Serenade of the Seas Southern Carib. Review 11/14/10

[Shana9136]

Here is a (long) review on a lovely cruise aboard RCI's Serenade of the Seas to Curacao, Aruba, Dominica, and St. Thomas.

 

This is approximately my 15th cruise, 9th with RCI. I was traveling with my boyfriend "J" and this was his first cruise.

 

Flight to San Juan

We flew from Hartford, CT to San Juan with a brief layover in DC. The flight was uneventful and we collected our baggage without incident. Make sure you keep your luggage tags affixed to your bags and have your stub as well because sometimes an airport employee is stationed at the exit doors matching stubs to tags before letting you leave. We didn't run into that problem this time, but I did a cruise on the Serenade in January out of San Juan and my friend and I got quite the scolding from the employee for not keeping our luggage tags on, forcing us to rattle off a list of everything in our suitcases and offer to let her check to prove ownership so she'd let us out. We took a cab to the Pan American pier - about $19 plus $1 per bag, not bad split between the two of us. Generally I find it cheaper to just find our own transportation versus using cruise transfers, plus then you don't need to wait for the shuttle to fill before leaving.

 

Embarkation

It was sprinkling a little when we arrived at the pier but the lines were under an overhang. It didn't take too long to check our bags with the porters for delivery to our room later, fill out the health screening questionnaire, and proceed inside for the first of many security checkpoints and receive our Sea Pass cards. Carry a pen with you to do the health screening papers - it seemed no one had pens (myself included) so once inside we all attacked the Customs officials to borrow theirs and it slowed down the process a little. Keep your Sea Pass card and passport out the entire time as well. There are multiple checkpoints and just when I thought surely we had passed through the last one and stowed my passport, there was another. Minor inconvenience for safety of course.

 

Stateroom

We had room 7568 - a balcony stateroom. Once you've tried a balcony room, you can't go back! This room was advertised as having an unobstructed view, but there is a lifeboat on the deck below so you can't see much of the ocean anywhere below the horizon. It wasn't terribly obstructive, but if you're sitting on the balcony you can't see much because of it, so just be aware of that when booking. Otherwise the room was pretty standard - I find there's plenty of storage in the closets and cabinets, but J couldn't find anywhere to stow his suitcase. His suitcase is very deep and he likes to work out of it versus unpacking (a trait I've never understood) so there was no where it would fit for easy access. It took up residence on the couch for the week as I rarely use that anyway. Mine fit easily under the bed. I like to sleep with the balcony door open to hear the ocean at night, but our neighbors talked loudly on their balcony until at least 3 am nightly, so it was difficult to sleep with the door open.

 

Windjammer Cafe

We ate there for breakfast daily except for one room service morning and for most lunches except for one trip to the Seaview Cafe. I think the Windjammer does a nice job with variety for breakfast and lunch - I especially like the Asian station. The food isn't always spectacular, but it's quite good and gets the job done. We also rarely struggled to find seats which was nice. One night we ate dinner there as J felt like being lazy and casual with shorts, but it wasn't a very good dinner experience. The food seemed worse than at breakfast and dinner (or maybe I was trying to compare it to the MDR which is usually far superior for dinner). There was a sushi station which excited us, but when we selected our rolls J commented that one appeared to have a hotdog slice in it. I dismissed that as ridiculous, but sure enough, it was a hotdog sushi roll! And as disgusting as that may sound. I know the Windjammer tries to use leftovers in creative ways, but this went way too far. One standout there was Colleen, a greeter who was there many mornings and afternoons. She was the most cheerful, sunny, and overall entertaining person I met on the cruise. One morning she had a napkin puppet, and the next she made a banana puppet named Billy. And she was always singing and brightening our day. Colleen was the best!

 

Chops Grille

Our travel agent got us a voucher for dinner for two at one of the specialty restaurants, and we chose Chops. They recommend making reservations which we did, though the restaurant wasn't crowded at all. I think it's more an issue of staff to guest ratio versus true space issues. I would highly recommend Chops - the appetizers were spectacular, the filet was incredible, and the dessert (passionberry duo) was out of this world. The wine is very expensive there, but since our dinner was free (and specialty coffees! I had a coupon for those from my Platinum member discount book) we didn't mind the splurge. The atmosphere is intimate and elegant and overall it was just a great experience. We heard Portofinos was very nice as well, though some were disappointed in the menu as an Italian restaurant really ought to have more than 2 pasta dishes on the menu!

 

MDR

Ruel our waiter and Alesandro our assistant waiter were great and I particularly enjoyed Ruel's candor regarding his recommendations from the menu. He was brutally honest at times about what we should or should not order, and made no secret as to why he didn't recommend some things. I don't imagine the chef would appreciate the bashing some of his dishes got, but I liked the honesty! The dining room was lovely as always and the food was consistently good. Not as good as Chops, but definitely better than the Windjammer. I'm a big fan of the chilled soups so I enjoyed those whenever I could. We were seated at a table with 4 other young couples who were very nice, but for whatever reason we didn't mesh with them as I have on previous cruises, so besides dinner we didn't socialize with them on the cruise. On the last evening when we handed out the gratuity envelopes someone at our table mused that it was funny the head waiter got a tip when we hadn't seen him all week, so Alesandro, with a wicked grin on his face, brought the head waiter over to meet us. He was quite defensive, insisting that he had met us but that he had a very busy job and he was very important and sometimes was too frantic to say hello every night. We tried not to laugh as he sputtered his explanation and Alesandro just grinned in the background, enjoying the spectacle.

 

Public Areas

Unfortunately we didn't use the pool much as the weather didn't cooperate this week. Very rainy and cloudy trip. The little I did get to sit outside was pleasant though, and we took advantage of the games like shuffleboard, mini golf, and pool. Their equipment is pretty worn though, especially the pool tables. One wasn't balanced so all the balls just rolled to one side no matter what we did, and there was only one intact pool cue for 2 tables. We tried to play ping pong but there was only one ball and it was crushed. J had planned on climbing the rock wall but after watching a small child scurry up it like it was nothing, he lost interest. I bet the views are great from the top though.

The lounges were pretty standard - nicely decorated, excellent bartenders, many options for games or music. We were a little disappointed in the Vortex nightclub this trip. In January on this same ship I went to the Vortex a couple of times and it was always standard club music - great for dancing the night away. This time it was a mixed bag - a lot of theme nights based on decades of music and a few salsa/Spanish nights. The one night we found club music there was a class line dancing to it! There was a large Spanish-speaking population on this particular sailing - I assume because the port of origin was San Juan, and I heard some complaints from other passengers that there were too many translations and events geared towards that population. Well, it is Royal Caribbean International, not Royal Caribbean American. I wasn't bothered. If I really wanted to hear my own top 40 stuff I just put on my iPod.

The gym was more crowded that other sailings I've been on, but I chock that up to the rainy weather and people looking for more indoor activities.

I went to the spa daily to use the sauna and steam room which were never crowded, amazingly. I really liked the relaxation room in there too to just sit and reflect on the day - and rehydrate after the sauna and steam! They always had lemon water in there. I got a massage one sea day which unfortunately was not very relaxing. It was actually excruciatingly painful even though I asked her a few times to ease up on the pressure. She was really throwing her full weight through her elbows into my back, especially around the shoulder blades. I was in so much pain that I couldn't take any pressure on my back for 3 days after - even J putting some sunscreen on my mid back had me wincing and it was a bit swollen. I certainly wouldn't dissuade anyone from getting spa treatments, but if it's too strong SPEAK UP. Loudly and often! I gave up towards the end and thought it would hurt in the moment but I'd be renewed and supple the next day. Wrong. Just agony the next day. So don't be shy if it hurts - not worth enduring the pain.

Overall I think the Serenade is a gorgeous ship - I really enjoy "Radiance-class" vessels with all the glass and tasteful decor. One morning I just wandered around the ship and all the stateroom halls (on each floor!) to do my own little art tour.

 

Ports

Curacao - Rainy day, so we didn't get to do much. We walked over the bridge into Punda to wander the shops a little but the rain was off and on so eventually we just headed back to the ship. The architecture is lovely though, shopping just ok, and had it been a nice day we'd have gone to Knip Bay - I went years ago and remember it being a lovely beach.

Aruba - We took a kayaking shore excursion booked through the cruise line. J and I went in a tandem kayak, got great instructions from the guides, and went for a 30-min kayak trip along a lagoon to a small beach. We stayed on the beach for what seemed like forever while some people went snorkeling, then eventually kayaked back again. It was nice, but we spent a lot more time sitting on the beach waiting to kayak again than we actually did on the water. And although it was a "guided" tour, we couldn't hear anything the guide was saying because we were too spread out. I think we'd have been better off just going to a beach that rented ocean kayaks to do our own thing. After the kayaking we took a cab to Eagle beach for some sunning and swimming. Very nice beach with hotel bars nearby for refreshments, thatch huts with shade, lounge chairs for the taking. Leave extra time on the trip back - although it's only a 5 min ride from the ship, hailing a cab on the way back took a while.

Dominica - Rain again, so severe that our tubing tour got canceled because the river was so dangerous. We wandered around the pier a while looking at the few vendors, but that's about it. I went on an island tour of Dominica on my last cruise in January and there are some beautiful areas on the island. I'd highly recommend doing a shore excursion here, weather permitting.

St. Thomas - We took the ferry to St. John and spent the morning/afternoon on Cinnamon Bay. Trunk Bay is the most popular beach but I find it awfully crowded there. Unless you're really into snorkeling (which is spectacular at Trunk Bay) Cinnamon Bay is the way to go. It's just as beautiful with no admission, fewer crowds, snack bar, bathroom/shower facilities, and even campsites. It's a little pricey to get to St. John with all the transportation costs ($10 cab to ferry, $6 ferry to St. John, $7 cab to Cinnamon Bay = $46/person round-trip) but I think it's worth it. After that I wandered the Havensight mall in St. Thomas right off the ship to finish up last minute shopping.

 

Disembarkation

We had a very early flight 9:45 am out of San Juan. I visited many a message board and read many a discussion thread with a sinking feeling in my stomach as person after person insisted a 9:45 am flight was impossible and anyone booking one was crazy. Well, I can tell you it IS possible, and we made it with an hour to spare, but if you have the option of a later flight (after 11 am is what RCI recommends) that isn't much more expensive, I'd go for the later one. We requested early disembarkation at guest relations early in the cruise, and were told to meet in the theater the last morning at 7:25 until the ship cleared customs and then we'd be the first ones off. We put our bags out the night before even though others had recommend we carry them off ourselves to save time - after that massage I was in no condition to carry luggage any more than I had to! Around 7:40 am we were cleared to disembark and the mad dash began. J and I raced off the ship to collect our bags and we were the very first to find our luggage and get through customs. Ignore the color on your luggage tags - the porters will tell you where the early departure bags are. Customs was a breeze, we easily hopped in a cab to the airport, and traffic was nonexistent. Upon arrival we immediately went to the USDA scanner to get our agriculture sticker for our luggage - no line there either, and then waited in a tiny line to check our bags with our airline. (We had done online check in and pre-paid our bags from the ship). Security line was maybe 10-15 minutes, we had to do the new full-body scanner (no issue there) and we were at our gate with over an hour to spare. But everything went perfectly to do this. Had another ship been in port, or a traffic snarl on the way to the airport, and more lines at the airport, perhaps we'd have been cutting it too close. So it's very possible, but if it's easily avoidable and a later flight is an option, I'd take it just for peace of mind.

 

Dress code

I read many threads with questions about dress codes, so here is what I observed. In the MDR it was a mixed bag. J and I dressed for formal nights with a suit and tie and dress respectively, and many others really went formal with a few ball gowns even, but others just wore collared shirts without a jacket or tie. On casual nights J wore khakis and polo shirts while others wore t-shirts and jeans. I saw quite a few caps in the MDR too at dinner which I found kind of disrespectful during dinner, but that's just my opinion. In Chops, jackets on the gentlemen were in the minority with most men just wearing a collared shirt and ladies in pantsuits or skirts/casual dresses. Overall I'd say J and I dressed on par with what is expected according to RCIs dress code definitions, but a lot of people were quite underdressed, though no one said anything. I only saw shorts in the MDR on the first and last night when they let it slide because of luggage constraints.

 

Great cruise despite the weather, RCI is still my fav cruise line (although I wonder if part of it is because as a Platinum member I like the perks and I'm not that far up the ranks in NCL/Carnival/Celebrity/Princess to get any benefits yet) and I'll surely be cruising again!

[LBumb]

awesome job

[will work to cruise]

Thanks for the nice review!

 

we loved our B2B last June on the Serenade. Looking forward to doing it again in the future.

[waterbugohio]

Great review. We too are off the 11/14 sailing. Did you attend the meet and mingle? I don't think you were on the roll call so I'm not sure.

 

Will do my own review as soon as the Thanksgiving rush is over. Just now getting my photos onto the computer. It was a great cruise dispite not the best weather.

[Poorplaya]

Thanks for the review.