Just back from Serenade 11-day Southern Caribbean

I had a horror experience with COSOL, just shows how different everyone is! That tour was SUCH a bore to me, so much driving around!:loudcry: And then they told me we were going to the volcano drive through and the mud baths, but ended up having to choose one...so i did the mud baths! and COSOL tours almost made us miss the ship (We had 5 min to spare) so WOW, can't believe the difference in experience!

 

We are doing Curacao and Aruba on our next cruise, doing a discover dive in Aruba and a SNUBA thing in Curacao...curious if you think these are good picks for excursions!

That sounds absolutely awful; I would have been a complete wreck! :eek: In fact, fear of not getting back to the ship in time is one of the main reasons I don't usually book full-day tours with independent operators, but for St. Lucia RCI offered nothing really comparable. On our tour, they were hustling us to get back in the buses at the last stop, saying we could eat on the way, so they were definitely conscious of the clock ticking.

We ourselves are not into water-based excursions as Fernando (DH) is not a good swimmer but our tablemates did something involving water or snorkeling at every stop. They did mention that they had done the SNUBA thing on a previous cruise and had not been very taken with it. They said they felt that, while it was quite fun, being tethered restricted their movements and they were not able to see as much. The one excursion they absolutely raved about was some sort of water trike but I've had a look at RCI's excursion list and the only thing I can see that resembles what they described was the reef riders one in Antigua.

Sorry I can't be of more help in that respect. :(

THANKS FOR THE REPORTS!

How was the deck chair situation poolside on the days at sea?

THANKS FOR THE REPORTS!

How was the deck chair situation poolside on the days at sea?

My pleasure. :)

It was always past 11 am by the time we made it to the pool. At that time, there would only be the odd single lounger on the same level as the pool, but we were always able to get well-positioned loungers on the deck just above the pool and we actually found that we preferred that. As usual, on the pool level the loungers were crammed together like sardines in a can, whereas on the level above you had room to move them around a bit to catch the best of the sun. Also, you had a good view of any entertainment happening poolside.

Hope this helps. :)

Thanks! Another general question- what was the mosquito situation in the 5 ports of call?

Thanks! Another general question- what was the mosquito situation in the 5 ports of call?

Didn't see, hear, or get bitten by mosquitos in any of the ports of call, I am glad to say. DH did get bitten by something but that was while we were still in Fort Lauderdale!

My wife and I are going on the Serenade in February. Just wondering if you had my time dining. This is the first time we tried my time dining. I prefer a set time but only 8pm was available. Looking forThanks!

We always do MTD because the Main Dining is either too early or too late for us. We usually choose 7:00, if available and can tweak it, if necessary. One time going 30 minutes earlier. If a table is available, apparently you can be seated.

We were on this sailing and made reservations for 5:30 for all nights. We went at 5:30 the first and last nights and our night in Curacoa, but went around 6:30 on the other nights. They have a line for reservations and we never had to wait more than five minutes. You have the same table every night.

We also have used MTD since it came into existence but note......you don't ALWAYS have the same table. In fact, we frequently don't, especially if we change the time from our reservation. If you go in 30 minutes later than reservation time, you may get put at a different table, but usually close by. That said, we HAVE been put on the opposite side of the ship, once or twice. Still, make the reservation and tweak it, if necessary.

We did reservations for my time dinning while we were on the Seranade. There are two separate lines one for those who had reservations plus diamond members and then everyone else. We never had to wait more then a minute or so.

We have noticed (especially on the big ships) a LONG wait line at MTD for those with no reservations. They may clear out quickly, but since we were seated quickly I never noticed how long their wait was.

Honestly, don't know, I'm afraid. I just remember never seeing a line there as opposed to the cruises we have done on Oasis or Harmony when there always seemed to be one.

There are two lines for MTD. One for those with reservations and one for those with no reservations. Generally, if you have reservations, there is little to no wait. The exception could be the first night on the bigger ships, I've noticed, has a tendency to be longer.....but still, not bad. Only one time on our first Oasis cruise, we had to wait 30 minutes....and we had reservations. We've been on over 30 cruises and this was definitely a one time situation. MTD is the way to go for us.

Thanks for all the great info.....................:D

Thanks for all the great info.....................:D

My pleasure. :D:D

Thanks for the review and info.....:D

Thanks for the review and info.....:D

You're welcome. [emoji4]

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Thank you so much for your informative reviews and posting of the daily schedule. Found them interesting and very informative.

Thank you so much for your informative reviews and posting of the daily schedule. Found them interesting and very informative.

You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed them and that they were useful. :)

Fiona,

Do you know if Serenade has dvd players in the rooms, pay per view movies & ipod docking stations in the rooms?. How was the channel selection on TV? Also did they have the silent disco while you were onboard?

Fiona,

Do you know if Serenade has dvd players in the rooms, pay per view movies & ipod docking stations in the rooms?. How was the channel selection on TV? Also did they have the silent disco while you were onboard?

Hi Ron :)

Definitely no dvd player or ipod docking station in our lowly oceanview stateroom. There were not even USB ports for charging devices like there are on the newer ships, so be sure to bring chargers with you to connect to the power sockets.

I can't tell you about the pay per view movies or the channel selection, I'm afraid, as were never in the room long enough to watch anything. We did try (in vain) to use the TV to keep track of our account but the system never worked while we were onboard and we had to contact GS for statements.

There was definitely no silent disco while we were onboard. There was a DJ in the night club every night and on a couple of nights they had a party night in there but that was it.

Those all seem to be negative answers, I'm afraid, but I hope they are helpful anyway.

Hi Ron :)

 

Definitely no dvd player or ipod docking station in our lowly oceanview stateroom. There were not even USB ports for charging devices like there are on the newer ships, so be sure to bring chargers with you to connect to the power sockets.

 

I can't tell you about the pay per view movies or the channel selection, I'm afraid, as were never in the room long enough to watch anything. We did try (in vain) to use the TV to keep track of our account but the system never worked while we were onboard and we had to contact GS for statements.

 

There was definitely no silent disco while we were onboard. There was a DJ in the night club every night and on a couple of nights they had a party night in there but that was it.

 

Those all seem to be negative answers, I'm afraid, but I hope they are helpful anyway.

Very helpful Thanks!!!

FionaMG, I just read your post you did last December and a thank you to Bob Clarea for bringing the page to my attention. Can you tell me, espcially with the last few days of your voyage on the Serenade did you find nights that there just wasn't any shows to see or things to do in the Tropical Theatre? Same with shows and activities did they use the Centrum much in place of the main showroom at night. I must say on our 12 night Grandeur cruise from Baltimore to the Eastern Saint Islands there were at least three nights with virtually nothing to do or see.

Awaiting your word and a big thank you as well !

FionaMG, I just read your post you did last December and a thank you to Bob Clarea for bringing the page to my attention. Can you tell me, espcially with the last few days of your voyage on the Serenade did you find nights that there just wasn't any shows to see or things to do in the Tropical Theatre? Same with shows and activities did they use the Centrum much in place of the main showroom at night. I must say on our 12 night Grandeur cruise from Baltimore to the Eastern Saint Islands there were at least three nights with virtually nothing to do or see.

Awaiting your word and a big thank you as well !

Hi!

There was stuff going on pretty much every night in the theatre, as I recall, usually with two performances tying in with early and late seating dinner. One night they had the love and marriage show in there so that was obviously a single session. The Centrum was used a lot for entertainment too, with games and music and dancing. We actually felt it was a bit too small for all the people that were taking part. However, we especially liked the parade of nations in the Centrum on the last day. Absolutely the best one we have seen on any of our cruises. The one venue we felt was under-used was the Safari Club, which I believe was used for karaoke and ballroom dancing to recorded music.

Apart from that there was a pianist in the Schooner Bar and a singer/guitarist in the pub most nights during the cruise. Both of these venues always seemed to be busy.

The place that there seemed to be very little going on was actually the pool deck during the day. Although there were pool activities scheduled on the five sea days they only happened twice - those were the belly flop competition and the sexiest man competition - but that was because not enough people were interested in taking part and not because they weren't offered.

Hope this helps.

Fiona. :)

Hi again Fiona, thanks for your post. But what I'm trying to zoom in on is towards the END of the cruise did you find that there were NIGHTS that there were no shows to see in the Main Theatre and in place there were events that took place in the Centrum instead. That was one of the down sides of a smaller ship. The beginning of the cruise there were shows of different types to see then nothing happening and made for an early night to turn in or check out the Casino. I understand there's things to do during the daytime it's the shows with different types of entertainment that were lacking.

Don

No, we didn't notice that. I think there was something on in the theatre every night and the events in the Centrum were always in addition to the main theatre performances rather than instead of. And there was definitely no slacking off towards the end of the cruise.

Awesome ! many many thanks for your words of wisdom and encouragement about the Serenade.

Don

Thank you so much Fiona. I would love to visit the Algarve some day.

All the best to you and HD.

Thank you so much Fiona. I would love to visit the Algarve some day.

All the best to you and HD.

You are very welcome Sheila. If you have any questions that I did not cover in my review, I will be happy to try and answer them.

The Algarve is an amazing place, as is the whole of Portugal, with a wealth of history, magnificent beaches, great food and hospitality that is second to none. If you do get the chance to visit some day, you will surely not regret it. :)