Grand time on Grandeur - 7-night Bermuda

[nolesrule]

Grandeur of the Seas mini-review

 

Itinerary: 7 night Bermuda

Sail Date: 07/03/2015

Stateroom: Grand Suite 8512

 

This cruise was a replacement for one that we had to cancel in March because we moved up to New Jersey from Florida and were unable to travel back to Florida due to differences in school schedules. We were easily able to transfer our onboard booking with no issues by calling up C&A. We even got a huge price drop 2 days before final payment which is quite unusual.

 

We celebrated our 17th anniversary on the cruise, which is why we chose to go with a Grand Suite and live it up.

 

I'm not going to go into all the minutia because the general feel and schedule of RCI ships is about the same... which is one of the reasons we like RCI.

 

Pre-cruise

 

We drove down the night before the cruise and stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Inner Harbor. It was a great hotel within short walking distance of everything. We used hotel points we had accumulated while living in a Residence in for 3 weeks when we first moved to New Jersey. We only had to pay the parking fee. The staff was very friendly.

 

The main reason we stayed in the Inner Harbor area was so that I could get my 48th Hard Rock Cafe visit in the Rewards Program.

 

Check-in and Boarding

 

The drive from the hotel to the port was about 10 minutes. We arrived at the port a little after 10am. The system they have there for luggage drop-off and parking is very efficient. So much better than the other ports we've sailed from (Miami, Tampa, Port Canaveral).

 

We carried on two bottles of wine. Security checked to make sure that the bottles really were wine and that they were factory sealed. Check-in was quick and efficient. They took care of changing the credit card (our card number had changed since we filled out the Set Sail pass). We only had to wait about 5 minutes before they started boarding.

 

Grandeur of the Seas

 

Grandeur is the sister ship of Enchantment, which we've sailed on twice. Enchantment was stretched though, so felt much more crowded in comparison in venues such as the MDR, Theater and Windjammer. The entire staff, from top to bottom, was the friendliest staff we've encountered in our 8 RCI cruises so far. That's not to say that the others weren't great, but this cruise staff was just a step above.

 

Cruise Director Mitch and Activities Manager TT were always out and about and were running many of the activities and events. Officers and staff were always visible. I even ran into the captain in the hallway a couple of times, as our cabin was on Deck 8 near the forward stairs. My wife became known to the officers and hotel staff as "the girl with the shoes", as she was in heels pretty much the entire cruise and brought a suitcase worth of shoes. :)

 

Except Francois, the Hotel Manager. He addressed us by name every time he saw us, which was a first for me on any cruise. With a full ship and almost half the guests being repeat cruisers, it was pleasantly surprising.

 

We had 3 different comedians on our 7 night cruise, and there were 2 late night comedy shows. We didn't make any of the production shows because of conflicts with our dining reservations, but we did catch the shorter of the 2 aerial shows in the Centrum. It was only 5 minutes, but it was still fantastic.

 

We had some rough seas on Day 2. Normally I'm fine but when I was in a space where I couldn't see outside and I was standing up, the movement did get to me a bit. Looking out the window to the horizon, or sitting/laying down were all I needed to make the feeling pass. The rest of the cruise was smooth sailing.

 

They were doing a major painting of the starboard-side hull while docked in Bermuda. The captain explained that it was to repair the paint scratches suffered during the winter when they were sailing through ice in the Chesapeake.

 

Concierge Lounge

 

This was such a highlight of our trip, not because of the free drinks, but because of the people we met. The Lounge was located on the port side of the VCL. It was never overcrowded, unlike our previous experience on Brilliance where some nights it was impossible to find a seat. Most Suite guests tended to keep to themselves, but we got to know several Diamond Plus cruisers and the only two Pinnacle members who were onboard, an older couple Gary and Rita. We all ended up sitting together each evening telling stories. There was no Status snobbery that I often read about.

 

The Suite Concierge was Inna from Ukraine. She was such a sweetheart. She helped us out with dinner reservations, spa reservations, and even booked an excursion for us since we hadn't made any plans ahead of time. She was always mingling during the evening lounge session and not just sitting at her desk.

 

Inna made arrangements for us to receive an invitation to dine with the Chief Engineer on the first formal night), and she had a bottle of wine sent to our stateroom on our anniversary.

 

Dining

 

We had late seating in the MDR and dined at our table for two on nights 1,4,5 and 7. Escargot was not available, with one exception, which I will get to.

 

MDR Menus:

Coconut

Saffron

Portobello

Shiitake

Pimiento

Jasmine

Pomodoro

 

This was the first time on an RCI cruise we didn't have the Mojo menu on the first night.

 

On night 2, the first formal night, we dined with the Chief Engineer, a member of the CD staff and 3 other couples. It was an enjoyable evening with a completely different menu from the standard MDR fare, and apparently was the only table you could get escargot. At the end of the evening we each received a souvenir photo taken of us at the table, along with the menu and our placards. This was a first for us.

 

On night 3 we celebrated our anniversary in Chops. All of the food was great. Normally I get a filet, but I got the short rib this time and it was so tender and delicious. In addition to the Mud Pie which I love, and an order of cannoli brought over from Giovanni's (Rita clued us into being able to order them), they also brought us a slice of red velvet cake with a candle and sang to us.

 

On night 6 we ate in Izumi. Since moving to New Jersey we haven't gotten out for sushi much, so this was a treat. Everything we ordered was delicious. But we ordered too much. We stored the leftovers in a refrigerator in the Concierge Lounge and ate it for lunch the next day along with Tutti Salad in the MDR.

 

Bermuda

 

The ship was docked for 2 nights in Bermuda. We were there for a little over 51 hours. The day of our arrival, the Mrs. and I did not leave the ship. It was our anniversary, so we treated ourselves to massages in the spa, and had dinner at Chops as mentioned earlier.

 

We decided to do a mini-van tour of half the island the next morning, so Inna booked it for us and got our tickets. Our tour guide was very humorous and informative. In the afternoon we wandered around the Dockyard.

 

On our final day we took the Beach Shuttle to Horseshoe Bay Beach in the morning. we spent about 2.5 hours there, enjoying the pink sand and the water. There was a small cove near the entrance to the beach that blocked the waves, and would be perfect for small children to enjoy the beach safely.

 

It was a much different experience from going to the Caribbean. No one was pushy trying to get you into their shops or to take their taxis or private excursions. It was a relaxing visit.

 

Disembarkation

 

We had suite disembarkation, so Inna escorted us down to Deck 1 and we were able to avoid the line to get off the ship. Customs and Immigration was a breeze. They didn't even look at our passports and only glanced at our Customs form. We grabbed our luggage and were in our car less than 10 minutes after exiting the ship.

 

Final thoughts

 

Grandeur of the Seas is the oldest and smallest ship in GT and capacity that we have sailed on in our 8 cruises with RCI, but the ship didn't feel old or rundown at all, and it never felt crowded. The staff was very friendly and helpful, there were plenty of shows and activities. The port was efficient at both ends of the cruise. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on Grandeur out of Baltimore again.

[scopewest]

Nice review, how did you like your cabin and its location?

[ltjn]

Thank you for your informative review. I have a few questions when you have a chance. We have GS 8512 for our 9 December 2015 10 night cruise, could you share an information on the GS. Also, our flight out of Baltimore is around 1:55 PM, so I was wondering what was the latest disembark time.

[nolesrule]

Nice review, how did you like your cabin and its location?

 

 

The cabin was great. This was our second time in a Grand Suite. The cabin was comfortable and spacious. The balcony was large and had 2 chairs, a full-height table (perfect for snacks or room service), and 2 loungers.

 

The location was great as well. Our door was about 10 feet aft of the forward stairs lobby. It never got noisy. You were close enough that you could hear the nearer elevator ding when the doors opened, but that's about it. The Windjammer was a quick one flight up. There was some occassional noise from the pool deck directly above, but it was close enough to the forward starboard corner of the pool deck that it wasn't bad at all. We got more noise from the "party ship" bar that was at the port in Bermuda and that was a few hundred feet away.

[nolesrule]

Thank you for your informative review. I have a few questions when you have a chance. We have GS 8512 for our 9 December 2015 10 night cruise, could you share an information on the GS. Also, our flight out of Baltimore is around 1:55 PM, so I was wondering what was the latest disembark time.

 

Our cruise had a quick turnaround day because they were leaving earlier, so the last group time off the ship was scheduled for 9:30am. On longer turnaround days it is a bit later from what i was told. However, they were running a good 30 minutes ahead of schedule when we disembarked.

 

 

I gave some additional information about the suite in my previous reply above this one, but to add to it, the suite is nicknamed the Bangkok Suite, so the art has an Asian flair. The wall behind the bed has a large mirror. It's in a usual GS configuration. The couch is L-shaped.

[ltjn]

Thank you for added information!

[scopewest]

Yes, thank you for the suite info!

[cruisin4thedeepblue]

Hi, glad you had a great time. We are dancers so can you tell me what you thought of the live bands?

Thanks:)

[Chipmoose]

How was the weather in bermuda, I'd like to go next July, but concerned it may be a little hot &humid.

[nolesrule]

Afternoons were hot and humid. Mornings were great. It's surrounded by water at a lattitude similar to Charlseton, SC, so the climate will be similar.

[Chipmoose]

Afternoons were hot and humid. Mornings were great. It's surrounded by water at a lattitude similar to Charlseton, SC, so the climate will be similar.

 

Thanks, that is helpful. :)