Any inputs about this ship? Any information about excursions in St. Marteen, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Thomas. These will be the ports on this cruise any information or people who's been on this ship if you can give me information about it. Its my first time cruzin and I would like to know alittle more about people's experiences. Thanks
When will you be going? We're on the ship in a little over 2 weeks (Dec. 10-17). We're planning on going to Megan's Bay in St. Thomas, Little Divi Bay in St. Martin, Long Bay beach in Antigua, on a tour in St. Lucia (Frank's tours; he'll take us anywhere we want to go, as well as to all of the highlights of the island), and a power speedboat excursion in Barbados (swim with turtles and end up at a nice beach). The ship gets rave reviews. I've sailed with RCL twice on a couple of their older ships and we had a blast. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer them after I get back.
We are on the same ship for the same dates. Dec 10th-17th from PR. Who are you purchasing your excursions from? I am looking at the tours from Royal Caribbean and they are really expensive.
Ship excursions are generally more expensive, I would recommend going with a local tour operator. We cruised on the Serenade back in March 04, great ship, good route.
St.Marteen- great for shoppping, take a taxi to town.
Barbados- I would recommend Boyces Tours, did some siteseeing, private tour.
St.Lucia- I would recommend Phillip Tours, go see the volcano tour of this gorgeous island also a private tour.
Antigua- Take taxi to local beach
Hope this helps, if you need more info let me know.
The 2 excursions that we're doing are not thru the ship. If you're interested in Frank's tour in St. Lucia, click here: Frank's Tours
If you're interested in the thriller ocean tour in Barbados, the email address is thriller-ocean-tours@caribsurf.com (I can't find the website; I stumbled across the tour on one of the other cruise chat sites...I think it was cruisecritic).
Shore excursions purchased through the ship are usually more expensive. However, if you're worried about not getting back to the ship in time from your shore excursion it might give you peace of mind to buy them through the ship. Any shore excursion purchased through the ship will mean that the ship will wait for you should you get back late. That is not necessarily the case for private excursions.
Have been on Barbados, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
For all those islands I can recommend private tours. Close to the port you can find taxi-dispatchers. they tell you the price for tours around the islands, about 20-25 $ per person, depending how many people in the car. and the drivers take you to the places you want and make stops where you want.
Itīs much better and less expensive than a shore excursion booked on the ship.
In St. Maarten you can take a roundtrip for the watertaxi, 5 $ and drive from the ship to the center for real good bargains in in jewels, if you are interested.
When I booked my cruise I requested 1st dining but I just got my package from the TA and it states I am in 2nd seating. I am not happy with 2nd seating and I called my TA and they said nothing they can do because its a waiting list, does anyone have any suggestions how I can get on to the 1st seating for dining?? Any help/tips is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Letap, my suggestion is to call back your travel agent and make sure you are ON the waiting list for first seating. How long ago did you book your cruise and when is the cruise? Some cruise lines can tell you what number you are on the waiting list. Also, ask your travel agent to call the cruise line every day to see if you have cleared the waitlist.
If you're still in second seating when you check in for your cruise, go to your room to drop off your things and then immediately go and see the Maitre d'. He is usually sitting outside the dining room with a big chart of the tables in front of him. Ask at the front desk where he is so you can go see him, and ask him if there is any way you can be put into first seating, that you requested it X number of weeks ago and you really need to eat early (think of a compelling reason -- do you take medication that requires that you have dinner early, or something?). If there is any empty space and you are requesting it directly with the maitre d', he may be able to switch you to main seating. If you are on a holiday cruise where there will be lots of children onboard, it may in fact be difficult to seat you at main seating, but it's worth a try.
Letap, the Maitre'd on the Serenade has been very accommodating to us when we requested a table for two for second sitting, instead of a table of 8 for first sitting. Really no problem, if you consult him as soon as possible on board.
The Serenade of the Seas is a magnificent, breathtaking ship. There is just (especially for a first- timer) one problem: It can't get any better after... ...unless you spend a fortune.
...unless you spend a fortune.
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