How is the Grandeur of the Seas

[kente]

We have been on one Hal (Maasdam), one NCL (Dream) and 4 Celebrity (Horizon and Summit) cruises. We just booked a repo cruise out of Baltimore on the Grandeur of the Seas for 11/2006. Any comments on how this ship compares to the others.

[kente]

We have been on one Hal (Maasdam), one NCL (Dream) and 4 Celebrity (Horizon and Summit) cruises. We just booked a repo cruise out of Baltimore on the Grandeur of the Seas for 11/2006. Any comments on how this ship compares to the others.

 

13 Views and no replies, I'm getting worried.

[VABeach]

13 Views and no replies, I'm getting worried.

 

I think those of us getting ready to sail on her are currious to find out the answer to this question too. :)

[batoryfirst]

Was on the Grandeur out of New Orleans December 2003. Loved it. You won't be disappointed.

VABeach: I was born and raised in NN and still have some family and friends there. I go up a couple times a year.

[VABeach]

VABeach: I was born and raised in NN and still have some family and friends there. I go up a couple times a year.

 

Cool! :)

[debg917]

I was on the Grandeur this time last year....wonderful ship...wonderful staff....it was a great experience all around....its a good size....you dont feel like you cant wander about it without getting lost.....I would go on the Grandeur again in a heartbeat.....

[debgirl]

I was on the Grandeur this last February 05, it was great. Still beautiful, the staff is wonderful and the food was great. You will love it.

[truffles2]

Grandeur is a great ship with a great crew. We have been on her twice...most recently last November. The only negative thing I could say is that a few of the rooms need a refurb as she is nearly ten years old....just showing a little wear.

[skandls]

We have been on the Rotterdam, Summit, Century and Mercury. So we have done HAL and X. I would say all of the above ships had better food. We were on the shortened by big hole 4/25/05 cruise. The food was good. The service was outstanding. The ship is OK needs some spiffing up. I had problems with the excursion desk, I was sold a ticket for an already cancelled tour. Personally I prefer Celebrity especially the Millenium class ships. We did this cruise because we wanted to visit New Orleans and it was a Murder Mystery cruise. The Grandeur is a step down in class from the X and HAL cruises. But we had a fun time and knew what to expect having cruised RCCL before.

[Txcruisers04]

Just off the Grandeur in march.It was the BEST cruise ever!The service was outstanding , the food was great, and the ship was beautiful!We loved that cruise so much we are doing it again in December!

[mandm33]

just showing a little wear.

 

.....and tear. :)

[Annieeee]

I was on the Grandeur, the shortened 4/25/05 cruise, originally was suppose to sail 4/23. I loved the Grandeur, am going again this Friday. Lovely ship, I had a wonderful time, food was good and servce was great too. It is all a matter of personal preference. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

Annieeee

[CaptJackSparrow]

We were on the Grandeur of the Seas May 27 - June 5, Western Caribbean tour. Being my first cruise, I don't have any complaints whatsoever, the food was great, exotic dishes, escargo, calamary, duck, if you wanted them, if you didn't want what was on the main entree, they had alternate menus every night. The waiters and waitresses wait on you hand and foot - it was amazing.

 

FOOD FOOD FOOD - god, if they still have it, try the baby back ribs at lunchtime - holy cow, there's a big pile and it falls right off the bone. Delicious. Get the steak sandwich with fried onions and mushrooms, next best thing to a steak sub. If you want to substitute the entree from potato wedges to mashed potatoes or baked potatoes, they will do it. You don't want the sauce on the steak? It's done. There are some sugar free desert options, and if you absolutely can't stuff yourself every day with huge meals, there's always the good old hot dog and hamburger or pizza and french fries on the 9th deck, right where the solarium is, back in a corner.

 

Sure, the ship was built in 1996 or whatever, so if the carpet is a little worn, big deal - especially the weather the ships run into from time to time. It was still very beautiful and elegant.

 

Rent a tux on board if you want, the centrum shops have all kinds of stuff ranging from Royal Caribbean/Grandeur of the Seas gift shop, to shirts, jewelry, watches, rum, liquor, etc. All duty free. If you go into the casino and hit a slot machine for big money or even if you hit the big Bingo jackpot, you don't even have to claim it on your tax returns - it's all yours.

 

You never have to make your bed up (leave a little card in your key slot that says "please make up my room" before you go out in the morning), You never have to pull out the sleep couch or turn down the blankets on the bed, they do it all for you.

 

Even if I just wanted cereal with a banana for breakfast, they cut the banana all up for you, arrange it in the bowl and even pour your milk for you. Man, I've never had that kind of service before. make sure you show your room service person, waitress, waiter and head waiter proper "appreciation." They deserve the extra money.

I had no complaints whatsoever.

[wrp96]

.....and tear. :)

 

They just decided to do a little do-it-yourself redecorating.;)

[1HAPPYCRUISER]

We are goin on the 9 day grandeur cruise on july 22nd...thank you so much for the review...i cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zark427]

Ribs would be great... I haven't had them on board, yet ;)... I also must admit that I love to try the new and exotic foods as well, but a good burger and beer often hits the spot. Where did you eat breakfast and lunch? Dining room or Windjammer, or both?

 

Thanks for the post.

[AdamOfCanaveral]

We sailed on the Grandeur last July and loved it. We sailed on the Mariner of the Seas in April and, while it is a spectacular ship, we found we preferred the Grandeur. So we're doing the 9 night cruise on September 2nd. (Keeping our fingers crossed hoping to avoid any hurricanes.)

 

We found the Grandeur to be a comfortable size. Big enough to have plenty to do and lots of choices of bars, lounges, types of entertainment, large casino, etc., but still small enough that it wasn't a major hike to get from the dining room to the theater, etc.

 

We're really looking forward to getting back on board the Grandeur - hoping that some of our favorite bartenders, waiters, etc. will still be there.

[friskycat]

I had originally planned to write a separate review, but real life got in the way, so I'll just post my Grandeur opinions here. My husband and I were on the 5/27 sailing out of Baltimore, and although it was a nice vacation, we were a bit underwhelmed.

 

My husband and I previously sailed on the Mariner, and the entire Grandeur experience paled in comparison. Although we really enjoyed the experience of a smaller ship, we felt that everything- service, food, cabins, public areas, activities, etc. was vastly inferior. With the exception of our waiter (Robet- who was FANTASTIC!!) most of the staff seemed insincere at best, and some were downright surly. The food throughout the cruise was....well, not very good. Now, before the flames start, I know they are preparing food for 2500 people, etc, etc, but the entire trip we had runny eggs, improperly cooked steaks (medium well does not mean BLEEDING!!), and just overall mediocrity. The food on the Mariner was exceptionally better.

 

Oh, and a couple other things before I end my rant: the sewage smell IS alive and well on the 4th deck. We were thankful that it was not in our cabin, but it was raging in the corridors, and I can only imagine in the nearby rooms. Also, the no-diapers-in-the-pool rule was strictly NOT ENFORCED. Diapers were everywhere, including the hot tubs (barf.) I was also dismayed to see the condition into which the public restrooms (especially near the Windjammer/pool) were allowed to deteriorate (barf again.)

 

Oh, and FYI- you can bring your own wine onto the ship. We wrapped the bottles carefully and discreetly in our checked luggage and had no problem.

 

Overall, we really can't complain too much, as any vacation is welcome and we made the best of it and had a blast. It just seems to me that some of the newer ships may be a better product for the price.

[cruise&party]

I was on the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore August 2004... I felt that the ship was beautiful. They have great show's a pretty big casino and a live reggae band... The food was really good too... The ship was 74,000 tons which is bigger then the NCL Dream that I was on. We hit hurrican charlie with very rough seas and I hardly felt the ship move... (I'm one to get car sick, air sick, sea sick) YUCK! Any way... You are going to love it... Baltimore was very easy... You drive up, they direct you, you drop your luggage off and they bus you back to the port... EASY... was on the ship in about a 1/2 hour... The pool was kind of small but it was nice.. Grandeur has an adult pool which was also cool... If you want any more information, e-mail me PhillyGirl2st@comcast.net

 

Michele:)