New Orleans & Caribbean 2015 - Part IV

The next morning was Valentine's Day, and we embarked on the Serenade of the Seas, for a lovely non-winter week in the Caribbean. This post will deal with the ship. I will report on the ports of call in the next post.

She's a Royal Caribbean ship, and quite lovely. Our cabin was an aft balcony cabin, which meant we had a larger balcony than we normally do, and the wind wasn't actually an issue.

I always feel kind of sentimental when sailing up and down the Mississippi. New Orleans is one of my favourite places in the world, and it's like there's one more gift from her as the ships leans first to one side and then the other as we navigate the curves of the river.

I do find the upcharge restaurant Chops Grill to be worth it on Royal Caribbean ships. Chops is quieter than the main dining room, the service is excellent, and the food. Well, that's why you go to a restaurant isn't it? My favourite things here are the Caesar salad (caviar available upon request. Do I request? Of course I do.), and the Red Velvet Cake (capital letters deserved). 

The sushi restaurant is also worth a visit. A seat at the sushi bar puts you in front of the action, so to speak, and the chef we had was wonderful.

The Schooner Bar is one we tend to gravitate to on any RC ship, and this trip we tried some of their speciality cocktails. My personal favourite was the Lavender Daiquiri. Interestingly, every bartender made it different. Some frozen, some on the rocks, some in a tall glass, some short. They were all delicious, though.

Another spot I favoured was the Solarium. Adults only, nicely temperatured pool, piped in bird song; it was very peaceful. I loved the decor as well.

The one thing that disappointed us was the difficulty of getting drinks in the main dining room. Our servers did their best, but it was obvious that the lack of bar waiters (there used to be a lot more) was being keenly felt. I don't know why RCCL has decided to cut back on this particular part of the staff, but it seems a horrible idea. I also felt that they had really crammed the tables into the dining room. It was very crowded and busy.

Formal Night with The World's Greatest Husband™

And the World's Greatest Parents™

Overall, though, the good vastly outweighed the bad, and we had a lovely time.