As I reflect back over the cruise vacation we took on Royal Caribbean, Serenade of the Seas, I am thankful for the opportunity to experience a fun and relaxing trip full of new memories.  Over the last several weeks I have been sharing tidbits about our time exploring the various Caribbean Islands, however, today I want to focus a little more about the actual ship we spent our evenings on together.  We gave some facts regarding the ship in an earlier post but I want to share a little more about what we did on the cruise in this post.

The seventh day of our cruise was the only full day we were at sea.  Every other day of the trip we were visiting an island in the Caribbean.  Ever day was packed full of a variety of activities.  There were a lot of fun things to do on the ship, here are just a few:

• Breakfast – you could chose to have it delivered to your room, eat at the Windjammer (buffet) or eat a sit down meal at Reflections.  We did a mix of the Windjammer and Reflections throughout the week depending on the activities for the day.
• Every day evening after dinner we would have a new schedule of the next day’s events, information and activities so we could plan out our day on the boat or if we were going onto an island.
• Morning Activities where available throughout the morning and at various locations on the ship (here is a sample of some activities)

1. Brain Teasers & Trivia
2. Sabbath Service
3. Early Morning Stretch
4. Abdominal Conditioning
5. Indoor Cycling
6. Adult Mini Golf Tournament
7. Yoga
8. Walk for Wishes
9. Napkin Folding
10. Movie in the Cinema
11. Acupuncture Seminar
12. View from the Top
13. Royal Bingo
14. 3 Minute Makeup Seminar
15. Secrets to a Flatter Stomach Seminar
16. Cake Decorating
17. Interview with Olympic Gymnast Lance Ringland
18. Swimming
19. Rock Climbing Wall
20. Shopping
21. And More….

• Afternoon Activities (here is a sampling)

1. Music (Hot Spice – Calypso Sounds)
2. Backstage Tour of the Theater
3. Towel Folding Demonstration
4. Ice Carving
5. Movie in the Cinema
6. Slot Tournament
7. Men’s Belly Flop Contest
8. Informal Bridge
9. Learn to Swing
10. 3-on-3 Basketball
11. Name that Movie Tune
12. Blackjack Tournament
13. Scrapbooking Workshop
14. Detox for Health & Weight Loss Seminar
15. Pool Volleyball Crew vs Guests
16. Belly Dance Class
17. Gotta Dance Class
18. Royal Poker Tournament
19. Wine Tasting
20. Adult Volleyball Tournament
21. Core Conditioning Pilates
22. Learn to Salsa
23. Royal Bingo
24. Adult Speed Climbing Competition
25. And More…

• They had a variety of Evening Activities to keep everyone entertained as well

1. Farewell Movie Night
2. Showtime
3. Star Bridge Dance
4. Mambo Caliente
5. Royal Poker Tournament
6. Jazz Cabaret
7. Paradise Lotto Draw
8. Adult Karaoke
9. On Board Shopping Deals
10. And Much MORE

Our days were busy both on and off the ship.  There was always something to do.  We had fun, met a lot of wonderful people and created new memories.  We look forward to having the opportunity to cruise again in the future.  It was great not having to cook or clean the whole week!  On a side note, they had food available when you wanted it pretty much 24 hours a day!  It was nice because you could eat when it fit into your schedule!

Here is a quick introduction of a few key crew members aboard the ship.  The Captain of our cruise ship was Captain Michel Claveau who started his career as a diver. Marc Walker was our Cruise Director from Weymouth, England started out in the entertainment industry as a DJ (22 years ago) then went on to juggle, unicyclist, then onto TV and Radio.  Marc has been with the Royal Caribbean family since the late 1990’s and has served on 20 of Royal Caribbean’s 22 ships.  Sanjay Dumar was our Hotel Director from Mumbai, India.  Marco Marzocchi was our Chief Engineer from Genova, Italy.  Cristiana Maruntelu was our Loyalty & Cruise Sales Manager from Romania.  Alistair Burnett was our Food & Beverage Manager from the United Kingdom.  Noel was our waiter and Janet our head waitress.  They did a fabulous job serving, singing, and creating a pleasant atmosphere during dinner every night we were on the ship.  I will add that the meals were amazing!  We met a lot of other wonderful people aboard the ship.  The staff was from all over the world and we enjoyed getting to know several of them during our stay on the ship.

We spent some time in the late afternoon on the last day packing.  We were sad to pack but excited to continue our trip home and see the girls.  Jake and I walked around the ship on the last night snapping a few more pictures and video clips to show the girls.  They always have a lot of questions about the BIG boat!  If we could Jake and I would have just keep on cruising!  It was a wonderful experience again traveling with Royal Caribbean.  We will be sharing a few pictures on board the ship in a post later this week!

A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!