leaveitallbehind

Whether it slides or you have to lift, yes your luggage will fit under the bed. I haven't been on Grandeur since the refurb so I'm not sure about the showers

Our shower on Grandeur post refurb had a curtain.

Effective January 1, there will no longer be smoking permitted on any balconies. Typically, smoking will be limited to the casino and usually one side of the pool deck.

Below is a link to the FAQ's section on RCI's website for "On Board Policies" which has several tabs describing the smoking policies on board:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/subject.do?snav=2&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Policies&faqSubjectId=333&pnav=5

In our experience any limitation would be driven by the airlines luggage weight and cost, and our convenience. RCI has no specific guidelines. Keep in mind that the ships provide laundry and dry cleaning services on board.

Another trick that sometimes helps is to leave your luggage open. It usually reduces the height by a couple inches.

Ours is zippered at the top so the additional gain is minimal - but we do that anyway as we use the under the bed luggage for our dirty laundry storage - and rapid end of the week packing - during the cruise.

Grandeur restricted that option even with the consideration you mention.

The specific policy regarding wine to be brought on board is 2 bottles maximum of 750ml per stateroom at original embarkation only.

Any other alcohol or wine purchased at a port of call after original embarkation will be held by the ship and returned on the final night prior to disembarkation.

As mentioned no bottles of liquor can be purchased on board for consumption in your stateroom. Only the wine originally brought on board can be consumed in your stateroom. You of course can bring any glass of wine, alcoholic drink, or bottle / can of beer purchased at the bars on board to your stateroom.

Edited to add: You can also take your wine to the MDR at dinner if you like, but it will be subject to a $25 corkage fee. (This would be true with bottles taken to any venue that sells alcohol). But you can certainly take a glass of wine with you anywhere on the ship - including the MDR for dinner - at no charge.

Have you ever not been able to store under the bed?

Actually Grandeur - to the OP's question - is one of the ships we've experienced with limited under the bed storage. On our Grandeur cruise this past July we had a D2 balcony room and the bed was quite low to the ground limiting the vertical room for storage underneath. You could lift the end of the bed and place certain luggage underneath but is was not possible to slide the large suitcases under as with other ships. Can't say for the OP's room, however.

This is the only ship as I recall that we experienced this with, however.

Has anyone stay in cabin 2052...if so how's the bedding and can you fit your luggage under the bed..is there enough of storage...is there a shower curtain or a door.

Agree with the need to understand what ship, but in most cases in our RCI experience suitcases will fit under the beds. As to shower curtains v. doors, that is more ship specific.

When a woman marries, her maiden name should become her "middle" name....that "bridges" the gap. I've never brought my marriage certificate! No married womans name will match her BC.

 

So, Mary Lynn Smith marries John Doe.....She becomes Mary Smith Doe.

But maybe not all women want to retain their maiden name as a "middle" or (more commonly) hyphenated last name. It just isn't necessary. It's also common practice that regardless of the married name taken, that a woman would have here ID reflect her married name. (Driver's license, passport, etc.) It is not a difficult process.

My wife adopted the more traditional practiced of taking my last name in marriage and all of her relevant ID since then reflects that. In over 30 years of travel we have never needed to use a marriage certificate as a form of ID.

Old naval saying is because they need more upkeep :D

Very good!

BTW - just found this thread with a link to a long but comprehensive video of Grandeur from May '13 if you would be interested.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1948475

My husband and I will be sailing on the Grandeur. While we are not new to cruising, this will be our first cruise with RCCL. Some questions:

 

- Is there Lobster Night? If so, which night.

- This is an 8 day cruise, there will be 2 formal nights. Are they the first and 2nd to last sea days?

- Specialty dining: is a discount offered for embarkation night?

 

Thank you in advance!

In order as I can:

Lobster night - yes (actually called "fishermans platter"), on the second formal night.

Formal nights - yes, two. Not necessarily sea days by usually night two and I think night five or six? Maybe someone else can confirm.

Specialty dining - typically yes, discount offered on sailaway night.

Grandeur is a wonderful ship - especially since her recent refurb. Those enhancements include the poolside big screen, Centrum Aerial Act, specialty restaurants that now include Chops, Giovanni's Table, Izumi's, Chef's Table, and Park Café. There is also a dedicated Concierge Lounge which would be available to you if you are booking a Grand Suite or higher. (and a Diamond Club, which is reserved to Diamond and higher level Crown & Anchor loyalty members). Great crew as well. Enjoy your cruise!

We were able to go into our suite right away on the Allure and it wAs ready at noon!

While it has also been our experience that the rooms have been available prior to 1:00 on some of our cruises, they do not have a policy of staggered or preferential times for suites v. standard staterooms - all staterooms will be available at or about the same time. And while, as others have indicated, you may find a stateroom attendant who will allow you to hang your garments if being carried prior to the rooms being ready, this is not SOP or based on suite v. standard bookings.

Just like the booking/check-in, those 18-21 can also buy alcohol onboard in line with local terms in Australia and some other regions.

Which is separate from the minimum booking age discussion. But to that point, the RCI policy regarding consuming alcohol on board varies by region of departure as follows:

"The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America is eighteen (18).

The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America remains at twenty-one (21). Any sailing that includes a US port the minimum drinking age is 21, even when orginating in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated. The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification".

But the alcohol consumption policy is consistent with the booking age policy as previously posted by kimberley.

Just a guess but since most of the cheap, short weekend cruises are based out of the US they are looking to reduce the number of partying college students on board. They still do allow 18 year olds on board by themselves, they just have to be married. Classic case of a few bad apples ruining it for everyone.

IMO, typically, "partying college students" means drinking. However, in order to check in and board, you need to show valid ID which would confirm your age. If you are under 21 your SeaPass card will be tagged to identify that so that you won't be able to purchase alcohol on board. So unless the underage college students are able to smuggle alcohol on board, the partying college students won't be able to party very successfully. And during spring break cruises in particular, the security at check in looking for smuggled alcohol typically is tighter. I realize some booze can be smuggled on board - not my point - I guess I'm not so sure that this is the reason for the 21 age rule.

You can also book through a TA. The stateroom prices are the same either way.

Just do the math:

Spring break + short affordable 3 night cruise = college kid's vacation.

College kid's vacation = booze cruise.

I love to watch the port webcams, especially at arrival and departure times. I wish that they would add other ports such as Tampa and Boston.

So far they have Aruba, Bermuda, Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Key West, Miami, New York, and Port Canaveral that I am aware of.

how do you function out in the real world? why do you think it's up there by the diamond lounge? so the big money dilberts can smoke their cigars and drink their scotch away from the masses.

The Diamond Club is located on deck 14 in the Viking Crown lounge. The Connoisseur Club is located on deck 5 as Merion_Mom pointed out with her posted deck plan. That's where we money dilberts smoke our cigars. We drink our free scotch in the Diamond Club.:D

RCI announced it on their Facebook page and this article confirms as well!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5624

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Thank you - this is the source I was looking for.

Interesting - what is your source? Not sure those on this thread would agree with you.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947040

If you book on board you would be booking a specific itinerary and typically would benefit by a reduced deposit and would get and OBC. You can also purchase a future cruise certificate for the same amount as the reduced deposit as well as get also the OBC. With this, however, you can select a cruise at anytime in the future at with whatever itinerary - and cruise rate - you choose at that time. Both style bookings are also transferable to a TA.

To your other point, the base stateroom rate from RCI or a TA will be the same - RCI does not allow discounting of the base stateroom rate through a TA. The TA may - out of their booking commission - offer OBC's or other perks as a booking incentive. Some TA's also charge separate fees for originating, modifying, changing, or cancelling a booking. (These TA's IMO should be avoided for this reason as many do not charge these separate fees). That could account for the differences you experienced.

When we went to a beach on our stop at Roatan last year we were bombarded with vendors selling things and wanting to give massages. Is that often avoided on the private islands mentioned in this thread?

Both RCI locations are secure and controlled by RCI, so there is none of what you refer to. While both RCI locations have "straw markets" with vendors selling souvenirs, etc., they are isolated to a given area that you either go to or not. They do not wander around and bother you with their wares.

CocoCay is a very small island in the Bahamas that does have housing for a number of employees. But everyone - and everything else - is brought in off the ship. The closest "populated" island (with an airport) is about 5 miles away and there are employees and goods that can be boated in from there.

Labadee is a peninsula on the northern coast of Haiti that has similar housing on site as well. However, more local Haitian employees come in and out of the property daily when ships are in port. But the area is fenced, guarded, and secure so that only those employed there can enter. The nearest city with a port and airport is about 5 miles away.

I guess it really depends on what your interests are and what you want to get from your port calls. If seeing different islands that you have never been to with different people and culture is your goal, then perhaps the private islands may not be as appealing. But they too offer some diversity from your normal routine as they are located in places you probably haven't been to before.

Our personal experience is that we very much enjoy - in our case - the RCI locations and have been to both a number of times. They always provide a nice beach escape while still offering a number of activities if you are interested.

We like - and have been fortunate to have visited most of - the Caribbean and Bahamas Islands and always enjoy those ports of call. But we also enjoy the itineraries that include either CocoCay (Bahamas) or Labadee (Haiti) as they are two of our favorite stops. Those itineraries give us the best of both.

Sorry if I wasn't clear - by check in I meant with the porters for your luggage.

Uh this is incorrect information you MUST use locks that the airlines (unless master locks for luggage have this) who have a master key can open, if you don't they will cut off your locks never to be seen again. I know because I learned this the hard way! Yep lost my locks and learned the lesson.

Well just consider the source - frequently posts incorrect or inaccurate information.

I point this out only to second your comments as TSA can and will open any suitcase they feel the need to, and non-TSA locks certainly won't prevent that - may possibly even create the reason to look closer.