-
Serenade of the Seas
- May 19th to May 31st, 2013
- Cruising the
Mediterranean in the Revamped Serenade of the Seas!
-
-
We last
sailed on Serenade of the
Seas almost exactly two years ago to the day! (See that
review:
http://home.comcast.net/~pmccullough/cruise/Serenade%2011/Serenade%2011.htm
) In those two years, this stately dame has undergone (just a few
months ago, actually) a very expensive upgrade of its public spaces.
The upgrades are beautiful. But the main reason for revisiting
this old favorite Radiance Class ship was to do our very first
Mediterranean cruise (and to take our very first trip to Europe as
well)!
This was a
12 night itinerary which
offered many of the most popular sites in many countries, so it seemed like a
natural choice. The itinerary was from Barcelona, Spain to Nice (Villefranche),
France to Pisa/Florence (Livorno), Italy to Rome (Civitivecchia), Italy
to Athens, Greece to Kusadasi (pronounced KOOsha-dasee), Turkey to
Santorini (a Greek Isle), Greece to Naples (Salerno), Italy and then
back to Barcelona, Spain. Between Rome and Athens, we had two days
at sea and between Santorini and Naples we had a day at sea and between
Naples and Barcelona we had a day at sea. Our stop at Nice,
France, was unfortunately canceled due to extremely rough weather.
This stop was to be tendered rather than docked, so Captain Karen (a
fantastic captain, btw) decided to make this day, that would have been a
day at Nice, into another "at sea" day. She also made this a very
enjoyable day by keeping us way south of the storms in Nice (pronounced
like "niece" rather than "nice")! In addition to our cruise
itinerary, which will be the main thrust of this review since many of
the things I said about Serenade in the previous review are still true (other than the upgrades
which I will discuss here), we also enjoyed two days in magnificent
Barcelona!
This cruise even had
some unexpected perks, like the Serenade's tight daytime squeeze between
Italy and Sicily and again later on in the voyage at night on the way
back! It's not often that you see land on both sides of the ship
(aside from some instances when in port, of course) cruising by.
Then, too, was the amazing passage between Corsica and Sardinia... two
enormous islands just west of Italy running north-south. I wasn't
aware that we'd even see these two on this trip. We saw so much...
my head is still spinning. This was a refreshing change of pace
from the same Caribbean/Bermuda ports we've done so often. It was
truly a trip to remember!
Another reason that this
cruise was so special was our group! All family: Dad, Uncle Joe,
cousins Ginny and John, and sister Patty and bro Mac and of course, Diane and I.
All eight of us had so much fun laughing and learning... and exploring...
in these ports.
Cruises with family and/or friends are always more special. It was
amazing that all of us could have this experience together on the other
side of the planet! Once again, kudos to Karen (our travel
agent... not to be confused with Captain Karin of the Serenade) for pulling all
this together for us, too!
The Ship: This time
around, we opted for the typical "E" class balcony all the way
forward on deck nine, cabin 9024. This location is on the port
side right off of the elevators. All of our cabins were adjacent
to each other and the others were in cabins 9022, 9026 and cabin
9028. Our cabin steward was a nice woman named Marianna.
Even though she was suffering from a nasty cold (she had to miss
half a day actually), she kept our room tidy the entire trip.
The "E" class cabins are smaller balcony cabins with space for a two seater couch and closet, bathroom (the typical Royal Caribbean ship
layout of tube shower, toilet, sink, mirror and some storage) and
that silly little table that you pile junk on through out the cruise
that eventually merges onto the couch. The cabin appointments
are simple and comfortable. The sheets are magnificent on the
beds! There are heavy sliding glass doors leading out to the
balcony. The balconies are large for such a small room, but the
glass walls and railing were often dirty. The balcony itself
was also showing signs of neglect from years of use. We had
seats so badly beat up that we asked Marianna to replace them on the
first day (which she promptly did). This was one of the things
that didn't get addressed during Serenade's multi-million dollar
makeover.
- Lovely Little Cabin 9024
(Before we junked it up)
As I stated
above, Serenade had recently undergone a massive upgrade of its
public spaces. The Centrum changed from a sleepy lobby area
with the occasional party to a full-on show lounge complete with
flying acts and dance numbers and all sorts of other activities.
The surfaces have all been changed and new lighting installed on all
the over-hanging Centrum balconies as well. The ship also has
several new restaurants brought over from the Oasis-class ships and
other Oasis-class features as well: Izumi (a sushi
restaurant), Rita's Cantina (a Mexican restaurant), Giovanni's Table
(a Family Style Italian restaurant) and Park Cafe (an open air
restaurant in the Solarium). All but Park Cafe are surcharge
places. There's now a small cinema aboard (we watched "Skyfall"
and "Men in Black 3" there) with stadium seating, and a poolside
movie screen as well. There's also a much bigger Concierge
Club for us Diamond Plus members and a brand new Diamond Club, both
on deck 13. (The new Diamond club has absorbed about a third
of the Vortex night club and the new Concierge Club is now located
where the cigar room was. The new Concierge Club has indoor
and outdoor seating.)
- The new Centrum at night!
Overall, we
were greatly impressed with the Serenade "face-lift" (as Captain
Karin called it when I told her how much we liked the new stuff).
But there were some things that disappointed. For instance,
the Solarium looks like its in even worse shape than it looked back
in 2011. The Thai inspired building on the wall looks like its
crumbling at the top, and the background wall is streaked with
unsightly stains. The large gold elephant heads have large
chips in them with white showing through (as they did in '11).
There was also signs of rust and dirt and badly chipped tiles in the
Solarium. Why spend so much money elsewhere and not fix up the
Solarium as well? Also, many of the newly installed Info
Screens (which I talked about on my Oasis review (see:
http://home.comcast.net/~pmccullough/cruise/Oasis%2010/Oasis%2010.htm)
didn't seem very responsive sometimes. This was never a
problem on Oasis. The rotating bar is still broken up at the
Vortex. I was assured by the staff there that this is
something that happened recently, but I assured them that it didn't
work in 2011, either. Finally, wifi is absolutely abysmal,
still (!), aboard the Serenade. We were given 90 minutes of
"free" internet time aboard. Ninety percent of that time was
spent just trying to log on and maintain a connection; when you did
get a good connection, the download time was so slow that their own
service would time-out and log you off making you go through the
whole process again. This level of lousy internet is
unacceptable aboard a modern cruise ship. It's a crime that
there is a fee to use this.
Serenade's Dining Experiences:
Windjammer (Deck 11, aft): (complimentary) the usually
outstanding buffet aboard all Royal Caribbean ships. This one still had
very good food for those on the go, but there seemed to me to be a cut back from
the variety I've come to expect at this location on past cruises. One
bright spot: Rita's Cantina being on port side slightly aft of the Windjammer
seems to make people forget that there's plenty of outside seating still for the
Windjammer all the way aft. This really helped our enlightened group find
a table almost all the time when we dined there.
Rita's Cantina (Deck 11, port side, aft): (Fee based) This is a
transplant from the Allure of the Seas (Oasis class) and it features Mexican
food. Of our group, Diane and I did not eat here, but the reviews from our
group (many of which love Mexican food, as we do) were not good at all. I
generally won't comment on something I haven't experienced directly, but they
were all so adamant about the low quality of the food that I guess I feel it
necessary to advise giving this one a miss.
- Rita's Cantina for Mexican Food
Main Dining Room (Deck 4 and 5, aft): (complimentary) We had a
table on deck 4, number 442, late seating. Our waiter was Francesco and
his assistant, Nina. Both were excellent, and we advised that they
accelerate Nina to full waitress status ASAP. The head waiter said they
were working on that! Food here was very good and consistently so. I
was pleased to see that escargot was always on the menu, and I liked the new
menu boards, too. I am still dismayed that there isn't just an everyday
plain chocolate or vanilla cake with icing. Yes, fancy desserts are
wonderful, but it would be nice to have the option of a standard dessert from
time to time. We ate lunch in the Main Dining Room twice taking advantage
of the Bistro 30 option where you can have your entire lunch served in
style in 30 minutes. Excellent lunch here, and they have a salad bar where
a chef will combine your ingredients for you. (Note: Ginny and John opted
for My Time Dining)
- Main Dining Room (Our table in '11 was
only a few feet away from this one)
Chops Grille (Deck 6, starboard aft): (fee based) Always a
favorite, the entire group did this for our Sail Away dinner on the first night
out. The service and food was impeccable here. Still the best steaks
at sea! This was an awesome place for our first dinner aboard... an
excellent way to kick off the cruise! (Hint: on this cruise, the specialty
restaurant surcharge was lower on the first night out; check for this on your
cruise, too!)
- Chops Grille... Best Filet Mignon
aboard!
Giovanni's Table (Deck 6, starboard aft): (fee based) A
transplant from the Oasis class ships, it replaced our old favorite, Portofino's
(which was going downhill in quality, unfortunately). Giovanni's has very
good food, but I did have better memories eating at the Giovanni's on Oasis.
Perhaps it was the lunch-time menu on Oasis that was more appealing.
Still, we enjoyed our date night dinner (just Diane and I) here just the same. We also had
dinner here as part of our Mystery Dinner Theater (A GREAT time!) later in the
week. Mac and
Patty ate here as well, but their first course did not arrive for 90 minutes!
Their meal was given to them for free due to the ridiculous delay. So,
while we had no problems like this, your mileage may vary. It did seem
like our waiter was often pre-occupied over what was going on elsewhere in a
mostly empty restaurant.
- Giovanni's Table... bring a big
appetite to this Italian restaurant!
Izumi (upper deck, starboard aft): (fee based) Another Oasis
transplant, located where the old Seaview Cafe used to be. We actually
loved the Seaview Cafe, but I was very excited to try Izumi, a sushi
Asian-fusion place we missed on Oasis. We had lunch here, and the sushi
was good, but not great. The service was very good though. The
waiter recommended a huge sushi special which I couldn't eat as it was
incredibly spicy. He didn't charge me for it. I was disappointed
that they make Philadelphia Rolls at dinner but not at lunch. The whole
idea of sushi is that it can be made fresh (which they do) anytime. They
made me something similar to a Philly roll, but I would have liked to just had
the one they had on their dinner menu at lunch instead.
- Izumi... your sushi stop aboard
Serenade
Park Cafe (Deck 11, Solarium): (Complimentary) This is also
sort of an Oasis transplant. It was also an incredibly wonderful little
eatery making delicious paninis, cuban sandwiches, quesadillas, and salads.
There was an excellent selection of cookies, and desserts here, as well.
Being inside the Solarium meant being able to have a wonderful lunch and keep
your lounge chair by the pool at the same time! A very popular spot!
Our Itinerary
in Photos and Words, Day
by Day:
May 17th, Arrival at Barcelona, Spain:
We always arrive at a cruise port a day early, but with all the flying time
required from Philly to Barcelona (ours was a direct flight) and the expected
jet lag, we opted for two days in Barcelona. I am so happy that we did!
We stayed at the magnificent Hotel Espana (http://www.hotelespanya.com/en/)
which is beautiful... and right in the heart of the action, just off the
exciting La Rambla! This hotel is very old and has incredible
artwork; conversely, its rooms are ultra modern! There is
free wifi, room safes, and flat screen TV (with international channels, some in
english) The bathrooms are large and some (like ours) have tubs. Note, the
high walls of the tubs may be troublesome for older people or people with
difficulty with their legs. If this describes you, ask for a shower only
room. There are restaurants within the hotel and tons of restaurants
within walking distance (some very good, some bad). There's also an extensive
market place on La Rambla that has to be seen to be believed. You are in
easy walking distance to the Hop On Hop Off busses at Placa Catalunya... we used
these to visit some of Barcelona's great landmarks.
- My personal data screen told me all I wanted to
know: half way there,
- altitude 36,976', speed 650 mph, outside temp
-69 F! (yes, negative 69!)
The flight to
Barcelona was on USAir #742 from PHL to BCN airport. It left Philly on May
16th at 7:00pm (40 minutes late due to storms over NJ and rerouting) and arrived
on time in Barcelona on May 17th at 8:30am. The flight was very smooth,
and actually it didn't seem that long. We were in row 8 seats A and B.
There were no seats in front of us so we had plenty of leg room. Dinner
was served and we had small flat screen TVs that folded out of the seat arm
rests (others had these in the back of the seats in front of them). You
could watch shows, rent movies or listen to music. Headphones were
provided free of charge. Upon arrival at Barcelona we waited for about 45
minutes for Pat and Mac and Dad's flight coming from Florida. In
hindsight, we shouldn't have waited, as our suitcases were taken off the
conveyor belt and we got lucky and intercepted the men flatbedding them to
unclaimed luggage! After all that confusion, Diane and I (we couldn't find
a taxi van to get all of us over to the hotel together) got a cab to the
Hotel Espana. Our cab driver spoke no English ("Yeah, Paul, everyone is
Europe speaks English... don't worry!"), nor did he speak Spanish (we had
directions to the hotel printed in Spanish that he could not read) nor did he
speak Catalan (the main language in Barcelona)... he only spoke Italian.
After a few minutes of fumbling, he figured out where our hotel was and took us
on a long expensive ride. He was a nice driver, but he punctuated the fact
that he didn't speak english by slapping me on the shoulder to get my attention
to something he was pointing out on the way (which didn't matter as I had no
idea what he was talking about.)
- The Hotel Espana, Barcelona... gorgeous old
world architecture and ultra modern rooms!
- The Hotel Espana's Lobby light fixtures...
beautiful!
- Hotel Espana's central foyer at night!
Once we got to the hotel, around 11 am, we found out (Pat
and Mac and Dad had rooms here, too) our rooms wouldn't be ready till 2pm, so we
decided to relax a little in the lobby (we were all bushed after our long
flights) then we explored the hotel's roof top exotic pool and bar. It was
too cold in Barcelona (mid 60s) to go for a swim. We then decided to go
grab a local lunch on La Rambla. When we went downstairs we found out that
two of the rooms we booked were now opened up. So we had our luggage
delivered to them and checked them out. The rooms, as I said, were super
cool. The square toilet took some getting used to... and finding the
flush lever (or button) in each country we visited was always a challenge! In our hotel
room, there are two buttons built into the wall side by side... one large, and
one small. The small one is for liquid waste and the large one for solid.
With my American "sensibilities", I always hit the large button. What do I
know about conservation?!? :) We had a fair but expensive lunch at a
restaurant on the corner of La Rambla called American Soda. I wouldn't eat
there again. After lunch, we went back to our rooms for naps as we were
still on east coast USA time (all the
rooms were ready now) and then later we hooked up with cousins Ginny and John
and Uncle Joe who rented an exotic apartment adjacent to Placa Rieal which was a
gorgeous location. We all had dinner outside at a restaurant on La Rambla
that had pretty good tapas and sangria. (Eating outside leaves you open to
the occasional drunk walking by... one of which seemed threatening and had
to be chased off by our very helpful waiter, but this was an otherwise nice
place to eat.) Later we checked out the apartment that Ginny and John had...
then we retired for the night back at Hotel Espana.
- Hotel Espana... our room! Cool backlit
wall...
- View of our room at the Hotel Espana from
another angle...
- the room also had a large closet and bathroom
(not pictured)
- My camera's autotimer allowed for this photo at
the pool deck of the Hotel Espana!
- (l to r: Diane, Paul, Dad, Patty, Mac)
- Whimsical face chairs at the Hotel Espana's
Pool Deck! Very cool place to be at night!
May 18th, Exploring Barcelona, Spain: We
did this on the Hop On Hop Off bus system and loved it. We hopped on
(after buying tickets) at Placa Catalunya which is an enormous square. For
one set price, you can get off and on the buses (which visit each station about
every 15 or 20 minutes) at various locations all about Barcelona and visit the
numerous important spots. I had La Sagreda de Familia (centuries old
church that's still under construction) and Park Guel on my hit list. We
could only do the latter as the church was over-run with 1000s of tourists on
this Saturday morning. The weather was cool with occasional bursts of rain
and then some sun and then some rain all day. We did get off and climb the
long hill up to the Park Guell site. It was fantastic up there.
After touring the park (free), we headed back down hill and stopped at nice
deli-like restaurant for a late lunch of sandwiches.
- The beautiful, and fun La Rambla! Just
be aware of those around you... there are always reports of pickpockets!
- Just some of the offerings at the outside
market, La Boqueria, right on La Rambla!
- Views up and down the avenues from La Rambla!
- The view from a Hop-on Bus; some of Barcelona's
unique architecture!
- Long climb up to the top of Park Guel!
- Beautiful views from Park Guel... that's the
Mediterranean Sea in the distance!
- Living statue... these are very popular in
Barcelona!
After taking the rest
of the tour cycle and coming back to Placa Catalunya, our group proceeded in
different directions and Diane and I decided to do the long trek from Placa
Catalunya along La Rambla to the harbor. (we saw someone's video doing this
exact walk on Youtube before the trip and decided this would be a fun walk)
With the street vendors and street performances and little street cafes, this is
an exciting place! We'd heard to be wary of pick pockets, and while there
were one or two suspicious looking individuals, we were never bothered.
(Note: men: keep your wallets in front pockets... women: keep your purses over
your neck and shoulders... never put anything like a purse or wallet or cell
phone or computer down on a surface where they can be snatched by someone
passing by) I felt safer here than in most American inner cities, but
again, crime definitely happens in Barcelona. (We actually saw two cab
drivers get into a near brawl in the middle of a circle!) We walked down
to the harbor and visited a large shopping mall there, then we came back up La Rambla and stopped along the way for some Sangria. Tipsy, we walked back
to the Hotel Espana. For our last dinner in Barcelona, I found a
Tripadvisor place just a few steps from our hotel called Restaurante Romesco.
This place looks like a dive from the outside, but it offers delicious meals at
rock bottom prices. We all thought it was the best meal we had in
Barcelona, even if it was a bit cramped (hey, a crowded restaurant is usually a
good one). We retired for the night after dinner and our big day the next
day: embarking on our 12 night Mediterranean tour on the Serenade of the Seas!
May 19th, The Embarkation:
Our cab ride over to the port from the Hotel Espana
was about 20 minutes, and fairly quickly, we were at the check in desk at the
pier. Once there, we found out that we had to surrender our passports due
to our stop in Turkey, which is not a member of the European Union (all our
other port of calls were in EU places). These were returned to us near the
end of the cruise. No big deal; they were all kept locked away and
everyone had to do this... it was just a surprise. We got our group of
eight together for a group picture and then we proceeded to the ship via it's
gently rising gangways. Once aboard, we headed on up (as is customary) to
the Windjammer Buffet and our nice lunch together. I purchased my soda
package, which is always worth the price for me as I practically bathe in diet
Coke. (yeah, I know it's bad for me, blah, blah, blah). After lunch, we
went to our cabins but on the way, Diane and I were already marveling at the
major changes made to the Centrum. Once in our cabins, we dropped off our
carry-on luggage and I ran down to the Chops Grille to re-confirm the Sail-Away
dinner reservation for 8 we set online, and I found them already setting up our
table! (gotta LOVE efficiency!) When we got back, our luggage had arrived so we started unpacking.
Around 4, we attended the mandatory muster drill and said "Hello" to our
lifeboat. Then it was back to the cabin to stow our luggage under the beds
(the space under the bed was a little too shallow for the thickness of a typical
29" Revo suitcase... so our beds were ever so slightly propped up by them for
the next 12 nights. Not that we noticed.)
- Arriving in our Med cabin!
- Looking back at Barcelona from our balcony...
that's the impressive "W" Hotel on the waterfront!
- (If we get back to Barcelona someday, it might
be nice to give this place a try)
- Dinner at Chops Grille (l to r: Patty,
Me, Dad, Diane and Ginny; John and Joe not pictured but at table)
May 20th, Nice... nope, day at Sea
instead:
During dinner on the previous night, Captain Karin announced that the storms at
our Nice, France destination were so severe that tendering operations would be
too dangerous (the Nice stop doesn't have the facilities for a ship of
Serenade's size, so all those going ashore would be using water taxis).
So, after checking with other ports and seeing no vacancies, she opted for
making this an additional Day at Sea. In so doing, she kept us far south
of the storms and in the beautiful sunshine! We loved this day at sea even
though we were disappointed that we missed out on France. Diane and I had lunch at
Izumi, Serenade's new sushi restaurant... a concept transferred over from the
Oasis class ships. After lunch at Izumi, Diane and I went up to the
Windjammer for dessert. We returned to our cabin to find we now had three
free bottles of wine! One was from our travel agent, one from our travel
agent's firm (!) and another from Royal Caribbean. (RCCL loves their loyal
cruise passengers- yay, Crown and Anchor!) We spent the afternoon in the
wonderful, kid-free zone, Solarium! Dinner this night was formal attire,
so we got dressed up and headed to the Diamond Club where we met up with Uncle
Joe, Dad, and Pat and Mac. On our way to dinner, we stopped by a mini show
in the Centrum where the dancers were doing their version of Madonna's Vogue
(very cool) and then Captain Karin made a speech welcoming us all aboard.
(So proud of Royal Caribbean having the first female Captain) After
dinner, there was an impressive Flamenco dancer show. We turned in early
as the next day was going to be a lot of walking and touring in Florence and
Pisa, Italy!
- Serenade's Main Pool and new movie screen!
- Having a sushi lunch at Serenade's new Izumi
restaurant!
- Sushi creation at Izumi; my order was lower
left... the waiter insisted I try the bigger creation!
- (It was good but very spicy...)
- Drinks and hors devours before dinner in the
Diamond Club! (l to r: Patty, Mac and Diane)
- Hors devours bar at the Serenade Diamond
Club...
- View down the elevator glass wall with views
out to the sea!
- Serenade's master, Captain Karin!
- Serenade's dancers perform before dinner in the
new Centrum!
May 21st, Arrival at Livorno, Italy for
Florence and Pisa: We originally intended to just visit Pisa for the
Field of Miracles and the Leaning Tower and skip Florence. But on the
advice of our travel agent, we changed our originally scheduled side excursion
and did one that included both Pisa and Florence. We were so happy we did
(Thank you, Karen!) as Florence was one of the most incredible tours of
the entire trip. This trip was partly in a comfortable bus and then
extensive walking. Our first stop was Florence. The major church, The Duomo, was so incredibly
ornate and complex.
It mesmerized everyone present. The walking tour took us past the museum
housing the Statue of David. We didn't have time to go in and see the
actual one, but we did see a copy outside of the museum, along with some other
amazing statues. We then walked down to the waterway that the shopping
bridge crossed over. We had lunch in Napoleon's sister's palace.
Lunch was part of the tour and included vegetable lasagna, wine, bread, beef,
potatoes and spinach. Dessert was tiramisu and there was also bottled
water. Afternoon in Pisa... we originally thought that Pisa
was going to be all about the famous Leaning Tower... but the entire Field of
Miracles complex (of which the Tower is a part) is just breath taking. In
fact, if the Tower wasn't leaning or if it didn't exist at all, this would still
be a popular stop on any tour... the Church and the Baptistry are beautiful to
behold. The entire Field of Miracles complex is walled in but surrounded
by neighborhoods. The Leaning Tower (the Bell Tower) is definitely
the focal point. Aside from it's incredible tilt, it's a gorgeous work of
art... the tilt just gives it a surreal feel. Uncle Joe and I had hoped to
climb to the top, but alas, our tour did not give us the time needed. (If
we had just another 30 minutes...) When we got back to the ship, we were
all too tired to do dinner. Diane and I opted to eat in the Windjammer
while the rest of the crew went to their one (and only) dinner at Rita's
Cantina. As I said above, they gave it a thumbs down. (Too bad as
this is a surcharge restaurant; my notes did remind me that nothing on the
Rita's menu appealed to us... and we both love Mexican. This is why we
opted for the Windjammer buffet) I think Diane and I ran into John at the
Windjammer who had also decided to avoid Rita's. Another night where we
went to bed early as Rome, tomorrow, was going to be a second day of extensive
touring!
- Walking down the narrow streets of Florence
to the amazing Il Duomo! (a small part of which peaks thru at the end of
this road)
- First glimpse of the Dome! Cathedral
of Florence (Il Duomo)!
- The Baptistry of the Cathedral of
Florence... note it's golden doors!
- Incredibly beautiful and ornate Cathedral
of Florence... mesmerizing!
- Close-up detail of the Cathedral!
- Breathtaking detail... pink and green
marble, btw!
- Standing between the immense Cathedral of
Florence, it's Bell Tower and the Baptistry!
- The details and workmanship are just
incredible!
- Closer view of artwork...
- Cathedral of Florence, Il Duomo, view on
opposite side as we continue walking through Florence
- Walking through Florence...
- Mac and Pat and Dad and John, walking
through Florence, Italy!
- Pallazo Della Signoria, Florence, Italy
- Copy of Michelangelo's David, outside of
the museum housing the real statue!
- Accademia Gallery, Pallazo Della Signoria,
Florence, Italy
- Pallazo Della Signoria, statues...
- The famous Ponte Vecchio, a bridge with
shops!
- Florence is the birthplace of the creator
of the Pinocchio story... and this is no lie!
- (Looks like Pinocchio has been less than
truthful today, though)
- The beautiful Basilica of Santa Croce...
the statue of Dante stands to the left of the church
- Piazza Santa Croce, Florence, Italy...
- Tour stopped for lunch in the former home
of Napoleon's sister... yes, we had lunch in here!
- Beautiful Tuscan countryside around
Florence, Italy...
- Stunning views, Florence (Firenze),
Italy...
- The venerable Leaning Tower of Pisa!
(The Bell tower of the Cathedral of Pisa... to the left)
- At Pisa (l to r): The Baptistry, The
Cathedral and the Bell Tower (the Leaning Tower)
- The Baptistry at Pisa...
- The Cathedral at Pisa! (Leaning tower's top
deck pops up behind and to the right)
May 22, Arrival at Civitivecchia,
Italy for Rome:
Day started out sunny and in the upper 60s but clouds and storms came later.
Leaving the ship, we boarded our tour bus for a very comfortable 90 minute ride
to Rome. Our tour guide, Monica gave us a running commentary along the
way. There was a stop mid-way for those needing a bathroom break.
This tour promised
everything: Ancient Rome and the Coliseum, Titian's Arch, The Trevy Fountain,
The Vatican, The Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basillica... all in a ten hour
trip! It was expensive as the group was limited in size and we were given
accelerated entry to all the stops... but it was absolutely worth every penny. The Coliseum is a place
I've always wanted to visit... I've been fascinated by Ancient Rome ever since
the PBS Masterpiece Theater show, "I, Claudius" ran when I was in highschool
back in the 70s. So, I was extremely excited when this opportunity came
our way. Our bus let us off about a block away from the Coliseum and it was really freaky approaching this ancient stadium by crossing
the street as if you were about to enter any modern stadium! Even with
sections that have collapsed from weathering, quakes, and just the march of
history, this grand structure commands your attention. It's breath-taking.
The surroundings are surreal as well, for you are inside the walls of Ancient
Rome here... modern buildings and cars aside, you can look off to the hills with
their ancient architecture and statues and arches and you are transported back
in time 2000 years to the time of Augustus! Even little details like the
"umbrella pine trees", that I've only ever seen in paintings, are there
reminding you that this is the real ancient Rome! After touring Ancient
Rome, we headed over to the Trevi fountain and threw our coins in there to
guarantee our return to the Eternal City. From here we went into downtown
Rome for lunch at the Bennoton Hotel. Lunch here was included in the tour
price and consisted of chicken, pasta, wine, bottled water and cake. I was
able to score a diet coke (actually, I got diet coke in every port we visited...
it's often called Coke Lite in Europe. A european peculiarity is that you
must ask for ice in your soda... apparently they prefer soda warm. Ew.) After
lunch, we entered Vatican City (essentially, another country... think
Washington, DC inside of Maryland) and began our incredible tour here.
This being a Wednesday, it was the Pope's day for addressing the people... and
this Pope is very popular. I even admire him and I'm not Catholic!
The Pope was done speaking by the time we arrived but the crowds remained to do
the tours, so everywhere we went inside Vatican City was wall to wall people.
Still the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel and the enormous and gorgeous
St. Peter's Basilica were extremely impressive. St. Peter's felt like
God's own church... massive and cavernous and artistic. It was very
moving! If I ever do get lucky enough to go to Vatican City again, I'd
love to spend much more time in the Vatican museum. While we were touring
inside, there was a major thunderstorm passing over... but when we got out, the
rain stopped. Perfect timing! I don't have any notes about what we
did back aboard, but my guess is that it was a nice dinner in the main dining
room and probably an early night hitting the sheets. It had been a long
and fantastic day!
- From the tour bus... first view of the walls of
ancient Rome!
- After our tour bus let us off on a side street,
we walk over to the Coliseum!
- Approaching the Coliseum!
- The Coliseum's outer wall looms over us!
- Once inside, you move through this circular
corridor and then up steps to the stadium...
- Inside the Coliseum!
- The view from the opposite side...
- More Roman ruins...
- The Arch of Constantine...
- The Arch of Constantine and the Coliseum...
- Church at the top of the Palatine Hill (this
was the location of many emperor's homes)
- Yes, there are pizzerias in modern Rome... but
modern day pizza is an import mostly for tourists
- (and it didn't look that good at any of the
places I checked out...)
- The world-famous Trevi Fountain! Both
Diane and I threw in our coins... hopefully it works!
- Inside the Vatican Museum looking out on a
rainy square...
- Inside the Vatican museum... an enormous
collection of art through the ages!
- Art everywhere in the Vatican Museum!
- Rich tapestry on the walls in the Vatican
Museum...
- Mindblowing detail in this hallway's ceiling
alone... and it stretches off... seemingly to infinity.
- More artwork in the Vatican Museum...
- Papal apartments at the Vatican...
- Entering St. Peter's Basilica... the ultimate
church!
- Michelangelo's "The Pieta"... one of the most
moving sculptures I've ever seen...
- (Inside St. Peter's Basilica)
- Main altar, St. Peter's Basilica...
- Statue in St. Peter's Basilica
- The enormity of St. Peter's Basilica is
breath-taking!
- Artwork inside St. Peter's Basilica!
- Beautiful marble columns... St. Peter's
Basilica
- More artwork in the dome! St. Peter's
Basilica...
- Back outside... looking back at St. Peter's
Basilica
- (Obelisk in foreground was brought to ancient
Rome from Egypt by the mad emperor, Caligula)
- Getting ready to leave Civitavecchia, Italy
after our full day in Rome! Diane, Mac and Dad!
May 23th, Day at Sea:
We spent the morning in the Solarium with Pat n Mac, then we headed to the main
dining room for the 30 minute, outstanding lunch they serve there these days
(great salad bar where they build salads to your specifications... sort of like
Saladworks back home). After lunch we took in a movie, Skyfall (a James
Bond flick), but after this at 3:30pm we were up on top deck forward to see the highlight of this day: the
trip through the extremely narrow straights between Italy and Sicily! A
tiny boat guided us through the very narrow path: Italy to port, all steep mountains and
Sicily to starboard which was all beautiful homes and apartments. We were
so close to both land masses. The wind was extremely powerful here... I'm
not sure if it's always windy due to the tight fit of sea between the two land
masses or if this was just some strange windy weather. You could actually
lean into the wind coming at you and not fall over. Skies were mostly
clear during this pass. After this we had a mini snack in the Windjammer
(eat...eat...eat) then I went off to the gym while Diane went back to enjoy our
cabin balcony. That night, Diane and I had our date night dinner at
Giovanni's Table... another new specialty restaurant imported from the Oasis
sisters.
- Passing through the straights between
Italy and Sicily: Italy to port...
- ...and Sicily to starboard! Look
how close!
- Beautiful mountains on the Italian
side!
- View forward, over the bow... Italy to
port (left) and Sicily to starboard (right)
May 24th,
Day at Sea: Day in Solarium with Pat n Mac; as we were moving east
towards Athens, we lost an hour on this day when we changed time zones. We
spent the bulk of the day here, eating lunch in the Solarium's Park Cafe.
At dinner time, it was Uncle Joe, Dad, Ginny and John and Diane and I.
Patty and Mac decided to have a date night at Giovannis Table. (This was
the night of their 90 minute wait for dinner... that was free due to the wait)
- Ginny and Uncle Joe in the Main Dining
Room!
May 25th, Arrival at Athens,
Greece: Before going on this cruise, I kept hearing
stories that Athens was an absolutely decrepit place. I was
surprised to see that while there was a lot of graffiti (in some
locations) the city itself wasn't all that bad. In fact, for a
country in such economic turmoil, it looked much nicer than some American
cities I can think of. People there were very courteous.
We took a tour here that traveled from the port through Athens
and to the Acropolis, home of the Parthenon. As with all
our tours in Europe, our guide spoke english and we each wore
radio headphones so we could hear her discussions of the sights.
There was also a brief stop at the Olympics stadium on the way
back to the Serenade.
Looking down one of the narrow streets of Athens!
Our first view of the Acropolis was that it's way up on a peak of
natural marble. A pleasant and shade filled walk suddenly
becomes a steep incline, but easy for a healthy traveler. The
toughest part of this trek up is the very slippery naked marble; I
can't imagine doing this on a wet or rainy day... and it's a long
ways down!
- The Parthenon at the Acropolis!
It's a long climb up, but an amazing view of history!
-
- Climbing up... and up... and up!
- On the way up, looking back down at
modern Athens and Ancient Athens!
- The magnificent Parthenon... so
glad to see that Greece is preserving history!
- Standing in the shadow of a nearly
2,500 year-old temple! Note the art engravings inside...
- A close-up of the artwork mentioned
above...
- Looking down from the top of the
Acropolis and towards the Mediterranean Sea!
- (The green hill in the middle is
the Phillopappou Hill along with it's monument)
- Looking down on the Theater of
Dionysus
- Other side of the Parthenon...
- Temple of Erechtheum
- The Theater of Herod Atticus
- Gorgeous views of Greece from the
Acropolis!
- Climbing back down after this
magnificent tour!
- Serenade departs Athens! View
from the bow...
- Beautiful sunset over the
Mediterranean and Greece!
After dinner as we sailed to Turkey, the Serenade threw (what
else while sailing Greek waters?) a Toga Party for the guests in the
Solarium! The dancers posed as living statues while the rest
of us danced and drank and frolicked in sheets! Diane and I
made our way post-party to see Dad and Uncle Joe at their nightly
watering hole, the Schooner Bar. They were suitably
"embarrassed" by our attire! (They loved it)
- Toga Party and living statues
(Serenade dancers)
- Diane and I, properly Toga-ed up,
at the Schooner Bar, post party!
May 26th, Arrival at
Kusadasi, Turkey for Ephesus: Before our trip, I
guessed that Turkey was going to be hot and arid...
basically a desert with camels and somewhat dusty and
dirty. I couldn't have been more wrong. What
a gorgeous and clean country Turkey is... at least what
we saw in Kusadasi and the surrounding areas! Everywhere there were
beautiful gardens... even at intersections there was
irrigation for plants. We took a simple bus tour
here to take in some of the sights (after all the major
exploring in Florence, Pisa, Rome and Athens, this was a
welcome respite) and sounds. My favorite was a
tour of a beautiful mosque and it's gardens. Our
tour ended with a carpet making demonstration. (I
don't remember much of that as I drank some strong
alcohol here! I thought Islamic countries were
dry... not Turkey!)
After, Diane and Patty and Mac and I had lunch at an
open air restaurant looking out to the dock where
Serenade was berthed. After lunch the four of us
toured the adjacent bizarre. (We purchased a
"Turkisk Wedding" mirror for Jenna and Will here for
their wedding present!) The vendors
are polite but aggressive. We learned that shaking your
head "No" doesn't mean the same thing that it does in
the west. Just say "No, thank you" and keep
moving. The bizarre isn't exactly what I pictured
(just like everything else, my pre-trip notion of this
aspect of Turkey was wrong, as well)... it was clean and
more like a strip mall back in the states albeit
covered... not at all a dusty dirty place with camels.
(Never saw a single desert like area or a single camel
in Kusadasi!!! lol) The people there were
very friendly and polite towards westerners.
Turkey is apparently far more secular than the other
nations surrounding it. Diane and I really had a
great time there, and I would LOVE to visit Turkey
again! (Note, just a few weeks after our visit,
strife did occur up north in Ankara, the Turkish
capital, but I read that Kusadasi was not effected by
any of this.)
-
- Arrival at Kusadasi, Turkey!
Serenade of the Seas in port, Kusadasi, Turkey!
Ampitheater ruins in the Turkish countryside...
Beautiful Turkish countryside...
Inside a Turkish Mosque of great antiquity!
Ruins outside and adjacent of Mosque...
How to make a Turkish carpet...
Bazaar at Kusadasi, Turkey...
Departing beautiful Kusadasi, Turkey!
A gorgeous sunset as we sail back west!
-
- May 27th,
Arrival at Santorini, Greece: Easy
tour by bus of island; trip to Oia
(pronounce Ee-ah) and lunch at Fria. (sp)
Mystery dinner at Giovanni's later that
night! What a
fantastic island. Almost
everyone lives on the cliffs
of a volcanic caldera here.
Our tour took us by water taxi from
the ship to the island... the water
was choppy and there was a chill in
the air. Once on land, we took
a bus (there were multitudes of
them) up the winding path to the top
and then we were on our way to Oia.
The views are spectacular! We
stopped for a bit at the shops and
walked along the paths. Next
we were taken to an excellent winery
where we bought one of our favorite
wines that we tried (it's not like
we're in Santorini every other
week!) Then it was off to Fria
for more incredible views,
especially of Serenade out in the
bay right below. We all
decided to have a Greek lunch at a
restaurant overlooking the bay
(there are many of these along the
winding narrow path of shops and
restaurants here.) After lunch,
Diane and I explored on our own
capturing some amazing shots.
We then bought tickets to take a
ride (sorta like a sky-ride but
going down the side of the cliff)
back down to the small port where
the water taxis were waiting to
shuttle people back over to the
Serenade. Amazing day, amazing
island and amazing people. One
of the things we heard we must not
miss was the departure from
Santorini and cruising by the
magnificent cliffs! So, we
brought our ample supplies of
champagne forward to the bow, which
was very empty and gave ourselves a
champagne toast send off! It
was remarkably empty up there save
for a few other travelers... what a
great way to depart Santorini!
(Note: this might not be allowed
according to Royal Caribbean rules,
but no one seemed to mind, and we
drank our toast, took some pictures
then moved on. So, if you are
stopped in your attempt to do this,
sorry!)
-
-
- Taking the water taxi over
to the landing...
- Serenade anchored at the
center of the ring that is
Santorini, Greece... an amazing
island!
-
- Docking at Santorini! We are
in a bus for the long winding trip
up the steep cliffs!
-
- Nearing the top of the
cliffs, looking back at Serenade!
-
- Opposite side of cliff, a
gentler slope down to the sea!
-
- A Greek Orthodox Church,
Santorini, Greece
-
- Walking down the narrow
lanes between shops!
-
- Breathtaking look at the
homes hugging the cliffs!
-
- Santorini cliffs and homes!
Gorgeous!
-
- A stop at a vineyard on the
way to Oia, Santorini, Greece!
That's Serenade in the distance!
-
- Serenade from above at Oia!
(Camera zoomed in) This was our view
at lunchtime...
-
- View from our lunchtime
restaurant, Oia, Santorini, Greece
-
- A Santorini Luncheon!
Cliffs down to see to the right...
- (L to R: Diane, Paul, Ginny,
Mac and Joe)
-
- Our direct view down from
the lunch table!
-
- Gotta love Santorini!
-
- My Greek lunch at Oia,
Santorini, Greece...
- can't remember what it was
called but it was delicious!
-
- More stunning views from
Santorini!
-
- View from inside the cable
car riding down to the landing
- and our sea taxi over
to Serenade (at the top of the
picture)
-
- Landing at base of cliffs...
-
- Docks where the shuttles
come to take you back to your ship.
-
- Looking back up at the top
of the cliffs where we were!
-
- Back aboard Serenade and
views of the cliff tops... where we
had lunch!
-
- More views of Santorini from
the Serenade!
-
- Dad and some champagne,
waiting for departure from Santorini
all the way fwd on the bow!
-
- Another gorgeous shot of
Santorini as we depart!
-
-
-
All of us enjoying a
champagne toast on departure from
Santorini!
May 28th,
Day at Sea: We took these
"at Sea"
days as much needed time to
recharge after the port
intensive days. The
highlights of this day were time
spent around the Serenade, Ginny
and John in the Marriage Game,
and the night trip
through the straights between
Sicily and Italy once more, during dinner!
-
Serenade's mascot?
-
- All of us
enjoying lunch
together in the Main
Dining Room...
-
- Ginny and
John playing the
Love & Marriage
game!
-
- Looks like
Ginny is saying,
"You better get this
right!" (lol)
-
- Looks like
everybody wins!
- (but
I think it was the
elderly couple at
right... the senior
couple always wins)
-
- Passing
between Italy and
Sicily again, at
night!
-
- Pilot boat
helping Serenade
navigate through the
straights!
- (Note to
Patty: the pilot
boat's number 2826?
Get us to a roulette
wheel!)
-
- Francesco
and Nina, our
brilliant waiter and
assistant waiter
team! (Main Dining
Room)
May 29th,
Arrival at Salerno,
Italy for Amalfi
coast and Pompeii:
We began our day
here with an amazing
tour-cruise along
the Amalfi coast...
absolutely gorgeous
views here from the
sea. Our trip
took us into dock at
the tiny port of
Amalfi where we had
time to shop the
tight streets and we
all sampled the
baked goods for
breakfast. I
remember a wonderful
sponge cake dripping
in rum (way to start
the day!)
Afterwards, the boat took
us back to the port
where we boarded
busses for the trip
to Pompeii.
Right outside the
ancient walls of
Pompeii we had lunch
in a nice restaurant
(this was included
in the tour).
If memory serves, it
was lasagna and
salad and chicken
and some sort of
desert with wine and
soft drinks and
bottled water.
Next you passed
through a section of
store where they
make cameos (women
generally enjoy
these- having no
interest, Diane and
I breezed through
and awaited our call
to enter ancient
Pompeii.
Of all the
incredible places we
would visit, Pompeii
was the one place I
kept thinking I
couldn't wait to
see... and it didn't
disappoint!
It's really amazing
that the eruption of
Vesuvius both buried
that city and froze
it in history so
that you can tour it
today and see things
as those Romans
would have seen
them. They
would still know the
streets and avenues,
the restaurants, the
baths... all of it
is still there.
Most shocking are
the plaster casts of
those who were
entombed in ash.
We don't know their
names, but we can
see their final
moments.
Pompeii is a place I
definitely want to
revisit... it's
sobering... and
another example of
just how quickly
your world can be
turned upside down.
-
Serenade
docked
in
Salerno,
Italy!
We are
on a
boat to
cruise
along
the
Amalfi
Coast!
-
-
Breath-taking
views
along
the
Amalfi
Coast,
Italy!
-
-
Just
another
gorgeous
little
hamlet
along
the
Amalfi
Coast,
Italy!
-
-
Diane
and
I
cruising
the
Amalfi
Coast,
Italy!
-
-
Natural
beauty
of
the
Amalfi
Coast...
best
seen
from
the
sea!
-
-
Approaching
Amalfi,
Italy!
-
-
Coming
in
to
dock!
-
-
Check
out
the
homes!
-
-
Yes,
later,
I
climbed
all
those
steps
up
to
the
gorgeous
church!
-
-
Making
the
obligatory
stop
at
an
Amalfi
Bakery!
Rum
cake...
ah...
-
-
These
are
the
lemons
used
to
make
Limoncello!
HUGE!
Don't
make
your
own
unless
you
can
get
these!
-
(They
are
actually
much
larger
than
this
picture
shows...
think
"football"
shaped
grapefruit!)
-
-
This
is
the
view
from
the
top
of
the
steps
to
the
church!
-
-
I
got
this
shot
from
the
pier
at
Amalfi,
Italy...
Wow!
-
-
On
the
road
to
Pompeii
via
motorcoach!
-
-
The
outer
walls
of
Pompeii...
-
-
A
field
inside
the
gates
of
Pompeii...
like
stepping
back
in
time...
2000
years.
-
-
One
of
Pompeii's
ampitheaters...
-
-
An
avenue
through
ancient
Pompeii...
look
closely,
-
and
you
can
see
grooves
worn
into
the
street
from
chariots!
Pompeii
was
already
old
-
when
Vesuvius
exploded!
-
-
The
ancient
Roman
masonry
is
amazing...
-
-
Nope,
not
toilets...
this
was
an
ancient
restaurant
stove!
Pots
were
placed
in
these
for
cooking.
-
Pompeii
had
many
restaurants,
being
a
resort
town
back
in
the
70's
AD!
-
-
A
family
name
painted
on a
house
still
remains!
-
-
Artwork
was
not
framed
as
it
is
today...
it
was
literally
painted
on
the
walls
of
your
villa!
-
No
moving
old
art
to
the
attic!
-
-
Villa's
inner
courtyard...
-
-
Interesting
columns...
-
-
This
is a
real
person...
surrounded
by
ash,
the
body
within
superheated
away...
-
it
made
a
natural
mold
to
bring
this
person's
last
moments
back
to
life.
-
-
More
Roman
art?
Nope...
this
is
part
of a
"menu"
of
available
services
in
Pompeii's
brothel!
-
You
didn't
have
to
speak
latin
to
let
them
know
what
you
wanted
to
do...
just
point
at
the
pictures!
-
(There
were
many
many
pictures...)
-
-
Pompeii's
main
square...
that
mountain
with
the
gash
peaking
through
the
clouds
is
all
that's
left
of
Vesuvius...
-
Imagine
the
view
standing
in
this
square
the
day
the
volcano
literally
blew
it's
top!
-
-
Another
view
of
Vesuvius
from
the
town
square...
clouds
block
the
top
in
this
picture...
-
-
Another
intriguing
view
of a
road
thru
Pompeii...
-
-
Yet
another
real
person
immortalized
in
volcanic
ash...
tons
of
pottery
and
other
artifacts
here,
too.
-
-
Departing
Ancient
Pompeii
and
heading
back
into
the
present.
May 30th,
Day at
Sea:
Amazing
daytime
passage
between
Corsica
and
Sardinia!
It was
too
windy to
be out
on
deck,
per
Captain
Karin,
(outer
decks
closed)
so the
only
great
pictures
I could
get were
all of
the
rugged
coast of
Sardinia
from our
balcony.
I did go
up a few
decks
and take
a few
shots of
Corsica
to
starboard
through
a
window.
Both
islands
looked
amazing!
Would
love to
go to
either
place on
some
future
voyage!
Northern Sadinia from our balcony...
- Looking at Sardinia from our balcony...
-
- Sardinia from our balcony...
-
Shot this
image thru a
window topside-
that's Corsica!
-
May 31st: Arrival at Barcelona and Disembark: Transfers purchased through Royal Caribbean got us off ship and over to the airport in plenty of time. This was a far better idea than risking a non-english speaking cab driver getting us to the airport! We arrived curbside... our luggage (having gone ahead of us) was waiting there at the airport. We breezed through customs/security and then waited about an hour or two for our flight home. Flying west was fun, and a bit disorienting... we left Barcelona at 10:30 am and arrived in Philly in the afternoon! (Yes, it was still an eight hour flight) It's better when you are chasing the Sun home!
The Serenade Pools and Solarium: Very little was changed here since the last
time we cruised on Serenade other than the addition of the Park Cafe in the
Solarium. This was an excellent place to grab a breakfast or lunch bite
while keeping your lounger by the pool. On the other hand, there was (as I
mentioned above) a lot of work needed here. The main pool now has a movie
screen. I'm not really into a movie screen at the pool, but if that's
something you like, it's there!
Unique to Serenade of the Seas: Well, unique at least, to all
Radiance class ships: the self leveling pool tables. I did not play on
these, but I did on Jewel, and it's amazing that these actually work.
While the ship is at sea, your pool game will not be affected (although, I never
checked to see what these tables could handle in really rough seas.
Of course, in really rough seas, probably no one will want to play pool.)
Alas, the self leveling tables will NOT improve your game one iota. That's
what I need... a table that tilts my ball into the pocket!
Things Royal Caribbean should do to improve
Serenade of the Seas: Really spend some time and money renovating
the Solarium... it's embarrassing that such a gorgeous refit left the pool areas
in need of so much work.
Why Serenade of the Seas should be your
next cruise ship: Captain Karin and her staff are one of
the best crew ever! Serenade of the Seas is large enough to feel like a
modern mega-sized ship, but small enough to retain that small ship ambience so
missing in modern cruising. We loved her both times we've cruised her...
and we wouldn't hesitate to cruise on her again!
