Grandeur reviews only 79% happy...worried!

[Clarea]

Yes. :)

 

Will do.

Thanks, and Bon Voyage too!:)

[Merion_Mom]

There goes Fort McHenry.

 

Bye-bye, Baltimore!!!!

[zachrach]

I cruised the beginning of March and the food was excellent!!! Escargot every evening! Peoples expectations are too high!!! I didn't have to shop for it or cook it. It was wonderful!

[Cruzoholic]

Oh I am so jealous. But, in 77 days, I'll be on GOS on my way to Bermuda. And then again 12/9 to the eastern Caribbean and 3/13 to the Bahamas. It's just so easy to drive 2 hrs. down #95 and board her. A day on any ship is a happy day. ;-)

 

Happy Sailing!

Evie

[BenjiRodney]

My family has our first RCI cruise coming up on Grandeur and I've been closely following cruiser reviews since January. Down, down, the ratings have gone. I know she's an old ship and took that into consideration when booking at what I thought a reasonable (but by no meas cheap) rate. My biggest concern are the constant reviews about bad food, in particular the newest chef's combination choices such as stroganoff that comes in mystery sauce instead of cream and potatoes with olives, or complaints of extreme under seasoning. What??

 

I realize not everyone has time to write a review, so please, if you have sailed her within the past few months can you reassure me you've had good meals in the MDR? We can't afford the specialty restaurants for our large family.

 

We sail on her next week to Bermuda, I will do a full review with pictures when I return. Is there anything in particular besides the MDR you are curious about?

[LindaO]

Their still using these old rust boats to get every last penney out of them! Be my gust and ignore the reviews and maybe it will be floating in the water another 10 years!:eek:

 

Carnival Elation- 2001 Mexico

RCI Radiance-2002 Panama Canal

NCL Sun -2003 Alaska

Island Princess 2004 Alaska

Sun Princess 2005 W Coast

Sapphire Princess 2006 W Coast

Dawn Princess 2008 Alaska

Sea Princess 2012 Alaska

Grand Princess 2013 Hawaii

Grand Princess 2013 Alaska

Golden Princess 2014 S America

 

You really do have to consider the source when looking at reviews and remarks made on these boards... as noted above... this person has only been on one RCI cruise and has no first hand knowledge on how the ships are maintained. And his reference to 'rust boats' is way out of line... and his last two three cruises were on two ship that have 76% and 79% ratings and the Grand was built in 1998.

 

All this by way of saying that sometimes reviews are effected by things totally out of the control of the cruise line.

 

For myself, I have fond memories of the Grandeur. She was the first trip I took with my late husband... and we sailed on her many times after that. The crew was always top notch! Very fond memories... if she comes back to Florida I'll be on her again!!!

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and I hope you choose the Grandeur... she's a fine ship!!

Edited May 30, 2014 by LindaO

[SandyBShores]

Merion, I've never actually followed a live review. Please continue (and post the link here if you start a new thread)! The thought of seeing Fort McHenry from a seaside lounge chair made my heart skip a beat!

 

Benji, I can't think of anything specific besides the food. And if you see limes on the ship. That topic seems to have died down but I'm curious if it's still an issue or not. I really enjoy cool, limey mojitos while on vacation!

[KarinaGW]

Posting from the balcony of my Junior Suite. (Free upgrade)

 

:)

 

So far, everything is GREAT. My wonderful steward, who is everything that we all talk about as The Great Royal Caribbean Steward, just brought me a lounger from the pool deck for my balcony!!!

 

The sun has come out. I am lying on my chaise on my balcony.

 

LIFE IS GOOD.

 

BTW, Danny is the LA and Desmond is here!

 

When I sailed 2 weeks ago, I was really happy to see Desmond and a few other crew buds from December, but Danny, Ruth, Darryl, Roberto & Jimena were all on vacation.

 

Have a blast! (Or, hope you had a blast depending on when you see this.)

Edited May 31, 2014 by KarinaGW
Brain & Fingers mis-communicated.

[Shabot]

Now that I think of it, I've written very few reviews of anything. The only times I'm inclined to write something are when something bad happened and I wanted to warn others.

 

30-some cruises and not a bad one yet! Well, there was one bad day, but the rest of the cruise was good...

[Lady Hudson]

There goes Fort McHenry.

 

Bye-bye, Baltimore!!!!

 

Have a great time. I am retiring (from a local school district you know) on June 20 and can't wait to start working on getting to Diamond Plus. We were on Grandeur in April and had a great time. Enjoy!

[Paulette3028]

My family has our first RCI cruise coming up on Grandeur and I've been closely following cruiser reviews since January. Down, down, the ratings have gone. I know she's an old ship and took that into consideration when booking at what I thought a reasonable (but by no meas cheap) rate. My biggest concern are the constant reviews about bad food, in particular the newest chef's combination choices such as stroganoff that comes in mystery sauce instead of cream and potatoes with olives, or complaints of extreme under seasoning. What??

 

I realize not everyone has time to write a review, so please, if you have sailed her within the past few months can you reassure me you've had good meals in the MDR? We can't afford the specialty restaurants for our large family.

 

If you have done the mathematical calculations that showed you that 79% of the reviews were happy, that is very good....you can't expect 100% -- way too much is subjective and subjectivity starts with FOOD.

 

Go with a great attitude, be open to new adventures, get involved in the activities on board you would enjoy.....and I am confident you will have a blast.

 

When it comes to food......if something doesn't suit your taste buds in the MDR, just order something else.

 

Remember, have reasonable expectations because the ship does have lots of cruisers on board and the staff isn't just taking care of you.

[BenjiRodney]

Merion, I've never actually followed a live review. Please continue (and post the link here if you start a new thread)! The thought of seeing Fort McHenry from a seaside lounge chair made my heart skip a beat!

 

Benji, I can't think of anything specific besides the food. And if you see limes on the ship. That topic seems to have died down but I'm curious if it's still an issue or not. I really enjoy cool, limey mojitos while on vacation!

 

 

Mojito sounds good, i will look for the limes....got me wanting a drink now.:)

[fluffysue]

Had a great time on Grandeur earlier this month! I too, was worried about the reviews...I did not book the trip but was tagging along with a friend who was planning on going solo, so I did not participate in the planning. AFTER putting down the money to go, I started reading the reviews, and was worried, but for no good reason, as it turned out.

 

I do not have a lot of other cruises to compare it too, but I thought the ship was clean and beautiful, the staff was friendly, food was good, and there were plenty of activities going on to appeal to a wide age range and different tastes. I thought since my first cruise was on Oasis, it might seem like there was not enough to do on Grandeur, but this was definitely not the case. While I had a fabulous time on Oasis, I appreciated the smaller size of Grandeur, and the fact that if I saw an activity in the Cruise Compass that started in 10 minutes on the other side of the ship, I could make it over there before it was half over. :D Also as someone else mentioned, you do see the same people around the ship, which is kind of nice. We even made some new friends.

 

There were apparently no limes (this was May 2-8; I actually think the Great Lime Shortage is technically over now, due to the 3 for $1 prices at Shop Rite the other day). I would never have noticed a lack of limes if not for Cruise Critic. :p The greater uproar on board was over a lack of prunes, I kid you not, I heard someone berating a poor waiter over it at breakfast one day, as if he had eaten them all.

[cole'snana]

Sailed on Grandeur in April. Found the food in the MDR at dinner to be very good. We also ate lunch in the MDR when we could. Very good lunch selections. Every day they're open they have a huge "tutti" salad bar, and/or you can order off the menu. The day after lobster night on our cruise they served lobster curry- yum. They have a crepe dessert that can't be missed!

[MardiGras316]

Just got off the Grandeur yesterday. We had a fine time. Our daughter turned 10 on Monday while we were in Bermuda. OP mentioned children, depending on their ages they may have varied experiences. The children's programs from 6-11 year olds (they combine two groups for most activities) did not follow the daily Compass for the most part most morning and afternoon sessions. Example: Monday May 26th from 1pm-5pm the kids were supposed to do all sorts of activities related to photography: get kid friendly cameras, do photo shoots, print photos, hold an art show of their photography. Guess what? They did nothing photography related for 4 hours. They played games instead which is fine. The nightime activities from 7pm-10pm were pretty much in line with the daily compass for kids.

 

I ate lunch on Thursday with a 19 year old in the Windjammer and she said her 16 year old brother had to find things to do for himself because the teen program was pretty non-existent.

 

The programs for toddlers looked good and little ones were always having fun when I checked my daughter in/out.

 

The food was good but what you were served was not always what the description said. On the last night the seared sea scallops with chorizo topped with panko breadcrumbs and diced panchetta had absolutely no chorizo in them.

 

All the staff we met were very kind and they were cleaning the ship like crazy 24/7.

If you have any questions about kids programs please let me know!

[myhouseofmouse]

Seeing how I will be cruising on the Grandeur for the first time this summer, I can not add a lot to the conversation. But one thing did stick out to me when I was researching the ship before we booked. The one thing I really noticed, either in the reviews or boards was the line..."I have been on the Grandeur ____ times!!!" It really stood out to me how many people have cruised with her more then once. I found it especially interesting since she is a smaller older ship. I really think that says a lot about what a good ship she is, that people keep coming back to her.

[luv2cruiserccl]

http://cruiseradio.net/?powerpress_pinw=21020-podcast

 

 

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