Serenade to Alaska questions

[SweetsugarNL]

Hello,

 

Im lurking on this forum for many years.

We really consider a cruise to Alaska next year.

 

Im wondering if the Serenade is a good fit for Alaska.

I dream for years to take a cruise on a big ship, and well Serenade is not that big.

My husband like to sail on a smaller ship so i think Serenade sounds okay for him.

 

Are there drinks on us offers or other free drink offers with a booking for RCL?

Or is this a European thing.

 

Is it to early to get a good price? Im from Europe so no price drops policy for us.

[UKWLDCruise]

If anything the radiance class was designed for cold weather cruising with a lot of indoor viewing spots.  

Edited September 20, 2019 by UKWLDCruise
changing one word

[Saman]

Hi We did the Norweigen fjords on seranade this year and it was great , great views even from the dining room while eating .

I live in Spain and booked directly with their spanish office , we do get price drops in Spain i got one !! we booked well in advance and choose cabin 8020 , booked around august 2018 at good price , got price drop in november and sailing was end may 2019 .

[Biker19]

11 minutes ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Is it to early to get a good price? Im from Europe so no price drops policy for us.

During peak season, you are unlikely to see many price drops. Consider booking with a US TA and also consider Ovation.

[SweetsugarNL]

I never have find a USA TA who can book for me.

They said there prices are only for USA residents.

And yes we would like to sail in july.

 

I have read that Serenade have a indoor pool as well, is this hot enough to take a swim?

Edited September 20, 2019 by SweetsugarNL

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, SweetsugarNL said:

I never have find a USA TA who can book for me.

They said there prices are only for USA residents.

 

I have read that Serenade have a indoor pool as well, is this hot enough to take a swim?

You need to keep looking for a TA that does.

Depends on whether you call 22deg C warm enough.

[SweetsugarNL]

Yeah that is warm enough.

Yes iknow but i have search the last few years and never find one who do RCL outside USA.

[Biker19]

Just now, SweetsugarNL said:

Yes iknow but i have search the last few years and never find one who do RCL outside USA.

On your next cruise, attend the Meet and Mingle and talk to others there - you'll likely find one.

[island lady]

If you are more inclined to do a larger ship in Alaska...why not Ovation out of Seattle?  Both smaller Serenade and Ovation are doing the round trips to Alaska.  Serenade doing hers out of Vancouver.  

 

For one way trips, it would be Radiance (sister ship to Serenade).  

[SweetsugarNL]

Because there is a much price difference.

[Clarea]

4 hours ago, SweetsugarNL said:

 ...

Are there drinks on us offers or other free drink offers with a booking for RCL?

Or is this a European thing.

 

Is it to early to get a good price? Im from Europe so no price drops policy for us.

 

I've not seen "free" drink offers for bookings made under US/Canadian rules.  I've seen some for bookings made under UK rules, but I don't know if that extends to bookings made under Spain's rules.

 

For us, the best prices have been when the itineraries are first released, which would mean you would be looking at Summer 2021 cruises.

[island lady]

2 hours ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Because there is a much price difference.

 

Even if the prices are higher than normal...which they usually are for Alaska cruises...you can always keep checking pricing before final payment.  I kept an eye on my currently booked B2B on Radiance the last few months.  I snagged 3 price drops, one of them being extensive.  

Edited September 20, 2019 by island lady

[SweetsugarNL]

We dont have price drops in the Netherlands :(.

[SweetsugarNL]

Are the free drinks (iced tea, water etc) available all day long? And where are these located? If i get a soda package i can get the soda at every bar.

[Clarea]

2 hours ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Are the free drinks (iced tea, water etc) available all day long? And where are these located? If i get a soda package i can get the soda at every bar.

 

Ice water is available from any bar any time the bar is open.  Iced tea might be limited to food venues when they are open.  There is a drink station aft of Windjammer that might include iced tea, but I don't know if that's open 24 hours. 

[SweetsugarNL]

Thank you.

[island lady]

On 9/20/2019 at 4:37 PM, SweetsugarNL said:

We dont have price drops in the Netherlands :(.

 

Oh...drats.  Sorry about that...did not notice where you were from.  Hopefully you still score a great price!  🙂 

[dodgestang]

Can you book through a US TA to take advantage of price drops if/when they happen?  The 'conventional' logic is that ships are the cheapest the further out you go.....I haven't tracked it too closely but the last 4 cruises I took I booked all about 100 days out....and I didn't feel any significant cost different booking Serenda for August next year (230 days out when I booked)

Edited September 24, 2019 by dodgestang

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, dodgestang said:

I haven't tracked it too closely but the last 4 cruises I took I booked all about 100 days out..

Most of the time, if you are willing to wait that late, you might as well wait till inside final payment for deals.