World "shakedown" cruise on Serenade starting next week (Semi-Live Review)

[gatour]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Lots of chipping and painting still going on today. When we came back from town there was a crew member up on the catwalk above the bridge with a pneumatic chipper going at one of the porthole window frames with a vengeance.  Still a lot that needs to be removed and replaced (like the rotted door frame to the galley in Rita’s Cantina), but all they seem to be doing is cosmetically hiding the issues. 

 

There was a hatch door up on deck 12 that blew of of its hinges a few days ago, and yesterday they tried to fix it but gave up. Today, the hatch is covered with visqueen and duck tape.

 

Good news in the solarium: They found a piece of teak and replaced the board on the steps that has been broken since February, Bad news: the boards on either side of that one are still broken. I guess that was good enough to make the steps WC ready.

 

Still no heat in either the Solarium pool or lukewarm tub, and they have the AC cranked up so high in there it feels like you are walking through a meat locker - that should play well in Antarctica.

 

Had two new pillows delivered to the cabin this morning, but were informed that they were for the WC and not for us to use. They stuffed them under the bed. Oh well…

Any reason why you couldn't "unstick them".

If asked you can say you were just trying to be helpful.

[orville99]

32 minutes ago, gatour said:

Any reason why you couldn't "unstick them".

If asked you can say you were just trying to be helpful.

We did, but when we looked at them we decided that they were no better (actually not as good) as the ones we already had, so we re-stuck them back under the bed.😇

[orville99]

A few random pix from our return stop to Puntarenas:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by orville99

[kernow]

Just back to the cabin, someone has definitely been in as everything on the vanity has been moved but we can't see what they've done🤣. Will try and find out. New pillows and towels under our bed too but no different from the ones we already have.

[heatherb1958]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

 

 

Had two new pillows delivered to the cabin this morning, but were informed that they were for the WC and not for us to use. They stuffed them under the bed. Oh well…

 

 

Had to laugh at this . Reminds me of when they  sneakily hid kettles in all the cabins on Brilliance for us Brits , think it was when she wintered out of Barcelona before going to Dubai . There is a panel next to the fridge which can be removed , we could see through the gap the kettle and all the gubbins and the room steward miraculously had a tea tray of supplies appear on their cart . This was a loooong time ago . I would need to look at my cruise history but we were B2B , saw the hidden kettle first cruise then it appeared next cruise like magic 😆 🤣 

[orville99]

At least they let us use the new WC darts in the pub😇 (old dart on top, new dart on bottom)😅

 

 

[Jimbo]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

Lots of chipping and painting still going on today. When we came back from town there was a crew member up on the catwalk above the bridge with a pneumatic chipper going at one of the porthole window frames with a vengeance.  Still a lot that needs to be removed and replaced (like the rotted door frame to the galley in Rita’s Cantina), but all they seem to be doing is cosmetically hiding the issues. 

 

There was a hatch door up on deck 12 that blew of of its hinges a few days ago, and yesterday they tried to fix it but gave up. Today, the hatch is covered with visqueen and duck tape.

 

Good news in the solarium: They found a piece of teak and replaced the board on the steps that has been broken since February, Bad news: the boards on either side of that one are still broken. I guess that was good enough to make the steps WC ready.

 

Still no heat in either the Solarium pool or lukewarm tub, and they have the AC cranked up so high in there it feels like you are walking through a meat locker - that should play well in Antarctica.

 

Had two new pillows delivered to the cabin this morning, but were informed that they were for the WC and not for us to use. They stuffed them under the bed. Oh well…

[orville99]

58 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

DW wouldn’t let me say that…😇

[orville99]

Just my opinion, but one of the challenges that the WC cruisers will face is the way that RCL has set up their new internet protocols. While the speed and connectivity of the internet has been outstanding throughout the past 21 days, their system has the annoying characteristic to override any and all default conditions in our apps and set the internet to whichever country is closest to the ship. For example, even though we are at sea off the coast of Panama, the internet says we are currently in Colombia. Every one of our apps is now displaying in Spanish, my streaming apps now only show Spanish language content, all of the pop up ads are in Spanish, and even the RCL booking engine says we are in Colombia - which makes looking up cruises a bit problematic. UGH…

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by orville99

[island lady]

21 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I hate those shower curtains.  Going for 6 weeks on Brilliance coming up.  I bring a dollar tree plastic shower curtain to put inside the cloth one that’s rarely changed. At least I have new plastic stuck to me.

 

I bought the shower curtain weights to hold them down, and then realized Serenade is one of the sisters with the curved plastic canister...not curtains.   

 

Indeed those yucky shower curtains sticking to you in an already too small shower stall is gross.  😕

 

[island lady]

18 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

For Those showers with the curtain, I always have lots of magnets with me, so I use a few to keep the curtain inside.

 

Yup, bought some magnets designed for holding down creepy curtains...but can now leave those behind since I realized Serenade was the plastic door sister. 

 

Has been awhile since we were in a balcony cabin.  Though even some GS and JS cabins have curtains...but has more room to run away from them inside the tub.  😉 

 

[island lady]

21 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Quantum class also has a nightlight in the bathroom.

 

Is that like Odyssey with the glass between the the bathroom and the cabin?   Have never been on Quantum.  I hung a towel from a magnet hook to cover that up...due to turning on the light and waking up "Mr. Sleepy head" too early.  😮 

 

Indeed...I do love the nightlight feature.  🙂 

[island lady]

18 hours ago, orville99 said:

 

 

Had two new pillows delivered to the cabin this morning, but were informed that they were for the WC and not for us to use. They stuffed them under the bed. Oh well…

 

I hope they don't try and shove too much of their stuff under the bed for WC...I have too many suitcases...I need that room!!  😮   They would find their stuff back into the hallway linen closet!  

 

Real shame that RCI did not put Serenade into drydock for those things...at least a month of real work should have been done to her from what you are describing.  Feel sad for you and your cruise mates having to put up with all that annoying activity.  😕

[island lady]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Just my opinion, but one of the challenges that the WC cruisers will face is the way that RCL has set up their new internet protocols. While the speed and connectivity of the internet has been outstanding throughout the past 21 days, their system has the annoying characteristic to override any and all default conditions in our apps and set the internet to whichever country is closest to the ship. For example, even though we are at sea off the coast of Panama, the internet says we are currently in Colombia. Every one of our apps is now displaying in Spanish, my streaming apps now only show Spanish language content, all of the pop up ads are in Spanish, and even the RCL booking engine says we are in Colombia - which makes looking up cruises a bit problematic. UGH…

 

 

 

The internet country changing happened to us all the time on other ships, and same with cruising with Viking in Europe.  Even recent Wonder, cruising off the coast of Mexico...changed to Mexico.  

I was quick to delete cookies when we got back to the U.S. coast.  

[marquisite]

26 minutes ago, island lady said:

Is that like Odyssey with the glass between the the bathroom and the cabin?

 

At least on Ovation the light above the bathroom sink partially stays on. 

 

But in terms of Serenade and nightlights, recently I saw a photo online somewhere showing a light installed near the wardrobe or something that illuminates the floor outside the bathroom door.

 

It'll be great if all rooms will get this lighting update. I may still pack a little USB nightlight for the small portion of the UWC that I'll be onboard for, though.... (If I don't forget).

 

[orville99]

Hopefully this will post. For the person in the Captain’s Corner on Wonder who complained that they never saw any sea life on a cruise:

 

 

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Just my opinion, but one of the challenges that the WC cruisers will face is the way that RCL has set up their new internet protocols. While the speed and connectivity of the internet has been outstanding throughout the past 21 days, their system has the annoying characteristic to override any and all default conditions in our apps and set the internet to whichever country is closest to the ship. For example, even though we are at sea off the coast of Panama, the internet says we are currently in Colombia. Every one of our apps is now displaying in Spanish, my streaming apps now only show Spanish language content, all of the pop up ads are in Spanish, and even the RCL booking engine says we are in Colombia - which makes looking up cruises a bit problematic. UGH…

 

 

Yeah, This was happening on Radiance in Oct for our Panama Canal Cruise. 

[ONECRUISER]

16 hours ago, orville99 said:

A few random pix from our return stop to Puntarenas:

 

 

 

 

 

Weather is lot nicer then last Month on our east bound Radiance Panama Canal Cruise. We had yr worth of rain in 2 hrs during our stop. Cars were washed off road, all traffic inc Tour Buses at dead stop for 5 hrs. We had rock slides, trees down, Huge Boulder came within 10ft hitting our Van as we were sitting there getting showered with rocks and mud. Was 6hrs late getting back to Ship at 10pm this after walking hand in hand threw water covering a Bridge and 5 at a time riding in back of a Police pick up. Leaving from San Diego we had 6 straight Sea Days before this first stop as we went hundreds of miles west into Pacific going around a Hurricane

[island lady]

41 minutes ago, marquisite said:

 

At least on Ovation the light above the bathroom sink partially stays on. 

 

But in terms of Serenade and nightlights, recently I saw a photo online somewhere showing a light installed near the wardrobe or something that illuminates the floor outside the bathroom door.

 

It'll be great if all rooms will get this lighting update. I may still pack a little USB nightlight for the small portion of the UWC that I'll be onboard for, though.... (If I don't forget).

 

 

Oh...I like that idea!  

 

Bringing my little battery  "tap light" for the bathroom...but that still may be too bright.  My electric travel clock is the perfect night light for inside the cabin...and shows date, room temperature as well.  It goes with me everywhere we travel.  🙂 

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Is that like Odyssey with the glass between the the bathroom and the cabin?   Have never been on Quantum.  I hung a towel from a magnet hook to cover that up...due to turning on the light and waking up "Mr. Sleepy head" too early.  😮 

 

Indeed...I do love the nightlight feature.  🙂 

Won't be on Odyssey until the fall 2024 TA.  No glass partition on Quantum or Anthem in a regular balcony cabin.

 

FYI - Odyssey is Quantum Ultra class.

[ZoeyVictoria]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Real shame that RCI did not put Serenade into drydock for those things...at least a month of real work should have been done to her from what you are describing.  Feel sad for you and your cruise mates having to put up with all that annoying activity.  😕

 

We are on the December 5 four-nighter. We always expected to see last-minute work being done and don’t mind, but now I have a sliver of concern that we might be canceled to allow a last-minute surge of activity. 

 

[orville99]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Oh...I like that idea!  

 

Bringing my little battery  "tap light" for the bathroom...but that still may be too bright.  My electric travel clock is the perfect night light for inside the cabin...and shows date, room temperature as well.  It goes with me everywhere we travel.  🙂 

Whatever they are installing, they will hit our cabin sometime tomorrow (while we are going through the canal), so we will try to figure out what they actually are doing. 
 

We don’t plan on vacating the cabin until they knock on the door.😇

[island lady]

41 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Won't be on Odyssey until the fall 2024 TA.  No glass partition on Quantum or Anthem in a regular balcony cabin.

 

FYI - Odyssey is Quantum Ultra class.

 

Ahh...OK...guess that is just in the JS cabins?  Someday will try Quantum...so many cruise ships...so little time.  😉 

[orville99]

We are now sailing due east past Punta Mariato, and have hit the closest point on the journey from the equator - 475 miles. Sunrise and sunset only differ by 9 minutes at this latitude.😇

[lovesthebeach2]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Is that like Odyssey with the glass between the the bathroom and the cabin?   Have never been on Quantum.  I hung a towel from a magnet hook to cover that up...due to turning on the light and waking up "Mr. Sleepy head" too early.  😮 

 

Indeed...I do love the nightlight feature.  🙂 

The glass on Odyssey was on our JS.

In a balcony room on Odyssey the bathroom light that stays lit very low in the corner of the light.

we had to keep the door closed because it was too bright for us to sleep.