On Grandeur now

[mra9955]

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.

 

 

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[sea shepherd]

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.

 

 

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[cementhands]

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!

[Candleonwater]

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?

[Janet524]

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.

 

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[mra9955]

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.

 

 

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[ebonybee]

How are the beds? Are they still cement hard and low to the floor?

[mra9955]

So so

 

 

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[retiredgram]

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.

 

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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. ...................

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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

[3XX1XY]

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.

[robtulipe]

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. ;)

[sea shepherd]

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

 

 

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[Biker19]

Did the kid have Butterfish?

[CrabbyHarper]

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?;)

[RSLeesburg]

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.

 

 

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[robtulipe]

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

[Yorkvillain]

I think, since the ship is so small, there's only so much they can plan? No place to hold the activities?

 

 

Lol

[BND]

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

[SamTimeDining]

Nothing grate.

 

Great*

[andrew2346]

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.

[shippmates]

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.

[Merion_Mom]

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.

[lenquixote66]

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.

[lenquixote66]

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.

[Candleonwater]

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! :-)