Last Thursday I boarded the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas for a long weekend cruise from Tampa Bay to Progresso, Mexico, located in the Yucatan, about two hours or so west of Cancun. Overall, I had a good time and I am glad I did the cruise. Here is a breakdown of what was good, great and could be improved. Please comment below if you have any questions or comments!
Port and initial boarding -
The Tampa bay cruise terminal is right in old downtown, Ybor city, so be prepared to look for parking. There are a couple of garages, one for cruisers and one for shoppers. I wanted to park a bit closer so I parked in the shoppers garage, it was the same price. From the time I locked my car on the 6th floor of the garage, I was on the ship no more than 15 minutes later. If you stick to your check in window, you will be much quicker to board.
Once on board, I went to Vintages wine bar. The service was great and the ship was still empty, so I found a nice window seat to enjoy the view and do a little work before sail away. I never did go back to Vintages during the cruise, it was a very popular spot to socialize and listen to the music in the Atrium, so, it was hard to get a seat. I found this was somewhat on par with the rest of the ship, lots of near bars, lounges and hangouts, however, they seemed to get a bit crowded.
Dining -
I went to specialty dining Chops grille for lunch around 2pm. The menu was perfect and there were only about 5 other people in the dining room. I had an 8 oz filet, mac&cheese, which was surprisingly good and the old faithful wild mushroom soup which was excellent. They had a key lime pie for dessert, so I had to try it. Highly recommend. I will say I think the steak was a tad dry, but it was good. Id grade chops around 8.5 for food taste. The service was a 10. I had lunch here everyday it was open for lunch. Chops charges $30 for lunch.
I went to the main dining room for dinner twice, I felt the service was good, aside from a couple of hiccups on the last night of the sailing. I had the salmon the first night, which was really good, and then on the last night I ordered the filet, and it was alright, I would certainly recommend the dining room.
Two nights I ordered room service, this I would try to avoid. First, it took over 60 minutes each time to get the food. Second, the food was just OK. Around a 6. Not bad, just not good.
I do feel like Royal needs to improve in the dining area, so, 6.7 out of 10.
Service -
Phenomenal. Pretty much across the board, I found the staff to be happy and really working hard to please the customer. The casino servers were always around, even though the casino was PACKED, chops had amazing service and the Diamond lounge was great. 10 out of 10!
Port of Progreso -
I had never been to Progreso, which was one of the reasons I wanted to go on this sailing, so I could go to Chichen Itza Mayan empire park. I really enjoyed seeing the grounds and the structure. If you havent been, it is a pretty cool site to behold. Take note, it is a 5 hour round trip drive. I heard other people enjoyed the port with an excursion. Nothing to do "in town" 7 out of 10
The Ship and other final thoughts -
The Serenade of the Seas was built in 2003, if you are used to newer ships, you may not like this size ship. In some areas it does feel crowded, especially the casino at night. The main dining room was hard to get out of when you were done with your meal because there wasnt a dedicated place to leave each section. The atrium was always loaded in the evenings and hopping with music and a nice vibe. The lounges like Schooner bar and the Safari Club was really unique and enjoyable. You probably wont ever see a ship designed like this again. The promenade that circles all the way around the ship is one of my favorite things and it almost seems unknown by a lot of the other cruisers. One of the places I liked to hang out was the Castle Pub. Again, it did get a bit crowded, but the service was good and the atmosphere was comfortable and fun.
I did hear some chatter about a malfunction with the plumbing, which is not something I experienced. However, if someone flushed something that is not permitted, that can happen on any ship of any age. I felt the air conditioning was imbalanced, as some places were very cool and other places seemed to be too warm. They did have fans in the casino the help circulate the air, I suggest they add a couple more. The ship was clean, but I did notice some mechanical issues here and there, part of the pool was roped off the last day of the cruise, seemed like a ladder had broke. The water pressure was really amazing, so amazing, it would spray out of the hose and the head! I didn't mind, much better than no pressure like some of the other ships. I would certainly recommend a cruise on the Serenade, I think you would have fun. I may not suggest it for a longer cruise, or for kids, but 4-6 nights, its a nice ship and cruise. 6.7 out of 10
