Just Back from Serenade

[Sleeepy]

Sailed on Serenade of the Seas from 2/10 through 2/17. This was my first cruise.

 

First, I would like to thank everyone who answered my posts or otherwise responded to my inquiries - lots of help. Thanks.

 

I'd also like to report that Captain George treated us with lots of nice suprises. Not only did we do a 360 in front of the Pitons, but we also did an up close and personal drive-by of Monseratte (sp?) including a 360 turn for all to see, Nevis, St. Kitts and Saba. It was FANTASTIC!!

 

Okay, here's the report:

 

Pre-cruise: given the high prices this time of year for hotels, especially for only one night, we chose the Embassy Suites Hotel & Casino right near the airport (.5 miles and you do not hear the planes while you sleep). Best bang for the buck. I booked the room and paid in advance months ago for extra online discount. Total was $217 per couple for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite and included happy hour (as many drinks as you can do for 2 hours) and very nice breakfast. We enjoyed the casino and received free drinks while in the casino too. The pool was beautifully landscaped and had a hot hot hot tub and waterfall, was very clean and not overly crowded. The room was okay and really did not seem to compare with the overall beautiful appearance of the rest of the hotel which far exceeded my expectations (as my friends put it, they were worried we booked a Motel 6 type place). The room was a bit dark, but it was only to sleep in. I would HIGHLY recommend this hotel to anyone for a precruise night.

 

We ate lunch at Mi Casita - AWESOME. It's about a 2 block walk from hotel and it's a little local place located in a plaza. Get a Mofongo! Anyone can direct you there - it's great!

 

Beach near hotel: We walked 2 blocks (across the street from the restaurant) after breakfast the next morning and went for a stroll up and down the beach - GORGEOUS!!!

 

Embarkation on 2/10: We arrived at the pier around 1:00pm. Got on the ship with no wait at all (highly recommend pre-registering on line and getting your Sea Pass BEFORE you leave home - made a HUGE difference). Our luggage was in our room by the time we finished touring the ship. We were allowed in our rooms at 2:00 p.m.

 

Room: We had 9092, next to main elevator at hump. Would reserve it again . . . and again and again. VERY convenient, no noise and HUGE balcony (2 lounge chairs with 2 regular chair behind those - very deep).

 

Food: not enough. Right. Are you kidding me? I felt guilty eating OFF the ship when there was so much food ON the ship. Food was great and plenty of it.

 

Chops: LOVED IT, HIGHLY recommend it.

 

Entertainment: Beatles show - awesome! Comedians - enjoyable. Did not do the other shows.

 

Beds: not very comfortable and we did not request egg crates (our bad). So, request egg crates.

 

Pool: very cold - awesome for when you need to cool off from the hot sun.

 

Spa: my friends had some treatments and loved them. My hubby got a haircut and it was fine.

 

St. Thomas: took a cab (Harvey - got him outside of the gate) to Mountain Top for Banana Daqueries and view, then to Sapphire Beach for the afternoon. Harvey gave us a nice tour on the way to each (but not off the path so pretty direct routes, etc.) Sapphire is a very beautiful beach that you can snorkel right off of with views of St. John.

 

St. Marteen/St. Martin: shopped!

 

Antigua: Got a driver named Jackson to take us to Nelson's Dockyard. From there we caught a water taxi to Galleon Beach - GORGEOUS, QUIET and SECLUDED (but not after this post :) We took the water taxi back to Nelson's where Jackson met us to take us to Turner Beach via Fig Tree Drive. There is a local place to have lunch right on the beach. We had Lobster Salad for lunch - AWESOME (lobster was pulled out, chopped up, mixed with local fruits and veges and cooked, then placed in the empty shell for presentation along with salad on the side.

 

St. Lucia: We went there for a week last year so decided to just hang out on the ship while it was quiet :)

 

Barbados: Did the Silvermoon I. Very enjoyable, crew was great, boat was immaculate, lunch was WONDERFUL. Swim with the turtles a must do, but we were a bit disappointed that there were many other boats there too at the same time and the water was very murky. We also wished we could have seen more secluded coves (we were pretty much in view of the ship the entire time, but the seas were rough that day too so that was part of the not venturing too far). Again, though, I'd recommend it.

 

Day at Sea: HOT! Not much of a breeze, but enjoyable all the same.

 

Disembarkation: We were in the third group. We had a nice liesurely breakfast in the main dining room and it was about another hour before we were called (1 and 2 were called close together, but between 2 and 3 there was a bit of a delay). We were off the ship at 9:30 and our flight was not booked until 2:30 because I was afraid of booking too early in case we were held up. Next time I'd book an earlier flight - we ended up paying about $60 per couple to drive around old San Juan until just to kill time and still got to the airport almost 3 hours before our scheduled departure time. Our plane was only 2/3 full. I would definitely book closer to 12:30 next time.

 

Overall, we had a nice time. But our next few vacations will be land-based so we can do more exploring (just our preference, nothing personal to those of you who love to cruise, nor the cruise line). We also prefer to go casual on vacation since we dress up everyday for work so dressing up for the formal night and chops and smart casual was a bit painful, but we adhered to "suggested" attire and enjoyed our meals. I will admit that I was really annoyed that we went through the effort to dress accordingly yet found out that, except for formal night, attire was "suggested/not mandatory" and sat next to others wearing nice jeans with nice shirts, nice shorts, and even tennis shoes. I know this is a VERY hotly debated topic, but everyone has opinion and that is mine.

 

Some day we'll cruise again and we would not hesitate to choose Royal Caribbean for the next cruise.

 

Thanks again to everyone on this forum who helped me over the last 12 months or so. You made my cruising experience that much more enjoyable.