Serenade B2B cruise is over and it's back to reality

KeithnRita · January 13, 2015

We've now completed cruises 29 and 30 and have the whole of 2015 to figure out our next one.

The B2B cruises were both good and bad. The good was the first week and the bad was the second week as we both came down with head and chest colds, which we are still trying to recover from. We missed a lot of activities and also lost our appetites. The drive home was very long and tiresome due to our illnesses. It was so nice to sleep in our own bed Saturday night.

We had a great time in New Orleans before our cruises and the New Year celebration aboard ship was great. Also we had a great time in Key West including a stock up at Kino Sandals. In Nassau we took a taxi to Atlantis and enjoyed our day there.

The Serenade was basically the same with just a few changes from our Feb cruise. Our dining experience was not as good as we were moved to 5 different tables to accommodate large families and groups aboard. We finally settled in with a great couple who endured the table moves with us. We were able to do some dancing in the evening before we became ill. The new band on board played music to our liking. One of the changes was RCI pushing the drink packages and no longer publishing individual drink prices in their bar menus. When we ordered a drink we had to ask the servers the drink prices. It seems that some want to make sure they to get their money's worth. A case in point is when we tried to help a very large man off the floor when he fell getting out of his chair. As it turned out he didn't really fall as he just passed out from excessive drinking! I took me and 2 others to get him into a wheelchair so security could haul him back to his stateroom!

The second week with stops in Jamaica, Caymans and Cozumel is best not talked about and should be forgotten. We were not the only sickies as we could hear the constant coughing and hacking the entire week. We are now closing the book on that cruise!

AndiD · January 14, 2015

Oh dear - well - welcome back! It is good that you can focus on that first week; glad that you had a good week and hope that you will feel better very soon!

jacketwatch · January 15, 2015

Wow. People hear about Noro on ships but not a flu bug. Sorry to hear you had a bad back end.,I sympathize, especially about that drive home.

DebbieandJerry · January 15, 2015

Sorry that you came down with whatever is going around. Jerry got that "bug" Xmas week and is still battling with it. I'm told it lasts about 3 weeks.

Glad you are home. You were missed

Shari2 · January 17, 2015

Hi Keith and Rita...glad you had a nice time the first week. So sorry that you were sick the second week. It' s bad enough to be sick at home, but so much worse when you are away from home, and supposed to be on a nice vacation. Can't imagine having to change your dining tables 5 times...not nice. Good that you finally got settled in with a nice couple, though. Hope you are both feeling better.

WeCruiseToo · January 20, 2015

Hi Rita & Keith. Welcome home; so sorry to hear you were ill for the second half of your big trip. As time passes you’ll naturally remember the good more than the bad.

The good news is: one of the best things to make you feel better when you’re getting over being sick is to start planning your next vacation! Here’s hoping your next trip is perfect! :smile: