Your #1 favorite thing about Serenade of the Seas

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

They are paper thin crepes filled with your choice of strawberry, chocolate, and other fillings that vary (one was lemon if I recall correctly)

Dessert crepes. Then as an added form of decadence, trot over to the WJ and add some soft serve ice cream, YUMMY.

 

Yummy!:D

[BillOh]

The fact that most families with children/teens AVOID this ship! Makes it so much more enjoyable of a vacation!

 

That's encouraging, I wonder if that is the same after the other ship (Adventure, or Explorer, I forget) leaves for the season?

[BillOh]

Huge balconies on either side of the elevators.

 

That's where we booked! Enjoying this thread so far.

[BillOh]

I like to go back there late at night after the Windjammer is closed.

 

:)

 

 

I might not have thought to do that, Great tip, I'll add that to my list.

[BillOh]

Solarium is the "indoor" pool area.

 

 

 

 

I thought the Solarium on Radiance had a retractable roof. Is that not the case? But I can imagine on many days on this route it being very hot and this being a great place.

[BroncosFan2010]

That's encouraging, I wonder if that is the same after the other ship (Adventure, or Explorer, I forget) leaves for the season?

 

I guess we will have to find out.... I may switch to Celebrity after the Adventure takes off.

[BroncosFan2010]

I thought the Solarium on Radiance had a retractable roof. Is that not the case? But I can imagine on many days on this route it being very hot and this being a great place.

 

I have never seen it retracted, although it may be possible for them to do this.

[Sequim88]

Also sailed a sister ship in the Radiance class - Brilliance of the Seas - and all the above sounds very very familiar. So by proxy I would guess our favorites would be the Congo Bar area at the very back of the ship....on a moon lit night with the foamy wake (evening of sea day) glowing. Great viewpoint. Our Viking Crown Lounge on sea days. But do they "take it over" with bad art sales?

 

Another missing kid attractor is Johnny Rockets. Much better to have BOTH Chops and Portofino.

 

Balcony staterooms on Deck 9 forward of the forward elevators have a pretty good view into the flying bridge extensions, especially to watch docking operations if on side that will face dock. Several times they caught me "spying" with binoculars and waved. :o

 

Looking forward to the outdoor Windjammer seating for breakfast. Was too cold on North Atlantic to enjoy that much except at lunch time.

[BroncosFan2010]

Also sailed a sister ship in the Radiance class - Brilliance of the Seas - and all the above sounds very very familiar. So by proxy I would guess our favorites would be the Congo Bar area at the very back of the ship....on a moon lit night with the foamy wake (evening of sea day) glowing. Great viewpoint. Our Viking Crown Lounge on sea days. But do they "take it over" with bad art sales?

 

Another missing kid attractor is Johnny Rockets. Much better to have BOTH Chops and Portofino.

 

Balcony staterooms on Deck 9 forward of the forward elevators have a pretty good view into the flying bridge extensions, especially to watch docking operations if on side that will face dock. Several times they caught me "spying" with binoculars and waved. :o

 

Looking forward to the outdoor Windjammer seating for breakfast. Was too cold on North Atlantic to enjoy that much except at lunch time.

 

The outdoor seating is very nice, and I LOVE that both specialty dining restaurants are offered. I don't care for Johnny Rockets. I can eat "fast food" at home any day of the week.

 

I love that the Radiance class ships seem to be a nod back at old-school cruising. They have great amenities, but don't have the "kid attractors" of the larger ships.

[lovemylab]

I guess we will have to find out.... I may switch to Celebrity after the Adventure takes off.

 

Easiest way to avoid kids is to book cruises during a time of year when kids are more likely to be in school. I was on the Adventure last December and there were very few children onboard.

 

IMO, most famillies with children are going to be drawn to the newer and larger ships out of Florida (i.e. Oasis and Freedom class). Therefore, anything sailing out of San Juan should have far less children anyways.

[nunk]

Easiest way to avoid kids is to book cruises during a time of year when kids are more likely to be in school. I was on the Adventure last December and there were very few children onboard.

 

IMO, most famillies with children are going to be drawn to the newer and larger ships out of Florida (i.e. Oasis and Freedom class). Therefore, anything sailing out of San Juan should have far less children anyways.

 

There seems to be a lot of this going on in posts lately so I thought I'd ask- anyway to know how many kids are going to be on board? We leave in 4 days (with our darling and very well behaved 15, 12 and 6 year old) on the Serenade and are beyond excited! I'm really curious how many kids will be on board so we can see if this theory (Serenade having less kids because of size vs. FLA ships) is an accurate one.

[BillOh]

There seems to be a lot of this going on in posts lately so I thought I'd ask- anyway to know how many kids are going to be on board? We leave in 4 days (with our darling and very well behaved 15, 12 and 6 year old) on the Serenade and are beyond excited! I'm really curious how many kids will be on board so we can see if this theory (Serenade having less kids because of size vs. FLA ships) is an accurate one.

 

Another factor is when schools let out, I know many mainland schools end this week. I don't know if PR schools let our earlier since it gets hotter there sooner.

[CruisinRoxy]

What about night time entertainment - nightclubs on the Serenade? We are considering her for the family - "kids" age 24, 21, 20 - you know how they love the night life. When we were on Radiance I do not recall nightlife other than the big theater shows and small club single musicians. But to tell the truth, we get up REALLY early to go on excursions (our whale watching was at 8 am:eek:) so us old folks are not interested in anything past midnight or so. Young folks want to party til the wee hours, I just want to go sit on my balcony;)

[digital_curator]

What about night time entertainment - nightclubs on the Serenade? We are considering her for the family - "kids" age 24, 21, 20 - you know how they love the night life. When we were on Radiance I do not recall nightlife other than the big theater shows and small club single musicians. But to tell the truth, we get up REALLY early to go on excursions (our whale watching was at 8 am:eek:) so us old folks are not interested in anything past midnight or so. Young folks want to party til the wee hours, I just want to go sit on my balcony;)

 

Nightlife was pretty non-existent on our cruise (Alaska)- sometimes it was even hard to find a bar open after midnight:( but it might be different for the S. Caribbean.

[12marshall]

For us, the Serenade got us back into cruising.

Our experience as a family on Serenade was forever memorable.

I couldn't even list things... however I find it fun that many people have mentioned the seaview cafe. We thought we were the only ones who felt the same way... Hot wings to die for!

:)

[BroncosFan2010]

What about night time entertainment - nightclubs on the Serenade? We are considering her for the family - "kids" age 24, 21, 20 - you know how they love the night life. When we were on Radiance I do not recall nightlife other than the big theater shows and small club single musicians. But to tell the truth, we get up REALLY early to go on excursions (our whale watching was at 8 am:eek:) so us old folks are not interested in anything past midnight or so. Young folks want to party til the wee hours, I just want to go sit on my balcony;)

 

Not to be Debbie-Downer here, but we found the night-life on the ship pretty much non-existent. I am 25 and DH is 28. When we were on the Serenade in March 2009, we wanted to go to the night-club and there was never anyone in there! After the shows, the only thing that seemed "active" was the casino. Sometimes we would hang out with our CC group at the Champagne bar, but it was difficult to find scheduled night time entertainment. I wonder if the fact that the itinerary is so port intensive that everyone is too tuckered out at the end of each day.

 

By the way, despite our age, we prefer the early excursions as well. We always book the 8:00 or 8:30 excursions. At home DH gets up at 5:30, so even getting up at 7:00 is sleeping in on vacation!!

[Latvish]

We are booked for July 24, 2011.

Somehow when I saw that JS 1100 was available I thought this is the ship we will be on to celebrate my birthday and our friend Sandie's birthday.

 

And since I will be sharing the room with my wife and Schooner Bar Girl. If they start getting bad I will push the Sofa Bed out onto the balcony and unfold it and they can sleep outside at night. I wonder if my stateroom attendant would wonder where the sofa went during the night?

 

I have never been on a Radiance class ship so I hope it will be fun. But then again I never ever have not had fun on a ship.

 

Has anyone on this thread ever stayed in JS 1100?

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated

[nunk]

We are booked for July 24, 2011.

Somehow when I saw that JS 1100 was available I thought this is the ship we will be on to celebrate my birthday and our friend Sandie's birthday.

 

And since I will be sharing the room with my wife and Schooner Bar Girl. If they start getting bad I will push the Sofa Bed out onto the balcony and unfold it and they can sleep outside at night. I wonder if my stateroom attendant would wonder where the sofa went during the night?

 

I have never been on a Radiance class ship so I hope it will be fun. But then again I never ever have not had fun on a ship.

 

Has anyone on this thread ever stayed in JS 1100?

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

my parents have this cabin booked next week! I will try to remember to post about it afterwards!

[GSDsky]

We have done the Silvermoon 3 times in Barbados. They are great. Super service, excellent staff, great food and drinks, and they know where to go to see the turtles, fish, and coral. One of our favorite excursions. The last time we sailed with them was 1-2009.

 

Kevin

 

Your favourite was Kontiki Beach in Curacao;)

You did entertain the honeymooners:D

[Karma5]

my parents have this cabin booked next week! I will try to remember to post about it afterwards!

 

I have stayed in JS 1076 and loved it. All the suites are great. :)

 

The ship is beautiful, clean , great itineraries,

happy people everywhere.:)

 

Great crew, and service.

Love children and teens, but glad there are few

on board the months DH and I travel. :)

[CruiseyWoman]

This is killing me. Two weeks and I'm on the ship!

 

 

It's killing me too! 43 days!

[MJN]

We sail on the Serenade on 8-22-10 and can't wait! This will be our first time on a radiance class ship and we are so excited to experience her and our aft balcony cabin. First time too in the Southern Caribbean so looking forward to it too. Will report back upon our return in early Sept.

[Gabrielle R.]

We just booked our Holiday crusie with the Serenade. It was in large part due to ALL of YOU that we chose the ship! THANK YOU EVERYONE for your enthusiasm AND excitement!

 

10 days away from Minnesota December cold and snow will be great. We will be doing the following: St. Martin, St. Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Any suggestions on things to do? I did catch a few from earlier in the posts (Barbados Silvermoon- but what does it have that you liked?)

 

This will be our 3rd Royal cruise- We did the smaller Rhapsody and Spledour. Have done 7 Princess So it will be nice to do Royal again.

 

Any information/comments on what you liked recommend would be great! thanks!!!

Gabrielle

[bscrive]

The things I loved about the Serenade:

1. Chops grill, ate there twice could have done it a third time

2. The main foyer, magnificent

3. The Windjammer, great food

4. The covered adult pool, no kids

5. The staff, cannot ask for more:)

[bscrive]

We just booked our Holiday crusie with the Serenade. It was in large part due to ALL of YOU that we chose the ship! THANK YOU EVERYONE for your enthusiasm AND excitement!

 

10 days away from Minnesota December cold and snow will be great. We will be doing the following: St. Martin, St. Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Any suggestions on things to do? I did catch a few from earlier in the posts (Barbados Silvermoon- but what does it have that you liked?)

 

This will be our 3rd Royal cruise- We did the smaller Rhapsody and Spledour. Have done 7 Princess So it will be nice to do Royal again.

 

Any information/comments on what you liked recommend would be great! thanks!!!

Gabrielle

 

St. Martin, we did the Jeep 4x4, save your money on this one it was expensive and you never go off the pavement. We were disappointed

St. Kitts, the train ride around the island was fantastic

Dominica, The Emerald Pool and water was nice but the tubing was also a hit if the water in the river is good

St Lucia, the volcano tour was awesome but smelly. Another thing to do is the mineral baths, that was sooo soothing.

Barbados, The island tour was nice but not much to see. The nature centre was really nice. Wild monkeys and other animals to interact with, they are not in cages, you can feed them.

Grenada, we hired a taxi to bring us around the island, much cheaper than the excursion and he will stop at the spice plantation and the rum factory if you want him to. This port was my 2nd favourite island of all the ones I have been to, right behind Cuba.:D