denisey

Melissa you make this day sound wonderful. Including the 60 minute challenge. I don't remember seeing that, but then again there is so much to do on the compass. We did do Pisa and Florence. Florence was beautiful. Pisa was just ok. There was nothing there other than the church and the tower and we did not have enough time to go into either one. I would recommend skipping Pisa. There were gypsies in Pisa and they are pretty brazen. We were warned by our guide to watch out for them and not to trust anyone who got too close or offered to do you a favour. Do not allow anyone outside of your group to take a picture of your party. They'll just take off with your camera. Someone, approached us and luckily we were forewarned. The gypsies tried to pick pocket two people from our tour. A mother held up a sign in front of a man's face while her children tried to pick his pocket.

I'm going to offer a different opinion. I had a couple of people try to talk me out of going to Pisa and I thought it was AMAZING! So much so, that is one of the few places we went back to on our second trip. If you get the chance go into the Bapistry when the guard is singing.

Pickpockets and theives are a fact of life in the touristy areas of Europe. I saw more in Florence then I did in Pisa.

Hi Denise - so glad you found us!!!! I hope you'll stick around for the full 17 night journey (which, at the rate I'm going, should be finished by Christmas :eek::p)

I met up with this group on Stef's review. I was so glad to see you review and the same "cast of characters!" So I am planning on being here to the very end...even if it is Christmas! Bless all of our hearts!

Oh Yay! Another great Serenade review, just started and I can't wait to see what happens!

I just finished the Adventure cruise...no Malta, so you must have done that on a "land" vacation. We spent one wonderful day there on a cruise, and I would love to go back. St John's was amazing!

I don't know if you learned between you first cruise and your second cruise, but a hint I heard for inside cabins...When you go to bed at night, turn the TV onto a channel that has an outside view. Most ships have a camera that faces the front of the ship or the upper deck. Then turn the sound to Mute. That way, if you wake up during the night, you can see quickly if it is daylight. Also, the cabin will lighten up as the sun rises, just like you have a window.

On of my favorite TV shows has a very smart, scientific character. He says "The Germans are a very comforting people."

Denise

Hi Stef,

I loved every word of your review! And I am joining the Fan Club that your sweet family now has.

I started reading it because we are going on our first Royal Cruise on the Serenade next year. We will be in the Caribbean, but I thought "well, she will probably talk about the ship..." And then I was hooked! I have been to most of the ports you visited, so that was great to see also.

Some thoughts I had...

I was on the edge of my seat when Tarik was lost also! I'm glad a scraped knee was the worst of the problems!

I love Malta also! Did you go there on the Adventure? I have to read that review.

I told DH that everyone gets lost in Venice and he said "Not me!" We did not get lost once, but boy did my feet hurt from all the walking.

NOTE TO FUTURE EUROPE CRUISERS: We found that Rick Steves maps were the best for Rome, Florence, Venice.

We always call the paper wrappers in churches the "Shawls of Shame!" I think they are that ugly color on purpose. I carry a pashima in my backpack just for that reason.

We did all our ports in the Med as DIY adventures also. And when we got back to the dinner table, found our dinner mates spent $100's of dollars on a ships excursion, where they sat on a bus with 50 people and drove past the interesting sights!

Okay, I am off to read the Adventure review. Can't wait to read the MSC adventure next year!

Thanks!

Denise

The best purchase I made before my Med cruise was Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise port book. It had clear instructions on how to get to the main attractions for each port. We did most of the ports using public transportation and had a great time.

With a family, I can see using a tour guide in some of the ports. I agree with the above poster on gathering information from your roll call. The ports of call boards are usefull there also.

Have a fabulous trip!

Thanks for the Review! We are going on our first RCCL cruise next year, and my first trip to New Orleans, so it was very helpful.

We were in Mexico once during Iguana mating season....that is a sight to behold!

They time we've left things behind, we've let the cabin attendant know that we were leaving it behind on purpose. That way he can either take it or toss it as he'd like. I've heard that if you just leave it behind, the attendant has to give it to lost and found.

Hi Chamima, I think I may have been on the same cruise as you...Feb 8th. And I noticed the same thing.

This is just my opinion, but I think it was two fold....the staff seemed to be stretched further to me, our cabin steward had a ton of cabins. But I also think the Norovirus that they were so hysterical about sanitizing over had hit the crew. We heard hints of this, and there is no real way to check, but I saw our Asst waiter flipping burgers at the grill and an Officer stocking glasses at a bar. The staff at the buffet seemed to be ever changing and not doing what they were used to also.

It didn't affect our fun, but it was noticeable to me.

Thanks Patricia for the great review.

I was on this cruise also, and had a great time. Mostly because we had such a great group of friends with us.

The downside of all the sanitizing is that whatever they were using made me sick. I spent most of the cruise with a sore throat from all the airborne spray in the buffet, and finally had to avoid the buffet completely. I am still coughing. I had the impression that it was the staff that was sick, left over from the prior cruise, but like the OP said, not a lot of information.

sea pass cards are why my husband's pants have pockets....

My thought exactly! I don't bring a purse on the cruise at all. I use a small backpack for the ports.

Have a great cruise!

You may not have one right now but as you replace luggage, consider buying one with a suiter (?? spelling). Basically, it's a garmet bag that's on the front of the suitcase. You can hang dresses, suits, etc and then don't have to be rolled up or folded.

 

All of my luggage (except carry on) have it now - even my 22" piece. Wouldn't travel without one now that I've seen the value.

 

Good luck.

I travel a lot for business, and my carryon bag has a suiter. I learned that if I pack my hanging clothes in there WITHOUT the hangers, they fit better and the bag weighs less. Hotels and cruise ships have hangers once you get there.

I am also in the only take a carry on crowd. This is for a weekend or a month in Europe with a two week cruise. Mix and match, limit the other "stuff" and take only things you will use enough to justify bringing them.

I place my items in three piles when deciding what to pack...have to have, would like to have, luxury items.

It is amazing how neat the cabin stays too, when you have less stuff!

Have a great cruise!

Denise

Deck - 11

Cabin # - 1620

Class – Celebrity Suite

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard side

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – NA

Quiet Cabin (With comments on problems. Note if connecting. ) – quiet

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. –This cabin is after the "hump" so forward view was slightly limite

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - normal (but huge compared to a "regular" cabin)

Was wind a problem? no

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? n/a

Any specific problems with this cabin? no problems at all

Any other comments? I don't know if I would pay for this class, but it was nice to have. The two doors to the bathroom were especially nice.

Has anyone's seen these port guides on **************.com? Pretty cool write ups on several popular ports. I only ask because I have been on the boards a while and I have never seen them mentioned.

I used them for our last Europe trip. They are very handy!

01 CRUZN BUCKEYE - OHIO

02 Icarrythebags - Ohio

03 CrazyAboutCruising- New York

04 bbiggar-Wisconsin

05 Cotton

06 VoyagerFL - Florida (via Indiana)

07 Tom-n-Cheryl - FLORIDA

08 Nautical but Nice - Missouri

09 Elaine515 - Florida

10 LHP - (Linda, David, Josh and DJ) - Memphis

11 Ladyspoilt and family - Tennessee

12 Cruiser64-Florida

13 Beach4me - South Carolina

14 YesitDonna - Massachusetts

15 RICHFRET - Florida

16 JBHCW-Jane-North Carolina

17 BARBARA J.W KENTUCKY

18 MrPete - New York

19 Doug910 - Florida

20 GottaLuvCruising - Florida

21 Mich6674 - Florida

22 Luv's Crusin' BJW North Carolina

23 JJudy-Michigan

24 burtonsgigi - Fort Mill, SC

25 Cruisedogs2 - Yorktown, VA

26 OBX_FIN and obx_fintoo - Virginia

27 ahoys-only one ahoy--Kathy from Florida

28 ILuvCarnival - Cleveland, Ohio

29 crusinsusan - PA

30 gator bait - Florida

31 jlcga - Florida

32 dls - California

33 Blueocean and husband - Ohio

34 Ronath - Louisiana

35 Mosel - Florida

35 MILEMRKR63- HARVEY CEDARS, NJ

37 PeterV - London United Kingdom

38 bthorn1108 - Florida (by way of Massachusetts)

39 Mike/Cheryl - Omaha, NE

40 Suzys - New Jersey

41 PSRCPA - Florida

42 Host Graham - Rochester, NY

43 CoCoNut Willie- Texas

44 Grouchpuss - Arizona

45 pam7553 - Illinois

46 molme-Georgia

47 meltla (Tommy) New Orleans, LA

48 bonniemari - Tennessee

49 cruzinsteve - Texas

50 jy148 - New Jersey

51 cld1225-Virginia

52 Carnivalkim-Georgia

53 rburns44-Ohio

54 Karter - Florida

55 Birdiegirl - Minnesota

56 Emtnmare - Minnesota

57 mamawg- Blue Springs, Missouri

58 Diane F and Jerry - California

59 rpsinnj - New Jersey

60 gymbrat33 - Florida

61 bonstersd - California

62 Bea2002- Florida

63 Sandgnat- Geogia

64 Cjm61 - New York

65 Kstrickman - Maryland

66 rwdtgt - Florida

67 Louisiana Joe and Family

68 earlethepearl

69 Litewait ( plus dd 21, & ds 15) San Diego, Ca

70 Quickrate- Florida

71 sk8rpatty - California

72 shortstop95 (jane & luke) delaware

73 SCUBA Mark - Texas

74 dotshub- Larry & Doris - Florida

75 woodi- Oklahoma

76 volman and kipmom - Tennessee

77 Bases5 Florida

78 Lv2camp&cruise- Chris and Kim, Tennessee

79 KenMo & DH - Missouri

80 smarks & DH oldfart - GA.

81 Floatway and Hubby - Friendswood, Texas

82 Luv2cruz44 - Redding, CA

83 Stircrzy - Texas

84 irishgirl - Michigan

85 Candigirl41 - So. CA

86 luv2cruise777l - So Ca.

87 Cruise from NY

88 Joel (Cruzman), LA (Lower Alabama)

89 Amanda, also from Lower Alabama

90 75Vette - Missouri

91 Yogi2929 - San Bernardino County, CA

92 JaguarGirl - Jacksonville, Florida

93 vettebuf - Elaine and Frank and Jon, Sicklerville, NJ

94 airmanship - Arkansas

95 *Luv2Cruise*- New York

96 pnjkeith - Oklahoma

97 cruisergirl2002 - Indiana

98. Deaf Dude - New Orlean

99. Dan40&Barb-Florida

100. G'ma-Voorhees NJ

101. JMW / MJW MB SC

102. MelBCroozer - Covington, LA

103 Shawnie - Canada

104. Mikel1733 & Sally - Nebraska

105. DarthGrady- Florida

106. Southbayer - So Calif

107. pmc7704 - Florida

108. MarylandLady - Maryland

109. Smoofdaddy and Mama Linda - Tennessee

110. FunShipFan - New York

111. mek - Ohio

112.S.S. Oceanlover - PA

113. Cbcruiser - San Diego, CA

114. CWcruisers - San Diego, CA

115. MDR Cali Cruisers - SoCal

116. DGP1111 - Florida

117. Crazycath - SoCal

118.M&J-Florida

119 keene state mom New Hampshire

120. Bigboataddict - E. TX

121. nowendy - Marrero, LA

122. Chigirlcruzin - Chicago

123. Georgiagolfer & DW - Augusta, Georgia

124. "Copvet" Wayne & Debbie, Jax.Bch., Fl

125. Manmachine & DW - Melbourne, FL

126. Julienatul - FL

127. Alberta_Cruiser & DW & DD(19) - Calgary, Alberta

128. sjones0920 Virginia 129. GTVCRUISER - San Diego

130. scperk-Collierville,Tennessee

131. PatfromPa - Pennsylvania

132. grey's girl - Pennsylvania

133. jerrymac - Florida

134. LPLRN76& DH -Florida

135. Cruises42 - Virginia

136. imacruiser2 - Washington State

137. funcruzck1 - Atlanta, GA

138. cruisng4fun- Boston, Ma

139. gfsmith- Oklahoma

140. Gracie65 & family, North Myrtle Beach, SC

141. kicia (& George) - Indiana to Florida

142. bots99 - Florida

143. Bobby & Mary-South Carolina

144. CheerBelleMom-Texas

145. gottacruise - Not currentLY from anywhere - full time RV'er

146. Victory2020 - Los Angeles

147. Bill & Leila - Georgetown, KY

148. Kaseyoz- Sydney Australia__________________

149. Fun, fun 44 (& Bryan)- Oklahoma

150. Little - Atlanta, GA

151. Linda Lu (&Jerry & Sandra) Texas

152. Lisa0719 & JoeMc0919 - Levittown, PA

153. Mike and Pat, San Clememte CA

154. Harlekuin & Dcon, Sacramento, CA

155. Salty Dawg (Ken & Nancy) - Michigan

156. cheepwrent - Oklahoma

157. Gatorman - Florida

158. Susan (vidimom) & Scott - Gainesville, Florida

159. Charlotte (Charbill) & Bill - OHIO

160. Host Terry

161. LindaJSteele and DH - Jacksonville, FL

162. Jim & Claudete - TEXAS

163. we're sailing away - Jacksonville, FL

164. SHOLLY (Steve)- Kansas

165. Tertog(Joe and Terry)- Kennesaw, GA

166. mom2girls-Orlando, FL

167. Loisann - South Carolina

168. legalmom and Ben - Jacksonville, FL

169. Beth - Bob and Beth - Georgia

170. Bruce & Pam - Midland, TX

171. cantw82cruise - Michigan

172. Crdtrnr - Shreveport, Louisiana (hubby will be on next cruise)

173. CwuzCwazy & DW - Florida

174. Uncle Doug, Dayton, TX

175. UncleDougsDonna, Dayton, TX

176. allenee-Mary Ann & David, Cheifland,Fl.

177. Bandman - Larry & Melinda - Franklin, TN

178. Tess2cruz - Teri - Houston Texas

179. MszKitty - SoCal

180. Doug & Pat, Wichita Falls, Tx.

181. Michael and Michele, Vermont

182. LornaT (and Mom Olga & DD Jessica) Van Nuys, CA (SoCal)

183. Jessemon-Tampa

184. Navarrecruiser - Bob & Lynda Navarre, FL

185. sa7776 - Mississippi

186. PA Dutchman- PA

187. breenw (Bill and Marsha), New Palestine, IN

188. Beezalar (skip and trisha) gastonia nc

189. bp traveler - MN

190. umwife11--South Florida

191. jmss1950 - Simpsons - Georgia

192. rbrb1951-north Alabama

193. CalifCruiser1 - California

194. Donna n Francis - Nova Scotia, Canada

195. familyof4cruising - NY

196. Spikester- Alexandria VA

197. DEL67 - NJ

198. ScootsMom - Florida

199. MickMac100- Scotland UK

200. rm4778- Auburn, AL

201. Catrin (Cathy and Steve) - Rhode Island

202. Beverlyf - Pittsburgh PA

203. Cruiser@Heart - Illinois

204. Natk - New York (13 done, 14 and 15 booked..looking for 16-20)

205. Flynlo - Oklahoma Go Sooners!!

206. Villagers70 - The Villages, Florida

207. jess2245 - Leesburg, Florida

208. lp343-Woodbury, MN

209. c&d -Ohio

210. CruiseSpecialist03- Miami, Florida

211. cruisecop2006

212. scfcruiser - Steve & Cheryl - Trenton, Ohio

213. Jaxonboy - Ft Smith, Arkansas

214. augie - Melbourne, Florida

215. winddawn - Tennessee

216. Chris64 - Bama....Rollll Tide!

217. OKGIRL - Dallas, TX

218. OKGIRLs Sister - Dallas, TX

219. Au48 - Auburn, AL -- War Damn Eagle!

220. Luckycruzer

221. Funship Freddy - USVI

222. duck512 - Ohio

223. gazingm42 - Stuck in the South

224. yesaCCasey - Go Gators, Florida

225. Rocky123 - NJ

226. Sweetnell and Oldmedic- Texas

227. BuggyStuff - Brad, Iowa

228. LynneL (and family) - Long Island, NY

229. Louisiana Joe (The Original) Geaux Tigers!!

230. Ship Addict - Katy Texas -- Go Tigers

231. CathysCruisin' - Cathy & Dan, San Antonio, TX

232. Denville Dave - NJ

233, MSQPON - Jo - NJ

234. cruizer4662 - Merritt Island, FL-- "GO BLUE, Michigan"

235. Cuizman1 - FL

236. Tallcruiser - CA

237. Stepbrod-MD

238. JoeSmooga and Wife of JoeS - Sioux City, IA

239. Kids of JoeS (2... went Plat. at ages 5 and 7!) - Sioux City, IA

240. ahoys- Dave and Kathy- Tampa, FL

241. can'twaittacruise - Lynn and Dave - Hollister, FL

242. demos-GA

243. Fofita01 - Miami, FL

244. GOTTA CRUISE NOW - Lancaster, PA

245. Volzcruiser - Tn Go Vols

246. Cruizier4662 - Merritt Island, Fl.

247. Jetskier-Lumberton, Mississippi

248. Barbados1999 - Maryland (DC suburbs)

249. glrounds - So Cal

250. Julie McCoy - Fairhope, AL

251. TTz - Tony & Karrie - Mesa, AZ.

252. ADATL & DH both - Angie & Doug - Atlanta, GA

253. KatSt - Kathy & Bill (Both Platinum) - Gilbert, Az

254. Dell08-Adelle - Fort Lauderdale, FL

255. Donan54 - Columbus, GA

256. djacobson - Baton Rouge, La.

257. Mammama - Don and Carolyn - Tennessee

258. Cincy Gal - Cincinnati, Ohio

259. Rosefloater - Los Angeles, CA

260. Ascott318 Newburgh,NY

261. beetle9 - Tim and Tammy, OH.

262. rellersi - Apex, NC

263. LUV'S Crusin - Winston Salem, NC

264. lindanick - Florida

265. DolfanNY

266. maurick Hackettstown, NJ

267. Travel girl23 - Texas

268. Simpleman - Virginia

269. Ccruzer - Chicago, Il

270. Jhale - Houston, Texas

271. rhorhorho - Palm Bay, Florda

272. SeaUonboard - Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

273. Meowsmurphy - John & M-E, Columbus, OH

274. alberta_cruiser and family - Alberta, Canada

275. Wants to be rich - Massachusetts

276. LRene - Hattiesburg, MS

277. Lifestylecruzer - Hattiesburg, MS

278. popsec - Fair Haven, Vermont

279. thecarnivalkid - Ryan- Windsor, Ontario

280. brcris75 - Arkansas

281. cruising3times - Ohio

282. lidoplease - SC

283. Cruisetobeaches-IL

284. Cruzenagain - South Carolina

285. Shipdogred - Mississippi

286. Jdfireman - New Jersey

287. 007007 - North Carolina

288. SantanaTto - New Jersey

289. KevinKelli - St. Petersburg, FL

290. KelliKevin - St. Petersburg, FL

291. Txsluvscruising-Sanger, TX

292. Cascole - San Diego, CA

293. Grouchpuss - Tucson, AZ

294. TX Southpaw - Plano, TX

295. CruzVinnieCruz - Pittsburgh, PA

296. Astropilot - Decatur, Il

297. ibecruzen2 - Daytona Beach, Fl.

298. Natspawpaw-Florence, AL

299. Lmtrn2001-Florence, AL

300. mulecuizer - Temecula, Ca.

301 Mort13ers Boston Ma

302 ccnvcpl - San Antonio, TX

303. Sockmonkey - Central Tx

304. dorinel - Chester, Massachusetts

305 rwilli01 Arkansas

306 Cateyes2u - Oakland CA.

307 Harlekuin - Sacramento, CA

308 Bluehorizonlover - Buffalo Grove, IL

309 travelinggrandma

310 PaulMedik - Montgomery WV.

311 INCHARGE - Va

312 Ncjeff Cary NC.

313 Scot Griffith, IN

314 Jeff aka DrKleen, Owings, MD

315 Calker, WI

316 Calker's husband, WI

317 kewbrook, SC

318 kewbrook's husband, SC

319 BigDoug, Maryland

320 jenms2000, Georgia

321 thepeach, Georgia

322 aggieastrosfan and DH, Texas

323 framerman, Hendersonville, NC

324 crusinpsychRN, Florida

325 Steveaaaaa, Florida

326 alagirl-- Sally and Donald, AL

327 Babyblue, Harker Heights ,Texas

328 Triplee, Fredericksburg, VA

329 Denisey, Seattle, WA

330 Dennisy, Seattle WA

John Heald's blog has pictures of the deck 8 balcony AFTER the work was done to move the divider. It looks like the cabins just in front of the wrap will still have a larger than normal balcony (just not as large as they were before!)

Happy sailing!

Those cabins are very good deals - unless something is not as it appears to be...

 

Tom

A big part of the reason we book aft wraps is for the sunshine. It looks to me like the wraps on deck 9 are shaded by the Lido deck, so we've decided to not book those. So they do have a big balcony, and they are a good deal, just not for us.

We are sailing to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize & Cozumel on Valor in April. I'm wondering how much alcohol we can bring back thru customs? AND.... if you know of a great place to make such a purchase that would be greatly appreciated! ;)

You can pretty much bring back as much as you want...but on anything over 1 litre per adult you MAY have to pay a small duty on. (we had 6 bottles once, and they didn't charge us, they just waved us through.)

If you are flying home, you will need to pack the alcohol in your checked bags.