blondie from arizona

This ended up probably being one of the easiest tours to take. Get off the ship and either talk to the lady at the information booth, which was on the right hand side under a grey covered structure on our cruise OR just walk all the way down to the end of the shopping area (not that far) and talk to the coordinators down there. It is the same group and you get the same information. It is $20 each for a 2 hour tour that stops at Cane Garden Bay (CGB) OR it is $25 each for a 3 hour tour that lets you stay at CGB for an hour before returning to the shopping area. It is the same tour, just different bus. You either stop for 10 minutes or so, or you stay for an hour.

Since it was raining the day we were there we opted for the 2 hour tour. There was just enough time to run down to the Callwood distillery, take a picture and return to the beach area. The man had us pay for the trip B4 we got out at CGB and tip him when we returned to the pier.

There were also other buses there for people requesting other options. They are open air buses. In good condition. The ride was a little on the adventurous side, but we have been on worse. Tortola has narrow, steep roads. It is not the place to rent a car on your own. We returned before noon and they were still loading buses to take people out for the day.

If this is your first time on the island, this is a good option.

We had issues with the waitstaff and room steward as well, but it was all minor stuff that I just addressed with them, like asking for soap and towels. I didn't even think twice about it. The waitstaff and room steward made up for it with their pleasant attitudes. It was all the other stuff. Royal has a good product and when we first started cruising we didn't quite understand all the complaining about the missing stuff. Now we are the seasoned cruiser that sees the missing stuff. This itinerary was perfect and we love Royal. We came home rested and relaxed. It still felt like summer camp and we didn't want to get off the ship. Like I said, there was just something not quite right and it was discouraging that the midcruise survey fell on death ears. And the Diamond Lounge issue was a HUGE issue. Completely unacceptable.

It seems like most of our experience on the Serenade was similar. We were on this cruise with you, from Dec 2 -Dec 12. We were on Serenade previously and thought something was "off" about the ship. The staff was irritable and it is the cruise that we rank as our worst RCCL cruise. I won't go into the specifics of that cruise, but I will say their were similar issues on this cruise. However, the staff was in a much better mood this time around. I will list out some of the good, bad and ugly as we saw it.

We were on deck 10, DH thought the rust also an issue. There was some peeling paint on the ceiling of the balcony next to ours. One or our drawers was falling apart, but it wasn't a big deal. They were switching out the mattresses in some of the rooms on our floor when we were leaving. The room steward said they had done decks 8 and 9 last cruise.

The Good (sort of): Loved the Christmas caroling in the Centrum. Wish they had done more Christmas themed events. The tree was hidden away in the dining room. Also the photographer lady was really rude to parents trying to take pictures of their kids with Santa. It kinda ruined the moment. Agree that the new cast of singers and dancers were very good. However, they wondered around the ship like a herd of spoiled millennials all week and they were a little much to take. They were very pushy on deck 5 of the Centrum along the railing during cast activities. Wanting to take the premium spot after many of us had been standing there for quite some time. The food in the dining room was missing stuff or of a lower quality; however, it was always served hot and there was plenty of it. Service was good. Also the bread products in the Windjammer seemed fresher and not overbaked and dry (ie muffins, donuts, and Danishes). The Windjammer also has the crepe station! The cruise director staff was very good. Topi, Aysy and especially Grant very very good. Topi's entire staff was outstanding! Also the piano music in the Centrum was wonderful. And they seemed better able to space the entertainment so that there was always something going on between major events (like dinner and the show).

The Bad and Ugly: I will save the worst for last but the other stuff was annoying too. This ship is just missing something. ALL the staff seems like every day is their first day. Room steward, dining staff, Windjammer staff, coffee staff. It was like Groundhogs day!

Also, on this cruise the ship parked at the Commercial docks at 2 of the ports. St Kitts (required to take a shuttle to the regular pier) and Dominica (our tour guide was smart enough to know we were there). The walk out of the port at Dominica was the worst we have ever had to do. I think Royal needs to do a better job of telling people which pier they will be docking and in these countries they are not right next to each other.

I also wish Royal would send out a fun e-mail before the cruise if they are going to be having fun themed shirt night. Apparently we don't cruise enough as we did not know that they have multiple days of goofy Caribbean shirt night.

They have stepped up their efforts to make Formal dining more fun. I don't know when Royal decided it wanted to be like Carnival. :mad: I do not like swinging napkins, singing, dancing and all that crap in the dining room. On formal night they had the kitchen staff come out and dance on the stairs. There was not enough room as that is where the Christmas tree was. It was just tacky. And DH really hates all the crap about washy, washy and then everyone is told to fling their napkins around in the dining room. Doesn't make sense.

The seating in the Windjammer was horrible. And on the last morning the passengers over ran the place. It was completely wiped out when we got to breakfast. It was a mess. Plus, the waiters had a hard time keeping up all week, cleaning tables. Only one time were we offered a drink and the lady never came back with them. The BBQ is gone, no ribs or party on the deck.

There are also multiple things missing: no fruit carvings, no ice carvings, no enrichment lectures, no Captain vs CD cake decorating. There was no written invitation to the Cruise Critic meeting, so we missed it. There was no invitation to the C&A Backstage tour. It was in the Compass, but no one ever showed up to give the tour. I understand there was a change in staff, but they shouldn't have put it in the Compass then. There were a couple other things, but I can't think of them right now.

Now the REALLY UGLY! The Diamond Lounge was completely over run EVERY night. Granted there were a lot of us on board, but they know that before we board. One of the waiters even told me that there would be 70 less next week, so they are aware how many people will be there. They did also say that it is like that every week. Chaos! Not enough staff, no drinks, wrong drinks, no clearing of the tables for at least an hour, and sometimes stale appetizers. It was not just us either. There were LOTS of complaints. When the first thing you have to chat about with others is the fact that the service is so bad, it really sets a mood for the evening. EVERY EVENING! One of the waiters even told me that the other waiter was hiding in the back, which seemed pretty obvious when he was missing for extended periods of time and only bringing out 1 or 2 drinks at a time. We had to get our drinks from the bar most nights, which was fine but he was very busy up there and the seats at the bar are uncomfortable and spaced too far apart.

I did complete the midcruise survey, but the only department I heard from was the dining room. No one else bothered. I also completed my end of cruise survey. I am not looking for anything here other that to give others an honest assessment of our vacation. Love Royal, but there is just something wrong on the Serenade. I would not choose Serenade again if I have another option.

Speaking as a lady I must say that I wear my skinny dress on the first formal night and my more comfy dress on the second formal night. Both formal, but I find that I have grown a little over the course of the cruise. :mad: Also, take into account the sunburn factor and tan lines. Want to look nice for my free Diamond photo. :D

Just to clarify, the rocks are not removed! The question is whether the sand is there or not. They continually add sand there as it gets washed out by the winds, tides, and hurricanes.

I like owning the stock. It has entertainment value and makes me happy when I log in and look at it. As others have stated, it can be hard to use. Crap shoot. I get to use it about 50% of the time. Mine is thru my 401K at Fidelity and I don't have a problem sending in the statement. They do give a dividend on the stock, which does not automatically reinvest, which is a little more annoying in a 401K account. If I had to do it over again, I would have purchased it in my taxable account instead. (Just a thought.) And the Fidelity accnt charges a small fee to purchase a stock.

It is annoying that you can't combine it. Royal is really shooting themselves in the foot on that one. More people would buy it, if you could combine it.

I had the same problem. Points did not post and i did not get a confirmation from bofa. So I called. Needed to redo it and the confirmation email came immediately. I would call the bofa # on the redemption website. They will fix it right away. No way I would wait.

We did speak to the Customer Service supervisor. In fact, she was the one who eventually gave us our in-transit cards. JD was of no help. Loyalty ambassador also didn't seem like a viable option and was never in her office when I felt inspired to chat about it. I was not posting this on here to find out any resolution and I didn't want a bottle of wine showing up in my room (hubby won't drink it and I was happy with my Diamond Lounge time). I have had worse things happen to us and just wanted to forget about it. I just wanted others to know how the process might work for them. I must say that doing the B2B was a wonderful option for us and we truly had a wonderful cruise.

So, this is what happened and it did not go really well. I will just give the facts and hope that it goes better for others next time. I did fill out my paperwork showing 'consecutive cruiser'. Once on board I checked my dining table for both weeks. Mid week my current head waiter came to our table with a list stating that the table we were supposed to have the next week was not available (it was in a small private room to the side) and wanted to know if we wanted to keep the same table. So, we were on the list with the dining room. Then my stateroom attendant came to me and told me that I was on the list for consecutive cruisers and he would transfer our luggage. Great! Keep in mind, he came to me, so I was certainly on the list. Then on day 5 in the compass it gave us a number to call and leave a msg to confirm we were B2B. Done. I also went to customer service. I was advised by 2 people (the precheck person) and the person behind the counter that I would be receiving a letter with information on what to do next. I also spoke to the Diamond concierge, I believe on day 3 or 4 and talked to him about it twice. No problems. On day 6 late afternoon, I had not heard anything, so again I went to customer service, I should be receiving a letter. Checked with our room attendant. He is good to go, but has not seen a letter. Woke up to get off the ship, NO INFORMATION! At breakfast I overheard someone stating she was on the B2B so I went up and bothered her for information. She said they received an invitation to a meeting that was held on day 6 at 11. At that time they were told what to expect (if you were getting off for a tour or just staying on). She also showed me her intransit card and told me not to leave the ship without one. So, we started a ring-around-the-rosie with customer service and all of the fine people that were directing people how to leave the ship. I refused to go back to customer service, so they walkie-talkied someone and told us to proceed off the ship and there would be 2 officers there waiting for us (Keep in mind this is right around the corner from where we were standing.) So, we proceed. No officers waiting for us. Went through the final bing-bong and now I have no way to get back on the ship. DH was not going to follow! I went to the corner where there were a couple of official looking people and explained the issue. Sure enough, they had a stack of envelopes. She wanted to know our new room number, so I gave it to her. Nope, not there. Started to panic a little. Turns out it was under our new room number. Got our cards and our in-transit cards and off we went. Everyone acted like they had never done this before. There were 26 of us, so they should have known people would be looking for them.

Fast forward to later that day we ran into someone in the Diamond lounge who said he was surprised not to see us at the meeting or the lunch. He and his wife had decided not to get off, so they didn't need their intransit cards. However, they went to get their new room cards and it didn't go smoothly either. Then when he went to use his card, it came back as invalid, so he had to go to customer service and get another one. Also, he was allowed into his room early, while we were not. We made an attempt to get to our new room at 12:30; shouldn't have been a big deal, but we were turned away at the door. Made us feel real small. And, to top it off, they did have a special lunch for the B2B people. He said we didn't miss much, but still...:mad:

So, I am sure the question would be, did you complain? Well, NO. There was no one to complain to. I had already spoken to everyone and everyone pointed the finger at everyone else. And the DL concierge JD told everyone in a lecture that he gave us that he didn't want to hear about it.

And, I should say that the procedure for the B2B in Vancouver is completely different. There were only 2 people doing it. When they got to Vancouver they were not allowed to leave the ship. They were escorted through customs and then escorted back to the ship. No lunch, but it was just 2 of them.

That is all. I hope I didn't forget anything and someone finds this information useful.:(

You not only should check for price drops before final payment, but you can also changes rooms within your category at any time. So, if another "G" cabin becomes available that looks better (closer to the elevator, on a different floor, whatever) then you can change to that cabin. So, it is important to be concerned or aware of your cabin category, the "G".

As a side note, if you book a guarantee and they assign you a cabin in a certain category, then you should be able to change that to a different cabin within the same category.

And, another side note, there was talk within the last few days that there was another IT glitch and others commented that the cabin categories were inaccurate or changing during the process of making a reservation.

I love a rum punch, especially with a splash of coconut rum and a diet sprite chaser. I mix the sprite in as I drink my drink, helps keep me a little more even with DH who can drink me under the table!!!

I only watched a few episodes last week when I accidentally ran into it while my DH was away on a long trip. Had to watch something and was hoping to see some Alaska scenery. I wanted to see Hoonah. They didn't show much, but I will be looking for that mud bog where they acquired their "New" cabin. We are going to be in Alaska next week. It really did help me to get excited about my cruise.

The fact that they don't have teeth just grosses me out. I don't care what kind of hillbilly you are, you make sure your children have teeth!

I'm sure Royal monitors CC to keep abreast of certain areas of the cruising experience but there's probably more that they take with a grain of salt.There are some really good reviewers on the community boards but there are just as many that aren't worth reading. Fair and balanced are not in some people's vocabulary.

I agree. I don't read the reviews for most of the positive/negative stuff. I read the reviews for pertinent information like bring long pants if you want to ice skate. Or a skid shirt for the flowrider. When I was new to cruising, I wouldn't have thought of that. Plus, some of the secret spots on the ship etc....

I know they read the mid-cruise reviews because I got no less than 3-4 calls from different departments apologizing for the issues and trying to make it better. I was not reviewing them to just be a PITA either. I had valid issues that I just wanted them to make better. They certainly didn't have to call me repeatedly or send me the bottle of wine. Just the fact that EVERY department on the ship was making an effort helped to make it better. I consider that cruise to just be an anomaly and as time has past, I have forgotten most of the problems that occurred. It also didn't help that we had just taken a really awesome cruise right before that with a similar itinerary and it was amazing. I forgave them! Still loyal to Royal!

Thanks for the flourless chocolate cake recipe. On the ship, it is usually served as part of a group of 3 items, with a baby cheesecake and a berry jello thing. The FCC is definitely the best part. And, when you ask for a bonus piece, they bring you a BIG piece. :eek::D:D:D:D

The flourless chocolate cake is the BEST. We used to refer to it as the chocolate nugget of goodness. We have been known to ask for an extra piece and take it back to our room. And then we eat it the next day. It is SOOOO good. If you wouldn't mind posting the recipe, I would appreciate it. Thanks!!!!:D:D:D:D

Yeah, I thought it was funny how they just glossed over the fact that the one young man got braces, while his poor toothlesswonder of a sister is walking around with 1/2 a front tooth. Braces require you to go back to the dentist every month for 2 years!!!! Not really out in the bush!

I figured if I ever won the lottery I would hunt that poor girl down and buy her a new tooth. There is something wrong with those people.:confused::eek:

I have been on 18 RCL cruises, some of them longer than the 7 days, so my numbers might be a little off, but I received the stockholder OBC on 9 of them totaling $1100. As others have said, sometimes you cannot use it. I have used it on the BOGO sales. It is not combinable with some promotions, but I can't clearly say which. Sometimes I think I won't get it, but apply for it anyway and it is applied. Other times, not so much. I am taking a B2B in a couple of weeks, booked at different times. One gets the OBC, the other doesn't. AND, if you use your C&A benefits for a balcony discount, I believe that is not combinable. However, I usually book an inside. I find it fun to have and it gives me a little entertainment value when I am checking my portfolio. :D

Looks like you posted this in the right place. I am fairly loyal to Royal, but when others ask me about Alaska, I wonder the same thing. It is funny that I heard Princess is the cruise line NOT to take to Alaska because they put forth less effort to get to the glaciers. If there is a lot of ice flow, they won't go. This is only what I heard; I have no actual knowledge of this. Also, if you are going all the way up (toward Anchorage), Princess docks in Whittier, while the others dock in Seward. This is a pretty big difference that you need to be aware of.

And, since you have done so many Royal cruises, I would stick with Royal to get the points. At some point you are going to get to Diamond and that alone is a big deal. We love our Diamond lounge time, even though we are not heavy drinkers.

Good question. I hope you get lots of responses.

Normally I don't respond to threads like this, especially when it appears that the rest of the gang has somehow decided that it is your fault that RCCL canceled the cruise. This is clearly something they did to you and just because you don't fit into the tight parameters of what they deem to be "policy" that you are just supposed to give up. This was RCCLs fault and I think they need to fix it. So, either write ( I don't have the address handy) or e-mail to the executive offices ( I have used these in the past)

rfain@rccl.com; mbayley@rccl.com; agoldstein@rccl.com and see if they are more reasonable. If these are not current e-mails for the executive team, then post another thread on here and get the proper e-mail and send them your issue. This seems like a no-brainer to me. RCCL should give you the $$$. Or, you could just call customer service back and see if you get a different answer. Or, you could call a C&A number (sorry, don't have that either) and see if they can help. I am a little surprised the Cruise Critic gang isn't being more helpful. Let us know how it goes.

You guys are awesome. Appreciate all the information.

I complicated things by booking 1 cruise months ago and then just booked the second this morning with a different travel agent. Somehow I have to get these 2 reservations linked. If not, I guess I will just alert them at customer service, but who wants to stand in that line.

Hoping I can either talk DH into going whale watching (which we have already done several times) OR hike Mt Marathon. I am pretty sure he will want to do the lunch, if it is available.

Does anyone know if it is a special menu if it is in the MDR???

Doing the B2B in August, leaving from Vancouver, up to Seward, and then coming back down to Vancouver. Does anyone know the B2B procedure in Seward? Specifically if they had a special lunch when you were on board. I heard it depends how many people are staying on, but I want some kind of an idea what to expect.

Thanks for any information.

Yikes. New to C/C and new to RCL. I love Royal but am not a fan of the Oasis class of ship. If you do try it please be aware that the Oasis experience is NOT the same as the rest of the ships in the fleet. Personally, I think the Oasis class aren't the best and if you are a Royal virgin you certainly aren't going to get the most out of it. However, if you are a laid back (I don't mind the lines or if I miss something) type person, then you might be fine. It was not a good fit for our family. Don't expect it to be the trip of a lifetime!