Almost live Grandeur review sailing 7/19/13

[Kteacher]

We had purchased the Chef's Table package, and as we were enjoying our drinks in the Schooner Bar right outside of Giovanni's, I decided to pop in and schedule the rest of our specialty restaurants. The Chef's Table was scheduled for the first night of the cruise, and as I am the planner, I had researched the new menus in the MDR, planned the specialty restaurants around the menus we wanted to try as well as different entertainment and port stops. I stepped up to the podium with my schedule in hand, telling my husband I would be just a few minutes...

....and this is where things got confusing. I told the nice person at the podium I wanted to book Giovanni's twice, and Chops once, and gave him the days and times, seemed simple enough to me. Apparently you are supposed to book each of the three restaurants, Izumi, Chops, and Giovanni's, in addition to the Chef's Table. I don't eat sushi ( sorry), plus we wanted to try a lot of different items on the Giovanni's menu. A supervisor was called, and yes, no problem, but so sorry, Chef's Table might be cancelled the first night.

 

Wait, what? No Chef's Table? They weren't sure if it would happen, as not enough had signed up, and the Chef wouldn't serve less than a full table. We would be notified sometime before the meal was to take place, which was at 7:00 on night one ( insert sad face here). Okay, so I booked the other restaurants on the nights I wanted, easy peasy, right?

 

Stay tuned....

 

 

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[Kteacher]

Day one continued

 

Our cabin was ready at exactly 1, so we headed up to check it out. We had booked corner aft 7150. It was a bit of a walk, but worth it! The cabin was in its own little hallway, so very quiet and private. There was plenty of storage, and the closet was a true walk in closet

 

 

The balcony was good size, and I am happy to say, we never experienced any problems with soot. Here is a picture I took from the balcony while going under the bridge

 

 

And another that shows the joy of watching a sunset from an aft balcony :)

 

 

We had seen all our luggage near the elevator, so grabbed it, and were completely unpacked by 2:30- I think the earliest we've ever seen.

 

Muster was scheduled for 3, and it took place outside on the promenade deck, where it was elebenty hundred degrees. They scan your sea pass card now, which is much better than yelling out cabin #s.

 

After muster was done, we decided to check out the ship a little. We stopped in at the Diamond lounge, which is located in the back of the Lounge on deck 6. This was the first sailing it was open since the fire in May. We met Francis, the Diamond concierge, who was wonderful- we really enjoyed his service the entire week.

 

We went back to our cabin to see if there was any news on the Chef's Table. No message yet, but we received a call soon after- no Chef's Table the first night :(. We were asked if we wanted to eat in one of the other specialty restaurants included in our package that night, so we decided to switch Giovanni's and eat there instead of one of the nights we had booked it for a few hours earlier. We were told the Chef's Table would take place on Wednesday- yay!, but this would change (again).

 

More later...

 

 

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[Philly Steve]

It doesn't get much better than a corner aft. Well done! ;)

[jakenashleysmom]

Looking forward to your review! Great job so far.....:)

[Kteacher]

We had an 8:30 reservation on the first night for Giovanni's . The restaurant was fairly empty, with just a few of the tables occupied. Saul,the waiter who took care of us, was excellent. We had just settled into our appetizers when the head of the specialty dining came to visit our table...

So they needed to change our Chefs Table reservation again because a large party wanted the entire table to themselves. I thought it was a little odd that our meal was being interrupted to deal with scheduling issues, and wasn't entirely happy that we were getting bumped by a group of passengers that had just booked that afternoon while we had reserved months in advance. Of course this meant not only rearranging our other dinner reservation to accommodate the new night we were told we would "definitely" be dining at the Chef's Table at 7 on the evening we were in Port Canaveral but we also had to rearrange plans we had with friends from the Orlando area who were going to meet us at Cocoa Beach ( this is where I was making that Marge Simpson noise in my head....) . Our appetizers sat while we worked out our dining plans (again). I thought I was through rearranging things....

 

Anyway, the meal was excellent as was the service.

 

Day 1 activities from the Compass:

 

Drink of the day: Blue Caribbean

Welcome Aboard Showtime- one show @ 7:45 for all guests ( we missed this as we were at Giovanni's )

 

Cruise Director was John Perry- awesome

Asst. Cruise Director Darryl was awesome ++ :)

 

Really, all the staff on the ship we encountered were amazing.

 

Next up, day 2

 

 

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[GiannaD]

Thank you for a great review. Can't wait to sail on the Grandeur.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Thanks for taking us along with you Almost "Live".

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[wingedpigskin]

Thanks for the review, thus far. Standing by for more! (Sailing Grandeur 2/28/14)

:cool:

[dixieva]

We have that same cabin booked for next March and I'm wondering if you could hear any noise from the Spotlight Lounge which is one deck down, same side of the ship.

 

Thanks!

[Kteacher]

We have that same cabin booked for next March and I'm wondering if you could hear any noise from the Spotlight Lounge which is one deck down, same side of the ship.

 

Thanks!

 

No noise at all :).

[Kteacher]

Day 2 At Sea

 

We quickly discovered that the best place for breakfast was the Park Café, located at the rear of the Solarium. Not only was it quiet (other than the piped in sounds of birds chirping), the food was good as well. They always had oatmeal, fruit, breakfast sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, and a bagel bar where you picked out your toppings.

 

Tonight was the first formal night, and we ate in the MDR. I apologized to our waiter for not being able to tell him what days we would be in the MDR as our reservations kept changing. The service was great, the food was decent.

 

The shows were scheduled for 9:00 for main seating and 10:45 for late seating, and featured Spectrum, a Motown tribute group (great!)

 

We like to spend time in either the Diamond Lounge or the Concierge Lounge before dinner. This cruise we spent all our time in the Diamond Lounge for two reasons-the space was nicer, and it was more convenient to our cabin location.

 

Drink of the day was Caribbean Sunshine :)

 

I've uploaded my photos from my camera, but can't seem to get them to post, but will try later.

[Kteacher]

So it looks like I will have to wait to post more pics until I upload them to an online photo hosting site.

 

Day 3 Port Canaveral

We have friends in the Orlando area, and arranged to meet them at Ron Jon's so we could spend the day together at Cocoa Beach ( cue I Dream of Jeannie music). There were plenty of cabs, and it was 6.00 p.p. A cloudy start to the day brightened , and ended up being a nice day at the beach. We had to cut our visit short as we were finally going to the Chef's Table, and had to be ready for 7.

If you are doing the Chef's Table on the Grandeur, you are instructed to meet at the R Bar. We waited with 3 other couples for about 15 minutes past the scheduled meeting time until we were finally told the other group was apparently not coming. I started to get nervous as we had been told that it would be cancelled if it wasn't a full table, but we proceeded to the small room off of the lower level of the MDR.

First course was lobster and Alaskan king crab leg salad, paired with Simonsig Souvignon Blanc

 

Second course was a soup trio : green pea bisque, double oxtail consommé, and porcini mushroom soup (same soup that's served in Chops), paired with La Crema Pinot Noir

 

Third course was Chinese style duck roll paired with Junmai sake

 

It was here that I noticed that the pours were not only small, but the pours for the women were noticeably smaller than the pours for the men ( again Marge Simpson fuming noise in my head). I politely asked for more of the sake, and was given larger pours after that.

 

Fourth course was a double lamb cutlet, paired with Sequoia Grove Cabernet

This was the weakest dish in the entire meal- the lamb was so tough it was difficult to cut, even with the steak knife provided.

 

Fifth course was a warm Granny Smith apple, pecan, and pine nut torte served with butter almond ice cream and calvados whipped cream. This was paired with a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile

 

During the meal the chef talks about each dish, then the sommelier explains the wine pairings. You are encouraged to take pictures. At the end of the meal you are presented with a copy of the RCI cookbook signed by the chef.

 

We would do the Chef's Table again. It was obvious to us that the wines as well as the food at the Chef's Table on the Allure were of a higher caliber than on the Grandeur.

 

Day 3 was also 70's night :) this is held in the Centrum, which on the Grandeur is more of a "vertical promenade". I cocktail waitresses in a disco in the 70's, so always enjoy 70's night :).

 

Drink of the Day Pirates hurricane

 

Random information: iPad will not fit in room safe

 

Next up, Day 4

 

 

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[KEH68]

We were on the same cruise! Sorry we didn't meet you! I laughed reading about your iPad not fitting in the safe. From the beginning I wished I hadn't brought mine. I got mine in the safe, but it had to be angled JUST SO and that caused everything else to go sliding out every time I took something in or out of the safe. I never used it anyway. Those wifi prices are crazy (and we aren't diamond club, so no freebie wifi).

 

Haven't written my review yet. I was a first-time cruiser, so I don't know what is the norm, but we had issues with the MDR 8:30 seating. Every night they were out of something on the menu (and we weren't informed of this until after we ordered it). Really? Out of steak? As a newbie I didn't book specialty restaurants. I will next time! We spent a lot of time at the Windjammer and everyone was happy with it. All in all we had a great time! Love the pic of your view from your corner aft!

[KeywestK]

We spent 14 nights on X Eclipse in February, and DH had his iPad and I had my Nexus 7 with us, and never even occurred to us to put them in the safe. Our money and passports yes, electronics no...:eek: Both of our tablets sat on the desk/vanity in our cabin most of the time, either just sitting there, or charging, and we never gave it a second thought. Maybe I'm too trusting:o

 

We are sailing on the Grandeur in 3 weeks and plan to take them with us. I doubt I'll worry about putting them in the safe this trip either;)

[Kteacher]

We were on the same cruise! Sorry we didn't meet you! I laughed reading about your iPad not fitting in the safe. From the beginning I wished I hadn't brought mine. I got mine in the safe, but it had to be angled JUST SO and that caused everything else to go sliding out every time I took something in or out of the safe. I never used it anyway. Those wifi prices are crazy (and we aren't diamond club, so no freebie wifi).

 

Haven't written my review yet. I was a first-time cruiser, so I don't know what is the norm, but we had issues with the MDR 8:30 seating. Every night they were out of something on the menu (and we weren't informed of this until after we ordered it). Really? Out of steak? As a newbie I didn't book specialty restaurants. I will next time! We spent a lot of time at the Windjammer and everyone was happy with it. All in all we had a great time! Love the pic of your view from your corner aft!

 

We've slowly moved away from dining in the MDR, on the Allure we ate in specialty restaurants every night. All in all, we had a great time on the ship. :)

 

 

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[Kteacher]

still trying to get photos from my camera to post ... sorry :(

 

Day 4 Coco Cay

 

Not as nice as Labadee, but still a nice day at the beach. Coco cay is tendered, and there was a bit of a mix up with the tender tickets. No worries, Francis, the D concierge produced some quickly.

 

We found a fairly quiet spot and settled in for the day. The weather was beautiful :). Lunch was the typical bbq fare-hamburgers, hotdogs, ribs, chicken, salads. The window for the lunch being offered is short, so plan accordingly. There are plenty of chairs and shady spots on the island.

 

Tonight we were dining in Chops, and were going to see the aerial performance of Seasons of the Centrum. There were two performances, 7:15, and 8:45. We went to the early performance, and were glad we found a viewing spot 30 minutes before the start as it got very crowded. The show was wonderful :).

 

Chops was a great as ever. We always enjoy the food and service.

 

Other Day 4 info: Drink of the Day Miami Melon

 

Love and Marriage 10:30

 

random info: the Windjammer closes at 3, and doesn't reopen until 6:30, so no afternoon bread pudding or nachos :( (probably for the best for my waistline though).

[blonde375]

Kteacher, thanks so much for the review!! So glad you had a great time.

 

Quick question about formal night: Did you see any long dresses? I know on our last cruise to Alaska, it seemed less formal than the Caribbean one we were on in 2010.

 

TIA!!

[Kteacher]

Hi KTeacher!

 

Hope you're having a great cruise!

 

Did this cruise leave from Port Canaveral?!! We just got back from the Freedom in PC :)

 

We'll be on a triple B2B beginning Friday - can't wait to hear all about the ship.

 

Does the Grandeur have the Freestyle soda machines? They were really nice on the FOS. Also, do you know if the Diamond lounge is open?

 

Thanks! Enjoy your week!!!

 

Debbie (a fellow teacher!)

 

We were on the Bahamas itinerary, but I would imagine it would be about the same for formal nights . There were many long gowns and tuxes :)

[Kteacher]

Oops wrong quote! That will teach me to try to read and respond in bright sunlight!

[blonde375]

We were on the Bahamas itinerary, but I would imagine it would be about the same for formal nights . There were many long gowns and tuxes :)

 

Thanks so much! I realized your itinerary after I asked the question. I don't get to wear a long dress very often and just didn't want to be "over dressed".....although, mom always taught me, better over dressed than under dressed!! ;)

 

Thanks again!!

[Kteacher]

Listen to your mom :). Most people were in formal wear

 

 

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[Kteacher]

 

Here is another photo that shows the joy of an aft balcony :)

 

 

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[RevSmith]

This is off topic. But Jean I will be calling you before this October, re: Disney 2014 plans. I just have to get some things confirmed. I miss you guys and so does Pat.

Rev

[Kteacher]

Hi Rev:) did you get my email? Love to you both!

 

 

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[RevSmith]

I think it said, Yes to Disney 2014, but you are not doing it this year. Right