mjwcruising

At last look, it was $41.00, and DOES NOT include floating mats, bottles of water and the fruit plate any longer. They have also been moved from their original location Hope this information helps you..

We booked a clamshell for our Oct. cruise. Do you know the new location? Is it formerly called Barefoot beach, now called South beach? I'm not familiar with Coco Cay but have been researching it a lot.

We do not have a balcony.:( First time no balcony since our first cruise on Zenith back in 1997.

I am on the roll call. several people including me asked about a sail-a-way get-together but no has taken the initiative to organize one so I thought I'd pick a venue and announce it on the roll call. I'm sure some people will join us.

The sail-a-ways i've attended are usually held in a bar on the back on the ship near an upper deck but I don't see one on Grandeur.

I guess I'll go with the Viking Crown Lounge because it may be chilly and windy since it's Oct. 22nd. At least there is a bar there for those of us that have a beverage package.;)

We will be sailing in less than 30 days. No one has organized a sail-a-way get-together. Being new to Grandeur I have no idea where the best spot would be to have one. Hopefully a bar. does anyone have any suggestions?

With Dynamic Dining, you only get 4 menu's that are complimentary. With RCCL traditional style, you get 7 complimentary menu's. Only way to expand the menu with Dynamic Dining is to pay for the specialty restaurants. Now you'll have 7 or more depending on the length. Just thought of that.

most people didn't eat in the same dining room every night with Dynamic Dining. On a 12 night cruise we ate in each place 3 times and there was different menus the further into the cruise we went. Also even with one menu there was a sufficient amount of appetizers, salads, entrees, etc. to choose from if you were to eat there more than once. DH and I rather enjoyed Dynamic Dining and we are sad to see it being changed back to the old way of dining.

That's what I would do, though not sure if we missed out on historical or interesting facts by not touring downtown. Pop the question into the ports of call forum or search Oli's over there and see what folks say.

 

 

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Good idea, I'll take a look at all the ports of call we are stopping at.

Hi mjwcruising! We did the Acadia tour. Not much of the downtown was covered. For me that was fine, as it is a lovely area to simply walk through and enjoy. I am sure I missed out on historical and interesting nuances, but for me was better to be out and about to the non-walkable places for the tour. Easily the best bang for the buck in terms of excursions. Enjoy!

 

 

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So, I guess what we should do is take the Acadia tour and then we can walk around the town on our own which I have read is rather small?

For our stop in Miami next month we were planning on taking a taxi over to South Beach and having a leisurely walk along Ocean Drive up to Lincoln Road Mall, having something something to eat and then taking a taxi back to the ship. (We have been to South Beach numerous times and know the area well.)

With the Zika virus in the area I'm not so sure we will get off the ship.

The beach is quite nice. Walkway on the ocean side of Ocean Drive has benches which is great place to sit and relax or people watch.

The art deco buildings are neat to see and there is usually antique cars sitting out front of a few of the hotels.

[quote name=SwimAruba;50958331an excursion outside of the city (you are about to see this become a theme).

Bar Harbor -- Cannot say enough wonderful things about Oli's Trolley! We booked their 2.5 hour Arcadia tour and it was unbelievably worth it. Best bang for the buck for sure! Super easy to find right off the ship' date=' too. Beautiful town to walk around and explore, very charming!

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Hi SwimAruba, thank you for your review, I am finding it very helpful.

I was looking over Oli’s Trolley website recently and considering to use them while we are in Bar Harbor on our cruise next year. Maybe you could answer a question for me.

There is three different tours:

Acadia National Park Tour - 2 ½ hour

Cadillac Mountain Tour - 1 hour

Downtown Bar Harbor tour - 1 hour

I am thinking the Acadia National Park Tour which includes a scheduled at Cadillac Mountain Summit, but does it also in Downtown Bar Harbor?

If not would it be wise to book both the Acadia and the Downtown tours?

I was hoping the Acadia Nat'l Park tour would b a combination of the other two tours plus a little more.

We will be in port 7am - 5pm

thank you or taking the time to answer my question(s)

In Boston and Portland, we simply walked around on our own, and did no excursions.

 

In Boston, we went to Quincy Market and walked around the vicinity there. Ate a Boston cream pie at Mike's Pastries in little Italy and clam chowder at Union Oyster House. It's Boston...so 3/5.

 

In Portland, we walked around the town and some of the shops in the downtown area. We had lunch at Eventide Oyster Co. The place opened at 11, and it started pouring around 10:30am. So we battled through the rain over to the restaurant, but there was already a line out the door and they only had seats for about 30 people. Luckily, we got seated right next to the oyster bar which was fun. I let the waiter decide what oysters for me and I also had a lobster roll which was the best lobster roll I had the whole trip. 2/5 because we didn't find much going on in the city, but Eventide is very good.

 

In Bar Harbor, we took an excursion with Acadia National Park Tours. The tour was 2.5 hours exactly. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, but it was short. We got to get off for 25 minutes at 2 stops which was a little on the short side if you wanted to explore, but plenty for just taking some pictures. It was normally 15 minutes at 3 stops but one area was under construction. I think 15 minutes would've been too short. I only wished they had more stops and had a longer tour. Afterwards, we had lunch at Side Street Cafe and I had my last Maine lobster roll. It was good, but not as good as the one in Portland. Then we walked around the shops near the port. The town is very quaint, and the view right next to the shore is gorgeous. Would definitely be a good trip to go there and stay longer at one of the bed and breakfasts and visit Acadia National Park some more. I am iffy on the tour company. Though they did a fine job, I personally wouldn't use them again simply because the park was so nice, a couple 15-20 minutes just isn't enough time to enjoy much of it... maybe that would be plenty for other folks though. 5/5 would visit Bar Harbor in a heart beat, and really spend some time here.

 

In Saint John, we went through the ship excursion for St. Martin's and Bay of Fundy. I would recommend this because the Sea Caves were pretty cool at low tide. I really enjoyed this. The Reversing Rapids were over hyped honestly, but you can still get some good pictures. St. Martins really is a tiny village. We only really saw some covered bridges and a handful of shops. The end of the trip was a bummer because the whole downtown area lost power so ALL of the shops were closed including the market. Not their fault, but we couldn't get any shopping in, so we just headed back on the ship. 3/5...for the sea caves.

 

At Halifax, we did excursion through the ship and did the Peggy's Cove and Double Decker City Tour. You have to go to Peggy's Cove. It is exactly what you imagine a postcard to be. Good Christmas pictures to be had. The route back is also gorgeous drive. Now, having said that, we didn't utilize the Pink Bus tickets. We went back to the ship because we were hungry and cold, and thought we'd come back out after lunch, but then we decided to just stay on the boat. I would still recommend this tour, but if you don't utilize the Pink Bus, then get another tour that will take you to Peggy's Cove. 4/5 because of Peggy's Cove and the fishing village is worth the trip. I only wish I has more time. Advice, this was the only port that was actually cold for us with the wind chill...probably around low-mid 60s, but felt cooler so dress in layers.

 

Some context about us, my DW and I are in our early 30s, so we are not the normal demographics of the cruisers on this trip. (90% of the cruisers were 55+ according to the cruise director's show). We don't have kids (although we are expecting which is why we had to switch our caribbean cruise to this itinerary after final payment). We did a lot of walking (averaged 20k steps a day) everywhere instead of getting a car. We did Uber to and from the port in Newark which was very easy for just the 2 of us. We got an indoor room (because balcony was gone when we switched itineraries), and though the virtual balcony is actually really cool, it's not as nice as an actual balcony so I wished we had that...grand loft suite is out of our price range :)

 

We didn't do any of the specialty dining as my DW has food allergies and so Italian and experimental food at Wonderland would be very difficult for her, and sushi was not possible because of the pregnancy. So we ate at all of the other restaurants except for Silk because it was the one restaurant that didn't have the "classic menu" and there was only 1 chicken dish, and it was sweet and sour which she does not like fried foods.

 

I did almost all of the physical activities like Ripcord, bumper cars, and even the trapeze act. My DW unfortunately couldn't and she wants to come back so she can after we have our DD.

 

I know that's more than what you bargained for, but hopefully that helps.

Thank you, sambao21 for the details, definitely helps, and it wasn't too much information. I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Just got off this itinerary, let me know if you have any questions. We didn't do any specialty dining, so can't say much about those.

 

Overall it was a blast....have a good trip.

wondering what excursions you took and were they through the cruise line or someone local to the ports of call. Would you recommend them to future cruisers?

Thank you in advance

There was last time we were onboard and it's been mentioned on other threads that it's still offered. It's where we go on ships that have it.

Thank you BND.

Following...we are going on the same cruise September 2017..

Wishing you fabulous trip.

They are $49.75 now, which is for 2 people, I think they've actually dropped the price since they put out the beds and bungalows. We actually thought about the loungers but it says there is a minimum age of 4 and we have a toddler. We're doing the beach bed instead.

I read on a different thread the price dropped on the loungers but no longer includes water, water mats or fresh fruit.

Please forgive me for hijacking this question, but I am diamond on RCCL and will be cruising on Grandeur next month. At dinner tonight my husband mentioned going to the "diamond breakfast". (we cruised Explorer back in 2010 and went to breakfast especially for the diamond level).

I am wondering if there is a breakfast for diamond members on Grandeur.

what is the water like in the area of the loungers w/ clamshells? DH & I are considering booking one but I had read the water was too shallow to do anything more than wade. We have beverage packages so we really don't miss the bottled water and we won't miss the fruit because there is a buffet lunch included for everyone on the island. Wondering if there will still be a tram available for transportation to the lounge area?

Just boarded Grandeur of the seas, our first Royal Caribbean cruise, upgraded to the new UP and enjoying a nice cherry sangria. :)

Which bar? cherry sangria sounds delicious and we will be on the Grandeur next month, I have the Deluxe package.

The Cove Hopper – A free (donations very welcome) golf-cart shuttle service offered by friendly locals with a wealth of knowledge. Using back roads they can take you south as far as Ron Jon! Or just drive you around the Port.

Thank you SteerageJoe, that is want we were hoping for. We would gladly give them a donation to drive us to location right at the port.

Hi Mary, nice to see you over here. We're the 1st cruise to experience this change. 3 other couples that were on the Silly with us are coming too. I'm sure we'll have a good time. Just hope things run smoothly.

 

 

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Did RCCL contact you about the change in the dining concept for your cruise?

We don't sail until Sept. 2018 to Canada/New England. We just booked recently with 2 other couples. We had to pick Dynamic Choice which was fine with me because I didn't want to Dynamic Classic (we didn't care on Silk on our Quantum cruise). Now with the new dining concept we would like to do MDR at 6:00 in Grande or Chic. Do you think I can change our dining reservation by calling RCCL?

The difference is that with dynamic dining, you had a choice of reserving 4 different restaurants each night with each restaurant having an unique menu of its own. With the new way of dining, you will be assigned to just one restaurant for the duration of your cruise and all restaurant menus will be the same across all 4. There will no longer be unique menus for each restaurant. There is no MDR on this ship-instead there are 4 smaller restaurants. For example, if you ate at Silk, menu was geared toward Asian food. That will no longer happen. Very disappointed because we really enjoyed eating at different places each night and seeing the decor of each.

 

 

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I agree with you, we enjoyed the dynamic dining concept.

We have reviewed the options in & around Port Canaveral several times and we have decided to just hang around the port. Our main question is want kind of transportation is right near terminal 3 to take us around the port area to the expiration tower or the Cove, fish lips, etc. right at the port. Is there trams, buses, trolley, or taxi's??

Our cruise will be stopping in Port Canaveral 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM. DH & I aren't really interested in any excursions at this port but we were thinking of doing something right at the port. I have read about the Exploration Tower. What is the distance from the Grandeur of the Seas terminal to the Tower? The port itself looks quite large on a map. Are there other things to do right there? Is there a shuttle to take you around the port area?

Thank you in advance for any info on this port area.

This is a good place to start learning about Freedom:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/royal-caribbean/freedom

awesome!! Thank you, I'll start reading tomorrow! I wasn't aware I could look up a particular ship.

Yes, all the ships in Freedom class still have the Connoisseur Club.

 

However, I expect them to be eliminated at some point in the future, as they plan to get rid of the one on Adventure during the next dry dock this fall.

Thank you! Is there anything hints, tips, or information you can give me about the Freedom of the Seas? DH and I are considering going on a TA on her next spring. I am just starting to do that research.

Does Freedom of the Seas or any other ship in that class still have the Connoisseur's Club or "Cigar Lounge"?

Following along, hope to book a cruise for 2018 on this ship.