Grandeur of the Seas Review: 5/17/13...Photos and Vids too

[DEIx15x8]

I originally wrote this late Sunday night (about 3-4am ironically) and hadn't gotten around to posting it with all the Grandeur and Quantum stuff going on.

 

I just returned from the Grandeur of the Seas' second Bermuda sailing since returning to Baltimore 3 weeks ago. I went in with rather negative expectations having not sailed on any ship without a promenade in over a decade (Empress of the Seas in 2002 was the last), but was pleasantly surprised.

 

Baltimore Cruise Port

I've heard many negative things about this port in the past. The main negative being the poor system for boarding the ship which required walking through the rain if the weather was poor. Recent enhancements were too have taken care of these problems and IMO they have. As I passed through the terminal it was really obvious that Royal Caribbean had worked closely in the upgrade process as it very closely resembled Terminal 18 in Port Everglades. It was incredible smooth to get through with plenty of room and when it was time to disembark at the end of the trip it took less than 5 minutes to go from the ship, through customs, get out luggage, and walk to our car. I love Terminal 18, but this was even better. The only negative to sailing from Baltimore that I could find was that traffic patterns in the city can sometimes get messy when trying to get to and from the port.

 

Grandeur of the Seas

Having been built in 1996 I had rather low expectations of the Grandeur but with the recent Oasisizing I had hopes that she wouldn't feel so old. She was well maintained, everything felt clean and new. Never would have been able to guess she was nearly 17 years old. The additions of the interactive TVs in all of the lobbies were just like those found on the Oasis and the only option for viewing the dinning room menus. The Oasisizing updates include adding interactive TV systems to all cabins that can be and iPads to the ships that are too difficult to wire. This ship was to receive the iPads but due to technical difficulties they haven't been implemented yet and at the moment still have no scheduled time frame.

 

The new centrum or "Centrum Wow" as it's often referred to as, really did wow. I love the Royal Promenades that Royal Caribbean's ships feature. The only reason I was willing to give this ship a shot was to see how the new "Vertical Promenade" concept really plays out. This is a point that I really have to give Royal Caribbean some credit for investing in. It not only impressed, it may actually be better than the Royal Promenade. It may be a result of only experiencing a centrum on the Disney Magic, Carnival Victory, and Nordic Empress over a decade ago; but I don't remember any of them really taking advantage of the area beyond a piano bar and welcome receptions. The Grandeur's centrum was active nearly all day. I remember catching a violinist playing on the floating bridge just before dinner in the Independence of the Seas promenade one night during the transatlantic and thinking how nice it was. It really made the area feel more alive and made you want to just hang out. The Grandeur seemed to have a band playing in there anytime an event was not going on and by the end of the cruise I found myself intentionally passing through the area just to take a moment to listen, something I've never done at any bar or club on past cruises. In the afternoons it felt like nearly every event that would have been held in the lounge in the past was now using the centrum. This included activities like the Chef's Bake A Cake Challenge, sushi demonstrations, towel folding demonstrations, and even when it rained on the last day the Sexy Man Competition. When not in use as a music venue the Centrum was still alive with the new lighting system that allowed the ship to change it's atmosphere with the mood of the passengers just like the normal Promenades. Anytime I was looking for something to do it could often be found here, even when nothing was going on it would then be used for the aerialists to do rehearsals which are just as exciting as anything else going on.

 

The ship felt like it was listing a bit more than I'm used to, mainly at slow speeds near port. My best guess is that it was related to the ship making steering adjustments while maneuvering. Not sure if this is a result of the ship having a prop and rudder system verse the azipods used on all the larger Royal Caribbean ships. Maybe someone on here knows something.

 

Weather

The departure had some great weather, smooth seas and warm conditions. The next day things got windy and remained that way through the 4th day. Even once we reached Bermuda on the 3rd day the high winds remained making what were warm temperatures still feel rather chilly. On the final day in Bermuda the winds finally died and the seas went smooth giving us a great beach day and then departure. The first day of the return trip to Baltimore was equally nice with calm seas, warm temperatures, and light winds. The second half changed to rougher seas, high winds, and rain though.

 

Food

I lucked out on this sailing. Royal Caribbean has been rolling out a new menu to it's fleet of ships that focuses on the appearance and quality of ingredients. The cruisers on the repositioning sailing were told a date of 5/24 for the new menu but before we left I tweeted Royal Caribbean to ask about our sailing and was told it would be onboard. To my delight it was, along with a team of the executive chefs from Miami to ensure the new menu was properly implemented for the first time. I've never had a problem with Royal Caribbean's dinning room food in the past, but this menu still managed to make the old one seem incredible old and cheap. I did not have a single bad meal the entire sailing. The only issues we had with the menu were on the very first night when out 8PM dinner did not finish until after 10:30pm! Without a doubt the longest meal I have ever experienced on land or sea. This was mainly due to the Executive Chef from Miami requiring his team to approve every dish before it being sent out and if it was not up to par it was thrown away. They also implemented new rules that mandated that no hot and cold food may be carried together. This complicated things for the waiters as a single course for one table often now required 2 trips to the kitchen. Desert was even more complicated as meals that include hot and cold such as ice cream on a pie now require the ice cream to be in a separate dish and retrieved separately before being served together at the table. It sounds like a ton of work to pull off, but the new menu really does taste a lot better than the old one and it looks like it cost a lot more as well.

(I have each days menu and meal photos in each days photo album)

 

Entertainment

The entertainment was another area where the ships age was of concern. Royal Caribbean has really evolved it's entertainment offerings over the past decade. The Liberty of the Seas added aerialists, the Independence added stories, the Oasis gave us Broadway, and the Allure added massive moving sets. Going back to before all of that I was expecting to be rather disappointed, and I'm not going to lie I was. The production shows were little more than singing and a few dance moves. Like I said, a decade ago I'm sure this would have been on par with any other ship, but not compared to Royal Caribbean's other ships. The Aerial show on the other hand blew me away. I watched them rehearse every morning so by the last day when the showtime finally came I expected that there would be no surprises left and it would be no different. I could not believe how much the costumes, lighting, and sound added to the performance. It was a full third production show complete with the singers and dancers on the ground and the aerialists in the air. It was so good I watched both performances, the first from deck 5 where I got a great appreciation for the story and elegance of the show, and the second time from deck 7 where it had a completely different feeling as you could fully appreciate the effort and art of the aerialists but lost some of the show part. This performance was the greatest show I have ever seen at sea, easily putting anything the Oasis offered to shame. The aerialists could have come off as gimmicky but Royal Caribbean managed to integrate them perfectly where ver possible, including for the Captain's Welcome Reception.

 

This was the third sailing from Baltimore and as a result many of the crew were being swapped out from spanish speaking members to more american members. This included the cruise director who was replaced by John Perry on this sailing.

 

Final Thoughts

I entered this sailing wanting a quick cheap getaway that would hopefully help prepare for Quantum (not royal promenade). To my surprise what I got was an incredible cruise that could compete with any other. Royal Caribbean loves to say "Now Every Ship is Our Best Ship" thanks to the Oasisizing that they are doing. This seems stupid, no ship can compare to the Oasis. After this sailing though I have to say they are not lying, the Grandeur of the Seas at 17 years old truly could stand up to the Oasis of the Seas in the experience she offered. She may not have had the sports deck to compete but the many other features she does have, the food, and the centrum entertainment could easily give her a fighting chance. If this is what Royal Caribbean can do to an old ship I cannot wait to see what they accomplish with a brand new ship for Quantum. The ship may not be an Oasis, but the added features like the Aerialists and centrum entertainment could make her even better.

 

Media

I have uploaded all of my photos from the trip organized by day:

Day 1: Departure

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Bermuda

Day 4: Bermuda

Day 5: Bermuda

Day 6: At Sea

Day 7: At Sea

Day 8: Debarkation

Day 4 includes photos of the Prinsendam in Hamilton and her departure. The Norwegian Dawn was also in port with us at the Dockyard.

 

I am al so working on videos form this trip, they will be as follows:

• GoPro (time lapse video of Baltimore departure, Bermuda arrival, and Bermuda departure)
  
• Arrivals/Departures (video from Baltimore and Bermuda arrivals and departures)
  
• Grandeur of the Seas Tour (Deck by deck tour. I'm trying to use a new pan and pass method for this one with an occasional walk through where logical. Should be simpler to follow than the Oasis ones I did and will likely be what I use for Quantum)
  
• Captain's Corner (Captain and other officers answering questions)
  
• Captain's Welcome Aboard (Welcome aboard reception complete withe aerialists performance and practice footage)
  
• Summer Breeze Aerials (Not sure if I want to include the full 20 minutes of singing or just the aerialists performance part)
  
• Seasons of the Centrum Aerial Performance (Full performance 1 and 2, as well as practice footage. Originally intended to use the 2 recordings to allow for multi cam editing but the aerialists swapped roles. Anyone have an opinion on if I should edit together anyway. It's the same performance just different people doing different things)
  
• 70's Dancin' in the Street Party (Video of what the title says)
  
• (Great event that the crew really enjoy)
  
• Norwegian Dawn Departure (Video of the Norwegian Dawn in Bermuda and her departure)
  
• Prinsendam Departure (Video of the Prinsendam in Hamilton and her departure)
  

 

I'll post the video links as I get them done. You can also get them if your subscribed to my youtube page: Youtube Page

The first video that I completed is the

. It's a great video of many of the Grandeur of the Seas' crew members (nearly all of which are still onboard, roughly 30 change per sailing) including Captain Espen Beem! After the fire I thought it would be nice to show the hard working crew that had to deal with it. I really feel sorry for the chef's most of all though. They were putting in 18 hour days during our sailing because the executive chef team from Miami were onboard rolling out the new menus. I'm sure they were looking forward to things settling down this week and now I'm sure they are working 18 hour days again to get the kitchen cleaned up from the fire.

 

I'm going to try to do the Captain's Corner next, Captain Espen Beem had an interesting response to how the Grandeur would handle incidents like Carnival has dealt with. I don't think he quite got the question, he answered how Carnival is improving and it came off as if Royal Caribbean is not prepared. The Chief Engineer stepped in and made it very clear that Grandeur is safe with a rather humorous "They have 1, we have 2" speech.

[spookwife]

aaand so much for me finishing laundry today as i now have several photo albums to peruse. :rolleyes:

 

can't wit to dive in since we sail her in September.

[Mar56]

Thank you for your excellent review. We dont get to sail her until Feb 2015 but are really looking forward to it.

[palofmine]

Im glad there was new food, and new menu, cause our food came out cold, and rubbery on Oasis, last year, lots of complaints. off to see your pictures. YUMMY looking dish on that post!

 

 

I originally wrote this late Sunday night (about 3-4am ironically) and hadn't gotten around to posting it with all the Grandeur and Quantum stuff going on.

 

I just returned from the Grandeur of the Seas' second Bermuda sailing since returning to Baltimore 3 weeks ago. I went in with rather negative expectations having not sailed on any ship without a promenade in over a decade (Empress of the Seas in 2002 was the last), but was pleasantly surprised.

 

Baltimore Cruise Port

I've heard many negative things about this port in the past. The main negative being the poor system for boarding the ship which required walking through the rain if the weather was poor. Recent enhancements were too have taken care of these problems and IMO they have. As I passed through the terminal it was really obvious that Royal Caribbean had worked closely in the upgrade process as it very closely resembled Terminal 18 in Port Everglades. It was incredible smooth to get through with plenty of room and when it was time to disembark at the end of the trip it took less than 5 minutes to go from the ship, through customs, get out luggage, and walk to our car. I love Terminal 18, but this was even better. The only negative to sailing from Baltimore that I could find was that traffic patterns in the city can sometimes get messy when trying to get to and from the port.

 

Grandeur of the Seas

Having been built in 1996 I had rather low expectations of the Grandeur but with the recent Oasisizing I had hopes that she wouldn't feel so old. She was well maintained, everything felt clean and new. Never would have been able to guess she was nearly 17 years old. The additions of the interactive TVs in all of the lobbies were just like those found on the Oasis and the only option for viewing the dinning room menus. The Oasisizing updates include adding interactive TV systems to all cabins that can be and iPads to the ships that are too difficult to wire. This ship was to receive the iPads but due to technical difficulties they haven't been implemented yet and at the moment still have no scheduled time frame.

 

The new centrum or "Centrum Wow" as it's often referred to as, really did wow. I love the Royal Promenades that Royal Caribbean's ships feature. The only reason I was willing to give this ship a shot was to see how the new "Vertical Promenade" concept really plays out. This is a point that I really have to give Royal Caribbean some credit for investing in. It not only impressed, it may actually be better than the Royal Promenade. It may be a result of only experiencing a centrum on the Disney Magic, Carnival Victory, and Nordic Empress over a decade ago; but I don't remember any of them really taking advantage of the area beyond a piano bar and welcome receptions. The Grandeur's centrum was active nearly all day. I remember catching a violinist playing on the floating bridge just before dinner in the Independence of the Seas promenade one night during the transatlantic and thinking how nice it was. It really made the area feel more alive and made you want to just hang out. The Grandeur seemed to have a band playing in there anytime an event was not going on and by the end of the cruise I found myself intentionally passing through the area just to take a moment to listen, something I've never done at any bar or club on past cruises. In the afternoons it felt like nearly every event that would have been held in the lounge in the past was now using the centrum. This included activities like the Chef's Bake A Cake Challenge, sushi demonstrations, towel folding demonstrations, and even when it rained on the last day the Sexy Man Competition. When not in use as a music venue the Centrum was still alive with the new lighting system that allowed the ship to change it's atmosphere with the mood of the passengers just like the normal Promenades. Anytime I was looking for something to do it could often be found here, even when nothing was going on it would then be used for the aerialists to do rehearsals which are just as exciting as anything else going on.

 

The ship felt like it was listing a bit more than I'm used to, mainly at slow speeds near port. My best guess is that it was related to the ship making steering adjustments while maneuvering. Not sure if this is a result of the ship having a prop and rudder system verse the azipods used on all the larger Royal Caribbean ships. Maybe someone on here knows something.

 

Weather

The departure had some great weather, smooth seas and warm conditions. The next day things got windy and remained that way through the 4th day. Even once we reached Bermuda on the 3rd day the high winds remained making what were warm temperatures still feel rather chilly. On the final day in Bermuda the winds finally died and the seas went smooth giving us a great beach day and then departure. The first day of the return trip to Baltimore was equally nice with calm seas, warm temperatures, and light winds. The second half changed to rougher seas, high winds, and rain though.

 

Food

I lucked out on this sailing. Royal Caribbean has been rolling out a new menu to it's fleet of ships that focuses on the appearance and quality of ingredients. The cruisers on the repositioning sailing were told a date of 5/24 for the new menu but before we left I tweeted Royal Caribbean to ask about our sailing and was told it would be onboard. To my delight it was, along with a team of the executive chefs from Miami to ensure the new menu was properly implemented for the first time. I've never had a problem with Royal Caribbean's dinning room food in the past, but this menu still managed to make the old one seem incredible old and cheap. I did not have a single bad meal the entire sailing. The only issues we had with the menu were on the very first night when out 8PM dinner did not finish until after 10:30pm! Without a doubt the longest meal I have ever experienced on land or sea. This was mainly due to the Executive Chef from Miami requiring his team to approve every dish before it being sent out and if it was not up to par it was thrown away. They also implemented new rules that mandated that no hot and cold food may be carried together. This complicated things for the waiters as a single course for one table often now required 2 trips to the kitchen. Desert was even more complicated as meals that include hot and cold such as ice cream on a pie now require the ice cream to be in a separate dish and retrieved separately before being served together at the table. It sounds like a ton of work to pull off, but the new menu really does taste a lot better than the old one and it looks like it cost a lot more as well.

(I have each days menu and meal photos in each days photo album)

 

Entertainment

The entertainment was another area where the ships age was of concern. Royal Caribbean has really evolved it's entertainment offerings over the past decade. The Liberty of the Seas added aerialists, the Independence added stories, the Oasis gave us Broadway, and the Allure added massive moving sets. Going back to before all of that I was expecting to be rather disappointed, and I'm not going to lie I was. The production shows were little more than singing and a few dance moves. Like I said, a decade ago I'm sure this would have been on par with any other ship, but not compared to Royal Caribbean's other ships. The Aerial show on the other hand blew me away. I watched them rehearse every morning so by the last day when the showtime finally came I expected that there would be no surprises left and it would be no different. I could not believe how much the costumes, lighting, and sound added to the performance. It was a full third production show complete with the singers and dancers on the ground and the aerialists in the air. It was so good I watched both performances, the first from deck 5 where I got a great appreciation for the story and elegance of the show, and the second time from deck 7 where it had a completely different feeling as you could fully appreciate the effort and art of the aerialists but lost some of the show part. This performance was the greatest show I have ever seen at sea, easily putting anything the Oasis offered to shame. The aerialists could have come off as gimmicky but Royal Caribbean managed to integrate them perfectly where ver possible, including for the Captain's Welcome Reception.

 

This was the third sailing from Baltimore and as a result many of the crew were being swapped out from spanish speaking members to more american members. This included the cruise director who was replaced by John Perry on this sailing.

 

Final Thoughts

I entered this sailing wanting a quick cheap getaway that would hopefully help prepare for Quantum (not royal promenade). To my surprise what I got was an incredible cruise that could compete with any other. Royal Caribbean loves to say "Now Every Ship is Our Best Ship" thanks to the Oasisizing that they are doing. This seems stupid, no ship can compare to the Oasis. After this sailing though I have to say they are not lying, the Grandeur of the Seas at 17 years old truly could stand up to the Oasis of the Seas in the experience she offered. She may not have had the sports deck to compete but the many other features she does have, the food, and the centrum entertainment could easily give her a fighting chance. If this is what Royal Caribbean can do to an old ship I cannot wait to see what they accomplish with a brand new ship for Quantum. The ship may not be an Oasis, but the added features like the Aerialists and centrum entertainment could make her even better.

 

Media

I have uploaded all of my photos from the trip organized by day:

Day 1: Departure

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Bermuda

Day 4: Bermuda

Day 5: Bermuda

Day 6: At Sea

Day 7: At Sea

Day 8: Debarkation

Day 4 includes photos of the Prinsendam in Hamilton and her departure. The Norwegian Dawn was also in port with us at the Dockyard.

 

I am al so working on videos form this trip, they will be as follows:

• GoPro (time lapse video of Baltimore departure, Bermuda arrival, and Bermuda departure)
  
• Arrivals/Departures (video from Baltimore and Bermuda arrivals and departures)
  
• Grandeur of the Seas Tour (Deck by deck tour. I'm trying to use a new pan and pass method for this one with an occasional walk through where logical. Should be simpler to follow than the Oasis ones I did and will likely be what I use for Quantum)
  
• Captain's Corner (Captain and other officers answering questions)
  
• Captain's Welcome Aboard (Welcome aboard reception complete withe aerialists performance and practice footage)
  
• Summer Breeze Aerials (Not sure if I want to include the full 20 minutes of singing or just the aerialists performance part)
  
• Seasons of the Centrum Aerial Performance (Full performance 1 and 2, as well as practice footage. Originally intended to use the 2 recordings to allow for multi cam editing but the aerialists swapped roles. Anyone have an opinion on if I should edit together anyway. It's the same performance just different people doing different things)
  
• 70's Dancin' in the Street Party (Video of what the title says)
  
• (Great event that the crew really enjoy)
  
• Norwegian Dawn Departure (Video of the Norwegian Dawn in Bermuda and her departure)
  
• Prinsendam Departure (Video of the Prinsendam in Hamilton and her departure)
  

 

I'll post the video links as I get them done. You can also get them if your subscribed to my youtube page: Youtube Page

The first video that I completed is the

. It's a great video of many of the Grandeur of the Seas' crew members (nearly all of which are still onboard, roughly 30 change per sailing) including Captain Espen Beem! After the fire I thought it would be nice to show the hard working crew that had to deal with it. I really feel sorry for the chef's most of all though. They were putting in 18 hour days during our sailing because the executive chef team from Miami were onboard rolling out the new menus. I'm sure they were looking forward to things settling down this week and now I'm sure they are working 18 hour days again to get the kitchen cleaned up from the fire.

 

I'm going to try to do the Captain's Corner next, Captain Espen Beem had an interesting response to how the Grandeur would handle incidents like Carnival has dealt with. I don't think he quite got the question, he answered how Carnival is improving and it came off as if Royal Caribbean is not prepared. The Chief Engineer stepped in and made it very clear that Grandeur is safe with a rather humorous "They have 1, we have 2" speech.

[ClevelandRocks!]

I really enjoyed reading your review of the Grandeur. I am supposed to be on the 6/21 sailing, so I'm remaining optimistic we'll be able to sail. I loved your pictures, too. Thank you for posting.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

I really enjoyed reading your review of the Grandeur. I am supposed to be on the 6/21 sailing, so I'm remaining optimistic we'll be able to sail. I loved your pictures, too. Thank you for posting.

 

Can I fit into your suitcase? Ha :)

 

Heating up here at home, isn't it?

[ClevelandRocks!]

Can I fit into your suitcase? Ha :)

 

Heating up here at home, isn't it?

 

I thought you were a Majesty girl ;) I'll take these warm temps in Cleveland any day! Memorial Day was sooooo cold.

 

 

To the OP - love these pictures! Awesome job!

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

I thought you were a Majesty girl ;) I'll take these warm temps in Cleveland any day! Memorial Day was sooooo cold.

 

 

To the OP - love these pictures! Awesome job!

 

I am a Grandeur girl, too. She is another favorite. MJ, Navigator and Grandeur are my favs :)

 

Memorial Day was awful, I was so disappointed! Take care.

[jennymcc]

Wow! This is tremendous! So much great info! We are booked on the Grandeur Bermuda saling in early October! I have plenty of time to read! And RC has plenty of time to repair the poor ship!

 

Best of luck to all those with June/July GOS sailings! :)

[essex]

Thank you for posting all of your wonderful photos...

[psupa]

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us. I was so happy to see many pics of the ship, especially the outside cabin. Unfortunate about the fire, but thankfully no one was injured. I'm sure Royal will have her looking brand new in a few weeks. Looking forward to cruising on her in Dec.

[AeroBaldness]

:subscribe: Amazing detail in your review, thanks!!!! We do not sail on her until next year and your photos are really the first that provide extensive detail. We've been progressively getting smaller on RCCL (Freedom to Jewel to Grandeur), so I appreciate the perspective provided. In general, I liked Jewel's layout over Freedom (but my kids would strongly disagree). I am hoping an even smaller ship does not disappoint, and you've improved my optimism.

[DEIx15x8]

:subscribe: Amazing detail in your review, thanks!!!! We do not sail on her until next year and your photos are really the first that provide extensive detail. We've been progressively getting smaller on RCCL (Freedom to Jewel to Grandeur), so I appreciate the perspective provided. In general, I liked Jewel's layout over Freedom (but my kids would strongly disagree). I am hoping an even smaller ship does not disappoint, and you've improved my optimism.

 

Glad to see everyone is enjoying the pictures. My favorite thing to do on a cruise is walk around during the day and late at night taking pictures and videos of everything I can. This includes every venue, even the specialty restaurants I would never venture into otherwise. Be sure to stay tuned for the tour video, it is going to cover nearly every inch of the public spaces.

[GiannaD]

Thanks for the great review and photos. Do you have any of the updated bathrooms? Hopefully we will be on her in August.

[DEIx15x8]

Thanks for the great review and photos. Do you have any of the updated bathrooms? Hopefully we will be on her in August.

 

Glad you like them. Unfortunately I don't think I took any of the bathroom. I have four photos of the room in the album for the 18th but that's it. I usually try to get some pictures of the cabin and bathroom before we get unpacked but didn't get a chance to this time. I was able to get the cabin the next day but the bathroom was too messy to take pictures of.

 

Video update: I finished the Captain's Corner this morning. Unfortunately my first export had an issue I had to correct so I re-exported tonight and will be uploading over night. I'll post again when it's available in tomorrow morning. After that will be the 70's Party.

[DEIx15x8]

I just got the Captain's Corner video uploaded. The panel was comprised of the Captain, Chief Engineer, Hotel Director, Environmental Officer, and Cruise Director. The most interesting question is probably the one about how the Grandeur would handle a disaster similar to Carnivals. I think Captain Espen Been misunderstood as he answered with how Carnival is working to prevent it from happening again. If you don't listen carefully it can come off as sounding like Royal Caribbean is not prepared. The Chief Engineer stepped in though and gave technical details on how Royal Caribbean's design is better than Carnivals.

 

 

I have the 70's Party exporting now and will hopefully have it uploaded later today.

[DEIx15x8]

Here is the 70's Dance Party video!

It does a great job of showing off the lighting capabilities of the new Centrum. Lynn and Melissa were pretty funny with their improvised glass cages using the elevators, lol.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your very well written and organized review.

 

Keith

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks. We are SO looking forward to sailing on Grandeur in Sept.

[Dharma517]

I am just off the ass burnt Grandeur cruise and I can confirm that the food was fantastic. (what I got of it...lol). Really enjoyed my 3 dinners in the MDR! Also the 70's show was the best entertainment I have EVER seen on a cruiseship during my 10 or so cruises I have taken.

[Clarea]

I am just off the ass burnt Grandeur cruise and I can confirm that the food was fantastic. (what I got of it...lol). Really enjoyed my 3 dinners in the MDR! Also the 70's show was the best entertainment I have EVER seen on a cruiseship during my 10 or so cruises I have taken.

Really appreciate you keeping us informed that long day.

[mdwcruises]

What a great review! Thank you for sharing.

 

Grandeur looks beautiful. Hope she gets better soon.

[Civilgal15h]

We were on this cruise as well. Had a great time. Enjoyed that 70s dance party and all the entertainment we saw. Thanks for sharing. Still sad over the events on the following cruise.

[darwinsrule]

Absolutely loving the pictures. Wish we were going back to Bermuda this summer but the kids want Disney World instead :eek:. Just kidding. I love Disney as well.

 

Have Grandeur booked for August 2014. Will be our first RCCL cruise, but I suspect it won't be our last. As nice as it is to have the balcony overlooking the dockyards we have a POV booked and couldn't be happier.

[DEIx15x8]

I am just off the ass burnt Grandeur cruise and I can confirm that the food was fantastic. (what I got of it...lol). Really enjoyed my 3 dinners in the MDR! Also the 70's show was the best entertainment I have EVER seen on a cruiseship during my 10 or so cruises I have taken.

 

Glad to hear the food maintained it's quality after the executive team left. Hope you can get onboard her again and experience a full cruise this time. Some people were saying the MDR was reopened on the last day in Freeport, did you see this? The first thing I thought of was the poor MDR team. Those chefs were putting in 18 hour days during our sailing to try and learn all the menus. I'm sure they were looking forward to getting back to a more routine sailing this week. If the kitchen got damaged though it's probably not happening for them.

 

I have the GoPro timelapse Baltimore departure, Bermuda arrival, and Bermuda departure video done and uploading. Should be available tonight. The Welcome Aboard reception is almost done and will be available in the morning. It was the best welcome aboard reception I have ever experienced.