Serenade OTS Picture Review. Western Caribbean 2/1-2/8/2014

[Bizzie07]

Did you like cabin 9588? We are in that one in June and any info would be appreciated.

[Darkwolfe]

Did you like cabin 9588? We are in that one in June and any info would be appreciated.

 

I was not at all displeased with it. The only drawback about it at all was that you did occasionally get noise from the Centrum. On at least two of the noisier nights, someone closed the fire door and that eliminated the noise entirely.

 

That isn't the first time I've seen the fire doors used to keep the noise down. Vision's deck four outsides come up right to the Centrum on that ship and the fire doors are always closed.

 

So far as the cabin itself is concerned, standard D1 hump with no surprises. Everything was working fine and it was a nice quick trip to the Windjammer when breakfast or lunch rolled around.

[Darkwolfe]

Thank you for the information. I sort of expected that.....

Yes, I saw Tulum in December, and wished we could have spent more time there. Due to the "requisite" bathroom stop, our time was cut a little shorter. This is why I asked about that.

I don't mind a gift shop AT the place itself, but I do dislike having to make a "comfort" stop along the way to "shop".

I would love to see Chichen Itza one day, but I do realize it is a longer trip on the mainland.

So SG seems like it would fit the bill for what I'm looking to do in Cozumel on this visit....short, not too expensive, and allows some time for other activities on the island.

Thanks again.:)

 

CoralC has the right of it. The tour guides are honest about it not being near as interesting as Tulum or Chichen Itza, but at least it is an example of some Mayan buildings if not the best.

 

This tour also takes you over to the eastern side of the island and you can get a look at some very interesting coastline. I'll be getting those pictures uploaded tonight when I get home. Catching up with work since last week has slowed me down a bit. (mutter mutter mutter)

 

Take the early run of the tour and you'll still have about half the day to go shopping if you want. Interestingly, the tour guide will warn you away from some of the jewelry. Look for the stamps inside rings and be ready to bargain. No stamp, don't pay much or don't buy at all.

 

Example- At the port, my GF found a nice little opal ring. Good color in the opals and they change shades with the light as they should, but the ring itself wasn't stamped. Seller wanted $75 dollars, I started the walkout on the spot, he offered to sell for $50.. I kept going. He went for the "What will you pay?" (you will hear that a lot) line. At that point I stopped and said, You get down to $20 and we'll talk." He cringed good and sold for $30 which was my target all along. So get your bargain hat on if you shop in the port. I probably could have gone to $10 to start him, but I'm fairly certain the result would have been the same.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Darkwolfe

[ASeaPrincess1]

Thanks! Looking forward to the pictures. :)

 

Darn that work, anyway.....:mad:

[Darkwolfe]

Now this might be what gets some kids to go on this tour. The local inhabitants of San Gervasio are all over the place. It's an iguana's paradise and they are quite good at giving the two-legged invaders a bit of a stink eye for entering their domain...

 

I see you human... This guy was about 10 feet up a tree.

 

Look upon our greatness and despair. Yes your majesty.:D

 

You enter my domain!?! Well.. Yes.

 

This gesture does not mean what I think you think it means...

 

Iguanas... Rogues and comedians all.

 

Up next- Cozumel's most interesting eastern coast. Don't try swimming there!

[Bizzie07]

The noise won't bother us as we will probably be watching the entertainment and our 16 yr old won't be back until the Teen Club closes. Good to know its an easy trek for food!

Thank you

[Darkwolfe]

The noise won't bother us as we will probably be watching the entertainment and our 16 yr old won't be back until the Teen Club closes. Good to know its an easy trek for food!

Thank you

 

You are very welcome!

 

Got crazy busy today booking a run on Vision and an absolute hurricane at work this afternoon. As soon as I can see through the mayhem, I'll have the next review post up.

[3dognite]

I have enjoyed looking at your pictures and remembering a great cruise. Was glad I got to meet you quickly at the elevator but never got to talk to you again.

 

We will definitely be sailing on the Serenade again. The crew could not have been friendlier and the ship was beautiful.

 

I will be moving to NOLA in June. A city that I have grown to love since Katrina.

 

Thanks Darkwolf for a great review and awesome pictures!

[Darkwolfe]

I have enjoyed looking at your pictures and remembering a great cruise. Was glad I got to meet you quickly at the elevator but never got to talk to you again.

 

We will definitely be sailing on the Serenade again. The crew could not have been friendlier and the ship was beautiful.

 

I will be moving to NOLA in June. A city that I have grown to love since Katrina.

 

Thanks Darkwolf for a great review and awesome pictures!

 

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog..." Oh wait, I used that one already. ;)

 

That was a strangely busy seven days wasn't it? Seemed like even the sea days were busy.

 

Glad to have seen you, however briefly. May your move go easy and the new home be all you hope for and more!

[Darkwolfe]

From San Gervasio to Cozumel's eastern coast.

 

There are some interesting beaches along the way on that side of the island, but the one we stopped at took the cake for color and water action. The beach is a coral sand beach and it was readily evident from the thousands of bits of coral strewn about.

 

It's not a place to go swimming however. The rocks are seriously sharp and have some very nasty holes that could easily take a leg if you aren't paying attention.

 

If you are still nosing around for souvenirs, a few vendors were around as well.

 

Seriously, stay off these rocks

 

A natural bridge under construction below the flag

 

"Water Color" takes on a new meaning

 

"Wave Action"

 

Up next, little details, good, bad, and indifferent. Wrapping up and going home.

[jrose1982]

Thanks for posting these pics Darkewolfe. Small camera or not, they're great pictures.

 

I'm consider a cruise on Serenade of the Seas for next year, so I especially appreciate your pictures of the ship.

[Darkwolfe]

Thanks for posting these pics Darkewolfe. Small camera or not, they're great pictures.

 

I'm consider a cruise on Serenade of the Seas for next year, so I especially appreciate your pictures of the ship.

 

You are welcome. I have fun doing these reviews, but good feedback keeps me motivated. Wish I'd taken more pictures aboard Serenade, but no fear she is in great shape and you will enjoy your time aboard if you choose to book.

[Darkwolfe]

Well, as always happens, the last port day comes to an end and our ship points her prow towards home. Everybody gathers luggage, yells for cabs, and races for the airport. Some folks head off to where they have stashed cars for the week and begin their drives home. And the truly lucky, get in their cars and only go a short way to reach home.

 

With any traveling vacation, there is always good, bad and indifferent. If you are lucky, the first one outweighs the other two by a considerable margin. We were fortunate enough to come out feeling that way when all was said and done.

 

The high points were very good. We found Falmouth to be set up nicely in the port area. Even the bathrooms were spotless. Perhaps next time there, we'll get out past the gates on a tour and see what's beyond the "protected area".

 

Grand Caymen was an easy tender port. It was quite busy, but the people we encountered were all quite nice and souvenir prices were reasonable. A note for those like myself that have a tendency to take rums home from various islands- Grand Caymen requires that the purchase be delivered directly from the store to the ship. For some reason, they don't want tourists carrying it back. That actually works out quite well and the bottles I bought were delivered as promised from the Rum Stop near the pier.

 

Cozumel still has more to do than you could wipe out in a month of Sundays so it's never a dull stop. I've already covered the way shopping at the port is going. Treat it like a game and you'll have more fun.

 

It should be noted that Serenade's current crew is composed of a number of people that were on Adventure OTS for a while. So they know each other, but aren't totally settled into their roles on Serenade.

 

That being said, there was a notable amount of minor "oops" moments in the MDR. Our waiter managed to forget at least one thing every night, but took care of it quickly when we would mention it. Our assistant waiter was quite personable and did fine, but did get caught by my GF "admiring the view" a time or two. Nothing serious and I think she was feeling somewhat flattered by it, but still a small lapse in professionalism. (I can't really complain, I've been known to get scattered wits around pretty ladies myself.)

 

Victor, our cabin attendant for both cabins was very attentive to our needs. I requested an ice bucket in the cabin for our wine and he kept it stocked every day after that. If you are aboard Serenade, you won't have trouble finding him in a crowd. He's so tall I swear he has to duck to get through the doors. However, Serenade went to enhanced cleaning on the second day so the attendants were kept extra busy with constant cleaning to reduce chance of any noro-virus mayhem. Victor was the recipient of one of the WoW cards this trip. We didn't get to talk to him much but he was on top of the game at every moment.

 

Amazingly, our head waiter Rajesh was the other winner of the WoW card. There have been cruises where I've only seen a head-waiter on the last night. Rajesh came around every evening to ask us how things went for the meal. Was the food cooked right, taste right, proper temp, etc etc. He made the time to make certain our dinners were excellent each time. I noted that he did this for every table in his section. Well done Rajesh!

 

As to food itself, that's so subjective that what I find great, another finds to be blah. But from my viewpoint, the food has improved. I am a huge fan of the prime rib on the first night and I've never been disappointed by it. This time I was flat out amazed. It was exceptionally good and the tone was set for the week. I did not hit a meal in the main dining room that I did not enjoy completely.

 

Our second formal night was spent at Chops. This is rather the normal habit for us. The standard for me in Chops is the Filet Mignon and Chops lived up to expectations in service and food quality very well. I don't take food pictures since there are thousands here on CC already, but rest assured that the Chops crew is up to par and no concerns there.

 

Ironically, we were seated at the very same table as the last time I was aboard Serenade. Just before that reset button got hit (see sig comment). Such is life!

 

We had a bit of motion on the last sea day, but nothing truly substantial. Seas of 6-8 feet for a decent part of the day. The skies looked threatening at times, but only got a few spatters of rain here and there.

 

Once returning to NOLA, we parked ourselves in the theater with my folks and waited for their number to be called. We had a much lower number than they did, but I wasn't going to go tearing off and wind up standing around in the terminal waiting for them. Their wouldn't have been anywhere to sit so staying on board was the best bet. We had no trouble locating our luggage and making our way through customs. Once through that, we hopped a cab back over to the Prytania Park hotel, loaded up the truck and hit the highway for home.

 

There was one bad thing about the whole trip. It ended. Darn the luck!

 

 

There are many more pictures stored on Flickr if you want to see what I didn't post in the review. Just click on the link in my sig. Enjoy!

Edited February 20, 2014 by Darkwolfe

[garnetpalmetto]

Well, as always happens, the last port day comes to an end and our ship points her prow towards home. Everybody gathers luggage, yells for cabs, and races for the airport. Some folks head off to where they have stashed cars for the week and begin their drives home. And the truly lucky, get in their cars and only go a short way to reach home.

 

With any traveling vacation, there is always good, bad and indifferent. If you are lucky, the first one outweighs the other two by a considerable margin. We were fortunate enough to come out feeling that way when all was said and done.

 

The high points were very good. We found Falmouth to be set up nicely in the port area. Even the bathrooms were spotless. Perhaps next time there, we'll get out past the gates on a tour and see what's beyond the "protected area".

 

Grand Caymen was an easy tender port. It was quite busy, but the people we encountered were all quite nice and souvenir prices were reasonable. A note for those like myself that have a tendency to take rums home from various islands- Grand Caymen requires that the purchase be delivered directly from the store to the ship. For some reason, they don't want tourists carrying it back. That actually works out quite well and the bottles I bought were delivered as promised from the Rum Stop near the pier.

 

Cozumel still has more to do than you could wipe out in a month of Sundays so it's never a dull stop. I've already covered the way shopping at the port is going. Treat it like a game and you'll have more fun.

 

It should be noted that Serenade's current crew is composed of a number of people that were on Adventure OTS for a while. So they know each other, but aren't totally settled into their roles on Serenade.

 

That being said, there was a notable amount of minor "oops" moments in the MDR. Our waiter managed to forget at least one thing every night, but took care of it quickly when we would mention it. Our assistant waiter was quite personable and did fine, but did get caught by my GF "admiring the view" a time or two. Nothing serious and I think she was feeling somewhat flattered by it, but still a small lapse in professionalism. (I can't really complain, I've been known to get scattered wits around pretty ladies myself.)

 

Victor, our cabin attendant for both cabins was very attentive to our needs. I requested an ice bucket in the cabin for our wine and he kept it stocked every day after that. If you are aboard Serenade, you won't have trouble finding him in a crowd. He's so tall I swear he has to duck to get through the doors. However, Serenade went to enhanced cleaning on the second day so the attendants were kept extra busy with constant cleaning to reduce chance of any noro-virus mayhem. Victor was the recipient of one of the WoW cards this trip. We didn't get to talk to him much but he was on top of the game at every moment.

 

Amazingly, our head waiter Rajesh was the other winner of the WoW card. There have been cruises where I've only seen a head-waiter on the last night. Rajesh came around every evening to ask us how things went for the meal. Was the food cooked right, taste right, proper temp, etc etc. He made the time to make certain our dinners were excellent each time. I noted that he did this for every table in his section. Well done Rajesh!

 

As to food itself, that's so subjective that what I find great, another finds to be blah. But from my viewpoint, the food has improved. I am a huge fan of the prime rib on the first night and I've never been disappointed by it. This time I was flat out amazed. It was exceptionally good and the tone was set for the week. I did not hit a meal in the main dining room that I did not enjoy completely.

 

Our second formal night was spent at Chops. This is rather the normal habit for us. The standard for me in Chops is the Filet Mignon and Chops lived up to expectations in service and food quality very well. I don't take food pictures since there are thousands here on CC already, but rest assured that the Chops crew is up to par and no concerns there.

 

Ironically, we were seated at the very same table as the last time I was aboard Serenade. Just before that reset button got hit (see sig comment). Such is life!

 

We had a bit of motion on the last sea day, but nothing truly substantial. Seas of 6-8 feet for a decent part of the day. The skies looked threatening at times, but only got a few spatters of rain here and there.

 

Once returning to NOLA, we parked ourselves in the theater with my folks and waited for their number to be called. We had a much lower number than they did, but I wasn't going to go tearing off and wind up standing around in the terminal waiting for them. Their wouldn't have been anywhere to sit so staying on board was the best bet. We had no trouble locating our luggage and making our way through customs. Once through that, we hopped a cab back over to the Prytania Park hotel, loaded up the truck and hit the highway for home.

 

There was one bad thing about the whole trip. It ended. Darn the luck!

 

 

There are many more pictures stored on Flickr if you want to see what I didn't post in the review. Just click on the link in my sig. Enjoy!

 

I was on the cruise immediately before yours (sorry we brought her back in so late - we were just having so much fun we manage to get Captain Anders to let us have a few more hours out there so we could go up the Mississippi during daylight hours!)

 

We had Rajesh as our head waiter too and he was, indeed, fabulous. Out of curiosity, who were your waiter/ass't waiter team?

 

We also noticed what you said about quite a few staff coming over from Adventure. Avien, our waitress in Chops, had been on Adventure (we had her before on Freedom) and she was definitely not feeling the smaller space she had to work with on Serenade. It also seemed like quite a few members of the staff were really hoping to move onto Quantum when she joins the fleet. I'm not sure if there's something about Radiance class ships in general or Serenade in particular but there definitely seemed to be some staff disenchantment when we were there.

 

Out of curiosity, how did you like John Blair as a CD? We had Topi Ylonen right before he rotated off and he was good but you could definitely tell he was ready to head back to Finland for some R&R.

 

Also, what was the demographic of your cruise? Ours was a decidedly older crowd (at our early 30s, DW and I were the youngest at our MDR table by about 15-20 years)

Edited February 20, 2014 by garnetpalmetto

[Darkwolfe]

We had Rajesh as our head waiter too and he was, indeed, fabulous. Out of curiosity, who were your waiter/ass't waiter team?

 

Also noticed what you said about quite a few staff coming over from Adventure. Avien, our waitress in Chops, had been on Adventure (we had her before on Freedom) and she was definitely not feeling the smaller space she had to work with on Serenade. It also seemed like quite a few members of the staff were really hoping to move onto Quantum when she joins the fleet. I'm not sure if there's something about Radiance class ships in general or Serenade in particular but there definitely seemed to be some staff disenchantment when we were there.

 

Out of curiosity, how was John Blair as a CD? We had Topi Ylonen right before he rotated off and he was good but you could definitely tell he was ready to head back to Finland for some R&R.

 

John was pretty high energy and my folks went to one of his shows and reported that his talent was very good as well (They live in Branson, Mo so they seen enough that I will take their word for it). For my part, I did rather a double-take at an all US CD team since the activities director is his wife. I'm used to seeing British and Canadian CDs! (Laugh at myself on that) They did a great job across the board. Exuberant in every activity.

 

You had Avien too? I had lost her name from the back of my head. (Probably in the clutter that passes itself off as my mind) She was a partial source of info regarding the former Adventure folks. Rajesh was the rest. I heard the same comment about some hopes to go to Quantum as well.

 

Robert was the waiter, but I've forgotten our assistant's name. Tall fellow with a cleft chin. I expect the ladies would say he was a fairly handsome sort.

[garnetpalmetto]

John was pretty high energy and my folks went to one of his shows and reported that his talent was very good as well (They live in Branson, Mo so they seen enough that I will take their word for it). For my part, I did rather a double-take at an all US CD team since the activities director is his wife. I'm used to seeing British and Canadian CDs! (Laugh at myself on that) They did a great job across the board. Exuberant in every activity.

 

You had Avien too? I had lost her name from the back of my head. (Probably in the clutter that passes itself off as my mind) She was a partial source of info regarding the former Adventure folks. Rajesh was the rest. I heard the same comment about some hopes to go to Quantum as well.

 

Robert was the waiter, but I've forgotten our assistant's name. Tall fellow with a cleft chin. I expect the ladies would say he was a fairly handsome sort.

 

Oh OK. Different waiter/ass't waiter team. I *think* I remember who you were talking about though. We had Remy and Samuel. Samuel was definitely new but fell into a rhythm fairly well. Remy was awesome - would not be surprised to see him as a head waiter in the future.

 

I ask about John and Katrina as one of the last morning shows with Topi and Chris (Topi's activities director) featured Katrina. DW wanted to know why we couldn't have had HER as our activities director as she found Chris a little annoying. We had John and Katrina on Grandeur for our honeymoon cruise but didn't go to many/any shows so we couldn't really comment on them.

 

I did indeed have Avien. She seemed extremely familiar at first and then when she got close enough to see her name tag I knew it was her - struck up a convo about how the move from Freedom to Adventure to Serenade had treated her. I remember on Freedom she had really been wanting to get on Adventure so she could be closer to home in Trinidad.

 

I don't know if you went to Vintages or not but Romano and Carina were great - I know Carina was especially interested in getting a spot on either Quantum or Anthem. She was a little disappointed more people weren't going to Vintages for wine but I think R Bar definitely drew people that way, especially people who aren't wine literate.

 

Glad to see your review! Seeing the San Gervasio pictures really brought back memories since we went there on Grandeur and loved Cozumel. We definitely can't wait to go back. Grand Cayman less so - interesting news there about RCI wanting the government to build a pier, but I can understand. Something like half the excursions on that cruise got canceled due to weather and the ship had to stationkeep at a different anchorage entirely. It definitely made for some confusion with excursions, particularly anybody who didn't book theirs through Royal.

[long_shot45]

Great Job. One of the best I have read.

[Chicagocrooza]

Thanks for the review.

 

I would like to know when is the earliest boarding time out of New Orleans ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[happytulips]

In talking with Rajesh, did he ever say if he was on the Mariner before? We had a waiter named Rajesh in 2011 and we were his first table as a waiter and to this day has set the standard for what i expect from a waiter, he was awesome. We sailed again in 2012 on the Mariner out of Galveston and he was on board but doing management training and when you dropped this and about how great he was, I can only wonder if its him. I will be on the board Saturday so I guess I will find out one way or another :)

[KeywestK]

David.....Thank you again for another great review and pics. Your's are always among the best here on CC. As you know, David and I are boarding Serenade in 3 weeks, and my only regret is that our cruises won't criss-cross again this year:mad: It was fun meeting up with you and Jolene last year in Aruba, and having a chance to catch up in person.

 

So happy you were able to slip in another cruise for this year! That definitely helps to banish the old PCD syndrome;):D

[Dietcokediva]

Thank you for your wonderful review. My hubby and I adore Vintages and are now even more eager for our wine down time.

Many Thanks,

Leah

 

 

Keep calm and cruise on

[Darkwolfe]

Great Job. One of the best I have read.

 

Thank you very much! I don't think I'm up to the level some of our more regular review writers are up to yet, but I'm working on it. :)

 

Thanks for the review.

 

I would like to know when is the earliest boarding time out of New Orleans ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Under normal circumstances (which we didn't have) you would probably be able to be at the port by about 10:30am and not have too terribly long a wait to get aboard.

[Darkwolfe]

In talking with Rajesh, did he ever say if he was on the Mariner before? We had a waiter named Rajesh in 2011 and we were his first table as a waiter and to this day has set the standard for what i expect from a waiter, he was awesome. We sailed again in 2012 on the Mariner out of Galveston and he was on board but doing management training and when you dropped this and about how great he was, I can only wonder if its him. I will be on the board Saturday so I guess I will find out one way or another :)

 

That did not come up in conversation, but if he is the same fellow, post that here when you return. I sailed Mariner in 2010 and 2011 and the "small world" effect is always rather amusing.

 

David.....Thank you again for another great review and pics. Your's are always among the best here on CC. As you know, David and I are boarding Serenade in 3 weeks, and my only regret is that our cruises won't criss-cross again this year:mad: It was fun meeting up with you and Jolene last year in Aruba, and having a chance to catch up in person.

 

So happy you were able to slip in another cruise for this year! That definitely helps to banish the old PCD syndrome;):D

 

Thanks Karen, that means something extra coming from you and I appreciate it.

 

Don't party too hard in NOLA! :D

[Darkwolfe]

Thank you for your wonderful review. My hubby and I adore Vintages and are now even more eager for our wine down time.

Many Thanks,

Leah

 

 

Keep calm and cruise on

 

Vintages on Serenade is nicely spruced up. New furniture and I think a better layout. The bar itself is centered and there are seats at the windows so you can look out across the waves while relaxing.

 

Enjoy!

[Dietcokediva]

@Darkwolfe thank you for taking the time to respond. However, now I'm even more excited and I keep calling my hubby with the details you've been posting :)

 

 

Keep calm and cruise on