Serenade of the Seas Photos; Bermuda Travel Guide Update and Bermuda Beach Tennis

Three topics this week, two of which are related.

First, we present a new photo essay on Serenade of the Seas. Serenade is one of Royal Caribbean's Radiance class ships. These ships are known for their maneuverability and their speed. In fact, Royal Caribbean's Captain Herman Zini called them “the Maseratis” of the RCI fleet.

When I first went aboard Serenade a few years ago, I saw that there is much to like about this ship besides its mechanical qualities. The layout and the décor were well-thought out and eye-pleasing. In addition, although she is somewhat bigger than RCI's Vision class ships, she carries a similar number of passengers so there is more space per passenger.

Overall, Serenade reminded me of the Celebrity ships. This should not be surprising considering that she was made by the Meyer Werft shipyard, which built Celebrity's Century class and which is building the Solstice class.

Serenade spends time on both sides of the Atlantic and in this new photo essay, we see her in Venice, Italy and in St. Thomas, USVI. She has nice lines and so is a pleasure to photograph. The photo essay is posted at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS-photos.html

Next, we return to one of my favorite cruise destinations - - Bermuda. This island, actually a series of small islands, is unique in several respects. With regard to location, it is not in the Caribbean or in the Bahamas but rather off by herself in the Atlantic, a day's slow sailing from the U.S. east coast ports. As a result, the weather is more moderate than other islands.

While the island is very tourist friendly, it also derives income from the financial services companies located in Hamilton, the island's only urban area. Consequently, you do not see the severe poverty that one sometimes encounters in tropical paradises.

These factors combined with beautiful scenery and a culture that is a unique mix of its British and African heritages have attracted visitors since the earliest days of cruising.

Our photo tour of Bermuda has been updated and expanded with new photos and information. It is at http://beyondships.com/Ports-Bermuda-1.html

An activity that is growing in popularity in Bermuda is beach tennis. In fact, Bermuda just had its fifth annual beach tennis tournament, in which professional players from a number of countries competed for cash purses. I had had the opportunity to attend the tournament and talk to one of its organizers about beach tennis in Bermuda. That article is at http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-destination---beach-tennis-in-bermuda.html

Serenade of the Seas Photo Tour and Commentary

At the turn of the Millennium, Royal Caribbean had come up with two rather excellent but quite different designs for cruise ships. The first was the Voyager design, which premiered in late 1999. It was for a megacruise ship of more than 130,000 tons, which have the line the space to include amenities such as the Royal Promenade and the ice skating rink, which had never been seen on a cruise ship before. Its large size also lent itself to economies of scale as the design could accommodate large numbers of guests.

The other design was the Radiance class design, which first saw service in 2001. This design was also for a large ship but at 90,000 tons, much smaller than the Voyager design. At the same time, capable of doing 25 knots, it was a much faster ship. It was more traditional in its interior but very well laid out with the use of large amounts of glass enhancing the public spaces. In sum, it was an eloquent design that pointed in something of a different direction than the Voyager design.

Serenade of the Seas is the third of four Radiance class ships built for RCI between 2001 and 2004. Her modern sleek lines are immediately appealing. Her interior is delightful. In many ways, she is a significant milestone in the development of the traditional cruise ship design. Although she has many of the signature Royal Caribbean amenities, it is a different experience.

Recently, Royal Caribbean has focused its attention on developing the Voyager class, which gave rise to the Freedom class and which is the ancestor of the forthcoming Oasis class. Thankfully the Radiance design has not been abandoned. RCI’s sister company Celebrity Cruises is developing the Radiance design with its Solstice class ships.

My profile of Serenade of the Seas is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS-Profile.html. and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS--tour-1.html.