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Serenade...Med/Adriatic 'Honeymoon' cruise (a retrospective photo review!!)

drummerdavebmth
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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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Ok, I admit it....I really should've done this review shortly after this cruise and not left it this long, but at the time Hoopster95 did such a good job in his review of the same cruise that I thought another review might not be well received.

 

However, a bit of time has passed (2 and a half years!!...lol) and, as this was our honeymoon cruise, I thought it would be nice to reminisce and put together this "retrospective" photo review....which I hope some of you, at least, will enjoy!

 

This isn't the first review I've done. Here is the review of the cruise I actually proposed to my wife on....It was on Independence Of The Seas. Our first ever cruise and Indy's first cruise to the Norwegian Fjords http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1859146

 

By the way, my wife actually filmed our whole Honeymoon cruise on her GoPro, so if you have an hour to spare (yep, it's that long!) please have a look...she worked really hard editing it and putting it together

 

This was the Itinerary:

 

Day 1. Civitavecchia, Italy - Embarkation

Day 2. Salerno, Italy

Day 3. Messina, Italy

Day 4. Valletta, Malta

Day 5. At Sea

Day 6. Corfu, Greece

Day 7. Kotor, Montenegro

Day 8. Venice, Italy

Day 9. Venice, Italy

Day 10. Split, Croatia

Day 11. Dubrovnik, Croatia

Day 12. At Sea

Day 13. Civitacecchia, Italy - Disembarkation

 

 

So, let's get on with my review.....I'd like to take you back to 17th September 2014. Jennifer and I had got married the week before and were now arriving at the Italian port of Civitavecchia to board the Serenade of the Seas.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Upon boarding, the first thing that struck us was how elegant the ship felt, with a beautiful Centrum - we'd previously sailed on Indy and Liberty, so this was our first experience of Radiance class. We continued to explore...

 

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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drummerdavebmth

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After eating in the MDR that first evening, we had a relatively early night that night as were tired after travelling.

 

The next morning we woke up in the port of Salerno. There is nothing like the feeling of waking up on your first morning of a cruise and seeing a new view from your balcony room!!

 

We were excited because we had a boat trip along the Almalfi coast planned to the actual town of Almalfi :)

 

Good morning Salerno!!

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1673/25976789810_363d00e36d_b.jpg' alt='25976789810_363d00e36d_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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drummerdavebmth

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Lot's of attractive towns dotted the coastline...most of them had medieval look out towers that were positioned to spot any invading Turks during the Ottoman Empire.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Once we arrived in the town of Almalfi, the sun had come out and it really warmed up. What a very beautiful town...

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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The St Andrew chapel in Amalfi Cathedral

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Back outside for some ice cream - Yum! :D

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Finally it was time for us to get back to our boat. Now the sun was out Almalfi really did look picturesque

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1626/25644783334_8cc6c252bf_b.jpg' alt='25644783334_8cc6c252bf_b.jpg'>Almafi by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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drummerdavebmth

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Back to our ship we go....along the beautiful Almalfi coastline....

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1701/26223826726_34b0747169_b.jpg' alt='26223826726_34b0747169_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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drummerdavebmth

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So the next morning, we woke up still at sea, but making our way into the port of Messina.

 

I can never get enough of this view...

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

Feeling hungry, it was time to make our way to the Windjammer for breakfast. We loved the outside seating on Serenade and (like Hoopster95 said in his review) we were surprised that it was never too busy. We always got a seat.

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

And the view sat at the back is amazing!!

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1453/26157337022_afe5a38fe8_b.jpg' alt='26157337022_afe5a38fe8_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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We had booked a tour through 'Rome In Limo' (with some other people on our Roll Call) to Mount Etna and then to onto the town of Taormina. The drive took us up long twisting roads....We stopped off to take some photo's, looking up towards where we were heading.

p><p>Here

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

The photo's that follows shows the climb and the views from the top.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

It's like being on another planet!!

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1593/25647153773_77685cc33a_b.jpg' alt='25647153773_77685cc33a_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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After our getting back to the mini-bus, our driver took us back down the twisted roads and to the town of Taormina. The day had become overcast, but also very warm and humid.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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After our free time exploring Taormina, we all met up at the mini-bus and drove along coastal roads to our ship waiting for us at Messina.

 

Back in our room, we showered and got ready for the evening...meanwhile, we were slowly departing Messina.

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

A pre-dinner drink was in order in the Schooner bar, followed by another lovely dinner in the MDR.

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

The next day we were in Valletta, Malta.....After our action packed day climbing Mount Etna etc, we slept like babies!!

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Thanks for the kind comments guys :)

 

 

So, day 4 saw us waking up to views of Valletta (Malta) as we slowly made our approach into port. We had an action packed morning on a Segway tour, so we were up early and had room service breakfast on order.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p>Fred Olsen

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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