Serenade Review - 4/15/06- 4/22/06

[emen822]

Here is my review for my latest sailing. We (me, my husband and two daughters, ages 10 and 12) have only sailed once prior and that was on the Mariner. I was a little nervous thinking I would miss the promenade and the size of the Mariner...That was not the case at all. This ship is gorgeous, tons of glass everywhere.

So, we left on Saturday morning around 4:30 a.m. to drive to JFK for our 6:45 a.m. flight. We were leaving our car at the airport and wanted to give enough time to park and check in. Anyone living in New York can tell you that one problem on the Belt Parkway and our morning could've been a nightmare. But that wasn't the case..everything went smoothly and we arrived at the airport and were checked in by 5:30. That gave us some time to get breakfast and chill out. Starting boarding around 6:15 and headed to PR. We arrived about 10 minutes earlier and we were excited to get to the ship. I was nervous at the airport because I had heard the stories about lost or damaged luggage and basically that the airport could be a little hectic. Not the case that morning. Got our luggage and headed out for a cab to the pier. Got to the pier around 11:30 and we were on the ship by noon. We walked around a bit since the Windjammer wasn't open yet. Got into our room around 1:30. Oh, a big thanks to cruise critic for the room selection. We had room 1056 and the balcony was HUGE. Two loungers, two regular chairs and a table. Loved it! We were right near the elevator which was very convenient and one flight up to the Windjammer. We were very happy with this room.

Food

We were very happy with the food altogether. The dining room experience was much better than last year. The waiter (Juan) and assistant waiter (Ylie) made the experience so much better. They knew our names by the 2nd night and it was nice to have that extra personal touch. We went to Chops on Tuesday night and it was excellent. We had tried Portofinos on the Mariner and enjoyed that as well. Seaview Cafe was great. My daughter had brownies every day and I usually had the onion rings. :) I will definitely miss that on the Mariner.

Islands

St. Thomas - we went to Megans Bay. It was cloudy when we got there but turned out to be a nice day. I wasn't "wowed" by this beach. I don't know why..I've seen pictures and I know it is rated one of the top 10 beaches of the world. We still had a nice time and were excited just to be on vacation.

St. Maarten - we took the water taxi over to Great Bay (I think that is what it is called). This was the best bargain of the week. $5 water taxi per person, all day. It was right near the port and you could easily go back to the ship for lunch, which is what we did. They had a water trampoline-type thing there for $10 to use. My girls had a lot of fun on that.

Antigua - we went to Dickenson Bay. This was one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. The sand was like powder and there were no rocks in the water. The locals, on the other hand, were very aggressive. We were the only ship in port that day (also in St. Maarten, St. Lucia and I believe Barbados). I saw one get into an argument with other people on the beach. That turned me off. Nice beach but I think I would pick another one next time. The town was very poor which was really sad.

St. Lucia - we basically just shopped because we were tired from 3 days at the beach and we knew we had an excursion planned for Thursday. Next time we will go to a beach since we heard SO many people say that St. Lucia was their favorite island. Oh well, live and learn. Just gives me another excuse to go back. ;)

Barbados - we went on the Silvermoon. This was the best excursion. Took a catamaran out with a total of 13 people and had a great day. Swimming with turtles (AMAZING) and snorkeling. I really hope my pictures come out but I'm sure many of you have read and/or saw pictures of this excursion. It was definitely worth the money and I would book again if we are back in Barbados.

Friday was our final day and only day at sea. This was when you actually saw all the people on the ship. My husband saw a few fights about deck chairs. He didn't hear the whole thing but I'm sure it was about saving chairs. I wasn't around so I don't know if the "deck patrol" came and resolved it.

Meet and Mingle

Our meet and mingle was actually cancelled, even though it was listed in the Cruise Compass, on Royal Caribbean website and we all received email confirmations. We were told that the Miami office said it was cancelled due to lack of interest. Meanwhile we had over 30 signed up. They said they would try to organize another one and they did so a few days later. We had arranged our own for the first day so we basically knew most of the people. But they came through and we had our little meeting and some raffles.

Random Thoughts:

We loved this ship, loved our room, dining room waiters, stateroom attendants...everything. My only complaint is that the casino was not very nice to me. :p The Quest was hysterical. Don't miss it.

This itinerary is very port intensive, which I knew before we went. I would do it again in a heartbeat. The captain was awesome. He gave wonderful narrative of Montserrat, the Pitons and basically of all the island on the way back to Puerto Rico. Montserrat was actually erupting when we went by at night and he said it hasn't been that active in 10 years (I think). I didn't get a picture because we had to run down to get the camera and by that time, the ship had passed. But it was a great sight to see.

I can't think of anything else right now. I am jealous of anyone going on this ship...especially the ones this weekend who get 10 days!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[wolfcathorse]

Meet and Mingle

The captain was awesome. He gave wonderful narrative of Montserrat, the Pitons and basically of all the island on the way back to Puerto Rico. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Who was the captain?

[lusyrsgirl]

Hi! Mary - I'm going to jump in because I was on board too. The captain was Eric Tengelsen aka "Captain Eric". He was a wealth of information! I loved the cruise - wish I were back on the ship!!!:o

 

Unfortunately, I too lost at the Casino. Dag-gone 3 handed poker!!

[OPSoccermom]

I was on this cruise with Mary as well. I can't say enough about the ship and the itinerary. We just loved this itinerary, esp St Lucia and the sea day, when Capt Eric cruised very close to some beautiful islands (loved St Kitts)

 

With the exception of the America's Cup Regatta (fabulous), we booked our excursions independently, and they all were great. esp. the Leisure charter in St Lucia and Heat Wave catamaran in Barbados (three of us had Heat Wave all to ourselves for the day!). If you do this itinerary, I highly recommend doing St Lucia by water so you can get an appreciation of how beautiful this island is.

 

Although it was spring break, Serenade did not seem that overly crowded, compared to a not-so-good experience on Mariner last year for spring break. Capt Eric was great, entertainment was good- especially The Diamonds. Our only negative, if you can call it that, is that although the food was good, you couldn't call it great.

 

All-in-all, one of the best cruises we've taken. Had a great time thanks to all the CC friends we made on board.

[Sheffie]

Mary, we were on the Serenade the week before you were and I agree that the ship and the itinerary are fabulous! We did the Silvermoon, too, and LOVED it!

 

Everyone loved the onion rings so much at the Seaview Cafe that they ran out on Friday afternoon. Oh, well, guess I will have to sail her again!

[2oc cruiser's]

Glad to hear everyone had a graet time. We will be on the Serenade on June 4th for Alaska.

[GARFIELD]

We Leave This Weekend And I Can't Wait. We Have A Large Groupd On The Meet And Mingle Looking Forward To The Ship , Ports And New Friends.

 

This Will Be The 10 Day Cruise. Our First One For That Long. Sounds Like 7 Was Not Enough !!

 

Glad To Hear Everyone Loved Their Trip. Thanks For All The Reports.

[Maineac]

Could you tell me how you found out about Leisure Charters in St. Lucia? I think for us, seeing St. Lucia by boat is the only way to go.....I tend to get car sick.:eek:

Thanks

[SAS21]

Which Nights Were Formal & Which Night Was Lobster Served? Also, With Silvermoon What Time Did The Tour Leave & Return To The Ship? I Worry That We Would Not Get Back In Time For Sailaway.

[CruisinChrissy0303]

We are leaving this weekend for the 10 day cruise and we are soooooooo excited!! Thanks for the great review. :cool:

[Sheffie]

Which Nights Were Formal & Which Night Was Lobster Served? Also, With Silvermoon What Time Did The Tour Leave & Return To The Ship? I Worry That We Would Not Get Back In Time For Sailaway.

 

St. Maarten and Barbados were the formal nights. Lobster was on Thursday night.

 

I believe we met the people for the Silvermoon at 10:30. We got back in plenty of time. They are good about making sure we get back in plenty of time. I didn't worry at all.

[treasurehumper]

My wife and I were aboard as well. Loved the ship. The night time view of Montserrat was amazing, but it was hard to get a good picture:( .

 

The only bad part for us was that we both got sick on the sea day. I left my room to see Montserrat at 9am and never left again until we got to San Juan. My wife did not have it as bad as I did. I'm not exactly sure where we picked up the bug from. We suspect it was during our excursion in Barbados (5 star Tiami catamaran and swim with turtles) which we booked through RCI and was amazing!

[Homeschool2]

I noticed that you were originally checking out cabin 1558 - what made you decide on 1056? We are currently trying to make the same decision, and would appreciate any feedback! Thank you.