lemonade-sails

DAY 3 AT SEA

Today dawned early. We were up at 7. I made quick phone calls to the other two cabins to make sure everyone was up and ready to head to breakfast at 8am. We got ready quickly and met up with our group in the centrum area by the stairs. We took the elevator down as I had the baby in the stroller this morning.

We headed to the dining room on deck 4 for breakfast. We were sat at a table for 12 and they brought us a high chair. I parked the stroller next to the serving station - but this is when I realized that bringing the stroller to the dining room was not a good idea. There really was no good place to leave it. So, this was the last time I brought the stroller here.

I had the classic breakfast and DH had the quiche. Some in our group ordered the pancakes of the day - raisin. We had muffins and fruit loops, orange juice and apple juice.

The service was great and the staff was very friendly.

After breakfast we headed to GS and the Shore Excursions desk. DH planned to use most of our OBC on a shore trip for him and the oldest three kids.

There wasn’t a line at this time in the morning but it still took a little while to get everything squared away. Meanwhile, the little kids and I sat on the fancy couches in the centrum and danced on the pretty floor.

Next we went outside on deck 5 to head to the helicopter pad. This was one of my daughter’s favorite places on the ship.

However, it was so windy up there that it took the baby’s breath away so she and I stayed down on deck 5 and waited for the rest to return. I just love deck 5 - the lowest outside deck. I could sit out there for hours.

Up Next: In search of water

Appreciate your review...

 

We're so nervous to be cruising with our 10-month old.

 

I know you didn't use Adventure Ocean, but any chance you tried out the nursery?

 

I'm doubting, but I thought i'd ask.

 

We're afraid to keep our youngest "off schedule" so we think we'll be in the room most nights while she sleeps.

 

Although I like the idea of one parents taking the youngest out at night, while other stays with the baby.

 

Our oldest is only 6 but she can hang past her bedtime and not flip.

RCCL FAN,

We were nervous to cruise with our 10 month old too. Hopefully the rest of my posts will put you at ease. We did not use the nursery program at all. During the day, the baby just came with us wherever we went. Including to the show one night before dinner - although we did sit in the last row and I did have to take her out into the lobby because she didn't want to sit still. She's walking already and the show did not interest her.

She hung out on deck, climbed all over the mini golf course and danced near the centrum. My DH would take the older ones out exploring or to a show after the little ones were in bed and I stayed in the room. It was only for an hour or so and I enjoyed the quiet time to journal. Just go in knowing that it will be a different experience than you've had in the past and you won't be disappointed - you'll adjust and enjoy a different way to cruise.

I'm enjoying your review and style very much. Can't wait for more.

 

Connie

Thanks for commenting! I'll try and get day three started today.

Love your review and thanks for the Compasses. We will be doing this cruise in a few weeks and I can't wait!

Hi! I hope you have a great cruise!!

Royal Babies and Tots

Teen Planner

Up Next: Royal Babies and Tots Info

Up Next: Teen Planner

Adventure Ocean Compasses:

Compass Day 7

Departure Day Information

Up Next: What I have of Adventure Ocean Planners

Compass Day 6 (Never did find Day 5 - sorry :()

Compass Day 4

I wasn't sure how to finish this but I guess I will finish adding the compasses and then continue with the review. That way you will have them in case I get delayed with the day-by-day reporting. I also have most of the Adventure Ocean and another page of info for the Royal Babies and Tots and also the Teen Info.

Compass Day 3

Compass Day 2

Compass Day 1

Do you happen to have your Cruise Compass's for the week that you can post? Trying to plan out some things and they would be helpful

 

Thanks! Great photos!

I do have the compasses with the exception of day 5. I can't believe I forgot one day - I'm still looking for it but I can try and post what I do have.

I may have missed this, but is there something wrong w/ the sheets that you bring your own??

This was from her other cruise review:

 

"We brought along some Clorox wipes and my husband got to work cleaning. Yes, we do this at hotels too. I got to work putting our sheets on the bed. And, yes, we do this at hotels too. We like the idea that our pillowcases and sheets are clean for sure! I was a little nervous about bringing them - I didn’t know how it would affect our room steward. I wouldn’t even mention it here except that there may be others like us who would like to bring sheets from home. A queen sized sheet set and two pillowcases didn’t really take up that much room for us and was absolutely no issue with the room steward. I just put them over the top of the sheets that were there - easy! "

Thanks NightOne! Yes we bring our sheets. Nothing wrong with the ship's sheets, it's just that I like knowing that I know the sheets and pillowcases are clean. :D

Pretty interesting to read your experience with dining reservations. We have had similar experiences with RCI and Celebrity in the past.

 

Our last cruise, I phoned the cruise line a month prior to sailing and spoke with one of their customer service representatives over the telephone. I made specialty dining reservations (for 2) during two separate evenings on the cruise. When we boarded, I was approached by one of the dining staff for the purpose of selling us a specialty dining package they were offering. I politely declined by stating that we had already made our reservations with one of their customer service agents. The person from the dining staff on board attempted to confirm this in her computer but there was no record of any reservation in their system. Later that evening, I made a point to visit the Matre'd who was able to reschedule our specialty dining reservations albeit a different time and date than we were hoping for.

 

I just mention this because it seems to be a problem with RCI & Celebrity.

I'm sorry you had issues with your dining reservations too. I was pretty disappointed. In the end we were happy to have a table for 12 in the dining room, but it was a bit late for the kids (making their nap even more important) and it messed with our show plans.

Enjoying your report. We are traveling this summer as a multi-generational family and I'm impressed with how organized you are with your children and the packing tips. Good stuff! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks! Most of the tips I used were gleaned from CC and other sources. I had to be organized with their clothing because I would only be helping the littlest ones. It really went smoothly with one exception which I will mention later on day 6 I think.

Enjoying your report!

Thanks! I appreciate that!

Day 2 ~~ Continued

Tonight was also the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception in the centrum. It was pretty crowded in their and our dinner was scheduled to start just before the captain was to arrive so we missed this.

We arrived at the MTD level on deck 5 port side and waited in line for about 10 minutes. We were lead to a table in the back by the wine case. The table was beautiful.

Our waiter and assistant were Fnu and Nolvin. They both were excellent throughout the week. Always bringing in extra entrees and appetizers and placing them in the middle of the table for all of us to share. They even brought extra desserts to go. We situated ourselves and set the baby up in the high chair.

One thing I should have mentioned in my “gear” post was Play Pack Grab & Go packs for the kids.

I found these at my local Target store in the dollar section. I picked up about 20 of them and was glad that I had them. Each pack contains a small color book, crayons and a sheet of stickers. I gave the color books and crayons to my boys and used the stickers to entertain the baby. I stuck them on the edge of the table and also used them as puppets on my fingers. They didn’t stick too strongly so at the end of the meal I would gather them up and place them with the packaging. No mess or damage to the table cloth at all. I would definitely bring these again and recommend them. The crayons came in handy as the kids menu has some activities on it as well.

During dinner we were met by a head waiter who explained that they would try to get us this same table every night at 7:15 but they couldn’t guarantee it would be available. He said he would do what he could and apologized for the mixup. He said if the table became available earlier they would call us.

We accepted that and had a very enjoyable dinner.

Tonight’s menu was Saffron and for my appetizer I orderd the escargot. They didn’t have it two years ago on our Navigator sailing so I was excited to try it. I thought it was good and shared some with our oldest son and DH.

The wait staff brought out fresh fruit for the baby and other kids. The kids ordered chicken fingers and mac n cheese this first night. The mac n cheese is really just macaroni noodles with a slice of cheese on top. Both meals came with french fries and they all ordered banana splits for dessert.

DH had the duck and enjoyed it. I can’t remember what I ordered, but I do know that we had cheesecake for dessert.

Fnu brought out four extra cheesecakes to go - which we dutifully brought back to our rooms to enjoy later.

By the time we were finished with our meal it was 9:15pm. So exactly two hours in the dining room. Most of that time was spent managing the baby and the three year old. Trying to keep them entertained and happy. This explains why I can’t always remember my dinner choices and I have few photos of the food - but do know that all of the food was fantastic - with the exception of one dish later in the week, and service was always stellar.

One other thing I should mention is that the waiters - our own and not our own - were always trying to get the baby to smile. She is pretty shy around strangers and would not smile back at all. In fact, it took her until the last night to start waving at people. So, when travelling with little ones, be prepared for the attention.

During dinner my son mentioned that his sunglasses were lost already. When we returned to the cabin we found them on our towel animal.

We also found the fancy red dress that the baby had refused to wear neatly hung up for me.

Our room steward was really great. He was trying to learn all of the kids names and did an excellent job. He would even sing the “Wash your hands” song in the hall with the kids. There was also another room steward a few doors down who would pretend to be Megatron and Optimus Prime complete with voices and talk to the boys each time we passed by. The kids loved it.

We got half of the kids ready for bed. DH took the other half out to the Headliner show in the Tropical Theatre. Tonight’s show was The Alley Cats. They enjoyed it.

Then to bed.

Up Next: Day 3

Enjoying your review and great photo's.

Thanks for following along. I hope to have more of day 2 up later today!

Great review so far, can't wait to read more. My husband and I had been on a couple of cruises and decided to take our girls for the first time when they were 5 & 3. We're two months out from taking the girls on their 3rd cruise, they love them! We too, took advantage of the WOW sale when it came out last May and ended up with two connecting cabins for less money than the oringinal one cabin we booked. 😄

Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for taking the time.

Thanks for commenting! My kids would love to do another one. Connecting cabins is something I would be interested in as it was a little inconvenient to communicate with each other. The first day the kids would knock on the door to ask us something. Once they learned to use the phone it was better. They enjoyed calling each other and we even did a little pranking between rooms. :D

I'm curious on the sleeping arrangements. Did I miss you posting that? Anxiously awaiting more!

I'm sorry I don't think I ever specifically mentioned the arrangements. We had three inside adjoining (not connecting) cabins for 4 for our party of 12. Two of the boys shared a cabin with the grandparents, DH, the two youngest and myself were in the middle cabin and the older 4 kids were in the third cabin. Naps pretty much took place in my cabin and a few times we had a kid sleeping over on our couch. We had enough sea pass cards for everyone to access the rooms. For example, my oldest daughter carried the baby's pass so she could enter my cabin (except when exiting the ship in port when I would have the sea pass back).

DAY 2 ~~ AT SEA

The next morning the family ate in the main dining room for breakfast. We spent the morning exploring the ship a bit. I found Vintages empty during this time and the kids liked sitting in the big chairs watching the sea go by.

There was also mini golf.

At 9:30 there was a family mini golf tournament. DH, Grandpa and our oldest son entered the competition. I think there were only two families playing but each person was on their own team. (If that makes sense). Grandpa came away with the gold medal and DH got a close second and the silver medal.

Grandpa later gave his medal to one of the boys.

I wanted some of the younger kids to settle down and take a nap that afternoon so I decided to order some room service lunch while some of the rest of the family headed to the dining room.

Ordering room service on the interactive television is really easy with the remote control. As soon as you confirm your order, you will receive a phone call from room service to verify your selections and ask how many people are eating. Each time I was given a window of 30 - 45 minutes for the arrival of my order.

About 1/2 hour later our lunch showed up. The tray was placed on the desk and I gave a $3 tip.

The food was warm and yummy. The kids were impressed with room service.

We requested two orders of cookies and I used a ziploc bag for those we didn’t eat.

After lunch the three youngest went down for a nap.

***NOTE*** At home the baby is usually the only one who takes a dedicated nap. However, during the cruise there is so much activity and excitement each day that I tried to work a nap in every afternoon after lunch for at least the youngest three. (once my 9 and 7 year olds also slept). This was key to making it through dinner each night and generally giving everyone some kind of break.

Our inside cabins on Serenade had a great room dividing curtain. It went all the way across the room and kept the bedside pretty dark.

I would turn the tv onto what we called the “ship channel” - channel 40 with the live view from the bridge and the map with all the neat statistics about wind direction and speed etc. It also had classical music playing in the background. This was key to naptime as it was calming music which helped the little ones to fall asleep. While they were napping I would journal or check out the Compass or rest myself.

This afternoon during naptime I received a phone call from the MTD reservations desk letting me know that the 6:30pm reservations I had made three months before were not available.

I was pretty surprised and disappointed. She asked me why I hadn’t stopped at the dining room on day 1. My answer was that I had made the reservations months ago and had them in my cruise planner online. I didn’t feel like I should stand in a line on day 1. She also said that our bookings were not linked - although I had my booking confirmation with me showing we were linked for dining. She explained that they had all of the reservations that people had made online prior to the sailing, but that I had to phone in a reservation for more than 10. I told her that I was aware of that and that I did call in to make the reservations as soon as they became available at about 90 days out. She asked me if I had called the ship. That is when I got really confused. I was like whaaat? Call the ship to make my dining reservations?? I thought maybe we were having some kind of misunderstanding. She said all they could offer us for that evening was a table for 12 at 7:45pm and that the head manager would speak with us.

After hanging up I was pretty bummed out. After awhile I started to doubt whether we had a reservation for that evening at all. I was confused about whether or not I was going to get a phone call from the head waiter. So, DH and I made a quick trip downstairs to the MTD desk to see what we were supposed to do that night.

We were supposed to simply show up at 7:45 and the head waiter would visit our table.

With that squared away we had Grandma stay with the small kids in the cabin while we took the older ones out. We checked out the photo gallery and found our boarding photo. That was fun. We also visited the logo shop and bought our Serenade of the Seas mug. We purchased the same kind of mug on Navigator. This time, however, the name of the ship is not visible in the picture on the mug. So, I’m not certain if it really is the Serenade, but just one of the same class of ship.

We then headed for Park Cafe for some hot chocolate and to watch the sunset. Because this was the first formal night we headed back to the cabin to get the kids up and dressed for dinner. I tried to put a fancy red dress on the baby, but she wasn’t having any of it.

We headed out to the centrum area to take some of our own photos.

We had some time to kill before our dining reservation so we let the baby walk around the Schooner bar for a while. She got lots of attention from everyone. And we took some more pictures here before heading to eat.

Me with my 7 year old son.

Up Next: Our First Dining Room Experience.

I'm loving this trip report! We will be on the Serenade at the end of March with an 8 year old, 6 year old, 3 year old, and two 9 month babies! Loved seeing the items you packed -- it's very helpful!

 

 

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Thanks for following along. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Day 1 ~~ Continued

We had planned to have dinner in the WJ buffet this first night. We headed for the back open air seating area and grabbed two tables at the railing. The kids were excited to see the city lights and the lights of the bridge in the distance while they ate. The food was good and plentiful. We developed a system where the youngest three would be seated at the table while their food was brought to them.

The WJ was pretty empty, which I expected for dinner. It was a great meal with a great view. We finished dinner and headed to the cabins to put our sheets on the beds and get ready for a good nights sleep.

At this time my 3 year old discovered that his favorite part of the ship was the stateroom bathroom.

The funny part was that he would run out of there after flushing the toilet because it was so loud. He got used to the noise by the end of the week.

We packed a stool for him so that I wouldn’t have to lift him up to use the toilet and sink all week.

It turned out that I needed that stool. I was glad I made room to pack it. Would bring it again.

After settling down a bit we went up onto deck 12 to see if we could see the lights of the oil platforms, but a thick fog had settled in and we couldn’t see anything.

We headed back to put the kids to bed.

That night DH and I sat up in bed looking over the next day’s compass. We were still awake when we hit the gulf as you can tell a difference in the rocking of the ship. That awesome feeling of being rocked back and forth. I had missed it!

Up Next: Day 2