Serenade 1/10-1/17/2009 Review

[Darkwolfe]

1/9 and 1/10 San Juan

 

1) There were some reports of cabbies not honoring the fixed rates published on the internet. I'm happy to report that all of the cabs we've used between Friday and Saturday were priced correctly and the drivers were all in good spirits. Keep in mind that the zone rates are only good for up to 5 passengers. Once you have 6 the zone rates are out the window.

 

2)If you fly Airtran, be aware that when they have everyone checked in on a flight, they load up and leave! Be ready to get on and get gone!

 

3)Senor Frogs in OSJ is still serving up some great food. But, go to the bathroom somewhere else. I don't think the bathrooms have been cleaned since sometime around 1950.

 

Embarkation started at noon. Since we had arrived just after 11, we stood outside for a bit. It was reasonably warm but not bad. RCCL started by getting everybody through priority check-in to get things rolling and only started using the regular line after about 70-80 people were entering the building. We were in the first dozen in the door so we blew right through, got our Sea-Pass cards and were aboard in less than ten minutes.

Windjammer was open of course so we piled our stuff next to a table by the windows and had a very satisfying lunch.

 

Luggage was being delivered to cabins before 2pm and ours was delivered to our cabin (1604 stern) before 3pm. Speaking of cabin 1604. I bought it permanantly. Nobody else can have it. All mine! Kidding of course, but it's a very good aft cabin and I can certainly see why so many people try to catch this cabin when it's available.

 

Dinner in the MDR for me was the basic steak. Reasonably good, but nothing to write home about.

 

1/11 St Thomas

This was our second visit, but we opted for a repeat visit to Coki Beach and Coral World since the couple with us had not been there before. That and the trip to Coki gives a good basic overview of life on the island.

 

One of the things we wanted to do was get a look at the stingray tank again. I had not realized that the same rays that were in the tank two years ago would have grown as much as they did. Rays that were a little over a foot across then were now over two feet across. Those rays will soon be released into the wild.

 

 

Taxi rates have gone up a dollar in two years. Not bad all things considered. The drivers that we had were courteous and reasonably careful. Our driver on the way back was actually giving a tour for another group, but was happy to include us on the return leg for no more than the expected fare.

 

After doing a bit of swimming off Coki and visiting Coral World, we returned to downtown Charlotte-Amalie for some souvenier shopping. We walked back to the ship over at Havensight thus getting our workout for the day.

 

3 out of 4 in our group ordered the Filet of Beef in the MDR tonight. That was an extremely good meal that left empty plates in short order. I give this one 4 out of 5 stars. It was as good as Chops fare.

 

Shortly after dinner, we went to the Solarium and took a break in the jacuzzi there. Took a swim in the pool as well, which was quite fun with the ship pitching on 10 foot swells. It was rather like being out on Coki again, but without the sand in your shorts.

 

That was the end of the day and we all sacked out for the night. We had 8 to 10 foot seas throughout the night which was a good way to get rocked to sleep.

 

1/12 St Maarten

This was planned to be an easy day since we'd done so much in St. Thomas. My wife and I chose to have breakfast on our balcony after we docked. Our friends went to the Windjammer and we all caught up afterwards to go into Philipsburg.

 

Take the water taxi in Philipsburg. $6 for the whole day, however many trips you make. It's a shopper's delight all up and down the beach and the two streets parallel to it. This was somewhat of a planned shopping day anyhow so we wandered along picking up t-shirts and such.

 

FYI, if you want a good laugh, pick up a bottle of the "St Maarten Rum" and read the back. It's bottled in Kentucky! (Of course it's also cheap at $5 a bottle so enjoy.)

 

We got back to the ship around 1pm and got a quick lunch in the Windjammer. After that we all got good and lazy for a few hours.

Dining room staff did some singing tonight. Entertaining for enthusiam if nothing else. They had everyone spinning napkins over their heads too. (See youtube for video. Look for username "Scraghunter".)

 

1/13 Antigua

This was our zip-line day. We were booked through the ship as I had been told some months previous by the tour operator that they were not taking individual bookings when ships were in port. That was ok as booking through the ship also covered the long taxi ride to the zipline site.

Be forewarned, the zips are fun, but the stairs at the end are murder. I actually over-heated climbing the stairs. The gal behind the refreshment counter picked up on it and brought me a glass of water on the spot. That got me going again pretty quickly.

 

We had opted to do the early run on this excursion so we were back at the pier before 10am. The four of us nosed around the shopping area for a little while. We discovered the usual gamut of taxi cab and tour offers, but I will say that I observed the stall merchants all being quite polite even in their sales pitches. Not horribly pushy at all.

 

Back onboard we once again caught the Windjammer for lunch and again drifted into a lazy afternoon after a busy morning.

 

Just as we left port we had our M&M, then went out and played a rather amusing bit of minature golf as the ship got underway. The deck was pitcing a fair amount so your shot might just go off some direction you hadn't planned on.

 

1/14 St Lucia

Today's schedule was simple. Get up and eat, then go to the next pier over and board the Brig Unicorn. This ship was in "Roots" and all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. She's 160 years old at this point and a few modifications have appeared. There's a diesel engine hiding below decks for example. Most the other modifications are fairly subtle. Other than those, she's still very much the same ship she was when she was built.

 

You will get spray on your face if you are up near the bow on deck. I'd strongly advise waterproof camera cases on this excursion too. I was very glad that I had both of my cameras in waterproofing as I got a face full of water several times. Didn't bother me any, I was having a blast just being there.

 

The "Unicorn" sails down to Pigeon Island and trades some noisy cannon shots with the fort there. Then they let you off for an hour to explore, "treasure hunt", or loaf on the beach. Choose as you like. Don't get worried when the "Unicorn" looks like she's taking off just after you go ashore. She's just getting out of the way of other traffic. If you don't have a watch on, just look for her to return as your signal to go back to the pier to reboard.

 

The "Brig Unicorn" tour is simple. It's a bit of a party boat as well. They do let the rum punch flow fairly easily and it's free. They also play some Caribbean music pretty loud for most of the trip. If your children understand the meaning of the song "Big Bamboo", you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

If you have any sea-sick vulnerability, take something for it before you board. The Unicorn does not have stabilizers or a deep keel so she rolls and pitches with the motion of the ocean. You will feel every bit of it.

All in all a fun tour, but not very serious.

 

Unfortunately, the Piton turn is no longer done. St Lucia has declared that the Pitons are a national landmark and the cruise ships are not allowed in the area like they used to be. In fact we did not pass them until it was nearly dark. My pictures came out, but only because I set the camera on a small tripod and used the timer to trigger the shutter.

 

1/15 Barbados

Woke up and we were already docked in Barbados. It was a full port with three other ships docked as well, but it wasn't badly crowded even with the Island Star disembarking its passengers.

 

This was planned lazy day for us. So, we'd picked out the Malibu Beach Break as a nice time to kick back and relax. All in all, it lived up that expectation. The beach was quite clean and the provided chairs were in reasonable condition. Nothing worse than sand and salt spray on the surfaces. The sand and the water were both quite nice.

 

You will be accosted by people trying to rent jet skis, but if you aren't interested they take a "No" with good humor. Their jet skis did apear to be in good repair as well.

 

The beach is right next to the Malibu Rum distillery. I'm just enough of a rum fan to go on the tour. It's about 30 minutes long and gives a quick look at the making of Malibu Rum.

 

They have a tasting after the tour and the person who was doing the tasting very quickly ferretted out a teenager that tried to sneak in on it and stopped him cold.

 

Now the bad part... As we were relaxing in the restaurant area before boarding the bus back to the ship, they started playing music. This normally wouldn't be a big deal except the music they were playing was blatantly sexual. Not even innuendo like the "Big Bamboo" I mentioned earlier, but out and out sex and bad language. That detail alone may be enough to keep families out of this tour. At best, dodge the restaurant if they start playing the garbage. It was the only bad part of the tour.

 

1/16 Sea Day

Not a lot to tell on a sea day. Slept in a bit, had breakfast on the balcony, raided the sea day sales for some t-shirts and basically just knocked around the ship.

 

1/17 End of the cruise

Disembarkation wasn't too bad really. We had opted to use the luggage valet since we didn't have a flight until nearly 5pm. We hung out in the Schooner Bar and left the ship when they called our group. We did wind up standing around a bit while customs delayed for some unknown reason. After we found our bags in the piles, we handed them off to the airline reps and headed off to Old San Juan for the afternoon.

 

Barrachina still has the luggage room and the food is good. Be forewarned, there are no free refills on anything. We'll wander back over Senor Frogs next time. The prices were better, the food just as good, and there was more of it.

 

People of note:

Biju, Headwaiter (Homeland Unknown)

Biju was the first headwaiter we've had that made it a point to stop at our table every night and ask us about how our day had been. I took note that he did this for every table in his section. That showed some sincere effort on his part.

 

Jacob, Waiter (Dominican Republic)

Jacob was constantly working on minor magic tricks and giving recommendations on both dinner and things to do at our next port of call. He kept things lively. Especially when "Nothing" got ordered for dessert.

 

Andrei, Asstant Waiter (Romania)

Had the drinks down within a day. He continued to double-check to make certain that it was correct at each dinner. He headed home to Romania after our cruise, but will be back with RCCL after his vacation. He did not know if he would be returning to Serenade or not.

 

Lauret, Stateroom Attendant (St Vincent and the Grenadines)

We gave Lauret and easy time. She came by on day one to see what we might need her to do each day and we told her just the basics. We don't even use the ice bucket so that got set to the side and ignored for the week. She did a great job of invisible service. I only ran into her once when she was working in our cabin. She caught us oversleeping one morning though. The cabin never failed to be in perfect order after she was through with it.

 

All in all, a great cruise. Next year Serenade will be doing alternating Southern Caribbean itineraries that will make for great B2B opportunities. Hopefully, I'll find time and money to do that one day.

 

I'll add some pictures to this thread as they get posted.

[BroncosFan2010]

Thanks for such a great review. We will be on this ship in just under 6 weeks. I have heard rumors that there is no longer a midnight buffet. Can you set the record straight?

[Darkwolfe]

Thanks for such a great review. We will be on this ship in just under 6 weeks. I have heard rumors that there is no longer a midnight buffet. Can you set the record straight?

 

Midnight buffet did indeed take place. Lots of food out on the pool deck. Not as much fancy food carving though. I think that was one area that RCI decided (rightly IMHO) they could save some money on.

[Mike&Nancy]

Thanks for the great review. We're going on her next January, our first B2B. I can't wait!

 

I'm guessing you fly out of MCI? What airline did you take, and where was your layover? I've been trying to get a feel for what we're in store for...man, I miss our direct flights to FL. :(

 

Nancy

[Pepperwood]

Dude, you forgot the informal Meet & Mingle for Cruise Critics on Day 1 at 4 pm at the Pool Bar! It was a great way to start the cruise.

 

(For other Cool Cruisers, I would highly recommend that if you are part of an M&M group, you make plans amongst yourselves to meet informally on Day 1--you finally get to see the people behind the screen names, and you will keep running into them over the next couple of days, before your "formal" M&M.)

[alcpa1]

just as a footnote...

We did the cruise in November. We had booked 1604 but got an even better deal on a JS so switched a week out. We have had 1604 before and you really shouldn't talk about it. It's hard enough to come by as it is....save it for those of us who have their initials carved in the door!!!!

Our M & M was not on the first day. We did it either after Antigua or St. Lucia. So that can vary.

We did not have a midnight buffet on our sailing. I don't think anyone missed it either. For those of us who have been cruising for over 30 years and who traditionally have late seating it lost its charm a long time ago. Our cruise had a few adjustments since it was the first sailing after the repo so don't use our scheduling as the Serenade Bible.

We opted for a quasi repo for this November, bypassing the new and improved Serenade itinerary. The DH just wanted to do something a little different. I sure do like the new additions. We have been to all of them before but not as often as the present islands. So we will give the Enchantment a shot.

[BroncosFan2010]

Thanks for the great review. We're going on her next January, our first B2B. I can't wait!

 

I'm guessing you fly out of MCI? What airline did you take, and where was your layover? I've been trying to get a feel for what we're in store for...man, I miss our direct flights to FL. :(

 

Nancy

 

Hey Mike and Nancy! I grew up in Kansas, Eudora Kansas to be exact. I sure miss it there sometimes!

[tiffstulips]

Thanks for that review! I'm just more excited as I will be on Serenade in about 3 weeks! Can you remind me how the luggage vallet works? We too have a 5pm flight. Is there a website to go to about it?

[Scoobydobe7]

Was on this cruise also. Had a blast. :D

 

I also noticed in the Compass (I think Day 4) that you could go to guest relations and get you boarding passes and luggage tags for your flight home. I did NOT take up this offer (We were with a group), but I did hear folks at the airport saying it was a great program. Drop your luggage off in the am at disembarktion with all the tags and do not see them again till you arrive home.

 

Does anyone know if this the same as the Valet or a seperate program altogher???

[Pepperwood]

Our M & M was not on the first day. We did it either after Antigua or St. Lucia. So that can vary.

 

Our "official" M&M was to be on Tuesday afternoon at 5 pm, but some of our Roll Call group were going to be on a tour and thought they might miss it. So on our Roll Call board, we made informal arrangements amongst ourselves to meet on Day 1 at 4 pm by the Pool Bar. My wife and I arrived at 4:05 pm and there were already about a dozen M&M people gathered there. We hadn't arranged for a special code phrase or wearing pink carnations, etc., we just asked "Are you a member of Cruise Critic?", everyone said yes, and it went from there.

 

The fun part was that we kept running into people we'd met at the pool bar over the next couple of days, so by the time the "official" M&M rolled around on Tuesday afternoon, we already were past the "Hi, I'm ____" stage.

[Ckruz69]

Thanks for the review - this is perfect for us as we will be travelling on 2/14 with our granddaughters, ages 9 and 14 - anyone else with children on that date?? We have also booked the "pirate ship" in St. Lucia and your tips on this excursion are most helpful - we will not eat too much before going on it! Cant wait to leave as this will complete our trips on the "Vision" class of ships but especially to get out of this cold weather.

[erniesband]

Darkwolfe - RE: 1604 - You can't have it, I've got it for 1/16/10 and have had it or 1104 for my past 4 cruises on Serenade! SHHHHHH... don't let the secret out. We were on Summit same time you were on Serenade and saw you on the balcony in San Juan on both days. I tried to get your attention from our aft balcony but couldn't. Wish we had sailed with you.

Ernie

[tiffstulips]

Jkieth,

We will be on the Serenade 2/14 sailing with our daughters also. They are twins that are 14 and a 10 yr old. It will be thier first cruise.:D

[KeywestK]

Hi David...a.k.a. Darkwolfe.....Great review! I'm so glad you and Tammie had a great time on this cruise. You guys sure waited a long time for it....:) I'm glad it met all your expectations. Take care.

 

Karen

[Jania]

Great review, thank you soo much. Can you tell me what nights were the formal nights.

[Scoobydobe7]

Great review, thank you soo much. Can you tell me what nights were the formal nights.

 

 

Formal Night was Sunday and Thursday.

[Darkwolfe]

Wow, thread got busy this morning lol.

 

Jania- St Thomas (Day Two) and Barbados (Day Five) were the formal nights if my memory is working correctly. We only went to the first formal night. Chops took up the other. :) Sombody correct me on the second one if I'm wrong. Food coma struck after that.

 

KeywestK- Hey hey, good to see ya here! We'll catch you guys again one of these days!

 

tiffstulips-They'll have a blast!

 

erniesband- Shoulda yelled at me! I was back there shooting some video on day one. You might be on it. Go check youtube username "Scraghunter" (Actually the link "Video Clips" in my sig will take you there too.) and see if your on the aft video I took of Summit. Was the Summit trip not as good as you'd hoped? I heard from another passenger that was on it that Aruba was the best stop of the trip.

 

Jkeith0321@att.net- Just remember, you are to be embarrassed if the kids get the innuendo behind the "The Big Bamboo" ! Other than that, have fun! There are fiddler crabs on some of the beaches that the kids might see. Also hermit crabs are around some of the rockier spots.

 

alcpa1- :D:D You'll enjoy Enchantment, but I hear you should brush up on your Spanish a bit. That's not a bad thing, just a new experience.

 

Pepperwood- Guess I could have included that eh? I got in the mode of what the ship and excursions were doing and didn't think about it. My bad. It was a good bit of fun though. We'd about taken over that side of the pool bar.

 

Mike&Nancy- MCI it was. On Airtran it's a hop to Atlanta, then the longer flight to SJU. Take a book! That second leg is long and dull. Especially if you are on the sunny side of the plane. Can't see a thing but glare on the water below.

 

If you have an hour in Atlanta, think of it as 30 minutes and charge! We had to catch flights at the extreme ends of the C & D concourses. There was enough time, but don't try to get food along the way. That crunches things.

 

FYI for those who like to haul alcohol home from the ship. Wait until you get back and buy it at the airport in SJU. Same prices as the ship and you're already past security. Therefore you can carry it with you. I didn't look close enough when we left and it would have made things a bit easier.

[BILL-WI]

Darkwolfe...

 

Join us for a B2B next year. the CC threads are burning already! 1-9-2010 and 1-16-2010, but YOUR cabin is already taken!:eek:

 

Good review, but the cruise was even better!!!:D:D But, I hate it when they kick us off the ship!:mad:

 

By the way, to other CCers on this cruise the photo from the M&M is our M&M thread.

 

Later...

 

BILL

[Darkwolfe]

Darkwolfe...

 

Join us for a B2B next year. the CC threads are burning already! 1-9-2010 and 1-16-2010, but YOUR cabin is already taken!:eek:

 

Good review, but the cruise was even better!!!:D:D But, I hate it when they kick us off the ship!:mad:

 

By the way, to other CCers on this cruise the photo from the M&M is our M&M thread.

 

Later...

 

BILL

 

Wish I could, but the budget says we're going on Mariner to the Mexican Riviera instead. That B2B for Serenade looks pretty awesome though.

[Darkwolfe]

Was on this cruise also. Had a blast. :D

 

I also noticed in the Compass (I think Day 4) that you could go to guest relations and get you boarding passes and luggage tags for your flight home. I did NOT take up this offer (We were with a group), but I did hear folks at the airport saying it was a great program. Drop your luggage off in the am at disembarktion with all the tags and do not see them again till you arrive home.

 

Does anyone know if this the same as the Valet or a seperate program altogher???

 

That was indeed the luggage valet and it worked like a champ! Everything got home just fine.

[erniesband]

Wow, thread got busy this morning lol.

erniesband- Shoulda yelled at me! I was back there shooting some video on day one. You might be on it. Go check youtube username "Scraghunter" (Actually the link "Video Clips" in my sig will take you there too.) and see if your on the aft video I took of Summit. Was the Summit trip not as good as you'd hoped? I heard from another passenger that was on it that Aruba was the best stop of the trip.

 

The itinerary was was great, loved Dominica, Grenada, and Bonaire. Just wish we had more time in Grenada and Bonaire. It was the ship itself we didn't like, food was only so-so, entertainment was good for the geriatric set, and don't get me started on the smoking policy. Serenade is a much nicer ship and the staff as a whole more personable. And the C&A benefits are much better than the Captain's Club. Certainly didn't live up to their advertising.

 

Ernie

[Darkwolfe]

The itinerary was was great, loved Dominica, Grenada, and Bonaire. Just wish we had more time in Grenada and Bonaire. It was the ship itself we didn't like, food was only so-so, entertainment was good for the geriatric set, and don't get me started on the smoking policy. Serenade is a much nicer ship and the staff as a whole more personable. And the C&A benefits are much better than the Captain's Club. Certainly didn't live up to their advertising.

 

Ernie

 

I hear an "ouch" coming on your review. Oh well, ya can't smoke much on Serenade either. Balconies, the casino, and a couple less frequented clubs were all that was available for smokers.

 

I was the only one of our group of four that even rarely lights up so I skipped completely this trip.

 

Beats a day at work though!

[erniesband]

I hear an "ouch" coming on your review. Oh well, ya can't smoke much on Serenade either. Balconies, the casino, and a couple less frequented clubs were all that was available for smokers.

 

I was the only one of our group of four that even rarely lights up so I skipped completely this trip.

 

Beats a day at work though!

 

My balcony and the casino suit me just fine :D

 

Ernie

[VegD]

Did you hear of anyone having a problem with taking alcohol on board?

[Darkwolfe]

Did you hear of anyone having a problem with taking alcohol on board?

 

I didn't hear of any trouble about anything on this trip including alcohol. They had the great big scary "Don't try to sneak your booze aboard" sign, but they never had anyone checking the stuff in at all.

 

Security guy saw it, told me I needed to check it, but I wasn't going to stand around waiting this time. I did that on Voyager and it got old quickly. I figure I upheld my part by not hiding it, if they didn't want to have someone to check it in, not my issue.

 

Keep in mind that this was at the ports of call, not embarkation.

 

Pictures are posted. No real details in yet, but you can go browse through them anyhow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midwestrr/collections/72157612865588688/