Simply Serenade Thanksgiving 2022

[Neesa]

Last minute sailing surprise! First time on this class of ship. First time out of Tampa. First time sailing as D+. First Royal Up success selection.

When: November 19, 2022

Who: Three Best Friends; Hubby, Myself, 16 year old daughter. 

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Cabin: Owners Suite

Itinerary: Tour of the Bahamas, seriously a snooze fest but I'm sailing AND I Love Sailing! 

One RUB placed, not holding my breath. Hoping we will enjoy sailing from Tampa. 

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by Neesa
Added thought

[WAAAYTOOO]

Nice RU price !!  It's probably already booked, but still worth a try !

[Neesa]

21 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Nice RU price !!  It's probably already booked, but still worth a try !

Yes, I would have booked it BUT alas already taken. I was actually shocked to get the OS as the only cabins available were junior suites. While considering this sailing over night & then checking on line to book the next day the OS appeared, I'm sure a last minute cancelation. I doubled the RU price & bid it, no way it will be available but in the slightest of chances it becomes available at least my bid is in. 

Everyone is sticking to a "carry on" bag & back pack;  that is it this trip! Packing cubes and color scheme and/or similar color palette packing is the name of the game this sailing. We are not doing formal, smart casual is about as good as it's going to get. I really hope we like the Tampa experience, such a short drive over. Hoping to live blog this trip with lots of pics, especially the cabin which is not represented on line anywhere that I can find. Okay, back to @Ampurp85blog, I could follow her all day so refreshing and funny.

[Ampurp85]

I'm excited, I like your blogs. I know the last holiday sailing was a sh#t show for you with the ramp up in capacity but also still covid restrictions.  I am crossing all my extremities for your RUB winning. 

Also I did same thing, packing cubes and similar color schemes. It really works because I just took 1 cube out for this sailing and the rest of my suit case is still packed.

[asquared17]

we sailed on serenade in 2018 in an aft-facing balcony for a 10 night (looking back, i'm still shocked we did a 10 night since we are usually strictly a solid week) and loved it. the centrum was no royal promenade but we kind of preferred it. great for people watching when you were done with dinner and looking down at everyone milling around below.  the schooner bar was fun, the self-adjusting pool tables were great, and i loved that there was outdoor windjammer seating!! the staff in the MDR was exceptional. and there is so much light on the ship!! and diamond lounge is in the viking lounge... one of the best locations ever

i am looking forward to reading along on this one!

i hope you win your royal up bid!!!

[Neesa]

3 days to go. I am happy to report I was contacted by the concierge for this sailing. He confirmed Terminal 6 so I purchased my parking. He was so sweet, I asked for a private table for the 3 of us in a corner of the restaurant just to try to mitigate the noise. He was like done! Anything else? No thank you. Are you sure? He was so sweet. 

Hubby and I are packed, just doing small roller board luggage and back packs. Daughter didn't even start, of course! Purchased internet to do some work on board and she can work on a bit of homework. 

Thanksgiving on Coco Cay with the Anthem, boy I wish they would offer a show on the ships while parked there, I would pay for an excursion to see the We will rock you show! That's all for now.

 

[Neesa]

Oh, I forgot to mention. I asked the the concierge about the cabins I bid on for RUB's I bid two that are still saying submitted. He was great! He told me the cabins were purchased (royal suite and 2 bedroom owners suite) so they were not available. I was happy he helped there. 

I did use the monies I had allocated in the event of a "win the ability to pay more" situation and purchased the Beach Club on Coco cay, yay Thanksgiving day on Coco Cay Beach Club. 

[FireFishII]

I LOVE the Beach Club.  Have fun. 

[Neesa]

Oh, here is the second RUB. At first I didn't bid but then I saw 2 bathrooms so....I wasn't in love with the balcony and the locations were deck 7, 8 and 9 I think. So I  wasn't feeling it initially and then I pounced, clearly I have RUB issues! LOL!!

 

[Ampurp85]

Its nice that the concierge was able to tell you about RUB and you could get something you want.

[Adriana]

Good luck with the RUB of the best cabin for you! I hope you have a wonderful time!!

[asquared17]

i am now invESTED in this royal up bid!!!!

[Neesa]

Update: My interpretation is if a fellow passenger cancels last minute you may be awarded on the ship and may have to change cabins then. I am not canceling it because I'll just wait to un pack, not bringing much anyway. So this is a fall back in case the booked passengers don't make it. I'm sure they are crazy excited for their vacation and I don't wish that on anyone. 2 days to go, cruise planner closed and weather looks beautiful in the Bahamas next week. 

 

[ellcee]

I've always wanted to do a holiday cruise but I host Thanksgiving and I do half the food  and all desserts on Christmas so my family would kill me. lol. Very excited for you. 

[Neesa]

@asquared17 @Adriana @Ampurp85well you three did it. I am officially 28 losses and 1 win! That's right, this girl who put in a last minute bid for the 2 bedroom owners suite actually was chosen for it. My credit card notified me of a charge without card present. Oh darn, thinking I was compromised I went into the account. Wait what, Royal? Oh boy they must have charged me twice for my beach club admissions. And then I thought, let me check my emails and lone behold.....

This is crazy.....I have never been chosen for a RUB so thank you all for all the well wishes and please join me in thoughts and prayers the family who had this cabin just yesterday that they are good, just had insurance and changed their mind. I am blessed once again.  I am grateful and humbled by this wonderful outcome.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Yippee @Neesa !  I guess there’s hope for all of us.  Enjoy it !  This is a great lesson for those who think they can’t win a RU just b/c the suites all appear to be sold out !  There’s always a chance !

[Neesa]

[asquared17]

YAY @Neesa!!!!!!

i love when friends are successful!!! 

[Neesa]

Well, since I was successful at the Royal Up game I called to cancel the Beach Club so Mr. Cabash head didn't explode. He was like you didn't win anything!! Um, well okay but I'm still excited. Calling RC was a sh!t show today. They said nothing could be done its to close to the cruise. (I wasn't surprised but I gave it my best girlscout effort) On hold forever to be hung up on and then when I finally got through they wouldn't even price adjust the beach club for me, I'm going to try and get a sale price when I get on board anyway. You know it's close when the threats start coming, and what is that window? Inquiry minds need to know. Still can't wait. I'm going to be super boring though after @Ampurp85, i love the way she shares her adventures. 

[Neesa]

She's here, today is the day. Why am I nervous? @SebagoSueprepared me for all things Tampa embarkation and Terminal 6! It's freezing this morning, glad Im doing carry on everything. Maybe when Im loaded down like a pack mule I wont feel it. Our muster was changed from Chops to Deck 5 so hoping we can just do it while walking past. We do have 1200 lunch reservations at Chops. I don't imbibe much but I do like a celebratory cheers, maybe a Prosecsco? I will take lots of pics of 7672 and hoping that weird window is mine, otherwise I will be floss dancing for others. Any questions of course please reach out and ask, blessed and looking forward to my family Serenade sailing. 

[Neesa]

OMG easiest embarkation ever! We walked from the car directly onto the ship, straight up to Vortex! FYI daughter found my first duck! Someone left it on a statute from the previous sailing. I'm relaxing in Vortex talking to the best Pinnicle couple I've ever met! So nice, so full of knowledge. Chops in a few minutes. @SebagoSueI could not believe how nice the people are in the Terminal 6 team! 

[asquared17]

we LOVE a smooth embarkation!!

that duck is so cute we just got ours prepared for our sailing next month and i can't wait to see who will find ours/the ones we will find!!

can't WAIT for cabin pics!!!!

[AandD]

Thanks Neesa. I agree with "Itinerary: Tour of the Bahamas, seriously a snooze fest but I'm sailing AND I Love Sailing!" We have the same cruise in 2 weeks. Did it because the price was right and gets us of northwest Missouri one more time before winter. Looking forward to your post. 

[Neesa]

Did I mention best embarkation ever! Chops for lunch was good. Cabin is amazing, it is huge I didn't expect so much storage. The bathroom off the main bedroom is much bigger then I expected. The balcony....well, let's just say I like em ahem, bigger. Can't do pictures just yet. All in phone will photo dump when internet is better. I really like this ship, some age showing but she has character for days.

[Neesa]

MDR standard, super loud and a bit slow. Food was okay, nothing special but no complaints. Servers were robotic as expected, seem very tired. Wearing masks, can't hear them with noise and mask. 

Ship isn't crazy crowded, actually seems like a nice mix of people. We were out of the dining room about 1840 and went to the top deck, the bridge was amazing. So cool, so glad we went to see it. We passed under it about 1855. I was tracking the ship on cruise tracker, so we for sure wouldn't miss it. The ship is rocking a bit but not terrible. Ugh, photos will not go even though I am cropping them. Photo dump coming soon, I hope.

[Neesa]

Oh boy, this is going down hill fast. No hot water at all. The shower in the master is a disaster. The hose is on the floor and FYI it doesn't mount to the wall anywhere. It's just there on the floor. OMG the music from the club below, are you kidding me? Mr. Cabash is pissed, we paid extra for this. I'm not very happy at all right now. This is not good, will keep you posted. 

[Neesa]

Plumber arrived and asked (after he said he fixed the water temp,) is 103 degrees good? Um, no! That's just tepid at best. Cabash thinks they are trying to save money by not heating the water to quite hot, on our deck there were several complaining about the same issue. Of course Cabash said to the guy, they put the temperature down to save money, right? Oh boy the poor man, I can't answer that sir, I don't know sir... that means sure they did! He fixed the other shower thingy that was on the floor as well. Putting it all behind us and going out to have a good day today. The music quieted down by 2300 so we could sleep in peace.  Here's hoping today will be nice, I really think this ship is pretty. I want to like her a lot today I give her another chance.

[Ampurp85]

I had no actual hot water in my shower on Harmony until day three. I hope they fix yours and it get better. I am glad the cabin is large and spacious, but it sucks about the noise.

[Neesa]

Can not upload any pics, so sorry. I will keep taking them and do a descriptive photo dump when possible. It's raining, windy and grey with pops of sunshine. I really like ship, and the cabin itself is a repeat booking for sure, just deck 8 or 9. The balcony is the smallest of the 3 and the music from below is a bit bothersome. I can live with it. I went to customer service about the water, it is tepid at best. People in front of me and behind me had the same problem, all deck 7.  They offered me a bottle of wine, I declined and asked for hot water. Oh, they offered to change my cabin to a balcony, even swop. No thank you, really? I paid for a suite.

There is no body lotion or spring water it seems, only filtered. The ships water is just fine, we are drinking that. 

The ship itself is hot, the cigarettes smoke does escape the casino and the odor does permeate a great deal of the ship, it's not a deal breaker but I am spoiled by the smoke free environment of other ships. 

There are 38 pinnacles and they are so sweet they are all in the Suite Lounge. That's all for now, hoping this doesn't disappear like my last attempt. 

More positives seriously then negatives...

[asquared17]

no water y i k e s.

hoping the hot water kicks on ASAP and that the weather clears up for you soon!!

 

[twangster]

How is the SL Concierge?  I'd mention the hot water issue to them.  

Forty pins on this class tends to be the cutoff before they are restricted from the SL so they just made it.  Just of Jewel with 48 pins.  Most pins are decent folks, it's always the few Painicles that stand out and ruin the reputation for the rest.

[Adriana]

Oh my gosh! I was so super excited as I read that your RUB was accepted then you got to your cabin… I pray you get hot water soon!  I love you standing your ground and saying no thanks to the wine and preferring actual hot water! Did they end up giving you the wine anyway? I can’t (well, I can) believe that they asked if you wanted to switch cabins! Yeah, sure, I really didn’t want those extra $600 I paid or want to be in the Owners suite! Is there a Suite Concierge with whom you could speak and maybe get more help? I am glad the music eventually quoted down.

     Rocky start, but praying for a wonderful cruise!! Have a great time!

[Neesa]

Hello! Welcome to another day with no hot water. We spoke to the concierge, tepid is the water temp. Still a bit uncomfortable. The SL is packed , the pins do come early and take up all the seats at the bar and along the beautiful windows, we have been finding seats on the stage though, it's extra hot up there. Still love the absolute beauty of this ship. In Freeport today, oh the singers on this ship are really talented as well as the dancers. Really enjoyed the show last night. We had dinner at Giovannis last night and it was really good. 

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. 

[Neesa]

[SebagoSue]

So glad you love the beauty of the smaller ship and that the entertainment has been good!  Fingers crossed that your water temp goes UP and your ship A/C temp goes DOWN!  Enjoy your Thanksgiving at sea!!

[WAAAYTOOO]

I didn't realize that Royal was even going to Freeport these days.  That place is such a dump.  I only recall going to Freeport when sailing on Carnival....MANY years ago.  Hopefully it's improved since then.

[Neesa]

The only thing they improved is they call it Grand Bahama Island now. It's still a dump, we are walking around in the port area for some steps and getting right back on the ship. I sailed this for the ship and timing worked, itinerary is a snoozefest.

GREAT NEWS!! WE HAVE HOT WATER!!!!!

[twangster]

Yay for hot water!  I guess this is one of the only times that "being in hot water" is a good thing.

[Neesa]

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[Neesa]

I love this tropical theater, I'm going to take pictures. Hear me now.....Best seats for Fat Bottomed Girls like me! First time on a ship where I was so comfortable. They have seats for two it seems, I sat with my super skinny daughter, the comfort added to the enjoyment. 

We had Chops for breakfast yesterday and today, it was nice but the crew is tired. Very nice people don't get me wrong but they are exhausted. Today it closed at 0900 but people showed up then, even a bit after. They closed the doors, I could feel their angst. Food was good.