Serenade of the Seas and San Juan

[saraet4464]

I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on this ship that sails out of San Juan. My husband and are are thinking about this cruise next March, especially since I discovered that We can fly round trip out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL to San Juan for around $150 per person. :)

[dnwside]

We sailed this past Feb and had a blast. The ship is really a clean and well run place. San Jaun is a very active city and easy to walk around. We are thinking of going ther one day just to see the rest of the island. :D All of the other islands have plenty to see and do. We will go back in the next coupe of years.

[Luv2CruiseRCL2]

I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on this ship that sails out of San Juan. My husband and are are thinking about this cruise next March, especially since I discovered that We can fly round trip out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL to San Juan for around $150 per person. :)

 

 

We jut took a cruise out of San Juan in February. Went on the Serenade. We loved the weather and the stops. I would book the Adventure of the Sea's over the Serenade myself. You will have a great time! The beaches and swimming on St Thomas is something you will love, I know we did.

[saraet4464]

Than you for your post. I am hoping we will be able to do this. We just have to see how this economy continues to impact my husband's business.

[cruiseguy1016]

We just sailed on the Serenade 3 weeks ago. Here is a link to my review. We loved the ship, the crew and the intinerary. I'm sure you will too.

[Cuizer2]

I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on this ship that sails out of San Juan. My husband and are are thinking about this cruise next March, especially since I discovered that We can fly round trip out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL to San Juan for around $150 per person. :)

 

Here is a link to my review of the Serenade of the Seas ...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=41668

[snownyet]

we love the serenade, so much that we're going again this year. Just one couples opinion but we think sailing from san juan blows away sailings out of florida. Better and more ports and san juan itself is a great place to sightsee and stay pre or post cruise. If you book far enough in advance, the lower cost of the san juan cruise offsets the higher airfare.

[jorapp]

We sailed the Serenade last May and had a wonderful time. Follow the link in my signature to see pics.

 

The ship is simply spectacular. Not too huge like some ships, and decorated in a nautical art deco style which is lovely.

 

Every staff and crew member we met was friendly and helpful.

 

The southern caribbean route is a port intensive itinerary, so don't be surprised if you feel like staying onboard the ship for one of the port days...we did.

 

We can highly recommend Serenade. :)

[cruiseguy1016]

We have also booked Serenade again for next year. Airfare for us is not cheap though. We fly from upstate NY. Two years ago we paid $350 round trip, this year we paid $710. I sure hope we can find cheaper flights for next year.

[Coralc]

We jut took a cruise out of San Juan in February. Went on the Serenade. We loved the weather and the stops. I would book the Adventure of the Sea's over the Serenade myself. You will have a great time! The beaches and swimming on St Thomas is something you will love, I know we did.

 

Really? You like Adventure better? Different ships for everyone.:) We have sailed on Navigator and Mariner and much prefer the Radiance class. :D

 

I guess Serenade is heading off to Europe next year..for the summer? :confused: I am just excited because we are sailing on Serenade again in 4 weeks. :D We can't wait!

[SeaTeach]

I have sailed 2 different itineraries on AOS and the SOS. Both were port intensive and a lot of fun. The strange thing is that I'm a big ship person, but fell in love with the SOS which is not huge. Since there was very little time on the ship, I did not miss the bells and whistles. Who knew!!

[rummenroman]

Sailed her Jan 09 and loved it so much I have her booked again March '12.

[BopRN]

Have sailed both SOS and AOS...either itinerary is great. I still love the bigger ship. Seemed like the SOS was sawed in half...everything smaller and more crowded. No Royal Promenade which we really missed. But with that said, we are going on the SOS in May again because of the itinerary. Guess we will just have to suffer...LOL:D

[JohnHall1965]

Here is another option for San Juan with a similar itinerary only on a ship that will be about 1 month out of a dry dock refurbish and the balcony price looks like it is only a 100.00 more a person (depending on the date). It is on the Celebrity Summit .

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do?packageCode=SM07D078&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results&sailDate=1120303

[MJN]

Normally we like the Voyager class (Adventure) or freedom class ships ourselves for the promenade they both offer but have to say our cruise on the Serenade out of San Juan last August was truly wonderful. Cannot say enough about how much we really enjoyed it and didn't miss the features offered on the larger ships because the ship is laid out so nice and has so much glass. The other poster who said the port intensive nature of this itinerary makes up for the loss of the features the larger ships offer is right. You don't have time to miss them because you are not actually on the ship as long. We will be sailing on the Radiance in July in Alaska and I am sure we won't have time to miss those features on that ship either. My DH is normally the "ship" lover and I am the "port" lover but we both really enjoyed our time on Serenade very much. Whichever ship you choose you will love the southern Caribbean itinerary. Our favorite island was Dominica, followed by both St. Thomas and San Juan. It is all great though, have an awesome cruise.

[wethetraveler]

Here is my review of the Serenade of the Seas from May 2010. I will sail on her again in a few weeks. I think you will like the ship.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=71788

[snownyet]

We have also booked Serenade again for next year. Airfare for us is not cheap though. We fly from upstate NY. Two years ago we paid $350 round trip, this year we paid $710. I sure hope we can find cheaper flights for next year.

 

 

cruiseguy1016, are you flying out of Rochester? We fly out of Buffalo. Last yr we paid $370 RT, I booked again last month and am paying $386 RT, checked again this morning and its still only up to $402 Also check out directair out of Niagara Falls, their schedule to san juan is more limited than the typical commercial airline limited but if you can match dates they do round trips to san juan for under $300.

[snownyet]

cruiseguy1016, are you flying out of Rochester? We fly out of Buffalo. Last yr we paid $370 RT, I booked again last month and am paying $386 RT, checked again this morning and its still only up to $402 Also check out directair out of Niagara Falls, their schedule to san juan is more limited than the typical commercial airline limited but if you can match dates they do round trips to san juan for under $300.

 

Cruiseguy1016 as a follow up, Directair flys from Niagara Falls to San Juan mondays and fridays, Im getting ready to book a flight for another cruise out of san Juan in December. The cost is $ 99 each way or $184.18PP round trip + tax and TSA fees.

[FOXTROT]

Was on the Serenade last month. Highly recommend this cruise. To us this is our favorite class of ship.

[Luv2CruiseRCL2]

Really? You like Adventure better? Different ships for everyone.:) We have sailed on Navigator and Mariner and much prefer the Radiance class. :D

 

I guess Serenade is heading off to Europe next year..for the summer? :confused: I am just excited because we are sailing on Serenade again in 4 weeks. :D We can't wait!

 

Yes, we prefer the Voyager class much more than the Radiance class ships. Like you said different ships for everyone. Our favorite ship to date has been the Mariner. We did the Serande this February and got the great view of the life boats hanging out right below our balcony. So if we were to go back on that ship we would pick a room much higher than the 7th floor. We are going on the Oasis in November and back to the Mariner in February for an aft JS.

[Sequim88]

While all our experience is only with Radiance class I can find no fault with them. We'll try Voyager class in May 2012 for a TA. Serenade has so much glass it has a very open feeling. Lots of unique things about this class. We especially apreciated the whole Safari Club set of lounges and the fact that she has both Portofino and Chops plus Seaview Cafe. No Johnny Rockets too which in our book is a plus.

 

We went down to San Juan a couple days ahead so we had a whole day to rent a card and drive around. You can't really get to know Puerto Rico without getting out of San Juan. We drove to Arecibo and toured the observatory and radio telescope and als went down in the Rio Camuy Caverns. Driving around in the hills was amazing because in February we were so starved for the color green after all that white snow at home.

[Pickels]

I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on this ship that sails out of San Juan. My husband and are are thinking about this cruise next March, especially since I discovered that We can fly round trip out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL to San Juan for around $150 per person. :)

 

this past March we sailed out of San Juan on the AOS; the port was easy to get to and , to be processed. We stayed in SJ before and after our cruise. We stayed at the Marriot Resort and Stellaris Casino and enjoyed it. One word of caution, avoid the Caribe Hilton; not worth the price and they lack in customer service. Enjoy your cruise, you will love RCi.

[maxs mom]

We've been cruising with RCI for 26 years and the Serenade is by far, our favorite ship. Love all the glass and knowing that you are at sea. But the main reason we love the Serenade is the crew. It should be a requirement that all new personnel sail on the Serenade before going to any other ship so they can learn how it's done! They are the best!! Did a B2B last summer and doing it again in about 4 weeks. Can't wait!