Just off the Grandeur...

[rsquared11]

Just got back from the 4-night Grandeur swing to Key West/Cozumel. I can try and answer questions if anybody has any.

 

Positives: Had a great time as always. Love Key West, wish we were there a little longer, but we did have a great time there. Second visit to Cozumel as well, we did Nachi Cocum this time. Would highly recommend this to anyone. Good food, good drinks, all right there on the beach. Beautiful weather. On the ship we had a great waiter (Roshan), great room attendant (Miguel) and I'm not sure I'll ever sail a ship without a solarium again.

 

Negatives: I don't let negative picky stuff bother me on a cruise, so its not like any of this bothered me - but, food was good, not as great as I remember. Portions are also getting smaller, though I don't really guess it matters since you can order however much you want. I wasn't as impressed with the cruise director and staff as I was on the Majesty in January. And, I will agree with some who I have read on here - the photographers at dinner are annoying, and now they have added the "bartender peddling pre-made post-dinner cordials" trick as well. Again, all nit-picky stuff that doesn't ruin anything for me.

 

As I said, I can try to answer some questions the best I can. We had a blast and are already looking forward to the next trip.

[Havana Daydreamin]

Negatives: I don't let negative picky stuff bother me on a cruise, so its not like any of this bothered me - but, food was good, not as great as I remember. Portions are also getting smaller, though I don't really guess it matters since you can order however much you want. I wasn't as impressed with the cruise director and staff as I was on the Majesty in January. And, I will agree with some who I have read on here - the photographers at dinner are annoying, and now they have added the "bartender peddling pre-made post-dinner cordials" trick as well. Again, all nit-picky stuff that doesn't ruin anything for me.

 

As I said, I can try to answer some questions the best I can. We had a blast and are already looking forward to the next trip.

 

Good for you to not let the negative stuff bother ya!

 

As for the

now they have added the "bartender peddling pre-made post-dinner cordials" trick as well.

 

Back in 1997 on our first cruise on Majesty this was standard protocol...layered after dinner cordials. It was always a big hit with my wife. She was disappointed when they went to pre-mixing without seeing the layers (They were so pretty!):) Then that kind of went by the wayside too.

 

Interesting that they might be doing this again...will have to have the sea pass handy for my wife then. Cause she almost claws through my pockets to get at the sea pass otherwise if she knows those drinks are coming.

[ImmortalxKiss]

We did Nachi Cocum in April and loved it, as well!! Glad Cozumel turned out to be a nice day ..both times we've gone, it's been super overcast ..and a few weeks back, it was threatening rain.

 

Didn't mind the photographers at dinner; Carnival does it quite often. And I loved the after dinner drinks ..lol..

 

We too looooved the solarium ..amazing idea!

[LBumb]

we love the premixed after dinner drinks. they are great to add to your coffee.

[jjb415]

Thanks OP for you impression of the Grandeur. :)

[rsquared11]

Just to clarify, I love the post-dinner drinks too ... I just like my $6 White Russian in the bar more than a $7 "shot" at the table! But, yeah they are pre-made, bartender comes around with them at the end. I did watch him go to a table of folks that had come in an hour late (or maybe on My Time) and try to offer them a cordial in the middle of the caesar salad, which was pretty funny.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention was during boarding, our friend had not removed his work-issued leatherman knife from his bag. They removed it and tagged it with his information. When we were disembarking, an alarm sounded when he put his Seapass in to leave. He was immediately walked to a table and given his knife back. I was impressed they take such care in taking care of things like that. End random story...

[pack your bags]

Just got back from the 4-night Grandeur swing to Key West/Cozumel. I can try and answer questions if anybody has any.

 

Positives: Had a great time as always. Love Key West, wish we were there a little longer, but we did have a great time there. Second visit to Cozumel as well, we did Nachi Cocum this time. Would highly recommend this to anyone. Good food, good drinks, all right there on the beach. Beautiful weather. On the ship we had a great waiter (Roshan), great room attendant (Miguel) and I'm not sure I'll ever sail a ship without a solarium again.

 

Negatives: I don't let negative picky stuff bother me on a cruise, so its not like any of this bothered me - but, food was good, not as great as I remember. Portions are also getting smaller, though I don't really guess it matters since you can order however much you want. I wasn't as impressed with the cruise director and staff as I was on the Majesty in January. And, I will agree with some who I have read on here - the photographers at dinner are annoying, and now they have added the "bartender peddling pre-made post-dinner cordials" trick as well. Again, all nit-picky stuff that doesn't ruin anything for me.

 

As I said, I can try to answer some questions the best I can. We had a blast and are already looking forward to the next trip.

 

I was on the Grandeur in September as well and agree with many of your thoughts. We had Miguel as our room steward too, he was the best!!!! Kept our room nice, always ice in the bucket, left a note for extra wash cloths one day and came back to find them with a nice note left back!!! He as always very friendly, took great care of us!!!!!

 

Had Rodney from India as our head waiter. He was truly the best I have ever had on a cruise!!!! We were with a very large group who always had special requests. He always accomodated with a big smile and remembered all of our names even though we were constantly changing chair.

 

We went to Nachi as well. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone. We had a beautiful day, great food and drinks. We had Manuel as our waiter and he was wonderful!!!!! Try the seafood ceviche, it was delicious!!!!

 

Totally agee on the Solarium!!!! What a great, relaxing place. We spent most of our last sea day in there.

[enidcruiser]

Just a few pros and cons about the trip. There were lots of little ones but we just wanted to relax and have fun. You gotta pick your battles.

Pro items:

We tried the shuttle provided by RCI from the airport to the ship and back and it was worth every penny. When we got there, they met us, took our bags and we did not have to worry about them again. They all showed up in our rooms about 6:00. When we departed only had to drag bags to bus and that was it and then we got off and took our bags to be checked right outside. Was afraid that the one was over 50 lbs but he didn’t weigh it so squeaked by on that one.

We too enjoyed Key West, we rented an electric car and drove all over and ended up with a "cheeseburger in paradise". Leaving by 2:00 was too early. Still Key West was great as usual. Saw 2 people coming down the pier at 2:00 so we were late getting away.

We did Playa Mia in Cozumel and found it to be very relaxing, plenty to do but the price was great for us as we only wanted drinks and the beach. The taxi ride was $15 for the 4 of us so no problem.

The day at sea was wonderful. Lots of reading, watching the belly flop contest and the parade of flags. I agree on the cruise director and his annoying blond wife.

Room steward had everything done right, thanks Wesley. Towel animals only showed up 3 nights. Loved the monkey hanging from the ceiling.

There is plenty to do on the ship. We did lots of relaxing and reading.

Con items:

Food was very good but seemed to go downhill as the week went on. On Italian night the menu was rather disjointed.

The steaks were not quite as good as in the past. A little tough and somewhat tasteless.

The Lounge singer in the Schooner lounge was somewhat annoying, too loud and was more than a little flat. The girls that flocked around him were probably tone deaf anyway.

Towel animals only showed up 3 nights. Loved the monkey hanging from the ceiling.