Want to read another Serenade review?

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Hi everyone!

I had read so so many Serenade reviews, got so many tips and such terrific advice before our cruise (we just got back Sunday) that I wasn't sure if I should even attempt to add another one here. There just seems to be a wealth of information already posted about the Serenade. I will try to scale it down as much as I can (for me, that will be hard though...LOL!) and then just try my best to answer any questions any of you with upcoming cruises on her may have.

First off, what some people like to know before they read on....our background. This was a 40th birthday present for me from my DH and on this cruise, we also celebrated our wedding anniversary too. This was our first cruise with RCCL. We had cruised before with Norwegian and Carnival. We are not fussy people. What we were concerned with was getting away from it all for the week, having some nice time together, hoping that the ship was as wonderful as we'd heard about and that our cabin would be clean and the crew would be friendly and accomodating.

A go on all counts for sure! :) Happy to report that all of the amazing and wonderful things we had been told about the Serenade were all true. It is something you have to experience for yourself. Everyone can tell you but until you see it all for yourself, you will not fully appreciate it. She's a terrific ship and I can see why so many of you love her so much.

We flew into San Juan from JFK in New York on the day of embarkation! I know, I know. A big no-no to some :eek: but it worked out fine for us. As a matter of fact, it was probably even better. We had a 9:00 a.m. flight and landed at SJU at around 12:46. We were to the port by 2:00 p.m. (it took a long time for our bags to show up in baggage claim) and when we got to the port, there was not a soul waiting on line. We got on in about 5 minutes. It was so easy and wonderful and we still had the entire rest of the afternoon and part of that evening to enjoy the Serenade before we sailed away. By the way, the taxis we took (both to and from SJU) were $19.00 for the two of us and $1.00 per bag. We had 4 bags so each way it cost us $23.00 for the trip to and from the port. Easy and great. There were a lot of checkpoints once we got to the ship but the process went so fast! It took us only about 10-15 minutes each way. It was very fast.

We had a midship balcony cabin on the 9th deck (a D1). The room was very nice. It was a nice size for us and the balcony was great.

The bathroom was tiny. My DH is 6'2" and 220 lbs so that was a bit of an issue. We were happy to see that we didn't have to deal with a shower curtain in the bathroom but I was ready with my clothespins. We had a shower door. The shower was like a capsule and every time DH went to take a shower, I heard him hitting the walls and saying "ouch". It became kind of funny after a while. There was ample space for us to put away our things. There is a nice medicine cabinet with three shelves. There is a good amount of room on the sink and there is an outlet on the ceiling for the guys' electric shavers.

There was a ton of closet space and we joked that there was a "his" and "hers" side. There was even a wooden shoe rack in the middle. At least that is what we used it for. It was small shelving inside the closet all the way from the floor to the top of the closet. There was definitely not a lack of space to put things. I didn't have a hard time with the hair dryer and my hair is medium length. You do have to hold that power button down the whole time though to get it to work but small price to pay to have the convenience.

DH uses a CPAP and we were given distilled water and extension cord at no extra cost. There was a refrigerator in our stateroom and it came in handy for throughout the cruise.

The bed was comfortable enough but DH thought it was shaped weird as it was rounded at the bottom and his feet hung off a bit. He still slept quite well though. We both did during the trip and as a matter of fact, even snuck in a few naps here and there. Ahhhhh....vacation.

The food was pretty good to okay. Again, we are not picky people but the food did not blow us away. Nothing was bad but nothing was amazing either. I think my favorite thing that I had to eat during the whole cruise was a delicious slice of key lime pie for dinner one night in the MDR. The buffet was okay. We did not go to any of the specialty restaurants but heard from others that they had enjoyed themselves in Chops. We never heard much about Portofinos. We did My Time Dining and had a table for two. We socialized for most of the trip but DH has been working full time and trying to get a side business off the ground so this was our time to reconnect. We just wanted a nice, quiet and intimate experience with each other at dinner and we had that. Our waiters were just wonderful. If you are doing My Time Dining and have a chance to get Diju Kumar and Muhammad as your waiter and assistant waiter, respectively, then do so! Excellent service from beginning to end!

My Time Dining is on the 5th floor on the top level of the MDR and the entrance is on the right hand side of the dining room. We like to eat dinner early so we had the first seating. We had made a reservation ahead of time through the website, requesting a table for two and requesting an early seating but they had no record of us when we got to the MDR on Day One. It was not a problem though and all worked out fine for us.

We did not go to any shows on this ship. We always do but this time we chose not to so I couldn't answer any questions about the shows. We played bingo which was fun and spent a lot of time out on our balcony or out on excursions. We visited a few of the bars and nightclubs and they were all great. We are not big drinkers or partiers but just enjoyed ourselves on this trip.

We did not go to the spa although we had originally planned to. All of the obsessive planning I tried to do before we left seems so funny to me now. I wish I had relaxed more before the trip. I was so wound up when we got there with my lists of things I had to do and had to see. I was truly on information overload and at times, felt like a sponsor for the Serenade. I knew so much about her. It was better to just take it slow and let the relaxation kick in. That happened for me around Day Three.

All of the excursions we booked were through RCCL. DH has a thing about booking through the cruise. I was ready to be adventurous and take our chances but we decided to book through the cruise line. I know so many of you book through the independent companies and I find nothing wrong with that at all but could not convince DH.

In Curacao we did the Fascinating Curacao Tour. We visited the Curacao Liquor Factory which was nice and we got to bring home some authentic Curacao. We learned this is the only place in the world where you can purchase authentic Curacao Liquor. They do not export their product and are very quick to let you know that if you have had Curacao from anywhere else in the world, it is NOT the real thing. Your product from anywhere else will be loaded with chemicals. It must say Curacao of Curacao on the bottle and have a certain shape. We then went to an herb garden which was nice but to be honest, a bit boring for us. The famous woman who runs it did not even show up to give us our tour and she only does it once a week. They could not get in touch with her. Her daughter-in-law filled in for her but she tried her best and did a good job. We should have done something more adventurous but this is just our opinion. It was still a nice day and we saw some nice sites.

In Aruba, we did the Half Day Jeep Safari and had a total blast. We saw so many great sites, got to meet some wonderful people and got to swim at Arashi Beach which was amazing, amazing, amazing. That water was so warm and beautiful! This was an excursion we will never forget.

In Dominica, we did the Aerial Tram and Trafalgar Falls Tour. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone. We will never forget the beautiful island of Dominica. This was well worth the time and money.

We had been to St. Thomas before and DH was not feeling 100% that day so I got off and did some shopping in town. It was so hot and so humid, even for October so I did not last too long out in the heat but was glad to have gotten off the ship for a bit.

Overall, our experience was a very positive one. I would love to sail the Serenade again. We had a great trip and I am so thankful to my fellow Cruise Critics for giving me so many wonderful tips and making me so excited for this trip. It was truly an adventure. I'm sure I left out a bunch of things but if anyone has any questions and I can help or answer something for you, I will be most happy to. If I don't get back to you right away, I promise to soon. It's baseball playoff season here in New York and our beloved Yankees are in the running so I'm watching the game in between posts.

All of you with upcoming cruises on the Serenade, you will not be disappointed!!!! :D

Happy Cruising to All!

[cds2423]

My DH & i are sailing on the Serenade next Sun for our first B2B. I appreciate your thoughts on your week in the sun. You're right, there is lots of info out there on the Serenade and most of it is positive. We're really anxious to getting away for 2 weeks in the Caribbean. We;ve booked a couple of ship excursions as well as on our own, i had considered the safari on Aruba, but hadn't read too much about it, thanks for your feedback. Cheers.

[chef_christoph]

Thanks for taking the time to share your impressions of Serenade. She is my favorite ship in the fleet and I always enjoy reading others' opinions and experiences.

[sandinmypants]

Great review, thank you so much!

[JKYChildes]

Thanks for the great review.... My Wife and I just sailed on the Serenade a few weeks ago. It's nice to see others had a similar experience on this beautiful ship.

[LABCHICK]

Thanks for your review. We'll we doing our first B2B on the Serenade next yr. Enjoyed you info on the tour you did in Curacao. This is the first time we will be visiting that island, so I am gathering info on tours.

 

Judi :)

[mckinna]

Thanks for the review! We'll be sailing next May, and I love reading all about the ship.

[LBumb]

thanks for the review. i too love aruba.

[BroncosFan2010]

Thanks for sharing your review!

[kyfirsttimecruiser]

Thanks for the review. We are going on her in April.

[VillaHappy]

Thanks for your review! The only bad thing I heard about the Serenade was the the pools were a bit run down. Did you get a chance to check them out?

[JKYChildes]

Thanks for your review! The only bad thing I heard about the Serenade was the the pools were a bit run down. Did you get a chance to check them out?

 

I spent most of my pool time in the Solarium pool, but I also enjoyed the regular pool area as well, and I have to say that they were in great shape. She is a very well maintained ship.

[bigtoeswim'n]

Glad you had a great time on the Serenade. Hubbie and I sailed her Sep 09 in Alaska. She is a beautie. So much interesting art work. Did you see the blue cows up on Deck 12 where the elevators that face outward towards the water???? So cute.

 

It seemed to us that all the staff were in a good mood. No moodiness anywhere. It was amazing. Sever mentioned this at the Captain's talk View from the Top. We just got off the Jewel of the Seas, her sister. Lovely ship too. Not as much art work or spectacular art work like Serenade. SOS must have had more $$ when she was built.

 

well, got to go and unwind from all that luxury we just experienced. LOL.

[cds2423]

Can you tell me if you drove the jeep in Aruba or did they supply a driver?

Thanks

[firstcruiserDB]

Thanks so much for a great review. I've read so many great things about this ship.....We are excited to sail her next June.

 

A quick question or two, please. This will be our first sailing with a CPAP machine so I was interested in your experiences. I'm glad RCCL gave you an extension cord and distilled water. Did you arrange it ahead of time? Was security difficult with the machine - at the port or airport? Was there any place to put the machine out of sight when not in use? Did the cord have to go all the way across the room to the plug by the mirrors??

 

Thanks so much. I appreciate your info!!

[Merion_Mom]

Did you hang out in the Schooner Bar any night?

[Merion_Mom]

Hi everyone!

 

The bed was comfortable enough but DH thought it was shaped weird as it was rounded at the bottom and his feet hung off a bit. He still slept quite well though. We both did during the trip and as a matter of fact' date=' even snuck in a few naps here and there. Ahhhhh....vacation.[/font']

 

The corners of the bed are rounded to keep people from hurting themselves on sharp corners.

 

:)

[NordicPrince]

A quick question or two, please. This will be our first sailing with a CPAP machine so I was interested in your experiences. I'm glad RCCL gave you an extension cord and distilled water. Did you arrange it ahead of time? Was security difficult with the machine - at the port or airport? Was there any place to put the machine out of sight when not in use? Did the cord have to go all the way across the room to the plug by the mirrors??

 

 

Also a CPAP user with experience on the Serenade.

 

You can contact the Special Needs department ahead of time so they can arrange to have the distilled water and extension cord in your cabin ahead of time. If not there when first in cabin your cabin steward will be happy to set this up for you. The extension cord is the industrial orange 25 ft, type so length is no problem to connect across the cabin. I usually carry a light 10 ft extension with me which I used to plug into the long one which gave me just that little bit of extra flexibity and allowed me to keep the main extension in place and just discoonnect the rest.

 

I was able to leave the CPAP in a corner next to the bed. If you wanted to you could place it in the folding closets.

 

Security has lots of experience with these machines and you will not have a problem getting it on the ship. I can suggest that you put the machine in its own carrying case with no other items like clothing in with it. TSA at airport had to hand search my bag with the CPAP and take everything out because I had placed it in a carry on bag with other items. Lesson learned.

 

OP - I can relate to the "his and hers" closet space. It probaly saved our vacation! DW is a notorious overpacker. Also relate to odd feelings with curved bed bottoms!

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Thanks so much for a great review. I've read so many great things about this ship.....We are excited to sail her next June.

 

A quick question or two, please. This will be our first sailing with a CPAP machine so I was interested in your experiences. I'm glad RCCL gave you an extension cord and distilled water. Did you arrange it ahead of time? Was security difficult with the machine - at the port or airport? Was there any place to put the machine out of sight when not in use? Did the cord have to go all the way across the room to the plug by the mirrors??

 

Thanks so much. I appreciate your info!!

 

I think NordicPrince answered this question for your perfectly! I will just add that we did request both the distilled water and extension cord ahead of time. We received an email response quickly that both would be delivered to our stateroom. However, the only thing there when we arrived was the distilled water. We asked our stateroom attendant about the extension cord and he said we'd have to go to Guest Relations. We had to fill out a form at Guest Relations and make sure we returned the extension cord by 8 a.m. the morning of disembarkation. It was an easy process. There is plenty of space to put the machine away if you wanted to.

 

As for where to put the CPAP, DH left his on the nightstand next to his side of the bed and just put the phone down on the bottom shelf.

 

We had no problem at all with security at the airport.

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Did you hang out in the Schooner Bar any night?

 

Yes. The Schooner bar was awesome and we especially enjoyed the service there by Gernie. He was great. We had a lot of fun there and the views are awesome.:)

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Can you tell me if you drove the jeep in Aruba or did they supply a driver?

Thanks

 

You definitely get the drive, just don't forget to bring your driver's license! :) The Jeeps seat four so we took turns driving with another couple. It was so much fun and we saw so many great sites!

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Thanks for your review! The only bad thing I heard about the Serenade was the the pools were a bit run down. Did you get a chance to check them out?

 

We didn't actually go into the pools during our cruise but from the outside, they looked okay. There were a lot of people enjoying them though. It might be a different story once you get in so sorry I cannot give any info on this. To me though, even a run down pool is okay especially when it's on a cruise ship on vacation!:)

[Calico Jack Sparrow]

We didn't actually go into the pools during our cruise but from the outside' date=' they looked okay. There were a lot of people enjoying them though. It might be a different story once you get in so sorry I cannot give any info on this. To me though, even a run down pool is okay especially when it's on a cruise ship on vacation!:)[/quote']

Funny, we were on that flight Sunday morning from JFK, too. Had an aft balcony on deck 9, as well.

Anyway, the pool is a bit run down, and in dire need of a paintjob. Paint was faded and peeling. One of the few things we could say negatively about the whole experience.

[waterbugohio]

OK, question for all you recent Serenader's. Does anyone know if Sam is still on board? He has been our favorite bar tender the last 2 yrs and hoping he is on in November. I know last year he talked about switching ships.

 

Here is his photo (with our after dinner shots)

 

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Funny, we were on that flight Sunday morning from JFK, too. Had an aft balcony on deck 9, as well.

Anyway, the pool is a bit run down, and in dire need of a paintjob. Paint was faded and peeling. One of the few things we could say negatively about the whole experience.

 

Small world! :D