Help me decide!!!!!! Baltimore cruise

[Littlegoo75]

OOooh.... I need help here. There are two great cruises I found while browsing. They are both 10 days cruises r/t out of Baltimore. One is on the Grandeur and one is on the Galaxy. The itineraries are virtually identical, they are just one week apart. The Galaxy sails on September 17th, the Grandeur sails on September 24th. It really doesn't matter to me which week I go. The price is pretty much the same for an oceanview cabin.

I don't know which ship would be a better fit for my husband and I, and possibly some of our friends if they are able to make it.

A little about us, we are both late 20-something professionals, who are into dining at nice places, traveling, adventure, extreme sports, like to stay up late to party, like gambling, don't have kids, and just want to be able to relax and have fun for 10 whole days. I know that the longer cruises like that tend to attract an older crowd, that's why I am thinking that the Grandeur would be a better choice. I would normally just do a 7 day out of Florida, but the thought of not having to fly anywhere to catch the ship is very appealing to me. It would just be an hour drive to Baltimore for us. No having to wait all day for a late flight, or having to fly in a day early to insure that we are there in time to board - I could really do without that.

I would love to hear from anyone out there that can help me decide!

 

??????????? November 2004

Carnival Pride 4/27/02

Sitmar Fairsea 4/ 1983 ( I was just a little kid!!)

[AdrieneAGD]

Well, judging from your likes/dislikes, you'd probably do better on RCI - Celebrity (from what I've heard and what others have posted on here) tends to cater to a more sedate crowd than you and your husband. RCI has it over Celebrity as far as sports activities and late-night entertainment go. The only area that you would probably enjoy Celebrity more in would be the food.

 

But, it's six of one, half-dozen of the other. You'd probably enjoy both.

 

Sovereign of the Seas, 2/27/2003

 

Celebrating my husband's 30th birthday on the Mariner of the Seas, 9/5/2004

 

 'til the Mariner!!

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

My vote would be with Grandeur -- she is a beautiful ship

 

You might want to go to different message boards and read the reviews of both ships -- that might help you decide. Good luck

 

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Navigator of the Seas 6/26/04

 

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[FinelyCruising]

I think you might find a better night life on Grandeur. During the day RCI ships have more fun and games at the pool if that is to your liking, and you can still always find a quiet spot if you wish.

 

A bit more energy on RCI we find.

 

Either way it sounds like you are going with a nice group and will have fun. Happy Cruising!

[hardingk]

I have been on both sister ships. I would go on the Grandeur! It has an awesome Solarium pool and is laid of really well. Galaxy is nice, but crowd will probably be older and activites geared more towards the older crowded. But, food on Celebrity is better then RCL. But you will have a great time either way!

 

___________________________

RCL~Legend 5/2004, Navigator 8/2003, Majesty 7/2003, Radiance 4/2003, Monarch 8/2002, Nordic Empress 8/2001

Celebrity~Century 7/2001 & 7/1998, Horizon 7/1991

 

Future Cruises:

Enchantment of the Seas 8/30/2004

Brilliance of the Seas 1/14/2005

Adventure of the Seas 9/4/05

Mercury 4/7/2006

Till Belize on the Enchantment of the Seas!

 

Till the Panama Canal on Brilliance of the Seas!

 

Till the Southern Caribbean on the Adventure of the Seas!

 

Till the Mexican Riviera on Celebrity's Mercury!

 

[Honey's Gal]

Well, guess that decides it huh? Grandeur it is!

 

Really you can't go wrong by choosing the Grandeur, it is my favorite ship and I would sail her again in a heart beat.

 

Happy cruising

 

Grandeur 10/99

Monarch 10/00

Rhapsody 8/01

Voyager 10/02

Grandeur 10/31/03

Serenade 10/18/04

[Littlegoo75]

Okay, I am leaning towards the Grandeur... but honestly how is the food? I have heard mixed reviews about the food. Now I am not a total food snob, I have dined at the finer establishments such as Aqua at the Bellagio, The Charlie Palmer Steakhouse in D.C. ( my husband's best friend is a chef who works for Aureole's - Charlie Palmer)Ruth Chris Steakhouse, and several other places like that, but have also been happy with the chain places like Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Olive Garden Etc. and I like all of those places as well.

When we sailed on the Pride, I thought the food was very good and was happy with everything but the Prime Rib one night. I am also the type that can just fill up on salad when all else fails. Now, I know in the past, Carnival was considered cheap, but they have really improved.

Also, how do you think the crowd will be on a 10-day out of Baltimore? I would expect a lot of D.C./Baltimore area locals, but what about the age group? Do you think there would be a lot of 20-somethings/30-somethings or should I expect mostly retirees?

 

??????????? November 2004

Carnival Pride 4/27/02

Sitmar Fairsea 4/ 1983 ( I was just a little kid!!)

[Crazsea]

Grandeur, Granduer, Grandeur All The Way!!!

 

Food was great, the ship is beautiful and laid out so nicely, it really flows! The age mix will be much much better than the Celebrity line. Also, IMHO, the food was better on the Grandeur than it was on the Century.

 

Which ever you chose, have a great cruise!

[dizliz]

We are sailing on the Galaxy 9/17 out of Baltimore and wish you would be going with us! However, with the exception of a couple getting married on the ship just before we sail, everyone responding to our roll call seems to be at least in their 40's as several of us are celebrating 20 something anniversaries on this cruise. We all do plan to party as a result and are hoping Galaxy has enough champagne on board!

 

I am reading the RCCL boards because we have a Mariner booking also. From the feel I get from postings on each board, I would say RCCL is more upbeat.

 

If you decide on Galaxy, please join our roll call. We would love to have you!

 

Liz

[cruise'n]

We were on the Galaxy out of Baltimore last June. We enjoyed the cruise but given the choice of the Galaxy or Grandeur, I would choose the Grandeur. Now, I have not been on the Grandeur, but on the ships that we have been on, Royal Caribbean has had a better night life and more things to do during the day on the ship--just more fun.

 

Now for the food--the food on the Galaxy was very good to excellent. The food on Royal Caribbean is good to very good and there is plenty of it and I have never seen anyone go hungry (I love the chilled fruit soups on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean)

 

Celebrity has some special touches like a glass of champagne and being shown to your cabin when you board the ship. They also have chilled hand towels when you come back on board after a day at port and sorbet passed out by the pool sometimes, but to me that does not equal the amount of fun that we have on Royal Caribbean.

 

Yes, there were many people from the Baltimore/DC area on the Galaxy when we sailed, but also some from other locations. We had breakfast with people from England one day and there was a couple on their honeymoon from France that we met.

 

You will have a good time on either ship I'm sure. It is all just a matter of what will make your vacation more enjoyable to you. We would do either in a heart beat!

 

Lynn

 

Meridian 1991 (Celebrity)

Splendour of the Seas '96

Horizon '99

Legend of the Seas '01

Monarch of the Seas '02

Galaxy '03

Mariner of the Seas '04

[Littlegoo75]

Yeah, I still have to decide. 10 days is a pretty long cruise, and the entertainment factor is a big one for all of those sea days! I really don't need all the "extras" such as people showing me to my cabin, chilled towels, etc....I'm not that much of a prima donna, that I can go without that. I would also miss the towel animals ( RCCL does the towel animals too, right?)

As long as the food is good, and there is enough variety, I am happy. As long as the Bartenders are good I am happy with that as well.

Is there anyone out there on the boards thinking of the September 24th Grandeur sailing?

 

??????????? November 2004

Carnival Pride 4/27/02

Sitmar Fairsea 4/ 1983 ( I was just a little kid!!)

[gambler]

Another vote for the Grandeur!! One of my favorite ships.

 

Monarch of the Seas 09/92

Majesty of the Seas 11/93,11/95

Sovereign of the Seas 09/94

Grandeur of the Seas 11/99,11/00,06/01,02/02,05/04

Navigator of the Seas 12/02,11/04

Rhapsody of the Seas 06/03

Radiance of the Seas 11/03

 

 

[checkard]

We were on the 10-night Grandeur out of Baltimore May 21 - 31. We loved it. There seemed to be a mix of age groups. Plenty to do for those who like to stay up late and party or you can find a quiet deck on the front of the ship and just relax. Solarium pool was very quiet and enjoyable when you wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle. We are not gourmet diners so anything I don't have to shop for, prepare and clean up after tastes pretty good to me. If you don't like something, send it back and get something else.

 

----------------------------

Explorer 11/2001

Explorer 12/14/02

Serenade 10/13/03

Grandeur 5/21/04

----------------------------

 

Until Voyager 10/8/04

 

<MARQUEE>Won't Be Long Now till we'll be cruisin'</MARQUEE>

 

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[Mike&Lorraine]

We thought the food was very good, but we're also not gourmet diners (wish we could afford to be, LOL). Anyway, there was always something on the menu that looked really good, except one night when it was mostly veal. DH and I don't care for veal. You always have the option of chicken, steak, or salmon. The appetizers were good and the soups were excellent. They usually had three soups to chose from each night, including one chilled. Some nights we each had two appetizers and two soups! The beef tenderloin, prime rib and lobster were very good. My only real complaint was that they had the prime rib and a lobster/shrimp combo on the same night. I ordered the lobster for myself and the prime rib for my daughter, who ate about four bits and I had the rest.

 

The food in the Windjammer was alright, but not as good as the dining room. Don't make the mistake I made one afternoon, though. I took my daughter for "afternoon snack" for ice cream and ended up eating a whole plate of nachos and a bowl of ice cream myself. I wasn't hungry for dinner. The "snack" is a meal in itself and if you have early seating it's too close to dinner.

[Littlegoo75]

Well, if all else fails, there is always the pizza right?

Speaking of, does the Grandeur have 24 hour pizza and room service? I know the newer ships offer those kind of services, but aside from the Windjammer and the Dining Room what other options are there?

 

??????????? November 2004

Carnival Pride 4/27/02

Sitmar Fairsea 4/ 1983 ( I was just a little kid!!)

[Mike&Lorraine]

There is 24 hour room service. The menu is limited, except during mealtimes when you can order anything on the menu in the dining room. The solarium cafe is open until 3:00 AM, I beleive, and it has hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pizza. I don't know if you can get the pizza via room service. I didn't try it, but it didn't look that great and I've heard that it's pretty bad. The burgers were great, though.

[one particular harbor]

In the past year we have sailed both ships out of Baltimore (Galaxy in May 03 and Grandeur in May 04) with nearly identical itineraries. We truly enjoyed both ships, but if we were to go again we would sail Galaxy. We found the little touches (a butler, cold towels at reboarding and at the pool, etc.) just enough to put Galaxy over the top. I would also have to say the food was better on Galaxy, but the food wasn't bad on Grandeur.

 

We had a suite on both ships and even though our suite on Grandeur was more than twice the size of the one on Galaxy, having a butler made the Galaxy experience much better. In fact, on Celebrity we received afternoon appetizers and other amenities that never came on RCI.

 

As for the age of passengers, we saw young and old on both. There weren't many kids on either ship as we sailed in May and school wasn't out yet.

 

Bottom line, you probably won't be disappointed with either, but if you like the finer things go with Celebrity. Both RCI and Celebrity are owned by the same company, but much like Lexus is to Toyota, Celebrity is to RCI.

 

Have fun.

[luckymomx2]

Can you please tell what category suite you had and where it was located? I'm trying to decide between the grand and owner's suite. (I'll be traveling with my husband and two children, 6 & 7.) The suites appear to have the same size balcony, just different square footage in the rooms. My only concern is noise from the Windjammer upstairs. Any info would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks!!

[fajitapita]

Littlegoo75

 

There seem to be 2 roll calls going for the 9/24 Grandeur:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=16372&highlight=grandeur

 

and

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=16152&highlight=grandeur

 

Hope I did this right...

[CoasterBill]

You may have already but I would post a thread with Celebrity's posting as well. I think being on RCI sight will give a little one sided view. My wife and I as well as our family prefer Celebrity. We love the food and service they provide. They have more staff members per guest which I feel gives a better overal product. The little things will be better such as icecream that is made on the ship that is out of this world good. Every cruise we have been on has been great and I am sure that both would be, but if we had the choice it would be with out question Celebrity over RCI for us.