Grandeur of the Seas Photo Review 6/9-18

[RRFPresident]

This machine soon became a favorite of mine but then who doesn't love free money? Stay tuned for that random musing.

 

Chilled for a little while in the cabin as it wasn't quite yet the time I'd planned to meet back up with Dad. While there our cabin phone rang with a call from guest services asking if everything was going well and was there anything they could do to make it better. I wasn't quick witted enough to ask for a million dollar casino win until after I'd politely finished the call. Don't know if that was a result of our lunchtime complaint or what. During the afternoon, we were delivered a little plate of chocolate covered strawberries with a note from Francis.

 

Sorry so dark:

 

This is usually what we get on the formal nights on Princess so we weren't sure where the small plate of snacks came from the next afternoon. It wasn't until we had a plate delivered every afternoon that we realized it was the same snack sampling as the Concierge Lounge offers. Dad was bothered by the fact that the yummy take on pigs in a blanket they had in the lounge one night never made it to our cabin plates. Only drawback with this delivery is such, they just bring it and leave it on the bar regardless of what it is. We came back one day to a dish that included a tiny wedge of hard boiled egg on top of some appetizer and another had shrimp cocktail. I pity the poor unsuspecting soul's stomach that comes back to their room in the evenings and starts snacking away after those perishable foods have been sitting out. There were times throughout the ship and in our cabin where it was almost as humid inside as it was outside. Who wants their appetizer with a side of salmonella? We eventually had to dump the food in the trash can so the steward wouldn't keep thinking we intended to eat it multiple days later.

 

Met back up with Dad to play Movie Facts Trivia in the Schooner Bar. One main thing I recall is after swapping answer sheets with another team, a woman from that team jumped up having remembered the answer for one of the questions and tried to grab the paper out of my Dad's hands so she could add it. Sorry but you wouldn't expect to turn a test in to the teacher and still be able to add to it after you've had extra time to seek the answer. Bob then joined us for playing Guess That Tune Movies themed.

 

Back to our cabin to change for formal night dinner in the main dining room. As we got off the elevator , we saw a young lady dressed like the snow queen from Frozen and a man dressed in a white suit on deck 7 standing around along the centrum railing. (Princess and Carnival I think call the center area the atrium so forgive me if I switch to calling it the atrium somewhere along the way) After deducing that there wasn't someone's high school prom being held tonight, Dad realized that she was preparing to be one of the ladies suspended in the shiny silver compartment hanging from the ceiling within the centrum. We hung around for a little while in hopes of seeing her climb inside but she didn't before we needed to move on.

 

Anna or Elsa?

 

Hope she's not afraid of heights:

 

As we ventured down the hall toward our cabin, we heard one of the neighboring cabin's passengers stop their steward in the hall to report that the cabin toilet wasn't flushing. Another crew member was nearby and announced that everyone's toilet vaccum system was out and they are working on it. Sure enough, ours was out too so we only made a very quick pit stop in between clothes changes and waited until returning to the cabin later to flush when it was working again.

[RRFPresident]

We had made 7:00PM dinner reservations and entered for the my time dining area on the upper level of the dining room. We confirmed upon arrival that a table along the balcony was fine and as it turned out, we got one of the best wait staff team we've ever had in Toni and his assistant waiter Jay at table 505. I used my soda package to get a diet coke and Jay was bringing me a 2nd glass before I could even slurp the last out of the first glass. Toni was delightful and we happily obliged his inquires into what there would be to sight-see in Baltimore and D.C. As he joked, “All I usually ever see is Walmart!” Dad was so happy to see melon as an actual listed appetizer and got it without the grapefruit.

 

I got the scallops which they put in the escargot style dish. The scallops were pencil eraser size and the last two didn't even get covered with the cheese.

 

Dad got some beef dish and I got something that I think was called Buttermilk roast chicken. Both of us deemed our entrees as average because as you know, the steak from Giovanni's was so great!

 

This dessert menu changed slightly during the cruise:

[RRFPresident]

Dad got the BBB crème brulee and some ice cream on the side. He was glad he got the ice cream because the crème brulee wasn't even all crystallized at the top and turned to a pool of liquid once he broke into it.

 

I had the Double Strawberry Cheesecake and I think I found out where the missing strawberry compote from my french toast at breakfast went. It was still tasty though.

 

Within minutes of being seated, the My Time Dining manager came over to check in and ensure that we were getting the best service. We'd soon joke later in the cruise that we'd acquired a stalker because he repeatedly showed up when he saw us check in at the dining room.

 

We walked off dinner along the outside deck enjoying the fading sun.

 

One of my favorite shots from this cruise:

 

This night we had to set our clocks forward one hour before bed:

[crisndeefromde]

So enjoying your review....

[RRFPresident]

As we ventured back in and walked past the centrum, we spot John and Katrina standing there perfecting their open mike night routine. Some of you may know it as when they film the morning show you can watch on your cabin TV the night before and catch themselves repeatedly saying an event is going to be held tomorrow instead of today when the show would be airing. It was like stumbling upon a secret meeting because the only other people around that seemed to notice was the young girl, Gabriella, and her mother who sat there watching them film prompting a nice shoutout to Gabriella on air from John. Later in the cruise, we caught them filming the morning show again in the centrum but by then everyone and their brother and their red headed stepchild's cousin twice removed was lining the railings etc to watch.

 

John and Katrina interviewing the comedian from the Welcome Aboard show, Joe Yanetty:

 

A quick stop at Cafe Lattitudes for some cookies, apparently my Dad's life blood on cruises is a bedtime snack of cookies to take back to the cabin. I heard many a critique of which cookies are better from which snack area and the occasional “Oh man! They don't have any cookies out tonight!” The main verdict – Park Cafe cookies are hard and yucky, Cafe Lattitudes are good if they have them. I guess no one ever wanted those lemon or coconut cookies as that was at times all that was left. I inquired about what was in the tiny cupcakes since they were all different colors. The lady manning both the Ben & Jerry's and Cafe Lattitudes stands explained that they just use food coloring and the only difference in flavor is the frosting. I took a plate full of one of each back to the cabin. You know..umm for the sake of research, yeah research. First couple I tried were so dry and dense that I just ate the frosting off the rest.

 

This night we did have a towel animal, an elephant.

 

The elephant decided that my camera flash was just too bright for him and swiped my sunglasses.

 

My intent was to keep all the towel animals from the week in a menagerie so I moved the elephant onto the footstool to sit out of the way. It's a good thing we aren't a couple because that elephant watched us in our beds a little too closely. Apparently, there's a cruise wide shortage of towels that only our steward knew about because he'd only let us have a towel animal every other night and then he'd disassemble the previous guest to make the new one.

[luvscruising2007]

Bob and his "Sea Cruise" brought fond memories. He did the same thing on our NE Explorer cruise in 2014. It was a lot of fun and made the M&M memorable for me.

I am enjoying your review. Our next booked cruise is aboard the Grandeur and there are not too many reviews posted. Thank you for taking your time to share with us.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Laney219]

Towel animals are only done every other night on rci..at least for the last few years.

Was Peter your mtd stalker? I love Peter!!

[sellwingri]

I'm learning more about suite perks from this thread than from the RCI website or any other posts. I had no idea that there was a separate restaurant for breakfast. All we've had in the past as diamond members was a separate area in the main dining room. My husband already said he'll be checking out the steak and eggs. We've never been to the diamond lounge but we may at least check out the conceirge lounge. I'm sure we'll be cruising in suites other than junior suites in upcoming cruises.

 

I'm really enjoying this and look forward to more. Thank you RRF

Edited June 22, 2016 by sellwingri

[malackym]

Thanks so much for the review! My wife and I had a great time on this cruise. My only regret looking back was that, having not received our invitation to the Meet & Mingle, I didn't ask our rooms steward about it, so I didn't go. Looks like it was a lot of fun.

 

Mark.

[BunnyoftheSeas]

Your review is fantastic, thank you! We board Grandeur in 15 days!

[Emtbsam]

Thank you so much for your excellent review. We usually travel on Silversea since we prefer smaller ships, but have booked a short cruise on the Grandeur for this fall because of the convenience of sailing out of Baltimore.

 

As another poster said, I have a much better idea of what to expect on board as a result of your review. The website is lacking specific information.

[RRFPresident]

Towel animals are only done every other night on rci..at least for the last few years.

Was Peter your mtd stalker? I love Peter!!

 

Hmm, good to know about the towel animals. Wish I had gotten the name of the MTD manager to be able to include it in this review. Anyone know of a way to find out?

[RRFPresident]

I'm learning more about suite perks from this thread than from the RCI website or any other posts. I had no idea that there was a separate restaurant for breakfast. All we've had in the past as diamond members was a separate area in the main dining room. My husband already said he'll be checking out the steak and eggs. We've never been to the diamond lounge but we may at least check out the conceirge lounge. I'm sure we'll be cruising in suites other than junior suites in upcoming cruises.

 

I'm really enjoying this and look forward to more. Thank you RRF

 

You are most welcome! We never did try the steak and eggs although Dad did offer to order it for the sake of a picture. :) The Grandeur unfortunately does not offer the extra seating at least for Windjammer overflow perk. Never was a real problem though since we found a table in the Solarium the few times we stopped for a quick bite.

[RRFPresident]

Thanks so much for the review! My wife and I had a great time on this cruise. My only regret looking back was that, having not received our invitation to the Meet & Mingle, I didn't ask our rooms steward about it, so I didn't go. Looks like it was a lot of fun.

 

Mark.

 

Sorry we missed you Mark! I expected that we'd get an email notification or have it listed on the confirmed M&M list before we got on board but we never did. Never would have known about it either without that invitation.

[RRFPresident]

Your review is fantastic, thank you! We board Grandeur in 15 days!

 

Thanks for the kind words. Hope you have a great cruise!

[RRFPresident]

Thank you so much for your excellent review. We usually travel on Silversea since we prefer smaller ships, but have booked a short cruise on the Grandeur for this fall because of the convenience of sailing out of Baltimore.

 

As another poster said, I have a much better idea of what to expect on board as a result of your review. The website is lacking specific information.

 

Glad I could help. I know CC has always been so much more of a treasure trove of knowledge than any cruise line's website or customer service when I've had questions. Let me know if you have anything specific you'd like to know about.

[wvufan]

Howdy

 

Am having wonderful flashbacks thanks to your review!

 

I really enjoyed you and your dad-winning the progressive trivia was a blast.

 

Thanks for the photos and comments on the M&M. I get royalties every time. I have done that on about 25 or more cruises. I call the make shift group The Atonals. Sometimes I have gotten the captain and other officers to participate.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with Sea Cruise, it was a 1959 hit by Frankie Ford.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sea+cruise+frankie+ford&qpvt=sea+cruise+frankie+ford&view=detail&mid=357B58FDB810DE2CD9C3357B58FDB810DE2CD9C3&FORM=VRDGAR

 

I look forward to more of your great posts!

 

OOOEEE Baby

[RRFPresident]

Howdy

 

Am having wonderful flashbacks thanks to your review!

 

I really enjoyed you and your dad-winning the progressive trivia was a blast.

 

Thanks for the photos and comments on the M&M. I get royalties every time. I have done that on about 25 or more cruises. I call the make shift group The Atonals. Sometimes I have gotten the captain and other officers to participate.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with Sea Cruise, it was a 1959 hit by Frankie Ford.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sea+cruise+frankie+ford&qpvt=sea+cruise+frankie+ford&view=detail&mid=357B58FDB810DE2CD9C3357B58FDB810DE2CD9C3&FORM=VRDGAR

 

I look forward to more of your great posts!

 

OOOEEE Baby

 

Thanks for commenting Bob! Did you ever get your watch battery replaced?

[RRFPresident]

Random question: What is this doodad just inside the bathroom wall, in our case right at eye level when using the commode? Dad guesses that it's a bottle opener but I don't see how a bottle opener makes sense in the bathroom. Are there really people who are sitting there pissing away the last beer and going "Honey! Bring me another beer! No, no need to open it, I've got my bottle opener right here on the wall!

[Clarea]

Random question: What is this doodad just inside the bathroom wall, in our case right at eye level when using the commode? Dad guesses that it's a bottle opener but I don't see how a bottle opener makes sense in the bathroom. Are there really people who are sitting there pissing away the last beer and going "Honey! Bring me another beer! No, no need to open it, I've got my bottle opener right here on the wall!

Your Dad is correct.

[RRFPresident]

Day 3 – Bermuda

 

We weren't scheduled to fully dock at the Royal Dockyard in Bermuda until 2PM and our plan for today was to basically wing it once we saw when they let us off the boat. With it being a Saturday and a mid-afternoon arrival, we didn't have the best choices as far as ferry schedules and closing times of facilities that would have been on the other side of the island like the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. Also, once we saw the Compass for today, there was a lot more on board that we were interested in than we expected so that limited our time on land this day.

 

Woke up early and snuck out onto the balcony for some quiet time and to photograph the sunrise.

 

Oh goodness CC! I love taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets. Having to pick just 6 best representatives from this morning was like trying to pick a favorite child!

[wvufan]

Howdy

 

I forgot to mention-the day I got home I got a new battery for my old watch, and also bought a new on as a father's day present. Nothing fancy-a Seiko.

 

To keep my streak going, my cell phone died and I had to get another one (tracfone). Plus, car needed new tires to pass inspection, so there went another $600. I have been like a bad force field.

 

I think your dad is right. I don't drink alcohol now, but, in the old days, your scenario is quite possible. Maybe even likely.

 

OOOEEE

[RRFPresident]

Had to share some more favorite children:

 

And on a completely different note - I noticed this anomaly along the balcony rail while I was out there this morning. Seems to me like that mesh topped tube thing in the corner should probably still be plugged into that hole. Reminds me of the old Looney Tunes Babies cartoon - Plucky go in the hole. Not your turn, my turn!

[OceansOfTravels]

Loving the review. I see the Grandeur sail by every week, I hope to try her sometime soon! :D