Serenade 5/23/09 long review.

[mrchips14]

This is a review of our trip to Seattle, Vancouver and Alaska.
Sailed on the Serenade of the Seas.
May 20, 2009 - May 30, 2009.

Some background information about us. My wife and I, plus another couple. All of us are in our 50s. We have all cruised many times and our 2nd time to Alaska, first time to Alaska for our friends.

Part One-the land portion.

Flew into Seattle on Wed 5/20. Stayed at the Comfort Suites on Roy Street.
OK hotel for the price. Included very good breakfast. Rooms were clean and neat, the location was a little out of the way, but we had a rental car.

After dropping off the luggage (lots) we walked over to the monorail (from the city center to downtown). Grabbed something to eat and started to explore. We walked to Pikes market to see them throw some fish. Didn’t happen as it was late afternoon, but when we asked one of the fish guys he said sure. He then reached down and tossed a large fish at my friend, he caught it. Turned out to be a big pillow. LOL

We then went down to the waterfront and took a ferry to Bainbridge Island. Got some great skyline photos from the boat. Walked around a bit and returned. Then it was off to the Underground tour. It was interesting, but a bit long.

We then walked back to the waterfront and had dinner. Back to the hotel and sleep (we had been up about 22 hours by now).

Thurs 5/21- Drove to Mount Rainier, about 2 hours.
It was early in the season and only Paradise point was open. They were still working on the roads. It was a beautiful day, sunny in the 70’s. The mountain is amazing to see. Took lots of pictures, it also had lots of snow.

A funny side story, we wanted to go to Reflection Lake for the photo sites. The road was not open yet. The Park Ranger said they were working on it and should be open by noon. So we hung out played in the snow and went back to check, (Not yet). We went to get something to eat. Checked again, the Ranger had not gotten the word yet. Then he adds, “you know you can’t see the lake, Right”. What? OH the lake has 13 feet of snow on it just like here. He couldn’t have told us that and hour ago. LOL

When we got back, we went to a pub for dinner, then to the Space Needle. Took the ride up, great view of the city with Mount Rainier in the background. Watched the sunset and called it a night.

Friday 5/22- we drove to Vancouver via route I5 taking the Chuckanut drive detour. Nice drive with snow caped mountains in the distance. Crossing the border was not a problem, took about 15 minutes. Checked in at the Executive Hotel Vintage Park on Howe Street.
Only the bottom floors are for the hotel, top floors are condos. The room was nicely decorated but small. (How small was it). Had more room in the minivan. But we only had to sleep one night there so we toughed it out.

Then we went to get something to eat, (you can see we are getting in shape to cruise). We drove all around Stanley Park. Watched the Century Millennium sail under the Lion Gate Bridge. It was cool knowing we were going to do the same tomorrow. Went back to the hotel to get rid of the car. Walked to the downtown area for dinner. Then just went back to the hotel and played cards for a while.

Another funny story- there was a ledge outside of our windows. At about 5:00AM on Saturday there was this screeching noise (woke me up). When I looked out the window, there was seagull on the ledge making all kinds of noise. (I hadn’t requested a wake up call). When we told the girl at the front desk about it, she acted like this never happened before. We got a laugh out of the innocent act.

Sat. 5/23- since we were awake (thanks to the bird) we went to Tim Hortons for breakfast. We drove the van to the Ballantyne pier to drop off the bags and wives (I think I said that right). LOL. It was about 10:45 AM when we went in search of a gas station to fill the van up. This took longer than we expected. Finally returned the van and the rental company took us back to the pier. I was about 12:15 now. Did the usual waiting to check in and security line. Then the Photographer trap and on we went.

Note: We had 3 days of bright sunshine and low 70’s, we thought it rained a lot in the northwest (must have been mistaken).

Part Two-the Serenade of the Seas.

Sat 5/23- we stayed in cabin 1104 and our friends in 1102 AFT. Great cabins and we love the AFT.

We boarded the ship at 1:00PM. Went directly to our cabins, dropped off carry on bags and went to lunch (thank goodness). Then we checked our dinner table (table for 6), not happy so went to change it. Not a problem, they put us at a table for 11. As it turned out 4 people never show up so it turned into a very large table for 7. Then went to the Spa to check it out. Now it was time for muster drill.

Finally sail away. We were to meet some of the Cruise Critic members by the Sky bar. Not many showed up, but met a few. Went under the bridge and out to sea. It was very windy and cold.

Time to get ready for pre dinner drinks and dinner. We went to the Concierge Club, for drinks nice room with windows but limited seating. They have these large bulky chairs that take up too much room. But the room was not very crowded all week.

On Sunday we had our Meet & Mingle party, we got there a little late so we didn’t get to speak with too many people. Did the usual raffles of RCCL logo items and snacks.


From here on I will group things by activity.

Food- was much better than our last few RCCL cruises. In both the dinning room and the Windjammer. Our waiter (Bernardo) and assistant (Alfonso) were excellent. Also go to the Seaview café, excellent food cooked fresh so it is nice and hot. It is a good alternative for lunch. The main dinning room is very pretty but a bit noisy. We had a very nice time with our new friends all week.

Ship- it is a beautiful ship in great condition. Our stateroom attendant (Selwyn) did a wonderful job. From the first day, he greeted each of us by name and we saw him all the time in the hall. We love the Radiance class of ships.

Entertainment- the singers and dancers were good, seen one seen them all. The comedian was entertaining and the headline show was Lenny Welch. He put on a great show, he can still sing and dance. The Cruise director was Mike Szwajkowsli, he was much better that I thought he was going to be at first.

Casino-it was okay, usually could get a seat at the tables. They have one table for Texas hold-em. Just 7 players can fit at the table. We didn’t have many players on this cruise and had to wait for many of the regulars to show up. Played with 4-5 players many times.
Blackjack was the usual, up and down. One night they had double odds at the crap table.
Bingo, we went to the win-a –cruise and the final jackpot. Didn’t win anything at either. The price to play gets pretty steep.

Spa- Dear wife loves going to the spa, she booked a combo massage & facial. Again it is a little expensive but worth it. They finish with the usual sales pitch to buy all kinds of things but not too pushy.

Ports of Call and Excursions.

Icy Strait- We booked a whale watching tour with Dream Fish Alaska. They were very nice, picked us up at the ship. A five minute drive to the dock and away we went. The boat was very clean with a cabin large enough for the four of us to sit inside. There was also an open area in back. Margie (van driver and wife) and Captain Frank did an excellent job. We kept moving around to see the whales, and other wildlife. They packed some water, soda, crackers and homemade Salmon dip, yum. The tour was about 3 hours.

Note: the weather started out nice and warm. At the start we were wearing just sweatshirts. By the end we all had on out winter coats, gloves and hats.

Tracy Arm- (NOT)- Tracy arm had too much ice, so we went to Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm Fjord. It was amazing how close the captain brought the ship. We were there about an hour, and he just kept rotating the ship so all side could see. I went down to the promenade and just kept walking around and around to keep the glacier in sight. Took a few pictures (duh). Saw it calve a few times. The ship lowered one of the small rescue boats with the cruise director and a few of the crew into the water. They had on dry suits and went into the water. They put a chunk of ice into a net and had it hauled onto the ship, then they climbed into an iceberg. It was just beautiful sailing into and out of the fjord. Just as the ship started to sail away the sky opened up and it pored the rest of the day.

Skagway-we did the White Pass and Yukon tour, booked through the RCCL. It was the eight hour tour which started by coach up to Carcross. Then back to Frasier to catch the railroad back to Skagway. The weather was drizzling and foggy when we left. But it stopped and got a bit better as the day went on. After a few photo stops (also a bear on the side of the road eating). We went to Caribou Crossing for lunch, Bar-B-Q chicken, rolls, baked potato and donuts. When we were leaving the driver asks us “do we want to go right to Emerald Lake or left straight to town”. If you haven’t seen Emerald Lake there is no describing it. The colors are unreal. So I yelled from the back of the bus “go right to the lake”. I think everyone thought I was nuts, this was one of the reasons I took this tour in the first place. After we stopped here, I think everyone agreed it was the right decision. Back on the bus the driver then told us “I have good news and bad”. The good news, we are going to spend more time with each other. The bad news, there has been a rockslide and the train tracks are damaged and we will not be able to return via the train. Bummer. Overall the tour was good but a little disappointing as we talked our friends into this mainly for Emerald Lake (which we almost missed) and the train ride back. I must say that RCCL was very generous in it’s handling of this, as it wasn’t their fault (partial refund).

Juneau- we booked the Helicopter Dog Sled to Mendenhall glacier directly with Temsco.
We got really lucky here, as they had snow the day before and had to cancel all tours. The day of our tour they cancelled the first two tours due to fog. But we were able to go. On our first trip to Alaska we got fogged out of this tour and I have been hearing about it for five years. So we finally got there. It was really fun. The people there are crazy, they stay in the camp for six days then go to town to shower and sleep in a real bed. Then every three weeks they get a week off. There were 240 dogs there and they are waiting for 60 more. They have a photographer there that takes your picture as you ride by ($20.00 for
a 4X6 photo). They will also take your picture with your camera, no problems. This is a very expensive tour and now having done it once I don’t think we will do it again. But for a once in a lifetime event, it was way cool.

In conclusion, this trip went off without a hitch and the weather cooperated as much as possible. I do plenty of research before hand so we know what to see and do. Saves a lot of time when you get there. We love cruising and RCCL, we will be back in the Caribbean next May. But another trip to Alaska will happen down the road, as it is just an amazing place.

[BayStateguppy]

Awesome review! Thanks so much for posting.

A few questions:

Did you get wet on the ISP whale watch or were you just cold?
Did you get to visit Hoonah while you were in ISP?
Did you bring a small pocket size camera on the dog sled excursion or can you bring a larger one?
Where did you eat dinner in Vancouver?

[jst4fun715]

Thanks for the review! We are leaving on the 27th and also have cabin #1104! And we are doing the halibut fishing trip with Dream Fish. I have read a lot of good things about them. Did you happen to run into a bartender named Jacques? He was on the Vision last Nov but was going to be on the Serenade beginning in Jan. Great bartender and nice guy...great magic tricks too!

[H2Oregon]

[quote=mrchips14;20034001] Food- was much better than our last few RCCL cruises. In both the dinning room and the Windjammer. Our waiter (Bernardo) and assistant (Alfonso) were excellent. Also go to the Seaview café, excellent food cooked fresh so it is nice and hot. It is a good alternative for lunch. The main dinning room is very pretty but a bit noisy. We had a very nice time with our new friends all week.

Ship- it is a beautiful ship in great condition.

I agree, Serenade seemed to have better overall food and service than any previous RCI cruises. We really enjoyed our SF to Alaska Repositioning cruise.

[mrchips14]

Originally Posted by BayStateguppy

Awesome review! Thanks so much for posting.

A few questions:

Did you get wet on the ISP whale watch or were you just cold?
Did you get to visit Hoonah while you were in ISP?
Did you bring a small pocket size camera on the dog sled excursion or can you bring a larger one?
Where did you eat dinner in Vancouver?

Thanks, We did not get wet, but it got cloudier as we were out on the water and it just got colder.
We did not go to the town, just some shops by the tender pier.
You can bring your normal camera, and you have to. Amazing photos. You just can't take a bag or backpack at all.
A funny thing about where we ate in Vanc. We wanted a little something when we got there found a pub type place. It was empty when we went it, after about a half hour we realized it was a gay bar. (The fountain head, if your interested). LOL But the food was very good. That night we ate at a italian place, it was OK sorry I don't remember the name.

Have a great cruise.

[mrchips14]

Originally Posted by jst4fun715

Thanks for the review! We are leaving on the 27th and also have cabin #1104! And we are doing the halibut fishing trip with Dream Fish. I have read a lot of good things about them. Did you happen to run into a bartender named Jacques? He was on the Vision last Nov but was going to be on the Serenade beginning in Jan. Great bartender and nice guy...great magic tricks too!

No did not meet him. The room is great, if you find that hundred dollar bill I lost I can give you the address to mail it to. LOL

Frank of Dream fishes was very nice and a really nice boat. Good luck fishing. (Try not to hook any whales)

[jst4fun715]

Glad to hear about Dream Fish...did you catch anything? DH is really the fisherman....I would just like to see a whale or two! How was the weather when you were out. For our day, they are predicting about 60 degrees and 60% chance of rain!

And of course if I find that $100 I will certainly let you know....after I go to the casino and quadrouple it!!

[mrchips14]

We didn't go fishing just whale watching. But you will probally see whales while out there.
They were even around the Serenade when we were docked. See the picture.
I hope it is here.

Oh and good luck in the casino with my money.

[glendon3281]

mrchips14...since you had cabin 1104 was there any privacy issues with the deck above you (Windjammer open seating area) being able to look down onto your balcony?

I like to eat room service breakfast on the balcony but don't want people to be able to see me in my pj's.

Thanks

[PrincesScuba]

They would have to lean WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over the railing to even get a glimpse of the area of your balcony near your railing.

[mrchips14]

Originally Posted by glendon3281

mrchips14...since you had cabin 1104 was there any privacy issues with the deck above you (Windjammer open seating area) being able to look down onto your balcony?

I like to eat room service breakfast on the balcony but don't want people to be able to see me in my pj's.

Thanks

It wasn't a problem. As PrincesScuba said, they would have to lean over to look down. But I would still wear the PJ's. lol
It is a great balcony, have a great cruise.