Grandeur of the Seas- Tell me why this ship?

[fishoutofwater]

We are trying to find a cruise for April 06. We have never cruised RC. We are looking at the Grandeur of the Seas. What can you tell me about this ship? We have cruised on Carnival, Disney and NCL. Now we would like to try RC. What is this ship like? Do they have fromal nights? What about the kids, will they have plenty to do? Prices of pictures? What type of shows do they have? Anything!

[BaumD]

Just got off of Grandeur. It is an older ship (built in 1996) but is in good shape. Very friendly staff. Yes there are formal nights, but you can eat in the Windjammer if you don't want to dress up. RCCL has a good kids program with lots to do. The shows consist of the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers doing several different show (Broadway, Swing, etc) usually they have a comedian and a magician also.

[gumballz]

fishoutofwater........I don't know if you're interested in going to the Bahamas, but the Majesty sails in April 06 too! ;) We're on the 4 night that leaves Miami on the 3rd. I've heard mostly great things about this ship.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Fish, the best reason to sail Grandeur are the prices. Spring break season cruises are priced relatively high but the recent need to move the ship from New Orleans over to Tampa leaves a very short booking window. Because of that, there are some excellent prices for Grandeur sailings from Tampa.

 

BobK/Orlando

[stillfrantic]

It is just about the same size as the Disney ships and were built just about the same time. There is no aft elevator or staircase though. The rooms were similar in design but not quite as large on Grandeur as Magic. The privacy curtain on Disney is non existant on Grandeur. Disney's bathrooms were A LOT nicer with all the nice tile and solid surfacing; Grandeur's was efficient, but kind of a whole prefab plastic unit. I thought service was better on Grandeur. My children liked Grandeur's programs better than the Magic, actually. Lots of scuptures and other art all over the ship which was nice. Food was similar on both with a slight nod to Grandeur.

 

The pool on Grandeur was never as full as the Goofy pool was. We loved the family game shows and early evening activities on Grandeur. We skipped the production kinds of shows but the comedians were all good and the entertainment was perfectly family friendly.

 

No Palo equalivent on Grandeur. The way the rooms connected was better in Grandeur than Disney, if you need 2 cabins.

 

Royal Caribbean is just plain freakish about their towels though. You have a beach towel in your room for each person and you'd better have one in there when you leave the ship....you can't just drop off dirty towels next to the doors after excursions...if there are no more up by the pool to exchange them you have to keep the dirty ones in your room to avoid potentially getting charged. You can't just grab towels by the pool. You either give them a dirty to get a clean or they put you on a "list." I'm not sure what they do with their list, but I did what I had to to get off it before I left the ship!

[badgebunny]

I just got back in August from the Monarch and I have been on the Majesty and have never had any towel problems. There were always plenty by the pool area and none ever left in the room.

 

My parents just got back from the Granduer and had a great time, no complaints other than the rough seas courtesy of Ophelia.

 

Amy

[mimikens]

We just switched our reservation from Enchantment to Grandeur because of the price differential. We go to Grand Caymen and Cozumel instead of Grand Caymen and Jamaica. The prices are sweet and one of the Cruise Critic agencies was having a special that you get a free excursion if you book the Grandeur. I don't know if I can mention the agency name. I know you're not supposed to name TA names, but I wonder if you can mention a CC advertiser.

 

I don't want to start the usual RCI Carnival battle, but I have cruised CCL, NCL and RCI. I really love RCI. There's a lot to do. I think the kids will like it. I took 5, 6 and 15 year olds on the Sovereign last year, and they loved it.

 

If you go to the Bargains page, it mentions the place where you can book to get the free excursion.

[Michelle!]

My son and I loved the Grandeur. We sailed her after being on a Radiance class ship, and although the ship does not have the same amenities (basketball court, golf, pool tables), she is lovely in her own right. My son adored the children's club and I loved the artwork on the Grandeur. Our sailing on this ship sold us on cruising in general. Service was top notch. I have also been tempted by the prices for the sailings in the spring - really great deals!

 

Mimikins, fancy seeing you here! I may take a look at those 'deals' myself!

[Bonnie Voyager]

fishoutofwater, I have sailed all the same cruiselines as you (and a few others as well). Anyway, RCCL is my favorite cruiseline. I most recently sailed on Grandeur of the Seas and I found her to be a lovely ship! I usually select the newer, larger ships but we were very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Grandeur. I also sailed on Majesty of the Seas the month before Grandeur, and while she was also nice, Grandeur was much nicer! I think she compares favorably with the Disney ships. I liked her much better than Carnival or NCL. My absolute favorite RCCL ships are still the Voyager-class ships! But I would go on Grandeur again in a heartbeat! Here is a link to my Grandeur photos if you are interested in seeing them...

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/401789380eABQen

[swmichigan cruiser]

Thanks for posting the pictures of the Grandeur of the Seas and also for the pictures of the Vovager class ships. We really like the aft facing cabins also. We got back a month around from the Mariner and had 9690. And we just added the Grandeur in Feb with cabin 8086 but we had to cancel the Explorer in March where we were going to have the famous 1388. Doing the Grandeur saved us a boat load of money so to speak. Anyhow thanks for taking the time to post your pictures.

[fishoutofwater]

Thanks Bonnie for posting the pictures. We really enjoyed looking a them.

[sabri]

BonnieVoyager:

Your pics are awesome. Thanks for sharing. We are also going to be in a Junior Suite on the Grandeur, so it was great to see such good pics to get an idea of what our room will look like. :)

[Bonnie Voyager]

Thanks everyone, for the complements on the photos. I did want to point out to those of you who have Junior Suites booked on Grandeur, that the aft Junior Suites (like in my photos) are actually smaller than the side Junior Suites (still a very nice size as you could see in the photos, but somewhat smaller than the side Junior Suites.) Also, the side Junior Suites have a full walk-in closet. The aft Junior Suites had a very nice, large closet, but it was not a walk-in. The aft balconies are much larger (deeper) than the side balconies though! Either Junior Suite location would be a very nice choice. We enjoy watching the wake so we tend to select the aft cabins most of the time.

[sabri]

Also, the side Junior Suites have a full walk-in closet. The aft Junior Suites had a very nice, large closet, but it was not a walk-in.

We were able to get a corner one..... I think I read somewhere that the corner ones have walk-in closets??

 

the aft Junior Suites (like in my photos) are actually smaller than the side Junior Suites (still a very nice size as you could see in the photos, but somewhat smaller than the side Junior Suites.)

The corner ones too?

 

thanks. :)

[Bonnie Voyager]

I'm pretty sure the corner/aft Junior Suites are the same as the aft Junior Suite that I stayed in. I was on deck 8 (cabin 8588), but the corner/aft Junior suites are on deck 7. The cabins from the photos I've seen of Junior Suite 7150 ( here is a link... http://members5.clubphoto.com/denise347521/2305772/guest.phtml)appear to be identical to my cabin on deck 8 aft. Of course, the aft/corner balcony is even larger than the one in my photos since you go all the way to the side of the ship! I didn't see a photo of the closet in the corner cabin, so I don't know how that compares. The closet we had was very large and very nice, but it wasn't a walk-in. It had way more room than we needed though!

[Bonnie Voyager]

Hey! I just found some photos of 7150's closet, and by golly, it IS a walk-in! Way to go! :D I wonder why the closet is bigger, but the cabin isn't? Oh well, enjoy your closet! ;) Which corner Junior Suite cabin did you book? If it's not 7150, then it must be 7650 which is just the mirror image of all these photos!

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/187294498/187603670SskdNQ

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/187294498/187603686wrzSjU

[sabri]

Hey! I just found some photos of 7150's closet, and by golly, it IS a walk-in! Way to go! :D I wonder why the closet is bigger, but the cabin isn't? Oh well, enjoy your closet! ;) Which corner Junior Suite cabin did you book? If it's not 7150, then it must be 7650 which is just the mirror image of all these photos!

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/187294498/187603670SskdNQ

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/187294498/187603686wrzSjU

Bonnie.... you are the Greatest! Thank you so much for the pics!!

We will be in 7650

Can't wait!

[Lyncruiser]

There is talk on this board recently of sewer smells on the Granduer. In our experience this happens as ships age. The Grandeur must be nearly 10 years old now. Based on our own horrible (and when I say horrible I mean it) experience with this problem, I would never book a ship about which that has even been mentioned as a problem. We also try to stay away from any ship older than about 3-4 years for this reason. (Our problem with sewer smells in our cabin was on Carnival's Holiday.)

 

We also faced this problem on Celebrity's Summit three years ago. When we boarded and went to our cabins, we smelled sewer and bathroom odors in our cabins -- we had two cabins. We immediately went to the purser's desk and demanded that we be moved. We said we would debark and fight it through our credit card company if they didn't find other rooms for us. They eventually did and we had fine rooms with no odor. But, from our past experience on the Holiday, we knew to demand a change of cabin immediately. We know those problems don't get resolved. You just suffer then entire cruise.

 

We cruised the Grandeur in 1999. She is perhaps still my favorite ship in the RCCL fleet and we've been on numerous ships in the Voyager and Radiance classes. She is truly an elegant and grand lady.

 

But, after hearing of sewer smells, I would never book her again.

[Bonnie Voyager]

Lyncruiser, I am very sorry you had such a bad problem with your sewer that it has left such a bad feeling with you :( . Eliminating ships with sewer smells would pretty much rule out every ship I've ever sailed on. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been on a ship that didn't have that smell onboard at least somewhere! Even on the maiden voyage of a couple of ships I've noticed the smell! It is agreeably a nasty smell, but fortunately, it has never interfered with my cruise experience like it did yours. I hope you are able to successfully steer clear of it in the future!

[NC Native]

Thanks for posting the photos. I was on the Grandeur in Sept -I was on the lucky cruise that got an extra day at sea. It was a little rough and the wind was tough, but other than that, the cruise was great! I'll sail Grandeur again. The service was superb, and all our requests were met. We were in 7640 with a balcony. There were 3 of us in the cabin, so the balcony was a nice addition. There were so many on board activities that you couldn't do everything in just one day! There was really something for everyone.

[DDnRD]

Would love to hear more about this ship. Booked a Oceanview on deck 3. Never been that low, we like higher decks, but for the price, I thought I should grab it. We are only about 30 minutes from the port of Tampa, so it will save us money on that. Would like to hear from antone else going on this cruise 1/5/06.

 

Deb

[elleluv]

Bonnie,

I just realized that 8588 is the same cabin my sister and I have for our March cruise. Thanks for the pictures! :)

elleluv

[DDnRD]

Just got off the phone with my TA, and she got our cruise $120.00 less than what I got using RCCL:D . She was able to get my husband the senior rate (he's 59) She will also keep track for anything else, this was suppose to leave from New Orleans, so they lost alot of bookings. We might get even more goodies due to the fact they are having a hard time filling the ship now.

[mimikens]

We are in 8088 (next door to 8588) for the 1/14/06 sailing!

[jw01]

We are in 8081. Sounds like it might be close to those. Anyone know if it's a good one?