Up next in 10
MS Serenade River Cruise Ship. 10 Things You Need To Know
2K views
Jan 29, 2025
River Cruising on MS Serenade and the 10 Essential Things You REALLY Need To Know before going on a European river cruise on this ship. I explore things like the on-board experience, what the fare includes and excludes, passenger type, cabins, itineraries and the most asked question I always get asked about river cruising and specific ships and cruise lines. Please leave a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel now: http://bit.ly/TFT_YouTube2 SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: - Make a donation via PayPal: http://www.tipsfortravellers.com/paypal - Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers - Buy via Amazon USA: http://amzn.to/2jq5iHy - Buy via Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2jQxQ9w FOLLOW TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ON: - YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers - Website: http://www.tipsfortravellers.com - Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers - Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge - Instagram: http://instagram.com/tipsfortravellers - Monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/AUTIX
View Video Transcript
0:00
hi I'm Gavin bridge and I'm on board to
0:02
the MS serenade one it's a river cruise
0:04
ship and I'm going to tell you ten
0:06
things that you need to know about
0:09
cruising on the MS serenade up and down
0:11
the rivers of Europe by the way stick
0:14
around for number ten it is the most
0:16
asked for thing I ever get asked about
0:19
river cruises and that's going to be my
0:21
point number 10 so let's go the first
0:23
thing you should know about ms serenade
0:25
one is it's being designed as an
0:28
experience very much for UK travelers so
0:31
people from the United Kingdom so the
0:33
whole onboard experience the passengers
0:35
the cruise managers the cruise directors
0:37
the food everything has been really
0:40
targeted at the UK consumers so the
0:42
second thing you should know is that
0:43
this ship is on an exclusive charter by
0:46
Titan at travel in the UK so the ship is
0:49
owned by a company called select and
0:51
they have charted out the ship to Titan
0:54
now Titan is a escorted tour operator
0:57
they are the biggest escalatory operator
0:59
in the United Kingdom
1:01
so what Titan have done is obviously the
1:02
ship itself the both the technical side
1:04
of hotel operations are run by select
1:07
however the people that interact with
1:09
the you travellers on a day-to-day basis
1:11
so the cruise director and the cruise
1:13
managers are all from Titan and all the
1:15
tour operators are contracted by Titan
1:18
so when you go on tours they're all
1:19
people that Titan have worked with so
1:22
the third thing you need to know a
1:23
little bit about the ship it has 68
1:25
cabins with two suites it holds just
1:29
over a hundred and thirty passengers it
1:30
has 42 crew in terms of facilities
1:33
starting there talking of the Sun Deck
1:34
which also has a glass-enclosed lounge
1:37
with 360-degree views which is very nice
1:40
then on the first level you have things
1:44
like the panorama lounge which is during
1:46
the day obviously where people go and
1:47
relax in the evening it's the focus
1:49
point for drinks etc and also where if
1:51
there's any entertainment will be
1:53
entertainment and nightly talks there's
1:55
also the receptions on that level and
1:58
also you have some of the cabins the
2:00
level below that which is called the
2:04
Mozart level is where you've got some
2:07
more cabins and also you have the
2:09
restaurant which is
2:11
where all the meals breakfast lunch and
2:13
dinner held then on the lower level
2:15
which is called the Beethoven level
2:16
there are a few additional cabins so
2:19
there is also in terms of the facilities
2:21
with a very small fitness room with a
2:23
sauna in it there's a little sort of
2:26
shop area which sells a branded
2:28
merchandise for tighten and for serenade
2:31
but like most of the cruise ships there
2:34
is no medical facilities at all at all
2:36
so if you ever have medical issue they
2:39
will contract or connect you with people
2:41
on the land side so the fourth thing you
2:44
need to know is about the cabins so
2:46
there are 68 cabins and two suites
2:48
spread across the ship and there are
2:51
roughly three grades so the grade that I
2:54
am in which is the sort of Chopin level
2:56
superior cabin
2:58
you then have Mozart superior cabin both
3:01
of those have Juliet balconies then down
3:04
on the low level on the Beethoven level
3:06
they don't have you know Juliet
3:09
balconies they just have those small
3:11
windows that are just above the water
3:14
level the great thing about the
3:15
bathrooms is the bathrooms have a
3:17
separate shower and about in them and
3:19
that is fantastic so the fifth thing you
3:21
need to know is what is the sort of
3:23
rating of the ship and the service so
3:25
the ship is of four stars so it's not as
3:28
luxurious as the firestar or six dollar
3:30
ships so some of the things that you
3:32
should note perhaps that make it more of
3:34
a four star service is things like
3:36
you're not going to get bathrobes and
3:38
slippers you don't get food baskets in
3:42
the room or flowers in the room those
3:44
are all sort of touches the bedding
3:46
quality is not sort of the highest
3:48
bedding quality it's great it's
3:49
perfectly fine quality in its house on
3:51
the big fluffy kind of tell the sort of
3:53
things you would normally expect with a
3:55
four style service - slightly more
3:57
better value proposition than some of
3:59
those five and $6.00 ships and all the
4:02
things that come with that so the six
4:05
thing that you need to know about the MS
4:07
serenade is around the fares now like
4:10
most River cruise ships on the European
4:12
waterways it's largely all-inclusive
4:14
fares but like any ship or any line you
4:18
need to check out what is all-inclusive
4:19
actually means so let me run you through
4:21
what is actually included in the
4:23
so the first thing which is a big plus
4:25
is you get a door-to-door service so you
4:29
will get picked up by a driver taken to
4:31
the airport whichever Airport you're at
4:32
you'll get picked up and taken when you
4:35
arrive to the ship and once you get back
4:37
home you're taking back over to your
4:39
accommodation is included three meals a
4:42
day are included plus afternoon tea and
4:44
a midnight snack in terms of drinks
4:46
drinks are included at lunchtime and at
4:49
dinner where there's a choice of beers
4:50
wines a white wine and a red wine and
4:52
soft drinks are included Wi-Fi is also
4:55
included the thing I would say about
4:56
Wi-Fi on the ship it's not across the
4:59
whole ship it tends to be in the
5:00
panorama lounge and reception area only
5:03
so once you head into your room you
5:05
don't get Wi-Fi what's not included is
5:07
some of the excursions so you'll find
5:09
roughly per a seven-day trip there's
5:11
about three included in excursions
5:14
unlike some River Cruise Lines
5:16
excursions are not included every single
5:18
day they do sell optional excursions
5:21
which can be pre booked before you come
5:22
on the trip or bought once you're on
5:25
board and they arrange a price from
5:27
about 20 euros for a simple walking tour
5:29
of course all the way up depending on
5:30
whether there's entry fees or buses or
5:32
whatever gratuities are also not
5:34
included and what happens is you get
5:36
left an envelope at the end of the
5:38
cruise to you know leave gratuity is of
5:41
course it's voluntary it's not added on
5:43
to your bill at all but it's recommended
5:44
that you should leave you know five or
5:47
six or seven euros per day per person
5:49
for the overall hotel staff and another
5:51
couple of euros as well for the hotel
5:54
managers and of course when you're out
5:56
on tours it's often encouraged to need a
5:58
couple of you know one or two euros tips
6:00
so whenever seven is all around where
6:01
does the ship go to so it sells a pretty
6:04
extensive itineraries and it mostly
6:06
focuses on the Rhind your focus is on
6:09
the Danube it also sells on the main and
6:12
the Dutch waterways and it runs programs
6:15
ranging from seven days up to about 14
6:17
or 15 days what's important is it runs
6:20
in the season reserve the season starts
6:22
around March time it runs to about
6:23
October then stops for a while but then
6:25
it also runs the very popular Christmas
6:28
markets as well in the sort of end of
6:30
November into December period so the
6:33
last tip is around packing what do you
6:34
need to bring now the dress code
6:36
overall is pretty smart casual so in the
6:39
evenings you don't really have to dress
6:40
up it is encouraged on the captain's you
6:43
know welcome or farewell party if you
6:46
want you can get dressed up so men are
6:47
encouraged to vest or a jacket or a tie
6:49
if they want ladies cocktail dresses
6:51
what you need to do of course is make
6:53
sure that you understand the weather and
6:54
add layers because obviously in Europe
6:56
at those times a year you might need
6:57
layers there is an umbrella in all of
7:00
the you know the cabin so you do have
7:02
protection from rain if you need it and
7:05
of course you could bring a raincoat as
7:06
well in terms of health if you're a
7:08
European citizen or a UK citizen it's a
7:10
good idea to bring your health card
7:13
which gives you free access to health
7:15
care right across Europe that's a good
7:17
thing to do in terms of adapters the all
7:20
those caters to the UK the plugs are
7:22
european-style so you need to make sure
7:24
that you bring a European adapter for
7:27
all your electronics so does my last
7:29
point and the thing I get asked more
7:31
than anything else well it's around the
7:32
passenger mix so what sort of people are
7:34
going to be on the ship
7:36
well very simple river cruising largely
7:39
speaking tends to be a slightly older
7:40
audience you live you find people in
7:42
their 50s 60s 70s and beyond that's just
7:45
the nature of river cruising however
7:47
what's important is I find on river
7:49
cruising the type of people have come up
7:51
people that like to have every decision
7:54
made for them and it's very simple you
7:56
know the great thing with this
7:58
particular cruises you get picked up
7:59
from home and every step of your journey
8:02
is organized for you and so you don't
8:05
have to plan you have to book you have
8:07
to worry so a lot of people who like
8:08
that way of traveling tend to come on
8:11
river cruises the other thing I would
8:12
say is you need to be fairly active
8:14
because you're traveling into little
8:16
villages and they don't necessarily have
8:18
smooth you know nice to pave roads will
8:21
be cobblestone so you need to you know
8:22
make sure that you're pretty active and
8:24
enjoy walking now it's specifically on
8:25
the MS serenade because it's a Titan
8:27
exclusive and it's tugged very heavy the
8:29
UK bear in mind it's going to be in
8:31
English it's only going to be in English
8:33
and it's going to be very much UK
8:35
consumers so bear in mind if you don't
8:37
like UK travelers or do not want to
8:39
travel with yuka travelers or what I
8:40
hear other European languages onboard
8:42
then this is probably not the right one
8:44
for you so there you have it that's my
8:45
10 things that you need to know about
8:47
the MS era
8:49
river cruising in Europe I hope you find
8:51
that helpful so what I really love you
8:53
to do is of course leave a comment let
8:55
me know what you think and if you've
8:56
been on the cruise if you agree with all
8:58
those points for people who might be
9:00
loved you this kind of make up a
9:02
decision please also like the video
9:03
that's really really important and even
9:05
more important that please subscribe to
9:07
the tips travelers YouTube channel
9:10
[Music]
9:14
[Applause]
#Adventure Travel
#Cruises & Charters
#Guided Tours & Escorted Vacations
#Honeymoons & Romantic Getaways
#Luxury Travel
#Specialty Travel
#Tourist Destinations
#Transportation
#Travel Guides & Travelogues