We always look for great deal when selecting our cruise and the Ultimate Alaska Cruise on Serenade of the Seas on 5-3-08 was the ticket! We did Alaska last year and wanted to see more. The ports were all great and we actually had good weather for most of the trip. We usually take 7 day trips and this was our second 2 week cruise. For us, 2 weeks is the best since it seems you just get to know the ship in a week and on a 7 day your getting off when it is time to get off the ship.

Embarkation Day Since the ship came in "sick" the crew had to do a complete deep clean. We finally started boarding around 2PM. The ship had to do a deep clean of the kitchen storage areas and that delayed loading the supplies for our cruise. We left several hours late which gave us dinner with a very nice view of the San Francisco bay.

The CC group on board was great. it was fun to meet so many people that were all on the board for the cruise. The CC group made the cruise seem more friendly and it was nice to see new friends around the ship and in ports. Ports of call Astoria, Oregon was first. This was our first time there and it was a very charming stop. Nice town with quite a bit to see and do without taking an excursion. One fee for the bus took you from the pier into town and let you ride their busses and trolley all you wanted. Several nice micro-breweries in town kept our interest! Read more