Just off Grandeur

[absolutonrox]

I recently (Saturday) returned from my first ever cruise. We were on the 3/28 sailing on Grandeur of the Seas. What an absolutely WONDERFUL ship. After just 1 cruise, I'm hooked. Everything about the trip was outstanding; from the staff in the MDR (Tomislav and Shekar were great!) to our cabin attendant Hart to the cruise director Rickey Matthews and his staff (including, but not limited to, Andre and Roberto). We felt like everyone on the ship made it their personal mission to make sure we enjoyed our cruise.

 

I only have 2 very minor critiques (1 probably staff fault, the other in no way was). Now I've read that there were "hundreds" of guests with the suspected norovirus. I have no idea where they got that number (and it could be right for all I know), but talking to 1 of the activities directors Friday (last day on the ship) we were told somewhere around 50. Nobody in our party of 4 had any issues, and of all the folks we talked to on the ship, none of them knew of anyone who had been sick either. If memory serves, it was around Wednesday when we were told of it and that the ship would be taking precautions to help prevent further spread. Mostly this consisted of crew being more vigilant making people use the hand sanitizer, staff in MDR basically soaking chairs with disinfectant every time someone left, and being served food that was normally buffet style (Windjammer, Park Cafe, soft serve machine, etc.). This was probably more of an inconvenience for the crew than it was for passengers as many of them were pulling double duty (saw dancers/singers serving food in the Windjammer for breakfast on numerous occasions). Our asst. waiter Tomislav told us that even the crew was not allowed to self serve; when they ate, there was other staff serving them. All things considered, I felt it was handled very well.

 

My only true gripe was with the way immigration was handled in Key West. Part of this I feel was RCIs fault and could have been handled better, part I feel was the fault of people who don't care about anyone else. We were all told through and announcement AND in the Compass not to report to the Palladium before your scheduled time. Anyone with a booked excursion before 11am was supposed to go first, with the rest of the guests showing up at times determined by muster stations. We had an excursion planned (Key West Pub tour, which MAY have been the highlight of the cruise!) so we showed up at 9 like our ticket said, and already Casino Royale was all but full there were that many people waiting. It took us about 10-15 min before we got into the Palladium and were asked to wait since our excursion was 11, and they were trying to get the people with excursions 945 and earlier out first. While we were waiting, we heard people sitting there complaining about how ridiculous and long this was taking and they didn't even have excursions! How or why they were even there at that time, I don't know. Because of people like this, others DID miss excurions. Around 9:50 or so, they called for people with excursions between 10-11 to start going through immigration, but people were still pouring in with 930-945 excursion times. Now, I don't have an answer for how I think it could be handled better since I've never dealt with it before, but I think almost ANYTHING would have been better.

 

All in all it was proably my favorite vacation ever. I must thank all the members here at CC. You were an invaluable tool in helping me plan the cruise and allowed me to be prepared for things that otherwise would have blindsided me. I was signed up for the M&M but didn't make it; my wife wasn't dealing too well with what we later were told was "somewhat rough, but not too bad" waters. My next cruise (which I'm already in the prelim stages of planning ) I'll make it a point to get to the M&M. Again, thank you all very much!

[Stephluva2711]

Do you have the compass to share?

[absolutonrox]

No, unfortunately I didn't think to take pics of that. I will the next time I share though. Is there anything specific you want to know? It's still pretty fresh in my mind.

[AeroBaldness]

No, unfortunately I didn't think to take pics of that. I will the next time I share though. Is there anything specific you want to know? It's still pretty fresh in my mind.

 

First off, great opening post. Were are on her a week from Saturday and can't wait. Were there any theme nights/events. We have the luxury of almost unlimited baggage as we are driving and have a JS with a walk-in, so we can pack all kids of things if we want to dress to a theme. We were on Jewel last year and it was insane how many FL local had theme outfits; where we were bound by luggage fees and weight restrictions. Thanks!!

[Stephluva2711]

No, unfortunately I didn't think to take pics of that. I will the next time I share though. Is there anything specific you want to know? It's still pretty fresh in my mind.

 

I just wanted to know if they do the pool party at night. I look forward to that on the cruises, they do a pool party thing , great music, and great food. However on Allure & Oasis they don't, i guess wayyy too many people. I'm be on Grandeur May 2nd

[absolutonrox]

I guess you could say there were 2 "theme" nights, but I didn't really notice any guests dressed up for them. There was a 50s/60s night and a 70s night. Both consisted mostly of the crew doing a show in the Centrum, and that was about it. You certainly COULD dress up and have fun with that, but like I said, I didn't notice anyone participating.

 

As for the pool party, there was 1 night where there was a party on the pool deck, though I can't remember which night it was. That was a lot of fun. Much dancing was done. It was actually quite a workout. Ricky Matthews (the CD) and Andre (the AD) made the first half of it "interactive" by "showing" everyone how to dance with the songs. On a side note to that, Rickey and Andre are PHENOMENAL. Being it was my first cruise, I have nothing to compare them to, but all I can say is WOW. I made it a point to talk to Ricky after the Quest Show (adult game show and the most fun I had on the ship); I thanked him for all the energy he gave with everything he did. It's obvious he loves what he does and makes it more a passion than a job. I told him we would be cruising again and that the first thing I'd do is find a list of CDs to see what ship he's on; I wouldn't necessarily book just because of him, but any ship he's CD on would certainly be on my short list :D

[LMaxwell]

Unfortunately when you deal with customs mid-cruise it is customs and not the cruise line at fault. Maybe staff could manage crowds a bit better but slowness in the process is almost always down to customs itself.

[manmtnmike]

No, unfortunately I didn't think to take pics of that. I will the next time I share though. Is there anything specific you want to know? It's still pretty fresh in my mind.

 

Hi, Thanks for the current info!

Just curious...Any dance bands in Viking Crown lounge , or elsewhere?

 

Other than theme nighhts...What style of music and names of bands

and locations on ship?

Thanks!

 

Mike

Edited April 8, 2014 by manmtnmike

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for the review and congrats on your first cruise. Great to hear you plan to make good on that missed Meet and Mingle! ;)

[cayugashue]

Hi, Thanks for the current info!

Just curious...Any dance bands in Viking Crown lounge , or elsewhere?

 

Other than theme nighhts...What style of music and names of bands

and locations on ship?

Thanks!

 

Mike

 

For some details on the music/entertainment, you can review my post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2006322

 

Hope it helps!

[hansolosmom]

Glad you had a good time!

 

We're leaving on Sat & I can't wait!

[Luvscruising44]

Anyone cruising on Grandeur from now to May 30h, get ready to have a blast with Ricky Matthews, Cruise Director. He is like the Energizer Bunny and really keeps things hopping. There has been a lot of questions about music, so here goes: Riddim Wave plays at the pool, Classic Strings with Rosario Strings, Ballroom Dance Music with The Evergreen Trio, Dance Music with the Prestige Band play various times in the Centrum, Piano Bar Entertainment with Kenne Ledford, and DJ Terry in the Viking Crown Lounge. One night the ship's orchestra played in the Centrum. I believe there was Karaoke every night in the South Pacific Lounge. One night they have the aerial show in the Centrum, another night was 50s/60's night, another night was 70's Disco Fever. These last 2 events are not to be missed because Ricky and his team do a bang up job. Another event was the Dancing Under the Stars. Ricky really gets the crowd moving. It's like a solid hour of major aerobics for those so inclined or able. I am neither, but really enjoyed watching. There was the Love & Marriage Show in the theater which is always good for at least a few good laughs. Once again, Ricky Matthews is at the top of his game. There were 2 production shows: All Access and The Tango Show. There were also games held in the Centrum. Lot's of various trivia's every day and also the Progressive trivia. There were movies on the big outside screen and once in the theater. TV shows were almost non-existent and only CNN International for news. If you wanted any US news or weather, you had to be in your cabin just at the right time. I think we caught what was going on with the weather twice. The cartoon channel seemed to work most if not all of the time for those traveling with young children. There were various dance classes. Honestly, there was just too much happening all of the time to get to do them all. We ate all our meals in the MDR except one and was very pleased with the menu this cruise. However, we had dinner at 5:30 and only got out of there once in 8 days before 8. Our waitress and assistance were very nice and seemed pretty efficient, but dinner took 2 & 1/2 hours. Several nights we sat there for an hour before getting our appetizers. We could have complained and tried to get the process speeded up, but we enjoyed our tablemates, so no problem. I think they had too many people to serve and getting food out of the kitchen took a long time. We missed the Captain's Welcome Reception and both of our Welcome Back invites because of long dinners or scheduling conflicts. I'll just put it this way, if you get bored on this ship while Ricky's on, you will have no one to blame but yourself. We just couldn't get to everything we wanted to do. One thing we did this cruise which we'd never done before was order dinner from Room Service. We had a delicious, quiet meal on our balcony. We each got the Fried Flounder entree and one order of Honey Stung Chicken with sweet potato fries. Not only was the food delicious, but a beautiful presentation. Just got those yummy chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

 

Here's a tip to save a few pennies. This is something new since I sailed out of Baltimore. You will be charged 6% Md. sales tax on any purchases you make while in the Chesapeake Bay. Don't have any idea when this new wrinkle was added. If you plan on buying one of those expensive beverage packages, wait until you get to Norfolk. It's about a $10.00 savings on a soda package for 8 days and much more savings on the more expensive ones. Just an FYI.

 

Luvs