Serenade OTS Picture Review. Western Caribbean 2/1-2/8/2014

[dodgeball24]

Your weather was better then we were in New Orleans, won the pool tournament but learned not to lean on it hard because it would self level.

 

 

Dined at all 3 premium my choice was Giovani the best with a chop's second and I love Japanese but was not thrilled with Izumi. Fyi for some of you the first night on the ship Giovani has 25 % off so with our diamond plus we get 1 free dinner when we buy one so our bill for the first night was $15 total or if you are not it is still only 30 for two and it is well worth it.

 

Another FYI the diamond lounge was excellent, and I found myself eating lunch more in the solarium then going to the dining room or the windjammer.

[ASeaPrincess1]

You will have a great time!

 

If you go wandering in the Quarter go find Cafe Du Monde for coffee and begneits (sp? A French doughnut buried in powdered sugar.. Decatur Street), the Magnolia Grill (near the French Market) and Cafe Maspero (Corner of Toulouse and Decatur). All of these places are relatively easy on the budget and have some seriously good food.

 

Seriously, get that one day streetcar pass and use it if your hotel is close to any of the routes. Makes wandering around so much easier!

Thanks. We are staying two days post cruise on Canal Street, so we will do a lot of wandering. Told DH he would like Bourbon Street....;)

[KeywestK]

Now I REALLY have to get creative! :D

 

LOL, I'm soooooo not worried. I've known you long enough to know that you are up to the task;):)

 

I'm taking notes for our days in NOLA. Thanks for the head's up on two more restaurant recommendations:)

[Darkwolfe]

Thanks. We are staying two days post cruise on Canal Street, so we will do a lot of wandering. Told DH he would like Bourbon Street....;)

 

He may, but you may find yourself wishing to be elsewhere. YMMV ;) Drag him through the French Market for revenge. :D

 

LOL, I'm soooooo not worried. I've known you long enough to know that you are up to the task;):)

 

I'm taking notes for our days in NOLA. Thanks for the head's up on two more restaurant recommendations:)

 

All three that I mentioned are in easy walking distance from one to another, or ride the streetcar.

 

Streetcar routing- All on the Riverfront line.

Cafe Maspero- Toulouse street stop

Cafe Du Monde- Ursulines stop

Magnolia Grill- French Market stop (end of the line)

[NanaP1398]

We're on this cruise March 1st and LOVING your review. It's been a long, cold winter in NH and we need this trip. Your pictures are beautiful and you are a great storyteller! We are staying on Magazine St 2 nights prior, close to the parades. We did this Mardi Gras trip/cruise 2 years ago on the Voyager and had a blast. Plus it was nice to get out of New Orleans just as it was getting real CRAZY!!! Now we just hope the weather cooperates with our flights :eek: Thanks for all the time you've put into this review! Can't wait to see more.

[Darkwolfe]

You just couldn't ask for better weather. I'm certain that Captain Anders would have been thrilled to claim responsibility for it, but then he'd have to claim any bad weather too so he wisely refrained from it.

 

First morning out of the Mississippi River delta was somewhat cool (Mid-60s F) but very clear with brilliant blue skies. Clouds were more of an enhancement than a problem. At least until we were headed back to New Orleans, but I get ahead of myself.

 

Seas were a light 4-6 feet (1-2m), but the headwinds were high. So high that we had an effective wind speed of over 60mph on the exposed decks.

 

I'm thinking we could have harnessed people in wing suits to the stern and had human kite flying with that kind of wind, but nobody seemed that adventurous.

 

Looking towards mini golf and a strange fellow walking a dog....

 

Looking back from the balcony

 

Caribbean Sunset Ver 1.0

 

Caribbean Sunset Ver 1.2

 

Why sunsets?? Why not? I'm out here to relax and these late afternoon events are one of my favorite things at sea. So there. :p :D

 

All kidding aside, I shot several and offset a few for use as computer desktop backgrounds. Feel free to raid from my Flickr page accordingly.

 

Up next- A Jamaican sunrise and the port of Falmouth. (Milkshakes and rum anybody?)

[Darkwolfe]

We're on this cruise March 1st and LOVING your review. It's been a long, cold winter in NH and we need this trip. Your pictures are beautiful and you are a great storyteller! We are staying on Magazine St 2 nights prior, close to the parades. We did this Mardi Gras trip/cruise 2 years ago on the Voyager and had a blast. Plus it was nice to get out of New Orleans just as it was getting real CRAZY!!! Now we just hope the weather cooperates with our flights :eek: Thanks for all the time you've put into this review! Can't wait to see more.

 

Thank you very much for the compliment! :)

[stewcrews]

Great review! Was ship time the same as port time in all the stops?

[Darkwolfe]

Great review! Was ship time the same as port time in all the stops?

 

Yay the board is back up!

 

Ship time shifted to Eastern for Jamaica and Grand Caymen. It went back to Central for Cozumel.

 

Used to be they didn't do that, but apparently it's easier to get everyone back before all aboard if local time is matched by the ship.

[crisndeefromde]

loving your review...we can't wait. Just off two weeks on the Adventure and wished with the weather we are having right now that we wish we had stayed on lol

[Darkwolfe]

After two VERY laid back days at sea, we come to the RCCL constructed port of Falmouth, Jamaica. This will be the first ever stop in a foreign country for my dad, but he took it in stride. In fact he was feeling way more adventurous than I was and wanted to go snooping outside the port gates. Eh, not this go round, perhaps another time.

 

I won't pick on anyone that wanted to go wander around out there, all your call and if you're up for it, be safe and knock yourself out. But, in an abundance of caution with two brand new cruisers in my group, it wasn't happening. This was going to be a chill out and snoop out the port area day.

 

The morning started out just about as beautiful as anyone could ask. Brilliant contrast of the sun and cloud shadows on the waters and Jamaica seeming to appear out of a mist.

 

The shops in the pier area are fairly repetitive and there's some haggling going on. I determined fairly early on that some of the haggling was more for show than anything else. Prices would reach a certain point and stop there. Curiously, it was the same certain point for the same items no matter what shop you were in.

 

The Craft Market seemed to be pretty dynamic compared to the more formal shops and a number of people were actively making the things they were selling in their stalls. Some of the items were pretty impressive.

 

Naturally the usual commercial suspects were on hand. Margaritaville, Del Sol, and Diamonds International were all present. Amusingly, so to is Dairy Queen, which I found handy since I had a milkshake craving about that time.

 

Our day here wrapped up with a couple of bottles of rum in the ships' storage and a few small things. Coffee cups are fairly practical even if they are a stereotypical souvenir.

 

Sunrise off the coast of Jamaica

 

Jamaican Coastline

 

Port of Falmouth

 

A small dock near the port

 

Up next- A bit of wandering in the port plus going from 2500 passengers to over 8000 in less than an hour...

[ASeaPrincess1]

He may, but you may find yourself wishing to be elsewhere. YMMV ;) Drag him through the French Market for revenge. :D

 

 

 

All three that I mentioned are in easy walking distance from one to another, or ride the streetcar.

 

Streetcar routing- All on the Riverfront line.

Cafe Maspero- Toulouse street stop

Cafe Du Monde- Ursulines stop

Magnolia Grill- French Market stop (end of the line)

Thanks for the heads up, re: French Market. You are correct, I will VERY likely want to be somewhere besides Bourbon Street..........;):D

[Darkwolfe]

As Serenade docked in Falmouth, I noticed a distinctive shape on the horizon. There's only two cruise ships in the world big enough to be seen and recognized from that far away and one of them was scheduled to share the pier that day.

 

Oasis of the Seas docked about an hour after we did. By that point most everybody that was hitting the beach from Serenade had already done so. It actually felt rather empty. That changed real fast when Oasis cleared and her passengers began to join the crowds.

 

In nothing flat, the pier went from "empty" to "bustling". There were places where the crowd traffic jammed up a good bit, but by and large you never felt hemmed in by masses of people. Which is good, because there's enough of that on turnover days. (embark/debark)

 

Falmouth Cruise port and Serenade of the Seas

 

Entrance to Margaritaville ..And some old coot checking to see if the gold is real. (My dad actually, have to pull his chain just a bit.)

 

Oasis has joined the party

 

A sign of Many Directions (I need that one at home.)

[Darkwolfe]

The Port Craft Market was quite busy all day.

 

Dairy Queen Sign with an Oasis backdrop. The same tasty ice cream as back home but a hefty premium. Large Blizzards were $10!!! :eek:

 

Small barrier islands nearby

This area had some remarkable color that the camera just can't do justice to. It also has that infamous "Unfinished Resort". (If I were a rich man, it might not stay unfinished for long.)

 

It's a living ...and for some of us, it would be an obsession.

 

I have to say that the Jamaican artisans showed a remarkable amount of skill in their wares. This port stop had some of the best locally produced art that I've seen in the Caribbean so far. I should have gotten a few pictures, but got distracted. (Not uncommon unfortunately)

 

Next up- Grand Caymen stingrays!

Edited February 14, 2014 by Darkwolfe

[Havin'fun]

Great pictures. We just booked Serenade last night. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[KITKAT0229]

Really enjoying your review so far! We've sailed on Serenade twice before her revitalization, so it's interesting to see the differences.

[Lanzalady]

I've just booked on the Serenade for the Mediterranean/Greek Isles in June and I can't wait! I haven't cruised with RCI before and I'm trying to find out as much as I can. Would love some more pictures of the ship itself!:)

[Darkwolfe]

I've just booked on the Serenade for the Mediterranean/Greek Isles in June and I can't wait! I haven't cruised with RCI before and I'm trying to find out as much as I can. Would love some more pictures of the ship itself!:)

 

Well, I was going to go post a few up for you on that and Flickr isn't letting me reach my individual photos right now. I can get to my sets just fine, but that's all.

 

However, you are welcome to hit the link in my signature and snoop away at the sets if you want. I may just have an ISP issue on my end right now.

[Darkwolfe]

Aha! Working again! On we go!

 

Per Lanzalady's request, a few more of Serenade herself.

 

From the tender at Grand Caymen

 

Lady Luck in the Casino

 

Also from the Tender at Grand Caymen

 

Curiously, I didn't take as many ship pictures as I normally do. I caught most of the differences from the previous time I was aboard, but I think my normal habits in picture taking were somewhat disrupted this trip. I have way more people shots than normal and those don't typically get into my reviews much.

[ellagirl]

Very Nice Pictures!!!

[love2cruiseRC]

Nice Pics!

how was New Orleans? we are there for 3 days prior to Mar 1 sailing.

[tweety33]

Really enjoying your review and great pictures. Building the excitement for my Serenade cruise next month:). Looking forward to more.

[Darkwolfe]

Nice Pics!

how was New Orleans? we are there for 3 days prior to Mar 1 sailing.

 

Since I see you are form Ontario, you may find the street names easier to pronounce than I do! :)

 

New Orleans is (like most Gulf Coast cities) busy, but not overbearingly so. It has very strong French influence that shows most strongly in the architecture of the French Quarter, the cuisine, and even the way English is spoken. It will be a noticeable difference from most US cities you might have visited before.

 

The weather in March should be in the low to mid 60s (F) with some days reaching 70f. Quite comfortable, but it is very humid with the Mississippi river running through town. So cold will feel colder and warm will get uncomfortable fast.

 

As I mentioned early on, if you venture on to Bourbon street, be prepared for almost anything. You'll be there after Mardi Gras, but that doesn't mean much. The Quarter partys all night long and come sunrise, it moves over a few blocks and keeps going.

 

I have some other details in previous posts with some getting around town options (I'm a streetcar fan lol) and some places to eat that are budget friendly.

 

Oh and if someone says they can tell you "where you got them shoes", tell whoever it is that you've got them on your feet on *insert location here*. That's an old sucker bet some of the more disreputable locals will use to try and snare some money from you. On the upside, I had two guys try it on me and after throwing that reply back, they accepted defeat with good grace and even some humor.

[love2cruiseRC]

Thanks for the tips! My wife was all excited to see NOLA, then we watched a show called Scam City(New Orleans) and a few friends/family telling the wife to be very safe there. Now she is worried.

I'm looking forward to it.

[Darkwolfe]

Moving on to Grand Caymen and Stingray City!

 

Day four has arrived and I'm already looking a bad case of PCD in the eye. Only three days left before I have to go back to reality. Joy. (Not.)

 

Oh well, one must make the best of it so it was time to dig in and go experience one of the "must do" excursions at Grand Caymen. Go swimming with the wild Atlantic Stingrays!

 

I was up early as is my norm on a cruise and watched as we drifted in to Grand Caymen's waters behind Carnival Freedom. It was somewhat foggy that morning but it did not last long.

 

Grand Caymen is a tender port at this time, but one of our guides told me that Royal has said "Build a pier so we can dock or we're going to stop visiting the island." Frankly, that IS fairly understandable. Tendering costs a fair bit of change and that doesn't include the extra fuel costs for keeping the ship on station all day.

 

The good news right now is that it's a short tender ride. Nothing like the 30 plus minutes to get into Belize City for example. You barely even have time to get a comfortable seat on the tender before it is time to get off.

 

Once ashore we located our excursion meeting point. Down to just three this morning as my Dad was not feeling very well. The rest of us went on to the excursion and had a great time. Even my step-mother had a great time and she's not at all comfortable in the water under most circumstances. She was very glad to have overcome her concerns before the day was over.

 

I have the shotgun spot on the van

 

One of Many

 

The humans are here.. Must be time for breakfast!

 

Pet me! Seriously, they act like underwater cats. Going for food and attention. That's my step-mother learning up close that the rays are not scary creatures at all.

 

Close up!

 

More stingrays to come!