Serenade of the Seas Photo Review- Take Two: Aruba Route

[Host Faith]

Made our way back down to the lower level of the fort, and walked along the pathway back to the ship.

 

We hadn’t noticed these signs before, but I thought they gave some great info about Curacao:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the ship!

 

 

[Host Faith]

I changed into my bathing suit and relaxed in the sun on deck 12 for an hour or so. It was so nice to enjoy the pool area without the crowds. I started to get hungry after a while, and just as I got up to go find Wes, I saw him approaching me. Nice timing!

We had lunch at the Seaview Café. Why we had never eaten here before, I have no idea! We gave our order to the greeter, who gave us a metal table number and invited us to choose where we wanted to sit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 10 minutes later, our food arrived. I had a Reuben, and Wes had wings and fries. Everything was hot and yummy.

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

The sailaway in Curacao was beautiful. We left around dusk, and the colors were so vivid:

 

 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

It was formal night that evening, so we got dressed up (cocktail dress for me, suit and tie for Wes) and made our way to the dining room around 7:45. We were seated quickly. As expected, this was the busiest night in the dining room since they were serving lobster (Fisherman’s plate). We both had that, and forgot to order an extra lobster tail. Peter, our waiter, actually came by with two extra plates and asked if we would like them. Such great timing and service! We could see the waiters racing around to serve everyone, they work so hard. And in the midst of all that hurrying, Peter never missed a beat. Since it was our anniversary, Peter and about 5 other waiters came over to sing Happy Anniversary to us. :)

 

 

Wes tends to blink when the camera flash goes off, so we don’t have any pics of him that night, lol. I do have one of me though:

 

 

 

When we got back to the room, we found a cute elephant on our bed:

 

 

 

 

Up next is our last full day on the ship- a day at sea!

[Host Faith]

Yet another wonderfully lazy day at sea. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yet about an hour later, we were in the middle of an intense rain shower. It was completely white outside! We sailed pretty smoothly through it though. We went back to sleep for a while and woke to mostly cloudy skies.

 

We stopped at the Seaview Café for lunch. I had a Grouper Caesar Salad, and Wes had his wings and fries again. That salad was so good! The grouper was blackened with a very spicy seasoning. We enjoyed the outdoor seating area of the Cafe.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

I honestly can’t remember what else we did that day. We pretty much wandered around the ship, and watched a movie or two in our stateroom (we brought our portable DVD player). I got our prepaid gratuity envelopes arranged with the vouchers inside:

 

 

 

And the rum I bought in St. Thomas was delivered to our room around 3:00, ready to pack in our suitcase:

 

 

 

 

 

I took some more shots of my fave artwork on the ship:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[isabela]

Hi, its me again, and this time I just want to know about the blowers in the cabin. My hair is very hort and fine. Do you think that it will work fine for me or should I take mine?? Thanks and your reviews are just WONDERFUL. Blessings.

[Host Faith]

Hi, its me again, and this time I just want to know about the blowers in the cabin. My hair is very hort and fine. Do you think that it will work fine for me or should I take mine?? Thanks and your reviews are just WONDERFUL. Blessings.

 

Hi Isabela! If your hair is short and fine, I think you should be ok. I never use the ship's dryer since my hair is so thick. From what I've read here on CC, women with shorter hair do just fine with the ship's blow dryers. :)

[Worn out mailman]

Chrystal, I'm glad you and Wes found the Seaview Cafe. From what I've read, it'll be gone sometime soon, replaced with some sort of Brazilian eatery. And, if it follows the trend that RCCL has been setting, maybe it'll be another pay for place.

 

We're scheduled to do your precise itinerary on Adventure next March, though I might jump over to the dreaded Caribbean Princess, because their 5 island itineraries have gone on sale. :) Your reviews are great. As another poster said, thanks for taking the time, and we hope you're feeling better.

Edited October 31, 2011 by Worn out mailman

[Host Faith]

Chrystal, I'm glad you and Wes found the Seaview Cafe. From what I've read, it'll be gone sometime soon, replaced with some sort of Brazilian eatery. And, if it follows the trend that RCCL has been setting, maybe it'll be another pay for place.

 

We're scheduled to do your precise itinerary on Adventure next March, though I might jump over to the dreaded Caribbean Princess, because their 5 island itineraries have gone on sale. :) Your reviews are great. As another poster said, thanks for taking the time, and we hope you're feeling better.

 

Noooooooo! :eek: Just when I come to love the Cafe, it's leaving. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes around here lately.

 

I totally understand regarding the prices. We were tempted to sail Carnival on this past vacation but changed our minds. Thank you for the compliments! Doing much better this week. :)

[OttoCal]

Chrystal,

I loved your photo review! And your anniversary dinner dress is fabulous :D

 

Now I'm really looking forward to our Serenade cruise in January- we have booked Thenford Grey's tour, can't wait! And it sounds like we have to put Bombonera at the top of our list for San Juan:p

 

Lisa

[isabela]

Thanks for the quick response. Nobody can do a review better that you. God Bless you and Wes and keep you together and in love for the rest of your lifes. You are a BEATIFUL couple

[B_Mc]

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

[NeuroQueen]

Loved your review!!! You and Wes are so cute. That pink dress is hot!! We go to Aruba every year and your pix are fabulous. I'd really like to do this itinerary. I love this class of ships as well. Keep cruising and doing brilliant reviews. Good luck with grad school!!!

[Darkwolfe]

I finally got to catch up on the review! Excellent all the way around Faith!

[Host Faith]

Chrystal,

I loved your photo review! And your anniversary dinner dress is fabulous :D

 

Now I'm really looking forward to our Serenade cruise in January- we have booked Thenford Grey's tour, can't wait! And it sounds like we have to put Bombonera at the top of our list for San Juan:p

 

Lisa

 

Thank you so much Lisa! I'm glad the review is helpful. Thenford was AWESOME, you're sure to have a great time with him. And yes, La Bombonera is a must-do. Wish I was sailing in January! Enjoy your cruise :)

[Host Faith]

Thanks for the quick response. Nobody can do a review better that you. God Bless you and Wes and keep you together and in love for the rest of your lifes. You are a BEATIFUL couple

 

Thank you so much Isabela, that means a lot to me. God bless you too, have a great cruise! :D

[Host Faith]

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

My pleasure! Can't wait to write another one! :)

 

Loved your review!!! You and Wes are so cute. That pink dress is hot!! We go to Aruba every year and your pix are fabulous. I'd really like to do this itinerary. I love this class of ships as well. Keep cruising and doing brilliant reviews. Good luck with grad school!!!

 

Thank you so much!! I think a land vacation is in order for Aruba:). Counting down till I'm done grad school- I have a month left! :eek: Can't believe it.

 

Thank you again, happy sailing!

[Host Faith]

I finally got to catch up on the review! Excellent all the way around Faith!

 

Thank you so much Darkwolfe! :)

[Host Faith]

The last evening on our cruise was bittersweet. I hate having to pack the night before leaving the ship, it makes me feel like my vacation is over! Oh well, we had dinner in the MDR and gave Peter and the wait staff their gratuities. The chefs came out to greet and thank us as they do at the end of each cruise.

 

 

 

 

For dinner, I had the scallop risotto, the sauteed garlic shrimp, and the chocolate melting cake. I had no complaints! You can see Wesley's ice cream in the last pic- it's what he orders every single night for dessert.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

[Host Faith]

Our last morning on the ship was a leisurely one. Since we were headed to a hotel instead of the airport, we had to luxury of taking our time. I think we went to breakfast around 8:30 or so. No room service is given this morning, so we had to go to the Windjammer.

 

 

 

 

I had an omelet (made-to-order). YUM

 

 

 

It became pretty crowded, and lots of people were hurried. Luckily, we found some seating in the outdoor area and had a quiet breakfast, a lovely way to top off the cruise:

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

[Host Faith]

Since we weren't in a hurry at all, we decided to wander around the ship a little. Now, I'm not sure if we were "supposed" to do that, but no one told us otherwise so we enjoyed ourselves!

 

We went to the miniature golf course:

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

And admired the view from Vortex for a minute:

 

 

 

...and we finally noticed the blue cows behind the elevator banks! People on CC talk about them all the time. What floor are they on?.....can't tell you, you'll have to find them yourself ;)

 

[Host Faith]

We tried to hang out in our stateroom a bit longer, but our cabin steward nicely reminded us that she had to get the room ready for the next sailing. So, we left the ship around 10:30. We headed to the Schooner Bar per our departure instructions. We left with the next group called, and were off the ship in minutes. It was so sad to hear that last "Beep!" of my Seapass. Oh well, time to book another cruise!

For some reason the tags on my suitcase were missing. I thought my bag was lost for a minute! Wes found it though, and we waited about 15 minutes to get through the customs check. We quickly caught a taxi and headed to the Intercontinental Hotel in the Isla Verde area of San Juan. Our last photo of the ship:

 

 

 

I got this hotel on Priceline for $90 a night, and the reviews on Tripadvisor.com had me kind of nervous. I have to say a lot of the reviews were pretty accurate, but I was also pleasantly surprised. It was fine for one night...not sure if I would want to spend a week there though.

 

As I normally do, I emailed the hotel about two weeks before our vacation to ask them if they could honor some of our preferences, and to let them know what time we planned to arrive. We weren't expecting the room to be ready, but were delighted to find out that a room was available for us at 11 AM! Nice!

 

The hallways were a little dingy and dark, but the room was airy and spacious. Very simple and clean. The bed was sooooo comfortable, and there was a nice couch, chair, and desk near the balcony. Here are some pics of the room:

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Wes couldn't believe the price of this bottle of water- $8.00 if you drank it!

 

[Host Faith]

I really liked the view from our small balcony. There's a bridge that I always look for when we land in San Juan, since the bridge is lined with Puerto Rican flags. You can see the bridge just before the plane touches down, and for some reason everyone on the plane always claps when they see the bridge, a few seconds before touchdown. Gotta love it!

 

But I digress...our view was of that bridge, and we got to watch planes landing right from our hotel room:

 

 

 

To the left....

 

 

 

Planes landing:

 

 

[Host Faith]

After a little while, we decided to head downstairs to the pool area to grab a bite to eat and take a look at the beach:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now don't laugh...but the Eagles were playing at 1:00, so Wes took his food back up to the room to watch the game. Gotta love him. Food and drinks were pretty good by the way. They were pricey, but how can you not expect that at a resort? I stopped back in the room to change into my bathing suit, to enjoy some time on the beach. Chairs and umbrellas were free for hotel guests, but I found a nice spot under a palm tree, no need for an umbrella!

 

 

 

Some clouds rolled in after about an hour and a half, so I went back to the room. Just as I reached the hotel lobby, it started to rain a little bit.