Review: Serenade 9-5-10

[Waiting for September]

I love reading your review. It's fun reliving our vacation. Just got my pics printed today and started working on my scrapbook. I wish we were still on the ship!! :)

 

I do too. SO much so that Mike and I are booking for September next year (wanna come?). It was an amazing experience and now we are both hooked on cruising!

[Waiting for September]

Green apples work very well for preventing sea sickness (1 or 2 per day). I still carry Dramamine just in case. Glad you had a good time. I have sailed on the Serenade two time and have already book another trip on her next year.

 

 

I think I got it down with the Dramamine. I might have to try the apples or ginger the first night too, as that ws the hardest night.

[gypsy mom]

Hi Waterbugohio:

 

The $50 we negotiated for the taxi was for the whole day. We told the driver we wanted to go to Screws Spa, then Champagne Reef, and he named the price. He waited for us both places, he said he was ours for the day. We did tip him an extra $20 at the end of the day since he went out of his way to give us a tour and tell us about everything we drove by. He went through the "botanical gardens" with the wrecked bus too, as he said we should see them.

 

I wish my husband had hired one of the snorkel guides waiting at Champagne Reef to show him where the best spots were, as I think he would have liked it better. I do not snorkel, so just sat on a rock by the beach while he snorkeled. It is not a sunbathing beach, very little sand there at all, if it matters to you. I don't remember how long it took us to get to Champagne Reef, but it was not close. Be sure to have water shoes there, it is very rocky.

 

Sharon

[cruisegal40]

thanks for the reveiw and pics. Where did you snorkel in Curacao? We will be on her three weeks from today. wooo hooo

[Waiting for September]

thanks for the reveiw and pics. Where did you snorkel in Curacao? We will be on her three weeks from today. wooo hooo

 

Here you go...it was wayyyy back in the beginning! The set of pics with the iguana and the bridge pic are from that day. Also the tanker ship. The tugboad it sunk right by it. It was a good tour.

 

Tuesday was Curacao. We had a huge breakfast on our balcony. Mike wanted extra bacon and sausage and they actually brought him 2 full breakfasts! They also always brought a plate of pastries as well, even when you did not order. The baked goods on the ship were so very delicious.

 

The plan for the day was snorkeling with Curacao Actief. We were met at the pier by our guide, who gave us a little tour of the town on the way to the snorkeling site. The town looked very colorful and interesting. Our mistake there was not going into the town after our snorkel tour. We got back to the ship and just decided not to go back out. Oh well, next time!

 

I had never snorkeled and the spot he took us to was shallow and you just walked in. It was a great first time....not as hard as jumping off a boat. We saw some nice coral and lots of fish. I bought a Canon D-10 underwater camera before the trip and it took amazing pictures!! Then we walked around the cove to another area where there was a sunken tugboat. We swam over that and over to a place where it dropped off about 60 feet. That was interesting, looking down into deep, deep blue.

[Waiting for September]

Link to most of my photos. There are alot (be warned) and I still have to post the ones from the fots of Old San Juan.

 

I also need to finish my review with the day at St Thomas and the hotel our last nightin San Juan. Hopefully I will get to that later tonight. In the meantime, pics for whomever is interested.

 

http://s467.photobucket.com/albums/rr34/kathie1954/

[Waiting for September]

I just typed the whole thing and lost it...HATE it when that happens.

 

So, the evening of Dominica was the Captains's Cocktail Party for Suite guests. We got to meet Captain Michel (great man) and the Hotel Director, Adrianna. Our waiter thought we were sisters. I will let you decide. I will have to post that one later. Then it was off to Quest. Hysterical to say the least and I know that is all I can say!!! Gotta do it!

 

The next morning was St Thomas. We had planned swimming with the sea turtles with Fury Charter at 0830. We walked over to the meeting place and we told he had cancelled the AM sail (we were the only people) and was going out at 12:30. We were bummed as this was the one we were really looking forward to but atleast we were going later. We caught a taxi over to the shopping are (man, what a lot of jewelry stores!!) We were the only ship in port so they were pretty pushy. I bought a small necklace with white and blue diamonds and Mike bought a watch. Have NO clue whether we got a deal!@

 

Then we headed back to the ship, grabbed lunch and went back to the Fat Turtle to meet the ship. It was a 48ft sailboat and there were about 26 of us. We did a 45 min sail over to Buck Island and had the most wonderful experience with the sea turtles. We saw them, some sting rays, parrot fish, and lots of coral and other fish.

 

Gotta stop here and pics will follow!!

[Waiting for September]

Link to Photo book I made. It has the pic of Adrianna and I as well as the St Thomas turtle pics.

 

Tomorrow I will tell you about how we almost did not come back from our sailing adventure

 

 

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/projectshareewelcome/l=10348127008/p=32721286066816647/g=54031593/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SPBKlink/ng

[Waiting for September]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so we get on the boat and sail over to Buck Island. There were about 26 of us on the 48ft sailboat. There was a storm blowing in and we sailed around behind it and got to the island. There is alot of seagrass there so the giant turtles hang out there. We saw several large one, some sting rays and lots of fish and coral. It did not seem long enough and it was time to head back. There was another huge storm brewing behind us. It hid the island in a matter of a couple of minutes! We were enjoying the 40 min sail back when some unexpected wind grabbed the sail and the boat keeled over so far the entire side was in the water. WE are luck no one fell in as they probably would have drowned. The seas got really nasty and the sail was out of control. The boat was going all over the place and the captain yelled at everyone to go below so he could get the sail and no one got knocked off. Needless to say, everyone was freaking out. A couple of women called the Coast Guard and told them we were sinking. So here is the poor guy trying to sail us out of trouble and the CG is calling him and his boss is calling him. He was pretty ticked at the women who called the CG! So the guy helping on the boat runs out of steam and can't get the sail reeled back in and Mike has to help(good thing he works out every day or we might still be out there!) I am starting to wonder if we are going to miss our ship, which leaves in about an hour and we are stuck out in the ocean until the sail is under control. By then a few people have thrown up down below and several are sure we are going to die! It was a little hairy there for awhile.

 

 

Finally, the sail is down and he heads us into the harbor. We make it back to the ship just in time. It was quite the adventure!! I told the poor guys it was a good thing they got their tips as many of the folks on that boat would not have tipped them. I bet the charter owner got a few phone calls!

 

Thus ended our last cruise excursion!!! Back to the cabin to pack!:( We got cleaned up for dinner and our last night with our wonderful waiters! We then made the mistake of trying to get in to buy our photos. It was a mad house. Won't wait till the end again!

 

We made the rounds looking for our friends and did not find anyone so we headed back to our cabin. They were picking up all the tables in the WJ and hosing things off so it was pretty noisy for awhile. We just could not believe the week went so fast and that it was over.

 

The next AM we took our time as we were not flying out. Mike got me breakfast from the WJ and about 9am we walked off the ship, went straight to our luggage and caught a taxi. We had reservations at the San Juan Water and Beach Club. We got there at 0930 and they let us in!!!

It is on Isla Verde and the beach is wonderful. It is kind of an odd hotel (blue lights in all the halls) but great location and it was only $75.00 on Priceline. They put out loungers for us and we hung at the beach until it rained (yes, again). Mike wanted to watch football so we headed up to the room and I took a 3 hour nap!

 

I will post some pics of this location later when I get home.

[janazaz]

Oh my goodness!!! I would have freaked out. We were on the balcony watching your boat come back into the harbor. Felt like something had to be wrong since it was so late arriving. This was the day that St. Thomas totally disapppeared from view in the rain and fog. We have the most amazing pictures of that sight. Glad everyone made it back to safety.

 

Just before you sailed back in we watched a couple of what looked like teens on a jet ski. One fell off and he had to swim over to one of the boats in the harbor and hang on to the tiedown until they discovered he was missing. Exciting day in St Thomas!

 

Enjoyed your trip report and all of your pictures.

[Waiting for September]

Oh my goodness!!! I would have freaked out. We were on the balcony watching your boat come back into the harbor. Felt like something had to be wrong since it was so late arriving. This was the day that St. Thomas totally disapppeared from view in the rain and fog. We have the most amazing pictures of that sight. Glad everyone made it back to safety.

 

Just before you sailed back in we watched a couple of what looked like teens on a jet ski. One fell off and he had to swim over to one of the boats in the harbor and hang on to the tiedown until they discovered he was missing. Exciting day in St Thomas!

 

Enjoyed your trip report and all of your pictures.

 

 

Oh, there sure was something wrong. It was the scariest ride I have been on! It was just so amazing that none of the 20 or so people (including a small boy) did not fall over when the first huge gust of wind tipped the boat almost sideways in the water. The front sail got loose and was swinging widely from side to side. They would not have made it since they did not have any control of the boat for about 30 mins. All he could do was steer into the wind until they could get the sail down.

 

Funny thing when we were leaving port and were on the balcony. We see the boat come back into the harbor minus the sails and Mike yelled out to them. They actually heard us and honked the horn. We were the only people from the ship, the rest were from the Marriott.

 

Funny you saw us. Please post your pics. It was cleared out by the time we got in but boy, what a big, fast moving storm.

[Waiting for September]

[Waiting for September]

 

t=1286212675' alt='>t=1286212675'>

[ccrtexas]

Here you go...it was wayyyy back in the beginning! The set of pics with the iguana and the bridge pic are from that day. Also the tanker ship. The tugboad it sunk right by it. It was a good tour.

 

Tuesday was Curacao. We had a huge breakfast on our balcony. Mike wanted extra bacon and sausage and they actually brought him 2 full breakfasts! They also always brought a plate of pastries as well, even when you did not order. The baked goods on the ship were so very delicious.

 

The plan for the day was snorkeling with Curacao Actief. We were met at the pier by our guide, who gave us a little tour of the town on the way to the snorkeling site. The town looked very colorful and interesting. Our mistake there was not going into the town after our snorkel tour. We got back to the ship and just decided not to go back out. Oh well, next time!

 

I had never snorkeled and the spot he took us to was shallow and you just walked in. It was a great first time....not as hard as jumping off a boat. We saw some nice coral and lots of fish. I bought a Canon D-10 underwater camera before the trip and it took amazing pictures!! Then we walked around the cove to another area where there was a sunken tugboat. We swam over that and over to a place where it dropped off about 60 feet. That was interesting, looking down into deep, deep blue.

 

Do you remember the name of the beach you snorkeled from?

[Waiting for September]

No, I don't. It was the Curacao Actief tugboat tour and it was over in a small bay where a tanker was docked. I will try and post a couple of pics later.