This was our first cruise and certainly won’t be our last! This was an awesome experience for my wife and I as well as our adult son, daughter, and son-in-law. I would highly recommend the Southern Carribean cruise and Serenade of the Seas! We had a blast!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Seamless process.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We enjoyed the main dining room alot! Great food and terrific service. We also ate at the Windjammer buffet for breakfast and sometimes lunch. Both my wife and I gained about five pounds or more just from the food. Loads of variety and sumptuous food to eat. We chose not to eat at the specialty restaurants.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Enjoyed sunning ourselves either beside the pool or on the top deck. We used the sauna several times and even watched a movie while in the sauna one evening. We played miniature golf sometimes and frequently took pictures all over the ship.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We saw several of the shows both comedic and musical. Also saw some of the game shows like “love and marriage”. Very entertaining! We did several of the trivia games as well.
Children's Programs
We had no small chidren with us on this trip.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The service all around the ship was superb! The staff were all friendly and eager to please. We must give a special shout out to our room steward Richy! Also our waiter and assistant waiters Naiko and Dewa - fantastic service!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
All areas were clean and well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We were surprised at the overall size and comfort of our Junior Suite. It was plenty roomy for my wife and I plus our adult son. The room was maintained extremely well by our beloved steward Richy!
Ship tip
This is a great ship to be on especially for adults. While there were activities for children, like swimming, rock climbing wall, and miniature golf, there weren’t a large number of children on this cruise. This had its advantages in that adults, especially older people, could enjoy the cruise without being overwhelmed by small children getting under foot. I’m sure the young ones on the cruise had a very good time as well however!
We opted to drive to Fort Lauderdale from New Jersey rather than fly. I will likely rethink that in the future! But embarking from Fort Lauderdale for the particular cruise of the Southern Carribean made sense then and still does. Perfect place to set sail from!
I was surprised to learn that much of Aruba is a desert! We took a nice tour of the island and enjoyed the beautiful beach while there. The people are very friendly and accomodating. We would love to go back!
We did the Aquaboat excursion which was new to us and both scary and exhilarating! A lot of fun though! This is a very colorful country with very warm and friendly people. We enjoyed the stop a great deal!
We took the sailing and snorkeling excursion here which was absolutely awesome. We had never been on a sail boat and enjoyed the trip to our snorkeling cove immensely. The snorkeling was fantastic with many varieties of tropical fish to be seen. It was like swimming in an aquarium! We had snacks, drinks, and lunch on the sail boat too! We highly recommend this excursion to anyone! Fabulous overall experience and well worth the extra expense. Our dutch guides were Jerry and Marcel who made the trip special and who obviously enjoy their jobs!
Our first impression of Castries was not really that great. It is very touristy with pockets of poverty everywhere you looked. We took a harrowing guided van tour to Soufrere where we took a boat ride to a cove between the twin Pitons. There we did some snorkeling and sun bathing. The snorkeling was limited to a rocky area which made walking with swim fins nearly impossible to get there. Once there, however, there were a wide variety of tropical fish to see up close and personal! We left the Piton area and drove to an area where we had the opportunity to take a mud bath in volcanic ash. We then drove to a 35 foot waterfall in a rainforested area near Soufrere. Our guide Teddy then drove us back to the ship along the same mountainous route we took to get there. The round trip took about eight hours which meant we only had minutes to spare when we returned before the ship set sail. Our overall experience was great considering the trip to Soufrere. We were not overly impressed with Castries.
Antigua is awesome! We wanted to find the best local spot to snorkel and opted for Dickenson Beach which was a short cab ride from the ship. The snorkeling was not particularly great there so the rest of my group took a short boat ride to a cove around the bend. The water there was turbulent and choppy which made snorkeling problematic. The group enjoyed the return boat ride and settled in on the beach. Dickenson beach is one of 365 beaches on this island and has to be one of the best. I can honestly say that I did not want to leave. We had drinks there and food served to us on the beach by a local restaurant. We enjoyed our stop in Antigua and plan to go back when we can. There seems to be plenty of places to explore and snorkel. Just an overall awesome experience!
It seemed worse than it actually was - like organized chaos! The ship did a great job in splitting up the disembarkation into to small groups. The customs officials were efficient enough and processed everyone in an orderly manner.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
