Just got back from a great Serenade cruise!

[augpod]

My husband Dave and I just got back from our New Year’s Eve cruise on Serenade of the Seas, and had a great time! We appreciate all the good advice we had from the Cruise Critic message boards and reviews—it helped us make a few of our decisions and helped to make our cruise a success. We also enjoyed meeting some of our cruise critic contacts on board--Sunny and Scott and their spouses. So, for posterity, here are a few of our experiences and thoughts and, of course, advice, now that we are experts.

THE FOOD! I was very pleased with the food on Serenade. We had the most wonderful server in the dining room, Peter, and his recommendations were always DEAD ON. The only time any of the people at our table got something they didn’t love was when they went against Peter’s recommendations! Once we were appropriately trained, all went quite smoothly. I would definitely recommend the main dining room for anyone cruising on this ship. We had several lunches in the Windjammer and they were, well, okay—average. I imagine it’s the way things are served there, buffet style—they just don’t stay quite as tasty and fresh overall. But the dining room food, as well as the food in Chops Grill, was absolutely wonderful, I thought. We also found all of our servers lovely, helpful, and pleasant.

THE EXCURSIONS! We had three ship-sponsored excursions, and two that we planned on our own. Of them all, the best BY FAR was one we planned on our own on St. Thomas (the first stop on this cruise): a sail on the High Pockets with Captain Kathleen. We had experienced this once before on our last cruise, and it was by far our most memorable day, so we booked again with her for this cruise with Bonnie and Rick, the couple we were traveling with. I believe Kathleen will take up to six people, but it was just the four of us on this day. Kathleen arranges with a private cab company to pick cruisers up right outside the ship, and they took us on a short ride over to the marina. There we boarded the High Pockets, which is a great boat with lovely flapping sails, a full kitchen, and all amenities. Kathleen and her first mate Bill kept us well entertained and well served with whatever beverages we (or they) could think of. They sailed us to a great snorkeling cove, and Bill led us on a great snorkeling expedition (we saw squid, a turtle, a stingray, and all the usual suspects) while Kathleen fixed us a great pasta lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the sail was soothing, and the snorkeling was great. Bill knows a lot about the fish, and is able to find a lot of them and tell us a bit about each one. I would highly recommend this excursion if you’ll be having a day in St. Thomas—we all agreed it was hard to beat, and probably the best day of our cruise (which is saying a lot, since the whole cruise was great).

In Antigua, we took the HELICOPTER TOUR OF MONSERRAT, which came highly recommended by several Cruise Critic posters, and it did not disappoint. We had never been on a helicopter before, and the view from above the volcano is amazing—very awe-inspiring. CONSUMER ALERT, however: each helicopter holds five, and that means not everyone gets a window seat if the helicopter is full. Your best bet to get a window seat: 1) Be the first on board. 2) Be the last on board. 3) Be lucky in your size relative to the other passengers, because they seem to load according to weight distribution concerns. In our case, we met none of the above requirements, and neither Dave nor I had a window. This doesn’t substantially affect your actual view, but it does affect your ability to take unobstructed pictures. Still, we would recommend this to cruisers. It is a short excursion, and not cheap, but I think it’s worth it—it’s a very unique experience, just breathtaking.

In St. Lucia, we did the Land and Sea to Souffriere tour. This was pretty nice, with a very nice lunch, awesome volcanic activity views, and a catamaran ride that would lull Scrooge himself into a festive mood. It is a very popular tour, so I will here say “bah! humbug!” and issue a CROWD ALERT, which I will also issue for the SNORKELING AT PINEL ISLAND on St. Martin, another very popular tour in which about a gazillion people get into the water to snorkel at once, flailing around and knocking each other in the head with flippers and such. Neither of these tours was bad at all, and the guides for both were very knowledgeable and pleasant, but after the helicopter tour and the High Pockets day, I felt a little—well, herded around on these two tours. I think I would try to have an independent experience on these islands if I went again—and they were heart-wrenchingly beautiful islands, I must say. I would like to have more time someday in both St. Martin and St. Lucia.

On Barbados, we hired a taxi with a few other people from the ship, and had a tour of the island. It was fabulous! Barbados is beautiful—such smashing views! Such crashing surf, such beautiful beaches! We drank rum and coke! We were in such a good mood! We bought some of that rum and brought it home! It was an excellent day.

THE SHOWS!: We went to see several—the Coasters were performing one night, and they were just charming. I think RCI did a fine job of lining up good entertainment which would please a very varied audience—not a very easy task, I’m sure.

THE SPA! Oooh, the spa, that devil who took all my money away. I just kept spending money there. Dave and I got passes to the Thermal Suite, which I found to be a real pleasure. It’s a series of steam rooms, aromatic steam rooms, serious steam, mild steam, icy blast showers, etc., etc., nice views, massage music, very quiet, very soothing. They sell a limited number of passes, so it’s never very crowded. CONSUMER ALERT, HOWEVER: The thermal suite is a bit pricey ($109 per couple for the week), and you know how it is on cruises: you just don’t have all that much free time. We went pretty much every day, but some days it was a push to get there and we had to watch the clock so we wouldn’t be late for dinner (or whatever was the next dizzying entertainment). So I should point out that if you have any spa services or if you use the gym (or maybe even if you just walk in there—I’m not sure), you can use the spa’s locker room, which contains a very nice steam room and sauna which were hardly ever used, as far as I could tell. If you’re not sure you’ll get your money’s worth out of the suite, but you like the steam, give that free steam room a whirl.

OVERALL, what a lovely itinerary and what lovely islands, and what a lovely way to spend New Year’s, far away from boring resolutions—‘cause who can make resolutions on a cruise, anyway? I can still feel, now, the air that first night, when I had gotten rid of my Tennessee winter clothes and put on a tank top, and had my first rum punch, and found myself a chair on deck with my husband and our friends, just waiting for the ship to sail. Any petty complaints I might make are nothing to that. I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat. And I would certainly recommend it to anyone who asked, or who just sort of looked interested, or who might just be passing by.

.

[nlcentralchmps03]

In Antigua, we took the HELICOPTER TOUR OF MONSERRAT, which came highly recommended by several Cruise Critic posters, and it did not disappoint. We had never been on a helicopter before, and the view from above the volcano is amazing—very awe-inspiring. CONSUMER ALERT, however: each helicopter holds five, and that means not everyone gets a window seat if the helicopter is full. Your best bet to get a window seat: 1) Be the first on board. 2) Be the last on board. 3) Be lucky in your size relative to the other passengers, because they seem to load according to weight distribution concerns. In our case, we met none of the above requirements, and neither Dave nor I had a window. This doesn’t substantially affect your actual view, but it does affect your ability to take unobstructed pictures. Still, we would recommend this to cruisers. It is a short excursion, and not cheap, but I think it’s worth it—it’s a very unique experience, just breathtaking.

 

Glad to hear you had a good time.

 

Could you post any of the pictures (assuming you took some) from the helicopter? :)

[yogimax]

Thanks for the great review! How much was your taxi excursion in Barbados?

[Merion_Mom]

What a GREAT review! Thanks for sharing.

[cruiseorbust]

would you mind sharing what the cost was for two people to fly in the helicopter?

[Sheffie]

I am so glad you had a great cruise, and thanks for your wonderful review.

 

We did this cruise last year and are repeating it again this year - I am sure you understand why!

 

I have one question: did you go by Monserrat, St. Kitts, and Saba on Friday? Some people reported that the ship doesn't go close to them any more. I hope this has changed back to the way it was.

 

Welcome home!

[tanishao]

which nights were the formal nights?

[mloca]

Thanks for a wonderful review and some great tips. We leave in less than two weeks. :)

[finnegan14]

Thank you for posting this!! We are going on Serenade this Saturday and you've made me even more excited!!

[nanfromatlanta]

Great well written review... Thanks!!!

[augpod]

hello there: I would love to post some helicopter photos, if I can. I haven't posted photos here before. Let me give it a whirl tomorrow. I'll post one of the coastline and one of the steam vents. Montserrat isn't spilling out lava, alas, but there was steam enough for all. I believe this excursion is a bit more than $200 per person. It's one of the more expensive ones--but worth it, I thought.

 

Thank you all for your kind words.

 

Sara

[augpod]

Thanks for the great review! How much was your taxi excursion in Barbados?

 

The taxi driver asked for $25 per person, but one of the members of our group negotiated the price down to $20 a person since we were a largish group. However, it was such a nice ride and he was such a good guide that I think he more than made up for the lowered price in tips!

 

Sara

[wrp96]

would you mind sharing what the cost was for two people to fly in the helicopter?

 

I believe the cost is around $241 per person at least for our cruise that is leaving in less than 3 weeks. I would love to do this tour (I love volcanos and helicopters) but each time the cost has been too prohibitive for me. Hopefully I'll be able to go back to Antigua a 3rd time and do it then.

[augpod]

I am so glad you had a great cruise, and thanks for your wonderful review.

 

We did this cruise last year and are repeating it again this year - I am sure you understand why!

 

I have one question: did you go by Monserrat, St. Kitts, and Saba on Friday? Some people reported that the ship doesn't go close to them any more. I hope this has changed back to the way it was.

 

Welcome home!

 

Thanks for the welcome home, Sheffie, but now it's cold and rainy in Tennessee and I'm sort of bummed after all that nice warm Caribbean sun. :) Worse STILL, I caught a cold shortly after coming home, so it was hard reality in a hurry. :P

 

I have to say that I'm not sure about the sail-by; I don't think we did that. I will ask Dave and post again tomorrow--but since Dave is an absolute volcano fanatic, I don't think he would have missed the view of Monserrat. I know we had a really nice close sail by the Pitons as we left St. Lucia. The captain really took his time, and there were fabulous photo ops. I wonder if they have substituted that for the St. Kitts/Monserrat close-up.

 

Sara

[wrp96]

No, the Pitons close up has always been done by the Serenade. I've heard that the new captain has changed the route so she isn't doing the Monserrat sail by as well.

[Sheffie]

Thanks for the welcome home, Sheffie, but now it's cold and rainy in Tennessee and I'm sort of bummed after all that nice warm Caribbean sun. :) Worse STILL, I caught a cold shortly after coming home, so it was hard reality in a hurry. :P

 

I have to say that I'm not sure about the sail-by; I don't think we did that. I will ask Dave and post again tomorrow--but since Dave is an absolute volcano fanatic, I don't think he would have missed the view of Monserrat. I know we had a really nice close sail by the Pitons as we left St. Lucia. The captain really took his time, and there were fabulous photo ops. I wonder if they have substituted that for the St. Kitts/Monserrat close-up.

 

Sara

 

You wouldn't question it if they did do the sail-by since it is done close to the islands with another pivot at Montserrat. As Wrona said, we had heard that it isn't being done any more. I just hoped that things had changed back.

 

Hope you feel better soon.

[erniesband]

We were on the 1/6 sailing, and loved it (again). And we're booked again for 1/5/08. The captain still sails down to the Pitons and pivots the ship. This time he had the crew set up a bar on the helicopter pad, and after the first pivot asked if everyone wanted him to do it again. Of course, everyone said yes, so around we went. We were told that he'd sit in there spinning the ship all night, if he could. The ship no longer does the Montserrat sail-by, or the other islands, on the sea day, just does a straighter route back to San Juan, at about 14 knots (as opposed to the slightly faster speed they'd have to sail to cover the additional distance added by the sail-bys). We were told they save over $400,000/year by not making that detour.

 

Jodi

[augpod]

Here's my second attempt to upload pictures from our helicopter expedition. Let's see what happens.

 

Sara

[augpod]

Hey--it worked after all. So here is one more--this is where the lava and ash have come down and extended the coastline on Monserrat.

 

Sara

[cappy09]

Augpod can you tell us the site to find Kathleen and the excursion you took on High Pockets in St. Thomas. Would like to take this excursion if possible Thank you for any information you can give me. Joan

[Ruggermags06]

So glad to hear you enjoyed the helicopter ride over Montserrat. My fiance and I are planning on doing that excursion during our honeymoon (we will be on Adventure, not Serenade) and I agree that while it is pretty expensive we figure, heck, its our honeymoon.

[augpod]

Augpod can you tell us the site to find Kathleen and the excursion you took on High Pockets in St. Thomas. Would like to take this excursion if possible Thank you for any information you can give me. Joan

 

Hi Joan: Here is the website address: http://pws.prserv.net/sailhighpockets/

 

If that link doesn't work (it seems kind of long), type "High Pockets, St. Thomas" into your search engine and it will come up. The price for the excursion was $250--that was the total for both of us, and it includes a very nice lunch, snorkel gear if you want it, and your choice of destinations--that is, they will take you to a beach if you want for shell seeking and swimming, or to a good snorkling cove. They know good places, and can find a good uncrowded spot for you. It's a very personalized adventure; we have done it twice now and it's just great. Bill, the first mate, is just a riot. He used to be an accountant or something, and then he dropped out and just became a first mate/snorkling guide. He's got all kinds of great stories about the islands, and the celebrities who visit the islands, and the bars on the islands, etc.

 

Regarding price, you do also have to pay for the taxi over, and the tip for Bill is not included is not included in the total price (Kathleen gently suggests that you do, in fact, tip him). You have to give her a credit card number to reserve the excursion, but you don't necessarily have to use that method of payment when you get there; if you pay in cash, there is a small discount.

 

I would highly recommend them. They are very professional and very good sailors, and it's blissfully personal and uncrowded.

 

Sara

[augpod]

I am going to post a couple of pictures here from our day on High Pockets. It gives you some idea of the size of the boat, at least. One of the pictures is of the four of us eating lunch--Kathleen went below and made a nice salad and pasta lunch while Bill took us out snorkling.

 

Sara

[augpod]

By the way, the second picture is Bill, the first mate.

[Ashala]

Wonderful to hear such great reviews! I'll be on her in two weeks for the second time and can't wait.

 

Ashley