mra9955 Posted November 23, 2016 #1 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Booked a suite on Grandeur for a nice family cruise to the Bahamas and back. Very convenient to drive to nearby Baltimore. Easy and quick boarding. Terrible situation with almost six hundred children on board. Evidently Royal has done nothing to plan for this. Has been a tough first few days at a cold sea with that many kids and little to do. That being said cruise is overall enjoyable. Dining has been the dark spot. Windjammer is jammed. Too small. Too little seating. Poor selection of foods. Dinner in chops was lousy the first night. Small portions. Meh quality. Not attentive service. Was expecting more white glove Ruth's Chris. Got an upgraded but quiet Outback. Second night dinner in Giovanni's was so bad we left half way through. Massive waits between courses (we left after waiting 45 minutes after we finished starter course for next course that never arrived). Terrible service. Spoke with manager who was useless. Was expecting a special time not a very slow Olive Garden. Will speak with concierge manger and either maitre d or food and beverage manger today for a refund. Really pathetic that now the speciality dining standards are so low. It seems staffing levels have been reduced to the point where you just have one waiter instead of a more attentive team of various people. The poor waiters are doing it all and as a result it appears all cannot be done...glasses not refilled, plates not cleared, requests for things like butter or a new knife take forever, etc. way way different that the premium experience I was expecting. Today is the first port stop. Excited to go to space center. And very glad for some warm weather. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea shepherd Posted November 23, 2016 #2 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I'm on this cruise with you. I have to agree with you to many kids. All they do is run up and down the halls. Have been eating in the MDR it has been ok. Nothing grate. My family surprised me by showing up on this trip. So it's the first time I have been to the MDR in 2 years. Will try specialty restaurant tonight. After what you said I think it will be Izumi. Good luck with the rest of your cruise. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cementhands Posted November 23, 2016 #3 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Hope you're enjoying your family cruise, we've done several over the years. If you could be so kind to post activities schedule as we're going on Grandeur in January and wife loves Zumba and other dance activities, love to know if they have any. Thanks for all your kind info, good to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candleonwater Posted November 23, 2016 #4 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Welcome to Lady G. That is the way of RCL (on Grandeur)... the lack of activities, unless you like trivia and card making... I think, since the ship is so small, there's only so much they can plan? No place to hold the activities? We sail at the end of December, and I'm curious to know what you think of the new CD and AM? If you attend the Quest, please let us know if it's fun, or tame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet524 Posted November 23, 2016 #5 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Here's a novel thought....Maybe the parents should take responsibility for their kids and not permit them to run up and down the halls. Sent from my SM-S820L using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra9955 Posted November 23, 2016 Author #6 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Our three kids are with us and are well behaved. However it was clear when we got on the ship on Monday that most parents here are less strict with their kids than we are with ours. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebonybee Posted November 23, 2016 #7 Share Posted November 23, 2016 How are the beds? Are they still cement hard and low to the floor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra9955 Posted November 23, 2016 Author #8 Share Posted November 23, 2016 So so Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredgram Posted November 23, 2016 #9 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) Here's a novel thought....Maybe the parents should take responsibility for their kids and not permit them to run up and down the halls. Sent from my SM-S820L using Forums mobile app They don't have time, they"re on vacation. ;) Booked a suite on Grandeur for a nice family cruise to the Bahamas and back. Very convenient to drive to nearby Baltimore. Easy and quick boarding. Terrible situation with almost six hundred children on board. Evidently Royal has done nothing to plan for this. Has been a tough first few days at a cold sea with that many kids and little to do. ................... Sent from my iPhone using Forums That is why we never cruise during the summer or holidays. Hope the rest of your cruise is better. Edited November 23, 2016 by retiredgram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3XX1XY Posted November 23, 2016 #10 Share Posted November 23, 2016 We just got off of Grandeur on Monday. It was a great cruise. Almost no kids. Our 2 kids are very well behaved FOR the most part. Had no issues and ship was not crowded at all. But then again we purposely do not go over holidays. The mean age on our sailing was probably about 55. Our next cruise is also on the Grandeur and is over our kids spring break though so not sure what to expect on that one. Our spring break is VERY early so I'm hoping to have less than 600 kids on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtulipe Posted November 23, 2016 #11 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Are you really surprised, being it's the US Thanksgiving week, that the ship is packed and there are lots of children onboard. At least you have a roomy suite both you and your family members can hang out in. This would be the last week of the year we would cruise out of a US port, especially a northern one, both cost and crowd wise. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea shepherd Posted November 23, 2016 #12 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I have been here all month. The last 2 cruises were grate this one is a night mare. Some kid just crapped in the pool. What a treat Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 23, 2016 #13 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Did the kid have Butterfish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrabbyHarper Posted November 23, 2016 #14 Share Posted November 23, 2016 DH and I are booked to take the following cruise on Grandeur, Nov 28. We are pretty laid-back folks, but your post is giving me willies. At least we should expect fewer children. How is the Concierge Lounge? We, too, are suite guests and are looking forward to the snacks and drinks in the CL and the private breakfast in Chops. Are these amenities still available and are they pretty good? Should I bring along some protein bars to sustain us if necessary?;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSLeesburg Posted November 23, 2016 #15 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Wow. We sailed on Grandeur a few years ago over Thanksgiving, and had a completely different experience. The staff had bent over backwards to plan activities for the kids - we had over 600+ on our cruise, and it was 34 degrees when we sailed. They heated the water in pool and some kids went swimming that first night. We went in the second night and it was awesome. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtulipe Posted November 23, 2016 #16 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I have been here all month. The last 2 cruises were grate this one is a night mare. Some kid just crapped in the pool. What a treat Did the kid have Butterfish? You can determine this by checking if there are bright orange oily globules floating on the water surface. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted November 23, 2016 #17 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I think, since the ship is so small, there's only so much they can plan? No place to hold the activities? Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BND Posted November 23, 2016 #18 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) We were on GR 31 Oct-12 Nov and we had 20 children. Bobby and Andre had said on the morning show that there were 20 on our cruise and then Andre said "you're welcome" lol and then Bobby said they were expecting 500 for this one. Edited November 23, 2016 by BND Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamTimeDining Posted November 23, 2016 #19 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Nothing grate. Great* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew2346 Posted November 23, 2016 #20 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I have 4 kids ages 15, 14, 11, and 7. We have taken them on 3 cruises. Disney wonder, Fantasy and Anthem. My H and I took a cruise on the Grandeur and we loved it. I would NEVER take children on this ship. Simply there is nothing for them to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shippmates Posted November 23, 2016 #21 Share Posted November 23, 2016 We sail on the Grandeur all the time and like to cruise over Thanksgiving but the last 2 years we have not been able too. We learned the hard way 2 years ago, when RC changed from a 10 night cruise to a 8 night cruise, that cruise had 600 kids. The kids club is too small to handle that many children. Most of the children were well behaved. You can not blame it all on the crew, once some parents get on the ship they forget they have children with them. Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merion_Mom Posted November 24, 2016 #22 Share Posted November 24, 2016 When I was teaching and my own kids were in school, we only cruised during school vacations. This is what cruises look like during school vacations. It is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenquixote66 Posted November 24, 2016 #23 Share Posted November 24, 2016 How are the beds? Are they still cement hard and low to the floor? I will be on the Grandeur next week. I hope and pray that the beds are cement hard .This is one of the reasons that I booked this ship because I was on the Grandeur last year and loved the hard beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenquixote66 Posted November 24, 2016 #24 Share Posted November 24, 2016 DH and I are booked to take the following cruise on Grandeur, Nov 28. We are pretty laid-back folks, but your post is giving me willies. At least we should expect fewer children. How is the Concierge Lounge? We, too, are suite guests and are looking forward to the snacks and drinks in the CL and the private breakfast in Chops. Are these amenities still available and are they pretty good? Should I bring along some protein bars to sustain us if necessary?;) On OUR Nov.28 cruise there will likely be very few kids .We were on the Grandeur last December and it was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candleonwater Posted November 24, 2016 #25 Share Posted November 24, 2016 When I was teaching and my own kids were in school, we only cruised during school vacations. This is what cruises look like during school vacations. It is what it is. Exactly. We came to accept it. Still better than being at work. I thought, now that my daughter is grown, we would be able to cruise at different times of year... NOPE. She works with kids. So we're cruising over Christmas! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now