Review: Serenade of the Seas – Eastern Med – June 2014 - Part 1

[Lanzalady]

Serenade of the Seas – Review – 12 day Eastern Mediterranean Cruise – 16th June 2014

 

We are very lucky to live in the fabulous Canary Islands but still like to get off “our rock” to go and visit some other wonderful places and I had always longed to visit the magical island of Thira – better known as Santorini. So after quite a lot of research into the various cruise lines to see who had an itinerary that fitted in with our employment restrictions and also included Thira, we plumped for a 12 day cruise on the Royal Caribbean “Serenade of the Seas”. We liked the sound of this ship as it wasn’t one of the new, mammoth ships that can accommodate 4,000 guests who might want to sky-dive or ice-skate whilst they are at sea. We liked the fact that the Serenade was older and had less going on and only accommodated around 2,100 guests. So we booked an E1 starboard balcony cabin –Nº 7654, which had received a good review on Cruise Critic, as being located in a quiet part of the ship, well away from the Centrum and having an extra-large balcony. We like our peace and quiet and generally do not participate in any of the “activities” on offer and just like to enjoy being at sea. After all, isn’t being at sea and visiting the places that you stop off at, what cruising is all about?

 

We flew into Barcelona the evening before embarkation and spent the night at a small, inexpensive hotel not far from the port. We were only there to sleep and eat breakfast, so we didn’t need anything fancy. After breakfast we took a taxi down to the port and were ready to board at about 11.30 a.m. Our bags were taken away and we went through the boarding procedure almost immediately and were walking the decks within the hour. The cabins were blocked off until 1.30 p.m, so we went up to the Windjammer for some lunch. It was busy and full of people running around with plates piled high with food and acting as if they hadn’t eaten for a week! Eventually we were allowed to our cabins and we found ours and were very pleased with it. Our luggage wasn't delivered to us until almost 6 p.m.

 

Cabin 7654 is located aft, just 10 cabins from the end of the passageway and so doesn’t get too much passing traffic. The shower room to the left of the entrance was small but well-laid out and we were pleased to see a proper shower cubicle with a door, rather than a plastic curtain. It was a very small shower cubicle though and it was necessary to open the door if you wanted to get down to soap your feet and then close it again to turn the water back on to wash it off afterwards! But we managed! Opposite the shower room was a good sized wardrobe with doors and plenty of storage space with shelves and a hanging rail with plenty of hangers. Quite a bit of this space was occupied by 4 life jackets but we put these on the top shelf so that we could put our shoes on the floor. Then there was a dressing table area with several drawers underneath and a large mirror above and a further ledge, on which sat the TV. Above the TV there was another cupboard which contained the safe and some shelves for storing more items and below the TV was the mini-bar. Opposite the TV were the bed and a couple of bedside tables. We did feel that the end of the beds, when separated into 2 singles, were very close to the TV unit opposite and left very little room to walk past to get to the balcony but we managed. The balcony was wonderful! The 7th floor aft balconies are deeper than the rest of the row and protrude outside the general line of balconies above. Great for sunbathing! It’s a pity that we didn’t get any loungers but the 2 terrace chairs were quite comfortable to sit in for long periods, whilst watching the ocean pass by. We’d give the cabin 9 out of 10.

 

Our cabin attendant was an elderly man and I did feel a little uncomfortable having an elderly male looking after my cabin. I know that we now have equality but I can’t help the way that I feel. We are not messy people and we don’t need to have someone tidying up after us twice a day or even once a day. I like to make my own bed and I always hang my towel up after using it so that I can use it again, so I don’t need to have constant attention from a cabin attendant. We did tell him this and often left the “do not disturb” sign on the door when we were not in but unfortunately his trolley was almost permanently stationed outside our cabin door and it was impossible to escape his attentions.

 

We didn’t leave the ship to explore Barcelona as we have stayed there on several previous occasions and know the city quite well and just preferred to explore the ship and find our way around. Even though the Serenade is considered a medium-sized ship, it seemed vast to us and took quite a long time to wander round. There were lots of bars, restaurants and lounges and things to do but we were also quite surprised throughout the cruise, how easy it was to find a quiet corner away from the hustle and bustle.

 

We ate all our meals in the Windjammer as we prefer to eat when we’re hungry and not be tied down to mealtimes nor to have to share our meals with strangers.

 

We found the food plentiful but very average. There was mashed potato at every meal and for the first 4 or 5 days, this was incredibly lumpy and somewhat undercooked. I felt that I needed to comment on this and from then on it was a little less lumpy but still not what I would call proper mashed potato. Even though this was a European cruise and had people from some 62 countries aboard, the majority of the guests were from the U.S.A. I think that there were only around 350 British guests compared with 1,650 Americans. There was also quite a large group from Canada and a number of people from Australia and New Zealand. There was a sprinkling of Spanish speaking guests from both Spain and South America and a mixture of other European nationalities. A good mix of people but the feeling was that the cuisine was generally aimed at the American palate. It’s an American ship so no surprise there! The frozen French fries and burgers were in constant demand on one side of the Windjammer and the pasta station offered a very limited choice of sauces each day – usually just tomato. We didn’t see any prawns or other shell-fish at all and hardly any cooked vegetables. Most of the things available on the salad bar were mixed up with peppers and onions, so if you didn’t happen to like peppers or onions, you were stuck without a salad either. Even the tuna sandwiches had peppers chopped up in with the tuna and the egg-mayonnaise sandwiches had onion in them. Why can’t they just leave everything alone for people to choose their own items? The bread selection was extremely poor – there just was no choice at all - small, hard bread rolls or burger buns. Even Thomson’s cruise ships offered a better selection of freshly made breads! On a positive note, the soft ice-cream machine was available and self-service whenever the Windjammer was open. Yummy!

 

The toast at breakfast was often soggy as it had obviously been made in advance and then kept warm wrapped up in a cloth, where the steam had absorbed into the bread. Not very appetising! The fried eggs at breakfast were a bit hit and miss as the egg station staff had all the pans in use for omelettes and if someone wanted a fried egg instead, they grabbed the nearest pan that usually still had the residue from the last omelette stuck to it and dropped the eggs into that. Quite a few people were asking for fried eggs, so why not keep a couple of pans aside just for those? The crispy bacon however, was wonderful! In general, the food was edible but somewhat reminiscent of a work’s canteen. I’d give the food 7 out of 10.

 

The staff in the Windjammer were generally lacking any training and any leadership. There were several men in black uniforms wandering about, presumably supervising the area but they didn’t seem to have any interaction with the staff who were clearing the tables. It was often necessary to sit down at a table still covered in the debris from the previous occupants whilst the clearers cleared another table somewhere else that was not needed at that moment. Certain members of the staff were more conscientious and tried to keep their areas clean but many did not and none of the superiors seemed to be bothered. They didn’t seem to be doing much either!

 

We ordered a bottle of wine once but they didn’t have the one that we chose and it took about 15 minutes for the bottle to appear by which time we had finished our meal. The wines were vastly overpriced and were about 4 times the price of the same wine in a local restaurant. We were in Europe, ordering a European wine and expect to pay a little extra but not 4 times more! Needless to say, we didn’t order any more wine and didn’t spend any more money on the overpriced drinks available on the ship. If the prices hadn’t been so rip-off, we probably would have had a few drinks in the evenings, so they lost out on anything from us. We’re not huge drinkers anyway and just stuck to the delicious lemonade on offer and made tea in our cabin. We didn’t have any tea-making facilities in the cabin but brought our little heating element with us, along with a stainless steel teapot and our own tea-bags. The choice of tea available on the ship was excellent though and the Twinings Breakfast Tea was very nice.

 

The ports of call were all great. The efficiency of the tenders, when they were in use, was very good.

 

We didn’t do any of the ship’s excursions as we thought that they were very expensive and consequently arranged to do them all through private tours with some groups that we found on the “Cruise Critic Roll-call” (thanks Ayasha and Theresia). The tours were all really well organised and offered comfortable air-conditioned vans with professional and friendly drivers and tour-guides.

 

We visited Rome, Florence/Pisa and Salerno/Pompeii with “Rome-in-Limo” and would definitely recommend this company to anyone considering doing some private tours.

[Lanzalady]

Day 1 was Barcelona and we stayed on the ship.

 

Day 2 was Cannes. We went ashore by tender and walked about the town enjoying the scenery and the sunshine. We had planned on taking the train and seeing a bit of the coast but there was a transport that day, so we just stayed in Cannes. Had a nice lunch in a local restaurant and then went back to the ship. A good first day!

 

Day3 was Livorno for Florence and Pisa. We were met outside the port by our driver/tour-guide Clara, who was born and bred in Livorno and knew everything about the area. Clara was a fantastic guide, with excellent English and a good sense of humour. She kept us entertained the entire way to Pisa, which was our first stop. The van was air-conditioned and also had Wi-Fi, so we could also catch up on our emails etc. and this was a great plus. After a short stop in Pisa, we moved on to Florence where we were shown some interesting places and then onto a tiny restaurant in the back streets, where we ate one of the dishes of the day, with fresh bread and accompanied by a bottle of Chianti. We then had a couple of hours to ourselves before returning to the van and then the ship.

 

Day 4 was Civitavecchia for Rome. We were met by our driver/tour guide who drove us to Rome. First stop was the Coliseum where we spent a couple of hours looking round and then our whole group went for a relaxed lunch in one of the local restaurants. In the afternoon we moved on to the Vatican, where we spent some time looking round the museum. This is an amazing place – full of treasures and fabulous art work and of course, gold! Whether you are a believer or not, there is no doubt that the top guys of the Catholic Church have amassed some pretty fabulous artefacts for themselves over the years! We then moved onto the Sistine Chapel and saw the works of Michelangelo and his students and finished up in the Basilica of St. Peter’s. When we left the Basilica, we went to take a look at the Swiss guards who were guarding the outside of the building. We then drove back to the ship and sailed off into the sunset.

 

Day 5 was a sea day and was just what the doctor ordered for a lovely relaxing day! Sitting on the balcony enjoying the sun and watching the waves go by. Fabulous sunset that evening.

 

Day 6 was another sea day, so more of the same and another wonderful sunset.

 

Day 7 was Piraeus for Athens. We met our driver outside the port for the short drive into Athens. This was an early morning start and we arrived at the Acropolis at 7.30h before all the crowds appeared. After walking up the 100 or so steps to the top, we were free to wander around for the rest of the morning. So after coming back down all those steps, we went on to visit the old administrative area of the Agora and to visit the Temple of Hephaestus and then for a wander around the Plaka district. A pleasant lunch in a local restaurant completed the morning and then it was on to Parliament Square to watch the changing of the guards. As this was a Sunday, the guards were dressed in full regalia (including the pom-poms on their shoes) and proceeding to go through their entire routine. After standing in the hot sun for an hour or so, watching this spectacle, it was good to get back to the van and then back to the ship.

 

Day 8 was Kusadasi for Ephesus. We picked up our van and driver who drove through the countryside towards Ephesus. On the way we stopped off at the so-called House of the Virgin Mary, which many of the group wanted to visit. Once we arrived at Ephesus we were taken on the tour of the ruins and saw the old library and the other buildings, some of which are now being re-built. We then moved on to the amphitheatre and then back to the van. Next we went to a carpet factory where we were shown how the silk was produced and the carpets made by hand. None of us wanted to buy a carpet nor go on to a leather workshop, so we went back to Kusadasi. We then had some time to wander round the local shops and to relax for a while in one of the local cafes where Internet was available. Now a warning to anyone thinking of buying Turkish Delight… don’t buy the boxed stuff from the stalls around the port. It’s not proper Turkish Delight and the box is only half full. Apparently there are some places where you can buy some fresh Turkish Delight nearby but it certainly doesn’t come in these boxes.

 

Day 9 was Santorini (Thira) and was to be the highlight of my holiday. The ship moored off the coast in the middle of the caldera. We took the tender to the shore and then had the choice of going up the cliff to Fira by foot, by donkey or on the cable-car. We chose the cable-car, which only took a couple of minutes to get to the top. From the top, the views of the bay below are spectacular. We wandered around the town for a while and then took a local bus along the coast to Oia, which is a delightful town to the north of the island that is built on the top of a steep cliff. This is where most of the photos of Santorini are taken as many of the buildings have those distinctive dark blue domes on the roofs of the buildings. We stayed in Oia for a few hours and had some lunch in a pleasant restaurant with spectacular views down to the sea. There were several cruise ships down in the caldera and the sea was so blue from above. We returned to Fira on the local bus and waited for the tender to take us back to the Serenade. Thira was a magical place and somewhere I would like to return to one day. Another fabulous sunset!

 

Day 10 was a sea day and another wonderful day relaxing on the balcony and another gorgeous sunset.

 

Day 11 was Salerno for Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. We picked up our driver and were taken to Pompeii where we met up with our tour guide. She took us on a fantastic tour of the huge complex and regaled us with stories as well as the history of the place. Pompeii definitely left its mark on everyone who visited it with us that day. I think that everyone had a quiet moment whilst looking at the “bodies” of some of the dead. After Pompeii we drove along the coast road, which is narrow and full of sharp bends and is not for the fainthearted. If you suffer with travel sickness, don’t take this road! We stopped off at Sorrento for a short visit and then went on to Positano where we stopped for lunch in a small restaurant perched high up on the side of the mountain. The lunch was great and so was the wine! Back on the twisty road down to the town centre and then back on the coast road to return to the ship. On leaving Salerno harbour, some dolphins were jumping behind the ship. We had been hoping to see some dolphins since the first day and here they were at last! Another sunset to add to the collection.

 

Day 12 was our last sea day and time to reflect on the wonderful holiday that was just about to end.

 

We had had fabulous weather and gorgeous sunsets every night, great drivers and tour guides and visited some wonderful places and met some lovely people. The ship that had been our home for the past 12 days had kept us safe and comfortable and fed.

 

We were going home!

 

Back in Barcelona, we were expected to disembark from the ship at the ridiculously early hour of 6.30 a.m. We had a hotel reservation but had not expected to arrive there until around 11 a.m. We disembarked just before 7 a.m. and we were lucky enough to pick up our bags almost immediately and managed to get a taxi and arrive at our hotel just after 7 a.m. Luck was with us there too as the receptionist told us that they had a room available for us and we were able to check in and go back to sleep for few hours.

We later walked back to the port in time to see the Serenade of the Seas sail majestically out of the port again on her next cruise. Goodbye Serenade - thanks for a great cruise!

 

We flew back to Lanzarote the following day with wonderful memories of our Mediterranean cruise. I would give the whole experience 9 out of 10.

[kirian]

Thanks so much for taking to the time to write up your review. I have been following Ayasha's review.... she seems like she would have been great to travel with... you were so lucky :D!!!!

 

Melissa

[Lanzalady]

Hi Melissa.

 

Ayasha was great and organised some fantastic trips. We met some really nice people through her and also through the trips organised by Theresia.

 

I've also been following your trip!

 

Thanks.

[kirian]

Thanks for following my trip review! I promise (honest) that the next installment is coming soon and I REALLY hope to be able to speed things up... it's just been nuts in my "real life" lately. Thanks for hanging in there with me during the down times!

 

Melissa

[crvng4mr]

Loved this review! It was so nice meeting you both and enjoying some of the sights together.

[Lanzalady]

Hi Ayasha,

 

It's good to hear from you! We miss you and your family and all the rest of the people that we did all those tours with. We talk about it a lot. I was trying to edit my post to add some more photos but my time ran out and my post went without the photos. They weren't anywhere near as good as your photos, so I think that we'll just let everyone imagine our cruise with your photos!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[poodog]

Looking forward to your review

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your extensive review.

 

Keith