Serenade of the Seas - November 17th Cruise Review

I'm sailing Serenade of the Seas November 17th from Port Everglades - 7 Nights Western Caribbean Cruise, visiting Key West, Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

I plan to update this thread during my cruise, and post a review with pictures and videos after the cruise.

Questions are welcome.

Here is a Port Everglades sail away video from her departure November 13th

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She should be all bright and shiny after her dry dock. Interested to hear if any changes.......

Following as we just saw her in Freeport Saturday and will be on her in April. :D

Thanx,

Erika

Looking forward to your updates!

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To parrot easyboy, looking forward to your updates! We are sailing on her in Sept. 2018.

As usual love your videos and look forward to your photos, review and more videos.

Keith

Can't wait to read your review. We'll be on her in January.

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We are sailing on Serenade on the 4th of December. Our ports are completely different from yours but would be interested to hear how bright and shiny she is after her dry dock and what sort of entertainment / activities they are offering.

Have a great cruise. :D

Thank you to all for the comments.

I'll do my best to meet your expectations and try to make some daily updates.

Hey Mogens! I wonder if you could check what the onboard price for the deluxe package is! Going on december 4th myself, and trying to decide wether i should buy it online at a 20% discount or wait until onboard and get my 30% D+ discount. Been rumors about some ships and sailings advertising a price higher than the usually advertised 55USD+18% grats, so hope you can help me :)

God tur (Safe travels)!

Yes. I’ll check drink package prices and be back with details.

Tak. God tur til December.

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We are sailing February 2, 2017. We are so excited.

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Hey Mogens! I wonder if you could check what the onboard price for the deluxe package is! Going on december 4th myself, and trying to decide wether i should buy it online at a 20% discount or wait until onboard and get my 30% D+ discount. Been rumors about some ships and sailings advertising a price higher than the usually advertised 55USD+18% grats, so hope you can help me :)

 

God tur (Safe travels)!

We will be on the Serenade Dec. 4th. Here's a link to our roll call, come join us: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2358840

In another post on the roll call there is a link to register for RCI's Meet & Mingle. You may want to register for that. We do not have an informal meet and greet scheduled yet.

Oh great, looking forward to hearing about your experience, we're on the same itinerary Dec 15.

Have a blast!!

Also, my expectation is that you have an awesome time. Any replies and posts to us are just a welcome bonus!!! :D:D:D

Thank you to all for the comments.

I'll do my best to meet your expectations and try to make some daily updates.

I wonder if you could check what the onboard price for the deluxe package is! Going on december 4th myself, and trying to decide wether i should buy it online at a 20% discount or wait until onboard and get my 30% D+ discount. Been rumors about some ships and sailings advertising a price higher than the usually advertised 55USD+18% grats,

Deluxe package is USD 58 pp per day, Refreshment package is USD 26 pp per day and Classic soda package is USD 8.50.

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Watched your sailaway yesterday. It was quite a sight to see the Serenade pull out past the Hal ship.

Hope you have a great cruise! :D

Watched your sailaway yesterday. It was quite a sight to see the Serenade pull out past the Hal ship.

 

Hope you have a great cruise! :D

Thank you

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We have had an excellent day in Key West today.

Key West is in surprisingly good conditions after the September hurricane. All in working order and well maintained.

While we did have a nice dinner in a relaxed environment yesterday the atmosphere was a bit more hectic in the main dining room today. however, the food was really good.

Below how I experienced the embarkation, departure and the first evening of the cruise:

We handed our Hertz rental car to the office at SE 24th street at 10:30 am. there is a shuttle bus from the Hertz office to Port Everglades - a relatively small bus, many cruise passengers and a lot of luggage.

3 ships in the harbor. First shuttle bus stop was berth 18, for Celebrity Reflection. Long car queues and slow traffic. Next stop was berth 29 for Serenade. Here the traffic was better organized and no traffic jam. On the other hand there were long queues at ID and security check. Check in was well organized and we were aboard just after noon. Had lunch in Windjammer.

At 1 pm the cabin was ready. E2-8538 Deluxe oceanview with balcony.

Unfortunately cleaning was inadequate. Half bottle of liquor in a closet and used batteries and toiletries in a drawer. In addition, much dust on surfaces and shelves.

The issues were rectified when our cabin attendant arrived at 17.

C&A Loyalty Program is continuously adjusted. As Diamond plus we have previously got upgraded bathroom amenities. Now only guests with more than 340 points will get upgraded bathroom amenities. Bathrobes still available on request.

Many years since we last sailed with Serenade. Around the ship to look at the facilities. Ship was in dry dock beginning of November - new decorations/painted, and new carpets on hallways, but still a bit worn after 14 years in service.

A well managed muster drill at 3:15 pm.

Departure was scheduled for 4 pm but was delayed almost an hour due to traffic in the harbor. Enjoyed the sail away in nice weather conditions from our balcony and upper deck.

Initially we had booked My Time Dining at 6 pm but changed to 07:30 pm we had time for a drink in the Schooner Bar. Excellent dinner In the restaurant and fine service.

Despite the small issues with the cabin a good start of the cruise.

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Have you ever been to Costa Maya,if not there is a village right off of the dock,there is a pool where you can swim for free and also a free[yes free]dolphin show that you can watch and see people who pay to swim with the dolphins,my wife and I watched this it was enjoyable.then we walked around the village.

Deluxe package is USD 58 pp per day, Refreshment package is USD 26 pp per day and Classic soda package is USD 8.50.

 

 

 

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Thank you Mogens!

Have you ever been to Costa Maya,if not there is a village right off of the dock,there is a pool where you can swim for free and also a free[yes free]dolphin show that you can watch and see people who pay to swim with the dolphins,my wife and I watched this it was enjoyable.then we walked around the village.

No - this will be my first visit to Costa Maya. Thank you for your advise. I'm not planning any excursions at Costa Maya. I'll visit the village.

Hi,

I am very interested in your review, especially with photos from the newly refurbished Serenade!

I already really look forward to your trip report with photos after your cruise!

I did plan to post more often during voyage. When I’m back I’ll post pictures and videos from Serenade.

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Departure went very smooth. We docked at Port everglades just before scheduled time at 7am. At 07:20 the ship was cleared and self-help departure could depart.

We had booked a shuttle to Miami airport and had got tag number 16 - scheduled departure was 8:40 am - we got breakfast in Windjammer

- already at 8:10 am we could depart.

Short queue for immigration - it took about 20 minutes from we left Serenade of the Seas until we were through immigration.

I'm making progress on my review of the cruise - expect to post the first draft in a few days - so far I've finished two videos - Port Everglades Sail Away and Tour of the Ship - More videos will follow - I post when review with pictures is available.

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