*Photo Review* Serenade of the Seas // New England & Canada 10/9/16

[alainamarie]

A few more shots then I'm moving on, I promise!

 

 

 

 

AI posted this picture in the beginning of my review, but here's Heather and I sitting in our first stop on the tour. I am on the right, Heather to the left.

 

[alainamarie]

We took an Uber from Fenway to the Prudential Center so we could do our last stop of the day - Skywalk observatory. This was another included feature of our Go Card.

I feel really bad about this stop because I felt rushed. I had dinner plans with friends and I had to tell Heather this had to be a quick stop for me. This was also just a few blocks from our hotel, so it was a quick walk back "home".

 

This offers beautiful views of the entire Boston area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

I had dinner at Troquet with friends from CT. Dinner was FABULOUS and I highly recommend this French restaurant while in Boston.

 

We went to bed early again and woke up on Sunday ready for our cruise! Weather was rainy and not too pretty, but we made the best of it. We took Uber to the Black Falcon cruise port. I believe the Uber ride was less than $15 from our hotel.

 

Embarkation was quick and easy - we arrived at the port around 10:30 and I would say it took less than 30 minutes from start to finish. We walked around and had lunch in the over-crowded Windjammer.

 

We discovered our favorite bar on the entire ship - the Schooner Bar. We also met our favorite bartender - Gede (pronounced Good Day).

 

 

 

 

My only shot during embarkation. It all happened so fast that I was only able to grab this one quick photo.

 

 

Lunch at Windjammer... this was the only thing that I found that looked decent. And I am NOT a picky eater.

 

 

 

Schooner bar

 

 

Our first drinks

 

 

[alainamarie]

Our cabins were ready around 1, so we headed there some time after. We did not meet our cabin attendant until day 3 when we walked in on him making our beds. He quickly introduced himself, but that was the first and last time we ever saw him. Our rooms were always cleaned when we got back and the beds were turned down while we were at dinner. This guy was like Houdini.

 

We selected cabin 7000, allllll the way forward-facing cabin with a view of the helipad. We found that we had ample room and would definitely select this cabin again. No noise or disruptions. The only noise is when they drop anchor for a tendering port. That would not steer me away from this cabin, it's just a fact you need to know. I was familiar with this in a previous forward-facing cabin. As long as you are expecting the noise, you really won't be bothered by it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

 

 

Bathroom -

 

 

 

[mimi217]

Great review! We'll be cruising on the Serenade next Sunday for the repo. Just wondering if you recall any of the movies that were being shown. Thanks in advance. Linda

[alainamarie]

Great review! We'll be cruising on the Serenade next Sunday for the repo. Just wondering if you recall any of the movies that were being shown. Thanks in advance. Linda

 

Do you mean in the Cinema? The only movie I attended was Me Before You and Heather also saw Nerve. I think they were playing a Star Trek movie. I really wanted to see Money Monster, but didn't make it.

I took photos of the dailies, so it should be listed on there.

Thanks!

Alaina

Edited October 24, 2016 by alainamarie

[alainamarie]

We had the beverage package, so coffee was included. I mostly stuck with vanilla lattes or iced vanilla lattes. This is no Cafe al Bacio, but it's nice to have a coffee shop on board.

 

 

 

Also had a drink or two at the pool bar and I happened to snap a shot of the menu.

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

I was not impressed by the selection or quality of food in the Windjammer. We gave it several tries and it was hit or miss. Can't say it was horrible, it was just 'okay'. They would attempt themed nights and I found it pretty laughable. They would have Asian night and not have many Asian-inspired options.

 

 

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

We did not book a dinner here, but I spoke with a couple of people who did and they raved about the meal and experience. I believe it was less than $100 per person and this includes wine pairing.

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

They held some game nights here and it is located right past the Schooner Bar. We spent our evenings/nights at the piano bar, so we did peek inside several times.

This is a large room that is dressed up to look elegant. There are a couple of pool tables to your left as you enter.

 

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

Heather and I both LOVED this place! We weren't always happy with the movie selection, but we did both catch a movie. We saw Me Before You and then Heather saw Nerve on a different night. All that was missing was popcorn!

This place is packed on seadays, so get there early!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also wanted to throw in a couple of photos of the atrium area, I believe we were standing near the coffee shops.

 

 

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

You won't find any comments or opinions on entertainment because we simply did not go to any shows. We found ourselves at Rita's Catina because we had a standing date with new friends for 6pm every evening! Priorities, priorities!

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

This was our other favorite bar - Celia and Fernando were our incredible bartenders and they looked forward to seeing us every evening! We tried every margarita and even emptied the pomegranate vodka! I managed to take only THREE photos the entire time, but I'll show ya what I have.

 

We also met 3 incredible people from Ohio and Michigan. We had dinner with them a couple of nights and have stayed in touch. You see? Alcohol DOES bring you closer to people you've never met! :D

 

 

 

Oh Heather!

 

 

Yes, we tried just about everything on the menu! We had guac several times, the calamari is AWESOME, and the poppers were great too! Just don't order queso because you will get nacho cheese! I'm still craving some white queso!

 

 

 

On one of our final nights, I captured this full moon from Rita's. Gorgeous!

 

 

[alainamarie]

Derrek Wayne was our piano entertainer for the week and we loved him. The music reflects the crowd, so we did have to sit through some music that was much older than we are, but most of it was great. He started at 945p every evening and he played in the Schooner Bar. We usually had to go to the bar to get a drink because the serves were not always around. Gede always took great care of us each night!

 

 

 

Heather and our new friend Eiva enjoying some tunes.

 

 

Some girls put an inflatable crown on Derrek.

 

 

 

This is Derrk in the mirror above the piano. I went for a creative shot and ended up with a creepy shot. Oh well! :p

 

 

 

[JamesEM]

Following along, looking forward to your reports and photos.

[alainamarie]

Our first port on day 1 was Portland, ME on 10/10/16. We booked an excursion via Royal that departed at 11:15am. Kennebunkport and Scenic Cruise (Cost: 65.75).

The scenic cruise was cancelled due to a small boat warning caused by Hurricane Matthew. I was very grateful that they didn't attempt the cruise just to have us all end up sick to our stomachs. Royal also reimbursed us 20% of the total coast of our excursion - I found this to be very generous because the length of our excursion was still the same. We were given the extra time to spend in Kennebunkport which I am SO grateful for. I fell in LOVE with Kennebunkport and I look forward to going back. From the coast to the quaint town, it just has my name written all over it.

 

 

 

 

[alainamarie]

 

 

 

We had an amazing lunch at Ports of Italy - lobster roll, corn chowder and fries for $20! Highly recommend this place... everyone who ate in the town had very good reports at each location. I don't think there's a bad meal to be had.

 

[alainamarie]

The coast -- taken through a bus window, my only complaint about this excursion. Not a lot of stops for photo ops.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bush's Estate

 

 

A couple of shots from the cruise ship leaving Portland.

 

 

 

 

[clochette]

great review I look forward to reading more.

[flowers44]

Glad your review is back on the active page. I looked for it and could not bring it up. Keep the great pictures and review coming. Love going along with you on the trip. We are on this cruise in Sept. of 2017.

[easyboy]

Great review and nice photos.

[cruise47]

Thanks for sharing your photos review.

[alainamarie]

Great review and nice photos.

Thank you for tagging along!

 

Thanks for sharing your photos review.

You are so welcome, posting about Bar Harbor shortly! Thanks for reading.

-Alaina

[alainamarie]

great review I look forward to reading more.

Thanks for reading! Will share more shortly.

 

Glad your review is back on the active page. I looked for it and could not bring it up. Keep the great pictures and review coming. Love going along with you on the trip. We are on this cruise in Sept. of 2017.

Thanks for the kind words and work hunting down the review!