sgmn

There were so few non US folk it actually worked out really well for us. We had to go to dinning room where we were seen straight away by immigration. After a couple of questions and inputting of computer info we were shown out-of the MDR and a short walk to exit the ship, no queue 😬

When we arrived in Boston we had to see usa customs on the ship before departing the ship. I guess they took the pps so this could be done

So sorry for you Bonnie, tooth pain is awful. I'm such a baby at the dentist but she knows me well and looks after me

I had 9660 and loved it

Sorry to hear Jimbo, hope its mild 🙏

Enjoyed your mini blog Jane, hope you're having a fab second week

Heidi wasn't kind to us on Serenade. First couple of days we had very minor wins, $15 or so but then it all went downhill. Min bid I think was .90cents so it took us seconds to burn through our $10 stake 🤣

We've been on Med cruises where the DL is pretty empty, less than half dozen in there, but our recent Serenade repo from TPA to BOS, the very small lounge was pretty packed during the peak time and even during the day it was busy. The spill over VC lounge was pretty busy too.

Exactly, what's the difference between four (diamond) drinks in 24 hours or potentially six or more drinks squeezed into the old happy hours Drinks are cheap for them to offer anyway. The only thing if they went back to the old HH more people may buy the DP because they want to drink outside the Happy Hours, which would be to RC's benefit. Or buy a couple of drinks after 8pm . If perks get watered down it will encourage us to look elsewhere instead of just sticking to RC and Celebrity. We do usually book tours through Royal Caribbean plus a dinning package and gifts from their shops so frequent cruisers do spend money on board

We cut the sightseeing short as Boston was cold and rainy, we caught the 1pm water taxi to the airport and just hung out till our 7pm flight. At least we had Internet at the airport . Flight was on time and our pick up was waiting at LHR for us so home by 8.30am on Monday. I was pretty much out of it for most of Monday and Tuesday we babysat Isasc so I've only just finished the laundry today 😅 Gary's come home with a bad cold so he's been taking it easy. Hope you had a smooth flight home and work wasn't too hard on Monday

Last couple of days once we had finished up the water package, we spent our last diamond vouchers of the day on water too

Over the last two weeks I've missed so much on Dani's thread so apologies if I've missed something important and haven't commented on it. @dani negreanuI hope you've had a wonderful visit with your son and family in Amsterdam @JimboI saw a few of your photos of your cruise. It looks like a fantastic itinerary, I hope you enjoyed it as much as you hoped. Sorry to hear you and your wife are unwell. Gary has come home from our trip with a bad cold. Safe travels home. @Sea Dog wow that stone sounds really painful . Hope it's passed and things are getting better @A&L_Ontsorry you're feeling rotten with your jaw issues, hope it resolves itself soon

Bacon butty 😋

It was a RC excursion. To Klein Bonaire, a tiny island just off Bonaire. There's loads of ways to get there including a water taxi which is the cheapest there's very little shade on the island and no buildings or shops so if you go independently it may be good to bring a cool box with cold drinks with you. The excursion we were on was a very old authentic Chinese Junk which was moored a short distance from our ship. To get there you transfer on rib boats which was fun but a bit difficult to get from the rib onto the junk boat. A push from behind helped 😂 On the way over they served non alcoholic punch and on the way back alcoholic punch. They provided snorkeling gear if you need it and flippers. once in the water the current very gently drifts you down the length of the island alongside the Coral reef. Its not too strong and only a few feet from the island so easy to get out when you want. Highly recommend Klein Bonaire

I really enjoyed meeting you too Debbie. ☺️ it was great to finally meet up after chatting for several year, I felt I knew you very well. Back to reality now after a great cruise. Serenade is a great little ship, staff are lovely and they work hard to keep her shipshape. Missed the turndown service but not as much as I thought I would. Its certainly something I can live with. Food was mostly fine though the one time we ate dinner in the Windjammer I was a bit disappointed by the offerings, especially dessert 🍨 Park Cafe was our go to for lunch. First time at Coco Cay, I enjoyed the free loungers, food was very good and liked the ice cold water/flavoured waters available. Didn't like the crowds, and disappointed the snorkeling wasn't good. We went to South Beach and stopped off at the lagoon pool to cool off on way back to boat. Very crowded there and very much a party atmosphere. We got our first block on this cruise. I was surprised how small it was, I guess I had imagined it to be about 9" by 6" It was the old fashioned uncoloured block Ports were great. I loved loved loved Bonaire and Curaçao. Bonaire we did a drift reef snorkel on a very old Chinese junk boat, saw amazing tropical fish and a turtle. Curaçao we did an excursion to two beaches. First was a fisherman's port famous for wild turtles. We saw loads and loved swimming with these wonderful creatures. Then onto a prettier beach with loungers and beach bar, which had a coral reef so snorkeling was great there with shoals of tropical fish We skirted around a named tropical storm on the way up to Boston, so weather was bad the last day with huge Seas 🌊 which caused Gary to be a bit seasick. Weather was also cold and rainy in Boston so we cut our sightseeing short, picked up our bags from the water taxi wharf and caught an earlier water taxi back to the airport. Overnight flight, I only got an hours sleep so was shattered on arrival back in UK. My bed was the best thing ever 😌 No more cruises booked till our mini segment of the world cruise next July, though if we get a good deal we may jump on something early part of next year

We had a great chat, it was lovely to finally meet Debbie @Sunshine3601after 'chatting' on here for a couple of years

Oh no how awful No I didn't hear about it or see the plane. Hope everyone is OK

That would be fab, how about 10am in DL or if that's crowded the VCL ? Just getting early morning coffee and Seas are quite big. It was really rocking last night, thought I would sleep better but I didn't I only have Internet till around 9.30. I've got a red tee shirt on and navy trousers

Sure was rocking and rolling last night on Serenade

So a few pics of our cruise. Unfortunately we don't have an underwater camera so couldn't take any photos of the amazing underwater sea life were seen in Curaçao, Bonaire and coco Cay On a Chinese junk to the underwater park in Bonaire Slightly puffy feet , relaxing on deck 5 Gary surprised me with room decorations and Champers for our anniversary South Beach, Coco Cay view from our room this morning

We're the red Cross, think we're skirting along the edge, hope it doesn't do an unexpected change of direction as we pass

So today I have my free diamond 24 hour Internet. We are really enjoying the cruise. The food, after all the hoo ha on CC, we have found perfectly fine. Bonaire and curaçao in particular have been great stops and we have done lots of snorkeling and swam with turtles and lots of pretty tropical fish on the coral reefs We enjoyed our first visit to Coco Cay, sharing our visit with Independence. We went to South Beach and saw stingrays and jellyfish 🪼 Today currently hanging out in the DL but just going to the lecture on Titanic Steaming back to Boston on the Atlsntic Coast now so a little cooler. Will post some pics later

My old boss said that all the time, usually just before walking away, Infuriating!!!

That's a lovely story with a happy ending Debbie. The people on this ship have been lovely (and the staff amazing ). We've had a few short visits to the casino, just to spend our limit of $10 a day. In the past we could make it last and even win a bit but last few cruises it only seems to last 30 seconds before it's gone. The Heidi machines seem very popular, which ones do you usually frequent?

I pre bought the water package, though the water on ships fine, its nice to have bottles of cooled water in our fridge . Dont think we've hit our diamond limit yet. As we're getting older we're turning into lightweights 😆