Just Back from Grandeur 8/19 sailing

[star of county down]

We had a blast. I feel like I'm still on the ship except I can't go into the Windjammer to get a little something to eat or a cup of tea, can't see the ocean, don't hear the music...

 

I have no complaints, Royal Caribbean was great -- the food, the waiters and other staff...but I will say that there was one couple who were total jerks to me about "their" chair on Captain's night (cocktails)...caught me by surprise. I never saw them again, though. And after taking a cab to the other side of the island in Freeport, I will tell you this: nice driver going over ($20 for 4 of us), nice snorkeling. After buying 4 $7.95 coconut drinks, the bartender told our waiter he was "too busy" to crack them open for us at Rum Runners. That was the only reason we went there and when they took our order, they confirmed for us that they would do it. Well, they wouldn't and didn't. Then, cabbies hussled my husband into thinking that he had to take their cab back to the ship and charged us $30. I told the guy that he was wrong to do it and he said that $20 was the group rate, which is total BS. Our original driver was going to come back to pick us up, and he was, I believe. He was old and wonderful. There were other cabs around the corner there at Count Basie Square. So...that was the Bahama experience. I won't get off the ship there again.

 

If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

[kenandlaura06]

Glad to hear that the cruise aspect of your vacation was good!

[kybill]

Sorry your trip and the Windjammer is over for you, for a while any way. I agree with about the Bahama's unless we get there and the ship is sinking we've set foot on the island for the last time. We usually book cruieses which don't go there. Our last trip there was one of those super bargains from our TA. She called on Wednesday and said

"what are you kids doing on Saturday" which was quick, but for the price we went and had a great time. The cab drivers can either be really nice or thieves. I won't get into any cab I feel I'm getting ripped off or being forced to ride in. Our last visit to the Straw Market we got chased by a rat (the size of our dog)! Just missed an armed robbery in front of the KY Fried Chicken store, and were almost robbed by a cap driver, so I understand what you mean about the "Bahama Experience."

Bill

[star of county down]

Yeah, that guy knew that I knew he was ripping us off. It's true that our time was running out but Oatwell (our nice, wonderful old man driver) said he would be back @ 7:15. That was plenty of time to get back to the ship. But the hustler got to my husband and all of them except for me were in the car while I was busy getting in his face. He was driving a British van and he didn't HAVE room for any more people (you know, the BS group rate), so, I'd like to know how he does that. But people be warned...I wanted to like the Bahamas and I wanted to like my time there. But I didn't. I tried...to the point that, there was a hat that I really loved at Coco Cay but I didn't buy it because I was still pissed off about the cabbie and I didn't want to give the Bahamas another dollar.

[CecilCtyCruiser]

Did you hear anything about an accident in the Solarium pool? Was the pool open?

[star of county down]

No, I didn't. But I did hear about some young teens having a fight in there.

[star of county down]

We had a very smooth trip. Drove to Baltimore, parked right in front of the ship, moved straight to the ID checkpoint as I had printed out the Set Sail Pass. Got on the ship and walked straight up to the Windjammer. Wow. It was so nice in there. We ate lunch and then, went outside when I realized that we could. It had been drizzling a little earlier but the sun came out. We passed under the Francis Scott Key Bridge and I thought we were going to hit it (hahaha). Whew! Then, we went under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. That was very cool. I've been over it many times but never under it. We went to our room and changed into our bathing suits. Went into the pool. Walked everywhere I went the first couple of days. Aftet that, we did so much walking on the land that my feet were killing me and I took the elevator mostly (and let my poor feet get a little jet action in the jacuzzi).

 

We ate dinner in the dining room every night and loved it. We ate breakfast in the dining room only on the first morning. After that, I would have my tea and bowl of pineapple on the pool deck from the Windjammer. That was heaven. Ditto for lunch, and always in my bathing suit with a sarong wrapped around me. I stayed on my diet until Weds. in Key West:D

 

Make sure to sign up for the Meet and Mingle party. It was very nice.

 

Coco Cay was so much fun. I loved it there. Plenty of room for everyone and good snorkeling. We went all the way to the left. If you want to be around the pool band, go to the right. And the seagulls there are ready to swoop down and eat your food if you leave it on your beach chair, so, don't go there! Just eat at the little grass hut pavilion.

 

Key West was great, too. We walked all the way down to the Southernmost Point. An old coot there (a native) tried to pick me up and when I told him that my husband and kids were in line, he told me he didn't give a wing ding!!! It was so funny. He had long white hair an a beard, wore a straw hat and had a santa hat on his shoulder. We got caught in a little rain shower, which was very refreshing. Then, we went to a sushi bar. After that, back up to Duvall Street where we shopped and especially liked a store called Earthbound. I also ate one of those Key Lime Pies on a stick -- oh my God. It was SO GOOD! Not frozen all the way thru like ice cream -- just really, really cold and covered with really thick chocolate. OH! Lots of crazy stores there. It was alot of fun.

 

Cozumel - did Dolphin Discovery. Was told by friends we had made that we got to do more with our dolphins than they did, plus, their snorkeling equipment was taken away and after their dolphin thing, they didn't get to snorkel. We took our own gear and snorkeled on the beach first. We sat under some palm trees and had great shade and a nice breeze coming from the water. Bought the DVD and all the pics, went back to the ship for lunch then, out to town for shopping. I bought some vanilla, a pair of maracas, and a soft straw hat (both of those last two things I got right at the stores by the ship). The store mechants really yell at you to come in and some will actually pull you in. Buyer beware...listen to the ship's crew about where to buy or you will be ripped off. One guy had some really pretty earrings that I wanted. They were fake opals surrounded by fake topaz. He had rows and rows of fake stuff out, then, put the more expensive fake stuff under the counter under lock and key. I'd have paid $20 for the fakes but not $250. I'm an October baby and I know my opals and they were definitely not opals. But we had so much fun walking around there. Wish we had had more time there.

 

I felt bad that I had seen so much fake jewelry and came back to the ship without any (althought I bought my daughter a silver chain bracelet for charms and an elephant pendant). But felt good that I hadn't been ripped off, too. That evening, I went into the ship's jewelry store and bought a 7-carat pear-shaped Mystic Topaz ring (they also call it Caribbean Topaz). That was great. It's beautiful and it has a 1-year guarantee. Oh, they also had a special on Absolute Vodka on the ship; buy it early if you like the vanilla kind because they ran out and I came home w/o. We were supposed to stock up on more at Port Canaveral but ...

 

Had to pass by Port Canaveral due to the hurricane. Lots of bummed out people yet no one I spoke to was that upset as all seemed to understand that it was for our own good. I had a friend who was going to pick us up there and we were going to treat her to lunch and go to the beach.

 

I can't wait to go back. I loved the cruise. Oh, and there was this one kind of bread they had out at lunchtime called 7 grain bread. It was awesome...had oats all over it. Flourless chocolate cake. Cheesecake. Salads. They even had balsamic vinegar if you wanted it. And this is just a small list of some of my favorite things there, not to mention that there was sushi on the Chocolate Buffet. We had two more midnight buffets. I went to one but couldn't eat, and slept right thru the second one. It was incredible. The good news is, I only gained 1 lb. WOO HOO!

[Privateer]

How was the parking at DDMT ?

[2552phxcrzr]

This was our third cruise out of Baltimore, and the parking situation is much improved. They have rearranged things so that you can park much closer to the ship. They have a long line of luggage carts and you are directed to them to unload all but your carry-ons. Then you are directed to the parking area nearby. We were close enough that we opted to walk to the ship rather than take the shuttle. (For us it was less than a 5-minute walk to the terminal.) Cash only - $90 for 9 day cruise, so be prepared for that.

 

When we disembarked, we had a porter take our luggage and we walked to the car. Others took the shuttle back to their vehicles, and still others pulled their cars over to a designated area to load their luggage.

[star of county down]

How was the parking at DDMT ?

 

It was great. We just rolled right in, paid our $90, parked RIGHT in front of the ship. When we left, we just walked right to our car, as we had elected to take the luggage off the ship ourselves (a good move for us). Someone in my car had accidentally hit one of the reading lights, however, before we left and so, guess what? My car wouldn't start!!! But I ran up to one of the dock workers and they were so darn nice...they gave us a jump and off we went. No traffic jams, no zoo...it was wonderful.

[LenaDaLlama]

Wow....I bet your Caribbean topaz ring is gorgeous....that is a beautiful stone--my favorite!!

[star of county down]

Oh, yes...I love it. I had been looking at some other pieces earlier - a pair of earrings, a pendant, and a ring. But when I tried this ring on, I decided I'd rather have one big something than a whole set of smaller stuff -- plus, it was $40 cheaper. Thank you for the complement...;)

[Coolcruise02]

Glad to read the good report. We leave Friday!! :)

[star of county down]

Glad to read the good report. We leave Friday!! :)

 

Oh, you're going to have such a good time.

 

I forgot to tell that on Saturday night, around 8, we approached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel...it was so pretty. I'd seen the entrance to it from the road before but never actually had seen it and at night, the lights are all on. We were asleep when we went THRU it after departing Baltimore, so, I was glad I got to see it.

 

There was a hat that I wish I had bought in Coco Cay...still thinking about it. I was being stubborn and still ticked at that cab driver and so, I didn't buy it. Now, I wish I had. It was in the a shop on the right if you're walking towards them. In fact, the last shop. I went in there while I was waiting for the line to go down to get the tender back to the ship. It sells lots of hats and coconut people, shells, etc. The hat was a one-of-a-kind. Sort of a bone colored soft crushable straw farmer/cowboy sort of hat. It was trimmed in gold and had silver around the base and life-size golden butterflies around it. It was $20. I LOVED that had and I still want it. So...if anyone see it and wants to buy it for me and send it to me COD, I would be eternally grateful. I almost got off of the tender to get it. I learned later that even though we were on Coco Cay, you could still bargain with them. So.....

[lindalee]

Hi -

It has been a long time since we last sailed with RCI and thought we'd like to try again. Overall, we enjoyed the cruise.

 

Some of the things we liked: the variety of music on board (loved the piano and violin combo) and the band in the South Pacific Lounge; a variety of dance floors; lots of seating (in and outside) so it was easy to find a quiet place if you wanted; crew were very pleasant and helpful; outside view room had lots of storage; the Solarium pool (adults only) was a welcome respite although it would have benefited from having a few windows opened; overall, the food was good although I am still recovering from something I believe I ate at breakfast on the last day; the ship is in good shape although some carpeting on the stairs was coming undone and needed to be replaced; the classes we took (we had an extra day at sea due to Katrina) were fun (bartending, crafts, line dancing, impromtu comedy; etc); and enjoyed CocoCay (much nicer than NCL's Stirrup Cay which is within sight)....RCI did a wonderful job on the facility; our stop in Key West; our cooking class in Cozumel; the ease of embarking from Baltimore was great and parking was half the price of NY rates; and the opportunity to make some new friends!

 

Some things we didn't care for: the lack of announcements for leaving the ship when in ports....four of us were waiting to be told we could disembark when someone told us people were already leaving the ship....the announcement came later (??? may be RCI's attempt at crowd control); none of us cared for Grand Bahama Island and would not want to go back( arrived on Sunday, so the International Bazaar was closed); time in Key West was very limited even though there was a lot to see and do (make sure to see the Butterfly Conservatory.....cab is $2.50 person); lack of crowd control in general when disembarking at ports of call (some cruise lines have tours wait in different lounges and then escort them off the ship in an orderly manner); the lack of first run movies in a theatre setting (only one movie was shown, "Sahara"); the library serving also as the "Cigar Club;" and lastly, the situation with the teenagers.....everyone was complaining as many of them were running amok.....screaming from the Centrum balconies while combos were playing; pulling out the door cards for making up rooms/do not disturb and throwing them in the halls; taking over the Viking Crown Lounge etc. They were running into passendgers, laying on the stairs and blocking passengers from using them and in general being noisy and somewhat rowdy. Security which were called in the Viking Lounge to address the situation, told us they could not do anything as the kids would not listen. At our insistence, they finally got them to leave. (For example, when we got off the elevator, four of them physically ran into us screaming to each other, "Use the escape pod!" I'm not sure how many if any teen activities were planned by RCI to keep the kids occupied and out of trouble. (Although they added adult activities for our extra day at sea, I did not see additional teen activities scheduled....not sure if they did or didn't) We had not encountered this problem on NCL's Dawn but then, they had many activities for this age group.The younger children were fine.

 

Overall we enjoyed the cruise. No cruise is ever perfect, but I do think that if you are going to encourage families, you need to schedule activities for all the kids, not just the younger ones. (We heard that there were 600 children on board.)

lindalee

p.s. Regarding the pool incident....we had heard that some kids were playing a game where they were holding each other under...one gentleman my husband spoke to said he went to security about it.

[Perc]

I was on this cruise and agree that the kids were out of control. I had an elderly woman about to get off an elevator as the doors opened and in came the "kids". I put my hand out to stop them from slamming into her and one kid ran into my hand..almost knocked him down (good).

 

My kids wouldn't participate in the kids activities because of the rowdiness.

 

Lindlee....I was at that impromtu comedy deal....some pretty funny stuff. that british guy sure had no shyness about him! LOL

 

Our trip was great, we had driven north from Virginia. Came through a tunnel on I95 at 11:50 near the exit for the terminal....by the time we off loaded luggage, parked, and processed in we were sitting in the Windjammer by 12:15....I couldn't believe how fast that was.

 

On one day, we had lunch in the Gatsby with a woman who mentioned this board. She asked if I was going to post a critique and I told her I was not registered...just a voyeur so to speak, well....now I'm registered! LOL

[TPKeller]

Thanks for posting your thoughts! I have a couple questions:

 

goodcelt: Can you say more about your friends snorkel gear being "taken away"? Do you mean the gear that they had rented for the dolphin thing? I hope you don't mean their personal gear was taken!

 

lindalee: Please tell me more details about the piano and violin combo! Sounds very promising! :)

 

Thank you!!

 

Theron

[star of county down]

Thanks for posting your thoughts! I have a couple questions:

 

goodcelt: Can you say more about your friends snorkel gear being "taken away"? Do you mean the gear that they had rented for the dolphin thing? I hope you don't mean their personal gear was taken!

 

Theron

 

No, not their personal gear. But the rented gear was taken away and they never got to snorkel.

[Straughn]

I can sympathize with the unruly kids. It must be something about the last cruise or two before the schools go back. We sailed on Galaxy out of Baltimore a few years ago at the end of August and had the identical experience with the kids. They were out of control, pushing and shoving, running up and down the halls at all hours, making noise, blocking stair wells, ignoring instructions from crew members and using a lot of profanity. It was so bad that my husband spoke to one of the officers about it. The response was something along the lines of "We don't have enough security to handle this many kids. We can't be everywhere at once. We stop one group and others are misbehaving elsewhere." There were over 500 kids, mostly jr high and high school age, and it seemed like twice that many. Since we have a choice, we no longer cruise when the schools are out.

[lindalee]

Theron-

I love music so when I heard the pianist and violinist (Rosario Strings) the first day I was delighted. They usually played in the Centrum around dinner time. (5-6 ; 7:45-8:45; and also 9:15 to 10:15 in the Schooner Bar, Deck 6) That was there schedule for the first day on board. I think they also played during dinner, but we were seated on the right side of the Gatsby Dining Room. (If we sail the Grandeur again, we will request a window table on the left side of the room, near the stage.) We also enjoyed dancing to the Horizon in the South Pacific Lounge. I can't say enough, about RCI's attention to providing a variety of music and dance floor space. We sailed the NCL's Dawn two years in a row and one of our biggest complaints was the lack of dance floors. When we sailed they had one floor which opened late at night - 11 or so. The lounges had their dance floors covered with tables and chairs. It was a big disappointment for the four of us. This was not the case on RCI and we appreciated their efforts to accomodate everyone's taste.

lindalee

[lindalee]

Perc -

I'm wondering if I was the one you spoke to at lunch! I'm glad you've decided to post. These boards are great for sharing information, so the more poeple posting the better! The impromptu comedy was a lot of fun...I wish they had offered it more often. The bartending class was also a lot of fun and included free "samples" and prizes for answering trivia questions.

 

Someone mentioned not sailing when the kids are on summer break. I wish we could, but I work in a school so I'm locked into the school calendar. And actually, all of our cruises have been taken during the summer, and this is the first time we encountered this problem.

 

lindalee

p.s. One of the problems I forgot to mention, which I feel RCI needs to address, is the condition of the restrooms while you are waiting to disembark. We sat in the 4th floor Centrum area and the restrooms which were initially okay, became horrible and unusable. None of the toilets were flushing and it was pretty gross. I'm not sure if this happens because of the number of people using them or what, but RCI should have been on top of the situation and closed them rather than exposing passengers to an unhealthy situation. And I guess, while I'm on the health issue, I would like to suggest that RCI consider using hand sanitizer at their buffets. NCL (Dawn) had machines at all their dining areas which dispersed hand sanitizer. Passengers were encouraged to use them by staff. If makes sense, especially at buffets, where so many people are using the tongs etc.

[TPKeller]

Thanks for the answers!

 

A follow up.. the Rosario Strings? I did a quick google search, and it seems they are everywhere! Is it just one group? If so, they must hit a lot of different ships. I guess I'll have to wait until closer to my sailing, and write RCCL and ask them who the entertainment will be for us.

 

Thanks,

 

Theron

[star of county down]

Yes, I saw the unruly elevator kids as well as the unruly jacuzzi kids. One little fart thought it was funny to dive in and turn the jets off while his mother filmed him. She did tell him not to bother other people but she should have told him to keep his hands off the buttons and sit still and that if he wanted to swim, that the pool was available. No question as to who rules the house where he lives...and he was little.

 

I also ran into two unsavory adults in the South Pacific Lounge on Cocktail night. My daughter and I had been standing for quite a while and we saw two seats in the front and walked over and sat in them. The ugly couple approached us and the man bent over and said, "You're sitting in my seat." He was scowling. So was his nasty wife. I was in shock and I said, "Oh, I am?" And she replied, "Yes, you are" - with a look that I believe was a combination of the world's biggest frown and anger. I said, "Oh" and got my footing, took another sip of champagne and got up. We couldn't believe it. But we laughed and thought how fortunate we are that we don't have that sort of ugliness in our hearts, that we do not behave like that. Never saw them again but I had a nickname for them. I was ready after that to the effect of saying "Well, Pal, I don't see your NAME on it." But I never was bothered by another single soul like that again. I told my daughter they must have been at the "Concert of their Life". :eek: hee hee hee hee heee ha ha ha ha ha

[77mvm99]

My friends.. I am one of those teenagers that was on the Granduer that everybody seems to complaining about. I don't know how having a smoke and drinking a few beers is raising a ruckus. I had a group of guys and girls that hung out after dinner in the Schooner Bar. Where the best piano player and singer Denny Phelps was playing each night. We were relaxing and having a good time. The teens I saw in Viking Crown in the afternoon were just sitting and talking to get away from the hot sun for a while. The younger children were satisfied with the kid's program. That is the 3 to 7 ages. But the 7 to 14 age group would just sign themselves out of the program because it didn't provide them the fun in their minds. They were the ones running around causing problems as there parents were making drunken fools of themselves on the pool deck.

Next... There were two clubs on the ship. A Teen club and a real club. The Teen club was boring because they didn't play club music so there was no real dancing going on. However the real club inside Viking Crown Lounge was fun. Thats why the teenagers wound up going there in the wee small hours in the morning.

Security sucks on that ship. There were two guys wearing black pants and black ties walking around the ship in the wee small hours of the morning. To make sure that the smaller children headed to there cabins. But these guys wouldn't put the group of young african-american adults in the jail under the ship even after causing about 20 different complaints. Finally by the end of the cruise I think they locked them up because I didn't come across them again. Outside of the people working for tips... all other employees were pretty much inconsiderate and oblivious.

I'm not aware of the age group complaining about the teenagers, but my grandmother who I was with was saying the same thing. Which leads me to believe that the elder crowd is the one's doing the complaining. Well most people around the age group 15-22 were in the Schooner in the "smoking area" smoking. Most followed the crowd to the 9th and 10th deck after the the elder crowd and the younger were in there cabins. So most of us didn't go to bed until 3 or 3:30 in the morning. The time that most of us go to bed when we're at home. Now onto the whole underage drinking thing. I was only carded in one place and that was Key West. But if you don't think there is underage drinking in each of your hometowns, I'm sorry to say you're oblivious. How many 15-17 year olds came up to me and asked me if I could buy them beer? Quite a few...

Onto the rest of the Granduer... If you are not into gambling, eating, drinking, art auctions, and bingo. You will not enjoy your days at sea. There wasn't anything to do on the ship. There is nothing to entertain you until after the 8:30 seating for dinner. Then the South Pacific would have karaoke, dancing nights, etc. The Schooner always had Denny Phelps playing each night. The Viking Crown always had a party going on from 10pm on. The bar closed at 2 and the dancing stopped at 3:30.

There was never an open table in the Windjammer.

It is hard not to have a good time on a cruise, but I was irked many times. But I'm really irked to hear all these complaints about teenagers. Teenagers seem to be a popular stereotype. So would please clarify the age group you are talking about when you say teenagers.

Anyhow.. Outside of the few irks, I had a really great time and wish I was still on the ship.

[star of county down]

Hey, were you one of the ones on the front of the ship that night when the wind was blowing really hard and I stopped and talked to you to tell you that my fake hair was ready to blow off?:D LOL Or are you "Hat Guy"? My teens were on that ship, too.

 

Got back on to edit to say that it was mostly really young, like middle school kids who were doing the elevators. The little fart in the jacuzzi must have been 6 or 7...

 

I wish I was back on, too. They're heading towards the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the moment. Darn!