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Just off the Grandeur... pros/cons, and willing to answer any questions!


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We traveled on the Grandeur 8/24 9-night Bermuda/Bahamas sailing and it was absolutely fantastic. We are a family of four with a 4 and 6 year old, the 6 year old has celiac disease that requires a strict gluten-free diet (I plan on writing a separate post all about this). We could not have been more happy with our experience on this ship and are planning on going back next year.

 

Pros

*The staff in general - everyone that worked on this ship was absolutely amazing, so positive and helpful. It really felt like a huge family by the end of the trip, staff members hugging my kids to say goodbye...they're great! So many people knew our name, our kids felt like celebrities.

*Kid's club staff - their patience, kindness, and sweetness to little kids was fantastic, they are worth every penny they are paid.

*The ports were great, we even loved Nassau (we walked to Junkanoo beach), CocoCay was a relaxing, wonderful place, I wish we were there for two days

*We ate dinner at Giovanni's table twice and it was delicious, the view, the service, the food, AMAZING!

*We had two adjoining cabins and it was so great to have the extra space and bathroom, the room was kept clean

 

Cons

*We LOVED movies at the pool at night but on a 9 night cruise there were only 4 movies that repeated (there was one that was PG-13 that we couldn't go to). There isn't a ton of things that kids would love in the evening and this is one of them, why not some more variety?

*Lack of things to do for older kids. We witnessed a lot of tweens/teens bored out of their minds, hanging under stairs, running around, especially on the last two days at sea...

*Similarly, a lack of parents keeping an eye on their kids around the ship, even younger ones. For example, at the rock wall, there were a group of kids (7/8 years old) that would get off the wall and jump to the front of the line without any parents around to tell them that they shouldn't. This made for an awkward situation for the people running the rock wall, it wasn't their place to discipline these kids but they didn't want to ruin the experience for other people.

*Though the service and overall experience of the main dining room exceeded our expectations, the food was average most nights. Delicious, but nothing to write home about, especially the desserts which didn't seem rich or decadent enough to justify the calories :D

*Kid's club sign-in/out procedures - everything is automated with SeaPass cards but the kids club was a painful paper and pen sign-in process that could take up to 20-30 minutes of lining up for, there has to be a better way!

 

 

I plan on writing an official review and a post about dining gluten-free on this ship at some point but I'm happy to answer any questions about this ship anyone might have, especially from a parent-with-small-kids perspective :)

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We were on the same cruise.

 

Yes, the staff is amazing.

 

No kids, so none of that applied. But I did not see any issues with the teen/tween crowd.

 

We did not see any of the movies, but would have liked to see Guardians Vol 2 again, but were busy.

 

I don't know what you had in the MDR, but our meals very quite good. the garlic Tiger Prawns on night 7 were PHENOMENAL. The MDR desserts were also good. The WJ desserts were mostly more looks that taste. But the bread pudding was good. And the last day, they had a mega apple pie by the entrance, that was very good. And desserts in Giovanni's and Chops were excellent.

 

We were not that impressed with Giovanni's. The food quality was fine, but we felt the menu selection was a bit strange.

 

You may be "planning" to go back next year, we already booked the same trip sailing 8/16/18. :D

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We were on the same cruise.

 

Yes, the staff is amazing.

 

No kids, so none of that applied. But I did not see any issues with the teen/tween crowd.

 

We did not see any of the movies, but would have liked to see Guardians Vol 2 again, but were busy.

 

I don't know what you had in the MDR, but our meals very quite good. the garlic Tiger Prawns on night 7 were PHENOMENAL. The MDR desserts were also good. The WJ desserts were mostly more looks that taste. But the bread pudding was good. And the last day, they had a mega apple pie by the entrance, that was very good. And desserts in Giovanni's and Chops were excellent.

 

We were not that impressed with Giovanni's. The food quality was fine, but we felt the menu selection was a bit strange.

 

You may be "planning" to go back next year, we already booked the same trip sailing 8/16/18. :D

 

Too funny, that's the sailing we're looking at too. Don't get me wrong, I'm nit-picking, we were ridiculously pleased with our experience and gave great reviews on our RCL survey, I'm just sharing our opinions. We were in Giovani's on the 7th night so we missed those delicious-sounding prawns! :) I love chocolate and cheesecake desserts and both were "eh" in MDR (and WJ at lunch). None of the cheesecakes all week had graham cracker crust and all had a cakey-flavorless crust. Again, teeny tiny things that seem so embarrassing to point out given how fantastic the cruise is, but I appreciated all of the positive and negative reviews I read so I thought I'd throw them out there.

 

I'm actually happy to hear you didn't notice the bored kids around the ship, I think I'm super-sensitive to it because I have little kids and wonder what traveling with them will be like in the future... on two occasions I heard older people getting frustrated with kids around the boat shouting things like "where are your parents??" and "you can't run around the ship, it belongs to everyone, not just you" and I cringed for everyone involved.

 

Again, awesome time, such a well-run, happy ship, we weren't sure if cruising was for us but we're absolutely hooked!

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We traveled on the Grandeur 8/24 9-night Bermuda/Bahamas sailing and it was absolutely fantastic. We are a family of four with a 4 and 6 year old, the 6 year old has celiac disease that requires a strict gluten-free diet (I plan on writing a separate post all about this). We could not have been more happy with our experience on this ship and are planning on going back next year.

 

Pros

*The staff in general - everyone that worked on this ship was absolutely amazing, so positive and helpful. It really felt like a huge family by the end of the trip, staff members hugging my kids to say goodbye...they're great! So many people knew our name, our kids felt like celebrities.

*Kid's club staff - their patience, kindness, and sweetness to little kids was fantastic, they are worth every penny they are paid.

*The ports were great, we even loved Nassau (we walked to Junkanoo beach), CocoCay was a relaxing, wonderful place, I wish we were there for two days

*We ate dinner at Giovanni's table twice and it was delicious, the view, the service, the food, AMAZING!

*We had two adjoining cabins and it was so great to have the extra space and bathroom, the room was kept clean

 

Cons

*We LOVED movies at the pool at night but on a 9 night cruise there were only 4 movies that repeated (there was one that was PG-13 that we couldn't go to). There isn't a ton of things that kids would love in the evening and this is one of them, why not some more variety?

*Lack of things to do for older kids. We witnessed a lot of tweens/teens bored out of their minds, hanging under stairs, running around, especially on the last two days at sea...

*Similarly, a lack of parents keeping an eye on their kids around the ship, even younger ones. For example, at the rock wall, there were a group of kids (7/8 years old) that would get off the wall and jump to the front of the line without any parents around to tell them that they shouldn't. This made for an awkward situation for the people running the rock wall, it wasn't their place to discipline these kids but they didn't want to ruin the experience for other people.

*Though the service and overall experience of the main dining room exceeded our expectations, the food was average most nights. Delicious, but nothing to write home about, especially the desserts which didn't seem rich or decadent enough to justify the calories :D

*Kid's club sign-in/out procedures - everything is automated with SeaPass cards but the kids club was a painful paper and pen sign-in process that could take up to 20-30 minutes of lining up for, there has to be a better way!

 

 

I plan on writing an official review and a post about dining gluten-free on this ship at some point but I'm happy to answer any questions about this ship anyone might have, especially from a parent-with-small-kids perspective :)

 

Thanks for your post. I have booked that cruise for next May. It is my first Royal Caribbean cruise although have cruised with about 5 cruise lines and been round the world. Really looking forward to my RCI experience.

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Thanks for your post. I have booked that cruise for next May. It is my first Royal Caribbean cruise although have cruised with about 5 cruise lines and been round the world. Really looking forward to my RCI experience.

 

Good choice... but if you are coming all the way from the UK wouldn't you rather take a cruise on one of her sister ships from Florida?

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Thanks for the post. I'm taking my kids on grandeur in march.

 

I'm a bit concerned about the comments about the teens. I have a 16 and 15 year old and don't want them to be bored. But then it hit me that teenagers can be so different it may have been those particular teenagers that weren't into anything being offered. I plan on bringing card games, Yahtzee etc and know my kids will enjoy just hanging out with me doing things like that. And they are excited about the rock wall.

 

Do they do things like trivia, bingo, or the silly things where they teach you a dance? I know it sounds funny but my kids would get a kick out of it. They are pretty laid back and can have fun doing most things.

 

 

 

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Thanks for the post. I'm taking my kids on grandeur in march.

 

I'm a bit concerned about the comments about the teens. I have a 16 and 15 year old and don't want them to be bored. But then it hit me that teenagers can be so different it may have been those particular teenagers that weren't into anything being offered. I plan on bringing card games, Yahtzee etc and know my kids will enjoy just hanging out with me doing things like that. And they are excited about the rock wall.

 

Do they do things like trivia, bingo, or the silly things where they teach you a dance? I know it sounds funny but my kids would get a kick out of it. They are pretty laid back and can have fun doing most things.

 

 

 

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They do have things like trivia and bingo, and there are a ton of cheesy dance parties which I'm sure they'll love. I tried poking my head into the "Teen club" and saw some kids playing video games, I didn't want to linger because I thought I'd look creepy :) The things I pointed out were on days 8 and 9 which were both "at sea" towards the end so I'm wondering if everyone just lost their excitement for ship activities. The rock wall was great but the hours were limited, 3 hours here and there (almost always during kids club which was annoying for us with little ones). None of the teens seemed miserable, it just struck me when I saw a group of them lying on their bellies in a circle under the stairs on level 4 that I thought they seemed a little desperate to come up with ways to entertain themselves.

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They do have things like trivia and bingo, and there are a ton of cheesy dance parties which I'm sure they'll love. I tried poking my head into the "Teen club" and saw some kids playing video games, I didn't want to linger because I thought I'd look creepy :) The things I pointed out were on days 8 and 9 which were both "at sea" towards the end so I'm wondering if everyone just lost their excitement for ship activities. The rock wall was great but the hours were limited, 3 hours here and there (almost always during kids club which was annoying for us with little ones). None of the teens seemed miserable, it just struck me when I saw a group of them lying on their bellies in a circle under the stairs on level 4 that I thought they seemed a little desperate to come up with ways to entertain themselves.

 

 

 

Actually being the mom of 2 teens things like them lying in a circle doesn't surprise me. Teens can do weird things [emoji23].

 

 

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Good choice... but if you are coming all the way from the UK wouldn't you rather take a cruise on one of her sister ships from Florida?

 

I have a 14 day Carribbean booked in January. I used to work for British Airways so have travelled extensively and can use my staff travel. I liked this itinerary as you have an overnight in Bermuda. I used to love going there when I was flying. Thanks for your comment.

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Does anyone happen to know who the "house band" (i.e. the band that plays in the Centrum in the evenings) will be in October? Hubs and I dance and have had hit and miss experiences with the Centrum band over the past couple of cruises. LOVED Fresh Beat who were onboard in the spring of 2016. Sailed with Nexus 4 this past March, and while they were entertaining, were hard to dance to. Appreciate any information as to who we can expect to hear when we board on October 19, and any opinions, professional or not, on the danceable quality of their music. Thanks!

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Just want to say that the staff can make a great cruise, especially with so many sea days. The staff on Grandeur is one of the best, which is one of the reasons I keep sailing with them. I definitely like the bigger, newer ships, but sailing on Grandeur is like spending time with family (in a good way).

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I really don't understand the reticence of the staff to tell folks not to "cut in line" or "hog chairs", or keep the kids out of the adult pool! It's aggravating to see staff look past bad behavior...and since there are more folks who DO adhere to the rules, it would certainly make the majority happy to see them enforce the rules!

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Does anyone happen to know who the "house band" (i.e. the band that plays in the Centrum in the evenings) will be in October? Hubs and I dance and have had hit and miss experiences with the Centrum band over the past couple of cruises. LOVED Fresh Beat who were onboard in the spring of 2016. Sailed with Nexus 4 this past March, and while they were entertaining, were hard to dance to. Appreciate any information as to who we can expect to hear when we board on October 19, and any opinions, professional or not, on the danceable quality of their music. Thanks!

 

Nexus 4 was the band in July.

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I really don't understand the reticence of the staff to tell folks not to "cut in line" or "hog chairs", or keep the kids out of the adult pool! It's aggravating to see staff look past bad behavior...and since there are more folks who DO adhere to the rules, it would certainly make the majority happy to see them enforce the rules!

 

 

Totally agree!

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I have a 14 day Carribbean booked in January. I used to work for British Airways so have travelled extensively and can use my staff travel. I liked this itinerary as you have an overnight in Bermuda. I used to love going there when I was flying. Thanks for your comment.

 

Also, if you arrive in Baltimore early, you have the opportunity to experience some Bristish/American history very close by: Fort McHenry, Annapolis.

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We were on the Anthem for 9 nights this summer with our 2 teens and if you ask them what their favorite part was, they'd say "Hanging out with friends"! At that age, 13-17, just being able to walk around the ship unaccompanied, hang out in a group without a parent in the next room, etc is all the fun. DH and I joke it was like sending them to away camp but seeing them 3x a day for meals! DD13's favorite thing was going to the WJ on her own with her friends--not the bumper cars, or the trapeze, or flowrider, or any of the bells and whistles on Anthem. She loved the idea of walking to a restaurant with just her friends, getting some food, and "hanging out". We talked a lot about appropriate behavior and not hanging out next to stairs and elevators or running!

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  • 2 weeks later...
We traveled on the Grandeur 8/24 9-night Bermuda/Bahamas sailing and it was absolutely fantastic. We are a family of four with a 4 and 6 year old, the 6 year old has celiac disease that requires a strict gluten-free diet (I plan on writing a separate post all about this). We could not have been more happy with our experience on this ship and are planning on going back next year.

 

Pros

*The staff in general - everyone that worked on this ship was absolutely amazing, so positive and helpful. It really felt like a huge family by the end of the trip, staff members hugging my kids to say goodbye...they're great! So many people knew our name, our kids felt like celebrities.

*Kid's club staff - their patience, kindness, and sweetness to little kids was fantastic, they are worth every penny they are paid.

*The ports were great, we even loved Nassau (we walked to Junkanoo beach), CocoCay was a relaxing, wonderful place, I wish we were there for two days

*We ate dinner at Giovanni's table twice and it was delicious, the view, the service, the food, AMAZING!

*We had two adjoining cabins and it was so great to have the extra space and bathroom, the room was kept clean

 

Cons

*We LOVED movies at the pool at night but on a 9 night cruise there were only 4 movies that repeated (there was one that was PG-13 that we couldn't go to). There isn't a ton of things that kids would love in the evening and this is one of them, why not some more variety?

*Lack of things to do for older kids. We witnessed a lot of tweens/teens bored out of their minds, hanging under stairs, running around, especially on the last two days at sea...

*Similarly, a lack of parents keeping an eye on their kids around the ship, even younger ones. For example, at the rock wall, there were a group of kids (7/8 years old) that would get off the wall and jump to the front of the line without any parents around to tell them that they shouldn't. This made for an awkward situation for the people running the rock wall, it wasn't their place to discipline these kids but they didn't want to ruin the experience for other people.

*Though the service and overall experience of the main dining room exceeded our expectations, the food was average most nights. Delicious, but nothing to write home about, especially the desserts which didn't seem rich or decadent enough to justify the calories :D

*Kid's club sign-in/out procedures - everything is automated with SeaPass cards but the kids club was a painful paper and pen sign-in process that could take up to 20-30 minutes of lining up for, there has to be a better way!

 

 

I plan on writing an official review and a post about dining gluten-free on this ship at some point but I'm happy to answer any questions about this ship anyone might have, especially from a parent-with-small-kids perspective :)

Hi! Just want to know how much Karaoke they had. Carnival had 12 hrs on a 7 day cruise. Thanks!

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Thanks for the post. I'm taking my kids on grandeur in march.

 

I'm a bit concerned about the comments about the teens. I have a 16 and 15 year old and don't want them to be bored. But then it hit me that teenagers can be so different it may have been those particular teenagers that weren't into anything being offered. I plan on bringing card games, Yahtzee etc and know my kids will enjoy just hanging out with me doing things like that. And they are excited about the rock wall.

 

Do they do things like trivia, bingo, or the silly things where they teach you a dance? I know it sounds funny but my kids would get a kick out of it. They are pretty laid back and can have fun doing most things.

 

 

 

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My son was 15 on his second cruise, on Enchantment. He immediately made friends and wanted very little to do with us except for meal times. He loved the teen club!

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An impossible to spell Norwegian name in August. :D

 

Staff Captain was Rune something (not around my cruise takeaways).

 

Pulled this off the "Current Captains Con't" thread: Grandeur OTS - Capt Yngvar Knutsen (started rotation 9-9-17)

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Loved the Grandeur and hope to sail her soon. Did they have Zumba and other dancing? Who's cruise director? Was food and service still outstanding?

We're looking at Anthem which we sailed a few years ago great ship but poor food and service. Did Grandeur last year loved the food and service and activities. Wonderful fellow passengers. But Bayonne is much closer to our home in New England. Any activities schedules would be appreciated.

Thanks. Gotta keep my wife happy!

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