Talk to me about Grandeur of the Seas, please

[Jingerwoppy]

10 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Was it a medical refrigerator?  (did you by any chance take a picture, or remember what it looked like?)

We had an JS (I forgot since we don't do it very often). Room was 8520 but I'n sure the insides also have them. 

[Mum2Mercury]

40 minutes ago, Jingerwoppy said:

I lied. We were in a JS but we did have a cooler under the counter. Cabin was 8520. We don't do JS very often.

Eh, I do that sometimes too -- not with intent, of course, but none of us remember everything perfectly. 

[Travel R]

On 9/16/2022 at 1:07 PM, Jimbo said:

Grandeur was a one and done for us. Leave it at that.

@Jimbo Your not usually the one to shy away from giving your opinion.  What did you not like - was it specific to the ship or just a bad experience during that particular cruise/itinerary?

[SRF]

One of the very nice things (LOVE Grandeur) is that every where you are, you can turn a bit and see the ocean.

 

If you want a floating amusement park, it is not for you.  But if you are cruising to be on a ship and knowing you are on a ship, she is great.

 

I wish she would come back to Baltimore.

 

I went from never having cruised, to Diamond, all on Grandeur.

[Sirlancelot]

On 9/14/2022 at 10:38 AM, davy jones said:

Many people like Grandeur because of its smaller size.  If you don't need the rock walls, amusement amenities, and grand production shows, you will enjoy the more relaxed vibe.

 

I preferred the Park Cafe over Cafe Promenade.  It had more variety and better late night offerings.  

 

The cruise was fine, but be very careful with inside cabin selection.  The doors on the IS cabins on decks 7 and 8 open into the center of the cabin, not the corridor between the closets and bathroom.  This greatly reducing the effective area of an already tiny cabin.  The door constantly interfered with the single chair in the room.  You could either sit in the chair, or open the door.  Avoid those cabins at all costs.

 

The gym was pretty much standard stuff except for the aft location.

 

 

The gym is tiny. The huge solarium took up the large gym area on Radiance class . When there is a class with loud music it is terrible. 

[Mum2Mercury]

On 9/19/2022 at 5:14 PM, SRF said:

One of the very nice things (LOVE Grandeur) is that every where you are, you can turn a bit and see the ocean.

 

If you want a floating amusement park, it is not for you.  But if you are cruising to be on a ship and knowing you are on a ship, she is great.

Love the idea of seeing the ocean everywhere!  I didn't know to expect that.  

 

I can appreciate the idea of a floating amusement park, but it's not something I "need".  

3 hours ago, Sirlancelot said:

The gym is tiny. The huge solarium took up the large gym area on Radiance class . When there is a class with loud music it is terrible. 

I want to ask if the gym is typically crowded, but that'd probably vary from cruise to cruise.  

 

Is the music loud enough that it affects people outside in the Solarium pool?  

 

Thanks, All who've shared information.  I really appreciate it. 

[GJustice]

49 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Love the idea of seeing the ocean everywhere!  I didn't know to expect that.  

Maybe a slight exaggeration, but you can see "out" from virtually everywhere on the ship.

[Traveler67]

On 9/16/2022 at 12:07 PM, Jimbo said:

Grandeur was a one and done for us. Leave it at that.

Why the secret, Jimbo

[Mum2Mercury]

2 hours ago, GJustice said:

Maybe a slight exaggeration, but you can see "out" from virtually everywhere on the ship.

Yeah, well, I didn't didn't take you literally -- didn't expect I'd see the ocean from my interior cabin! 

[EleventyBangBang]

On Grandeur next week.  We just wanted to do something small and cheap that we could drive to.

 

This is our first "small" ship, and the first time we've gone without a drink package (which would have been more than the cruise itself!).  And it's our first oceanview, after having just done NCL Haven a few months ago.

 

I'm kinda scared.  😶

 

[SbbquilterUT]

She was our first RCCL cruise and love the classic feel of the ship.  She was also our teenaged kids first cruise and they had a great time.  Have boarded in Tampa for Celebrity cruises and it was a breeze as their dock is at the end and away from the other ships.  Even with what appeared to be long lines we were on board within 25 minutes.  

[Spurschick]

On 9/14/2022 at 10:35 AM, Mum2Mercury said:

That's not promising.  We just had a crazy experience boarding in Miami and were hoping that Tampa would offer a less frenzied embarkation -- guess not. 

 

You mean until they clear the previous week's guests?  

You still have your luggage across the street while you're waiting?  

I'm having a little trouble grasping this concept.  

I do care about the in-room cooler, but I've decided it's not a make-or-break.  I will bring a small cooler and ask the cabin steward for ice each evening.  

I know Grandeur is an older ship -- but we can always go to the main pool, if this is a bother.  

We enjoyed the menu last week on Explorer, so this is good news.  

We are on Deck 8 of Grandeur, and we're under the Spa/Gym, so we figure that'll be relatively qiuet.  

We grew tired of lengthy dinners last week, so we fell into the habit of asking for our dessert to be packaged "to go", and we'd enjoy it an hour or so later in our room.  Wasn't ideal when we ordered a hot dessert /a la mode, but we came to like this method. 

They definitely aren't refrigerators -- just coolers.  

 

The queue was made to wait by where the bus is visible and people had to wait on the pavement out on the Main Street. Once allowed to enter the area we all had to walk with our own luggage down the path to the right hand side to the terminal building so it was a stampede as people didn’t want to stay in line behind those that were slower or struggling with luggage 

 

 

 

[IslandHppy]

Any guest laundry rooms on the ship?

[cruiselvr04]

14 minutes ago, IslandHppy said:

Any guest laundry rooms on the ship?

Unfortunately Royal doesn’t have guest laundry rooms on any of their ships.  

[cruiselvr04]

On 9/23/2022 at 5:49 AM, EleventyBangBang said:

On Grandeur next week.  We just wanted to do something small and cheap that we could drive to.

 

This is our first "small" ship, and the first time we've gone without a drink package (which would have been more than the cruise itself!).  And it's our first oceanview, after having just done NCL Haven a few months ago.

 

I'm kinda scared.  😶

 

Don’t be scared.  Just keep your expectations reasonable.  Service should still be good.  Food is subjective.  The room will be tiny compared to Haven but has what you need to shower and sleep.  It’s a cheap getaway.  Relax and enjoy.

[Nilbog]

Glad to see all the info on this boat.  We'll be on it for a family reunion in August 2023.  We've done mainly smaller ships, but just got off the Harmony last week.  This will be our 3rd RCCL trip, having been on the Harmony and Radiance in the past.

[coaster]

Going all in on Grandeur in November! Doing first sailing from Miami for 9 nights and recently added a 5 night sailing for a b2b. Last leg found one of the newer 16 cabins added during 2013. The ones on deck 7 and 8 with the larger cabins and windows. First leg assigned to the smaller and 'comfy' outsides that are common on Vision class ships.

 

Did Allure for 20 nights since May, but I still love the smaller ships where you really can connect easily with passengers and crew.  The windows in the public areas is a bonus over Oasis class. Schooner bar without windows on Oasis class is a real downer for me. 

 

Been on Rhapsody 3 times in the past, so we know what to expect. We liked the smaller Empress also. Just feel the need to cruise on these smaller ships while they are still around. Only bad thing to me about Vision class is that the balconies are so expensive compared to newer classes of ships. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by coaster

[TexCruise371]

We cruised on Grandeur a couple of weeks ago. We had a fantastic cruise and the crew was fantastic. We nicknamed her the Happy Ship as everyone was having fun.

 

[IslandHppy]

The deck plans show a Conference Center C /Card Room.  Is it still there?  I like to read early in the morning away from the loud elevator music which was everywhere on our last Vision Class voyage.  

[Tlbecker1]

We were just on the Grandeur for a B2B2B2.  We were in room 8056/JS and there was a lot of noise above us in regards to chairs on deck 9, all day and late at night. We had a great cruise and the staff was great, I just wouldn’t want to be below the pool deck in the future.  We have done all of the classes of ships and we like them all for different reasons.

[BND]

On 9/14/2022 at 7:09 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

Yes, very helpful!  

Hope you enjoy your March trip! 

Wine cooler?  You mean just a tub of ice shaped for a bottle of wine?  That'd do -- the cabin steward has them?  I was thinking of bringing a small cooler -- we have a freebie that we picked up at a Big Green Egg event; it has a liner and doesn't leak.  And it's not precious to me.  

 

 

 

I think they meant the plastic wine buckets they give you when you get a bottle of wine that needs to be chilled.

[BND]

1 hour ago, IslandHppy said:

The deck plans show a Conference Center C /Card Room.  Is it still there?  I like to read early in the morning away from the loud elevator music which was everywhere on our last Vision Class voyage.  

Viking Crown is quiet.  And on Vision class, they do Chef's Table in that Conf room at dinner.

Edited October 5, 2022 by BND