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Serenade 11 night Southern Caribbean 15th Feb 2016 review

peteukmcr

By peteukmcr,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Desert Cruizers

Desert Cruizers

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi Suzy, i do remember you, our sailing was out of Quebec down to Ft Lauderdale and we boarded the 19th, and spent one night before disembarking at 3 PM on the 20th. The colors were fantastic. Email me at GLea472968 at aol dot com. We had a wonderful cruise and our daughter joined us again. Weather was on the chilly side, 50's.

 

Gay

Edited by Desert Cruizers
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Bailey151

Bailey151

Posted
Posted

Nice review Pete, I'd say you pretty much nailed it. We didn't have a rush in the MDR - we had the opposite, took forever (same in Giovani's).

 

Yep, low customs staff sucks - write your congresman (well not you Pete :D) = sequestration. Still way down on staff.

 

As you mention RCL may be lacking in some areas but the staff always seems to go the extra mile.

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peteukmcr

peteukmcr

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Thanks for all the positive feedback. Now it's time for some photos. I'm putting together an online album, but it's taking forever to upload them, so for now here's a few to be going on with.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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debshomespun

debshomespun

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Posted

We were also on this cruise. Some random comments:

 

Food in Windjammer has declined in quality and selection. Salad bar was the same every day, and not much of a variety. The desserts were very bland (as someone else previously mentioned). A nice touch was the crepe station for several breakfasts, and also for dinner, along with the waffle station.

 

Park Cafe quality of meat has also declined. Some days the roast beef was very tough. Was nice to have the individual bags of Lays (plain or salt & vinegar). Salad bar seemed to have same items every day, and not much of a selection. (I remember when they had mini shrimps, chopped eggs and other items to choose from).

 

We had late dining in MDR, (MTD was closed when we booked, and we could not change). 8:00 was too late for my dinner, but 5:30 was too early. We skipped the MDR the last 4 nights of the cruise, and chose to eat in the Windjammer. Food for dinner was much better than the lunch in Windjammer.

 

We did hit in the casino on one of the Progressive games, DH choose the right 1 out of 8, and got almost $400.00! Got a t-shirt on the free slot pulls for D+. They no longer have the match play for the table games in Casino, we miss these.

 

The Diamond Lounge was a real letdown. The snacks were almost the same every evening, and not near the quality they had been in the past. The little hot dogs were disgraceful (all dried out), no more petite fours. The little dessert cups were really good. A whipped cream with strawberries, yummy.

 

The Diamond drink coupons were a nice bonus, we were able to go to a bar, and get 3 drinks (I got cokes and bottled water) and took for the next day. This was a nice perk to have.

 

The weather was fantastic, and the ports were great places to stop. We went for the itinerary, as we have done it in the past.

 

Internet was very slow, as D+, we each got 2 - 24 hr periods, and I was able to check my email, and check in for our flights. I didn't have to check in for work or anything like that, so internet wasn't a high priority for me.

 

Overall, I feel RC has cut many corners to save dollars, and it is really showing in the overall cruise experience. I understand RC needs to continue to make money to stay in business, but this is definitely changing our cruising habits.

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peteukmcr

peteukmcr

Posted
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Posted
We were also on this cruise. Some random comments:

 

 

 

Food in Windjammer has declined in quality and selection. Salad bar was the same every day, and not much of a variety. The desserts were very bland (as someone else previously mentioned). A nice touch was the crepe station for several breakfasts, and also for dinner, along with the waffle station.

 

 

 

Park Cafe quality of meat has also declined. Some days the roast beef was very tough. Was nice to have the individual bags of Lays (plain or salt & vinegar). Salad bar seemed to have same items every day, and not much of a selection. (I remember when they had mini shrimps, chopped eggs and other items to choose from).

 

 

 

We had late dining in MDR, (MTD was closed when we booked, and we could not change). 8:00 was too late for my dinner, but 5:30 was too early. We skipped the MDR the last 4 nights of the cruise, and chose to eat in the Windjammer. Food for dinner was much better than the lunch in Windjammer.

 

 

 

We did hit in the casino on one of the Progressive games, DH choose the right 1 out of 8, and got almost $400.00! Got a t-shirt on the free slot pulls for D+. They no longer have the match play for the table games in Casino, we miss these.

 

 

 

The Diamond Lounge was a real letdown. The snacks were almost the same every evening, and not near the quality they had been in the past. The little hot dogs were disgraceful (all dried out), no more petite fours. The little dessert cups were really good. A whipped cream with strawberries, yummy.

 

 

 

The Diamond drink coupons were a nice bonus, we were able to go to a bar, and get 3 drinks (I got cokes and bottled water) and took for the next day. This was a nice perk to have.

 

 

 

The weather was fantastic, and the ports were great places to stop. We went for the itinerary, as we have done it in the past.

 

 

 

Internet was very slow, as D+, we each got 2 - 24 hr periods, and I was able to check my email, and check in for our flights. I didn't have to check in for work or anything like that, so internet wasn't a high priority for me.

 

 

 

Overall, I feel RC has cut many corners to save dollars, and it is really showing in the overall cruise experience. I understand RC needs to continue to make money to stay in business, but this is definitely changing our cruising habits.

 

 

That's for your feedback. I agree with your summary

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Taiters91

Taiters91

Posted
Posted

Hello, I will be on this exact cruise in 4 weeks. My first ever cruise.

 

Can you tell me what the seas were like please?

 

I suffer really bad travel sickness and yesterday diagnosed with Vertigo - which I think I am suffering because I'm worrying about getting travel sick on the cruise... Body's ey?! I will be taking all precautions but I'd love to know what the motion is like at the moment?

 

Thank you.

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CntPAcruiser

CntPAcruiser

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Posted
Hello, I will be on this exact cruise in 4 weeks. My first ever cruise.

 

Can you tell me what the seas were like please?

 

I suffer really bad travel sickness and yesterday diagnosed with Vertigo - which I think I am suffering because I'm worrying about getting travel sick on the cruise... Body's ey?! I will be taking all precautions but I'd love to know what the motion is like at the moment?

 

Thank you.

 

I'll chime in, here, if I may. We've cruise around the ABC islands a couple of times, and it's usually pretty good sailing, but you just never know from week to week what the winds and waves might be like. I also have bad motion sickness, so I use Bonine throughout my cruises. I start the night before we get on board, and take another pill the afternoon we sail, then usually every evening. Sometimes I've even taken one every 12 hours instead of 24 if it's rougher seas. I hope you will have good luck with your sailing, but it is best to be prepared. I also bring along ginger capsules to settle my stomach, if necessary.

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Taiters91

Taiters91

Posted
Posted
I'll chime in, here, if I may. We've cruise around the ABC islands a couple of times, and it's usually pretty good sailing, but you just never know from week to week what the winds and waves might be like. I also have bad motion sickness, so I use Bonine throughout my cruises. I start the night before we get on board, and take another pill the afternoon we sail, then usually every evening. Sometimes I've even taken one every 12 hours instead of 24 if it's rougher seas. I hope you will have good luck with your sailing, but it is best to be prepared. I also bring along ginger capsules to settle my stomach, if necessary.

 

 

Thank you.

 

I'm from the UK and we don't have Bonine. Can you buy it on board?

 

I'm planning on getting the patches from my doctor and also bringing wrist bands.

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