Grandeur Specialty Restaurants-Worth It?

[Glofen]

I'm taking the 9 night Grandeur of the Seas Canada/New England cruise next week. I've never sailed RCI before so am asking those who have the following: What are the specialty restaurants on the Grandeur and is it worth it to go there one night instead of dining in the regular dining room?

[Merion_Mom]

I'm taking the 9 night Grandeur of the Seas Canada/New England cruise next week. I've never sailed RCI before so am asking those who have the following: What are the specialty restaurants on the Grandeur and is it worth it to go there one night instead of dining in the regular dining room?

I believe that only the Enchantment of the Vision class ships has a specialty restaurants, and that was added during the stretch in 2005.

[Glofen]

Thanks for the reply, Merion Mom. I went on the RCI website and you are correct, there is no specialty restaurant on the Grandeur. I guess since Princess had one and so did HAL, I assumed that Royal Caribbean did too. I really loved Princess food so I hope it compares well with RCI.

[Merion_Mom]

Glofen, Royal Caribbean has specialty restaurants; however not EVERY ship has one (or two). All Freedom class, all Voyager class, all Radiance class have at least one. In the Vision Class, no specialty restaurant except for the Enchantment. Nothing in Sovereign class, unless you count Johnny Rocket's. ;) The Empress of the Seas has one.

[Host Kewlguy]

Not only doesn't the Grandeur have a specialty restaurant. It also doesn't have a Concierge Lounge. It seems to be treated as the ugly stepchild of the Vision Class ships.

[Merion_Mom]

Not only doesn't the Grandeur have a specialty restaurant. It also doesn't have a Concierge Lounge. It seems to be treated as the ugly stepchild of the Vision Class ships.

 

Aw, c'mon, Tony. That's a little harsh, don't you think? At first, no Vision class had a concierge lounge. Then they stretched the Enchantment, and there was room for a CL and a Chops.

 

Then Splendour got a CL, and now, apparently, the Legend does. They don't have specialty restaurants.

 

Neither Vision nor Rhapsody has a CL or restaurant. Grandeur isn't being singled out for disrespectful treatment!

 

(btw, I still adore you!) ;)

[98Charlie]

Have to say frankly, had Grandeur had a specialty restaurant when we cruised it last April I would have tried it. Truthfully, in the 18 cruises we've taken so far, Grandeur's food in the dining room is at the bottom of our list in ratings and we've cruised several different cruise lines.

 

That was a year ago and I know things change over weeks, months or years. won't say we will never cruise Grandeur again but our past experience with te dining room our only option doesn't entice us back to the ship right now.

 

Dianne

[isujim]

Ugly stepchild, worst food in 18 cruises...........man.........I'm taking the same cruise in September..........can't wait:)

[Murphy]

I was on the Grandeur in April this year. I thought the food was great! The assortment is the Windjammer is much improved since they re-did the lay out and every meal we had in the main dining room was very good.

[CPT Trips]

Ugly stepchild, worst food in 18 cruises...........man.........I'm taking the same cruise in September..........can't wait:)

 

Don't worry........they fixed the chef in dry dock;)

[Host Kewlguy]

Aw, c'mon, Tony. That's a little harsh, don't you think? At first, no Vision class had a concierge lounge. Then they stretched the Enchantment, and there was room for a CL and a Chops.

 

Then Splendour got a CL, and now, apparently, the Legend does. They don't have specialty restaurants.

 

Neither Vision nor Rhapsody has a CL or restaurant. Grandeur isn't being singled out for disrespectful treatment!

 

(btw, I still adore you!) ;)

 

Ok, maybe my statement was an exaggeration but also notice which Vision Class ships were sent to Europe... I like the Grandeur honestly. But I like the Enchantment more. :)

[Murphy]

Don't worry........they fixed the chef in dry dock;)

 

Good one!

[isujim]

Don't worry........they fixed the chef in dry dock;)

 

All kidding aside.......I have found chef does indeed make a difference.

[JerseyGem]

I loved the Grandeur! We definitely enjoyed the meals in the main dining room on our recent repo. The only "bad" item was a pasta dish- but I'm really picky about my pasta (I like it freshly cooked & al dente). I realize that it's hard to prepare and "hold" a pasta dish in advance, so I probably shouldn't have even ordered it- I learned to avoid the pasta dishes for the rest of the cruise. Obviously there's so much food- and so many choices- and most was wonderful.

 

The main dining room is rather crowded on this ship. After the first night, the four of us asked for a smaller sized table so we could fit better into our assigned table space. The four of us were seated at a table that would normally have held 6 or even 8; we were shouting across the table at each other (since people at the next table were actually closer to us than our travel companions, we could join in their conversations much more easily).

 

We only did one Princess cruise, so I really can't compare the two lines- but from my limited experience, the food is similar in choices, presentation and quality. I hope you enjoy the GOS- she's a nice sized ship!

[Merion_Mom]

Ok, maybe my statement was an exaggeration but also notice which Vision Class ships were sent to Europe... I like the Grandeur honestly. But I like the Enchantment more. :)

 

I've never been on the Grandeur, or any Vision class except Enchantment, which I LOVE, so I admit to being totally spoiled. :D

[BaltimoreJ]

Have been on two different Grandeur cruises; found the main dining room to be excellent. Windjammer is ok to me, but I'm not a big fan of buffet food. I'm not interested in "specialty" restaurants. That means I gotta think and plan more than I want to! Plus, why pay extra, have you not paid enough?

[cruisingnewyorkers]

Just off the Grandeur repo cruise, sorry to say there isn't a specialty restaurant. We were cruising with a couple that celebrated their 50th anniversary and I would like to have gone to a specialty restaurant that night.

But their anniversary was the second formal night and that was lobster night so that was a very nice dinner.

[andyjo0930]

We just came off the Grandeur a few weeks ago and we thought the food was pretty good. We have been on the Empress twice and went to Portafino's, but probably would not have done it again had it been on this ship. (Large Italian family, love Italian food, was not impressed with Portafino's.) Our waiter was great. We were seated at a table with 9 (all family) and he brought us extra entrees each night to try (something nobody ordered). He did the same with deserts. The menus were a little different than our previous 8 nighter aboard the Empress, but had some of our favorites (onion tart.) Personally, we like the smaller ships and thought the Grandeur was pretty nice, although we will like the Empress the best.

[negc]

Ok, maybe my statement was an exaggeration but also notice which Vision Class ships were sent to Europe... I like the Grandeur honestly. But I like the Enchantment more. :)

 

Anthony, I'm not sure what your point is. The Enchantment, since its stretch, is certainly one of the premier Vision class ships and it wasn't sent to Europe so what are you implying? This year they have sent two Voyager class ships,(Voyager and Navigator) two Radiance class ships,(Jewel and Brilliance) and two Vision class ships (the smallest Vision ships, Legend and Splendour). Should we be reading something into their ship selection? If so, I am at a loss to see what it is.:rolleyes:

[CPT Trips]

All kidding aside.......I have found chef does indeed make a difference.

Just follow Jersey Gem's advice and pass on the pasta. The lobster tail was done to perfection!