The Boat

The Serenity I was first launched in 2006.  She is a 4* ship with accommodation for 190 passengers.  I personally thought she was really well appointed.  

Being such a small vessel compared to an ocean cruise ship the amount of things to do on board and amount of public areas is obviously greatly reduced, in fact it isn’t really fair to compare an ocean cruise to a river cruise as they are very different things.

The main areas of the boat were the cabins, the restaurant, the bar/lounge and the open top deck.
If this cruise wasn’t during the height of Winter then there is no doubt that I would have spent a lot more time sat up on the top open deck admiring the local scenery but it was just too cold and rainy on this Christmas markets cruise to do that.

For people that are used to queuing for embarkation and dis-embarkation on ocean cruise ships and that are used to bag scans and metal detectors I have to point out that this was a lot more of a laid back affair.  You could just walk on and off the ship though the doors and up the ramp.  There was security, you just flashed your card at them and that was that, nice and relaxed.

This boat was partly chartered by The River Cruise line and partly by a Dutch company so the cliental was mixed British and Dutch mostly.

To summarise my thoughts on the boat itself I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality and it exceeded my expectations.


The Cabin

We did get a superior cabin with French balcony on the cruise which was the best available on the boat.  I can’t comment on the quality of the lower grade cabins as I didn’t see one but I must say I was impressed with the size, comfort and layout of our cabin and it also had a reasonable sized bathroom.

The cabin had amenities such as television and a mini-bar, both of which I tested out !  The television signal can be touch and go at times when you are sailing and to begin with on the first night we couldn’t get a signal at all on any of the channels.  After a while of flicking through it made me chuckle though as the only one to start working was a late night soft porn channel.

One thing that I did notice though is that there was a lot of noise and vibration in the cabin at times when we were sailing and the odd smell of diesel fumes with the French balcony open.  I think this is because we were right at the back of the boat near the engine.  It didn’t personally have any negative effect on my overall experience but I thought that this was worth mentioning.


The Dining

The ships main dining room accommodates all passengers at one time so there is just one main dinner sitting time.  At breakfast time there is a buffet and there is also a sit down set lunch from a menu served. 

I have to say that I found that the food served on board the Serenity I was well above my expectations for the price point, I was very impressed.  Everything was cooked properly and was well presented. 

Also on the menu you could specify if you wanted your portions to be large, standard or small.  The
selection of options on the menu was quite limited but this wasn’t an issue at all for me and this is to be expected due to the size of the operation.

On the last night of the cruise there was a parade of the chefs with the baked Alaska and then each and every one of the ship’s crew was introduced and applauded for their hard work.

The Entertainment / Bar

The large entertainment lounge and bar at the front of the boat had a really nice atmosphere.  When we first boarded the boat we were offered glasses of champagne and canapés which was very nice and welcoming. 

The entertainment in the bar is mostly from a one man entertainer that was on board.  He played keyboards, saxophone, guitar and sang.  He was a good entertainer, always smiling too and helping keep a good atmosphere.  

There was also a quiz one night in the bar, this was good fun and I remember laughing a lot (but not winning).

The bar had a more than reasonable selection of drinks on offer.  The drinks prices seemed to be reasonably good value and priced in euros.  Spirits and mixers seemed a bit pricey at over 7 euro but beer was only about 3.5 euro for 40cl from memory.  The best deal as far as I was concerned was the wine.  I was buying 250ml (large) glasses of house red wine for 4 euro each which was very good value (we checked and it was cheaper to buy by glass than bottle for some reason).  They also had mulled wine for 2.5euro a glass which was just what I needed on Christmas markets cruise !


The Crew

I seem to remember it being said that there is only a total of 39 crew on board the Serenity I.  Some of the crew could be seen doing different jobs at different times of the day but I must say that all of them were very efficient and pleasant.

All of the officers all introduced themselves at the beginning of the cruise and they all seemed very kind, sincere and welcoming.

There were two cruise directors on board, one Dutch and one English.  The English director was very good indeed.  He made it very clear to everyone what was happening where and when and was always around the boat chatting to people.  If not he would be found at a desk in reception to be able to offer passengers help and advice on the local area.






Final thoughts

I am pleased that I have now experienced my first river cruise and it has created a good impression on me.  I would say that the experience you will get could differ greatly from one boat to another so a lot of this review will really be quite specific to the Serenity I.  If you are looking at a different boat make sure you look up the details when making your choice.

Personally I would go on a river cruise with The River Cruise Line again. I really liked the extended time being docked and the peaceful relaxed atmosphere on board.  I would go for 6 nights or more if I was travelling by coach again.

Considering the price point that The River Cruise line are offering I have to give this a full recommendation.  Even if you haven’t done a River Cruise before then they certainly offer a very good value for money way of doing or trying this.