skin when they cruise. I have been on cruises delayed by fog causing delays in boarding in Galveston. I thought that was bad because I found myself sitting on a concrete floor. I could not do that this time because I could not get up by myself. My husband has the same problem. RCI blamed the problem on the port. I have been on cruises out of Long Beach where the Noro virus was present on the cruise before ours and the ship had to be disinfected. Departure was delayed for six hours. Food and drink were provided for lunch and buses took us to a variety of restaurants where vouchers were honored for dinner. A plan was in effect. RCI had no plan. We were treated terribly. RCI showed no respect particularly to the children, disabled and elderly passengers. On previous cruises the TV when working showed entertainment on the ship continually. RCI only showed a few programs in English and you had to be lucky enough to find one. The Library was poor, almost non-existent. We always donate our read books or exchange them for others. I saw no plan for this. Breakfast was a disaster. The coffee was not good. I asked for half and half; I received coffee artificial creamer. Again, I asked for real cream - half and half. I got artificial creamer. Even the pitcher labeled half and half in the Windjammer was not HALF AND HALF. I asked for tea. I received no tea pot to brew it. I asked for English Breakfast Tea and I got Tetley Black tea. I had to go to the Windjammer to get tea and bring it back to my cabin. I received cantaloupe on my fruit plate smaller than my little finger and no wider. I did not know that was possible. The breakfast rolls were often the less desirable ones. Misshaped or crushed. One time our breakfast was delivered much earlier than we indicated on our breakfast order. I was awakened by a faint knock on my door. Another time we did not indicate a time and when I called the room service, they were very nice and delivered our breakfast in a short period of time. That was very nice. We appreciated this kindness. We could not get our intercom to work to get announcements. The only time we heard an announcement was by opening our door. One time the Captain came on and began “I have more bad news.” This really frightened me for a few seconds. I felt a disaster was coming. He did say we would not be able to go ashore at Coco Cay because of the windy conditions. We found out other ships could not go there because of windy conditions. RCI knows this and continues to put this as a stop. Perhaps they should only advertise two stops and not three. There is a possibility that RCI knew weather was a factor and we went to Belize instead of the port affected. A survey of previous guests suggests that the Coco Cay sop is not made half the time. The Casino was not staffed with enough waiters. Not once did I have a waiter ask me if I needed something. I am a person who enjoys the slot machines. I was told by one waiter they did not have what I wanted. Since I knew it was available on the ship, I suggested he get someone to go and get it. I did get it eventually. He was very nice and I appreciated that he did go for me. When the casino was not operating it remained open to pass through. I could also go and sit down there. On the last night it was sealed off. I would have to go outside on deck 11 to find a chair. The Deck 5 had chairs out only sometimes. It was also less populated and I felt more secure with people around me so the Deck 11 was where I would have had to go. Instead I went again to my cabin. I understand why the casino was closed and it was announced but I did not expect it to be locked and blocked. I also would have enjoyed a person to explain the messages on the slot machines. I got two tee shirts but believe I could have gotten something else but was to late dining to get back to the casino that last night to ask. I also played a machine that was off centered and I did not know this until the next day when I found the machine very readable. One man from the casino saw me playing the machine and never told me it was off centered. It was the boogie dance by the two steps down by the tables. The Dining Room was hard to get through. We were the last table in the dinning room on the right, against the back wall. Our waiter wasn’t able to get my order correct on several occasions. I missed some courses and other courses were placed before me stacked up in front of me. I was rushed. We took no longer than other passengers. Our assistant waiter was good in his job and rally tried to please us. He tried to anticipate our needs. The wine steward never came to our table. We had to ask for a wine list every night. One time we were asked if we wanted the same wine. My husband and I enjoy wine and felt we were not given the time we wanted or needed to make decisions. As a result, we drank less wine than we usually do. Unfortunately we were not able to experience this joy on this cruise. This became less attractive to me and others at our table. One lady said nothing appealed to her that night. Our dinning experience was not as good as it has been on other RCI cruises. I a can remember in l999 the delightful salad dressings RCI developed and a recipe book published. I experienced this on a cruise to Alaska. At our first lunch in the dinning room, our waitress thought we wanted a 30 minute lunch. This is not my idea of dinning on a cruise. I felt as if it were on a fast lunch break from work. The Loyalty Advantages were not easy to be used. Our waiter told us he had to go someplace else to get the two for one wine and we only managed to use the 10% discount on wine once. We were surprised this could not be automatically dome by the Serenade computer system. A flyer in or cabin said all discounts were on the Sea Pass. One night I had steak and it was delicious. Two nights after the steak was full of ligaments, hard fat and was uneatable. I was also served cold onion soup once. The ice cream which is usually delicious was full of ice chunks. Our waiter never knew what ice cream was available. He always thought we would not order it. Our desserts were mostly chiffon like and not particularly good. They were pretty. As a person who enjoys good food, I thought they were poor. Even in the Windjammer my husband went to get me apple pie (a special treat at the entrance) and it was gone. As I waited in line, the servers told us to get dessert first but I thought they were kidding. They were not. The RCI previous passenger loyalty party at 10:30 AM was unusual. I do not drink much wine, champagne, or alcohol at 10:30 AM. I can see this cut RCI’s budget because many people are like me and much less alcohol would be consumed. An afternoon party or cocktail party would have been much better. I wonder if RCI really showed appreciation to as many loyalty members as possible. We did not attend. We did get feedback from others and it was not positive. Usually you are offered champagne or a mimosa upon entering the ship. There was nothing. One glass half filled with champagne on the first night was not enough. It is too bad RCI did not have a band come out to the waiting room before we got our Sea Passes to help elevate the mood. A glass of wine or champagne or a soft drink would have help smooth a lot of ruffled feathers. It would have shown good faith. Where were the officers? No one in authority was to be found that day. Even the guest relations table was left unmanned. We had one RCI staff member low on the totem pole shouting at us to behave and wait until a list would come out. I never did see a second list and therefore did not know if we were getting on the ship. One couple was told they already checked in and, of course, they were not. The RCI person did not know what to do. Another family had one room given away and one not. The Cruise Director was personable. He was able to get out of everyone a good laugh or and enjoyable experience. He had 3 assistants to do all that work when the ship usually has 5. Cutbacks that affect passengers negatively should be reevaluated. If a change is made in a venue, someone should always be there to direct you to the revised place. Trivia was moved more than once and we did not know where. Once it was announced but my husband was not where he heard the announcement. Our cabin had to have the hall door open to hear the announcements. RCI did not have experts or the same kind of lecturers in enrichment lectures. It looks like RCI put their own personnel on to give abbreviated lectures. We loved the enrichment lectures. We did appreciate the Compass daily program. It was delivered in a timely manner. I did not see the revised editions that were promised on at least one occasion. Again I think the entertainment should have been better. I know RCI added two more performers after the catastrophe but they were still single acts more like a lounge show. Smaller ships have better entertainment and better lecturers than this cruise had. I am aware the theatre was not usable in the first part of the cruise but I still think alternative plans still should have been in place if needed. There were more foreign movies than English ones. Yes I know you have many nationalities but more English films should have been provided in a New Orleans departure city. Movies in the theatre were limited. You only had a few. We purchased a tour from RCI representative. We asked her several times if this train were the tour train. She assured us it was. It was not. We had to walk over a block in downtown Key West to get to the correct train. We were last to get the train and I had to sit backwards. I missed half of the sights. The walk back to the tram to the ship was not as bad. Our departure was not smooth. We were directed by guest services the night before to go to the Safari Lounge. The Compass had the Reflection Dinning Room. People in the Safari Lounge told us to go to Deck 4 to get a wheel chair. We finally got there but should have been with the loyalty passengers. The man there did get us a chair after a 30 minute wait. He was very nice and helpful.   Read Less

We have taken 8 cruises out of New Orleans,4 of them on Royal Carribean,we got there a little early,checked our luggage,parked our car.We stopped and talked to a family that were just getting off of the ship,they had sailed the previous week. They told us there had been a rain storm,that had shorted out some wiring,that had started a fire and set off the sprinklers from the front of the ship ,top to bottom.Of course,you never know how accurate this info is,because no one on any of these ships will ever give you a straight answer. We started getting recorded messages on our phone to delay embarkation first to 12pm,then 1pm,3pm,there was a list of staterooms that had been cut,we were not on the 1st list,about 4pm the list was revised,our cabin was not on that list either.There were people standing everywhere,a lot of them with luggage,people in wheelchairs. What a MESS!!! The idiots at the port II guess they worked for RC,They treated all of us like we were inmates at a prison,waiting for transport.We were finally able to board around 5pm,we waited in long lines and walked past a room full of people,whose cruise had been canceled,they were waiting to find out there fate. We did not sail until 12 pm the next day. We were told that they had worked on the mechanical breakdown for 36 hours.The crew never stopped patting themselves on the back,the entire cruise.No one ever mentioned the hardship the passengers endured. The fitness room was not open for 2 days,The main stage was not open for 2 days,We were not able to go to Coco Cay,due to rough water, this by the way happens a lot,we were told & was the only reason we booked this particular cruise.The stop at Key West was rearranged and cut short. The Ship is very nice,the food was good,the entertainment is good,the casino was tight,I liked the Captain,inspite of it all. This was our 22nd cruise,and it has changed my entire attitude about cruising. You think these people have your back,they don't They put thousands of people out on the ocean,and when something goes wrong,you are on your own. Read Less

The customer service (or lack thereof) was horrendous! Staff members were rude and at any question would say "that's not my job, go find someone else". The was a total lack of accountability. I got the third degree when ordering room service and the woman questioned me on who it was for and how many people. What does it matter?? My son was quarantined for a day for getting sea sick and the medical staff were rude and angry. They must keep these people on board for too long because they all seemed to hate their jobs. The primary reason we went on this ship was for the kiddie pool. Don't be fooled!! The slide is only open for 4 hours a day and there was a mushroom growing out of the pool edge when we went. The food was sub par. Not much variety at the Wind Jammer and the dining room food was hit or miss. To top it all off our power went out completely on our second to last day and stayed that way until we got off. No power, no lights, no AC: horrible! And not one word of apology from Royal Caribbean. I have sailed on other cruise lines and will never go back to Royal Caribbean. Read Less

I could go into a lot of detail, but that would be a book.  Bottom line is, their web site is horrible, caused me to lose our stateroom, ended up paying $300 more per person just to go on this cruise. My time dining still requires a reservation, why bother if I still have to make a reservation, not something I want to have to worry about when I am on vacation. Good steak and lobster.....EXTRA....like almost everything else with this cruise line. Way too may up sells, to get anything other than bland cold food, you have to pay more. The entire cruise seemed focused on the guests spending a lot more money, not on whether we have a fun relaxing time. Just not the great time I was expecting, and that I got on previous cruises with other cruise lines. Our "large ocean view stateroom" had a large porthole type window, which you could only see straight out, nothing to the sides at all. The tv was at small at best, maybe 19 inch, old, terrible picture. Bed was two twins pushed together (which I know is typical) but on our other cruises, it felt like a high quality king bed, on this cruise it felt like a cheap set of twins, pushed together. My husband or I one would get caught in the seam every night. Cabin staff was great, Windjammer staff was great, main dining staff was very rude. Most of the staff at the shoppes were very helpful. Cruise director was less than entertaining, as were most of the activities and shows. The Centrum aerial show was amazing as was the final night show. Read Less

This was our 7th Cruise with Royal Caribbean. I have never left a review before as it's just not my thing. First, let me say our previous 6 cruises with RCI have been great. However, I just couldn't let our recent experience on Serenade of the Seas pass without a review. Short and sweet of it..... SERENADE OF THIS SEAS has endless PROBLEMS! We could have overlooked the lack of activities and terrible shows along with the rude ship staff. But when the FOOD IS TERRIBLE it is impossible to make the best of it and rack it up to just a bad week. However we we did a 9 day with a consecutive 7 day Christmas cruise back-to-back on this ship, and .... We couldn't get off this ship fast enough! Even the staff told us this ship had problems, so this review should not be a surprise to Royal Caribbean. It's hard to find a fault with a cruise, as its a cruise for goodness sake - make the best of it, right? Well, we failed miserably at trying to make the best of this debacle of a ship. I guess it helped by us overhearing many, many, many other cruisers during our 16 days on board complaining about the bad quality of food, shows, and activities in that we new we not alone and big complainers. Wow, did I just have the put that in a review for a cruise? Long complaint short - Choose a different Royal Caribbean ship for your next cruise other than Serenade of the Seas! Read Less

My husband and I were first time cruisers with Royal Caribbean. We were truly looking forward to cruising with Royal Caribbean. We were scheduled to depart New Orleans on April 23, 2005, at 6:pm. for a 7-day cruise to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Costa Maya. Our cruise with the Grandeur of the Seas did not leave New Orleans port until 8:30pm on April 25, 2005, due to the Grandeur of Seas docking accident in Costa Maya. Because of this docking accident, our cruise was cut short by one port and two days. We were told that our ports of calls would be Key West and Cozumel. Why did we have to pay port charges for three ports when we only visited two? Also, due to the scheduling conflict, we were only allowed a short time in Key West (9am to 2pm - which actually turned into 10am to 1:30pm. We had such a short stay in Key West that we were unable to see many of the sights that Key West had to offer, not to mention that we didn't get the opportunity to visit the well-known "Mallory Dock" festivities. The day that Royal Caribbean promised us in Cozumel was fine, except that because of scheduling conflicts, we had to be tendered "like cattle" onto the island - really overstuffing the "poor little tender" to full capacity that there was no place to move. In fact, we were stuck on the tender on our return to the ship due to some kind of problem the Grandeur of the Seas had with their anchor. The tender kept going around the ship in a circle getting close to the side only periodically and then would pull away and proceed to circle the ship again. We stayed onboard the tender for approximately 2-1/2 hours waiting to board the ship. The next morning, at 9:15am we were awakened by the Captain of the Grandeur of the Seas apologizing over the PA system for the inconvenience we had experienced the night before. What we experienced with Royal Caribbean: 1) We were originally booked on the cruise that was to depart on April 30, 2005 for the Western Caribbean. Shortly thereafter, we were told that the ports of call had been changed and the Grandeur of the Seas was scheduled for "Repositioning" and would be touring the Eastern Caribbean and its final destination would be Puerto Rico. To compensate us for the inconvenience of rescheduling, Royal Caribbean informed our travel agency that we would receive $100 per stateroom shipboard credit. To date, we still have not received that credit. 2) We lost 28.57% of our cruise, yet we paid the full fare. Yes, we know we were offered a total refund (minus the $100 stateroom credit mentioned in #1). Royal Caribbean had that take it or leave it attitude. Canceling might have worked for some of the passengers, especially for those out of town, but for my husband, this was his one shot at vacation. Due to work constraints, rescheduling his vacation would not be received well by his boss and his clients. 3) Because of the docking accident and departure delay, we were given a $300 per cabin Guest Satisfaction shipboard credit and were told it was a "use or lose" credit. So, in order not to lose the shipboard credit, my husband and I decided to use the credit to upgrade to a balcony. We arrived early (1:30pm), and after boarding the ship we proceeded to wait in an extremely long line at the Purser's/Guest Relations desk to see if we could upgrade to a balcony. After trying to communicate with a clerk at the Purser's desk who didn't speak English very well, we did upgrade for $200 to a balcony. We arrived in the room and the room was hot and the covers for the air conditioning vents were on the floor. We called the Purser's desk and they sent a repairman. The repairman said they had problems from the previous cruise and were trying to fix the problem. We then went back to the Purser's desk and told them of our concern and after a long wait we were moved to another cabin with a balcony. When we arrived and were finally settling in and checking out our cabin, I found a black pair of women's worn panties stuffed in one of the cabinets. This was rather disgusting. I proceeded to remove the panties with a hand towel and placed them in the hall and informed one of the Stewards that I saw in the hall of the incident. The time was now 7:30pm. We were concerned about our luggage but were assured by our Room Steward and the Purser that our luggage would be delivered to our new room. At 11:pm we went to our cabin, no luggage. We went searching for our luggage and found them placed outside our original cabin door. With no one in sight to help us, we moved our bags on our own. We also did not receive our initiation to the "Meet and Mingle" which we were told by the Purser's desk that - any mail that was sent to our original room would be forwarded to our new room. I would like Royal Caribbean to explain: why the previous week's cruise received such "royal" treatment for their troubles and we were treated like "take it or leave it": They received 2 more days onboard the ship (free) - or you might say on us., 2 days of complimentary liquor or soft drinks., 2 days free internet., 2 more days in Costa Maya with paid shore excursions., and $250 shipboard credit, plus a choice to fly home instead of staying in Costa Maya. For us, there were no slot tournaments because it wasn't a 7-day cruise - what difference did that make? We were bored on Tuesday (it was raining) and we were looking for something to do. Finally, the last day onboard - after we had passed out all of our gratuity vouchers the night before, our breakfast server was extremely rude or maybe tired. My husband got up from his seat to get the table some coffee - because after sitting there patiently for our server (any server) we finally all decided to do it for ourselves. When our server finally showed up, she seemed extremely upset with us and was rude in accepting our breakfast request - we were told we could only get one type of omelet - and that was it - ham and cheese or plain eggs. No rolls, breads, pastries, etc. were offered to our table. I don't mean to be petty, but these things should be a given not a request - especially since we paid for 7 days of food and only received 5. So there you go, that's my experience with Royal Caribbean. I would like to plan another cruise to Hawaii and one to Alaska within the next two years. Can anyone give me one good reason I should plan to book these cruises with Royal Caribbean? Sincerely and thanks for caring. Read Less

My wife and I were part of the cruise that started from hell and went down. Our ship was delayed over 2 days from arriving in port(accident at sea) and we waited for 48 hours before anyone with the company could give us a day and time of departure. The time to embark went quick but only because we had to pre-board at the Hyatt on Sunday afternoon. Once we were in the building it took less than 5 minutes to get on the ship. Now the fun starts, due to some cancelations we knew we could upgrade from a outside cabin to a balcony(just ask as in past cruises). Nope, they wanted to charge us $200 or essentially take back some of the ship board credit they gave us for the up front disaster. CLASS-LESS. the food and service was excellent. To say the least, we were surprised as to this point everything was going down the toilet fast. The entertainment was good not great but the CD was the best I've seen in my years of cruising Our ports of call were messed up and we went to Key West and Cozumel rather than Grand Caymans and Costa Maya. Once again a disaster, in Cozumel we had to tender in and that was awful. It took 1 hour in line to travel less than 150 yards. Due to us arriving at an unscheduled time the pier was full and the tenders were used by local merchants who allowed their vendors to come on board and peddle their crap. CLASSLESS. Key West was fair to poor(rained the entire 5 hours we were there) The Captain would of been better off going south at sea and got us in an additional day of sun. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Royal Caribbean as yet to answer a 12 day e-mail or a letter trying to get me a refund. This was my 6th cruise with them and by far the biggest rip-off I've ever had. Future travelers with RC need to be aware that issued like mind are nightmares and If given the chance in the future, you need to cancel if a ship has a delay or change in itinerary. Read Less