Just Finished Cruising on Grandeur of the Seas

[cruiserfriends]

A little about us first...married in mid 30's with 11 year old traveling with another couple the same. My family has cruised with Carnival 2x before and this being our 1x on RCI. OVERALL we enjoyed the Grandeur and our trips. I only complain when I think that the issue can be resolved.

 

Here we go....

 

Tampa

Flew in the day before and stayed @ Marriott Residence Inn on East Tyler Street. Using the military discount the room was $94. The cab ride should have been $20 from the airport but the driver decided he wanted to charge us $25. I didn't realize until it was too late. The driver received the extra $5 plus tip. The Residence Inn had a shuttle that would take you within a 2 mile radius of the hotel. It is used by the Residence Inn and Courtyard. We didn't have any problems...but the driver was very busy. We had dinner @ Jackson's and it was very good. Have the hotel make reservations though.

 

Breakfast was included with the room. Good stuff...pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc. The hotel provided a free shuttle to the pier (signed up when we checked in). We were on the 11:00 shuttle and on the ship by 11:40. We literally walked right on. NO problems.

 

On boarding

Hand sanitizers are still present on the ship. Not a problem...just hold your hand under and it will dispense the solution. You must do this before you enter any eating areas.

 

Luggage arrived with no problems so the first day we didn't have any issues.

 

1st day @ sea

Enjoyed the sunshine!

 

1st Stop - Cozumel

Wow the tendering process SUCKS. Sorry there is not a nice way to say it. We were on the 1st tender (even though we were not on a ship excursion we were still on the 1st tender). We lost 1 1/2 hours on the island because RCI didn't seem to know what they were doing. It was frustrating. We were docked early and cleared but the tendering process was a mess.

 

We went to Paradise Beach on our own. Had read great things about the beach and we were not disappointed. We were almost the first people on the beach and planted ourselves on the first row right next to the water. The kids enjoyed the water toys (kayak, water trampoline, rock wall, and mats). Alex was our waiter and he was great. We feasted on chicken and beef nachos, chicken strips, french fries, chicken, beef, and fish tacos, and quesadillas.

 

Daughter had hair braided on beach. Of course I asked up front how much for 1/2 head and it was $20. Well when she was almost finished, she said it was an extra $5 for the beads. Live and learn. Still tipped her. Cheaper than the ship cost of $55.

 

The tendering back to the boat took another 1 hour with us supposedly leaving Cozumel @ 5:00. We stepped on the ship @ 5:00 with two tenders behind us.

 

Grand Caymen

Man-o-man we thought tendering in Cozumel was bad. Grand Caymen was unbelievable. First off were the RCI paid ship excursions. While I understand this is a perk of booking with the ship, we felt like second class citizens. There were only 4 tenders TOTAL (2 being owned by RCI). We were supposed to be on the island from 10:00 to 5:30. We held the Group 8 tender ticket (not including the RCI excursions this time). We stepped foot on land @ 12:30. We were furious because it was so ridiculous. We had an excursion with Capt Marvins @ 1:30. We didn't have time to explore.

 

Capt Marvins

When we checked in they informed us that the water was rough (like 6' tall rough). We decided that we would still go ahead and check it out. On the way out to the sandbar, we were told that the water had calmed down somewhat. I was concerned of our time constraints because we should be back at the dock 4:30 - 5:00. I sought comfort in knowing that there was about 25-30 people on this excursion that were also on the Grandeur.

 

Capt Marvins was hauling butt to get us to our stingray visit. One of the two buses had a flat tire and they had to call in another bus. Traffic on the 7-mile was terrible. It was 2:30 and we had not even reached the sandbar. We reached the sandbar and the water was a little rough but we all jumped in. The stingrays were awesome. It was about 15-20 minutes and then we had to go. Again time was not on our side.

 

Snorkeled for 15-20 minutes and raced back to shore. The driver actually dropped us off at the pier instead of @ Capt Marvins. We were the last tender off of the Caymans.

 

Last Sea Day

Enjoyed the sunshine!

 

Dining

Our wait staff was pleasant and meet our needs. We enjoyed the dining room every night. Our waiter was from Indonesia and was always pleasant and joked with the kids. He encouraged us to try new things and enjoy our experience. Something that was not on Carnival was the Head Waiter. He would come around to the tables and properly remove the Tiger Shrimp from the shells or whatever else was necessary. He even cut my daughter's steak and fed her a bite. It was great! Thought the food was better than Carnival.

 

Disembarkation

We opted to let RCI carry our bags off because we were in no hurry to get to the airport (our flight left @ 3:25). We enjoyed breakfast and then headed off for our luggage. No problems. We caught a taxi to the airport ($20) for a group of 6 was not bad. Don't get ripped off by paying RCI's shuttle cost of $18 per person one way or other shuttles that are offered when you step out of the terminal ($9 per adult or $6 per child).

 

Southwest could not accept our luggage until 4 hours before the flight. We hung out with our luggage until 11:30 and then went to lunch. There is a Taco Bell, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc. in the airport.

 

I enjoyed our cruise but things I would do different:

 

• with such a short time on the island, I would book with the ship
  
• look at destinations without tender

I tried to list things that I thought were helpful. Would be happy to answer any questions. :o

[truffles2]

I guess it is just the luck (or lack of) the draw with tenders in Cozumel. We had absolutely no problems whatsoever a few weeks ago! It is never very good in Grand Cayman. Hope you enjoyed the cruise anyway.

[jillybabes]

Glad you enjoyed the ship. We too did not have a problem with the tenders in Cozumel. Easy on and off and had a great day enjoying the sights...The Grandeur is a lovely ship and I would sail her again in a heartbeat since she was in Tampa and we live about 1/2 hour away...Hope that we can get another RCCL ship to replace her when she moves to Baltimore and New Orleans...Jill:cool:

[seas06]

Thanks for the info. We will be on the Grandeur April 22 of this year. My husband and I have been to those ports before so we are planning to stay on board and enjoy the ship. So, if tendering is still and issue then at least I will not have to deal with it. :-)

[kelbell]

Would you mind answering some question about Paradise Island.

How did you got there? If you took a cab how much, did you rented a car where and how much?

Is it one price for lunch, entry, use of chairs and water things for the kids.

How far from the dock? we are are stopping at Cozumel, so I'm looking for things to do. Thank you

[RDeagazio]

I was on the Grandeur March 20th and had no problems with the tenders in Cozumel-- actually they had called for everyone who wanted to go ashore by 9am.

 

Paradise beach is a $13.00 cab ride (for up to 4 people). Free use of chairs, tables and umbrellas if you buy food and drinks. It's $8.00 per person if you want to use all the equipment- kayaks, mats, water trampolines etc. Lunch and drinks are very good and reasonably priced.

[DAHMAN]

I was on the Rhapsody in January and I have to agree the tendering process was terrible. I was looking forward to spending most of the day in Grand Cayman and ended up waiting for around 2 hours for our number to be called. I don't remember what number it was but we got up fairly early and went and got it so it wasn't very high. Next time I will definitely book an excursion thru the ship at Grand Cayman so I have a decent amount of time on the island.

[BLUEICE]

Thanks for posting a review of the Residence Inn. We are staying there for two nights before our 04/17/06 Grandeur cruise. Can you tell me if the hotel was clean? Did you feel safe in the area? Is there many restaurants in the area?

 

Am considering either PB or San Fransisco beach while we are in Cozumel. Can you remember the final price of your lunch/drinks, etc while at PB? Did you have a look at SF since PB is right next door?

 

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Sounds like tendering is a hit or miss.

[cruiserfriends]

Blueice -

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the Residence Inn. It was a mini suite with a separate bedroom, living room, small kitchen with full size refrigerator, and two tvs. I had no complaints about the hotel. There were several restaurants in the area. We were in the mood for seafood and the front desk recommended Jackson's. I recall there was a Bennigan's and Hooter's. As I said before the shuttle will take you within a 2 mile radius.

 

When my daughter had her hair braided it was actually on SF Beach. I didn't realize there was a difference because they are right next door. I am not sure about food services and toys. With food (plenty of it) and drinks it was probably about $60 (with generous tip). It was well worth it!