Grandeur out of Baltimore...enough for kids?

[beckzay]

Thinking about booking the Grandeur out of Baltimore, since we can get a really good price on it right now for our family of 5 with the sale going on right now. Our 3 "kids" (14, 21, 21) have never cruised before and this will be their first time. Looking at the deck plans, I'm concerned that there isn't much to do for them. It's an itinerary that has a lot of sea days.

 

My other options are the Carnival Pride and NCL Gem...both of which seem to have a lot of "stuff" to do on deck.

[cb at sea]

There's plenty! After all, this was once a HUGE ship, and folks were amazed!!! Since they haven't been exposed to the "mega ships", they will have nothing to compare it to....no worries!

The 14 year old will have AO to keep him/her busy...the 21 year olds will do whatever other adults do!!!

[NEPhillyRN]

your kids will have a great time. Are you booking the royal family suite? we did last summer and it was amazing! the Aft suites have balconies that are huge!

[LisaMM]

Sorry but just came off Grandeur with a large group several kids, ages 4, 11, 11, 17 and 17, teens were bored and so were the younger ones we . We all agreed we would never cruise Grandeur again. We will go back to Carnival. It wasn't just our group not happy, we heard a lot of people complaining on board! We were on Pride 2 years ago and would not hesitate to go back on Pride. I'm actually sorry I have to give Grandeur such a bad review but it was the worst ship we were ever on

[BND]

Sorry but just came off Grandeur with a large group several kids, ages 4, 11, 11, 17 and 17, teens were bored and so were the younger ones we . We all agreed we would never cruise Grandeur again. We will go back to Carnival. It wasn't just our group not happy, we heard a lot of people complaining on board! We were on Pride 2 years ago and would not hesitate to go back on Pride. I'm actually sorry I have to give Grandeur such a bad review but it was the worst ship we were ever on

 

Was one of yours the boy (prob 11-12) that ran everywhere and I had to say something to because he nearly ran into me? He ran around the upper deck, through the theater, absolutely everywhere. I said something because if he had run into one of the elderly people onboard, he could have really hurt them. Not that he even paid any attention, but he was a piece of work. I never saw an adult with him the entire trip.

 

Funny, I never heard anyone really complaining about anything. We had a wonderful trip. Nice, calm, peaceful vacation.

 

The kids you traveled with might have been happier on a larger ship.

Edited November 26, 2014 by BND

[tidygirl]

I actually had considered the Grandeur in the summer and thought my hubby and I may be bored. I didn't see that they even had mini-golf? And we are 48!

So just from the deck plans I could see where kids would get bored. I know my young adult kids would be! We like the Freedom and Liberty really well!

[jakenashleysmom]

We have been on Freedom, Mariner and NCL Star before sailing on the Enchantment (Grandeurs slightly larger sister ship) last year with our kids 14 and 12. They were anything but bored, in fact it was tough to get them to join us for dinner they were so busy! If you think you will like Carnival more then you probably will...you already have it in your head. Also if its your kids first cruise, 9 or 10 days might be too long of an adventure. Don't count Grandeur out, my kids love the smaller ships.

 

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[LisaMM]

Bnd for your information no that was not one of my kids in our group and once again we were not the only ones complaining on that cruise and I have every right to express my opi ion and unfortunately i can not ever recommend that ship to anyone after seeing the service on other ships Grandeur falls way short

[myhouseofmouse]

My two cents, Grandeur is a wonderful ship with plenty to do for all ages. My family did our first cruise on the Grandeur this past August and loved her so much that we are booked for our next cruise on her next year. I have a 7 year old and 14 year old and they both wanted to go back on the cruise instead of our normal yearly Disney vacation. So that is saying something. (now I will be honest the 14 year old wanted to do both, when pressed to pick one, she picked the cruise) It really depends on your kids, weather they enjoy the activities that the ship has to offer, but there are plenty of options. Again the 21 year olds will be able to do anything that adults can do and with all of the bars, pools and casino, they should have no problem keeping busy. There is also plenty to do for the 14 year old. On our cruise there were plenty of other kids that age on the ship and as long as they are not too shy, they should have no problems making friends and keeping busy. Now neither of my kids used the kids club but the they had clubs for both kids and teenagers. (The clubs were small, but it looked like they had plenty of planned activities for them.)

 

I would recommending finding some old cruise compasses to check out the activities to see if they fall in line with your interests.

 

Again being your first cruise, you will have nothing to compare it too, but I for one found there to be plenty to do and loved the crew and food. The ease of being able to leave out of Baltimore was an added bonus.

 

Whichever you pick, have a great cruise!!!

[Candleonwater]

I think your toughest one will be the 14 year old. That could be hit or miss. I do not feel there is enough to keep kids entertained if it's not pool weather.

 

I feel bad for the 18-20 group... really not a lot for them to do on bad sea days. Was a good time for DD to catch up on sleep.

[firestopr]

I also just got off the Grandeur.

 

For your age group of kids i think you will be just fine however it is my opinion this ship is no good for kids under 3.

 

Other then a few afternoon hours of "open play" or Paid by the hour baby sitting there is Nothing for the under three crowd.

 

Our 13 year old enjoyed herself alot.

 

Our 11 year old did get bored but one waiver later and she was able to be in the teens club and was just fine for the most part.

 

me and my wife are mixed since we spent so much time just trying to keep our little one some what happy.neither of us feel we got to see any where close to what the ship had to offer.

[lovetocruise75]

My 6yo even had a great time this past July aboard Grandeur. Great ship and outstanding crew. Tons to do on the pool deck every day.

[stellarose]

going on in a few weeks. son is almost 13 and daughter is almost 11. (both have birthdays in February).

 

we hope that there will be enough kids/ teens to keep both happy. both are very social and meet people quickly.

 

both kids want to go to the "kids club" after hours- when you pay- since they remember from the cruise in 2009- "it was waaaaaay cooler" (quoting both kids).

 

so, tips, suggestions welcome.