Serenade of the Seas June 30 - July 7th

[ONETIMEGETSUHOOKED]

This is the first chance I have had to post.... This

was my 11th cruise and my first time to Alaska... also

a first for me was going on a Rediance class ship....

What a place and what a ship! I have to say that I

like the Voyager and Freedom class better but the

Serenade is just the right size for doing Alaska. For

the most part all of my cruises have been in the

Caribbean lots of sun and drinks by the pool not this

one... It was so nice just to lay on our balcony and

nothing. We were on deck 10 and had a Jr Suites this

was my partner's 25th cruise so I have always had the

perks of being a Diamond Member...We enjoy going to

the Concierge for drinks before dinner and loved our

Concierge this time she was the best... We always get

some old man that make you feel out of place from the

time you walk in the door ... With her it was more

like family or a good friend. We live in Oregon so we

drove the six hours to Vancouver BC and parked our car

at Cruise Park they bring your bags over later so the

next time you see them is out side of your state room.

The bad thing is when you disembark you have to wait

for them to call your color.

 

Cruising the Inside Passage:

Loved it... I got up 2 or 3 time that night just to

look out and see where we were....

 

Icy Strait Point:

No Thanks.... I will never go back... This is Alaska's

answer to Mexico but they get paid by the state of

Alaska to live there! After paying the $5.00 for the

bus ride to town? what town! Only a few got got off

and walked around we stayed on the bus it was a fast

15 min but that was better then paying $85.00 for 90

seconds on the zip line. I'm sure lots of my fellow

cruisers had a nice time but this place was not for

me.

 

Hubbard Glacier: Man this place is one of the best

things I have ever seen.... I can not begin to put in

to words what I was feeling that day....

 

Skagway: What a cute place we rented a car and drove

to Whitehorse the capital of the Yukon. It took us

about one hour and half to get to Whitehorse from the

Skagway we had lunch and walked around downtown and

made it back for time to shop the stores... How cute

was the 4th of July things they had going on... It was

so small town USA... Loved it!

 

Juneau: Such a nice clean place to go... We just

walked around took a tour of the Capital that kind of

thing

.

Serenade of the Seas: I like ships that have large

Centrums like this ship does I have been on Celebrity

and Princess and they only have 2 or 3 floors for me I

have to have the open air 7 or 8 floor Centrums.

We had a great state room and the state room attendant

was very good also. Our wait staff was one of the best

that we have ever had we were at a table for two I

like them the best unless we are traveling with family

or friends... The table next to us I could live with

out..... It was a table of 10... They were from

India... know where I'm going with this... They talked

to the staff like they were trash.... bossing them

around ordering something taking one taste and

handing it back to them saying this is not what I

ordered. The men were on there cell phones talking to

only God know who in the middle of dinner.... They

were loud and nasty... You know the old saying you

have to see it to believe it... this was it.... The

second night they was not any better after dinner we

told our wait staff what a good job they did and they

really were the best we had ever had. But was not sure

if we could stick it out all week! She told us that

they are the worst people to wait on and they work

them to death and at the end of the cruise they always

say we left our tips in the room... We will bring them

back... but never do! She went on to say that this was

the best group she has ever had.... I would hate to

see what a rude bunch was like!!! We did not change

tables we just could not do that to our wait staff...

Two nights the ring leader and his wife did not show

up and that made it a little nicer. We did have dinner

at Chops Grille one night that was ok... Now I'm very

pro Royal Caribbean I think they are the best but last

year we were on the Crown Princess out of New York and

the Crown Grill was much nicer and the food was a lot

better. As we were sitting down the table next to us

was getting up the lady told her husband you need to

loose some wight..... You wasted all of that money on

slim fast!!! Shortly after two nice young ladies sat

down next to us.... They did not say much at first but

then all hell broke loose and they started fighting

they were dating and on a cruise with one of the girls

family... the fighting got nasty now keep in mind we

are right next to them I could have buttered her bread

for her... The one said she did not have to live like

this anymore and did not care if her Mom and Dad paid

the her trip! She broke up with her girlfriend setting

next to us.... The girl getting told off ran out of

Chops and came back 10 min later... The other one

started in and did not stop.... We just was looking

for a nice dinner with no drama.

 

Shows and Entertainment: I know that not everyone goes

on three cruises a year like me but more and more

people are cruising more often. I would like to see

Royal Caribbean step it up in this department... The

Show on the Freedom of the Seas was the best one I

have ever seen on board.... The 70's night when the

cruise staff dresses up like the Village People is so

old..... get over it and find something new for 70's

night...

 

If you are going on the Serenade this year for Alaska

you will have the time of your life... The Ship the so

nice and I can not tell you how nice the staff is.....

Wish you all the Best! Onetimegetsuhooked...

[a&w]

Thanks for your review! We will be going Aug 25th, and I can hardly wait! I heard through the boards that you got closer to Hubbard Glacier than some previous cruises. Did you feel like you were pretty close? Could you see some calving? Do you know who your captain was, and how long he will be there?

 

Thanks again!

 

...and I agree...One time gets you hooked for sure!! :D

[enyaw]

Great review! I agree -- the Serenade is a great ship and Alaska is beautiful!

[MercedMike]

cy Strait Point:

No Thanks.... I will never go back... This is Alaska's

answer to Mexico but they get paid by the state of

Alaska to live there! After paying the $5.00 for the

bus ride to town? what town! Only a few got got off

and walked around we stayed on the bus it was a fast

15 min but that was better then paying $85.00 for 90

seconds on the zip line. I'm sure lots of my fellow

cruisers had a nice time but this place was not for

me.

 

HMMM -- the reviews on ISP all pretty well say the town is not much. Ziplining is certainly not my thing either.

 

BUT -- what were your expectations? ISP is renowned as a premier place for wildlife viewing. Isn't that something that interests you? Whale watching, the forest tram, bear watching, eagles -- none of that is your cuppa tea? If that is the case, then certainly next time you are in ISP it would be a great day to stay aboard and enjoy the ship, I guess.

[ONETIMEGETSUHOOKED]

Here are some answers to questions --

 

a&w: Not sure of the captains name. Sorry! All I know is he did a great job getting us close to the glacier. I believe he's going to be the Captain through the rest of the Alaska season.

 

MercedMike: I didn't mean to be super negative about ISP....just thought that the town needs a bit of work if they're going to bus thousands of people from ships everyday. I agree -- if you're not doing an excursion -- no need to get off the ship. It's a perfect day to take advantage of in-port specials at the spa :D By the way -- you're a wealth of knowledge! You gave great advice on renting a car from AVIS in Skagway -- we drove to Emerald Lake and all the way to Whitehorse. No problems. What a drive! THANKS....

[a&w]

Thanks for the info on the captain. We are going at the end of August, and I am hoping that we will be able to see Hubbard Glacier up close and personal! :p

[rclcruzer]

on the same cruise, we really enjoyed it. I thought the weather was great considering that all we heard before we left was it was going to rain in every port! I guess we got lucky. ISP was small yes, but I took my TA's advice and we all went to the Office Bar and had the best crab I have ever had in my entire life, too bad you missed it! (if you like crab anyway!) My DH and 2 sons and some other family members went on a halibut fishing excursion (ISP) and they should be arriving at my door any day!

Know what you mean about the dining room expierience, similar situation with us as well.

Glad you had a good time...............happy future cruising!!

 

p.s. ditto on the Voyager class, been on 3 plus the Freedom last year, too spoiled by the big ones, but this ship was just fine for Alaska!