Grandeur of the Seas Be Wary 12/17-12/27

[Engineroom Snipe]

5 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

 

I am starting to get a clearer picture about your thoughts..........

 

I might need new glasses.....

 

😬

Edited February 22 by Engineroom Snipe
typo

[3red7s]

On 2/21/2024 at 7:31 PM, Jimbo said:

Next time she gets worked on it may look something like this:

 

 

I am still confused.....is the GOS set for dry dock? or demolishing?  

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 minutes ago, 3red7s said:

I am still confused.....is the GOS set for dry dock? or demolishing?  

Only in @Jimbo's wishful daydreams.

 

Jimbo, time to wake up. You are scaring fellow cruisers.

 

😱

[LobsterStalker]

On 2/20/2024 at 11:14 PM, Engineroom Snipe said:

Thank goodness my wife has your kind eyes.

 

I need some attention and a make-over but she has not decided to put me in dry-dock yet!

 

😁

It's not drydock you should be worried about , It's the scrapyard to turn you in for the newer model !

 

Cheers

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

It's not drydock you should be worried about , It's the scrapyard to turn you in for the newer model !

 

Cheers

@LobsterStalker,

 

So,  I always follow the golden rule, be worth more alive than dead.

 

This reduces the temptation to scrap the barnacle encrusted hull until every penny of profit can be "squeezed" out of it (pun intended).

 

🤣

[LobsterStalker]

6 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

@LobsterStalker,

 

So,  I always follow the golden rule, be worth more alive than dead.

 

This reduces the temptation to scrap the barnacle encrusted hull until every penny of profit can be "squeezed" out of it (pun intended).

 

🤣

I made the mistake a few years back of telling my family how much I am worth Dead !

Now I tell them it's all gonna be left to the dog ... but I still sleep with 1 eye open

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 hour ago, LobsterStalker said:

I made the mistake a few years back of telling my family how much I am worth Dead !

Now I tell them it's all gonna be left to the dog ... but I still sleep with 1 eye open

 

"Et Tu Brute" (Julius Caesar, Shakespeare)

 

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". (Godfather Part II).

 

I am jealous. You get sleep?

 

🤣

[iuki]

We were on the Grandeur in May.  I agree with the OP.  In fact, in our survey I mentioned the same things about the condition of the ship.  In fact, I said it should be totally renovated, sold, or salvaged.  Like the OP stated, the crew members were great, especially in the dining room.  They were the BEST of all the cruises we’ve taken, despite not liking most of food in the MDR.

[3red7s]

OH MY

 

[Viajera7]

I haven’t been on the Grandeur but I’ve been on the Vision, the Rhapsody, the Brilliance and Enchantment of the Seas. All of them are old and small but the first 3 mentioned here were ok for their age. Now, the Enchantment of the Seas ( December 2023) doesn’t reflect the name of the ship. I traveled with my best friend and she was the one who tried to call Guest Services 4 times. No one ever answered the phone so she had to  go to GS  4 times 4 different days to report that our toilet was clogged. Somebody always came to fix it  and then the situation happened again. The 5th time was the last night after midnight. I was not going to use the bathroom like that so I got dressed and went to the closest bathroom in a public area which sometimes had some toilets clogged too.

I told my friend, I don’t want to book any of these small and old ships again. To do it, it has to be a very special itinerary but definitely not the Enchantment. We are booked on the Brilliance in July because it’s her birthday but my other RCI ships I think are a little newer and bigger. Time will tell.

[BigPapi21]

On 1/21/2024 at 10:50 AM, lovesthebeach2 said:

We have cruises booked on Royal for this year and next year, and finally we booked a Celebrity….and have hesitated to jump ship but each time we get on the older ships it just chips away from our loyalty and I find I’m looking around at other upscale cruise lines more and more.

Will you share which lines you’ve moved on to other than Celebrity?

 

On 1/21/2024 at 8:07 PM, kruzerci said:

Agreed. But to be fair, they always do this on pre-inaugural and inaugural sailings due to the presence of media and travel partners. 

We have heard great things about Virgin. We are gonna try them. A little more expensive but adults only.

[Morecruisesplz]

On 3/16/2024 at 2:55 PM, BigPapi21 said:

 

We have heard great things about Virgin. We are gonna try them. A little more expensive but adults only.

Is it really more expensive when you figure in no tipping, no gratuities added, free specialty restaurants dining, free wifi, free water and sparkling water and for $300 you get a $600 bar tab and $250 obc. Compare apples to apples when comparing prices.

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

On 1/23/2024 at 10:14 PM, wreckem2013 said:

It’s pretty clear that Vision and Radiance class ships are going to be retired in the next 5 years or so. I don’t think the Voyager class ships will be far behind. 

I don’t even sail Royal often but that makes no sense. There is no way Royal abandons the Tampa cruise market. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 hour ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

I don’t even sail Royal often but that makes no sense. There is no way Royal abandons the Tampa cruise market. 

 

I agree that five years is an eternity in the cruise business right now. Almost all of Royal's ships only require 34 feet of draft which Tampa can handle. Even Oasis Class and Icon Class are designed for existing port depths. They make the ships longer and wider but the drafts stay the same.

 

Are there any smaller bridge requirement out of Tampa?

 

Parking, dock lineage, and boarding capacity will more of an issue.

 

My question is, could Tampa possibly handle an Oasis class?

 

I have never cruised out of Tampa. If the port can handle a larger ship, rest assured, they will still be cruising from Tampa for decades.

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

13 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

I agree that five years is an eternity in the cruise business right now. Almost all of Royal's ships only require 34 feet of draft which Tampa can handle. Even Oasis Class and Icon Class are designed for existing port depths. They make the ships longer and wider but the drafts stay the same.

 

Are there any smaller bridge requirement out of Tampa?

 

Parking, dock lineage, and boarding capacity will more of an issue.

 

My question is, could Tampa possibly handle an Oasis class?

 

I have never cruised out of Tampa. If the port can handle a larger ship, rest assured, they will still be cruising from Tampa for decades.

 

Tampa has a Bridge height requirement due to the Sunshine Skyway. She can only handle 180-foot tall ships from the waterline. 

 

Also even if Mega ships could fit under the Skyway there isn't enough room in the channel to fit two ships of that size side by side and so it would have to be dredged. 

 

I live locally, But they have been debating raising the Skyway and or just building a new one to as fit bigger ships. Because the cruise industry brings around 700 million into the port which accounts for I believe about 25% of the port revenue. 

Edited March 26 by WhaleTailFlCruiser

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

 

Tampa has a Bridge height requirement due to the Sunshine Skyway. She can only handle 180-foot tall ships from the waterline. 

@WhaleTailFlCruiser

 

Thank you. That could be an issue.

 

Hard to raise a bridge that is permanently built with no moving parts.

 

🤣

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

7 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

@WhaleTailFlCruiser

 

Thank you. That could be an issue.

 

Hard to raise a bridge that is permanently built with no moving parts.

 

🤣

 

It's one of the reasons why for Carnival only the Spirit and Fantasy Class sail from here and for Royal the Vision class I think it is called? And Radiance class. I know Celebrity just started sailing seasonally from here as well. Before the Pandemic MSC was going to have a ship here year round as well. 

 

Edited March 26 by WhaleTailFlCruiser

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

 

It's one of the reasons why for Carnival only the Spirit and Fantasy Class sail from here and for Royal the Vision class I think it is called? And Radiance class. I know Celebrity just started sailing seasonally from here as well. Before the Pandemic MSC was going to have a ship here year round as well. 

 

Going to be a trend like European river boat cruises where they have to design a method of shortening the stacks and upper navigation towers to get past the pesky bridges.

 

Where there is desire to make a profit, there is a way.

 

We just might see Royal keep those older ships afloat if only not to lose market out of Tampa and similar height requirements (Baltimore and Charleston).

 

MANY cruisers can drive to those ports and Tampa is a lucrative retirement cruise port.

 

$$$$$$

[Catnip]

On 1/21/2024 at 9:54 AM, kruzerci said:

I never thought we would leave Royal, but after 25 years, we have largely moved on. An occasional 3 night from our backyard, but never again for a “true” vacation type trip. It’s really sad to not be able to continue those traditions and not to be able to have the experience we used to with RC. 

Exactly the same with our family. 

[RedJessi]

22 minutes ago, Catnip said:

Exactly the same with our family. 

 

And here. Fresh off Navigator, I feel that RCL is getting closer to CCL in terms of quality of experience in may areas - which is not to say it's a BAD experience; just not what we are looking for in regards to longer itineraries. Even my husband - a die hard Loyal Royal - said last night that DCL has been a better experience for our family.  

Edited July 9 by RedJessi

[Catnip]

3 minutes ago, RedJessi said:

 

And here. Fresh off Navigator, I feel that RCL is getting closer to CCL in terms of quality of experience in may areas - which is not to say it's a BAD experience; just not what we are looking for in regards to longer itineraries. Even my husband - a die hard Loyal Royal - said last night that DCL has been a better experience for our family.  

I agree.  We've sailed on RCCL so many times (Diamond + members), but started branching out to Celebrity, Cunard and NLC several yrs ago.  In our opinion, RCCL has changed it's direction and focus and really doesn't fit our preferences anymore.  We've been on numerous NCL cruises over the last 2 yrs and prefer them & Celebrity now.
Although we are considering a cruise next year on Grandeur "for old times sake", as that was one of our favorite class ships.

[RedJessi]

11 minutes ago, Catnip said:

I agree.  We've sailed on RCCL so many times (Diamond + members), but started branching out to Celebrity, Cunard and NLC several yrs ago.  In our opinion, RCCL has changed it's direction and focus and really doesn't fit our preferences anymore.  We've been on numerous NCL cruises over the last 2 yrs and prefer them & Celebrity now.
Although we are considering a cruise next year on Grandeur "for old times sake", as that was one of our favorite class ships.

 

DCL has definitely been the best food and best service experiences we've had on any cruise. My husband doesn't love the layout of their ships and misses the casino (even though he rarely gambles - go figure), but after our two most recent RCCL trips (both shorter - one was Friday-Monday and most recent was Monday-Friday) he has noted he has no interest in spending a week or more on a RCCL ship. Comparatively, we've often wished that DCL cruises were longer. I've considered NCL and Celebrity, but with an 11y/o, don't feel we are the right demo for them. The Princess cruise we've done and the one we are planning next year are about their itineraries - otherwise I would probably seek another option. Princess was hands down the worst food and MDR experiences I've ever had. Bland food (when they managed to bring the correct items) and the slowest service ever - dinner was routinely about 2 hours long! Giving the Majestic a shot next year, but going in with low expectations.

[Iamthesea]

There is no comparing RCCL with Disney.  Disney is in an entirely different cost bracket.

 

We also enjoyed our Disney Cruise days from the year 2000.  Our first two cruises were on Disney.  That's when prices were reasonable, and children truly sailed at a discount.  Our children were then 16 and 13.

 

Fast forward 24 years.  We recently booked a 7 night cruise on the Freedom of the Seas to take our grandchildren on a ship that we knew they would enjoy (slides, water parks, etc.)  Total cost for 6 persons (two Promenade staterooms, and one Spacious Balcony stateroom) comes to around $5700.  Before booking the Freedom, I checked pricing on an equivalent sized Disney ship with similar amenities.  Closest I could come to for the same dates was a 4 night on the Disney Wish.  Cost for 3 Inside staterooms was $10,255.00.

 

For the price difference, I think we can stand the RCI sailing for the grandchildren's sake. 😁

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9 by Iamthesea