Eric A. Burleigh

Age: 51
Occupation: Corporate Communications Writer
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Serenade of the Seas
Sailing Date: January 3rd, 2004
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

I just wanted to share my impressions of the Serenade of the Seas. I’m an individual who can be, at times, hard to please, but I really enjoyed the entire cruise experience. From a business standpoint, Royal Caribbean has their act together. Obviously the crew and staff are well trained and very enthusiastic. Friends, who have completed six Royal Caribbean cruises and booked a new one before we left the ship, accompanied my wife and I. All I saw were happy and relaxed faces during the cruise.

Embarkation and Departure Procedures:
Since we had an early arrival flight, there were no waiting lines to board when we got to the ship. We boarded very quickly. The welcome staff was very friendly and registration was routine.

Departing the ship was painless too except for the angst of leaving a great vacation. Again, the staff had matters organized and we were able to proceed to Immigration and Customs with minimum delays.

Food and Service
In the Reflections (Main Dining) room, we had a great waiter, Wilfredo, who was very personable and attentive. Karen, who handled our requests quickly and never let our tea or soda glasses stay empty at dinner, assisted him. The food was excellent, particularly the desserts. I tried to stay away from the breads but they were too darn good to pass up. There is something for everyone on the varied menu. You can eat very healthy (vegetarian) or you can live it up a little. Just about everything I ate was well prepared and delicious.

The Windjammer Café offered a more casual fare between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Most of our lunches and breakfasts were eaten at the Windjammer. I wasn’t fussy about the scrambled eggs but you had the opportunity to have an omelet prepared specially for you.

Entertainment:
Given the variety of the tastes and make-up of the passengers, this has to be one of the hardest tasks for the crew. The Cruise Director, Alan Brooks, was high energy and showed a deft comedic talent throughout the cruise. His “French” accent at the murder mystery “Death by Chocolate” was Clouseau-like, well almost. (I’m kidding.) The Revue shows were good, not great to my tastes. The exceptional show of the week was the one by Paul Boland, a singer and impressionist. He connected quickly to the audience and was very good. He earned a well-deserved standing ovation.

There was every category of entertainment that one can imagine from bingo, disco, sports trivia contests and country western night.

My friend enjoyed the casualness and atmosphere at the ship’s casino and managed to earn a down payment for his next cruise.

The Cruise Director’s staff did an excellent job of marketing and communicating the events going on within the ship.

Accommodations:
The room was meticulously clean throughout our cruise. Lyndon, our steward, was unobtrusive and quietly kept our room in order.

Note: My wife had stained her jacket at dinner. She sent it to the ship’s cleaners who were able to remove the stains without ruining the jacket, much to her surprise.

Excursions:
All our excursions went off as scheduled. You can tell that the people running the excursions value Royal Caribbean’s business immensely. We had great weather all week. With temperatures in the 80’s and lots of sun, we had great beach days in St Maarten and Barbados. The journey on the ship that was used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie (St Lucia) was relaxing and the crew showed good humor during the trip.

Since we had a late flight home, we took the El Yunque Rain Forest tour in Puerto Rico. It killed four and a half hours that we would have been spending at the airport. Just keep in mind that you will be on a bus for a few hours. Fortunately we had a good tour guide who not only talked about the rain forest but was informative about the island as well. Look for the Roberto Clemente Stadium during your ride.

Shopping:
My wife and friends are the experts here. However take advantage of the advice and services of the people on the ship. They’ll tell you where the best deals are and what places to avoid. The shopping coordinator, Teresa, is a natural host for QVC in her next career life.

My wife is a comparison shopper and assures me that prices, particularly in cosmetics, are 15-20% lower than what she sees in the malls around Philadelphia.

The Ship:
It’s still relatively new…about six months old. We had calm waters throughout our cruise so the ride was very smooth. If you are into art, architecture and ambience, you will “oooh and aaah” at the beauty and size of the ship. The elevators facing the ocean were a neat change of pace for a ship.

The Serenade of the Seas was a stress-free voyage from beginning to end. RCI has the business formula and staff to satisfy just about every taste and accommodate the varied needs of its passengers.

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