Dec. 2-14: New Orleans Vacation and Serenade Cruise Review

[PaulInPGH]

Not far from Lafitte’s, on the less-traveled side of Bourbon, we found what might have been my favorite meal of the trip (note: this may be due to the Voodoo Daiquiri consumption mentioned above). NOLA Po’boys was absolutely amazing. Do not pass up on the debris style roast beef, or the BBQ shrimp po’boy. I still have dreams about these sandwiches, seriously.

 

Re-energized, we took another long walk back to the opposite end of Bourbon. We stopped along the way to enjoy another set of jazz (and a drink) at Maison Bourbon. Our last stop for the evening was at the Old Absinthe House. The bar was packed, so we grabbed our drinks to go and headed back toward our hotel…

 

But first, one last stop for beignets before bed. Yes, I was stupidly full from liquor and po’boys, but I made a tiny bit of room for a couple more sugary delights.

 

Up next: second vacation commences as we board the Serenade of the Seas.

[PaulInPGH]

I am intrigued by your review, as we did this exact vacation in April of this year. We tried some slightly different tours and activities, so if it's OK, I may pepper your review with some of our favorite New Orleans must see adventures.

 

I am also amazed at your incredible ability to get around in New Orleans. I am an Ophthalmology nurse, and would love to hear about how much if anything you're able to actually see.

Are you truly no light perception, or are you closer to the 20/200 legally blind end of the continuum. Either way, great review and insight.

Veronica

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

By all means, please share your experiences!

 

As for my vision, it's hard to quantify. I have some vision in one eye, a bit more than just light, but it varies depending on whether it's light or dark in a room, how familiar I am with a place, etc. I normally travel with a seeing eye dog, but we had a dog sitter for this trip. I was able to get around New Orleans (and the ship) with the help of seeing eye wife. :)

 

Cheers!

[PaulInPGH]

I am enjoying your review! Looking forward to the rest!

 

Thank you! More is on the way soon.

 

Cheers.

[Dreamer115]

I am enjoying your review very much and can't wait for you to get onboard and tell us more.

 

Connie

[yancycruiser]

One of the better reviews, I have ever read. We will be on the serenade in two weeks and looking forward to your on-board experience. Appreciate you taking time to detail all of your NOLA experience.

[petesweet]

Eager for you to board "our" ship. We won't be spending any time in NO, but love the Serenade.

 

Kathy

[PaulInPGH]

One of the better reviews, I have ever read. We will be on the serenade in two weeks and looking forward to your on-board experience. Appreciate you taking time to detail all of your NOLA experience.

 

 

 

Thanks so much. I'm having a lot of fun reliving the trip. :)

 

Cheers.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[PhoenixCruiser]

Awesome start, you are a great writer.

 

Cannot wait to read more!

 

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[IrishCC]

One of the better reviews, I have ever read. We will be on the serenade in two weeks and looking forward to your on-board experience. Appreciate you taking time to detail all of your NOLA experience.

 

We'll be on that cruise too . . . can't wait!

Colleen

[terry_bea@farmerstel.com]

we booked on short notice to spend time with family. Never been on this cruise line before, but have plenty of other cruiselines experience. This was very disappointing for us. The ship offered very little. Should had checked here first to determine if this would be a good trip. The stops were Key West, Cococay (private) Nassau. The only good part was our stateroom stewart.

We can not agree with many others that have taken this cruise line and probably never will sail with them again.:confused:

[Raxter54]

we booked on short notice to spend time with family. Never been on this cruise line before, but have plenty of other cruiselines experience. This was very disappointing for us. The ship offered very little. Should had checked here first to determine if this would be a good trip. The stops were Key West, Cococay (private) Nassau. The only good part was our stateroom stewart.

We can not agree with many others that have taken this cruise line and probably never will sail with them again.:confused:

 

I for one am curious as to what you were expecting. Were you unaware what was available on the Serenade? Just wondering...

[h20skibum]

Looks like a troll has appeared. Experience with several cruiselines and that is post #1? Really? As Elvis would say:

"We can't go on together

With suspicious minds"

Let's get back on topic and enjoy Paul's great review. It makes me want to get back to NO.

[stones902]

Great review! Thanks for sharing and I'm looking forward to your comments on the ship.

 

As to the commenter earlier - different strokes for different folks. The Serenade is our favorite of all ships we have sailed on (35 cruises). I have to say most of our friends like the Oasis / Allure mega ships whereas we did not. It comes down to what type of experience you are seeking.

 

We'll be enjoying the Serenade out of NOLA in February. Did the same cruise one year ago and had so much fun we wanted to do it again.

 

 

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[Coralc]

we booked on short notice to spend time with family. Never been on this cruise line before, but have plenty of other cruiselines experience. This was very disappointing for us. The ship offered very little. Should had checked here first to determine if this would be a good trip. The stops were Key West, Cococay (private) Nassau. The only good part was our stateroom stewart.

We can not agree with many others that have taken this cruise line and probably never will sail with them again.:confused:

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :D We were on the December 13th sailing. I thought it was a nice cruise. We didn't get off in Coco Cay or Nassau; we just stayed onboard and enjoyed the ship. I am curious as to what you thought was lacking? :)

[KeywestK]

OP: Enjoying your review immensely. We did this same trip, Serenade and 5 nights in NOLA in March. So glad you enjoyed Hotel Provincal as much as we did. Reading your trip review is a great reminder of how much we enjoyed this trip. Looking forward to reading more!

[parrothead33]

Excellent review - can't wait to read more!

[PaulInPGH]

Awesome start, you are a great writer.

 

Cannot wait to read more!

 

###

 

Thanks, I appreciate that. Law school: it won't get you a job, but it will help you write a good vacation review :)

 

Cheers.

[PaulInPGH]

To everyone: thanks for reading and commenting. Sorry for the delay--my writing has been slowed by holiday travel. I hope to have the first part of my cruise review up later today or tomorrow.

 

Hope everyone is having a great holiday and new year!

 

Cheers.

[PaulInPGH]

Before getting to the day-by-day cruise review, I want to start by sharing some of my overall thoughts and impressions. Please, as always, keep in mind your mileage may vary.

 

As a reminder, our only other cruise prior to this one was on Independence last December. As you might imagine, it was natural to compare the two experiences. If you are trying to decide between Freedom and Radiance class ships, I hope this might be of some help.

 

My wife and I both felt the largest difference on this ship was the overall energy level, for lack of a better term. Our cruise on Indy last year felt very upbeat and lively, while the Serenade was very mellow. This was particularly brought home by the various entertainment offerings. On Indy, we loved spending time listening to the very entertaining piano player, the rock band, and the excellent Caribbean four-piece combo. Everything was very upbeat and higher energy, whereas the entertainment on the Serenade was sort of subdued. There was a lot of classical guitar in the centrum and almost easy listening type music in the Schooner, for example.

 

To be clear: we are not the partying type. I much prefer a relaxing trip over party central. That being said, this particular cruise felt a little too far in that direction, at least for our taste and what we were expecting, based on our only other taste of RCI cruising.

 

I would be interested in hearing from you more experienced cruisers about the differing levels of entertainment offerings between ships and/or sailings. Is what you get just a matter of luck of the draw, or does RCI make an effort to put the more high-energy or upbeat entertainment on larger, more in-demand ships?

 

I think there were a few contributing factors to this being a more laid back cruise. It was definitely an older crowd—mobility scooters seemed to outnumber children by about five-to-one. The particular week we traveled, between Thanksgiving and the Christmas break, meant the ship was definitely not at capacity.

 

This definitely had its pluses. We did a lot more swimming on this cruise, as the pools were rarely crowded. Lounge chairs were plentiful and available even on sea days. The wait for elevators and the lines at the WJ were much less intense.

 

The food was all excellent, though we only ate in the MDR one night and we didn’t do any specialty restaurants, other than Rita’s. We did miss the available late-night pizza we found on Indy. While certainly no one’s idea of great pizza, the hotdogs and nacho fixings at Park Café got old after about the second night. We ordered more room service on this trip, but that took almost an hour each time.

 

The lighter crowds did allow us to get to know more crewmembers, which we really enjoyed. Additionally, we actually made friends on this cruise, which was a much easier thing to do than on the frenetic, crowded Indy.

 

Overall, it was a very relaxing, laid back week. I’ll get in to much more detail as I get back to my day-to-day review, so stay tuned.

[stones902]

We've sailed on both classes of ships that you mentioned (many times)and I think your general impressions are accurate.

 

The Radiance Class are smaller ships, 90,000 ton vs. 160,000 ton approximately. They are designed for an older crowd of cruisers as opposed to the larger ships that feature flow riders, etc. They are also much easier to navigate which tends to appeal to the older crowd.

 

Radiance class ships have the centrum which is used for entertainment and a few of the shows, particularly aerial acts. Being in close proximity of cabins, noise can be an issue particularly on the 4th deck near the R Bar.

 

Of course the Cruise Director has a particular bearing on the weeks activities, and in particular one of our Serenade cruises have been among the liveliest cruises we have ever been on (Ricky Matthews was the CD over Halloween). Overall however I would tend to agree with your assessment.

 

Great review - keep going!

[Raxter54]

DW and I are going on the cruise to celebrate our 40th and to *relax*, so this sounds like our kind of cruise....

[fairweather]

Have enjoyed reading about your New Orleans pre-cruise activities. We are thinking about making a last minute trip on the Serenade before it leaves port for good this spring. Sounds likes your time in the city might be as entertaining if not more so than on the ship. But I will wait for your complete review.

 

We have cruised on all the larger RCI class ships as well as the Majesty. Have wanted to try this size ship because of all the wonderful glass views we are told are available on the Serenade and to travel through the bayou country in the spring. Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts about this cruise and size of ship.

 

I've found that the company you keep on a cruise and the attitude you bring on board with you has a lot to do with how much fun one has. So far you seem to have that part down pat. Have a great time and keep those posts coming.

[boaterette]

I am enjoying your review. And also your sense of humor. Looking forward to more.

[mcsgabby]

Thank you so much for this wonderful review! We are set to sail on Serenade at the end of January so your review is especially timely. We cruised on Jewel which I believe is the same class as Serenade so we are expecting very much the same vibe but with hopefully less children than our June 2013 cruise on the Jewel. Our only other cruise was on Carnival which was absolutely hideous for those of us wanting a relaxing vacation.

 

We are coming in one night early and leaving a day after the cruise returns so we plan on doing a little bit of sightseeing in NOLA so I really enjoyed your pre-cruise writings. We had already planned on several trips to Cafe DuMonde but the Acme Oyster House sounds like it needs to go on the agenda as well. Do you remember the name of the place near Lafitte's where you had the po-boys?

 

Looking forward to your next installments!

[lemonade-sails]

Thank you for the review! Leaving this Saturday on Serenade :D.

 

Hopefully you'll get on the ship soon in your review as I'm curious about what time you got to the port and how the crowds were there and in Windjammer if you attempted it on boarding day.

Edited December 30, 2014 by lemonade-sails