Would love to hear about Grandeur of the Seas

[stellarose]

Indeed they did. My son is 5'8'' and my daughter is 5'2'' and both had no problems getting in an out of the upper berths with the ladders provided by the stateroom attendant. Our bed below was in the queen configuration, and as a result required us to crawl in and out via the front of the bed as the bedside passages were blocked by the upper berths. Again really not an issue for me or my wife. I'll also suggest you get a few small cheap flashlights for late night trips to the bathroom as it nearly pitch black in an interior stateroom. I affixed carabiners to my children's flashlights so they could hang them securely on the small wall shelf at the head of the upper berths.

 

Thanks goldenDomer.

Both my kids are under 5 feet. I'll get some small flashlights. Good suggestion. I'm worried it will be tight for 4 people but we can make it work.

[Lady Hudson]

I am on her now. Nothing negative to report (other than the latte machine in the lounge isn't working but no big deal). Everyone very friendly and the food has been good.

[stellarose]

I am on her now. Nothing negative to report (other than the latte machine in the lounge isn't working but no big deal). Everyone very friendly and the food has been good.

 

Freestyle machines working?

 

Drink package? Yes or no?

 

Any tips??

[lovetocruise75]

Oustanding ship and crew!

[RSLeesburg]

For the record.....deck chairs are to be lifted, not dragged. One chat with the Facilities Manager will get that fixed. There should be no crew noise heard on deck 8. WJ guest noise stops around midnight. Pax noise happens everywhere but the cabins usually block it out. If you are a very light sleeper you may notice some short time noise but all in all the cabins are much quieter than any hotel....IMHO

 

We are always on deck 8 on Vision class ships.

 

 

He, he... I suspect these were passengers dragging the chairs vs crew.

 

One question...one this last cruise, we heard this pounding every now and then. At first we thought it was kids running, but when I thought about what was above us, that did not make sense. However, one day I was walking up stairs out by WJ and a bunch of kids came running down the stairs and it was that same pounding noise. Could that noise travel all the way into the cabins? Has anyone else heard this?

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

Freestyle machines working?

 

 

 

Drink package? Yes or no?

 

 

 

Any tips??

 

 

Yes. They were working last week. Four in WJ and one in front of Ben & Jerries. When WJ is closed, you have to use the one by Ben & Jerries, which is kind of stupid. They should have at least put one by Park Cafe, so there were at least two available whenWJ is closed. We bought Royal Replenishment for my wife and I. Loved it, but we might just buy one package next time as we did not really need two cups. I was usually good with just the ice tea or flavored waters, and only really used my cup at night when I wanted something to drink in my cabin.

 

 

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[Smurfette27]

Happy to see such positive comments about the Grandeur! We sail on March 13 and have only ever cruised with Disney before and although we LOVE cruising with Disney, we thought we'd try something different... and a tad cheaper!

 

We have a 9yr old son and 12yr old daughter. I think our son is able to join Adventure Ocean. Do they have fun activities for his age group? Do they split up the kids based on their ages? What about my daughter... will there be any sort of 'pre-teen' activities for her?

 

If anyone has sailed on the Grandeur with kids around this age, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

 

Thanks!

[RSLeesburg]

Happy to see such positive comments about the Grandeur! We sail on March 13 and have only ever cruised with Disney before and although we LOVE cruising with Disney, we thought we'd try something different... and a tad cheaper!

 

 

 

We have a 9yr old son and 12yr old daughter. I think our son is able to join Adventure Ocean. Do they have fun activities for his age group? Do they split up the kids based on their ages? What about my daughter... will there be any sort of 'pre-teen' activities for her?

 

 

 

If anyone has sailed on the Grandeur with kids around this age, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Yes. Adventure Ocean is divided into three groups: Aquanauts (3-5), Explorers (6-8), and Voyagers (9-11). On Grandeur, Explorers and Voyagers are combined into one group due to limited space. At age 9, you can sign a waiver, which allows you son the ability to sign himself into or out of the club (this is up to you). I have posted the AO dailies from our cruise on Grandeur last year (see link in my signature). I am hoping to get the dailies from this past trip scanned and posted. I also have a sheet from the teen activities. For the most part, the teen room is just a hang out place during the day, but they have supervised activities there most nights. On our last cruise, they had a teen dance party in the VCL (I think this is normally held in the teen room, but there were so many teens, they moved it).

 

 

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[stellarose]

10 1/2 and 12 1/2 year olds are excited for grandeur.

[Smurfette27]

Yes. Adventure Ocean is divided into three groups: Aquanauts (3-5), Explorers (6-8), and Voyagers (9-11). On Grandeur, Explorers and Voyagers are combined into one group due to limited space. At age 9, you can sign a waiver, which allows you son the ability to sign himself into or out of the club (this is up to you). I have posted the AO dailies from our cruise on Grandeur last year (see link in my signature). I am hoping to get the dailies from this past trip scanned and posted. I also have a sheet from the teen activities. For the most part, the teen room is just a hang out place during the day, but they have supervised activities there most nights. On our last cruise, they had a teen dance party in the VCL (I think this is normally held in the teen room, but there were so many teens, they moved it).

 

 

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Great! Thank you so much for the info! I'm sure they'll have a great time.:)

[zombiehunter]

It was my first cruise and I had a good time. The ship was incredibly small but the service was really great. I know it's still a huge ship but we ran into the same people constantly it just felt like there weren't that many places to be. Also, the Centrum for shows was lackluster. Get there early and get a mid level seat or you won't be seeing anything. The options of things to do that weren't sit around and drink, drink and gamble or drink and shop were sparse. Fortunately, I like drinking.

 

Food was good, pool area was nice, service was fantastic, everything was really easy to get to since it wasn't far away. I got seasick one morning and my ex could run to the WJ and be back with bacon in like 30 seconds. It did help my queasy tummy. Gotta love greasy food. The trip down the Chesapeake was really cool. There is a lot to see out there. Bring a deck of cards and prepare to make new friends at the bar or at the pool.

[Philly Steve]

We booked our very first ten day cruise aboard Grandeur and are looking forward to a mix of aft cabin quality time and fun on the pool deck. We're also planning to remain aboard during some port stops and enjoy a little "elbow room." :)

[NEPhillyRN]

we sailed on the Grandeur for the first time last July. We took our 6 kids with us and we were, for the most part impressed. We had the Aft Royal Family Suite, all I can say is AMAZING! the room was huge and the balcony was enormous! The dining staff was great and accommodated our family, even the baby (2) was taken care of down to her coffee cup of milk every morning. The pools were nice, not too big that I needed to worry about the smaller kids and not too crowded. The teens had a fabulous time running the ship with kids their age. The only one who didn't have fun was our 11 year old. He was too old to enjoy the kids club but too young to make him a teen. We had dinner at the Chef's table and it was delicious. The concierge, Francis was a perk that made us want a suite again. It was wonderful to go somewhere that our needs were taken care of.

 

We are booked on the July 31 sailing to Bermuda, no kids this time in the Grand suite. I also, am concerned about the level of noise from above but I'm sure it will be fine.

[RSLeesburg]

we sailed on the Grandeur for the first time last July. We took our 6 kids with us and we were, for the most part impressed. We had the Aft Royal Family Suite, all I can say is AMAZING! the room was huge and the balcony was enormous! The dining staff was great and accommodated our family, even the baby (2) was taken care of down to her coffee cup of milk every morning. The pools were nice, not too big that I needed to worry about the smaller kids and not too crowded. The teens had a fabulous time running the ship with kids their age. The only one who didn't have fun was our 11 year old. He was too old to enjoy the kids club but too young to make him a teen. We had dinner at the Chef's table and it was delicious. The concierge, Francis was a perk that made us want a suite again. It was wonderful to go somewhere that our needs were taken care of.

 

 

 

We are booked on the July 31 sailing to Bermuda, no kids this time in the Grand suite. I also, am concerned about the level of noise from above but I'm sure it will be fine.

 

 

We have been in the Grand Suite's twice on Grandeur. Once in 8514 and once in 8014. We noticed less noise in 8514. We loved the location - so close to everything. Francis is awesome.

 

 

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[rvcruz]

We love the Grandeur of the Seas and have been aboard her four times. I especially like the run out to Bermuda. These are our recollection of state side

You get the sense that you are way out there cos you actually are! The best is if you can drive to B-more Maryland and park literally on the dock and look up and see her. It is a bit of a wiggle to get to the Port of Baltimore so care should be taken. The porters are friendly and helpful. Checkin has always been easy for us. Grandeur is an older lady but still has charm. The central Centrum is a good central point for relaxing and music listening dancing. When we first saw her back in 2007 we thought she was huge. Little did we little did we know. Our favorite times have been on the non smoking side of deck 5 watching the waves go by...The main dining room wait staff knowing what we like and how our day went...Hanging out in the Solarium. Smaller ships seem to have a more relaxed rhythm to them. Dont know if you are going to Europe port o calls but the ship is intimate and friendly.

Edited January 4, 2015 by rvcruz
opps dor

[Summerwalk]

We have been in the Grand Suite's twice on Grandeur. Once in 8514 and once in 8014. We noticed less noise in 8514. We loved the location - so close to everything. Francis is awesome.

 

 

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We've been on Grandeur a couple of times and enjoyed it very much. So convenient sailing out of Baltimore. We were in GS 8012 this past November and it was quite noisy every morning around 5:00 am when they started sliding the chairs around on the deck above. I did include that in feedback (only negative I mentioned) but I've since seen people mention on this forum that they had that issue and mentioned it early in their cruise and situation improved. We have been in GS's on other side (8506) and did not have this issue, so in future would book that side. Francis was great.

[Andie272]

Booking today for October 24, 2015 cruise. I am really excited, only sailed Carnival before. Any tips for a newbie to RCI?

 

Going to book and OV on deck 3, midship...is that a good location?

Edited January 30, 2015 by Andie272

[jules71]

We had an OV on Deck 2 and really liked it. I would think 3 would be even better. We liked it because it was central to everything -- mdr, R bar, entertainment in Centrum, outside promenade. And the elevators to go to top decks were never crowded.

 

 

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[Andie272]

How would Midship Deck 4 be? Good location? Pros/cons?

[jimandtoni]

Booking today for October 24, 2015 cruise. I am really excited, only sailed Carnival before. Any tips for a newbie to RCI?

 

Going to book and OV on deck 3, midship...is that a good location?

 

We had cabin 3024 in January for a 10 day cruise. We thought it was a very nice cabin. You might like our youtube video for this cruise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27VdbjIwdl4

[jgnova]

We were on her (with jimandtoni) for the Eastern Caribbean on January 6. Great ship and crew. Food was good. We were in JS 8032 and heard occasional noises above but nothing bad enough to stop us from getting that cabin again. Bed was hard, even with the egg crate mattress topper, but we've had that complaint in lots of places - maybe a function of us getting older. I posted scans of all of the dailies plus some of the kids' activity sheets at http://www.flickr.com/photos/snjnova/collections/72157648010589874/ - not as pretty as jimandtoni's video, though. And Baltimore is easy to get to - and a breeze to board.

 

j

[jimandtoni]

We were on her (with jimandtoni) for the Eastern Caribbean on January 6. Great ship and crew. Food was good. We were in JS 8032 and heard occasional noises above but nothing bad enough to stop us from getting that cabin again. Bed was hard, even with the egg crate mattress topper, but we've had that complaint in lots of places - maybe a function of us getting older. I posted scans of all of the dailies plus some of the kids' activity sheets at http://www.flickr.com/photos/snjnova/collections/72157648010589874/ - not as pretty as jimandtoni's video, though. And Baltimore is easy to get to - and a breeze to board.

 

j

VERY cool pics on your flicker page!!

[Dave4120]

Will be providing photos with my new camera from our April 9th Grandeur Cruise that is right around the corner. Have a JS cabin this time on the 8th deck. Cannot wait for the cruise and to provide some comments for future Grandeur cruisers. Then on May 3rd, we switch to the Vision for a 13-night European Cruise. First time to Europe. How exciting!!

 

Dave

[runningtide]

I have sailed on Grandeur, Enchantment, and other smaller ships and love them. I live in Annapolis so Baltimore is so convenient. I have found the crew on smaller ships much more at attentive, and due to the size, I seem to feel you get to know them easier. Again, because of the smaller size, you also get to know the passengers and staff with more ease.

Im leaving on a 10 day western Caribbean trip March21, 2015 on Grandeur. This will be my first time back on Grandeur since the re-fit. Cant wait to see this grand lady again.

[Robinhill]

Andie- i have been on the 4th deck midship twice and thought it was great- you could walk straight down the hall and into the bar area in the centrum with the main desk, excursion desk etc and the elevators right there. It was very convenient.