Solo on the Grandeur - Semi-live

[maureencruiser]

Your review is one the most entertaining I have ever read on cruise critic. I believe you may have missed your calling. You are a terrific writer with a great sense of humor.

 

Oh, please , go on!! :D Your writing is always so accurate!! ;) You mean I should reconsider the priesthood? :eek:

[maureencruiser]

Well, after all that show watching and applauding and picture taking, I was hungry again, so, back to the WJ for a little supper.

 

 

 

Pasta with meat sauce, stuffed shell with alfredo and pork scallopini with veal reduction. Oh, and the ever present bread and milk! The pork had a seafood allergy warning label on it and a woman was demanding that I tell her how pork with veal contains seafood. :eek: Honey, I didn't cook it, I just eat it! Thinking about it later, though, I think the WJ staff might have though scallopini meant it had scallops in it.

 

Well, I liked the Divas so much, I went back to see them again and sit closer and get some pics for this review. This leads me to something I wanted to say. When I went to shows with my camera, people would say, You can't take pictures at a show. That is just not true. You can't take video at a show or use FLASH to take a pic, but, you can take as many non-flashers as you want.

 

So, I went to see the Divas again and take some pics from the front of the theater.

 

 

 

What I hadn't thought about here was I use my camera looking at the screen, not with my eye up to the camera. I realized after this pic that the light from that would be disturbing to people around me and I couldn't remember how to change my camera back to turn off the screen. :(

 

So, I didn't take any more pics until the end of the show when the houselights came up.

 

 

 

When I went back to my cabin, this guy was waiting for me,

 

 

 

I'm not sure what he is supposed to be. A man? A man with a club foot? A man wearing a Christmas stocking on one foot? Oh, Stewart, you are a man of Mystery!

[maureencruiser]

Next on the agenda was the 70's Disco party. I was far away, so, sorry for the bad quality, I just wanted to give you an idea of what it was like.

 

 

 

Darryl and Diamond Dez as John Travolta and friend. You can tell by the way they use their walk, they're a woman's man, no time to talk.

 

 

 

I just didn't like Darryl without his mohawk.

 

Then, the men went away and the girls danced for a while.

 

 

Next, the men reappeared as the Village People.

 

 

 

 

Darryl, rocking denim short shorts and leather chaps and Dez looking just a little too comfortable in his too short, white shorts.

 

 

 

 

[maureencruiser]

 

Darryl, working it.

 

 

 

 

YMCA

 

 

 

After the show, they posed for pictures. Everyone else was looking at another camera, but, Darryl saw me.

 

 

 

Jeffrey said that Darryl would be a good Activities Manager if he would just come out of his shell a little bit. :eek:

 

I don't know, I got the impression that Darryl came out a long time ago. :D

[maureencruiser]

Thursday - Day at Sea.

 

 

I decided to mix things up a little bit by getting an omelet.

 

 

 

My view this morning.

 

 

 

 

A slow morning, Darryl was teaching a napkin folding class in the Centrum.

 

 

 

Turtle will like this picture. Only she and I will know why. ;)

 

 

A bird of paradise.

 

 

 

 

The Centrum was looking lovely today.

 

 

[maureencruiser]

 

 

Cruisers with some of their creations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[karen1821]

Disco night is my favorite part of the cruise. Got video of it 4weeks ago love Dez.

[maureencruiser]

Before lunch, I had to go to guest services. They had some pretty decorations out.

 

 

 

 

Very pretty.

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous!! And the decorations weren't bad either.

 

 

 

 

After that, I met Turtle for lunch at Izumi's. I was going to try sushi for the first time. You pay a $3 cover charge for lunch plus the cost of your food. Dinner is $5 plus food.

 

 

 

 

The chairs were cute.

 

 

[maureencruiser]

First up was miso soup.

 

 

 

Turtle ordered some appetizers and let me share, cause she's cool like that.

 

Tempura vegetables.

 

 

I forget what these were called, but, they were like wontons.

 

 

 

 

I had the Spicy Tuna roll - it cost $5.

 

 

 

Turtle had the Spicy shrimp.

 

 

 

 

We were supposed to get edamame, but, we didn't. I liked the tuna very much. I liked how I could taste each item in my roll, everything tasted so fresh. It was hard to eat such a large bite, though. At one point, I said, I'm gonna try the wasabi and Turtle almost came out of her chair! I think she thought I put a huge glob of it on my food. :D

[maureencruiser]

After lunch, I wandered through the shops a little. People always seem to want to know what cigarettes and alcohol cost on the ship, so, I took some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maureencruiser]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crystal Head Vodka. A man saw me taking a pic and told me this was made by Dan Aykroyd.

 

[maureencruiser]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sheridan's was good. I had a few samples of it while I decided if I liked it or not.

 

 

 

I had a quick dinner that night as I had to get ready for the Quest.

 

 

[maureencruiser]

 

This little fella was hanging around, waiting in my cabin for me

 

Quest - there's a little saying about Quest - what happens at Quest stays at Quest (unless it shows up on Cruise Critic). ;)

 

It is a scavenger hunt, players are broken up into teams and the CD calls for various items, a picture of a baby, for example.

 

 

 

2 men from your team, arm in arm, skipping in a circle.

 

 

 

2 women, twerking.

 

 

 

 

[maureencruiser]

Stupid Human Tricks.

 

 

 

If you don't think this is hard, try it. Bend your fingers backwards until they touch your wrist, I'll wait.

 

 

This man's talent was flaring his nostrils, but, that is not what is important. Look at how well dressed he is, how sophisticated. Let's see how long that lasts.

 

 

 

I can't even describe to you what this woman was doing, but, I can tell you she was wearing blue underwear.

 

 

This young man dropped down into a split before I could take a picture. He did the same thing at the Sexiest Man contest, but, I didn't recognize him or I might have gotten a picture then.

 

 

 

 

Darryl, trying to replicate one of the contestants.

 

 

 

2 men, twerking.

 

[maureencruiser]

 

 

 

 

The twerking went on for a while, while the men tried to do it correctly.

 

This man didn't know what twerking was, but, the other man taught him. Look at his face - PRICELESS!!!

 

 

 

The next Quest, faces are not shown to protect the innocent.

 

 

 

 

OK, I met this guy and his wife. They were on their first cruise, I think it was their honeymoon. I have his email address and am going to send him all the pics I took at Quest. How is he going to explain this to the folks back in Wisconsin? Two more new, confirmed cruisers.

 

[maureencruiser]

My sophisticated friend! What happened?

 

 

 

 

But, look at that smile on his face!

 

 

 

 

My friend from Wisconsin is already in his underwear, why not add a bra? That's his wife, in the red dress.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, the family is gonna be so proud!

 

 

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

 

 

 

 

The completion of another successful Quest!

 

[SKeighley]

As we like to say, it is INCLUDED in your cruise fare, in other words, free to you once you are on the ship. It is a nice little venue for an alternative to MDR or WJ. On some ships, it closes at 6pm, but, on others, it is open for late night snacks. What ship are you sailing on?

 

Grandur of the sea. first time rccl. Learning all i can about her

[LuvBNatC]

I too am thoroughly enjoying reading your review! We'll be on the Grandeur this summer to Bermuda! Any tips on controlling the shower curtain?! I seem to have read some time ago about adding weights/magnets to the bottom? Can't remember!

 

I'm a little late getting to the party, but I solved the shower curtain problem on the Brilliance with 2 fairly hefty, all-plastic (so they don't rust and stain the curtain) clips I found at Dollar Tree. Hung them from the bottom of the curtain, and they worked like a charm to keep it off me.

 

Didn't bring the clips on my recent Vision cruise because I got bad intel and thought the showers had doors, and ended up wearing the curtain through every shower.

 

I'm thinking of doing the Grandeur to Bermuda in 2014, and I'm glad to find out now about the curtains. Those clips will be taking another cruise! :D

[wrp96]

Maureen, the little wonton type things are gyoza.

[maureencruiser]

Maureen, the little wonton type things are gyoza.

 

Thanks! They were yummy!

[maureencruiser]

Friday the 13th - a good day to be at sea.

 

I slept in a little - the bed was so comfy.

 

Breakfast at the Park Cafe

 

 

I livened things up a little with the addition of a triple chocolate muffin. I would soon come to regret this decision.

 

Since I was already there, I decided to take a few pics of the Solarium. Skeighley, this is the adults only area with a retractable roof over a pool and a couple of hot tubs. It is also the location of the Park Cafe.

 

The day was beautiful, but, it was starting to turn colder as we would be back in Baltimore in less than 24 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, it was time for the Grandeur's 17th birthday party.

 

 

 

Preparing the Mimosas.

 

 

[maureencruiser]

They said we would have cake. They didn't say we would have CAKE!

 

 

It took 5 grown men to carry this cake.

 

 

 

 

The chef said it took 12 chefs 10 hours to make this cake. Why they decided to make it life size, I'll never know.

 

 

 

 

The back view - notice the hand holds on the rock climbing wall. The chef said it weighed over 100 pounds and contained 3,000 eggs. It couldn't contain that many, could it?

 

 

The captain came and said a few words, then, we all sang Happy Birthday.

 

 

 

 

Jeffrey, the CD, said Make sure to eat your own cabin!

 

 

This was the portion they gave me. There was no place to sit, so, I went back to my cabin.

 

 

 

 

Stewart saw me coming with my hands full, so, he let me into my room. I asked if he wanted some cake and he said he did. When I left, I left him his slice on the bed.

 

[Cruzin-K]

 

 

 

Soon, it was time for the Grandeur's 17th birthday party.

 

 

 

Preparing the Mimosas.

 

 

 

Wow! Who knew they had birthday parties. I wonder when the other ships' birthdays are :confused:

[joand452]

Maureen, Your pics of Quest really made me laugh. I hope the new cruisers realize after they've viewed your photos, they must gouge out their eyes, sew their lips shut and never reveal what they've seen! ;):eek::p;)

[maureencruiser]

Exactly one hour later, I went back. This was all that was left. Notice there are 9 decks leading up to the pool deck.

 

 

 

 

The dining room was open, so, I wandered in there for a few pics.