Grandeur 11 day cruise

[LisaMM]

Sailed on Grandeur with a of 15. This was our second RC cruise. We picked this ship because of the itinerary to western Caribbean.

Unfortunately we will never sail again on this ship. And I want to state I have never given a bad review on anything!

A few cons: small public areas due to ship size

 

Sewer smell in certain areas

 

Had 1 day of no toilets flushing, was fixed in short time

 

Half of upper deck closed for first half of trip, doing maintemnce on it which included spraying paint or rubber which fumes came down to pool area, then when deck finally opened it looked like they had kindergarten kids paint the deck, it was a mess.

 

No air conditioning in windjammer till we reached Mexico, could not sit in there to eat too hot, people couldn't breathe.

 

2 of 4 hot tubs near pool closed first 2 days, 1 closed due to

"Fecal accident"

 

50 percent of time coffee machine empty, ice cream empty

 

Horrible bar service, especially around pool and in lounge areas.Servers not too friendly. If you went to bar to get drink at least 20 min wait.

 

Unable to keep track of your on board account thru tv, had to go to desk to check on it, which you stood in line listening to everyone complain about something

 

I feel I have stated enough cons even though there are more.

 

The cruise director was very good and our main dining room staff were very friendly. We will not be going back on Granduer and will stick with Carnival, never had a complaint with Carnival

[BND]

Sailed on Grandeur with a of 15. This was our second RC cruise. We picked this ship because of the itinerary to western Caribbean.

Unfortunately we will never sail again on this ship. And I want to state I have never given a bad review on anything!

A few cons: small public areas due to ship size

 

Sewer smell in certain areas

 

Had 1 day of no toilets flushing, was fixed in short time

 

Half of upper deck closed for first half of trip, doing maintemnce on it which included spraying paint or rubber which fumes came down to pool area, then when deck finally opened it looked like they had kindergarten kids paint the deck, it was a mess.

 

No air conditioning in windjammer till we reached Mexico, could not sit in there to eat too hot, people couldn't breathe.

 

2 of 4 hot tubs near pool closed first 2 days, 1 closed due to

"Fecal accident"

 

50 percent of time coffee machine empty, ice cream empty

 

Horrible bar service, especially around pool and in lounge areas.Servers not too friendly. If you went to bar to get drink at least 20 min wait.

 

Unable to keep track of your on board account thru tv, had to go to desk to check on it, which you stood in line listening to everyone complain about something

 

I feel I have stated enough cons even though there are more.

 

The cruise director was very good and our main dining room staff were very friendly. We will not be going back on Granduer and will stick with Carnival, never had a complaint with Carnival

 

Actually, if you were on the 1 Nov cruise with us, it was a 10 night cruise, not 11.

 

We had a great trip. Our toilet was slow to flush a couple of times which is very common on ships. Sometimes it's because people flush things they shouldn't.

 

We never smelled the sewer smell, but that happens on all ships occasionally, even, gasp Carnival.

 

Upper deck was closed because on our March cruise on GR, we had rough weather and the deck split. They're working on it and what you saw as "Kindergarten kids painting the deck" was only the first coat.:rolleyes:

 

Yes, there was a slight smell of what they were applying, but it wasn't an issue and I never heard anyone complain about it.

 

As for the onboard account, GR is an older ship and they can't run the cabling required to do that.

 

The reason there was no air conditioner in the WJ (started the third sea day I'm pretty sure since we didn't really need a/c before that) was because it broke and they couldn't fix it til we were in port, which was our first port of Cozumel. If you listened to the noon announcement by Capt Espen you would have heard him explain that. As my DH (retired US Navy Captain) said, we're lucky they were able to fix it because how a/c works on ships is very different than what you have in your home. Most of us who went into the WJ when it was hot, brought our food out and ate on the pool deck and it honestly was just a blip. By afternoon in Cozumel, the a/c was working great.

Edited November 26, 2014 by BND

[kleo30]

 

Upper deck was closed because on our March cruise on GR, we had rough weather and the deck split. They're working on it and what you saw as "Kindergarten kids painting the deck" was only the first coat.:rolleyes:

We were on the cruise after you. We noticed that paint and wondered if it was fresh. They were working on it near the end of our cruise. I didn't see it after they finished.

[cb at sea]

Sewer gas happens on every ship, somewhere, all the time...it's a ship thing.

[JamesEM]

LisaMM, Thanks for your report, with all the cut backs stuff happens.

[Big_G]

 

The cruise director was very good and our main dining room staff were very friendly. We will not be going back on Granduer and will stick with Carnival, never had a complaint with Carnival

 

I've experienced and seen the same stuff written about Carnival ships so the cruise line matters not. At the risk of being accused of reprimanding anyone, if you want to avoid some of these problems, sticking to newer ships may just be the order of the day even on Carnival.

Edited November 27, 2014 by Big_G

[papaflamingo]

Folks, ships are ships. They are large mechanical things. Totally self contained "islands" in a vast ocean. So, as they age, things go wrong. It's not like you can just pull over to the side, open the hood and fix it. In reality cruise ships are remarkable! They sail 365 days a year with scheduled "down time" at...what?....5 year intervals?

The "sewer" smell is common somewhere on the ship. The sewer goes somewhere. Sewer systems are likely vented, etc. I have smelled sewer in a similar area on different ships. My guess? That's where the sewer goes to be treated. It's not nice, but it must be somewhere. And by the way, I have smelled it in the hallways on RCCL, Carnival, and NCL. A ship is a ship.

Painting happens. Repairs happen. If you don't constantly paint a ship rusts. Not good. When a ship ages or hits rough weather or an A/C system fails, then repairs become necessary. If repairs can be done underway, then they are. If not the cruise is cancelled and the ship makes an unscheduled dry dock period.

Toilet systems on cruise ships are magnificent. They rarely clog or fail, but occasionally do. Just bad luck. My son is a Navy Pilot and the carrier he was based on had a similar toilet system. Unfortunately it was a product of "lowest bidder." It failed daily. The first item on the morning TV report was which area of the ship had working toilets. They had crewmen whose sole duty was repairing and unclogging the toilets. This while my son was flying combat missions for nine months. So.... "it" happens.

Fecal matter in a hot tub...not exactly the cruise line's fault. Gotta just let that one go.

I am sorry the OP had such a bad experience. It is not what I have experienced in 20 RCCL cruises. But this could happen anywhere. Just look at Carnival and the total shutdown at sea of a couple of their ships. Talk about "no toilets!"

I just finished my first Celebrity cruise. It was nice, great service, food, beautiful ship. But not RCCL. I like the RCCL experience much better. But that's my feelings. Others prefer Celebrity, or HAL, or NCL, or Carnival. That's what makes cruising so wonderful, something, somewhere for everyone.

Happy cruising.

[BND]

The fecal matter in the hot tub was probably from a parent not following the rules and more than likely was from one of several diapered toddlers we saw in the pool and hot tub every day. This is the first time I haven't seen a crew member enforcing the rule. DH and I watched one parent change a child's diaper on the deck chair after she got out of the pool and another toddler who was in and out of the pool everyday we were up on the pool deck.

 

Papaflamingo, you are right. I've said that on several threads about ships. People have unrealistic expectations concerning plumbing, pools, a/c, etc because they just don't understand how it works differently on a ship than on land. It's just a fact and is not exclusive to any one cruise line.

Edited November 27, 2014 by BND

[Cruising89143]

I have smelled sewer gas on just about every ship that I have cruised and yes even on Carnival. Also on the older ships one does not gave the ability to view their onboard accounts. Again there are some Carnival ships that have this issue.

 

Upkeep and maintenance on a ship is an everyday thing. Glad to see that RCI is repairing and trying to keep the ship in good shape.

 

If you were not happy then maybe Carnival is for you. We all have cruise lines that we prefer which is a good thing. For me Carnival is dead last.

[bmore cruiser]

Wow... what a hostile room. You know every coin has two sides and I like to see both. So I am glad to see two different views. It helps me come to my own conclusion. I was on that cruise that broke that top deck. I must say that was a wild ride. Well I hope everyone has got their fussing out of their system and that we can all just get along. Happy sailing and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

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[LMaxwell]

I love how if someone has a suboptimal experience and relates their first hand encounters they are told they just don't understand how things work. Who NEEDS to understand how things work? OP is stating what their experience was on this particular cruise. No one needs an plumbing degree to understand WHY a sewer smell could be present, the fact of the matter was it existed and OP said so. Likewise, don't need to be a HVAC engineer to understand the A/C wasn't working in the Windjammer. It's just a factual observation.

 

This forum sometimes....geesh....

[mariapd719]

In re to the fecal matter....It just reminded me of an incident I saw on my recent Liberty cruise. There was a large group(700) people who were not American and didn't speak English (benefit of the doubt here that they didn't see the sign or just blatantly didn't care) and maybe didn't understand how things were done :rolleyes:

 

As I sat at the Pool bar I saw a woman in the middle hot tub take off her small childs swim diaper IN THE HOT TUB and then hand the child to another woman( grandma or aunt) then she proceeded to wring out the swim diaper in the hot tub :eek: all while the other woman was changing the kid on a lounger with no towel. There were no pool attendants as this was around 6 pm. Needless to say I wanted to puke.

 

Our ship definitely burnt off sewage in port and once at sea. It smelled terrible also

[RSLeesburg]

We were on the cruise after you. We noticed that paint and wondered if it was fresh. They were working on it near the end of our cruise. I didn't see it after they finished.

 

 

We just got off her, and deck 10 looked fantastic, so they must have finished.

 

 

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[SKeighley]

Actually, if you were on the 1 Nov cruise with us, it was a 10 night cruise, not 11.

 

We had a great trip. Our toilet was slow to flush a couple of times which is very common on ships. Sometimes it's because people flush things they shouldn't.

 

We never smelled the sewer smell, but that happens on all ships occasionally, even, gasp Carnival.

 

Upper deck was closed because on our March cruise on GR, we had rough weather and the deck split. They're working on it and what you saw as "Kindergarten kids painting the deck" was only the first coat.:rolleyes:

 

Yes, there was a slight smell of what they were applying, but it wasn't an issue and I never heard anyone complain about it.

 

As for the onboard account, GR is an older ship and they can't run the cabling required to do that.

 

The reason there was no air conditioner in the WJ (started the third sea day I'm pretty sure since we didn't really need a/c before that) was because it broke and they couldn't fix it til we were in port, which was our first port of Cozumel. If you listened to the noon announcement by Capt Espen you would have heard him explain that. As my DH (retired US Navy Captain) said, we're lucky they were able to fix it because how a/c works on ships is very different than what you have in your home. Most of us who went into the WJ when it was hot, brought our food out and ate on the pool deck and it honestly was just a blip. By afternoon in Cozumel, the a/c was working great.

 

Thanks for the positive comments about GR. We are platinum CCL cruisers and going on our first RCL cruise Feb 2015. We choose Gr for her depart port, Baltimore.

I try to go on every cruise with a positive attitude and enjoy each moment.

CCL splendor out of NYC, last March, has AC break at least 3 times on our cruise. Things happen on all ships.

Also all ships have problems with their toilet system,

I hope to return from my cruise with a new great experience

[Thetrail]

Wow... what a hostile room. You know every coin has two sides and I like to see both. So I am glad to see two different views. It helps me come to my own conclusion. I was on that cruise that broke that top deck. I must say that was a wild ride. Well I hope everyone has got their fussing out of their system and that we can all just get along. Happy sailing and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Forums mobile app

where the running track cracked and have to say that was the roughest seas I've ever experienced in 40 plus cruise! That being said I'll be sailing her again in August!...K.O.:)

[DonnaK]

I've experienced and seen the same stuff written about Carnival ships so the cruise line matters not. At the risk of being accused of reprimanding anyone, if you want to avoid some of these problems, sticking to newer ships may just be the order of the day even on Carnival.

 

Nicely stated! I agree

[Caleby]

I too was on the Grandeur when the top deck cracked - first cruise and it was a doozy! But I must say, these issues could be encountered on any cruise line. I'm sorry you didn't have a good time, maybe try one of RC's newer ships?

[stellarose]

Daughter, 11, wants to get a manicure. Is there an age limit in spa?