Great 2 B at Sea

We did a B2B on the Serenade beginning late January of this year. This was our third B2B on her, and we have another one scheduled. We were extremely happy with every aspect of this cruise, and we had the best service from all the crew members. We had the corner aft room on deck 8, and never noticed any sewage smell at all. Maybe we were just lucky. Our balcony railing showed some wear, but thankfully nothing where you would ever get splinters. There is some rust, and yes, she might be showing her age, but she's still a wonderful ship to us. I'm sorry for those who didn't have a pleasant experience on this ship.

While on the Serenade in February, the lifeguards in the Solarium did an emergency drill. However, none of us knew this was only a drill......definitely a key part of the equation. When a whistle was blown, we all got up and saw a lifeguard in the water, holding up the head of someone "in trouble", and everyone panicked. Two EMT's, sitting next to us, immediately ran poolside to assist. It was only then we were made aware it was only a drill. It took awhile for all of us to calm down. When they decide to do an emergency drill, they should really let the people in the pool area know this.

We were on the Freedom mid February and they did the dancing. First time we had seen it in a few years.

Not sure where that is. I'm in Waterford, WI.

Oh my goodness.....when I saw where you lived on your prior post, my eyes saw MI rather than WI. ha ha Another senior moment, I guess. Sorry about the mistake. Had you lived in Waterford, MI, we would have been about seven miles apart.

I don't understand why you felt compelled to go into such detail on how your family gets and keeps lounge chairs. You DO understand this thread wasn't directed at you. Don't you? For someone who "doesn't care," you've done an awful lot of explaining. You're using your disability, kids, Christianity and group size to justify the actions you feel the need to defend. I am also disabled, and would NEVER ask someone to go to the pool deck and hold a chair for me at 7am. I do not feel that being disabled give me any more right to a lounger than anyone else has. On the bright side, at least I have a place to sit while I look or wait for a lounger - my scooter.

Hi Neighbor.......Had to chime in......we live in Clarkston. :)

On Allure presently and been having problems getting the internet credit allowances. The purchase screen has been redesigned like the RCLs log screen with some of the same bugs. The 3rd time at Guest Services, the agent basically said that it was changed to accommodate the rumored changes to the internet credits/benefits. However, there has been so much push-back that RCL has abandoned, so far, this plan and therefore no changes.

Wonderful news, thanks for posting. Let's hope it stays this way!!

We were on the Serenade in January. We would turn our towels in every day and have them verify we didn't have any out, and we were always told we had turned them all in. We would also check our account in our room each day, and there were never any towel charges. At 10:30 the last night, we checked our account to make sure there were no charges that shouldn't be on there, and we were being charged for three towels! Earlier when we checked at 6:00 pm, these charges weren't on there. Went to Guest Services who told us they couldn't do anything about it and we'd have to talk to the pool people, and they would only be there until ll:00 pm. The pool person looked up our account and said "You have no towels out, you've turned them all in." We said we know this, but Guess Services woudn't do anything to help us out. He called them for us and they finally removed them from our account. We were very thankful the pool person was still available for us. Don't know what would have happened otherwise. We understand mistakes happen, that's why you should always check your account.

We sailed the Freedom on the 17th of Feb., and it was almost impossible to find a chair, especially in the solarium. So many towels and so few people. It's unfortunate they don't monitor this all the time. We would eventualy just go to our balcony and read there. We have seen quite a few ungly scenes amongst people when a toweled chair was taken over. I guess the chair hogs then realize what it's like to "not" have a chair.

I received this email in response to my question about changes to the internet plan.

 

 

RE: Crown & Anchor Society Onboard Offers

 

Dear xxxxxx:

 

Thank you for your e-mail. As a member of the Crown & Anchor Society, your savings continue throughout your cruise vacation with our Virtual Ultimate Value Booklet. These onboard offers provide exclusive discounts for a variety of onboard activities such as internet usage, luxury spa services, and much more. Your offers will be loaded electronically onto your SeaPass card at the start of your cruise vacation. Onboard offers may vary by your membership level, as well as your itinerary. Unfortunately we are unable to provide exactly what will be available on which sailings including the availability of complimentary internet.

 

 

 

Boy, this is a disheartening statement to read. I guess only time will tell......and I worry it isn't going to be in our favor. :(

Looking forward to your review, along with pictures......I'm sure you had a fantastic cruise!

On Royals Facebook page you must go to Community to see the posts.

Thank you, that must be the only one I didn't click on. :rolleyes:

I must be doing something wrong. I go to their website, but I don't see any posts from cruisers being upset about the free internet days being taken away. Are they removing them right after they are posted?

If you have a balcony, definitely bring binoculars.

We have always used the free internet days RCCL has given us. To have this taken away is a huge disappointment! When you are accustomed to a benefit, it's hard to accept when it's taken away. We all strive to get to the next tier level, to finally be able to enjoy new benefits.....a reward for being loyal. Now, they are all disappearing.....soon to be nonexistent.

We were on the Freedom in February and seated at a table for 14. It was a giant oval table, which made it very hard to talk to everyone. It was located right by the entrance into the dining room, and always removed for the breakfast buffet. We didn't like the table at all.....mainly for the size, and secondly for the location. There was so much traffic by us. There were four in our group, another group had five, and the last group had three. There were always two empty chairs.

Beautiful ship.....thanks for sharing the pics!

No idea, did you see people being served food or was it bought through from the Windjammer?

No menus at the bar

Everyone we saw was bringing food in from the Windjammer for lunch. However, we were never in there at 3:00, when Rita's was supposed to start serving.

The bar is still in the same place but they no longer serve food, no menus and no nachos:(

Hmmm, very interesting. I wonder why the bartender told us otherwise?

Haven't been on this ship in over 10 years. It has been refurbished since. Has anyone recently cruised on it?

 

Looking at October leaving out of San Juan. Wondering how San Juan is and the other islands regarding the hurricane.

 

thanks.

We got off the Freedom Feb. 25th, and to us, the ship was in great shape. Sure it is showing some of it's age, but it didn't bother us.....it's still a great ship. We sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale. Regarding the islands, oh my goodness...there is so much destruction! From what we understood, San Juan had tons of damage, but it didn't seem to affect the touristy stuff that's by the port. We didn't take a tour, so thankfully we didn't see all the mass destruction. As far as St. Maarten, most of the shops downtown are open, but some of the beachfront restaurants were being rebuilt. There are boats just piled upon one another not far from where we docked. We then took a tour, and it was unfathonable and heartbreaking to see the extreme amount of destruction! Orient Beach is completely gone...it got washed away, as did many other beaches. There were endless piles of boats on top of one another throughout the island, completely destroyed and abandoned. Many hotels/resorts along the shoreline got so much damage, they are abandoned and won't be repaired. Roofs are off of so many buildings, and section after section of homes, schools, etc. are destroyed. Many structures only have part of one wall still standing, Our guide said he didn't know if any of this would be rebuilt. And the saddest part is, there are still people living in some of the homes that are in shambles. We've never seen anything like this! I can't imagine what the people living on this island went through during the hurricanes! What we saw in the states on TV, paled in comparison to seeing it in person! It makes you really appreciate what we all have. Our last stop was supposed to be Labadee. However, when the ship pulled into port and docked, due to high winds and waves,we left after about thirty minues.

I have a simple question. Does Sernade of the Seas still have Rita’s Cantina on board? I see it showing on deck 11 on the deck plans. But I do not see it listed as a dining option.

Can someone who has been on the Serenade recently let me know if Rita’s is still a dining option.

We did a B2B on the Serenade and got off the ship about a month ago. After we got our lunch from the Windjammer, we would go outside in the Cantina seating area because the view is amazing. The Cantina Bar was always open, but we never saw people getting served from the restaurant. Some days we weren't eating lunch until 2:00. We finally asked one of the bartenders if Rita's was closed, as we assumed it was, and he said "No, it just doesn't open until 3:00." We never ate there so we can't comment on the food. Hope this helps you out.

Such a wonderful review from a very sweet young man....You made my day! Thanks for caring and giving us your thoughts! :)

I don't have any, as we throw them out after we sail. However, if you give the name of the ship you want them for, I'm sure someone might have them to share.

We sailed the Harmony Jan 6th and there was a little table, right past the entrance doors into the dining room, with these forms sitting on top of it. There was also a box to put them into after they were filled out. We didn't even notice this table until we saw a few people filling out the forms. (Not too observant are we) There was nobody handing them out in our dining room.

Bob, you are the best! We sincerely appreciate your kindness in sharing your unending knowledge!!

Wonderful news.....congrats to you and your family!