We boarded the "Serenade of the Seas" out of San Juan for a great cruise of the Caribbean with stops at: St. Thomas, St. Marteen, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados from January 3-10, 2009.
Our first impressions were quite good. As we did the check-in process online a few days before, our check-in process at the port was quite painless and easy. We arrived at the port and within 15 minutes, we were already onboard!
The "Serenade" is quite big and the propensity of getting lost is huge but once we walked it around a few times, we got our wits about us and found our favorite bar, pool area and drinks! There are many restaurants all around. Every time we turned a corner, there was either a bartender offering me a drink or a restaurant offering loads of food. In fact, the restaurant was already open with so much food... and the amazing part is that the place was almost food.It is 4pm and the main "early" seating dinner was at 6:00pm; which we were a part of. We decided to stay 'healthy' and not eat too late as the next seating was at 8:30pm. More on that in a while...
As for food, there was so much I need to write a whole column just on it. The best part was that, after one too many drinks, we stumble our way to the night restaurant for sandwiches, wraps, pizzas, onion rings and/or fries. And this was after midnight... phew!
Clean ship with very friendly staff, good drinks, fantastic food and good facilities. In fact, our favorite bar was "The Schooner" bar. We met a great server that every night, before we left the bar, he will give us information on what to do at the port-of-call and what to avoid.
The shows were quite entertaining with "Broadway" style performances with good dancers and singers. Also Herb Reed and The Platters did the 'celebrity' show. We skipped a couple of shows but got to see them on the internal tv channel the next day. The shows included full bands with fantastic muscicians. The seating, sound system and staging were fantastic and very well done. At some points, we could feel the boat rocking quite badly while dancers and singers were all over the stage. A couple of times I would be scared for them as they would be dancing in some high ramp doing turns but, as professionals as they are (and probably used to it) all of the shows went perfectly, without a hitch. Customs, wigs, staging... everything was fantastic.
The fitness center is quite good. Machines work well and clean. They offer classes, some of them for free but some others come with a $12 charge per class, such as spinning and pilates; which I think is ridiculous. However, there is something fun of running in a treadmill while the ship rocks and enjoying the fantastic views of the Caribbean Sea.
Spa was great with nice relaxation room and the super-expensive treatments well worth it... but do not look at the bill too closely... ouch! I did take a full boddy masage with a facial and reflexology. I did fall asleep at the table for a few minutes. It was very good and the products used were of high quality. My skin felt like a baby's bottom afterwards. The price was rather exorbitant but I did enjoy every minute of it.
All ports of calls were fantastic and we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. We got blessed with fantastic weather as well. Rough seas did not bother me at all... in fact, slept better!!!
Now for the downside and my complaints:
1. Television channel selection sucks! Over half of the channels kept saying "out of range" through the entire trip. CBS was a pre-made taped shows that played in a loop. After an couple of hours, you have seen the programming at least twice. The only "live" channels were FOX News and CNN Headline News... barf!
2. We paid for a window and got a "port-hole" which made us a little bit upset. The port-hole rooms should be given at a discount as the rooms are located in the 'bows' of the ship. Unfair to pay for the same price than someone who got a bigger window and view. In the upside, we got a
"handicapped" room and what we lacked in view, we got on room space.
3. Not enough chairs at the pool or around the cruise. In fact, there were people seated and laying down on the floor! Complaint by other guests brought up a few chairs but not enough. The "Deck Patrol" did not do a good job at cleaning chairs that were unoccupied for over 30 minutes (cruise rules). Towels were lacking and sometimes we had to go around the pool twice to find one.
4. Lack of entertainment -- Even though the shows were great and bands playing in the pool area were good, guests did enjoy the very few games done around the ship. A little more entertainment would have been better, specially on 'day-at-sea' were you could tell people were getting antsy with nothing to do - specially the young crowd.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Do the check-in process online a few days before departure to ensure an easy process when you arrive at the port.
2. Check the room assigned to you online and ensure that, if you pay for a window, you get one and not a port hole.
3. Be aware about the seating for dinner. If you want a romantic diner every night, you do have the right to choose your table - even for two people. Do not wait for cruise to choose one for you. Or do the "eat-when-you-want" option that is available in most cruises but people do not know about.
4. Choose the pre-paid tip package. Then you do not have to worry about under or over tipping anyone on the cruise. Then, you can add anything if you believe anyone did something special for you.
5. The tours are not always the best options. Doing a little research about the ports-of-call prior to the cruise will give you a sense of what you want to do. Renting a car, bike or even hiring a taxi for the day to take you to different places is a cheaper option... some places you can even walk to! If a taxi, ensure the price is set before you get in the taxi and possibly, in writing.
6. Do not fall for the "touristic" traps. We did only once. In St. Thomas we did the funicular ride to the top of the mountain. With a price tag of $22.00 per person, we were expecting something super special... hum... we could have saved the money and do something better.
And for Royal Caribbean: They have a 50% cancellation fee for spa services. However, there is always people waiting to use it. The spa staff needs to keep a 'stand-by' list and, if someone wants to cancel the services but the Spa staff can find another guest to fill the time with no loss of revenue, then why not swap them? Didn't happen to me but someone else.
Overall, Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas was a good ship for the "not-so-much" party crowd. With a handful of shows, it is good the for the vacationers who want to relax and rest more than to party and dance. Clean rooms and nice, professional and friendly staff with great facilities, food and shows makes this ship a favorite one.
No comments:
Post a Comment