Been on Serenade RECENTLY???

[tinaparrotthead]

We will board the Serenade Nov 6 and the last time we were on the Serenade, it seemed that everything was DEAD after 10 p.m. On our roll call we are trying to find a bar with live music and dancing so we can party. If you have been on the Serenade recently, what bars did you find great music and dancing?

 

Thanks for all who respond!!!

[jsteinberg]

We will board the Serenade Nov 6 and the last time we were on the Serenade, it seemed that everything was DEAD after 10 p.m. On our roll call we are trying to find a bar with live music and dancing so we can party. If you have been on the Serenade recently, what bars did you find great music and dancing?

 

Thanks for all who respond!!!

 

I was on the sept 25th sailing....and it is still pretty dead. We tried to go to the piano bar with some guy named Alvin Castillo or something like that...instead of playing he was sitting at a table smoking and talking to the one bartender there, and the lights were off. When we asked if there was supposed to be music in there, he said yes and put out his cigarette and turned the lights on, and started playing...he was not good! we walked next door to the vortex and they were having karaoke...in spanish. We went back to the piano bar 5 minutes later and they guy had already stopped playing and turned the lights off and was smoking again! No joke!

 

That was the one negative to our serenade sailing, the late night entertainment. Everything else about our sailing was excellent.

[hancogran]

I'd be interested in answers to this too since we sail Serenade in January.

 

I'd just finished reading a lot of reviews, and it seems that the lack of nightlife was a common complaint of quite a few cruisers who wrote a review. We're not ones to party all night but it would be nice to have someplace to sit and listen to music and have a drink after dinner. Maybe with the port intensive itinerary, people are too tired to stay up late. :confused:

[Mariketa]

I'd like to hear about the night life as well, I'm not much for staying up super late, but I'm going to try and make it past 9 p.m. this cruise, lol. There are so many ports though and though it's been 6 years since my last cruise, I remember being really wiped out on port days, especially if there was an excursion involved.

[jsteinberg]

if you guys have any other questions let me know

[hancogran]

if you guys have any other questions let me know

 

Can you remember which nights were formal nights? I'm guessing ours will be Sunday and Thursday but Serenade leaves on a Saturday during the winter, instead of Sunday, so ours will likely be different. Sunday will be our first and only sea day.

[jsteinberg]

Can you remember which nights were formal nights? I'm guessing ours will be Sunday and Thursday but Serenade leaves on a Saturday during the winter, instead of Sunday, so ours will likely be different. Sunday will be our first and only sea day.

 

we departed on a sunday. 1st sea day for sure...which was monday for us. 2nd one 2nd was thursday i believe

[hancogran]

we departed on a sunday. 1st sea day for sure...which was monday for us. 2nd one 2nd was thursday i believe

:) Great! Thanks so much.

[jsteinberg]

:) Great! Thanks so much.

 

no problem. ive been meaning to write a full review, maybe later today.

[PaddleAddict]

On the Sept. 25 sailing we left on Sunday. The first formal night was Monday and the second was Friday.

 

Yes, it was dead many nights due to the port intensive itinerary. I agree that the piano player was pretty bad.

 

The Vortex started DJ music at 11 pm. Sometimes it was good, sometimes not so good. The DJ did not seem to want to keep the party going. The dance floor would be packed and instead of continuing with that kind of music he would put on something slow and the floor would clear out. It was very odd.

 

The deck party was fun and it went really late. After 1:00 at least. I think that was Tuesday night. But it was the same DJ and he did the same kind of thing with the music. The 70s party on the final night was also fun, but that was over pretty early.

 

The casino was nearly always dead regardless of the time.

[tinaparrotthead]

That's what I was afraid the responses would be! The piano player was pretty bad last Janauary too!

Did anyone even see your CD much?? We didn't on our cruise and I think part of the problem is the CD they choose for the Serenade. If you have a good CD then there will be more going on around the ship. We loved the Serenade as far as the ship itself was concerned. Very clean and well kept but just nothing going on. We went to a couple of trivia games (only because there was nothing else going on) and there was a whole total of 3 people there. I never saw anything "fun" much. The itinerary is incredible and so that is why we chose the Serenade once again.

 

I'll go back to my roll call and give them the sad news....thanks everyone for responing!!!

 

Happy Cruising!!!

[PaddleAddict]

The CD was actually very good! I forget him name.... He's Jamaican and hysterical!

[jsteinberg]

His name was Ricky....he was hit or miss, i thought he was just ok. In fairness, there is only 1 sea day so not alot of time for him to do anything. Since it is so port intensive, I think alot of people go to bed by 11 or 12 since you are in a new port early each day

[Tim,n,Sue]

We were on the Sept 25 and Oct 2 Serenade cruises. There are actually 2 piano players for the Schooner lounge. There is an English fellow who comes on after Alvin Castillo. He hands out a playlist of songs he could sing. There were well over 2 hundred songs on the list. He starts at 10PM and was pretty good. If you can get a crowd going, and that was tough on some nights, you can have a very good time. One night he went on to 12:45.

[jsteinberg]

We were on the Sept 25 and Oct 2 Serenade cruises. There are actually 2 piano players for the Schooner lounge. There is an English fellow who comes on after Alvin Castillo. Fe handsout a playlist of songs he could sing. There were at least 2 hundred songs on the list. He starts at 10PM and was pretty good. If you can get a crowd going, and that was tough on some nights, you can have a very good time. One night he went on to 12:45.

 

 

I wish we would have found him...Alvin was TERRIBLE!

[Sandy Sails]

Can you remember which nights were formal nights? I'm guessing ours will be Sunday and Thursday but Serenade leaves on a Saturday during the winter, instead of Sunday, so ours will likely be different. Sunday will be our first and only sea day.

 

Your formal nights will be Sunday and Thursday. Enjoy!

[Sequim88]

There is an English fellow who comes on after Alvin Castillo. He hands out a playlist of songs he could sing. There were well over 2 hundred songs on the list. He starts at 10PM and was pretty good.

 

Last February this would have been Steve Walters. His playbook was loaded with songs by British singers and bands. Lots of Beattles and such but some American favorites too. Very funny guy - especially if you buy him a Guiness or two. We were there and sang along every night. He started about 10pm and went to about 1am. Excellent entertainer.

 

Cruise director then was Marc Walker, another Brit (but lives in Florida) and very funny.

 

This was a Saturday depoarture with Sea Day at the end so our Formal nights were 2 and 6. Rest were all Casual except one was listed as Caribbean/Casual. No Smart Casual nights.

[cantwaittogoagain]

if you guys have any other questions let me know

 

Did they have the refillable beer coolers available on the Serenade? Looks like it's hit or miss with the ships.

[Sequim88]

There was another thread around that I had mentioned I could post the Cruise Compases for each day but I can't find that. Hopefully the person looking for them will check out this thread. I hav enot posted attachments before so hopefully this will work.

 

Sorry about the scan qaulity. I had to knock them down a bit to meet the CC site file size limit. But they might serve to give a general idea of activities and entertainment available. This particular cruise was the St. Maarten, BVI, St. Kitts, Dominica and Barbados route with say day at end.

Serenade-Day1-opt.pdf

Serenade-Day2-opt.pdf

Serenade-Day3-opt.pdf

Serenade-Day4-opt.pdf

Serenade-Day5-opt.pdf

Serenade-Day6-opt.pdf

Serenade-Day7-opt.pdf

[chellebell91987]

Thank you soo much for these!! I have been looking everywhere with no luck..This route isn't done too much.

[cheaptravel]

I was on Serenade September 25th cruise as well and agree with the prior comments. The most "life" we saw at all in the evening was always in the Centrum bar. We also found the Casino to be totally empty most evenings. I agree that it's so port intensive that folks are wiped out from the day and need to get to sleep early for the next morning ... but in the case of the Casino I wonder if the economy is also a factor. Of all the times we walked through there, I seldom heard any "hits" either when there were people there. Who wants to waste their $$ on tight machines when the next port awaits to spend $$ at ?? :D

 

I would like to hear from those that have been on Adventure - if it seems as empty on that ship as well. With the Promenade, it seems you'll see more "life" as that is the main area to walk through. Those lounges on Serenade are rather secluded in the back of the ship - not my favorite layout.

[bigque]

Yes the late night entertainment is pretty dry on the Serenade. I would walk around at 10:00 at night and there was nothing going on anywhere. I would eventually just wind up back on my baclcony for a while, then go back out and see if things had picked up. Still nothing, so then I would just call it a night and go to bed. But I still loved that cruise....Awesome!

[raerae]

Oh boy...there are 58 of us going on this ship on October 30th. Guess we will have to liven up the nightlife!!!! :D

[stones902]

Oh boy...there are 58 of us going on this ship on October 30th. Guess we will have to liven up the nightlife!!!! :D

 

We'll be there for that sailing too. Nightlife is generally not a problem for us. :D

[Ricochet]

We'll be there for that sailing too. Nightlife is generally not a problem for us. :D

Hmmm...we might be staying up late a few nights as well. :D