Just returned from 10-day Christmas/New Year's Cruise on the Serenade

[gotallanswers]

I was on that ship and it was ok. Cruise director was a little Boring. The captain couldn't drive that ship well, actually worst captain ever. Took the worst route shook the boat. I have been on over 15 cruises and never had to take a pill. To top it off at one port the gangway fell into the water because a gust of wind blew the boat and it wasn't secured. Someone could of died!!!

 

Lunch at windjammer sucked but dinner was generally better. They had lobster at windjammer for formal night.

 

Only food past 1am was room service even on New Years which was no good at all!

[Ladydee]

I was on that ship and it was ok. Cruise director was a little Boring. The captain couldn't drive that ship well, actually worst captain ever. Took the worst route shook the boat. I have been on over 15 cruises and never had to take a pill. To top it off at one port the gangway fell into the water because a gust of wind blew the boat and it wasn't secured. Someone could of died!!!

 

Lunch at windjammer sucked but dinner was generally better. They had lobster at windjammer for formal night.

 

Only food past 1am was room service even on New Years which was no good at all!

 

Hm. I'll leave you to our own opinions regarding the Captain and Cruise Director, with which I wholeheartedly disagree, on both counts. As far as the gangway falling, the Captain explained during his Captain's Corner session, that in spite of it being properly secured, a small squall, like we had that day, can cause such an incident, and it happens from time to time. It was not due to negligence.

 

I thought the lunch at Windjammer was good, and quite in line with past cruises. It was only in the Main Dining Room (and Chops), that I perceived a decrease in quality.

 

No one in our party of 10 had any issues with the motion of the ship.

[Biker19]

I saw prime rib on the menu for formal night the last couple of cruises...but did not partake.

 

The prime rib on formal night last night on Navigator was pretty good.

[gotallanswers]

Hm. I'll leave you to our own opinions regarding the Captain and Cruise Director, with which I wholeheartedly disagree, on both counts. As far as the gangway falling, the Captain explained during his Captain's Corner session, that in spite of it being properly secured, a small squall, like we had that day, can cause such an incident, and it happens from time to time. It was not due to negligence.

 

I thought the lunch at Windjammer was good, and quite in line with past cruises. It was only in the Main Dining Room (and Chops), that I perceived a decrease in quality.

 

No one in our party of 10 had any issues with the motion of the ship.

 

It's amazing the difference people have on the same ship. My party of 14 was impressed by the main dinning room food and chops food but thought the windjammer was very subpar for lunch. We went to dinning room as much as possible. Although they did have some nice items at windjammer it was not enough for the lack of choices they had at lunch.

 

I even overheard crew on the ship talking about the motion, it was rocking badly that may not have caused any issues with you, but you had to at least notice you were rocking much more than normally.

[Ocean Dancer]

Ladydee,

 

They charged you $$$$ to reserve the Centrum for NYE? How much?

We were on for Thanksgiving and it was always crowded and you could rarely find a seat.

 

You had crab legs? Wow, never saw that.

 

We paid $1.99 each to have two shirts pressed. Royal has never had an ironing room......I miss that as Carnival, Holland and Princess have full laundry

rooms.

 

We did not go to Tortola or Dominica this cruise, but next time if you go, you MUST go to the Baths in Virgin Gorda, a beautiful beach with large boulders. Victoria's Secret and Sports Ill have been shot there,

 

In Dominica, years ago we went to the Emerald Pool in the rain forest. This was back when nothing was developed for cruise ship passengers. We couldn't even buy a tee shirt and a post card! The people were very poor, living in shacks, but the children were just as clean, pressed, and properly dressed for school. We watched them coming down the hills for school.

 

We also loved the captain and Topi. The captain was as dry as Topi was witty!!

 

We also had a new mattress and it was wonderful! The upholstery in the theatre needed cleaning, but over all we too liked all the glass on the ship after cruising Anthem..........a very different experience, and a REAL Schooner Bar!! Did they ever finish the Titanic puzzle?

Edited January 5, 2017 by Ocean Dancer

[Ladydee]

Ladydee,

 

They charged you $$$$ to reserve the Centrum for NYE? How much?

We were on for Thanksgiving and it was always crowded and you could rarely find a seat.

 

Someone else may have to jump in here. I believe there were different packages, and not only on Centrum, Deck 4, but for tables overlooking the Centrum on Decks 5 and 6. I know the table near where we were sitting on Deck 6 paid $600. We were also offered a package for $2000 for our group of 10.

You had crab legs? Wow, never saw that.

 

We had Lobster Tail and Filet Mignon on NYE in the MDR.

 

We paid $1.99 each to have two shirts pressed. Royal has never had an ironing room......I miss that as Carnival, Holland and Princess have full laundry

rooms.

 

We did not go to Tortola or Dominica this cruise, but next time if you go, you MUST go to the Baths in Virgin Gorda, a beautiful beach with large boulders. Victoria's Secret and Sports Ill have been shot there,

 

In Dominica, years ago we went to the Emerald Pool in the rain forest. This was back when nothing was developed for cruise ship passengers. We couldn't even buy a tee shirt and a post card! The people were very poor, living in shacks, but the children were just as clean, pressed, and properly dressed for school. We watched them coming down the hills for school.

 

We also loved the captain and Topi. The captain was as dry as Topi was witty!!

 

We also had a new mattress and it was wonderful! The upholstery in the theatre needed cleaning, but over all we too liked all the glass on the ship after cruising Anthem..........a very different experience, and a REAL Schooner Bar!! Did they ever finish the Titanic puzzle?

 

I saw a puzzle in the Schooner Bar, but never looked at it up close! It was far from being put together though.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Ladydee

[yknot13]

We departed on the 23rd, and had our first port on the 26th at Tortola, followed by St. Kitt's, Antigua, Domenica, and St. Maarten's. All were nice, except for Domenica. This was our second time there, and honestly, I'm not sure why it's a stop. This seemed to be a consensus of most people we spoke to, both from the Serenade, and others.

 

We were impressed by St. Kitt's, which I predict will be a prime destination of its own in another 5-7 years. You can tell they are really putting dollars and planning into their development.

 

I didn't see much of Tortola, and the family did zip-lining in Antigua, which they loved. Antigua has beautiful beaches though, which we experienced on a previous cruise.

 

St. Maarten's is always nice, of course.

 

We love Dominica. You need to get away from the port area to discover the beauty of the Island

[Ladydee]

We love Dominica. You need to get away from the port area to discover the beauty of the Island

 

This was our second visit here. The first time we did leave the port area, drove around the island, and did river tubing. It was ok. We just don't care for the whole feel of the island, I guess.

[Ladydee]

It's amazing the difference people have on the same ship. My party of 14 was impressed by the main dinning room food and chops food but thought the windjammer was very subpar for lunch. We went to dinning room as much as possible. Although they did have some nice items at windjammer it was not enough for the lack of choices they had at lunch.

 

I even overheard crew on the ship talking about the motion, it was rocking badly that may not have caused any issues with you, but you had to at least notice you were rocking much more than normally.

 

I'll admit that walking in and out of the theater was a bit challenging on some nights!

[yknot13]

This was our second visit here. The first time we did leave the port area, drove around the island, and did river tubing. It was ok. We just don't care for the whole feel of the island, I guess.

 

I know things have changed from our last visit in 2014. We were told that the sulphur spring falls had been washed out in a storm. We will be there in March and hope to have an enjoyable visit.

[lynnfromwigan]

Hi, Myself and husband will be going on the same cruise on 24th February. On return we have a flight booked from MIAMI to New Orleans departing a 12.15. Could anyone who has already been on this cruise advise what time they arrived back at Fort Lauderdale, what time they started disembarking and how long did it take to get through customs. Also how easy is it to book Uber from this Port? Many thanks in advance.

[Biker19]

Hi, Myself and husband will be going on the same cruise on 24th February. On return we have a flight booked from MIAMI to New Orleans departing a 12.15. Could anyone who has already been on this cruise advise what time they arrived back at Fort Lauderdale, what time they started disembarking and how long did it take to get through customs. Also how easy is it to book Uber from this Port? Many thanks in advance.

 

The ship typically returns at 7 and you can walk off by 7:30 and be out of the terminal before 8 (we did on the 12/12 sailing). You can get an Uber, BUT, it may take a long time to get one (it was a 30+ min wait at 8AM and not sure if it would get better later). You could do a combo of taxi (to some place close like Hollywood - to get you out of port quickly and get you to a place where there are plenty of Uber cars) and then Uber the rest of the way.

 

Also, the traffic from PE to MIA on a weekday morning will be fairly bad, figure an hour min.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Biker19

[troykahack]

The ship typically returns at 7 and you can walk off by 7:30 and be out of the terminal before 8 (we did on the 12/12 sailing). You can get an Uber, BUT, it may take a long time to get one (it was a 30+ min wait at 8AM and not sure if it would get better later). You could do a combo of taxi (to some place close like Hollywood - to get you out of port quickly and get you to a place where there are plenty of Uber cars) and then Uber the rest of the way.

 

Also, the traffic from PE to MIA on a weekday morning will be fairly bad, figure an hour min.

 

Generally that is the case... but you never know as on 11/21 sailing, we arrived on time but during a storm. First walk offs were delayed until 0830. Our luggage was there but most others where not. They were holding those needing to pick up their luggage in the upper holding area. We were on I95 heading North a little after 9.

[gotallanswers]

Ladydee,

 

They charged you $$$$ to reserve the Centrum for NYE? How much?

We were on for Thanksgiving and it was always crowded and you could rarely find a seat.

 

You had crab legs? Wow, never saw that.

 

We paid $1.99 each to have two shirts pressed. Royal has never had an ironing room......I miss that as Carnival, Holland and Princess have full laundry

rooms.

 

We did not go to Tortola or Dominica this cruise, but next time if you go, you MUST go to the Baths in Virgin Gorda, a beautiful beach with large boulders. Victoria's Secret and Sports Ill have been shot there,

 

In Dominica, years ago we went to the Emerald Pool in the rain forest. This was back when nothing was developed for cruise ship passengers. We couldn't even buy a tee shirt and a post card! The people were very poor, living in shacks, but the children were just as clean, pressed, and properly dressed for school. We watched them coming down the hills for school.

 

We also loved the captain and Topi. The captain was as dry as Topi was witty!!

 

We also had a new mattress and it was wonderful! The upholstery in the theatre needed cleaning, but over all we too liked all the glass on the ship after cruising Anthem..........a very different experience, and a REAL Schooner Bar!! Did they ever finish the Titanic puzzle?

 

For 2 people it was 600 ply 18% tax. It was insane. For 7-10 people a table was 2k. They all sold out. I just went to pool deck

[eaglesfaninfl]

Hi, Myself and husband will be going on the same cruise on 24th February. On return we have a flight booked from MIAMI to New Orleans departing a 12.15. Could anyone who has already been on this cruise advise what time they arrived back at Fort Lauderdale, what time they started disembarking and how long did it take to get through customs. Also how easy is it to book Uber from this Port? Many thanks in advance.

Nice to correspond with someone on the same cruise as my wife and I. Cannot help you with Uber or Lyft as we will be driving to/from the port but maybe we will meet up onboard and enjoy a drink together!

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[squadron]

Hmm... I thought we had one on the Grandeur years ago, but now that I think about it, it may actually have been a Carnival amenity. I know I've used one. Either way, same complaint still applies, unfortunately. $3 a shirt is outrageous, in my opinion.

 

I'm sure the cost is no more or less than your hometown dry cleaner. I know dry cleaning is cheaper on board then at home for me. Don't think you probably need to press a shirt - join the crowd of "no iron". Irons are a fire hazard.