Amazing! Spectacular! Impressive! The newswires and blogs have been flooded with stories about the world’s largest cruise ship – Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. But we’d like to remind meeting planners that you might be missing the boat by not taking a look at one of the line’s smaller vessels – the 2,250- passenger Serenade of the Seas.

With glass walls and hundreds of windows, this ship is rightly called the “Ship of Glass”. Nearly half of the ship is made of glass and glass elevators face out to sea (or in this case, the spruced-up cruise terminal) – giving the Serenade an open, expansive feeling. The ship was launched in 2003, and six years later, she still sparkles.

This Radiance Class ship is earning well-deserved accolades and rave reviews for her prestigious role as one of two ships chartered for the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad. With only 1,700 hotel rooms in Port of Spain and an expected 4,000 foreign delegates (including leaders of 53 commonwealth countries), the Trinidad and Tobago Government called on our sister company Landry & Kling for help in securing supplemental accommodations, dining venues and conference space – on cruise ships, of course!

The team at L&K, the first to use ships as “floating hotels” for global events went to work and found two perfect vessels for the event – Serenade of the Seas and Caribbean Princess. Apart from supplying an additional 2,500 rooms, the ships also provided convention facilities and dining venues, and both were docked within walking distance of the host venue hotel. Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas was the venue for the Commonwealth Business Forum, attended by 800 delegates. Business meetings, breakout sessions, exhibits, receptions and gala dinners were held throughout the ship – in the dedicated conference facilities, theaters, lounges, restaurants, atrium lobby and pool deck.

Joyce Landry, CEO of Landry & Kling who spearheaded the CHOGM project called the Serenade a “true gem” in the Royal Caribbean fleet. Along with the variety and adaptability of meeting space, Joyce was impressed by the quality of the ship’s amenities, fabrics and furnishings. By the way, the Serenade of the Ship was just voted “Best in Fleet” by employees of Royal Caribbean International. We trust their judgment – after all, these folks know a thing or two about cruising!

Don’t overlook this gem of a ship for your next group event. Serenade of the Seas offers seven night voyages to the Southern Caribbean year-round from San Juan.

Filed under: Cruise News