My fiancE, two close friends and I sailed on the Serenade out of San Juan on Jan. 10 to the Southern Caribbean and had a blast. The ship was gorgeous. We loved taking the glass elevators and looking out at the blue sea all around us. We played miniature golf, ping pong, pool on the gyro tables (wow!), climbed the rock wall, went to all the shows, swam in the indoor and outdoor pools, ate lots and had a great time.
We visited St. Thomas where we went to Megan's bay -- what a beauty! The water is crystal clear and calm; the beach was practically deserted in the morning, and so peaceful. It also had the best and by far cheapest souvenirs of all of the islands. From there we went on to St. Maarten (Dutch) where we took a cab to St. Martin (French) to Orient Beach (aka nude beach). We parasailed and tanned and had a great time. The next island was Antigua, which looks very poor but has incredible beaches, particularly Deep Bay. Like Megan's Bay in St. Thomas, the waters are blue, crystal clear and calm. We rented a jet ski, drove past a shipwreck, saw two turtles swimming nearby and were enchanted by the beauty. On to St. Lucia and a tour with Peter the Great. We read about the tour on this website, didn't book it through the ship because it was so much more expensive, but found Peter right outside the ship holding a green poster. For $55 we got to take a fantastic five hour tour which included a boat ride to the Pitons, a taxi ride and a tour of the volcano, a waterfall and a stay at Anse Chastanet, a semi private beach with gray sand, clear waters and great snorkeling. They provided the gear and all transportation was covered by cost of the trip -- we highly recommend him (thanks to all of those who recommended him previously!!) Finally and sadly, on to Barbados, the most Southern island of our trip. We booked a tour through RC where we snorkeled with two huge turtles, got to touch them, then saw a shipwreck and a huge coral reef with pretty fish. The private beach was amazing, we even requested to stay there for another three hours while the captain brought our group back and took the next group for the same trip. It was heaven on earth and we did NOT want to leave!
Overall, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The islands were amazing, so much so that we're looking into another cruise for next January. We were a little worried about the weather but it was low to mid 80s (perfect) and sunny, so no complaints.