GolfSki

We recently cruised on Freedom from San Juan.  While we loved the itinerary, we also decided that we will not sail from San Juan again.  We experienced the same rude behavior that has been noted in this thread. We also considered buying the dining package to avoid the very inconsiderate "packs" of people that seemed to be everywhere, but seemed particularly bad in the dining room and Windjammer  We did find that going to the MDR earlier (around 6:00pm) was a far better experience than we when we went after 7:30.

Love the ABC islands, I just hope we can sail there from So. FLA in the future.

Hi-

We will be renting a UTV for the day and trying to decide between Arubiana or Off Road Evolution. Both are similar in price for 8 hour rental. Does anyone have experience with either of these companies? Or any other recommendations. We've never been to Aruba before. Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris

We have 9704 for a B2B. We were VERY early in booking when the itineraries were released last week, and were hoping for 1400 or 1700. They were available, but only for 3 or more people, as were the other big corners on deck 7. Royal seems to be enforcing the 3+ rule with the rollout of their new cabin categories, at least early on. Anyway, we had a choice, so I took what I thought was the next best, a corner on deck 9, 9704. I did not know that this cabin only had a regular door and a big port hole window until I looked up 9704 right after booking. I almost called back to change to 9706, but was a little leery of being next to a family suite with a connecting door ( the booking rep let me know about this).

I hope I made the right decision keeping 9704. For an aft it gets mixed reviews. I do like having a corner with neighbors on just one side, and the pictures look like the balcony provides a pretty panoramic view. Plus it is a very port intensive B2B. That said, I guess I still need reassurance that this is a good cabin. Can anyone ease my cognitive dissonance:) ? Either way, the price was great!!

Thanks

Chris

I hope this is correct! I am have been waiting and waiting! They told me about a week ago that it was going to be March 30th. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!!:)

I checked again; it looks like next week, 3/30 like you said

I just called again checking on Freedom/San Juan for Oct 2018 and was told those itineraries will be available on Monday 3/20. That said, I'll keep calling and checking here on CC :D

Chris

I called about an hour ago (10:00pm ish) checking on Freedom, or any other sailings from San Juan and was told not available yet. Latest itinerary is still April 2018. I'll try again tomorrow.

Chris

Thanks for the review! We are waiting for the Fall 2018 itineraries to be released hoping that these same itineraries repeat as we are planning this same B2B. This will be our 1st B2B.

Chris

khm-

Thank you for the reply (and your review). I'll be trying to book an aft on the day they are released in March.

How far out did you have to book to get the corner aft? I am waiting for the Fall 2018 itineraries to be released as we plan on doing a back to back So. Caribbean on Adventure (assuming the 2017 itineraries repeat). I plan on booking as soon as they are released. Do I have to book on day 1, or is there a little wiggle room in case I miss it?

Thanks

Chris

Hi-

Does anyone know if the casino on Grandeur has "Let it Ride"? Love that game. Did *very well* playing on Explorer a couple years ago.

Thanks

Chris

Hi-

I was finally able to book online, but after putting in my credit card and hitting "book", I got a message saying that my reservation or payment info couldn't be viewed. It also says not to re-enter credit card info because it can cause a double booking/payment I was able to pull up a reservation number, but it is showing the reservation as being "on hold". Has anyone had this; I don't want to lose the reservation.

Also, like everyone else, I've been on hold with NCL for well over an hour now.

Thanks

Chris

Does anyone have an experience with booking Grandure for February, Presidents' week out of Baltimore, MD ? It is 11 months from now. Are we more likely to get better prices if we book some time in December/January or does this ship usually gets sold out for Presidents' week? We need two cabins, one balcony and the second one inside or OV that can accommodate three people? Thank You.

Olya1972-

We are going on the Grandeur out of Baltimore during President's week, but in 2016. We have 2 cabins; a panoramic ocean view (supposedly 220sq ft) and an aft JS. I called today and saved $1200 (well, $1190 to be precise) from my original booking. Hold time was quite long, but obviously well worth it. I thought about upgrading the JS to a GS for the same price, but opted for the savings instead.

So easy to do. I just said I wanted to take advantage of the price drop/sale, and boom, done. $1200 to donate to the casino.

Chris

On hold for well over an hour now. Hope it's worth it.

Bob-

I should have added that the price of a regular (D) balcony is $1300pp, so the JS is only $150 more. And an aft. My guess that the balcony price is so high, and correct me if I am wrong, is that the Grandeur just doen't have many balcony cabins, older ship. Supply and demand.

Another option is to do the Quantum, but the inside prices are almost as high as the JS on Grandeur. The Grandeur is not our first choice of ships, but we don't feel like flying to Fla this time, so we are going out of ports where we can drive, Bayonne and Baltimore. There are 5 of us so air fare gets quite expensive. We are thinking of booking one OV and one JS.

Chris

Hi-

I'd like to hear some opinions from those that have been on the Grandeur or other Vision class ships. I am going back and forth between a panoramic ocean view room (220 sq ft) for $929 pp vs an aft Junior Suite (247 sq ft) for $1449 pp. The cruise is an 8 night Bahamas/Key West from Baltimore in February. This is only our 3rd cruise, having been on the Explorer (balcony) 2 years ago and the Freedom (corner aft balcony) this past January. I have to say, we absolutely loved the cabin on Freedom (#1400) and are kind of spoiled on aft cabins now. But as you can see, there is a pretty big price jump here between the OV and the JS. My main reason for questioning my decision is that the panoramic OVs on Grandeur are listed at 220 sq feet. Not a bad size for the price.

Anyway, i look forward to and appreciate any opinions you may have.

Thanks

Chris

We will have the replenish package in March. Where do you get Espresso, Cappuccino, Lattes since they are not covered from Starbucks?

Tpnaida-

I had the replenish package and Starbucks did honor the package. I got cappuccinos, lattes everyday and they were always free under the replenish package. N/A frozen drinks also included at all bars/venues. No problems whatsoever

We were not impressed at all with Mike the cruise director or his assistant Belle. (Her name is something like that.) She was very annoying. Together they did not make a very good team at all in my opinion.

Fox-

We were on Freedom recently and felt the same way. "Annoying" is the word we used to describe her as well. Other posters have said that she was all over the ship, which is true. She did work much harder than Mike Hunnerup (who I thought was boring). It seems that most people like them though.

What's funny is I have seen quite a few people on here bash Jimmy Rhodes as a cruise director. I loved him. I thought that he and his assistant (Marvin?) were hilarious on their TV show. Reminded me of the Wayans Bros. on the old TV show "In Living Color"

I liked the carrot cake on night 1. Key lime pie also good, but I like almost all key lime pie. I thought the tiramisu was pretty good, not as good as Portofinino's (excellent!), but ok for MDR dessert

Chris

We are just off Freedom and did MTD. It was excellent. We went at the same time every night (our choice), had a table for 2 and had the same wait staff every night. We requested the same wait staff, they were great.

We were never rushed, actually we controlled the pace of dinner. If we wanted to get out fast for a show, we did. If we wanted a more leisurely dinner, we had that. The thing about the two-tops is that while they are separate tables, they are very close to each other so if you want conversation with others it is there. When we (or our neighbors) wanted a little conversation, we would. When we wanted to be alone, we were. I liked not having to try to force conversation with tablemates, o r dine at their pace. Or them at ours.

Again, we had a great experience, got to know the waiters (loved that they called us by our first names after the 1st night as soon as we arrived) and had just phenomenal service. We will always go MTD from now on,

Chris

This reminds me of my recent cruise, though the group that won frequently was not necessarily "cheating", they had probably been on enough cruises to remember all of the questions. They were winning by wide margins.

They were definitely veteran cruisers. I think their first cruise was on the Mayflower.

Chris

I was also on that sailing and agree with most of the comments. Finis (singer/impersonator) was incredible, ice show great, comedian really good. We also enjoyed the Temperature Band who played in Olive or Twist at night. The singer in Bull & Bear was also good. The keyboardist/singer in the Schooner bar was awful (in my opinion). What was with the Captain (as in Captain and Tenille) hat? He butchered a lot of good songs.

I did not see any win a cruise bingo games. They had quite few 1 game sessions (for one $500 prize). Bingo has gotten pretty expensive. No issue with seating in Windjammer as previous posters have said. I though MDR food was good, not fantastic, but good. I thought the crab cake app they had one night (Friday?) was the best app of the week, better than the crab cake at Chops. Chops was good; the filet really good, but I would avoid the porterhouse. Definiitely not "steakhouse" quality, more like supermarket.

As for the cruise director, Mike Hunnerup, I was quite underwhelmed by him. Honestly, neither he, nor his assistant Belle, added anything to our cruise exprerience. Granted, a cruise director does not make or break my vacation, but Mike really did nothing to enhance it. I found him rather boring.

Another comment, they really should add a couple more Coke machines. They are only located in the Windjammer and outside Sorrento's at one end of the Promenade. Maybe add a couple on each side of pool deck and the other end of the promenade.

Ship, service, amenities were all fantastic. Can't wait to go again.

Chris

I am just off Freedom. I agree that it is very convenient, however the downside is that many people are too lazy to drop the towels in the bins as they leave the pool deck and just leave the towels on the chairs giving the appearance that the chairs are taken. Add that to the chair hogs and it could become an issue.

Chris

Here is what the website listed when I purchased:

Pay one set price and enjoy Premium coffee, premium tea, bottled water: sparkling (375ml) or still (500ml), fresh squeezed orange juice, non-alcoholic cocktails and fountain soda with Coca Cola® souvenir cup.

Includes: Premium coffee, premium tea, frozen drinks, non-alcoholic cocktails, fountain sodas and juices

The inclusion of frozen drinks (and bottled sparkling water, San Pellegrino I believe) is what made me decide to do the Royal Replenish over the regular soda package. Fresh OJ in the morning is a bonus too.

Honestly, when I saw the $280 total for the two of us for the week, I thought that was steep for N/A drinks. But I figure a couple virgin coladas, lava flows a day, plus OJ in am, a few bottles of San Pellegino, and a latte or two, (well, you get the picture) it will be worth it.

Chris

Don't know if it's already been mentioned on here, but the Royal Replenish package is now available online. I just pre-ordered and paid for it for our Freedom cruise in 2 weeks.

Chris

Thanks for the replies everyone. I may try to change to 6:45 or 7:00 once on board, but I may just keep 7:30 knowing I can be done in time for the shows.

Thanks