John and Janet
K. Matthews
Itinerary: Alaska
Sailing Date: May 23rd, 2009
Age: 70's & 50
Occupation: 2 Retired, 1 working
Number of Cruises: 23
Review of Serenade of the Seas Alaska Trip
We are now Diamond members with RCCL and we were anxious to
see what the difference was and there is a nice difference.
As always, I will write this review from a handicap
perspective and etc.
We started our trip on May 22, 2009. We made our airline
reservations with American and due to problems American
rescheduled so we got in late to Seattle. We stayed at the
Fairfield Inn in Seattle ($84.00) w/continental breakfast
included. This is an older hotel but clean. We arrived
late and the hotel has a free shuttle regardless of time of
arrival. Seattle airport is HUGE! It would be better to
arrive early and during the daytime. We ended up taking a
taxi to the airport to board our bus (4 ½ hour ride) to
Ballyantine pier to continue our trip to Vancouver. We had
never been to Seattle and decided this would be fun to do.
The bus was nice with a toilet to use. We were stopped by
Customs at the border and everyone had to declare where they
were from. Finally we see our ship Serenade of the Seas.
To be honest, it would have been better just to fly into
Vancouver, as this is very tiring even though the scenery
was lovely.
We arrived at Ballyantine pier, got our luggage and started
the process of boarding the ship. This was quick and
painless and I had brought along my own wheelchair so this
made it even easier. There is a special section for people
that need any kind of assistance boarding the ship. We had
a nice, strong, young man come and wheel me up to the ship
and as always John gave him a nice tip as he and Jennie were
loaded with their stuff to carry on the ship. RCCL provides
a nice service to help people up the ramp to board.
We made it to the room! Our room was junior suite #1028
with a very large balcony. We had a queen bed and a couch
that made into a double bed. My electric scooter was
charged and waiting for me from Care Vacations. The bed is
for a small person (child) and we are three adults. We had
some problems with the couch bed but housekeeping came to
the rescue and pads were used to make the bed more
comfortable. Our room steward was absolutely wonderful.
The bathroom was great with handrails all around and a pull
down seat in the shower. The bathroom has tile all around.
I really enjoyed the push button door that is on both
Serenade and Jewel. It allows you to just push the large
button after you insert your door key and makes for a
convenient entry and exit. I wish they had this on all the
RCCL ships.
This was our first cruise as a family being Diamond members
and it was a very nice experience. We enjoyed the treats
brought to our cabin every night that came before supper
(dessert tray) and we enjoyed the Diamond lounge as well.
This is a nice perk! You can have a drink of your choosing,
sodas or whatever drink you want with a very nice selection
of hor' dourves and munchies.
We had our fire drill exercise and there is a special place
for electric scooter people and wheelchair people. This was
painless and it’s actually fun. We always take a picture of
us in our life jackets. We were all tired so we ate at the
Windjammer for supper. I like the way the food stations are
presented. It is not a long line but individual sections of
food, salads, desserts and etc. The egg station is
especially nice in the morning. There were hand sanitizers
all over the ship that people were encouraged to use.
Our first day of sailing was smooth even though it rained
during the night. We consider rain a good luck sign. I
must admit I like the Voyager class ships due to the atrium
and the shops. We really missed the coffee shop (Seattle’s
Best) and the delicious cookies. On Serenade you pay for
the specialty coffee but they give you a free dessert. We
are coffee drinkers and enjoyed sitting and watching
people. It is very difficult to maneuver a wheelchair or
electric scooter through the aisles of Serenade with all the
people milling about. It’s a tight squeeze and people are
not always willing to move. It is easier to move around on
the Voyager and Freedom class ships in an electric scooter.
Our first stop (day three) was Icy Strait Point and John and
Jennie did the Zip line (Zip Rider), as this zip line is the
world’s longest with speeds up to 60 mph. This is the
second time they have done a Zip line. They now have a
tradition! The weather today is beautiful, snow on the
mountains and sunshine but chilly. I stayed on the ship.
The first formal night we enjoyed Portofinos. Bruno was our
waiter and it was a great experience. There is a charge of
$20.00 per person but well worth it. We thoroughly enjoyed
ourselves and were well taken care of. The second formal
night we were treated to Chops by our travel agent, Bill and
Sammie of Above and Beyond Travel, this is a real class
restaurant. The waiters, food, atmosphere are well worth
the $25.00 per person. We enjoyed Chops so much we treated
ourselves to the supper experience again. I was surprised
at how few people were dining at the Specialty restaurants.
Day 4 was beautiful and exciting! We were cruising
Tracy/Endicott Arm Fjord. The glacier calving is quite
spectacular. The temperature was 56 degrees outside,
definitely sweater weather on our balcony; the beauty of the
place will impress you. We ordered hot cocoa from room
service and drank it on our balcony, as did several other
people. The ice is actually blue it’s quite breath taking
and hard to describe. We took lots of pictures. We did see
whales, which was a real treat for us.
Day 5 is Skagway. We rode the White Pass Yukon Railway and
luckily rode in the morning, as there was a rockslide that
prevented the train from going thru in the afternoon. This
is a fun train, real authentic dress and a conductor to take
your ticket. Lots of snow on the ground and waterfalls
everywhere its absolutely beautiful. This is a “must” to do
in Skagway. We even saw two bears! I was able to take my
wheelchair on board. There were four ships in port while we
were in Skagway. Skagway is handicapped accessible and has
lots of cute shops. We ate lunch at the Skagway Fish
Company. The chowder was delicious and the halibut
outstanding. This is a handicapped accessible restaurant.
The T-shirt factory is great with prices that are
reasonable. We purchased t-shirts and a cap.
Day 6 was spent in Juneau and we did not have enough time in
this port. We went to the Red Dog Saloon. Jennie and I had
some hot cocoa, John tried the Alaskan beer, and we listened
to the piano player. The atmosphere was definitely fun!
There is so much to do here it’s a shame the ships don’t
stay longer in port. We did some shopping but did not make
it thru half the shops. We ate lunch at the Twisted Fish
Company. We were parked at the farthest pier ($3.00 round
trip bus fair) and handicapped were taken care of first and
placed in front of the line and good thing as people would
come to the front of the line out of nowhere and behaved
badly. Luckily, RCCL had personnel available to tell people
to wait their turn. This definitely surprised us. Several
comments were made about the lack of courtesy.
We did attend a few of the shows and enjoyed them. There is
always space at the back of the theater to park your scooter
if you want to sit in the regular seats. I just sit in my
electric scooter and John and Jennie sit next to me as there
is space provided for handicapped. We did not go to the
casino or play bingo.
I understand that Serenade will not be doing the Alaska
experience next year. I’m glad that we had the opportunity
to go again. We were in Alaska 15 year’s ago on Celebrity
Horizon and it has changed tremendously. If we were to go
again to Alaska I would go out of San Diego it would be a
more restful experience. I think everyone should go at
least once to see Alaska it’s a trip of a lifetime.
There is a special place to wait to disembark for wheelchair
people and there were treats and coffee was available. Time
to go home for the four and a half hour bus ride to
Seattle. The bus was completely full. We made our
connection in plenty of time but it was good to be back in
Austin, TX. We are looking forward to our next cruise.
