Serenade of the Seas - An Honest Review of Royal Caribbean's Alaska Cruise

Exploring Alaska via cruise allows visitors to explore remote areas and towns in Southeast Alaska, an area mostly only accessible by plane or boat. In the past I've been on multiple cruises, most through Royal Caribbean, and multiple Alaska Cruises. I'm sharing my husband and I's honest experience aboard the Serenade of the Seas, a ship by Royal Caribbean, and how it compares to other cruise experiences.

​My Essential Alaska Travel Resources :
There are plenty of travel companies out there, but these are my favorite websites and resources for planning an unforgettable trip to Alaska. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

For flights, I recommend using Hopper to compare the cheapest dates to travel to Alaska.

Car rentals, arguably the best way to see Alaska, are best through Discover Cars!

I always use Expedia's easy-to-use platform to compare the best rates.
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To keep cell service if you're traveling internationally, I use Airalo’s easy to purchase eSIM’s (no installation required), and NordVPN to stay safe while connecting to different wifi.

For fun things to do, I recommend Viator or Get Your Guide to find the best tours in the area.

Just in case, Safetywing is the insurance I always use for travel insurance.

Lastly, my Alaska packing list for your travels to the Last Frontier.

Serenade of the Seas Alaska Cruise Itinerary

If you're planning to cruise to Alaska, choosing which itinerary to book might be the most overwhelming part. I'll be honest, for my first Alaska Cruise, I had no idea which areas of Southeast Alaska to prioritize. Now that I've cruised Alaska multiple times, I highly recommend choosing a cruise that at least stops in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, and cruises to Hubbard Glacier. I also highly enjoy the port towns of Icy Straight Point/Hoonah, Sitka, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

Something to keep in mind is if you'd like to extend your trip to Alaska either before or after your cruise. If you want to explore Alaska by land, then you'll want to choose an itinerary that either starts or ends in Alaska, whether that's Seward or Whittier.

Our exact schedule onboard the Serenade of the Seas looked like this :

• Day 1 : Board in Vancouver
• Day 2 : Cruising Day
• Day 3 : Cruising Day
• Day 4 : Sitka, Alaska
• Day 5 : Juneau, Alaska & Tracy Arm Fjord Cruising
• Day 6 : Cruising Day
• Day 7 : Ketchikan, Alaska
• Day 8 : Cruising Day
• Day 9 : Disembark in Vancouver

Did we like this itinerary? Honestly, yes. Even though there were quite a few cruising days compared to other itineraries, we were still able to visit 3 areas you can only visit via plane or boat, which made us happy. The views along the passages were excellent as well, and during our return to Vancouver we saw multiple whales and marine wildlife right from the ship!

Cruise Excursions Not To Miss in Alaska :
Ketchikan - Crabbing on the Aleutian Ballad
Sitka - Wilderness Sea Kayaking
Juneau - Whale Watching

My Honest Review of the Serenade of the Seas Ship

Onboard Atmosphere :
When visiting Alaska, you might expect an older crowd, cruising is no different. Everything entertainment-related on the ship was catered to an older age group, and with multiple cruising days in our itinerary we really felt like we had nothing to do but sit around and enjoy the views. Many of the planned activities were often cancelled or just no-shows from the staff, which we've never experienced with our other cruises. If you're looking for a cruise with lots of entertainment, fun activities for the family, and plenty of things to do, this probably isn't the one for you.

​As for the ship itself, we were shocked to learn that this is the ship being taken out on Royal Caribbean's Ultimate World Cruise - we truly hope there are some major updates being made before they embark. During our time onboard many doors had writing with markers or splotches of who knows what, banisters on the outdoor railings were falling off, and the interior of our room felt very outdated and stuffy. There were multiple days when our hallway carpets were covered with gigantic dust bunnies (as if a vacuum had exploded). Nothing was too terrible, but not exactly great either.

​​With 13 decks the Serenade of the Seas holds about 2,500 people at max capacity - it has an outdoor movie screen, indoor cinema, casino, spa, gym, rock climbing wall, mini golf area, outdoor jogging track, indoor adults only pool in the solarium, outdoor pool, and kids play pool area. There are also 3 included dining options, with 5 specialty dining options, and 10 bar/lounge areas. Compared to some of the newer Royal Caribbean Ships, this one is a bit more manageable and easy to get around. We stayed in an Ocean View room, which allowed us to have one window in our stateroom - worth it in Alaska - however other options onboard include the Interior Rooms, Balcony Rooms, and Suites.

​Entertainment & Amenities : 
To be completely honest, my husband and I were not impressed by the onboard entertainment. It might have been that nothing they sang or referenced seemed to be from this century, but there were also a number of comments that seemed a bit derogatory to females and minorities. Other entertainment activities included daily Sudoku Tournaments and Trivia, as well as daily dance classes. The most awkward part was during the farewell show, when the cruise director was more concerned about getting applause for his wife (who also worked on board as a director in entertainment) rather than the actual talented singers and dancers.

Other amenities were closed everyday except for embarkation day when we left Vancouver. When we tried to play other activities like shuffleboard no staff was able to find where the pieces were. When we tried watching a movie the cinema was so small that the entire floor and stairs were covered with people who had nothing better to do. If you decide to go, I would highly recommend bringing your own entertainment for days with rough weather.

Things I Loved
I'll be honest, not everything about our cruise was bad, there were actually quite a few things we loved! For example, the food was fantastic - just a few of the items in our included dinners were Maryland Crab Cake, New York Strip Steak, Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Hazelnut Cake and Lobster - and they were all delicious. The views were also unreal, and we were so happy to have taken a cruise to see these places in Alaska that are otherwise nearly unreachable. Sailing towards Hubbard Glacier and through the Tracy Arm Fjord was magical, and the staff was kind enough to go out on a zodiac and gather a floating piece of glacier that had fallen off to bring it back onboard for everyone to touch and take pictures with! Overall, I would always encourage people to take an Alaska Cruise at least once in their lives, just maybe not onboard the Serenade of the Seas.

Watch this Alaska Cruise Experience here!

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Other Alaska blog posts you might be interested in : 
-> 11 Best Waterfalls in Anchorage and Beyond
-> Where to Rent Bear Spray in Alaska
-> 7 Best Tours in Alaska

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