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Name: Toni Koopmeiners
Email: cleanair@conl.net
Age: 44
Occupation: Seamstress/homemaker
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-VikingSerenade
SailingDate: Sept 28-Oct 2, 1998
Itinerary: San Diego, Catalina, Ensenada
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 89
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck: 89
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 85
ShoreExcVariety: 89
FoodVariety: 89
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 89
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 85
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 85
GoodForSeniors: 85
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 75
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 85
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 88
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 88
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 85
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 07 Oct 1998
Time: 19:03:22
Remote Name: 207.105.216.137
Remote User:
Comments
My daughter and I just returned from our cruise on the Viking Serenade. It is an older
ship, but very tasteful in appearance. Our cabin was on Deck
7, it was clean, neat, not large but was certainly adequate. We were in an interior cabin
so we used the wake up service for our early morning
excursions. The food was excellent. The dining room service was superb, except for the
fact that our waiter and asst waiter were fired because of
a rude passenger during the lunch hour. We ended up with the Asst Maitre d and another
asst waiter as substitutes.
The Serenade Orchestra was very nice to listen to and to dance to. The band, Luna, was
pretty good until their last night of playing. They kind of
forgot why they were there. They seemed to feel that making alot of noise was the same as
playing 'dance music'. By then they had been onboard
for ten weeks, it was obviously time for them to move on.
The entertainment was mixed. Several were excellent and had us laughing so hard we were
crying. One comedian was a little 'ripe'. He could have
kept it a little toned down and done a late night show for people that want to hear it.
There were minors in the lounge at the time. The cruise staff
had a game called 'Quest'. When they say adults only, be sure to listen. Although we left
the lounge after the first few 'quests', we got subjected to
the rest on our 'Cruise in Review' night.
We took the Wild Animal Park excursion in San Diego. Good thing we did the monorail ride
around the park first. You get a wonderful over view of
the entire back animal area. You get approx. 4 hours in the park and there is a fair
amount of walking involved. We would like to go there again if
we had the entire day.
On Catalina we took the Inland Motor Tour. The bus ride is a little bumpy but well worth
it. If you are scared of heights, don't sit in the front of the
bus or in the outside seats. The tour includes a stop at the Airport in the Sky, seeing
the buffalo, and a stop at the Wrigley Ranch. At the ranch
they show a demonstration with the Arabian horses. They are beautiful. The views are worth
it all by themselves.
In Ensenada, we took a shuttle ($2 in, and $1 to return to the ship) into town and went
shopping on the back street that is under construction. We
got a few deals. We also took a carriage ride. The driver spoke fluent English and gave us
a brief history of Ensenada. We went back to the ship in
time for lunch and a little R & R for the rest of the afternoon.
The Cruise staff gave a nice port and shopping talk on the first day so we were pretty
informed, which was really nice. You don't have to rely on
your own wits about what to do and where to be at what time. A hint though,if you want to
take a shore excursion on the first day out, take the
time to fill in your shore excursion form before the lifeboat drill. These forms are on
your bed when you get to your room. After the lifeboat drill
there will probably be a long line for lining up shore excursions for the next day. We
personnally wanted to be on deck or up in the Viking Crown
Lounge for pulling out of port.
A compliment to our waiters, room steward, maitre d. Not once did anyone get after us
about tips. They were kind and courteous at all times.
Overall, our first cruise was excellent and would love to do it again next year.
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