Grandeur of the seas

[Tk10]

Hello fellow cruise goers! I am looking into possibly taking a cruise at the end of this year or beginning of next however I am limited to the grandeur of the seas due to my departure port and everything. Was wondering how everyone enjoyed said ship and pros or cons? Also where on the ship do you stay?(ocean view or Interior)?

[shipgeeks]

We like Grandeur a lot.  It's probably wise to book as far ahead as you can, as it is a very popular ship.  There's a nice variety of sailings, longer and shorter, and different itineraries.

We like the oceanview cabins.  The only ones we avoid are the first eight on decks 2 and 3, as they have portholes instead of windows.  Deck 3 windows are larger than on deck 2.

Nothing wrong with the interior cabins, if the price is right for your budget.

The port of Baltimore is easy to use, and the checkin process is friendly and helpful.

Anything else you'd like to know?

[Tk10]

How does the gratitudes work? Also how is entertainment and the food on the ship? Is this only cruise line you’ve used, and if not which cruise line did you prefer to the grandeur?

[Holmie]

Love Grandeur. Been on twice, with two more booked over the next two years. Generally attracts an older crowd, but plenty to do for all ages. We do exclusively interiors. Been on decks 2 and 3. Our next is on deck 8 and the one after that we booked a guarantee so we don’t have an assigned room yet. There’s live music going on at pretty much all times. Nightly shows vary. They don’t have big broadway productions like the huge ships, but I’ve been pleased with the shows we’ve seen

[Tk10]

1 hour ago, Holmie said:

Love Grandeur. Been on twice, with two more booked over the next two years. Generally attracts an older crowd, but plenty to do for all ages. We do exclusively interiors. Been on decks 2 and 3. Our next is on deck 8 and the one after that we booked a guarantee so we don’t have an assigned room yet. There’s live music going on at pretty much all times. Nightly shows vary. They don’t have big broadway productions like the huge ships, but I’ve been pleased with the shows we’ve seen

Thank you for the information. I’m fine with an older crowd honesty I’m not even 30 yet but I def get along with the older crowd and I’m old at heart so haha. I was just looking for a more laid back cruise and sounds like this may be the ship. 

[bespin]

We just finished a 9-day on the Grandeur a week ago, in an inside cabin on deck 2.  We enjoyed the get-away, and actually lucked out by missing the Polar Vortex at home. :)

 

The cruise was colder than we expected - the two days in the Bahamas were 70-ish, the other 7 days were 40-50-ish, but we'd packed warm-enough clothes, and were quite comfortable.

 

The evening shows were the singers/dancers, comedians, magicians, jugglers, singers doing Broadway and rock songs.  The ship is definitely less "busy" than a larger ship like Oasis, but if you want laid-back, you'll be satisfied.

 

We did My Time Dining, and on nights when the posted dinner menu didn't inspire us, we happily ate in the Windjammer, especially when I discovered that although the MDR doesn't offer cold fruit soups, the Windjammer did, every night but one. (Or maybe there was fruit soup that night but we were too distracted by the shrimp and crab claws.)

 

The port of Baltimore was very easy to get to, and both embarking/disembarking were easy peasy.  

 

Hope this helps you make your decision.

[Holmie]

1 hour ago, Tk10 said:

Thank you for the information. I’m fine with an older crowd honesty I’m not even 30 yet but I def get along with the older crowd and I’m old at heart so haha. I was just looking for a more laid back cruise and sounds like this may be the ship. 

Same here. I’m in my late 20s and my husband in his early 30s. I preferred the environment on Grandeur over Liberty (which were our last two cruises) Liberty was a younger crowd with more families, but also more drunk obnoxious adults. I love just being able to relax without being annoyed by loud obnoxious other cruisers and Grandeur provides lots of a lot of opportunities for that. The live music everywhere is great too

[Tk10]

1 minute ago, Holmie said:

Same here. I’m in my late 20s and my husband in his early 30s. I preferred the environment on Grandeur over Liberty (which were our last two cruises) Liberty was a younger crowd with more families, but also more drunk obnoxious adults. I love just being able to relax without being annoyed by loud obnoxious other cruisers and Grandeur provides lots of a lot of opportunities for that. The live music everywhere is great too

I’m torn between carnival pride because it’s cheaper but deciding against the grandeur so all the feedback helps! That was my biggest worry to have crazy cruisers that are ungodly obnoxious and loud. I definitely wanted a more relaxing atmosphere, so nice to hear someone around my age feedback.

[BND]

We love Grandeur.  The crew is fabulous and it's a very relaxing cruise.  We're going on her again in 8 weeks.  We've been on her 6 times.  It's not a ship for people who have to be doing something all the time.  To us, it's a vacation which means relaxation.

 

[WVHillbilly]

Grandeur is a great ship, we had an ocean view on deck 3.  Below is a review I posted of our 9 Day cruise this past December.

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by WVHillbilly

[crookedhalo]

Grandeur is a very nice ship - we've been on her 3 times, but since DH will no longer do anything other than a balcony on 5 days or longer, we have recently sailed on Carnival Pride out of Baltimore 2x.  It's also a very nice ship, but because it has so many more balconies, the price is much more reasonable than Grandeur (supply vs. demand you know).

 

Don't be afraid to look at other options - you may enjoy them just as much.

Edited February 10, 2019 by crookedhalo

[Biker19]

16 hours ago, Tk10 said:

How does the gratitudes work? 

They are added to your account every day - $14.50 pp.

[shipgeeks]

16 hours ago, Tk10 said:

How does the gratitudes work? Also how is entertainment and the food on the ship? Is this only cruise line you’ve used, and if not which cruise line did you prefer to the grandeur?

Gratuities are added to your onboard account each day, and will be automatically charged to the credit card you registered at checkin, at the end of the cruise.  Other arrangements can be made if appropriate.

We thought the food in the dining room was excellent when we sailed in January, and Windjammer (buffet) quite acceptable.

We've sailed on Grandeur eight times, and other ships and cruiselines 40+ times.  All have had their pros and cons, but mostly pros.

There are daytime and evening activities and entertainment:  trivia, line dancing, music, comedians, production shows, movies, piano bar. Things to do, but not frantic or overwhelming.

 

[JTBCruiser]

DW and I will be on the Grandeur for the 1st time.  Any idea if they will have a discount on pricing on 1st night in Chops?  We normally are satisfied with MDR food but would like to try this at least once.

[JTBCruiser]

Forgot to ask, what night is lobster served?  We want to ensure we don't schedule Specialty night same night.  Thx!

[JTBCruiser]

Forgot to ask, what night is lobster served?  We want to ensure we don't schedule Specialty night same night.  Thx!

[RFerrington]

59 minutes ago, JTBCruiser said:

DW and I will be on the Grandeur for the 1st time.  Any idea if they will have a discount on pricing on 1st night in Chops?  We normally are satisfied with MDR food but would like to try this at least once.

Hard to say about the discount.  There always seem to be people milling about looking to sell you food and drink packages and I have heard of plenty of people who got discounted specialty dining deals I just cannot give any clear indication of whether they would be available on the first night.  I do know, however, that the first night of any cruise is traditionally a slow night for specialty dining so I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a discount.  I guess you just can't count on it.  It also never hurts to just ask !

[bespin]

31 minutes ago, JTBCruiser said:

Forgot to ask, what night is lobster served?  We want to ensure we don't schedule Specialty night same night.  Thx!

Lobster was the last formal night, which was the second-to-last night of the cruise.  (Cruise ended Saturday morning, so the second-to-last-night was Thursday.)

[JTBCruiser]

I went ahead and did BOGO 2 night package at $39.99 each.  Rationalize it to be $20 each for 2 nights.  Based on reviews I've read about the service on the ship, this should work out well.

[Tk10]

4 hours ago, crookedhalo said:

Grandeur is a very nice ship - we've been on her 3 times, but since DH will no longer do anything other than a balcony on 5 days or longer, we have recently sailed on Carnival Pride out of Baltimore 2x.  It's also a very nice ship, but because it has so many more balconies, the price is much more reasonable than Grandeur (supply vs. demand you know).

 

Don't be afraid to look at other options - you may enjoy them just as much.

I’ve heard good things about grandeur however with it being our first cruise we wanted to treat ourselves with a balcony if possible. And carnival pride is actually the other one in the running due to the price and the balconies being much cheaper and not such a price hike than grandeur. How did the two cruise lines compare to each other for you personally? 

[bsblindab]

our first cruise with RCCL was on Grandeur..We have mixed feelings..We are 63 and 68..we were on deck 2 forward although we didn't have a port hole..we did have a nice window..the first night out was very choppy to the point that the water went up and over the window 🙂  Anna was our room stewart and VERY good. I have to say the service on RCCL was excellent.. The food was very good also.. If you don't like a hard (and I mean hard no give hard) bring a mattress topper..Anna did put extra quilts on the bed which helped..but not the greatest..and they were low..to the point where we couldn't put our suitcases underneath them. We had plenty of storage..the bathroom was ok..the sink was a bowl type with the faucet very close to the rim so hard to get your hands underneath..The had a nightly show some good...some were ok.. ALOT of trivia..We arent into that to much so we wernt kept busy  the TV had alot of sales/shopping/nd excursion channels. When they mention a older crowd it was OLDER..lots of scooters/walkers and canes. only like 34 kids aboard. We did My Time Dining which is a separate level from the set dining. It was nice because we did a set time reservation...the only thing about that (and I have mixed feelings on it) you got the same table every night,,,good because you didn't have to wait in line..bad you didn't get a different location in the room...but we did ask to sit somewhere else one night and they did accomodate us. they do have an enclosed pool adults only area,,get there early otherwise nothing is available...especially on those cold/rainy sea days.  We stayed at a hotel which kept our car nd transported us to the port and back...although the port is easy enough to maneuver if you drive yourself..much easier than NYC port..I would try RCCL again...maybe out of Bayonne and not the 12 day. maybe the beds would be better on a "newer" ship..but that said the service was excellent..

[Clarea]

3 hours ago, JTBCruiser said:

DW and I will be on the Grandeur for the 1st time.  Any idea if they will have a discount on pricing on 1st night in Chops?  ...

 

Unpredictable, but make them an offer, I've had them accept reduced price offers before.

[oddly excitered]

We tried a balcony on the pride last year, the room was nice and that was good, we found ourselves staying in it more than we normally would. There is a definite different vibe on carnival that we did not enjoy. ship was very dated and staff just wasn't "royal". If you are a royal cruiser I would suggest you devote your dollars to building your C&A status, I wish we had.

[shippmates]

We love the Grandeur and have sailed on her 2 or 3 times a year for several years.  We like the longer cruises and few kids.  The crew is wonderful on Grandeur and make you feel like family when you return.  In comparing our cruise on the Carnival Pride and Grandeur....Grandeur wins hands up.  We like the covered adult solarium and few kids.  It has been several years that we sailed on the Pride but if I remember correctly there is a different clientele on the ship.  Enjoy your cruise whichever ship you select.

[crookedhalo]

18 hours ago, Tk10 said:

I’ve heard good things about grandeur however with it being our first cruise we wanted to treat ourselves with a balcony if possible. And carnival pride is actually the other one in the running due to the price and the balconies being much cheaper and not such a price hike than grandeur. How did the two cruise lines compare to each other for you personally? 

 

Honestly, they are more alike than not.  Pride offers some really great balconies and lots of price points.  As to food, Pride has Guys Burger joint and Blue Iguna Cantina as no-fee - both are really good! Bonzai sushi is as good as Izumi on GOS. I will say that Chops on GOS is better than David's on Pride, but not by much (and I haven't been to Chops since they changed the menu so that may not be the case any longer). 

 

Carnival cabins a slightly larger, and the overall feel of the ship is darker than GOS (but the theme is barouque as reflected in the artwork) but still workable.

 

Big difference to me was the fact that Pride has a comedy club every night (2 to 3 shows most nights - family to adult) which is missing on GOS. Oh and the Serenity area - much better than the Solarium on Grandeur - truly adults only.

 

HTH