Comparing RCI to X - LIVE from the Decks of the Grandeur! 11/25 to 12/8/07

[joramrose]

Hey Susie, good to hear from you!!!!!

I'm not on crutches now, just looking to have second knee replaced, perhaps after Christmas.

Have you and that handsome DH of yours been on more cruises since the Opera?

 

love

joan

[donnaw]

Healthy and Fun! You will note, you have the whole crew following you. I for one would trade just about anything short of the cute chubby guy to be where you are right now instead of looking out at a white wonderland!

 

Hello Ladies! Keep picturing that water!

[Ships R Great]

Hey, Gail! Glad you are enjoying Grandeur. She and Monarch are the only two RCL ships we have sailed on and I agree that the entertainment is super.

 

Hi, Joan!

 

Patty

[joramrose]

Hi, Patty and Donna. And Susie, Judy and Terri.

I think we are having a virtual reunion cruise right here while Gail is off enjoying the sunshine!

 

love

joan

[sunpsyche]

Joan, Are you going for titanium this time? I know your'll have a speedy recovery and be back at sea before the blink of an eye!

 

My handsome DH ;) and I haven't been cruising much. We did go on the Carnival Liberty (yes!!) this past July with friends and had quite a jolly time. Next up is Millie in January. My sister and I are treating our mom. (no handsome DH; he'll be so tickled to hear you said that!!)

 

Hey Donna! Thanks for the update with the pics. We miss you guys. Gotta love the virtual cruise!

 

Suzi

[tomatopa]

Gail,

 

Missed your post from Curacao today...hope it is because you could find no convient internet....and the you are NOT sick.

 

Great to see all our tablemates from the TA Connie posting....

 

Donna and Joe, Where are you 2 off to next? Joining us on the Grandeur???

how's the remodeling coming along? How is Joe Feeling?

 

everyone have a great week!

 

Judy

[cruisechix]

Gail,

 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience on the Grandeur. I will continue to check every day to see your reports. I leave on the Grandeur on the 8th, so your postings are helping me prepare for my first cruise with RCI.

 

I was curious, is the ship decorated for Christmas?

 

I will be sure to pack some books and Pepcid. Hope you are feeling better.

[tuggers]

Day 6 - November 30, 2007

Good Morning! I am 100% and glad of it! We were due into St Maarten at 9 AM. It is 8:25 and we are docked! If we get cleared quickly we’ll get an extra half hour to explore!

I know I am fine today because I am starved!

The Grandeur Six met for breakfast in the dining room at 9 and then we headed off into St Maarten via the water taxi ($5, ride all day, $3 one way). They were very good with Ryan and lifted him, in his wheelchair, onto the boat. When we bought our tickets they questioned us to be sure he could walk on by himself but once we got to the boat they didn’t even ask. Just picked him up and put him on.

Grandeur and Adventure of the Seas are the only ships in town today but it was absolutely packed! The streets were jammed and you could hardly move. I wanted to buy a new white gold anklet but the place I usually shop (Grand Jewelers on Front Street) didn’t have anything I wanted and the place our dinner tablemates recommended (Max Diamonds on Front Street) had something I wanted but were doing that ‘well what WOULD you pay for it’ game that I don’t play. So no jewelry purchase for me.

Cil and I stopped at a casino while the others went to check booze prices and before I could even get my money changed, she had taken the poker machine for over $100! Lucky duck! She cashed out and we split. No sense giving any of it back!

For those interested in booze prices we only checked Absolute and it was $8.50 a liter, best price, you cart it to the ship and buy the carry box. The ship was confiscating the bottles but the girl working the table when I came back on could have cared less. A lady in front of me had three bottles, in a plain shopping bag, and she had to take them out and show the bottles to her before she even offered to take them. When you come through the scanners they sent you to the table, but if it’s not in a box or obvious, I think you could just walk straight to the elevators and take it to your cabin. In fact, some people did, with no problems.

Lunch was buffet again. Dining room never seems to open for lunch except on sea days. It looked okay: Chicken Picata, Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, and Sandwich Bar with pre-made sandwiches, etc. Salads, Soup, about the same desserts they have every day (pound cake, rolled cake with cream filling, chocolate chip cookies, coconut ranger cookies, something chocolate, etc). Sadly, after six days it’s starting to look like every other day. But because it is divided up into stations, it moves better than most of X’s buffets with less bottlenecks. Food still was not hot; actually it was barely luke warm even though I got a piece of chicken off the very bottom of the pan.

For the ice cream people, they so far they have only had four flavors for dinner and snack time: Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee and Butter Almond, sherbet is always Lemon. At snack time (3 to 5) you get vanilla and either coffee or butter almond. Toppings are slivered chocolate, strawberries and sprinkles. There is soft, non-fat yogurt, vanilla, chocolate and swirl cones, self-serve, by the pool every day. It is always open when I’ve been there, even when I went to the evening buffet. I don’t know what the actual hours are because I have not seen it listed in the daily Compass. The other night people were making hot chocolate, filling a glass with the yogurt, pouring the hot chocolate in and making a milk shake. For the record, that was those crazy Germans!!! LOL!!

When I went into town today, I emailed my travel agent and told her that I had not received some Diamond perks others had gotten and then, even though I had left four messages at GR for the Loyalty Ambassador to call me, I had not been called. Now, about three hours later, she calls and says she had a call from Miami that I was having trouble getting in touch with her. (Go Amber!) I assured her I had left the messages and she was a little snippy, saying she had not received any messages. I again made it plain to her that I had given GR the messages, in person, and was quite specific about my wanting her to call. Then she said a really weird thing. She wanted to know if I knew the cabin numbers of everyone else who had not received strawberries, bags, coupon books, etc or was upset with her. Yeah, like I carry that info around in my head! Anyway, I have not been impressed with her. She only has two hours a day that she is available on most port days (sometimes three) and it’s early so I have never laid eyes on her.

It is strange. RCI gives you a great Diamond coupon book:

20% off Spa

One free strip of three Bingo cards (but smallest regular pkg is $35 & you may have to buy that - not sure)

Complimentary cocktail in souvenir glass

Complimentary wine tasting ($9.95 w/o coupon)

One complimentary photo, any size, any pose (of people, not the ship)

3 separate $12 for $10 casino coupons = $6 benefit

3 separate $5 match play for casino

$10 Internet credit

10% off logo merchandise

10% off perfume

Wine discount – buy 2 bottles on same night and get 20% off 2nd bottle

Free Ben & Jerry’s

Complimentary non-alcoholic coffee beverage at Seattle’s Best

So you actually get FREE things. The photo and drink with glass is easily a $25 or $30 value (depending on size of photo). Add the $6 for casino and $10 off Internet and I get about $50 worth of pure free stuff. Not bad.

They also put free things in your cabin for Diamond status. I think I mentioned that other Diamond members got 6 Chocolate Covered Strawberries (I didn’t) as a ‘welcome back’. Last night we got a small blue fabric carry bag, embroidered with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line logo, and with clip on beige straps. It is fabric, not coated paper as X puts in every cabin, but not as nice as the beige and blue expandable bags you get in X suites. Still for a Diamond perk, it’s pretty nice. (If you aren’t Diamond better carry your own bag because there are none in the cabins)

While they do this coupon book and the cabin freebies better, they don’t seem to do the Loyalty Ambassador thing nearly as well as X. On X, the Captain’s Club Hostess’s are very much in evidence and very friendly, to everyone. I couldn’t even tell you what this one looks like. Or her name. Or where her desk is. I do know, according to the daily, she is by appointment only.

I’ve blathered about that enough.

We’re going to the show at 7 PM. All the shows, after the first two, are 7 PM for late seating dining. I kind of hate that because if I wanted to get dressed early, I would do early dinner. That said the shows have been good enough that it has been worth the effort to go. Tonight is the first show with the ship’s singers and dancer’s and it is called ‘All Access’, a journey through pop and rock. This is a new cast and new show and will be the first time they have performed. I will tell you about that before I go to bed tonight. There is also a late night Chocolate Buffet. Busy night!

Except for the one formal night, we have had casual with last night and tonight being Smart Casual. Saw hardly any jackets last night on the gents but maybe tonight there will be more. Women seem to wear the same things for Casual or Smart Casual. Definitely not a dressy ship.

We still have not seen our two missing people at our table and when I went to the buffet last night it was packed. I overheard one woman say she would never go back to the dining room because the Head Waiter ‘came right over, picked up my knife and fork and cut my meat, like I was two years old’!! You can’t please everyone!

Show was about like most cruise ship productions numbers. The costumes were new so they looked a little better. I thought the transitions from one song to another were clumsy while Earl thought that was done well. Every one has different tastes when it comes to entertainment. I also felt like it was too long. The neat thing was that they had the orchestra (I forgot to mention on Smart Casual they do wear long sleeved dress shirts which look a lot better than the polo shirts) on the stage as part of the show. Kind of unusual and cool.

Dropped a few bucks in the casino and then on to dinner.

Since I got sick I can not handle garlic (strange since I usually LOVE garlic) and most things had some. Creamy Garlic Soup, Garlic Prawns, Caesar Salad, etc. I ended up with Strawberry Soup (not much strawberry taste) and a baked potato. The vegetarian entrée sounded good (Vegetable Chili topped with Jalapeno Cornbread) but I was told it had garlic so skipped it. We did come up with a new ice cream flavor – Pistachio – but it was very, very sweet with an artificial taste. Couple of bites of that was enough.

We finished dinner about 9:45 and no one wanted to hang out for 11:30 to see what the Chocolate Buffet was like. There was nothing going on to fill the time except Karaoke and we had heard most of those ‘talented’ singers the other night,

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

Well, well, it does look like the gangs all here! Hello Terri, JoAn, Donna, Joe, Judy, Joe, Patti, Suzi, Suzi's Handsome Guy - whew! Did I miss anyone!

You are right, no good internet places in Curacao and ones that were there were closed as it was Sunday. Internet on ship has not worked for me at all! Every time I try to log on it's not in service.

No, haven't said anything about the food temps because the whole buffet is that way. They eat there, they know.

Just think it's a bad set up.

I will do my best to remember cabin 2018 but have nothing to write with. I haven't seen any medical evacs so I would assume they are still live and kicking. Try not to worry, just envy us the sun!

JoAn, maybe we could get a double room. You can do other knee and I can do hip. My doc's really cute. How about yours? If I'm going to be in pain I might as well have something good to look at!

It is killing me not going to Baby Beach today. No excursions there, cab is $35 each way and there are no cars left. I am reserving one for January when I come through here on Brilliance. In January I WILL be on Baby Beach!

Grandeur had a two week refurb and refit when they had the propellor problems this summer so she's got all she's going to get for a while. Ship is not in bad shape, carpets look good, furniture is clean and rip free, etc.

Yes, ship is beautifully decorated for Christmas! A whole Gingerbread Village, decorated trees, Santa in his sleigh flying across the atrium, etc.

Gail

[tuggers]

Day 7 - December 1, 2007

Breakfast at 9 again, the six of us in the dining room. I followed Cil’s lead and tried the Corn Beef Hash for breakfast but with a poached egg. It was good, but if you really like hash, order extra. It was enough for me but the serving was only one small patty about the size of a slice of orange.. I’ve also learned that you need to specify ‘toasted very well’ for English muffins or they are what I call ‘raw’. We sat after breakfast and drank coffee until the room was almost empty. So nice when the company is pleasant!

Not a very exciting day onboard. I did a little shopping onboard then went and sat with Cil for a little while during Bingo. No wins unfortunately. Earl and I tried to find the itinerary for the trip Jan 2nd on Brilliance. After getting a lot of error pages on the RCI site we finally pulled it up. We got it cheap. His balcony was $799 pp and my cabin (single but can’t remember the type) was about $1600 (dam that single supplement!), Now the insides are $1299 pp! It’s not a very exciting cruise but it’s for Earl’s birthday so I’ll go. Besides they have a Concierge Lounge. And I hear the food is better on the Radiance Class.

I entered the Slot Tournament ($20 entry fee) and ended up in the finals. I had two machines to pick from in the final round, #5 or #6. I took 6 and the chick at 5 came in second! Just my luck. First place was $450. Second was $150. Us also rans (3rd place through 6th) didn’t even rate a t-shirt!

Missed lunch in the dining room to do slots so once again, up to the buffet! I ended up with cheese, walnuts, dried apricots and cottage cheese. They were serving stuffed pork loin, roast turkey, pasta primavera, minute steaks, mashed potatoes, rice, etc but by 2:15 it was all looking pretty rough. Lucked out at the end when they put a new, warm dish of rice pudding on the dessert table. It was one of the tastiest desserts I’ve had on the ship.

3 o’clock all of us except Ryan met in the dining room for the wine tasting ($9.95, free with Diamond coupon). They had the room set up nicely with a large table of cheeses and various accompaniments for cleansing the palate. Tables had two, all purpose, wine glasses at each place (all the wine I’ve purchased, red or white has been served in the same type of glass) and two goblets in the center for pouring the wine you did not care to drink. The Cellar Master (there are two onboard) who did the presentation was very pleasant and comical. It was entertaining. However, I have never in my life been to a wine tasting where they re-poured into the same glass. As it turned out, one glass was for whites, one for reds. They tasted six wines so you had the ‘leavings’ in the glass for each wine that you were layering the new wines on to. How could you appreciate the second and third wines you were tasting? You might as well just pour all the whites togehter and then all the reds together and drink them. Very, very strange and, to me, says a lot about RCI. I think I am going to have to look up the CM and ask about this weird practice. Bottom line: if it’s free and you want to kill an hour and have some pleasant entertainment, go. Just don’t expect to really taste any wine or learn much of value.

Show tonight was Kevin Knight in ‘Knight Magic’. I’m not much on magicians so I passed on the 7 PM show.

We all went to the repeaters party at 7:45 in the South Pacific Lounge. Lovely Lounge, btw. Several drinks were offered: Yellow Bird, Rum Punch, Champagne and a couple of others. Food was served in two areas of the room, self-serve and included shrimp (fried way too much and way too early), small egg rolls (the best of the lot), fried chicken wings (also overcooked but not as much as the shrimp), small canapés, etc. A welcome was given by the Activities Manager, Anna Banana who asked us to tell how many RCI cruises we had done by clapping when she called out numbers. When she got to 40, only one woman was still in the game. Anna went out into the audience, asked her name, found out she had done 53 RCI cruises and gave her a bottle of champagne. Next up was a talk by the Loyalty Ambassador touting the 2008/2009 schedule. Finally, Capt. Rob was introduced.

Capt. Rob, in addition to being an American Captain (from Rhode Island), is easily the best thing about Grandeur and RCI. He is funny, charming, warm and very human. You can tell that he enjoys his job immensely. He took questions from the audience for a good 20 minutes. He showed grace and great good humor in answering both interesting and ‘why would you ever bring that up here’ questions. I would like to quote some of his funnier answers but I’m afraid I would not do him justice. Suffice it to say if he could be cloned and put on every RCI and X ship people would be fighting for cabins.

His noon announcements frequently include ‘well, there’s good news and bad news’ stories. The bad news tonight was that there was a storm with 50 foot swells and howling winds approaching. The good news was that the storm was in the Northern Pacific and if his calculations were correct, we would be nowhere near it. I’m a BIG Capt Rob fan, have sailed with him twice before and would go on a ship just to hear his announcements!

We had been warned by early seating diners that dinner was not the best tonight so our entire dinner table ordered strangely. I think Ryan was the only one who had a regular menu entrée. He had the Stuffed Ravioli which turned out to be Tortellini. Others either had the alternative menu (Salmon, Steak) or several appetizers and no entrée. I

chose a cold soup and a baked potato. Dessert was wonderful. A dark chocolate hazelnut torte with vanilla ice cream. Probably the best dessert of the entire cruise so far.

Nothing going on after dinner except a 10:30 movie (Evan Almighty). We thought about going to it but tomorrow being Sunday the Curacao shops will only be open from 9:30 to 1 and we want to get an early start. So no movie and an 8:30 breakfast for us. We all want to buy linens and be back onboard by 11 or so.

I have purchased an Internet package but have yet to try it. Everyone I talked to who was using the WiFi said it was very, very slow. I’ll try to use it just enough to get what I’ve written posted. Packages start at $25 for 60 minutes and go to $50 for 150 minutes. You can either use your own computer or theirs but can not combine the two on one package.

Things I like, don’t like, think strange or that X does better:

Activities Staff – maybe they are just tired on this ship but I do not get any sense of enthusiasm from them. The patter is usually tired at bingo and trivia and such but you are left smiling because of what the staff puts into it. Not this trip. They seem just as tired as the patter. Except for Simeon (CD), who has a penchant for John Travolta type dance poses and does a peppier intro to the nightly shows.

Fees – It’s nice that the slot and blackjack tournament entries are only $20 but then they sock it to you with $35 for a six pack at bingo. They don’t have this on their price list but if you ask you can get a strip of three cards for $25. IMO the payouts do not justify the extra $10 over X’s $25 six pack.

Open seating breakfast service – while our service was average today, the waiter and assistant had a table of ten, two tables of six, a table of four and a table of two. This is far to thin to stretch one team and the service suffered.

Drink prices – they are much better on RCI. A very full rocks glass of crème de menthe cost me $5 and that was including the 15%. A large martini (froo froo type) was $8 plus 15%. Manhattans are $5 +. As Earl pointed out to me, when Margarita’s were the Drink of the Day, they were $5.95 +. When purchased any other time they were $5 + and were served in the exact same glass and tasted the same.

Jr Suite vs Concierge Class cabin – There are none of the little extras in the JS that you would be accustomed to if you book CC. You want fruit, you better bring it in yourself. Same with flowers. There is no better or different room service menu. There are no better or different towels. There are bars of soap, but only body, no face soap. The shower has the all purpose hair/body/stain remover stuff in a dispenser on the shower wall. On day four I received lotion and conditioner in bottles, never any shampoo and never any extra even when I asked. I did finally locate the cracked and peeling vinyl ‘Cruise Services’ binder on top of built-ins, (good thing I’m tall!) and found two sheets of stationery (w/o envelopes) and a pen. No notepads. Robes are in these cabins only if you are Diamond level or above. I was lucky and got one but others didn’t even when they asked. I find the space to be about the same as I had on a Constellation CC and if I was not aft with a little larger balcony I would see no advantage over a regular balcony cabin. I did receive a priority tender ticket for Grand Cayman but not sure if that’s JS or Diamond. Would love to know just what amenities I should have rec’d with a JS but haven’t found it listed anywhere. Like some people got slippers. I didn’t. Is that a regular perk???

Duvet – I have heard quite a few complaints about these. These have nice, higher thread count sheets and duvet covers but they are not over a soft, down or down like filling. Instead there seems to be a heavy, hard, quilted filling which a lot of people find either too heavy or too warm. If it’s too warm, you only have a sheet to cover with which some find not enough. I do find myself waking up cold because I have kicked the duvet off.

Light on balcony – none here and I would like to sit out and read at night sometimes. Seems I have always had a light on an X balcony.

Tomorrow nights show is Judy Kolba and I love her! Really looking forward to that one. I find her to be a total HOOT! Wish they would get her on X.

That’s about it.

Bye For Now

[tuggers]

Day 8 - December 2, 2007

We arrived in Curacao bright and early on a gorgeous day that perfect for touring, shopping or beaching. Our only bad news from Capt Rob was that there was to be a very large demonstration at the Pontoon Bridge at 4 PM where the locals were going to be voicing there displeasure with Dutch rule vs local rule. With that warning, everyone made plans to be back on the ship in time to avoid the crowds.

The Grandeur Six breakfasted in the dining room once more, but without our usual dilly dallying so we could be off the ship by 9:30 when the stores opened. I did try the French toast this morning and it was a pleasant change from eggs and oatmeal. We did have better service today as our team was not so overburdened with tables.

We were off the ship, pictures taken and headed into town by just a few minutes after 9:30. The ladies (Sally, Cil and I) took a taxi to the foot of the Pontoon Bridge on the shopping side and waited for Roger, Earl and Ryan who had taken the walking route,

First stop for me is always the wonderful gentleman who has the stand right by the bridge. I love his leather masks and think he does a better job than most anyone I’ve ever seen in the islands. I was looking for a present for my neighbors and a friend. He also does small paintings and watercolors of the bridge and the shopping area.

Off we went down the main street, stopping at linen shops to check prices. Curacao is known for its beautiful hand work on linens and we were shopping for Christmas tablecloths. After looking over what was available on the main street we cut left into

a small square to the store we always find the best deals at called New Amsterdam Store.

Here we found wonderful tablecloths, hand embroidered, complete with eight embroidered napkins for $30 and up. They are always 50% off where most of the other stores only offer 25%. I bought 2 72 x 90 tablecloth sets, a set of four hand embroidered Christmas placemats with napkins and two placemats that were appliquéd Christmas scenes. All for $95. You can’t beat that.

I visit here so much that the ladies know me so if you go tell them the crazy for cruising redhead sent you. They can’t get over that I don’t work on the ship, but make it to Curacao so often! They also have good prices on Hummels, Goebel, Delft and Mallorca

Pearls. You can do better, price wise, on the pearls in Cozumel but I do think their quality is better here. I have had some of the Cozumel ones break. I have always had good service and prices from these people. They are not an RCI or X ‘recommended’ shop, but I like them.

After that we only went to a few more places. We were very weighed down with bags on linens. I bought what I told you about above and I think someone else in our party (who shall remain nameless) did at least double the damage I did! Earl and I walked down to Zylo and I found my Bvlgari Omnia perfume. Not the best price, but they had a travel size perfume in a zippered case that I had never seen and couldn’t resist.

We futzed around for about 45 minutes waiting for the bridge to close. They had opened it around 11 and we had planned to walk over it to our ships side as we had Ryan in the wheelchair and the ferry is inconvenient to get on and off. We finally gave up and took the ferry across as it appeared they were not going to reopen the bridge. After a two minute ride across we watched a Palmanteur ship sail in. It was several hours late and apparently the reason they were keeping the bridge open.

We walked by the small, local vendors, through the fort (which they are re-furbing nicely), through a construction area and finally onto the sea side walkway back to the ship. We were onboard and up in the buffet having lunch by 1:15.

Lunch was actually pretty good. I especially enjoyed a huge ham that they were carving and serving with applesauce. There was also an eggplant casserole that was good and both Earl and Roger gave the ‘I’ll have seconds’ approval to a walnut spice cake.

We had planned to have a little cocktail party on my balcony this afternoon, but frankly we were all too pooped! I came back to my cabin and sat out in the sun on a lounger and read for about an hour. By then I had had enough and was very happy to stand in a cool shower and stretch out for a nap. We have postponed our get together until tomorrow.

Tonight is Formal and I really hate it when they do these on port days. Would have made so much more sense to have it last night when we had a sea day and the repeaters party.

There are less people in formal dress tonight than on the first formal night but still a good number are making the effort. Less tuxes on here than X, more suits.

The show was Judy Kolba in her hot pink fringe dress doing comedy and song. I get a kick out of her and her jokes. Her show always leaves me smiling. I was trying to remember where I had seen her before. Fairly sure it wasn’t X, thought it was RCI but Earl had never seen her and I’ve only done RCI with him. Anyway, she was a hoot. Earl’s mother really got a good laugh as did I. Some of her lyrics are hysterical.

Dinner was a very good lentil soup and so-so roast beef with good potatoes au gratin and broccoli. Roger had told us the beef was good for first seating but looked a little the worse for wear at ours. Desserts were not appealing with the suggested one being a traditional English pudding with fruit cocktail. Like I said, not too appealing. But they did change the sherbet flavor. It was pineapple.

One question I want to ask CC posters and readers. Do you think it is proper to leave the table, sometimes leaving someone with food in front of them or waiting on ordered food,

when you have finished eating simply because you want to go to the casino? This has never happened to me before and I would never dream of doing it to someone else but it has happened at least four out of eight nights. Is this just a result of the much more casual attitude, dress, etc on RCI? Because some passengers on here have not cruised a lot or what? I’m dumbfounded. Then again, maybe I’m hanging onto ‘rules’ no one else is following. Your opinions are needed.

Aruba is tomorrow. No big plans. I may not even get off the ship. I don’t have anyone to go to the beach with and I’m not going to rent a car just for me to go to Baby Beach so I may just hang out here.

Things I like, don’t like, think strange or think X does better:

I really hate that you have no way of knowing what movies are going to be shown when on TV. X prints that schedule in the daily, but as best any of us can tell it’s always a surprise on RCI! Our tablemates were grousing the other night about the same thing so I

think lots of people would benefit from those few extra lines in the daily.

I don’t like that there is no way to add an extra tip to the pre-paid voucher system on RCI. I asked at GR and was told that’s why they send you vouchers and envelopes. So you can add cash. I think this probably hurts the crew worse than anyone. I can see where people who would add extra onto a prepaid slip will just not bother after it has been taken care of on their bill. And isn’t one of the reasons to use the voucher system to not have to deal with getting the correct bills together?

I do like that you can do the prepaid gratuities right up to 11 PM on night 12 of a 13 night cruise.

Bye For Now.

[Texed]

Thanks for the report Gail. :)

[HurricaneSally]

Day 7 - December 1, 2007

 

 

Breakfast at 9 again, the six of us in the dining room. I followed Cil’s lead and tried the Corn Beef Hash for breakfast but with a poached egg. It was good, but if you really like hash, order extra. It was enough for me but the serving was only one small patty about the size of a slice of orange.. I’ve also learned that you need to specify ‘toasted very well’ for English muffins or they are what I call ‘raw’. We sat after breakfast and drank coffee until the room was almost empty. So nice when the company is pleasant!

 

Not a very exciting day onboard. I did a little shopping onboard then went and sat with Cil for a little while during Bingo. No wins unfortunately. Earl and I tried to find the itinerary for the trip Jan 2nd on Brilliance. After getting a lot of error pages on the RCI site we finally pulled it up. We got it cheap. His balcony was $799 pp and my cabin (single but can’t remember the type) was about $1600 (dam that single supplement!), Now the insides are $1299 pp! It’s not a very exciting cruise but it’s for Earl’s birthday so I’ll go. Besides they have a Concierge Lounge. And I hear the food is better on the Radiance Class.

 

I entered the Slot Tournament ($20 entry fee) and ended up in the finals. I had two machines to pick from in the final round, #5 or #6. I took 6 and the chick at 5 came in second! Just my luck. First place was $450. Second was $150. Us also rans (3rd place through 6th) didn’t even rate a t-shirt!

 

Missed lunch in the dining room to do slots so once again, up to the buffet! I ended up with cheese, walnuts, dried apricots and cottage cheese. They were serving stuffed pork loin, roast turkey, pasta primavera, minute steaks, mashed potatoes, rice, etc but by 2:15 it was all looking pretty rough. Lucked out at the end when they put a new, warm dish of rice pudding on the dessert table. It was one of the tastiest desserts I’ve had on the ship.

 

3 o’clock all of us except Ryan met in the dining room for the wine tasting ($9.95, free with Diamond coupon). They had the room set up nicely with a large table of cheeses and various accompaniments for cleansing the palate. Tables had two, all purpose, wine glasses at each place (all the wine I’ve purchased, red or white has been served in the same type of glass) and two goblets in the center for pouring the wine you did not care to drink. The Cellar Master (there are two onboard) who did the presentation was very pleasant and comical. It was entertaining. However, I have never in my life been to a wine tasting where they re-poured into the same glass. As it turned out, one glass was for whites, one for reds. They tasted six wines so you had the ‘leavings’ in the glass for each wine that you were layering the new wines on to. How could you appreciate the second and third wines you were tasting? You might as well just pour all the whites togehter and then all the reds together and drink them. Very, very strange and, to me, says a lot about RCI. I think I am going to have to look up the CM and ask about this weird practice. Bottom line: if it’s free and you want to kill an hour and have some pleasant entertainment, go. Just don’t expect to really taste any wine or learn much of value.

 

Show tonight was Kevin Knight in ‘Knight Magic’. I’m not much on magicians so I passed on the 7 PM show.

 

We all went to the repeaters party at 7:45 in the South Pacific Lounge. Lovely Lounge, btw. Several drinks were offered: Yellow Bird, Rum Punch, Champagne and a couple of others. Food was served in two areas of the room, self-serve and included shrimp (fried way too much and way too early), small egg rolls (the best of the lot), fried chicken wings (also overcooked but not as much as the shrimp), small canapés, etc. A welcome was given by the Activities Manager, Anna Banana who asked us to tell how many RCI cruises we had done by clapping when she called out numbers. When she got to 40, only one woman was still in the game. Anna went out into the audience, asked her name, found out she had done 53 RCI cruises and gave her a bottle of champagne. Next up was a talk by the Loyalty Ambassador touting the 2008/2009 schedule. Finally, Capt. Rob was introduced.

 

Capt. Rob, in addition to being an American Captain (from Rhode Island), is easily the best thing about Grandeur and RCI. He is funny, charming, warm and very human. You can tell that he enjoys his job immensely. He took questions from the audience for a good 20 minutes. He showed grace and great good humor in answering both interesting and ‘why would you ever bring that up here’ questions. I would like to quote some of his funnier answers but I’m afraid I would not do him justice. Suffice it to say if he could be cloned and put on every RCI and X ship people would be fighting for cabins.

 

His noon announcements frequently include ‘well, there’s good news and bad news’ stories. The bad news tonight was that there was a storm with 50 foot swells and howling winds approaching. The good news was that the storm was in the Northern Pacific and if his calculations were correct, we would be nowhere near it. I’m a BIG Capt Rob fan, have sailed with him twice before and would go on a ship just to hear his announcements!

 

We had been warned by early seating diners that dinner was not the best tonight so our entire dinner table ordered strangely. I think Ryan was the only one who had a regular menu entrée. He had the Stuffed Ravioli which turned out to be Tortellini. Others either had the alternative menu (Salmon, Steak) or several appetizers and no entrée. I

chose a cold soup and a baked potato. Dessert was wonderful. A dark chocolate hazelnut torte with vanilla ice cream. Probably the best dessert of the entire cruise so far.

 

Nothing going on after dinner except a 10:30 movie (Evan Almighty). We thought about going to it but tomorrow being Sunday the Curacao shops will only be open from 9:30 to 1 and we want to get an early start. So no movie and an 8:30 breakfast for us. We all want to buy linens and be back onboard by 11 or so.

 

 

I have purchased an Internet package but have yet to try it. Everyone I talked to who was using the WiFi said it was very, very slow. I’ll try to use it just enough to get what I’ve written posted. Packages start at $25 for 60 minutes and go to $50 for 150 minutes. You can either use your own computer or theirs but can not combine the two on one package.

 

Things I like, don’t like, think strange or that X does better:

 

Activities Staff – maybe they are just tired on this ship but I do not get any sense of enthusiasm from them. The patter is usually tired at bingo and trivia and such but you are left smiling because of what the staff puts into it. Not this trip. They seem just as tired as the patter. Except for Simeon (CD), who has a penchant for John Travolta type dance poses and does a peppier intro to the nightly shows.

 

Fees – It’s nice that the slot and blackjack tournament entries are only $20 but then they sock it to you with $35 for a six pack at bingo. They don’t have this on their price list but if you ask you can get a strip of three cards for $25. IMO the payouts do not justify the extra $10 over X’s $25 six pack.

 

Open seating breakfast service – while our service was average today, the waiter and assistant had a table of ten, two tables of six, a table of four and a table of two. This is far to thin to stretch one team and the service suffered.

 

Drink prices – they are much better on RCI. A very full rocks glass of crème de menthe cost me $5 and that was including the 15%. A large martini (froo froo type) was $8 plus 15%. Manhattans are $5 +. As Earl pointed out to me, when Margarita’s were the Drink of the Day, they were $5.95 +. When purchased any other time they were $5 + and were served in the exact same glass and tasted the same.

 

Jr Suite vs Concierge Class cabin – There are none of the little extras in the JS that you would be accustomed to if you book CC. You want fruit, you better bring it in yourself. Same with flowers. There is no better or different room service menu. There are no better or different towels. There are bars of soap, but only body, no face soap. The shower has the all purpose hair/body/stain remover stuff in a dispenser on the shower wall. On day four I received lotion and conditioner in bottles, never any shampoo and never any extra even when I asked. I did finally locate the cracked and peeling vinyl ‘Cruise Services’ binder on top of built-ins, (good thing I’m tall!) and found two sheets of stationery (w/o envelopes) and a pen. No notepads. Robes are in these cabins only if you are Diamond level or above. I was lucky and got one but others didn’t even when they asked. I find the space to be about the same as I had on a Constellation CC and if I was not aft with a little larger balcony I would see no advantage over a regular balcony cabin. I did receive a priority tender ticket for Grand Cayman but not sure if that’s JS or Diamond. Would love to know just what amenities I should have rec’d with a JS but haven’t found it listed anywhere. Like some people got slippers. I didn’t. Is that a regular perk???

 

Duvet – I have heard quite a few complaints about these. These have nice, higher thread count sheets and duvet covers but they are not over a soft, down or down like filling. Instead there seems to be a heavy, hard, quilted filling which a lot of people find either too heavy or too warm. If it’s too warm, you only have a sheet to cover with which some find not enough. I do find myself waking up cold because I have kicked the duvet off.

 

Light on balcony – none here and I would like to sit out and read at night sometimes. Seems I have always had a light on an X balcony.

 

 

 

Tomorrow nights show is Judy Kolba and I love her! Really looking forward to that one. I find her to be a total HOOT! Wish they would get her on X.

 

That’s about it.

 

Bye For Now

 

Gail,

 

Have you run into my dad? His name is Alex and his girlfriend is June. I hope they are having a good time.

[Susan-M]

One question I want to ask CC posters and readers. Do you think it is proper to leave the table, sometimes leaving someone with food in front of them or waiting on ordered food,when you have finished eating simply because you want to go to the casino? This has never happened to me before and I would never dream of doing it to someone else but it has happened at least four out of eight nights. Is this just a result of the much more casual attitude, dress, etc on RCI? Because some passengers on here have not cruised a lot or what? I’m dumbfounded. Then again, maybe I’m hanging onto ‘rules’ no one else is following. Your opinions are needed.

 

Hi Gail,

Great trip report!:)

 

Definitely a lack of etiquette to leave the table when others are not finished...a sign of changing social standards and some people never having had the opportunity of sitting through a meal with others without interruptions from the TV, phone, or other 'more pressing' diversions? Or maybe your tablemates have a gambling addiction?:confused:

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[tuggers]

Haven't left the internet cafe since I got the message to check cabin 2018! No, haven't run into them! Were they at M & M you think?

Hey Ed! Waffles just aren't the same!:mad:

[tuggers]

Talked to Judy Kolba today. She is very, very nice. And funny offstage too! Anyway, she says she does do X so maybe I saw her on there. Loved her show anyway. She is leaving Grandeur today to go to Jewel and then Connie if anyone is interested.

Bye (no really, bye, my hour is up!) For Now

[HurricaneSally]

Haven't left the internet cafe since I got the message to check cabin 2018! No, haven't run into them! Were they at M & M you think?

 

Hey Ed! Waffles just aren't the same!:mad:

 

No, Gail, they weren't at the M&M, they don't have computers, lol. I just hope my dad is behaving himself. He can be quite a flirt.

 

FYI, nobody does waffles like Celebrity.

[Andy]

Hi Gail !

 

Thanks again for your great updates !

[signman]

Hey Gail, Can you pop in on Karaoke Superstar one night and see if "Buddy" (short well dressed silver haired gent) is performing Sinatra songs. He was the winner on last year's repo, but wasn't sure he would participate this time. Very nice guy, and he does a great job.

[tomatopa]

Gail,

 

Sounds like you are having fun and not wearing yourself out....that is good.

 

I think you should complain about the food not being hot....I hate it when my food isn't hot....and I will be on the ship in April.....so help me out here......LOL

 

Maybe you could also look into a car for April for Baby Beach. Joe and I would be happy to share it with you....we love going to the beaches....could also see some more of the island that way. We haven't been there for 15 years...and then just to sail out of...

 

Keep the post coming and stay healthy....

 

Joe says< "Hi!"

 

Judy

[Texed]

Hey Ed! Waffles just aren't the same!:mad:

 

I know what you mean. We were on Freedom of the Seas, and there is no comparison. :)

[bubbie617]

Gail:

 

I have been reading your purple posts for a long time now. It's nice to read such a balanced review of Grandeur. Often, when a person loves one cruise line, no other can measure up so it's particularly nice see your attitude.

 

Is Simeon (the CD) vertically challenged? If so, we have been on several cruises when he was just on the CD's staff and we always found him very personable and quite funny.

 

I am a little surprised to hear your comparison of a JS to a CC cabin. We have often cruised in a JS and found it to be much bigger and better laid out than the CC cabin we had on Infinity. Maybe that's peculiar to Grandeur. Most of our JS's have been on Radiance class ships. That's not to say that we didn't like our CC cabin. In fact, we have one booked on Summit for a TA in March.

 

I'm really glad you're enjoying your cruise. Stay away from the garlic and keep up the great posts.

[bob278]

Hi Gail.

 

I always enjoy "sailing" vicariously with you. Sure helps pass the time between my cruises.

 

We've never been in a JS on Grandeur, but on the Radiance class ships they are definitely larger than CC cabins we've been in. I think they are closer in size to sky suites on the average. In fact, the D1 cabins are a few square feet larger than the CC cabins (about 10-20 sq ft, I think). But the JS really doesn't get much more than the D1 (mostly the extra cruise credit which you really need :p). Would not qualify for the Concierge Lounge if there was one, has to be Grand Suite or higher.

[JWJs]

Hi Gail. I'm in Dothan, Alabama right now and enjoying every detail that you post on your Grandeur cruise. Thought it was neat that you were gifted with Kansas City Bar-B-Que sauce and rib rub from the gift exchange. Maybe it was KC Masterpiece...my personal favorite although I do like Gates and Haywards. So far I take it that Celebrity has your vote over RCI. Anyway...thanks for posting from your current cruise. Oh yes...I might leave a dinner table a bit early a time or two if I wanted to gamble but only after properly excusing myself.

[wolfganghowell]

Gail, thanks for the reports. I "almost" feel I am sailing with you. We have done JS 4 times and CC 4 times. In our experience, the layout is very similar with the big difference being the bathtub causing the bathroom to be larger. We have always had robes and a tote bag in JS. The dispenser is normal but we have always had soap at the sink and in the tub. Yes, the room service menu is rather limited. We have always found the blue book to be stocked with stationary, a pen and some postcards.

 

As for the tablemates leaving for casino - I can see both ways. We always do late seating and quite often don't get to the casino until after dinner. That is one of our favorite things at night. While I would never leave while others were eating their meal (unless they arrived late in which case they were rude "first"), I would leave following the meal or dessert. Some people enjoy a lingering meal,we are usually ready for action. Unless we are really bonded with our table, we will excuse ourselves after finishing dessert. Now if people are leaving in the midst of the meal, that is a bit tacky but some people just get antsy lingering over dessert, coffee and after dinner drinks. As long as they leave gracefully following the main meal, it seems ok to me.