mad-dog74

That was an awesome review! I just booked a cruise on harmony last night for next summer so this HIT THE SPOT!

Thanks so much

For me the best is French Onion Soup, and Roasted Turkey.

Beef dishes are good too...

In Windjammer I really like the chicken parm.

Dessert would be cheesecake and key lime pie. My wife LOVES the coconut cookies.

I asked about the drink cards too and was told they were only sold on the second at sea day. I asked someone else about it and she didn't know. In fact everyone I encountered aside from my state room attendant was on their first contract.

 

So this was my third time on the Grandeur with the last time being in 2007. What has changed? Well there are some leaks around the boat that have a trashcan underneath them to catch the water (The big one being on the pool deck). There is a big cracked pane of glass surrounded by caution tape by the pool as well. This stuff won't probably fixed until the next dry-dock session and considering the age of the ship and the amount of abuse it sustains, it is no big deal.

 

I don't seem to remember bingo being $20 to play one game. The bingo can be played on a tablet and basically the tablet marks the card for you :confused:. Also, what happened to the midnight buffet? Apparently sometime in the last 9 years they went away. I never liked eating at them, but the ice carving and watermelon carvings were really cool. I asked a few workers about it and they thought I was nuts. At least the towel animals are still around. My son loved that.

 

The worst thing is Internet. You used to be able to use the PCs in the centrum for 30 minutes for $5. That was perfect for emailing family to let them know how things are going. Now its $17 a day for wifi. It is actually cheaper to make a minute phone call from the room :rolleyes:. The ship's engine trouble opened these up for free so that we could make arrangements, which was nice (the free access and not the engine trouble).

 

This was my son's first cruise. He absolutely hated the kids area. I felt bad leaving him there for an hour of me time. It is really small and the listed activities aren't exactly possible in the confined space. Thankfully there were 3 channels with kid shows. One of them had Magilla Gorilla, Top Cat, and other cartoons that my parents grew up with. My son really enjoyed the old cartoons and the movies at the pool. I don't recall that screen being there 9 years ago, so that was a great addition!

 

Other notes:

1. Casual dress in the MDR is extremely casual. Sure go ahead and wear socks with crocs. :p
   
2. Everyone had the soda package or liquor package but us. People had a death grip on the soda cups and the $25 towels.
   
3. Apparently they let you bring your own wine on the ship and will cork it for you for free. I don't drink wine, but I don't recall that being allowed years ago.
   
4. Bermuda is nice, but we weren't there for long. I don't think it is possible to see St. George based on the arrival and departure schedule.
   
5. Paul Rudder reminds me of Eugene Levy
   

 

 

For the most part, I think the ship has held up great. I definitely recommend it for anyone over 21. I think there are better options for kids.

Well said--- that is why we left our kids at home. They went on their own vacation with grandparents, so we did not feel bad. Our kids would have been disappointed after sailing on Allure and Freedom, but for just my wife and myself,we accomplished our goal of a getaway with plenty of R&R.

As far as the big leak, we noticed that on deck 9 portside, water was pouring thru the roof. At one point, it must of tripped the breakers... as all the lights went out in tat section (come to think of it, it was during the big T-Shirt sale). I figured this was was from the big crack on Deck 10... did you notice the big rubber mat that had been bolted down... If you looked close, you could see a huge crack all the way across and even up on the railings. On our return sea day, I even saw a security guard up there with rope securing the railing some more.

I also noticed a window (aft starboard at elevators) Cant remember if it was deck 9 or 10... it was where the soundboard was for the centrum ariel show. That whole window was shattered... they had it taped up on the inside and caution tape on the outside.

In all honesty, I was expecting some kind of OBC for the engine trouble and late arrival. We were on Freedom last year when it caught on fire. While it was an inconvenience, being at muster for a couple hours, by no means did it really interfere with anyones departure plans. This delay on Grandeur affected departure plans! On Freedom, we got $150 OBC per cabin and free internet and phones... Those who had the internet package got a credit for a free day... mostly because of the mass number of people using the FREE internet it made it impossible for the paying customers to use it. I had the internet package on Grandeur also. It was impossible for me to use the internet during the afternoon/evening of the engine trouble announcement. I guess that is up to each individual captain. While insurance should take care of airfare arrangements, etc. I am sure the delay cost some people some extra $$.

I'm also considering the all access your for our March sailing. Did one on Monarch 4 years ago but would love to see one of the larger ships. Can't quite wrap my head around the $150pp price tag though. On Monarch it was $75 and they had a BOGO sale on it. 4 of us for $150 total, now we are looking at $600.

It is pricey for sure! I bought it for my parents on Allure 2 years ago and they LOVED it. It was around 3 hours and they basically went everywhere behind the scenes.

I had read a post earlier that they put them into the large bins with wheels that employees will take back up to the top.

I saw a bin on a youtube video. That is what made me wonder. I would then guess there is a service elevator close by

We are knocking around the idea of surprising the kids with a Harmony cruise next summer. My splurge to myself may be the All-Access Tour.

Leave it up to me to ask such a un-important question, but I cannot find the answer.

On Harmony's Abyss slides, how to they get the mats back up to the top?

We are leaving in 12 days on the Grandeur for a 9 day Bermuda-Bahama cruise. Not too excited about Nassau but ports really are not that important to my DH and me since we love the cruise experience. This will be our first RCCI cruise as Diamond Members so that is exciting for us. We like the smaller, quieter ships too. We also find eating in the Windjammer for supper very relaxing and much quieter than the Main Dining Room. We rarely go to the Dinning Room. We are just a couple of old people who enjoy peace and quiet and relaxing and people watching. This is our first time on the Grandeur and we are looking forward to it. One question. Do they show movies anyplace on sea days?

I can do Windjammer some... but after 2-3x I am ready for the main dining room... ready to be waited on. Windjammer can be crowed and chaos unless you find the off-peak times to go.

I'm always glad to read another take on the Grandeur of the Seas.

 

Reinforces my belief that she is the worst ship in the fleet! :D

I would disagree... she may be one of the older ships, but she is in good shape. The CD was the worst in the fleet. I have nothing bad to say about the ship. She's great for what she is... If you are wanting R&R then Grandeur is of you, if you want activity, and on the go all the time, then Oasis class may be better.

Thanks for the report, Grandeur is still on our bucket list.

And Grandeur is still a great ship for R&R

Great trip report, thank you! We leave later this month on the Grandeur. Did you happen to notice if drink cards were sold? We're not inclined to do the packages but the punch card is intriguing. If offered, how early in the cruise did it come out?

 

My understanding is that there's a Kids club onboard. Why were the kids you observed unhappy?

 

Thank you again!

I did observe a couple drink cards... I hear that they are selective and you have to find the right bartender who will sell you one. TONS of people now have the drink packages. I also commented several times that I feel that through the years, bar service is a lot slower because of the drink packages... not so much because of the amount of drinks, but I think it is because of tips... I saw very few people leave an additional tip. Without the package you would be more inclined to tip an extra buck here and there. That's just my take on it. Drinks were still great, strong, bartenders were friendly... just seemed a little slower now to get waited on.

There was a kids club. From the few people I talked to, there just wasn't a lot of FUN stuff planned to keep them entertained. It was nothing like the AO on Freedom or Allure for sure.

Just returned home and I am rocking and rolling at my desk... partially because there was a lot of movement the last night before we entered the Chesapeake Bay.

Grandeur is in great shape for the age. We had no problem with the ship itself. I found that park Cafe was in a very awkward place and felt like it should have been more centrally located. It was an afterthought for sure... or "hey, lets just stick it here."

The staff were very friendly... great service! Food was typical RCCL... some things we liked, some things we didn't but food was no worse or no better than any other RCCL ship we have been on.

We really have no complaints because we knew going in, it was an older, smaller ship. We wanted some time for R&R... with no schedules and we achieved that. My biggest concern was there were first time RCCL families with kids who had unhappy kids because of the lack of activities, or no energy activities. I tried to tell them not to assume all RCCL ships are that way... Oasis class and even Freedom are far better.

With that being said, I am betting that RCCL doesn't know that Paul Rudder is a cruise director on Grandeur. He is a great guy, we talked to him some, but he just lacks the energy that every other CD we've experienced. He seems more like the cruise funeral director. On the other hand, Andre (activities manager) was very entertaining and he should be promoted to CD in my opinion... I told him that on the way out!

The delay this AM arriving was no big deal to us as we were driving. I'm sure several people were more inconvienenced because of re-aranging flights, etc.

If anyone happened to be on this cruise, I'm sure your saw and ran into the 82 year old who "had fun wherever she went". She was an absolute ball and one can only hope they can have that much fun at 82. I will always remember her! I talked to her several times throughout the week.

One more thing that comes to mind was the rude lady in Windjammer who totally blessed out a couple waiters for moving her sea pass and Starbucks cup off the table she was saving. She was adamant that she put them there and the waiters moved them. They tried to tell her that no one moved them and those people had been sitting there for a few minutes. Still, she continued to humiliate them. She was just a total ASS. I felt so bad for the waiters. They were great and had given us great service just moments before. I watched as she stormed off ]. She looked around and then realized her sea pass and Starbucks cup were safe... just totally opposite of where she was... and no... she didn't offer an apology. It was so much of a scene that an officer came up to the guests at that table and talked to them about the situation.

Arriving back at 9:30 am which is one hour sooner. Said the technical issue with engine was fixed after midnight and was able to make up an hour.

Almost home now- just passed under the 695 bridge

No issues whatsoever- it was something that happened to an engine around noon today. The captain has said that that they are trying to resolve the issue but as of now they have been unable to.

On board right now. Captain made announcement a couple hours ago that we are going to be at least 10:30 arriving in Baltimore. Technical issues with an engine and unable to make necessary speed.

i agree.. from experience... a double stroller (side by side) would be a nightmare. Your better option is 2 small umbrella strollers.

Regardless of how wide the hallways are, you'd have issues almost everywhere you went. Even getting on a elevator would be tough.

Thanks for the insight. I figured that's the way it was. I was able to buy the internet at 30% off which I did and cancelled my previously purchased full price internet.

Just a few questions about how the C&A ultimate value coupons work if you have already pre-purchased certain things.

For example:

Are the drink coupons (BOGO and 10% discount) basically useless if you buy a drink package?

Internet package discount useless if you pre-purchase internet package before cruise?

Spa discount and photo discount if pre-purchased?

I just wasn't sure if they'd apply the discounts or not.

There are beaches on Labadee with no rocks

I noticed the time change... I've never been on a cruise where the ship changed time... when going to western Caribbean and time falls back, you are always told to stay on ship time. I see, the Grandeur changes time. Recon it is because of being in port overnight?

Thanks for the compasses... we are doing this exact itinerary in 3 weeks so they were most helpful.

excited for your unique take on things. We will be on Grandeur in 3 weeks. Anxious for your review.

If you pre-purchased a internet package, will they give the C&A discount once onboard?

I take it this

 

 

 

is a one-hit deal, as in you can only use it once?

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They should offer something in it's place for those who have drink packages.

Really? Unnecessary response.

Yeah, its funny but you walked into that one! There have been tons of threads about this. If cash is something you didn't want to do, then I'd suggest some gum, mints, candy, etc. Something actually that can be used instead of some trinket.

Internet performance is all relative - compared to Quantum and Oasis class, internet on Grandeur still sucks.

No.... internet on the Freedom last summer SUCKED! :D:eek:

Looking for a getaway while docked.... don't want a long drive or commute to Horseshoe Beach or Warwick.

Don't really want to go to Snorkel Park but looking for somewhere with chair rentals. I read where Black Bay Beach now offers chair rentals, etc. and I know it is close proximity to the Dockyard.

Anyone have info on visiting Black Bay Beach, prices for chair rental, and is it a descent spot?