Adriana

Yes, if you get an earlier time, you can use that time. Frankly, you will probably get through quicker in a regular line than the Key line. 

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships. 

Soo glad you are home and can rest and cleanse…on your own! Well, with your sweet kitty! She must be so happy to see you and vice versa!
     You really are a trooper, I commend you on keeping your cool. You did a great job keeping things together and offering suggestions. I concur that you could def use a solo cruise. I hope you find the perfect one. I have only sailed Anthem multiple times (I live in Jersey) and the tiny ones like Monarch and Empress when I lived in South Beach/Miami. My last cruise on Anthem def left plenty to be desired. 
    Thank you again for taking us along with you. I hope you get some much needed rest and kitty snuggles!

I am sooo happy to hear that your last day was such a positive one!! Sounds like it was a relaxing day with some unique entertainment! I am sorry about those chair hogs, that gets under my skin. I cannot stand the entitlement. However, back to the joy you are experiencing, I hope the evening and night and wonderful! 

@Xaa Awww, thank you. I second the face to a name, I met @wordell1, @SebagoSue @Lovetocruise2002 and a few others all onboard and it's pretty neat knowing who you are chatting with! I am humbled by your kind compliment and who knows one day our paths may just cross at sea. Thanks again for joining us on our very first Radiance class adventure!

@Big Tule @Yesiamthere6  Thanks so much! I appreciate you following along! I look super ugly and old when I'm complaining and/or negative lol. I learned long ago only I can choose to be positive, while that first no hot water shower had me adjusting my attitude after "winning the RUB" thinking, oh no what have I done? I was like okay how do I navigate this? Calm notifications & off the gym where I know they have hot water! I hope with my heart my daughter will be the same, sometimes are harder than others. 
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you all, I hope this season is an enjoyable one filled with many, many blessings!
 🎅🤩🎄🇺🇸

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships. 

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships. 

@AandD the MTD lines were insane, if you are comfortable I would pick a traditional time. 
The Solarium pool was warmest on the last sea day. 
Lattitudes is a popular place. Often very long lines, they move though.
The snoozefest itinerary wasn't as bad as I thought.
We walked around the port area of Freeport, Bimini rented golf cart, Nassau =sea day for us and many others and Coco cay was a wonderful day. Water was colder but not awful. 
Lunch is WJ on embarkation day unless you book Chops specialty, we did this and it was so relaxing. Place was empty, WJ packed. Cabins were ready at 1330hrs. Next Cruise was standing room only, centrum same. We chilled in Vortex after lunch and before cabins opened, it was so relaxing.
Enjoy your sailing! Any questions I'll do my best to answer them. 
Bring a USB charger if you need it there are none in the cabin.

@Lovetocruise2002 Hello! Working backwards, yes TIME our most precious gift! Our girls will be off and I'll be in a pool of tears, a mixture of happy & sad! Visiting university & seriously doing the numbers, yikes! But yes, go big or go home is the perfect mantra.
Yes with the RUB bid. We were in an Owners Suite with all suites sold out. When the concierge email came I told Christian I had 2 RUB's in, one for the Royal Suite (of course) and one for the 2 bedroom owners suite with two bathrooms (of course) He said he was already communicating with those cabins and the other passengers were indeed sailing. Okay, no worries and the NEXT day I saw the charge and thought, what is this? I went to my account and saw my cabin number had changed to deck 7 2 bedroom owners suite. 
There was a huge snow storm up North my best guess is the people probably had to back out last minute because flights were being canceled everywhere up there. The issues were all addressed some better then others within the cabin and I feel good we left that cabin in great shape for the next person/family. Christian was on top of all things suites and made sure to even call the cabin to follow up. The water was better but we did have to shower at 1500hrs to have really hot water, in the evening especially it was always tepid, but we made it work. 
Yes, that is who the CD reminds us of also, we enjoyed him. We felt bad for him on the last day he was so flustered no one would listen to him! 
The SL was small but we quickly learned to navigate that also, there were 39 Pins and they were all there by about 1530 until at least 1830 making it difficult to even get the bartenders attention, they took every seat at and around the bar. We would have dinner (by day 3) and visit the lounge afterwards, much more relaxed and enjoyable. The crew were the main stars of this sailing, the friendliest in the fleet we have been on (well except Dudley, we LOVE Dudley) Guest relations was in a terrible spot & they were awful but the rest of the Serenade just wonderful!
*Christian the Concierge was also a force, quiet but wow, he took on our vacation as if it was his own, I was flabbergasted by his attention to detail. 
 

LOL! It's a placeholder for Summer 2024! They are not out yet except for Icon and we are celebrating an 18th birthday and a high school graduation.  I want to put a lot of thought into this our last as a family of 3 for a long time. Itinerary will be key, Icon itinerary is boring and I'm just not into the carnival theme park type style. I'm excited for the new releases......
 

...is it too soon to ask where the nextcruise will be?? 😅

Update: we stayed in our cabin until our given time to leave our stateroom at 1730hrs. This allowed for the best comedy show I've ever witnessed, Land personnel trying to tie up the ship. We watched from our balcony and it was a hoot! They kept dropping the lines, lines getting caught on rocks, a forklift ramming into a fire hydrant....
We decided to take the stairs as we only have our carry on and decend into utter chaos and ugliness. Deck 4 was a sh!tshow of epic proportions. It was a sea of bodies screaming, pushing yelling at the staff. I was embarrassed to be part of that. I turned to hubby who was on the same page and we decided to just go back to the cabin and wait it out. 
We turned to leave and there was Christian, he said no you don't. You arrived at your assigned time and after asking if we had everything he ushered us to the bleep out your sea pass area. I could feel daggers in the back of my head. Yikes! Now I know why they kept announcing to stay in the stateroom until assigned times. Christian was on the quiet side, but boy did he get things done. I felt he was personally invested in our experience the entire sailing.
A lady behind us walking down the long hallway gangway pushed our daughter" by accident" we wish to believe hubby and I just let her go by, she had a huge roller board she was using to muscle her way down the ramp. Well I could see her husband behind me, we know because they had on matching items. He apologized for her and I offered for him to pass by our family to get to her, he said no thanks, I'm good right here! Lol! We chatted while we waited for the line to progress, he said they were from Georgia and were driving home and he was just fine taking his time to the car, he was great. We wished him safe travels and strength at the same time.
The terminal 6 area was chaotic to put it mildly. There was no traffic plan, it was a free for all. Brilliance and Serenade people embarking and disembarking, ride shares, family pick ups and drop offs in the dark. I held my breath I was sure we would get in a car accident, it was chaos with only 2 sheriff's trying their best to control the madness. I feared for their safety as well. 
I am sure the fog (late arrival) and the late hour caused this nightmare but it didn't  deter us, we pack our patience and dwell on all of the positives. Thanks for joining us on out Tampa/Serenade adventure. 

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships. 

Oh man, that stinks! Thank goodness that you are able to stay in your cabins! I am with you, I feel bad for those with early flights or plans. For those without it, maybe an extra few hours to just hang out and relax. I know most are ready to be on the road, but good that they opened the pools and places for meals. I hope it goes smoothly!!

@OCSC Mike, thank you! The last time I was at Coco Cay was during my baby days of cruising, when it was basically chairs (maybe umbrellas), buffet of burgers and hot dogs and a guy walking around singing and selling, “Coco Loco!” I am def looking forward to trying your suggestions, thank you! Maybe I will get lucky and even get a chair!

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships. 

I would sail the Serenade again in a heart beat. Hands down the friendliest crew and the CD Jaime was likeable as well, without being to silly. Our concierge Christian was phenomenal, even the MDR was better then usual. Funny the only employees lacking were at the Guest relations desk. Bye bye Serenade have a great time around the world. 

WOW @ that last shot!! 😍🤩

The beauty of that aft cabin! Going under the bridge in day light. 

oh my GOSH.
i'm envisioning the little ships darting in and out like the fast and the furious 😬😅
and i feel like i can hear the cheers from here of everyone on land when you guys finally got there 💚
hoping you will have safe travels home!!

So we are still here in the stateroom it's 1701. We just tied up terminal 6. Many many announcements begging people to stay in their cabins. They are lining up with luggage and congregating and clogging the hallways. We are in the cabin waiting for our number to be called. When we pulled in the workers on land were all cheering. Pretty cool. 

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships. 

I would imagine that there will always be some of the smaller ships. Namely, because they are needed for some of the ports and itineraries. Not all can accommodate the large ships. But I hear you, many do like the intimacy and excellent service of the smaller ships.