Host Faith

Sunday, August 29:

I got up early (as usual) and visited the hotel gym. The gym is in a separate building, about a 1 minute walk from the hotel lobby. It’s nice because the back wall of the gym consists completely of windows, so I had a great view of the ocean while I was on the elliptical machine. Met up with Mom who wanted to check out the Subway around the corner from the hotel. She wasn’t impressed with the breakfast there, so we went back to Starbucks for our croissants and coffee. No biggie since we were headed to the ship today!

We all met in the hotel lobby at 10:30 AM and caught a taxi at the hotel taxi stand. We all fit into the taxi at one time, which was great. When we arrived, there were about a good 50 people in front of us. We waited about 10 minutes, then porters began taking our suitcases. We tipped them ($1 per bag), then headed to the next line where we waited for about 25 minutes. A vendor was selling large bottles of cold water for $1 each, which was great. It was hot and muggy out there!

Wes and Mom- love them both so much!

One of the benefits of arriving early- see how empty it is?

After a 25 minute wait, the doors opened and we were ushered inside to checkin. The process took us about 5 minutes, and we were lead to a seating area to wait to board the ship. They had cookies, lemonade, and water available while we waited. I would say that wait was about 15 minutes or less. This had to be the most smooth boarding process we have experienced so far. The doors opened, we took our pictures for our IDs, and took the escalator to the ship!

They're so excited to board the ship!

Having sailed on the Adventure, we were amazed at how elegant this ship looked. Our first sight was of the centrum, and we were so, so happy and excited! The ship is beautiful!

I'm lovin' your review & pictures. We're doing our first cruise on the Serenade out of San Juan. We're taking on 5-6 days to just explore Puerto Rico.

 

I'm looking forward to the rest of your report. Thanks for all the great pix!

Thank you so much! You are going to love San Juan, and LOVE the Serenade. We loved the ship so much that we're headed back on the Serenade next year. I envy you with 5-6 days in Puerto Rico. It's a great island, with amazing history, food, sights, and people. :)

I forgot to note that the fort has a $3 entrance fee.

Janelle discovered a wonderful little cart in front of the fort. A man there sold shaved ice with the option of several flavors. There was a large block of ice inside the cart, he shaved it into a cup and topped it with the flavor of your choice.

Most of us tried the coconut (real coconut milk sweetened just right) and fell in LOVE with it! And for just $2! I’m craving one as I write. It was so good I had to take a photo as a memento:

We met with Victor once more, and he showed us around the city some more. He suggested we stop by Café Manolin if we wanted to have lunch where the locals ate. We wanted to take some time to shop and walk around the city on our own, so he dropped us off in the center square so we could enjoy the rest of the day at our leisure. We did some shopping, then wandered back to Café Manolin (http://www.cafemanolinoldsanjuan.com/). We knew it had to be good because it was PACKED full of locals- always a good sign for me.

The menu was simple and very reasonably priced:

I had fried pork chops with rice and beans. They were fried crispy and seasoned well. Everyone was pleased with their orders, and with most of their lunch entrees around $10 and under, we were very happy J

Walked around the city a little more, and ended up in front of the Sheraton. There’s a taxi stand right in front, so we were able to easily catch a ride back to the hotel for more pool/beach time.

For the rest of the afternoon, we enjoyed our time at the hotel pool bar. We met in the hotel lobby to head to Barrachina in Old San Juan (http://barrachina.com/) for dinner. I love this restaurant because the food is wonderful, and they have a flamenco show with dinner (free if you spend $20 on food and drink). If you’ve never seen a flamenco show, it’s a great experience. Food and drink ran about $30 pp. I've been here twice- the food is great. You can't go wrong with any of the chicken dishes. My Mom got steak, and it wasn't as good as I remembered the first time. Just about everyone else got different chicken and seafood dishes and they were all wonderful.

After the show, we headed back to the hotel for some rest. We board the ship the next morning! :D

I must say that we were happy to arrive at the fort early in the morning. I think we arrived around 10 AM. There were no crowds, which is why we could take such great photos. We noticed it started to get pretty busy there around 11 or so.

Headed to the internet center (on the 2nd floor in the main part of the hotel) to check some things. It was nice that the first 10 minutes on the computer were free…that was all I needed anyway.

The parrot in the lobby was very talkative this morning. Seems like I missed my dog so much on this trip that I was fascinated with any animals I encountered J

Went to Starbucks in the hotel to pick up some breakfast to take back to the hotel room. They have a freshly baked ham and Swiss croissant that’s delicious. The lemon loaf is good too. Those with an orange juice and a bottle of water cost a little over $10.

We met our tour guide, Victor Balbin of San Juan Happy Tours (http://sanjuanhappytours.webs.com), at 9 AM. He was right on time in the hotel lobby area, and we were excited to learn that we were the only group scheduled for the tour that day. We had a pretty personalized tour. Victor showed us around New and Old San Juan. My Mom and I had been to San Juan a year ago, and my husband and I visited the city before our cruise last year. We never had a tour guide, so it was nice to have so much information about the city. We were able to appreciate San Juan so much more with such an informative guide. He was a great guide and we learned awesome facts about the history of the city. Halfway through the tour, he let us choose between seeing El Morro Fort or San Cristobal Fort. We chose El Morro because of the incredible views. Turned out to be the perfect place for some amazing photos:

Saturday, August 28: I’m an early riser, so I got up early to spend some quiet time on my own and take more photos of the grounds. It’s beautiful in San Juan first thing in the morning:

View from the balcony

Pool Grounds

After lunch Wes went to take a nap (which became his ritual on this trip, hehe), and Mom and I grabbed some towels and headed to the beach area. The beach was situated in a lagoon; you can see the rocks that block the waves from the beach. The water is warm and calm. We were able to enjoy the beach for about an hour before it began to rain.

Later in the evening, we went to dinner at the Pina Colada Club, located off the lobby of the Hhonors Tower. The service and food were pretty disappointing. I had skirt steak that was a little too gamey for my taste. I normally love skirt steak in PR, but I couldn’t finish this one. The rice and beans were good though. My husband ordered ribs which were very good. I should just order whatever he orders, it seems like he always has great luck with his food. I literally took two bites and gave up. When the waitress discovered that I didn’t like my food, she didn’t offer to replace it with something else, and she charged me full price. I don’t mind paying it since they couldn’t just take the food back and serve it to someone else, however it would have been nice to have been able to try something else. I don’t think we would go back there again, but we were tired from our traveling and didn’t want to go offsite. We all went to bed pretty early to prepare for a full day of touring Saturday.

Mom is so cute- inside of the restaurant:

Checkin was easy. We hurried to our rooms in the newer Hhonors Tower and were very pleased with our accommodations! We were on the 18th floor with a great view of the city and the ocean. Here are some pics of the room and the view from our room:

We all planned to change and meet in the pool area. DH and I walked the grounds a bit, grabbed some towels, and grabbed some burgers at the pool bar. The burger was great, but expensive; food, a soda, and a mojito for both of us ran about $40. The views from the outdoor dining area are beautiful. Here are some pics (I love the photo of Crystal and Osh):

It’s been a few weeks since our cruise on my new favorite ship! I know most of you can relate to coming home from vacation and painfully trying to ease back into your daily routine. We cured our post-cruise sadness by planning two more cruises next year, LOL! I know this is late, however I hope this review is helpful to everyone considering or planning to sail on the Serenade.

About us: We were a group of 6- Me (Chrystal), my husband Wesley, our married friends Crystal and Osh, my Mother Lillie, and my best friend Janelle. We are all in our 20’s and 30’s, and my Mom is 67 (doesn’t she look fabulous? J). My husband and I sailed with NCL (to Bermuda) for our honeymoon 4 years ago, and also on the Adventure of the Seas last October on the same route. This was everyone else’s first cruise.

Friday, August 27: The Serenade sailed on Sunday, August 29th, so we decided to spend two nights in San Juan pre-cruise. We live in NJ, so we took a 9:50 AM flight, from PHL to San Juan. We had a limo service pick us up from our home and take us to the airport. Our limo service (John’s First Class Limos) was great. The driver arrived about 20 minutes early. Hiring a driver saved us lots of $$ and time. Here’s a photo of us in front of the limo. Not bad for 7 in the morning! DH and I are to the far right:

I love Philadelphia airport first thing in the morning. There are no crowds, it’s always a smooth boarding in the morning. Went through security with no problems. For some reason there were about 4 rows of children with no adults supervising them on the flight…and the children were pretty rowdy….some were climbing over the seats, running up and down the aisles, crying, and screaming. It didn’t seem like they were unaccompanied minors (they didn’t have the US Airways armbands on to identify them as such), but their chaperones were either in first class or near the front of the plane (we were over the wings of the plane)- or completely ignoring them lol. Note to people who travel with several children in tow...PLEASE sit with your children, and please correct them when they are not behaving in public. We could not relax on our 3 hour flight. My Mom and Crystal got to the point where they actually corrected the children when they ran up and down the aisles and climbed over the seats. flight attendants would give them warning glances which were ignored. Crystal and Osh were planning to sleep a bit on the plane, but that wasn’t going to happen!

We landed in SJU around 1:30 PM, about 20 minutes early. I like this airport since it’s smaller and very simply laid out. We went right to the baggage claim and had our bags within 15 minutes. Right outside the baggage claim there’s a taxi stand. We walked right up to the stand and let them know how many passengers we had, where we wanted to go, and how many pieces of luggage we had with us. They showed us our price on a sheet of paper we got to keep with us. Here’s a pic of the taxi pricing schedule (hope you can read it):

We were headed to the Caribe Hilton (Zone 4), so our price was $19+ $1 for each piece of luggage. Not bad at all split among 6 people. I love the taxi service in San Juan since all 6 of us could fit in the van with ALL our luggage. Four of us had 25’ suitcases, and two of us had 29’ cases. Of course, each lady had a carryon, and my husband had a laptop. Miraculously, everyone and everything fit comfortably.

I would say we arrived at the Caribe Hilton within 40 minutes of touching down in San Juan. We got this hotel via Priceline at a rate of $90 per night, per room (3 hotel rooms). I was so excited at this price since hotels in San Juan can run an average of $250 per night! Upon my successful bid, I emailed the hotel manager and requested 3 ocean view rooms in the Hhonors tower, with balconies. I’m a Hilton Hhonors member, and had no problem with them confirming that they would honor my request.

I love the open-air lobby of the hotel. It made me feel like we were finally able to start enjoying our tropical vacation. There was a water station that had large pitchers of water with melon. Photos of the open-air lobby and heading to the Hhonors Tower:

Courtyard By Marriott San Juan Miramar

$99.00 - $118.15 with taxes

3 Star

02/05/2011

 

Finally got something!

Congratulations Donna! I've watched you bid persistently. Hopefully that was the last detail you had to handle for the group! Enjoy your vacation :)

Chrystal: Did you get my envelope?

Yes, I got it. Thank you! :)

I live in NJ, so my friends and I take one Saturday each year and head to NYC for jewelry shopping and lunch. We buy in the Wholesale District on 5th avenue. Some of the places require a retail license to make purchases, but some will sell to the public. I got a bag full of beautiful costume jewelry, cufflinks, and a pashmina for a total of $65, wrapped nicely and ready for packing. Enough jewelry for my cruise and for everyday wear for the year. We're going back in a couple weeks! :D

I've been thinking about this too. I love to swim in the ocean, and snorkle. Last year I took a couple half-wigs and ponytails and used those. Ponytails during the day, half-wigs or full wigs at night. It worked well for me. I like the diversity of styles I can try while using different wigs and hairpieces throughout the week, plus I like being able to really be sure the sand and chlorine are out of my own hair at the end of each day. I wear ponytails during the year, and the ones that have been used for quite some time become my "swimming" hairpieces for our vacation.

Maplegirl- I cant seem to be able to view your pictures.

 

Chrystal- I got the dress just yesterday! Thank you so much! It fits me great. I am going to try and have a picture taken. I can't thank you enough!

Yay! My pleasure, I'm so happy you like it :)

Hi Mamalicious! I'm 5'4 and the dress fit me well. It might hit just below your knee though. The top is a jersey material, so yes, it's stretchy. The bottom is a cotton blend.

Faith413- I am interested in it. If it doesn't fit, I will gladly post it for the next person. Do you have paypal? Thank you so much in advance!

Great! Please email me your mailing address. You can mail me the cash. My email address is virtue37_4 at yahoo dot com.

~Chrystal

I have the two-piece dress and the embelished dress left. Giving dresses away is fun! :)

Hi Faith413! I am interested in the two-piece dress. I am 5'3. Would that fit me? Is it a stretchy large? Thanks in advance!

Hi Mamalicious! I'm 5'4 and the dress fit me well. It might hit just below your knee though. The top is a jersey material, so yes, it's stretchy. The bottom is a cotton blend.

Faith413- You have mail about the pink/coral linen dress!

Hi Missingmaui! The dress is taken, but thank you for asking about it:).

I have the two-piece dress and the embelished dress left. Giving dresses away is fun! :)

The two blue dresses are taken...gotta love Cruise Critic! :D

Hi All! I'm cleaning out my closet, and I have a couple more dresses available. All are in great condition, each worn maybe once or twice.

Pretty blue cocktail dress. Fit and flare style. Very flattering for a curvy figure. Size 14.

Embellished dress by Spiegel. Comes with a matching sash to emphasize the waist. Falls at the calves. Size 12.

Iridescent blue cocktail dress, size 12. Wonderful detail at the bust, and flattering pleats. Knee-length A-line dress. Can be worn with or without a belt or sash at the waist (not included).

Breezy linen dress from Victoria's Secret. Pretty beading on drawstrings at empire waist. Size large.

Fun mock two-piece dress with attached belt and necklace. Throw it on with a pair of earrings and you're ready to go! Size large.

The red dress I posted earlier already has a new owner.

Email me at virtue37_4 at yahoo.com for any of the dresses above. They're yours for $5 shipping each.

I'm still on the hunt for a red formal, size 10-ish. I can't find one anywhere. Anyone here have something stuck in the back of their closet?

 

 

I have this one, size 12 but it runs small:

I was just about to post it on a board at work, let me know if you're interested. You can email me at virtue37_4 at yahoo.com :)

Just bid on Priceline and got the Caribe Hilton, August 27-29, for 3 rooms. $90 (second) bid accepted, total with taxes and fees is $613. I had some reservations at the Marriott that totaled $1394, so I'm extremely happy with this result! :)

Hi kellyrobin! I'm just curious- which tour did you choose?:)

By far, the do not miss tour in Antigua is Creole Cruises. You can google their name and check out their website. Lots of posts here on Cruise Critic about them too if you do a search on their name.

Basically, they take you on a lobster lunch tour, with snorkeling, swimming, and enjoying a tour on Bird Island. The lobster is caught that morning, and split and grilled right on the beach. Plenty of sides, and some great rum punch and other refreshments.

You will find that your ship and other companies offer snorkeling excursions, etc, but we saw other people who took tours, and you can't beat Creole for their value and the experience.

Have fun!