Live! Grandeur 4.18- 4.25.19 - Same Old Ship, Different Day

[nivrag4511]

On my last cruise in early April the casino didn't open until day two. I think 9am for slots and 10am for tables. The casino closed at 5pm on the last day and you had to be cashed out by then.

[birdylady]

Oh, forgot to ask.  Do you remember what night and time the Quest was?  Hoping it’s not the last night.   

Thanx

Erika

[wishuponasea]

Enjoyed traveling with you! Thanks! We have only been on a few cruises, RCI and Celeb. and have to wait till Oct. till next (short - 9 day out of Baltimore cruise). Never been on Grandeur, but we expect it to be wonderful -- hey -- a Vacation -- And a Cruise! -- And my 60th @ Key West (first time there too). Love the Med (been there once) and hope I am able to find your review to read. What ship are you on and when and where is your itinerary?. Interested minds want to know! 🙂

[h20skibum]

43 minutes ago, birdylady said:

Oh, forgot to ask.  Do you remember what night and time the Quest was?  Hoping it’s not the last night.   

Thanx

Erika

On our cruise, the Quest was Monday.  That was the sea day before we got to Charleston.

[h20skibum]

Enjoyed traveling with you! Thanks! We have only been on a few cruises, RCI and Celeb. and have to wait till Oct. till next (short - 9 day out of Baltimore cruise). Never been on Grandeur, but we expect it to be wonderful -- hey -- a Vacation -- And a Cruise! -- And my 60th @ Key West (first time there too). Love the Med (been there once) and hope I am able to find your review to read. What ship are you on and when and where is your itinerary?. Interested minds want to know! [emoji846]

Key West is one of our favorites.  We are stopping there on a cruise we have booked for next January on the Celebrity Equinox.

 

Our Med cruise in July is on Independence of the Seas.  This is the itinerary 

 

 

 

 

I may not start a thread about it until August, since we are spending time in London after the cruise. I will update my signature to provide links when I start it.

[birdylady]

19 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

On our cruise, the Quest was Monday.  That was the sea day before we got to Charleston.

Great news.  I always hate when it’s the last night and you have to get up early 

thanx again

Erika

[wishuponasea]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. We will be in the Med. in May 2020 = but on Celebrity=  Barcelona to Venice. We want to schedule an excursion  for Vatican City (more small group since my husband has hearing problems).  Worried about getting to Rome and back to the ship on time if we don't do a Cruise excursion. Advice?? 

[h20skibum]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. We will be in the Med. in May 2020 = but on Celebrity=  Barcelona to Venice. We want to schedule an excursion  for Vatican City (more small group since my husband has hearing problems).  Worried about getting to Rome and back to the ship on time if we don't do a Cruise excursion. Advice?? 

We booked all ship excursions, since this is our first trip over. The one we booked for Rome is a small group (I think they limit it to around 12 people)

I know some say the trains and independent tours may be less, but we will see how this one goes. Maybe next time over we will look at other options.

I would think Celebrity would offer the small one. I know with Royal, it wasn’t until about 9 months out that many of the excursions started showing up

We have Equinox booked in January, 2020, and their cruise planner has been down for a couple months.


Past Reviews post 184

[wishuponasea]

I did not know that cruise ships do small excursions. Ours isn't until May 2020, so maybe we will get more options for excursions. Cost is always a priority for us...want the most bang for the buck. If you ever go to Florence train station, the Gelato place is really good!    Been there 2 times, once on purpose and once by accident

🙂 an expensive mistake, but an adventure! and in the end....we Did Not Miss The Ship!  and had a nice drink as soon as we got on board! Whew!

 

[h20skibum]

I did not know that cruise ships do small excursions. Ours isn't until May 2020, so maybe we will get more options for excursions.
 

Yes, it was pricy. I guess you can read if it meets our expectations

Since I hadn’t tried to get into my Equinox cruise planner since before the Grandeur cruise, I was shocked when it opened up

It was nice to see they had some San Juan tours for our day in Cozumel. They also have 22 excursions for a sea day.

You can tell Royal and Celebrity are related. [emoji23]


Past Reviews post 184

[Coralc]

50 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

It was nice to see they had some San Juan tours for our day in Cozumel. They also have 22 excursions for a sea day.

You can tell Royal and Celebrity are related.


Past Reviews post 184

That's funny. 

[h20skibum]

While I am finalizing my thoughts on the cruise and scanning cruise compasses, I thought I would post this photo I took

You know, how on occasion you hear code words being broadcast onboard. I knew what some of them meant, but I never saw a list

I hope when Charlie’s wife is trying to get his attention, that the crew doesn’t freak out.





Past Reviews post 184

[Biker19]

^ did they not have the Alpha codes/signals back then?

[h20skibum]

^ did they not have the Alpha codes/signals back then?

Maybe, with the older demographic on this ship, the Alpha codes are probably heard all the time, and the crew doesn’t need reminded of it.


Past Reviews post 184

[h20skibum]

I have the Compasses posted for the Bermuda Cruise, including the Teen Compass.

 

They can be found here

 

[h20skibum]

In putting together my final thoughts, I wanted to break it down in several areas.

First, our Embarkation and Disembarkation. Both went very smooth and fast, although I think this is the first cruise where I had to remove my belt and Fitbit to go through security. The scanner did pick up my bottle of wine, and my bottle of Carmel.

We had our photos taken, received our cards at check-in (which they still do on this ship), and were onboard within 45 minutes of leaving our hotel. We boarded at 11, which was before any dining opened.

Disembarkation was very fast, since we did the self assist departure. Without the need to go through customs, we were off, caught our hotel shuttle where we left our car, loaded the car, and we were driving past the ship on the way home within 30 minutes of leaving the ship.


Past Reviews post 184

[h20skibum]

Our cabin.

The OV cabin was very small, but manageable. We were glad we had hardside clamshell luggage, because we were able to fit it under the low beds they still have in these cabins. We had to move around some of the bedding they store under the beds, so they would fit.

Some of the 1950’s style blond furniture was scuffed and peeling, but it looked like the bath was newer. There is not a refrigerator, or cooler in these cabins, but we asked our cabin steward to bring ice twice a day.

Our cabin steward, Vinod, was fantastic. When we met him the first day and asked for ice and a couple wine glasses, it was in our room within 5 minutes. He also delivered our robes right away, without us even asking for them.

Susan said he was as good as the one we had on our honeymoon. On that one, every time we left our cabin and returned, the bed would be made. Vinod lived up to that on this cruise.






Past Reviews post 184

[h20skibum]

Internet

The internet was one area that was a big disappointment on this ship. For one thing, it was nonexistent in our cabin. We could get a weak signal if we stood by the door.

Due to the long time you stay in the bay on departure, we had our Verizon cell service all of boarding day. On day 2, we used one of our Diamond free days. With surf, it was difficult to get any photo uploads, even sitting by the Internet cafe.

The following day, we used our other discount to pick up surf and stream for the rest of the voyage. Streaming anything was near impossible.

Maybe the system was overtaxed with so many kids and their parents onboard this Easter Sailing, all trying to access at once.

We heard of several people getting a refund for their internet. Royal must know it is bad, when they publish a notice in the cruise planner that you may be without internet and tv for one of the days due to the ship location.


Past Reviews post 184

[h20skibum]

Dining

We had Mytime dining this cruise, and at least this ship has the right concept. We had it before on the Oasis class ships, and we always felt rushed, and never had our dining preferences met.

Here, it was very relaxed. We had Michael as our waiter, and Rowena as our assistant waiter, and both were fantastic. We had some of our Diamond happy hour drinks the first night, and by the second night, we didn’t even have to ask for them.

We had a sharing table almost every night, and had several enjoyable table mates. We had asked for a sharing table, since we like meeting new people.

The MDR food was good, but we did order the chops filet on two nights. The upcharge on this ship is 16.95 plus 18% gratuity, so $20 pp. It was every bit as good as what we have had in Chops.

We had breakfast and lunch in the dining room, and found the food more appealing than Windjammer.

Windjammer was good for something quick, but it was crowded at times.



Past Reviews post 184

[h20skibum]

Entertainment

Entertainment is pretty subjective. What one person likes, another may hate. This is true, even on the Oasis class ships. I did think that some of the areas on the ship were underutilized. Once nighttime came, there were few options, and some places like the South Pacific lounge did not have anything going on.

The entertainment we did like, included Rookie, a Canadian band playing 50’s and 60’s music. Although I am not sure if they were truly Canadian, because they didn’t work “Oh Canada” into their routine, and it is hockey season, you know.



We also enjoyed the All Access show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, performing Motown and Soul



Stephani Parker did a great job performing a show “Remembering Whitney Houston”. We caught her act on another ship, and it is one show not to be missed.



The Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme show we did not care for, but some may like it.



Our overall favorite this cruise was the comedy / juggling team of Wilde and James. They were hilarious.



And, of course, our cruise director, John Blair, put on a very nice show with a tribute to Neil Diamond music.

Overall, we enjoyed most of the shows, but just needed a few more options in the evenings.


Past Reviews post 184

[h20skibum]

Summary

The Grandeur is showing her age, and we missed some of the things on the newer ships.

You can only check your folio by going to guest services and asking for a printout. True to form, Royal had an incorrect charge that showed up the morning we were disembarking. It was only a couple bucks for a gangway beverage that was not ours.

We miss the wider variety of activities, and the app that is available on the ships we have sailed recently.

We also miss the bigger cabins, and the coolers in the cabins on those newer ships.

We also miss some of these things that were on the Grandeur the last time we sailed her.







But then, theses are not on any of the ships now.

We will be returning to Bermuda, because we enjoyed the island. It is unlike many of the Caribbean islands we have visited. We may just be looking at one of the ships going there out of NJ next time.

Thanks to everyone who followed along and commented. If there is something I didn’t answer, ask again, and I will do my best.

Till next time, smooth sailing to all.


Past Reviews post 184

[CruisinCadie]

Thanks very much for this account.  I am very much afraid we are going to have the same type of cabin as you had.  (It's AAA organized and I don't think our TA was on the ball.)  Anyway, I don't have to cook, clean, or do any shopping unless I want to, so what's not to like?

 

Kathy

[h20skibum]

Thanks very much for this account.  I am very much afraid we are going to have the same type of cabin as you had.  (It's AAA organized and I don't think our TA was on the ball.)  Anyway, I don't have to cook, clean, or do any shopping unless I want to, so what's not to like?
 
Kathy

It is small, but we are only in our cabin to either change and sleep.

We have an OV for our Med cruise on Indy, so will have to see how the size on that ship compares. Plus, the $1,200 in difference we saved over a balcony pays for most of our excursions.

Enjoy your cruise.


Past Reviews

[Yorkvillain]

Great job Skibum. That was fun.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

thanks for bringing us along on your trip @h20skibum