onthewater51

Just got notified we’re not stopping at Coco Cay February 2019 on Grandeur. Going to Grand Bahamas instead. Still a cruise to the Caribbean, I’m not complaining

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OP we are booked on Jewel for next May in Greece. While we haven't been on her we have done one of her sister ships, Sernade. Absoulutly our favorite class in the RCL line. Lots of glass and open views, you get sense of being at sea. We loved the layout, and staff was superb. So if Jewel is simiar to Serenade you will enjoy your cruise....safe travels...Bob

Last year we booked our first aft cabin and it was on Sernade, I think it was 8170 or 7170...I cant recall...In either case, it was just wonderful. Got us hooked on an aft cabin. My wife and I would sit out there late at night and just look at the sea and the stars...just beautiful, and secluded.

On the water 51–thank you for your kind words! Yes, we reserved shows ahead of time. For the diving show, they did scan sea pass cards as we were going in, so I guess if you didn’t have reservations you couldn’t go in until closer to show time. Although the bench seating in front of us was empty the whole show, so there would have been a place to sit without reservations. The ice show—I forgot to mention that one in my review! It was pretty full, but I think you could have found a couple of seats without reservations. The stage show, I think it was called “Come Fly With Me”? We didn’t have reservations for that one. I thought we did but our best friends Guest Services said we didn’t. I remember making the reservations, but noticed while on the trip it wasn’t listed in our itinerary on the tv. ANYWAY, Sophie and I just went to that one. We luckily got two seats together, but the theater was pretty packed. People without reservations had to wait in a line until 10 minutes before the show beforehand going in.

Thank you so much. My wife & I gave our son & his fiancé a cruise on Oasis this Fall as a honeymoon present I want to make sure they do this then. Safe travels. Bob

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OP...OUTSTANDING JOB here. thank you

Question for you regarding pre-cruise planning. DId you reserve anything beforehand? Shows, etc? Not necessarily talking about shore excursions really, I'm talking about on-board shows. If so, was it a good thing you did, or wasn't really needed.

Thank you

Bob

Just wondering....

 

Was he going to wear any type of shirt with the seat pants?

I would suggest a button down with open collar. Maybe white or light blue to spruce it up :)

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Wait until day 3 or 4. Everyone goes that first sea day and most never go again.

That is exacly what I was going to say. The first few days everyone who has never used a gym decides to use the gym ....after that its just a few regulars. To avoid the crowd the first few days I go as soon as they open, after that almost anytime isn't too bad, especially if its feeding time in the Windjammer :)

"Deadly Silver Sea" by Bob Morris is a good one.

Excellent Book! I love his main character Zack Casteen. Also in this seires is Bahamamama & Bermuda Scwartz. Both perfect cruise novels

What is the status of the Grandeur of the Seas arriving in port tomorrow and departing in the afternoon in this storm 3/2/18? It sounds terrible, and we are due to be on it tomorrow!!

We live 40 min west of Baltimore. Winds are pretty intense right now with impressive gusts. No power outages yet that I’m aware of. I think it’s supposed to die down this afternoon

I thought i saw an earlier post that Grandeur was coming back sooner than planned to avoid the storm. If it calms down maybe it will depart as scheduled. I’m just thinking out loud though

Good luck and have fun. We just got if Grandeur last week after a 12 cruise. Had a blast!

Bob

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Radiance class aft balconies are probably the best in all the fleet!! Keep checking and something might open up as time goes on. That is how we got 1602 last year!

Agree!! Had an aft on Serenade...wife & I loved it. Fir the OP we booked one for May 2019 on Jewel and I believe it was the last aft balcony. Shop early, shop often :)

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We'll be on this cruise on March 24. Since it's over Easter break I'm thinking the crowd may be a bit more on the young side, not sure. We're 64 & 70 but on the "young side"! We've only cruised during summer months in the past, so it will be interesting to see how we like it with fewer young people around. Could go either way I think.

 

Anyway, I was wondering of all the islands take U.S. currency. I don't want to use credit cards on the islands if I don't have to.

Thanks!

US cash is accepted on all of the islands

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Interested in the age demographics. You mentioned that you’re group was younger than average in your 50s. We’re going next year on this itinerary with my family and our respective mothers, so ages will range from 10-70.

We were on this same cruise. Wife and I are 62 & 60 and we were easily 10-15 years younger than the majority. The older folks were still quite active and involved. That was nice to see. There were a few families in the 35-45 range with small kids, but very very few. I don’t think I saw any kids over 14 though

Hope this helps you

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We were on the same cruise as well...had a wonderful time and pretty much agree with what you observed. We did a self debarkation as well and we were really impressed with that process. We were lined up by 7:15 and thought the lobby was full with others like us, we were off the ship, through customs and in our car by 7:50...very efficient.

We met some wonderful people on this cruise, and as others have said before, the crew on Grandeur are just fabulous. Very friendly and helpful.

We had one complaint regarding boarding, but it was a Port of Balt issue, not RCCL. The folks who check your ID as you first enter only had one employee working. It was cold and raining as you recall and the line was backed out the door and moving like molasses. Rather surprised at that process, not sure if that was the norm or exception.

I'll be in Bermuda for three days and I was considering renting a scooter to get around, but I do have a couple of questions.

1) Is there anywhere around the Royal Navy Dockyard that I can park it overnight so that it will stay safe?

2) Can you take the scooters on the Railway Trails? I was playing with Google maps and saw signs that read "bicycles, electric bicycles, and equestrian only", nothing about scooters (nor pedestrians for that matter).

Thank you in advance for any info.

 

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If you’re talking about renting a street legal scooter here is our experience. We rented a motor scooter on Bermuda about 5 years ago. My wife rode on the back. We were in our late 50’s at that time and i had a motorcycle license w/ a good amount of experience. There were PRO’s & CON’s to it:

PRO- It was a really fun way to see the entire island on our own. We stopped at the shopping district, locked it up, had lunch & shopped. Then we rode thru normal living neighborhoods, & we checked out a beach. Made wonderful memories doing it. The people that n Bermuda we’re great. Very friendly.

CON: If you don’t have experience on a motor scooter, or driving on the left side of the road, Bermuda isn’t a place to learn. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find they have a high accident rate with rented scooters.

Although we really enjoyed it, I probably would not do it again.

Have fun

Bob

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What they are trying to do is find and promote alternatives to all the things mentioned by other posters. In many cases a paper or wood product can be used. The amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean is enormous.

 

 

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Not slamming you at all, belive me. I understand what you are saying. But I find it funny that many places are trying to reduce their use of plastic, yet 20-30 years ago industries moved away from paper or wood products to save trees, and so they moved to plastic. And now....

Grandeur in 8 Days!!

Like someone else said, pack a few basic med supplies. Nothing fancy. Our last trip I February I came down with a head cold and went to buy Vicks DayQuil in the ship store. It's was ridiculously marked up. They wanted $15 for the same pack I could get for $4 at Target.

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I actually dealt with this issue this week.

Our 3 kids, all now in their 30's, have had a C &A number for 20 years. Their C & A numbers are still linked to my name so in order for them to crusie and earn points I emailed RCCL about this.

I received a response a day or two later stating that they had been removed from my account and all they needed to do was contact RCCL to set up their own account access, and still keep the points accrued.

Hope this helps you.

Depending on the cruise, we go with a balcony, or at minimum a large ocean view. We did inside once and we will never do that again. We also did an interior promenade on Navigator and wouldn't bother with that agai. For the price diff we'd rather see the ocean, sun, and evening over folks walking around the promenade.

Nice pic, I can actually see the aft cabin my wife & I had in Feb. Loved that cabin. It was the smallest RCL ship we had been on up to that poiny, I was skeptical the first day or so. In the end, we both really enjoyed it, and it might have been one of our best cruises. Thanks for posting the photo

We were on her for 10 days in February...no complaints from us whatsoever. My wife & I think it was one of the best cruises we had. Wonderful crew & Captain. LIke you I got a bit concerned just prior to the trip from reading some negative posts. Looking back, it was totally unwarranted You'll love it.

I always go to the blue bitch bar. It's on the beach, there is a reggae band that plays across form there on the beach. The food is good, i like there pizza.

And is not that expensive.

 

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I second the motion for Blue Bitch Bar...we've eaten there twice and we'll go back again I'm sure. Right on the beach, colorful, decent food at a fair price.

Being approached as we entered the Windjammer didn't bother us because we weren't a captive audience. As others have said, a polite "no thank you" worked just fine. However, we did resent the head waiter/maître d' doing a hard sell while we sat at our dinner table. That's just rude and inappropriate. And yes, we stated it in our follow-up review with RCL

This occurred on Serenade, Feb 3-13

Also... in Dominica it's a short 5 min walk to the Botanical Garden (free). Once there & If you don't mind strenuous exercise hike Jacks Trail. No open toe shoes. Takes about 20 min to summit & you get a beautiful view of the harbor & the ships. The trail itself is almost prehistoric. because you're in a rain forest. We enjoyed it, and it costs nothing.

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We just got home from that itinerary. If you have not done a catamaran excursion before my wife & I had an incredibly fun day doing the St Kitts/Nevis catamaran tour. It's an 80' x 34' catamaran that takes a 90 sail from St. Kitts to St. Nevis. During sailing they have open bar, play Caribbean music & it seemed everyone had a blast. There's bathrooms on board & you can sit up from on the netting and get wet, or sit back under cover by the bar area.

They beach the catamaran on St. Nevis & serve you lunch of BBQ chicken, hot dogs & salad nestled under seagrape trees. You get about an hour to swim. It's a really pretty beach, clear water & no waves. Very isolated

I think we paid around $119 p/ person and you reach it from the pier. No long drive needed. The entire excursion was 4 or 4 1/2 hrs. Highly recommend it

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