Just Off the Serenade... a few reflections

[Pastormike]

I am a newbie and this was the first cruise for me and my wife. We sailed the Southern Carribean from San Juan, on 2/14. I thought I would share a few thoughts, and hopefully a full review later on:

 

Getting to the pier from the airport was easy, from the time we reached the pier to the time we were in our stateroom was probably 15 minutes (it was around 3:00PM). Pretty simple for someone who had no idea what they were doing.

 

Our cabin was a forward starboard balcony and was very nice. Even the shower that folks complain about was fine, great water pressure, just a little tight if you dropped the soap! Bathroom plenty big enough with plenty of storage. Bed was very comfortable, and balcony was great. I don't think I would sail without one.

 

The food was up and down. After the first two nights in the dining room, we had almost decided to just eat dinner in the Windjammer. The third night was formal night, and we decided to go to Reflections one more time (we were on My Time Dining). The food was much better that night, and the service was better, although our waiter still lacked some personality.

We kept going to the dining room, and felt things had improved.

 

The windjammer was great, excellent movement with little or no lines, great rolls, and we could always find something we liked. We were very pleased for breakfast and lunch. I know people complain about the coffee and orange juice, but we thought both were great.....I like strong coffee anyway and getting it for room service on the balcony was wonderful.

 

The Seaview Cafe was pretty good, my wife's salad was just okay, my Reuben was good, not great, but good.

 

We went to both Chops and Portifino's. I prefered Chops, my wife prefered Portifino's. Both were excellent and worth every penny of the extra cost. The food was excellent and the service tremendous.

 

The boat was intimidating. I think for a first cruise, one should probably pick a cruise with at least a day of cruising at the beginning would be better. Sailing only at night and being in port each day kept us from getting used to how things work on board. We could have stayed on the ship, but we both wanted to experience the islands. By the end of the week, we felt more at home on the ship and more comfortable going to different places.

 

The entertainment was very good. We enjoyed the shows we attended, and most of the bands and music around the boat.

 

Even as old foks (let's say that we are much closer to retirement that we are college) we still got caught up in Quest. I am intrigued by how far some will go to win a trinket!! :) We had fun though!

 

After the first two days we were not sure whether we liked cruising. By the end of the week, we were convinced we would do this again. The staff on the ship were almost all very helpful and very personable. We felt like we were treated much better than we deserve.

 

One note on the islands, I will go into more detail later, we felt a little misled by COSOL tours. Our driver was great, but we felt rushed and herded. I made some assumptions that were different from the experience, so perhaps that is my fault, but I thought that when they said we would go to Soufriers (sp?) and Castries (sp?) that it would be more than driving through them. They list the waterfall and the botanical gardens, it turns out this is one place and we had fifteen minutes to see them and get changed into water clothes before the water taxi to the beach.

In general I was not as pleased as many people here seem to be with them. It may have been that I was expecting too much here.

 

If I can answer any questions, let me know......I certainly gained much from your insights and suggestions prior to our first cruise!

 

Mike

[cb at sea]

Sounds like you had a typical first cruise! Fun, wasn't it?

As far as the excursions go...we've found that "going it on our own" works for us--costs less, and you don't have that "herded" feeling. Beaches are almost always best done via cab/bus--no excursions! (That's something 1st timers really aren't aware of!)

Looking forward to a more detailed report!

[safirebebe]

i enjoyed reading your reflections! it sounds like you had a great first cruise experience :p

 

hopefully this makes you open to booking more in the future

 

i for one became a convert after my first cruise on the sovereign last summer

[Debde]

PastorMike

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

I am in the process of booking the Serenade for our next cruise. Will look forward to all your little details.

 

My first cruise was on the Majesty and yes-we too were hooked! :D

 

Excursions take some tweaking amongst yourself. What others like-you may not. I don't feel comfortable booking outside the cruise line. Don't like long excursions either. We have fianally figured out what we like and have it down to some sort of science.

 

Glad you had a good time!!!

[lablvr2]

I wish I had known about CC prior to my first cruise. That would have helped me alot. Talk about walking into it blind - I did.

 

We are sailing Serenade this fall. I look forward to a full report it you post. I have sailed Radiance and Jewel so I know what to expect, kind of!

[lablvr2]

I just realized it was pastormike - you had an aft, right????

[Pastormike]

I just realized it was pastormike - you had an aft, right????

I thought of changing to an aft, but no, we were far forward...9516

Mike

[GXmanDC]

Thanks for the review. Personally, I prefer to have a few sea days to enjoy the ship. I love getting to see the islands, but need some slow, quiet time too. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[Pastormike]

Some more detail about the trip that might be helpful.

 

The My Time Dining worked well. As we left each night, we would give a time to the attendant of when we would be back the next night. One night we wanted to come at 7:00, he asked if we could come at 7:15 instead as it was a transition time and would work smoother at the later time. I still don't know why we needed to change, but it wasn't a problem.

A couple of times we had to wait a few minutes, no more than 4 or 5 for a seat.

 

I purchased the grand romance package, as I was doing the cruise as a thank you to my wife for a number of reasons. The strawberries and Champagne were in the room when we arrived. The Strawberries were okay, the Champagne wasn't very good, but the seniment and having a glass of champagne as we left was fun.

 

We got two robes as a part of the package. They are nice, and nice to bring home.

 

The petit fours and canapes on formal nights were pretty lame......but so it goes.

 

The breakfast in bed from the dining room was very good.

 

 

St. Thomas: we went shopping some, and then a cab to Megan's Bay. Wish I had followed my instincts and gone to St. John's instead, but Megan's bay was okay.

 

St. Martin: Better shopping than St. Thomas, we then went to Orient Beach, it was highly recommended as the Riviera of the Caribbean.....big mistake. There was lots of seaweed and it was covering the water, not what would have been better covered. Although we were not at the fully clothing optional part of the beach, there were still a few that decided to excercise their option anyway. Go to Wal-Mart, look around, and think....do I want to see any of these people naked? If the answer is yes, go to Orient Beach. If the answer is no, you have made a good choice.......go to the beach right in town where the water taxi goes from the boat. It is very nice.....and your eyes will thank you for not exposing them to the potential of drastic and permanent damage.

St. Martin was not a very pretty island to us, the terrain is very rocky and not very lush.

 

Antigua - We did the ship excursion to Prickly Pear Island. It was very good and worth doing. I would not do it again as we did not get to see much of Antigua and felt very limited since there was nowhere to go and nothing to see other than this little island and beach. The snorkling was just okay, the reef is very shallow and hard to get around.

 

St. Lucia: We did Cosol tours, and it was just okay. We got to see a lot of the island, and it is gorgeous. The beach between the Pitons was very nice, although I did not snorkel there were still plenty of fish visible just sitting on the dock. The overall tour was rushed, and the food stop was very crowded.

 

Barbados: We went to Carlisle Bay early. There were no crowds, we felt like we had this gorgeous and calm beach all to ourselves. It was beautiful, the water as clear as any I have ever seen, and the beach was wide, smooth, and long......great for walking and hating the thought that in two days you would be back home. After the beach we went back to the boat for lunch, then decided we would head back into town to look around. Somehow we wandered off the main shopping area and ended up in an area where the locals shop. It was much more colorful and fun.

 

Sea Day.....the last day. This was the first day we really got to know the ship. We wandered a lot, watched the belly flop contest, played mini golf, I did the golf simulator (don't waste your money on this), we ate, rested, walked some more. My next cruise will have more than one sea day, and it won't be the last day. We enjoyed it very much.

 

Going Home: We signed up for the tour of Old and New San Juan. It was great, and we enjoyed it for the sights and the food. It also made leaving the boat very easy....we gathered in the theater and were then led through customs. They put our bags in a truck and we got on the shuttle bus. At the end of the tour we went to the airport where our bags were waiting for us.

 

Airport: All I can say is, Eat before going here, don't try and do it here. Lousy food which is way overpriced. Eighteen dollars for two ham and cheese sandwichs (literally ham and cheese, nothing else) and two small sodas.

 

If I can answer any questions about anything specific, let me know.

 

Here are my overall grades

 

Boat: A

Food:

Reflections:B-

Windjamer Lunch - B-

Windjammer Breakfast - B+

Potifino's - A+

Chops - A+

Seaview - B+

Room - A

Service - A+

Shows - A-

Music - A

 

There is more and I will share more later...but let me know anything I can share with you!

 

Mike

[Look2Sea]

Hello Pastor Mike,

I was excited to see your post about your recent cruise.

Just curious, and also would help me with packing tips.

In terms of what to pack, in your opinion,

What items did you find most useful, indispensable?

What items did you find were not worth bringing?

[MDSue]

Welcome back PastorMike, I was just wondering how your cruise went. You are right that you started out on a very port intensive cruise- not much time to relax and enjoy the ship.

I loved your analogy of Orient beach. The ones that are clothing optional are not generally the ones the you would want to see. I've been there twice and both times the water was clear and nice, so you must have gotten an off day as far as the water goes.

I hope overall you had a wonderful vacation.

[dfitz]

Mike, thanks for the nice review ... we're sailing to Alaska 9/5, it will be our first time on Serenade, we'll be in cabin 9568, a D1 balcony. I've been debating upgrading to a jr suite, but it's another $1k right now so I don't think it's worth it, but watching for price reductions/specials. Was glad to hear you liked your room ... we will have 3 maybe 4 of us traveling. Did you happen to notice how much the overhang from deck 11 had an affect of blocking light/view to deck 10 balconies (in case we upgrade) ... did that overhang affect your balcony on deck 9 at all?

 

Lablvr2,

ahh, you just made me think of our old lab, Sport, who passed on just a few months ago ... he was in his 14th year, he was a good boy and had a great life. We have 3 small dogs a shih tzu and 2 English toy spaniels (love the ET spaniels, easy to take anywhere at only 8 and 11 lbs).

Just can't help myself, have to attach a pic of Sport in his youth, years ago.

 

Where are you sailing on Serenade this fall?

[wrp96]

Pastormike, I'm so glad you came back to give us your impressions of your first cruise. I was hoping that things would work out for you.

[bigtoeswim'n]

Hi dfitz: Just saw your post saying you were going to be on Serenade 09/05. DH and I are on that ship, too, if you're talking about departing from YVR. We are in cabin 4045, deck 4. This is our third cruise and second to RCI, Sovereign Oct 2008. I guess I should update my signature some time. Anyhoo. I surf CC all the time for tips. I'm gonna try and get a waterproof bomadaire cap for us to. Well, maybe we could chat/email somehow or meet in Meet and Mingle. Do you have any early morning brisk walkers in your cabin. Maybe we could walk? I duno. ttyl

[Pastormike]

Hello Pastor Mike,

I was excited to see your post about your recent cruise.

Just curious, and also would help me with packing tips.

In terms of what to pack, in your opinion,

What items did you find most useful, indispensable?

What items did you find were not worth bringing?

 

 

-Underwear! You change often, so lots....

-least needful was long pants...take a 2 pair at most for casual dinners, you can wear them more than once and 2 pair can actually cover most nights.

-Take your binoculars...the best thing

-The shampoo on the ship is fine..leave yours home

-We also took $50 in ones...we almost used all of them in tips for various things from room service to cabs

-take a couple of small bags for towels, camera, etc..when you make a beach trip

-t-shirts...you can easily go through 3 a day and they are the most comfortable for wearing around on ship or on shore

 

I am sure I can come up with more as I think about it!

[Pastormike]

Mike, thanks for the nice review ... we're sailing to Alaska 9/5, it will be our first time on Serenade, we'll be in cabin 9568, a D1 balcony. I've been debating upgrading to a jr suite, but it's another $1k right now so I don't think it's worth it, but watching for price reductions/specials. Was glad to hear you liked your room ... we will have 3 maybe 4 of us traveling. Did you happen to notice how much the overhang from deck 11 had an affect of blocking light/view to deck 10 balconies (in case we upgrade) ... did that overhang affect your balcony on deck 9 at all?

 

Lablvr2,

ahh, you just made me think of our old lab, Sport, who passed on just a few months ago ... he was in his 14th year, he was a good boy and had a great life. We have 3 small dogs a shih tzu and 2 English toy spaniels (love the ET spaniels, easy to take anywhere at only 8 and 11 lbs).

Just can't help myself, have to attach a pic of Sport in his youth, years ago.

 

Where are you sailing on Serenade this fall?

 

 

The overhangs wouldn't affect either room, you will be looking out, not straight up....and it was still clear to lean out a little and look up.

 

Unless three or four are in one room, I wouldn't upgrade....But three or four would have been way too close in our room. Although other than changing and sleeping, if we were in the room, we were on the balcony.

[karena1]

Thanks for the review. We will be on Serenade for the 2nd time in a few short weeks - April 11th. Loved her the first time, I know we will again. For us, we love having the sea day at the end as we love running around the islands all week and having the last day to kinda chill, relax at the pool, and I can pack at my leisure.

 

Sorry you did not like Orient that much. We LOVE it there and go all the time. Best people watching beach ever, beautiful beach and water. We will head back there again.

 

We actually prefer Magens and Coki over taking all the time to go to St John. We love both beaches and go b/t the 2 of them depending on if we want to snorkel or not.

 

St Lucia - love the place, but we are beach people so pretty much chill. We have done the all day tours before, and our nephew just did Cosul and thought it was fantastic. But I can also say that we have sometimes did things based on what others have said and then not thought they were all that great either. (Not in St Lucia, but in other places)

 

Overall sounds like you have a great trip which is wonderful. We just re-watched our video from the last Serenade trip we took to get into the Serenade mood:o

[dfitz]

Hi dfitz: Just saw your post saying you were going to be on Serenade 09/05. DH and I are on that ship' date=' too, if you're talking about departing from YVR. We are in cabin 4045, deck 4. This is our third cruise and second to RCI, Sovereign Oct 2008. I guess I should update my signature some time. Anyhoo. I surf CC all the time for tips. I'm gonna try and get a waterproof bomadaire cap for us to. Well, maybe we could chat/email somehow or meet in Meet and Mingle. Do you have any early morning brisk walkers in your cabin. Maybe we could walk? I duno. ttyl[/quote']

Hi bigtoesswim'n,

Yay, glad to find someone else who will be cruising w/ us!

We have a meet & mingle thread going already, 3 of us are on fairly regular, and another 2 are there now and then.

Here's our thread:

Serenade, 9/5/09, Alaska thread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=771458&page=4

And the link to sign up for our Serenade, 9/5/09, Alaska meet & mingle

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do;jsessionid=0000QXG55_s-7Kv9lHoa0CA4I5r:12h3g0fq2

Come on over so we can chat and get to know eachother more w/o taking over this thread too much :) I'm a walker, but what do you consider "early"?

~Denise

[beolney]

Did you take a taxi from airport to port? If so, do you recall how much they charged?

[wrp96]

Did you take a taxi from airport to port? If so, do you recall how much they charged?

 

 

Cost from the airport to the pier is $20.50 plus $1 per bag.

[SailingSal]

We leave on April 11, too. We have cruised the carribean 3 times, this is our first to the Southern Carribean. Since we are going to be in San Juan for Good Friday, we have been searching for a schedule for services at a Catholic Church. We are aware that all businesses will be closed and I understand that some churches will do a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross. Does anyone have any details. We are thinking of signing up for Meet n Mingle.:rolleyes:

Since we are snowed in today(Cape May, NJ - 9 inches), school is cancelled, and all we can think about is warm weather! 40 Days seem too far away!

Thanks Pastormike for your review. We love this size ship. We have sailed Azamara, too. That was very small an intimate, you might like that. We do enjoy the voyager class when we take our children. I have no interest to go on the new BIG ships!:eek:

[wrp96]

SailingSal, you may want to ask your question about Catholic churches on the San Juan Ports of Call board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131 There are some local posters there that may be able to point you in the right direction.

[SailingSal]

Thank you - I did just that!:)

[SailingSal]

Thank you - I did just that!:)

 

I tried to post on the San Juan board, but it won't allow me to start a new thread - only reply to one.:( Am I doing something wrong? There is a notice that states that.

[wrp96]

I tried to post on the San Juan board, but it won't allow me to start a new thread - only reply to one.:( Am I doing something wrong? There is a notice that states that.

 

 

Your thread posted FYI. The notice only refers to people trying to give unsolicited reviews on tour operators. You are perfectly fine asking your question as a new thread.