Serenade of the Seas Review
Serenade in the Southern Caribbean - What Could be Better!
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Additional details
I Arrived in San Juan at about 1:30pm the day before the cruise. After getting luggage went and got a taxi (There is an over abundance of taxi's) to the hotel and arrived at the hotel at about 2:45pm. The taxi fair to the hotel Courtyard Marriot Miramar was $16.00. It took longer than usual to get to the hotel as the traffic was heavy due to recent heavy rains that had streets flooded, but our driver knew some great short cuts off the main roads to get us there quicker. The normal time with normal traffic would only be about 15 minutes.
The Courtyard Marriot Miramar (3 star) has a lot of mixed reviews, so I did not know what to really expect when I booked it. I booked it for the price ($129.00 with no resort fees). The hotel turned out to be great! Friendly staff, easy check in, very clean inside and out. Our room on the 11th floor had plenty of room, very clean and a very good view. It was located in the convention district and within a two blocks there were 3 restaurants, A Japanese Sushi Bar, a fast food taco place (Like Taco Bell), a Subway, a Supermarket, Domino's Pizza, 2 Pharmacy's and a U.S. Post Office. Contrary to reviews that I have read, the area was very safe day and night, and only saw one vagrant on the streets (I saw more in old San Juan than I saw here). The restaurant in the Hotel was expensive so we never ate in there. Went down the street and ate in one of the restaurants to eat authentic Puerto Rican food and it was very good and very reasonably priced. We also ate breakfast there the morning of the cruise (Ham & Cheese Omelet with toast and coffee for $4.50). Bought some snacks at the supermarket and the prices there were comparable with the prices in mainland United States Supermarkets. This hotel is not hotel to be at however, if you want to be at the beach (Not within close walking distance) or if you are looking for a lot of entertainment (None at the hotel or in the vicinity). I was mainly looking for a hotel to rest my head overnight without spending a lot of money, that was close to the pier and close to Old San Juan.
At 3:30pm we were ready to go off to Old San Juan. If you decide to go in a Taxi (They are lined up outside the hotel day and night), it will cost you $14.00. We went by bus, which the stop is one block up the street for 75 cents (Must have exact change). The ride by taxi is approximately 15 minutes or 20 minutes by bus due to stops for passengers along the route. After arriving in Old San Juan we walked around for a bit until the heat became a bit much and we wanted to get into some air conditioning. We were meeting with people for a Meet & Greet from our Roll Call from Cruise Critic at Mojito's Restaurant, but the 1st people from the Roll Call that had arrived Friday found out that it closed for vacation. They put a sign on the door to let everyone know that the plans had changed to meet at Senior Frogs instead. The Meet and Greet was great, There was about 28 people that showed up and we had a good time getting to know each other. It was like getting together with old friends even though it was the 1st time that anybody had met each other. Day 0 Sunday - Embarkation Day:
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
We were Cabin 9580. It was D2 Balcony on the hump. We thought the room was nice and had plenty of space for 2 people. The hump balcony was great but I just felt it needed a little bigger table (Ok for sitting drinks on, but small for sitting the breakfast tray on each morning. 9580 was right across from the library. The centrum area is located right there. They had music and a 1970's party one night on the 4th deck centrum and although you can hear the music clearly outside the room, It was more of a muffled sound inside the room and it was not disturbing and would not be unless you have to have absolute quiet when you are in your cabin trying to sleep. Other than that you never heard any noise etc while in the cabin. There was plenty of closet space with shelves for storing your clothes along with 6 drawers on the desk/vanity (We had plenty of room for our clothes for a 7 day cruise). Were able to fit 4 suitcases under the bed with no problem at all. The bathroom was small, but big enough for one person to use the sink area at a time. The shower with sliding door was round shape and plenty of room to shower in, but not much else. There was a shampoo dispenser in there as well.