Just back from 12 day Grandeur cruise

[Giantfan13]

This was our first cruise on RCI and we chose the Grandeur 12 day cruise out of Baltimore.

 

Just a few quick reports and can try and answer any questions, and these are just our opinions. We have cruised on many other lines just not on RCI

 

Embarkation--very easy. People were allowed on the ship as early as 11:00.

 

6 sea days were just great. We mainly stayed on deck 5 to sit out away from all the noise from the pool decks. Many chairs and lounges to sit on.

 

Ports of call, St Thomas (we tendered here as there were at least 7 ships in port). Tendering was easy and went smoothly, but St Thomas was mobbed.

 

Barbados--great port, we just wandered around as we were here in March

 

Dominica-- Fairly long walk into town. We wanted to see the Botanical Gardens, but ended up taking a taxi tour and Botanical gardens in nothing more than a park.

 

St Lucia--Private tour--very nice island

 

St Marteen--Again, just wandered around shopping. BEST place to buy liquor if anyone is interested.

 

The ship itself needs a lot or work, and I mean a lot of work. It is going into dry dock next year and it needs to. Just so many chairs and lounges missing straps, rust all over the place, etc. etc. Didn't really bother us very much (we knew it was an older ship).

 

Food was good but not great. We have had much better on Carnival, but waiter service in MDR was excellent. We did anytime dining which is upper MDR on deck 5 and never had to wait at all. Many tables for 2 or easy to share if you wanted to.

 

Shows were a bit disappointing. We had 2 production shows and they were OK. Other acts, illusionist, comedian, ventriloquist and a guy who rides a uni-cycle. If you like that, it was OK. Theater for the second show was always half empty.

 

My one comment to RCI and the Grandeur in particular is that they really had no place to listen to music and dance. There was the centrum but not much seating and very small dance area. They had a great venue in the South Pacific lounge. Huge room, but rarely used for anytime other than Karaoke and bingo. They could put a great band in there with dancing et al, and fill it every night.

 

This was the Grandeurs 20th birthday cruise and they had a great birthday celebration.

 

Cruise director Bobby was OK, but never told a joke anytime he was out on stage which we have seen from many other cruise directors.

 

Captain was great. Everyday he came on to give us the weather. Always party cloudy which means mostly sunny. Even told us on several days, to take our sea sick pills as it will be a bit rough the next day.

 

Disembarkation was easy. They give you a paper to fill out when you want to leave. We weren't in a hurry so we got a high number, but all luggage was off by 9:00.

 

Hope this helps anyone. If others were on the same cruise and had different views, that's fine, but this is just how we felt.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

[schlimazel_traveler]

Thanks for your report.

 

With which tour operator did you do your St. Lucia tour? Any comments on the experience? Will be there on the 1/3/17 Grandeur sailing.

[Giantfan13]

We toured with COSOL, driver by the name of Adrien. They were fine, did a great job and I sort of posted a more detailed report on the Ports of call board. I would recommend them.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your objective review.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[do_not_spindle]

Len: We were on the same cruise and I agree with your comments. (see my longer review in review section). Wife & I are dancers, we (and most of the other dancer couples we met) all agreed they are wasting South Pacific by not making more use of it for dancing. OTOH, we met about 9-10 other dance couples, which is record for us.

 

Any thoughts on the DJ - we were disappointed, but possible that others may have liked his style and song selections.

 

Did you take any of the dance classes with Kelly? What did you think of her? We thought she was doing a good job, particularly for the beginners.

[BND]

We did the 12 day that left on Oct 31. Bobby didn't tell jokes perse, but he was funny. He'd pull out his Texas accent occasionally, but he's not a stand up comic. We still enjoyed him. Yes, the ship shows it's age and all ships have rust. We'll be back onboard in April not long before dry dock. Our experience on the smaller ships is that there is dance music in the centrum, but it's usually not party music. South Pacific is used for some things such as art auctions, bingo and Quest, but there's never a dj or band, except at the upper tier party. We see the smaller ships as relaxing vacations and for more action, we go on larger ships. We found the food better than other ships, but they've downsized and changed the menus too much.

Edited December 28, 2016 by BND

[BuddyR]

We did the 12 day that left on Oct 31. Bobby didn't tell jokes perse, but he was funny. He'd pull out his Texas accent occasionally, but he's not a stand up comic. We still enjoyed him. Yes, the ship shows it's age and all ships have rust. We'll be back onboard in April not long before dry dock. Our experience on the smaller ships is that there is dance music in the centrum, but it's usually not party music. South Pacific is used for some things such as art auctions, bingo and Quest, but there's never a dj or band, except at the upper tier party. We see the smaller ships as relaxing vacations and for more action, we go on larger ships. We found the food better than other ships, but they've downsized and changed the menus too much.

 

What can you tell me about the menus? Were they the new menus or the old ones which had "food names"?

 

Laura

[BND]

What can you tell me about the menus? Were they the new menus or the old ones which had "food names"?

 

Laura

 

Oct/Nov they were old but with a couple of changes. Classic steak was a lesser cut and there were just other changes such as smaller portions, especially of sides. I can't remember anything else specifically. We'll probably have the new menus in April. The ones I've seen remind me of what we had on Celebrity this past July.

[BuddyR]

Oct/Nov they were old but with a couple of changes. Classic steak was a lesser cut and there were just other changes such as smaller portions, especially of sides. I can't remember anything else specifically. We'll probably have the new menus in April. The ones I've seen remind me of what we had on Celebrity this past July.

 

Thanks. We are sailing on the March 27 cruise and my husband is hoping for the new menus. We sail Celebrity a lot and I agree that the new menus resemble those on the Celebrity ships.

[Thetrail]

This was our first cruise on RCI and we chose the Grandeur 12 day cruise out of Baltimore.

 

Just a few quick reports and can try and answer any questions, and these are just our opinions. We have cruised on many other lines just not on RCI

 

Embarkation--very easy. People were allowed on the ship as early as 11:00.

 

6 sea days were just great. We mainly stayed on deck 5 to sit out away from all the noise from the pool decks. Many chairs and lounges to sit on.

 

Ports of call, St Thomas (we tendered here as there were at least 7 ships in port). Tendering was easy and went smoothly, but St Thomas was mobbed.

 

Barbados--great port, we just wandered around as we were here in March

 

Dominica-- Fairly long walk into town. We wanted to see the Botanical Gardens, but ended up taking a taxi tour and Botanical gardens in nothing more than a park.

 

St Lucia--Private tour--very nice island

 

St Marteen--Again, just wandered around shopping. BEST place to buy liquor if anyone is interested.

 

The ship itself needs a lot or work, and I mean a lot of work. It is going into dry dock next year and it needs to. Just so many chairs and lounges missing straps, rust all over the place, etc. etc. Didn't really bother us very much (we knew it was an older ship).

 

Food was good but not great. We have had much better on Carnival, but waiter service in MDR was excellent. We did anytime dining which is upper MDR on deck 5 and never had to wait at all. Many tables for 2 or easy to share if you wanted to.

 

Shows were a bit disappointing. We had 2 production shows and they were OK. Other acts, illusionist, comedian, ventriloquist and a guy who rides a uni-cycle. If you like that, it was OK. Theater for the second show was always half empty.

 

My one comment to RCI and the Grandeur in particular is that they really had no place to listen to music and dance. There was the centrum but not much seating and very small dance area. They had a great venue in the South Pacific lounge. Huge room, but rarely used for anytime other than Karaoke and bingo. They could put a great band in there with dancing et al, and fill it every night.

 

This was the Grandeurs 20th birthday cruise and they had a great birthday celebration.

 

Cruise director Bobby was OK, but never told a joke anytime he was out on stage which we have seen from many other cruise directors.

 

Captain was great. Everyday he came on to give us the weather. Always party cloudy which means mostly sunny. Even told us on several days, to take our sea sick pills as it will be a bit rough the next day.

 

Disembarkation was easy. They give you a paper to fill out when you want to leave. We weren't in a hurry so we got a high number, but all luggage was off by 9:00.

 

Hope this helps anyone. If others were on the same cruise and had different views, that's fine, but this is just how we felt.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

Love the crew, Francis the Concierge, the Captain and Grandeur herself. Do agree she needs a major facelift. Will be sailing her in August next year and her drydock will be complete, hopefully she is all shiny and painted and repairs done on the pool deck. ( The torn canvas that has been bothering me for three years now!)....K.O.:) Edited December 28, 2016 by Thetrail

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Love the crew, Francis the Concierge, the Captain and Grandeur herself. Do agree she needs a major facelift. Will be sailing her in August next year and her drydock will be complete, hopefully she is all shiny and painted and repairs done on the pool deck. ( The torn canvas that has been bothering me for three years now!)....K.O.:)

 

We like GR, too. But, they have been working on adding the scrubber on the funnel for 2 years. LOL

[75snow]

Sorry if I've missed this, but how were the people dressed in the MDR at dinner. Yes, I've read RCI suggested dress code but from my one previous cruise experience, on Carnival, people always did not follow the cruise lines dress code nor was it enforced. E.g., in their steakhouse, on 'elegant night' some people were wearing shorts, tee shirts and baseball caps.

 

Anyway, in the MDR, for casual attire, for men, what was the trend? Was it tee shirts, polo shirts or button down casual? Shorts, jeans or slacks?

 

Trying to figure out what to pack, so thanks for any advice.

[dixieva]

I have sailed on Grandeur lots of times. Casual night in the MDR most men wore polo type shirts and docker pants. I have seen some t-shirts and jeans on men on casual nights but not many.

 

Never saw shorts and t-shirts in the MDR.

[Giantfan13]

Ourselves, we are never 'dress up' type of people, but we always dress neatly.

From my handle. I am a huge Giants fan. On this cruise, coming out of Baltimore, many Ravens and Steeler fans. We did happen to eat with a great couple--

Steeler fans. I am an Air Force vet and his gentleman was ex Marine so we chatted quite a bit. He ALWAYS wore shorts to dinner. I even kidded him about it once or twice and he just winked. He did say he donned a pair of Dockers for each of the 2 dress up nights, but for him, shorts were the way to go and he was never stopped or not admitted (We did ATD)

 

Cheers

 

Len

[lovetocruiserccl]

We did the 12 day that left on Oct 31. Bobby didn't tell jokes perse, but he was funny. He'd pull out his Texas accent occasionally, but he's not a stand up comic. We still enjoyed him. Yes, the ship shows it's age and all ships have rust. We'll be back onboard in April not long before dry dock. Our experience on the smaller ships is that there is dance music in the centrum, but it's usually not party music. South Pacific is used for some things such as art auctions, bingo and Quest, but there's never a dj or band, except at the upper tier party. We see the smaller ships as relaxing vacations and for more action, we go on larger ships. We found the food better than other ships, but they've downsized and changed the menus too much.

 

There was a DJ every night in the club on deck 14 near Izum when we were on there in August. We went every night. They usually have a band and not a DJ at the top tier party.

[BND]

There was a DJ every night in the club on deck 14 near Izum when we were on there in August. We went every night. They usually have a band and not a DJ at the top tier party.

 

Grandeur doesn't have 14 decks. On deck 12, is where Izumi, Concerige Lounge and Viking Crown are. There is usually a DJ in the Viking Crown, and there's usually some people dancing, but it was never crowded.

[bob6098]

Nice and informative review. I agree with your observations and comments.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob

[WeatherFx]

Did they still have the standard themed menus in the MDR, like Mojo, Saffron, Pimiento, Jasmine, Basil etc...?

 

We will be on Grandeur in March.

[Biker19]

Did they still have the standard themed menus in the MDR, like Mojo, Saffron, Pimiento, Jasmine, Basil etc...?

 

We will be on Grandeur in March.

All ships have the themed menus.

[WeatherFx]

All ships have the themed menus.

 

My last two cruises were on Anthem which had new menus and not the themed. I also heard other ships were getting new menus - that is why I was asking.

 

So just for clarity, they are still using the theme menus on the older ships.

[Clarea]

My last two cruises were on Anthem which had new menus and not the themed. I also heard other ships were getting new menus - that is why I was asking.

 

So just for clarity, they are still using the theme menus on the older ships.

I believe Oasis has also transitioned to new menus that are not named after spices.

[WeatherFx]

Bob, do you still have the link for the spice menus pdf? I thought I had it saved but I cant find the file.

 

Thanks

[Clarea]

Bob, do you still have the link for the spice menus pdf? I thought I had it saved but I cant find the file.

 

Thanks

 

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/download-press-kit/7/

[WeatherFx]

Thanks Bob, of course as soon as I downloaded it, I found my original copy that I gave a "friendly" name.:o