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First cruise ever last fall, we had booked an oceanview midship on deck 3. I picked it because I didn't know if seasickness would be an issue for us. Two days before our cruise I went online to print our luggage tags and found that we were listed as being on deck 7 a bit more forward in a balcony. I figured I would take the risk of motion sickness, lol. It was one of the cabins on Serenade that has kind of a half balcony, half the square. Someone must have cancelled last minute, because all week we got gifts delivered for him. Upon arrival, he had a bottle of wine and glasses. Throughout the week, on board credit and spa certificates arrived. We have guilty consciences and don't drink alcohol anymore, so it all got returned to guest services, lol. Also, I thought the balcony would kind of stink, because it was smaller, but didn't care because it was free. Instead we loved it, because since it's on an angle we could see in multiple directions without looking out the side. So we booked the same cabin this coming cruise! I have no clue why we got upgraded, but I had spent a lot on cruise planner stuff, including ship's tour, voom, refreshment packages, etc... And I had originally booked two cruises B2B accidentally, and when I cancelled the second one I got a call from "my" Royal trip planner. During that conversation I mentioned that it was our first cruise, and perhaps she made note of that. It certainly was a good move for them, because we're most definitely booking balconies from here on out.

October 1st-8th. We got very lucky and had near perfect weather the whole week! Well, perfect for what we anticipated going to New England and Canada in October, lol. Nothing like this amazing Southern Caribbean report!

Thank you so much for such a beautiful blog! My husband and I took our first cruise ever last fall on Serenade (to New England and Canada), and loved it. So we recently booked Serenade to Bermuda this fall! Your pictures got me even more excited to return to her. <3

Thank you so much to everyone who replied! I'm sorry it took me awhile to get back and say thank you. :) We did ultimately decide to go for the 7 day cruise out of Boston rather than the 9 day cruise out of Baltimore. I went back and forth, but the real deciding factor was that if we go out of Boston we can hit up a Red Sox game the last weekend of the season. So we'll be flying into Boston, walking the Freedom Trail, then going to Fenway Park before boarding the ship. Can't beat that, I think. Resting Birds, thank you for your personal insight into this itinerary! We are so excited. We never thought we were "cruise people," because we aren't beach people. But I have a feeling we will end up being cruise people after all, lol. I've already started looking into Alaska and the Pacific Northwest for future destinations.

Hello, My husband and I are looking to take our first cruise this fall as a first anniversary present. We are planning to go on one of the Canada and New England cruises. I'm having a hard time deciding between two of them. I know we want to go in October, as that will be peak fall foliage time in most of our stops. So, the comparison is between Grandeur of the Seas 9 day out of Baltimore, or Serenade of the Seas 7 days out of Boston. The itineraries are essentially identical, with the exception being that Grandeur would start in Baltimore and then go to Boston, while on Serenade we would just get ourselves to Boston and start there. Initially we were leaning towards the itinerary out of Baltimore, because we love Baltimore, and spent several days there on our honeymoon last summer. But we also really want to spend more than one day in Boston, because we have never been there. I was thinking that if we went into Boston on our own, we could spend a couple days there before boarding the ship, essentially making our own "port days." The cost savings between the 7 and 9 day cruises would be negligible, because we would obviously have to pay for hotels in Boston, so money isn't really even a consideration. So, I guess my big question is, comparing Grandeur and Serenade, is there a big difference or is one better than the other? Just some demographics on us, we're mid-thirties, no kids, and don't really drink much. Got enough of that in our 20's, lol. For first time cruisers, would 9 days on a cruise be awesome or maybe start to feel too long? Any experiences you guys have on either ship, please share! And thank you so much for all your information on this site. I have spent days poring over it and getting progressively more excited. :)