We could use a little help with our Serenade sailing

[AJinterpreters]

Hello RC Community! We will be on a RC ship this July for the first time. My wife and i are both interpreters and have worked on Carnival ships for the last few years, but this is the first time we actually get to sail without having to work! Also, we are taking along our 10 year old son. I will try to be clear and short with our questions.

We arrive the night before into San Juan, and ideas of what to do before we head to the ship?

Is it easy to get a cab to the ship from the airport hotel? Carnival always arranged our rides so this is new to us.

This cruise is mostly for our son. We will be diving in Curacao with the Dive Bus group, our son is a JR padi diver, my wife is open water, and i am advanced. This will be his first ocean dive, and we are not sure how it will go so I dont want to book more dives at future ports if he doesnt like it too much. So, we are looking for other things to do landside. The only thing that seemed interesting to us offered thru RC was parasailing, what about finding other activities not sponsored thru the ship? ( again this is new to us, before we always had to interpret whatever the ship had set up for our group) We will be looking for things to do in Aruba, Dominica, and St Thomas. We would like to find a zip line type of activity, and the only one I found had a min age of 11. Anybody have some ideas of what would be fun for a 10 year old boy in any of these ports? He loved the zip line/ monkey encounter in Hounduras when we went if that gives you an idea of what he would like.

Our return flight leaves SJU at 1215 pm, does this give us enough time to to get to the airport?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Jeffrey

[glendale cruiser]

Hi Jeffery,

You will be sailing on our favorite RCCL ship. I can't tell you much about those ports as we sailed much different ports..... however when you get to the airport procede to the taxi stand they will have taxis's lined up and let you know the price once you tell them where you are going. If you take any other taxis's in SJ negotiate price before you enter them.....

I'm not sure what time you get into SJ but if it is early enough the El Yunque rain forest is a great place to explore if you can get in a tour. If not the forts are magnficant to explore with a 10 year old. Check out Old San Juan and have some authentic PR food. Have a great time....

Sue

[AJinterpreters]

Thanks Sue! Would you mind telling me why it is your favorite ship?

[amickeyfriend]

Just got off the Serenade canal trip. It is also a favorite ship of mine. Great views with all of the glass and a very nice crew. There is a free trolley in town that you can get on and off and see the city. Leaves from the bus station area and goes to the forts. Great way to spend the day. Just look for the trolley signs. Have fun.

[printingchick]

Are you asking what else to do in Curacao after diving? Hato Caves is great and doesn't take the whole day. Don't book an excursion there, just grab a cab. It's a totally different sort of cruise activity and it's really interesting. Google them.

The downtown area of Curacao is lovely - very Bermuda-looking with the pastel colored buildings. You can walk from/to the ship from the downtown area.

I would recommend contacting Levi at Bumpiing Tours in Dominica. Dominica is a very undeveloped port with rain forests, amazing waterfalls and black sand beaches. Just gorgeous. You'll want to see as much as you can and it's much more reasonable to do with a private tour than through the ship.

I always ferry over to St. John from St. Thomas. I like the more unspoiled locations and St. John is 75% protected park land. I have always skipped Trunk Bay. It's beautiful, but it is where EVERYONE goes. There are a multitude of trails leading to beaches where you'll be the only ones there. The snorkeling is outstanding. We found ourselves swimming with the sea turtles there. Incredible experience.

Aruba is hugely popular, but really not one of my favorite ports. Known for it's great beach resorts, Aruba is really mostly desert. Someone else should recommend and excursion. I've only been there once and I wouldn't recommend the excursion we did.

Have fun!!

[AJinterpreters]

Originally Posted by printingchick

Are you asking what else to do in Curacao after diving? Hato Caves is great and doesn't take the whole day. Don't book an excursion there, just grab a cab. It's a totally different sort of cruise activity and it's really interesting. Google them.

The downtown area of Curacao is lovely - very Bermuda-looking with the pastel colored buildings. You can walk from/to the ship from the downtown area.

I would recommend contacting Levi at Bumpiing Tours in Dominica. Dominica is a very undeveloped port with rain forests, amazing waterfalls and black sand beaches. Just gorgeous. You'll want to see as much as you can and it's much more reasonable to do with a private tour than through the ship.

I always ferry over to St. John from St. Thomas. I like the more unspoiled locations and St. John is 75% protected park land. I have always skipped Trunk Bay. It's beautiful, but it is where EVERYONE goes. There are a multitude of trails leading to beaches where you'll be the only ones there. The snorkeling is outstanding. We found ourselves swimming with the sea turtles there. Incredible experience.

Aruba is hugely popular, but really not one of my favorite ports. Known for it's great beach resorts, Aruba is really mostly desert. Someone else should recommend and excursion. I've only been there once and I wouldn't recommend the excursion we did.

Have fun!!

This is the kind of thing we were looking for! Thanks so much! We will be diving most of the day with the dive bus, so that is why i asked about the other three ports. If we have time, we will totally go to the caves!

The dominica info was awesome! Thats the kind of stuff we would like to do!

How/where do we get the ferry to st john?

Thanks again everyone!

[Rala]

Hi....

Unless the ship is delayed or there is some glitch with disembarkation (both probably not likely though possible), you should be fine with a 12:15 flight. We had an 11:00 am flight which we made with no problem. Have a great time!!!

[printingchick]

Regarding ferry to St. John:
While not the closest, we always cab to the Red Hook ferry. It has the most frequent schedule - on the hour I believe. They have a website. I want to say it costs $6 each way per person. Both the cab ride and the ferry ride are take about 20-25 minutes, so you want to get off the ship as quickly as you can to catch the first possible ferry. Because timing is critical, we like going to where we know we can get a ferry to get us back to the ship ON TIME, so Red Hook is the better option!

Take your snorkel gear with you. Unless you go to Trunk Bay, the beaches will not have any equipment to rent, restaurants or lounge chairs. We went to the beach down the Leinster Bay Trail, which is right by the Annaberg Ruins. There were clean bathroom facilities just outside the historical site. When we went, there were no tours or anything at Annaberg, just signs in front of each building. The old sugar mill ruins sit atop a mountain and the views are spectacular from there.

Regarding Dominica:
Bumpiing Tours also has a website and Levi is very responsive if you email him through the site. Prices were very reasonable for what he provides and people rave about the experience. You should check comments at the Dominica site on the ports of call threads.

Have fun!!

[cruzobsessed]

1st of all happy thanksgiving and 2ndly welcome to cruise critic

the serenade is also in my top 2 favorite rc ships and here's why....
it is just the right size (in my opinion). it also has the most glass and exposure to the water of the fleet. the big feature for us is that the windjammer (the buffet) has an outdoor eating area. for us...there is NOTHING like grabbing your delicious breakfast and eating outside ..........
another thing that we love is the layout of the bars and clubs they are not spread out all over the ship AND this is the ship with the famous SELF LEVELING POOL TABLES....it is a feat of technology that this is even possible and we always get in a few games.

when are you cruising? my son and his fiance are on the serande july 4 for their honeymoon.

oh and my pre cruise puerto rico advice is to not make yourself crazy.....if you have a short time....i would walk around san juan. the city is very quaint...you can take a cab up to EL MORRO which is a famous fort with amazing views and then walk back through san juan.

[AJinterpreters]

We are actually on the cruise right after your son. We embark on July 11. We are so excited about not having to work this cruise!!!!

I will check the ports of call section, I knew there had to be another forum to post that question in. Thanks for not flaming me for posting to the wrong forum. I have been a member of flyertalk for several years, and while they have helped me rack up one million AA miles, if you post to the wrong forum or post before reading the stickies, they let you know quick! So thanks for being kind!!!!

It's going to be weird to sit in the audience for the shows and not have to stand on stage and interpret!!!!

[BobbyD]

We are on SOS in June with the same itinerary, traveling with 2 other couples who are first timers. We are spending the pre-cruise night at the Sheraton OSJ. We are also looking for worthwhile excursions, things to do on the Islands. St. Thomas is the only port that we have previously been to.

[MDSue]

The Serenade is my favorite ship also. It is stunningly beautiful and tastefully decorated. At El Morro in Old San Juan, your son might enjoy kite flying. It seems to be a favorite pastime there amongst the locals.
We are sailing her for the second time in March. Our ports are mostly different from yours though.
In St. Thomas, I have been to Coki Beach twice, it is a nice snorkelling beach. There is a place called Coral World right next to the beach which the 10 year old might enjoy. I have heard they have a sea lion swim there, on top of tropical fish views. I haven't checked it out yet though. It is easy to get aorund by taxi in St. Thomas. On my next trip, I am definitely going to check out St. John, but Coki Beach is nice for an easy day, especially if you want to do any shopping in Charlotte Amalie also.

not sure if you can make out all the kites:


Coki Beach:

[NordicPrince]

Originally Posted by BobbyD

We are on SOS in June with the same itinerary, traveling with 2 other couples who are first timers. We are spending the pre-cruise night at the Sheraton OSJ. We are also looking for worthwhile excursions, things to do on the Islands. St. Thomas is the only port that we have previously been to.

Pre-cruise: Heard good things about this 2 hour walking tour which leaves from the Sheraton OSJ. You can google it and get the details. Also offer
other tours.

Good luck and good cruising.