Quick review of Grandeur sailing, Baltimore to Bermuda, 5/27 to 6/1/17

[MattSaw]

We've just returned from the above sailing. This was our eighth Royal cruise, and our first one on a ship quite as small as Grandeur. We sailed with two other couples. Selected points:

 

1. The America's Cup and the docking of the tall ships -- both wonderful events to visit -- were both going on in Bermuda while we were there. Despite this fact, the ship made no mention of these events -- presumably because attending them would divert business from the ship's paid excursions. We learned of these events on these boards and bought advance tickets. We had a fantastic time.

 

I understand that RC is a for-profit company, but this silence violated my sense of good conduct by a business.

 

2. We drove to Baltimore (from Raleigh) and did the stay-and-park package that a travel agent has arranged and that is mentioned on these boards. We stayed at the Aloft near BWI. This package is new to this hotel. The front-desk staff first stated that the shuttle wouldn't take us to the port, but the travel agent engaged very quickly and straightened it all out in 20 minutes. Great service!

 

The hotel could use some maintenance in the rooms. The parking was super-convenient. The shuttle drivers were as nice as can be.

 

If you stay at one of the hotels near BWI, go to G&M Restaurant nearby. Wonderful local old-timey place with a huge menu and killer 8-ounce crabcakes. Read the reviews on TripAdvisor and you'll get the gist. Yum!

 

3. Almost 100% of the cruisers were Americans.

 

4. Paul Rutter was the cruise director. Tanya was the activities director. They should make Tanya a cruise director ASAP. She has more entertainment value and verve than Paul and most of the other CDs I've ever seen.

 

5. Grandeur was just off drydock. Despite its age (1996), the ship did not seem too old or worn. I was glad that they had the Park Cafe in the solarium. That's my favorite for lunch -- by a mile.

 

Also, Grandeur seemed a bit small for my taste, but oppressively small. The only notable difference (beyond the lack of a Promenade) is that it's harder to walk interior laps inside the ship. To the good, we were on deck 7; we felt remarkably close to everything.

 

The gym is pretty darned small, and thus crowded. The machines are in good repair, though.

 

I am a Diet Coke fiend, so I hit the Coke Freestyle machines pretty hard. Usually one or more of them were under maintenance, needing syrup, etc. They should service the machines more often.

 

6. We found the staff on the ship very friendly -- perhaps unusually so. This makes the trip more enjoyable.

 

7. The only significant problem we encountered was dinner service at the first seating in the MDR. We had a great table along the window. Unfortunately, even though we arrived right on time, our service was slow and almost always included errors or omissions.

 

The first night, we arrived at 5:30 sharp, but weren't served dessert until 7:35. About one minute later, a head waiter (not ours) came up and politely asked us to hurry up so they could prepare for the 8 p.m. seating. Luckily, we have a calm and mature group of diners. I had a polite, but firm, conversation with our head waiter on our way out. Things were marginally better on the later nights, but not decisively better.

 

We had no entreaties for positive survey reviews from our waiters. Probably just as well, but we won't go overboard with the negativity either.

 

I welcome your questions and comments. Happy sails to all of you.

 

Matt

[DeadPhish]

Good review, I look forward to taking this cruise in September. I agree about the size. Was on a sister ship Rhapsody and it seemed very small, even smaller than Majesty. Still a fun time though.

[dividedsky]

Thanks for sharing, we are doing this cruise in Sept and I've been waiting for reviews to start coming in :)

[Clancy14]

Also, Grandeur seemed a bit small for my taste, but oppressively small.

 

Matt

 

Matt, Did you mean to use the adverb "oppressively" ? That sounds rather terrible. I know opinions are subjective but I've been on RCCL's ships of that class and I don't think that they are "oppressive" and to someone new, reading about the Grandeur, they might get the wrong idea. She is certainly not one of the mega-ships, but then no one books her for that reason!

 

- Miriam

[Longstockingpippi1]

Matt

Sailing at the end of Sept. thanks for your review. I do love to walk around the ship with my daughter in her wheelchair, but need lots of space to get a good workout. On deck 10 the jogging track what is that like? Nadine

[sellwingri]

I was also on this cruise but have a different perspective. We had probably the best and quickest service we've almost ever had in the MDR at the first seating. We were out between 6:30 and 6:45 each evening.

 

There were excursions offered for Americas Cup on the RCI site before the cruise. I don't remember specifically what they were since we weren't interested but they were available. I think they were tickets for accessing the viewing area. However, we were able to see the races for free by walking to the end of the pier. Not sure what else they could have done to advertise it.

 

Service was close to the best we've ever experienced in 20+ cruises. Very, very happy with all of our interactions.

 

I did this same cruise last year and loved it so much that I did it again. Ship is small but beautiful. There are positives and negatives on all class of ships but I always have a good idea on what to expect before boarding.

[OceansOfTravels]

Living 15 minutes from the Port, I have always been wanted to cruise on Grandeur and to Bermuda, but I have yet to get around to it. Thank you for your review, it has proved (yet again) that I need to support the local port and cruise out of here sometime soon :)

[renjrusa]

Thanks for the review, sailing on Grandeur in 3 weeks. Did you get out and visit any of beaches or any excursions?

[MattSaw]

Miriam, I actually meant to type "not oppressively small." Sorry about that.

 

We were on one size bigger ship in Scandinavia last year -- the next size bigger without a Promenade -- so I had already had a chance to adjust.

 

I like going on the ships with a Promenade, though. I enjoy hanging out there in the early mornings, drinking Diet Coke, answering my accumulated e-mails while DW sleeps in, and watching the ship come to life.

 

Matt, Did you mean to use the adverb "oppressively" ? That sounds rather terrible. I know opinions are subjective but I've been on RCCL's ships of that class and I don't think that they are "oppressive" and to someone new, reading about the Grandeur, they might get the wrong idea. She is certainly not one of the mega-ships, but then no one books her for that reason!

 

- Miriam

[MattSaw]

We went to Elbow Beach in a taxi. It was too small and buggy for us to really enjoy it.

 

When we went to Bermuda three years ago on Royal, we did an island-wide van tour with several stops. That was entirely worthwhile.

 

Thanks for the review, sailing on Grandeur in 3 weeks. Did you get out and visit any of beaches or any excursions?

[MattSaw]

You should. The port is well run and of manageable size. Also, the long sail down and up the Chesapeake Bay (about 10 hours on each end) is cool.

 

Last night, we and our friends suddenly realized that we had real cell service at about 9 pm. It was like six junkies finding a stash they didn't know they had.

 

Living 15 minutes from the Port, I have always been wanted to cruise on Grandeur and to Bermuda, but I have yet to get around to it. Thank you for your review, it has proved (yet again) that I need to support the local port and cruise out of here sometime soon :)

[MattSaw]

I'm glad to hear this different perspective. I'm a loyal and satisfied customer of RCI, so I'm glad to hear that our issues were probably isolated ones.

 

I was also on this cruise but have a different perspective. We had probably the best and quickest service we've almost ever had in the MDR at the first seating. We were out between 6:30 and 6:45 each evening.

 

There were excursions offered for Americas Cup on the RCI site before the cruise. I don't remember specifically what they were since we weren't interested but they were available. I think they were tickets for accessing the viewing area. However, we were able to see the races for free by walking to the end of the pier. Not sure what else they could have done to advertise it.

 

Service was close to the best we've ever experienced in 20+ cruises. Very, very happy with all of our interactions.

 

I did this same cruise last year and loved it so much that I did it again. Ship is small but beautiful. There are positives and negatives on all class of ships but I always have a good idea on what to expect before boarding.

[MattSaw]

Nadine, I'd say that it was 2 lanes wide -- plenty wide for this use -- and not in heavy use. Our cruise was quite windy, though. Not sure whether those weather conditions will last until September.

 

I hope that you and your daughter have a great time.

 

Matt

Sailing at the end of Sept. thanks for your review. I do love to walk around the ship with my daughter in her wheelchair, but need lots of space to get a good workout. On deck 10 the jogging track what is that like? Nadine

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[OceansOfTravels]

You should. The port is well run and of manageable size. Also, the long sail down and up the Chesapeake Bay (about 10 hours on each end) is cool.

 

Last night, we and our friends suddenly realized that we had real cell service at about 9 pm. It was like six junkies finding a stash they didn't know they had.

 

Yes, I do love cruising from Baltimore. I saw the Grandue leave today, it cruises right past my community's beach! If you are cruising away from PoB down the Chesapeake Bay, you face the bow, and then face to your right, you will see my community peninsula. But I have cruised from the Port of Baltimore, twice on the Carnival Pride, and once on the Enchantment of the Seas. They were my first 3 cruises. I eventually wanted to see more places than Florida and the Bahamas, and wanted to be hot the entire cruise as opposed to only a few days (we would cruise in November), so I eventually started trying ports like Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Juan. But, I have yet to cruise to Bermuda and I would love to take advantage of the cruises offered from Cruise Maryland sometime soon!

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[frank808]

Love sailing on the grandeur. Crew is friendly and have enjoyed our two cruises on her. Actually have not had a bad cruuse on rccl. Have her booked for the third time next year. We were also on one of the last cruises before drydock. Can't wait to see what they did to her.

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

[sellwingri]

I've done the nighttime boat trip through the Bermuda Triangle twice. It's absolutely fabulous! They take you away from the ship while giving you tons of information about the Bermuda Triangle. Then you go downstairs to a glass bottom boat. I highly recommend it.

[Wildcatfish]

We very much enjoyed our recent 9 night cruise aboard Grandeur to Bermuda and the Bahamas.

 

As mentioned, the crew is amongst the friendliest at sea. Our Dining Room team was the best of our 7 RCI cruises. CD Paul Rutter and Tornado Tanya made a great team. Both were everywhere on the ship, greeting guests, and very involved in activities. Tanya is quite talented, and very well could be a rising star in RCI.

 

After experiencing Oasis, Quantum, and Freedom classes we were quite pleased with the size of Grandeur. It may not have the bells and whistles as some other ships, she is well maintained, and there were plenty of activities. My only suggestion is that she needs new deck loungers/chairs.

 

Grandeur is a beautiful ship, and it's crew is great! Enjoy your cruise down the Chesapeake!

[Yocraze]

Thanks for all the good thread entries, we're cruising on GoS leaving port this coming Saturday heading to Bermuda! Glad to hear that the America's Cup will still be going on during our short stay on the rock. Suggestions on where to head FIRST for food once embarking after clearing the Port building?

-- Bob

[renjrusa]

Thanks for all the good thread entries, we're cruising on GoS leaving port this coming Saturday heading to Bermuda! Glad to hear that the America's Cup will still be going on during our short stay on the rock. Suggestions on where to head FIRST for food once embarking after clearing the Port building?

-- Bob

Would love to hear your thoughts and reviews as well.. We are on GOS in a few weeks.. Thanks..

[Yocraze]

Happy to! Now if I could just figure out how to get the elapsing time display showing when I cruise on MY posts, I'd be grateful!

-Bob

 

Would love to hear your thoughts and reviews as well.. We are on GOS in a few weeks.. Thanks..

[UKWLDCruise]

I am on Grandeur in Oct on the 12 day round trip to the Caribbean but looking at my cruise pages no post trip excursions come up. Flying back to the UK and I have several hours to kill but with luggage so was wondering if it is the website and RCI do run post cruise airport finishing excursions in Baltimore.

[tennislvr8]

If you stay at one of the hotels near BWI, go to G&M Restaurant nearby. Wonderful local old-timey place with a huge menu and killer 8-ounce crabcakes. Read the reviews on TripAdvisor and you'll get the gist. Yum!<br />

<br />

G&M is good but a 10 min drive from there is Timbuktu, which is 150% better than G&M. There crab cakes are worth a drive from Philly to Baltimore on any given day.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

[DaisyL]

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to our November cruise on the Grandeur. We were on Majesty a few years ago and loved it. Most of our cruises are out of NY/Bayonne so looking forward to a visit to Baltimore. Planning on going 2 night ahead so we may check out the restaurants suggested. Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums