LovesToRead

We took the excursions below and found the guides to be at an exceptionally high level. Although my husband and I are not extremely athletic, we enjoy walking and found these tours were at just the right level for us.

-Heimay: Pompeii of the North.  I believe you can see some of the sights on your own, but we enjoyed the various stops on the island.  A highlight was our guide; she had lived through the  Eldfell volcano and gave us a first-hand account.

-Seydisfjordur: The Scenic East.  Although this was not my favorite tour, we got a good sense of the various landscapes of the area; the views were lovely.  We walked around the town on our own when we arrived the previous evening.

-Akureyri, Jewels of the North. On this tour, it was amazing (again) to see the various areas, from the waterfall to the geogthermal field.

Isafjordur: Dynjandi Waterfall & The Westfjords.The waterfall was the highlight of this tour for me.

Grundarfjordur: Wonders of the West. Another opportunity to see the various landscapes of the area.  Although I didn't go down to the lava beach, I found the walk along the coast provided spectacular views.  Our guide for this tour was wonderful.

We also spent time in Reykjavik before and after the cruise.  I would highly recommend taking a Golden Circle tour if you can. We loved the Around Iceland cruise, our first on Windstar. We recently cruised in Asia on the Star Legend and have planned another trip for 2020. 

I hope this helps.  Enjoy!

I was on the Star Pride around Iceland last August.  For dinner I usually wore black slacks and a nice top.

Fortunately, we had excellent weather in Iceland.  (The crew noted that we were the first cruise all season to have such good weather.) Between that and the port-a-day itinerary, crowding in the Yacht Club wasn't an issue. This past March we were on the Star Legend in China and yes, the Yacht club could get crowded on the few days that we had bad weather.  I don't recall it as being terrible, though, and we did sit in Compass Rose several times.  In terms of dining, on bad days Amphora was open for breakfast and lunch to make up for the lack of outdoor seating in the Veranda.

My DH and I did this itinerary on the Star Pride in August 2018.  We loved it!  We found Iceland amazing and were very happy with the excursions; there seemed to be a good range.  At that time, we thought the ship was fine. (I realize you'll be on another ship.) Windstar is much more basic and less luxurious than Regent.  However, the cabins are a good size.  Dinner is single seating; you can arrive when you like and choose to dine alone or with others.  We thought the food was excellent. Can't speak to cocktail culture. 

In March I will be on the post-cruise tour that begins in Beijing and goes to Xian and back to Beijing.  I believe Windstar did a similar tour (pre-cruise) in October.  If you were on  this tour, did you take all luggage to Xian or was it possible to take just a small bag and check the remaining luggage at the Beijing hotel? I would appreciate any information about this issue and any other helpful insights into this part of the trip.

Thank you so much!

I have also been in touch with Dvir over the past week.   Also using shanghaijews@hotmail.com. 

Many thanks for this thoughtful reply!

We have an overnight in Shanghai.  On the second day, we plan to take a Jewish history tour.  For the first day, we're looking at a ship's excursion that goes to the Yu Garden and the bazaar and then Zhujiajiao water town.  Although the water town is intriguing to me, I'm wondering if this tour is too ambitious and if we would we better off remaining in town and seeing more of Shanghai.

Thoughts?  Recommendations? 

Thank you! This will be our first time in Asia.

Thank you! Very helpful.

We're doing this cruise in March. For those who were on the October-November sailing,  I'm wondering how things went and if you have any tips for me.  Did you do the tour from Beijing to Xian as well?

Thank you!

Perhaps this is a silly question. Would it be worthwhile to go to the Blue Lagoon even we don't plan to go into the water or have a spa treatment?

A friend is booked on Nordic Adventure on the Marina in July. Do these cruises typically sail into the fjords? (I was on the Regent Voyager on a similar itinerary and we sailed into the fjords, but I realize the Marina is a larger ship.)

Thank you so much!

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We used the Verizon Travel Pass on a recent cruise and found it very helpful. It's best to call Verizon and let them know the countries you will be in.

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Thank you for the information about outlets. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you so much for this info. Will the North American outlets accept grounded (3-prong) plugs?

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I can only report that we are having a terrible experience with South Excursions from a customer service angle. In short, when our cruise plans changed, we needed to cancel one excursion and book another. We were entitled to a refund, as the first excursion was more expensive. South Excursions provided incorrect information about the PayPal refund process and subsequently processed the refund incorrectly. This resulted in a delay of nearly one month. At this point, we determined that we did not want to do any additional business with South Excursions, communicated with them about the error, canceled our second excursion and requested a full refund. The company processed the second refund incorrectly as well, despite specific instructions from us and PayPal. This resulted in more work for us, the processing of the refund through a method other than the one we desired and another (continuing) delay in receiving our funds.

We were in 5219 (sheltered balcony) on the recent 5-day cruise (July 1-6). Our cabin had been refurbished. Hope this helps.

We were on the Riviera in April 2015 and had an excellent tour with Guy of Riviera Together Tours. (We were a group of four.) You can e-mail him at: contact@rivieratogethertour.com. Our ship docked at Monte Carlo; we spent some time there and then went to Nice, Eze and St. Paul de Vence. There are quite a few reviews on TripAdvisor.

Enjoy your cruise!

Many thanks for the suggestions; I'm now following up on them.

Elaine: We sail in December from Buenos Aires. Enjoy your trip!

I'll be on a South America cruise later this year and am seeking recommendations for guides/companies that provide Jewish heritage tours of Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Thank you for your help!

We used Smiths in 2014, when we went on our British Isles cruise. We'd learned about them on this board. We found Smiths excellent; drivers were prompt (often early) and professional.

DH and I are in our mid-60s, both retired. We’ve cruised quite a bit, on lines that include Cunard, Crystal, Regent, Holland America and Oceania. This was our third RC cruise; our first was on the Oasis in October 2010 and our second was on the Serenade in 2012 (Mediterranean). We choose our cruises by itinerary and price.

The Ship

The Serenade was as lovely as we remembered. We again enjoyed the amount of light that flows throughout and the ability to see the ocean from so many vantage points. We loved the Safari Room and enjoyed the unusual and surprising artwork. The ship seemed immaculate.

Our Cabin

We splurged and booked a Grand Suite. It was terrific! The layout and amount of space were wonderful. We especially liked the large balcony and, with four sea days, took advantage of the comfortable lounge chairs. Cecilia, our cabin steward, was wonderful and Mario, our concierge, was friendly and accessible.

Dining

We had MTD, which worked out fine. We'd made reservations before the cruise and, on the three nights we dined in the MDR, had just a short wait to be seated. The service was efficient. Even on the one night that our section was especially busy, the waiters apologized and did what they needed to without fanfare.

Of course, food is subjective. We had somewhat low expectations, after reading CC comments, hearing from frequent RC cruisers that the food was not as good as in the past and our knowledge and experience that the quality of food seems be declining on a number of cruise lines. In general, we were pleasantly surprised.

Here are the hits and misses:

-Chops: Disappointing, both in food and service. (We'd had good experiences with Chops on the Oasis and our previous Serenade cruise.) DH ordered the strip steak. He found it too chewy and sent it back for the filet. He found the replacement filet poor and his requested side of mashed potatoes never came. I had the small filet, which was just OK.

- Giovanni's: We had two excellent meals there. The first was outstanding; we both had the lamb chops. The second was very good; DH especially enjoyed the osso buco.

- Izumi: We dined there twice. Both times, we found the servers to be extremely helpful. They suggested selections we would like and encouraged us to begin with appetizers and entrees so that we didn't order too much food. The food was consistently excellent. The first night, we had the seafood hot rock dish; the second night we had two sushi dishes for our entrees.

-Dining room: We had three dinners, two breakfasts and one lunch in the main dining room. For dinner, the quality varied depending on what you ordered. DH particularly liked the salmon and the moussaka. Due to a recent health issue, I was on a blander diet than usual. I had a fish dish that seemed overcooked and thought the chicken cordon bleu was poor. We both liked the pasta dish. I had an excellent steak sandwich for lunch. We also had dinner in our room one night. While the service was good, the buttermilk fried chicken was not good.

-Windjammer: We had lunch there most days. Even though the selection was unremarkable, we always found enough for a meal and especially liked the chicken, pasta and brisket. I really liked the bread pudding.

-Breakfasts. We ate in a variety of locations: MDR, concierge lounge, Chops (for concierge guests), Park Café, cabin. All breakfasts were fine; I generally had oatmeal or muesli and DH had eggs. The French toast was delicious.

Ports

We took tours in Aruba and Bonaire and were on our own in Curacao and Key West. In Aruba, we took the ship's "land and sea" excursion and enjoyed it. In Bonaire, we took Bonaire Vista's island tour, based on CC recommendations. (Thank you, fellow CC'ers!) The tour, with Brian as our guide, was excellent and an amazing value.

Entertainment

We rarely go to the shows when we cruise, as we've found that they're not to our taste. Sometimes we'll stop in for a few minutes but will always leave quickly. However, for this cruise, we attended two shows, which we really enjoyed: the 'Stage to Screen" production and the Beatles tribute show.

Quiet spaces

We did notice something that seemed to be a result of the last drydock and change in venue usage. We found it hard to find quiet indoor spaces where we could just sit and read. With so much going on in and around the Centrum and nearby lounges, there was rarely a moment not filled with an activity or music. Often we returned to our cabin and spent some time on our balcony.

All in all…

We had a good, relaxing cruise, which was exactly what we wanted. Were there some quirks? Of course (including several instances where guest services seemed uninformed or unhelpful). However, we continue to love the Serenade and feel that this cruise was an excellent vacation choice.

I'm looking for recommendations for hotels in Delray Beach. We'll be staying there in December before a cruise leaving from Port Everglades. I'm aware of the distance to the port, but Delray is close to the dear friend we'll be seeing and spending time with pre-cruise.

Thank you!

Just wanted to chime in about my excellent experience with Rome Cabs. We just returned from a Mediterranean cruise and booked Rome Cabs for our transfer from the port to the airport based on the reviews here on CC. We left the ship at approximately 6:35 AM. We'd reserved the car for 7. However, we picked up our bags by 6:40 and were delighted to see Massimo, our driver, right outside the exit with a big sign with our name. Massimo was professional, extremely helpful in loading the bags and a fine driver.

Many thanks to the CC members who recommended this excellent company!

Do we need to reserve a taxi to get from the pier in Civitavecchia to our hotel in Rome, or will we be able to easily find a cab at the pier?

Thank you so much!