SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 Hello all! Id like to go ahead and get the thread started for those sailing on Serenade of the Seas between 30 MAR and 09 APR. This will be our third cruise (2xdisney, 1xRCL) with this being our first on RCL. We are stoked!! Will be flying in from Asheville NC to Ft Lauderdale, and will spend a night on the 28th. From there on the 29th, we will embark! The Wife and I hope to meet new friends! Bon Voyage, Shipmates! accio7, Ray, Skigoofy and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 Looking forward to following along! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Thank you for doing this blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FL Hokie Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 It leaves on the 30th. Don't want you there a day too early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 6 hours ago, FL Hokie said: It leaves on the 30th. Don't want you there a day too early. Great observation ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyC Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Have a great time!! Will be following along. We're on Serenade in October for a 12 night repo. Will be our longest sailing ever, with 10 nights currently holding the record. accio7 and SaltyNavyCruiser15 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Babe Posted March 24, 2018 Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 Following! SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamblingRandie Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Have a great trip. What's your itinerary? SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 16 hours ago, RamblingRandie said: Have a great trip. What's your itinerary? FRI 30 MAR FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA SAT 31 MAR CRUISING SUN 01 APR CRUISING MON 02 APR CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS - Scuba Diving Excursion TUE 03 APR ST. CROIX, U.S.V.I. - The Palms at Pelican Cove Beach Break WED 04 APR FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE THU 05 APR BASSETERRE, ST KITTS & NEVIS FRI 06 APR PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN - Maho Beach Airplane Experience SAT 07 APR CRUISING SUN 08 APR CRUISING MON 09 APR FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA Needless to say, we are STOKED! Sweety, accio7, Lovetocruise2002 and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 That's a great itinerary! Looking forward to following along! Have a great time! SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamblingRandie Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 That is an amazing itinerary. Have a blast. Deedeelynn and SaltyNavyCruiser15 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 YIPPEE !!!! SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted March 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 23 hours ago, RamblingRandie said: That is an amazing itinerary. Have a blast. Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 Hey @SaltyNavyCruiser15! Did you make it on board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mworkman Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 We did that itinerary Jan 5th and enjoyed it...have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 On 3/27/2018 at 7:06 AM, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: FRI 30 MAR FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA SAT 31 MAR CRUISING SUN 01 APR CRUISING MON 02 APR CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS - Scuba Diving Excursion TUE 03 APR ST. CROIX, U.S.V.I. - The Palms at Pelican Cove Beach Break WED 04 APR FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE THU 05 APR BASSETERRE, ST KITTS & NEVIS FRI 06 APR PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN - Maho Beach Airplane Experience SAT 07 APR CRUISING SUN 08 APR CRUISING MON 09 APR FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA Needless to say, we are STOKED! I love Martinique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted April 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 Hello everyone! Shoutout to @twangster and his VERY extensive live blog he’s got going on. Here’s a very brief rundown from my first time sailing with RCL: Days at Sea (31 MAR-01 APR) - Two Words: Very Relaxing ?. Much deserved R&R after a long 6 months of being away from home on a deployment. My wife and I used these two days to explore the ship and all that it has to offer. First timer recommendation: BUY THE DRINK PACKAGE BEFORE YOU SAIL! I paid a hard lesson my first day when I had to drop a G+ on drinks, but I can assure you, it’s WELL worth the money! St Thomas, USVI (02 APR) - AWESOME diving excursion spent with Underwater Adventures. For anyone reading this who is open water diver certified or higher, HIGHLY recommend this port for diving. We dove on Rye Reef & Cartanza Seniora, which was about a 20 minute charter boat ride to the dive site (video to come after returning home). My wife and I were unable to head into town as we didn’t have cash at the time for a taxi. Another rookie mistake - make sure to bring cash! St. Croix, USVI (03 APR) - We pulled into St Croix and it rained ALL afternoon. Others who are sailing with us said that there was a side of the island that they went to with their excursions and didn’t get the rain, however, my wife and I were not able to attend our catamaran excursion due to severe weather. Fort de France, Martinique (TODAY, 04 APR) - Allllllright, here’s where it begins to turn sour. Our morning started out fantastic with a breakfast on our balcony and sun beating down on us with 80+*F. We got off the ship and decided to head into town. We encountered very unfriendly locals in a lot of the locations that we went to (I.e - shops, the library, etc). On the elevator ride back to the room, this was a common complaint from many of the other folks sailing with us. My dive buddy I had in St Thomas got so infuriated with the unfriendliness of the locals that she swore to never book another cruise with Fort De France as part of the itinerary. After what we encountered, I can’t say as though I blame her... Speaking of unhappy attitudes, I do have to mention at least two instances where ive been incredibly uncomfortable with bartenders. Situation 1.) Im in the solarium while docked in St Croix, and it’s POURING down raining. The solarium top is open, while it’s pouring, and lots of people begin to start scurrying like ants because of the rain. I was really confused with the top being open while it’s pouring, and not while it’s sunny out? Well, the solarium closes, and the bartender finally arrives. I walk up to order a drink and shoot the s*** with him since I was the only person standing there. I decide to ask, “hey, why doesn’t the solarium open up when it’s sunny out?” His response? “I don’t know, why don’t you ask the Captain?” Situation 2.) same day, in the casino. As we begin to pull away from the USVI, the bar and casino open up. I can’t really tell if the bar is open yet or not (because I couldn’t tell if he had just arrived or not), so I ask if he was open? His response, “idk, you tell me?” After getting this response, a second bartender in a row, I snapped a response like, “well I didn’t know because I didn’t want to get in the way of you opening and setting up the bar, so I’ll ask again, are you open?” He served me a drink, and away I went on my merry way. I have wanted to make a complaint but I have no idea who to talk to, or if anything would come of it. Overall, we are very happy with this cruise. We’ve had a blast so far, and are very pleased. I will make a second half of my blog for the remaining 5 nights we have at sea and will score our cruise based on others we’ve been on, between 1-5 point scale. (hopefully we won’t have anymore issues with bartenders??) ellcee, RestingBird, accio7 and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 @SaltyNavyCruiser15 about the bartenders....sorry to hear that their attitude was not on par with what you normally get from RC. Did you get their names? We actually had a situation on Anthem last month with a crew member that did not sit well with me at all. Like you, I had no idea who I was suppose to complain to. I will give you the advice that hubby gave me....take a couple of hours to decide if it's something actually worth complaining about. If yes, then I would head to guest services and ask to speak to whoever might be in charge of the bartenders. Don't just speak to a GS rep. Also, when you get the link after your cruise, you can also mention it in the survey. Sounds like you are having a great time so far despite the rudeness. Thanks for sharing so far! accio7 and SaltyNavyCruiser15 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyNavyCruiser15 Posted April 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 16 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: @SaltyNavyCruiser15 about the bartenders....sorry to hear that their attitude was not on par with what you normally get from RC. Did you get their names? We actually had a situation on Anthem last month with a crew member that did not sit well with me at all. Like you, I had no idea who I was suppose to complain to. I will give you the advice that hubby gave me....take a couple of hours to decide if it's something actually worth complaining about. If yes, then I would head to guest services and ask to speak to whoever might be in charge of the bartenders. Don't just speak to a GS rep. Also, when you get the link after your cruise, you can also mention it in the survey. Sounds like you are having a great time so far despite the rudeness. Thanks for sharing so far! Nahhh it’s not something worth complaining about now... it happened yesterday so it would be silly if I mentioned something about it now ? thank you for the advice!! If I encounter anymore issues I’ll make sure to bring it up :) Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mworkman Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 4 hours ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said: Nahhh it’s not something worth complaining about now... it happened yesterday so it would be silly if I mentioned something about it now ? thank you for the advice!! If I encounter anymore issues I’ll make sure to bring it up :) Next time you run into that situation...just quietly whisper that you know Twangster and he makes people disappear, if you know what i mean! :-) We got the same vibe from the locals while we were there in Jan and came to the conclusion that Martinique would not be on our list of Islands to stay at for a land vacation. WAAAYTOOO, SaltyNavyCruiser15, Lovetocruise2002 and 3 others 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 Glad you are overall having a good time. Cranky bartenders are a long way from 2 beers on Steel Beach but I get that this is something you are paying for so want more. Hope you find a bar that gets to know you but I’ve found it helps to give a dollar or two extra tip so they will remember what you want before you order it. Enjoy the rest of your cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 While I have not been to Martinique before, I have heard a number of complaints about unwelcoming locals. It really doesn't seem to make any sense that they would have an unwelcoming attitude but I'm sure they have a reason....whatever it might be. All I know is that if they don't want my money, I will just keep it. So glad to hear that you are having a good time and enjoying the cruise. I am also sorry to hear about the flippant bartenders. I guess everyone has a bad day from time-to-time...but I think you handled it well and didn't let it ruin your day. Good job ! RestingBird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Babe Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 Been to Martinique and encountered the same situation many times. (was there on business). It seems they are resentful instead of grateful which is sad, it really is a pretty island, but SOOO Happy your and your wife are enjoying your well deserved cruise! SaltyNavyCruiser15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floski Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: While I have not been to Martinique before, I have heard a number of complaints about unwelcoming locals. It really doesn't seem to make any sense that they would have an unwelcoming attitude but I'm sure they have a reason....whatever it might be. All I know is that if they don't want my money, I will just keep it. So glad to hear that you are having a good time and enjoying the cruise. I am also sorry to hear about the flippant bartenders. I guess everyone has a bad day from time-to-time...but I think you handled it well and didn't let it ruin your day. Good job ! Oh, they want your money, alright.... WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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