Grandeur's First Ten Day From Tampa

[Tanker4]

I believe that the Grandeur returned today from her first ten day out of Tampa. Would love to hear any comments from anyone who was on this cruise as we're leaving on the same one in 18 days.

[DIGTHIS]

Morning,

I was on the grandeur for the repositioning to tampa. Had a great time and it was nice to have everyone pleasant and saying hello. That had slipped a little in the past. Casino personel ar wonderful even though you will have a new manager by then. The food in the windjammer is the nicest variety i have seen on a rcl ship to date. It was a vast improvement over other buffets. Should you eat there please say hello to anahita - she is the manager and i am sure will come around to make you welcome. Tell her dave and carol from ny say hi. have a great cruise

 

dave

[KDRCruisers]

Morning,

I was on the grandeur for the repositioning to tampa. Had a great time and it was nice to have everyone pleasant and saying hello. That had slipped a little in the past. Casino personel ar wonderful even though you will have a new manager by then. The food in the windjammer is the nicest variety i have seen on a rcl ship to date. It was a vast improvement over other buffets. Should you eat there please say hello to anahita - she is the manager and i am sure will come around to make you welcome. Tell her dave and carol from ny say hi. have a great cruise

 

dave

 

Dave,

Hi, from a fellow Upstate New Yorker. We will be leaving on the Grandeur this coming Monday. Can you tell me if there is a sushi bar? DH LOVES sushi:D. If there is, I can't wait to tell him if not it will be a secret;). Thanks for any info you have.

[Tanker4]

Morning,

I was on the grandeur for the repositioning to tampa. Had a great time and it was nice to have everyone pleasant and saying hello. That had slipped a little in the past. Casino personel ar wonderful even though you will have a new manager by then. The food in the windjammer is the nicest variety i have seen on a rcl ship to date. It was a vast improvement over other buffets. Should you eat there please say hello to anahita - she is the manager and i am sure will come around to make you welcome. Tell her dave and carol from ny say hi. have a great cruise

 

dave

 

 

Thaks for the comments Dave. We were last on the Grandeur in Feb of this year and at that time, found her and the crew to be great. In fact, we enjoyed the cruise so much we booked her for a 10 day for next month. It's good to know that she will be the same as we remembered.:)

 

We'll be sure to tell Anahita hello for you guys.

[DIGTHIS]

Hi kdr,

lake george here,

there is a new manager in the windjammer. Her name is anahita and she has really done a nice job changing the menu. That is what they brought her on to do. There is a sushi bar in the windjammer every evening. There is also a pasta chef and mongolian chef on different nights. I was very pleasantly surprised at how often she, as the manager, as well as the chefs, would come out of the kitchen and talk to us for honest opinions.

 

Have a great cruise

 

dave

[Coralc]

Dave,

Hi, from a fellow Upstate New Yorker. We will be leaving on the Grandeur this coming Monday. Can you tell me if there is a sushi bar? DH LOVES sushi:D. If there is, I can't wait to tell him if not it will be a secret;). Thanks for any info you have.

 

There is an Asian section in the Windjammer, and I know for sure that they serve sushi at dinner. I don't know about other meals, sorry. (because I didn't look for it) :D

 

EDIT: Tanker...do you want me to move what I posted on the other thread over here?

[Tanker4]

There is an Asian section in the Windjammer, and I know for sure that they serve sushi at dinner. I don't know about other meals, sorry. (because I didn't look for it) :D

 

EDIT: Tanker...do you want me to move what I posted on the other thread over here?

 

That's up to you PB. I'm just glad to hear from folks who've been on Grandeur since we were last on her. If it suits you, go for it and thanks for the info.:)

[Coralc]

Sorry. I was having Grandeur confusion. :D

 

We just disembarked from Grandeur yesterday, the 10 day itinerary. It was a nice cruise. A little (lot?) rough and chilly on the 2 days down and the 2 days back.

 

Captain Jim is on board, and there are no plans to add a concierge lounge to Grandeur anytime soon. There was an 11:15 AM brunch for D/+/P members.

 

We did sail past Montseratt one evening at 10:30 PM. We were probably 3 to 5 miles away. It was very difficult to see anything except a faint glow.

 

But we had a really fun time, the service was very good. AJ and Hans in the Schooner Bar were very good and Tom Riccio, the piano player was entertaining. The CD Simeon Baker and Cruise Activities director Belle, were very friendly and interacted frequently with the passengers.

 

"above section reprinted from another thread". :)

 

Other thoughts. The first sea day down was really, really windy. The first sea day coming back was really rough, and they had bags taped in the halls and stairwells. I've never noticed that before. I did stop at the purser's that evening for pills, but DH was fine. Never sick, just a little queasy. I think it rained every night, just about too. Things were very wet in the morning.

 

The ports are very nice. We arrived in San Juan at 9:30 AM due to a mediccal emergency instead of the scheduled 1:00 PM. There were only 17 children onboard, 3 broken hips and 1 rumored fatality (stroke).

 

St. Kitts, we arrived late, and the captain cleared the hallways and decks and sent all pasengers back to their cabins as a precaution before docking. He then announced he was unsure if we were going to dock because it was so windy. He did so safely, and we stayed an extra hour as a consolation.

 

Antigua, we also arrived about an hour late, stayed an extra hour. Nice island.

 

Tortola, I think we arrived about on hour early....6AM? We left at the scheduled time of 2~2:30 PM. Very pretty island, similarities to Hawaiian vistas.

 

We like to play trivia. The hours seemed a little variable for the afternoon sessions. We saw Quest, 70's night in the Viking Crown. We watched the other shows on TV. Most evenings we enjoy the schooner bar.

 

We had our first surprise upgrade on this cruise, so we were in a Grand Suite. Outstanding accomodation, and excellent service. We received a bottle of champagne (or wine) for the suite. $12 corkage if we wanted to share it with our tablemates, so we just poured 6 and took the glasses to dinner. I suppose we could have paid it, but the headwaiter just sort of oozed insincerity, so I declined. All the other crew members and staff that we met were super friendly.

 

The Windjammer food was very good, varied selection and fresh. The dining room menus come in fancy stiff binders now. And the selection was fair. Food is subjective, and for others to decide. On one night it seemed that many had a problem with rare, medium, well on the steaks. Not only at our table but at other Cruise Critic tables as well. The things I ordered tasted fine.

 

Any other questions, I will be happy to try and answer. Our Meet & Mingle was well attended. We had 59 people signed up and we had a gift exchange, from home states that was reallly fun, and many more participated in that than the roll call. As always, it was so nice to have "friends" onboard from the roll call, and we ran into them all over the ship. We really enjoyed meeting everyone :D

__________________

[thepeach]

Sorry. I was having Grandeur confusion. :D

 

We just disembarked from Grandeur yesterday, the 10 day itinerary. It was a nice cruise. A little (lot?) rough and chilly on the 2 days down and the 2 days back.

 

Captain Jim is on board, and there are no plans to add a concierge lounge to Grandeur anytime soon. There was an 11:15 AM brunch for D/+/P members.

 

We did sail past Montseratt one evening at 10:30 PM. We were probably 3 to 5 miles away. It was very difficult to see anything except a faint glow.

 

But we had a really fun time, the service was very good. AJ and Hans in the Schooner Bar were very good and Tom Riccio, the piano player was entertaining. The CD Simeon Baker and Cruise Activities director Belle, were very friendly and interacted frequently with the passengers.

 

"above section reprinted from another thread". :)

 

Other thoughts. The first sea day down was really, really windy. The first sea day coming back was really rough, and they had bags taped in the halls and stairwells. I've never noticed that before. I did stop at the purser's that evening for pills, but DH was fine. Never sick, just a little queasy. I think it rained every night, just about too. Things were very wet in the morning.

 

The ports are very nice. We arrived in San Juan at 9:30 AM due to a mediccal emergency instead of the scheduled 1:00 PM. There were only 17 children onboard, 3 broken hips and 1 rumored fatality (stroke).

 

St. Kitts, we arrived late, and the captain cleared the hallways and decks and sent all pasengers back to their cabins as a precaution before docking. He then announced he was unsure if we were going to dock because it was so windy. He did so safely, and we stayed an extra hour as a consolation.

 

Antigua, we also arrived about an hour late, stayed an extra hour. Nice island.

 

Tortola, I think we arrived about on hour early....6AM? We left at the scheduled time of 2~2:30 PM. Very pretty island, similarities to Hawaiian vistas.

 

We like to play trivia. The hours seemed a little variable for the afternoon sessions. We saw Quest, 70's night in the Viking Crown. We watched the other shows on TV. Most evenings we enjoy the schooner bar.

 

We had our first surprise upgrade on this cruise, so we were in a Grand Suite. Outstanding accomodation, and excellent service. We received a bottle of champagne (or wine) for the suite. $12 corkage if we wanted to share it with our tablemates, so we just poured 6 and took the glasses to dinner. I suppose we could have paid it, but the headwaiter just sort of oozed insincerity, so I declined. All the other crew members and staff that we met were super friendly.

 

The Windjammer food was very good, varied selection and fresh. The dining room menus come in fancy stiff binders now. And the selection was fair. Food is subjective, and for others to decide. On one night it seemed that many had a problem with rare, medium, well on the steaks. Not only at our table but at other Cruise Critic tables as well. The things I ordered tasted fine.

 

Any other questions, I will be happy to try and answer. Our Meet & Mingle was well attended. We had 59 people signed up and we had a gift exchange, from home states that was reallly fun, and many more participated in that than the roll call. As always, it was so nice to have "friends" onboard from the roll call, and we ran into them all over the ship. We really enjoyed meeting everyone :D

__________________

We also came off the Granduer yesterday with pbhunt. We had a great time at the gift exchange.

 

We agree with you on the food. It was OK, but it certainly wasn't anything to get excited about. The selection was fair, at best, as you said. The steaks were tough, and you are correct, the kitchen just couldn't get the steaks cooked correctly. We were overall disappointed in the dining room food. We did have a great waiter, TJ. I thought the Windjammer was pretty good. I was really happy to see the sugar free desserts-they were great, including the cookies.

 

There weren't enough activities to keep us busy in the afternoon and after the shows, so we were a bit bored.

 

The shows were OK. The magician, juggler and comedian were very good, however.

 

We loved the ports, but you're right pbhunt, it was hot, especially Tortola.

 

We had a surprise upgrade to the Jr. Suite, and we absolutely loved the room. We were on the end aft, and had a 10 foot deck. Loved the walk in closet also. We had a great room steward, Angela.

[wraithe]

The repo from Baltimore to Tampa over Halloween was our 6th cruise on Grandeur. She's still beautiful, great crew and we had a ball. My wife and I ballroom dance and we danced every night, before and after dinner in the Centrum, and in the South Pacific Lounge. I enjoyed every meal, gained 6 pounds over the 11 days in spite of running 4 to 6 miles a day, working out with weights and dancing. Looking very forward to the 14 night repo next November.

[Tanker4]

Sorry. I was having Grandeur confusion. :D

 

We just disembarked from Grandeur yesterday, the 10 day itinerary. It was a nice cruise. A little (lot?) rough and chilly on the 2 days down and the 2 days back.

 

Captain Jim is on board, and there are no plans to add a concierge lounge to Grandeur anytime soon. There was an 11:15 AM brunch for D/+/P members.

 

We did sail past Montseratt one evening at 10:30 PM. We were probably 3 to 5 miles away. It was very difficult to see anything except a faint glow.

 

But we had a really fun time, the service was very good. AJ and Hans in the Schooner Bar were very good and Tom Riccio, the piano player was entertaining. The CD Simeon Baker and Cruise Activities director Belle, were very friendly and interacted frequently with the passengers.

 

"above section reprinted from another thread". :)

 

Other thoughts. The first sea day down was really, really windy. The first sea day coming back was really rough, and they had bags taped in the halls and stairwells. I've never noticed that before. I did stop at the purser's that evening for pills, but DH was fine. Never sick, just a little queasy. I think it rained every night, just about too. Things were very wet in the morning.

 

The ports are very nice. We arrived in San Juan at 9:30 AM due to a mediccal emergency instead of the scheduled 1:00 PM. There were only 17 children onboard, 3 broken hips and 1 rumored fatality (stroke).

 

St. Kitts, we arrived late, and the captain cleared the hallways and decks and sent all pasengers back to their cabins as a precaution before docking. He then announced he was unsure if we were going to dock because it was so windy. He did so safely, and we stayed an extra hour as a consolation.

 

Antigua, we also arrived about an hour late, stayed an extra hour. Nice island.

 

Tortola, I think we arrived about on hour early....6AM? We left at the scheduled time of 2~2:30 PM. Very pretty island, similarities to Hawaiian vistas.

 

We like to play trivia. The hours seemed a little variable for the afternoon sessions. We saw Quest, 70's night in the Viking Crown. We watched the other shows on TV. Most evenings we enjoy the schooner bar.

 

We had our first surprise upgrade on this cruise, so we were in a Grand Suite. Outstanding accomodation, and excellent service. We received a bottle of champagne (or wine) for the suite. $12 corkage if we wanted to share it with our tablemates, so we just poured 6 and took the glasses to dinner. I suppose we could have paid it, but the headwaiter just sort of oozed insincerity, so I declined. All the other crew members and staff that we met were super friendly.

 

The Windjammer food was very good, varied selection and fresh. The dining room menus come in fancy stiff binders now. And the selection was fair. Food is subjective, and for others to decide. On one night it seemed that many had a problem with rare, medium, well on the steaks. Not only at our table but at other Cruise Critic tables as well. The things I ordered tasted fine.

 

Any other questions, I will be happy to try and answer. Our Meet & Mingle was well attended. We had 59 people signed up and we had a gift exchange, from home states that was reallly fun, and many more participated in that than the roll call. As always, it was so nice to have "friends" onboard from the roll call, and we ran into them all over the ship. We really enjoyed meeting everyone :D

__________________

 

Think I mentioned on the other thread but like you, we were upgraded to a GS from a JS. Since this will be our first Grand Suite, would appreciate any comments you might like to share about it.:)

[Coralc]

Oh....it was wonderful! I have photos, but I can't post them yet. Huge space, bed is in a seperate alcove with a vanity. Wrap around couch. The 3 section closet is over behind the bar area, which is a little odd. But you get slippers AND robes. So you can pad over across the lovely tile to the closet in your Royal Caribbean slippers!

 

Balcony is long, with 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a larger square table (short legs, not tall). The bathroom has tons of room as well. Double sinks, nice shower, bathtub and ledge. You receive a bottle of champagne or wine. Treats before dinner on the 2 formal nights. (Diamond or suite perk...I don't know?:D) No flat screens yet, regular TV. But...there is a DVD player and a stereo system for CD's. I think it is bring your own though. There was no mention of availability in the greeting letter. We had DVD's along for the plane, but never did get around to watching them. The movies onboard were new to us.

 

We are, of course trying to figure out how to afford the same excellent accomodations on future cruises! LOL :D:D:D

[jillybabes]

Dave,

Hi, from a fellow Upstate New Yorker. We will be leaving on the Grandeur this coming Monday. Can you tell me if there is a sushi bar? DH LOVES sushi:D. If there is, I can't wait to tell him if not it will be a secret;). Thanks for any info you have.

 

Kathy: Don't remember if there is a sushi bar or not, think I did see some sushi...I know Dan will be upset if there isn't any:eek:...Have a wonderful time...Just off the Liberty with a group of friends including Diane & John, we had a great time...Remember us to Kim and Mike...Happy Holiday...Jill

 

Thaks for the comments Dave. We were last on the Grandeur in Feb of this year and at that time, found her and the crew to be great. In fact, we enjoyed the cruise so much we booked her for a 10 day for next month. It's good to know that she will be the same as we remembered.:)

 

We'll be sure to tell Anahita hello for you guys.

 

Please add us to the list of Anahita admirers, she is just wonderful, so helpful and friendly...Tell her Jill & Dave said Hi:p...Nice upgrade to a GS, have a wonderful time...On formal nights you will have someone deliver goodies to your cabin before dinner...Usually a cheese tray, or choc covered strawberries...ENJOY!!!

[Tanker4]

Oh....it was wonderful! I have photos, but I can't post them yet. Huge space, bed is in a seperate alcove with a vanity. Wrap around couch. The 3 section closet is over behind the bar area, which is a little odd. But you get slippers AND robes. So you can pad over across the lovely tile to the closet in your Royal Caribbean slippers!

 

Balcony is long, with 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a larger square table (short legs, not tall). The bathroom has tons of room as well. Double sinks, nice shower, bathtub and ledge. You receive a bottle of champagne or wine. Treats before dinner on the 2 formal nights. (Diamond or suite perk...I don't know?:D) No flat screens yet, regular TV. But...there is a DVD player and a stereo system for CD's. I think it is bring your own though. There was no mention of availability in the greeting letter. We had DVD's along for the plane, but never did get around to watching them. The movies onboard were new to us.

 

We are, of course trying to figure out how to afford the same excellent accomodations on future cruises! LOL :D:D:D

 

Thanks so much for the info on the GS. We had a corner aft JS booked and wondered if we made the right decision in giving it up as we love the view from the stern, the huge balcony, and my DW was looking forward to having the walk in closet, but you sold us with the slippers!;) Would love to see your pictures when/if you get time to post them. Guess we'll also have to start figuring out how to afford a future one...:D

[Tanker4]

Kathy: Don't remember if there is a sushi bar or not, think I did see some sushi...I know Dan will be upset if there isn't any:eek:...Have a wonderful time...Just off the Liberty with a group of friends including Diane & John, we had a great time...Remember us to Kim and Mike...Happy Holiday...Jill

 

 

 

Please add us to the list of Anahita admirers, she is just wonderful, so helpful and friendly...Tell her Jill & Dave said Hi:p...Nice upgrade to a GS, have a wonderful time...On formal nights you will have someone deliver goodies to your cabin before dinner...Usually a cheese tray, or choc covered strawberries...ENJOY!!!

 

Looks like we're going to need to make a list of everyone that said hi to Anahita. She must be some lady. We'll be sure to tell her for you. thanks for the kind comments and we will ENJOY.:)

[Coralc]

I'm not sure if this will work?......

2 photos Tanker, the bathroom and the bed. I guess I didn't take any balcony photos. We spent a lot of time out there, but the weather wasn't great. The links should be here:

 

NO

Sorry, It's not working here, and I am running out of editing time. . I usually use photobucket, but they seem to have gotten all "My Spacey" on me, and I can't figure out how to post a link to un re-resized photos. I'll try to figure it out before you leave. :-)

[Coralc]

"][/url]

 

OK that would be a photo of the bathroom! Thumbnail. But I might have to play around on the test board until I can figure out individual images. Our trips are posted at the bottom of DH's webpage......http://www.herbytoys.com/ It might be a while until these are up. The Panama Canal transit from April is still missing from that one.:):):) It's on his "to do" list :rolleyes:

[pjlee3333]

Anahita is a very nice lady. We met her in May and in September she was about the first person to welcome us back during embarkation lunch. Also went out of her way to say hi in Labadee during her time off. She always was coming by to see how things were and to see if she could help in any way.

 

If you don't mind, please add Peggy and Peggy Jean to the list that would like to tell her hi.

[want2seaitall]

A little OT...I'm sure they've got their reasons, but I sure do wish they had more sailings out of Tampa.

[Tanker4]

"][/url]

 

OK that would be a photo of the bathroom! Thumbnail. But I might have to play around on the test board until I can figure out individual images. Our trips are posted at the bottom of DH's webpage......http://www.herbytoys.com/ It might be a while until these are up. The Panama Canal transit from April is still missing from that one.:):):) It's on his "to do" list :rolleyes:

 

Thanks PB. You're a Jewel.

[Tanker4]

Anahita is a very nice lady. We met her in May and in September she was about the first person to welcome us back during embarkation lunch. Also went out of her way to say hi in Labadee during her time off. She always was coming by to see how things were and to see if she could help in any way.

 

If you don't mind, please add Peggy and Peggy Jean to the list that would like to tell her hi.

 

We'll add you guys to the ever growing list. In fact, think we'll pick up a card for her and add everyone's name to it if that's ok.

[JeffKoz]

Hi all...we are headed out on the 10 night itinerary on 12/8...a few question maybe you could answer for us...

 

When are the 2 formal nights, and which one also has the captain's reception?

 

When did they schedule the meet/mingle?

 

Was there smart casual nights, and if so when were they?

 

Thanks!!

[Tanker4]

Hi all...we are headed out on the 10 night itinerary on 12/8...a few question maybe you could answer for us...

 

When are the 2 formal nights, and which one also has the captain's reception?

 

When did they schedule the meet/mingle?

 

Was there smart casual nights, and if so when were they?

 

Thanks!!

 

We're on the same cruise as you guys and according to RCL's "meet&mingle" info, our's will be: Tuesday 12/9 at 10:15am in the Viking Crown Lounge.

[Coralc]

Tuesday will also be your first formal night. If you return on the 18th the second will be on the first sea day returning, Tuesday the 16th. There were also 2 "Smart Casual" nights, but I would have to check the paperwork.

 

Captain's reception was on the first formal night. :)

[JeffKoz]

Tuesday will also be your first formal night. If you return on the 18th the second will be on the first sea day returning, Tuesday the 16th. There were also 2 "Smart Casual" nights, but I would have to check the paperwork.

 

Captain's reception was on the first formal night. :)

 

Thanks so much for your reply...helps a lot