Serenade New Years cruise 2013: A review

[Clarea]

Thank you so much for your review! We board a week from today!!! Has anyone done the Mystery Dinner Theater? We purchased it for the first night & am very curious about what to expect.

You will first meet for champagne and hors d'oeurves, probably in Viking Crown. They players will introduce themselves and lay out the mystery. You will then go to the restaurant and the performance continues between (and sometimes during) courses.

[sweetcruiser106]

Thank you so much for your review! We board a week from today!!! Has anyone done the Mystery Dinner Theater? We purchased it for the first night & am very curious about what to expect.

 

You're welcome. I had a great time and can't wait for next December. Have a great time on your cruise.

Anne

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

You're welcome. I had a great time and can't wait for next December. Have a great time on your cruise.

Anne

 

Thank you! I'm getting super excited. There's nothing like hearing that "DING" & feeling that rush of cruise ship air blasting you in the face! :D

 

Thank you Clarea for the info! I'm looking forward to trying something new! Not that I don't love all the same ol' same ol' but finding new things to do is always fun!

[TheSweetPotatoQueen]

Make that 3 Mississippians, I'm on the coast! We sail on the Serenade on the 25th.

 

We just booked Serenade for April 12. I have a question about parking. Do you have any suggestions? This will be our first time to sail out of NOLA. And, since it's not too far from us, we will be driving in the day of.

Thanks,

Betty Ann

[Gammie]

Adding 4 to the Mississippi cruisers. Just south of Jackson, cruising Feb. 22.

 

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forums mobile app

[Luvcruisin76]

We also just got off Serenade this past Saturday the 11th. I agree was not happy at all with MTD. We went at about 8 every night. We skipped 2 nights 1 we ate at Rita's which was good and very cheap and then at Chops it was fabulous! I was very unhappy with the MTD. It took too long and didn't think our waiters were very friendly but on the 5th night we were seated with Joseph (from India) and Baker (from Nicaragua) and they were awesome!! We asked to be seated in their section the rest of the time and it was much better.

I just wanted to make a correction from the original poster about the beverage package. I believe they were talking about the "Replinish package" it DOES include the coffee from Lattetudes as long as there is not alcohol. I got the package and went about twice a day so with everything I got it was worth it for me. Any other questions I would be happy to try to answer to. Over all we loved the cruise just some things were not as good as previous cruises.

[Jtd724]

Hi LuvCruisin :) Wondering if you could tell me what they had on the menu at Rita's? Also, Have you ever been on a Radiance class prior to revitalization and if so did anything really stick out you after the refurb. Last one, did you go the Cinema on board at all and if so how was it?

[Luvcruisin76]

Rita's didn't have a huge menu, there was nacho's which is what my dh and I both got. Then they had some crispy rolls I think with chicken in them and quesadilla's. If I remember there was only like 5 things on the menu. I think there was also plain traditional taco's for kids. (hard shell, meat, cheese, lettuce)

We had actually been on Serenade back in 2010 so not a lot was different. I mean the decor is all just upgraded and flat screen tv's in the staterooms. The large tv screen at the pool. They took out the glass lighted steps in the centrum that I loved because they were good for pictures. I was sad about that.... they took them out for the R Bar I believe. That is pretty but we don't drink so didn't use it. We did not go to the cinema although we talked about it and there wasn't anything I wanted to see but then again I'm not much of a movie person. To be honest I can't remember the last time we went to the movies! Sorry I probably didn't help you a whole lot. I honestly don't really see what they spent all their money on. I think they said it was a 58 million dollar revitalize it didn't look all that much different from what I remember but it was still very nice. It's a great ship.

[ponza17]

Glad you had a good time.Could you tell me if shops and casino were open or closed when you left NO.Someone posted review that said they were closed.Was on Nav.last year and they were open about 2 hrs.after sailing.Thanks!

[Jtd724]

Glad you had a good time.Could you tell me if shops and casino were open or closed when you left NO.Someone posted review that said they were closed.Was on Nav.last year and they were open about 2 hrs.after sailing.Thanks!

 

From what I understand you sail down the Mississippi River to get to the Gulf and that takes all night. I could be wrong but from what I have read on here they are closed for the first night.

[Longhorn82]

We parked on the rooftop of I believe was the Fulton building. Did it online for 8 dollars a day. I think you can get a coupon too. It's parking management services.

[TheSweetPotatoQueen]

We parked on the rooftop of I believe was the Fulton building. Did it online for 8 dollars a day. I think you can get a coupon too. It's parking management services.

 

Thanks so much! That's what we're going to do.

[Clarea]

From what I understand you sail down the Mississippi River to get to the Gulf and that takes all night. I could be wrong but from what I have read on here they are closed for the first night.

It takes about 9 hours to reach the Gulf from New Orleans.

[Oceans4]

I'll most likely write a full review later, but I wanted to weigh in on our experience on the January 18 sailing in regards to MTD.

 

We went to the dining room 5 of 7 nights and were seated promptly. During the cruise, we had 3 different wait staffs, and each set was efficient, friendly, and aimed to please. On the third night, we discovered the team of Lucilio and Marcos and asked for them every night, not because their service was better but because of their awesome personalities. They were wonderful - Marcos, the assistant waiter, was hilarious. Lucilio was professional and informative every step of the way. He was the only MTD waiter that told us about things to expect the following day (ie the port, weather, activities, shows). He seemed to care so very much that everyone was aware of what was happening.

 

From the hostess to the waitstaff, every night that we ate in the dining room was perfect from a service standpoint. Once or twice, one of the four of us had a meal that we didn't care for, and although nobody complained or sent it back, the waitstaff notices if you didn't eat your meal and immediately insists on bringing you something else. You can often get seated with the same waitstaff, depending upon how busy the dining room is.

 

By the way, we had a 6:30 standing reservation but still showed up whenever we felt like it - usually by 6:45, but one night, much later, and we didn't have a wait at all. They are very accommodating.

 

Hope this helps any future cruisers that are concerned about MTD and service on the Serenade.

[Sweet Dreams]

Great review of your cruise and delighted to hear you are planning to repeat this December! We are thinking of booking and since we love sail away, how was your weather leaving New Orleans? If cool, how soon before your experienced warm weather?

Thank You

[MichaelCMTX]

Great review of your cruise and delighted to hear you are planning to repeat this December! We are thinking of booking and since we love sail away, how was your weather leaving New Orleans? If cool, how soon before your experienced warm weather?

Thank You

 

It was actually quite warm when we sailed, but everyone we spoke to locally noted it was "nicer than usual" at the time.

 

Truthfully, the drive from Dallas is more than twice to NoLa as to Galveston, but I'm thinking there's just so much more to do in the neighborhood by the port and may be worth making the trip again.

[Sweet Dreams]

Do you possibly have compies of the Compass for your New Years Eve sailing that you can share?

thank you