Grandeur Live Review St. Paddy’s Day March 15-24, 2018, 9 day

Rock-a-rookie before dinner in the Atrium. Orlando, in entertainment, was just named employee of the month....he is fantastic! Can you come on our Anthem cruise next year?

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Love cruising along with you on this trip. Come April 14, I get to do it for real! :D

Thanx for posting all the new dinner menus. I'm keeping copies of them for reference. Here's a question for you...in addition to the new menus in the MDR, have you noticed any changes to what is available in the Jammer or at breakfast/lunch in the MDR? Wondering how extensive the changes are.

Would also appreciate if you can find out how long Big Bob will be aboard, who will follow him and who will take the helm from Capt. Ante when he heads back across the big pond. Will really miss this captain. Did he play his special sailaway music for you?

I think (personal opinion) that we "mature" adults prefer the art of cruising to all big ships with the bells and whistles. Although, I may be wrong. :D

Love cruising along with you on this trip. Come April 14, I get to do it for real! :D

 

 

 

Thanx for posting all the new dinner menus. I'm keeping copies of them for reference. Here's a question for you...in addition to the new menus in the MDR, have you noticed any changes to what is available in the Jammer or at breakfast/lunch in the MDR? Wondering how extensive the changes are.

 

 

 

Would also appreciate if you can find out how long Big Bob will be aboard, who will follow him and who will take the helm from Capt. Ante when he heads back across the big pond. Will really miss this captain. Did he play his special sailaway music for you?

 

Hi Delta, we enjoyed meeting you our last cruise and was hoping to cruise with you again. We were disappointed we couldn’t cruise the dates you had booked.

Sorry, we don’t go to the MDR for lunch just the Windjammer and Parc Cafe in the Solarium. They alternate the carved sandwiches in Parc rather than just roast beef last October - November cruise.

Otherwise, the Windjammer and Parc Cafe seem to have the same choices.

We have only seen Bob at the Meet and Mingle and introduce the acts in the theatre. I have not seen him ‘out and about’ but if I do, I will ask...I’m not shy...lol.

Tonight, we dined in chops for the very first time with Royal. Excellent meal.....I had Rib eye, and the other 3 had filet mignon ... cooked to order and perfect!

I don’t have the menu for the main dining room though, for tonight. But we spoke to our head waiter, and he said it really is the same offerings as before, with a few new additions but a different combination every night. The meals so far have been very good, same as before, so no complaints from us.

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Chops Menu

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Rib eye in Chops

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Daisy...sorry that our dates did not line up again. Maybe they will in the future as I hope to keep coming back to Grandeur. Re Big Bob...if you can't catch him, maybe someone else on the activities staff or, failing that, at Guest Relations might have some info. Thanx for trying.;)

Did a new piano player ever show up for the Schooner?

Daisy...sorry that our dates did not line up again. Maybe they will in the future as I hope to keep coming back to Grandeur. Re Big Bob...if you can't catch him, maybe someone else on the activities staff or, failing that, at Guest Relations might have some info. Thanx for trying.;)

 

 

 

Did a new piano player ever show up for the Schooner?

Yes, this will not be our last time on Grandeur!

I will certainly ask about Big Bob from someone else.

In schooner bar now, and the orchestra did a set... really good. Now Real Vibes Trio is playing and as good as last time. I guess we’ll see if the piano player shows up tomorrow night.

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Chops Menu

 

 

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Still not sure why one would buy the larger seafood tower rather than two smaller ones.

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The ship is just above floating speed for a 10 am Miami arrival. Another beautiful day in Florida.

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I was on board Grandeur last September. And although I don't recall seeing any children (I'm sure there were) I did appreciate the age range. I think (personal opinion) that we "mature" adults prefer the art of cruising to all big ships with the bells and whistles. Although, I may be wrong. :D

I've been on Anthem as well as Grandeur. If things go right, I will have Allure booked for the first time when I'm on Grandeur in April.

Nonetheless, Grandeur is the only Royal Caribbean ship i've been on more than once. I've been on her 3 times already and will be on her again in April. Sure, most of it because I'm close to Baltimore, but even on my 2nd Royal Caribbean cruise on Independence, I've felt the bigger ships start to lose the feel of being on a cruise. I'm not saying they are bad cruises, but my first cruise was on NCL in 1988 on the Seaward. She was at the time, pretty big, but weighing in at 42K gross tons, its a tiny ship compared to even the Grandeur. As the ship gets bigger, it feels more and more like you're on land. The Promenade/Esplanade feels like you're in a mall than being on a ship.

I prefer to think that they are two different experiences. The smaller ships showcase the traditional style of cruising, while the larger ships showcase the progressive style of cruising. I hope Royal Caribbean continues to offer both.

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What is the entertainment currently in the Centrum?

I said this was to be a comparison review so I’ll say a little about some experiences so far.

The bar waiters are not as engaging as they were 4 months ago, our first time on the ship. There have been plenty of times we’ll be sitting at a table waiting for service and no one comes by, whether at the pool, R bar, or Schooner. And when they do, no friendly banter...just service. Just like any other cruise ship or worse.

Plenty of times, we just get up and go to the bar; very different from last cruise. Certainly not outstanding.

Very disappointed there’s no piano bar entertainer in the Schooner. For us it’s a ‘go-to’ on all cruises. Obviously, some are better than others but none here.

And....the recruitment for dining in the specialty restaurants is more ‘hard sell’ than last time, to the point of being annoying. I’m really patient and laid back when I’m on vacation (even for this NYer) but when we dined in Chops the ‘recruiter’ for Izumi started on the ‘hard sell’ , I thought it was just wrong.

The main dining room and Windjammer meals are comparable to last time...excellent! Glad for that. Parc Cafe has the same offerings, except they rotate the carved meat selection daily, it was just roast beef last time. It is excellent too. Asked about the after dinner snacks and they are the same, hot dogs, nachos, .... not sure, haven’t stopped by.

Sorry to say, so far, not up to the fantastic experience we had last Oct/Nov. Hopefully I’ll have more positive reviews later. Having a fantastic time though!

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I've been on Anthem as well as Grandeur.

 

 

 

I prefer to think that they are two different experiences. The smaller ships showcase the traditional style of cruising, while the larger ships showcase the progressive style of cruising. I hope Royal Caribbean continues to offer both.

We agree too! We’ve been on Anthem twice and this is the 2nd time on Grandeur AND they are our favorites because of the totally different experiences.

We have a 12 day booked on Anthem for 2019 and I’m sure we’ll book another on Grandeur.

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Last night after dinner was Britain’s Finest in the Theatre which was Beatles cover band of their early music. Lots of fun and very good.

 

Afterwards went to the Schooner bar to see Debbie Mac and the group was very lively and had fun. Unfortunately she got off the ship and there is no entertainment listed for Schooner tonight.... arghh... it’s our favorite venue so hope someone comes on the ship tomorrow .

 

 

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Hi Daisy, :)

Would you ask if the band or show are going to be on the ship the last week of May :confused:

We taking her over to Bermuda and then down to the Bahamas,

so just wondering. Enjoying your posts.

Thanks again, Featfan22 :cool:

Thanks very much for this review. Will be be on Grandeur in May. Enjoying traveling along with you.

Thanks for your posts. We have been on Grandeur twice and are returning in early November. My question is, how is the wi-fi/streaming? The last time we were on her, 3 years ago, it was almost non existent.

Thanks very much for this review. Will be be on Grandeur in May. Enjoying traveling along with you.

Your welcome...I really enjoy doing it.

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Thanks for your posts. We have been on Grandeur twice and are returning in early November. My question is, how is the wi-fi/streaming? The last time we were on her, 3 years ago, it was almost non existent.

Your welcome.

I don’t stream anything just music from SiriusXM which does fine. I use my iPad mini for internet, cruise critic, emails, pix downloads, etc. not much else. And have no problems at all, at any time.

Last year I found difficulty posting on CC during busy times so I would do it in the morning during lighter usage. Then again I had the 1st generation iPad mini and now a new iPad mini 4 ...don’t know if that makes a difference.

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I asked at the Solarium bar and no Drink Cards this week.

 

We purchase the drink package so doesn’t matter to us but one of the couples with us bought them last cruise.

 

 

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Thanks for asking. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Enjoying your review and pictures. Hoping you get a piano entertainment onboard in Miami.

It’s warm and sunny today in Miami. Since we’ve been here several times we walked over to Bayside Marketplace which is an easy walk about 20 min and I don’t walk fast. We took a taxi back, $10 plus tip.

Little annoyed with the taxi driver though. As we were securing the cab we spoke with another couple also going to Grandeur too. Cabbie said it would be double fare going to another drop off but we said same ship. Then he said they should take a different cab. Don’t think this was right....hmmmm.

I took a photo of his cab number and name but I won’t report him, but I was tempted. This is the US people....and we’re Americans too and know better. Hope I made him sweat when I took the pix though!

Btw, saw the other couple as we walked back on the ship and they shared a ride and cost with the next couple and driver....no problem.

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What is the entertainment currently in the Centrum?

 

 

Tonight in Centrum is Rosario Strings who was on last time too...very good.

 

But the real action is a Island Night Deck Party, Poolside, 9:30-11:30 pm, with CC Activities manager and DJ MRU and Real Vibes band. Should be a good time. Don’t forget your tropical attire for this party.

 

 

 

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