The cruise liner Serenade of the Seas is one of four Radiance class ships representing a new direction for Royal Caribbean with much more attention being paid to nautical decor, from the dark-wood paneling and deep-sea blues, to the walls of glass to let you see the ocean while dining, imbibing and conversing.
The Radiance class also includes the Radiance of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas and the Jewel of the Seas. These versatile ships have the size to squeeze through the Panama Canal to serve any cruising region and the speed to undertake ambitious itineraries.
As this ship is mostly on the 7-day circuit, she attracts all ages, including lots of families during the school holidays. Most passengers are Americans. Tips are to the passengers' own accounts.
In winter, the Serenade of the Seas is based in San Juan for weekly southern Caribbean itineraries and in the spring, she passes through the Panama Canal and heads north to her Vancouver base. The 7-day circuits take in Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway and Juneau.
The Centrum features a portside wall of glass soaring from Decks 5 through 10 and four sets of glass-enclosed elevators that travel up the portside of the ship through 12 decks. Yes, there is still the Royal Caribbean trademark rock-climbing wall and miniature golf. Most of the public rooms, Crown & Anchor Lounge, Champagne Bar, Singapore Sling's piano bar, Windjammer Cafe and Sky Bar are still in place. The Viking Crown Lounge is sheathed in glass, great for viewing arrivals in the world's ports. Public spaces are fun to inhabit. More generally associated with Royal Caribbean are such places as the Casino Royale, with over 200 slot machines and several score of gaming tables, a baseball-themed sports bar offering interactive games, the nautically decorated Schooner Bar, an always open Internet center, and the line's signature room, the Viking Crown Lounge, here a quiet retreat during the day with a view over the swimming pool and at night a disco until the wee hours. Even the public bathrooms will turn heads, bright airy marbled spaces with mirrors shaped like portholes. The ships have three pools, a Sports Deck that serves basketball, volleyball, and paddle-tennis court players, a nine-hole miniature-golf course and golf simulators, jogging track, and a rock-climbing wall fixed to the funnel, now a feature on all RCI ships. For children, RCI's Adventure Ocean program offers four supervised age groups with play stations with video games, computer lab, splash pools and a waterslide.
The main dining room, seating 1,100 is two-stories high with an impressive double staircase joining the two levels and a cascading waterfall. Two private rooms are available for families or groups. Royal Caribbean food tends to be pretty mass market—good, plentiful and not terribly ambitious. More maritime inspiration is designed into the Windjammer Cafe, with navy-blue carpeting and fabrics, rich wood veneers and scattered ship models. The number of food counters, 11 in all, spreads out the lines and reduces crowding, and food may be enjoyed indoors or out. Even more informal, the naturally lighted Seaview Cafe serves the usual fast foods during lunch and dinner hours at tables with rattan chairs. For watching steaks being cooked in an open kitchen, the 95-seat Chops Grill offers seats in high-backed booths and then while eating, a great sea view. Next door, the marginally larger 112-seat Portofino features an Italian menu, and both restaurants provide sense of occasion that comes with a $20 extra charge. The tariff is worth the much better prepared food.
Historically, Royal Caribbean cabins have been on the small size, while more space has been allocated to public rooms, but on the Radiance-class, they are respectable—some considerably larger—in size. Cabin décor has changed from Miami Beach pastels to rich navy blues and copper. All cabins have small fridges, cozy sitting areas, ample drawer and closet space, interactive TVs that tap into booking shore excursions, keeping tabs on onboard spending, and checking up on the stock market, desks-cum-vanities with a pullout shelf for personal laptop computers, and typically small RCI showers. Some cabins have connecting doors for families. Suites receive butler service and have access to the Concierge Club for tour and travel information or the latest newspapers and magazines.
All Royal Caribbean are big and bustling, but the Radiance class Serenade of the Seas offers a higher standard of just about everything that makes a cruise vacation a happy experience at the moderate price level.
