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Let me Serenade You - the 12/11-18 Review with Too Many Pictures


subtchr

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Well, if I wait to have this review all written out before I post anything, it will never be finished, so I will jump in with both feet and get the ball rolling!

 

A little background…this is our fourth cruise, all on RC. First two were with family groups of 10 or 11, on Grandeur and Liberty. Great trips! This past June, we (just DH & I, in our early 50s) cruised to Bermuda on Explorer. We fell in love with Bermuda and had a wonderful time.

 

We had no plans to cruise again so soon, but after a very stressful fall, we decided to look into possibilities to get away. DH knows not to tell me to “look into possibilities” if he is not serious, so he must have really wanted to go. I had not previously considered San Juan because I thought the flights would be too expensive, but even only three weeks out, they weren’t bad, and RC was offering a military discount (DH is retired AF. Come to think of it, he was never asked to show his ID anywhere along the way…). We were excited about seeing ports we had never visited before.

 

We booked a JS because DD19 was joining us, and we LOVED it. So much room! Way aft (1596), but Deck 10, which we like.

 

One more thing worth mentioning, especially considering the thread title: I LOVE to take pictures. I don’t have any training other than a few online tutorials, so I know just enough to annoy “real” photographers. I try to stay away from the auto setting, but other than that I just play around with different settings and see what happens. I have a Nikon D5000 that I got last Christmas, and a new toy for this cruise, a Sony TX5. What a fun little camera! Waterproof for snorkeling pics, shockproof, cool sweep panorama feature, video capability, even a couple of nifty settings for low light. I may be tempted to leave the big DSLR home some trips, thanks to this little baby.

 

I am a visual person, so rather than going on and on in words, I’ll just let the photos tell the story…

 

We left Dayton at 6 am the day before the cruise (after DH getting home at midnight the night before from a work trip – Phew!) First let we had a slight delay for deicing, but landed about on time. A nice shot (on my iPhone) of sunrise at Dulles:

 

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We disembarked, took the shuttle to terminal D, walked to other gate with a quick restroom stop, then pretty much kept walking to board the flight to San Juan. I stopped to take a pic on my phone of a really cool wall of lights:

 

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We pulled away from the gate, taxied a bit, and the pilot announced a delay for a maintenance issue. We ended up going back to the gate for about 20 minutes, to the relief of a dozen or so passengers who had originally missed the flight. They boarded, blessing the maintenance glitch gods. We landed in San Juan about 50 min late.

 

In spite of a slightly roundabout walk following signs for “ground transportation”, we got a taxi quickly, $10 preset fare + $3 for 3 bags.

 

It was only a few minutes to Embassy Suites (you can see the hotel from the airport), which we had booked using DH’s Hilton points. It was very nice, with Christmas decorations, including trees from each hotel department. Nice touches like toilet paper on housekeeping’s tree, caution tape on security’s, etc. ;)

 

We got in the room right away, sixth floor view TOWARD the water – you can see it between some hotels…

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It was a nice room, the only drawback is that the two-bed rooms have double beds, not queens. They did look small, but we survived.

 

We changed and walked the 10 minutes or so to the beach. We were starving, so we found a beach bar and sat at an outside table looking at the water. Cold, cold beer, good food, slow service (so we would drink more cold, cold beer). We ordered quesadillas, red beans and rice, fries, and a couple other items. It really hit the spot and was a great start. The stress and cobwebs of everyday life were definitely fading.

 

The view from our table:

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After we ate we walked along the beach:

 

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We found a Walgreens to get sunglasses for DH, then back to the hotel for a swim. Great pool area, you would never know it backs right up to the highway:

 

 

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We visited the manager’s reception, one of the things we love about Embassy Suites. They had the usual salty snacks, and a full bar, all complimentary. They even had a high school orchestra playing Christmas music. They were checking room numbers as people came up to get drinks and snacks, to make sure only guests partook.

 

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We went up to the room, changed, got online for a bit (free wifi here, which is unusual for Embassy), and watched the end of “Elf”, a family favorite. We weren’t really hungry, but we went down to the Outback restaurant that is right in the lobby and had great soup, salads, and bread. Overall a very relaxing travel day, or at least as relaxing as a travel day can be.

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Saturday we were up by 7:30 or so. As you will see, we are pretty much incapable of truly "sleeping in". I guess we just don’t want to miss anything.

 

As usual for Embassy Suites, the complimentary breakfast was great. Lots of choices, lots of tables, lots of people filling them.

 

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Even an espresso machine:

 

 

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I don't do coffee, so I can't tell you if it's any good...

 

We took another swim, very relaxing and quiet.

 

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More tomorrow…I am sure you are wondering if we ever actually make it to the ship!

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My DH and I are flying to SJU (via ATL) from CVG on Jan 1. We were able to snag tickets at $378 each RT. After much research, I felt this was the best option. It is about the same for us to drive to Dayton or CVG. We prefer CVG, but will drive to Dayton if the price is right. The prices were close for this trip. We are flying Delta.

 

We booked the airline tickets in November for our Jan cruise.

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We paid $359 total from Dayton on United (through Dulles). That was three weeks out, so I didn't think it was bad at all.

 

We will fly from Dayton, Cincy, or Columbus, dependent on price. Dayton usually is lowest.

 

Working on the next installment...

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We paid $359 total from Dayton on United (through Dulles). That was three weeks out, so I didn't think it was bad at all.

 

We will fly from Dayton, Cincy, or Columbus, dependent on price. Dayton usually is lowest.

 

Working on the next installment...

 

great price. can't wait for next installment

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Saturday, continued...

 

After breakfast and a relaxing swim, we showered and packed. About 10:45 we went down to get a taxi to the port. The taxi driver, a very nice lady, was knowledgeable about the Serenade, as she had cruised several times. She said they do offer good deals to local residents.

 

About fifteen minutes later, there she was, beside the Celebrity Summit, in all her glory. Oh, that first view of the ship is SO exciting!

 

She dropped us off (fare was $16 + $3 for 3 bags), and we started heading for the baggage area. We were stopped by a porter who had noticed our suite luggage tags, which I had totally forgotten would give us semi-priority embarkation. Yeah! There are not many perks that junior suite occupants get on board (other than an awesome cabin, at least by our standards), so this was nice.

 

He took our bags, we tipped him a couple bucks, then he directed us to the "priority" line:

 

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Now this is where it got a little disorganized. We were among the first few folks in the priority line, and people were starting to fill the regular line as well. After a little while, they seemed to send everyone in that line to the back of our line. Fine for us, but not for priority folks coming later. I could be mistaken about what they were actually doing, but it was not clearly labeled or organized.

 

Folks who came later dropped their bags off with the porters, then looked lost:

 

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We chatted with a very nice older lady in line with us, who was cruising alone for the first time since her husband died. She had been on 40-some cruises, 20-some with RC, and was a little apprehensive about going alone. She was very sweet, and we saw her several times during the cruise, enjoying herself.

 

It was a little warm, but not too uncomfortable. Porters came by offering bottles of water for $1 occasionally, but we toughed it out.

 

It was a relatively long wait, or maybe it was just our anticipation, but they finally opened the doors a few minutes before noon. We knew we might have to wait a while, but I'd rather be waiting at a cruise port than sitting in a hotel room, you know?

 

We were expecting to have to wait somewhere inside the terminal, but in just a few minutes, after checking in using the suite/diamond line (which was not any shorter at that point, since the doors had just opened), we were headed up the escalator and on board. The check-in agent was a little on the brusque side, but we didn't care, just give me a Seapass and I'm all good!

 

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We were aboard!!

 

Our first two cruises, we traveled the day of the cruise, and did not board until the middle of the afternoon. For our June Bermuda cruise, we had arrived the day before to do a whirlwind tour of NYC, and we loved getting to the port early on departure day. It makes for such a relaxing day, almost feels like a sea day if we do it right.

 

By the way, I had done a live report on that cruise in June, but when I discovered just how slow the internet connection was on Serenade, I decided to forego that this trip. Instead, I can relive the trip as I write this!

 

Anyway, back to the Serenade...

 

After two cruises on ships with Promenades, the Centrum, while absolutely stunning, seems a little less than expansive. But that's not a complaint, just a feeling we had. We LOVED the ship. So classy!

 

First stop, naturally, was the almost-empty Windjammer:

 

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We went back to the open-air seating to check it out, but without a sea breeze, it was a bit toasty back there. We used that area a majority of the time throughout the cruise though, what a great space!

 

We admit it, we love WJ food overall. Honey stung chicken is overrated to me (sacrilege, I know), but we love the salad bar, the Asian dishes, carved meat, fruit & veggies, guacamole, and lots of other choices. It's fun to explore the stations to see what is new each day. The desserts can be decidedly mediocre, with a heavy hand on the gelatin, but the cookies are great (especially the English toffee - yum!). And it's nice to have the soft-serve ice cream machines (yes, there is one on each side!) right there in the WJ.

 

After lunch, it was time to explore before the cabins were open. My quick tour:

 

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We met with a few CC folks by the pool bar at 5:00, which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the official meet & mingle was scheduled for the next morning at 9:30, when we were off on an excursion.

 

We had already decided to skip the MDR the first night, since we had early seating and didn't want to take time to get ready. We also wanted to watch the "boat parade" from the yacht club, which started at 6.

 

Dinner was a nice "grazing" pass through the WJ and a snack later at Seaview Cafe, a wonderful spot on Radiance Class ships. (It's a secret, though. Shh, don't tell.)

 

More pics:

 

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Our "neighbors" on the Celebrity Summit:

 

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Outdoor eating area of the WJ:

 

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