Serenade 7/18/2010 trip report w/ pix

[BeancounterUSA]

More to come tonight regarding St. Maarten and St. Croix plus some additional observations and tips along with photo's from the galley tour and instructions on how to get the galley tour. Was stuck in meetings all day long today and have an appointment this evening, so won't find time to update until after dinner.

[BeancounterUSA]

St. Maarten/St.Martin

 

 

 

This island wins our award for the best for this cruise. We had been here on a cruise once before and enjoyed it then as well. Last time I did the America's Cup sailing race while the wife went shopping with some of our friends. Later that day 6 years ago we all went to Orient Beach for the afternoon.

 

This time we decided to do the Beach Fun Mobile Tour. Otherwise known as the scoot coupes, they are little 2 passenger buggies that you drive all over the island. Our tour met at 8:30am and went until about nearly noon. We went all over the island stopping periodically for some photo opportunities and also had about 45 minutes at Orient Beach complete with beach chairs, umbrella and a fruit drink.

 

 

 

 

Our guides James and Barry have the best jobs in the world as they drive their four wheeler darting in and out of traffic to keep the parade together.

 

I can't post all the pictures I took on Orient beach because somehow topless ladies kept getting in our pictures. Another couple on the tour with us joined us in a game of "you make the call, real or fake" otherwise known as "Hello, doctor".

 

 

[BeancounterUSA]

St. Maarten/St. Martin - continued

 

 

 

We made the trip back to the ship seeing lots of scenic areas of this beautiful island. I definately recommend this tour, although at $114 per person it is a little pricey. That price may keep the numbers down, so the only ship tour we took all week had a total of 8 people which was nice.

 

After lunch in the windjammer (never did eat lunch in the MDR despite our intention to do so) we took the water taxi to Phillipsburg to do some power shopping.

 

 

 

The new diamond necklace came along for the ride and it liked the lighting they have in the jewelry stores. The jewelry guys didn't miss a trick as they noticed it immediately and launched into an effort to sell us some accessories to go with it. Sorry guys, I shot the wad on the necklace. We did buy a few things for the folks back home.

 

Even though we are from Alabama, the heat and humidity this day was taking a toll on us. In fact, I had a heat related incident and we cut the day short and took the water taxi back to the ship.

 

[BeancounterUSA]

Formal night #2

 

Two of the other couples from our table of 10 ate in the specialty restaurant this night, but the newlyweds were there and the Sgt recently back from Iraq wore his class A uniform

 

 

I couldn't help but to get the lobster even though I know that they serve a type of lobster that is not the sort of quality that we enjoyed in our home a few weeks before the cruise with our sons and their girlfriends. We ordered 2# live Maine lobsters shipped to us by overnight delivery and boiled them on our back porch. What a feast and what great leftovers.

 

 

We got these from http://www.trentonbridgelobster.com/

 

 

After dinner we went to no smoking night in the casino and just about broke even. For the cruise I was now $145 down with one night to go. We skipped the show (Vibeology), changed out of our formal clothes and just hung around for a while having a drink before heading to the safari lounge for the quest.

 

We had never seen the quest and had certainly heard a lot about it. We had no intention of participating and picked out a spot a long way from the action so as not to interfere with the participants. Unfortunately, this meant that we couldn't see very well as the place was packed with an overflow crowd.

 

People get pretty wild during this activity and you could tell the experienced players as they came prepared with all kinds of items. It was also amazing what people will do for a point.

 

 

Went to bed well after midnight

 

[BeancounterUSA]

Park West was still doing art auctions during our cruise. These were held in the Centrum on deck 4. Never saw bid above the reserve in the time that I watched and a couple of our table mates attended two of the auctions and didn't recall seeing anything sold either. I think they sold art outside of the auction and a few of the pieces were marked sold before the auction began.

 

Crepes in the Solarium. We wanted to try these out as we had heard so much about them. The Solarium cafe usually closed about 6:30 and didn't open again until midnight. We went after midnight a couple of times and there were no crepes, so we had some pizza. We asked during the daytime and they said they would have crepes around 6:00pm, which did not jive well with our main seating dinner. Maybe we just didn't understand, but we didn't get to have crepes.

 

Not a lot of activities on port days scheduled on the ship.

 

Drinks of the day were pretty good. They are $5.95 or $8.70 if you want the souvenier glass. The port and shopping guide (bought by me only to support the story of planned jewelry shopping) had coupons to get these drinks for $3.95 and this price was also available during bingo games.

 

Tip # 12 - Check your seapass account for incorrect charges several times during the cruise. You can use the interactive TV to check it out and you can also go down to guest relations and have it printed out for you. I found a couple of charges that were wrong and I filed a dispute. The guest relations people take your information and then leave you with a voice mail with the outcome. In my case, they removed the charges with their apology.

 

Tip #13 - turn off all the lights in your cabin before you fall asleep and set the TV to channel 40. Some light music plays and the screen displays the ships position and a picture from the bridge. It gives the cabin some soft lighting in case you wake up during the night you can see your way to the bathroom.

 

They have some pretty good equipment in the exercise room. Somehow, we didn't make it up there to exercise. This omission in our activities was evident in the post cruise weigh in. + 4 pounds for each of us.

 

We had a Make a Wish family on board with us during the week. They fly a Make a Wish flag in front of the ship whenever a Make a Wish passenger is on board. They also give you several opportunities to contribute to the cause with Tshirt sales, etc. I bought a Tshirt myself.

 

The compass has changed recently with more pages, better graphics and a different format. I am comparing ours to the compasses sent to me by a passenger on a May sailing of the Serendade.

 

Tip #14 - an option for your gratuities is to prepay them after you board and they will be added to your seapass account. You get vouchers and envelopes in your room on the last day and you can add a little cash to the envelopes based on the service you receive. That way the charge goes on your credit card at the end of the cruise (beats prepaying online prior to embarkation from a timing standpoint) and you don't have to carry as much cash with you. This is the method we used and we added extra $'s to each of the cabin steward, waiter, asst waiter and head waiter.

 

Tip #15 - an alternative to lugging water/soft drinks on board is to bring your own drink bottles. You know, the kind that keep your drinks cold for a while. You can fill these bottles up in the rear of the Windjammer on deck 11 in the self serve drink station in the outdoor seating area. You can get ice plus water or lemonade or tea. Works well for the pool.

 

Tip #16 - If we had found a way to have crepes in the solarium, we would have first gotten some soft serve ice cream in the windjammer and then walked to the solarium to combine with the crepes.

 

The lines at guest relations and explorations were pretty long on the first day. I guess there are still a lot of people who wait until they board to book shore excursions. Seems like if you were going to buy the ship excursions you would purchase them on-line and avoid all that waiting time and sold out possibilities. If cash timing is your issue, just do the on-line ordering a week or so before the cruise. Your payment timing will be identicle to purchasing on the ship as long as your statement cut-off isn't in between the two dates.

 

I bought two bottles of Cruzan Rum on the ship on day 1 for $7.88 each. I figured if I saw a lower price in the islands it couldn't be much lower. I was right and I got the flavors I wanted.

 

On the last night of the cruise they bring out old Tshirts and put them on special (two for $16).

 

Tip #17 - Your dining room waiter has a special deal for you. They will sell you a cookbook with all the MDR recipes for about $29 (if memory serves). There is a 25% off coupon in your crown and anchor book so bring it with you to the dining room to get the lower price. By purchasing the cookbook you are eligible to go on a galley tour with the chefs that is held on the last day of the cruise at 4:00pm. We did the tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. pictures of our tour to be posted tomorrow.

[BeancounterUSA]

Enjoying your review and pictures. My husband and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary and will be on the Serenade 9/5. We are also from your neck of the woods, Homewood and now Pelham. We traveled on Serendate April 09 and just loved this ship, so we wanted to sail on her again. We just can't beat the Radiance class ships! :D

 

I live in Eagle Point in the Oak Mountain school district, so you are definately from our neck of the woods. The mother/daughter we met in the hot tub live in Greystone.

 

Have a great cruise and a great anniversary. The week will go by fast so make every moment count. You can sleep when you get home.

[BeancounterUSA]

Great review, great tips, great pix. We loved the Serenade and it does have the most soundproof cabins we've ever had.

 

Too bad DH did have tip #11 before we sailed...:eek:

 

 

I remember your review and I still have it in my subscription list. Reading your review helped to influence me to make the most of this trip.

 

A poster from our sailing indicated they wouldn't be sailing the Serenade again because they were bored. Said there was not enough to do on the ship on all these port days, and spent a lot of their time playing cards. They should have read your review. A cruise is, to a certain extent, what you make of it.

[lindalo5032]

Crepes in the Solarium. We wanted to try these out as we had heard so much about them. The Solarium cafe usually closed about 6:30 and didn't open again until midnight. We went after midnight a couple of times and there were no crepes, so we had some pizza. We asked during the daytime and they said they would have crepes around 6:00pm, which did not jive well with our main seating dinner. Maybe we just didn't understand, but we didn't get to have crepes.

 

Can you tell me more about the crepes? I've been on the Serenade 2x and didn't know anything about crepes. What kind do they have? Are they good? Do they have them every day, and only around 6:00 p.m.?

[takevtr1]

EXCELLENT REVIEW and PICTURES !

 

thanks for sharing with us. I leave in 3 days for the same sailing.

 

Do you have anyway of posting a copy of the cruise compass? I would love to get a sneak peak by next week.

Mitch.....

[loves2cruise07]

When we were on the Serenade at the beginning of July, I had the crepes in the Solarium in the early afternoon, probably at about 2:30ish. They are excellent, and reminded me of a pancake that my mother always makes for my boys when we visit her. I chose to have strawberries and chocolate on mine, but I do agree that adding some ice cream would be tasty!

[BeancounterUSA]

Can you tell me more about the crepes? I've been on the Serenade 2x and didn't know anything about crepes. What kind do they have? Are they good? Do they have them every day, and only around 6:00 p.m.?

 

As I didn't get to experience them personally, I can only tell you what I have heard on these boards. Flavors such as chocolate, caramel, strawberry, etc. As I mentioned in one of the tips, get some soft serve ice cream in the windjammer before heading to the Solarium cafe.

 

I'm now told that the crepes were available in the Solarium cafe between 2:30 and 6:00 which explains why we never saw them. We were usually eating a late lunch and with early seating dinner, we weren't in the market for afternoon snacks.

[BeancounterUSA]

EXCELLENT REVIEW and PICTURES !

 

thanks for sharing with us. I leave in 3 days for the same sailing.

 

Do you have anyway of posting a copy of the cruise compass? I would love to get a sneak peak by next week.

Mitch.....

 

 

I might be able to get them scanned but I won't be able to get that done before your sailing as I will be out of the office tomorrow.. The best I could do is to email you the ones I got from another passenger last spring. I would, of course, need an email address.

[BillOh]

Yay for another Serenade review! Great start! Keep it comin! :D

 

I know what you mean, they do help the wait go by faster.

[Unkle Fred]

Terrific review!! We booked Serenade for our son and future DIL's honeymoon in June 2011. After doing some additional research, we booked it 2 days later for an Oct 2011 cruise for ourselves as well. Great prices and nice itinerary. :D

[takevtr1]

I might be able to get them scanned but I won't be able to get that done before your sailing as I will be out of the office tomorrow.. The best I could do is to email you the ones I got from another passenger last spring. I would, of course, need an email address.

 

would It post my address here or can I do it in private?

[horric29]

bought it at Walmart and it was a Vivatar 8400 and it cost about $85.00. We also bought an SD card for extra storage memory but I forget what I paid for that.

 

I'm still not entirely convinced that I didn't do something wrong. It appears the water entered the camera through the battery compartment. Either way, what a bummer. I was so looking forward to having the underwater turtle pics to post. Hoping I can get my disposable underwater pics onto a CD for uploading soon.

 

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it... I'm so torn on what to do, seems like every review that I check out, someone is having trouble with their waterproof digital camera.

[BeancounterUSA]

St. Croix -

 

We had nothing planned for this day with shore previous excursions in San Juan (cancelled), Barbados, St. Lucia and St Maarten plus the beach day in Antigua. I had checked out the Cruzan Rum website previously to inquire about a tour but the website indicated they were closed on Saturdays. The website did not mention that there is an exception when cruise ships are in town. Oh well, we just decided to stick with the original plan.

 

At breakfast in the MDR we saw Glenroy, our waiter, and confirmed the details for that afternoon's galley tour at 4pm. The galley tour is not found in the daily compass because you get invited when you purchase the cookbook from your MDR waiter.

 

One of the benefits of being in a US territory is that I now had 3g service for my iphone4. With my internet credit down to less than $10 ($.57 per minute doesn't go very far with such slow service) and boarding passes still to print, I was thankful that I had access to the internet and texting through my phone again.

 

We took a leisurely stroll off the ship and were impressed with what we saw in St. Croix. Much better island than I was expecting. Most of the shopping is a long shuttle ride away so we didn't bring much money with us but the port makes up for a lack of shops with street vendors. And they had a good enough selection of stuff that we decided to go back on the ship and come back for some shirts and a few other things.

 

 

I sent the wife back out by herself while I went to the solarium to stake out a spot and do some power internet surfing. It rained while I was in there and she eventually joined me. Since we were in a climate controlled environment we weren't get hot, and the seawater pool was a bit on the cold side. So we did the hot tub and then the pool. The wife brought back some home selling magazines from the island and hinted at the multi-million dollar properties she wanted me to purchase (once again forgetting she is married to a cheap beancounter)

 

We also turned in our towels for the final time which brings me to:

 

Tip #18: We checked out 4 towels on the first night of the cruise. This came in handy for a couple of reasons. First, we always had a fresh pair and could exchange the used towels when it was convenient and second, we frequently used two towels a piece to get full coverage on the deck chairs.

 

 

 

After a few hours of that, we changed and then I went to business services to print out my boarding pass (consuming all my remaining credit and then some) and lunch in the windjammer. That afternoon, we played putt putt and wandered and relaxed around the ship until 3:30 when they had an ice carving demonstration on the pool deck.

 

 

 

I think it was a swan, but we left before the final unveiling in order to make it to the dining room for the galley tour. Which will be the subject of the next installment.

[joand452]

St. Maarten/St.Martin

 

This time we decided to do the Beach Fun Mobile Tour. Otherwise known as the scoot coupes, they are little 2 passenger buggies that you drive all over the island. Our tour met at 8:30am and went until about nearly noon. We went all over the island stopping periodically for some photo opportunities and also had about 45 minutes at Orient Beach complete with beach chairs, umbrella and a fruit drink.

 

 

This looks like so much fun. Did you reserve through the ship or private tour? DH and I are fairly fluffy--wonder if we'd fit. We'll be in St. Maarten next March.

 

I'm enjoying your review and pictures very much. We did most of those islands in April and did Cosol's tour in St. Lucia. There were a number of vans, but they were filled with folks all from our CC roll call! Great fun!

[BeancounterUSA]

This looks like so much fun. Did you reserve through the ship or private tour? DH and I are fairly fluffy--wonder if we'd fit. We'll be in St. Maarten next March.

 

I'm enjoying your review and pictures very much. We did most of those islands in April and did Cosol's tour in St. Lucia. There were a number of vans, but they were filled with folks all from our CC roll call! Great fun!

 

 

This was a ship tour called "Beach Fun Mobile Tour". The only one all week that we purchased through the ship. If we buy something through the ship, we focus on something that won't feel too crowded. You can only get two into these vehicles, so that fit our criteria.

[aggie1]

joand452 - Just have to say this, I love your description of you and your DH as being "fluffy". My DH describes us as "portly". I like "fluffy" much better.

[BeancounterUSA]

Galley tour -

 

As previously mentioned, you get invited to the galley tour if you purchase a cookbook (don't forget your crown and anchor coupon for this) from your dining room waiter.

 

The tour was scheduled to begin at 4pm in the upper dining room. There was a large group of people there for the tour so they split us up into 3 groups with one of the groups being for spanish speakers.

 

One of the sous chefs greeted us and told us some factoids about the main dining room. Such as their food budget for the week was $200,000 which by my calculation translates to just over $12 per person per day. He indicated that they have to order their food about 6 weeks before the start of every cruise and they analyze the passenger list for ages and nationalities to determine the proper ration of meat, seafood, vegetables, etc.

 

We were in the first group which was led by the executive chef (from the UK). Here are some pictures and comments:

 

 

The kitchen is very clean looking and orderly. The floor is very slippery, even in my tennis shoes. The galley crew have special shoes (********* shoes, as they call them) with extra grip.

 

 

The galley staff wear scarfs to indicate their position. Red scarfs are the section leaders. There are sections for each different kind of food they prepare. The blue scarfs are experienced crew while the yellow scarfs are on their first contract and have to monitored closely due to higher injury risk.

 

 

They make several things from scratch each day and don't use preservatives. In the case of bread, they try to make use of the day's uneaten bread by turning them into breadcrumbs or croutons but the excess becomes fish food. The executive chef told us a story of dolphins who know exactly where ships dumb their excess food and congregate there waiting for a meal.

 

 

 

 

The tour was very interesting and the executive chef was very engaging and informative with a great sense of humor. We just love the behind the scenes stuff and I would recommend this tour to anyone.

[jjb415]

Great review, I really enjoyed reading it and seeing the phots. Thanks so much !! :)

[LBumb]

great job, i really enjoyed your review

[DebbyD]

Great review, we are sailing on the Serenade Aug 29 on the same route and staying at the Marriott. Thanks for the tip on where to eat breakfast in San Juan. Your pictures are fabulous, this month can't go fast enough.

[JLCruising]

You will have a great time. Pay attention to some of the tips I am posting (there are some interesting tips and tidbits coming up) and don't hesitate to ask if you have any specific questions.

 

The port intensive nature of this cruise makes for a happy crew who provide great service. Here is an example: On the first day of the cruise I noticed a sewage odor in our cabin. I found a time when the line at the guest relations desk was short, and went down and communicated the issue. Within minutes there was a maint. guy at our door who said he needed to go next door and deal with the drain from the shower. He finished quickly and we later noticed that the odor was gone. Meanwhile, the guest relations people followed up later with a phone call (might have been a voice mail message) to our room to make sure that the problem was fixed. That is what I call someone taking ownership of the problem.

I'm writing all the tips down in a notebook. I love your sense of humor!