Grandeur Engine Trouble

[Radio Head]

Just called RCCL here is the scoop. They told me the ship is now sailing fine and the ship moved out on Sunday for their departure. We are sailing on Friday so I had some concerns.

 

They said everything is OK so keep your fingers crossed.

 

Whoo Hoooo!

Thanks for the update!

[TPKeller]

If they don't get it fixed, will the 9 night W Caribbean cruisers make it about as far as Charleston, SC, then turn around and limp back home? The ship isn't THAT old....what the heck is wrong????

I was on the Century in 2002, which is a similarly aged ship. For a good while after we left one of the ports, we were dragging a prop. Nobody ever made an announcement about it, I doubt anyone other than the ship geeks even noticed, and after a few hours they got it fixed. We were a couple hours late arriving at the next port, however.

 

Some itineraries are stretched to the very limit of the ship's ability. I think you can tell these legs from the port times involved... if you are scheduled to arrive in the afternoon, for example, it's a pretty good bet that the reason is because the ship is hauling ...itself... as fast as it can, along a great distance to get there. :)

 

Of course the problem with that is that any slight reduction in speed really messes up the schedule. Also, week in and week out of cruising at the max speed does take its toll. If you think about it, it's amazing they keep them running as well as they do. Imagine how long your car would last running at interstate speed, 12 hours a day, 365 days a year! :)

 

Theron

[mrsb]

Cheezwiz, thanks for calling and checking! We'll be there on Friday too--woo hoo!!

[Iamthesea]

[Just called RCCL here is the scoop. They told me the ship is now sailing fine and the ship moved out on Sunday for their departure. We are sailing on Friday so I had some concerns.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if someone from the ship would post and let us know what's going on. I don't trust RCCL folks to have accurate information and from past experience, they may not tell the truth if the ship were still in distress. Too much mass hysteria. :D

 

My parents and I are thinking about taking a last minute Bermuda cruise on the Grandeur. Now, I am a little wary!

[1Canada Cruiser]

I was wondering how long they keep sailing a ship with mechanical problems to the point of not being able to attain full speed and meet schedules. We are on the July 22 9 day...I hope! Do they compensate us for slow sailing?:confused:

[CruisinInAugust]

Oh my. I do hope this is fixed for good. My first cruise ever is in August to Bermuda and my Mom and I would be devastated if we only ended up having barely a day there. Plus, I've already made Dolphin Quest reservations for the first day at 1:00.

 

Please keep the information coming, all you folks "in the know." :)

[fay54]

Just got back on the Grandeur with engine trouble. Was an awful cruise!!! Had a terrible waiter and asst. waitress. Since we don't drink, they catered to the families around us drinking wine. Waited on us as an afterthought. The got no tip. We have cruised 6 times and this is the first time that i have stopped eating in the dining room because of the service. Our waiter did not tell us about the chocolate buffet, so we missed it. The food was just passable. The singers and dancers, just passable. The other entertainment comedy, and magicians was good. The ship needs to be put out to pasture. Will do a review later, still doing 9 days of wash. My advice is pick new and larger ships. The first couple days were rocky and lots of sick people. We also got some sort of cold virus and got off the ship sick. I heard lots of people coughing, so I think it was something on the ship. Anyway, good luck to anyone sailing on The Grandeur. I won't again.

[fay54]

Also missed my Meet and Mingle because was seasick. First time in 6 cruises. NO more small ships.

[Host Kewlguy]

Just got back on the Grandeur with engine trouble. Was an awful cruise!!! Had a terrible waiter and asst. waitress. Since we don't drink, they catered to the families around us drinking wine. Waited on us as an afterthought. The got no tip. We have cruised 6 times and this is the first time that i have stopped eating in the dining room because of the service. Our waiter did not tell us about the chocolate buffet, so we missed it. The food was just passable. The singers and dancers, just passable. The other entertainment comedy, and magicians was good. The ship needs to be put out to pasture. Will do a review later, still doing 9 days of wash. My advice is pick new and larger ships. The first couple days were rocky and lots of sick people. We also got some sort of cold virus and got off the ship sick. I heard lots of people coughing, so I think it was something on the ship. Anyway, good luck to anyone sailing on The Grandeur. I won't again.

 

Why didn't you switch tables? Sea sickness can happen on any size ship. I don't consider the Grandeur small.

[JeffHatfield]

Fay, do you realize that you are going on a ship about 1/2 the size of the Grandeur later this month to Bermuda?

[PhoenixCruiser]

Just got back on the Grandeur with engine trouble. Was an awful cruise!!! Had a terrible waiter and asst. waitress. Since we don't drink, they catered to the families around us drinking wine. Waited on us as an afterthought. The got no tip. We have cruised 6 times and this is the first time that i have stopped eating in the dining room because of the service. Our waiter did not tell us about the chocolate buffet, so we missed it. The food was just passable. The singers and dancers, just passable. The other entertainment comedy, and magicians was good. The ship needs to be put out to pasture. Will do a review later, still doing 9 days of wash. My advice is pick new and larger ships. The first couple days were rocky and lots of sick people. We also got some sort of cold virus and got off the ship sick. I heard lots of people coughing, so I think it was something on the ship. Anyway, good luck to anyone sailing on The Grandeur. I won't again.

 

Why would the waiter tell you about the buffet :confused: Isn't that information in the Compass?

 

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[gambler]

Oh my, I think I was on this cruise????

 

I only remember one day of not so nice weather and seas, that was the first

sea day. Plenty of sunshine and good weather after that, unless you want to count the typical 3pm afternoon shower in Port Canaveral. I have the tan to prove it.

 

As far as the service, we had one of the best dining room staff that I have ever had. We thought the food was very good (except for the steaks) Our waitress always brought us extra dishes and desserts to try. I gained 5 pounds. We were the only ones drinking wine at our table and everyone was treated the same. I think the chocolate buffet was listed in the compass??

 

I am not a big show person but the ones I saw were good.

 

Our room steward was excellant, everything we asked for was in our room immediately.

 

Yes, I did see a lot of coughing going on near the end of the cruise. I have a bit of it now myself. The Grandeur is a nice size ship. The occasional rough seas and/or people getting sick can happen on any ship big or small.

 

The Grandeur is by no means a "small" ship. The ship is still in very good shape. I would not hesitate to sail on her again.

 

Get out there!!

[JeffHatfield]

I was there too Gambler and my experience was much closer to your's than Fay's. Was there room for improvement, definitely as always. Was it bad? NO WAY. Any ship would have had sea sick people going through the weather on the first sea day, but anytime you are on the water, you take that risk.

[negc]

Just got back on the Grandeur with engine trouble. Was an awful cruise!!! My advice is pick new and larger ships. The first couple days were rocky and lots of sick people. We also got some sort of cold virus and got off the ship sick. I heard lots of people coughing, so I think it was something on the ship. Anyway, good luck to anyone sailing on The Grandeur. I won't again.

I think that the "something on the ship" causing all that coughing was your felllow passengers. LOL. Most of the sickness that is experienced onboard a cruise ship is brought onboard by passengers, so if you want to blame anyone, blame them and those who don't exercise good health practices like frequent hand-washing etc.

Bad service in the dining room is unfortunate, and in my experience at least, fairly rare. A word to the maitre'd might have improved matters, or rated a change of tables. Either would have been preferable to enduring it or avoiding the dining room entirely. Perhaps a less critical attitude might have led you to enjoy the good points of the cruise instead of focusing on the negatives.

[Joe1690]

Fay,

 

I hate to break the news to you but you won't be going on the Norwegian Sea on July 20, 2005 because the ship is leaving the NCL fleet this month and secondly hasn't gone to Bermuda in about 4 years. You may be going on the Crown or the Majesty but surely not the sea. Wish you the best of luck on your phantom Norwegian Sea trip to Bermuda and hope the phantom crew and boat are much better than the the Grandeur which it sounds like you had a terrible time on. I personally look forward to my grandeur cruise that leaves this friday and hope that it is not nearly as bad as your cruise. I will have a great time, however, because the grandeur is a nice ship. I must agree though that the entertainment was not great when we went last year.

 

JC

[Dreamin]

Other than the rainy weather the 1st day, the weather was great! A little rocking the first day, but we've experienced just as bad rocking on the Voyager Class Ships -- just part of cruising. I can't think of a negative thing to report. Food was great, shows were great, service was great.

We received a notice along with our Sign and Sail bill Sunday am notifying us that one of the engines had an electrical problem and therefore we would be arriving around @ Baltimore at 2:00 pm instead of 7:00 am. We arrived at 1:00 pm and were off the ship by 2:30. We were allowed to stay in our rooms until 11:00 am and then there was food service and bar service and the band was playing up on the top deck. I only wish I had kept my bathing suit out so that I could have enjoyed our additional "day at sea!"! I felt bad for the people waiting to leave since a 5 day is so short to begin with - it would be sad to cut it down to 4 1/2 day!

I would be happy to answer any questions.

7/17th cruisers - please don't worry - you will have a great time!

[Bonnie Voyager]

Thank you! We 7/17 cruisers appreciate any feedback we can get! I know we will have a great time. I just hope the engine is repaired and we get to Bermuda in time to enjoy our full stay!

[corin1st]

I have a question regarding the engine troubled Grandeur of the Seas. I was on that ship and we were not offered any compensations for the trouble ( seven hour delay). I was told that passengers boarding were offered a 50% off coupon on their next purchase of a cruise. How can passengers who were on board the ship get compensation?:confused:

[extremelybusymom1989]

Our family was also on the June 24th sailing on the Grandeur...We had one of the best waiters in our 15 cruises. The food was very good and the scale shows that all of us truly enjoyed the food. We went to just about all the shows and enjoyed them.

 

Fay54s comments don't reflect our opinions in any way shape or form. We were on much bigger ships and felt more motion (Coral Princess and Island Princess-they are narrow ships to fit through the Panama Canal).

 

Our suntans all show what great weather we had...the first day was the only day that rain was a problem but we were so busy chatting at our meet and mingle that it didn't matter. The Chocolate Buffet was clearly mentioned in the cruise compass, so you should always thoroughly check out the compass and I bring a highlighter so I won't forget anything that I want to do. I also didn't have a problem finding deck chairs on hot sunny days:D . The gym was small and surprisingly not crowded. I worked out with the dancers one afternoon. They are in amazing shape.

 

ENJOY YOUR CRUISE AND DON'T LET 1 PERSON'S NEGATIVE OPINION INFLUENCE YOU

[PhoenixCruiser]

I have a question regarding the engine troubled Grandeur of the Seas. I was on that ship and we were not offered any compensations for the trouble ( seven hour delay). I was told that passengers boarding were offered a 50% off coupon on their next purchase of a cruise. How can passengers who were on board the ship get compensation?:confused:

 

Compensation for what :confused: Getting additional time on a ship :rolleyes:

 

Welcome to CC...

 

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[corin1st]

Alright good point.;)

[corin1st]

My cabin steward Rigoberto from Costa Rico was excellent and very attenitive to our needs. If I cruise with Grandeur of the Seas again it will defintley be because of the wonderful service rendered by him.

[negc]

I have a question regarding the engine troubled Grandeur of the Seas. I was on that ship and we were not offered any compensations for the trouble ( seven hour delay). I was told that passengers boarding were offered a 50% off coupon on their next purchase of a cruise. How can passengers who were on board the ship get compensation?:confused:

They got compensated because their cruise time was shortened. By rights, RCI should charge you extra because your trip was longer. :) Don't add to the image of those passengers who seem only interested in how much money they can wrest from cruiselines for minor or imagined inconveniences.

[Cruising89143]

Here is a photo that I snapped of her this past Friday in Pt. Canaveral. I was on the Sovereign.

 

[luv2cruise0618]

DH and I sailed the Grandeur earlier this year and had a blast--probably our best cruise of 6 cruises with RCCL. If the entertainment includes Major Handy and Frances, the Zideco band, you will have a blast. Remember a vacation is what you make of it. All of the basics and more are there at your service on the ship. If the table does not work for you, switch. Do what you need to do to have a time of your life (within reason). Life is short, work is long and vacations are few and far between--so get our there and make it happen.

 

Enjoy!!!