Serenade of the Seas picture heavy fun review–12 day Med cruise incl DIY port trips!

[kirian]

Absolutely loving your detailed review. We have never been on a Radiance class ship but will be on the Serenade in October..your pics have given me so much to look forward to. I especially love the ones of the outdoor Windjammer..oh and also the Parma/Brie sandwich!! Looking forward to more..thanks again for a great review. Question...were there any "late night snacks" available?

 

Just wanted to say a quick hi to one of my fellow roll-callers :D. Isn't Stef doing an amazing job getting us even more excited for our Oct 22nd sailing, Peggy?

 

Ok, hijack over.... Back to our regular programming :p

 

Melissa

[new2cruise]

Thanks for a GREAT review...can't wait to read the rest! One quick comment- I've read on other postings that people with reservations for MTD often had to wait longer than those who just showed up and walked right in. This is what we experienced on our last cruise on the Independence. From what you said, this didn't seem to happen on your cruise. Now I'm not sure whether to make reservations on my next cruise. Hmmmm...such a dilemma!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Absolutely loving your detailed review. We have never been on a Radiance class ship but will be on the Serenade in October..your pics have given me so much to look forward to. I especially love the ones of the outdoor Windjammer..oh and also the Parma/Brie sandwich!! Looking forward to more..thanks again for a great review. Question...were there any "late night snacks" available?

 

Hi crusinpeg,

 

Thank you so much! This was our first time on a radiance class ship as well -- I tell you -- if you love the ocean -- this is a dream come true! You're right there! The glass elevators! I believe they are one of the most fascinating gadgets of the ship. No pictures will due it any justice -- so I don't have any! This is just something you HAVE to experience in person --- and it's absolutely overwhelming!

 

You can get late night snacks at the park cafe! Yippie! It's open from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi Marci22,

 

welcome to the review!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

getting us even more excited for our Oct 22nd sailing

 

 

Melissa

 

Hi Melissa,

 

:Doh trust me -- this cruise is something you couldn't be excited about enough:D! ....but thank you anyway!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Thanks for a GREAT review...can't wait to read the rest! One quick comment- I've read on other postings that people with reservations for MTD often had to wait longer than those who just showed up and walked right in. This is what we experienced on our last cruise on the Independence. From what you said, this didn't seem to happen on your cruise. Now I'm not sure whether to make reservations on my next cruise. Hmmmm...such a dilemma!

 

Hi new2cruise,

 

it really was a different feeling here. With the reservation we only had to wait a couple of seconds till the guy in the front had a little paper printed out to hand to a waiter....no clue what's on it. If you didn't have a reservation, you'd have to wait till a waiter had a free table....this could be no time at all if you were lucky .... or 15 minutes if you ...well... weren't so lucky after all. I don't think people had to wait longer than that ... if I'm mistaken please post!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

one cute little guy that may not be left unmentioned on the pool deck is Ropi....

 

pardon?

 

You don't know who Ropi is?

 

Well -- here you go:

 

are you still confused? Lol -- no worries -- may I introduce: Ropi!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

we loved Ropi just as much as our towel animals! If you have more fun Ropi arrangements in following cruises -- please take pictures and post them. He's adorabe!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Meetings!

 

Our roll call before this cruise had two meetings. First an informal get together at the schooner bar at three on embarkation day.

 

This was fun! We all had been chatting for many months before this cruise and to see the actual people now behind the screennames was really cool.

 

On the first sea day we had our official meet and mingle party in the Vortex night club. So many people registered for it, yet so few were there. I was expecting more here … but I shouldn’t complain. There was a raffle and you had 6 prices all together. 3 x an umbrella and 3 x a mug and a baseball cap. Our cabin number was the only one to score twice! We ended up with two caps and two mugs. I was a little embarrassed but still happy about the cool souvenir stuff!

 

 

The small crowd quickly dissolved after the raffle. A party is something different in my book – but oh well. They had some food prepared for us and everybody got a little freebie RCI tidbit to hang around your neck with a little pen attached. Tarik loved it, so now he has three of them.

 

A more serious matter altogether was a question Tanja had at guest services.

 

 

We were too overwhelmed by everything on the first two days to find a bulletin board. We wanted to find out if there was a FOD meeting – “Friends of Dorothy”….meaning other gay or lesbian fellow travellers. We didn’t know if we missed it already, or if there would be one scheduled at all. We knew that you’d have all kinds of meetings like the “friends of Bill W” on nearly every RCI ship. So Tanja was brave enough (unlike me) to go up to guest services to ask about a gay/lesbian meeting… or meetings in general….and find out if there was a board, where meetings would be announced. The lady wasn’t too friendly. She told her they wouldn’t have ANY meetings and NO such board. I’m so upset we don’t remember her name! Tanja came back telling me this. I was a little shocked and surprised…no meetings for FOD … okay --I can live with it … but no meetings at all….and no board? We were very confused and a little intimidated.

 

By accident we stumbled by the conference center on the first sea day…and behold .. a sign saying “Friends of Bill W. meeting in progress”. NO KIDDING! We felt cheated! Now we were on the war path to find that board…if there was a meeting, people would have to have a way to find out about it, right? We did find the stupid board afterall --- it’s next to the “library”.

We scanned the meetings – but of course no FOD. Up to this day we don’t know if there was such a meeting and we just missed it because of our own or the RCI lady’s stupidity. Anyway – we made a new attempt to just start our own Friends of Dorothy meeting.

 

 

But to make a long story short…no one came.

 

Plus we found out during the wait that the vintages bar doesn't open before 1:00pm

Bummer.

 

More to come!

Edited August 11, 2013 by Kreuzfahrtneuling

[DannyBoy78]

Hi there! Thanks for the many pictures and in-depth review! My partner and I will be sailing onboard Serenade at the end of next month and haven't had any replies to our FOD either. I guess that a port intensive cruise makes it more difficult to meet up with a group of people.

 

Wish you had been on our cruise. It looks like you all are having a blast. :cool:

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi there! Thanks for the many pictures and in-depth review! My partner and I will be sailing onboard Serenade at the end of next month and haven't had any replies to our FOD either. I guess that a port intensive cruise makes it more difficult to meet up with a group of people.

 

Wish you had been on our cruise. It looks like you all are having a blast. :cool:

 

Hi DannyBoy78,

 

Whoohoo -- family! Welcome to the review! Glad you like it! Can you do me a favour? If you're on the ship next month can you check (right at the beginning) if there IS an actual FOD meeting?...we'd just LOVE to know if they just don't do it, or if we were just too late to find out about it. Thank you so much!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Activities around the ship!

 

This will exclude the evening shows, which I’ll tell you about when I get to the actual days.

 

First of all the more active – or outdoorsy sporty stuff:

 

One of my favourites is the rock climbing wall! Did it twice during this cruise and LOVED it!

 

See Tarik way up there as well? He made it all the way up to the bell (after a little help from Tanja down below, telling him where to put the next arm and leg).

 

Also fun: the miniature golf course – although the different stations were all very similar and a little more creativeness designing more difficult stretches would have led to even more fun.

 

 

Below was Tarik’s favourite place: the sports court. They had basketball, soccer and dodgeball competitions both for the youth and adults only.

 

 

The table tennis area was also very frequented by Tarik as by many other young folks. The gear they have is sort of plastiky though, no layers on it at all, which is not too great for a good match… if you like to play more professional, bring your own.

 

 

 

 

Oh and last but not least – the Tango class!

 

LOVED it! The guy teaching it actually is from Argentina and it was just so much fun to dance with him. He was a little conservative though – unlike the Salsa class (which was held by Carlos – the activities manager) and so there wouldn’t be girl-girl couples. Bummer! But I still much preferred this class over the salsa class. Maybe just because I think Tango is the sexiest dance on Earth! One point on my life’s bucket list is to learn to dance a mean tango! I would have LOVED to try with Tanja. But we were too chicken to try it out in his class. I sneakily tried the men’s steps as well when he wasn’t looking, so I could practice with Tanja later on at home!

 

 

More to come!

[Wriggler]

Meetings!

 

Our roll call before this cruise had two meetings. First an informal get together at the schooner bar at three on embarkation day.

 

This was fun! We all had been chatting for many months before this cruise and to see the actual people now behind the screennames was really cool.

 

I see me!!! And Liam and Emma and Erika and JoAnne!!

 

Sorry - couldn't resist!! :D

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Now let’s move on with the not so sporty daytime activities.

 

The tilty pool tables!

 

Those are soooo cool! We never played (Too bad – I guess we’ll have to return to try it), but we sat in front of the window to watch them move while others played! Absolutely fascinating!

 

 

 

 

 

Loved this chess game in the safari lounge. Great ocean views, beautiful chess board, time to actually play – Sigh -- Life is good! Oh, they had backgammon boards as well!

 

You could do something completely different and go to an art auction!

It was really interesting – plus you get a glass of free champagne. Does anybody actually know somebody who buys this stuff?

There was this guy (forgot his name -- but you can look it up in the compasses which I'll post later), who held lectures on the ports of call.

First one we came in late…It was about Cannes. Mhh, well – we were late, so we wouldn’t want to judge since maybe we missed the good part. But later on we watched his full lecture on Barcelona ….and now we think it’s okay to say--- you don’t miss anything by not attending. If you’re somewhat prepared for your ports – you could do this lecture yourself! But he was a friendly elderly gentleman nicely dressed in a suit -- I feel a bit bad for not having liked it...maybe just go anyway to make him happy.

 

Last but not least Trivia! There were a ton of trivias all over the place. We attendeed the 80’s music one in the schooner bar – we were pretty good here….and then the Beatles quiz in the pub …

 

...which we failed big time. We found out we don’t know didly about the Beatles.

 

But it was fun anyway. The gal who led the trivias was named Felicity and she was from England, like you could easily tell once she opened her mouth. She was fabulous! Very fun! Go try a quiz! But don’t expect a huge price – here it was a RCI highlighter pen!

 

More to come!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

There were also a lot of activities for the teens. I will post the teen daily compasses along with the other ones once we get to the daily stuff.

Generally there were these places to go:

 

The fuel night club – also open at certain times during the day. Adults may only enter here on the very first day…after that it’s kids only.

 

Tarik was too scared of the other kids – so he was only here with us on embarkation day. The younger kids had a real vast livingroom to hang out in … but I couldn’t convince Tarik to go check it out…so sorry, no pictures.

 

The arcade.

 

This is one place Tarik would have spent his entire time if the machines would have been for free. But they weren’t, so he was only here for the free play teen hour. I’m kinda happy about this.

 

On the last sea day we found this room.

It’s the seven hearts card coom. They have all kinds of board games there. Kind of cool. Never used it though (obviously – since we didn’t know it existed).

 

Oh and on this cruise we actually saw some young folks play shuffleboard on deck 5! RCI put up a description on how it works….that sure helps!

 

The main area where you would find teens though would be the sports court, the table tennis or the pool deck at night.

 

Oh and of course at the Karaoke, which was held often in the Safari club. We only watched it once – but it was so funny. Felicity – the trivia lady announced the singers and at one point she sighed and said next up “Eight harmony” – and she added – come on folks – if you don’t sign up to sing they will be singing aaalll the time. Lol – I guess up to this day, they’ve been singing EVERY time they had Karaoke. They can’t sing. At least not as a group. It’s breathtakingly funny to see them on stage though. They pretty much stood there – squished together – and didn’t move a muscle except to open their mouths for singing. And this was for “dancing queen” from Abba. How on earth can anybody stand still to that song? We laughed a lot. They had fun, the Audience had fun. Perfect match!

 

The next day we were seated with some of the group at our lunch table in the main restaurant. Along with them we only had an American couple seated next to us at the same table. He looked pretty annoyed by the fact he had to sit with so many young people and probably expected a loud and ugly scene. She was pretty passive and I don’t even remember her face anymore. Anyway, the partial 8 harmony group was fun to be around. They chatted a bit about their performances and debated which songs they would still need to cover on the upcoming night. This lunch was perfect to prove that it is not by any means always the younger generation to misbehave. The guy and his wife kept looking in a cruise catalogue and he kept on bragging about the 80 something days that would be the next itinerary of a completely better cruise….Sheesh guy --- yes, we’ve all heard you’d rather be on the Azamara with your wife and no kids and of course you’re wealthy enough to do a world cruise. Give us all a break! It was unpleasant. But he wasn’t done yet. First he wanted the teens to sing for him right there at the lunch table (like they’re in Kindergarten happy to doodle any song along for any adult who might happen to ask) and then after lunch he had the nerve to ask them who’d be making these nice meals for them once they were back home! Oh my God! I wanted to sink underneath my chair , it was so embarrassing. Like they’re some spoiled brats, who never turned on an oven or even opened a fridge. The girl of the group (looked a lot like Emma Watson from Harry Potter) had the right reply to that rude question: The microwave:cool:!

I could have died laughing. It was delivered with such a dry humor in her voice it was classic! One of the teen guys gratiously ignored the arrogant implication and answered: I’d sure love it if my mom would make something like this….just so the guy was happy! Wow! Total points for the group – none for the oh so grown up guy. 8 harmony – you may not be the grandest singers—but you definitely rock:cool:!

 

More to come!

[Zogriv]

The cabin (stateroom)! Part 2

 

I have absolutely nothing to rant about the bathroom.

 

 

 

It was much nicer than on the Adventure. It had blue tiles on the floor (rather than worn out plastic) and a pretty mirror decoration on the top to the sides of the light. There was always enough towels, toilet paper and tissues. The space to put some stuff behind the right mirror wasn’t enormous but it was just okay for three people. We are very easy here though…if any of us would use make up, crèmes or any of such sheeshee we would have had a problem. Even the little device to hang up wet clothes up in the shower was pure white (brand new!).

 

The tv was a new flatscreen tv…speaking of new --- since they had just put in this cabin half a year ago…everything was brand new! That was sooo cool! The sofa, the floor, the table with the drawers --- all brand new and spotless.

 

We ended up using these drawers for clothes as well, since there just wasn’t any space in the wardrobe. We used the top of this table as a recharging station for our three cameras. I’m really happy I brought the extension cord!

 

 

We never managed to use the menu button on our remote contol. It was broken – or at least we assumed so after hearing the awful crackling sound when you shake it. One more thing we didn’t talk about with Nazareth…we really have to improve our communication skills I guess. But it was supposed to be possible to book excursions, order room service and check your onboard account on there. For us it was a plain old tv. We enjoyed the morning broadcast of Casey Pelter --our cruise director...

 

(anybody seen the video of the day? Remember this? -- "Allan, Allan, Allan ...Steve,Steve Steve!!!!!" it cracked us up!)

...and the channel where they show you where you are on a map and a view of the helipad.

 

(see the little spot on the Heli Pad? That’s Tarik waving his arms …. Whoohoo – the kid is on tv).

 

Otherwise we didn’t use it. They did have two German channels though!

 

The one true negative about this cabin: It is ridiculously loud when something is going on in the Centrum. Thank God this trip isn’t really laid out for party people. The whole ship was pretty much deserted by midnight – the pool and skybar where closed well before 10:00pm. The Centrum would be quiet at the lastest at midnight…but before that you basically couldn’t speak to your loved ones in a normal tone of voice. We retired to bed usually before midnight…actually around 10:30 most of the nights. I mentioned it was loud and I mentioned we brought ear plugs – we didn’t even use them! We were so pooped after the port days we basically fell into a comatose sleep even with this racket going on. But if you’re a light sleeper --- steer clear of this cabin!

 

We would book it again in a heartbeat. For us it was more than perfect. You just can’t beat this price and the close proximity to life on board! And we knew what we would get!

 

More to come!

 

I agree totally about the noise. We have just got home from the Serenade. We were in 8086 just across the hall from you and it is so noisy! Loved the location and my teens slept through it but I had to sit and read on the balcony untill the music finished at 12 before I could get any sleep.

[new2cruise]

Hi Stef! Every RCCL cruise we've been on had Friends of Bill W. meetings listed right in the Cruise Compass. It would only make sense that there would be Friends of Dorothy too. I'm so sorry you had to go through that!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:eek:Once again a correction folks -- :owhat would I do if Tanja wouldn't take a look at my posts sometimes...

 

Felicity --- the Trivia Lady? Apparently she is not from England but from WALES! So there -- apparently this makes a world of difference. I said it. I'm sorry I was wrong. Don't shoot me. Go Wales:D!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

I had to sit and read on the balcony untill the music finished at 12 before I could get any sleep.

 

Hi Zogriv,

 

Oh my God! You would probably have found me sound asleep, snoring away on the balcony in the mornings...no way I would have managed to stay awake! I thought our cabin was bad because you could walk all the way around it and we had the Centrum noise flooding in from 2 sides... but I guess even the more expensive balcony cabins across the hall get it bad. Hope you had a wonderful cruise anyway!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

I'm so sorry you had to go through that!

 

Hi new2cruise,

 

Lol-- no worries -- we'll survive. Barely:rolleyes:.

 

Stef

[oregand]

Hi Stef,

 

I am really enjoying the review and looking forward to a similar sailing in a couple of weeks time.

 

I was wondering were your muster drill station was?

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Ebear]

There were also a lot of activities for the teens. I will post the teen daily compasses along with the other ones once we get to the daily stuff.

Generally there were these places to go:

 

The fuel night club – also open at certain times during the day. Adults may only enter here on the very first day…after that it’s kids only.

 

Tarik was too scared of the other kids – so he was only here with us on embarkation day. The younger kids had a real vast livingroom to hang out in … but I couldn’t convince Tarik to go check it out…so sorry, no pictures.

 

The arcade.

 

This is one place Tarik would have spent his entire time if the machines would have been for free. But they weren’t, so he was only here for the free play teen hour. I’m kinda happy about this.

 

On the last sea day we found this room.

It’s the seven hearts card coom. They have all kinds of board games there. Kind of cool. Never used it though (obviously – since we didn’t know it existed).

 

Oh and on this cruise we actually saw some young folks play shuffleboard on deck 5! RCI put up a description on how it works….that sure helps!

 

The main area where you would find teens though would be the sports court, the table tennis or the pool deck at night.

 

Oh and of course at the Karaoke, which was held often in the Safari club. We only watched it once – but it was so funny. Felicity – the trivia lady announced the singers and at one point she sighed and said next up “Eight harmony” – and she added – come on folks – if you don’t sign up to sing they will be singing aaalll the time. Lol – I guess up to this day, they’ve been singing EVERY time they had Karaoke. They can’t sing. At least not as a group. It’s breathtakingly funny to see them on stage though. They pretty much stood there – squished together – and didn’t move a muscle except to open their mouths for singing. And this was for “dancing queen” from Abba. How on earth can anybody stand still to that song? We laughed a lot. They had fun, the Audience had fun. Perfect match!

 

The next day we were seated with some of the group at our lunch table in the main restaurant. Along with them we only had an American couple seated next to us at the same table. He looked pretty annoyed by the fact he had to sit with so many young people and probably expected a loud and ugly scene. She was pretty passive and I don’t even remember her face anymore. Anyway, the partial 8 harmony group was fun to be around. They chatted a bit about their performances and debated which songs they would still need to cover on the upcoming night. This lunch was perfect to prove that it is not by any means always the younger generation to misbehave. The guy and his wife kept looking in a cruise catalogue and he kept on bragging about the 80 something days that would be the next itinerary of a completely better cruise….Sheesh guy --- yes, we’ve all heard you’d rather be on the Azamara with your wife and no kids and of course you’re wealthy enough to do a world cruise. Give us all a break! It was unpleasant. But he wasn’t done yet. First he wanted the teens to sing for him right there at the lunch table (like they’re in Kindergarten happy to doodle any song along for any adult who might happen to ask) and then after lunch he had the nerve to ask them who’d be making these nice meals for them once they were back home! Oh my God! I wanted to sink underneath my chair , it was so embarrassing. Like they’re some spoiled brats, who never turned on an oven or even opened a fridge. The girl of the group (looked a lot like Emma Watson from Harry Potter) had the right reply to that rude question: The microwave:cool:!

I could have died laughing. It was delivered with such a dry humor in her voice it was classic! One of the teen guys gratiously ignored the arrogant implication and answered: I’d sure love it if my mom would make something like this….just so the guy was happy! Wow! Total points for the group – none for the oh so grown up guy. 8 harmony – you may not be the grandest singers—but you definitely rock:cool:!

 

More to come!

 

Had to provide you with a picture of the famous group Stef!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi Stef,

 

I am really enjoying the review and looking forward to a similar sailing in a couple of weeks time.

 

I was wondering were your muster drill station was?

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave,

Thank You! Our muster drill was at 16:15 on embarkation day. As you'll remember from the earlier posts we had our cruise critic get together at the schooners bar at 15:00. Now we sat there, chatting away --- and suddenly just this question arose....where do we have to go? It's almost time for the muster drill. Sometimes I guess you just have to be lucky! We looked up above our heads...not even getting up from our comfortable seats .... and tadah! W13 -- our muster station (you have your muster station printed on your sea pass in REALLY big letters. No way you can miss it!). Well --- lovely! Didn't need to move and could keep talking to some of the other lucky CC'ers until the drill actually started. Poor Emma, she was one of the few who had to leave to go to another station.

 

The muster itself was fast, easy and not nearly as impressive as the first time we cruised. But judging by Tarik's facial expression -- he was pretty impressed by the sheer volume of the emergency signal!

 

Stef

Edited August 12, 2013 by Kreuzfahrtneuling
typo

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Had to provide you with a picture of the famous group Stef!

[ATTACH]282361[/ATTACH]

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

:DWhoohoo -- Emma, this is so great! I was so bummed I didn't have a picture of them! Thank you so much!!!!!!

 

ps: couldn't find the facebook site though:(.

 

Stef

[oregand]

That was handy!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[JasonTehGreat]

I love your review so far!! I also think you have a very lovely family!

 

I will be on the Serenade in February and will look out for the FOD meeting. I have been unable to convince my boyfriend/partner to go on a cruise, but my cousin will be going with me.

 

I look forward to reading the rest of the review.