Review: Serenade of the Seas

[lindalo5032]

I think he said they fixed the hot water problem, but they brought him a fan for the temperature problem. Terre, please correct me if I'm wrong--thanks!

[mrchips14]

Mr. Chips, you are asking someone who is very directional challenged a tough question! I don't know. Our first port was Curacao, then Aruba, Dominica and then St. Thomas, so I guess we went south and came back up.

 

Digital Curator, the last day special was $99.

 

 

I figured the ship would go south, to get to Curacao going north would take way to long. LOL

 

But when you leave San Juan I am wondering if the ship went left or right around Puerto Rico.

 

Anybody know?

 

I am going to post this on the San Juan board now too.

 

Thank for any info.

[Terre]

I don't know if the ship went left or right...

 

Yes, the hot water was fixed, but not the A/C. Someone came and messed with it, but it didn't get much cooler. We usually take a small fan because all our cabins now are too hot for us. We've noticed over the past couple of years that all the cabins we've had are too warm and we're thinking they are saving money by cutting back on the thermostats.

 

Lindalo, I would not change the cabin. It is a great location with only one cabin beside it. The balcony is great. I called RCI and asked for the Special Needs dept. I ordered the foam mattress with topper, two feather pillows, and a fan. When we got there we had everything, but the fan. We took a thermometer to check the temp. We called the guest services desk and told them we didn't have the fan we'd ordered from special needs. They weren't sure if they could get us one. After dinner we called about it again and they told us the same thing. We were talking to our cabin steward about how hot it was in the cabin and he said he had a friend who had a fan he wasn't using and would ask him if he could borrow it. When we came back from the show later, we had the fan and a note from Special Needs, so we're not sure who came up with it, we were just glad we had it.

 

We kept the curtains to the balcony closed during the day to help keep some of the heat out, but Sean would always have them open after he cleaned.

[Terre]

BTW...I'm a girl;)

[socorny]

Your review was VERY informative, as well as the pics. I've only done one other cruise and that was with Carnival several years ago. This ship really does outshine Carnivals. Can hardly wait. Just the girls, me, mom and sister!

[RLPro_Sfo]

Hi Terre! Loved your review and pictures. My family and I also had a wonderful time on this cruise. We enjoyed meeting you and your husband. Take care, see you around Cruise Critic :)

 

Rebecca

[schooner girl]

I just want to say thanks to Terre and Bubba who were our fearless captains on our cruise. We had so much fun...even got to celebrate with a guy that was celebrating his 100th cruise. But not to be outdone...there was another guy that had 137 under his belt!! If you are in a suite...check out the concierge lounge several times per day. The drinks and food are complimentary, and I am sure that we more than drank the difference in price for the grand suite we were in. It also had a "huge" marble bathroom with tub and double sinks, too. Owner's suites have a bidet (if anyone could use one). One thing I forgot to do was take advantage of free room service...especially nice on the balcony in the mornings. We didn't ask for feather pillows and egg crates like Terre did (I forgot) but our beds were VERY comfortable. I don't sleep as well at home! Also, if you have to visit the medical facility there is no charge if it is a virus...our son was sick one day at sea. They were wonderful and we got complimentary pay-per-view movies and mini-bar items (the candy and nuts in the fridge in our cabin) since he was confined to the cabin. WOW!! It was wonderful.

[gardengal22]

When the ship leaves San juan, does it go east or west around the island before turning south?

 

Thanks

 

When we sailed this itinerary in April, we sailed to the west out of San Juan.

[Terre]

Hey, Rebecca and Camille! I LOVED meeting y'all, too. We need to book another one now. Our cabin was directly under the concierge's lounge (I think -- we were under some lounge), but we never heard anything. It was so soundproof.

 

Rebecca...I have a great picture of your husband at the Quest. I had it in my album but took it out...didn't want to embarrass him!:D He looks great in your bra, BTW. (It is YOUR bra, isn't it?)

[Terre]

Your review was VERY informative, as well as the pics. I've only done one other cruise and that was with Carnival several years ago. This ship really does outshine Carnivals. Can hardly wait. Just the girls, me, mom and sister!

I enjoyed a smaller ship this time. I really love Carnival and was actually surprised at how comparable the Serenade was to our Carnival experiences. This is the first ship we've been on in a while whose quality food was as good as Carnival's. Still not as many selections as Carnival, but just as good. You will love this ship and you'll love Capt. Karin. She is so interactive and easy to understand.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[digital_curator]

Mr. Chips, you are asking someone who is very directional challenged a tough question! I don't know. Our first port was Curacao, then Aruba, Dominica and then St. Thomas, so I guess we went south and came back up.

 

Digital Curator, the last day special was $99.

 

 

Thanks Terre, sounds like a good deal!

[MJN]

Hi, Great review, was happy to see it. We are booked on this same itinerary in August, along with Broncosfan10. I was interested in your Sea and See tour in Antigua. I saw where you said it was hot down below and with it being cloudy you couldn't see anything. That concerns me. Perhaps we will change our mind about this tour. Did anyone at your table mention one they liked better? Were you happy overall with the captain, cruise director etc.? Sounds like you enjoyed the ship. I have seen mostly favorable reviews of this class of ship. We have this cruise booked for August and the Radiance booked for Alaska next year and we have never been on this class of ship before so we are really looking forward to it. This is also our first southern cruise and we will have two new ports so we are excited all around. Thanks again for sharing your experiences!

[TX.Mameow&Papeow]

I really enjoyed your review and pictures. We will be in the same cabin for a B2B, Oct.31 and Nov.7. Thanks for getting the hot water problem fixed and hopefully someone will get the AC fixed. If not I guess I'll be having a service call 14 days in a row! LOL We don't spend a lot of time in the cabin but I like to be comfortable. This will be our 14th and 15th cruises on Rccl and 3rd to the southern and eastern caribbean which is our favorite destination so far.:)

[Terre]

Hi, I saw where you said it was hot down below and with it being cloudy you couldn't see anything. That concerns me. Perhaps we will change our mind about this tour. Did anyone at your table mention one they liked better? Were you happy overall with the captain, cruise director etc.? Sounds like you enjoyed the ship. I have seen mostly favorable reviews of this class of ship.

Our guide had told us that it never rains there and that was the first day it had rained in two years! The problem with the sea part was that the boat is small. Everyone has a window which is great, and they have air conditioning, but it's still stuffy. Also, I could feel more movement down there and I have motion sickness really bad (thank goodness for Bonine!). If the movement doesn't bother you and it's sunny it would have be great. Maybe wait and let everyone else go down so you can be at the back. That way if you do have to go back up, you won't have to crawl over everyone to get to the back.

 

I don't really remember what everyone else at our table did that day, sorry.

 

We were very happy with the cruise director and the captain. Both were very friendly and always around. The CD actually was at our M&M, which we appreciated.

I really enjoyed your review and pictures. We will be in the same cabin for a B2B, Oct.31 and Nov.7. Thanks for getting the hot water problem fixed and hopefully someone will get the AC fixed. If not I guess I'll be having a service call 14 days in a row! LOL We don't spend a lot of time in the cabin but I like to be comfortable. This will be our 14th and 15th cruises on Rccl and 3rd to the southern and eastern caribbean which is our favorite destination so far.

Don't count on the A/C getting fixed. I think all ships keep the cabins warm now. When you meet Sean, tell him you want the fan that we had. The only problem we had was sleeping, as we too aren't in the cabin much. It's the perfect location. Right at the elevators, only one cabin next to you, none across from you, right at the library and you can sit in the library chairs and watch the activities from the Centrum Lobby. It's very sound proof, as I said, the music from the Centrum Lobby can be heard very well outside, but once inside the cabin, we didn't hear anything at all...not even people in the hallway. And you will love the balcony...it's quite roomy, but not a lot of sun.

[BMG]

Thanks for a great review,we will be doing a B2B in January.Do you know if the captain will still be aboard?By any chance did you hear who the Conceirge was.

 

Concierge was Francois Roux. He was fabulous, as were Fe and Jorge!

[BillOh]

The elevators are not located near the stairs and at first we thought there were no stairs and then we found them around the corner.

 

 

Thanks for that small detail, I appreciate knowing this ahead of time.

[Terre]

Thanks for that small detail, I appreciate knowing this ahead of time.

 

You're welcome. Not sure what deck you are on, but on deck 9, the stairs are to the right of the elevators around the corner. I noticed on some other decks they were across from the elevators.

[chelseabear]

Terre - Great review! We enjoyed meeting you guys and everyone else at the M&M. I'm sorry we missed the whale watching excursion with you, we were disappointed that we missed it.

 

We really enjoyed the food, the ship, our cabin and especially the concierge lounge. As someone else mentioned, Francois and Fe (in the concierge) were awesome!

 

We have sailed out of SJU several times and I would agree this was, by far, the easiest debarkation we have ever had. We were off of the ship around 8:00 am, breezed through customs, through security at the airport and were at the gate a little after 9:00 am.

 

I can't wait to check out your pictures tonight. Hope to see you on a future cruise!

 

Tina

[nyer]

I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but when I click on your link for your pictures all I get is one thumbnail and nothing else. Can anyone help me? We are going on the Serenade in a few weeks and I would love to view these pictures. TIA

[Terre]

I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but when I click on your link for your pictures all I get is one thumbnail and nothing else. Can anyone help me? We are going on the Serenade in a few weeks and I would love to view these pictures. TIA

Not sure what is wrong...I just clicked on the link and it opened the album. Try this:

Just click on it once and it should open. If not, e-mail me at terrec@bellsouth.net and I will send them to you that way.

 

Tina, it was great meeting y'all too, and I'm sorry you didn't make the whale watching, but you really didn't miss much...I took a nap for most of the trip! I'm ready to go again!

[BillOh]

You're welcome. Not sure what deck you are on, but on deck 9, the stairs are to the right of the elevators around the corner. I noticed on some other decks they were across from the elevators.

 

Deck 9 on the hump very close to the elevators. Thanks again.

[Terre]

BillOh, yes. We didn't have a hump, though. In fact our cabin was the first one on the left as you walk into the cabin hallway. The library is on the right. There was no other cabin beside us to the left (as you enter the cabin). The balcony is a great size. Our balcony is right bedside the glass window beside the elevators and under the concierge lounge. I think it was the concierge lounge...some lounge! So the stairs are on the other side of the open section where you can look down into the Centrum lobby.

[LBumb]

great job

[Terre]

Thanks, LBumb:)

[RLPro_Sfo]

 

Rebecca...I have a great picture of your husband at the Quest. I had it in my album but took it out...didn't want to embarrass him!:D He looks great in your bra, BTW. (It is YOUR bra, isn't it?)

 

That is so funny and embarrassing......yes it was my bra! We went to the Quest to laugh at all the antics, not to participate. I don't really know exactly how that happened. It came down to the last challenge and I was the only one who had not "contributed" to the team, so....:o My pictures are all fuzzy cause I was laughing so hard! Is there a way to send a private message and get you my email address? I would love it if you could send the picture of Marty.

 

Thanks Terre!

 

Rebecca