trip report: Grandeur of the Seas, 28-June-2007

[tuc]

I'm onboard the Grandeur right now, so this is only a partial trip report. Please excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes.

 

trip report

Grandeur of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)

departing Baltimore 28 June 2007

 

embarcation:

very smooth. We were on the boat within 30 minutes of driving up.

first impressions:

very nice. The buffet was quite nice. The kid club open house gave a good impression. We couldn't get to our stateroom before 1:00. We did like the layout of both the cabin and the bathroom. (However the bathroom sink drained slowly and the corners of the mirrors were losing their silvering.) Overall, the best first impression of any cruise ship I've been on.

 

day 1:

 

Lots of fun in shallow swimming pool. Gambling lessons were poor, as usual for cruise ships. Dinner (6:00 main seating) was fine, but we got out late so we missed the beginning of the 7:30 "Welcome Aboard Show." We missed the song and dance intro, but not the talking (cruise information, then mediocre comedian) afterward. The comedian was billed "family" but many of the jokes were crude (no foul language, though).

 

The 8:30 "Welcome Aboard Show for children and parents" was poorly named. It was not a show but a typical introduction-to-kids-camp thing, except a bit less informative. The following "Adventure Ocean Expo" was poorly run. The doors were locked when we got there, so there were long lines. The "make gummy candy" was lame, and the volcano demonstration wasn't any better. It was a waste of time, though we did get a beeper.

 

Before swimming we asked our cabin steward to push the two beds together. Before dinner they were together, which was nice. When we returned at 10:00pm after dinner/show/expo the cabin was unchanged. Bed still unmade, no day 2 literature, no bed for the kid. Had to call the front desk to ask for someone to lower the bed. Had to go to lobby for day-2 itinerary and literature. Our good first impressions have definitely worn off.

 

We were told we'd cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 12:45am or so. I went on deck to look for it, but couldn't discern anything. We saw the Bay Bridge (US-50, no tunnel) from the window at dinner.

 

day 2:

 

Breakfast at the restaurant was from early to 9:00. We went at 8:30ish but the line was long--out the door and wrapping around the atrium. We went to the windjammer buffer instead.

 

The line for lunch was shorter. A sign visible from line advertised in hand-lettering that "greek salad with grilled shrimp" and chocolate cake were available. Someone at my table ordered the "greek salad with grilled shrimp" but the waiter didn't seem to understand. He eventually got a meatless greek salad (that looked delicious) and what looked like a grilled chicken sandwich. hmm.

Lunch also had a cook-to-order pasta bar in the middle, but the line was long. It probably would have been smarter to get pasta at the windjammer.

 

day 3:

 

Portland was nice. We went to Two Lights park.

 

Back on the ship, a person in the next stall from me in a public bathroom lit up a cigarette and puffed away. Things like that can really take the enjoyment out of an afternoon.

 

At the casino I played some 5-10 hold'em poker ($2 and $5 blinds). As usual for cruise ships, the rake is terrible at 10% up to $10 (I'm used to 10% up to $4 or so). They play at a converted blackjack table, so a full table seats only 7 players. I managed to win a few bucks despite the high rake.

 

day 4:

 

We put the kid into the kid's club ("Adventure Ocean") and took the tender to Bar Harbor. We walked around, bought some fudge (but not the lobster-flavored ice cream), and tendered back. We dropped by the kid's club to check on the kid. He said he was having a good time but he asked us to check him out. He had lunch with us, then decided we were boring (correct) and wanted to go back to the kids club. When he returned, the children shouted "he's back, he's back!" and one girl informed the chaperone "you don't have to page my mommy now." Evidently, my kid is the star of his Adventure Ocean age group.

 

In the afternoon I played "shuffle golf," which is a silly game where you get two tries to put a golf ball onto a target. I took first place with a fluke shot that bounced off the edge of the green and landed on the 10 spot.

 

Day 4 isn't over yet...

[margaritadenise]

Thanks for the info! Love reading trip reports. What is your itinerary?

[tuc]

The menus have been fair. The main courses have been pretty good, but the deserts have been uninspiring.

 

There are too pools, one outside, one inside for adults only. The deep part of the outside pool is surrounded on all sides by about 6 inches of water. Part of this is fenced off, so I could let my kid play there while I watched from the deck chairs.

[tuc]

What is your itinerary?

 

 

Baltimore

sea day

Portland

Bar Harbor

St. John's

Halifax

sea day

Boston

sea day

Baltimore

[isujim]

I will be following your reports closely.............we sail the same ship and itinerary in 80 days...........:)

[isujim]

Will be interested in your temperatures during this cruise............warm or cool.........especially as you move North.........

[Annieeee]

I am certain the Grandeur left on Friday the 29th, not the 28th.

 

Glad to see you are having a good time. Love that ship.

 

Annieeee

[Bermuda2]

Thanks for the report. Will be following your review all the way. Will be on Grandeur Sept 21. Would love to see Daily compasses:) :) :) :)

Again thanks

Jerry and Sandra

[SingBill]

Thanks for much for your review. Never been on the Grandeur but looking forward to it one day.

[signman]

I think you were about an hour late to view the Bridge-Tunnel. On the way home make a few trips up on deck starting after dinner. Eventually you should see it in the distance. It's only low to the water causeways, no big bridge. For more excitement, get up around 4 AM to view Bay Bridge, now that's a bridge.

[isujim]

Waiting anxiously for the rest of your report.:)

[Capitan52]

What happened to TUC...we've been waitinf patiently for MORE....PLEASE....

[wolfcathorse]

Who's the captain for your 6-28 sailing?

[FreewayFortune]

Thanks for your report. I love the East Coast and have often thought about cruising it.

[tuc]

I am certain the Grandeur left on Friday the 29th, not the 28th.

 

Typo. Indeed, it was Friday.

 

Will be interested in your temperatures during this cruise............warm or cool.........especially as you move North.........

 

Today in Boston it is too hot. The other ports were nice. The wind in Portland made some in my group put on jackets, but I was content in short sleeves. Nice walking weather in Halifax. Of course, weather will likely vary for the next cruise.

 

It has been cold and windy on deck at nights lately, so some activities have been moved indoors.

 

I think you were about an hour late to view the Bridge-Tunnel. On the way home make a few trips up on deck starting after dinner. Eventually you should see it in the distance. It's only low to the water causeways, no big bridge. For more excitement, get up around 4 AM to view Bay Bridge, now that's a bridge.

 

I'm not getting up early to see the bay bridge (US-50) as I did see it on the way down. Plus I've driven over it umpteen times. I may try again to see the bridge-tunnel, though.

 

What happened to TUC...we've been waitinf patiently for MORE....PLEASE....

 

hmm, well I'm still on the cruise. I had no connection in Canada or at sea, and only spotty internet here in Boston.

 

Who's the captain for your 6-28 sailing?

 

As mentioned above, it was actually 6-29. The captain is Rob Hempstead. This is the first cruise on which I have been able to understand the captain's English.

[croosieloosie]

Does Grandeur have a concierge?

[Cruisin' Mane]

i remember the granduer from december wondering if you have the same cruise director we had he was very nice i dont recall his name he had a funny laugh and he was an african american...but i did like the gos hope you enjoy the rest of your voyage

[isujim]

Appreciate you taking time to do this.

[tuc]

i remember the granduer from december wondering if you have the same cruise director we had he was very nice i dont recall his name he had a funny laugh and he was an african american...but i did like the gos hope you enjoy the rest of your voyage

 

His name was Simeon Baker, and he's not the one you are thinking of. I usually find Cruise Directors to be annoying, but this one was slightly less so.

[40+guy]

We were on the same cruise, had a great time and we enjoyed all the ports. All the meals were good, and I also felt some of the desserts were blah. I skipped most of the shows and found Simeon to be a bit boorish. Re. the weather it was very pleasant IMHO, but one member of our party thought it was too cold, we had rain on two days. There were just two days when the area around the pool had decent sized crowds.

 

I will provide a quick overview of our ports from my limited perspective.

 

Portland ME - delightful downtown area. Members of our group went to Freeport, they were disappointed except for LL Bean, they wished they had simply stayed in Portland - lots of shops and restaurants.

 

Bar Harbor ME. - quaint and touristy. We went on the Acadia hike, had a good tour guide named Mike who was a birding expert so he pointed out some birds we only would have guessed at including a Bald Eagle.

 

St. John's New Brunswick, we left the ship a little late and just walked around. It was the least touristy of all our stops, the city had two tents (each could easily hold several hundred people) set up just as you left the ship. If you got off early the ladies each got a rose, there were also vendors there selling local products. There is a small commercial district within an easy walk. One other nice feature was a bag piper who played from the dock as we departed. I went to the branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia there and did a currency exchange and was charged a miniscule fee.

 

Halifax, NS. Very nice waterfront area. Lots of restaurants and a wonderful maritime museum within walking distance with some great displays on the Titanic (Halifax was the major port closest to where she went down so rescue and recovery efforts were based there and many of the recovered bodies were buried there). The pier at Halifax also has shops selling local wares and once again a bag piper played as we departed.

 

Boston MA - the cruise terminal is not real close to much so you can take a tour or ride the T in - a bus runs a route (Silver line) about every 10-15 minutes just outside the terminal which will allow you to get hooked up with the subway easily- and there are many historic sites and shopping just off the T. We thought the lobster prices were best in Boston. This was also the warmest day for our port visits.

[Pepperwood]

Just a minuscule correction. The port in New Brunswick is St. John (no apostrophe+"s"). The port of St. John's (apostrophe + "s") is on the coast of Newfoundland, a few hundred kilometres to the northeast. The small difference in spelling is beaten into Canadian school kids at an early age.:)