Review: Grandeur 1/13/18 7 (9) night Bahamas cruise

[lossforgain]

Hello CC readers! My wife and I just got done with 7 nights on board the GOS -- Guesswork of the Seas! I mean Grandeur of the Seas! This cruise was kind of a moving target, in more ways than one. We were originally booked on a 9 night cruise with 5 port stops, and ended up with a 7 night cruise that only went 2 places. We had some of the roughest waters we have ever experienced. But wait, there's more!

 

I plan on sharing lots of photos and details, but it's going to take several posts to do it. I will summarize our week by saying we LOVE going on vacation together, but we aren't sure we will even cruise again. There were some incredibly great experiences this week, but when you have to actively fight disappointment over and over, it wears on you. We are glad we went for the sake of traveling together, but had I known in advance what would end up getting, I would have rescheduled the cruise to another time.

 

On Wednesday the 10th, we received an email saying that our cruise scheduled to leave the next day would be delayed until Saturday the 13th. We are within driving distance from the port of Baltimore, so we could wait and come down Saturday without much difficulty. I read comments from other cruisers with flight and hotel reservations that were much more inconvenienced than we were. Some of them cancelled. We had FOUR different people involved in watching our kids, so we wanted to take the trip since it had been so difficult to arrange our time away. I had to call my mother immediately and see if she could get her vacation days back from her employer since we would be home until Saturday. My wife and I did the same, we worked two more days. Luckily this all was accomplished without too much finagling.

 

The reason for the 2 day delay was a rudder problem with the ship. Royal needed to keep the ship in Port Canaveral while they fixed the problem, causing people on the previous cruise to stay onboard longer than expected and making it impossible for the ship to be in Baltimore for boarding on Thursday 1/11. I would have been jealous of the people who got the extra days except that there was apparently an outbreak of norovirus on that cruise with over 50 people sick. We heard LOTS of "wash your hands" and "use hand sanitizer" while we were onboard but didn't see much evidence of sickness. More on that later.

 

One of the disappointments of our changed itinerary was that we would have originally been in the Bahamas on my wife's birthday (Monday 1/15) but were changed to be in Port Canaveral that day. I called Royal to go over their compensation plan (50% of cruise fare back as refundable onboard credit) and asked them if they could give us any other consideration for my wife's birthday cruise. The answer was no. I asked about a specialty restaurant, and they suggested we book one with the OBC they were giving us back. I asked about a room upgrade, and they told me to ask at the pier. The pier told me to ask on the ship. The ship had signs up saying no upgrades available. I really felt like they passed the buck and didn't offer good service here. There is no way the ship was full since I know people were cancelling due to the change in plans.

 

More to come, with pictures...

[ARI421]

Following on the granduer again in November after we had a rocky trip last January can you tell me how she looked after drydock? We were on Jan 2017 and things were breaking left and right!

 

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[lossforgain]

We got to port around 11am, although boarding wasn't scheduled to begin until 1pm. We knew from experience that things can get pushed ahead, and I wanted to ask about room upgrades. As I mentioned, that request didn't go anywhere, but the earlier we can be on board the better!

 

 

Our first glimpse of the ship was as we were driving in, but there is something exciting about being in the chute on the way to deck 4!

 

We were VERY impressed with the friendly folks working for the Port Authority. Smiles all around!

 

 

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[lossforgain]

Following on the granduer again in November after we had a rocky trip last January can you tell me how she looked after drydock? We were on Jan 2017 and things were breaking left and right!

 

 

She looked as I expected, having been on Enchantment in the past. I would not have been able to tell you there was a dry dock recently -- nothing looked brand new and made me say wow. The furniture and trim shows age, and the outside of the ship shows some rust stains. We were okay with going on an older, smaller ship because we thought we were getting a lot of port stops.

 

 

 

 

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[lossforgain]

We were on board at or before 1pm, having been in the first 100 or so people in the wait queue. Staterooms were not ready until after 3pm! We went to get lunch in the Windjammer with our carry on luggage.

 

 

Being early on board meant we found a table easily, although many people soon had to wait as the place filled up. Food was good, as I remember. People complain about Windjammer food, but for any dish that is worth complaining about, I can always find 2 or 3 worth eating. I will never complain about the WJ food, and the wait staff was great as always -- clearing tables quickly and offering to get drinks. We finished our lunch and got out of there to free up space for others who wanted to eat, off to explore the ship.

 

 

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[Allaboutsailingrc]

Hello to all...I have cruised on Grandeur many times. I love the ship and have many friends that cruise Grandeur over and over. However, one of my favorite little ships is getting old and having many problems. I have cruised on her many times when there was some sort of engine or other problem not to mention the very rough seas over and over.

Sadly, my Grandeur cruises are no longer an option. I plan to, however, cruise other RC ships.

Happy sailing to all.

[DJLDRUMS]

Royal continues to squeeze out the ships useful life's expectancy at all costs, but with constant mechanical issues that will cause delays and itinerary changes it's going to come back and hit them where it hurts. The Company still has the contract clause where they can substitute itineraries without having to make amends. The next class of their "Icon"ships wont be out until 2020-2022. Another well guarded secret while the focus remains on selling the Oasis and Quantum Classes.