Grand Experience on the Grandeur! (Handicap Accessible Notes!)

[DonKat3611]

We sailed on the Grandeur Dec 19 through Dec 27. So yes, it was the Christmas Cruise 2015.

 

We sailed a 12 night cruise in 2011 on the Enchantment (actually got married on the beach in St. Thomas!). We knew that the two ships would be very similar and that was fine with us. Being 55+ we prefer sea days and quiet times. We're not into the bells and whistles of the bigger ships.

 

My husband is in a wheelchair. We've been researching cruises knowing that obtaining an accessible room on any ship is almost impossible. When we found a room (2107) on the Grandeur in March 2014 and it happened to be the Christmas Cruise, we thought hooray, finally were able to find an accessible room. The only downfall with Room 2107 was being on the second deck, yes you absolutely feel every movement of the ship. We never got sick but just having that woozy side to side feeling in your room was a bit weird. Also, the bed and pillows were extremely uncomforable, unfortunately. We had the greatest room steward, Prasadha, who went above and beyond our expectations since my husband is in the wheelchair and he made sure our comfort was his priority!! (Prasadha even decorated our door with a Happy Birthday banner for me when we returned to our room that evening (Dec 22).

 

The Centrum area was decorated nicely for the holidays, however we were a bit disappointed because we thought Royal Caribbean would go "overboard" on holiday decorations. Other than the Centrum being decorated, other areas of the ship were not. You might find a lonely poinsetta here and there, but that was it.

 

On a scale of 1-10, the food was a 10! Our dinner seating was 8:00 in the Great Gatsby. This cruise we chose a table for two. It didn't take long to make friends with our table neighbors and had fun chatting about the day's activities. As for our dinners, we did take advantage of ordering an extra shrimp cocktail some nights and maybe a dessert when we couldn't make up our mind. We were NEVER disappointed. Our waiter, Fitzroy, also went above and beyond to please us. With my husband being in the wheelchair, Fitzroy made sure that the table chair was moved aside so he could comfortably sit at the table in his chair. Service we never get at restaurants at home! Food in the Windjammer was not bad. Enough choices for breakfast and lunch. Navigating all the people was the only hindrance at times. If you want a less crowded quiet enjoyable breakfast lunch or snack, try the Park Cafe in the Solarium. It was never crowded and you had great views on both sides of the ship.

 

We had dinner one night (my birthday Dec 22) in Chops Grille. We have eaten in Chops on the Enchantment so we were expecting the same one on one treatment and were not disappointed. It's always fun to be pampered while you're having dinner and they were absolutely so attentive. Even serenading me with Happy Birthday with a delicious cake!!

 

For those that worry about the embarcation and disembarcation.... don't worry. We arrived at the ship at 10:15 a.m. and were standing at the Windjammer waiting for it to open at 10:45 a.m. It took less than 30 minutes to go through the check-in and get on the ship. What a great start! Once the cruise was over, we were assisted off the ship, through customs and immediately found all 5 pieces of luggage in approximately 20 minutes!!! Yes 20 minutes!!!! You can't beat that. No problems whatsoever. Even with my husband in a wheelchair it was a painless process!!

 

As for excursions, unfortunately we are not able to partake in those because of my husband's limitations. The only horror story about an excurion to the Atlantis being a complete and total waste of time and money was from our table neighbors!!!! They paid a considerable amount of money (in excess of $300) for two hours at the resort. The shipped docked at 2:00 p.m. they boarded a bus and got to the resort at 3:00 p.m. only to be told that the resort closes at 5:00 p.m. and they would need to be back at 5:00 p.m. to board the bus back to the ship. They were extremely upset because they were never told that the resort closes early. BE AWARE!!

 

As for the ports, we stayed on the ship while docked at Cape Canaveral and enjoyed some time laying on the deck. We did leave the ship and go into town in Nassau, Bahamas and did some shopping for a couple hours. Coco Cay was very disappointing for us using a wheelchair. Again, BE AWARE if you decide to take the tender onto CoCo Cay there is NO easy way to move or wheel the chair in the sand. We did use a beach wheelchair which was provided but that was not easy for me to push my husband (especially since it had a flat tire). We ended just sitting on the beach and watching people for an hour and headed back to the tender. There was nothing for someone in a wheelchair to do. We will never do Coco Cay again. Besides, if you don't get to the beach early you will never get a lounge chair. The only good thing was the BBQ lunch provided by RC.

 

The shows were very enjoyable. Even having a late dinner time (8:00 p.m.) we were finished with enough time to spare to get to the Palladium or other venues for the different activities and shows. Be sure not to miss the adult comedy shows! We didn't make it to Quest but hear that it is alot of fun!

 

So all in all we would definitely rate our first experience on the Grandeur as being a 10!!!! With just a few things that maybe could be changed or fixed, we highly recommend the Grandeur. Living in Pittsburgh, departing from Baltimore was a breeze!! Only a four hour drive. We found a local Holiday Inn Express that offered a cruise package that included free parking for the duration of your cruise so that was definitely a plus! Parking at the pier is very expensive.

 

We hope this is helpful to those that are thinking about cruising on the Grandeur. Yes, by all means do so. We have already booked another cruise for the Grandeur in 2017, and cannot wait!!

 

Happy Cruising!!!

[willing292]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[BunkerVA]

Thank you so much for your review! We are headed out on Grandeur on March 30 and are so excited!

[Thetrail]

We sailed on the Grandeur Dec 19 through Dec 27. So yes, it was the Christmas Cruise 2015.

 

We sailed a 12 night cruise in 2011 on the Enchantment (actually got married on the beach in St. Thomas!). We knew that the two ships would be very similar and that was fine with us. Being 55+ we prefer sea days and quiet times. We're not into the bells and whistles of the bigger ships.

 

My husband is in a wheelchair. We've been researching cruises knowing that obtaining an accessible room on any ship is almost impossible. When we found a room (2107) on the Grandeur in March 2014 and it happened to be the Christmas Cruise, we thought hooray, finally were able to find an accessible room. The only downfall with Room 2107 was being on the second deck, yes you absolutely feel every movement of the ship. We never got sick but just having that woozy side to side feeling in your room was a bit weird. Also, the bed and pillows were extremely uncomforable, unfortunately. We had the greatest room steward, Prasadha, who went above and beyond our expectations since my husband is in the wheelchair and he made sure our comfort was his priority!! (Prasadha even decorated our door with a Happy Birthday banner for me when we returned to our room that evening (Dec 22).

 

The Centrum area was decorated nicely for the holidays, however we were a bit disappointed because we thought Royal Caribbean would go "overboard" on holiday decorations. Other than the Centrum being decorated, other areas of the ship were not. You might find a lonely poinsetta here and there, but that was it.

 

On a scale of 1-10, the food was a 10! Our dinner seating was 8:00 in the Great Gatsby. This cruise we chose a table for two. It didn't take long to make friends with our table neighbors and had fun chatting about the day's activities. As for our dinners, we did take advantage of ordering an extra shrimp cocktail some nights and maybe a dessert when we couldn't make up our mind. We were NEVER disappointed. Our waiter, Fitzroy, also went above and beyond to please us. With my husband being in the wheelchair, Fitzroy made sure that the table chair was moved aside so he could comfortably sit at the table in his chair. Service we never get at restaurants at home! Food in the Windjammer was not bad. Enough choices for breakfast and lunch. Navigating all the people was the only hindrance at times. If you want a less crowded quiet enjoyable breakfast lunch or snack, try the Park Cafe in the Solarium. It was never crowded and you had great views on both sides of the ship.

 

We had dinner one night (my birthday Dec 22) in Chops Grille. We have eaten in Chops on the Enchantment so we were expecting the same one on one treatment and were not disappointed. It's always fun to be pampered while you're having dinner and they were absolutely so attentive. Even serenading me with Happy Birthday with a delicious cake!!

 

For those that worry about the embarcation and disembarcation.... don't worry. We arrived at the ship at 10:15 a.m. and were standing at the Windjammer waiting for it to open at 10:45 a.m. It took less than 30 minutes to go through the check-in and get on the ship. What a great start! Once the cruise was over, we were assisted off the ship, through customs and immediately found all 5 pieces of luggage in approximately 20 minutes!!! Yes 20 minutes!!!! You can't beat that. No problems whatsoever. Even with my husband in a wheelchair it was a painless process!!

 

As for excursions, unfortunately we are not able to partake in those because of my husband's limitations. The only horror story about an excurion to the Atlantis being a complete and total waste of time and money was from our table neighbors!!!! They paid a considerable amount of money (in excess of $300) for two hours at the resort. The shipped docked at 2:00 p.m. they boarded a bus and got to the resort at 3:00 p.m. only to be told that the resort closes at 5:00 p.m. and they would need to be back at 5:00 p.m. to board the bus back to the ship. They were extremely upset because they were never told that the resort closes early. BE AWARE!!

 

As for the ports, we stayed on the ship while docked at Cape Canaveral and enjoyed some time laying on the deck. We did leave the ship and go into town in Nassau, Bahamas and did some shopping for a couple hours. Coco Cay was very disappointing for us using a wheelchair. Again, BE AWARE if you decide to take the tender onto CoCo Cay there is NO easy way to move or wheel the chair in the sand. We did use a beach wheelchair which was provided but that was not easy for me to push my husband (especially since it had a flat tire). We ended just sitting on the beach and watching people for an hour and headed back to the tender. There was nothing for someone in a wheelchair to do. We will never do Coco Cay again. Besides, if you don't get to the beach early you will never get a lounge chair. The only good thing was the BBQ lunch provided by RC.

 

The shows were very enjoyable. Even having a late dinner time (8:00 p.m.) we were finished with enough time to spare to get to the Palladium or other venues for the different activities and shows. Be sure not to miss the adult comedy shows! We didn't make it to Quest but hear that it is alot of fun!

 

So all in all we would definitely rate our first experience on the Grandeur as being a 10!!!! With just a few things that maybe could be changed or fixed, we highly recommend the Grandeur. Living in Pittsburgh, departing from Baltimore was a breeze!! Only a four hour drive. We found a local Holiday Inn Express that offered a cruise package that included free parking for the duration of your cruise so that was definitely a plus! Parking at the pier is very expensive.

 

We hope this is helpful to those that are thinking about cruising on the Grandeur. Yes, by all means do so. We have already booked another cruise for the Grandeur in 2017, and cannot wait!!

 

Happy Cruising!!!

We will be sailing again on the Grandeur in August. The crew has always been fantastic. We are just north of Philly so the drive is a breeze....:)

[Dr.A]

We were on the Grandeur Christmas cruise too and was was indeed very nice. My only complaint is the lack of Christmas food in the Windjammer. They only had turkey leg and stuffing and that was it for dinner.

[cb at sea]

Turkey LEG???? ICK!

[toras]

Did RCCL provide the beach wheelchair？

[T.O.cruisers]

I had a fairly new mattress on deck 2. No complaints there but the pillows were not so good; one flat and one heavy. It was a great week; now a distant memory.

[DonKat3611]

Yes Toras RCCL provided the beach wheelchair. It was located in an area directly as you get off the tender. My husband transferred from his wheelchair to the beach wheelchair. I wish I would have taken a picture of it. It's rather an odd looking chair with huge tires. In spite of the flat tire it was extremely difficult to push and maneuver. The thick sand made it almost impossible. Unfortunately Coco Cay is NOT easily accessible for those in wheelchairs. You will have a better time staying in the ship at this port.

[DonKat3611]

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS OF OUR GRAND EXPERIENCE: I forgot to mention that being a Christmas cruise you know to expect a lot of families with children. We were told that there were 700 children registered out of 2200 full capacity. Although we managed to steer clear of the areas where most of the kids would gather there were several times we would have to wait for elevators because kids would be playing in them riding up and down etc. We think on the first some kids took the room service menu from our door because after waiting the next morning past the requested time for our breakfast we called room service only to find out they never received our menu request. You live and learn I suppose. It Never happened again the rest of the week.

[wiiCruz2]

We were on the 2015 Christmas cruise on Grandeur too. We were also on deck 2. And, my Birthday is also Dec 22 and we ate at chops that night. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to book Christmas 2016 already.

[PTAngel]

Thank you for your impressions of the GOS. DH & I were onboard in May on a cruise to Bermuda. We rented a scooter from CareVacations that was waiting in our cabin. Unfortunately, I had canceled my accessible cabin since he wasn't going, then he changed his mind at the last minute. We had a lovely cabin on deck 4. He uses a cane so we were able to embark on deck 1 instead of walking up those ramps. Our room steward was fantastic with helping turn the scooter to get in or out of our cabin. There was plenty of room to maneuver around all the public areas except Izusi (I hope it's spelt right). He had to park the scooter & walk up the steps. He didn't use the scooter to go off the ship. I don't remember having problems with crowded elevators but there weren't many kids. I would definitely cruise on the Grandeur again but our next cruise is on the Carnival Pride. I hear that they make you walk up the ramp or will have someone push you in a wc up the ramp. You cannot walk straight on using a level ramp. Oh well, something new to try. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it is as good as Grandeur.

 

Donna

[DonKat3611]

Happy Birthday wiiCruz2!! Great day to celebrate if I may so! Yes there really wasn't a lot that we were disappointed with. Since sailing on its sister ship the Enchantment we had an idea of basically what to expect. I will say we enjoyed more sailing the southern Caribbean islands than the Bahamas. We also enjoy longer cruises than just one week. Our next cruise is 12 nights. The crowd is older and it seems to be a more relaxing vacation. We also prefer the hotter weather which really helps my husband's abilities and challenges more. He says it can never be TOO hot!

[shippmates]

PTAngel we have sailed on both Grandeur and Carnival Pride. They are similar to each other. The only thing about the Pride we did not like is the Adult area is not covered like on the Grandeur. If you sail in the winter like we do, you could not use the pool because of the cold weather. Of course we know the weather issue when we book our cruise. I know you will enjoy your cruise on the Pride because any day on a ship is better than a day at work.

 

We love the Grandeur and the crew.

[allure144]

Hi, I just saw your post. We are also headed out on the Grandeur on March 30th. Leaving out of Baltimore.

[BunkerVA]

Hi, I just saw your post. We are also headed out on the Grandeur on March 30th. Leaving out of Baltimore.

 

 

We're so excited! Only 84 days from today! Head to the Roll Call boards and join us to chat!

 

Sam :)

Edited January 7, 2016 by BunkerVA

[laurenb0380]

Were there any kids using the solarium adults only pool on the sea days?

[DonKat3611]

Yes we didn't understand why there were kids using that pool.

[granny24]

Thank you so much for your review! We are headed out on Grandeur on March 30 and are so excited!

 

We are also on the March 30th cruise:) Grandeur is a very nice ship! We have enjoyed sailing on her many times. Love the promenade deck!

[djay]

DonKatt- So glad you started this chain.

We are cruising to New England Sept 1. Also from baltimore. My wife has bad knees & we have a wheel chair- which we will be bringing.

 

We had HC room 2602 booked & then HC 3606 became available. I booked a year in advance.

We have never gone anywhere using the wheelchair. GoS is a smaller ship than we have been on in many years but hope that a smaller ship will be easier to get around.

 

Glad to hear that embarkation was so easy. Would love to hear from others who have done the New England ports. We will tour what we can.

 

We are also taking Amtrak from Atlanta to baltimore. We took Amtrak to new Orleans several years ago but not with wheelchair.

 

Thanks again for your posting.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing, glad everything went well for you and your husband.

[melbur]

Were there any kids using the solarium adults only pool on the sea days?

 

Yes, the first sea day out and the last. It was restricted to certain times and posted in the Compass. This was due to the weather, it was too cool for them to use the main pool, so they were allowed to use the solarium for a few hours. I will say, Security was excellent at enforcing the times, as the noise level in there was unbelievable during those times.

[psupa]

 

My husband is in a wheelchair. We've been researching cruises knowing that obtaining an accessible room on any ship is almost impossible. When we found a room (2107) on the Grandeur in March 2014 and it happened to be the Christmas Cruise, we thought hooray, finally were able to find an accessible room. The only downfall with Room 2107 was being on the second deck, yes you absolutely feel every movement of the ship. We never got sick but just having that woozy side to side feeling in your room was a bit weird. Also, the bed and pillows were extremely uncomforable, unfortunately. We had the greatest room steward, Prasadha, who went above and beyond our expectations since my husband is in the wheelchair and he made sure our comfort was his priority!! (Prasadha even decorated our door with a Happy Birthday banner for me when we returned to our room that evening (Dec 22).

 

Happy Cruising!!!

 

We were in 2107 when we cruised the Grandeur and thought the location to the elevators and being on the lower deck was great. Usually don't feel as much motion when on lower deck. The only thing I didn't like were the beds which for a handicapped person are hard to get up from.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Did RCCL provide the beach wheelchair？

 

 

Yes. RCCL has beach wheelchairs at both of their private islands. My mom uses a wheelchair. Just ask if you don't see them. As I vaguely recall from a few years ago, they were right near where you got on the island.

[djay]

Booked 3606 -Sept 1 new England= 9 days. Looking to hear form others about the H/C facilities