Serenade 26th- Jan 2nd review and questions

[ncb106]

Can you tell me where the Latin band play at for new years eve

[apk1389]

Our first time to the island and had an enjoyable experience. We took the mountain biking and beach tour. After a longer than normal walk from the port we entered a pavilion to get on our tour. Where most of the tours jumped on the bus we got directly onto our bike. Shopping was very similar from store to store similar if not the same shirts. The mountain biking tour was more like a city tour on bike. The bike tour consisted of about fifteen people. With temperatures around eighty five degrees there was several breaks. The bike tour yes was tiring and did involve physical ability. There was times when we only had half of the people biking and the other half would ride in the truck that would follow us. If you are looking for a workout and an adventure than this is your tour (which is why I thoroughly enjoyed it.) The bike tour took you around the majority of the south side of the island. We went through down town Basseterre followed by a ride through the outskirts of down. We went through the sugar cane fields and old factories. Right before we reached the beach we reached what they called the “Hollywood of St. Kitts”. It did have a very nice Marriott Hotel. The houses in this area where at minimum four to five bedroom houses. We pulled of Frigates Bay for snack and a quick half hour beach break. The Banana Bread and the locally grown fruit were all very nice. Guava Juice was homemade and quite refreshing. After a half hour ride back to the ship we arrived back to the pavilion. They concluded the tour with a complimentary Carib Beer for any one over eighteen. Dinner that night was again casual with Caribbean theme. The highlight of the meal was lamb. We did notice that bar servers were in the main dining Room. The bar server never came to our table. Nothing to make our break, but some of the people at the table would have liked some after dinner drinks. The show of the night was the Love and Marriage Game Show. A little different without a normal show, show time was at ten thirty. Other highlights of the day was Serenade Family Feud Game Show at seven forty five. Win a Cruise Bingo at nine pm. Dancing Under the Stars Party eleven thirty to one and the Caribbean Pool Buffet. Drink of the day(Mango Cooler.) Movies of the day ( Watchmen, Polar Express, Race to Witch). The Buffet was well represented lots of people quite crowded. Tip of the Day: This is a packing tip. Many people decided not to pack shirts for the days. I met a few people who would buy a T-shirt in each port and wear the shirt the next day. It saves some space if you are really tight on clothes.

[apk1389]

there was a latin band playing all night in the safari lounge "conjunto Lunero". Lots and lots of Dancing from about eleven pm to a little after two am

[gagirl7143]

Great review!

[wolfcathorse]

did you ever find out why they didn't have a designated D/D+ breakfast area in the MDR?

[apk1389]

they may have had it early maybe because we got to breakfast late or also the mdr never was very busy for meals

[apk1389]

Another perfect weather day of eighty five degrees, the ship docks in Woodbridge bay. The area directly outside the ship is to best describe it built for cargo distribution and not so much for tourism. There is nothing within walking distance to the ship to go shop or see. Downtown cost two dollars on the shuttle. Many people said shopping was very bare. According to the TV shopping guide downtown was the best place to by leather on this cruise. We had decided to the Ultimate Adventure Combo with Wacky Rollers. It seems Wacky Rollers runs lots of the excursion that are offered by the ship. Before I continue onto my description of the excursion I would like to preface this was my favorite excursion of all time while cruising. Our tour consisted of two tours in one the high hopes, high ropes and the river tubing. We were a little hesitant getting into the van to get to the Wacky Roller facilities. Others have described it as a long and bumpy ride; it really was nothing like that. The ride took between twenty five and thirty minutes to get to the first leg of the tour. The roads were not terrible. We did though pass through some very poor areas which was very depressing. The start to our tour was the high hopes, high ropes portion. Arriving at the facility we unfortunately were delayed by twenty minutes or so. Queen Mary 2 was also in port that day and the facilities were not able to hold multiple tours. Once they cleared we entered the park after getting equipped. It started with about a two story latter climb and you’re off. The park consisted of bridges all different varieties, zip lines, and swings. The park took between a hour to a hour and a half to complete. It was the most extensive adventure park I have ever been in. It was truly thrilling and enjoying. I would love to do it again. It is not at all there for the faint of heart or lose afraid of heights. The highlight of the park was the Tarzan swing. Which consisted of you jumping straight down off a platform and swinging on a rope; the final part of the swing involved you jumping from the rope and trying to catch with your hands a cargo net. They are very specific to who they let do this. They want to make sure you are fit enough to do this. Of a tour group of almost thirty, only around ten were allowed to try. Though only eight chose to try the Tarzan swing. There was a restriction with ladies, which were no long nails. One lady oddly enough chewed her nails off to perform the swing because of the thrill of this activity. The tourt concluded with some refreshments which included sodas, water, fresh fruit, fried green bananas, and stewed cod. After a little break after being sweaty from the course we jumped back on the bus for ten minutes to get to the point for the tubing take-off. One complaint about doing the tubing this time of year was we were in the dry season so the river was not as high or moving as fast. Though it was truly fun and relaxing. We did hit rain on the tubes, but we were really wet already so it did not matter. The tubing trip consisted of about an hour and a half and a three mile course. We did run into some issues here though, we were still on the river at four fifty and we were still supposed to be back on the ship at four thirty. We finally got off the tubes at five and were back to the ship around five thirty. Our ride back we did get complimentary rum punch which was very strong, and could easily described as Nyquil. After jumping quickly in the shower we went to dinner. The highlight of the meal was the garlic tiger shrimp which I did enjoy three portions of. Head waiters always come by this night to help take the shrimp out of the shell. I decided to race the head waiter and I did beat him twice. Just something fun you might want to try. Dinner this night was also casual again. Tonight was described as the night of entertainment the show was of Fenis Henderson. He did a lot of singing and dancing and some impressions. Many people thought he was better than they thought he was going to be. Still not remarkable but very entertaining. The show times were at seven and nine. They also had a Rock “N” Roll dance party in the safari club. “Zig Zag” was the band for this. This was followed by the quest at ten thirty which was very entertaining as always. It though was surprising very crowded with almost no standing room in the area. There were about fifteen maybe even eighteen teams in the quest. Our team was luckily or I can say silly enough to receive second place. We would have been first place if we had a pair of false teeth. Followed by the quest was Late Night Adult Comedy at eleven forty five in the tropical theater. This was the second appearance of Rick Corso. He was much better in this atmosphere. One of his funnier lines that went well with day we just had went something like this “why would stick a billion dollar ship in a flea market.” This of course is the toned down version. Drink of the day (West Indian Yellow Bird). Movies of the Day( It’s a wonderful Life, Duplicity, Fred Claus). Tip of the Day- Dominica is very remote especially if you are going out to the waterfalls or seeing the rainforest. This may be the island to take a ship tour to be safe to make sure you make it back. We were a hour late and were very grateful to be on a RCCL tour.

[wolfcathorse]

We did run into some issues here though, we were still on the river at four fifty and we were still supposed to be back on the ship at four thirty. We finally got off the tubes at five and were back to the ship around five thirty. This may be the island to take a ship tour to be safe to make sure you make it back. We were a hour late and were very grateful to be on a RCCL tour.

 

Perhaps you weren't late, isn't there a time change?

[apk1389]

no we were late, there was no time changes while on the ship. the gangway was practically all cleaned up and RCCL was in constant contact with the drivers seeing how far we were due to the fact we were running late

[Miss Vickie]

Dominica is a phenomenly gorgeous island, with one of the very best private guides, Levi Barron. We used him last year and are booking with him again next year.

[debldp]

We are a party of six (four of us will be doing the b2b). Is there a cc group on this cruise?