Serenade March 7th -- My Opinion and Lots of Pictures!

[cricketts]

This is a first. I've written a lot of reviews and answered a lot of questions over the years, but I believe this is the first time anyone has questioned my impressions, genuineness or honesty.:( I write reviews of MY experiences -- not fiction pieces.

 

 

 

I thought it was smoky during the week I was on the ship. To say you find it hard to believe makes me question the time and effort I put into trying to help others by sharing my cruise experiences.:confused:

 

 

 

Please continue with the time and effort that you put into sharing!! Your cruising research and experiences have been a great help to me and many others [emoji3]

Thank you!

[cricketts]

No kidding. Between the witches and the voodoo in that city....:eek:

 

 

The history and reality of New Orleans is scary [emoji79][emoji79]

And, more than a little fun!

Laissez les bon temps rouler [emoji3][emoji3]

Edited April 2, 2015 by cricketts

[lauraapp]

Great review and loved the unique pictures! Will be on her on 23 days

doing the Northern TA!

[Johnamac123]

Pre-Cruise – We stayed at the Hampton Inn on St. Charles (in the Garden District) and it worked out perfectly for us. I liked being a little bit away from the action, and the very reasonable price of our room included parking for the cruise! We actually changed our plans and stayed two nights instead of one, since the price was so reasonable. We were upgraded at check-in, and we had a huge room overlooking St. Charles with a seating area and dining area. I would stay here again and recommend it as a great choice for cruisers who want a quieter location than the hotels in the center of the action. The cab fare to the port is fixed, so it will cost you $7.00 per person regardless of location.

 

This was my first trip to New Orleans…hard to believe since I’ve lived in Houston for 32+ years! We enjoyed dinner at Commander’s Palace the night we arrived, and I would call it a must do for anyone who has never been to NOLA.

 

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The Crème Brule was a work of art as well as being delicious!

 

Without question one of my fav US restaurants. Gotta love those milk punches as well.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Johnamac123

[toosaxykk]

CINDY... Wow! You are INCREDIBLE with the camera! Living just miles from you... I might need to come and take a photography class from you before my next cruise! You are seriously talented!

 

This review was fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! You have a true eye for photography and your words were eloquently written! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to share your thoughts and memories of not only this cruise but the many I have read and followed in the past!

 

I truly hope we can meet up again... preferably on a cruise ship!

 

BOOMER! :p

[jjdc]

It was open to everybody for a $25 fee. They told us about it when we went to Chops for dinner.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping that they thought it worked well and that they will have the brunch on my upcoming cruise.

[Cindy]

CINDY... Wow! You are INCREDIBLE with the camera! Living just miles from you... I might need to come and take a photography class from you before my next cruise! You are seriously talented!

 

This review was fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! You have a true eye for photography and your words were eloquently written! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to share your thoughts and memories of not only this cruise but the many I have read and followed in the past!

 

I truly hope we can meet up again... preferably on a cruise ship!

 

BOOMER! :p

 

Thanks, Kellie! If you and Chris ever get down our way, let us know!

 

 

Thanks! I'm hoping that they thought it worked well and that they will have the brunch on my upcoming cruise.

 

I think they were planning to keep doing it. I was talking with the food and beverage manager right before we got off the ship, and he was asking for feedback.

[cd4lsu]

Great Review Cindy. We really enjoyed the cruise and all the cruise critic people we met. Kellie and I usually enjoy visiting the casino but we found this one so Smokey that we never gambled this cruise. In fact, the smell permeating from it was so bad that we couldn't get anywhere near it.

[rbrski]

Hi Cindy,

 

Thanks for taking the time to review the Serenade. My family and I will be on her for Christmas and New Years this year 12 nights. We can't wait!!! I am concern about the smoke issue. I hate the smell of smoke!!!!! We are currently located on deck seven in staterooms 7516 & 7518 which are very forward. Do you think I will have a problem. We were on deck 9, staterooms 9522 & 9524 but changed to deck seven because of the larger veranda. We normally get to balcony staterooms for the four of us, but being this cruise is over both holidays, the price would not allow us to do so.

[rbrski]

Picture of location of our stateroom. We are right above the "Seas"

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nd_Cayman1.JPG

 

You can click on it to zoom in!

[Cindy]

I don't think you'll have a problem in or near your cabins. I only noticed it around the Centrum, and I could smell it sometimes when I left my cabin (I was right off the Centrum in 1554). Whether it will be a problem on your sailing or not probably depends on how many smokers there are in the casino.

[rcclfanbp]

I enjoyed your review Cindy. For me, it had just the right amount of text and pictures. Your narrative was very logical and your pictures were awesome. And I agree - I thought the Concierge Lounge staff was phenomenal when I last sailed the SOS in Dec. 2013. Alan, the concierge, was wonderful. We can hardly wait to see him again in October for the Snowbird Migration cruise.

 

Cheers!

 

Brian

[Dr. Pam]

Hi Cindy,

 

We will be boarding the Serenade on July 5 in Stockholm. Your review and pictures has added to the excitement. We will be in the GS beside the one that you were in (1552). We will turn Diamond on this cruise. We are travelling with 2 other families with adult and teenage children and like you, appreciate better wine, try to avoid WJ and schedule as many specialty dining experiences as possible. We were not planning on purchasing a beverage package, as we will be in port most of the days, except for the last! Were the wine and sparkling wine offerings in the CL acceptable? I am a ABC (ANything BUt CHardonnay) wine snob. Were you able to purchase wine packages onboard?

 

Cheers,

 

Pam

[Cindy]

Hi Cindy,

 

We will be boarding the Serenade on July 5 in Stockholm. Your review and pictures has added to the excitement. We will be in the GS beside the one that you were in (1552). We will turn Diamond on this cruise. We are travelling with 2 other families with adult and teenage children and like you, appreciate better wine, try to avoid WJ and schedule as many specialty dining experiences as possible. We were not planning on purchasing a beverage package, as we will be in port most of the days, except for the last! Were the wine and sparkling wine offerings in the CL acceptable? I am a ABC (ANything BUt CHardonnay) wine snob. Were you able to purchase wine packages onboard?

 

Cheers,

 

Pam

 

Pam, there aren't wine packages any more. The wine offered in the CL is not to my taste:rolleyes:, but I put on at least 5 pounds drinking chocolate martinis, so all was not lost!

 

I thought the wine prices were reasonable for a ship. We had the Ultimate package and I was almost always able to find something I liked. If we hadn't had the package I wouldn't have thought twice about buying a bottle, because the cost seemed to be in line with what we're used to paying in restaurants.

 

Have fun! The Baltics are fabulous!

[Dr. Pam]

Thank you, Cindy! We are flying out of Calgary tomorrow morning and will arrive in Stockholm on THursday. We have a few days to work out the jetlag before we board the Serenade on Sunday. Soooooo excited to visit this part of the world.

 

Pam

[cruiseclues]

Cindy, Absolutely Fantastic Photo Review...Magnificent Photos. :):):):)