World "shakedown" cruise on Serenade starting next week (Semi-Live Review)

[Jimbo]

31 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Yep! The ones I feel for are the ones who booked the WC at a cost that was twice what a WC on Regent Seven Seas (all suites, All Inclusive) would have cost and are getting a ship that is getting a mostly superficial face lift (at least from what we have seen so far, but they still have ~4 weeks to get everything up to WC standards). 😱

Going to be a very longggggggggggggggggg cruise on Serenade, sure glad we aren't on it. We did 14 days on Jewel last month and that was plenty.........

[orville99]

Reposting a picture that I posted earlier because we finally were able to get close enough to the pile (no one around) to find out exactly what was in the big boxes all the way to the right of the picture - “Full Body Immersive Survival Suits”. 😱

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Going to be a very longggggggggggggggggg cruise on Serenade, sure glad we aren't on it. We did 14 days on Jewel last month and that was plenty.........

One thing that they should enjoy is - wait for it - the food. Every meal we have had so far has been excellent from the WJ to the MDR - best we have had in months on an RCL ship.

[Jimbo]

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

One thing that they should enjoy is - wait for it - the food. Every meal we have had so far has been excellent from the WJ to the MDR - best we have had in months on an RCL ship.

That's surprising for sure, one can only hope that continues. 

 

[orville99]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

That's surprising for sure, one can only hope that continues. 

 

One of the interesting outcomes of doing this cruise B2B is that we can switch our dining choices on the second leg to the opposite of how we are dining on the first leg so we will hit all 14 MDR menus, along with all of the Specialty restaurants 4-5 times.

Edited November 9, 2023 by orville99

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

Full Body Immersive Survival Suits

We thought that was a Jewel only thing because of the sailing around Greenland - same pile of them (perhaps slightly bigger pile). 

[Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

We thought that was a Jewel only thing because of the sailing around Greenland - same pile of them (perhaps slightly bigger pile). 

WC is also going to Greenland.

[Biker19]

8 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

WC is also going to Greenland.

That's 6+ months away, though the visit to Antarctica is only about two months away.

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

That's 6+ months away, though the visit to Antarctica is only about two months away.

Maybe hard to get....... 😁 

 

When we were in Greenland last month, had the feeling everyone that lived there had one......Most people there looked like they just thawed out from last Wiinter.

[orville99]

Heading in to Grand Cayman today. Seas are a bit rocky, but the sun is shining so all good. 

Internet is still strong and stable. 

 

 

[kernow]

Thanks for all the updates so far. 

 

Can I ask is all the ongoing work for the World Cruise impacting on your enjoyment of the cruise or not? Just trying to set our expectations for when we board in LA. 

Thanks.

[orville99]

18 minutes ago, kernow said:

Thanks for all the updates so far. 

 

Can I ask is all the ongoing work for the World Cruise impacting on your enjoyment of the cruise or not? Just trying to set our expectations for when we board in LA. 

Thanks.

No impact for us at all. We are really enjoying the cruise so far. The weather has been great, the food in both the WJ and the MDR has been excellent, and the staff is very engaged and responsive. We only really notice all the work going on when we wander around the ship looking for promised upgrades to the venues and stumble on a work crew.

Going to do a walkabout on deck 12 today to see if they have repurposed the area above the centrum into the internet/work space that they promised yet.

[StanleyandGus]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

Thanks for all the updates so far. 

 

Can I ask is all the ongoing work for the World Cruise impacting on your enjoyment of the cruise or not? Just trying to set our expectations for when we board in LA. 

Thanks.

I am on this cruise- so far, I haven’t noticed anything really untoward. There is some work going on somewhere around deck 10. Otherwise, the food is good, the gym doesn’t seem overly crowded, Our Grand Suite’s bed is very comfortable. The couch may be new. The chairs aren’t, but the wear is minimal.

[ONECRUISER]

19 hours ago, orville99 said:

One thing that they should enjoy is - wait for it - the food. Every meal we have had so far has been excellent from the WJ to the MDR - best we have had in months on an RCL ship.

Spent 4wks on Serenade in Sept, 3wks on Radiance last month and can agree that food on Serenade was a lot better. Interesting as many same items are made different on each Ship. You'd think would be the same Fleet Wide

Edited November 10, 2023 by ONECRUISER

[orville99]

7 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Spent 4wks on Serenade in Sept, 3wks on Radiance last month and can agree that food on Serenade was a lot better

We were on Serenade in February - 10 night partial Canal crossing - and the food on that cruise was fair at best. On this cruise, the food IMHO, is back to where it was last year before they introduced the new menus. Very satisfied with both the quality, variety, and quantity of the offerings. DW joked that they must have sent the chefs back to a refresher class to get them ready for the WC, and we are their test market for that.

Edited November 10, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

Anchored off the Cayman coast - off to deck 12 for a bit of sun and sleuthing.

 

 

[Td6462]

8 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We were on Serenade in February - 10 night partial Canal crossing - and the food on that cruise was fair at best. On this cruise, the food IMHO, is back to where it was last year before they introduced the new menus. Very satisfied with both the quality, variety, and quantity of the offerings. DW joked that they must have sent the chefs back to a refresher class to get them ready for the WC, and we are their test market for that.

would you be willing to pass a few messages to 3 crew members?

1. Abigail at the Sky Bar. " Hello from Tim & Abigail!, We hope she and "Isaac" are doing well!"

2. Herran the Maître d' at Giovanni's. IMO she runs that restaurant like a top!

3. I honestly forget his name. he is a "very well manicured" server in Giovanni's. My 5yo daughter left him with a collection of her paw patrol toys and coloring book. She was curious if he was enjoying them still? She gave them to him because he said he watched paw patrol off duty in his cabin. 

Thanks In advance!

On the repo cruise the food was mediocre at best and I definitely mentioned it in my survey in great detail. Hopefully the feedback from myself and others is starting to make a difference. It was obvious to me in speaking with the senior culinary team that they were aware of the issue and trying to slowly correct it. Unfortunately, they are limited in some ways by the quality of what is provisioned to them.  

[orville99]

1 hour ago, Td6462 said:

would you be willing to pass a few messages to 3 crew members?

1. Abigail at the Sky Bar. " Hello from Tim & Abigail!, We hope she and "Isaac" are doing well!"

2. Herran the Maître d' at Giovanni's. IMO she runs that restaurant like a top!

3. I honestly forget his name. he is a "very well manicured" server in Giovanni's. My 5yo daughter left him with a collection of her paw patrol toys and coloring book. She was curious if he was enjoying them still? She gave them to him because he said he watched paw patrol off duty in his cabin. 

Thanks In advance!

On the repo cruise the food was mediocre at best and I definitely mentioned it in my survey in great detail. Hopefully the feedback from myself and others is starting to make a difference. It was obvious to me in speaking with the senior culinary team that they were aware of the issue and trying to slowly correct it. Unfortunately, they are limited in some ways by the quality of what is provisioned to them.  

We are in Giovanni’s this evening and I will pass on your greetings if they are there. Have not been to the sky bar yet.

[orville99]

SUCCESS!!!!

 

I finally found some evidence that they are actually working on the promised WC upgrades. Beehive of activity on the work/internet room on deck 12 installing new furnishings, Internet ports, etc.

 

 

[ONECRUISER]

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

SUCCESS!!!!

 

I finally found some evidence that they are actually working on the promised WC upgrades. Beehive of activity on the work/internet room on deck 12 installing new furnishings, Internet ports, etc.

 

 

Was on B4B in Sept onboard was 25 Contractors doing work. They'd get off and back on with us for Zero count on turn around days. This area along with Conference Room was packed full inc new Coolers and the new thicker Mattresses that they were replacing each wk. Were also doing new wiring along all Passenger decks. Nice see area emptied out

[orville99]

9 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Was on B4B in Sept onboard was 25 Contractors doing work. They'd get off and back on with us for Zero count on turn around days. This area along with Conference Room was packed full inc new Coolers and the new thicker Mattresses that they were replacing each wk. Were also doing new wiring along all Passenger decks. Nice see area emptied out

Have not been down to the conference room yet, but there are still quite a few contractors on board - we run into them at odd times in odd places like passenger corridors - or when they are taking a break up on the pool deck smoking area.

 

It will be interesting to see what that deck 12 area ultimately ends up looking like over the next 3+weeks.😇

[Td6462]

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

We are in Giovanni’s this evening and I will pass on your greetings if they are there. Have not been to the sky bar yet.

Thank you very much! Abigail is a wonderful bartender! I believe the server was from the Philippines. You won't miss him he has lots of pizzazz and character! 

[ONECRUISER]

21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Have not been down to the conference room yet, but there are still quite a few contractors on board - we run into them at odd times in odd places like passenger corridors - or when they are taking a break up on the pool deck smoking area.

 

It will be interesting to see what that deck 12 area ultimately ends up looking like over the next 3+weeks.😇

Thanks for bringing us along!

[ILCTCRUISER]

On 11/9/2023 at 11:13 AM, orville99 said:

Yep! The ones I feel for are the ones who booked the WC at a cost that was twice what a WC on Regent Seven Seas (all suites, All Inclusive) would have cost and are getting a ship that is getting a mostly superficial face lift (at least from what we have seen so far, but they still have ~4 weeks to get everything up to WC standards). 😱

Mum’s the word about Regent!  It is pretty much all-inclusive.  Have never really done a thorough price comparison and probably should.  Airfare and transfers, all drinks (probably not the very top shelf), all specialty dining, excursions in each port, laundry, wi-fi, gratuities.   Small ships that really don’t seem that small dues to small pax loads.  Great service.  Wonderful food.  No carnival rides.  No kids (well, to be honest, we have seen one or two but perfect behavior.  We have a 21 day SA coming up in December.  Also did a NextCruise booking on Celebrity for next Feb (B2B) which we’ll probably let die on the vine.

[craig01020]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:45 PM, cruiselvr04 said:

I don’t think you plug a cpap machine into a euro plug without a converter. An adaptor won’t do it.  I could be wrong but I don’t think an cpap will automatically switch currents.  You could use an adaptor with a hair dryer that had 120/240 dual though without a converter.  And of course usb is universal.  Something for the world cruisers to look into.

An adapter works fine. I've done it many times.