Grandeur Reviews

[the_dylaness]

38 minutes ago, John Cruise said:

How about the whistling through veranda doors at night?

When it is windy.

Regents solution was to put tape around the door amd

then the balcony was unusable.

Good idea????

JC

 

Seriously?! That’s awful. 
I am sorry. we haven’t had that whistling but maybe it would be nice to drown out the neighbors 😁

[briar14]

1 hour ago, John Cruise said:

How about the whistling through veranda doors at night?

When it is windy.

Regents solution was to put tape around the door amd

then the balcony was unusable.

Good idea????

JC

 

On ship for 21 days in Nov/Dec, no whistling veranda doors!

[John Cruise]

Your lucky. Briar 14

a nice couple who lived in the consierge suite

below me told me they had the same complaint,

and the concierge told them “that’s sea travel”.

🫤

[the_dylaness]

I decided to sleep with my white noise machine and ear plugs this time. Still awakened by neighbors phone ringing. I am not sure what else I could do to avoid this but it really sucks and has impacted the enjoyment of our vacation.

[rcandkc]

2 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

I decided to sleep with my white noise machine and ear plugs this time. Still awakened by neighbors phone ringing. I am not sure what else I could do to avoid this but it really sucks and has impacted the enjoyment of our vacation.

Is it their cell phone or cabin phone?  Could you nicely tell them the situation and request the phone volume turned down.  
I was supposed to be on this cruise but got a bad respiratory bug so we cancelled last minute.  I’m now kind of glad we didn’t make it.  The soundproofing situation would have really irritated me. 

[the_dylaness]

25 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

Is it their cell phone or cabin phone?  Could you nicely tell them the situation and request the phone volume turned down.  
I was supposed to be on this cruise but got a bad respiratory bug so we cancelled last minute.  I’m now kind of glad we didn’t make it.  The soundproofing situation would have really irritated me. 

I hope you are feeling better from your illness! 
 

we just disembarked so it’s a moot point now but it was the cabin phone, not cell 🙂

[Jlhalldc]

On 1/22/2024 at 2:01 PM, Snh lname said:

Our major criticism of the cruise was the Panama Canal crossing. This was not our first crossing. On Holland America we had previews, lectures and in room videos about the Canal, the building of the Canal, etc. We also had an “expert” to ask questions about the Canal. 
 

On this cruise nothing. Then we had a heavily accented “guide” narrating from the bridge. After the crossing there was a session with the “guide” in a lounge with minimal room. 
 

This was totally unacceptable. When I spoke with the CD about all my concerns, he said it was too late when they tried to get someone. When I asked about YouTube videos, I got some ***** and bull about licensing and “corporate.”

 

Unacceptable. 

Actually, we did have an extended lecture on “The Incredible Story of the Panama Canal” by Jeana Rogers on 1/18 at 2pm. Also, the former canal worker who was narrating our crossing had a presentation with Q&A while we crossed Lake Gatun. Sorry you missed it. But I agree we could easily have had several lectures on many aspects of the history and engineering and environment of the canal. 

[Whinenowine]

20 hours ago, John Cruise said:

Your lucky. Briar 14

a nice couple who lived in the consierge suite

below me told me they had the same complaint,

and the concierge told them “that’s sea travel”.

🫤

@John Cruise--are you able to share the cabin numbers or general location?  I'm in 942 later this yr (Cat D) and want to have a sense of what to expect.  Thanks.

[NYC-London]

On 1/22/2024 at 12:04 PM, Pcardad said:

Ya...Regent doesn't get a lot of screamers on board.

Unless it is a younger couple - one evening we could hear so much that sometimes it felt like we were intruding and bordering on voyeurism

[Pcardad]

17 minutes ago, NYC-London said:

Unless it is a younger couple - one evening we could hear so much that sometimes it felt like we were intruding and bordering on voyeurism

Sorry about that...🤣

Edited January 24 by Pcardad

[Camillus112]

5 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

@John Cruise--are you able to share the cabin numbers or general location?  I'm in 942 later this yr (Cat D) and want to have a sense of what to expect.  Thanks.

Just as an anecdote, as GMAIC would say, I was in 949 and could not hear a thing.

[John Cruise]

Hi, Just check the patio door insulation.

if it has worn gaps it may whistle 

🫤

[NYC-London]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Sorry about that...🤣

You didn't tell me you were right next door! You should have introduced yourself and we could have discussed the Jersey hangouts of our youth - 😉

[Pcardad]

6 minutes ago, NYC-London said:

You didn't tell me you were right next door! You should have introduced yourself and we could have discussed the Jersey hangouts of our youth - 😉

Sorry, I had my hands full! 😉

[labonnevie]

24 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Sorry, I had my hands full! 😉

TMI

[cruiseluv]

On 1/22/2024 at 8:59 AM, bitob said:

The cabin soundproofing issue is also a problem on Oceania’s new build. Same parent  company. Same shipyard. This can only be corrected at dry dock 

 

i was on the grandeur for 3 cruises starting Nov 24. 3 different suites. No soundproofing issues. 
 

btw. I thought grandeur was fabulous. I booked 4 more cruises booked on her

You’re absolutely right, I was on Oceania’s new build Vista for the New Years cruise and the lack of soundproofing is pretty bad, day in, day out. I have a b2b reserved on Grandeur in 2025, 26 days , and I’m having serious doubts.

interesting you didn’t have any issues on Grandeur, maybe some locations are worse than others?

[cruiseluv]

On 1/22/2024 at 10:53 AM, rcandkc said:

Well, I’m a VERY light sleeper so it’s important to me.  I’ve never heard the tv from other suites on the other ships so I’ll stick to them if I can’t get a suite on grandeur that I know will not need soundproofing.  My choice. 

And trust me, if you can hear your neighbors TV you’ll hear other noises as well….

[Mahogany]

2 hours ago, John Cruise said:

Hi, Just check the patio door insulation.

if it has worn gaps it may whistle 

🫤

 

[Mahogany]

Just now, Mahogany said:

"Worn gaps"? How old is this vessel?

 

[bitob]

On grandeur it is not an issue with every cabin. Problem is you won’t know until you get there 

[Snh lname]

I only want to add that we were in penthouse 606 for the Miami to LA cruise over Christmas/New Year’s. The cabin was quiet, no neighbor noise (thank you neighbors) and no wind leakage. 
 

It was the best ship cabin we have experienced. 
 

We had other criticisms of the cruise, but the cabin was more than nice. 

[flossie009]

The problem of whistling balcony doors has been an issue on this new class of ship since Explorer was brought into service.

When we were on Splendor it appeared they had tried to alleviate the problem by fitting tighter door seals, but that just meant that the door was very difficult to open 🤨

 

 

Could the reported problem with lack of sound insulation between suites be in any way related to the difficulties the shipyard had in 2023 with sourcing properly certificated insulation panels? (FT report)

Has anyone checked the suite walls with a magnet to see if an insulated liner has been applied to the steel wall prior to decoration?

 

[papaflamingo]

Just off Grandeur yesterday.  So...my experience.  

The ship is beautiful!  I found all the food excellent... .then again I probably am not that fussy.  But it was always hot and very good.  Service in the Compass Rose was pretty good.  Took about 2 hours for dinner.  They work extremely hard, but seemed they might be understaffed.  Yes I wrote that up.  It's not the crew, they were running like sprinters every night.  Just didn't seem enough of them.  Occasionally (about 2 or 3 times in 16 nights) our sommelier seemed to disappear.  But not really much of a problem.  Still... service tended to be a bit slow.  It was great in the specialty restaurants. 

Cabin..... we had an F-2 Superior Suite cabin 811.  LOVED the layout, storage, etc.  Yes, we could hear our neighbor when sitting on the couch. BUT only heard them a couple of times.  So I agree 100% they didn't insulate well enough.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist so I'm not going to speculate as to why, it just is what it is.  But it NEVER interrupted our sleep or rest.  Again, only heard them talking maybe 3 times in 16 days.  So my guess... I was on our couch, they were on their couch and we were back to back against the wall so.... anyway, not an issue at all. 

Panama Canal..... We had a great lecture prior to the Canal on the history and building of the Canal.  And we had a local guide provided that was absolutely fascinating.  He spoke perfect English and broadcasted from the Bridge explaining everything and then held a talk (I didn't go) in the Constellation Theater.  Oh yeah.... there was also a video on the history of the Canal on the TV.  So...not sure what more they could have done.  Oh yeah there are also "tons" of videos on the web about the canal.  If you are going, watch one or two before you go.  You'll know way more than you ever wanted to. 

Anyway... most of cruising is a combination of expectations, keep them "real," and subjective opinion.  What I find excellent others may find substandard.  Best advice, take ALL opinions and reviews with a grain of salt.  And remember, it's a ship, it's crewed by multi-national crews, it moves, it's got limited resources.  But overall...it's a cruise on a spectacular ship where they do everything in their power to make you happy.  Enjoy. 😎

[CJANDH]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

Just off Grandeur yesterday.  So...my experience.  

The ship is beautiful!  I found all the food excellent... .then again I probably am not that fussy.  But it was always hot and very good.  Service in the Compass Rose was pretty good.  Took about 2 hours for dinner.  They work extremely hard, but seemed they might be understaffed.  Yes I wrote that up.  It's not the crew, they were running like sprinters every night.  Just didn't seem enough of them.  Occasionally (about 2 or 3 times in 16 nights) our sommelier seemed to disappear.  But not really much of a problem.  Still... service tended to be a bit slow.  It was great in the specialty restaurants. 

Cabin..... we had an F-2 Superior Suite cabin 811.  LOVED the layout, storage, etc.  Yes, we could hear our neighbor when sitting on the couch. BUT only heard them a couple of times.  So I agree 100% they didn't insulate well enough.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist so I'm not going to speculate as to why, it just is what it is.  But it NEVER interrupted our sleep or rest.  Again, only heard them talking maybe 3 times in 16 days.  So my guess... I was on our couch, they were on their couch and we were back to back against the wall so.... anyway, not an issue at all. 

Panama Canal..... We had a great lecture prior to the Canal on the history and building of the Canal.  And we had a local guide provided that was absolutely fascinating.  He spoke perfect English and broadcasted from the Bridge explaining everything and then held a talk (I didn't go) in the Constellation Theater.  Oh yeah.... there was also a video on the history of the Canal on the TV.  So...not sure what more they could have done.  Oh yeah there are also "tons" of videos on the web about the canal.  If you are going, watch one or two before you go.  You'll know way more than you ever wanted to. 

Anyway... most of cruising is a combination of expectations, keep them "real," and subjective opinion.  What I find excellent others may find substandard.  Best advice, take ALL opinions and reviews with a grain of salt.  And remember, it's a ship, it's crewed by multi-national crews, it moves, it's got limited resources.  But overall...it's a cruise on a spectacular ship where they do everything in their power to make you happy.  Enjoy. 😎

That's the attitude that makes any cruise a great vacation. 😁

[Snh lname]

@papaflamingo My comments agree with yours 100%. 
 

Our cruise had substandard Panama Canal enrichment. That seems to have been corrected by your cruise. My major criticism. 
 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise.