Just back from Serenade 11-day Southern Caribbean

[FionaMG]

I see in the compass that you had to move your watch forward 1 hour at the beginning of the trip. So, the ship time moved to the local time or the islands, is that correct? Thanks!

 

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Yes, that's right.

They very kindly gave the hour back to us on the last night of the cruise, which was handy since they were kicking us off so early! :')

[FionaMG]

Day 11 Compass

 

 

 

 

 

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[FionaMG]

Barbados

 

Barbados was our third port of call and the first one where we finally got to see a beautiful clear blue Caribbean sky. It was also the first one where we did a ship-sponsored excursion.

 

We booked the “Barbados Coast to Coast” excursion which was billed as a scenic drive with stops at Highland Adventure Centre, Bathsheba Beach and St. John’s Parish Church. I would have liked a tour that allowed us to spend some time on a beach as well but I couldn’t find any such combinations that did not fail miserably on our “must not be stupidly expensive” criterion. In any case, since this was a half-day excursion, I thought we might be able to head back out to the beach near the port when we returned.

 

This was actually the cheapest of all of our excursions and since I was monitoring the prices on the Cruise Planner I managed to get it even cheaper by cancelling and rebooking when it was marked down during one of Royal’s sales.

 

Operated by Foster and Ince, it was a very pleasant and relaxing excursion and we enjoyed it a lot. The three stops were nicely timed so that we did not feel rushed, the young guide Saraiah was charming and knowledgeable and the friendly driver also contributed with snippets of information along the way.

 

 

Our first stop was at Highland, where we had an included drink and time to admire the view and browse in the little souvenir shop. This was where DH bought a rather loud bright yellow Caribbean-style shirt!

 

View from Highland:

 

 

 

The next stop was at Bathsheba Beach, which was very beautiful. There were local vendors and a restaurant/bar here too.

 

Bathsheba Beach:

 

 

 

And our final stop was at St. John’s Parish Church. The church is a historical heritage site that was first used for worship in 1645. There is a fabulous view from the cemetery behind it.

 

St. John's Parish Church - facade and view from the cemetery:

 

 

 

When we arrived back at the port we decided to do some souvenir shopping. There were lots of stalls outside the port building and lots of nice shops inside. On the whole the stalls were cheaper but the shops had better quality items. We bought things both at both.

By the time we had shopped and then returned to the ship for some lunch, it was really too late for us to go back out to the beach, so we took advantage of the still-quiet pool area on the ship to enjoy more of the beautiful blue skies and sunshine.

 

I think not getting to the beach in Barbados is probably my one regret as far as this port is concerned so hopefully we will have the opportunity to return one day and put that to rights!

 

Up next: Curacao

 

 

 

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Edited December 30, 2017 by FionaMG
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[trishs]

:)

Just found your review. Thanks so much for taking the time. We will be on the Serenade on Jan 15th. Looking forward to checking her out.

1. How were the beds? We they on the firm side. (it seems when they do a renovation, they have been changing them out to firmer beds.

2. What time were you allowed off the ship? ours says it arrives at 7:00am but wondered how your disembarking went?

 

Read your comment about vegetarians, it's a little more changeling because I eat a plant base diet, so I usually have to get creative. But I don't starve :)

Thanks again

Trish

[Terre]

:)

Just found your review. Thanks so much for taking the time. We will be on the Serenade on Jan 15th. Looking forward to checking her out.

1. How were the beds? We they on the firm side. (it seems when they do a renovation, they have been changing them out to firmer beds.

 

Trish

I was on this cruise also; here is a pic of our beds...not too comfy! They don't provide the foam mattress topper anymore either.

 

[FionaMG]

:)

Just found your review. Thanks so much for taking the time. We will be on the Serenade on Jan 15th. Looking forward to checking her out.

1. How were the beds? We they on the firm side. (it seems when they do a renovation, they have been changing them out to firmer beds.

2. What time were you allowed off the ship? ours says it arrives at 7:00am but wondered how your disembarking went?

 

Read your comment about vegetarians, it's a little more changeling because I eat a plant base diet, so I usually have to get creative. But I don't starve :)

Thanks again

Trish

 

Hi. Glad to be of assistance. You are going to have a great time, for sure! :)

 

Unlike our fellow-cruiser Terre, who unfortunately had a terrible bed, our beds were very comfortable. We have quite a firm bed at home and these were a bit softer but still provided enough support. I slept very well.

 

For departure, we had an excursion booked. We were supposed to disembark at 8 am but it was actually a bit later than that. The self-assist express departure was billed as being from 7.20 am to 8 am and it couldn't really have been any earlier than that as the ship was still manoeuvering into position at the pier at 7 am. The last tags shown on the departure schedule were due to be called at 9.10 am. By that time, of course, we were already off, so I don't know if that actually happened. I will scan and post the departure schedule, probably some time this evening.

 

As far as meals are concerned, would I be correct in thinking your plant-based diet may be similar to a vegan diet? If so you might want to take a look at this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2445481 for tips and suggestions. One of the posters on there (MsPoppadom) has a blog where she has written about her experience as a vegan cruiser on Royal, which you might also find helpful: https://vegancruiser.co.uk/royal-caribbean/cruise-vegan-royal-caribbean/.

[FionaMG]

Departure information

 

 

 

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[FionaMG]

Curacao, part one

 

Curacao was by far our longest port stop, arriving at 7 am and not departing until 10 pm.

For this stop, we had booked local operator Irie Tours’ “Surf and Turf” tour, which gives you a quick city tour with a stop at the distillery and then visits the Cato caves, a former plantation where a local artist has a gallery and a two-hour stop at Porto Marie Beach at a cost of $50 per person, payable locally. There were a couple of similar and similarly priced ship sponsored excursions but we particularly liked the combination offered by this tour.

Unfortunately due to lack of bookings, the tour was cancelled.  The operator did send us an email to inform us but only on that same morning once they knew for sure they weren’t going to be able to operate it but because of a hiccup in the WiFi we didn’t receive the email until later on that day, so we did not find out about the cancellation until we checked in with the operator on the pier.

Anyway, they offered us seats on their East Side Tour, which is essentially a brief city tour with a stop at the distillery and then two hours at Mambo Beach. This tour costs $25 per person and they offered us one free as compensation for cancelling the other one. We were obviously a bit disappointed but we ourselves have worked for many years in tourism and know how the logistics work, so we were happy to accept their offer.

Adventure of the Seas was in port with us in Curacao and the tour bus quickly filled up with a boisterous group of Puerto Ricans. They made the atmosphere on the bus very lively although it was a bit of a nuisance when the guide was talking as the noise they were making, combined with the fact that the bus was one of those ones with no windows, made it very hard to hear what the guide was saying.

 

Tour bus:

 

 

We saw some interesting mansions as we drove through the city on our way to the distillery. The one in the picture is known as the “wedding cake” house and the guide said it is probably the most-photographed house on the island.

 

"Wedding cake" house:

 

 

Our stop at the distillery was interesting but, I felt, rushed. I wanted to take time to wander around and read about how the drink is produced but with only 15 minutes allowed I just quickly took photos of everything. What was annoying was that we then ended up waiting on the bus for a further 15 minutes for some of the people on the tour who had been buying stuff in the distillery shop.

 

Distillery:

 

 

There was also a stop at a lookout point, which was nice but, to be honest, far from the best lookout point I have ever seen. It was nowhere near as good as the ones we had seen in Antigua, St. Lucia or Barbados. While we were there one of the Puerto Ricans told the guide that it was one of the best tours he had ever been on, which was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that they were sitting at the back of the bus where the cooler with the included drinks was located! I have to say, though, that they were very good about passing drinks up to the front of the bus for the rest of us.

 

View from the lookout:

 

 

The final stop was at Mambo Beach. This was where the guide collected payment for the tour since he had to pay for our tickets – the entrance fee to the beach is $3.50 per person.

 

The beach was quite busy at the entrance with the loungers very close together. There were a couple of loungers in the very front row almost on the water, so we took those. They also cost $3.50 each and the price included a bottle of water from the beach bar, although we didn’t notice that until we were back on the ship.

 

The water was very calm as there is a line of rocks parallel to the beach that keeps it that way. It was almost like a swimming pool and was nice and warm. It was cloudy when we first arrived but the sun came out towards the end of our two-hour stay at the beach. If it had come out earlier it would have been very hot indeed.

 

We walked up the beach for a bit and the farther we got from the entrance the quieter it became, so if you prefer a less busy bit of beach this is the thing to do. There were shops lining the beach too but we didn’t visit them.

 

Mambo Beach:

 

 

When it was time to meet up with the bus again we made our way up to the car park where we waited with the other people from our bus. There was an Irie Tours bus already there but since it wasn’t the one we had come in we didn’t get on. Eventually the driver called us over and said he would take us back to the port. I guess they switch the buses around depending on how many people they have; not everybody had wanted to do the beach stop so they must have just combined the return to port.

We enjoyed the tour even though we were disappointed about not getting to see the caves and to Porto Marie Beach, which is supposed to be really nice, from the reviews I had read beforehand. However, we did like Mambo Beach and it is very convenient to the port so it would be a great choice for anyone just looking for an easy beach day.

 

In the end, it worked out as a very cheap day for us because we couldn’t even have got a taxi to the beach and back for that price.

 

Up next:

Part two of our long port call in Curacao

 

 

 

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Edited January 1, 2018 by FionaMG
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[Pacificdaze]

Curacao, part 1

 

 

Thanks Fiona, lots of useful ideas in your detailed notes. We have an overnight in Curacao in March. On the first day I am keen to follow the walking map of the city, and as it's our second last port, some extra exercise will be very welcome. It seems like a beach day would be suitable for our second day, with Mambo Beach convenient to the port. I await your Part 2 with great interest. Your efforts to help others is much appreciated.

[FionaMG]

Curacao part 2

 

We arrived back at port from our excursion at about 2.30 pm, so we had time to enjoy lunch on board and then headed back out again sometime between 4 pm and 4.30 pm.

 

We walked along the waterfront past the Adventure of Seas (we were parked behind her). There are some market-type stalls just here, selling souvenirs and the like, and just beyond that there are some lively waterfront bars and a few more hut-type souvenir shops. Then you go through a little garden leading to the Renaissance mall area, which is very close to the port and where there were lots of shops, some of them quite upmarket, and some restaurants, as well as public toilets. You can climb up a stairway here to get a good view over the waterfront.

 

 

After browsing in some of the shops we continued along the sea front past some more market-type stalls selling souvenirs and came to the Queen Emma Bridge. As luck would have it, the bridge was fully open but was just about to close, so I was able to take pictures and some video of it closing and then we were able to cross over the bridge to the other side. The waterfront is very pretty with its colourful buildings.

 

The colourful Curacao waterfront:

 

 

One of things that we did manage to hear of the guide’s commentary during our tour in the morning is that if the bridge is fully open there is a free ferry service across to the other side. Sometimes it only opens a little way for about 10 minutes to let a smaller vessel through and in this case there is no ferry service and you just have to wait.

 

The Queen Emma Bridge:

 

 

View from the Queen Emma Bridge with what I think is the Silver Muse parked right in the city centre. The little blue and white boats are the ferries that take you across when the bridge is fully open:

 

 

We did some more wandering and shopping until just around 6 pm. At this point, we realised that the shops in town were starting to close up, so that is something to bear in mind if you are in Curacao later on in the day. Although the shops were closing, the restaurants along the waterfront seemed to be doing a good trade and it looked like a very nice spot to have a meal.

 

Heading back towards the ship we noticed that the stalls were all packing up for the day too but the shops in mall were still all open and the restaurants there were busy too. As you go through the mall towards the ships you come out into a little garden area, which is very pleasant. The Adventure of the Seas was all lit up as it was starting to get dark now and we managed to get someone to take a photo for us with Adventure in the background. The waterfront bars were all still busy as both ships were not leaving until later in the evening. We actually saw Adventure set sail while we were in the MDR for dinner and shortly afterwards it was our turn to head off towards our next – and final – port of call: Aruba!

 

Posing with Adventure of the Seas behind us!

 

 

 

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Edited January 2, 2018 by FionaMG
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[FionaMG]

Aruba

 

Our final port of call on this cruise was Aruba and this was where we had our second ship-sponsored excursion. It went by the name of “Aruba Island Sightseeing and Beach Adventure” and was operated by De Palm Tours. I really have no idea why they would have labelled it “adventure” since it was hardly adventurous, just a sightseeing tour with a bit of beach time tagged on at the end. The stops were the Casibari rock formations, the natural bridge, the California lighthouse and Eagle beach.

 

Our driver/guide introduced himself as Jay and he was amusing, friendly and knowledgeable, giving us plenty of snippets of information as we went along.

 

 

The first stop, at the rock formations, was, in my opinion, far too short. We were given 20 minutes and Jay warned us that if we left late the time would be cut off from our time at the beach. Well, 20 minutes was barely enough time to get up to the top of the big rock opposite the car park, and there were lots more to explore. If you had to use the bathroom, especially the ladies, then you wouldn’t have time to see anything. After we came back down from the big rock that everyone was climbing, I used the remaining five or so minutes to climb up to the top of one of the other ones. One of the striking things was the number of cacti all over the place. Jay told us that they just grow spontaneously and the Arubans don’t even use them for anything.

 

Casibari rock formations:

 

 

 

After we left the rock formations (everyone got back to the bus on time) we headed to the natural bridge. Part of the route here is off road so it was a bit bumpy but at least we were in a comfortable bus; we saw lots of jeeps and UTV vehicles bumping their way along the dirt track and those folks were bouncing up and down like mad! Although I suppose it’s probably great fun if you don’t have back problems. On the way to the natural bridge we also drove past the ruins of what used to be a gold mine. We didn’t stop there but some of the jeeps did.

 

When we arrived at the natural bridge I think we had about half an hour to wander around, admire the gorgeous natural surroundings, browse in the gift shop and, yes, go to the bathroom. For any gents reading this, my apologies, but for us ladies this is a big deal. The bathroom at the natural bridge is in the gift shop and you have to pay a dollar to use it. But it is so worth it. Plenty of stalls, immaculately clean, pleasantly-scented liquid soap and – best of all – no lines because so few people are willing to part with a dollar to pee!

 

At the natural bridge; my photos of the actual bridge are rubbish, too over-exposed :(

 

 

The next stop after the natural bridge was the California lighthouse. Well, what can I say? Yes, it’s a pretty enough spot (seen prettier) and the lighthouse makes for a nice photo, but what’s the point in “visiting” a lighthouse if all you can do is stand outside it and take a picture of it? There was a warning on our tour tickets about it undergoing renovation. It looked to me like the renovation was complete and there was a notice outside the restaurant there saying you could buy a ticket to go up inside but I didn’t see anybody doing this, so I don’t know if it was genuinely an option or not. I would happily have skipped this stop completely in exchange for extra time either at the rock formations or at the beach.

 

California lighthouse

 

 

On leaving the lighthouse, we had a scenic drive along the coast past Arashi Beach and all the big fancy resorts on our way to our beach stop at Eagle Beach. This was a very pretty drive. The beaches here are beautiful. As we were driving, Jay pointed out a pair of trees which had sprouted spontaneously on the beach. Apparently this spot is very popular with couples for their wedding photos. You can see why!

 

Twin trees

 

 

By the time we arrived at Eagle Beach we only had 50 minutes to enjoy it so we wasted no time in getting on to the sand and going for a wander along the water’s edge in both directions. What a gorgeous beach! If we ever make it back to Aruba, I think we will just grab a taxi and head straight here.

 

Eagle beach

 

 

When we arrived back at port we browsed a little in the port shops, which were ok, nothing really special, before going back on board for lunch. We would have had time to go back out into town but since we had done all our shopping by this time and had finally been blessed with another day of really beautiful blue skies too as opposed to the clouds which seemed to have been following us around for most of the cruise, we decided just to relax by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

While we were doing so, we noticed several big aircraft coming in to land at the airport which was just visible from the front of the ship, so that was quite interesting to watch.

 

And with our final port of call over, we now had only two more sea days left to take us back to Fort Lauderdale where we were inevitably going to be shown the door!

 

Up next: Disembarkation and post-cruise excursion with airport drop-off.

 

 

 

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Edited January 3, 2018 by FionaMG
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[bgrdfn]

Love your review! Could you tell me a break out of how gentlemen dressed for the two formal nights? Did many go with just ties or did they do more suits and tuxedos? Thank you!

[Phoenix33]

Curacao, part one

 

Our stop at the distillery was interesting but, I felt, rushed. I wanted to take time to wander around and read about how the drink is produced but with only 15 minutes allowed I just quickly took photos of everything. What was annoying was that we then ended up waiting on the bus for a further 15 minutes for some of the people on the tour who had been buying stuff in the distillery shop.

 

Distillery:

 

 

Up next:

Part two of our long port call in Curacao

 

 

 

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Thanks for sharing. What were the prices like at the distillery?

[JamesEM]

Thanks for the report and photos.

[FionaMG]

Love your review! Could you tell me a break out of how gentlemen dressed for the two formal nights? Did many go with just ties or did they do more suits and tuxedos? Thank you!

 

Thank you. :D

 

The vast majority were in suits and that was the case for both of the formal nights. On past cruises I have seen lots of gents get dressed up for the first formal night but not so much for the second.

On the second formal night I even saw a young man (I would guess late 20s perhaps even early 30s) wearing tails.

And unlike the bigger ships where I have seen lots of people in casual clothes on formal night I only saw one person, a woman actually, wearing shorts and flip-flops. She did not go into the dining room, though.

[FionaMG]

Thanks for sharing. What were the prices like at the distillery?

I didn't notice the prices as we weren't planning on making any purchases but I am guessing they must have been fairly decent because the shop was packed and the lines at check-out were loooooong! There were all sorts of different flavours on offer in addition to the standard variety:

 

 

And there was free tasting too. The stall was strategically located between the exit from the distillery and the entrance to the shop. The lines were long there too!

 

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[FionaMG]

Thanks for the report and photos.

 

My pleasure. I am enjoying reliving the cruise as I write. :)

[FionaMG]

The end is nigh!

 

There was plenty going on around the ship on the last two sea days, including the usual t-shirt sale on the pool deck, where they were trying to sell t-shirts from places we hadn’t even visited on the cruise, the 10 dollar (buy four get one free) blow-out sale, art auctions, bingo, carol singing and more. I have to say that the entertainment team seemed to be working very hard to make sure everyone enjoyed their last two days on board.

 

On the final sea day we headed to the photo gallery straight after breakfast. This was a good move because it was still quiet and we managed to buy our photos without having to battle our way through the crowds and wait in the massive lines that built up as the day went on.

 

Then the rest of the day was a series of “one last times”: one last sunbathing session on the pool deck, one last lunch in the WJ, one last work-out session in the gym, one last dip in the hot tub… and then it was time for packing, most of which we managed to do before going for our one last dinner in the MDR, where the waiters did a farewell parade and sang jingle bells for us.

 

The next morning we were up in the WJ for our one last breakfast as the ship was manoeuvring to the pier at 7am. It was busy but less manic that I was expecting.

 

Since we had booked a post-cruise excursion with airport drop-off our meeting point was the top deck of the theatre. We were there right on time at 8am and shortly afterwards they leading us away for our one last “ding”.

 

Panic struck in the terminal when we realised that DH’s case was where it should be but mine was missing! One of the stewards came to my aid and showed me where I should go to see if it had been put along with any others that might be missing tags. And yes, there it was! Panic over. Lesson learned. In future, don’t leave any spare tags lying on the coffee table in the cabin. Put at least two on each bag in case one comes off.

 

Happily reunited with our bags, we joined the very long line for immigration. One thing that surprised me at first was that there was no separate line for us foreigners but when I thought about it, there were so few of us on board Serenade that week that it would almost have been like a priority line! Talking of which, we did see stewards going through the line and escorting suite guests and those with the mobile passport app to a separate, shorter one.

 

It must have taken about half an hour for it to be our turn to show our passports. The agent barely glanced at them, asked us only if we were flying home that same day and wished us a pleasant journey.

 

Royal’s shore excursion guide was waiting to point us to our excursion bus once we exited the terminal. We had booked the “Best of Miami with Airport Drop-off”. This is an open-top bus tour so it’s a good idea to keep a sweater handy for the earlier part of the tour in case it’s a bit chilly at first.

 

We sat on the bus for at least another half hour waiting for four missing passengers. When they finally arrived we discovered that they had either misread or misunderstood the instructions on the departure information that had been distributed. Since they had booked an excursion they needed tags numbered either 3 or 4, which were among the first to be off the ship. But they thought they needed tags numbered 34, which were for the FLL transfer, so they had exchanged the correct tags for the wrong ones, so they had to wait in the terminal for ages for their baggage! This would subsequently impact the tour, which was disappointing, but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done about it.

 

Anyway, we set off on the drive to Miami with the guide giving us snippets of information along the way. We recognised some of the places we had seen from the Hollywood water taxi before the cruise. It was a very scenic ride. Luckily it was a nice sunny day. It would have been miserable if it had been raining!

 

 

Then we arrived on the outskirts of Miami and our jaws dropped at the massive skyscrapers. Buildings like these are probably everyday sights to lots of you reading this but to us they were simply awe inspiring. There was even one where you drive your car into the lift and park it outside your apartment door!

 

Skyscrapers in Miami:

 

 

 

We drove past the Port of Miami and saw a Norwegian cruise ship parked there before making our first stop in Bayside. We would normally have had an hour’s stop here and a further hour’s stop in Little Havana but because we had left Port Everglades an hour later than we were supposed to, we were only able to have half an hour at each stop. And, of course, half of the time at Bayside was taken up hunting and queuing for the bathroom!

Anyway, we made the most of it. We saw this cheery little chap scrabbling around the trees in Bayside.

 

Squirrel at Bayside:

 

 

And we enjoyed a delicious ice cream in Little Havana. When it was time to leave for the airport the “FLL-ers” transferred to a different bus and the guide stayed with us to take us to Miami International. A massive jumbo jet flew right over us on its way to land just as we were arriving at the airport.

 

And all of a sudden that was it… Our fabulous cruise was over and all that remained now was our transatlantic flight back to reality…

 

Up next: Final thoughts

 

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2018 by FionaMG
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[dawnmarie386]

Wow FionaMG, thank you so very much for your review of this cruise! We will be onboard Serenade of the Seas in February and feel like I will have a better handle on what to do and see each day. Thank you for the pictures too, your trip looked amazing (as I hope ours will)! Won't be long now!!

 

Dawn

[FionaMG]

Wow FionaMG, thank you so very much for your review of this cruise! We will be onboard Serenade of the Seas in February and feel like I will have a better handle on what to do and see each day. Thank you for the pictures too, your trip looked amazing (as I hope ours will)! Won't be long now!!

 

Dawn

 

Glad you're enjoying it and that it's been helpful. Our trip was indeed amazing and I'm sure yours will be too! :D

[trishs]

Hi. Glad to be of assistance. You are going to have a great time, for sure! :)

 

Unlike our fellow-cruiser Terre, who unfortunately had a terrible bed, our beds were very comfortable. We have quite a firm bed at home and these were a bit softer but still provided enough support. I slept very well.

 

For departure, we had an excursion booked. We were supposed to disembark at 8 am but it was actually a bit later than that. The self-assist express departure was billed as being from 7.20 am to 8 am and it couldn't really have been any earlier than that as the ship was still manoeuvering into position at the pier at 7 am. The last tags shown on the departure schedule were due to be called at 9.10 am. By that time, of course, we were already off, so I don't know if that actually happened. I will scan and post the departure schedule, probably some time this evening.

 

As far as meals are concerned, would I be correct in thinking your plant-based diet may be similar to a vegan diet? If so you might want to take a look at this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2445481 for tips and suggestions. One of the posters on there (MsPoppadom) has a blog where she has written about her experience as a vegan cruiser on Royal, which you might also find helpful: https://vegancruiser.co.uk/royal-caribbean/cruise-vegan-royal-caribbean/.

 

Thanks so much your so helpful. Yes Plant based is similar to vegan, I just don't eat sugars or processed food that some vegans do. I appreciate the blog and I will check that out next.

 

Were you in a suite, I have heard the beds are softer in the suite. We are in a regular room this time. When I was on the Harmony the bed was hard, so I have brought a pad, I have a bad hip that needs a little more coush :) :)

[FionaMG]

Thanks so much your so helpful. Yes Plant based is similar to vegan, I just don't eat sugars or processed food that some vegans do. I appreciate the blog and I will check that out next.

 

Were you in a suite, I have heard the beds are softer in the suite. We are in a regular room this time. When I was on the Harmony the bed was hard, so I have brought a pad, I have a bad hip that needs a little more coush :) :)

 

A suite would have been lovely but, no, we were just in a standard ocean view cabin on deck 3. It's probably a good idea to bring the pad with you since you have a bad hip. I always feel it's better to play safe and be prepared for anything. Doesn't help me pack light though! :D

[FionaMG]

Final thoughts

 

Although I didn’t actually pull the booking trigger until about 10 months out, I had spotted and earmarked this cruise as a way of celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary about 18 months ahead of the big date, so there was plenty of time for planning and building up a ton of expectations. And I am glad to say that they were all met!

 

The Serenade is a beautiful ship, the onboard facilities and services are excellent and all of the crew members that we interacted with were invariably friendly and helpful. The food was good, the entertainment was not always to our taste but we were expecting that, and the ports of call were all very enjoyable.

 

Perhaps the only thing that let us down a bit was the weather which stubbornly presented us with mostly cloudy skies for the duration of the cruise. It would have been nice to see a bit more of those beautiful blue Caribbean skies that you see in all the travel brochures. And yet, despite that and the generous layer of factor 50 sunscreen that I plastered all over myself every day, I actually managed to get the teeny tiniest trace of a tan on my chest and back, where my bikini straps were! Yay! :D

 

So, as fans of the bigger ships, did we miss anything this time round? I would have to say yes. I know it’s not to everyone’s taste but we do like the Royal Promenade on the bigger ships. We enjoy sitting with a hot drink and couple of cookies at the Café Promenade just before bed, or grabbing a slice of pizza from Sorrento’s late afternoon, to keep us going until dinner time, and those were simply not options on the Serenade. The Centrum, we felt, was also far too small as a gathering point and entertainment venue in comparison to the Royal Promenade. We also missed the ice skating shows, which are among our favourites. And I, especially, missed the great running track down on deck 5 of the Oasis class ships.

 

But Serenade has a certain charm about her that the bigger ships simply cannot match. There are fabulous sea views wherever you look; for example, we were going up in the panoramic lift on one of the last mornings and a fellow passenger said, “See that island there? That’s Cuba.” The smaller size allowed to us meet and get to know more of our fellow passengers as well as the crew. This is something which is very hard to achieve when you are sailing on a ship the size of a small town.

 

Would we sail on Serenade again? Yes, undoubtedly, if she were the ship doing the itinerary we wanted to do at the time we wanted to do it, which was the case on this occasion. However, if there were a similarly-priced cruise doing the same itinerary on a bigger ship (as has been the case in recent years with Adventure and Jewel from San Juan), then I would have to be honest and say we would probably opt for the bigger one. But that’s just our personal preference overall. I can’t emphasis enough what a fabulous time we had on Serenade!

 

When I first started researching our cruise, I found so much helpful information on these boards that I really wanted to pay back the favour and do the same for others. I hope that by including plenty of detail in my report I will have been able to do that. It has been a pleasure for me to relive our journey by writing about it; I hope you have all enjoyed it too and that your own cruises will be as wonderful as ours was.

 

As a final note, I will sign off with one last photo…

 

Our son was able to join us for the three pre-cruise days we spent in Fort Lauderdale and he was still there, enjoying a beer and a burger at a beach bar, when we set sail. He took a photo of Serenade as we headed off on our Caribbean adventure… The quality’s not great, I’m afraid, but if you look very, very closely, you might just be able to see us standing on the top deck with huge grins on our faces and waving madly as we set sail for the Caribbean! ;)

 

Serenade setting sail from Port Everglades at the start of our cruise:

 

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2018 by FionaMG
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[trishs]

A suite would have been lovely but, no, we were just in a standard ocean view cabin on deck 3. It's probably a good idea to bring the pad with you since you have a bad hip. I always feel it's better to play safe and be prepared for anything. Doesn't help me pack light though! :D

 

Yes better safe than sorry. I brought it last time and still only had a carry on and a back pack.

[aubreyc1988]

It was our first visit to St. Lucia too and, based on recommendations from posters on the Ports of Call board, we did the all-day island tour with Cosol. At $75 each, it was our most expensive tour but they did pack a lot into the day, with food and drinks, several sightseeing stops and an hour at beach. It was perhaps a little bit rushed at times but definitely good value for money. We enjoyed it a lot even though we got caught in a torrential downpour that began at our second-last stop and never let up thereafter.

 

However, we did speak to an elderly Italian couple who had no tour booked in St. Lucia and who just did a drive in a taxi that they hired at the port; they were less than thrilled with their experience.

 

Here is a pic I took at one of the stops. (Hope it works.)

 

 

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I had a horror experience with COSOL, just shows how different everyone is! That tour was SUCH a bore to me, so much driving around!:loudcry: And then they told me we were going to the volcano drive through and the mud baths, but ended up having to choose one...so i did the mud baths! and COSOL tours almost made us miss the ship (We had 5 min to spare) so WOW, can't believe the difference in experience!

 

We are doing Curacao and Aruba on our next cruise, doing a discover dive in Aruba and a SNUBA thing in Curacao...curious if you think these are good picks for excursions!