Granduer of The seas

[Mike45]

My wife and i are looking to cruise on Granduer of the seas next spring from Baltimore. How was this ship to be on? Going to Bermuda.

[Welovetokruze]

My wife and I have been on this ship 3 times and are going on a 4th in 3 weeks.We have done the Bermuda-Balto. trip twice. It is a very nice ship and an outstanding crew. Baltimore is a very easy port to get to [off 395 in southwest Balto.], parking is next to the ship and the lines move very fast normally. I would advise you to go after April, as the water in Bermuda can be chilly up until about mid-May. We went once the first week of April and it was chilly. Horseshoe beach is a very nice place to visit as is Tobacco Bay.

Glenn

[Mike45]

Thanks store. I know where the port is. I grew up north of baltimore. I've heard several people say they get sick leaving the bay getting out into open ocean. Maybe the Gulf stream? Did you have any trouble with rough seas?

[pjlee3333]

We've done this route several times and not had trouble. We're fortunate though and not prone to trouble. What we've heard from some of the people that work on the ship is that the seas tend to get rougher the later in the season you get, ie Octobber tends to be rougher than some other months.

 

Having said that, we've seen or heard about very few people with problems except when the ship was trying to manuever around the edges of a tropical storm coming up the Chesapeake and the sater was rouger than normal due to the remnents of the storm.

 

We're taking the ship to Bermuda for the 4th and 5th times since October 2005 this year.

[Mike45]

Thanks PJLee,

That helps alot. You must enjoy the Granduer to be on it that many times. I live an hour away from the port, so that helps with not having airfare.

[njmomof2]

We're considering this ship for next April but it's sailing out of Tampa. Does it reposition up to Baltimore at some point in the spring?

[pjlee3333]

We're considering this ship for next April but it's sailing out of Tampa. Does it reposition up to Baltimore at some point in the spring?

Yes. April 18th (I think) it will do a 7 day repo from Tampa to San Juan. It will then do a 7 day repo on April 25 from San Juan to Baltimore (or Norfolk). I don't remember if it is doing the Norfolk cruises first and then coming up to Baltimore next year.

 

It will do a 10+ day repositioning cruise back down to Tampa the end of November from Baltimore.

 

We are fans of this ship. She's one of the smaller ships with no specialty restaurants. We don't miss that, however. We find that there is a lot to keep us busy and that the people that work on board are very good to us.

 

The fact that it is 20 minutes from our house helps. We can leave at 10 be checked in, luggage dropped off, pictures taken, etc. by 10:45.

 

We've met some of the crew in 2005 that are till on board the ship. Its nice to catch up with them every time we're on board. By the end of this summer we'll have been fortunate enough to have been on this ship 10 times.

[wraithe]

Grandeur is a great ship IMHO. I've sailed on her 4 different times, 3 nine night cruises, and 14 nights for the last repo from Tampa to Baltimore. Love the ship. That said, Bermuda cruises do tend to be rougher than Caribbean cruises according to the posts I've read. Good luck.

[pjlee3333]

I think you are right. Has something to do with the Atlantic Ocean being rougher than the Carribean. Time of year also seems to have something to do with it as well, from what we've heard--fall seems to be worse than spring.

[MonDreamr1]

We did the Baltimore - Bermuda last July - we hit some really rough weather and the seas got pretty rough (they had the bags out in the hallways) Once we got past the weather system it was great.

 

We did the Eastern Caribbean out of Baltimore last Nov and the seas were a lot calmer going down the coast. We got told we were really lucky on that trip up and down, as the week before had been really rough.

 

We really liked Grandeur and her staff.

 

It was also really easy leaving out of Baltimore, except for the hassle they gave my sister when she picked us up.

[trphil]

We just did the repositioning cruise from San Juan to Baltimore a couple of weeks ago and our last port of call was Bermuda. The water certainly was rougher in the Atlantic ocean than in the Caribbean. And Bermuda was cold and windy the day we were there.

[Wennfred]

Mike45, welcome to Cruise Critic, they closed that other thread on the Carnival board. We are Carnival People but we will soon be sailing on the Radiance of the Seas when she arrives in San Diego next year.

 

Till then, you take care and have a great cruise.

 

 

 

Fred from the Carnival Board

[KY Transplant]

You cannot go wrong with the Grandeur.

She is one of the older and smaller ships in the RCCI fleet but she is kept immaculate and there are plenty of amenities..at least for me anyway.

The solarium is my favorite part of the ship. Its like being in a Roman bath. Luxurious and no noisy kids splashing and running around. And only steps away from light refreshment.

There is not one thing bad I have to say about the GOS.

Enjoy!