Review of Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas

Thinking about cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Sea? It’s our last day and I’m on the ship as I type this. Below is my honest, unsponsored review of the past 5 days. I’ll be talking about the ship’s cabin, the food, customer service and the activities. So grab your sailor hat and let’s get started.

Ship Overview

The Serenade of the Seas was built in 2003 and refurbished in 2012. Though it’s evident that the interiors have not received a refresh in over a decade, the crew keeps the ship very clean and tidy. It’s a medium size ship and a little smaller than our cruise last year.

The 4th floor showcases the Centrum which has a stage, a dance floor and a bar. With 13 decks, deck 5-12 overlooks the Centrum, giving it an amazing, open-air feeling. Think Embassy Suites meets a Las Vegas lobby.

Cabin

We took this cruise with my 14-year-old son and his friend so we reserved two interior rooms next to each other. I don’t recommend a room this size for four people unless you really love camping. And as long as you utilize the available drawers and closet space, the cabin is the perfect size for two people.

Cabin Configuration

When you walk in, there is a closet to your left with hangers and several shelves. The bathroom is to your right and features a stand-up shower, toilet, sink and vanity with one side for storage. As you walk in, the vanity or writing desk is to your left with a chair along with a flat-screen tv. Above the tv are additional shelving and a mini safe. Below the tv is a cooling refrigerator. A loveseat and petite coffee table are on the other side. The rest of the room is the bed, 2-night stands and 2 reading lights.

TLDR: Cabin Pros/Cons

Pro

The very comfortable bed that can be a king or two twin beds.
Safe and tv.
The shower pressure is AMAZING.
Ample storage including fitting your suitcase under your bed.
There’s a curtain to separate the bed from the loveseat and vanity area in case your other half wants to sleep in.

Cons

Not comfortable for more than 2 people.
Outdated decor.
2 outlets in the entire cabin.
Even if you use the curtain to split the bed from the rest of the room, the main light goes on over the bed. My husband learned this the hard way.
Sub-par toiletries. It was a mounted dispenser in the shower that offered a body wash/shampoo combo.

Cruise Food

A Delicious Crab Cake!

Main Dining Room

Obviously, we need to talk about the food because that’s half the joy of cruising! Though I’ve read that Royal Caribbean has parred down their evening menu selection, the offerings did not disappoint! What I love most (especially with 2 teenagers) is they can order more than one course and it’s included. It was not uncommon for my son to order NY strip steak along with a plate of salmon. I even ordered 2 appetizers one night!

Windjammers Cafe

This is where we ate each breakfast and lunch. You name it, they offered it. I’ll be honest, the food was decent but did not leave a lasting impression. We ended up wasting food because many items looked better than they tasted. For example, they have a burger of the day and we decided to try the mushroom burger since it looked delicious. Unfortunately, no one ate it because the brioche bun was as hard as a rock, sitting under a lamp. The pasta I got one day was amazing and I’ve eaten their egg salad every single day and I don’t even like eggs!

Specialty Dining

I can’t comment on this because we didn’t purchase it. We can’t fathom spending more money on dining when the main dining room has such an amazing selection.

Things to Do on the Serenade of the Seas

Look what I got!

Casino

Let’s get the negative out of the way. We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise last year and the casino was vast and offered everything. The Serenade of the Sea’s casino was about a third in size. While this wasn’t a deal breaker for me, my husband’s dream of playing Texas Hold’em every night was shot as it wasn’t offered. I only know and like simple slot machines. Unfortunately, there were only 2 of those. I found video poker last night and unless you know how to play poker, you can’t use those either. Instead, it was a sea of those obnoxious, overly complicated games that I don’t have the desire nor the patience to learn. By the way, smoking is allowed in this area so if you have asthma or hate the smell (like I do), avoid it.

Tropical Theater

This was the huge auditorium that featured Broadway plays, interactive game shows and a hub for people who booked excursions. One of my favorite activities was watching the comedian Andrew Kennedy. My God he was hilarious! I made sure to attend his adult only show Thursday night and I was left asking myself, ‘why doesn’t this dude have a Netflix special? He truly was gifted, entertaining and a hidden gem!

Bars

The Schooner Bar was very laid back where you could go and get a drink and listen to the lounge singer who was extremely talented as well. She very much had an Alicia Keys vibe. Like our last cruise, there was an English pub that looked very much like well…an English pub. Not much going on in there. My husband enjoyed many cocktails at the Vintage Wine Bar and it offered great views of the ocean.

Pools

General Pool

The general pool was for all ages. Given the 100% occupancy rate, trying to find a lounge chair would be impossible. It had a gigantic movie screen that offered movies each night. There were several options to get drinks there as well as waiters walking around for service. Towels are free and must be checked out. If you don’t return your towel, you’re charged $25.

Courtsey of Tripadvisor

The Solarium

This is one of the best features if you have kids 16+ or no kids at all. Not only was it a covered pool/hot tub, but it was air-conditioned! Most of the chairs were shaded however it was the same problem of finding an available chair. Royal Caribbean has tried to improve the chair situation with signs stating you can’t throw your stuff on a chair and claim it’s yours. That’s great but it’s impossible to figure out who has done this and who has simply left for 30 minutes for a dip in the pool.

Spa

Somewhat of a bucket list (maybe the size of a kid’s sand bucket at the beach) was to get a spa treatment. I’ve always been curious about acupuncture. In a pure YOLO moment, I said fuck it and booked a 50-minute acupuncture session. My acupuncture person was Dr. A, she was from Argentina and AMAZING! It didn’t hurt and I plan to write more about this later. It was so amazing that I had a YOLO+ moment and booked 2 additional ones. Sure, it would be questionable if I could afford the electric bill this month but at least my energy would be in harmony.

Customer Service

This is where this ship excels, I can’t say that enough. Our main dining room server, Yudi and the assistant waiter, Jatta, were so amazing that tonight, I went on the hunt for dining room managers. After I found 2 managers, I showed them a pic of our servers’ names, told them how amazing they were and demanded they be promoted immediately. After they told me that the electronic survey allowed for us to name their names thus resulting in a bonus for them, I vowed to do the most glowing review to ever be written.

Final Cruise Ship Thoughts

If you’re looking for a first-time cruise or one that’s easy on the wallet, then this is perfect, especially if you select an interior room. The traditional experiences of a cruise are here, such as the dining, entertainment, drinks and the pool. If you’re looking for a cruise that goes beyond the traditional offerings and includes such activities as ziplines or a robotic bartender, this isn’t it. There are some great Youtube videos out there that offer additional insight into Serenade of the Seas and I highly recommend checking them out!

So have you been on Serenade of the Seas? If so, comment below and tell me what you thought! If you have suggestions on which cruise I should take next, add that too! Happy sailing!