SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 Greetings!! My wife and I are thrilled to be sailing with Royal Caribbean on Serenade of the Seas from 29 MAR - 10 APR, on a 10-night Southern Caribbean cruise! This vacation is one that's been long overdue for us, following a successful 5.5-month long deployment ??⚓️ and two year anniversary celebration that fell through the cracks due to hurricane season ? As previously mentioned, this will be my sixth cruise altogether, but my first on a Royal Caribbean. I am all ears for any tips that one can provide! Sweety, ellcee and Gears 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 Welcome! And thank you for your service! I'm on the same cruise... see you on board! What cruise lines have you sailed with before? SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted January 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 2 minutes ago, twangster said: Welcome! And thank you for your service! I'm on the same cruise... see you on board! What cruise lines have you sailed with before? 4-Disneys and 1-Carnival. And awesome!! I'll be seen singing karaoke or drinking fine brandy with cigar in hand ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 The man behind this site is @Matt. He has created many blogs for first timers to RCI: What time to get to the port What makes Royal Caribbean different and so on. If you go to the main page of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com there is a search box in the upper right. Just type in "first time" and you will see more blogs that he has written and possibly some podcasts as well. My only Disney experience is a long time ago but I sailed ten Carnival ships before switching over to Royal two years ago. Disney is great, no argument there but also very expensive. For me I love Royal and haven't looked back. Cheers! Gears and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 For new to Royal cruisers something you'll want to figure out is the cruise planner on Royal's website. They have a sale running this weekend on select items so its worth jumping into this now. Here is @Matt's podcast on the cruise planner: Cruise Planner Podcast Many things are offered for purchase in the cruise planner at discounted prices compared to on board prices. Internet (Voom) packages, drink packages, dining packages, etc. It's also where you book shore excursions and My Time dining if you didn't select traditional or fixed time dining when you booked your cruise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 1 hour ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: 4-Disneys and 1-Carnival. And awesome!! I'll be seen singing karaoke or drinking fine brandy with cigar in hand ? Hi @SaltyNavyCruiser15 ! Welcome to the boards! What I found initially helpful the first few cruises is just to read lots. The questions will come as you read and then the people here are great at answering them. Royal is way better than Carnival (although some will disagree with me ?) and IMO it is way better value than Disney (I've done 3 of those in the last few years). The size of Serenade is comparable to the Disney ships but your money will go a whole lot further on Royal. Have fun reading. The links that @twangster posted are great. And feel free to ask away! Steve L 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 Serenade is a beautiful ship. I have been on her four times including a B2B. The ship is easy to navigate. SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Welcome to the boards! Feel free to ask specific questions to get some better feedback on how you can improve or enhance your upcoming cruise. There is a great communal knowledge base here to discover! coneyraven and SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Thanks for your service, Dditto the opinion of those above. SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 On 1/6/2018 at 10:15 PM, twangster said: The man behind this site is @Matt. He has created many blogs for first timers to RCI: What time to get to the port What makes Royal Caribbean different and so on. If you go to the main page of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com there is a search box in the upper right. Just type in "first time" and you will see more blogs that he has written and possibly some podcasts as well. My only Disney experience is a long time ago but I sailed ten Carnival ships before switching over to Royal two years ago. Disney is great, no argument there but also very expensive. For me I love Royal and haven't looked back. Cheers! Hey Thanks a lot!!! I appreciate the feed back. I'll be sure to read up on a lot of the details before I head out. Disney is extremely expensive.... nice, but pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 On 1/6/2018 at 11:43 PM, Sabrinaklai said: Hi @SaltyNavyCruiser15 ! Welcome to the boards! What I found initially helpful the first few cruises is just to read lots. The questions will come as you read and then the people here are great at answering them. Royal is way better than Carnival (although some will disagree with me ?) and IMO it is way better value than Disney (I've done 3 of those in the last few years). The size of Serenade is comparable to the Disney ships but your money will go a whole lot further on Royal. Have fun reading. The links that @twangster posted are great. And feel free to ask away! Thank you as well! I really enjoy reading a lot of the inputs on here.... something I have yet to see for Disney. Yeah, my time on Carnival wasn't really all that fantastic :/ I'm really hoping to see what Royal Caribbean offers. We have the room with a balcony... definitely a must on catching those Caribbean sunsets! B ^ ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 On 1/7/2018 at 2:31 PM, Sweety said: Serenade is a beautiful ship. I have been on her four times including a B2B. The ship is easy to navigate. Really good to know. The wife and I are very thrilled about our trip coming up. Funny question, but do they by chance have a hot tub to relax in? I haven't noticed any pictures really of the pool deck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 4 minutes ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: Really good to know. The wife and I are very thrilled about our trip coming up. Funny question, but do they by chance have a hot tub to relax in? I haven't noticed any pictures really of the pool deck. Yes they do on the pool deck. SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Just now, Sweety said: Yes they do on the pool deck. perfection. I'm set up perfectly then. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Just now, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: perfection. I'm set up perfectly then. Thanks! You are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 1 hour ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: Thank you as well! I really enjoy reading a lot of the inputs on here.... something I have yet to see for Disney. Yeah, my time on Carnival wasn't really all that fantastic :/ I'm really hoping to see what Royal Caribbean offers. We have the room with a balcony... definitely a must on catching those Caribbean sunsets! B ^ ) Disney has their Disneycruiselineblog.com which is similar to some of the posts on the main page here. @Matt does a way better job maintaining this and keeping it current. This site has way more info as well. And there's the message boards here which the disney blog does not have along with the wonderful people here. People here are helpful, not CCritical ? So it's just better here all around Oh and yes, balconies are a must in my books.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 @twangster hard to believe how fast time flies! Here we are, vacation upon us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Babe Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 3 hours ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: Here we are, vacation upon us Have a fabulous time!! So well deserved and thank you again for your service! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 3 hours ago, Boston Babe said: Have a fabulous time!! So well deserved and thank you again for your service! Aww thank you very much!! We are very excited! Boston Babe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 13 hours ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: @twangster hard to believe how fast time flies! Here we are, vacation upon us Indeed. Business trip at the moment, gotta get through this before vacay mode kicks in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 9 hours ago, twangster said: Indeed. Business trip at the moment, gotta get through this before vacay mode kicks in. Ugh I was that way this week too.... WITH a flippin cold that both my wife and I caught. Luckily though with a bit of sudafed, we kicked it right out of us! Heading to the in laws now to catch a flight out of Asheville to FLL. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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