Our Serenade Cruise, March 15-22, 2014 out of NOLA!

[mtgourmet]

Hi Karen - a number of folks from our Serenade April 5 Roll Call group are having trouble finding this thread. Very good review! Hopefully by posting, I'll move this up on the board.

 

 

Veronica

[TNcrzr4life]

Thanks for the great review. DH and I are booked for Nov 29 Bahamas sailing. We haven't been on a Radiance class and am so looking forward to enjoying the ship. It is great to know the "Oasis" renovations have not spoiled her ;) I do have one question..We are going to be "slugs" on this sailing and plan on spending the majority of our time by the pool. Was it difficult getting chairs? Did you visit the solarium area? Of course, by the time November gets here I will just be happy, happy, happy to be on board :D

[KeywestK]

Hi Karen - a number of folks from our Serenade April 5 Roll Call group are having trouble finding this thread. Very good review! Hopefully by posting, I'll move this up on the board.

 

We have friends on your sailing, Tahoemc and his wife. Great people. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm sure you will have as great a cruise on Serenade as we did:)

 

Veronica

 

We have friends on your sailing, Tahoemc and his wife. Great people. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm sure you will have as great a cruise on Serenade as we did:)

 

Thanks for the great review. DH and I are booked for Nov 29 Bahamas sailing. We haven't been on a Radiance class and am so looking forward to enjoying the ship. It is great to know the "Oasis" renovations have not spoiled her ;) I do have one question..We are going to be "slugs" on this sailing and plan on spending the majority of our time by the pool. Was it difficult getting chairs? Did you visit the solarium area? Of course, by the time November gets here I will just be happy, happy, happy to be on board :D

 

No worries! We wanted to be "slugs" on our cruise too, and all I can say is Mission Accomplished! We hung at the pool, especially in the Solarium, and at the beaches in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The Solarium pool can get busy, but the turnover is good, and we actually had chairs there every day we wanted to be there. The main pool was never a problem to get chairs. If you are "beach people," taxis are cheap and plentiful in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We went to Royal Palms beach in GC, and Paradise Beach in Coz. Those were fabulous beach days!!! Have a wonderful cruise!!!

[peteukmcr]

Thank you dear friend for your review. I have been looking at your photos and it sure looks like you had a good time.

 

I wanted your view on Serenade as we're booked on her in 2016! We ditched Quantum in 2015 and transferred to a great Southern Caribbean itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

Anyway, I need to speak to you in the near future as we're sailing out of NOLA next year and I'm interested in your recommendations for hotel pre & post cruise (although not decided on what we'll be doing post cruise. Also what's the 'must see' in NOLA.

 

Preparations are underway though at the moment for the TA in 3 weeks (and preparations for someone's birthday too).

 

Thanks again though, we enjoyed Brilliance so know we'll enjoy Serenade.

[Langley Cruisers]

...I'm interested in your recommendations for hotel pre & post cruise (although not decided on what we'll be doing post cruise. Also what's the 'must see' in NOLA...

 

Don't forget to check out the Gulf Departures board here. There are hundreds of threads about New Orleans hotels and such. We stayed at Embassy Suites and walked to the cruise terminal, neat and sweet. :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=414

 

.

[tahoemc]

Hey Karen, and David too, great review. And thanks for the kind words:o. So glad to hear you enjoyed Serenade. As you know, we are sailing Serenade 4/5 on the Bahamas itinerary. Its our first on a Radiance-class, and your positive comments, as well as all the others on this thread, are very encouraging.

 

You won't get any disagreement from me about NOLA, it is one of my favorite cities. We ended up booking the hotel through Royal as we had no luck finding anything comparably priced on our own. Apparently there is a big WrestleMania event in town, along with some other conventions.

 

Hi Veronica, see ya soon.

 

Hi Peter, hope you and Patrick are well.

 

Off to bed, only 3 more sleeps until we head out to NOLA, and 6 more until our turn on Serenade. WooHooooo

[peteukmcr]

Hey Karen, and David too, great review. And thanks for the kind words:o. So glad to hear you enjoyed Serenade. As you know, we are sailing Serenade 4/5 on the Bahamas itinerary. Its our first on a Radiance-class, and your positive comments, as well as all the others on this thread, are very encouraging.

 

You won't get any disagreement from me about NOLA, it is one of my favorite cities. We ended up booking the hotel through Royal as we had no luck finding anything comparably priced on our own. Apparently there is a big WrestleMania event in town, along with some other conventions.

 

Hi Veronica, see ya soon.

 

Hi Peter, hope you and Patrick are well.

 

Off to bed, only 3 more sleeps until we head out to NOLA, and 6 more until our turn on Serenade. WooHooooo

Have a great cruise Mike.

[silentbob007]

Thanks for your write-up Karen. :)

 

I agree NOLA is a pretty easy port for embarkation/debarkation EXCEPT when there are issues as there is very little space in the terminal (at least with my previous experience).

[KeywestK]

Thank you dear friend for your review. I have been looking at your photos and it sure looks like you had a good time.

 

I wanted your view on Serenade as we're booked on her in 2016! We ditched Quantum in 2015 and transferred to a great Southern Caribbean itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

Anyway, I need to speak to you in the near future as we're sailing out of NOLA next year and I'm interested in your recommendations for hotel pre & post cruise (although not decided on what we'll be doing post cruise. Also what's the 'must see' in NOLA.

 

Preparations are underway though at the moment for the TA in 3 weeks (and preparations for someone's birthday too).

 

Thanks again though, we enjoyed Brilliance so know we'll enjoy Serenade.

 

My dear Peter....Always good to hear from you. Honestly, I think you did the right thing switching out your Quantum booking for the Serenade. For lots of reasons. I would have done the same. You and Patrick will LOVE this ship. We can't say enough good things about it and it's crew and staff. We can catch up "for real" on skype, and I'll give you my recommendations for both pre-cruise and post-cruise hotels. Honestly, we lucked out with how it worked for us, and I'd be happy to share the details with you when you are ready to book. NOLA is amazing. I hope you will plan to spend several days there. Even though we were there for 5 days, we could have done more! There is so much to see and do. It is a very eclectic city, and I can give you lots of recommendations.

 

Have an amazing time on your upcoming TA. What a great birthday celebration you guys will have!!!! Sending love and hugs....XOXO

[KeywestK]

Thanks for your write-up Karen. :)

 

I agree NOLA is a pretty easy port for embarkation/debarkation EXCEPT when there are issues as there is very little space in the terminal (at least with my previous experience).

 

Hi Chris.....I guess we didn't notice the space issues in the terminal, as we were in the Priority seating area early enough that we beat the crowds. I put NOLA's cruise terminal right up there with Baltimore's for ease in embarkation/debarkation:)

[BillOh]

Not a full blown photo review, just my thoughts on our Serenade cruise out of NOLA, March 15-22, 2014. How did this trip come about? DH mentioned to me last year that he wanted to go to NOLA (long on our list of must-see cities,) and I said that would be great as long as we add a cruise, and thus a trip is born.

 

I could see us doing the same thing for the same reasons, Off to look at Air prices.

[KeywestK]

I could see us doing the same thing for the same reasons, Off to look at Air prices.

 

It's a great way to plan a wonderful trip. Good luck with the airfares. We found cheap airfare for the return flight, but our flight to NOLA was high. : ( Still, no regrets. Was worth every dollar.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[Cruzin-K]

Thanks for posting the review. I sailed on the Serenade back in 2010 and still consider her to be my favorite ship, but recent negative reviews (and my own very recent negative MDR experiences on the Jewel & Allure) have me a little concerned for my Serenade cruise next October. I'm glad that your dining experience was (mostly) a good one :)

[KeywestK]

Thanks for posting the review. I sailed on the Serenade back in 2010 and still consider her to be my favorite ship, but recent negative reviews (and my own very recent negative MDR experiences on the Jewel & Allure) have me a little concerned for my Serenade cruise next October. I'm glad that your dining experience was (mostly) a good one :)

 

Interestingly, we have had some issues with dining on our last 2 RCI cruises, and also on our Eclipse cruise last year. For whatever reason, the dining dynamics are changing (more people wanting MTD?) and the powers that be are having a difficult time keeping up with those changes. I'm at the point now that I probably wouldn't even bother to make ressies in advance, but just either call ahead, or just walk in. Not sure what the answer is at this point.

 

All that said, it was one small problem that was resolved, and other than that, it was an outstanding cruise. I'm sure your's will be too!

Edited April 6, 2014 by KeywestK

[rosecitycruisers]

Hi Karen, great review...New Orleans is a fun town isn't it...Jim:)

[KeywestK]

Hi Karen, great review...New Orleans is a fun town isn't it...Jim:)

 

Hi Jim! Yes, David and I both loved NOLA. It is a fabulous city to explore. We would go back in a heartbeat! Hope all is well with you and Pat:)

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Great review Karen, enjoyed it!

[KeywestK]

Great review Karen, enjoyed it!

 

Thank you Stacy!:)

[tahoemc]

Hi Karen, we returned!

 

As you know, we were on the Apri 5 Bahamas intinerary. All in all, we had a great time, and found that your comments pretty much mirrored our experiences.

 

We found the embarkation/debarkation experience in NOLA to be the easiest we have experienced yet. Of course, what more can be said about NOLA, it is one fun city. But we will need to be a bit more cautious if we should book another cruise out of NOLA in the future. It was a very busy weekend when we were there with a Wrestlemania event in town, plus a couple other large conventions. We ended up booking rooms through Royal as we couldn't do any better booking on our own.

 

We enjoyed the ship, although the only drawback we experienced was the Centrum being quite crowded during shows and other some of the other activities. All told, this being our first cruise on a Radiance class, we really appreciated the openness to the sea and enjoyed all of the venues on the ship.

 

We had MTD, 6:15 scheduled. No major problems, although the 2nd nite we were moved to another table across the room that turned out not so well. After discussing it with the head waiter, we were re-located back to the table we had the first night for the remainder of the cruise which worked out good for us. Our asst waiter was Celia and our waiter was Miguel, both were quite good. We had no issues with our meals and the food was good in both quality and preparation. We also ate in Chops which was fabulous as usual.

 

I agree with your assessment of the CD John Blair, his wife Katrina, and the rest of the staff. To date, John was the best cruise director we have experienced yet. Very personable and very talented. The energy on this ship was incredible!

 

I was hoping to do a review, but just can't seem to find the time. Serenade is on her last Bahamas itinerary of the season before heading across the pond this Saturday.

 

Hope all is well with you and David. Hope to cruise with you again in the not so distant future!

[Irish Cath]

 

 

FOOD & DINING: We had MTD, and I pre-reserved our seating time for 6:45 each evening. Unfortunately, for the second cruise in a row, the powers that be decided to change it. The reason I was annoyed by this was because the exact same thing happened to us on our Grandeur cruise last year and I deliberately emailed the Dining department before this cruise and requested that our reservations not be changed. And they were. So much for pre-reserving times. Following a pleasant conversation with a staff member at the MTD desk, we worked out our new times, and the problem was resolved.

 

MTD now takes over the entire 5th Deck dining room. On one or two nights there were extra tables squeezed in, which made for some tight quarters, but most nights were fine. We enjoyed the menu offerings, and most meals were very good. We went to Chop’s one night, and that was, without exception, the BEST Chop’s experience we ever had. We did most lunches in the Windjammer, and also Park Café.

 

Hi Karen,

 

I am delighted to read that you had such an enjoyable cruise.

 

We are exciting to be sailing on the Serenade in just under 6 weeks and have made our MTD reservations.

Can I ask at what point were you notified that your time were changed ? Were you notified before or not until you turned up for dinner ?

Also how much did they change it buy and did they make it earlier or later ? I will be very annoyed if our reservations are changed and particularly if they are changed to an earlier time.

 

Thanks for any help you can offer,

All the best,

Catherine

[KeywestK]

Hi Karen, we returned!

 

As you know, we were on the Apri 5 Bahamas intinerary. All in all, we had a great time, and found that your comments pretty much mirrored our experiences.

 

We found the embarkation/debarkation experience in NOLA to be the easiest we have experienced yet. Of course, what more can be said about NOLA, it is one fun city. But we will need to be a bit more cautious if we should book another cruise out of NOLA in the future. It was a very busy weekend when we were there with a Wrestlemania event in town, plus a couple other large conventions. We ended up booking rooms through Royal as we couldn't do any better booking on our own.

 

We enjoyed the ship, although the only drawback we experienced was the Centrum being quite crowded during shows and other some of the other activities. All told, this being our first cruise on a Radiance class, we really appreciated the openness to the sea and enjoyed all of the venues on the ship.

 

We had MTD, 6:15 scheduled. No major problems, although the 2nd nite we were moved to another table across the room that turned out not so well. After discussing it with the head waiter, we were re-located back to the table we had the first night for the remainder of the cruise which worked out good for us. Our asst waiter was Celia and our waiter was Miguel, both were quite good. We had no issues with our meals and the food was good in both quality and preparation. We also ate in Chops which was fabulous as usual.

 

I agree with your assessment of the CD John Blair, his wife Katrina, and the rest of the staff. To date, John was the best cruise director we have experienced yet. Very personable and very talented. The energy on this ship was incredible!

 

I was hoping to do a review, but just can't seem to find the time. Serenade is on her last Bahamas itinerary of the season before heading across the pond this Saturday.

 

Hope all is well with you and David. Hope to cruise with you again in the not so distant future!

 

Hi Mike! So glad to hear about your cruise and to know that you and Julie had a great time. I hope you are now fans of the Radiance-class ships, which are our personal faves. Regarding your comment about the Centrum: we were on the Grandeur last summer, which is a Vision-class ship, and approx. 20,000 GRT smaller than Serenade. The Centrum on Serenade felt SPACIOUS after being on Grandeur, so I guess it's a matter of perspective;)

 

I, too, hope that our cruising paths will cross again. Best regards to you and Julie!

[KeywestK]

 

 

FOOD & DINING: We had MTD, and I pre-reserved our seating time for 6:45 each evening. Unfortunately, for the second cruise in a row, the powers that be decided to change it. The reason I was annoyed by this was because the exact same thing happened to us on our Grandeur cruise last year and I deliberately emailed the Dining department before this cruise and requested that our reservations not be changed. And they were. So much for pre-reserving times. Following a pleasant conversation with a staff member at the MTD desk, we worked out our new times, and the problem was resolved.

 

MTD now takes over the entire 5th Deck dining room. On one or two nights there were extra tables squeezed in, which made for some tight quarters, but most nights were fine. We enjoyed the menu offerings, and most meals were very good. We went to Chop’s one night, and that was, without exception, the BEST Chop’s experience we ever had. We did most lunches in the Windjammer, and also Park Café.

 

Hi Karen,

 

I am delighted to read that you had such an enjoyable cruise.

 

We are exciting to be sailing on the Serenade in just under 6 weeks and have made our MTD reservations.

Can I ask at what point were you notified that your time were changed ? Were you notified before or not until you turned up for dinner ?

Also how much did they change it buy and did they make it earlier or later ? I will be very annoyed if our reservations are changed and particularly if they are changed to an earlier time.

 

Thanks for any help you can offer,

All the best,

Catherine

 

When we boarded the ship, I went right to the MTD podium to verify our times. That was when we were told that they changed our entire week's reservations. They wanted us to come in later, at 7:30 (we had pre-booked 6:45) and I told them absolutely not. I told her I would accept 7:00 or 7:15, and beyond that I wouldn't accept any changes. Had I not checked up on our reservations, I suspect we would have shown up at 6:45 and been told then. That would not have been very pleasant.

 

I would suggest that as soon as you board the ship, go to the MTD podium and verify your reservations. Hopefully you will not encounter any problems. I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Serenade is a wonderful ship, and we had a great time. The one little glitch with the dining times was quickly and easily remedied.

[tahoemc]

 

When we boarded the ship, I went right to the MTD podium to verify our times. That was when we were told that they changed our entire week's reservations. They wanted us to come in later, at 7:30 (we had pre-booked 6:45) and I told them absolutely not. I told her I would accept 7:00 or 7:15, and beyond that I wouldn't accept any changes. Had I not checked up on our reservations, I suspect we would have shown up at 6:45 and been told then. That would not have been very pleasant.

 

I would suggest that as soon as you board the ship, go to the MTD podium and verify your reservations. Hopefully you will not encounter any problems. I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Serenade is a wonderful ship, and we had a great time. The one little glitch with the dining times was quickly and easily remedied.

 

x2. When we boarded on deck 5, one of the staff directed us to the MTD desk inside the MDR. We were confirmed for our pre-selected 6:15pm dining, although they asked us if we wanted to come at 5:30 the first nite since there was only one show that night. We agreed, then reverted back to our 6:15 dining time the rest of the cruise.

 

Given the increased popularity of MTD and the finite capacity available on any ship, I will continue to check/confirm the time selected once onboard.

 

I hope I didn't leave anyone the wrong impression about the Centrum. The shows that were put on were very good, just make sure to scout out your spot before hand. There's lots to be seen, they had the 70s disco event there, and plenty of other good entertainment.

 

Again, we had a wonderful cruise, and the Serenade and her crew are wonderful. We are booked for Oct 2015 and look forward to cruising Serenade again.

[Irish Cath]

 

When we boarded the ship, I went right to the MTD podium to verify our times. That was when we were told that they changed our entire week's reservations. They wanted us to come in later, at 7:30 (we had pre-booked 6:45) and I told them absolutely not. I told her I would accept 7:00 or 7:15, and beyond that I wouldn't accept any changes. Had I not checked up on our reservations, I suspect we would have shown up at 6:45 and been told then. That would not have been very pleasant.

 

I would suggest that as soon as you board the ship, go to the MTD podium and verify your reservations. Hopefully you will not encounter any problems. I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Serenade is a wonderful ship, and we had a great time. The one little glitch with the dining times was quickly and easily remedied.

 

Great, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Thanks for the tip we will be sure to make the dining room our first stop as soon as we board.

 

Thanks for your good wishes, we really can't wait to board :)

[TigerCruzin]

Ahhh! I see we'll be sailing on the same cruise in 2016! We are doing a B2B Feb 26th & Mar 7th on the Serenade! We have a corner aft cabin for both.

 

We sail on the Serenade out of NOLA Jan 2015 too!

 

Excited to read GOOD reviews of her!

 

See ya in 2016! :D

 

I started a Roll Call, but so far nobody else has joined. Glad to hear we won't be totally alone on the ship. :D

 

We are spoiled aft lovers too. We grabbed one of those big balconies on deck 10 ;)