ASeaPrincess1

Oh good grief....I need to read dates before i post lol :o

 

No worries. :)

It's still a valid question....

She posted this over 4 years ago, so she has sailed by now...;)

That said, I usually try to get this cabin only because I am an extended balcony snob. :p

I like that I can watch the wake from the balcony as well as the side, however, wind has proven to be a problem at times.

Also, I usually travel with several friends, so having the larger balcony is a plus for entertaining.

coconut Ranger Cookie recipe:

 

THANK YOU!

Definitely going to try it out!:D

ROFLOL!!! I did warn you didn't I? :D

You DID! :D:D

But I still wasn't quite prepared until I saw it first-hand...lol

NOLA is quite the interesting city. I loved all the beads hanging off the trees along the Mardi Gras route. Not to mention the ones hanging from the balconies on Bourbon Street!

Can't wait to go back next April. The new mall will be open by then! Trade-off for the Bourbon Street scenery :p ;)

I am also glad this was brought back up.

I wanted to thank you for all your insights and information.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my B2B cruises (Caribbean and Bahamas) as well as the 3 days we stayed in NOLA.

 

I see what you meant about Bourbon Street. DH rather liked it, I might add.

One of our friends, who is a photographer, unfortunately had his battery die.

I offered mine, but it didn't fit his camera. He had to use his cell phone.

Then I saw what he was taking a picture of. Or rather, who he was taking a picture of. ;):eek:

She was playing it to the max.....:D

His wife and I just shook our heads.....

 

Enjoyed your review and look forward to reading about Vision.

I will be back on Serenade next year going NOLA to Boston. Should be fun!

I think we need a Hello my name is and I am addicted to Ranger Cookies group :D:D

 

Oh where is that LIKE button!

I agree!

We always pack ziplock sandwich bags and keep a couple of each of our favorite cookies in our cabin for a snack.

 

Oh yes, Ziplocks are your friend! ;)

Toffee crunch cookies are yummy!

 

I have been on over 30 Royal cruises and each time begin a craving for the mudslide cookies days in advance...

 

Have I missed THESE? :eek:

All I saw on my recent Serenade cruise were the sugar-free chocolate chip, white chocolate with cranberries, oatmeal, and of course COCONUT RANGER COOKIES!

I'll be looking for these other ones next time for sure! :D

for all you coconut ranger cookie fans!!!

 

I will post the recipe this weekend...(after I make them).....so get ready....

 

(sorry...too busy right now...grandkids coming)

 

Bowing down...........

THANK YOU!

I will eagerly await your post! :D

I love those aft balconies....we have been in JS 1100 but this one looks like a tight squeeze with that furniture!

 

The balcony is smaller than 1100, and with the larger, upgraded loungers, it is quite cramped.

omg....those are my all time favorite cookies.

 

that and the Austrian Strietzel Breakfast bread. Last cruise, they didn't have the cookies at the regular buffet, however, I did find them back in the solarium.

 

I found out where they buy the cookies, but, you have to buy them buy the case, which were like several hundred at a time.

I did find a recipe and have made both the Coconut Ranger cookies and the bread.....now...I have them all the time.!!!

 

Can you share? PLEASE???:)

I finally got my Coconut Ranger Cookie fix in April after going without for nearly 4 years!! :eek:

Now I have to wait until April again! Don't know if I can stand it!:D

My only consideration about those rooms might have to deal with centrum noise.

It is quite loud on Serenade, especially when they are having rehearsals and performances.

I recently stayed in 1052, and with the outer hallway door shut, I didn't hear any noise from the performances.

With the door open, it was another story.

 

However, one wall of those cabins borders the outside area of the centrum. I hope that someone who has stayed in one of those cabins will chime in as to whether or not noise is a problem.

If noise, or the potential for it, doesn't bother you, I'd say go ahead and book it.

You are right there by the elevators and close to the stairs. Very convenient...

I have another vote for Moby Dick Tours.

They give an informative lecture on stingrays while on the way to the sandbar, and have a stuffed one (toy, not real! :eek:) for demonstration.

Did you know the majority of the rays are female?

 

They even have pet names for the stingrays. One is named "Pizza".....you will see why.......;)

They will hold the rays and get you to hold and interact with them as well.

They don't hawk photographs, either. :)

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising with this line. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing? How important is the time of year when you chose your back to back cruise?

 

And would you do it again?

 

I just returned from a B2B on Serenade of the Seas.

One of my friends chose the first itinerary, as it was a Western Caribbean that went to Grand Cayman. She wanted to go to Stingray City.

Since the next itinerary was to the Bahamas, and we all had to fly (there were 6 couples all together who ended up doing these cruises) from various states, we made it a B2B.

The process was very easy. My friends all got to stay in their same staterooms. I was the only one who had to move, since my room was already taken for the second leg (booked two years ago!)

They had a special meeting for the B2B-ers, and served champagne, which I thought was a nice touch.

We had to get off the ship for immigration, but turned around and walked right back on!

As for moving, they took my hanging clothes and I tossed other things in suitcases, and they moved everything to the new room.

Would I do it again? You betcha! It's never long enough when I'm on a ship. I wish I could have stayed on to Barcelona, as that's where the ship headed next.

I just did a B2B on Serenade a few weeks ago.
They moved all my "stuff" to our new stateroom (had to move from JS 1100 :()
I kept my clothes on hangers and tossed other things in suitcases.
I also took one of those over-the-door shoe holders and put incidentals in there...things like toiletries, first aid, suntan lotions, etc. Anything that was small but that I could readily find as needed.
They just hung that on the rack and I didn't have to re-pack all that stuff. :)

Also, they had a meeting in Vortex the day before to explain the procedure. They served champagne, which I thought was a nice touch.
They also gave us a special luncheon the next day.

There is a place where you can buy coffee and get free cookies and small desserts, but the Park Cafe, up by the Solarium, is where they have the sandwiches.

We are booked in 1038 on the Serenade - not directly under Solarium pool, but in that general area - do you think noise will be an issue?

We had a GS (1052) and every morning around 4 AM, they would clean the pool deck. It was like cannons going off. In reality, it was the hoses being lifted and dropped overhead as they moved along the deck. I actually thought they were tossing the deck chairs down.

One morning, it was the sound of water hosing off the deck, with a loud THUNK when they released the trigger. I am a light sleeper, so I hear everything. DH sleeps through everything, so your mileage may vary...

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. Guess if it's only some scraping, and it's during the daytime, it shouldn't be too bad. Just so it was quiet during the night time. That would make me upset if you can hear it while trying to sleep. BTW, how early in the mornings did you hear the chair scraping sounds? We are up by 6:00 or 6:30, so hopefully they were later than that? Hope you had a wonderful B2B cruise, other than the pool cleaning noise at 4 AM. I would not have been happy with that either!

The chair scraping was later and throughout the day, but truly, it took me a while to figure out what the noise was. It really wasn't bad at all....I got used to it and didn't really pay attention to it. The morning stuff when we had in the GS...yes, that was crazy...

OK, I just got off Serenade on Saturday.

I will say that yes, we did hear scraping noises during the day as people were moving their chairs around.

It wasn't THAT bad.

I will say that it was better than being in a suite where they started cleaning the pool area at 4 AM!!!!

I'm still catching up on my sleep from that. :(

We were just on the April 5th Serenade cruise that was supposed to stop at Coco Cay, but missed it due to high winds and 8 ft seas. I have not heard whether the one on April 19th made it or not.

 

We were on the April 19 cruise..... And YES, we DID make it to Coco Cay!

:)

We aren't actually sailing until February 15th, 2016. We just booked it two weeks ago. The Serenade is going to a couple of islands we have never been to....we are very excited about that. I love reading all about this ship and the aft from kind posters like yourself! How exciting to be doing a B2B.....it's something we've never done, but have talked about doing. We, too, love the corner aft rooms, but have also done the JS. Love those rooms, they have so much more space to them. Have a fantastic two weeks at sea.....I'm so happy for you and your friends!!!! :)

 

PS. Have your friends in room 1104 take notes for us! LOL

 

Those two years will drag...........and then, next thing you know, it's time!

I can't believe we are finally going after waiting nearly two years ourselves.

We liked the B2B as we are doing two different itineraries, Caribbean and Bahamas.

I plan on having a blast! My friends onboard are also CC members, so I'll tell them to take notes, too. Maybe they can come on this thread and tell you themselves. :D

Yes, we need to shut up about that! ;)

Hey Everyone, I really appreciate all the feedback! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. I'm not going to even be concerned about the noise. We are usually up by 6:00 am, so even if there is noise in the mornings, we will be awake. And I'm glad to hear that throughout the night it's quite. I still look forward to comments from ASeaPrincess1 when you and your group are done with your cruise next week.....and have a wonderful time!

 

We are doing a B2B, so we'll be gone for TWO WEEKS! :D

I am a light sleeper, so if there is any noise, I will hear it. I'll ask my friend in 1104 if she hears anything.

Truthfully, I am happy to just be on a ship and am glad we were able to secure these cabins.....although of my group, I am the only one who has to move for the second leg of the B2B.:(

These cabins are very popular........apparently.

My JS, 1100, was already taken for the second leg, and this was booked two years out!

 

When are you going?

I'd suggest calling your TA and finding out for sure what your cabin number is.

 

I had a similar situation where my reservation showed a different cabin number than the one I was actually booked in.

 

You need to know where to go! :D

I will be in 1100 as well! :D

Our group is in 1100, 1102, 1104 and 1600.

So we'll have both edges of the aft covered.

I have been under the Windjammer on Vision. We did hear carts rolling overhead around 5 AM.

We'll find out soon how bad or not-so-bad the aft is on Serenade.

We're leaving on Serenade next week.

A bunch of us have the aft booked. If no one answers you, I'll let you know when we get back.

:D

What is so special about that cabin?

 

My question exactly! Does it have magic powers? Does it come with free alcohol or an enormous balcony? :) :) :)

 

 

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Our group has booked 4 cabins on the aft. I like Jr. Suites and up.

I had read about 1100, and if you do a search, everyone seems to say it is a wonderful location.

Apparently, the person who snagged it before me on the second leg of my B2B knows about it, too.

Yes, it has an enormous balcony.

Free alcohol, doubtful :(

I just want to see for myself.