Please Tell Me I'm Making the Right Choice

[cruisexlife]

Hello all,

 

So, I juse ended one of my favorite cruises, which happened to be on the Carnival Glory to Nassau, St.Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. While I really enjoyed the ship, ports, and crew, I managed to wander away from the Carnival site while looking for August 2015 cruises...

 

And I found Grandeur....

 

Now I was going to do the Carnival Dream from NOLA to Mahogany Bay (Carnival's dock in Roatan), Belize City, and Cozumel. But for a $200 difference (BEFORE flights, a hotel, transfers, excursions, etc.), I can cruise from Baltimore, 20 minutes away from my house, and spend 3 days in Bermuda.

 

I love the feeling of new places, like Belize, and I love revisiting past favorites, like Roatan and Cozumel, and the newer ship seems great, but I've always wanted to go to Bermuda, and somehow, someway, something, between money or dates or other issues, I have always found myself on a Caribbean cruise. So no matter what the ship is like, I know I will fall in love with Bermuda, as it is at an unfair advantage with 3 days, rather than 8 hours.

 

I'm worried about the ship. I was on the Enchantment of the Seas in '12, the week after Sandy came through. Bottles were falling and breaking, the ship was rocking heavily, we missed CocoCay, We got to Nassau at 2PM and Port Canaveral was ugly and overcast, the pools were closed the whole time, the crew was very sick, and a lot of other things around the ship were closed, or did not live up to it's full potential. While I didn't realize it then, I came to the conclusion later that those things weren't Royal's fault.

 

Will I enjoy the Grandeur? I'll spend a lot of time off of the ship, but I do want to make sure I enjoy my 3 sea days. I cruised one Augsut to Canada, and I hope that the seas are calm like they were on the Canadian cruise.

 

Reassuring words, pictures, stories, etc. would be great! :D

 

Thanks in advance!!

[tigger-ttfn]

Grandeur was the 1st cruise I took on RCC in 2000. It is a nice ship.Last time I was on her was 2010 and still in good shape. I love that RCC is now doing 3 days in Bermuda. Did that cruise in 2012 on Explorer with 3 days in Bermuda from New Jersey. You will love Bermuda. I would do it in a heart beat again.Even on Grandeur.

[LittleMissMagic]

With a username as clever as yours, I don't think you could make a mistake! :D

 

I haven't sailed Grandeur since 2009, before the renovating drydock (and fire) - but I found her to be a great little ship. That being said... we sailed through some nasty weather, and they actually placed barf bags in the stairwells for us because we were rocking so bad. At the time, it was the most I have ever felt a ship move, but I actually have since felt more rocking on the Carnival Breeze (Dream-class) and Disney Fantasy.

[delirious9876]

You're making the right choice :)

[knittinggirl]

We just sailed on Grandeur this past October. We've been on several Vision Class, which Grandeur is one. We've only had the glasses fall off the shelves once on Legend and once on Celebrity Century, which I think may be a little smaller than Grandeur. We were in the middle of the Atlantic on Legend an especially rough few days. Both with the Atlantic and the Pacific we've experienced more rock and roll, than we have in the Gulf of Mexico. We had some rather rocky cruising on Grandeur during our last two sea days, but nothing fell off the shelves/tables.

 

No plane fare and no plane ride is a major plus for us!

 

Now on to Bermuda, they are a British or former British Colony, can't remember which. We took the Island tour, and loved it. We were disappointed because a hurricane had removed all the pink sand. They get their pink sand from a type of fish. If you're arriving on a Sunday, a lot of stores will be closed. We did like the beaches.

 

In late August, it was very humid. Was sticky the whole time. I think they have two seasons there, humid or rainy.

 

They get a lot of rain, and water is collected by running down the roofs into pipes that funnel it down to their basement. Their buildings are built to stand their hurricanes of 200 to 300 MPH winds. All that fascinated me. Seeing how they live, and the type of homes in foreign countries and how they compare to what we have here is interesting.

 

I heard Enchantment was stretched, while Grandeur started out a little larger. That helped with the public spaces. I'm not sure how stretching affects how the ship cruises though.

Edited December 11, 2014 by knittinggirl

[cruisexlife]

With a username as clever as yours, I don't think you could make a mistake! :D

 

I haven't sailed Grandeur since 2009, before the renovating drydock (and fire) - but I found her to be a great little ship. That being said... we sailed through some nasty weather, and they actually placed barf bags in the stairwells for us because we were rocking so bad. At the time, it was the most I have ever felt a ship move, but I actually have since felt more rocking on the Carnival Breeze (Dream-class) and Disney Fantasy.

 

Can't tell if that's sarcasm or not... :o

 

For us, barf bags were also placed on the stairwells.

 

Glad to see you still enjoyed your vacation despite the rocking!!:D

[Deatsch]

You're making the right choice.

[printingchick]

While I prefer RCL over CCL and I fully expect to be flamed on this board, I'm not so sure. I cruise for itinerary and personally prefer port-intensive cruises. I once had some use-or-loose-'em credit card points for a 4 day cruise and told the TA there HAD to be at LEAST 2 ports of call. I like variety. I don't think I'd like cruising to only ONE place. But you need to decide what is most important to you.

 

I've cruised on both Carnival and Royal, in roughly equal number, and prefer Royal. But that said, I probably would opt for the Carnival itinerary.

 

Just sayin'...

[cruisexlife]

While I prefer RCL over CCL and I fully expect to be flamed on this board, I'm not so sure. I cruise for itinerary and personally prefer port-intensive cruises. I once had some use-or-loose-'em credit card points for a 4 day cruise and told the TA there HAD to be at LEAST 2 ports of call. I like variety. I don't think I'd like cruising to only ONE place. But you need to decide what is most important to you.

 

I've cruised on both Carnival and Royal, in roughly equal number, and prefer Royal. But that said, I probably would opt for the Carnival itinerary.

 

Just sayin'...

 

I TOTALLY agree with you.

 

The other part of this is that I will be doing my annual Thanksgicing cruise, and it will again be on Carnival. Defenite. I don't want to end up on the Carnival Glory again for the 4th time (ship is beginning to wear and i want to see new ships) but If I don't go to the Western Caribbean in August, I will most likely go in November; On Glory. And while I know I'll be flamed about other options, I am staying with Carnival on that cruise, and I really want to see Roatan again and Belize. But if I do a Western itinerary in AUgust, I will go East. I think either way, I want to do SUnshine or Liberty because of the variety, but I know I'll feel like I have an unbalanced cruise history. Which I hate.

 

But Bermuda is a whole different spectrum. I would love to see it, and I feel that this is a good chance, for a great price.

 

But i will consider our similar travel ways when booking whatever I choose. I'll make sure I inform you. Thanks for you help.

[GRANNYOFSIX]

For the past 5 years we have only been cruising out of Baltimore or Norfolk to avoid airfare, etc. In our opinion (husband and I) we miss the Enchantment - mainly because Bolero's dance club was added when she was stretched. Bolero's is important to us because we really enjoy dancing and this was a great spot to dance. We were on the newly updated Grandeur and enjoyed our cruise, a lot, but missed Bolero's.

 

The 3 specialty restaurants on the Grandeur are wonderful. We truly enjoyed our last cruise and will continue to cruise the Grandeur or Pride out of Baltimore but we prefer The Enchantment just a little more. However, I have heard from a friend who just got off the Grandeur that they are utilizing the South Pacific Lounge more for dancing which will definitely make a difference in the way we feel about her!!! We are looking forward to our next Grandeur cruise in a few months!! She is definitely a small but cozy ship.:)

 

We have only cruised on Royal and Carnival Cruise lines - since 1993

Edited December 11, 2014 by GRANNYOFSIX

[davy jones]

While Grandeur is considered "small" by today's behemoth standards, it is still quite large. Weather and rough seas can't be predicted far in advance, so don't worry. Even large ships like Explorer can be affected.

 

Bermuda is unlike Caribbean ports and worth the 3 day visit. There is plenty to do, so you will not be bored.

[HiCSailor]

You're making the right choice... Since you asked me to say that. LOL

 

While Royal can't control the winds, rain , and seas, it sounds like Grandeur and Bermuda offer a lot of fun. I took Explorer to Bermuda and have been eying Grandeur for a future trip.

 

For the past 5 years we have only been cruising out of Baltimore or Norfolk to avoid airfare, etc. In our opinion (husband and I) we miss the Enchantment - mainly because Bolero's dance club was added when she was stretched. Bolero's is important to us because we really enjoy dancing and this was a great spot to dance. We were on the newly updated Grandeur and enjoyed our cruise, a lot, but missed Bolero's.

 

The 3 specialty restaurants on the Grandeur are wonderful. We truly enjoyed our last cruise and will continue to cruise the Grandeur or Pride out of Baltimore but we prefer The Enchantment just a little more. However, I have heard from a friend who just got off the Grandeur that they are utilizing the South Pacific Lounge more for dancing which will definitely make a difference in the way we feel about her!!! We are looking forward to our next Grandeur cruise in a few months!! She is definitely a small but cozy ship.:)

 

We have only cruised on Royal and Carnival Cruise lines - since 1993

 

If you like the bigger ships with Boleros, it's not much further to Cape Liberty for Quantum, Liberty, and eventually Anthem. I rarely saw the Boleros dance floor empty during the Quantum inaugural.