CRUISE VIGNETTES 48, Viking Serenade

THE VIKING SERENADE
In 1997, since we hadn’t been on a trip for awhile, when a friend of Emmy’s said a group from nearby Sun City was going by bus to the Los Angeles Harbor, then board the Viking Serenade a Royal Caribbean International ship (launched in 1982), for a few days, we said that’s just fine with us.

There was a lot of emphasis on the 4 day part, and very little emphasis on the cruise part. My brother Jesse said the Navy destroyer, USS Roe DD 418, he served on during WW II was fast (35 knots, about 40 MPH), but not when compared with the Royal Caribbean ship we were on. We left the port in Los Angeles at 6:00 PM, and by 8:00 AM the next morning, just 14 hours later, we had sailed the entire 22 miles to the island of Catalina! That’s a cruise?

TRIP SUMMARY
Each of the three days were spent in a port, Catalina, San Diego, and Ensenada, Mexico. We had visited each of those cities more than once, but walked and taxied and looked here and there.

The food, the service and all the rest on the ship was OK, just too much time in too many ports. And when you compare these ports with others we have visited, there just isn’t a comparison. We knew what to expect, and that’s just what happened, but they should forget the ports, and just cruise. The cruise people would have to spend a lot more money for fuel, and they would not get kick-backs from the cities and the stores they try to steer you to.

They tell us that everyone wants the ports, but I questioned over 20 people on this trip, and only 3 wanted to stop at the ports. Over all of our cruises, I have asked that question about 106 times, and 90 people said they would love to just cruise, and not shop.