serenade of the seas need help !!

[genesisatabyss]

HI I have NEVER been on a cruise i am taking my first one 4/2/2005 to the caribbean on serenade of the seas ......... its from san juan and stops t 5 islands barbados, st. lucia, st. thomas, st. martin, and antigua ................. is there anthing i should no about the cruise and or the islands that anyone would like to share this is new to me .......

[Marysunshine]

You are going to love cruising. You pack and unpack once.....and you are on a resort with things to do at any given time. Live entertainment every night in the showroom, casino, lounges with live music for dancing, movie theaters, almost anything you would like. It's a great opportunity to meet people from all over the country and the world.

When considering what to do on the islands (I am on Serenade with this itinerary in three weeks, 4/9) try as best you can not to book to many things with the cruiseline. They usually charge much more than you would pay planning it on your own. For example, every island has van drivers waiting for you when you come off the ship and for something like $25 pp they will offer you a tour of the island with a stop at a beach and return to ship when you're ready. If you look at the Port of Call section of CC you can click on each island and get recommendations and information. I have been to all of these islands several times before, so I am skipping the van tour on most of them. But usually they are informative and fun. Of course water excursions are much more expensive so you may want to compromise and do some of each. If I can be of help feel free to e mail me. Traveler723@aol.com

[genesisatabyss]

thanks for the info i have been to europe 25 times !!! lol and this is the first time i have been on a cruise so im not used to it so im a little nervious and i dont wanna be ripped off by the cruise either cause that happened to others i know when we all went too paris so i want to be careful ........... now when u walk out the cruise is there a beach u can go to right there ?? or do u have to pay to go the the beach ? :D

[Broach]

You're going to love the ship. Went on it last February with my family. In St. Thomas go to Haverill Mall located right at the docks. Great Shopping. Coral World is very run down. Magen's Bay was extremely crowded. St. Maarten when on a tour of the island it was great. Go to Phillipsburg and do some shopping. Antingua I found was dirty wasn't crazy about it. St. Lucia take a catamaran cruise to Foudex Duex, I'm not spelling it right, it is a 7 hour cruise where you go to a volcano, plantation, and swimming. They also give you lunch and beverages. You get to see the Grand Pitons. It was great!!! Barbados went on the Atlantis submarine and did some shopping. Some friends of ours did a cave tour. It was great. Have fun enjoy. Formal nights are Sunday and Thursday.

 

Serenade of Seas 2/04

Adventure of the Seas 2/06

Freedom of the Seas 4/07

[NHWhiteMtns]

We're on the same cruise! I for one can't wait. We've been on one previous cruise and the one thing we said afterwards was we felt we hadn't seen much of the Islands (Grand Cayman and Jamaica). We signed up for water related tours on both islands. It was unusually hot while we were there, so we were happy with our choices...but except for the transfers from the pier to the tour we saw very little of island life. So this time...we tried to sign up for a mixture of tours. (we booked all thru RCI website).

 

We're going to have a great time!

 

Happy Packing!!!

 

Lynda

[Pumbaamd]

In St. Thomas, check out a side trip to St. John and Trunk Bay beach. You'll love the beach, it's part of the national park system and great for snorkling. St. Martin is very good for shopping. Antigua is not so bad. Plan a beach day at Jolly Beach resort or a similar all-inclusive. Antigua has some of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean.

In St. Lucia, we did the Pirate cruise. It's one of the ships featured in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean." And especially fun if you like rum punch. Don't feel too bad about taking a ship-sponsored tour. You may pay a little more, but your excursion is more or less sanctioned by the cruise line for safety, reliability, and getting you back to the ship on time. You don't want to miss the boat. It has happened.

You'll love the Serenade. We were on her sister, the Brilliance, in January. The Seaview Cafe is a great diversion for a snack or lunch. The all-adult Solarium Pool is open 24/7. It's gorgeous! And room service. . . anything you want delivered if you are lazy and not up to dinner.

[DebbiW]

We were just on the Serenade last week. Had a blast!!!! My recommendation is to read the port of call boards and see what you think. They were very helpful to me when we did our planning.

 

For chosing what to do in each port, I found some islands much easier to go your own way than others. I would recommend that you get a plan for St. Lucia and for Antigua. People who just plan to wander on their own on those islands seem to be disappointed - especially in Antigua.

 

Here's a run down of what we did:

 

St. Thomas

You're in port in St. Thomas on Sunday. The downtown shops are only open in the AM (I think until 1pm). The shops by the pier (Havensight Mall) are open until 4pm or so. In my Cruise Critic gang, we had one couple who were experienced cruisers who had a relationship with a favorite jeweler in St. Thomas. They took two of us couples from CC with them downtown (shuttle by the pier was a few $$ per person) to Grand Jewelers. Nice place, knowledgable diamond merchants. My husband got a great buy on a nice watch. I tried on a 9ct diamond ring and we got a great picture. (I suppose that's as close as I'll get to it!).

Downtown we met a nice tour guy named Raymond. He hangs out near Little Switzerland (where the shuttle bus drops you off) to line up his rides for the day. He takes you on an hour or so tour of island tourist sites, then drops you at a beach. We wanted to go to Coral World, and most of the people we were with wanted to go to Coki Beach (which is where Coral World is). Raymond was a good guy and I would recommend him. I asked him if they had pay phones at Coral World and he asked if I wanted to call the US. He said I could use his cell phone to call anywhere in the US, because he has unlimited minutes on the weekend. I thought that was way above the call of duty, and of course, he got more in a tip than I would have spent at the pay phone! He also took us to KMart on the way back to the ship. Dropped off anyone who wanted KMart, took everyone else back to port, then came back for us. All for $20/pp, plus tips.

 

St. Maarten

We did the ship's excursion to Divi Little Bay Resort. It was nice. Could have done it for a few bucks cheaper on our own, but with the ship we didn't have to figure anything out. Nice beach, fun volleyball game, good lunch, plus two drink tickets. They have lots of water toys for rental, at reasonable rates. We were bummed that we didn't look at the rate sheet until it was time to leave, because we probably would have done the jetski or something.

 

Antigua

We had a great time with Eli's Eco Tour. Adventure Antigua is the name of the company and there's lots of info on the Antigua board about them. I also saw this company recommended in Fodor's and another guidebook. (there's a 10% discount for booking online at their web site)

 

St. Lucia

We did the ship's excursion to the Soody Nature Hike. The hike through the rainforest was rather strenuous. We thought it was fun, but I heard later on the ship that someone in our group wasn't excited about it. It's a great price for what you get - an all day thing plus lunch. One warning, I didn't realize it would be such a long, scenic drive to Soufriere (and back to the ship). We stopped several times on the way for scenic views and at little marketplaces. The roads are very curvy and I found myself reaching for the Bonine. Never had trouble on the ship - just on some of those land-based bus rides. I've heard others really liked the ship's "Land and Sea to Soufriere".

 

Barbados

Our tablemates had been to Barbados before and liked a particular beach for snorkeling. Actually - our whole table of 10 (minus 2 who weren't feeling well) went together to this beach. It's called Folkstone. Laid back beach, lots of coral to investigate w/ snorkels. Snorkel rentals, beach chairs, umbrellas, and a small bar. You can take a taxi for $5/pp to this beach, or get adventuresome and take the city bus for $1/pp. You can ask at the tourism bureau for directions to the bus.

 

Happy Excursion Planning! Whatever you decide - have a great time on the Serenade!!!

 

Debbi

[jhodg56010]

Just a few ideas for your first cruise. First, talk to the people you meet and eat various meals with as the friendliness and oppenness and acceptance on the ship full of happy excited people is like none other. Second, participate! Go to as many ship activities as you can, they are fun. Finally, put sunscreen on early each day and reinforce it from time to time. The sun burns quickly in the Caribbean. Plan to have a great time and a marvelous adventure on a beautiful ship. Jim

[phoenixlady]

I recently returned from a S.Caribbean cruise to both of these islands. On Antigua, we used Lawrence of Antigua. On St. Lucia, we used Franks's tours. Both of these men are wonderful. They also both has websites - simply do a search of the islands and you'll find them. They showed us the best of the islands an we were very pleased. In particular, Frank is really great - courteous, funny and considerate. He even supplied soft drinks for the adults and juices for the kids.

[cruzobsessed]

we were on the jewel (sister ship of serenade) this past christmas. you probably picked (in my opinion) the best category of ship for your first cruise. it is easy to navigate and so elegant. you must try portofinos one night for dinner. well worth the 20.00 extra.

next christmas we're on the serenade doing the southern carib and because of these boards i have the whole trip firgured out.

in antigua.....day pass with pineapple beach (on my own)

in st. martaan....divi little bay(on my own)

in barbados.....silver moon catamaran (booked on my own)

in st. lucia.......reduit beach (on my own)

we have been on 2 other royal carib cruises and booked excursions through the ship before. because of all the info that's available on these boards....i have the confidence to get off the ship...head for a cab....and get to my destination cheaper and on my own timetable.

good luck....you'll love cruising and i wish i were going with you!!!

[Rondo]

We were on the Serenade last summer to Alaska and it's the most beautiful ship we have been on. We did the southern route on the Adventure and our favorite stops were Antigua - Eli's tour (http://www.adventureantigua.com) and St. Lucia - Jungle Tours. (http://www.jungletoursstlucia.com) By the time we got to Barbados we were so tired we just had a taxi drive us around the island, but just wanted to get back to the ship!! It is an exhausting schedule, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat!!

 

This summer while in St. Thomas we're going to give High Pockets Daysail a try. (http://pws.prserv.net/sailhighpockets)

 

You're going to have a wonderful time!!

 

Rondo