Just off Grandeur - a few surprises!

[lenquixote66]

We were on the Grandeur in December 2015 and loved the cruise so much that we booked a Dec.2016 cruise (left 11/28).

We were not as enthusiastic when the cruise ended today,however,we did book a December 2017 cruise (all 3 in the same cabin).

 

We loved the CD in 2015 ,Paul . The CD on this cruise.Bobby was too "over the top" in our opinion. The food was not as good ,nor was the food .

Last year I won nearly $900 in the casino ,this year I lost nearly $200.

 

The crew was wonderful .The friendliest people ever .We booked all our shore excursions through the ship and all were great.

[CrabbyHarper]

Just off Grandeur yesterday. Very disappointing. Will cancel our October 2017 cruise. Food just awful. MOST staff wonderful. Severe access problems for folks with mobility difficulties. Review currently in process. Tanya's Progressive Trivia wonderful - best trivia ever! Many questions that even out the playing field. Kudos to Tanya!

[lenquixote66]

Just off Grandeur yesterday. Very disappointing. Will cancel our October 2017 cruise. Food just awful. MOST staff wonderful. Severe access problems for folks with mobility difficulties. Review currently in process. Tanya's Progressive Trivia wonderful - best trivia ever! Many questions that even out the playing field. Kudos to Tanya!

 

 

The food was not great in my opinion but to say it was awful is something I did not hear from anyone .

What access problems did you find ?I use a cane and we traveled with 2 friends who used walkers plus one who used a walker and a wheelchair and had no problems.

[mra9955]

Chops filet was choice not prime. I expected prime. Only one waiter not the expected team doting on us in chops. Overall experience felt cheap. Was expecting high quality food and deference. Got a Outback experience. mDR better service but so so good. windjammer was a mob scene and very nasty food. Not often even labeled. Will NOT sail Grandeur again.

 

 

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[nivrag4511]

I've sailed on the Grandeur 5 times and next October will be my 6th. Everybody has their own opinion, but I found the dining room food to be fine. I think the crew on the Grandeur provides the best service I've had on any ship. The Windjammer can be crowded on sea days, but you can almost always find a place to sit. As to the food. It's not gourmet, but I think there is enough variety that you can find something to eat. I also like how easy it is to get on and off the ship. That's my 2 cents, but I'll take Grandeur over the mega ships any day.

[John Reid]

Chops filet was choice not prime. I expected prime. Only one waiter not the expected team doting on us in chops. Overall experience felt cheap. Was expecting high quality food and deference. Got a Outback experience. mDR better service but so so good. windjammer was a mob scene and very nasty food. Not often even labeled. Will NOT sail Grandeur again.

 

 

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Just off Grandeur, also; my fifth time. I enjoyed the cruise very much, but the decline in Windjammer is very obvious. Just a couple of things. The "ham" served as lunchmeat is not sliced ham any longer. It is reconstituted and form as a loaf, like a finer ground Spam. Food not labeled or badly mislabeled occurred at every lunch or dinner meal. And I don't just mean the obvious, like when the mushy peas were labeled as bangers or the chicken parts labeled as a beef dish. I mean proteins that could not be determined as meat or fish and stew-like creations with no labels. The uniformed attendants would walk around stirring dishes and left the problem uncorrected. I have never had that happen in any of my 18 cruises.

 

One dinner, there was a very nice ice cream sundae station set up, but there was no ice cream for 15 minutes.

 

One day, there was no silverware/napkin settings available at 1:00. None. People had already been waiting for them when I arrived. It was another 7 minutes before they got there. It was as if people arriving for lunch came as a surprise. This was the first Enchantment/Grandeur cruise I have taken out of Baltimore that did not have Mr. Landry as hotel operations officer.

 

The ship might need to be renamed the Curry of the Seas. It seems as if it is the most dominant cooking style in Windjammer. One night, four of the dinner offerings were curried. The ship sails out of Baltimore, not Mumbai.

 

I'm not a discerning eater. Golden Corral meets my needs. If only Windjammer was still at that level.

 

I found access to Windjammer and tables to be quite easy. Only the last sea day was difficult to find a table. People were lingering and using it as a lounge because it was cold and windy on outer decks.

 

Looking forward to my January Grandeur cruise. The working staff were great; the ship kept clean (though the dry dock will have to attend to the rust in the pools).

[cruiselover48]

We were on in October and loved our cruise. It was Bobby's first cruise with RCCL and we loved him. We found the food good, the crew wonderful, and would not hesitate to cruise Grandeur again. By the way we are seasoned cruisers. We could always find something to eat that we liked,

[livetotravel1965]

:( I am irrationally upset about this. One thing I really like about cruising is the chance to eat at a white tablecloth restaurant each night and choose special dishes that I don't/can't cook at home, like prime rib, duck, and rack of lamb. I wish I'd known this before we booked...at least I know it before we get on board!

 

Same. I was told how much better Royal Caribbean is than Carnival but all I've heard about so far is that the rooms are much smaller, they don't provide as much stuff and the food is not as good. Might have booked again on the Pride if I'd known all this.

Edited December 15, 2016 by livetotravel1965

[WetToes]

Thanks for the interesting update. Did they mention anything about the future of the Grandeur in Baltimore?

 

I was on the 11/28 - 12/10 sailing. The captain said she will remain in Baltimore for at least 2 more years. :)

Edited December 15, 2016 by WetToes

[WetToes]

...

I am looking forward to the shows, but is there a piano bar or karaoke?

We've never had a set dining time until now. Will we be with the same folks each night? Is dining code country club dress most nights? Do people go "all out" for formal nights, and does anybody know when those will be on a 9-night? He does not own a tux, but he has no objection to coat and tie. May I get away with a long dress and a wrap, or do I need sequins and pearls? You know what I mean. Thanks so much for any info you have!

 

There is both a piano bar and karaoke? I went to a few karaoke 'shows'. I really wish people would get away from singing really sloooow, boring songs. I don't think religious songs are very popular either.

I don't care if you can't carry a tune, but at least be bad at a somewhat lively tune. Some did have really nice voices, ... but the tunes, .... snooze.

 

Some people do go "all out", but not most. Your outfit sounds perfect.

Edited December 15, 2016 by WetToes

[WetToes]

Maybe all unruly kids can be given really messy candy and sent back to their cabin.

 

I'm sure the stewards would appreciate that.

[cementhands]

Can anyone tell me if they have restarted the aerialists show in the centrum of the grandeur supposedly they were to restart it on longer cruises.

We're going in January hopefully it will be restored, love to know if you saw it on recent cruise?

[WetToes]

Can anyone tell me if they have restarted the aerialists show in the centrum of the grandeur supposedly they were to restart it on longer cruises.

We're going in January hopefully it will be restored, love to know if you saw it on recent cruise?

 

When I was on, Nov/Dec., there was no aerial show.

[John Reid]

Can anyone tell me if they have restarted the aerialists show in the centrum of the grandeur supposedly they were to restart it on longer cruises.

We're going in January hopefully it will be restored, love to know if you saw it on recent cruise?

 

Was on Grandeur 9/29/16 for nine days and 11/28/16 for twelve days. No aerial show, but it is still listed as the WOW factor added to Grandeur when describing the ship's features on their website.

[Candleonwater]

Why did they stop these shows? I remember thinking it was odd that there weren't any on our last sailing.

[WetToes]

Why did they stop these shows? I remember thinking it was odd that there weren't any on our last sailing.

 

I believe it's due to the rougher seas this time of year.

[John Reid]

I believe it's due to the rougher seas this time of year.

 

But considering there hasn't been a show or scheduled/canceled show on any of my three Grandeur cruises over the last 12 months. . .

[WetToes]

But considering there hasn't been a show or scheduled/canceled show on any of my three Grandeur cruises over the last 12 months. . .

 

What months did you cruise?

[Candleonwater]

But considering there hasn't been a show or scheduled/canceled show on any of my three Grandeur cruises over the last 12 months. . .

 

Right? Our last sailing was at the end of May. If rough seas were the reason, one might think there would be shows on a 12 night sailing... hopefully we get out of rough seas at some point?

[John Reid]

What months did you cruise?

 

Mid-January 2016

9/29 for 9 days

11/28 for 12 days - plenty of calm days while down in the Caribbean.

 

When I saw the show on Enchantment once and once on Grandeur some time back, there were "signs" of a show - harnesses, straps, etc. There's been nothing I've seen in the last year.

[WetToes]

Mid-January 2016

9/29 for 9 days

11/28 for 12 days - plenty of calm days while down in the Caribbean.

 

When I saw the show on Enchantment once and once on Grandeur some time back, there were "signs" of a show - harnesses, straps, etc. There's been nothing I've seen in the last year.

 

Thank you. :confused: No clue then.

[Merion_Mom]

We were told that royal Caribbean has discontinued the aerial shows because they can't hire enough qualified riggers. They have started their own training program to fix that.

 

 

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[sammee]

Right? Our last sailing was at the end of May. If rough seas were the reason, one might think there would be shows on a 12 night sailing... hopefully we get out of rough seas at some point?

 

Did a 5 day to Bermuda May 7, and they had the aerial show. Only my 2nd time on Royal and the first time I saw it. It was a 70s themed show. Glad I got to see it before it ended.

[Candleonwater]

We were told that royal Caribbean has discontinued the aerial shows because they can't hire enough qualified riggers. They have started their own training program to fix that.

 

That makes SO much sense. Hope they hurry.

[cementhands]

Royal Caribbean has got to get it's marketing and information resource. They are a huge company, and often times you get more information and sometimes misinformation from "cruise critic" than calling RCL.

For example last year I kept reading about Devinely Decadent on the Anthem, suppose to be a healthy alternative eating venue like Celebrity cruises has, when we got on board it was changed to the Solarium Bistro while signs still stated Devinely Decadedent. With same food as regular restaurants!

The explanation was they can't keep information up to date " because they are so big ". They have enough money and people to update but don't.

I've called RCL and emailed them with no new information, how can their sales team not know. I wonder if all ships that had Aerial Show are done with it or just Grandeur?

We're still going and look forward to the great small ship old school cruise experience.