Sensational Serenade 12 night Med with Venice overnight and Montenegro Review.

Will we? Won’t we? Will we? We won’t. Or so the discussion went around a potential cruise for summer 2014. It was decided that this year we would holiday in sunny Portugal, an old favourite of ours. So why am I here you might ask, because as lovely and all as Portugal sounds this is a cruising forum. Well, here’s how we got here. My birthday arrived on April 8th and DH (Ger) arrived home with an excellent gift of a Sony QX10 – an ad on lens for Android and iOS smartphones. He also made the flippant remark that it would take great pictures on a cruise. Well of course that flippant remark was like a red rag to a bull. That night I tossed and turned thinking of the magnificent images that could be captured, moments we could reminisce about when we’ve been married for 70 years, places we could discover together and hold the images of in our hearts forever. Oh yes, this convenient little compact lens had not only given me a sleepless night but had turned my world upside down … well our vacation plans anyway! By the following week we had changed our mind numerous times, arm wrestled over itineraries and finally settled on a plan. What seemed to us to be a holiday of a lifetime was booked. I immediately joined our roll call and signed us up for the meet and mingle. We were to sail Serenade of the Seas on June 4th from Barcelona and our itinerary would be –

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART TYPE

Wednesday June 04 Barcelona 5:00 PM Docked

Thursday June 05 Villefranche 10:00 AM 7:00 PM Tendered

Friday June 06 La Spezia 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

Saturday June 07 Civitavecchia 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

Sunday June 08 Naples/Salerno 7:00 AM 6:30 PM Docked

Monday June 09 CRUISING

Tuesday June 10 Venice 2:30 PM Docked

Wednesday June 11 Venice 8:30 PM Docked

Thursday June 12 Ravenna 7:00 AM 5:30 PM Docked

Friday June 13 Kotor 1:00 PM 9:00 PM Tendered

Saturday June 14 CRUISING

Sunday June 15 CRUISING

Monday June 16 Barcelona 6:00 AM Docked

Long hours of very enjoyable planning followed and one of cruisecritics best reviews was almost memorised word for word. I of course am referring to Stef’s http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1890431.

For those of you lucky people who intend on taking this sailing they should also check on the ongoing reviews by Kirian http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2065892 and Ayesha http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2067096 , all excellent reads.

I hope that my review will be of some benefit to someone somewhere! I’l try not to keep you waiting too long between posts, won’t upload any boring pictures and will try not to offend or insult anyone along the way. These are my intentions so let’s all hope I can stick to them :D. I’d also like to mention that I had no ambition to write a review and so made no notes. This will be written from memory with the aid of the cruise compasses that I have. So please feel free to ask questions as they may help jog my memory. Indeed if you happened to be on this sailing and I get some detail wrong or miss out some important information I’d be delighted for you to chime in.

Our schedule would only allow us to fly to Barcelona the night before embarkation. We are usually never away for more than 10 nights at a time and this trip would be for 13 nights. A notion our two doggies were very angry with us over (well I image they were anyways, my cutesy wutesy babies I missed them so much). Ahem, apologies about that. Our flight took a little over two hours from Dublin to Barcelona el Prat with a low cost carrier. A low cost carrier that charges the value of all of the property in our small town combined for a single piece of checked luggage, so we had to struggle on with just one checked bag, a cabin bag each and a personal item, not easy for a shoe lover for 12 nights let me tell ya, not easy at all. We departed around 21.00 on June 3rd but because of the one hour time difference between Ireland and Spain we did not arrive until 00.10 on June 4th. Don’t worry, I did not let the jetlag from the time difference ruin my first day heehee. We made our way to Hotel Ingles on Calle Boquería half way up Las Ramblas. The taxi journey took about 20 minutes and cost €40. We checked in to our perfectly acceptable room which cost just €68 and then went for a stroll along an eerily quiet Las Ramblas.

Our room.

View from our balcony towards Las Ramblas.

Unusual facade of the building opposite our hotel room balcony.

It did not feel unsafe but having been to Barcelona before and knowing how crowded it normally is, the deserted streets made me feel a little uncomfortable. We made our way back towards our hotel and stopped for a spritz in a neighbouring bar called Cheers.

Enjoying a late night beverage in Cheers !

Low and behold this was an Irish bar. Now don’t get me wrong we love our country but when abroad prefer to experience the local culture. Luckily it turned out to not be very Irish at all with all Spanish staff, Spanish music and with the exception of ourselves, Spanish clientele. The only thing we could spot was some Irish beer for sale, and we certainly weren’t interested in sampling that. It actually turned out to be a great first night. We retired around 02.30 excited about our big adventure which would start in just a few hours.

Dear Irish Cath;

I was just looking to book this same cruise next year, on the Vision of the Seas.

Such an amazing coincidence that I just stumble on your review. It will really help with my planning.

Did you stop in Kotor, Montenegro?

I can't wait to see what excursion you did in Venice, Ravenna and Kotor.

Please keep posting, I am just waiting to see your review before I make my booking.

Dear Irish Cath;

 

I was just looking to book this same cruise next year, on the Vision of the Seas.

Such an amazing coincidence that I just stumble on your review. It will really help with my planning.

 

Did you stop in Kotor, Montenegro?

 

I can't wait to see what excursion you did in Venice, Ravenna and Kotor.

Please keep posting, I am just waiting to see your review before I make my booking.

Hi Stefanny and welcome to my review !

What a coincidence indeed and yes we did stop in Kotor - all I can say is wait til you see the photo's and they really do not do this place justice. It's 9p.m here in Ireland but I will get some more up tonight, most of embarkation day anyway. I have to warn you we did not do any ship excursions and as we had been to many of these places before we may not have done what a person visiting for the first time might do. Saying that I intend to post a lot of pictures and these will hopefully whet your appetite. You are very lucky to have this booked and I am very jealous !

Thanks for reading,

Catherine. :)

Edited to say I got carried away and now see that you have not booked but are thinking to do so. Can you hear me screaming at you all the way in Canada to just go and do it, its a sensational trip

Hi Catherine;

We just got off the Liberty of the Seas barely 6 days ago.

Just got back to Montreal, Canada and we are still jet lagged.

We are traveling with a teenage daughter and she did not want to get off the ship.

So as soon as I got back, I started looking into our next summer cruise. Yes, it has to be an European cruise since we fell in love with Europe.

Did you like the Serenade ? I think the Vision is in the same class.

Was there a lot of teenagers? If yes, DD will be happy.

I just called my travel agent to let her know that I want to book this cruise but she has not called back yet.

I can't wait for your review. We just visited Villefranche, Florence, Rome and Capri less than a week ago and we are looking forward to see Venice, Ravenna and Kotor for the first time.

I did some research on what to do in Ravenna and I can't find much. We usually do our own tour, not with the ship.

Is there anything you think I shouldn't miss in Ravenna and Kotor?

What did you do in Venice?

Sorry to ask so many questions. I like to start the excitement of the trip by planning things and reading up on what we are going to visit.

Have a nice evening.

Stefanny

PS: I forgot to tell you that we were planning to fly to Londond a few days before the cruise, maybe 3-4 days, then fly to Barcelona and get on the ship.

So actually, I have to plan for 2 trips (London and cruise) at the same time.

Any suggestion on what to do, where to stay in London?

Hi Catherine,

I was so excited to be scrolling through the new threads and what did my eyes behold, but your review! I love, love, love your sense of humor.... it's definitely coming through in your writing. Although this was basically the trip my mom and I did did, we had a couple of different stops (Cannes instead of Villefranche, and Dubrovnik rather than Kotor) so I am super psyched to read about your adventures in those cities and see the pics that this "now famous" camera lens enabled you to take.

I'm looking forward to coming along for the ride on your review!!!

Melissa

PS - major thanks for sharing the link to my current review.... you rock!!! :D:cool:

Thanks for the report!

Hi Catherine;

 

We just got off the Liberty of the Seas barely 6 days ago.

Just got back to Montreal, Canada and we are still jet lagged.

 

We are traveling with a teenage daughter and she did not want to get off the ship.

So as soon as I got back, I started looking into our next summer cruise. Yes, it has to be an European cruise since we fell in love with Europe.

 

Did you like the Serenade ? I think the Vision is in the same class.

Was there a lot of teenagers? If yes, DD will be happy.

 

I just called my travel agent to let her know that I want to book this cruise but she has not called back yet.

 

I can't wait for your review. We just visited Villefranche, Florence, Rome and Capri less than a week ago and we are looking forward to see Venice, Ravenna and Kotor for the first time.

I did some research on what to do in Ravenna and I can't find much. We usually do our own tour, not with the ship.

Is there anything you think I shouldn't miss in Ravenna and Kotor?

What did you do in Venice?

 

Sorry to ask so many questions. I like to start the excitement of the trip by planning things and reading up on what we are going to visit.

 

Have a nice evening.

 

Stefanny

 

PS: I forgot to tell you that we were planning to fly to Londond a few days before the cruise, maybe 3-4 days, then fly to Barcelona and get on the ship.

So actually, I have to plan for 2 trips (London and cruise) at the same time.

Any suggestion on what to do, where to stay in London?

Serenade and Vision are different classes, I believe Serenade is slightly larger. We sailed on Vision before its most recent refurb when there were no absolutely no other options for food other than the main dining room and windjammer, there are a choice of up charge restaurants now I believe I'm not sure what other changes were made. There did not seem to be a lot of teenagers but there certainly were some.

Many people are interested in the mosaics in Ravenna and to be honest I think the absolutely not to be missed part of Kotor is without date the sail in , so incredibly beautiful. This was our second time in Venice, we had been there 7 years ago as part of our honeymoon so it was a very different trip for us than what it would be for first timers. In effect we did very little there from a touristy point of view this time ! You really need a good guide book for Venice, there are just so many options, get all the info together and then make a decision on what you think would suit your family best. This is really the best advise I can give you.

I have been to London quite a lot but when I fly to the UK I tend to stay with friends. When we have stayed in a hotel we like the area along the strand with a view towards tower bridge and Big Ben in the other direction. It is central for walking to many areas too. But then public transport (the tube) makes everywhere very accessible in London. I suppose no visit to London is complete without a visit to Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Big Ben, London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, lots of museums I could go on and on but then it is so difficult to recommend as I find it's a very personal thing.

Anyway, I hope you get some useful hints and tips from my review and remember to check out the other reviews that I recommended earlier.

Enjoy your planning,

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

 

I was so excited to be scrolling through the new threads and what did my eyes behold, but your review! I love, love, love your sense of humor.... it's definitely coming through in your writing. Although this was basically the trip my mom and I did did, we had a couple of different stops (Cannes instead of Villefranche, and Dubrovnik rather than Kotor) so I am super psyched to read about your adventures in those cities and see the pics that this "now famous" camera lens enabled you to take.

 

I'm looking forward to coming along for the ride on your review!!!

 

Melissa

 

PS - major thanks for sharing the link to my current review.... you rock!!! :D:cool:

Thanks Melissa, its because of some of the great reviews on here at the moment ( including yours) that I have mustered up the courage to write my own, so thanks for that. Your right our trips are very similar and we did do some similar excursions but there's lots of differences to come as well. I really love that I am learning new things and seeing the places from different points of view in each review. Travel and cruising is just the gift that keeps giving !

Glad you get my sense of humor, i'm afraid it might be a little too 'Irish' at times and something may be lost in translation :D

And mentioning the little lens I swear it may demand a cabin of its own next time ! It was the single most talked about item over the entire 12 night cruise, every where we went someone would comment on it, ask us about it, need to see how it worked .... It even crossed and broke down language barriers at times.

Anyway I guess I better get back to the next installment

Keep up the great work with your own review please Melissa, oh and I suffer with the same infliction as CM - i'm rather vertically challenged myself :D

Thanks for the report!

you're welcome, thanks for reading along.

Enjoyed the report including the photos.

Keith

We arose about 8a.m and made our way onto Las Ramblas well before 9. Our first job was to make our way towards the port to see if we could spot where the port buses depart and determine if it would be too much of a trek with luggage. It was only a 10 minute walk to where these blue port buses depart at the Christopher Columbus monument so we decided against spending money on a taxi later.

Christopher Columbus Momument

Las Ramblas 9a.m

Tummies rumbling we headed back towards La Boqueria and found a little café behind the market for Breakfast. I had been dreaming about chocolate and churros for some time now and boy were they worth the wait.

Scrummy breakfast

We spent about 30 minutes walking around the market itself and then got a little lost in the gothic area located behind our hotel for a while.

By 11 a.m we headed back to our hotel and checked out. We stopped in a supermarket along Las Ramblas for our two bottles of wine and were in line to get our sea passes by 11.45a.m. It was getting a little busy by this time but the boarding process didn’t take more than 20 minutes altogether. Tables were set up so passengers could purchase drinks packages and speciality dining and also confirm reservations for my time dining. I purchased the royal replenish package and determined to kick off our trip on a culinary high note we made a reservation for Chops grill for tonight. It was great to be able to get these little jobs out of the way while we were standing in the short line pre- boarding.

There is a duty free store in the terminal where our bottles of wine (or other spirits) could have been purchased. We had given our luggage to the porters but we both still had our personal item in which we were each carrying a bottle of wine. Once on the Serenade there was a second security check I presume to check for those people who had decided to stock up in the shop, but they did not check our smaller bags, just those people who had aeroplane carry on size luggage. In theory we could have brought bottles of gin and vodka on board and not been checked. I will note that it was getting busy now there was a line of about 30 people so perhaps they check everyone a second time if it is a little quieter.

But I digress; we are finally on board the spectacular Serenade. Yippee. After being on the Navigator last year she seemed small and I did miss the royal promenade but the centrum area is spectacular and the real beating heart of the ship.

Centrum area.

We had lunch in Windjammer in what would become our favourite spot on the entire ship – the outside eating area. Cabins were ready by the time we finished lunch as it was well after 13.00. We had an interior cabin which suits us just fine. We love how dark they are and always sleep so well, we spend little waking time in the cabin anyway and there is plenty of storage space – particularly when you only are allowed to take 4 pairs of shoes sob sob. For me, there is no feeling that matches that of when you open your cabin door for the first time and know you have truly arrived ‘home’. This is when I get a little lump in my throat at the excitement of truly being on vacation. Imagine my reaction if I ever sail in the grand suite!

We spent the afternoon strolling around the ship and even enjoyed a game of pool on the self-levelling tables on deck 5. For the record I did not win but of course it was close! All aboard was at 3.45p.m and by 4.15p.m we were all standing to attention for the seven short and one long on the ships whistle. Immediately after mandatory guest assembly drill we headed to the Sky bar on deck 11 for our CC sail away party. There was a great turn out and we met some great people. Enjoying our first cocktail of the trip we laughed and chatted and waved good bye to Barcelona as our 12 night adventure really kicked off.

Bye bye Barcelona. It was cool to see the Sagrada Familia in the distance.

We returned to the cabin to freshen up for our reservation in Chops grill. Thankfully our luggage had arrived and I did a very quick unpack. Lovingly placing my 4 (yes just 4) pairs of shoes on their own shelves in the closet. Then we made our way down 2 flights of stairs from our cabin on deck 8 to Chops on deck 6. Already I was weary of burning all those calories I intended to consume.

We were greeted and made a fuss of by the manager and given a lovely window seat. Our waiter tonight was Murat a gentleman from Turkey who was just tremendous. Some of the best service we experienced during the 12 nights was definitely received here tonight. Anytime we seen Murat during the remainder of the trip he would always take a moment to stop and chat with us. Food tonight was of the same consistent high quality that we have previously experienced in this steakhouse. I tried to not eat half the loaf of wonderful warm bread and spreads while we awaited our starters but it was so difficult not to. My house special salad was enjoyable but definitely my least favorite course. I felt it could have benefited from some extra crispy smoked bacon and house dressing. Husband on the other hand had a smoked duck and citrus salad which he still talks about in his sleep it was so good. We both opted for filet mignon, me the 7 and him the 10 ounces. These were as tender and flavourful and soft as you could hope a steak to be. Sides were roast potatoes with parmesan and prosciutto, fried onion rings and some creamy mushrooms. Huge portions that just begged to be eaten. For me those potatoes should be illegal, seriously addictive stuff. Murat offered us a sample of all 4 sauces including cabernet reduction, classic bearnaise, chimichurri and green peppercorn sauce. I tried the chimichurri and cabernet reduction. Husband politely looked the other way as I licked my plate. We took a 20 minute breathing space before the grand finale of red velvet cake and chocolate mud pie arrived. Both were moist, rich and very delicious but our bellies were beat and we had to admit defeat after a couple of meltingly moreish mouthfuls.

Now I know that some people have reservations about forking out extra for food on a cruise but for us this delightful evening was definitely worth the $30 each up charge. We would pay substantially more than that for food of that quality at home in Ireland. We both had a glass of wine to wash down our steaks and used one of our Crown and Anchor buy one get one free vouchers to halve the cost.

By now it was after 21.00 and so we had missed the welcome aboard show ‘Los Pampas Gauchos’. As is often the case on Day 1 there was just one show for all guests tonight in the tropical theatre. We caught the end of the Guess the Tune trivia in the Crown and Castle pub where DH enjoyed a digestif. Bellies full and enjoyable day complete we retired early as we were exhausted having not gotten much sleep the night before. Tomorrow we would be tendering in Villefranche and enjoying our one and only privately booked excursion of the trip and our first trip to the French riviera.

Enjoyed the report including the photos.

Keith

Thank you, more to come tomorrow.

You're off to a great start! I see that you had the "old" Chops menu - we'll be onboard in September and I am kind of looking forward to the new offerings, but I won't mind the old one at all. Looking forward to reading more tomorrow!:)

Yay!! Another Serenade Mediterranean review!!! How lucky are we to have Melissa's, Ayasha's, and yours all happening at the same time? And of course, with Stef so close to her next cruise, we're about to start the cycle again!!

You are a RIOT. I can tell already this is one of those "quotable" reviews. Looking forward to reading about your adventures, IrishCath!

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Looking forward to your review. We took a similar cruise in 2010 but it looks like some of the ports have changed so I can't wait to read about the new ones.

You're off to a great start! I see that you had the "old" Chops menu - we'll be onboard in September and I am kind of looking forward to the new offerings, but I won't mind the old one at all. Looking forward to reading more tomorrow!:)

Hi Critterchick,

May I start off by thanking you (especially on DH's behalf) for your link to the winelist. Pre cruise while I was spending hours researching ports he was spending hours researching restaurants and winelists and of course immediately when he found your link he saved it on his phone for quick reference :rolleyes: :D

For me as long as chops keep up the great quality of tasty offerings i'm happy to keep the old menu. But do let us know what your opinion of the new menu is in September.

Thanks for reading along

Catherine :)

Yay!! Another Serenade Mediterranean review!!! How lucky are we to have Melissa's, Ayasha's, and yours all happening at the same time? And of course, with Stef so close to her next cruise, we're about to start the cycle again!!

 

You are a RIOT. I can tell already this is one of those "quotable" reviews. Looking forward to reading about your adventures, IrishCath!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Ah Windjamming, there you are ! You are definitely one of the other people who's review I wanted to link to but could not find at the time.

So here goes - people of CC for another really great Serenade review with Venice please see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1904134 , its another invaluable resource for anyone planning a similar itinerary. Beautiful pics and a lovely family.

Thanks for the kind words, the pressure is on me now :eek: arrggghh, have i created a monster :D

More to come later today

Catherine :)

Looking forward to your review. We took a similar cruise in 2010 but it looks like some of the ports have changed so I can't wait to read about the new ones.

thanks for following along on our adventure. Glad there will be some new ports for you to learn about and hopefully seeing pictures of where you've been will bring back some great memories :)

Thanks for the review Catherine! Hoping to sail on the Serenade next year.

Thanks Catherine for all the London's suggestions.

I am enjoying your review, the pictures are beautiful. Can't wait for the next post...

"meltingly moreish mouthfuls"

A writer after my own heart! I just love the use of alliteration :D

OK, I had to comment on that before I forgot.... now, back to reading the rest of the review....

Melissa :cool:

Hello Catherine, thank you for your review and pictures! I'll be on Serenade in Sept and very interested in your Kotor and Venice segments of your review

I had a very leisurely start to the morning and slept until 8 a.m while Ger sweated it out in the gym. We met with our lovely CC family–big shout out to the Grenci’s- who we would be sharing today’s excursion with and proceeded to the Safari club to collect tendering tickets at 9a.m. Once they were collected, and it’s worth noting here that one member from a group can collect as many tickets as necessary, we decided it was time for breakie. Breakfast service finished in reflections dining room at 9.30a.m so instead of rushing there we decided to find our favourite outside seating spot behind the windjammer and tucked into freshly prepared omelettes. We chatted with a lovely elderly British couple as the French coastline came closer and closer into view.

My royal replenish package included freshly squeezed orange juice which could be collected from a table set up in the middle of the windjammer, the sweet juice tasted great and was the perfect accompaniment to breakfast each day. I did however make something of an annoying discovery this morning about my most favourite beverage - water. The two drink stations in the windjammer almost never stocked the bottled water that was included in the RR package. This meant having to remember to collect a bottle in another bar along the way to breakfast or lunch, no big deal unless you were rushing or in my case slipped into holiday brain mode where I appear to have cheese for a head and can barely remember my own name.

Villefranche

Soon our tender number was called and we were sailing towards the beautiful town of Villefranche sur Mer. What a spectacular vision that was as the colours of Southern France started to come into clear view.

Our view of the Serenade as we tendered to the harbour.

Safely off the tender. Did I mention I can't swim and am therefore slightly nervous of water... yeah I know great idea to take a cruise :rolleyes:

Our driver from VIP Transfers – Stephane was waiting for us sign in hand as we made our way out of the little harbour. We had a quick discussion of what we wanted from the day and soon were making our way out of this charming town on the short 10 km drive to Monaco. We had a quick stop at the top of the town for our first but certainly not last jaw dropping view of the day.

First of many spectacular views.

Trying not the lean to far back on the wall ! But just look at how beautifully clear that water is.