Grandeur gossip?

[twokey]

Has anyone been on the Grandeur of the Seas since it came out of drydock? I'm curious to know what the refurbishment results are. I won't be sailing until December, but I am excited to learn all about the ship.

 

Thanks.

[Jetscot]

Thanks for making my day. I didn't know it's had a refurb. Looking forward to hearing about it. :)

[Billy@37]

I have read that its has had a full refurbishment, exactly the same as Splendour and Rhapsody have had. On You Tube there is a video (by Royal Caribbean) but as yet I am to read of any reviews from people who have been on her since she came out of dry dock the end of May. We are sailing on her in September - she will hardly have her paint dry!! Can't wait!!!

[twokey]

This is my first cruise. I was leaning towards the Allure, just because of the size and the fact that it is brand new. But after seeing these ports-of-call, Colon, Cartegena, Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba, I thought about how cool it would be to see all the history and snorkeling on these stops. There will be plenty of time for sunning on the boat, I think.

Then, when I learned that our ship, The Grandeur, was getting a refurbishment, I realized that I was getting the best of both - good itinerary and a new ship!

I am quite anxious to learn how the refurbishment is being received. I think its' first cruise is now happening in the Mediterannean.

 

Have fun!

[ernesto cruiser]

We sailed on the Grandeur May 31 for 11 nights. We are novice cruisers, but we understand that the Promenade and Centrum were new with refurb. We saw an early example of an ariel show in the Centrum that they say will be continued (a la cirque de soleil). There were more specialty restaurants than before according to comments, but we did not go to those. The dinning room was nice and the service was excellent, but the food was good, but not amazing. We felt that they were trying to push foodies to the specialty restaurants. The availability of food was more restrictive than I understand in the past. No midnight buffets. The menus had a number of healthier options as well as the regular menus. I do know of some people who ordered two entrees, because they often did not like one. We had to be aware of openings and closings depending upon where we wanted to eat. There was still work being done on the ship and we had two experiences with intermittent hammering in the middle of the night for a short period, but these issues should be resolved. The ongoing issue I had was that nobody in the crew knew the ports of call. Nobody had been there and no specific information was available, unless you booked a tour with the ship. The crew was new to the ship and had not worked together. Room service did not work well early in the cruise and we did not use it again. We did have access to WIFI throughout the ship, which I understand was a first for Grandeur. This was helpful. We liked the fact that this is a smaller ship and much easier to get around on. Getting through tendering was not too bad. The room tv's had interesting information about what was going on about the ship and there are new touch screens at each elevator bank with activities and interactive maps. We understand the climbing wall was added new.

[twokey]

Yours is the first note I've seen from anyone who has been on the ship since it was refurbished. It sounds as though I won't be surprised at how magnificent she will be or disappointed with how old she appears.

This will be my first cruise also. We will be going from Colon to Cartegena to Bonaire to Curacao to Aruba and back. It sounds as though it should be a great cruise.

I don't speak Spanish, but I think I'll be fine. My partner is fluent, so I have no fear.

This cruise idea is really growing on me. I spend every day reading these comment boards and doing research.

 

If you can think of anything a newbie should know, please post more here.

 

Bon Voyage!

 

Tom

[Globetrotters_wife]

If you can think of anything a newbie should know, please post more here.

 

Bon Voyage!

 

Tom

 

Don't bring any towels! No need to, as you rent them on the ship - for free!