Just returned from Granduer 5-2-14 Bahamas.. Any Questions??

[Stephluva2711]

Just returned this afternoon, I'm not really great in writing reviews of my experiences because honestly I tend to not stick to one subject lol. However If you guys have any questions or concerns I can try to answer them honestly.

 

One thing I can say, didn't smell any sewer smell around the ship, however some of the public bathrooms have a delay in flushing. Also sometimes the bathroom smells like sour clothes because I think the shower curtain emits a smell! :eek:

 

The food leaves much to be desired. WJ is hit or miss, we didn't' eat there often but the times we did eat there the lunch or dinner was just bad. Breakfast was ok. Also having just cruised on Allure in Nov. I noticed a lot of differences in plating in the MDR during lunch and dinner. also taste was off on this Ship. If anyone wants pics of some of the dishes on allure and then the same dish on grandeur let me know. The food was either wayyy over salted or wayy bland. Certain things were very oily as well.

 

Was a little disappointing that some events were held in the Centrum. Like the cake demo, and the cooking demo and battle of the sexes. While the centrum is very beautiful , there are certain people... let's just say of the older variety that will sit there from morning til night. Sometimes not even watching the shop, but sleeping, playing cards, etc etc etc. It was very frustrating trying to find a seat or even standing room, to observe or even participate in the events.

 

One highlight was the diamond lounge. Very nice and beautifully done. Food was always changed out to be kept fresh and the drinks kept on coming!

 

Any other questions feel free to ask.

[Stephluva2711]

Jsut and example of a dish that I've had on allure and then the same on grandeur. The taste was much different and didn't really enjoy it on grandeur

 

 

The above is the Palm sugar chicken at lunch in MDR on Allure

 

 

The above is the same Palm Sugar chicken on Grandeur at lunch in the MDR. The plating was very different, the chicken wasn't even grilled. The sauce was gross.

[summersigh]

While the centrum is very beautiful , there are certain people... let's just say of the older variety that will sit there from morning til night. Sometimes not even watching the shop, but sleeping, playing cards, etc etc etc. It was very frustrating trying to find a seat or even standing room, to observe or even participate in the events.

.

 

At least those of the "older variety" were actually sitting in their seats. On our cruise we saw, on numerous occasions, seats in the theatre, Solarium and on the pool deck being saved - empty - for long periods of time. Many of those savers were of the "younger variety" :D :D

[Stephluva2711]

At least those of the "older variety" were actually sitting in their seats. On our cruise we saw, on numerous occasions, seats in the theatre, Solarium and on the pool deck being saved - empty - for long periods of time. Many of those savers were of the "younger variety" :D :D

 

LMAOOO so right you are summer! On this cruise i did notice on the pool deck the staff removing towels after a certain time, however they did not do that in the solarium, and it was like towel fest 2014 in there. Was very difficult to find a seat!

Edited May 10, 2014 by Stephluva2711
typo

[Stephluva2711]

also wanted to add, regarding boarding. we were able to board the ship around 1045a 11am. I will say, this is the first time that I found the staff at the pier to be rude. I'm not sure if they are tired because of all the noro related business a few wks back, or if it was just because of the port we left from? Not really sure. However people would walk around yelling at people that there were no cameras or cell phones allowed in the terminal and you had to put it away.. Now is this always the case? Because i've taken several pics on prior cruises while waiting to board the ship. Also have used cell phones in the past. They would also huff and puff when asked a question. And while we boarded the ship in a good amount of time, I found the whole process disorganized.

 

Really that's not a make a break for me in enjoying a trip but just noticed this observation and thought I would share.

[firestopr]

Any chance you could post some compasses? the last person on the grandeur never got them online.

 

Glade to hear you you had some positive things on board.

[Stephluva2711]

THis is day 1... I thought I had day 2 but Not really sure where the heck it went!

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/10341432_853989131282045_7163606000564289739_n.jpg

 

[Stephluva2711]

Day 3. WE arrived in FL... Just a note, for day 2 that was the day they did the cooking demo in the centrum. also the first formal night

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stephluva2711]

Day 4, halfway to the end of the trip.

 

 

 

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/10007521_854001627947462_3894151996467835492_n.jpg

 

[Stephluva2711]

Sorry that the compasses are broken up, but i just don't have the energy to go downstairs to scan them so To get them legible I took pics of different events since it looked too blurry just photographing the entire compass in one shot.

[Stephluva2711]

Day 5's compass got a little errrr.. wet. Let's just say we cracked open our Complementary bottle of wine and it was a casualty of too much of a good time

 

[Stephluva2711]

Day 6! Home stretch and luckily this compass escaped unscathed

 

[Stephluva2711]

Finally Day 7. Just and FYI in the day 7 compass they did include info about the following debarkation day. I forgot to take a pic because at this point i was depressed... however I do remember that breakfast was either in windjammer from 7a-8:30a or in the MDR at the same time. We had luggage Tag #10 which was scheduled to depart at 8:10am. Express walkoff started pretty early since the ship cleared customs fast. The Capt. announced walk=off around 7:15am, and which time i was still blissfully in denial in bed!

 

 

So that was the final compass I had, I really don't know what happened to day 2.. Although i have to check my sister's cell, she may have taken the pic that day.

 

Also I had the Royal Replenish Package which was great. I really used the hell out of the Starbucks coffee! Freestyle machine was great, although leading up to the last day ( I think it was day 6 or the end of day 5) I noticed a lot of coke flavors gone along with other popular ones.. However I rarely indulge in soda and more got the raspberry lemonades which were always full.

[Stephluva2711]

Wanted to add about the Royal Replenish package, While you can use your package on coco cay, I recommend you get it from the bar! If you get one of those coco locos from the servers walking around, they will still charge you the $3.95 for the souvenir cup! If you really don't want to keep the cup, just go to the bar and order the same thing. It actually tastes better since it's made fresh and not all melted by the time the server gets to you.

[Cmx3d]

Thank you for posting these! I had a couple of questions:

 

1) Did you see any shows and how would you rate them?

2) By any chance did you check out Adventure Ocean?

3) How was the staff? friendly?

4) What was your stateroom and was it noisy?

5) What did you do in Port Canaveral?

 

Thanks!

[dgh203]

Thank you for all of the information.

 

Question- Do you know if Giovanni's is open for lunch on the first day of the cruise?

[Stephluva2711]

Thank you for posting these! I had a couple of questions:

 

1) Did you see any shows and how would you rate them?

2) By any chance did you check out Adventure Ocean?

3) How was the staff? friendly?

4) What was your stateroom and was it noisy?

5) What did you do in Port Canaveral?

 

Thanks!

 

I did see the comedy show with al ducharm (SP) both the censored and the adult one. He was funny, had the audience cracking up. I also went to the ariel show, which was great but really hard finding a seat. Also saw the rhythm and rhyme show, it was average, a few points better than others. I would say if you've never been on Allure or Oasis then you would rate these high, but after sailing on Allure twice, I would rate shows on Grandeur about a 5 or 6.

 

I don't have kids so never actually went to adventure ocean, however I'm a big kid at heart so I did go to the arcade which is right next door. They had several babies, and on occasion would see the staff walking or pushing the babies in strollers to put them to sleep. I did see a few teens in the teen club and they played dodge ball and other games with staff.

 

The staff was friendly. The MDR staff in my opinion sometimes forgot about you, and we would wait awhile in between waiting for a course, or even putting in a drink order. I don't know if it's MTD (this is the first time i tried MTD) or if it's because they were tired, or if it's because of the ship. Other staff was friendly and my cabin steward was really cool.

 

We had an interior stateroom cabin 7065. First time in an interior in years lol. But it was ok, not really noisy except for sometimes mid afternoon. We had a group of people across the hall in a few other rooms, and it seemed they would all talk very loud outside their rooms when they wanted to decide what to do for the day. But that's about it, never bothered me for too long.

 

Ahh port Canaveral. I was looking forward to this because like i said i'm a big kid. We had purchased the round trip bus ticket online prior to cruising to take us to Universal studios. The bus picked us up at 11a and we were in universal by 12. We had 7 hrs to enjoy HARRY POTTER THEME PARK! located in universal Island of Adventure. We were gone all day and was back on the boat by 8pm It was only $35 round trip, however you had to buy your park ticket once you got there. We bought ours online prior to the trip and saved a few bucks. Best day ever

[Stephluva2711]

Thank you for all of the information.

 

Question- Do you know if Giovanni's is open for lunch on the first day of the cruise?

 

No it's not. Not on this ship anyway, On allure it was. But on the first day on Grandeur, it was only the windjammer, and park cafe. I guess because it's not that many people they don't feel the need to have more venues open. We were on board by 1115 am and WJ opened at 11:30. No problem finding a seat, however when we were finishing It was getting crowded. So if you are arriving around 12:30, 1pm be prepared to have to scavenger hunt for a seat.

[sharse]

Thank you for posting these! I had a couple of questions:

 

1) Did you see any shows and how would you rate them?

2) By any chance did you check out Adventure Ocean?

3) How was the staff? friendly?

4) What was your stateroom and was it noisy?

5) What did you do in Port Canaveral?

 

Thanks!

 

I was on this sailing as well, so perhaps I'll add my $.02 to your question.

 

We did check out Adventure Ocean. My 9 and 10 year olds went the first day at sea in the morning and had a great time. They met some buddies and hung with them the rest of the cruise. My kids ASKED if they could go to AO a couple of times, too, and of course we said yes. We gave them sign in/sign out privileges because lines to pick up were LONG!

 

I thought most of the staff was very friendly. A few were less so.

 

Our stateroom was 2098 and it was very quiet. Great location.

 

We did nothing in Port Canaveral. Stayed on the ship since we've been there many times before. My kids played in the pool with buddies they'd met the day before and we just relaxed around the pool deck soaking in the sun.

[fluffysue]

I was on this sailing, too, it was a great vacation! :) I might throw in my own opinions later on when I wake up a little more. lol Also, I will look and see if I have the Day 2 Cruise Compass; I try to save them all but not sure that they all made it.

Edited May 10, 2014 by fluffysue

[Stephluva2711]

I was on this sailing, too, it was a great vacation! :) I might throw in my own opinions later on when I wake up a little more. lol Also, I will look and see if I have the Day 2 Cruise Compass; I try to save them all but not sure that they all made it.

 

I know what you mean, I need more recovering too! Feel free to throw in anything I missed.

 

Also debarkation went pretty quick for anyone wondering. We were going to do the walk off with our bags thing because we had an Amtrak train to catch that was at 10:04am. However we decided against it. My mom is blind and uses the cane, and holds my arm. So my sister usually pulls her suitcase as well. It would have been too much. Our luggage tags were scheduled to come off at 8:10a. We left the ship around 8:15am and was at Penn station by 9:05am

[firestopr]

I was on this sailing as well, so perhaps I'll add my $.02 to your question.

 

We did check out Adventure Ocean. My 9 and 10 year olds went the first day at sea in the morning and had a great time. They met some buddies and hung with them the rest of the cruise. My kids ASKED if they could go to AO a couple of times, too, and of course we said yes. We gave them sign in/sign out privileges because lines to pick up were LONG!

 

I thought most of the staff was very friendly. A few were less so.

 

Our stateroom was 2098 and it was very quiet. Great location.

 

We did nothing in Port Canaveral. Stayed on the ship since we've been there many times before. My kids played in the pool with buddies they'd met the day before and we just relaxed around the pool deck soaking in the sun.

 

How was your room? we are scheduled in the same room for our sailing in November.and i am very curious about the Pullman beds.

 

ALSO big thank you to OP for posting all the great Compass Pictures.

[sharse]

How was your room? we are scheduled in the same room for our sailing in November.and i am very curious about the Pullman beds.

 

ALSO big thank you to OP for posting all the great Compass Pictures.

 

I would absolutely book this room again. Great location by the stairs and elevator, so it is convenient but we NEVER heard foot traffic and I'm a light sleeper. My boys loved the pullman beds and slept like rocks. I hit my head a few times, so that was a pain, but I loved that my kids each had their own space. They wouldn't have slept as well sharing a pull out.

[firestopr]

I would absolutely book this room again. Great location by the stairs and elevator, so it is convenient but we NEVER heard foot traffic and I'm a light sleeper. My boys loved the pullman beds and slept like rocks. I hit my head a few times, so that was a pain, but I loved that my kids each had their own space. They wouldn't have slept as well sharing a pull out.

 

 

 

Great to hear. This is our first cruise so we are pretty excited the more i hear the more i am sure we made a good choice in Vacation.

[Stephluva2711]

I would like to add the beds were comfy, my sister (19) got stuck on the bunk bed ha ha. She said it was comfy, but also added being up top, you feel the air conditioning more, or heat depending on which you adjust your temp to in your room. I hid her ladder on many occasion just to mess with her. :D