Grandeur Of the Seas…..Just back

[2thesea]

Just arrived home from our Bermuda Cruise on the Grandeur. Great cruise! Happy to answer any questions :D

[gerig]

Just arrived home from our Bermuda Cruise on the Grandeur. Great cruise! Happy to answer any questions :D

Cruising on her in January and like to hear positive thoughts. We have a panoramic view stateroom and great ports. I cruise RC and Celebrity and loved the quantum but love the small ships just as much.

[2thesea]

Cruising on her in January and like to hear positive thoughts. We have a panoramic view stateroom and great ports. I cruise RC and Celebrity and loved the quantum but love the small ships just as much.

 

This was our 2nd cruise on the Grandeur to Bermuda. The food and service was top notch. Food much improved over our cruise last June. The head chef is new and from Jamaica, staff believes he has more focus on the new menu and was able to satisfy the guests with the flavor and RCL with regard to budget.

 

The ship is older and there are signs of wear. The crews positive attiude allows you to overlook the ships short comings.

 

The biggest issue we had where with the beds. They are worn and need to be replaced ASAP! We had 5 cabins and all cabins has issues with the beds.

 

Entertainment was OK. Some acts better than the others. The Ariel performance is back and was very good.

 

We were sad to learn the the Grandeur will NOT be doing the 7ngt Bermuda in 2016.

[Spencer doo]

The I am taking the Bermuda cruise in July and was viewing the online check in an noticed all the drink package deals. I have never cruise royal Caribbean and was wondering if it is a good idea to purchase a drink package or do the have free water and juice or does everything have to be purchase?

Edited June 12, 2015 by Spencer doo

[2thesea]

The I am taking the Bermuda cruise in July and was viewing the online check in an noticed all the drink package deals. I have never cruise royal Caribbean and was wondering if it is a good idea to purchase a drink package or do the have free water and juice or does everything have to be purchase?

 

I am not a fan of the free Ice Tea or Juices on board, so a drink package is the way I go. The standard package is good if soft drinks is all you need, next up for no alcohol would be Royal Replenish - you get everything BUT booze, this is my favorite :D

[RadioRob]

I was on the ship the week before you, and yes I had a great time. She is a grand ol' lady.

 

I was not a huge fan of "All Access", but absolutely LOVED "Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme". The show cast was actually new to the ship on our voyage, so they're only 2 weeks into working together.

 

I loved our crew. Mitch and the rest of the Cruise Director staff were great, and the rest of the onboard team were very friendly and fun to be around.

[2thesea]

I was on the ship the week before you, and yes I had a great time. She is a grand ol' lady.

 

I was not a huge fan of "All Access", but absolutely LOVED "Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme". The show cast was actually new to the ship on our voyage, so they're only 2 weeks into working together.

 

I loved our crew. Mitch and the rest of the Cruise Director staff were great, and the rest of the onboard team were very friendly and fun to be around.

 

She is a great Ole Girl. We made fast friends with Grover and Simon bartenders at the Solarium Bar. I'm already missing them and my daily roast beef sandwich!:cool:

[lattelady]

Just back as well. Was surprised that our JS was no larger than a regular Balcony stateroom but we were aft and did have a nice sized balcony. While we didn't have any problem with our beds (though they were quite firm), our brother and his wife a few floors below had very saggy beds that were uneven where they joined together. They were told that the beds are being replaced starting with the top floors and working their way down. I think we had new mattresses but we noticed today as we left (on the later side so all the stateroom doors were open on our floor) that there were many saggy mattresses on 7.

 

Our first time for MTD and the jury is still out. While we enjoyed the flexibility (especially with being docked for two nights), I missed having waiters that knew us and our preferences. That said, most of the MTD wait staff did a very nice job. But we did have a couple of nights that we felt a bit forgotten. One of the MTD waiters was fantastic and earned a WOW card from us.

 

Our only real complaint (besides the beds for my brother and his wife) was the Champagne Lunch at Giovanni's. We didn't find it worth the cost. That was our first experience with specialty dining and maybe our last. Don't know if it is representative of specialty dining though.

 

Bermuda was gorgeous. We did rent the scooters (against all common sense) and had a great time with them (Ok, I was scared to death but I survived unscathed). Drove them to Hamilton and back, and then the next day we drove them all the way to St. Georges. Turned them in there and took the ferry back. We did a very nice snorkel excursion on the Restless Native, too. Great crew, ship and afternoon.

 

I would love to go to Bermuda again.

[Illyria]

I'm very glad to hear that you were impressed with the food! I'm also really looking forward to the aerial show (hopefully nothing comes up that they pull the show again before we sail in October...)

 

Since we're on deck 2...I'm guessing the chances of a saggy mattress are moderate to high? :D

[mavo68]

We are leaving in 2 weeks and very excited. However you are all making me nervous about the beds. Lol! I am used to memory foam. We are on the bottom floor also. Yikes!

[2thesea]

I'm very glad to hear that you were impressed with the food! I'm also really looking forward to the aerial show (hopefully nothing comes up that they pull the show again before we sail in October...)

 

Since we're on deck 2...I'm guessing the chances of a saggy mattress are moderate to high? :D

 

Believe it or not we had SAGGY beds in our Family Suite! Our other cabins were on deck 2 and 3 and they had the same issue. :eek:

 

The only real issue we had (besides the beds) was with my daughters cabin on deck 3 there was someone smoking near her cabin everyday. We reported it to guest services, they could not figure out who it was. since the ship was sold out this sailing and they couldn't move her cabin so guest services made sure the hall was deordized and gave her and her boyfriend a 15% future cruise credit :D

[BobbyD]

Good to hear that people had a great time on the Grandeur! We will be on her for the first time in August. First time in Bermuda as well. We are going back and forth with the family about scooters. We are a party of 5, myself (55) and DW (53) and three adult children (26,26,23). Of course, the kids want to do scooters all around the island but I have heard horror stories. None of us has ridden a motorcycle before. We are all pretty adventurous, but not crazy! We want to have fun but don't want to push it! Any thoughts would be helpful.

[lattelady]

We are going back and forth with the family about scooters. We are a party of 5, myself (55) and DW (53) and three adult children (26,26,23). Of course, the kids want to do scooters all around the island but I have heard horror stories. None of us has ridden a motorcycle before. We are all pretty adventurous, but not crazy! We want to have fun but don't want to push it! Any thoughts would be helpful.

 

We had a great time with the scooters but I will admit to being nervous about it. It was me, my sister, my brother and his wife. All of us in our 50's. I had never driven a motorcycle. My sister actually owned a Harley a few years ago. My brother had experience as well and drove his wife. I had to do a road test before they would rent to me. It really is funny that I was able to rent after doing two trips around the block.

 

We had the scooters for 24 hours and rode all over and even all the way to St. Georges. We had no problems but clearly we could have. The speed limit is 35 kph. That is somewhat of a joke because I know I went as fast as 55 kph and we still passed by other bikes and cars. Mostly I stayed around 40 kph. I would have loved to do 35 but didn't like being run over! Overall though, the other drivers are pretty considerate. Taxi drivers are actually nice. A couple stopped to offer assistance when we looked lost. The problem is there are a lot of blind curves. We heard there were a couple of accidents while we were there. I'm not trying to scare you. Honestly, I would do it again. It was that fun. But I was very thankful to have nothing go wrong.

 

A fun Bermuda fact: households are only allowed one car per family and there are no rental cars allowed on the islands. Teens can and do get motorcycles when they turn 16.

 

Another Bermuda factoid: tourism only makes up 15% of their economy.

[BobbyD]

Thanks lattelady for the response and feedback! Much appreciated!

[Goofyisme]

We were on the cruise just before LatteLady. Also had a great experience on the cruise to Bahamas. Service was excellent everywhere. Great room attendant and MDR team provided great dining and service experiences.

 

Only complaints were 1) mattresses were a bit uncomfortable and 2) The specialty restaurants were a bit disappointing. Nothing bad in the specialties, but just not as special as I expected, but then again food is very subjective, and in all the dining rooms service was excellent.

 

Even service in the Windjammer was excellent, especially considering we needed some special arrangements due to food allergies. Windjammer could be the usual mad house depending on when you arrived, but we never had trouble finding a table.

 

Wish they had started the aerial show while we were onboard, that was a great show last year.

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their cruises.

[911 cruse fanatic]

I was on Grandeur from April 18-28 for the 10 day western Caribbean... We were in 4524 and the beds were rough it was very hard for me to sleep comfortably. But I have to say being that our room was just down the hall from the Centrium bar and stage we didn't hear any of the party noise!

 

We did My time dining and lucked out to get the same 2 sets of wait staff the whole trip because we learned quickly that you needed to make reservations to ensure an earlier dining time then 730-8 each night. We loved the main waiter Alexis and his assistant Estevam they were amazing and quickly learned our likes and dislikes, they remembered my food allergy to yeast which I did not have flagged in my folio because most mistake it for a gluten allergy so it is easier for me to just pick and choose from the menu. Even on nights were we seated a table or 2 away from their section they made sure we were well taken care of.

The other set we had the main waiter was Jeffery and I am drawing a blank on his assistant. The assistant was ok but we didn't care for Jeffery because he kept trying to force us to buy bar drinks or the filet mignon meal and was overly pushy about it at times.

 

This was the first time we had done Royal Caribbean but we got to know a lot of the staff being that it was a long cruise, they were are all very pleasant and personable and we still keep in touch with one of the stage techs Holly who also helped out the climbing wall staff.

[cb at sea]

Drinks included in your fare WITHOUT any package is: ice water, coffee, tea (iced or hot), lemonade or flavored water, milk and juice at breakfast.

 

If you're going to drink mainly those things, then a package isn't a good deal...just buy any other drink as you go..

[CRUIZIN SUZAN]

Welcome back. Can you tell me how the music on the ship was? Which venue had the best live music (Centrum or Schooner bar?).

 

Was they any standout entertainment that would be suitable for children (5-14 years old) you would reccomend?

 

I am hoping there is a piano bar for sing-alongs (I think the Schooner Bar hosts these). Some of my family group is interested in Karaoke. Do you recall seeing that offered anywhere?

 

I'm THRILLED to have the aeriel show back. This ship is a smaller one & I'm hopeful most in my group will find something that interests them.

 

Thank you in advance for any questions you can assist with.

[2thesea]

Welcome back. Can you tell me how the music on the ship was? Which venue had the best live music (Centrum or Schooner bar?).

 

Was they any standout entertainment that would be suitable for children (5-14 years old) you would reccomend?

 

I am hoping there is a piano bar for sing-alongs (I think the Schooner Bar hosts these). Some of my family group is interested in Karaoke. Do you recall seeing that offered anywhere?

 

I'm THRILLED to have the aeriel show back. This ship is a smaller one & I'm hopeful most in my group will find something that interests them.

 

Thank you in advance for any questions you can assist with.

 

Schooner Bar for the piano and sing alongs - lots of fun! :D

 

Karaoke was in the South Pacific Club - fun times.

 

Live music in the Centrum was great as were the nightly theme nights every night starting @ 9:45p. This was approbate for kids and lot of fun.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[jcl410]

Question - During the Muster Drill do they scan your Seapass card now?

 

Aloha,

 

John

[bubba83]

How long do you think it's going to take them to replace the beds?

 

Is it still a shower curtain in the bathroom or did they put doors up?

 

Any chance you have the dinning menus? I know you said there is a new chef and new menus, I would be interested in seeing them...

 

Anyone know how long the crew stay on a particular ship before they get their time off or go to another one?

[Goofyisme]

Question - During the Muster Drill do they scan your Seapass card now?

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

Yes they did.

[thatjenchick]

Oh, how I hope it's true the beds are being replaced! Did an 8 night in the Fall and was miserable. Heading to Bermuda in September and have been dreading the beds again.

[red919]

Will be on the July 3 cruise and happy to hear the aerial show is back. Also nice to hear about the great crew and great food. :)

 

I understand RCCL has new internet rates...something like $15 per day unlimited. Is this true and were there further discounts for Diamond members as well? And was wifi available in all cabins, even for those in cabins down on deck 4??

Edited June 20, 2015 by red919

[ls4977]

We had a great time with the scooters but I will admit to being nervous about it. It was me, my sister, my brother and his wife. All of us in our 50's. I had never driven a motorcycle. My sister actually owned a Harley a few years ago. My brother had experience as well and drove his wife. I had to do a road test before they would rent to me. It really is funny that I was able to rent after doing two trips around the block.

 

We had the scooters for 24 hours and rode all over and even all the way to St. Georges. We had no problems but clearly we could have. The speed limit is 35 kph. That is somewhat of a joke because I know I went as fast as 55 kph and we still passed by other bikes and cars. Mostly I stayed around 40 kph. I would have loved to do 35 but didn't like being run over! Overall though, the other drivers are pretty considerate. Taxi drivers are actually nice. A couple stopped to offer assistance when we looked lost. The problem

is there are a lot of blind curves. We heard there were a couple of accidents while we were there. I'm not trying to scare you. Honestly, I would do it again. It was that fun. But I was very thankful to have nothing go wrong.

 

A fun Bermuda fact: households are only allowed one car per family and there are no rental cars allowed on the islands. Teens can and do get motorcycles when they turn 16.

 

Another Bermuda factoid: tourism only makes up 15% of their economy.

 

I shared the JS with LatteLady ( my sister). I want to echo her assessment of the scooters. I would definitely rent them again.... but that being said I must caution everyone that we were passed on blind curves by idiots (with a death wish) frequently. There was no way that we could drive the speed limit without being overrun and I did not want to check out the local hospital!!.

 

I was also very disapointed in the small size of the JS and the beds were not very comfy.... I have been spoiled by our trips on The Navigator of the Seas... which is our next trip in 102 days.... buts who's counting.

 

Bermuda is wonderful..... If not for my grandkids.. well it would be a great place to retire to.