Grandeur of the Seas Review june 12th -19th

[AnDeNo.UK]

Great review, now I am really looking forward to sailing on her in October. :)

[jjb415]

Thanks for the review and photos, I really enjoyed seeing them. Brings back memories of my sailings on Grandeur last autumn. :)

[01tom]

Great to read about your experience on the Grandeur, we did b2b in July and had a great time. Totally agree with you about Palermo, we did not stay off the ship for long, didn't like it. This brought back great memories.:)

[rcdc48]

great review and you have set my mind at ease after some of the dreadful reviews i have seen. the ship looks great, very classy and while not as glossy as the newer ships, she holds her own. a cruise is what you make of it and i intend to enjoy every minute of ours in 2 weeks time !!!!!:)

[robanddiane]

We did the Italian week in July and had a fantastic time, ship is still quite nice and the $39 beer and wine package saved us a fortune. A word of warning though check your bill when you get home as $50 was added to our bill afterwards which we were told was for not handing towels back in which we had. This has now been resolved after a call to customer relations. I am sure anyone going will have a fantastic time.

[Scotland01]

Thanks for excellent review. Sailing on 28 Aug. and a bit apprehensive given some other reviews. This has made me really start to look forward to going. Was on her a couple of times 8 or 9 years ago . Also on an RCI package from Glasgow. Our airline was changed to the company who started the first travel package holidays. Was that who you went with?

[lorrdean]

Thanks for the post. I am booked on the Western med cruise with my mum in September flying from Glasgow. Were you on the Thomas Cook flight? I have not been on one of the smaller ships as I am usually cruising with my husband and kids and the larger ships have more to offer, but I felt smaller would be better for my mum.

 

yes it was thomas cook,it was meant to leave at 6am but was half an hour later leaving, but we still had loads of time to make the ship.

you may find the ship small, but as this was our first cruise it look huge to us :D

[lorrdean]

Great post! we are on this ship this Sunday, can't wait after reading that review of the ship :)

 

enjoy :D

[lorrdean]

great review and you have set my mind at ease after some of the dreadful reviews i have seen. the ship looks great, very classy and while not as glossy as the newer ships, she holds her own. a cruise is what you make of it and i intend to enjoy every minute of ours in 2 weeks time !!!!!:)

 

you are correct, any holiday is what you make of it, yes the ship is tired looking in places, but she is a grand lady, all staff were friendly and happy, I wish I was going with you.

[lorrdean]

Thanks for excellent review. Sailing on 28 Aug. and a bit apprehensive given some other reviews. This has made me really start to look forward to going. Was on her a couple of times 8 or 9 years ago . Also on an RCI package from Glasgow. Our airline was changed to the company who started the first travel package holidays. Was that who you went with?

 

it was thomas cook airlines :D

[lorrdean]

Thanks for taking the time to write and share yours pics on the Grandeur you did a terrific job! She is a grand lady and even though not the newest, biggest or have all the new features, it looks like you had a fun and were well taken care of.

 

We are going to be cruising on her in October with a 14 day repositioning out of Palma to Colon, Panama and are looking forward to a great time! This will be our 29th cruise and we wish you many more........you cannot beat them for value, fun and a good time!

 

Happy cruising

 

how right you are talk about being bitten by the cruising bug, we have booked to go on serenade of the seas next June, it cant come fast enough :D

[nellydean]

I hope that your dislike of Palermo does not put other people off visiting this fascinating city.

 

You have to put behind all ideas of a tourist city like Barcelona and accept Palermo, like Naples, for what it is, a once magnificent city that has fallen from glory, but still with plenty to offer visitors.

 

Do not go on the tour buses, especially in the summer, when the city gets clogged with fume-filled traffic, which is not nice as you are on an open-top bus and you can be on there for hours in the hot sun, not pleasant. We passed them, and the passengers looked fed up, and our table companions told us what a torrid time they had had.

 

Instead, what we did was take a taxi to the Catacombs of Palermo in the north of the city, which are amazing:

 

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=catacombs+of+palermo&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=1676l7140l0l9895l10l9l0l1l1l0l374l1867l0.5.3.1l9l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1565&bih=794&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

 

Check opening dates and times if you want to go there

 

After that, instead of getting a cab back into town, we walked all the way back, which allowed us to see the good and the bad of the city - including magnificent buildings and streetscapes (Quatro Cantico I think it's called), the cathedral, and fort, as well as the famous Teatro Massimo opera house (you have to re-enact the daughter dying scene from Godfather 3 on the steps :))

 

That wiled away a few hours, stopping every now and then to take in the next attraction, and also for cannoli and gelato in some nice gardens half way down. We then went to a side street restaurant near to the Opera house and enjoyed pizza, accompanied by the theme from the Godfather, cheesy but fun.

 

By that time, my dodgy knees were playing up somewhat, and our son was tired, so we took a taxi back to port, while my husband wandered back down through the rest of town.

 

Palermo has an ugly side, mainly due to the fact it has suffered neglect over the decades and not had investment, but it's still worth getting to know, which you won't do if you stay on the ship, or don't venture far enough away from the port.

 

We once took someone's word for Montego Bay being awful and went on an expensive excursion, which was boring, when we could have got off the ship and wandered into town, like many people did and had a terrific time.

 

Like Naples, Palermo has seen better days, but it's still worth a wander, and don't miss the catacombs, they are spooky, thrilling and, above all, a testimony to man's ability to treat death as something wonderful.

I wouldn't recommend it for young children, as it's very scary when you enter the first corridor stacked full of dressed corpses, but it would make a great trip for older children and teens. Just treat the inhabitants with respect and any fear will soon disappear. One of the children is remarkably preserved and looks like she is asleep:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_catacombs_of_Palermo

 

:)

[Flacruiser123]

Thanks for the review and photos, I really enjoyed seeing them. Brings back memories of my sailings on Grandeur last autumn. :)

 

Hi Jack! So you saw this post too, and like me, couldn't help but reminisce about our great cruise last autumn! It was the repositioning from Ft. Lauderdale to Colon cruise.

 

Everyone: This ship and staff were simply wonderful. We have been on bigger and smaller, older and newer ships than Grandeur. I wouldn't hesitate to book the Grandeur again.

 

The upgrade fairy was especially nice to me and we had the best CC Meet and Mingle group.

 

It was nice seeing your review! Ahhhh, memories... :)