Serenade of the Seas in Nassau yesterday

[coaster]

Seeing a ship tracking site reporting Serenade only being in Nassau for 2 hrs and 27 min yesterday. There was a cold front that moved thru yesterday and thinking the information I am seeing on the ship tracking site could be correct. Just curious as that would be unusual to port for that little amount of time.

Edited October 29, 2021 by coaster

[KroozFoolz]

Maybe no one wanted off so they moved on.

[coaster]

Makes sense! Nassau is a true waste...

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by coaster

[coaster]

18 minutes ago, KroozFoolz said:

Maybe no one wanted off so they moved on.

Disclaimer..... I am smart and savvy enough  to not to book a cruise that ports in Nassau. We were originally scheduled  not stop in Nassau on our cruise leaving tomorrow.

Edited October 29, 2021 by coaster

[EllieinNJ]

First time in Nassau on Oasis last week.  Booked an island bus tour.  Was not allowed on Atlantis property.  Stuck in traffic an hour because of an accident.  Guide pointed out every church, federal building. Car dealership, gas station, fast food joint.  Now I see why no one likes Nassau.

[klass2]

On a transatlantic crossing we did (I think Freedom OTS Fall 2017) we stopped in Nassau briefly to med evac a passenger and then we continued on our sailing for another day or two before arriving in Florida. I can’t remember the exact itinerary. 

Maybe the ship had a passenger who needed medical care and stopping in Nassau was the most practical option?…

[coaster]

18 minutes ago, klass2 said:

 

 

18 minutes ago, klass2 said:

On a transatlantic crossing we did (I think Freedom OTS Fall 2017) we stopped in Nassau briefly to med evac a passenger and then we continued on our sailing for another day or two before arriving in Florida. I can’t remember the exact itinerary. 

Maybe the ship had a passenger who needed medical care and stopping in Nassau was the most practical option?…

Serenade was scheduled to port in Nassau yesterday.  It was not an unplanned stop

Edited October 30, 2021 by coaster

[death_star]

So according to my research Carnival Dream and Oasis of the Seas were both scheduled to stop yesterday in Nassau and did not. 

[mafig]

Haven't seen any feedback on Serenade's first cruises.  Has anyone?

[lovelife]

10 hours ago, death_star said:

So according to my research Carnival Dream and Oasis of the Seas were both scheduled to stop yesterday in Nassau and did not. 

We did. We were in Nassau on Oasis.  Carnival Dream and Serenade were there with us.

[ONECRUISER]

14 hours ago, coaster said:

Disclaimer..... I am smart and savvy enough  to not to book a cruise that ports in Nassau. We were originally scheduled  not stop in Nassau on our cruise leaving tomorrow.

Many don't have a choice. Dozen's Sailings have now changed Stops to Nassau in last couple weeks, including 3 of mine in Nov-Dec

[cj11l]

We were on the Serenade this past week. Wonderful time...crew happy to see us and happy to be back to work. We had a full day in nassau..weather was nice and warm. Last night coming back to Tampa was a rough ride though

[RedIguana]

51 minutes ago, mafig said:

Haven't seen any feedback on Serenade's first cruises.  Has anyone?

DW and I were on the Oct. 16, I believe the first one out of Tampa this year. 900 passengers, about 40% capacity. Windjammer closed for dinner (closed at 3), so late night food a little lacking if you are into that. Park cafe may have been open til midnight or so, think they had pizza. Food in MDR was not too different, although the prime rib on the last night was not the usual quality. Masks were required transiting through the interior of the ship, no big deal. Schooner bar was not the usual lively place as the piano bar seating was blocked off. Some nights just had melodies. The pub had a decent guitar/singer. The centrum was the best place most nights, The Funk it UP band was awesome. Ship seemed to be in good shape. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

[mafig]

Thanks, Redlguana.  Actually, I'm on Brilliance in January (if it isn't changed to Serenade).  Our itinerary is Costa Maya and Coz. (if it isn't changed to what yours was).

I'm glad it went smoothly for you.

 

Were you given a boarding time?  Was it enforced?

 

How did they handle seating in the dining room?  Separate for vax'd/non-vax'd people?                                                 

DH and I watched you leave on the port camera.😀

[RedIguana]

23 minutes ago, cj11l said:

Last night coming back to Tampa was a rough ride though

I think they were doing better than 20 knots trying to make up for the lost time from the Key West medical stop. You could feel a little movement when they started to get over 18 all through the cruise.. I'm used to 20-25 boats, so for me it was not rough at all, but I was also on the hump, so no clue what the forward cabins felt. I doubt the seas were more than 4-6, but it can be hard to tell on a ship that size for me. 

[mo&fran]

WE need to keep in mind that with the cruise lines trying to get the ships back into service, the available ports of call is still limited,  so they have go where they can. I have a lot of cruises scheduled this year,  we will just have to see where they end up going. BTW,  there are 5 ships in Nassau today.

[RedIguana]

1 minute ago, mafig said:

Thanks, Redlguana.  Actually, I'm on Brilliance in January (if it isn't changed to Serenade).  Our itinerary is Costa Maya and Coz. (if it isn't changed to what yours was).

I'm glad it went smoothly for you.

 

Were you given a boarding time?  Was it enforced?

 

How did they handle seating in the dining room?  Separate for vax'd/non-vax'd people?                                                 

DH and I watched you leave on the port camera.😀

I had an original boarding time of 1-1:30, the earliest I saw on the few in roll call, when it opened for check-in a month out or so. A few weeks before, they opened the 12:30 to 1 slots, and I grabbed that. Although my estimated arrival when I left the Daytona area was 12:20, the wonderful drivers on I-4 decided they did not want their cars in pristine shape anymore, so the ensuing wrecks and detours delayed my arrival til 1:40. On arrival they were asking for check-in times, when I told them mine they sent us to an empty line, bypassing the current check-ins. 10 minutes from car to ship.

 

We had my time dining, vax'd only, but went about the same time every night and had the same waitstaff, and 1 of the same 2 tables (2 top for DW and I)  Vax'd and non-vax'd had separate dining rooms.

[BND]

Coco Cay was cancelled yesterday for at least one ship due to weather and I'm betting Nassau was the same.  Very heavy seas and high winds can make it dangerous to dock or even stay in port.  

Edited October 30, 2021 by BND

[cj11l]

We didn't stop in key west..I think that was the week before our cruise. We just got back this morning.  Someone asked about boarding times and dining...we had a 1:30 boarding time but the let us get in line a half hour early. That seemed to be pretty consistent.  We had my time dining and that started at 6:45. We didn't do reservations but they got us in pretty quick and they tried to keep us with same servers every night. Kept us to our own table as it was the 2 of us. It looked like to me that they were keeping parties of people together as they requested to be? 

 

[meadowlander]

15 hours ago, coaster said:

Seeing a ship tracking site reporting Serenade only being in Nassau for 2 hrs and 27 min yesterday. There was a cold front that moved thru yesterday and thinking the information I am seeing on the ship tracking site could be correct. Just curious as that would be unusual to port for that little amount of time.

The tracking site is wrong. Oasis, Serenaded and Carnival Dream were all in port in Nassau on Thursday and more than 2 hours and change. Oasis sailed away about 6pm.

[RedIguana]

1 minute ago, cj11l said:

We just got back this morning

Ah, my mistake. I thought you were on the same Oct 16 sailing. Yeah, you would have had a rougher ride. I think the 6:45 was due to using the same room for MTD as early seating. They were definitely keeping the same groups together from what I saw, same groups around us every night at same tables.

[RedIguana]

23 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

Thanks, Redlguana.  Actually, I'm on Brilliance in January

I'm on Brilliance on January 13th. Just 4 night, Cozumel looks to be switch to Costa Maya.

Edited October 30, 2021 by RedIguana
added January

[death_star]

11 hours ago, lovelife said:

We did. We were in Nassau on Oasis.  Carnival Dream and Serenade were there with us.

Ah the site I was looking at didn't have either one as a past port but did have the serenade as stopping for 2 hours and change.

[B&J_Pgh]

On 10/30/2021 at 10:19 AM, RedIguana said:

DW and I were on the Oct. 16, I believe the first one out of Tampa this year. 900 passengers, about 40% capacity. Windjammer closed for dinner (closed at 3), so late night food a little lacking if you are into that. Park cafe may have been open til midnight or so, think they had pizza. Food in MDR was not too different, although the prime rib on the last night was not the usual quality. Masks were required transiting through the interior of the ship, no big deal. Schooner bar was not the usual lively place as the piano bar seating was blocked off. Some nights just had melodies. The pub had a decent guitar/singer. The centrum was the best place most nights, The Funk it UP band was awesome. Ship seemed to be in good shape. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

 

[B&J_Pgh]

I forget is the port side the smoking side?

 

What decks are vaccinated and nonvaccinated?  

 

I'm receiving first hand information that at some ports you can't get off the ship unless you book an excursion.  Did this affect any of your ports?