Grandeur January 14.. not so grand

First Royal Carribean cruise, 13th cruise overall, I have sailed Carnival and NCl so my comparisons are to these companies. I know the Granduer is a small ship and going into drydock so I am not basing my whole Royal Carribean experience on this but so far things have been a bit crazy, just spent lunch trying convince people to not give up on cruising!! These are all my opinions I write to help others.

Embarkation was a breeze very organized! Lunch at the windjammer was crazy, not enough seating at all and the main dining room and park cafe were not open to help with the overflow as other lines do. We ended up asking to share a table but many ate out in the cold.

The ship was delayed leaving do to a mechanical difficulty, finally we were under way! The show was the welcome show, one dance and song and a comedian. Not overly impressive but that's ok.. Food in the dining room and buffet were average compared to other lines! I was offered fresh ground pepper which made me giggle since I knew others had been missing it! Our sea day was uneventful but we arrived to a note stating our water in our cabin would be turned off for the next two nights which wouldn't be a big deal unless someone in your room really has to go and you can't flush.. I was surprised to not have been offered any on board credit for this.. we had this happen on the sunshine but had received OBC for the inconvenience.. not a huge deal but worth a mention.. the show this evening was a singer who sang whitney Houston songs.. she wasn't horrid but not main show quality. It was foggy going into Charleston which made us late (obviously not RC fault) we ended up not leaving Charleston on time do to a life boat falling off the ship with a huge crash!! Very scarey and we were very delayed do to the coast guard having to do an investigation. That night the show was called all access. Show was cute but the dancers bumped into each other and were not in sync! Again not a great quality show.

Port Canaveral day.. I am currently sitting in the theater we were supposed to leave on our excursion at 1030, it's now 156. We were so late leaving last night we couldn't make up the time!

The sixth floor was flooding due to a water main break, this caused all the fire doors to lock on the ship leaving us stranded locked in the dining room, accidents happen but these accidents are adding up! The only good thing is we are all joking about it.. and guessing what is next to break!

To be continued off to drink beer at the Florida beer company

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Surprising Park Cafe was not open for lunch, that venue has always been open for lunch on other ships.

I believe Park Café is open a little later than WJ on embarkation day. Maybe 12 or 12:30. It has been open for lunch on all of our Grandeur cruises on embarkation day.

ARI421, assuming you are going on the brewery tour, the 5 pints you get with the tour should make you feel better. I hope the rest of your cruise goes better.

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Hopefully the rest of your cruise is uneventful and the issues are resolved.

We are looking forward to our embarkation on the 23rd. :D

Hang in there...

There's someone else (RafinMD) on your cruise doing a live report as well, FYI

Surprising Park Cafe was not open for lunch, that venue has always been open for lunch on other ships.

I believe Park Café is open a little later than WJ on embarkation day. Maybe 12 or 12:30. It has been open for lunch on all of our Grandeur cruises on embarkation day.

I believe the Park Cafe opened at 1pm the last 2 times we were on Grandeur on Embarkation Day. It is a shame it is so late. When rooms open at 1 pm the WJ clears out some. It is the 12-1 pm time frame that needs the extra venue.

Over the summer PC was open in the 11:45-12 range.

Park Cafe has always been open by 12 on all our GR cruises. We just try to go to the Windjammer as soon as we board (always early) or wait til 1 when cabins open and people leave the seats they've been hogging.

I love Grandeur

Hopefully the rest of your cruise is uneventful and the issues are resolved.

 

We are looking forward to our embarkation on the 23rd. :D

I'll be on the 23rd as well, hopefully they'll get everything straightened out by then and the rest of the OP's trip will go swimmingly.

That is not surprising at all.

Sounds more the Grandeur is in need of her drydock 😂 hopefully the rest of your cruise goes more smoothly. She's an otherwise great ship as long as she doesn't break haha

Anybody know if and when the aerial shows will return to the the centrum on the grandeur. It's still advertised as a Wow factor for the Grandeur on RCL website.

If the shows with aerialists has been stopped since May 2016, they should not be advertised. It seems like these shows will not be returning to certain ships.

Anybody know if and when the aerial shows will return to the the centrum on the grandeur. It's still advertised as a Wow factor for the Grandeur on RCL website.

If the shows with aerialists has been stopped since May 2016, they should not be advertised. It seems like these shows will not be returning to certain ships.

I put that fact in each of my surveys following Grandeur cruises. I've sailed Grandeur five times over four years. There were aerial shows on the first two only.

I'm D+, had dinner with our friends who are Diamond and traveling on Grandeur last night in PC. They were telling me about all the issues and said if this was their first RC cruise, it would be their last. it's a shame it's going so bad and hopefully things improve soon.

Anybody know if and when the aerial shows will return to the the centrum on the grandeur. It's still advertised as a Wow factor for the Grandeur on RCL website.

If the shows with aerialists has been stopped since May 2016, they should not be advertised. It seems like these shows will not be returning to certain ships.

As I posted in another thread, there is a worldwide shortage of qualified riggers. (They are the technicians who make the aerial shows possible).

Royal Caribbean has started its own training program to fix the problem. Supposedly as they graduate riggers they will re-open the shows.

As I posted in another thread, there is a worldwide shortage of qualified riggers. (They are the technicians who make the aerial shows possible).

 

Royal Caribbean has started its own training program to fix the problem. Supposedly as they graduate riggers they will re-open the shows.

Was just typing this. On Serenade Oct-Dec same problem The performers were on ship for months but no Riggers, they sent only one they had to an Oasis class ship. Couldn't do job with only one anyway...

Unfortunately i have to agree with AR1- and let me add that i have been on 23 cruises- at least 5 on the Grandeur and the food was mediocre at best and the worst part is that it was maybe luke warm- no matter whether the main dining room, Chops or the Windjammer. My cabin mate and i did complain to let them know and after the third complaint the main dining room knew who we were and made sure that OUR food was better and was hot- but as i said to the head of Dining Services- that is fine for fixing it for us- what about all of those 2,000 other passengers who were served mediocre and basically cold food? I did not mind the shows- i only went to a few of them. The thing that disappointed me really was the quality and temperature of the food. Just not acceptable. I have never experienced this on the other cruises and i can only think Grandeur has some new chef or kitchen assistants or something because as soon as the food came out the waiter did serve it so it is not like he let it sit around getting cold. I certainly put these complaints in the survey that was sent and the dining services sent up a bottle of wine to the cabin one day and chocolate covered strawberries another- very nice but all i wanted was hot, decent food.