REVIEW-- Grandeur 11/20/08 and Majesty 11/24/08-- B2B Cruises

[Loyal2RCCL]

We're just back from B2B cruises on Grandeur and Majesty. Yes, 2 different ships from 2 different departure ports.

 

Our first cruise was onboard Grandeur from Nov. 20-24, 2008 sailing from Tampa to Key West, Cozumel with a day at sea before returning back to Tampa. Some of you may have read my "Live" posts on thes boards.

 

As my parents live in Tampa, the drive to the pier only took about 30 mins. We arrived at the pier around 12 noon and were on the ship and in the Windjammer within seconds. Cabins were ready at 1pm as promised.

 

We had booked a Cat. H, oceanview but were upgraded by C&A Diamond Plus to a balcony. The cabin was in pretty good condition and clean. We received the usual amenities from out cabin attendant such as robes, slippers, bathroom amenities (lotion, body gel, shampoo etc) and also had chocolates on the pillow each night.

 

The overall condition of the ship was very good. There were a few signs of wear and tear, nothing more than expected for a ship that's 12 yrs old. The crew did a great job of keeping everything clean and provided excellent service throughout the ship.

 

The food was good-- not great, and yes the cutbacks have become noticeable over the past year or so. We ate breakfast in the WJ and lunch ashore in each port. Every dinner was had in the MDR with the usual menus-- no changes, no excitement-- but much better tating food than we had on the Brilliance in June.

 

The entertainment was also good, but I wish RCCL would retire some of the older shows and introduce something new. There's only so many times you can watch "Boogie Wonderland", "Fast Forward" and the rest of the 1995 era shows.

 

We really didn't do too much in port. In Cozumel, we rented a Jeep and took a few of our crew member friends to lunch and drinks on the "other side" of the island where it's less crowded with tourists. We had no trouble with the Jeep rental and have done this several other times when in Cozumel without incident. In Kew West we spent about an hour at the Mel Fisher Museum and went right back onboard the ship. The weather was sunny and warm for the most part, however it did get a bit windy and chilly as we got closer to Florida.

 

On the last night of this cruise, one of our crew member friends took me down to the crew's laundry room so I could was our clothes and be ready for the second cruise on the Majesty. We didn't have much laundry so 2 loads later, everything was nice and clean and back in the bags for the next cruise.

 

We did Express debarkation in Tampa and were off the ship and on the road to Miami by 730am.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 and the Majesty Review.....

[Loyal2RCCL]

The drive to Miami from Tampa was uneventful and we made good time, arriving at the port around noon, after making a brief stop for breakfast along the way.

 

Check in at Miami was again easy, with virtually nobody in sight. We were checked in and sitting in the WJ having lunch within 10 mins. Cabins were ready at 1pm, although no announcement was made telling us of such.

 

On this cruise we had a Cat. SO Oceanview which was serviced by the best cabin attendant we've ever had. Ann from Jamaica was not only a ton of fun, she cleaned a cabin like nothing we've ever seen before. There were no scuff marks on the cabin walls, furniture etc. No rust, mildew or discolored grout in the bathroom and not a spot on the mirrors or speck of dust to be seen. I later found out that she actually buys her own cleaning supplies to supplement the ones provided. She uses the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to clean the tile and grout on the bathroom floor and shower. Anyone lucky enough to get Ann will have one of the cleanest cabins on the ship and one of the nicest attendants as well. We also received all amenities- robes, slippers, Diamond Plus bathroom amenities, chocolate on pillows etc.

 

On this cruise we visited Nassau, CoCo Cay and Key West (again).

 

In Nassau, we just took a few of our crew member friends over to Arawak Cay for lunch at the Fish Fry. After a nice lunch and some drinks we returned to the ship and spent the rest of the day onboard.

 

I opted to stay on the ship while during our time at CoCo Cay. I had a major hangover as I had stayed up partying in the crew bar until 530am and the thought of tendering over to the island was not an option. :eek: The ship was empty and I enjoyed the quiet time on the pool deck.

 

On our second visit to Kew West, we again spent the day with our crew friends, having lunch and drinks and walking around for a few hours.

 

On this cruise, we opted not to dine in the MDR and ate all of our meals in the Windjammer. Actually I never ate one breakfast or lunch oboard ship this cruise and only had dinner in the WJ each night. The food in the WJ was quite good and there was enough variety for it to not become boring by the end of 4 nights. We never ate in Johnny Rockets, the Deli or even Sorrento's this cruise.

 

The entertainment was good- but again, the same old production shows are getting old!!

 

Service onboard was excellent and the ship was spotless with little signs of wear and tear (if any).

 

The weather was again sunny and warm, getting more windy and cooler as we got closer to Florida.

 

We did the Express Departure again and were off the ship and on the road back to Tampa by 730am.

 

If I had to make a choice as to which ship/cruise was the better of the two, my nod would go to the Majesty. She didn't win by much, but the food just seemed a little better, the entertainment was a bit better as was the cruise director. I would gladly do either cruise again in a heartbeat and it was great to see so many of our crew friends on both ships.

[johnlcruise]

Sounds like you had a nice time.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

[Loyal2RCCL]

We had a great time on both ships.

 

Ifr anyone has any questions, post away...

[Grannycb]

We've been on both ships recently and have cruises planned on both in the coming months. What you wrote equals our experience. I think the Majesty has a slight edge on service. Both the captains dealt with hurricanes during our last two cruises and each handled the situations very well. Both ships provide a nice vacation for the money.