Serenade of the Seas Review- Part 2- Boarding and Departure in San Juan

We woke up to a spectacular sunrise:







 





Called family and friends at home a little latter to check on everyone, and finished our packing. One last pic on the balcony:




We planned to leave for the ship at 11AM. I decided to check out at around 10:30, and that was a breeze. I forgot to note that I deposited cash with the hotel for incidentals ($100 per night), since I didn’t want a hold on our card. We had a “bill” from the hotel that we had to bring back to the front desk to get our cash. Using the cash was a nice option, since it was a way to hold our $$ for excursions. We didn’t purchase anything at the hotel so we got all our cash back with no issues.


Wes, the dutiful husband, watching the luggage as I checked out:









We took a quick taxi ride to the pier. I have to say that the check in process was very smooth this time. We arrived around 11:15 and there was a good-sized line formed already.



We waited about 5 minutes or so to give the porters our luggage. We waited about 10 minutes after that before the doors opened. Went through security and opened our Seapass accounts, and right away we were able to take our photos and hear that wonderful, “Ping!” when our Seapasses were swiped for the first time. I caught Wes grin when his was swiped. Something about that beeping sound confirms that the fun on the ship has begun!

Our first moments on the ship:

 

I love the navigational designs on the elevator doors. As you can see, the elevator walls are glass. It’s awesome to ride these while we’re at sea, you see nothing but ocean. Beautiful!

 
Right away, we made our way to the Windjammer for lunch. We didn’t have breakfast at the hotel since we knew we were headed to a buffet as soon as we got on the ship.

Beautiful carved fruit display at the entrance:





Here’s my first meal on the ship:

By the time we finished a leisurely lunch, it was pretty close to 1:00. We walked down to deck 9 to wait for the staterooms to open.





I love all the artwork on the ship. I’ll be posting a lot of my fave pieces throughout the review.






We were some of the first to reach out staterooms on deck 9. Our room was #9568, midship, on the starboard side of the ship. Last year we had hump cabin #9576, and while we were a few doors forward of it, I was a little sad that we wouldn’t have the hump cabin this time.


…but I have to admit- this was our first non-hump balcony, and we were perfectly happy with the regular balcony. As long as we have our own little place to sit and watch the ocean go by, we’re happy campers. Another thing I like about the Radiance class is that the balconies are made of glass on the outside. That way you can sit down on the balcony and still have a great view with no obstructions.






I love the view on the starboard side in San Juan. I always take a photo of this church across the lagoon:






Carnival Victory docked in Old San Juan:



 

One thing Wes did notice right away was the flat-screen TV in the cabin. He really liked that. It’s anchored on a sliding platform that comes forward and swivels so you can watch TV comfortably from the bed.



 

More pics of the room and bathroom.

 

The room category is a D1, so there was a Pullman and a sofa bed. You can see the Pullman in the ceiling.

We are Gold Crown and Anchor Members, so we each received a savings booklet. A note from our TA (showing our onboard credit) and our Compass were on the desk as well.

So Wes knew leading up to this trip that there would be an Eagles game airing at 1:00. Such a nifty gadget-guy, he linked his iPhone to his laptop so he could watch the game while we were on the ship. So this was my last view of him before I went to explore the ship for a while lol.

I opened the door to leave (it was about 1:30), and our luggage was outside the door. That was fast!

I went to deck 6 to check out Chops and Portofino. We received a free specialty dinner from our TA and I was excited to book Chops. We already booked Portofino online about two weeks before the cruise, so I just confirmed our reservation.

Deck 6 contains the Schooner Bar, which you have to walk through to get to the specialty restaurants.

Another pic of the Schooner Bar:

After confirming our ressies, I went past Portofino and took a look at the Safari Club. Really nice in there with lots of mahogany furniture, seating for small groups to watch flat screen TV’s, and the famous Gyro Pool Tables. They remain level no matter how much the ship rocks. Pretty cool!

Took some more photos of the dining room and the centrum of the ship.

Never noticed this picture (near the Guest Services desk)- she’s the godmother of the Serenade!

I visited the pool deck (deck 11) to check out the scene.

There was plenty of space available for lounging, so I ran back to the room to change into my bathing suit. I took note of the items available in the fridge, FYI:

Another shot of the church from the balcony- I think I’m obsessed with getting just the right shot of it lol.

Since the Eagles game was still on (LOL), I knew I had some time to get some sun on my own. I grabbed some magazines I’ve been saving just for the trip (National Geographic Traveler and Travel and Leisure), as well as a new book I’ve been dying to read (Forbidden by Ted Dekker), and skipped my way up to the pool deck. I spent about an hour here. This was my view:

…then got hot and went into the Solarium to enjoy the loungers behind the Jacuzzi:

The Solarium is completely enclosed in glass, and they pipe in the sounds of birds chirping. It’s a nice place to take a nap- I saw lots of people doing this throughout the week. It’s adults-only, a nice quiet spot to relax.

After my time at the pool, I went to the main dining room to request a change to My Time Dining. We booked about a month out (waiting for a promotion to book), so we could only secure the 8:30 seating initially. I had no problem switching us to MTD. I noticed that the prepaid gratuities weren’t charged to our Seapasses until about Friday night.

I went back to the room to rest, shower, and change. We unpacked as well. Our luggage fit under the bed fine, and we brought all the extra wire hangers we didn’t want in our closet at home, so we could hang most of our clothes instead of folding them. We left the hangers in the stateroom at the end of the cruise.

We went to dinner around 6:30, since the muster drill was going to be at 8 and the sailaway at 8:30. We instantly recognized our waiter, Peter, since we had him last year! It was nice to see him again. He is a great waiter; always kind, courteous, and calm in the midst of the chaos that can occur in the dining room.

I tried to get the right settings on my camera during dinner. I think Wes was amused:

I had been looking forward to this dinner for a long time, since one of my favorite RCCL dishes is the truffled wild mushroom linquine alfredo. For the appetizer, I tried the watermelon gazpacho…..not a fan! Peter noticed that I didn’t like it (I wasn’t going to say anything), and offered to bring me another. I went with my always-yummy chicken tortilla soup. Wes had the prime rib, and he was happy with his meal.

Muster drill was very efficient. It was so HOT, I was glad we were near the front of the line. I can’t imagine how stifling it must have felt to be in the back. We decided after the drill to head back to our room for sailaway. We thought about going to the pool deck, but decided it would be nice to relax and enjoy sailaway by ourselves on our balcony. I don't remember what else we did that night. We mostly settled in and got ready to enjoy our week of cruising.

Next up- our day in St. Thomas!