Grandeur of the Seas 8/5/10 Review

[cot427]

I just wanted to start out by saying how GRAND the Grandeur of the Seas is. A little background...I have been cruising for about 8 years, and my family and I have become accustomed to the larger ships such as Voyager and Freedom, and soon to be Oasis! But we decided to take this as an end of the summer getaway since we do our big family vacation in October. Well we were suprised how much we loved the Grandeur. Everything about the ship was fantastic from the food to the service and the entertainment to the ship.

 

I have the cruise compasses if anybody wants them, I will upload them for you. And I wanted to start out by seeing if there were any questions before I start to write the review??

[cot427]

Ok so here goes

 

We were on the 4 night Western Caribbean, Key West and Cozumel. The Captain was Captain Rob Hempstead, by far the best captain in the fleet in my opinion. His daily announcements were very comical, always starting out with "I have some good news and some bad news". He also made himself very present throughout the entire ship. He came to the crown and anchor get together, he was at the parade of flags, and he was even at the farewell show in the theater. I saw more of him in 4 days than I do of the others in 7 days.

 

The Cruise Director was John Blair, and his wife, Katrina was the activites manager. These two made a great team, and as far as I'm concerned, he is one of the top cruise directors in the fleet. He did a great job of managing the entertainment and activities so that we could have all the amenities of a 7 night cruise in a 4 night cruise. Now the only other person on the CD staff I saw was a lady named Casey, whom they called sunshine. With the 3 of them, I don't know how they did it, but the activities and entertainment were awesome.

 

We had main seating in the Great Gatsby. The head waiter, Tony from the US Virgin Islands definitely deserves some compliments...I saw more of him than any other head waiter we've had in 8 years. He was there giving us bread, coffee, water, etc and he stopped by to talk at least 2 if not more times a night, which was fantastic. Our main waiter was a little disappointing, but she later told us it was her 2nd week onboard this ship so we chalked it up to getting used to a new ship and new people. Our assistant was very good, Terry Ann, although she never attempted to help the main waiter that much, maybe because she didn't know her, but they both did their own thing..not much of a team.

 

Food in the main dining room was good as usual, we noticed some new things on the menu, such as the chocolate souffle instead of the grand mariner. The grand mariner was much better though. The windjammer was okay, we noticed it had some good days and bad days. Although on the last sea day, we went to get lunch and the selection of food was awful. We never tried the late night snacks in the solarium, but we did go to the poolside dance under the stars buffet which was well organized and nice.

 

Day 1 - There was the grandeur expo and the welcome aboard activiites. The showtime was at 7:45 for all, and it was an intro to the cruise as well as a comedian known as Al Romas, who was very funny. There was a key west port shopping talk later after the show, as well as bingo and then late night adult comedy with al romas. One thing I have to mention, there were so many kids in the late night adult show...Al Romas even talked to an 11 year old boy during his show, who later on during the show got escorted out because his parents did not know he was there. There needs to be better sense on the parents side for this type of activtity.

 

Day 2 - We were in Key West from 7-2. I took the conch train around key west, which was a very nice and informative tour. The weather was beautiful and afterwards, everybody went poolside for the Sexy Legs competition and Miss grandeur of the seas contest. The poolband, rhythm explosion, was excellent. This was formal night, and the production show was called rhythm and rhyme. It was a salute to broadway, and was very good. After the show, they had Battle of the Sexes and Adult Karaoke, where somebody did an awesome impression of the backstreet boys.

 

Day 3 - We were in cozumel from 10-7, we arrived on time and decided we would find something to do once we got off the ship. We decided to head over to Playa Mia, the ship recommended beach were you could choose from 3 packages, 1 basic for 16 dollars included full use of facilities, chairs, beach mats, paddleboats, and so much more. For 40 dollars, you could have access open bar and for 52 you can have the open bar and buffet. We got rained out later on and went back to the ship. The show for this evening was a comedy duo called Wilde and James, and they were hilarious. They juggled and told jokes and really put on a great show. The quest followed this and John Blair and his team put on a great show. The quest merged into the dancing under the stars and the buffet upstairs when it was over.

 

Day 4 - There was so much going on this day, but it was a perfect day under the sun to relax by the pool. They had the international parade of flags and the belly flop contest. A nice touch by the CD with that one because he had a kids belly flop before the adults, it was nice for them. The captain also challenged the hotel director to a cookoff in the centrum in the morning. There were art shows, bingo, ice carvings, towel foldings, etc. The farewell show for this cruise was amazing. The cruise director and staff joined the RC singers and dancers and put on a great farewell show, very active. Even the captain stopped by. Then Wilde and James came back and did some more of their show. There was only one show though at 7:45, and it was really confusing because many people were late and did not get seats and caused interruptions up and down the aisles. Later on in the evening was the love and marriage game show and the another late night adult comedy by al romas.

 

Finally, one of the things I forgot to mention was embarkation was a breeze, one of the smoothest ones weve ever experienced. Debarkation was very smooth too, although there were a couple lines, one in the centrum to get off and one for customs, but they moved very very fast.

 

Questions?

 

Day 4 -

[LBumb]

how would you compare grandeur to majesty/monarch ships.

[cot427]

how would you compare grandeur to majesty/monarch ships.

 

Hmmmmm thats a good question. Well its been what, 8 years since I went on the Monarch, I honestly don't remember too much about it, but I know some few differences about them. But I really liked the Grandeur, it was a nice sized ship (well same as the Majesty/monarch) and the crew was fabulous. I think both have been upgraded a little bit, such as both have the ben and jerrys and seatles best. The grandeur has the adult solarium and one main pool whereas the monarch as two main pools but no solarium I believe. The monarch has a sorrentos for pizza, but you can get that in the solarium cafe on the grandeur. Other than that, they are pretty similiar. Grandeur is about 5 or 6 years newer than the majesty and monarch.

[frankathy]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on her in a few weeks. Did you post the dailies?

[LkldDave]

Hmmmmm thats a good question. Well its been what, 8 years since I went on the Monarch, I honestly don't remember too much about it, but I know some few differences about them. But I really liked the Grandeur, it was a nice sized ship (well same as the Majesty/monarch) and the crew was fabulous. I think both have been upgraded a little bit, such as both have the ben and jerrys and seatles best. The grandeur has the adult solarium and one main pool whereas the monarch as two main pools but no solarium I believe. The monarch has a sorrentos for pizza, but you can get that in the solarium cafe on the grandeur. Other than that, they are pretty similiar. Grandeur is about 5 or 6 years newer than the majesty and monarch.

 

Does the Grandeur have a Ben and Jerry's and Seattle's Best? I go walking early each morning and stop and pick her up a coffee from Seattle's Best on the Monarch and she's been asking if the Grandeur has one.

[cot427]

Does the Grandeur have a Ben and Jerry's and Seattle's Best? I go walking early each morning and stop and pick her up a coffee from Seattle's Best on the Monarch and she's been asking if the Grandeur has one.

 

Yes the Grandeur has the Ben&Jerrys/Seattles Best on deck 6 near the centrum right before you go into the shops on board. The crew there were fantastic. I enjoyed many coconut lattes from them during the cruise!

[cot427]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on her in a few weeks. Did you post the dailies?

 

I have them and I will post them soon and I will put the link on here!

[emmy]

Nice review :) I too usually sail the larger ships Voyager, Freedom and Oasis class. Sneaking this Grandeur cruise in to up the cruise credits.:)

 

We are sailing Grandeur Sept 6. I cannot wait to see Grandeur and Oasis side by side in Cozumel....

 

Hey see you on the Oasis in 2 months :)

[LkldDave]

Yes the Grandeur has the Ben&Jerrys/Seattles Best on deck 6 near the centrum right before you go into the shops on board. The crew there were fantastic. I enjoyed many coconut lattes from them during the cruise!

 

Thanks...you just made my wife's night.

[chinamom60]

Thanks for posting this info. Seems like the older ships don't get as much "time" on the boards as the new bigger ships do. I can't wait to see the daily Compass. We set sail in 13 days for the 5 day cruise on Granduer.

[cot427]

Nice review :) I too usually sail the larger ships Voyager, Freedom and Oasis class. Sneaking this Grandeur cruise in to up the cruise credits.:)

 

We are sailing Grandeur Sept 6. I cannot wait to see Grandeur and Oasis side by side in Cozumel....

 

Hey see you on the Oasis in 2 months :)

 

Yeah 2 months!! I cannot wait for Oasis. When we were in cozumel, the Grandeur was alone with 3 other carnival ships, so we did not get to see the Oasis in person. Captain Rob announced when we arrived in Cozumel, we will be in port with the Carnival Exaspiration and the Carnival abomination!

[cot427]

Thanks for posting this info. Seems like the older ships don't get as much "time" on the boards as the new bigger ships do. I can't wait to see the daily Compass. We set sail in 13 days for the 5 day cruise on Granduer.

 

Yeah. On the board you always read about the Oasis or the Freedom so I thought it would be nice to remind people (including myself) how wonderful the smaller royal caribbean ships are as well. The Grandeur is even so much nicer than the Carnival Splendor I went on in February...we did not enjoy that cruise very much. I would sail on Royal Caribbeans smaller ships before I sail on Carnivals bigger ships anyday.

[cot427]

Thanks...you just made my wife's night.

 

No problem! Enjoy the Grandeur!

[enidcruiser]

We (DH and I and another couple) are going on the same West Carib on Sept 30. Love to have all this information to get us more excited and ready for the cruise. Thanks.

[cot427]

We (DH and I and another couple) are going on the same West Carib on Sept 30. Love to have all this information to get us more excited and ready for the cruise. Thanks.

 

Any questions...ask away! I am working on scanning the cruise compasses now...the only one I don't have is the As You Depart.

[angskee]

i'd like to see the compass were sailing sept 20th on the granduer :)

[linedancer]

We will be on the Grandeur for the first time the end of Sept. I do love the larger ships. My one question is where do you get late night snacks? Not burgers, but tea and cookies, or hot chocolate and cake??? I don't want to order room service, we will still be out and about, maybe in the casino. But love that snack at night,

 

Irene

[cot427]

We will be on the Grandeur for the first time the end of Sept. I do love the larger ships. My one question is where do you get late night snacks? Not burgers, but tea and cookies, or hot chocolate and cake??? I don't want to order room service, we will still be out and about, maybe in the casino. But love that snack at night,

 

Irene

 

This is the only problem we came across onboard. There is nothing like the cafe promenade or sorrentos to satisfy the sweet tooth, or in my case, sweet teeth! The Seattles Best closes at 11 I believe, but if you buy a coffee they give you cookies or pastries, but only if you buy. The solarium has the burgers and pizza, fries and hot dogs, but I never saw anythings sweet. So you would have to order room service for that.

[cot427]

Ok I scanned the compasses but I am having a little trouble posting them. I tried webshots but I realized I uploaded them as pdf files for adobe reader. Anyone suggestions?

[Loyal Royal]

Love the Grandeur. The only ship I enjoyed more was the Empress.

[Beth C]

Here's a shot I found online of the Grandeur vs Oasis... just a little bit bigger ;)

 

[pack your bags]

i'd like to see the compass were sailing sept 20th on the granduer :)

 

We too are sailing on the 20th, and starting to get soooo excited!!! Have you joined our Roll Call yet? Not much action on there as of yet, but join us if you haven't.

 

Thanks so much for your wonderful review!!! It is so nice to hear good things about this ship. I was on the Monarch last year and had a great time, so I expect no less from the Grandeur!!!! :D

[linedancer]

This is the only problem we came across onboard. There is nothing like the cafe promenade or sorrentos to satisfy the sweet tooth, or in my case, sweet teeth! The Seattles Best closes at 11 I believe, but if you buy a coffee they give you cookies or pastries, but only if you buy. The solarium has the burgers and pizza, fries and hot dogs, but I never saw anythings sweet. So you would have to order room service for that.

 

I only drink tea, not coffee. This is what I did not like about the Majesty when we were on her before the renovations. The only thing you could get at night was a burger or hot frank and fries. I like my tea and pastries.

 

Irene

[CRUISINGCPA]

They have cookies in the Solarium late night. Also, there are drink stations ourtside the Windjammer by the pool that you may be able to get hot tea at (not sure if they're open all the time). If you're in a Junior Suite or above there is a hot pot & tea bags in the room, but still no coffee sized for the coffee maker!

Be sure not to miss Johnny & Take 4 performing in the Centrum. You will not believe the vocal range that Johnny has.