My Grandeur review-july 22-31,2005

[1HAPPYCRUISER]

:) Well, this was my first cruise. I read lots about cruising and the ship before I left. Nothing could prepare me for it though!! We had a blast!!! Our group consisted of 21 people 14-60. We all live less than 50 miles from the port of baltimore. most of us less than 5 miles!

 

 

 

Embarkation:got to the port at 12:15 and were on the ship by 12:40. very easy. very organized. nice personnel. Tip: have all your paperwork handy and you will breeze right on in.

 

Rooms: I thought they were small but there was enough space for 3 grown women to store all their things and not trip over them. Tip: save time- wash your feet in the shower,pee and brush your teeth all at the same time!!

 

Food: Ate dinner in the dining room every night but one..service was great! Food was good- Windjammer food was ok..cafeteria style..plenty to eat -good quality. Tip: you can try anything you want and if you don't like it send it back! (great for picky eaters you just want to try something new).

 

Ports of call: The Bahamas was ok. nothing spectacular there. all the shops sell the same thing. did the shopping excursion and Bahama mama cruise through the ship. it was fun but hot, hot,hot!!!

 

Coco Cay: the best!! Wish I could move there! the water was beautiful.. food was good..shopping was nice...the big slide was out of this world fun!! The jet ski excursion we booked through the ship was great!! 50 miles an hour across crystal blue waters...the adventure of a life time for me!!

 

Key West: Again..wonderful..so full of personality and fun...loved the shopping! Margaritaville was good..had drinks and food there...every person we ran into was very nice! found some excellent gifts there for the hard to buy for teenager! Walked to the southernmost point..it was worth it just to say we had been there.

 

Cozumel: Beautiful water! Poor island! Good shopping! I felt so bad haggling with these people...they are so poor..most times I just paid what they asked. Here we did the jeep 4x4 snorkel adventure through the ship..it was awesome!! I have never snorkeled before and it was so beautiful! Our guides were the best and treated us like family. jeeping on the beach was awesome!

 

Port Canaveral: Here we did the alligator air boat adventure through the ship. it was cool! Saw a few alligators and had the chance to sample some alligator meat (didn't like it)we got back to the ship and then took a van (11 of us) for 5 bucks each way and went to Cocoa Beach..it was beautiful there! We went to Ron Jons Surf Shop ..did a little other shopping ate at Quiznos and then walked over to the beach and swam for about 2 hours before meeting the van to go back. That is one great beach!! beautiful water and sand...

 

The ship: I thought everything about the ship was nice..the people were great! The staff said there were more children on the ship on this cruise than they had ever had before but you couldn't tell it...did not see very many unruly children, but some teenagers were running amuck and not being corrected on the last night. I cant see how some parents would just let there kids do whatever they want...but hey I am not their parents.

 

The service: Our wait staff was so great! Mickey from Romania and Maria from Chile...I wish I could have brought them home with us..not to serve us but just to get to know them..they were both so sweet!!! Our cabin steward was William and was very nice and unobtrusive. Cabin was always nice and clean.

 

Sea days: There seemed to be as much or as little to do as you wanted. Chair hogs were abundant but i would just move their things...1/2 hour is one thing..but all day is another..that's just rude!! The entertainment staff seemed very efficient and the games on deck were fun.

 

The midnight buffet on the pool deck was fun with all the dancing and stuff going on. All in all it was a great trip! I would definitely sail with Royal Caribbean again. definitely the Grandeur again and definitely from Baltimore again! If anyone has any questions please feel free to email. ldubovsky @ pavsnerpress.com

[baltimoreravensfan]

We were on this cruise also...I was so surprised to read about the amount of children on board. I didn't realize how many kids were on board. I thought the kids for the most part were extremely well-behaved (with the exception of 1 notable group of pre-teens, led by a boy in a wheelchair with a broken leg), who were extremely obnoxious and loud and apparently had no parental supervision at all! My daughters (9 and 15) and husband all agreed that it was the best vacation ever!

[peekskillny]

I am going on the same cruise this friday. Can't wait. I was thinking about renting an electric car in key west. I will be traveling with 3 kids. 15, 8 and 3. The car will be about 75 for 3 hours. What do you think. I am also doing the alligator airboat adventure. I think I am scheduled to go at about 10:00 do you think I will have time to go to coco beach?

[cincicruisers]

thanks for taking the time to post a review of your vacation. Sounds like you had a great time!

[Helen]

Thanks for the great review. Is the van to Cocoa Beach through the ship? Do you have to book it or can you catch it during certain times? How much did it cost? Thanks for the information.

[1HAPPYCRUISER]

peekskillny

the electric cars we saw looked cool..i have no idea if the price is fair but if that is the price through the ship you can probably get it cheaper just walking down the peir..they are parked right at the bottom of duval street..the trolley also looked cool..

 

helen

the van at cocoa beach was not through the ship..you just walk out of the port and under the tunnel and there will be all kinds of taxis,shuttles and vans waiting to take you wherever you want to go..cocoa beach was most excellent! beautiful, beautiful beach..worth the 10 bucks it cost to get there and back.

 

baltimoreravensfan

yeah i ran into the same bunch of kids alot.wish you had come to the meet and mingle.it would have been nice to have another ravens fan to talk to ...are you ready for some football??? i am for sure!!

[Helen]

Thanks for the info and will definitely make a stop at Cocoa Beach. Thanks!

[1HAPPYCRUISER]

bump