On the Grandeur right now. 8-8-14

[TeeRick]

I'm very sorry BND! It appears that I was wrong as others have confirmed your order of things at the Port. My apologies. I guess my mind was still foggy from too much of a great time on the Grandeur! Anyway you look at it Baltimore is truly easy port to get in and out!

[luv2cruiserccl]

Can anyone confirm or deny this please wanting to see if its even true or not....I figured best way is people onboard now

 

Possible man overboard on Grandeur

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2084630

 

 

 

sent from my galaxy s4 please excuse any error's thanks

[luv2cruiserccl]

 

sent from my galaxy s4 please excuse any error's thanks

[heyabbott]

Having a wonderful time. No cork screw needed, champagne.

 

Windjammer is bad. Sorry. It's just not very good for breakfast or lunch. You have to ask for lox, they keep it hidden. It is available only upon request. Food just isn't great. Desserts are better this trip. Melon and pineapple are very good.

 

One of the 2 ice cream machines has been broken since we set sail.

 

The Freestyle Coke Machines are great in theory, in practice they are pissing people off. Runs out of coke too fast and when people realize there's no coke, they have to wait 15 minutes. My last Cherry Coke was seltzer with cherry syrup.

 

I had to teach 3 different bartenders to make an Americano, Cinzano, Campari and Club Soda with an orange slice. But they learned and did it well. No one knows how to make a Paloma.

 

We are stationed in the Solarium and the roof has been open all 3 days, praise The Lord .

 

The Park Cafe is outstanding. The roast beef sandwiches are better than the bad reviews. Really good, the other sandwiches have been very nice and the salad is fabulous. Can't say enough good things about it.

 

Giovanni's was also great. Going to Izumi tonight. MDR on formal night 1 was fine. Formal attire was worn by less than 5% of the passengers in the late seating. Suits by maybe another 45%. About 5% of people were slobs. The food was good. The lobster bisque wasn't really bisque but still good, the sliced tenderloins was perfectly cooked and butter knife tender.

 

I am 40 pounds overweight. I am thin on this cruise. There are some big folk on this cruise

 

We are Not near the main pool and not eating early and there are Plenty of kids but we are not seeing them.

 

The All Access show by the ships dancers was just ok. Better than a good high school but not great. Adult comic is tonight.

 

 

The touch screen maps are great. You can access the MDR menu is available on the map.

 

I can be critical and still love it.

 

 

 

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[theorbo]

I noticed that you are from Michigan.

 

Actually from PA but I really appreciate the info and advice. Thanks!!

[jules71]

Thanks for the post! Appreciate your critique. We are sailing on Sep 26 Grandeur and I prefer to have the right expectations.

 

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[Fummer]

Have a great cruise and please take care of her. We sail on her next Friday:D

 

Hi Bmore cruiser. How are you doing? Doesn't seem like it has been 7 months since we sailed together. How yours wife, Mom & Dad doing?

 

Our next cruise is Dec.1 on the Quantum. Hope you have a great cruise.

 

Take care and keep in touch.

 

Reeve

[jkety19473]

Can anyone confirm which night is the second formal night and the lobster night on Granduer?

[myhouseofmouse]

6th night

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your live report.

[heyabbott]

Internet back. Cruising up the Bay (written last night posted this morning)

 

First, GREAT CRUISE. Weather couldn't be better. The Solarium roof was open every day!

 

Smoothest sailing possible. Even long time cruisers commented how smooth the trip was. Captain did a great job of keeping out of impending weather.

 

Entertainment was very good. Both comics were very funny. At Nassau we dropped off a singer and comedian and picked up a rock band and a new comedian. The centrum high wire act was a WOW. Better than I expected.

 

Everyday on the ship we were at Solarium. Didn't go to main pool at all.

 

The movies on the screen though were good. Frozen, Captain America, Spider-Man 2, Annie.

 

Windjammer? Avoid it. We ate only 2 meals there. 1 breakfast and 1lunch. Terrible food. And even worse manners by the many passengers.

 

The Park Cafe was such a hit. We ate breakfast and lunch there a lot. Just spectacular. Bagel and lox station in the morning where the salad station is during the day. Fruit and sandwiches paninis were perfect. The Cuban and the Ham and Brie were so good. We Had room service breakfast twice. On time and hot. Thanks guys!, best free coffee on the trip

1 breakfast In The MDR and it was crowded. They put people at tables with others then said the Omelets would be 25 minutes. Nothing special. Coffee sucked.

Izumi and Giovanni's were truly wonderful. Izumi gave us a20% discount because we were so effusive in our praise. The sushi was good not great but everything else was really superb. Didn't go to Chops.

 

MDR dinner was fine, no complaints about the food, no compliments. Great service.

 

Great service everywhere. Really. I'm cynical as can be. Everyone we encountered was a real pro and very nice. I gave a WOW card and $10 to a bus boy, not even mine, he was at the Solarium cleaning up during the day and busing in the MDR every night. And worked his tail off. Said hi to me everyday. I just gave him the card and tip and told him he impressed me with how hard he worked. SEEMED TO BE GENUINELY HAPPY by my gesture.

 

Coco Cay was way too crowded. 2 small ships, GOS and Enchantment at the same time and it was insane. The trick is to get there as early as possible. We did the JetSki. Best time. Ever. Wow. Great. Great. Great. Bring towels. Officer on the ship said we could get them at a Coco Cay. NO NO NO. PISSED ME OFF.

 

 

Our biggest complaint was the uncivilized and ill mannered passengers. Rude to each other and staff. Most were fine but way too many were jerks. Older people accusing others of stealing towels from pool chairs or taking their loungers. Very hostile jerks. Too many jerks.

 

 

Certain group of people seem to have no use for 'please' and 'thank you' and other polite terms. Nasty loud and obnoxious.

 

Met lots of nice people as well, the majority, but the class of cruisers is sliding down hill

 

 

 

 

Getting off the ship was easy. Out of our cabin at 8:00 and on the street with baggage by 8:40.

 

For those that care, the Diamond Lounge is located in the South Pacific Lounge. The South Pacific Lounge itself was under utilized during the trip and the Diamond Lounge looked out of place. The Concierge

Lounge is on Deck 11 near Izumi and Crown Lounge. Never saw a soul go near it. With the wonderful food served at the Park Cafe and the great space it occupies, both DL and CL seem unnecessary.

 

Formal nights there some Tux wearing and some jerks in T-shirts and shorts. I wore shorts on the last night and a blazer without a tie on Formal Nights and I was never out of place. If you want to dress down no one bothers you. we found that MDR tables were at about a 70% occupancy on the 5 nights we ate there.

 

The hits were much better than the misses. Loved our cruise. Would recommend Grandeur for others.

 

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Edited August 15, 2014 by heyabbott

[myhouseofmouse]

Internet back. Cruising up the Bay (written last night posted this morning)

 

First, GREAT CRUISE. Weather couldn't be better. The Solarium roof was open every day!

 

Smoothest sailing possible. Even long time cruisers commented how smooth the trip was. Captain did a great job of keeping out of impending weather.

 

Entertainment was very good. Both comics were very funny. At Nassau we dropped off a singer and comedian and picked up a rock band and a new comedian. The centrum high wire act was a WOW. Better than I expected.

 

Everyday on the ship we were at Solarium. Didn't go to main pool at all.

 

The movies on the screen though were good. Frozen, Captain America, Spider-Man 2, Annie.

 

Windjammer? Avoid it. We ate only 2 meals there. 1 breakfast and 1lunch. Terrible food. And even worse manners by the many passengers.

 

The Park Cafe was such a hit. We ate breakfast and lunch there a lot. Just spectacular. Bagel and lox station in the morning where the salad station is during the day. Fruit and sandwiches paninis were perfect. The Cuban and the Ham and Brie were so good. We Had room service breakfast twice. On time and hot. Thanks guys!, best free coffee on the trip

1 breakfast In The MDR and it was crowded. They put people at tables with others then said the Omelets would be 25 minutes. Nothing special. Coffee sucked.

Izumi and Giovanni's were truly wonderful. Izumi gave us a20% discount because we were so effusive in our praise. The sushi was good not great but everything else was really superb. Didn't go to Chops.

 

MDR dinner was fine, no complaints about the food, no compliments. Great service.

 

Great service everywhere. Really. I'm cynical as can be. Everyone we encountered was a real pro and very nice. I gave a WOW card and $10 to a bus boy, not even mine, he was at the Solarium cleaning up during the day and busing in the MDR every night. And worked his tail off. Said hi to me everyday. I just gave him the card and tip and told him he impressed me with how hard he worked. SEEMED TO BE GENUINELY HAPPY by my gesture.

 

Coco Cay was way too crowded. 2 small ships, GOS and Enchantment at the same time and it was insane. The trick is to get there as early as possible. We did the JetSki. Best time. Ever. Wow. Great. Great. Great. Bring towels. Officer on the ship said we could get them at a Coco Cay. NO NO NO. PISSED ME OFF.

 

 

Our biggest complaint was the uncivilized and ill mannered passengers. Rude to each other and staff. Most were fine but way too many were jerks. Older people accusing others of stealing towels from pool chairs or taking their loungers. Very hostile jerks. Too many jerks.

 

 

Certain group of people seem to have no use for 'please' and 'thank you' and other polite terms. Nasty loud and obnoxious.

 

Met lots of nice people as well, the majority, but the class of cruisers is sliding down hill

 

 

 

 

Getting off the ship was easy. Out of our cabin at 8:00 and on the street with baggage by 8:40.

 

For those that care, the Diamond Lounge is located in the South Pacific Lounge. The South Pacific Lounge itself was under utilized during the trip and the Diamond Lounge looked out of place. The Concierge

Lounge is on Deck 11 near Izumi and Crown Lounge. Never saw a soul go near it. With the wonderful food served at the Park Cafe and the great space it occupies, both DL and CL seem unnecessary.

 

Formal nights there some Tux wearing and some jerks in T-shirts and shorts. I wore shorts on the last night and a blazer without a tie on Formal Nights and I was never out of place. If you want to dress down no one bothers you. we found that MDR tables were at about a 70% occupancy on the 5 nights we ate there.

 

The hits were much better than the misses. Loved our cruise. Would recommend Grandeur for others.

 

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Great review and information. We are on her next week and can not wait. Thank you for taking the time to share.

[theorbo]

Yes, thanks for the review HeyAbbott - looking forward to sailing next month!

[Goofyisme]

Internet back. Cruising up the Bay (written last night posted this morning)

 

First, GREAT CRUISE. Weather couldn't be better. The Solarium roof was open every day!

 

Smoothest sailing possible. Even long time cruisers commented how smooth the trip was. Captain did a great job of keeping out of impending weather.

 

Entertainment was very good. Both comics were very funny. At Nassau we dropped off a singer and comedian and picked up a rock band and a new comedian. The centrum high wire act was a WOW. Better than I expected.

 

Everyday on the ship we were at Solarium. Didn't go to main pool at all.

 

The movies on the screen though were good. Frozen, Captain America, Spider-Man 2, Annie.

 

Windjammer? Avoid it. We ate only 2 meals there. 1 breakfast and 1lunch. Terrible food. And even worse manners by the many passengers.

 

The Park Cafe was such a hit. We ate breakfast and lunch there a lot. Just spectacular. Bagel and lox station in the morning where the salad station is during the day. Fruit and sandwiches paninis were perfect. The Cuban and the Ham and Brie were so good. We Had room service breakfast twice. On time and hot. Thanks guys!, best free coffee on the trip

1 breakfast In The MDR and it was crowded. They put people at tables with others then said the Omelets would be 25 minutes. Nothing special. Coffee sucked.

Izumi and Giovanni's were truly wonderful. Izumi gave us a20% discount because we were so effusive in our praise. The sushi was good not great but everything else was really superb. Didn't go to Chops.

 

MDR dinner was fine, no complaints about the food, no compliments. Great service.

 

Great service everywhere. Really. I'm cynical as can be. Everyone we encountered was a real pro and very nice. I gave a WOW card and $10 to a bus boy, not even mine, he was at the Solarium cleaning up during the day and busing in the MDR every night. And worked his tail off. Said hi to me everyday. I just gave him the card and tip and told him he impressed me with how hard he worked. SEEMED TO BE GENUINELY HAPPY by my gesture.

 

Coco Cay was way too crowded. 2 small ships, GOS and Enchantment at the same time and it was insane. The trick is to get there as early as possible. We did the JetSki. Best time. Ever. Wow. Great. Great. Great. Bring towels. Officer on the ship said we could get them at a Coco Cay. NO NO NO. PISSED ME OFF.

 

 

Our biggest complaint was the uncivilized and ill mannered passengers. Rude to each other and staff. Most were fine but way too many were jerks. Older people accusing others of stealing towels from pool chairs or taking their loungers. Very hostile jerks. Too many jerks.

 

 

Certain group of people seem to have no use for 'please' and 'thank you' and other polite terms. Nasty loud and obnoxious.

 

Met lots of nice people as well, the majority, but the class of cruisers is sliding down hill

 

 

 

 

Getting off the ship was easy. Out of our cabin at 8:00 and on the street with baggage by 8:40.

 

For those that care, the Diamond Lounge is located in the South Pacific Lounge. The South Pacific Lounge itself was under utilized during the trip and the Diamond Lounge looked out of place. The Concierge

Lounge is on Deck 11 near Izumi and Crown Lounge. Never saw a soul go near it. With the wonderful food served at the Park Cafe and the great space it occupies, both DL and CL seem unnecessary.

 

Formal nights there some Tux wearing and some jerks in T-shirts and shorts. I wore shorts on the last night and a blazer without a tie on Formal Nights and I was never out of place. If you want to dress down no one bothers you. we found that MDR tables were at about a 70% occupancy on the 5 nights we ate there.

 

The hits were much better than the misses. Loved our cruise. Would recommend Grandeur for others.

 

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We had our first Royal cruise just before your cruise. Usually do Celebrity but since we had 2 teenagers with us and Baltimore was so convenient we choose Royal.

 

Expected a nice enjoyable cruise but we were totally blown away by the level of service we received and the attitude of the entire staff we met on board. Grandeur was a great place to begin our experience with Royal.

 

Nice to have another cruise line we can choose from with no hesitation.

[myhouseofmouse]

Just wondering, do you happen to know if they held the guest thriller dance classes and do you know what day they held the chocolate breakfast in MDR???

[Cowcrazy65]

Thanks for the review! We are going on our first cruise in Feb! This was VERY helpful!! :)

[heyabbott]

Just wondering, do you happen to know if they held the guest thriller dance classes and do you know what day they held the chocolate breakfast in MDR???

We saw no mention of the chocolate breakfast and we read our Cruise Compass every evening. Aardvark, pig, rat and elephant were our towel animals. We are 52 and 49 and still looked forward to seeing them.

Didn't see a Thriller Dance, but they did have a pool deck Dance Under the Stars. Lots of dancing everywhere.

We went to the Finale Show where they had part of the video of the Cruise DVD you can buy. There were lots of activities that we didn't do, actually we didn't do any activities accept a show almost every night, the high wire act and some trips to the Casino. If you want to have a quiet cruise on the Grandeur you can. If you want to have a party every night, its possible to do that too.

 

A great thing about the Solarium is that even though you are relatively close to the main pool, you never heard a sound from there. None of the music, games, dancing or pool deck buffets. Only when we would stroll about the deck above the pool did we see how active it was.

 

We did meet a couple of families with children between 7 and 13 that thought there wasn't enough for those age kids to do, compared with other ships. Lots of younger teens seemed to make friends with each and roam the boat, but since we stayed in the adult pool or later shows we didn't see them or felt bothered by them.

 

The Centrum seemed to be of a hub of activity than anywhere else.

 

BTW, there seemed to plenty of time to do the Disney excursion from Port Canaveral but the Nassau stop was not conducive to anything but shop. We did walk through main street of Nassau and saw 100 stores selling the same 10 t-shirts.

We had lunch at Señor Frogs and that seemed like a fun place just to drink.

[BND]

Just wondering, do you happen to know if they held the guest thriller dance classes and do you know what day they held the chocolate breakfast in MDR???

 

Our experience with the chocolate breakfast is that isn't announced. You can ask the wait staff, but they don't always know either. We just happen to eat breakfast in the MDR most days so we've had it a few times. Nothing special and to me (a major chocaholic) nothing I'd go out of my way to have.

[JMG]

We are back from the same cruise.

 

Entertainment - we felt it is okay at best. We were not at all impressed with the first production show so did not bother to go to the second one. The worst show was Eric Sage. I had emailed RCI prior to the cruise and RCI noted it was a Rock show. People were getting up and leaving. Friends ran into Eric Sage later in the cruise and he commented that he did not like the Grandeur..preferred the Explorer where he was going next. I guess if the audience does not like you, you do not like them!

 

Ate in MDR for breakfast once. Had to wait to get a cold omelette. Went to Windjammer and Park Cafe after that and got decent food.

 

We did the MTD and had a reservation for 7pm every night. The time was great but we did find that it clashed with some show times. We went to the concierge and tried to get a show schedule for the week but the concierge claimed they did not know the show times since the schedule often changes. They no longer print The Week In Review. That makes it a little harder to plan a reservation schedule for MTD. People waited in lines to get their tables - the line moved rather quickly. We never had to wait, our waiter or asst waiter would spot us and point to our usual table and we just went in and sat down.

 

We went to DL and CL a few times and it was never crowded. At disembarkation, they only offered a special waiting area for Suite Guests only instead of having an area for D and D+.

 

Bridge tour was fantastic as always. The 2nd Officer gave the tour and answered so many questions that the Cruise staffer had to cut him off so the next group could tour the bridge.

 

Friends did the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter and absolutely raved about the experience. We did this in Cozumel and it sounded like the blue Lagoon encounter was more interactive.

 

Coco Cay was full of people. We did not leave the ship until 10:30 and went to the Wacky Seagull Jr Bar area. There is a pavilion with umbrellas, tables and chairs and no one was there. Wonderful breeze, beautiful scenery looking out at the water, close to restrooms, bar and food service. The buffet lines were extremely long and the food was boring and cold by the time we ate. One incident...around lunch time the bar was packed and the bar tender took the seapass and gave it to the wrong passenger!!! Fortunately, she noticed the wrong name as she was putting the pass into her purse and she read the name aloud. I hate to think of the turmoil attempting to get back on ship with no seapass or identification since on Coco Cay you are not required to take another form of ID!

 

We have cruised out of Balt several times and have noticed that on sea days it is not a difficult to get lounge chairs as it is sailing from Florida. The Solarium was an exception but it was so hot and humid in that area that until our last sea day, we stayed out of there except to grab some food at Park Cafe.

 

We found a few rude passengers. One passenger got drunk and disorderly in the Casino and was confined to his stateroom with Security posted outside the door. That pleased many people! There was an Autism group on board and there were some bad table manners from them but... we figure we are lucky to be healthy.

 

Grandeur is a smaller ship with not as many bells and whistles but we had a great time and per usual...it ended way too fast!

Edited August 16, 2014 by JMG

[JMG]

Can someone boarding say hello to Ruth in the diamond lounge for me please

Just say Greg from Australia said hi

 

Also can you say hello to captain bean for me also

Thanks

Greg :)

 

 

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Inna Tsyrfa was the D Concierge this past week.

[fishbonz]

Was there a diamond room for breakfast,,,or is it just the mdr ?. Cant wait to try a new ship next year.

[Colonialdame]

Also on this cruise. Area in MDR for diamond breakfast. Great service. Totally agree with comments by OP. Loved the Diamond Lounge and thought Inna and the bar staff were great. Wish the piano bar singer was better, but he did pack them in toward the end of the week. I guess the downside of a smaller ship is that there are fewer choices for evening entertainment.

[Philly Steve]

Thank you for the Grandeur review. Sorry to hear the Windjammer was not your cup of tea. There is a reason why it can be difficult at times to find vacant lounge chairs in the Solarium. Once you find a perfect spot, it's so hard to leave!

[BND]

Thank you for the Grandeur review. Sorry to hear the Windjammer was not your cup of tea. There is a reason why it can be difficult at times to find vacant lounge chairs in the Solarium. Once you find a perfect spot, it's so hard to leave!

 

The bigger issue on GR is that they took out loungers in order to put more tables in for Park Cafe (and of course chair hogs who leave crap on a lounger for hours). I miss those loungers that were along the windows because DH and I need shade (he's had melanoma and I burn easily). I really wish they had not removed those loungers. Now, in order to get a seat you have to go early and eat breakfast at Park Cafe or you can't get a lounger. DH and I have always spent a lot of our sea days in the Solarium as we don't travel with children. The Solarium has changed drastically from our first RCI cruise in 2009. We spent a lot of our last cruise out on the pool deck under the overhang which is not the quiet space the Solarium used to be.

Edited August 17, 2014 by BND

[heyabbott]

Thank you for the Grandeur review. Sorry to hear the Windjammer was not your cup of tea. There is a reason why it can be difficult at times to find vacant lounge chairs in the Solarium. Once you find a perfect spot, it's so hard to leave!

 

On the last 2 sea days I was up and at the Solarium by 8:30 to get 2 loungers. Was there all day, both days. We did get up to walk about the pool deck a couple of times but we were always there. A number of couples came by early, dropped their towels off and then left for hours at a time. Just proves that age is no substitute for good manners.