Just off the Grandeur from Bermuda 10/11-10/17

[theminnow]

First I would like to thank the people of this forum as well as the Bermuda forum for all their help in planning this cruise. We learned a lot of valuable information that helped us prepare for this cruise.

 

We spent the night before the cruise at a hotel close to the pier. We arrived at the pier a little before 10, waited for them to open the parking and around 11 we were on the ship. Check in was a breeze. Had 2 bottles of wine in carry on, they went right thru. Next time Scotch?

 

Based on weather forecasts, we were anticipating a wet cruise the whole time. I'm glad we were wrong. It rained maybe two times and never in the middle of the day. We could not have asked for nicer weather.

 

The Grandeur is a beautiful ship. We had seen pictures but to see her in person was incredible. The Centrum was very impressive.

The staff was excellent. Our steward always brought us ice (no fridge) and kept the room looking nice. He made two towel animals. One was a dog that was wearing my sunglasses. The wife laughed for several minutes. Our waiter and his assistant could not have been better. Very friendly and nice.

 

Of all the bars, the Schooner bar was our favorite. They had a piano player most of the nights, and various trivia games as well. During one of the happy hours, I was drinking Glenfiddich when the waiter suggested I try a rum called 10 Cane. He was right on. Great for sipping like a fine malt.

 

The food in the MDR was nice, but the portions were not very big. The one night I had seconds was the second formal night (lobster and shrimp). It was good. The food in the Windjammer was what you expect from a cafeteria. Nothing great but not bad.

 

Bermuda was everything we expected and more. We took the ferry over to Hamilton. We went into Gosling's liquor store (just across the street and half a block down from the ferry). Many of the bottles had two prices, red tags for duty free and white tags for not duty free. Had lunch at Flanagan's Irish Pub. The food was good but expensive. We then took the bus to Horseshoe Bay Beach. It was rather breezy and the water was very choppy. But the beach was well worth the trip. Having only been to Mid Atlantic beaches it was nice to see the aqua blue color in the water at this beach. The pink sand was not as noticeable as I thought it would be. I can see why this is one of the ten best beaches in the world.

 

The liquor prices in the Grandeur's duty free store had some good deals. I had the VA ABC store prices for Single Malt Scotch, Irish Whiskey, and Cognac on my tablet. The 12 year old Glenfiddich and Glenlivet were about $17 cheaper on the ship. Jameson Irish Whiskey and the cognacs were about $3-4 dollars cheaper. If you wait until you arrive in Bermuda the two mentioned Scotches were even cheaper on the island. I picked up three 1 liter bottles of Scotch and a 750 ml of Gosling's Old Rum. (Declared all on the customs form and was waived right thru).

 

The Bermudans were extremely nice and pleasant. They were all very friendly and polite. Never felt threatened or intimated.

 

There were a few things that did surprise me. One was how blue the ocean is. Having only been to beaches in the Mid Atlantic with their some what brown water color, this was a nice surprise. Another surprise was the fact that the ship had a happy hour (3-5) every day (except the first day). All cocktails except the drink of the day were half price. What a pleasant surprise.

 

This cruise was a test to see how we would like cruising. Well we found out we like it a lot. I can see many more cruises in our future. This can be very addicting.

 

If you have any questions, I will try to answer as best as I can. But for now I am retiring for the night. It is amazing how tiring a cruise can be!

 

 

Craig

[brenjmull2]

Sounds like you had fun. We are going on the Grandeur feb18 for a 10 night cruise. I hope they have happy hour!! I hope you post some pics.

[retiredgram]

We were on the cruise with you. I was with my dnl and her mom. I agree with everything you have said. The Grandeur is a nice ship with a great crew.

 

I agree with you about the sand at the beach. The beach was nice but I wanted to see the pink sand I have heard so much about.

 

Oh, one thing you mentioned about happy hour, I got the drink of the day for half price every day during that time. Maybe I was just lucky but it was from different bar locations.

 

Yes, cruising is addictive. Welcome to the club.

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We'll be on the Grandeur in mid-December. Can you remember who provided dinner music in the MDR on any evenings? I've got my fingers crossed that Dick and Teddy may still be on board.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I am glad you had a good time. Bermuda is an excellent place to visit.

[theminnow]

We were on the cruise with you. I was with my dnl and her mom. I agree with everything you have said. The Grandeur is a nice ship with a great crew.

 

I agree with you about the sand at the beach. The beach was nice but I wanted to see the pink sand I have heard so much about.

 

Oh, one thing you mentioned about happy hour, I got the drink of the day for half price every day during that time. Maybe I was just lucky but it was from different bar locations.

 

Yes, cruising is addictive. Welcome to the club.

 

Glad to hear you got the drinks of the day at half price.

Some times the bar staff was not up to date with the specials. Once they tried to charge me full price, but I reminded them it was happy hour and they quickly fixed the mistake. Also the first martini I ordered in the casino was at full price and not the special price. They fixed that one very quickly as well.

 

Craig

[theminnow]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We'll be on the Grandeur in mid-December. Can you remember who provided dinner music in the MDR on any evenings? I've got my fingers crossed that Dick and Teddy may still be on board.

 

To be honest I did not remember hearing any music in the MDR. I'll check the daily cruise compass and let you know.

 

Craig

[theminnow]

Sounds like you had fun. We are going on the Grandeur feb18 for a 10 night cruise. I hope they have happy hour!! I hope you post some pics.

 

I'm not real tech savvy, but I will try to work on it this weekend.

 

Craig

[RSLeesburg]

Nice review, and you managed to provide some new information too ;)

 

Glad to hear that you had nice weather and a great time.

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for the review and glad you had a great time in Bermuda. Next, you'll have to check out the dazzling water color in the south Caribbean! ;)

[Thetrail]

First I would like to thank the people of this forum as well as the Bermuda forum for all their help in planning this cruise. We learned a lot of valuable information that helped us prepare for this cruise.

 

We spent the night before the cruise at a hotel close to the pier. We arrived at the pier a little before 10, waited for them to open the parking and around 11 we were on the ship. Check in was a breeze. Had 2 bottles of wine in carry on, they went right thru. Next time Scotch?

 

Based on weather forecasts, we were anticipating a wet cruise the whole time. I'm glad we were wrong. It rained maybe two times and never in the middle of the day. We could not have asked for nicer weather.

 

The Grandeur is a beautiful ship. We had seen pictures but to see her in person was incredible. The Centrum was very impressive.

The staff was excellent. Our steward always brought us ice (no fridge) and kept the room looking nice. He made two towel animals. One was a dog that was wearing my sunglasses. The wife laughed for several minutes. Our waiter and his assistant could not have been better. Very friendly and nice.

 

Of all the bars, the Schooner bar was our favorite. They had a piano player most of the nights, and various trivia games as well. During one of the happy hours, I was drinking Glenfiddich when the waiter suggested I try a rum called 10 Cane. He was right on. Great for sipping like a fine malt.

 

The food in the MDR was nice, but the portions were not very big. The one night I had seconds was the second formal night (lobster and shrimp). It was good. The food in the Windjammer was what you expect from a cafeteria. Nothing great but not bad.

 

Bermuda was everything we expected and more. We took the ferry over to Hamilton. We went into Gosling's liquor store (just across the street and half a block down from the ferry). Many of the bottles had two prices, red tags for duty free and white tags for not duty free. Had lunch at Flanagan's Irish Pub. The food was good but expensive. We then took the bus to Horseshoe Bay Beach. It was rather breezy and the water was very choppy. But the beach was well worth the trip. Having only been to Mid Atlantic beaches it was nice to see the aqua blue color in the water at this beach. The pink sand was not as noticeable as I thought it would be. I can see why this is one of the ten best beaches in the world.

 

The liquor prices in the Grandeur's duty free store had some good deals. I had the VA ABC store prices for Single Malt Scotch, Irish Whiskey, and Cognac on my tablet. The 12 year old Glenfiddich and Glenlivet were about $17 cheaper on the ship. Jameson Irish Whiskey and the cognacs were about $3-4 dollars cheaper. If you wait until you arrive in Bermuda the two mentioned Scotches were even cheaper on the island. I picked up three 1 liter bottles of Scotch and a 750 ml of Gosling's Old Rum. (Declared all on the customs form and was waived right thru).

 

The Bermudans were extremely nice and pleasant. They were all very friendly and polite. Never felt threatened or intimated.

 

There were a few things that did surprise me. One was how blue the ocean is. Having only been to beaches in the Mid Atlantic with their some what brown water color, this was a nice surprise. Another surprise was the fact that the ship had a happy hour (3-5) every day (except the first day). All cocktails except the drink of the day were half price. What a pleasant surprise.

 

This cruise was a test to see how we would like cruising. Well we found out we like it a lot. I can see many more cruises in our future. This can be very addicting.

 

If you have any questions, I will try to answer as best as I can. But for now I am retiring for the night. It is amazing how tiring a cruise can be!

 

 

Craig

So happy to hear you enjoyed your Grandeur cruise! Sailing on her in march for ten days and can't wait!....K.O.:)

[bmac1]

Just have to ask. Any problem with the mysterious sewer smells or toilets refusing to flush?

[spookwife]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We'll be on the Grandeur in mid-December. Can you remember who provided dinner music in the MDR on any evenings? I've got my fingers crossed that Dick and Teddy may still be on board.

 

there isn't any for the most part. if there is, it's piped in cuz i sure as heck never heard anything.

[retiredgram]

Just have to ask. Any problem with the mysterious sewer smells or toilets refusing to flush?

No problems that I noticed. Maybe theminnow has a different view.

[LBumb]

welcome to the hooked on cruises club

[theminnow]

Just have to ask. Any problem with the mysterious sewer smells or toilets refusing to flush?[/quote

 

Once or twice I smelled something. To be honest with you I wasn't sure if it was the ship or not. It may have been someone had too much chili or pepperoni pizza.:) Whatever it was it was gone fast.

 

As far as the toilets are concerned, one morning we started to get a delayed flush, then it would not flush at all. Talked to our steward and he said this area (cabin 3562) was having problems flushing. By early afternoon it was fixed.

 

Neither one were a big deal. Enjoy your cruise.

 

Craig

[loeytalldog]

Thanks for your review! Enjoyed reading it, thanks for sharing!

[webteach]

What happened last week that delayed your sailing?

[theminnow]

What happened last week that delayed your sailing?

 

Apparently there was a fuel spill. They were trying to clean it up as best as they could both off the water and the ship. Finally pulled out close to 7:15 PM.

 

 

Craig

[MAHA]

We sailed on Grandeur in late August and there is music in the MDR. Our table was right in front of the piano at the far end of the MDR near the galley end. They played music during the first part of dinner as I remember. There was a musician or 2, but we never got their names.

Mary Anne

[theminnow]

Thanks for the review and glad you had a great time in Bermuda. Next, you'll have to check out the dazzling water color in the south Caribbean! ;)

 

Hopefully the waters in the Eastern Caribbean are as nice as the waters in the South Caribbean as that is where our next cruise will be to. If not I have an idea where cruise #3 could be going.:)

 

Craig