Grandeur Sold

[Merion_Mom]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

Entry level product aimed often at small markets.  That is a distinct market segment within the cruise industry but it's super hard to compete head to head in that budget conscious space largely because Carnival is there.  Like Carnival has done, Royal would need to make further service cuts to play in that space.  Royal has chosen not to play in that market segment.  

 

It's easy to be Walmart of the Seas because expectations are low.  Low expectations are easily met.  That isn't Royal.  Royal isn't trying to be the cheapest berth on the ocean.  

 

Carnival also has a problem selling off the old ships.  They have to be careful who they sell the old ships to or else they are potentially developing a competitor who can undercut them in the ultra low cost cruise market segment.  That is Carnival's niche so they have little choice but to keep their old ships. 

 

Fascinating analysis.  🙂 

[Merion_Mom]

2 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

For me it’s not the ramp it’s the length of walking with a full drink, especially a lemon drop or something in a martini glass that’s full.  I will spill some of I walk with a full martini glass.

 

maybe I should just drink faster so it’s only half full.  🙂

 

 

Utilize my secret:  Ask for that lemon drop in a regular glass.  😉 

[rimmit]

15 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

Utilize my secret:  Ask for that lemon drop in a regular glass.  😉 

 

Great idea!  I love my wife, but they are such a pain to walk around with.

 

[rimmit]

45 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Many ships still promote Formal Night

 

Ironically, the Grandeur is still one of them, at least as of Oct 3rd when my wife got of her.   Of all the RCI ships I have cruised on, it’s the least formal, from my anecdotal observations.  

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, rimmit said:

 

Great idea!  I love my wife, but they are such a pain to walk around with.

 

 

Wives 🤔

[rimmit]

7 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Wives 🤔

Guess that came off wrong.  I meant the lemon drop is a pain.  Lol!

[SRF]

19 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Just what we love.🙂

 

Us also.   But for many people, they would not be happy.   So it would end up 4 sea days down, 3 port days back to back, and 4 sea days back.

 

 

[SRF]

FYI, a current real time review of Enchantment.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2703691-the-little-ship-that-tries-our-review-of-enchantment-of-the-seas/

 

Based on this review, I am NOT happy with the change.

[SRF]

19 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Never knew that was an issue. Must be a Baltimore problem.  We spent all our time on Serenade TA hanging out in Schooner and Safari Club with all levels of C&A

 

Love all, Serve all

 

I am sure it was a joke.

[Tatka]

On 10/17/2019 at 9:20 AM, rimmit said:

 I am not arguing that it is primarily a newbie boat at all.  I am simply stating that for many who have never cruised before that don’t feel like flying to FL it is an easy option and gets them in the door when they wouldn’t cruise otherwise.  Given it does 5 days Bermuda cruises sometimes as well it can capture the short cruise bachelorette party market introducing many new people to cruising. 

 

I am surprised people think about FL as the only option aside from Baltimore.

We drove twice from MA to cruise on G and will do it again in April. 6.5 hours. Driving from Maryland and around to Cape Liberty, NJ is much closer. There you have Anthem, Adventure, Oasis (next summer), Summit (X) with the same Bermuda, Bahamas, NE/Canada and occasional Southern Caribbeans.

[Another_Critic]

50 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

I am sure it was a joke.

 

They missed the 😉 (wink)

 

Regardless, why does RCCL feel the need to segregate the Suite / Concierge happy hour and Diamond happy hour?  From what I recall, the only difference in the lounges is the Suite / Concierge may have some additional items (drinks/food?) during the day.

Edited October 18, 2019 by Another_Critic

[Another_Critic]

19 minutes ago, Tatka said:

I am surprised people think about FL as the only option aside from Baltimore.

We drove twice from MA to cruise on G and will do it again in April. 6.5 hours. Driving from Maryland and around to Cape Liberty, NJ is much closer. There you have Anthem, Adventure, Oasis (next summer), Summit (X) with the same Bermuda, Bahamas, NE/Canada and occasional Southern Caribbeans.

 

We have not cruised from FL in years.  We live ~1.5 hours from Baltimore and ~2 hours from Cape Liberty.  No Bermuda or CA/NE from FL and it's much more convenient to drive than fly.   I prefer Baltimore since it's closer, less traffic, cheaper tolls, and cheaper parking.  But I do like the multiple choices at Cape Liberty.

 

When I do fly, it's across the pond for a land based vacation or a transatlantic.  And the last 3 transatlantics ended at Cape Liberty.  🙂

[Tatka]

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

When I do fly, it's across the pond for a land based vacation or a transatlantic.  And the last 3 transatlantics ended at Cape Liberty.  🙂

 

We also only fly for overseas cruises in Med or Northern Europe.

We do drive occasionally - once per year at seems - to Florida when we really really really want to try the ship that is not available from Boston, NYC,NJ or Baltimore and if possible it is a combination of two cruises on different ships/companies. This year we are doing Christmas on Explorer of the Seas and New Year on Crown Princess.

 

 After these long distance drives - 22 hours non stop - Baltimore is an easy hike Cape Liberty (3.5 hours) is our  backyard for 3-4 cruises a year. 🙂

[rimmit]

42 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

I am surprised people think about FL as the only option aside from Baltimore.

We drove twice from MA to cruise on G and will do it again in April. 6.5 hours. Driving from Maryland and around to Cape Liberty, NJ is much closer. There you have Anthem, Adventure, Oasis (next summer), Summit (X) with the same Bermuda, Bahamas, NE/Canada and occasional Southern Caribbeans.

 

We have done the explorer, anthem, adventure, and summit out of Bayonne, and the Grandeur our of Baltimore.   

 

From where we live it is 4 more hours of driving to get to Bayonne.  While that might not seem like much it’s the difference between getting off the boat and getting home by 4 or getting home by 8-9 with traffic.  For us it’s not that big of a deal,  but for many people I know they’d just rather not drive the extra 4 hours.   Thank goodness RCI goes out of Bayonne.  Nice and easy.  Disney and NCL go out of manhattan and that is an absolute riot. You can tack on an extra 1-2 hours dealing with manhattan.  Both getting there and getting off.

[Tatka]

Manhattan is not that bad except for $40 per nigh per vehicles. So yes, we only sail on NCL out of Boston mostly. Thankfully Cunard and Princess when there are sailing from Brooklyn.

 

Love Cape Liberty.

I understand Bayonne is more convenient for Kentucky or other long distance cruisers, but I am surprised many people from Maryland do not use it.. and think Grandeur is only option.. or Pride.

 

I will be the first to be happy if Radiance class will start sailing from Baltimore. One more option for us. If not ... or well, CL will stay our preferred port.

Edited October 18, 2019 by Tatka

[PTAngel]

3 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

I am surprised people think about FL as the only option aside from Baltimore.

We drove twice from MA to cruise on G and will do it again in April. 6.5 hours. Driving from Maryland and around to Cape Liberty, NJ is much closer. There you have Anthem, Adventure, Oasis (next summer), Summit (X) with the same Bermuda, Bahamas, NE/Canada and occasional Southern Caribbeans.

I am sailing in May on the Empress OTS to Bermuda out of Cape Liberty.  It is about 1.5 to 2 hr drive from my home.  I've been on the Anthem (NJ) & Oasis (FL) plus several cruises on Grandeur.  Grandeur was my first cruise in 2014 & as others have said, it made me a cruise addict.  I remember boarding her the first time & just looking around with wonder.  To me, that is my home ship.  I am sorry to see her go.

[SRF]

4 hours ago, Tatka said:

Love Cape Liberty.

I understand Bayonne is more convenient for Kentucky or other long distance cruisers, but I am surprised many people from Maryland do not use it.. and think Grandeur is only option.. or Pride.

 

Some do it because they prefer Grandeur.  They DON'T WANT the other options. 🙂

 

[Tatka]

1 minute ago, SRF said:

 

Some do it because they prefer Grandeur.  They DON'T WANT the other options. 🙂

 

 

So will they stop cruising if it is not Grandeur?

[SRF]

We will give Enchantment a chance.

 

But if it is as bad as the current real time review is going, it is possible we will not cruise.

 

We are not interested in the mega ships.  And flying to FL makes the cruise that much more expensive and time consuming.

 

We would probably just do land vacations.

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, SRF said:

We will give Enchantment a chance. ...

 

I'd wait a few months after the transition and then give it more than one try.  I remember the first few months in PC were not good.

[Tatka]

   Enchantment is doing 4-7 days cruises with majority being shorter than 7 days. It is very different cruises and atmosphere. If they switched effect will be the same.

I also read some horrible reviews about one of the best cruises we had.. so gain of salt is a must .

[John&LaLa]

5 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

We have not cruised from FL in years.  We live ~1.5 hours from Baltimore and ~2 hours from Cape Liberty.  No Bermuda or CA/NE from FL and it's much more convenient to drive than fly.   I prefer Baltimore since it's closer, less traffic, cheaper tolls, and cheaper parking.  But I do like the multiple choices at Cape Liberty.

 

When I do fly, it's across the pond for a land based vacation or a transatlantic.  And the last 3 transatlantics ended at Cape Liberty.  🙂

 

Nothing wrong with flying, we live in FL and fly to more than half our trips if you count days sailed

[Baron Barracuda]

8 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

I am surprised people think about FL as the only option aside from Baltimore.

We drove twice from MA to cruise on G and will do it again in April. 6.5 hours. Driving from Maryland and around to Cape Liberty, NJ is much closer. There you have Anthem, Adventure, Oasis (next summer), Summit (X) with the same Bermuda, Bahamas, NE/Canada and occasional Southern Caribbeans.

 

It's just so nice to roll off the ship and hop into your car.  Few hours on the road and you're home.  Not to mention the savings on airfare and pre-cruise hotel.

[LXA350]

Talking about costs, why is RCCL not finally getting rid of Majesty and Empress? In case Cuba would become an option again couldn’t a Radiance or Vision class be deployed for that?

[soremekun]

8 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

We also only fly for overseas cruises in Med or Northern Europe.

We do drive occasionally - once per year at seems - to Florida when we really really really want to try the ship that is not available from Boston, NYC,NJ or Baltimore and if possible it is a combination of two cruises on different ships/companies. This year we are doing Christmas on Explorer of the Seas and New Year on Crown Princess.

 

 After these long distance drives - 22 hours non stop - Baltimore is an easy hike Cape Liberty (3.5 hours) is our  backyard for 3-4 cruises a year. 🙂

I did the drive once.  Only had one other driver.  We had to do it nonstop (we stopped for gas and bathroom breaks).  We took a big risk as we left the morning before the cruise.  So it had to be "nonstop" or we'd miss the cruise and the rental was only for 1 day.

Now, I fly to NJ and FL.  I'd take an Uber for a 15 minute ride to Boston's cruise port.  I wish we had some of the large ships embark from here (Anthem and Oasis).