WE CHOOSE THIS CRUISE TO CELEBRATE OUR 20 ANNIVERSARY, , This was a cruise leased by Royal Caribbean, and that's why we took it because we have traveled 5 times with them and we know their service. The process of boarding very cooperative, lunch ok, dinner was without reservation very fast the attention of the waiters excellent as always, very attentive. There was no package of drinks which does not seem fair to me and the price of the expensive liquor in any side I paid for a glass of process $ 14 very good schedule for Zumba classes, the instructors very fun. that day the concert had to change time because of problems of the time was understandable, the concert ended and we went to the main dining room and very well organized very fast and the excellent service was open buffet, then the excellent rumba good service security, Read Less

After reading several opines on this trip I decided to add my humble one also. We ere 7 adults and 4 children, RC experience range from Diamond Plus for PaPa and Grandma to RC newbies, with a few Disney cruises under their belt, so here it goes. Embarkation security was slow and awkward, once to the RC line all went well. Our cabin steward met us and all was fine for the rest of the trip. Eats The food in the main dining room is slipping in our experience, however, the waitstaff was great to the children ranging in age from 18 month to 10 years, well done. We were typically one of the last out of the 5:30 sitting and did not feel rushed at all. I have the same opine on the Windjammer, lower selection and quality over the years. We never had any probable with seating nor service, the servers were always at out table asking if they could get us anything. Entertainment Directors cruise staff was great, needed anything they were there. Main theather has the typical mix of jugglers, comedians and RC cast shows and was typically good. Pool Pool band of two, needs improvement, more players, more songs and more time. Most times we could find a pool chair. Bar Staff Well there bar staff, happy times. Debarkation UNBELIEVEABLE short, the ship was delayed an hour due to traffic on the river, but we dinged out and nine minutes later we had our luggage was thru customs, phoned our limo bus and they were there..... The Serenade, Radiance class ship has its pluses and minuses, but we never felt crowded with 1900 of the nominal 2100 passengers onboard. So overall, it's not a five star luxury ocean liner, it's a cruise ship with most folks wanting to have a good time and not complain, about everything. We enjoyed the family vacay and were treated well across the board.....Its not the Ritz but certainly a good value for your money in my opine. Read Less

This was my second cruise, the first one was for my 1st anniversary 12 years ago, and now this one with my husband and the kids (ages 10 & 8). I was a bit reluctant at first with the thought of being confined to a small space with the kids for a week, boy was I ever wrong! We arrived in New Orleans a couple days early to have a pre-vacation and see the city which was a great start to the vacation. By far our favorite activity was the WWII museum which is a must-see for anyone in New Orleans. Also a couple trips to Cafe du Monde for beignets, and walks throughout the parks were a lot of fun. The boarding process in New Orleans went pretty smooth, lots of lines but that was expected. As soon as we got on the ship we headed to the Windjammer for lunch and then spent time exploring around. The kids were especially delighted to see the basketball/soccer court, ping pong tables, billiards, shuffle board and the pools. We spent much time playing ping pong throughout the week. The biggest surprise to my husband and I was the Ocean Adventure kids program, it was excellent!! On the first day at sea we signed the kids up for the program, and enabled them to be self-signers so that they could come and go without my husband and I needing to be there. We dropped them off for the morning session on day 2 and weren't too sure how they'd like it. We came back a few hours later before the morning session was set to end and the first response was "Why are you here? We want to stay!" The Ocean Adventure staff was great, they were so good with the kids and had new activities and fun games for them everyday. They even had late night sessions from 10:00PM-2:00AM for gagaball tournaments, etc. (my kids loved this!). They went to the late night sessions until 11 or 12 almost every night. The last night sessions cost an additional $7/hour per child, but well worth the money to get some quality adult time to enjoy our wine and drinks. Our cruise was during Spring Break so there were lots of other kids to play with, both my kids had lots of playmates and made lots of new friends. We had a balcony cabin on deck 10, the couch folded out into a bed for the kids to sleep on at night. It was a bit cramped at night once the bed was put out, but we were able to manage. Having the balcony was great and added a nice bit of extra living space. We had no problem storing our clothes and belongings in the room, plenty of closet and drawer space. We did take advantage of the $30/bag laundry special on day 4(?), which got us through the week. We were scheduled for 8:00 seating in the main dining room, and had a 10 seater table to ourselves. It was actually quite nice to be able to dine alone and not have forced conversations with others. We thoroughly enjoyed the wait staff and the food. The portions can be quite small, but we regularly ordered multiple appetizers and desserts. The afternoon and late night dining options are very limited. I was disappointed in the lack of selection and the limited hours. As part of the free beverages they had flavored water which was very tasty (and a good rum mixer), but it is only served during the Park Cafe hours, and even then they would run out at times. I started getting extras during the day and storing them in the cabin for later. I did pack my own reusable water bottle for my time on the cruise, this worked out perfectly. I just wish I had brought more than one. My kids both had the soda drink package which was a complete waste, I think they only had one or two sodas the entire cruise. They had the free juice or water most of the time. To get the soda you have to go to a bar to get it, it is not self serve. My husband and I would get a bottle of wine for dinner and that worked out well, and much less expensive then the daily drink package. The pool areas were always very crowded, but it didn't spoil any of our fun. Now for the ports of call: Key West - This was a nice stop, it's great that it's still US so do you feel safer. We walked to the Butterfly Museum which was a fun place and very cool to see the butterflies and flamingos. The flamingos were in mating season and we got to see the full mating call and dance, pretty neat. We then went to the Hemingway House, which was very cool and filled with lots of interesting history. Then the kids were begging to get back to the ship for the kids club, so we dropped them off and then my husband and I headed back to Sloppy Joe's bar for a few afternoon drinks, good times! Nassau, Bahamas - I was less-impressed with this stop. We walked to Fort Charlotte, which was a long walk and a bit tiring for the kids. Fort Charlotte is interesting and only $1 entrance fee, so definitely worth a visit. We then went to the Pirates Museum, which was a interesting, but a bit touristy and overpriced, but still worth the visit. On the way back to the ship we ran across a Greek restaurant (Athena cafe) and stopped in for some Sky juice and appetizers, this was one of the best meals on our vacation, absolutely delicious! Coco Cay - This was our favorite stop. The island is beautiful and the water crystal blue. The kids and I did the ocean play activities, this was so much fun! The kids had the all-day water slide pass, which they loved. We definitely good our money's worth. It was nice that the food was all inclusive and no need to buy or bring anything along. Read Less

Having just returned from 7 nights on the Serenade of the Seas, there are a few areas that could use improvements. This was my first experience with " my time dining" and proved out to work well. We were able to book the same table and wait staff and time for every night. I do find the menu needs some updating. We did dine at Chops and Giovanni's table, of the two I prefer Gionanni's table. Ate very few meals in Windjammer because I do not like buffets but when we did the staff was attentive and got our drinks for us. The cruise director and staff were very visible and friendly. RCCL is my choice if they go where I want to go. Was recognized for 280 cruise nights with RCCL on this cruise and have 36 more booked before the end of the year. Read Less

I’m not going to call this a review, because I’m really going to try to keep this one short…difficult for me at best, and it may prove impossible…we’ll see. A little about us…this was our 23rd cruise – our 10th with Royal Caribbean, and we’ve also cruised on Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and Carnival. We cruise without children, so the children’s club and family activities aren’t important to us. We don’t usually go to BINGO, we’ve never rock climbed, and cruise ship pool games don’t do much for us either. We seldom use room service, don’t eat late at night, and make a game out of Windjammer avoidance – the more we can avoid it, the higher our score! The things that matter and that we judge a cruise on are good service, a comfortable cabin with as much private outdoor space as possible (yes, I’m a balcony snob), good wine, reasonably good food, and some decent entertainment and activities sprinkled in there. We used to be die-hard late traditional diners, but now prefer MTD at an earlier hour, and we eat more in the specialty restaurants than we do in the MDR. We seldom go to the production shows any more, and we’ve never been big fans of cruise ship comedians, but we do often enjoy guest performers, spending time in the Schooner Bar for the piano player or listening to whatever entertainer is in the pub, and some late-night gambling. The other thing we usually do a lot is join in on trivia, but for some reason that never happened on this trip – I guess our timing was off. Pre-Cruise – We stayed at the Hampton Inn on St. Charles (in the Garden District) and it worked out perfectly for us. I liked being a little bit away from the action, and the very reasonable price of our room included parking for the cruise! We actually changed our plans and stayed two nights instead of one, since the price was so reasonable. We were upgraded at check-in, and we had a huge room overlooking St. Charles with a seating area and dining area. I would stay here again and recommend it as a great choice for cruisers who want a quieter location than the hotels in the center of the action. The cab fare to the port is fixed, so it will cost you $7.00 per person regardless of location. This was my first trip to New Orleans…hard to believe since I’ve lived in Houston for 32+ years! We enjoyed dinner at Commander’s Palace the night we arrived, and I would call it a must do for anyone who has never been to NOLA. We had a VERY busy Friday. We started with a self-guided walking tour of the Garden District, including Lafayette Cemetery. What a fascinating place! After we finished touring the cemetery, we walked around the Garden District for another 30 minutes or so, admiring the lovely restored homes and interesting architecture. We rode the street car down to the Quarter, and had lunch at Tableau – also highly recommended. After lunch, we took a photography walking tour of the French Quarter with American Photo Safari. This was good, and we definitely saw a couple things we might have missed otherwise, but I thought it was a little heavy on technical camera instruction as opposed to seeing unusual sights and the composition (artistic) part of photography. At some point during the tour, I remarked to my husband that I didn’t know what all the fuss was about, that New Orleans was no wilder or weirder than any other big city. Remember those words, because in a few hours they will come back to bite me in the rear and what happened impacted my cruise! We were fortunate to have “private guides” for our evening. Friends from Cruise Critic and the Mariner in 2012 know New Orleans well, and they helped us find our way around and see the important sights. We started at the Carousel Bar, then went to Felix’s for dinner. We followed that up with Pat O’Brien’s (twice), had front row seating at Preservation Hall (fabulous – don’t miss this!), and ended the night at Café du Monde for a fat and sugar fix! So, back to my earlier comment…what bit me in the rear? When we went into Felix’s for dinner it was still light, but when we walked out and rounded the corner onto Bourbon Street it was dark and my jaw hit my chin. I was stunned by the difference from day to night! Now, I’m not graceful at the best of times, but I’m especially clumsy when I’m gawking and not paying attention to where I’m walking. One of those little dips in the brick at the edge of the street got the best of me, and down I went, sprawling in the middle of Bourbon Street. I have no excuse – at that point I had only had one drink – I just wasn’t paying attention. My tumble took the skin off my right knee and I badly twisted my left ankle, but thankfully my husband used his leg to partially break my fall and both my head and my camera emerged unscathed. A “nice” merchant in a bead and junk shop was kind enough to sell me three band aids for $4.35, and I had some Neosporin in my purse (remember, I’m a klutz!), so I tended to my knee and went about enjoying the rest of the evening. Fortunately, walking to Café du Monde at the end of the evening I discovered Rouse’s Grocery Store and bought a box of band aids and an ace bandage that would basically salvage my cruise. I had to go sandal-less and wear long pants for the week, but the cruise packing Gods were looking out for me because I actually had packed two pairs of closed toed shoes with Velcro straps that I could get on over the bandage. Usually I only have tennis shoes, and I never was able to get those on! The cruise – I think I’ll just bullet this instead of a blow by blow description of our days on the ship. We’re really not that interesting and there’s a limit to how many days’ worth of “we relaxed and took a nap on the balcony” you can read! What we liked: • Our cabin – GS 1554 was very conveniently located and a little different from the other Grand Suites. It was a bit smaller because it was on the hump, but we had a full outer wall of glass with double sliding doors that basically served to make the cabin and the balcony seem like one space. • We thought the ship was beautiful! This was our first time on a Radiance class ship, and I see why people love them. We thought Serenade was easy to navigate, beautifully decorated, and impeccably maintained. • The staff we encountered on the Serenade were great! I know several people have written otherwise recently, but that wasn’t our experience at all. I had to visit guest services once, and they were friendly, helpful, and extremely apologetic they couldn’t help me find my lost earring. I thought the Concierge Lounge staff was phenomenal. Alan, the concierge, went out of his way to make guests comfortable. I think the server in the lounge, Melody, is quite simply the best in the fleet! If you have the good fortune to meet her in your travels, make sure you ask for a Chocolate Martini, and tell her Cindy, Deedee, and Carol said hi! The only “great staff” exception all week was a grumpy bartender in the Solarium. He seemed put-out by having to get me a bottle of water, but he looked put-out by life in general, so I just ignored his attitude and moved on! • I also really liked Carly, the CD. I didn’t think she was phony at all as others have written, and I liked her low-key approach. This is totally a matter of taste, and while I don’t pay a lot of attention to Cruise Directors, the ones I dislike are the ones who always seem to be in my face drawing attention to themselves. I’m sure some of you remember Becky “Hallo Luv” from the Mariner. She had a huge following but she drove me crazy, and I thought everything was about her. I didn’t get that from Carly at all. • The food, generally speaking, was very good. We only went to the Windjammer once, so the most I can say about that is I thought it was the standard buffet fare that I’ve seen on every ship. We ate in the dining room (MTD) on both formal nights. The first time, we had an excellent table and wait staff, and the food and service were both very good. The second time we weren’t as lucky, and both the food and service were lacking. We ate at Giovanni’s Table the first and last night. Although I love their food, the meal on Saturday was marred by extremely slow service and difficulty getting food out in the correct order as well as them serving everyone’s entrées at different times. We tried it again on Friday, and although the service was better, there was still something a little off about it. It appeared to me that there weren’t enough servers, and it also seemed like the kitchen had a difficult time getting food out in the intended order. Both evenings, the pasta was served when we were almost done with our mains. Chops was excellent in both food and service. I thought Chops was just as good as it’s always been, and it was better than Chops on the Oasis. By the way, Chops on the Serenade has tablecloths! • Special events on the Serenade were extremely well done. We went to Chef’s Table, and thought the food was delightful. The wine pairings were good, not great (I would have rather had Caymus!), but they complemented the food and our waiter/sommelier Bento did a great job of explaining the choices. We were blown away by the suite “Cocktail Party” which was anything but a cocktail party. It was an exquisite upscale buffet lunch in Chops! What a pleasant surprise! We also attended a brunch in Chops on the last sea day. It was the first time they had offered this, and I would definitely do it again. We started with a galley tour, and then had a fantastic brunch that included steak, lobster, stuffed chicken breast, and eggs cooked to order. We didn’t attend either of the C&A parties because we found them to be at inconvenient times. • We had an active roll call on CC, and ended up doing quite a bit with people from the roll call throughout the cruise. The Vortex was full for the official M&M…it seemed like everybody showed up! Our cabin crawl was very well attended, everybody who participated as a host went all-out with decorations and trinkets, and we were fortunate to end the event in the Royal Suite! Sometimes roll calls work out, and sometimes they don’t. This one was mostly a positive experience both on and off the ship. • I love having two sea days at the end of the cruise…it just makes the whole packing and leaving process so much less painful when it’s spread out over two days! Things we’re neutral about: • Entertainment…we didn’t go to much of it, so it’s hard to judge. We saw the Las Vegas Tenors and thought they were great! There was a problem with the aerial shows on our cruise. A cable snapped right at the beginning of the performance on Monday night, and the show was cancelled. They did an abbreviated performance on Friday afternoon, but there was only one aerialist instead of two, and only one apparatus was used. I would have liked to see the full show, but I understand the safety concerns and sometimes things just happen! We also enjoyed QUEST and the 70’s Party on the Serenade, but there were other areas that we thought needed improvement. The most glaring one was, to us, the piano player. He seemed to always be on break when we tried to listen, and he seemed to spend most of the evening behind a cocktail instead of the keyboard! • Embarkation and disembarkation were fine…I’m not going to go into a lot of detail since RCI is pulling out of NOLA. Embarkation was slowed by some extreme ineptitude at the security scanners, but after that it was smooth and quick for us. Disembarkation was the fastest and most efficient we’ve ever had on US soil – be prepared for a very long walk to transportation though! • Photo Gallery – I think I got spoiled by the folio system on Oasis and on Navigator. I hated having to go on a search and rescue mission to find my photos! We don’t get many, but I needed to get my freebies, and even finding those was difficult. There were some shots that never showed up, and no one in there seemed especially helpful. • Shops – meh. They seemed to have a lot of the usual stuff, just less of it. I did have some OBC I was trying to use, so I ended up finding some cute purses on sale and picked them up for my nieces for Christmas gifts. I thought the jewelry and clothing selection was skimpy compared to other ships. My husband was not bothered by this AT ALL…believe me, I don’t need to shop. • We had the Ultimate Beverage Package, and I probably could have done without it on this trip because the CL was so accommodating. Even though we have lounge access and the evening HH drinks loaded on our cards, we’ve found it beneficial to have the package in the past because I am a wine snob, I hate the wine they pour in the lounges, and I’ve never been able to get any “frou frou” martinis in there either. I would have been fine on this trip to just get the Royal Replenish for water, Pellegrino, and fancy coffees and then loaded up on OBC to cover alcohol and wine. I will say it seemed a bit easier to use the package than it has been in the past, but the experience still isn’t as good as on Celebrity where you never sign anything. What we didn’t like (thankfully not much): • The elevators were an issue the entire trip. We were on Deck 10 and ordinarily would have just walked up to 13, but I had the annoying issue of a bad ankle and had great difficulty walking up or down the stairs. Often, completely empty elevators would whiz by, but what was even worse was the people who thought catching an elevator was a sporting event. They would hit the close button before others could get on, and then laugh as people missed the ride. Seriously. What kind of a jerk does that? I’m not talking about kids playing, I’m talking about totally rude and inconsiderate adults. Shame on them. Only slightly less annoying were the people who would arrive at the elevator lobby and dart onto the first one that came, despite the fact there were people who had been waiting. Sheesh…I was just stunned at the number of self-centered, inconsiderate people I encountered in an elevator lobby. I guess they were taking a vacation from manners. • This was a Spring Break cruise, and although I didn’t think we had any “typical” Spring Break behavior, there were a few VERY large groups travelling together. They tended to monopolize the space wherever they were. On the first night, their chosen location happened to be the CL, and they were so loud we had to leave…we literally couldn’t have a conversation. Again, I think it all boils down to being considerate of your fellow passengers and remembering you’re on a large cruise ship, not a private yacht. • Port times were poor (although I booked the cruise knowing this, because I wanted to go on a Radiance class ship and sail out of New Orleans). We didn’t get into Nassau until 1:00, and our time in Key West was only 11:00-5:00. The only port with what I would call “normal” hours and a full day was Coco Cay. • I didn’t think the perks for suites were as good as on other ships. I missed having Chops for breakfast and a place to sit during lunch to get away from the Windjammer crowds. • For some reason, this wasn’t a good sleeping cruise for us. Neither one of us thought the mattress was very comfortable, and although we couldn’t hear any noise from the Centrum (they kept the fire door closed at night) we did have some noise from above. • Finally, and to me this is the biggie and the one that Royal Caribbean needs to address is the smoke. The smoke from the casino wasn’t just bad in the casino, it was bad in the Centrum on all the decks above the casino. It drifted down the cabin hallways…I could smell it when I opened my cabin door. I’m not a militant anti-smoking person, but I thought it was awful, and I hated smelling smoke in all the public areas. This won’t be a popular opinion on here, but if they can’t find a way to properly extract the smoke then maybe it’s time to get rid of inside smoking completely. Create a sheltered, comfortable, well-ventilated area outside and be done with it. The only good thing was that I found the smoke so oppressive it kept me out of the casino. Since there was a thief in there masquerading as a Wheel of Fortune machine it’s probably a good thing I stayed away! Ports – Key West: We did our own walking tour, based on recommendations in the Ports of Call section of CC and on Trip Advisor. We started with lunch at Bo’s Fish Wagon, which is a fascinating, kitschy, delicious, and probably totally unsanitary place built around an old food wagon. If you’ve never eaten conch fritters while chickens roam freely by your feet and jump on the tables, then I suggest Bo’s! We walked after lunch, through a neighborhood with beautiful restored homes and on to Duval Street and some local color. We spent about 45 minutes at the Butterfly Conservancy before walking over to the Southernmost Point and waiting our turn in line to take photos. By that time, I was beat, sweating (because I had on long pants and closed toed shoes), and my ankle was throbbing, so we grabbed a pedi-cab to take us to our next stop for a little slice of heaven – Kermit’s frozen, chocolate-dipped Key Lime Pie on a Stick! Yum! I had thought about that treat for 22 months (the length of time between booking and sailing) and it didn’t disappoint. After that, I was pretty much done. We wandered slowly back to the ship, browsing as we went and generally taking our time. I would have loved longer in Key West, but on that particular day I was happy to get back to my floating home for the week and put my foot up! Nassau: We had a group of 13 (all from the roll call) take a Tru Bahamian Food Tour. This was fantastic and I highly recommend it. The owner was great to work with, and happy to set up an afternoon tour to accommodate our late ship arrival. Our guide, Murray, was a wealth of knowledge and interesting anecdotes, and we had a terrific time. After the tour Jim and I went back to the ship, and never went back on shore. We were sound asleep LONG before the Serenade sailed at midnight. Coco Cay: We shared a cabana with a Cruise Critic friend from the ship, and it was perfect for us. Neither Jim nor I are big beach people, especially if it’s crowded, so I was perfectly content to have a lovely shaded couch to lay on and only emerge to take pictures or eat! I thought it was a good choice for us since the Majesty was there too and the island did seem extremely crowded to me. Conclusions – We would go on the Serenade again in a heartbeat! While she doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of the newer and bigger ships, she’s beautiful, and for our tastes this was a great cruise. If someone needs to be entertained instead of finding the ocean itself entertaining, or likes to be active 24/7, the Serenade might not be a great choice. Much has changed in the cruise industry in the 15 years since we took our first cruise, and in many ways the product in 2015 is unrecognizable next to the product in 2000, or even 2010. Some things are gone never to return and some now cost extra, but that’s not all bad. There are more choices than ever, and a person can really personalize things to their tastes. Read Less

Serenade of the Seas is one of the easiest ships to navigate. I never got lost the whole cruise. I'm not really sure what made this ship so easy....was it the well placed elevators, was it the touch screens on each floor, was it being able to see every floor from the atrium, was it being able to go front to back on all floors? The planners of this ship certainly had me in mind when they designed it. I am going to miss her when she leaves New Orleans. Getting to the spa was easy. The massages and facials (yes, I went more than once) were wonderful and worth the money. Lying on the heated lounges in the spa is the best way to relax. My cabin was close to the stairs and elevators. Even being in a busy area, I was never bothered by loud noise. Do not let convenience of stairs and elevators cause you concern. It is still quiet in your room. Activities on the ship were loads of fun. Watching the cooking demonstrations, the line dancing, and the belly dancing instructions was so much fun.....even if you just watched. The music was all over the ship. All I had to do was choose the music I was in the mood to listen to and find it on the Cruise Compass. The photographers worked with me to capture some great looks. They certainly know how to make me look my best. It is so sad we are losing Royal Caribbean in New Orleans. Maybe one day RCCL will return. Until then, I will have to travel to other ports to catch the wonderful ships of Royal Caribbean. Read Less

First, I would like to say this is my first review on any travel site ever on any subject. We are a family of 4 (kids - 12 and 7). This was our second time cruising. Our first cruise was last year aboard the Norwegian Star. We travelled with 2 other families both with 2 kids each for a total of 12 people. It was the first cruise for all 3 families. We had SUCH A GREAT TIME and were so pleasantly surprised and impressed with the Norwegian Star that we ALL really wanted to cruise again. This year, we decided to go with Royal Caribbean as we had all heard from EVERY single person we talked to that RC was much better in all aspects (food, service, activities, entertainment, etc…). We travelled with the same families again, except this year, after hearing our enthusiasm we convinced 3 more families to come along for a total of 24 people. (One family had never cruised before). Kids ranged from ages 7-16. Adults were ages 38-50. The cruise was from New Orleans with stops in Key West, Nassau, and RC’s private island CocoCay (Sounds more impressive then it was). I will be comparing the RC Serenade of the Seas to the NCL Star throughout this review as it is all I have to compare it too. THE SHIP Embarkation was fairly quick and painless. Uneventful and uninviting. Security…Famiily photo… on the ship. Now what? Compared to NCL Star, on the Star they were playing music and it was like a party atmosphere and was much more inviting and we felt so much welcome to be there. The RC Serenade was newer and more modern having been renovated just 2 years ago. Although, when we first embarked on the ship, we couldn’t help but smell poop up and down the hallway to our cabin. It was only on the first day, but not a good start. The ship was well setup and designed. POOLS The main pool was smaller than the Star and did not have a slide, but the adult pool was larger and better decorated. The kid’s pool was pretty much useless as none of our kids ever used it. It was too shallow and only had ONE slide that was meant for really really small kids 5 and under (WAY TOO SLOW). Pool deck - Had two guys playing some Caribbean style music sometimes and some recorded music. Kind of just background music. NCL Star had 2 slides at main pool and one on the smaller kid pool. All 3 slides were good for our kids and on some days, the kids never left the pool. NCL Star had and a 4 piece band also playing same type of music but the band was much more enthusiastic and played more often and involved passengers more frequently to make it more ‘fun’. FOOD Food quality was pretty much the same on both ships. Maybe slightly better quality on RC Serenade but more selection on NCL Star. Only one dining room and one buffet. NCL Star had 2 main dining rooms and one buffet. BUFFET - Windjammer Equal in quality, but I believe NCL Star had a bit more variety and more international items on a daily basis. The RC Serenade had the exact same items for breakfast EVERY day and NO Eggs Benedict or Crepes unless you went down to the Main dining room and order from the menu. NCL Star had both Eggs Benedict and Crepes at the buffet, without having to go to the main dining room. Seating during peak hours was a bit difficult on both ships. MAIN DINING ROOM - Reflections Service was just OK the first night, we had the 5:30 seating and we all felt very very rushed to get us out for the next seating by all the staff. We genuinely felt like cattle. Maybe we were spoiled but, aboard the NCL Star, some of us were used to ordering 2 or sometimes 3 appetizers and 2 main courses and probably 2 desserts each adult. One adult loved the desserts, she would save room and not order as much of the main courses and get 5 desserts. We were actively encouraged by the NCL staff to order more items and try new things every night. We could even custom order items not on the menu. If they could do it, they would. For example, one night there was some type of Curried Prawns and rice dish on the menu and it consisted of a bed of rice and veggies with 3 or 4 prawns on top. A couple of the adults really enjoyed the dish abut just wanted to order a plate of extra prawns. The waiter said, absolutely and brought a big plate of full of prawns, and he brought it with a smile. On the RC Serenade, when we asked for extra items from the menu, the waiters didn’t seem too thrilled about serving us more. When we asked for extra mussels from mussels item on the menu, the waiter promptly told me “No, we can’t do that, the mussels are a just a garnish”. After a moment or two, he said he’ll check with the kitchen and might be able to bring me a few extra and later brought me a small plate of mussels. This was from the very first night of our cruise aboard the RC Serenade and I felt right from that point, this is not going to be a good experience on this ship. Later that night we complained to the maître d' while he was trying to get us out of the dining room for the next seating, but he seemed uninterested. The next day we talked to the Head Maître d' (Pedro). We explained the situation and how the 2 cruises differed in service and he vowed to make it better. That night, and for the remainder of the cruise, we were booked into the private dining room (The Mirage Room) just for our party of 24. We were given the best senior waiter staff on the ship (Cleeven, Cloudeu, Rodney and Ramon), and they did not disappoint. Their service was awesome, and definitely on par (if not even better) than the service we received aboard the NCL Star. LATE NIGHT DINING – Solarium Park Café RC Serenade - Almost Non-existent. After 11 pm, good luck!! There was one place open (Park Café) and barely had any selection to choose from (pizza, hotdogs heated under lamps and a few desserts) LAME, LAME LAME. We are all fans of late night dining, but this ship had almost nothing after the dining rooms closed, and they all seemed to close early. The Castle pub was open until 1AM and had fun Karaoke and a live musician playing and taking requests (He was really good Aussie guy) but did not have any food at all. Just overpriced booze. What kind of pub doesn’t have any munchies to eat, not even some chips. LAME LAME LAME! NCL Star had several places open late night, even the buffet was open later and had lots of selection. Even a late night CHOCOLATE buffet (very popular with our dessert loving friend). Your kids could go get hot wings, chips and salsa at 1 AM if they wanted, no problem. NO CHOCOLATE BUFFET AT ALL ON RC SERENADE. They kept pushing to come get fresh grilled burgers on deck. But, they didn’t have a grill anywhere on the boat. There is a huge difference between a fresh grilled burger from a BBQ and a burger cooked on a griddle and kept under a heat lamp or in a stainless steel dish with a burner underneath for hours. NCL Star had a huge PROPER GRILL on the pool deck on all cruising days. Grilling fresh burgers, chicken, hot dogs, with a much better selection of toppings and condiments. Not just the standard ketchup, mustard, mayo, tomatoes and lettuce. NCL Star also had Fajitas and Taco during the lunch BBQ. We did not try any of the specialty dining options on either ship. When talking with other passengers aboard the Serenade, we found they were all having the same less then great experience. There was 3 separate occasions when we were in the buffet dining room and we overheard people complaining to the staff about the food and the service. When further discussing it with those passengers, they were experienced cruisers and have always felt RC was on the top of the list for cruise lines. And this cruise was a major disappointment. Rating it dead last. SERVICE Excellent dinner service every night (except the first). I couldn’t help but feel that a lot of the staff seemed overworked, not that eager to please and genuinely not that happy to be working on the ship. I didn’t see a lot of smiles on their faces. Another example, one of our passengers forgot to bring conditioner with her on the trip, she went to guest services to ask for some and she was even willing to pay for it. They told her only the Suites and the Balcony units could have conditioner. REALLY?! Even the scummiest of 1 star hotels provide conditioner to their guests. She flipped out and they eventually gave it to her. This kind of behavior generally comes from above (supervisors and management). I heard from several of the crew that they were tired and overworked and always in a state of insecurity (unsure if their contract will be renewed for the next 3 months). I did notice on the last 2 days of the cruise, we were asked many times by various crew members in dining room, if we had a good trip and if they could improve in some way. They kept offering to get things for us and trying to ramp up their service (probably trying to get some points and a good review by the passengers). On the other hand, Most of the NCL Star staff seemed thrilled to be there and eager to please at all times. CABIN We had regular inside lower level cabin. Slightly larger than the cabin on the NCL Star. It was adequate and what we expected. The Cabin Steward was pretty good, kept the room clean and left the occasional animal made out of a towel. NCL Star steward made a different animal every night. The kids couldn’t wait to get to the room to see what animal was left there. ENTERTAINMENT Some nights, only one show at 6:30. Other nights, 2nd show at 10pm. Comedian – Two African American comedians (can’t remember their names) were hilarious. They had two shows. Magician/Comedian John Ferrentino was beyond brutal. Not funny and less magical. There was times I thought the room was empty. He should be performing at a senior care facility. Another comedian on the last night was pretty funny. Used a funny slide show. Broadway type shows were just OK. 3 Las Vegas Tenors were really good. Disco – was pretty quiet most nights, music was good. All our kids were not too interested in the kids club on the ship. They tried it out the first day or two but not impressed. They ended up playing hide and seek late at night until security told them to stop running around. Some of the older people were complaining. They did have a 70’s dance party in the center of the ship on the second last night of the cruise, which was a blast. But Party was over at 11pm. Everybody to bed. BOOOO! NCL STAR had really good acrobatic artists (Cirque type show) from France that were awesome. Broadway type shows were very entertaining and dancers were awesome. Really good Italian Magician/Comedian with a huge Albino snake. Overall, NCL Star had better entertainment and more shows (early and late shows). PORT STOPS Key West – Nice town Nassau, Bahamas – Nice Beach Coco Cay (Private Island) – Nice beach, Blue water. When they say ‘Private Island’, they make it sound like it’s some super-secret exclusive place ‘EWWWWW WHOAAAA’. But, you’re herded over there in little boats along with 2000 other people. Oh yeah, and there’s another RC boat docked beside you unloading their 2000 passengers (Not so private island now, is it?). They have big BBQ there on the island with Burgers, Dogs and chicken and ribs and all the fixins’. But wait, still no BBQ grill. Yes, once again, the burgers are cooked on a griddle and kept warm under lights. It’s their private island but you still have to pay $35 to go down their slide and play on the water park. ?? No point in comparing port stops to NCL Star as we cruised the Mexican Riviera the last time. Special shoutout to excellent friendly staff on RC Serenade of the Seas: Cleeven, Cloudeu, Rodney, Ramon, Pedro, Michelle Gallagher, Marco Aerelio Ship of ‘NO’ NO, we cannot bring you a plate of mussels. NO, you cannot enter this buffet line up, it is closed, go to another lineup. (Even though it was not roped off yet). NO, we cannot toast your bread at midnight, the toaster is not working (It was only turned off). NO, your child cannot go up the rock climbing wall. Free climb is over at 5pm and it is 5:05 pm (It was still open for adult speed climbing). NO, we do not serve any food in the pub. NO, we do not have Eggs Benedict here, you have to go to main dining room (After I was told they did by another crew member, and waited in line for 5 minutes)   Read Less

We started out with a Pre-Cruise at Holiday Inn Downtown Superdome in New Orleans. We can enthusiastically recommend this hotel if you are staying there. We found the service, friendliness of the staff and the rooms were all excellent! EMBARKATION- This was a breeze. We had priority boarding, but it didn't seem to make a difference. It was very well organized. CABIN- The cabin was well laid out with lots of storage space and a decent size balcony. It was very clean and the bed was comfortable. CABIN ATTENDANT- The cabin attendant was pretty efficient. She wasn't very personable and we did not see her around a lot, but she kept the room clean and was prompt to respond to any requests. MDR- We ate in the Main Dining Room 3 of the 7 nights. After the first night, we did not have to ask for the same table. We had a table for two, but there was a table for 4 right next to us and the same 2 couples were there each night. Very nice people. The quality of the food was much better than I was expecting. We really liked our assistant waiter, but never once met the waiter. This applies only to dinner. We did eat in the MDR for breakfast one morning and it was not a good experience. WINDJAMMER/PARK CAFE- The food in the buffet was also very good and there was a wide variety to choose from. The scrambled eggs for breakfast as well as the hash browns, were generally not hot, but there were a couple of omelet stations where you could get eggs cooked to order. If you just wanted a snack, there was the Park Cafe for sandwiches. BARS- Believe it or not, we did check out several of the bars. If you have ever been on an RCI ship, there is no need to discuss the Schooner Bar as they are the same on every one. We used that one a lot if we just wanted to relax for a bit or get on the internet (BTW, the wi-fi on the ship was really slow). The Crown and Castle Pub is right by the auditorium and we stopped there fairly often. The only other bars we went to with any regularity were the R Bar, which was in the Centrum, and the Pool Bar, which was conveniently located by the pool. BARTENDERS- There were no bartenders that really stood out, except for maybe Vic in the C&C Pub and maybe our drinks server in the MDR. The overall service was very good and the lounge service was exceptional, for the most part. GUEST ENTERTAINERS- The guests entertainers were top notch. We enjoyed those shows very much. MAIN SHOWS- It only took one of these shows to tell us we did not want to waste our time going to any others. the talent of their crew, especially the lead male singer was average at best. LOUNGE ENTERTAINMENT- This was a high point for us. They had a couple piano players and a couple guitarists, each playing a different style. Their singers were good, but not great. CROWN AND ANCHOR PIER EVENT- This is the lamest excuse for an event we have ever seen. Seats were jammed together, so if you didn't get there early, you were pretty much out of luck. They didn't have the different managers up front to introduce them individually, and the Captain didn't even speak. Most of the speaking was done by the Assistant CD. SHORE EXCURSION- We only did one shore excursion and it was post cruise. It was a tour of New Orleans with an Airport drop off. We did this excursion because our plane wasn't scheduled to depart until later. It was worth the price. DISEMBARKATION- This was very well organized and there were no problems. Read Less

Royal has yet exceeded our expectations when it comes to cruising! We had an absolutely wonderful cruise on Serenade of the Seas and have already planned our September cruise with Royal again. The port of New Orleans was great! They moved smoothly, quickly and had us on the boat within 30 minutes of getting to the port. From our experience on sailing out of Galveston, New Orleans has it completely together! We were so happy with our port experience in New Orleans. Now for the cruise! Cruising in February is a great time to go. The weather was perfect everyday, especially in ports. Our last day at sea was cloudy and 60 degrees, but that was ok with us as we got to be very relaxed and they had a lot of stuff going on inside the ship. I wrote port reviews under the ports below. But, we loved each port we went too (Key West, Nassau and CocoCay) and would definitely do this itinerary again. Serenade of the Seas is a very beautiful ship! All of the glass windows everywhere make it great for looking at the ocean at all times! We have been Navigator of the Seas in the past, so it was quite smaller than what we were used too, but the ship itself was beautiful, very kept together and clean. The crew and service on this ship was Top-Notch! Everyone made us feel like family and made us feel so special. We never went without someone saying hello, asking us how we were doing and enjoying everything. It was so nice to see that. Our stateroom attendant was incredible. Gizelle kept our room tidy and clean at all times and always made a point to have a conversation with us each time she saw us and that made a very huge impression on me. The food on the ship was great everyday! We had lunch in the Windjammer everyday except on port days and I can't say anything bad about it. It was always warm/right temp and fresh. We ate in the Main Dining Room each night and the food was very very good! Everything we tried, we loved! Our servers Vladmir and Adriana were incredible and never let us go without drink, bread or anything we desired. We did eat at Chops Grille one night of the cruise. This was our third time eating at Chops Grille on a Royal ship and we were pretty disappointed. This is the only negative thing I have to say about the cruise. We got seated and it took someone 25 minutes to come up and let us know they were going to be our waiter and get out drinks. Then we waited another 15 minutes for them to bring the bread appetizer. We watched the tables around us get waited on quite well by other servers, but ours just wasn't getting started out right. Finally, after we placed our order, he started coming around quite a bit more and checking on us. My filet was very good, but my husbands wasn't at all. He said possible one of the worst filet's he has in awhile. But, we didn't say anything, because we don't like to complain unless it's just terrible. We think they were just having a rough night and not enough wait staff available. So, just one suggestion, please have more wait staff in Chops Grille! The entertainment on the ship was great! We enjoyed all of the shows that we went too. The 70's night in the Centrum was very fun to watch and participate in, the Broadway Musical show by the RC singers and dancers was awesome, both comedians they had onboard were hilarious and we really enjoyed them, the Aerial show in the Centrum was quite impressive! The belly flop contest and World's Sexiest man out by the pool were so funny and we had a great time watching men embarrass themselves! The Cruise Director did a fabulous job with all of the entertainment and fun onboard! She was awesome and we could tell she really enjoys what she does and that is great to see! All in All we had such a great time and no complaints at all! We met some really great people and felt so relaxed while on this cruise! We loved it! Read Less

This was our 3rd cruise, but the first one in 7 yrs and the first one that was just me and my husband. We drove to New Orleans and were a little concerned about the overflow parking area, as it doesn't seem very secure and it is in an open field, but we did come back to find that we still had a car and all 4 tires/wheels :). The cruise was wonderful and just what we were looking for....rest and relaxation. Since we had cruised before, we weren't really interested in excursions, so we just did our own thing in Key West and Nassau and we were unable to stop at CocoCay due to high waves. We had 5 days on the ship and we just used this time to lay around and relax...play some pool on the cool gyro-tables...watch some shows...ate way too much great food and had wonderful service with our room steward and our waiters in the dining room. Probably not the best cruise for children or for families that want to do excursions, but if you wanted an enjoyable relaxing time........this was it! A++++++ Read Less

We were originally scheduled to sail on this cruise on Jan 24 with 4 other couples. Our cabin was one of 150 or so that were cancelled at the last minute due to water pipe break/electrical failure in front of ship. This part was not well handled or well communicated by RCCL - we grade them a FAIL for this part (unrelated to this review, though). We flew home after waiting 6 hrs at the dock. We rebooked the same cruise for a sailing 2 wks later. Generally, we would NOT have selected this cruise unless we were traveling with our 8 friends. The itinerary has too few ports for our liking. Also, at this time of year, Cococay is almost ALWAYS cancelled .... too much wave action. (we were actually surprised that it was cancelled on this cruise because the seas were relatively calm). The captain pulls up beside the private island and explains why you will not be tendering ... however, you will be surprised when you look out to the ocean and notice minimal waves. The embarkation and disembarkation were the BEST experience that we have had versus any of our prior 8 cruises on RCCL, Princess, NCL, Carnival. Well done !! We arrived at 1030 am for embarkation .... very smooth. We were VERY pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed the 5 sea days. Many activities on the ship, of course, and we met many nice cruisers. Approx 2000 passengers vs 2200 capacity on this sailing   Read Less

This was my 4th cruise, my first with Royal Caribbean. I had high expectations because of the rave reviews I had received of Royal Caribbean. I know traveling in February would not be a typical "family" crowd but the other cruised I have been on were during the school year and my 15 year old son loved the teen club activities and made great friends on the other cruise lines. He was the ONLY teen that showed up for any events the entire week. He was so bored we let him charge $300 worth of games in the arcade because there was NOTHING else for him to do. There were other teens on board but they did not participate in the FUEL club activities. I don't know if this is necessarily RC's fault but on our previous cruise lines, the teen club staff would go around the first night at sea and personally go up to the teens on ship and ask them to join them to get the word out about the activities (this is how we found out about teen clubs in the first place). So entertainment for the week for the only child 15 year old was a complete bust. Perhaps I am not a seasoned cruiser but our other huge disappointment was that one of the ports of call was cancelled. This has never happened on other ships. We had all our big excursions and activities planned for Cococay which was canceled because the tender boats couldn't make it to the ship due to waves. I have tendered before with rougher seas. I had no idea that they would just sail an extra day at sea and not make a substitute port of call. We were bored beyond measure by the last day at sea. The entertainment was horrible. Other cruises we've been on had broadway style shows nightly, comedians or magicians in a smaller theater nightly and matinee performances. There were no shows during the day (factor in that extra day at sea and cooler temps and you can only sit at the pool for so long) and while this ship did have a movie theatre the movies shown were the same 4 the entire cruise (which we had already seen). The food in the dining room each night was good and service was great. The food in the Windjammer was not. Other cruise lines had speciality burger bars open all day and night or pizza, nothing like that on this ship. Overall I was extremely disappointed with the experience and will more than likely not travel with Royal Caribbean in the future. 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 are both in our 60's and avid cruisers. Serenade of the Seas was a new ship for us but the Port of New Orleans was not. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Hammond, La. We have stayed here several times. It is an hour from N.O. and less expensive than the city hotels. RCCL parking is in an outdoor parking lot (Whale Lot). Our GPS took us to the lot but we entered from the wrong entrance. This was confusing and not marked in any way Do not enter from Julia St!. Embarkation was a breeze. We were on the Lido deck in less than an hour. Serenade is an older, smaller ship which is able to cruise the Panama Canal. She has been maintained well. This was the smoothest running ship we have been on. The captain told us she has airplane-type engines which are not as fuel efficient but much smoother running. We rarely felt any movement. The Centrum is lovely and is used a lot for entertainment. Our favorite area of the ship is an open aft area with tables where we ate breakfast and lunch while enjoying the wake of the ship. Our balcony cabin 9018 was small but adequate. You can see into the bridge from the balcony. The ship entertainment was wonderful. Very talented staff. The cruise director John was amazing. He did a tribute show to Neil Diamond and received a standing ovation. We had early dining and had the best waitstaff we have ever had. It was hard to tell them goodbye. The food in the dining room and the Windjammer was excellent. Our ports were Key West, Nassau and CocoCay. In Key West we walked and shopped and went to Irish Kevins Pub. Don't miss that! Lots of fun. We had been to Nassau before and weren't impressed with it. CocoCay was beautiful. Not my kind of beach as I like waves but very pretty. We did the self disembarkation and were in our car by 7:30AM. We liked this ship so much that we booked another cruise on her while we were onboard. Read Less

This was a great vacation to take over New Years! I was a part of a 25 member group. We wanted to go on a major brand cruise, such as Royal Caribbean, but on one of the smaller boats, which we find to be more enjoyable with smaller crowds and more personalized guest service. The embarcation was a total breeze, after about 45 minutes, we were boarded with our baggage accounted. This ship is a mid-sized ship, which is great for me, because there are fewer people onboard and shorter lines. However, one problem I want to note out is that this ship only has nine elevators to cater to 2000+ people. This means that taking the elevator can take around 5 minutes. In addition, there is no aft elevator shaft, so the few elevators in the central atrium are very backed up. I found it much easier to use the stairs, so if you cannot use the stairs, this ship will be harder to traverse. However, this ship's sea front elevators are a great idea and something I love about this ship. The whole boat was very clean, and there was staff everywhere cleaning windows, cleaning the floor, and even painting the wood accents. The boat's exterior is covered with glass. Almost all rooms are sunlit, with windows pouring in lots of natural lighting. This also gives most rooms a view of the water outside. On some of the larger ships, the wider body puts rooms on the interior and decreases the connection with the ocean. The narrower body boat also makes it possible to look out either side in a single room. While the Serenade is smaller, it has no shortage of activities. With rock climbing and basketball court for the kids, and spa and fitness center for the adults, this ship caters to all ages. Youth and teen programs are provided also, and there is a curfew for all children from 1 to 5:30 AM. Children were not much of a disturbance, so if you would like to relax, there are plenty of places to lie out on a lounge chair. One feature I used extensively was the wraparound promenade on deck 5. I often sat out on the bow of the ship and meditated several times, and I would stare off the stern at the froth behind the mighty boat. Also, during the morning and evening hours, it made a great running track. The dining onboard this ship was stellar. Although it was not gourmet, it was very consistently delicious. At the dining hall there are different selections every night. Our party had some trouble, however, trying to reserve some tables. We had claims on 3 tables, but some of them had people not in our party, and some had only one person sitting at them. The dining room staff was very quick and glad to fix this problem, and by the second evening, the party's seating was fully organized. Food was delivered very quickly after order. We had a member of our party with a special dietary restriction, and her special menu was handled very well thoughout the week. Live entertainment every night was very, well, entertaining. There were fewer of the "brodway-style" shows we typically expect, and shows included acrobatics, acapella, aviation, and many other shows that don't start with A! In all seriousness, the variety was great and always exciting. In addition to the main theater, unique aerial performances are held in the grand Centrum, a 9 story atrium in the middle of the ship. Films were also shown in the cinema. There were A LOT of pianos onboard, and if you were lucky, someone would be playing the piano for you there. In fact, I would occasionally play a few songs around the boat. The main special of this itenerary was that it occurred over the New Year holiday, and there were planned to be three formal dinners instead of the usual two. However, the final formal dinner was cancelled, and the number was reduced to two. This evening had parties around the boat for young and old. The main party occurred in the Centrum, people were dancing, balloons dropping, drinks, and several centimeters of confetti on the ground. This was obviously a huge mess to clean up, but 6 hours later, when I woke up the next morning, it was completely cleaned up, everywhere! I was so impressed when I saw this, I think the crew was excellent to do this! Over the next few days, this amazing work ethic of the crew slightly declined as the end of the cruise approached, but the workers still served with a smile, and were happy to get anything from a glass of water to an extra dish. Debarkation was also a breeze, and within about 15 minutes, we were on a shuttle back to the airport. Overall, this was a great cruise, I would definitely reccomend it. While there will not be another new years itenerary for another year, I thought the food and entertainment were thoroughly pleasing, the staff worked very hard, and the ship was very clean. I would reccomend this cruise to anyone with a week off! 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

My husband and I have previously sailed on Celebrity and Carnival and were excited to take our first Royal Caribbean Cruise. We anxiously waited for a whole year for our trip. Back home in New Hampshire the weather was below 0 and we had a lot of snow. We arrived in a rainy New Orleans where we stayed 2 nights. Not enough time and we would like to return at some points in our life. On Saturday morning, after a harrowing cab ride we arrived at the pier around 10:15am where a porter took our luggage and asked our room number. He said everyone was supposed to get an e-mail stating not to arrive until Noon because some rooms were damaged and to go to the Riverwalk Mall and return at Noon. We went back downstairs around 12:30 only to be informed that there were 299 rooms that would not be sailing but they did not know which ones. A short time later, they said that there were another 117 rooms that would not be sailing. We stood in the cold in line for over 3 hours before being let into the cruise terminal. After another 2 1/2 hours, we found out we were one of the lucky ones to sail. We could not go home, we were having whiteout conditions. By the time we boarded the ship, it was very late. We found our stateroom and headed off to get something to eat. After dinner, I unpacked while my husband went to explore. By the time he got back and I was done it was almost 11pm. We still had not moved. The next day, we found out that the Coast Guard had cleared us and we were finally going to sail. It has not been more than 24 hours with little communication, we were still in port, the theater did not work and neither did our television. It did not feel like the relaxing vacation we were looking forward to. PROS We had a balcony room that was very nicely laid out and clean with a lot of storage. The only thing that was not clean was the glass on the balcony but our cabin steward took care of that by the next day. The closet had a lot of storage. Our cabin steward Ellliott did a great job and we gave him some extra money on the last day. The cruise director, John Blair, and his wife, Katrina, the cruise activities director were very upbeat and fun. The entertainment we saw in the theater once it was up and running was top notch. The seats were comfortable. My only complaint is that the beverage holders only held a wine glass and not a mixed drink. The barista in the coffee area was great with a lot of energy and usually knew what we wanted to order as soon as we got there. He knew my husband's name right away. We also gave him something extra. On the last day, getting off was well organized and smooth. The best we have seen so far. CONS While we tried to like the food, we were very disappointed in this area. Besides the first night, service in the main dining room was patchy and very slow. The tray of rolls they bring out and the desserts were the highlights. We found that the menu was quite boring and did not change from day-to-day. We only ended up eating dinner in the main dining room twice. We ate in all the specialty restaurants and were especially disappointed in Chops and Giovanni's. Chops was the most disappointed. For appetizers, I had the scallops and my husband had the bacon. My scallops were cooked perfectly but were overwhelmed by the onion flavor on top and my husband's bacon tasted like a fatty piece of pastrami. We both ordered the filet and I wanted Bernaise sauce - the waitress aid it comes out with 4 sauces to choose. It comes out with a heavy au jus sauce that makes the other sauces not worth having. Mine was cooked medium rate but had little taste and my husband had to send his back. Definitely disappointing. We ate at Giovanni's and it was a touch above Chop's but not by much. Sorry to say, but I have had better meals at Olive Garden. The service was outstanding. On our last night at sea, we ate at Izumi which was the best out of the 3 but we each had the hot rock experience and cooked our own food. We did enjoy Rita's Cantina which we paid $6.50 to have fajitas. We ate there 3 times. We ate the rest of the meals in the Windjammer. We like the cooked to order eggs, the rolls, and the desserts but did not finding anything that was outstanding. POOL TABLE They had 2 beautiful pool tables but no chalk the whole time. SERENITY POOL Supposed to be heated but it was cold. It is not Royal Caribbean's fault what happened, but, they had very poor communication and offered a $200 obc the second to last night which did not really make up for all of the troubles. My husband said he may go one another Royal Caribbean cruise but it would take a lot of convincing for me. Read Less

My wife and I were renewing our vows and arranged for our kids and their spouses, my in-laws and my parents to go with us. I also invited a couple from work since they had never been on a cruise and wanted to go with someone they knew. This was my 4th cruise and my wife's 3rd, all with RCI. Our last cruise, last January, was a bit of a disappointment as we felt the service was not very good and the crew was not very helpful or friendly. This cruise was the exact opposite. Overall, this was the best cruise I've been on so far. Every RCI employee we met was outstanding. The entire crew was always smiling and friendly. The very few issues we had were solved without problem or delay. The weather wasn't great, but you take what you can get cruising in early January. Boarding: We showed up at the terminal about a half hour before boarding started. The check in process was very quick and we were ready to get on the ship in just minutes. It was very well organized and smoother than the Galveston experience. The Ship: I've read a lot of reviews from people saying that Serenade is their favorite ship and I can see why. Serenade is beautiful. The staterooms and public areas were all very clean and well maintained. I love the elevators that look out over the water. We didn't get to walk around the deck as much as we usually do or go up on the helicopter pad to look at the stars, that was because of the weather, not the fault of the crew or the ship. The Crew: I can't say enough good things about the crew. Our room steward, Clinton, was fantastic. He was always available and met all of our requests within minutes. We held our vow renewal in our suite and he made sure we had enough plates, silverware and toasting glasses for everyone. He kept our champagne on ice for the ceremony and continued to provide us for ice buckets for our wine over the entire cruise. Our towel animal the night our our ceremony was a pair of kissing swans with three chicks sitting on a big heart. Dining: The dining room experience was great. The food was excellent and the variety was overwhelming. I ate way too much, as usual. Our server and assistant server couldn't have been any more attentive to our needs and even went back to the kitchen to have the chef cook extra dishes when someone at our table inquired if it was too late to get more of an item. Our glasses were never empty, I hate having to ask for water refills and never did once this entire trip. Our stateroom: We had a Grand Suite on deck 10 at the back of the ship. The room was very large and the bathroom was huge, plenty of room for two people to be in at the same time. The only issue we had with the room was the noise of chairs moving in the Windjammer above us. It wasn't bad and didn't wake us up or keep us awake if we were trying to sleep. The ports: This was our first trip to Key West. We didn't have enough time there to really explore it but we enjoyed what we saw and will be back. Because of the size of our group, we didn't do very much in Nassau. My wife and I did the Seahorse Snorkeling tour. The water was kind of rough, expected this time of year, but the reef was loaded with fish and very colorful. This was my first time snorkeling so I can't compare it to any others. The weather was perfect for CocoCay and the island is great. We used the beaches, hammocks, paddle boats and canoes. There are plenty of lounge chairs and it was easy to get some shade when we needed a break from the sun. The entertainment: The cruise director, John, did an excellent job of organizing the shows. The RCI singers and dancers were very energetic and put on excellent shows. The juggler/comedian Chuck Gunter was very good, as was the singing group Horizons. The highlight entertainment wise had to be ventriloquist Ronn Lucas, he had us laughing so hard our eyes were watering. Disembarking: Very smooth. Our family was in four different groups and we were all off the ship by 9:00. Customs was very quick and we were on the road home by 9:30. There were no long lines or struggles to find luggage. Again, it was very hard to find any negatives to say about this cruise. Nothing that would be relevant to put here. Read Less

I am going to start my review off by admitting that our experience may have been less than optimal as a result of the fact that we were the last cruise before the Christmas cruise. My wife and I have been cruising for almost a decade now and we have been cruising with Royal Caribbean for the majority of our cruises. Unfortunately, this was one of our worst Royal Caribbean experiences. The Good: This ship is older and smaller than many in the fleet, but don't let that deter you - it's been immaculately maintained. I understand they have recently renovated the ship, and it's in great shape! My wife and I have always enjoyed traditional dining and have been disappointed industry-wide that the dining room experience has seemed to be on the decline. Our last cruise on the Allure of the Seas, we were absolutely horrified by the quality of the dining room food. The Serenade of the Seas, however, renewed our faith in quality dining room food and service. There was a great selection, the food was fresh and the service was AMAZING. This is literally the ONLY time on a cruise ship that I've ordered a steak in the dining room rare and it actually come out as ordered. We were very pleased. The Bad: The entertainment options on the ship were extremely disappointing. The only option for entertainment after midnight was the "club" and even it was a ghost town. Again, this very well may be a result of the demographics of the passengers or the time of year and not the fault of the cruise. The ship was absolutely dead after 11:00 at night. It literally blew our minds. We always love sitting in the Pub listening to late night live music, and the pub on this ship didn't even have live music - just karaoke. The other negative we experienced was the lack of late-night dining options. On most Royal Caribbean ships we've been on, the Wind Jammer has always had food at least until midnight, if not a midnight buffet. The Wind Jammer on this ship closed at 8 PM and after that literally all you could get was either a hot dog by the pool or room service - which had an extremely limited menu as well. Otherwise, the trip was great. I'm not sure I would go on this ship again, but I'll definitely still give Royal Caribbean a pass that perhaps we caught them on an off week. Read Less

Sailed on this ship last year on a (9) day cruise in Dec. Decided to try again because price was great and we liked the ship; and especially the CREW. Different Cruise director, John, and had his wife helping him, Katrina. They were the BEST! This was a 60th birthday cruise for me , so I got a drink package for some of the trip. That's what made it a BLAST! Stopped at (2) places I've been before Key West and Nassau. I could go to Key West (10) times and still find things to DO. It's a Crazy place, that I can really LIKE ! Nassau is OK! Didn't stop at Coco Cay cause of High Winds. Royal has to Quit using this as a stop or have a different place to go as a Backup, back to Key West!!!!!!! Serenade and Royal Caribbean are leaving New Orleans in April 2015. Hurry and book a trip, or you'll miss out on a great TIME!   Read Less

my wife and i and another couple who Just Love to Cruise, Decided to Try a different Cruise Line for the first time in 2014. We were 5 time Cruisers on Carnival Out of New Orleans. Since my wife does not like to Fly we Choose to Leave out a port that is close to home. At first glance the terminal is a bit Cluttered when trying to get all of the luggage out of the car with so many people in one tight space, that was in my mind the start to a bad trip. But i keep a stiff upper lip and told my self this was not going to get me down. after having to park about half a mile away and waiting for 20 min for a transport back to the terminal decided to walk back to the boat. Now i have to tell you this is the End of my complaining. from the point of getting back to the Cruse terminal on I did not have any thing to complain about AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!! Going through the Security Checkpoint, and getting the Room Key was so fast i was almost scared. We were used to 45 min to get thought Security and then waiting in line for about 2 to 3 hrs to get room keys and then about 30 more min to get on the boat. Again that is what we were used to, so i made the decision to insure we would be at the terminal before noon as i figured it would take us 3 hrs to get on the boat just like Carnival. Boy was i WRONG!! i doped off the luggage at 11:30 and we were on the boat eating Lunch at 12:45!!!! Now the Food was Unbelievable!!!!! we ate breakfast every day in the formal dining room instead of the Buffet. It is more laid back having the staff wait on you. and there are some things you cant get on the buffet that are available in the sit down Breakfast.Lunch and snacks were usual done at either the Sandwich shop or the buffet. I tried to keep Lunch some what light but with food being around all the time it is hard. then comes dinner, We did the my time dining all but 2 nights the food was FANTASTIC!!!!!!! the weight staff were fun and entertaining, always willing to help and give you anything you needed. after the first night our staff remembered what we were drinking and willing to insure as the glass was half empty there was another one waiting for you. And since i drink about 3 gallons of water a day, I keep him running till he made the connection to have 3 glasses waiting on the table for me, one i was half finished with one i was drinking next and one he was to refill on next round. The dinner started off with a bred Roll which we tried to eat a different one each time but half way through we found each of our favorites. and they staff were happy to insure we got as many of them as we desired. Now some New Cruisers may not know this but order as much as you want and as many of Off the menu and you want with out being wasteful. most nights i would order an appetizer, a soup, Salad, another appetizer, and at least 1 entree for me and one to share with my wife. We did this to taste something we could not each deiced on and wanted to try. the portions are not Very big so it sounds like a lot of food but it is not too big. then came time for desert and coffee. i think i did gained too much weight on the boat. now something some people do not know about this boat was the drink packages. They have several of them we chose to go with a drink package that was not the top of the line but the second one. this gave us unlimited sodas, Water bottles, Specialty Coffees cold and hot, and Non alcoholic Frozen drinks. now this might sound like it is not that big of a deal but it made a impression on us. We do not drink much but having the non alcoholic frozen and refreshing fruit drinks were a nice afternoon drink treat. then having different coffees in the morning and soft drinks daily. we did the math water bottles were $3 each, Soft Drinks were $1.72, Coffees were $5, and Frozen Non alcoholic drinks were $4, i know we had 3 cokes with dinner and say 2 more all day($15) one coffee in the morning and one after dinner ($10) 10 water bottles daily ($30) and then 2 or 3 Frozen Non alcoholic drinks ($12) so adding that up $62 daily is what i would have sent if we did not get the drink package of $150 per person for the week. so you can see that was worth it for us. now we ate one night in Chops and that was the best $20 stake i have ever had Worth it I suggest do it on a night if yo are not the get formal for dinner person, that is when we did it, not too crowded. we did go to the buffet one night just because we had not Been to the buffet. it is Ok if you are not the sit down and get waited on type of person but i suggest the restaurant for dinner. Also the Buffet shuts down a bit early and so for that reason i did not care for it that much. we went to Key west only thing was we were not there that long, but it was nice we stopped at Nassau Bahamas, we were there till midnight, we would have liked to know more about the night life so we could have maby stayed out later then we did and made more of the island that what we did. look at where you are going to before you go checking into the time in port so you know what you will have time to do. our 3rd stop was canceled @ Co Co Ka because the wind and waves would not allow us to get off the boat safely. So the captain Just made for New Orleans at a slow pace. 3 days back to New Orleans sounds like a boar but it relay was not. the Crew stepped up and keep us entertained with many activities. I was so relaxed by the time i got back to New Orleans i did not want to get off the ship and Join the hand full of Retirees we had met who had been riding the ship non stop for the last 2 months!!!!! It was that good of an experience for us and we would love to do it again but Royal Caribbean has decided to Leave the port of New Orleans again since My Wife does not Fly it looks like we will be sailing with Who ever is In New Orleans Next November Please take the time to search ever thing you like about relaxing and insure you will enjoy you activities befor you book it makes a diffrence and do everything you think you will like. Like i tell my wife, "WE do not know any of these people who cares !!!!"   Read Less

We are mid 60's and retired. This was our 29th cruise. We are Diamond level on RCCL. We chose this cruise because we had never been to New Orleans and wanted to "experience" it prior to the cruise. Pre-Cruise: We booked this cruise 7 months prior to embarkation, and then had some difficulty booking a hotel room and flights, as it turned out to be WRESTLEMANIA weekend in New Orleans. Got room for 2 nights at Embassy Suites near to the Convention Center, which was hosting the wrestle festivities and 3 conventions at the same time. New Orleans has a good thing going for itself. We were very pleased with the hotel. We did a couple days of sightseeing, "experienced" Bourbon Street for a couple of hours in the afternoon (that was enough) and heard some great music. Embarkation: We walked out of the hotel, turned left, pulled our bags 3 short blocks, gave them to the porters, registered, and got on the ship. The entire time, from when we left the hotel, took about 30 minutes. Passengers: There was a group of approximately 500 "Cajun Cruisers". Fun, laid back people. Some people wore dress clothes to dinner and some wore shorts. Everyone seem to have a good time. If you are bothered by jerseys, tee shirts, and baseball caps, I advise you not to sail from New Orleans. But we thought it was different and enjoyed it. Ports: We only did Key West for about 5 hours and Nassau for too long. Cocoa Cay was missed due to high winds so that we could not tender. I guess this happens quite often, but no one seemed too upset, and the comedian even had jokes about it. In Nassau, we joined with some other CC members to do a walking tour of various food places. We really enjoyed this. Food: We ate 2 nights in the dining room, 2 nights on the back open deck with Windjammer, 2 nights in Giovanni's and 1 night in Izuma. Enjoyed all of it. Entertainment: Pretty good. Comedian made me laugh, which is saying something after 29 cruises. Service: OUTSTANDING, especially the staff in the Diamond Lounge. Great fun every afternoon. Being Diamond level creates an entirely different cruise experience. Dis-embarkation; Our flight was at 3:00 pm. We skipped breakfast. Walked off at 8:00 am, got our luggage, through customs; Gave our luggage to Courier Direct in the terminal ($40 for up to 4 pieces). They had it waiting for us at the airport at 1:30. Made arrangements with KLM transportation to pick us up at 1:00 in the French Quarter. ($14 pp, cheaper than a taxi) Then we caught the trolley right outside the terminal and went to Cafe DuMonde for beignets and coffee. We were there by 8:45. EASY PEASY. We then enjoyed some of the French Quarter Festival (21 stages, hundreds of food booths and drink stands) until our pick up at 1:00. The whole thing worked out wonderfully. Summary: As we are retired, and have to fly to all of the ports, we normally do longer cruisers. We only did this 7 day to see New Orleans. But the whole trip was great. We are planning to do it again, but there won't be a Wrestlemania next year. Read Less

We booked our twentieth anniversary cruise aboard the Serenade of the Seas out of New Orleans, LA. We chose this cruise because one of the three ports was Coco Cay and we had never been there before. We traveled to New Orleans (a five hour trip from home) the morning of Friday, April 18th. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Super dome, where we have stayed before cruises previously. There is covered parking at the hotel where we can leave our vehicle during the cruise. We ate a super dinner at Oceana Grill (we love this place); taking a bicycle taxi from the hotel was $16.00. It was something we just wanted to try. It was fun! We had a nice early breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant in the morning of the 19th, and then went back up to the room to get our luggage and take it down to the lobby to wait for the shuttle to the cruise terminal. The shuttle left the hotel at 11 a.m. There was a Carnival ship leaving the same day, so the driver dropped those passengers off first and then dropped the Royal Caribbean passengers off next. We had booked an Owner’s Suite, so we found the suite passenger’s line and we were checked in and on the ship in about 20 minutes. We went up to the Windjammer to eat some lunch shortly after boarding. All of our food throughout the cruise was great! I won’t spend a lot of time discussing food; I will say that we ate all our dinners in the Reflections dining room on Deck 4 and we had traditional, late dining. We are not fans of the My-Time option, and we do not usually visit the specialty restaurants. We prefer getting to know our table mates and wait staff. We were seated with some great people who were also from Louisiana. Our wait staff was terrific—attentive, prompt, and fun! We ate most of our breakfasts on our balcony and the room service was very good; the food was warm and plentiful. We ate some lunches in the dining room and others in the Windjammer. When eating from the Windjammer, we found a nice, uncrowded area at the aft of the ship that allowed us to eat outside. We never had a bad meal. We had many very good meals! The Windjammer was always clean and tables were cleaned up quickly. Our room was ready for us to drop off our carry-on luggage right at 1:00 p.m. We had previously stayed in a Royal Family Suite aboard the Mariner of the Seas, but this Owner’s Suite was more posh. The floors at the entrance/dining area and the bathroom were marble. There was a nice sectional sofa, a large, flat-screened television that turned around to face the king-sized bed, a chair, end table, and coffee table in the large living room. There were floor to ceiling windows across the entire living room and bedroom, and a HUGE balcony. On the balcony there was a table and two chairs where we ate our breakfasts and two lounge chairs. It was not at all crowded with the furniture and we had visitors on the balcony one morning and there was plenty of room for eight of us. There is a structure over the top of the balcony that keeps the balcony shaded and would have provided shelter from rain if we had ever had any. The bedding was terrific, as always. There is a huge amount of storage throughout the entire Owner’s Suite. There were three huge closets, a sort of bar area in the dining room area with shelves behind cupboards and drawers, and a huge vanity with shelves/cupboards and drawers. There were bedside tables at each side of the bed and two tables at the door. All of the tables contained drawers and shelves. The bathroom had two sinks, a jetted tub, a stand-up glass enclosed shower, a duvet, a toilet, and it was very nice. Our room steward was terrific, of course. He emphasized how he would like us to use the card in the door when we left the room or didn’t want to be disturbed, and he constantly kept the room spotlessly clean. There were plates of special treats, fruits, and a bottle of wine brought to us every day, compliments of the chef, the captain, and our wonderful concierge, Rami. The ship is in excellent condition and we really enjoyed the views from all public areas and the elevators. We often used the mid-ship elevators since they were so close to our room, and we liked looking out at the water from these elevators. We loved the aerial shows in the centrum area. I had to visit the guest services desk once to have a new card made when mine stopped working (no big deal) and they were very kind and helpful. We also had to present our dive certification cards at the shore excursion desk and that took very little time. The worker there reminded us to bring our cards on the day of the dive and gave us the usual forms to fill out. He was also friendly and helpful. We visited the concierge lounge every night at 4:30 and enjoyed the happy hour until dinner time. Other suite perks included the suite seats in the show lounge, a breakfast area on deck 5 (we only ate in there once, service was a little slow and there was a screaming baby nearby), and priority tenders without tickets. We also used the concierge lounge on debarkation day and leaving the ship and getting through customs to the taxi took 12 minutes. We used bar services throughout the ship and my husband found a few new flavors of beer to enjoy. There were some good fruity drinks onboard and I got a few souvenir glasses to bring home. There was a decent sale of t shirts on the last sea day and I bought a few for family members. The shop also marked down some items on this last sea day and many things were half price. We booked private tours in Key West and Nassau. In Key West we just did the hop-on/hop-off trolley tour and ate lunch at the Conch Republic restaurant. Then we did a bit of bar-hopping and walking around. In Nassau we had a private tour in a van with some other cruise critic friends from our roll call. We saw a fort, a rum distillery, a beach, watched conch harvesting, and did a bit of shopping. After our tour we ate at a local bar/grill and used the free WIFI. At Coco Cay we did the shore scuba diving, and it was actually pretty good. The maximum depth was around 40 feet. We could have stayed down much longer, as both of us had over 1000 psi when we surfaced. After our dive we met some other cruise critic friends at the private cabana area where we ate an enhanced lunch and relaxed. The concierge had emailed us about a week before the cruise to offer a chance to book a cabana which could be used for up to six people, and through our cruise critic roll call, I had met another couple who wanted to share. After walking through the shopping area, I asked at the para-sailing area if they had availability for the afternoon and made a reservation for two of us to para-sail. It was a very enjoyable day. There was another Royal Caribbean ship at Coco Cay, but the island didn’t seem crowded. The workers on the ship said that due to sea conditions, the ship had missed the Coco Cay port for quite some time and they were all pleased that we could anchor and tender on our day. Everything about this cruise was terrific. We would definitely cruise on the Serenade again—it is absolutely a beautiful ship. We would also love to visit the ports again.   Read Less

I know this was my first cruise and sure no expert but with all the research I did I don’t think I could have picked a better ship. It wasn’t a booze cruise or a kids cruise although they had both it wasn’t too hectic. The ship had glass everywhere which made it feel very open and having a refurbish job done on it made it feel like a new ship. The rooms were ok. We were more to the front which was quiet as for hall traffic noise. They were very good on cleaning the rooms and special care of your needs or wants. Deck 10 was just right to get to everything go up one and your at the pool and Windjammer cafe. Waiting for elevators could take some time so we just took the stairs. I couldn’t believe the service; it made me feel like I was someone rich or important. All I can say about the food is WOW! It was the best. I had the drink package which I may have broken even but it was nice not to have to sign a receipt all the time. My only complaint was the time spent at ports. Key West was short and Nassau was ok but only a half day of daylight and didn’t want to be on the island at night. All day at Coco Cay which was nice for the day to swim and just lay out on the beach. I learned the most common question was “Where are you from” I will cruise again. Read Less

This cruise out of New Orleans was great. We visited the ports of Key West and Nassau (Coco Cay was cancelled). Embarkation was fast and easy. We were checked in and on the ship within 15 minutes of arriving at the port. Lunch in the Windjammer was excellent. Going out of New Orleans is an experience in itself. There was much to see along the river as we twisted and turned our way to the gulf. Entertainment on the ship was very good. We had both musical and comedy shows. We also decided to do the Mystery Dinner Theater one night. The actual theater show was kind of silly and not well performed but the food and wine was exceptionally good. We did My Time Dining for the first time. We did not pick our times prior to getting onboard, which was a mistake. We were unable to get the dining time we wanted once onboard and ended up eating much later then we wanted to. Lesson learned and if we do MTD again, we will pre-select our times in advance of getting onboard. Although the food was really great, we are not fans of RCL's new menus. Many of our favorites are no longer offered. There were a couple of nights that we felt the selections were poor and we ordered off the of the Chops menu. We are also disappointed in the quality of steak offered on the regular menu. Our biggest complaint would be the sound level & type of music (and rehearsals) in the main centrum. This small area was overwhelmed by the loudness of the music. It was an insult to the ears even when getting off the elevators on other decks. We are used to having soft pre-dinner music in the area but that was not the case on this cruise. Our favorite place was the Diamond Lounge. What a wonderful job RCL did with this area. It was a wonderful retreat at all hours of the day. The host Rami was the BEST! He bent over backwards to make sure your every need was met. Although we missed the port of Coco Cay, the other ports were nice. We really enjoyed Key West. We do not do any organized shore excursions through the cruise lines but we heard RCL did a nice job on their excursions. Nassau was the same as usual. Nothing much new there. We could have spent much less time in that port. Being in Nassau until nearly mid-night is a waste of time (in our opinion). There was a pretty good selection of entertainment during our sea days and we enjoyed a few games of Trivia. Read Less