Live! DragonOfTheSeas' B2B on the Grandeur of the Seas 3.28 to 4.18.19

[Rogueperson]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

Surf only is typically limited to 0.5Mbps, Surf & Stream to 5Mbps.   These numbers will be lower as the load increases.

That's what people keep telling me, but I've actually never seen it measured.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

3 minutes ago, GarlicBread said:

 

Yes it was a one off, USPH were onbaord yesterday doing their inspection. 

Apparently almost no food in the crew mess in the evening either according to a friend onboard. 

I'm so glad to hear that. It was very strange to walk to a venue that supposed to be open as a restaurant and see absolutely no food on the shelves. They had a few apples and a few pieces of bread and a couple of cupcakes. That was the sum total. But that explains it I hadn't heard that so thanks for sharing

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

That's what people keep telling me, but I've actually never seen it measured.

 

We've seen speedtest reports from various people onboard, and those numbers seem to be consistent.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

3 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

That's what people keep telling me, but I've actually never seen it measured.

Yes I'm using surf only. But today since I'm in Miami I'm using my own Verizon. Tomorrow when I'm on the ships internet again I will test and let you know what it is

[Rogueperson]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

We've seen speedtest reports from various people onboard, and those numbers seem to be consistent.

I don't think i've ever seen speedtest reports from those with surf only, I should have said.  I've gotten speeds down to .5 while on the grandeur, and I had surf and stream, so I was curious about it.

[GarlicBread]

35 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I'm so glad to hear that. It was very strange to walk to a venue that supposed to be open as a restaurant and see absolutely no food on the shelves. They had a few apples and a few pieces of bread and a couple of cupcakes. That was the sum total. But that explains it I hadn't heard that so thanks for sharing

 

It still sucks and shouldn't really happen but the more food being prepared, served, cleaned up is more of a chance to fail. Every cruise line does it. 

Hopefully from today it should be back to normal. 

If not, it wasnt a one off 

[Clarea]

45 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

I don't think i've ever seen speedtest reports from those with surf only, I should have said.  I've gotten speeds down to .5 while on the grandeur, and I had surf and stream, so I was curious about it.

 

You might find some info here:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2266291-voom-roll-call

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

 

We are back from South Beach.  

 

We thought we would take a taxi, but there were lots of shuttles offering to take us to South Beach for $10pp one way.  I heard a taxi driver quote $25 or so when asked what the fare would be.  We figured it would be more like "or so."  We went with the shuttle.  They got 15 in no time and we were off.  

 

They dropped us at 5th street and Ocean Blvd.  This is the beginning of Lummus Park.  Lummus Park  [5th to 15th street] has free public restrooms and chair rentals and several restaurants along Ocean Blvd.

 

It was a popular spot

 

The view along the street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only down side was the sea weed

Edited April 1, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Rogueperson]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

You might find some info here:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2266291-voom-roll-call

I've actually posted on this thread.  I found a couple of surf only readings, but none from the grandeur.  I must have missed them somehow.

 

Considering how inconsistent I had it with the surf and stream, I'm curious how surf only is on the Grandeur.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

5 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

I've actually posted on this thread.  I found a couple of surf only readings, but none from the grandeur.  I must have missed them somehow.

 

Considering how inconsistent I had it with the surf and stream, I'm curious how surf only is on the Grandeur.

It is junk from my cabin on Deck 2. I can post text fairly well and surf the web email fine but I cannot get pictures to load from there. I've been doing that from public areas like the solarium.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

7 hours ago, atb said:

I didn't see this yet; could you post who the concierge is in the Diamond and Concierge Lounges?  Please and Thankyou

The suite concierge is Carlington Berry.  The diamond concierge is Ilona Tsyhaniuk. She is very energetic and walks around. Carlington is more reserved.

[suesnake2002]

Dragon, your best wifi on the ship will be by next cruise desks. They have to have the best for obvious reasons

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Sue--I have done well in most of the public areas with the internet.  Just not from my cabin. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Someone asked about the drink cards.  I can not remember if it was on this thread or my roll call.  So, I will answer it here.  

 

The Cruise Compass for tomorrow lists the drink cards as $85 for 10 drinks.[+18% gratuity]  They are valid for beer, wine and cocktails up to $12.  These are good in any restaurant or bar.  I think this is the first time they have been for sale on this cruise.

 

They must not be selling enough drinks because they also list a sip and sail for tomorrow. From 3-5pm tomorrow domestic beers are $4.99 and imports are $5.99 at the pool bar. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Arzeena]

On 3/31/2019 at 1:11 PM, dutchclogs said:

 

This is encouraging and reassuring for  our cruise on Grandeur in July. I'm slightly concerned  about how our late teens/twenties sons will find the 'old lady' but we really like the NE and Canada itinerary and there does seem to be a happy ship feel!

Hi there!
I hope we will meet someday on some cruise in the near future.

Yes,  the "old lady" does exude a warm, calm, happy feeling....like a hug. Anthem cruise was great and all but the overall general feel was "cold and cutting".

[Arzeena]

Dragon (of the Seas)

Thanks for doing this daily review.

Does the Grandeur have the old stabilizers still? Where you feel every little move?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

1 minute ago, Arzeena said:

Dragon (of the Seas)

Thanks for doing this daily review.

Does the Grandeur have the old stabilizers still? Where you feel every little move?

I can not answer what type of stabilizers they have.  I will try to find out.  We have had smooth seas so far.  Not much motion at all.  

 

I noticed there will be a storm this week off the Atlantic coast.  We do not return to Baltimore until Saturday.  I hope the ocean will calm down by then.  We have often had rough seas off the NC coast near the outer banks in the past. 

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

I don't think i've ever seen speedtest reports from those with surf only, I should have said.  I've gotten speeds down to .5 while on the grandeur, and I had surf and stream, so I was curious about it.

Stream can get bogged down with many users down to those levels and it is much harder to get to the 5 Mbps cap. It's been two years since I was last on Grandeur but I remember Surf speedtest timing out all together or when it would pass we got something like .1 Mbps down and 1500ms (normally just above 600ms) pings.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Biker19

[Merion_Mom]

On 3/29/2019 at 4:16 PM, Rogueperson said:

Exactly 1 year ago, I was on the Grandeur doing my own live thread.  Who is your CD, is it Mike?  I heard he was on there earlier, but I haven't kept up with who's been on the Grandeur since this is the first time in quite some time that I don't have a Grandeur cruise scheduled.

 

 

@Rogueperson  Mike is now Cruise Director on the Symphony of the Seas.  🙂  

[atb]

Dragon of the Seas:  Thanks.  We have cruised with Ilona, and enjoyed our time with her.  Carlington is new to us.

[Rogueperson]

9 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

@Rogueperson  Mike is now Cruise Director on the Symphony of the Seas.  🙂  

He was probably one of the best ones I've had on Royal Caribbean.  Him and Joff Eaton are the ones that stand out for me.

[dutchclogs]

10 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

@Rogueperson  Mike is now Cruise Director on the Symphony of the Seas.  🙂  

 

Is there any news who will in fill for John Blair during his summer (July) break? Wondering how far in advance a CD plans/books entertainment or if booking is done shoreside at Head Office?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Since it is Day 6 of our cruise, I thought I would post about some information that might be helpful to those who have mentioned they are bringing tweens, teens and young adults.

In addition to the listings below there are game shows each day. [ Battle of the Sexes, 60 Seconds or Less, Who wants to be a Millionaire?  etc.]

Movies: 

Day 1—Bumble Bee PG-13, 9 pm in Palladium Theatre [This was a March Madness day and the pool deck Big Screen was showing that].

Day 2—Second Act PG-13, 1:30 pm in Palladium Theatre [another March Madness day so no poolside movies]

Day 3—Field of Dreams PG, 1:30 pm in Palladium Theatre [more Mach Madness]

Day 4—Green Book PG, 1:30 pm in Palladium Theatre. Johnny English Strikes Again PG-13 3:45 in Palladium Theatre. Moana PG-13 10 pm poolside.

Day 5 –First Man PG—13 1:30 pm in Palladium Theatre. Bumble Bee PG—13 6:30 pm poolside. Nutcracker and the Four Realms PG—13 9:30 pm poolside

Day 6—Instant Family PG—13 1:30 pm South Pacific Lounge. Johnny English Strikes Again PG—13 5 pm poolside. Green Book PG-13 10:15 pm in Palladium Theatre.

 

There is also something called Club 18-21+. This seems to be a couple of activities targeted to this age group at various venues around the ship.

Day 1-- Informal meet and enjoy the game 9 pm in South Pacific Lounge

Day 2—Informal meet and enjoy the game 9:45 am in Centrum. Informal meet and enjoy the game 11:45 am in Centrum. Informal meet and enjoy the game 1:50 pm at the R Bar.

Day 5—Meet and enjoy Charades 3pm in Schooner Bar

 

Also on Day 1-- Informal Meet and Greet for 21-25 year olds 11:30 pm Viking Crown Lounge [DJ plays in this lounge from 10:30 pm to late]

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I just got an email that they will be conducting a Coast Guard Inspection on the Grandeur on Saturday. [turn around day]  I am not sure what they do with B2B passengers during this. 

 

The email said that check in would not begin until 12:30.  By compacting the check in/security the lines will be longer than usual. 

[BND]

6 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I just got an email that they will be conducting a Coast Guard Inspection on the Grandeur on Saturday. [turn around day]  I am not sure what they do with B2B passengers during this. 

 

The email said that check in would not begin until 12:30.  By compacting the check in/security the lines will be longer than usual. 

We got the email, but still plan on arriving by 11.  We've had those in the past on a couple of different ships and boarding has always been 11-1130.  

 

Also, you mentioned weather.  The nor'easter will be gone by tomorrow.  I checked the wave forecast and we should have about 2-4' seas going down the coast.  Weather looks great heading down to the Caribbean.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by BND