Grandeur Review 2/25/06-3/2/06

[Kanebaby]

Just back from the Grandeur today......so here's how it went.

 

Ship was beautiful....nice and clean....staff was always so friendly...always greeters at the doors...very nice. Room was nice....not as big as Carnival but laid out much better and roomier then Carnival. Bathroom was your standard small bathroom. Room steward was nothing to brag about...only got 2 towel animals all week. Oh well.

 

The pools were beautiful and well kept. Plenty of chairs around the pool for sunbathing. Solarium was nice....16 and over....not a bunch of little kids making lots of noise. Never had a problem finding someone to bring you a drink. Try the "Miami Vice"...half pina colada, half strawberry daquiri....yummmmmy.

 

Food was wonderful in the dining room...except for desserts. My BF loved every dessert he had, i hated every one. Apple pie ala mode, strawberry cheesecake, and brownie madness was the worst ever. I didn 't think there was any dessert that i wouldn't like....i was wrong. Waiter was ok...because we were at a table for two we got less attention from the waiter then the bigger tables. Head waiter Antonio was wonderful...very attentive, checked on us a few times each night at dinner....he was the best thing about dining. Windjammer breakfast was really good...lots to chose from....from eggs to 4 or 5 different kinds of meats to any kind of bread, bagel or danish you could want, to waffles, pancakes, french toast, yogurt, grits, oatmeal, biscuits and gravy, omelets, anything you could want they had....wonderful. Lunch was good too but didn't eat many lunches there.

 

Cozumel was great...did the Tulum Mayan Ruins thing.....sat on the ferry for 35 minutes watching people throw up into trash bags.....NICE. I was good and did research and took my Dramimine. Thanks to everyone here for the tips. We made it to Carlos N Charlie's....what a blast....we have evidence in the way of pics we need to dispose of....lol. Tendering back was a painful, slow process....boat left late....go figure.

 

I wasn't impressed with Grand Cayman. Our tour was cancelled so we were on our own....went to the beach, got something to eat...shopped a little....best part was our Elvis taxi driver. As my BF wrote in his journal:

 

Taxi ride for two to Seven Mile Beach.....$8

Elvis as a taxi driver.........PRICELESS

 

I was very impressed with Royal Caribbean. I've only ever been on Carnival so i didn't know what to expect.....but i think RCCL has won us over....we're already checking prices for next year!!

[cmich068]

Grandeur was my first ship, and i'm still coming back :P

[cruzin76]

Thanks for the review, glad you had a overall good experience. My DW and I will be going to Xel-Ha near the ruins. We are ferrying out at 7:00 am and coming back around 3:30 pm. RCI said the tender goes from the boat directly to cancun. Did you have this schedule? If you did, is there enough time to go to cozumel or can you shop in cancun before ferrying back?

[lv2bcruzin]

Grandeur was my first ship, and i'm still coming back :P

 

Grandeur was also my first ship. I've been hooked ever since.

 

Kanebaby - If the Grandeur has you choosing RCI over Carnival then you have to try the newer ships. You will be blown away. I have nothing but fantastic things to say so far of RCI. It's not the classiest line of ships, but overall I think one of the best.

[Pumbaamd]

Kanebaby, good to see you liked RCCL. If you are going RCCL again, make sure you join C&A to start earning credits. And, take a look at the RCCL VISA card, to earn even more credits. Also, there is a beneficial shareholders program. Good luck and happy sailing!

[Kanebaby]

Thanks for the review, glad you had a overall good experience. My DW and I will be going to Xel-Ha near the ruins. We are ferrying out at 7:00 am and coming back around 3:30 pm. RCI said the tender goes from the boat directly to cancun. Did you have this schedule? If you did, is there enough time to go to cozumel or can you shop in cancun before ferrying back?

 

Mudfish......the people on the Xel-Ha tour left on the same ferry as us, but the ferry that returned them to Cozumel took them straight back to the boat at around 3:30-4:00pm. The Grandeur was supposed to leave port at 4pm, so the last ferry was at 3:30pm. They were running a little late that day but the last ferry leaves 30 minutes before departure time. We got back to Cozumel around 1:30pm so we did have time to shop and go to Carlos N Charlie's for about 1 1/2 hours.

[MACDADDY]

Sounds like you really enjoyed yourselves!!. We will be sailing her on 3/20. I am also a long time cruiser of Carnival Ships and this will be 2nd on RCL. We were not very impressed on first RCL but decided to try again. Carlos & Charlies in Cozumel is favorite place besides Fenway Park in the world. We also have photos but are under lock and key!! LOL

[kpauley]

.....sat on the ferry for 35 minutes watching people throw up into trash bags.....

Did you have rough water going over on the ferry? I'm just curious as to why so many reports of people getting sick on this ferry trip. We're not prone to getting sick in rough water, but I'm thinking why take the risk and go get the Dramimine before we leave.

 

Going on the Grandeur for the 3rd time in 3 weeks.

[vtoria98]

Hello,

I know this may be a silly question but did the bathroom have soap and shampoo in it? The Carnival Inspiration had it and I wish I would have known before hand so I didnt pack it and take it with me. Even though they were in ziploc bags my shampoo still leaked all over.

 

Thanks

Vicki

[Mattismom]

Glad to here you enjoyed the ship--we too have only been on Carnival and are leaving 4/22 on the Grandeur. I have been reading and reading trying to see if we will be disappointed with the Grandeur. Do you have an photos of the ship itself that you could post or email me? Which ships have you cruised on with CCL? Any info would be appreciated! :D

[Kanebaby]

Did you have rough water going over on the ferry? I'm just curious as to why so many reports of people getting sick on this ferry trip. We're not prone to getting sick in rough water, but I'm thinking why take the risk and go get the Dramimine before we leave.

 

Going on the Grandeur for the 3rd time in 3 weeks.

 

I say take the Dramimine. Its not gonna hurt you to take it, but you'll probably be happy you did. The waters were very rough and at times, when we were sitting on the right side of the boat, when we would rock up all we could see was water out of the windows on left side....it was like a ride from Disney. It wasn't so bad on the way back tho, but i suggest you sit as far back in the ferry as you can.

[Kanebaby]

Hello,

I know this may be a silly question but did the bathroom have soap and shampoo in it? The Carnival Inspiration had it and I wish I would have known before hand so I didnt pack it and take it with me. Even though they were in ziploc bags my shampoo still leaked all over.

 

Thanks

Vicki

 

The bathroom had soap, and it had a shampoo dispenser on the wall which we never used, but it probably had shampoo in it. RCCL wasn't like Carnival in that it had a little goodie basket with dental floss and toothpaste, but i always used my own anyways.

[Kanebaby]

Glad to here you enjoyed the ship--we too have only been on Carnival and are leaving 4/22 on the Grandeur. I have been reading and reading trying to see if we will be disappointed with the Grandeur. Do you have an photos of the ship itself that you could post or email me? Which ships have you cruised on with CCL? Any info would be appreciated! :D

 

The only Carnival i've been on is the Fantasy, so thats all i have to compare it too. THe Grandeur is a smaller RCCL boat as is the Fantasy is a smaller CCL boat. In comparison, i would sail RCCL again next time and skip Carnival. I think RCCL is a little step up from Carnival.

[Ponymom]

We were on the Granduer for the 2/20 cruise. I agree the ship is well taken care of and the crew were friendly. The meals in the dining room

weren't the best. The potatoes were always cold and one night the lettuce in the salad was brown.:( We had been on the Navigator in October and everyting was perfect. So we were a little disappointed.

[grandsix]

Had a real nice time. However, there are NO hand cleaners on the entire ship.

If there were ever a virus outbreak it will spread like wildfire.

[ZippySuzy]

Kanebaby, glad you had a good trip! Would you mind sharing what cabin number you had? I'm curious about what different areas of the ship are like for movement and such.

[Kanebaby]

Kanebaby, glad you had a good trip! Would you mind sharing what cabin number you had? I'm curious about what different areas of the ship are like for movement and such.

 

We were in 3544, an outside cabin near the front of the boat. You could feel movement a little bit all over the boat, but Draminine does wonders for me. Didn't really feel much movement when we were sleeping tho. Btw, the beds were kinda hard.....i was ok with it cuz i'm not picky by BF woke up with back pain some mornings. Next time we might take one of those big fluffy mattress pads in one of our suitcases....lol.

[windsor202]

We too cruised the Grandeur 2/25/06 to 3/02/06. Temps were around 75. We had rain in the morning of our first full day at sea. Seas were moderate (4 to 8 ft) starting about halfway to Cozumel, and reduced about halfway back to Tampa from Grand Cayman. To be expected, winds were gusty to cause these swells. It was at it's worst at night between Cozumel and Grand Cayman. No one in our party got sea sick. Tenders were very slow in Cozumel because people were moving slowly during the transfers, due to the pitching of the tenders. We had three people get sick on our way back to the Grandeur from Cozumel, not because the conditions were so bad, but because they were so drunk. The tenders ran very smothly in Grand Caymen, no problems. This was our first time for our family on RCCL. The cruise was awesome! The food was very good to sometimes great (don't miss the midnight buffet in the Great Gatsby). Service was excellent, wonderful people throughout the ship. Great activities and headliners, explorer club, clean cabins, beautifull ship, very well cared for. We will book again with RCCL, but we won't go back to the Western Carribean.

[mrsrosner]

ZippySuzy - we will be on the Grandeur with you! This will be my second time on the Grandeur, and can't wait!

 

Kanebaby - glad you had a good time and thanks for the review. Always neat to read about how other folks feel about experiences!

[Honeychild]

Hello,

I know this may be a silly question but did the bathroom have soap and shampoo in it? The Carnival Inspiration had it and I wish I would have known before hand so I didnt pack it and take it with me. Even though they were in ziploc bags my shampoo still leaked all over.

 

Thanks

Vicki

 

The JS and other suites on Graduer do have the little goodie baskets with shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shower cap and scrubbie thing. We loved the Gradeur because it has an elagent feel. Things are a little more formal. It is smaller and older than the Mariner or Navigator, but still felt really special while on board.

 

We had an interior cabin (PR) on Mariner and we didn't get any goodie basket, but there was a shampoo dispenser in the shower.

 

Will have a JS again when we sail the Navigator next year.