Grandeur of the Seas Family Review 9/11/10 - Captain Rob's Last GOS Sailing

[crusinmama06]

Here is the letter that we received upon boarding with the FAQs -- the Windjammer lunch times (11:30am - 3:45pm), how to get your dining seating changed (the Matre D was hysterical when we went to check on our tables - very nice, no problems)

 

If you have kids, the YEP braclets are placed on any child (seemed to be under age 12) as soon as we boarded. My youngest is still wearing hers. :rolleyes: I think the last one lasted 3 months -- I had to cut it off of her in the middle of the night while she slept.

 

The beverage package -- IF YOU PRE-ORDER YOUR SODA BEVERAGE PACKAGE ONLINE -- your RCI cups will be waiting for you in your cabin, which won't be ready until 1:00pm. You will not have a sticker. Your SeaPass card will already be printed with a little Coca Cola Logo. No need to go and get a sticker once you are onboard. You can just go to any bar and get a drink in a regular glass until your cabin is open and you have acess to your cups.

 

They DID NOT have the new beer coolers. They did run out before my sailing. And after 2 days, they stopped selling the beers by the buckets. They claimed that they would run out of beer and could only buy more in Miami ;) My balcony neighbor from Canada was relaying this little tibit to me while we were docking in Cozumel. He was asking while we couldn't purchase more beer in Cozumel...lol. I tried to explain, he didn't understand. ;)

 

This is the FAQ Page that we received at the terminal...

 

 

[crusinmama06]

We knew that this sailing wouldn't have many kids onboard. Usually Adventure Ocean would separate the kids into 3-5, 6-9 and 9-11 -- on this sailing, they combined the 6 - 11 year olds into one group.

 

Well at first we celebrated. Our girls would be together! Yeayyyy! And then we thought, UH OH, our girls would be together.

 

Our youngest, if you have ever followed my past reviews has has a somewhat colorful experience on cruise ships. It all began when this adorable little 8 month old, out of the blue, got sick, practically stopped breathing and needed to be medically evacuated off a Disney cruise ship. That was 6 years ago. Now she is a energetic, vibrant and shall we say bouncy -- yeah, bouncy is a good word, 6 year old. (the docs now think there was brain damage from the lack of oxygen, causing behavior/learning issues, sigh)

 

So we warned Adventure Ocean about her. Yes I use the word WARNED. I said that she WILL BE hyper. Not she may be, she WILL BE. So we drop her off for her first night at Adventure Ocean and BLESS THEM -- they did their best. There were a couple of mishaps. She climbed the rope on the outside of the slide and almost broke her leg. Another little boy slammed her fingers into a sliding drawer, if we wanted to go to the ship's medical center she would be treated for free (she was fine).

 

Because they combined the age groups - it was tough for my youngest to understand the more complex rules of the games set up for the older kids. So she asked to move to the 3-5 year old group -- she kept asking to go to the "baby room".

 

So if we had any problems, it was trying to keep our child to pick ONE group. If she saw her sister, she wanted to run to her in THAT room. Then when the game was too complex, she wanted to go back to the "baby room".

 

Other than that, the kids had a FABULOUS time! My oldest said that she didn't miss the "big ship". I thought she would miss the bells and whistles of the Freedom Class. I asked her if she thought she needed the H20 zone to have a good time -- she said - No, she was having just as much fun. So that was a nice surprise.

 

There was a counselor onboard - nicknamed - "Evan Almighty" -- I have to give a "HUGE THANK YOU" to him! One day he asked where my youngest was. I said that she was spending the day with me -- I told him that I thought Adventure Ocean needed a break -- he replied "I have a great time with her! I have no problems at all. Please make sure you bring her back tonight! We'll have fun"

 

He probably has no idea how much of an impact a simple remark like that made on me. To a mom who is so used to hearing from everyone how much of a problem her youngest child is, it was so nice to her that a counselor wanted to spend time with her child. So THANK YOU to "Evan Almighty"

 

The Kids Compasses...

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 1

Ages 3 - 11

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Obviously I don't have teens but I do have one thing to say about this group. They hung out alot in the arcade And one night when we went to pick up the kids at Adventure Ocean, my husband noticed a fight breaking out - which which promptly alerted the counselors, who stopped it and grabbed the boys, with sea passes, and called security.

 

It seemed like this was the lost group who didn't have much to do onboard. And because of it, they were just wreaking havoc in the area.

 

The TEEN Compasses - 12 - 14

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

The Teens 15 - 17 Compasses

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Day 2

 

Key West, Florida

 

We dock and the weather is hot and humid -- but a rainbow is appearing over the AFT. Gotta love it. We have nothing planned for the day. So the family and I decide to have breakfast at the Windjammer -- which I have to say has become our favorite now that the eggs benedict is gone from the main dining room.

 

What more could you ask for? There are chocolate chip pancakes (the kids' favorite). A fruit bar. Eggs and omlets made to order. Toast and Bagels. A "bakery bar" with donuts, muffins and pastries. Eggs with peppers and onions. Bacon, sausage and Hash browns. Potatoes with onions and peppers. Cereals and oatmeals and grits. Waffles and strawberry and whipped topping. Lox. I could go on and on. But I am making myself hungry....

 

We had nothing planned for Key West. In the past, I have overplanned us. I didn't want to do this on this trip. So we take a nice little stroll over to Clinton Stquare Market where we head inside and visit the amazing Toy Factory upstairs. A great place to see the magic show demonstration. They give you a free token for the merry go round. We also checked out the free nature tour there. And the Cat & Dog Lovers shop (which my daughter's love dogs) They even have a Planetarium there. All free. Who knew? We ended up spending all of our time just in one place. Beats paying for an excursion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Day 2 Compasses

 

 

 

 

[enidcruiser]

Thanks for all this info. Keep the pictures and stuff coming. We will have no kids with us but it is useful information.

We will be in Key West next Friday, have been there before but reminds me of things we need to see.

We will not be booking anything on the ship either but plan on renting one of the little smart cars to drive us all around the city.

[crusinmama06]

Day 3 - Cozumel, Mexico - Passion Island

 

Oh how I am looking forward to this day. It's been over a year since I have been to Passion Island. I have been telling our friends traveling with us "Wait till you see this place, you will LOVE it"

 

Some of you read about the "doctor's wife" -- so at the formal dinner she shows up -- 30 minutes late. Our waiter and assistant waiter is, of course, holding off for her. When she finally does show up she says "Tomorrow I am not going to that Passion Island with yuze alls {Phillie accent, sorry} -- I talked to the people at the desk here and they said its not for kids."

 

So I said "Um, my kids have been there and loved it"

 

She said "Well the people here said they don't have kayaks and my son wants to do the kayaks"

 

I said "They have kayaks"

 

She said "Well they said you have to pay for them"

 

I said "They are full of it, Passion Island is all inclusive"

 

She said "Well they said there is a better place. Its called something "Playa"

 

I can't help myself I start laughing and I say "PLAYA MIA??? That place is an overcrowded dump!"

 

My husband promptly kicks me under the table...LOL. He, of course, realizes that this means we will have a quiet serene day without the doctor's wife complaining about everything.

 

So she says "Have you been there?" And I say "Yes, we have. You will be fine"

 

So I learned that once again, the RCI Excursion desk has NO IDEA what they are talking about. But I have to thank them, because of them, I had a beautiful day in paradise with no one complaining.

 

Just so you know -- Passion Island is perfect for ANYONE. ANY AGE

 

The price is $79 for adults, $39

 

The price includes all drinks (soda, juice), beer, hard liquor (Tequila! Tequila!), mixed drinks and a buffet (mahi mahi, fresh guacamole, fruit, salad, chips, BBQ chicken). Also, included is the kayaks, water trampoline, chairs, umbrellas, hammocks, playground, maze and some kind of frisbee course.

 

It takes 45 minutes by boat to get to Passion Island. They call it "By Catamaran" -- but it more like a tender boat. And that's the only way to get there. They don't sell more than 100 tickets to Passion Island. It was EMPTY. There weren't more than 23 people on our boat. And when we arrived, there weren't more than 23 people from the Carnival ship already there.

 

The extra charges: you can have an ocean side massage. They have shopping. You can buy photos.

 

It is truly a deserted island paradise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Passion Island Continued....

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

And more from Passion...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And where was I for about the last hour? Um, yeah right here, that's the spot...

 

[crusinmama06]

Kids Compass Day 2 and Day 3

Ages 3 - 11

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Cruise Compass Day 3

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Its time for another Captain Rob zinger...if you are from the Carnival Board, you may want to avert your eyes (it was all said in good fun)

 

By Day 3, I was looking forward to hearing Captain Rob's announcements. You just never really knew what he was going to say. This morning was no exception...

 

LADIES......and gentleman. Good morning from the bridge. We have docked in beautiful Cozumel, Mexico. Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour. If you look alongside us, you will see Cozumel, on the other is docked the Carnival Irritation. :eek:

 

I have no idea what was said after this because I was laughing so hard. Sorry. But I just never expected a captain to say that over the announcements. ;)

 

At the welcome back dinner, someone asked him about the comment he made, he asked us if we knew the other ship we were being followed by, the Carnival Abomination :p

 

Ah yeah, that guy is a crack up.

 

Moving on to Day 4....

[cassieroll]

You have the best reviews!

[FirstAlto]

:DThank you SO much for scanning the Compasses - We will be on the Grandeur on Oct 9th on the same itinerary, and I am LOVIN studying them!! Waiting with baited breath for the last two days!!

Jane

[crusinmama06]

DAY 4 - Sea Day

 

The best things from our Sea Day --

 

The cooking demonstration - black forest cake - 10am - the Captain verses the Hotel Director and the Executive Chef, the captain used an entire bottle of rum in his cake. It was very funny. That was some potent cake.

 

The International Parade of Flags - 12:05pm - took place up on the pool deck. They played music from each country. Always a fun and entertaining event.

 

The Belly Flop Competition - 12:30pm - a member of our group was a brave soul.

 

Pirate Parade - they start dressing up at 7:00 p.m. which is rough when you have Main Seating and someone at your dining table who won't get her butt to dinner on time which makes everyone else late and the entire dining routine thrown off -- GRRRRR

 

Quest - Its been years since I have participated in this event. And it hasn't changed at all. I got to bring home a Silver Medal. All that came between me and the gold was a pair of dentures. But we had fun trying! And my friend said she will never forget that side of her husband. It certainly was eye opening!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Also on Day 4 (it was such a packed day - said they were trying to fit the fun of a 7 dayer in a 5 dayer)

 

The Welcome Back Party

 

Captain Rob had a Question/Answer session. I hope the new Captain is just as entertaining.

 

Some of the Questions:

 

Where are you going after you get off the ship? He said he was going home to Rhode Island for a little break before stepping onto Enchantment.

 

Someone asked if it was his decision or RCI's decision? He said it was mutual.

 

Someone said that they follow the Grandeur online (I guess there is a box that sends a signal to satelites) and wonders why the Grandeur keeps disappearing -- Captain Rob said with an straight face "I keep turning the darn thing off, I don't want them to know where to find me"

 

Someone asked "Who's driving the ship right now that you are here?" Rob answered "I have no idea." and then said "But I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night"

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Day 4 Compasses - Day at Sea

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4 Kids Ages 3 - 11 Compasses - Pirate Parade Night

 

[Wilda]

Pirate Parade - they start dressing up at 7:00 p.m. which is rough when you have Main Seating and someone at your dining table who won't get her butt to dinner on time which makes everyone else late and the entire dining routine thrown off -- GRRRRR

As always Michelle, your posts do not fail to entertain and enlighten! I've just got to ask....was "her butt" the doctors wife????

 

btw- your oldest is the spitting image of mom:D

[skyw]

Thanks for the review. I have been wondering my kids experience would be the same without all of the bells and whistles of the bigger ships. It seems like your kids really had a great time.

[Booking It]

I always dread Cozumel because it seemed so blah unless you just want to go to a bar and drink. But your photos of Passion Island have changed my mind! Now I have put it on my spreadsheet of excursions to book. It looks divine. :)

 

How was the water on the catamaran ride over? Was it choppy or calm?

The last time I was on a boat in the ocean was in Costa Rica, and let's just say... I think I lost about 20 pounds on our 2 hour boat ride ;)

[crusinmama06]

As always Michelle, your posts do not fail to entertain and enlighten! I've just got to ask....was "her butt" the doctors wife????

 

btw- your oldest is the spitting image of mom

 

Ahhhh yes.

 

I have to share this. Every night she would sit down and say "I'm not hungry, nothing looks good" and then she would wait until we got our food and she would bark out THAT food to the waiter.

 

"BRING ME THE CAESAR SALAD!"

 

then 10 minutes later "Bring me a shrimp cocktail!"

 

then 10 minutes later "I want the lobster bisque!"

 

and "another bisque!"

 

"bring me another shrimp!"

 

"and I want cocktail sauce"

 

"and a steak!"

 

"STEAK SAUCE!"

 

"KETCHUP"

 

"BUTTER! DID you hear me? I don't think he heard me!"

 

Notice there are no please, no thank yous throughout any of this. So the first 2 days, I listened to this and tried to highlight my PLEASE and THANK YOU -- she didn't get it. And she did the same for her kids.

 

Well by ITALIAN NIGHT, I was annoyed and had very little patience.

 

Once again, 30 minutes late to dinner. I had already apologized to the wait staff for her aparant lack of manners this week.

 

She orders Rigatoni with chorizo sausage for her PICKY daughter (instead of just spaghetti with tomato sauce) and ordered the seafood plate for her no table manners son.

 

The food arrives. The son is pulling it all apart with his fingers. The head waiter arrives and puts the napkin in the kid's lap. And starts to cut all of the seafood out of the shell -- trying to help him. The kid (who is 10 and should have manners) had butter dripping down his ARMS. The head waiter says "So this is finger licking good?" The kid says "Whuht???" Miss Mother Manners says "He probably is making a comment that you aren't using utensils"

 

Um, yeah you think? She never told the kid to use utensils. Then the kid says he has to go to the bathroom. Kid #2 jumps up and says she's going too. We hear a CRASH -- oh yeah, you guessed it. They ran into a waiter. The mother says "That waiter dropped hot food all over my kid! Those waiters shouldn't run around here so fast, they should watch where they are going!" :eek:

 

Oh yeah it just gets worse. Now my blood pressure is boiling.

 

Kid #2 comes back and declare that she doesnt like her food (rigatoni and sausage). Mom of the year says to our waiter -- bring her something else! This is terrible. She can't eat it. Bring her spaghetti and "red sauce"

 

The waiter says "Excuse me maam, I don't understand" -- yeah there is a language barrier here, because the waiter spoke ENGLISH and she just spoke STUPID.

 

She said "Ya know, like pasta and red sauce!"

 

I turned to the waiter with pleading eyes and said "She wants spaghetti and tomato sauce, like you serve on the kids menu, please, so sorry"

 

He says "ohhhh, yes, right away, I will get that"

 

He returns in about 5 minutes with that.

 

Can you guess what happens next?

 

Kid #1 -- the son now says "I WANT THAT!"

 

Oh I almost lunged across the table. Instead, what came out of my mouth and I couldn't stop myself was "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" :eek:

 

The mother said "What, if he doesn't like his seafood, then he has to eat something. And anyway, our waiters were slow -- just look, everyone else has dessert already.

 

Oh yeah, now is where I lost it. I explained to her, and not so calmly I might add, that SHE is the reason that we don't have dessert already. I explain that this is NOT DENNY's. They are not short order cooks. They have a line running in the back. They do a line of appetizers, when apetizers were over, they move on to the main course, when that is over, they move on to dessert. And just by being 30 minutes late for every meal and then ordering what you want whenever you want it is throwing off the flow of the entire table! :mad:

 

So she said "So you are saying that if I came on time, that the waiters would move faster?" I said "If you came ontime and stopped demanding and changing orders at the end of a meal - then yes, we would have been out of here an hour ago. :rolleyes:

 

So when the waiter returned with the son's spaghetti she said "I am sorry sir for causing so many problems" :o

 

And what does her son say "I WANT MOZARELLA ON THIS!" :rolleyes:

[crusinmama06]

I always dread Cozumel because it seemed so blah unless you just want to go to a bar and drink. But your photos of Passion Island have changed my mind! Now I have put it on my spreadsheet of excursions to book. It looks divine. :)

 

How was the water on the catamaran ride over? Was it choppy or calm?

The last time I was on a boat in the ocean was in Costa Rica, and let's just say... I think I lost about 20 pounds on our 2 hour boat ride ;)

 

Its no more choppy then the tender rides from the ship to the islands. Actually, the CocoCay ride was pretty rough. I was surprised.

 

If you can handle a normal tender ride, then you can handle the Passion Island ride. When the water gets too choppy, they switch the transport to a bus and small ferry boat. That's how we did it last February. They come into it from the opposite side of the island.

 

I get sea sick so I wouldn't have been able to handle a really choppy ride.

[crusinmama06]

Day 5 - Coco Cay

 

Another gem from Captain Rob:

Well I have some Good News and some Bad News?

 

Which would you like first?

 

First the bad news: on our way to Coco Cay, we are going to experience 35 foot swells, 70 knot winds and torrential downpours.

 

What's the good news? I just saved alot of money on my car insurance.

 

What a kidder! Luckily he was just joking! We had beautiful weather the entire trip with the only rain falling while we were sleeping. I only know there was rain because the balcony was wet when I woke up ; - )

 

When we woke up on Day 5, sure enough, the tender boats were waiting to take us over to Coco Cay. What a glorious sight! What can you say about CocoCay, the place is perfect. The water was warm. The sand was soft. We walked over to the far beach that was right next to the Aqua Park. We figured that the rest of the cruisers would stop at the first few beaches and that is what seemed to have happened. We were pretty much alone for much of the time.

 

Some interesting things to note.

 

We saw one jelly fish -- just one, my oldest spotted it. Which was good since the rest of us had our chairs in the water and the jelly fish was headed right for us {eek}

 

Be prepared to be in an episode of "When seagulls attack" -- don't be one of those unsuspecting people who puts down their buffet lunch and then walks away to get a drink -- the seagulls WILL laugh at you as they carry away your hamburger. Things we noted, they love hamburgers, hate lettuce and tomatoes. Smart birds.

 

Adventure Ocean does move the club over to CocoCay -- but we never used it there. The kids stayed with us -- we were having too much fun.

 

The water slide -- holy cow those people were flying! It was $20 for the whole day. Not a bad price for the whole day.

 

The Aqua Park -- $15 for 50 minutes.

 

SeaMats - $10 - all day (didn't see many people with these)

 

Take cash if you want to shop at the straw market. Some people were getting confused about this. The straw market vendors do not take sea passes ; - )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

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