ASeaPrincess1

WE'LL BE on the Star in E729 the end of October. Not sure why there were a few comments as to it being windy. All of our cruises that were fully aft, there was minimal wind and any balcony cabin we've had there was just the usual-to-minimal winds. Why would this corner aft be more windy than all the other balcony cabins?

It will depend on itinerary, time of year, and of course, which way the the wind is blowing.

I have had this balcony going to the Mexican Riviera with no problems.

Going to and from Hawaii, there was a lot of wind for several days.

I stood on my balcony the first night...........held back my hair with one hand and the railing with the other hand, and swore that I scored that balcony, I was going to enjoy it! By gosh!!.........:D

The wind just seems to whip around that balcony.

YMMV..........

Ship - Serenade of the Seas

Deck - 10

Stateroom # 1052

Stateroom Category – Grand Suite

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Room is near the centrum, but with the hallway doors closed during performances, we didn't hear anything.

Nice location near the elevators.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? -No

Balcony View -Balcony has the large overhang, so there is little to no sun. It is also right up to the floor-length windows of the family suite (previously the Concierge Lounge) next door. So there really isn't much privacy, if that's what you are looking for.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? -Normal

Was wind a problem? -No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? -N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Cabin was very nice, large bathroom with double granite sinks. Lots of storage. Typical Grand Suite layout.

Any other comments? - The only issue I really had is the fact that there was early morning deck cleaning (4 AM) which was quite loud with the sound of the hoses being lifted and dropped on the deck above.

Also the sound of the water nozzles being turned off and on, making loud, intermittant, "thunking" sounds.

There was a little noise from the foot traffic during the day, but not enough to really be bothersome.

Morning coffee watching the sunrise.....

Breakfast or pastries with mimosas.......

Afternoon naps...........

Entertaining friends.......

Glass of wine at night..........

So many things. I love the fresh air and ocean breezes.

My last cruise was during the "Super Moon"

I went out on my balcony and saw the reddest moon ever! It was awesome.

Then there was the reddest sunrise ever coming back into New Orleans. I would have missed all that without a balcony.

I've done Insides and Ocean Views......but, no.....I can't go without a balcony again. Even if it means cruising less. And I'll figure out a way to NOT let that happen! :D;)

I saw it listed as a room service option on my Serenade cruise in April, but didn't try it to see if it was the same thing they used to serve on embarkation day.

I'll admit that I did try it on previous cruises, ONLY because it is/was "tradition", and it was hit or miss each time.

I've noticed it's varied from CL to CL what drinks can be made. DW 'discovered' Lemondrops first cruise in the CL, they couldn't do that in the next one. Cruise after the CL bartender said he couldn't but he worked days in the Casino and always made sure she had Lemondrops in there (guess who got our WOW card on that trip?)

OMG!! I, too, discovered Lemondrops on my recent Serenade cruises (B2B):D

It got to where the wonderful bartender Melody made them as soon as we walked in.......

Sadly, she won't be there when we return next April. I hope we can still get them on the next cruise.

We were on the Serenade in January as well and never saw a Ben & Jerry's and we went to Cafe Latte-Tudes a couple of times. Has it been added since then?

I don't recall seeing B&J's on Serenade either. Then again, I wasn't necessarily looking for it.

I know there was one on Mariner of the Seas.

I'll be on Serenade again next April. I will hunt it down if it's there!!!! :D

Bob got it right, Ben and Jerry's is right there in the Centrum on deck 5.

 

My GF has gotten addicted to Radiance class ships. I'm going to have to start watching for more trips on that class for her. :D

Why don't you try for Jewel of the Seas.......California Coastal for October 3, 2015???

We are trying to support another ship on the West Coast! :D:D

It is filling up pretty fast and we have a busy roll call!

Hope 1050 is better, I just switched from 1600 to 1050 on our upcoming Brilliance cruise. More switching now and I will probably get banned from my travel agency.:eek:

You would have been better off staying with 1600. It's a bit of a different layout, and the balcony isn't very big (what with the huge furniture), but since 1050 is right next door to 1052, you may have the same problem with the deck washing.

Or not.

Guess you'll find out when you get there.:eek:

I will say that we could also hear running and footsteps above, but really, that was to be expected. It didn't bother me, nor did the chair scraping when I was in 1100.

It was just the power-washing and sudden, intermittant "thunking" noises at 4 AM that were a bit disturbing.

I don't mean to scare you, but just a heads-up.

As they say, YMMV.......:)

Even the other side isn't safe from early-morning noise.

We recently stayed in 1052 on Serenade, and every morning around 4 AM, they would power-wash the deck.

It wasn't just the sound of water, but the lifting and dropping of the hose as they moved around the deck that woke us out of a sound sleep.

DH can go back to sleep, but for me, once I'm awake, that's it!

While not as bad as what you described, it is still disturbing to be forced awake so early.

I had 1100 on the previous cruise and had the constant chair scraping from the outdoor area of the Windjammer, but that wasn't as bad as the loud, "thunking" noise from the 4 AM deck cleaning.

Moby Dick tours is another good operator for Stingray City.......

We were in this same situation and we were not able to get the increased balcony discount. Your points actually have to post to your account and your status on your account changed to the new level before you can get the increased discount.

 

Also with the new and improved booking system that RCI installed my last fall if you do try to get an increased balcony discount because of changing levels your cruise will be repriced at the current rate which usually makes it not worthwhile.

Wow. That kind of sucks. Unless the price has gone down......(right??? :cool:)

Thank you.

 

I have seen posts about this working B2Bs on the same ship - we would be on different ships for the two sailings. That makes it more complicated.

 

I guess hoping for a Diamond balcony discount on the Serenade would be too much to ask.....

I know you are on different ships. Another poster in a similar situation is doing B2B on the same ship.

At any rate, the LA on your second cruise should be able to pull up your information; if not, and you have your past sailings documented, I don't think it would hurt to at least try and get a Diamond sticker, and see if they will load your new perks onto your card.

Worth a shot. Diamond Lounge is nice.........:)

It also wouldn't hurt to ask about the Diamond Balcony discount while you're at it. Best they can do is say, "Yes", and the worst is say, "No".......

WE just did a B2B with a few friends whose status changed during the first leg: two couples who went from "new" to Gold, and another couple who went from Emerald to Diamond.

In all cases, the LA took care of them, and gave them stickers to affix to their cards (for the next cruise), as the new status would not yet be printed on them.

After re-boarding on turnaround day, they went to Guest Services and got new cards printed on the spot, and in the case of the Diamond couple, they got the new benefits pre-loaded on the new Seapass card.

So all that can be done on the ship..........:)

We recently did a B2B on Serenade out of NOLA.

We brought 4 bottles; they held two of our bottles until the second leg.

I'm just glad RC finally decided to let us bring wine/champagne onboard like other cruise lines do! :)

That sounds amazing - to work on a tan was exactly what I want from a January cruise (you understand if you see my location....). And so nice to get assurance from another light sleeper :) How "bad" would you say the noise level in 1100 was at night?

No noise at all at night. I don't even recall hearing carts or cleaning like I did when under the pool deck in a GS.

1100 was a fabulous stateroom. Ooopps, mayb I shouldn't say that. It is hard enough to come by.........:(

And Critterchick is right about 1602 having a HUGE balcony. I don't have first-hand knowledge of the noise levels on the starboard side, but I'd trust her input.

I just know that I had no issues with noise, save for the chairs moving around above me, when I was in 1100.

Either way, I think the aft is great.

You'll be fine. You can always sleep when you get home ;)

Thanks for the support, ASeaPrincess1. :) I do not mind some noise during the day - but at night, well, that's another story.

Enjoy it!

I was a bit concerned about my aft JS, what with it being partially exposed to the WJ deck above, and the chair noise.

Privacy was no issue at all, as the only way anyone from the WJ above could see me, or I them, was if I was standing right at the railing.

So I was able to lay out on my balcony and work on a tan without scaring anyone..:eek::D

And any noise was just a part of daily life on board.

I would not hesitate to book the aft again, and I see why they go so fast!

GS 1600 opened up, and I decided to grab that. I can live with the odd lay out and smaller balcony, and no overhang is probably very welcome on a January cruise from Tampa (I need some tan!:)). So the only issue now is Windjammer above and the scratching chairs...But I really cannot spend more time on this....going crazy here! :eek:

Our friends had 1600. The balcony is a bit smaller, and the oversize lounge chairs take up a lot of space. But overall, they liked it.

The chairs above aren't all that bad. You get used to it after a while. It took me a few times to figure out what that sound even was.

You scored a good cabin....

Thanks for you input! It is truly frustrating trying to find a peaceful GS on deck 10. Everytime I think I have found something safe, something like that comes up. Power washing at 4AM? Argggh!

Yes, I wish there was a better buffer between the pool deck and the suite deck.

I booked that particular GS because on the deck plans, it looked like it was under a staircase. Thought that might be quieter.

I could have also chosen 1554, but decided against it due to the privacy issues on the balcony. I didn't want to scare people if I was sitting out in my robe having coffee in the morning. ;)

I had JS 1100 on the first leg of that cruise, and there was the usual scraping of chairs from the outdoor seating area of the Windjammer, but that was tolerable.

I will be in a mid-ship JS again in April and on Jewel in October of next year. I will be prepared.

I am a light sleeper, so that is why I heard every little noise. DH slept through it most mornings. When he did wake up, he was able to go back to sleep. (I know, I could hear him....:rolleyes:)

Some people hear nothing, so hopefully you won't have to endure a lot.

Still very unsure about 1050 vs. 1552 on Brilliance. Is the overhang the same on both sides of the ship? Since are going on a January caribbean cruise, we want as much sun as possible. ANY advice for RCL novice is very much appreiciated...

I was in 1052 on Serenade recently and the overhang is quite pronounced.

There was no direct sun on the balcony, unless it was rising or setting.

It also depends on the direction the ship is traveling, too. But I wouldn't count on getting a tan out there. ;) YMMV

As for noise, every now and then we heard foot traffic above, but not that it was bothersome.

What was bothersome was that every morning around 4 AM, they would be out power-washing the deck area.

Between the "thunking" sound of the water hose being turned on and off and the dragging and dropping of the hose, it was hard, for me at least, to get back to sleep. Dh had no problem......

There was no problem with centrum noise at all. When the hallway doors were closed, we really didn't hear anything if they had performances going on.

This was on Serenade, so perhaps things are different on the other ships.

Hi, that was John Blair (and his partner and wife Katrina) who was the CD and performed the Neil Diamond tribute you speak of. :) They are off now.

 

.

But they will be back in November.

Proceed with care - Rita doesn't do the same thing everywhere. Rita's on Radiance (when it was a Cantina and not a Crab Shack) was a full dinner menu, and Rita's on the Serenade was basically a limited selection of snacky eats like nachos to share to go with your Margarita or Dos Equis.

 

We did Rita's instead of the MDR one night on Radiance, absolutely no way that'd work on Serenade.

We did Rita's on Serenade. There were 8 of us going just for nachos and margaritas.

The poor waitress was overwhelmed. Got the drink orders wrong, tried to fix it, then brought out the nacho order for only two at our table.

While we waited for the rest of our table to be served, we watched her bring orders to other tables.......one couple at a time.

Seems that the "chef" filling the orders did so one by one, and not one table was served all at once.

We finally got our appetizers, but the other two couples were still waiting.

Finally, they just got up and left. We were done with ours before theirs even came out.

That was about the worst service I have ever had on a ship.

I could almost understand it if there were full meals going on, but this was just nachos and drinks.

I felt bad for the girl, and it wasn't her fault. But they needed more help for sure.

I hope it was just a fluke.

I might give them another try next time.

Enjoying your review as I did your Serenade review.

I haven't been on Vision since 2008; it looks like a different ship after the renovations.

Can't wait for more! :D

I agree.......bring us a ship!

Since Vision and Mariner have left Los Angeles, I have defected to Princess. They are doing quite well with Mexico, Coastals and Hawaii.

I did just get off Serenade from New Orleans, and will be going back next April for the NOLA/Boston repo. Airfare does get costly, though........as well as hotels.

I did jump on the Jewel coastal for next October. :D:D

Trying to show support for Royal to bring back a ship to the west coast....:)

Princess is a little more generous with internet minutes for Platinum and Elite members.

They also offer free laundry to Elites. This would be a nice perk, since Royal Caribbean doesn't even have laundry facilities on their ships.

You can even buy bottles of liquor for your stateroom.

I won't mention the little mini-bar set-up for Elites and suites. Oh, I just did....;)

I am not a Princess cheerleader, but those things are a little nicer to have, especially laundry on longer cruises.