Serenade of the Seas Review
Itinerary was great, food and cabin were just average
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This was the largest ship that we had ever been on, but I understand that it is considered small for Royal Caribbean's fleet. It did not seem too big once we got our bearings. However, the wait for the elevators at the center of the ship was often more than 5 minutes. This was especially true when people were getting on and off the ship in the morning and at the end of the day with people returning from port. I would say that you will never wait that long on a HAL ship.
Except on two occasions, we took all of our meals on the ship in the Windjammer buffet. This included all 7 breakfasts and 5 dinners. I found the breakfast buffet somewhat disappointing. If you arrived late (say during the last hour of the service) many items were hard or dry. This included pancakes and waffles. In fact, they would not replace any banana pancakes (if all gone) until all of the strawberry and blueberry pancakes were gone! Breakfast was packed each morning. There was often a wait (3-5 minutes) to find a table. Then there was another wait to have the table cleaned. I removed dirty plates, cups, and silverware on many occasions. The manager stated that he understood the problem but stated "you guys all come at once." Dinner was much better in the Windjammer. It wasn't as crowded. It was easy to find a clean table. (Perhaps, more people eat dinner elsewhere?) Food was fresh and there were tons of choices. I liked the Indian options and all of the pasta dishes. I would say the buffet is better on HAL for breakfast but better on Royal Caribbean for dinner.
We had dinner on the first night in Chops (taking advantage of the First Night Done Right promotion). I thought Chops was just OK. I thought my steak was over-seasoned and salty. My mom really liked her veal chop, which was huge. The scallop appetizer was excellent. It's hard to judge with just one visit, but I would not pay the full price to eat at Chops. Finally, we ate in Reflections for the last night of the cruise. I thought the food was fine but boy was it crowded and noisy. There were several tables celebrating birthdays near us and we had to yell to hear each other. I'm not sure if this is typical in Reflections.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
I booked a Deluxe Balcony Cabin. I thought the size of the room (at 162 square feet) was adequate. I understand the Superior Balcony Rooms are slightly larger and have bigger balconies but I did not think (correctly) that we would spend much time on the balcony. However, we did not like having only a small shower stall. I prefer a tub to shower (or a large shower stall) because of the extra room. Both of us thought the bathroom was too small. The cabin steward was excellent. He cleaned the cabin at least twice a day and seemed to know when were gone.