Middle Aged Drama Queen's Eastern Med Review: Serenade, Pics, Surprises & Fun!

[mrchips14]

We are booked for a Med cruise next Sept. Although not the same ports, many are the same.

 

I am in the planning stages now. I copied and pasted you review into a word doc. easier to read on the train. It was about 115 pages. LOL I will refer to it when deciding what to do.

 

I thank you for all the work you did on this excellent review. I am sorry to see that your final comments were so negative about RCCL. I glad your Freedom cruise turned out better.

 

I have a feeling hubby Mike doesn't have the last word. LOL

 

Thanks again.

 

Keep sailing

[gr8cruisn]

Loved your review. Simply amazing. You are a great storyteller!

[sanderson25032]

Thank you, thank you, thank for what has to be the best and most entertaining and informative reviews ever. Oh, I liked your comments on the RCCI Guest Services people, we too have encountered rude ones on RCCI but believe it or not we have always found the Guest Services staff on Carnival to be very helpfull. No doubt I will get flamed for saying this!!:D

[lazygal]

Thank you so much for your entertaining and vastly informative review. It took me out of my hospital bed where I'm recovering from surgery and on a virtual Med. cruise! I've been absent from CC for a couple of years since we do more land vacations now but I'm so glad I was lucky enough to time my return to read this gem!

[rascalious]

Loved the review! We are doing this exact itinerary in 3 weeks. Looking forward to it!

[Smiley Riley, Mom & Dad]

Wow! That was fun…for all of us. Those who have been to the Med got to relive some fabulous memories, those who are going soon just had their excite-o-meter dialed right up, and those who may only dream of going could not have had a more vivid virtual experience!

 

In the beginning I would relate a story or two to my husband by saying “I was reading this review on CC…” and then it was “this woman and her family on CC” and then “Sherri, the woman from CC” and then “Sherri was saying that…” He asked me if you were now my best friend and I said “YES!” :eek: (but not in a weird stalker kind of way…more like an Italian George Clooney boyfriend kind of way);).

 

Anyway, it’s been a blast and I hope you leave a trail of breadcrumbs so your following can meander along behind you. All our best to you and your family, xo

[emilygrace]

Sherri,

 

Best. Review. Ever.

 

Seriously, I have enjoyed this trip as if I were there with you.

 

I'm sorry the Serenade and RCL let you down, but I do think there is some merit to what one poster said about this being a port intensive cruise leading to less activities on board. But the activities (number of them, scheduling, etc.) and the writing of the Compass is definitely controlled by the CD,so that might be your answer right there. I was on a cruise one time and the first day there weren't that many activities and that evening I went to function that was also attended by the CD. I commented on the lack of activities and she said that she always used the first day to assess the demographics on board and planned everything from there. I have to say we had a TON of things to choose from after that.

 

I am now going to check out your blog.

[taz6]

Thanks I have had a great time reading ti was like reading a book great job.

[shopper77]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. It will be very helpful in planning our upcoming cruise in October. It has help us for our research, which we are very far behind. Please post when your next cruise will be, I would love to tag along. You have a great family, and you will have memories for years to come. I told DH he must read this review from beginning to end. It is fantastic.

 

Arlene

[Talus731]

THANK YOU! What an excellent review. Enjoyed it thoroughly. I was talking with my husband a couple of weeks ago regarding regarding my dream vacation for when I turn 50 :eek:. It was a toss up between Europe and Australia, cruise or land. After reading this, a European cruise with several days before and after are in the lead. Some of the cities that you visited I went to as a child and I would love to go back as an adult.

 

Thank you again.

 

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[ShylaQ]

Thanks for answering the shoe question! And beyond thank you for the fabulous review! If you ever cruise to Canada and hit Halifax, you have yourself a guide :)

[lemonade-sails]

Hats off to you! Loved the review and can't wait until your Freedom one!

 

Thanks!

[bencruzN]

BRAVO! BRAVO!

 

Sherri, this was excellent. We are making plans for a Med cruise in 2014. I know it's a long while, but it will take us that long to save up for all of it. Your information (and humor) was just what I need to help with our plans.

 

Thank you. I have to tell ya, I usually don't read all of the long reveiws and threads, but I was reading at work, 1st thing when I got home (dinner can wait) and my reading before going to bed.

 

You could bottle this up and sell it.

 

Great Job!!

[sanderson25032]

One final funny, way back on post 508 you visited the Home of the virgin mary, well, if hubby or your sons used the bathroom there, here is the view they had!!

[saffy12]

I can't believe the BarcelonaTaxi people who just left you stranded. Besides getting your $ refunded, did you ever get any response / apology from them? I hope you are blasting a bad review for them all over Tripadvisor!!!

 

 

Please remember to post the link to your Freedom review on this one, so we can follow you over there!

[Bobal]

I can't believe the BarcelonaTaxi people who just left you stranded. Besides getting your $ refunded, did you ever get any response / apology from them? I hope you are blasting a bad review for them all over Tripadvisor!!!

 

If you read the review carefully it says she got a refund and a letter of apology. It also says that the taxi firm said they'd heard that police had been called to an accident in the area where the taxi had been located standing still for 45 mins. I just hope the taxi driver wasn't badly injured or worse. :(

[Clagmeister]

Sherri I have really enjoyed reading your review. Your final analysis was most revealing, particularly the sting in the tail in your conclusion. As a Loyal to Royal Brit, I do hope RCCL take notice of your comments about guest relations on board the ship. With your following on CC, it will be wise that they do. Keep cruising!

[jebl]

Appendix A: REVIEW OF SHIP

 

CONCLUSION

 

I'll be blatantly honest. We were disappointed in the Serenade this time…between the ho-hum food, the terrible Cruise Director, the lack of activities onboard, the rudeness at Guest Services…Hubby Mike has said it will be forever and a day before he cruises with RCI again. I didn’t want to go that far, which is why I sailed on the Freedom… to do this comparison. I was much more impressed with the Freedom, and I don’t know why there’s such a difference.

 

[/b]

 

Sheri, I have to agree with about the Serenade. We sailed her to Alaska in '08 and had the worst food ever on an RCI cruise out of 15 cruises. Even the Majesty last year was better, except for the dorky CD. Don't even remember his name. He was just sooooo annoying.

 

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. It was a joy to read and I am now looking forward to you Freedom review.

[lisiamc]

Sherri, thank you so much for your review. I've loved reading every installment, and now I'm looking forward to your next reviews. Fantastic job!

[sapphireblue]

Sherri,

It has been an absolute pleasure travelling along with you and your family on your cruise. I felt like I was there with you. You really have a special gift of writing.

What you have created here is something that I think is far more valuable to Royal Caribbean, and is more powerful than all their expensive advertising and marketing. Royal Caribbean..... are you reading this? Exactly what you have just shared with all of us is what sells the BEST!!!

You have provided all of the CC readers with such valuable information that will undoubtedly save any of us interested on doing a cruise like this many hours of research. I am a planner/researcher by nature (and also use a 'binder' :) ) and this is like GOLD to me.

What do I want our family to do on our next cruise? Go on a Mediterranean cruise!!! I have enjoyed this so much that my 'awesome' book I started simply got pushed aside. The 'to-do' list.... just wasn't important enough. Dinners.... well, sometimes they had to fend for themselves. I was too 'busy' reading Sherri's posts.

Thank you for sharing with us all. I know I have learned a lot. WELL DONE!!!

[KansCocoa]

Again, thank you all for your comments...I appreciate them all, both constructive and positive! :)

 

I'm working on Hubby Mike as we speak to go on another RCI cruise... ;) Once I get the Freedom review up, and he sees what a great time we had, then he'll change his mind! :)

 

Okay...about time for the next Appendix...the list of tours....

[KansCocoa]

 

Appendix B: List of Tours

 

 

Barcelona

 

For our half-day tour of Barcelona, we used Barcelona Day Tours. Unfortunately, I don't have my notes on how much we paid for this. This included the pick-up at the airport, a half-day tour of Barcelona city highlights, the drop-off to pick up our key to the apartment, and the drop-off at the actual apartment.

 

For the tapas tour, we used The Barcelona Taste. This is our tour with Jo, where we visited four different tapas bars in Barcelona. The cost was $75E per person - money well spent!

 

For our all-day tour that focused on Antonio Gaudi, we used Barcelona City Tours. The specific tour we did was the "Gaudi Combo Offer." The total for the five of us was $340E.

 

 

Cannes, France

 

We used Revelation Tours for our all-day tour of the French Riviera. The tour cost $600E – for up to 8 people. I've used this company twice now, and I will use them again. And again. And again.

 

 

Livorno, Italy

 

We used RomeInLimo for our all-day tour in the Livorno area. For our itinerary, we spent the morning at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the rest of the day at Florence. The cost for our all-day tour was $550E for up to 6 people. However, because I booked three tours with RomeInLimo, they gave me a $50E discount per tour, so this tour actually cost us $500E. This company is top-notch; I would most definitely use them any time I'm in Italy.

 

 

I used Weekend In Italy to pre-purchase our 9:30 am tickets to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa. At the time of purchase, it cost us $105E for the five of us.

 

I used TickItaly to pre-purchase our tickets for our 12:00 pm Accademia to see David. I don’t have the cost, unfortunately, in my notes. You can check the website for the cost.

 

 

Rome, Italy

 

We used RomeInLimo for our all-day Highlights of Rome tour. The tour is normally $550E for up to six people, but with our $50E discount, we paid $500E.

 

We paid RomeInLimo an additional $150E for our guide at the Vatican.

 

We purchased 9:00 am reservation tickets for the Vatican at THIS website.

 

We purchased tickets for the Colosseum at THIS website.

 

 

Athens, Greece

 

We used Athens by Taxi (or Paul’s Taxi) for our all-day tour of Athens. The all-day tour, including an all-day guide, was $650E for up to SIXTEEN of us. Awesome tour; awesome service.

 

The entrance fee for the Acropolis was $12E per person, and the entrance fee for the New Acropolis Museum was $5E per person (free for students WITH an ID). Children under 18 did not pay an entrance fee. We did NOT purchase this in advance; we purchased while at the sites.

 

 

Kusadasi, Turkey

 

We used Ekol Travel for our services in Kusadasi. For our all-day tour of Ephesus, including a guide, the total cost was $77E per person. This included our cost to the Terrace Houses, as well. Good tour.

 

 

Santorini, Greece

For our half-day tour in Santorini, we used Ocean Wave Tours. For up to 8 people, the cost was $430E. This is the one tour that I think we could have done on our own, so I would not do this tour again in the future. Just my honest opinion.

 

 

Salerno (Naples), Italy

 

For our all-day tour of the Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast area, we used RomeInLimo. Up to six people, the cost was $550E, but we got a $50E discount (because it was our 3rd tour).

 

We paid $100E in addition to RomeInLimo for the guide at Pompeii.

 

There was a small charge to get into Pompeii, but I don’t have it in my notes right now…perhaps $11E per person???

 

 

Barcelona

 

Flamenco Show

 

We pre-purchased our tickets through Barcelona Day Tours. The cost was $68E per person, which included the buffet and the meal.

 

I *hope* I have them all listed...please remember that prices will change, so let my quotes give you a BALLPARK on the cost; your prices may be different. The links will take you (hopefully) to the exact tour that I booked.

 

I hope this information helps - good luck with your planning! Let me know if you have questions; I'll TRY to answer them all!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Did I miss it somewhere (very possible)... how bad was Mickey's arcade tab? And what did you say to her? :D

 

Great review BTW.

Edited August 10, 2012 by S.A.M.J.R.

[KansCocoa]

Did I miss it somewhere (very possible)... how bad was Mickey's arcade tab? And what did you say to her? :D

 

Great review BTW.

 

Yes - it was in post #829...I'll copy and paste for you here:

 

We last left our frazzled and frantic travelers getting unceremoniously kicked off the ship several hours too soon, and heading to their Barcelona apartment…stuffed in a tiny cab with suitcases and carry-ons up to their eyeballs….

 

 

We were lucky. When we arrived at the apartment, four hours early, we received the good news that our apartment was ready to check-in. We needed some good news…because as we were riding in the cab, I had a bit of time to pull out our Seapass account. And that’s when I saw the arcade charges…

 

$220.00.

 

Yes. Mickey had racked up over $220 in arcade charges. ACK! I didn’t even spend that on alcohol!!! Heck, I didn’t even spend that at the SPA! She’s lucky I didn’t murder her right there in the cab. I probably would have, except my arms were squished down and I couldn’t reach her. She was “saved by squishing.” If we had been at home, she would have been grounded for a year…but I couldn’t exactly ground her and leave her by herself in an apartment in Barcelona…darn it. So, she got to go with us and enjoy the day – although I told her right then and there she’d be my slave for a year. A YEAR, mind you. She's been working off her arcade tab slowly now...and needless to say, she was grounded from the arcade on the Freedom of the Seas - in case you're wondering. She's grounded from arcades for LIFE now.

 

 

:p:p

[marci22]

Excellent review. I, too, was surprised at your conclusions regarding Serenade but I appreciate your honesty. You were so positive throughout your review that I take your comments about the ship seriously, and I hope that someone at RC sees them: it would improve things for future cruisers.

 

Thank you for posting your excursion details: I copied and pasted for future use!