Review- Grandeur 9 day, May 7-16 from Carnival Platinum Cruiser

[finoky]

About Us- We have been on 10 cruises with Carnival and this was our very first cruise with Royal Caribbean. There were 12 people in our group, which included 8 adults ranging from 40-72 and 4 kids ranging from 9-17. There was an older crowd on this ship than we are used to seeing which didn’t affect our cruise at all. All the fellow passengers were very nice and everyone looked like they were having a good time.

 

Embarkation- We live on 30 minutes from the Port of Norfolk so we had my brother drive us over. We arrived at 10AM and he was able to drop us off right in front of Half Moone Cruise Center. The porters were right there to take our luggage right from our van. Said goodbye to my brother and we walked right inside the terminal. By 10:45 they began processing and by 11AM we were walking on the ship. Easiest and best embarkation ever!

 

Cabin- Most of us had a D1 balcony cabin on deck 7 except for one family that had a JS on deck 8. Our cabin was 7574, which was 4 doors down from the Centrum. Noise was never an issue and it was a perfect location. There was more than enough storage and the balcony was perfect for the two of us with two chairs and small table. The a/c worked great as we love having our cabin on the chilly side. Beds were a little firmer than we are used to but didn’t keep us from a good night’s sleep. The bathroom was adequate but what is up with the shower? Could it have been any smaller? It really was the smallest we have ever experienced at sea but we still managed.

 

 

Service- Our cabin steward Kenny and dining team of Mehmet and Oswald were all outstanding. Loved getting those towel animals each night.I couldn’t find a complaint with our main service team even if I tried. All the bar servers were very nice and so was the Cruise Director's staff. We also had Captain Rob for this trip. Loved his dry sense of humor. Thanks to all the staff! Well, except for one person.Woman down at the Solarium Café was downright rude and nasty.

 

Entertainment- John Blair is the cruise director on this ship and he was as good if not better than any we have sailed with. Always out and about and would always speak to us if we saw him on the ship. We went to all the shows each night and everyone seemed to enjoy each one. Of the Broadway style shows we thought Rhythm & Rhyme was the best. If you have comedian Gary Muledeer on your ship you have to go see him. He was absolutely hilarious! We also loved Los Pampas Gauchos during the farewell show. We are pool deck kind of people so we spent a lot of time soaking up the rays. Never had a problem getting a deck chair where we wanted. There was a little "hogging" going on but not enough to deter us from some prime real estate. We always had our rear ends planted in our chairs before 8:30 each morning on sea days. Kool Vibes was the band up on the pool deck and they were excellent. Couldn’t help but get into the groove when they were playing. Also check out Take 4 if you sail this ship. Their lead singer Johnny is really good and has some dance moves to go with his voice. Late night comedian Al Romas was also hilarious at both of his shows.

 

Food- We ate all breakfasts and lunches in the Windjammer. We ate dinner each night in the Great Gatsby except for the days we were in San Juan and St Thomas. Everything we had was either good to very good. Loved the ice cream everyday on the pool deck from noon to 5. We like Carnival’s menu a little better but the food on this cruise really was quite good. Didn’t order room service at all so I can't comment on that.

 

Ports- San Juan: Been there enough and could take it or leave it. We just walked around and headed over to San Cristobal. Then did a little shopping and was back on the ship by 6PM The Carnival Victory was docked right beside us. St Thomas: It was raining when we arrived so we shopped for a few hours at Havensight. The sun finally came out at about 11 so we grabbed a taxi over to Megans Bay. After 4 trips to St Thomas this was our first trip to Megans. We usually go to either Trunk Bay or Sapphire. Really enjoyed Megans and would go there again. Samana: I think this was our favorite port on this trip. We booked the Cayo Levantado Beach Break through the ship and loved it! What a beautiful beach. It’s on a little island not far from where the ship anchors. Highly recommend this excursion. Last stop was Labadee. I know it is a favorite on this board but I could take it or leave it. Maybe after the pier is finished and the water clears back up it would be better. It wasn’t really my idea of a tropical beach. We did have some that did the zip line, my daughter included, and everyone really loved that! Definitely the best thing to do in Labadee.

 

 

Debarkation- We did the express debarkation and carried off our own luggage. We were off the ship by 7:30 but got held up at Customs due to a rose that my daughter had bought her mom for Mother’s Day on Sunday. They sent us over to a special room and searched our luggage for other “contraband”. We weren’t the only ones over there and after 20 minutes we were on our way out of the terminal. Waited a few minutes outside for my brother to show up and we were back home before 9AM. Aside from the Customs hassle it was the easiest debarkation ever.

 

Bottom Line- Overall, I would rate this cruise as an “A”. It was right up there with one of our best ever. Very relaxing and fun filled from start to finish. Although the ship was smaller and older it is still in very good shape. The decor was beautiful and very classy. We will definitely be sailing with Royal Caribbean again in the very near future. Think Laura will let me change my name to royalcaribbeancruisejunkie? Haha! Thanks to all that answered my questions leading up to this cruise.

[Cool Cowie]

Very nice report..thanks for posting! I too would like to get to Samana one day....

[TPKeller]

Thanks for your review!

 

I have a general question and a specific question.

 

First, did you spend any time in the Schooner Lounge with the piano player? What did you think? What style did he play? Closer to a Lawrence Welk/Neil Sedaka, or to an Elton John/Billy Joel style piano man? :)

 

Also, generally did anyone give you an idea about where most of the crew is in their contract cycle? I know that sometimes they begin new contract cycles around the time of a repositioning, so just wondering if you happened to pick up any info on that.

 

Thanks again!

 

Theron

[hal lover]

Tony- what happened to you? Many of us at the Meet & Mingle looked for you! It was a great trip all around! Love your pic's! ;)

[ChipLondon]

Nice balanced and fair review, well done, welcome to the Royal fan club. If you enjoyed The Grandeur just wait until you try on of the newer larger ships.

[Rondo]

Thanks for the review! We'll be aboard the Grandeur June 4th -13th with the same ports. We've done the larger ships and are looking forward to the smaller one for a change. It's good to read a positive review of the ship!

[regg1216]

Thanks for the review, we will be on the Grandeur in August doing the same trip out of Baltimore. We did this trip 2 years ago. I agree with your review glad to hear it hasn't changed. The Grandeur always seems to have a very friendly crew.

[finoky]

Nice balanced and fair review, well done, welcome to the Royal fan club. If you enjoyed The Grandeur just wait until you try on of the newer larger ships.

 

We all talked about trying a larger ship, one in particular. It starts with an "O" I think!:D

 

Thanks for the review! We'll be aboard the Grandeur June 4th -13th with the same ports. We've done the larger ships and are looking forward to the smaller one for a change. It's good to read a positive review of the ship!

 

You will have a great time. While yes it was small we just loved the Grandeur. What an awesome crew on this ship.:)

 

Thanks for the review, we will be on the Grandeur in August doing the same trip out of Baltimore. We did this trip 2 years ago. I agree with your review glad to hear it hasn't changed. The Grandeur always seems to have a very friendly crew.

 

Yes, the crew is incredible. Well, except for the grouch at the Solarium Cafe.:( Hope you have a great cruise!:)

[finoky]

Tony- what happened to you? Many of us at the Meet & Mingle looked for you! It was a great trip all around! Love your pic's! ;)

 

Of the few regrets about this cruise not going to the M&M is one of them. I had every intention of going but we had a really great spot on the pool deck and just decided to stay there and enjoy the sun. Looking back I wish we had went. I did glance up at the VCL and wondered how it was going. Hope everyone had as good a cruise as we did.:):)

[subdriver]

Tony -

 

Sorry we missed you at the M&M. It was fun putting some names to faces.

 

Very good review, matches our experience very closely. The best cruise experience we have had. The zipline at Labdee was great. We rode horses in Samana - another fantastic experience.

 

Please consider posting your review on the main Member Reviews page.

 

Regards,

Ted and Maggie

[finoky]

Thanks for your review!

 

I have a general question and a specific question.

 

First, did you spend any time in the Schooner Lounge with the piano player? What did you think? What style did he play? Closer to a Lawrence Welk/Neil Sedaka, or to an Elton John/Billy Joel style piano man? :)

 

Also, generally did anyone give you an idea about where most of the crew is in their contract cycle? I know that sometimes they begin new contract cycles around the time of a repositioning, so just wondering if you happened to pick up any info on that.

 

Thanks again!

 

Theron

 

Hey Theron! First let me say I enjoyed your pics from the link you have posted in your signature.:) We didn't stop and hang out in the Schooner but did pass through there quite frequently. I would say that the guy in there was definitely much more of an Elton John/Billy Joel style player. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in there.

 

We did talk to a lot of the crew but never talked about where they were in their contract.

[finoky]

Tony -

 

Sorry we missed you at the M&M. It was fun putting some names to faces.

 

Very good review, matches our experience very closely. The best cruise experience we have had. The zipline at Labdee was great. We rode horses in Samana - another fantastic experience.

 

Please consider posting your review on the main Member Reviews page.

 

Regards,

Ted and Maggie

 

I really do regret not going now. Funny, cause I have always showed up at roll call meet ups on previous Carnival cruises. Every passenger we encountered was very friendly and seemed to be having a good time. I know we did.:D Funny how fast 9 days can go when you are having fun! I will go ahead and post my review in the members section. Happy sailing!:)

[virginiacruisin]

Theron, I was on the 10/27/06 cruise with you. You taught me a lot about GPS (wasn't as popular back then as it is now and I didn't even know what it was) and converting Centigrade to Farenheit. I thought the piano player was ok -his name was Kevin Brando. While I didn't spend a lot of time listening, I didn't think he was a strong singer when he occasionally sang to his music and he didn't seem to reach out and involve the audience like a lot of entertainers do, but he was good on the piano. A few of the wait staff/bar servers mentioned that they only had a week or two left and were excited to be going home for their break. Till we got to our first port the cruise director's staff was short a person (he missed the ship and joined us in San Juan) so he was just coming on board - they mentioned he was brand new to the ship and asked us to welcome him.

[finoky]

Here are a few more tidbits I just thought of that I had not previously mentioned in my review. The had MTD available on this cruise but we chose traditional. We were right by the doors and people coming in for MTD had little to no wait at all to get a table. That process seemed to work very smoothly.

 

The casino had 2 smoke free nights during the cruise. Also had a couple double odds nights at the craps table plus a few hold'em, blackjack, and slots tournaments.

 

Quest was held in the South Pacific and was an absolute riot!

[jtwisconsin]

Last stop was Labadee. I know it is a favorite on this board but I could take it or leave it. Maybe after the pier is finished and the water clears back up it would be better. It wasn’t really my idea of a tropical beach.

 

I totally agree. Labadee was a big disappointment for us. If you want that tropical beach feeling, Coco Cay is fabulous.

[TPKeller]

Thanks for the update! The piano bar is one of my favorite places to hang out, IF the piano player is good!

 

Lynn... from that wonderful rough ride down the coast! I still talk about that to friends whenever rough weather stories come up. Believe it or not, I sailed on Vision out of LA a couple years ago, and was chatting with an officer (an HR management type) during sail-away. He was on that cruise with us, and said it was the worst seas he had ever been in! The afternoon we hit that big wave, or rather it hit us... he was in his office meeting with an employee and they all got jostled around and he said at first he thought the guy had pushed him!! Of course that was not the case, but it was really amazing that that sailing is still so prominent in everyone's memory.

 

Theron

[wrp96]

Yes, the crew is incredible. Well, except for the grouch at the Solarium Cafe.:( Hope you have a great cruise!:)

 

 

Thanks for the great detailed review. Hope you mentioned the grouch on your comment card at the end of the cruise.

[finoky]

Thanks for the great detailed review. Hope you mentioned the grouch on your comment card at the end of the cruise.

 

I absolutely mentioned her on my comment card as well as a few of the ones that helped make our cruise exceptional.

 

Also, not sure if it is the norm, but they had hand sanitizer stations spread throughout the public areas of the ship.

[Rondo]

Do you recall what time they had the muster drill?

[vavasmom]

We are doing the same itinerary out of Baltimore in July - I was very excited to see your review. We have sailed Freedom for our last two cruises but are looking forward to driving to the port. I have a couple of questions - did they run the Zipline excursion in San Juan? Freedom cancels it because they arrive at 3pm - I don't want to pre-book it again if it is going to be canceled.

 

I was looking at the beach break in Samana - glad you enjoyed it - did you do the basic beach preak or the more expensive one with the floats, kayaks, etc?

[finoky]

Do you recall what time they had the muster drill?

 

For our sailing they started it promptly at 4PM. They did do a roll call of cabin numbers at our muster station. The whole process took less than 20 minutes.

 

We are doing the same itinerary out of Baltimore in July - I was very excited to see your review. We have sailed Freedom for our last two cruises but are looking forward to driving to the port. I have a couple of questions - did they run the Zipline excursion in San Juan? Freedom cancels it because they arrive at 3pm - I don't want to pre-book it again if it is going to be canceled.

 

I was looking at the beach break in Samana - glad you enjoyed it - did you do the basic beach preak or the more expensive one with the floats, kayaks, etc?

 

I have the shore tours list and compasses and no zip line is listed for San Juan. The one in Labadee is pretty awesome though. Six people in our group did it and loved it. In Samana we did the cheaper $39 beach break. Then once there a couple people rented a floating mat for $10/piece and we just shared them. It really is a very beautiful beach.

[vavasmom]

Thanks for the quick responses. My first thought was to book just the beach break.

[Rondo]

Thanks for the time of the muster drill. That helps us make some plans.