Serenade Itinerary Change - South. Carib??

[horsecrazygirl]

I saw something mentioned on these boards awhile ago about an itinerary change for the Southern Caribbean route - something like every other week Barbados and St. Lucia were switched around? We're cruising in Jan. 2006 - does anyone know if the itinerary is as posted on the RCCL website? It shows every week the same order: St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados. I'm thinking maybe it was a temporary change - now after searching I can't even find that thread.

 

This is quite important when you're trying to schedule shore excursions! Thanks in advance for any help!

[bUU]

I'd be interested to know the answer to this. I feel it would be a great change, IMHO. One of the things that made our decision between Adventure of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas more difficult was that they had the two ships on different itineraries, instead of having them play leap-frog, switching off between the two itineraries. Seems to me that they may even be able to prompt some passengers to do back-to-backs if they switched off itineraries.

[Ocean Boy]

What does Serenade alternating its Barbados and St. Lucia stop have to do with Adventure? The two ships USED to alternate the two southern routes but now Serenade only does one route while Adventure alternates the two.

 

As far as the original question, it appears that Serenade has been alternating the two ports of call that you mentioned for some time now and any reason that I offer for it would just be speculation though I imagine it has to do with other vessels calling on the ports. One of St. Lucia's piers did sustain some hurricane damage. It also seems that with this alternation periodically puts Serenade and Adventure in St. Lucia at the same time and that causes one of the ships to have to tender which happened to us.

 

When I booked our cruise the RCI site showed the order as St. Lucia-> Barbados. Our documents and cruise were reversed. Several internet sites that I had visited showed the correct order for our cruise so I wasn't surprised. At this time I am not sure what to advise you on being sure of the order of your cruise. Though as I'm sure you know, RCI reserves the right to change the order of the ports at any time. One thing is for sure, do not count on customer service giving you the correct answer to your question. I guess in this case they have a 50-50 chance of getting it right.

[horsecrazygirl]

Thank you Ocean Boy! I'll check some different internet sites for our dates in Jan. & see what they say. I've put off contacting RCCL customer service - I don't have a lot of faith in what they tell me! Do you remember what sites you looked at that listed the different itinerary? I'm planning to check the obvious ... Travelocity, Expedia, etc. I already checked the cruisecal.com website & it lists the "original" itinerary - Barbados being our last stop.

 

It wouldn't matter, except that I've booked the Silvermoon catamaran in Barbados & I anticipated that being our last stop. I'm sure that if I wait for our cruise documents, it will be too late to reschedule the Silvermoon.

 

Thanks again!

[ccdude100]

Just did the serenade with the St. Lucia -> Barbados route and I would've prefered it the other way arround. St. Lucia was an amazing island with the nicest people I've ever encountered on any of my vacations!

 

It would've been nice to end off on this note.

 

btw, horsecrazygirl.....have you got any plans to ride on the islands? My daughter and niece are both 'horse crazy' and I went with them for a ride in Antigua. We went to Runaway Bay.....and a gentlemen with his sons had a few horses right there. They appeared to be in good shape....well cared for......so four of us went for a ride......$20/hour.

[Miss Vickie]

What's your sail date, horsecrazygirl? We're booked for 1/7/06 - second time on Serenade, 5th or 6th on this itinerary, not sure which. From what we've read, Serenade's alternating the port order until the dock in St. Lucia is repaired. It wasn't hurricane damage. We know that, because we were there on Empress this January, and both piers were in working order.

 

BTW, Serenade has always done this specific itinerary in the Caribbean - it's never alternated with the Adventure itinerary. Adventure alternates itineraries during the time of year when Serenade (and previously Radiance) is in the Caribbean - the rest of the year it sticks to the Aruba route.

[Ocean Boy]

jlmolner...

 

It is possible that you could be correct but when Serenade was first put into service and I was looking at the southern route I seem to remember not only having a choice of route but I choice of ship on the Aruba route. The second season there was no longer a choice of ship on the Aruba route. I might be wrong but that is how I remember it.

[horsecrazygirl]

jlmolner - our sail date is also 1/7/06! If you know the order of the itinerary, let me know! I'll be out of town for a few days, so I won't be checking this board until Friday - but I will check!

 

You obviously like the Serenade! I'm sure we will too - we're an extended family of 10 - four teens, two 40-somethings, and four 60+ers. We've previously sailed the Voyager class (Explorer & Navigator) and Carnival's Paradise. We're anxious to see the Radiance Class - I think I'll miss the promenade, but the Serenade's itinerary sold me!

 

ccdude100 - No plans to ride in the islands. We have 4 horses of our own, and unless I'm in the Rocky Mountains, or somewhere else out west, I prefer to ride what I have. I'm sure it would be different if we didn't ride all the time, though. Riding in the surf always looked fun to me! $20 is a GREAT price - glad to hear the horses looked well cared for. I've seen so many on other islands that looked pretty sad. I'll keep Runaway Bay in Antigua in mind, but I doubt any of the others would go for this. I'm trying to talk them into Eli's Eco Tour I've read so much about, but they're not wanting to part with the money since we're also booked on Silvermoon in Barbados - hopefully, unless I have our itinerary wrong!

[Ocean Boy]

horsecrazygirl...

 

You are right about missing the royal Prominade. I thought I would and I did. BUT, Serenade has plenty about her to make up for it. If you have already done Navigator and Explorer I would recommend you try Serenade. I made the choice as I had already done Explorer and Mariner and wanted to try something different. I don't have any regrets about the choice I made. I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

Of course you could always do the same itinerary on Adventure if you wanted to but I say give Serenade a try.

[horsecrazygirl]

Ocean Boy - We probably would have done Adventure, but the only time 2 of my teens could go was 1/7/06 - college for them doesn't start until after Martin Luther King Day. Adventure isn't doing that itinerary then - it's doing the Aruba, Curacao route. I like the St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua itinerary better - actually, I have no idea since I haven't done Southern before - I guess it just sounds better to me.

 

Anyway, how could a cruise be BAD? My husband is more worried about the "small" ship - how you could classify Serenade as "small" is beyond me! Everything I've read has been positive - I'm sure we'll love it! Thanks for your input!

[Ocean Boy]

horsecrazygirl...

 

Trust me Serenade does not feel small. She just happens to be smaller than a Voyager class ship. Never did she feel crowded nor did we ever have to stand in line for anything while aboard her. Even tendering in St. Lucia was not an issue as far as waiting or lines. With few exceptions, which I will get into in my review, she is a well thought out and designed ship.

[cruzobsessed]

we're on the serenade next christmas. we are also already booked on the silvermoon. plus we've booked pineapple beach resort in antigua. when will we know if the itinerary has been switched? yikes!!!

[nreilly]

We are also booked for 1/7/06 on the Serenade. I can't wait!!!

[Miss Vickie]

horsecrazygirl & nreilly, we all have to sign up for a meet and mingle! I figured we wouldn't know what order our ports would be in until closer to sailing, but guess I'll e-mail RCCL and see if they can tell me. If they do, I'll post. We're already booked for Eli on Antigua - our 4th time with him. We were one of his original cruise ship passengers (and actually posted the original review on the boards). We love Eli, and actually keep in touch with him between cruises. That's the only island we've actually committed to doing anything.

 

 

 

Serenade definitely isn't a small ship. Not as big as a Voyager class ship, but certainly not small. On the other hand, there are plenty of secluded spots, and in 3 previous sailings on Radiance class ships, we've never felt crowded. We were on Empress this January - now that's small. Sailing waters we've sailed repeatedly, in oceans no larger than swells we've been in in the past, and it's incredible how much more motion there was. Never would have felt Serenade move, but Empress was bobbing around like a cork in a bathtub! I like the motion, so it didn't bother me at all :D .

[horsecrazygirl]

jlmolner - I have a question about Eli's tour - since you seem to be an "expert". I've read a lot on the Antigua site of these boards, and even Eli's responses, but I'd like your opinion. My mother-in-law has had 2 knee replacements and is overweight. I was wondering if you you think she would enjoy Eli's if she doesn't get off the boat. I'm not sure she could navigate the ladder, and she might be embarrassed if she got off & couldn't get back on or needed help with "strangers" around, etc. We've signed up for the Silvermoon & she's hoping she can do those ladders off the back of their catamaran so she can snorkle, but if not, she says she'll be happy to just stay on board. With Eli, I know she definitely would not try going to the cave I've read about, as everyone says it's rocky & rough terrain. However, she might enjoy getting off the boat & snorkeling if she thought she could get back on. Knowing her, though, I would guess she'd just play it safe & stay on the boat. In all your times with Eli, have you ever noticed if anyone stayed on the boat the whole time? I know she won't get the "whole" experience, but at least she'd be included with the rest of our group most of the time. One of us might even stay on board with her at the different stops. Just wondered if you thought it would be worth the $$ if you don't leave Eli's boat.

 

Thanks a lot!

[erniesband]

You may want to check out Eli's website; he says he's posted pictures of the front ladder. I suspect she might have difficulty with the back ladder. I didn't notice the front ladder when we were on his tour last (shortly after he got the new boat), but my husband did, and he thinks that if your mother-in-law thinks she could navigate the ladder on a cat, she could probably navigate the front ladder on the boat. You could also ask Eli what he thinks - he's pretty honest in his assessment. That being said, every time we've gone with Eli, there's been at least one person, and usually several, who stay on the boat all day, and have a great time. Last time, he even served lunch on the boat, not on the beach. You could ask him how he's doing that now, to determine if she'd need to get off the boat for lunch. You're right about Hell's Gate and Bird Island being difficult, although she'd probably enjoy the beach on Bird Island. Also, Eli is going to be starting a second tour, circumnavigating the island, with snorkeling stops, when the new boat he has on order is delivered, and that doesn't sound like it would include the hiking/climbing. Truthfully, we don't know which tour we'll be doing yet - we'll talk to Eli later in the year and figure it out.

 

Jodi