[B]Our Grandeur Cruise--The Good, The Bad and The Worth Mentioning[/B]

The Good, the Bad and the Worth Mentioning:

My husband and I sailed on the Grandeur of the Seas on a 10 -day Eastern Caribbean itinerary [Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Labadee and St Maarten] leaving Baltimore on April 27. This was our fourth cruise on the GOTS. We like this class of ship, like Baltimore as an embarkation port, and the friendly staff on GOTS.

While we had more rainy weather than we usually have and had a few bumps in the road regarding service we had a very good cruise. . . . In fact, we booked onboard to cruise again on the GOTS this summer.

Since we have sailed the Grandeur several times I really did not take many pictures of the ship. So, this will be a narrative rather than a picture review. I will discuss the things that stood out for us—good and bad.

I brought the cruise compasses home with me so I can answer any questions you might have if I do not cover them below.

The Good:

Entertainment/Activities--We felt the entertainment was better than we have seen on other similar sized ships. . . and on Grandeur in the past. [We have mostly sailed on Vision and Radiance class.] There were more comedians/singers/musicians and none of the juggler/magician/ventriloquist, etc acts. We had seen the production shows on other cruises, so we did not attend them on this cruise.

The CD, John Blair, and the AM, Katrina Blair, made a nice team. They were very visible and friendly and had good energy. I feel John Blair’s Neil Diamond Tribute is a not to be missed show. My only suggestion would be to use the theatre to show movies in the afternoon, especially on sea days.

Cabin—It was hard for me to decide if I wanted to include our cabin in the good category. However, I decided to separate the cabin from service by the cabin steward.

We were in aft junior suite 7152. This was our first aft cabin and the balcony was great. We had 2 chairs with a dining height table and 2 loungers with a low table. The sunsets were beautiful on the days we saw the sun. The partial overhang provided some shade and I did a lot of reading on the balcony.

The cabin was mostly quiet but we did feel vibrations as we arrived/left ports and when the Captain would maneuver the ship. We could hear some noise/music from the South Pacific Lounge on deck 6, but we were seldom in the cabin during the times the lounge was in use. We enjoyed having a bath tub rather than the shower tube with the clinging curtain.

One negative is that the aft junior suites are narrower [and smaller] than the ones on the two sides of the ship. Also, it is a long walk.

Park Café—I like the yogurt/fruit parfaits they serve in the morning, the salad bar, sandwiches and soups at lunch and the bags of chips in the afternoon. I tended to make healthier choices when I ate in the Park Café. [i know that is my problem. :rolleyes:] It is a good place to get a quick breakfast/lunch/late night snack.

Next Cruise Staff—We booked 2 additional cruises while we were onboard. We had always purchased Open booking certificates in the past, but we only have one of those older gems left. So, we decided to book our next cruises onboard. We found the Next Cruise staff to be very helpful and knowledgeable.

James put a courtesy hold on a cruise for us for several days. It was at final payment and we had to pay the full price. By the last day of our cruise there was a nice GTY fare and an instant $100 off. In addition, there were 3 Next Cruise staff members and I was told they would be adding a fourth.

The Bad:

Food—I know many people complain about the food on cruises. I have never been one of those people. [if I do not have to cook it or clean up I am easy to please.] Of our 10 nights in the MDR there were at least 3 nights that I had trouble making a dinner selection. DH ordered the always available baked chicken breasts or sliders several nights. He said at least he knew it was something he could eat.

For example, the first night most of the table got the striploin steak. It was a funny name--that should have been my first warning. It did not matter if it was medium rare or medium well, you could not cut the steak--or chew it. I remember that they always had prime rib on the first night, but that was moved to the second formal night [and was delicious]. I had the Pork Oscar on another night. The meat was wafer thin and cooked until it resembled shoe leather . . . and if there was ever any crab in the sauce it did not make it to my pork.

In the interest of full disclosure I gained a couple of pounds on the cruise and I never went hungry.

Cabin Steward--Our cabin steward was the worst we have ever had. In his defense, he was new to the job-- his first cruise ever! He was a nice person. I am sure with more training he will improve. He just did not give the level of service you would expect. There were several things he did or didn’t do, but here are a couple of examples.

When we met him on embarkation day we asked him to bring us some ice and that we would like ice twice each day. No ice that afternoon. . . Ok--we figure, he will bring it with turn down service that night. Nope, still no ice. None the next morning, either. [sigh!] By afternoon DH found him in the hall and told him we want ice. So, he brought us a champagne bucket. It held about one glass full of ice. Of course champagne buckets do not have lids, so he put a coffee cup saucer on it as a lid.

Bahaha Look at this picture:

On our San Juan port day we arrived in port at 1:30pm. We had the “clean our room card” in the door for most of the morning. By the time we got back from lunch the room was still not clean. No problem. We entered the room and started getting ready to go ashore. The steward knocked on the door and asked to clean the room. We asked him if he could come back around 2pm since we were getting ready to go ashore. He said he couldn't because he planned to go ashore.

So we said fine, we would go out on the balcony. When he finished he came out and said he was done. A couple of minutes later we went to get back in the cabin and discovered he had locked us out on the balcony.

We were worried because there are only 6 aft cabins on deck eight and 8 on deck seven. . . . and we were docked with the aft pointed out to sea. The two balconies on either side of us were empty. We called out to see if anyone could hear us. A woman on deck 8 heard us and we explained our problem. She went inside to call and came back out on the balcony and said Guest Services was sending someone. Then she left.

We waited about 20 minutes more and still no one came. Finally, a man on the 8th floor came out on the balcony to make a phone call. We called up to him and asked him to send security to our room. We were lucky he made the phone call. I think everyone else had gone ashore, we could have been out there for hours.

There were other smaller things, but you get the idea.

Near the end of the cruise the steward told my husband to make sure we filled in the guest survey and give him an excellent rating so he could get a promotion. :confused::eek::rolleyes:

Worth Mentioning:

New staff—It seemed to us that we encountered an unusually large number of new staff. In addition to our newbie cabin steward, our assistant waiter had been on the job only 3 weeks. We saw the MDR trainer speaking to staff on several occasions and the head waiters frequently cleared tables and passed bread. Several others we talked to were new. We wondered if all of the new ships coming out are spreading staff thin.

Crown and Anchor— I had read on CC that there may be changes coming to the Crown and Anchor events. However, there were all the usual events and D+ members had access to the Concierge Lounge.

The Upper Tier Party was held in the South Pacific Lounge on the second formal night. During the Upper Tier Party the Hotel Director spoke [very long winded] rather than the Loyalty Ambassador. The Captain explained the Loyalty Ambassador was part of the ship “Care Team” and not currently on the ship. A passenger was taken to a hospital in San Juan after a serious fall. The Loyalty Ambassador spoke Spanish so he remained with the passenger in San Juan following surgery. The Captain said he slept on the floor in the passenger’s room. That was WAY above the call of duty.

Internet Special--There was a special Internet price for the last 2 days of the cruise. I decided to use my Diamond Internet benefit on day 9 and it covered the cost for the last 2 days. :)

Final Thoughts:

I love to cruise. Some cruises are better than others, but we have never had a bad cruise.

While we enjoyed the huge balcony on our aft cabin, it was a long walk to everything and the cabin was smaller than the other junior suites we have had on this ship. In the future, I feel we would book one of these aft cabins if they are classified as regular balcony cabins, as on the Radiance class. However, I doubt we would pay the premium for a junior suite to get one.

Thanks for the review!

As you know we were on this sailing also and had a fabulous cruise. So sorry that you had such bad service by your room steward and your wait staff in the dining room.

We had MTD and had the best waiter and asst. waiter we have had in many cruises. After the first night those of us who wanted iced tea with our dinner had it as soon as we were seated. Never had to ask again. And she kept coming around with the bread basket. The food was really good every night. We have had MTD for our last few cruises and think the service and the food is better. Not sure why but it has been true for us.

Our room steward was excellent also. My daughter has a knee problem and he brought a bag filled with ice twice a day as well as filling our ice bucket twice a day.

We were also in an aft room with the long walk but I like it because I would not walk much if not forced to do it.

Looking forward to cruising Grandeur again in March of next year. Hope to see you on board.

Thanks for the review!

 

As you know we were on this sailing also and had a fabulous cruise. So sorry that you had such bad service by your room steward and your wait staff in the dining room.

 

We had MTD and had the best waiter and asst. waiter we have had in many cruises. After the first night those of us who wanted iced tea with our dinner had it as soon as we were seated. Never had to ask again. And she kept coming around with the bread basket. The food was really good every night. We have had MTD for our last few cruises and think the service and the food is better. Not sure why but it has been true for us.

Our room steward was excellent also. My daughter has a knee problem and he brought a bag filled with ice twice a day as well as filling our ice bucket twice a day.

We were also in an aft room with the long walk but I like it because I would not walk much if not forced to do it.

Looking forward to cruising Grandeur again in March of next year. Hope to see you on board.

I like the Grandeur. I booked my summer cruise after being locked out. LOL

I hope to cruise again with you.

As you did, I had another wonderful cruise on Grandeur. I agree with your comments about the menu choices in the MDR. Having to go to "always available" selections many times, is not good.:( The sliced beef that first night was terribly hard to chew. I kept trying, unsuccessfully, to find the grain of the meat and see if cutting it properly made it any better. No luck there. I also found that any dish that involved small pieces of cut up meat included a lot of tough grizzly bits.:rolleyes:

We did not get an indoor afternoon movie until day 7 of our 10 day cruise. We only lucked into a second as it was added as a rainy day activity. Why can't they run one each day, for those who want to do something simple on the ship?

A large negative that bothered me was the high volume level of any activity taking place in the Centrum.:eek: If anything was going on, it was just about impossible to have a non shouted conversation anywhere in the area. This included trying to conduct business at Guest Services. I think that the entertainment would have been just as enjoyable had it been amplified a bit less.

I thought that John Blair's Neil Diamond tribute show, Longfellow Serenade, was the best of the cruise! Though I'd seen it before, perhaps I was paying more attention this time around so that I fully appreciated the flawless way John wove his narrative and the music together. First rate!:D

Though we've only been home a week, it seems like forever and I can't wait to return to my home on the sea again.;)

Dragon...As always, great breaking bread (the bread and fresh baked rolls are always great!) with you and DH again. Thanks for sharing your cruise thoughts.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts/insights. We'll be on the Grandeur in June (less than 40 days...woo hoo!). Our last 4 or so cruises have been on Carnival and Norwegian, so it will be nice to be back on a RC ship.

I like the Grandeur. I booked my summer cruise after being locked out. LOL

 

I hope to cruise again with you.

We always come back to Grandeur and for the most part always have a great time.

Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks for the review!

 

 

We had MTD and had the best waiter and asst. waiter we have had in many cruises. After the first night those of us who wanted iced tea with our dinner had it as soon as we were seated. Never had to ask again. And she kept coming around with the bread basket. The food was really good every night. We have had MTD for our last few cruises and think the service and the food is better. Not sure why but it has been true for us.

We have MTD for our TA this fall. It will be our first time trying that.

"We have had MTD for our last few cruises and think the service and the food is better. Not sure why but it has been true for us."

Have never used MTD before, but the above gives the impression that maybe MTD has a different menu than the MDR. Just curious from those who have used MTD is that the case?

The menu and suggested dress is the same in traditional AND MTD!

The food is the same throughout the dining room. But we never had any tough beef or anything that was not really good. I cannot explain it but so far it has been that way for us so we are sticking with MTD. And the service is quicker than in traditional dining. When we had a table for 4 we were out in a little over an hour.

We were on the Grandeur last December .Our cabin steward was the best we ever had .We booked a cruise this year and requested the same cabin in the hope of getting the same cabin steward.

The only negative we had with the ship is that if you want to go to the fitness center you cannot get there by elevator.

As I mentioned this is our fourth time on Grandeur. This was not our best--but still a good cruise.

We sail her again this summer. Maybe we will get the cabin steward you had. :D

We were on the Grandeur last December .Our cabin steward was the best we ever had .We booked a cruise this year and requested the same cabin in the hope of getting the same cabin steward.

 

The only negative we had with the ship is that if you want to go to the fitness center you cannot get there by elevator.

The fitness center is on deck 9 and there are elevators to that deck. Or did you mean there is not an elevator that opens directly into the fitness center?

The fitness center is on deck 9 and there are elevators to that deck. Or did you mean there is not an elevator that opens directly into the fitness center?

Yes, I was curious about that comment, too.

The Good:

 

 

Cabin—It was hard for me to decide if I wanted to include our cabin in the good category. However, I decided to separate the cabin from service by the cabin steward.

 

We were in aft junior suite 7152. This was our first aft cabin and the balcony was great. We had 2 chairs with a dining height table and 2 loungers with a low table. The sunsets were beautiful on the days we saw the sun. The partial overhang provided some shade and I did a lot of reading on the balcony.

 

The cabin was mostly quiet but we did feel vibrations as we arrived/left ports and when the Captain would maneuver the ship. We could hear some noise/music from the South Pacific Lounge on deck 6, but we were seldom in the cabin during the times the lounge was in use. We enjoyed having a bath tub rather than the shower tube with the clinging curtain.

.

Thanks for the review, dragon. I'm on grandeur for the first time next year and reading all I can.

Do you happen to remember when most of the lounge noise or music took place? We are in 7150, so right next to your room, and I'm a bit concerned about noise. I'm grumpy when I don't get enough sleep, or at least that's what dh tells me. :p. I tend to go to bed late, but also sleep late, so I'm most concerned about morning noise - hopefully not an issue for a lounge, but I guess there could be morning activities etc there.

Thanks, and looking forward to meeting you on the Harmony TA. :)

The fitness center is on deck 9 and there are elevators to that deck. Or did you mean there is not an elevator that opens directly into the fitness center?

I think they're talking about the deck 10 fitness center. You walk in the spa reception area on deck 9 and go up steps to deck 10. I think there are only emergency exits from the fitness center on deck 10. So, the only way in is through the spa and up the stairs.

I think they're talking about the deck 10 fitness center. You walk in the spa reception area on deck 9 and go up steps to deck 10. I think there are only emergency exits from the fitness center on deck 10. So, the only way in is through the spa and up the stairs.

Haven't been on Grandeur, but on Vision you can also enter the Fitness Center from deck 10 outside. In other words, one could take the elevator to deck 10, and walk outside to the Fitness Center.

Thanks for the review, dragon. I'm on grandeur for the first time next year and reading all I can.

 

Do you happen to remember when most of the lounge noise or music took place? We are in 7150, so right next to your room, and I'm a bit concerned about noise. I'm grumpy when I don't get enough sleep, or at least that's what dh tells me. :p. I tend to go to bed late, but also sleep late, so I'm most concerned about morning noise - hopefully not an issue for a lounge, but I guess there could be morning activities etc there.

 

Thanks, and looking forward to meeting you on the Harmony TA. :)

We did not hear any noise during the daytime. For example, they do art auctions and bingo there. We never heard anything.

At night they use this lounge for Karaoke, dance music and special events. [i.e 60 second or Less Game show, 50's/60's Theme Night and the Quest] They schedule these events to end around 11 pm.

We could not get into the Quest. [go early] so we were in our room earlier than usual. You could hear music and screaming and yelling. But, it was over by around 11:15- 11:30.

If you like to go to bed around 10 pm this could cause you a problem. but, by 11:00. it is quiet.

PS--7150 is a great cabin! We knew the couple in that cabin and checked it out. Loved that wrap around balcony and walk in closet!!

We are excited about the harmony TA, also. See you there. :)

Haven't been on Grandeur, but on Vision you can also enter the Fitness Center from deck 10 outside. In other words, one could take the elevator to deck 10, and walk outside to the Fitness Center.

Bob is correct--as usual! :)

DH and I are not fitness center folk. But, we frequently walk the track on deck 10 for exercise. We can verify there is an exterior door that leads to the fitness center from deck 10.

Hi- What types of music was there? Was Rosario Strings or another such group onboard? How about the piano bar? Was Frances in the concierge lounge? Thanks-

Music on the ship was provided by the Rosario Strings, the Soulful Pleasures Band, Heatwave and, in the Schooner Bar at the piano, Marty. Francis was in charge up in the VCL.