Has Anyone Cruised Grandeur Lately???

[VABeach]

I heard rumors from a reliable source (my parents) that she's looking a little worn lately... Is this true???

 

I'll be taking my third sailing on her in May, and I have to say that she is my favorite ship by far. I will be heart broken if she is all unkept.

 

Someone please tell me it isn't true and that they were just having a bad cruise day, please. :(

 

Thanks so much,

Jenny

[checkard]

We were on Grandeur in November and the ship looked fine. I guess if we would have really looked for it, we could have found some wear and tear since Grandeur is an older ship. The ship seems well maintained and clean and everything in our cabin worked like it should have.

 

I'll be on Grandeur for my 6th time in Oct and 7th time in November, always in the same room. Can you tell I really like this ship?

[negc]

Anytime I have sailed on a cruise ship, regardless of the ship or the line, I have been impressed by the amount of preventative maintenance that goes on daily. I am sure that on older ships, such as Grandeur, the wear and tear from carrying so many passengers week after week exacts a certain toll on the ship and its furnishings. However, unless we have looked closely most of the signs of such wear and tear have not been obvious. RCI puts its ships into drydock on a regular schedule to do both major and minor refurbishments and some things including carpet replacement sometimes takes place while the ship is at sea and carrying passengers. I wouldn't be terribly concerned that the ship will be in shambles when you sail on her and certainly you should be able to have the same wonderful cruise experience you have enjoyed in the past.:)

[Tanker4]

We were on her for 10 days 12-8/12-18 and found little if any wear and tear and IMHO, she's in great shape for her age. The crew were constantly cleaning and polishing and even replacing carpet in some areas. I'm not sure where your source got their information and would be curious to hear specific complaints and areas of the ship that caused them to feel that way as with the length of our cruise, we were pretty much all over the ship numerous times and never saw anything that could remotely be considered run down. Not trying to be smart but sounds like someone was having a bad hair day........

[Loyal2RCCL]

I was on the Grandeur in Nov. and didn't notice any unusual amounts of wear and tear. I thought the ship was very well maintained and clean.

[CruisinNole]

We were just on Grandeur -- returned Dec. 26th. We thought she was in terrific shape. Much better than Enchantment, IMHO. We were talking to the LA about the condition of the ship. She said she is very impressed with the crew and how responsive they are to areas that might need to be "touched up". We also saw carpet being replaced and constant maintenance. You won't be disappointed.

[pjlee3333]

I'll be on Grandeur for my 6th time in Oct and 7th time in November, always in the same room. Can you tell I really like this ship?

 

We're looking forward to September when we'll get on the ship for the 12th time (13th in October, 14th in November). We also like the ship a lot.

 

Wear and tear is there if you look hard enough. We're always so busy enjoying ourselves that we don't notice it. As mentioned, the staff is busy taking care of things, it doesn't have a chance to get to bad. They were replacing tile that didn't look bad to me the last time I was on board.

[VABeach]

Thank you so much!!!!

 

I took my parents on their first cruise on Grandeur, and they loved it.

 

Two years later they went again and they said it was run down and completely different.

 

Now I'm booking for #3.

 

Grandeur is my FAVORITE ship. I do just love her DEARLY. (Especially after having just gone on a CCL boat.) :rolleyes:

 

Thank you so much for the responces.

 

You know, it seems like everytime I'm getting ready to sail on her, there are several "complaints" about how old and "run down" she is. Then I get there and she is just as beautiful as ever.

 

I guess I should have learned my lesson by now. Even the crew is loyal to her and love her dearly.

 

This time shouldn'r be any different.

 

Thank you for putting my mind to rest. I'm happy now. :)

 

BTW, Why does it seem that some people think that bigger is always better and older can't ever be good??? :confused:

[Tanker4]

Thank you so much!!!!

 

I took my parents on their first cruise on Grandeur, and they loved it.

 

Two years later they went again and they said it was run down and completely different.

 

Now I'm booking for #3.

 

Grandeur is my FAVORITE ship. I do just love her DEARLY. (Especially after having just gone on a CCL boat.) :rolleyes:

 

Thank you so much for the responces.

 

You know, it seems like everytime I'm getting ready to sail on her, there are several "complaints" about how old and "run down" she is. Then I get there and she is just as beautiful as ever.

 

I guess I should have learned my lesson by now. Even the crew is loyal to her and love her dearly.

 

This time shouldn'r be any different.

 

Thank you for putting my mind to rest. I'm happy now. :)

 

BTW, Why does it seem that some people think that bigger is always better and older can't ever be good??? :confused:

 

She is our favorite ship also and IMHO has the best crew in the fleet.:)

[pjlee3333]

I agaree the crew is wonderful. We still get reaquainted with wait staff that we met in 2005 when we get onboard (the first time we were onthis ship). To stay that long on one ship says something about liking it to me.

[BrainChemicals]

I was aboard the GOS 11/10 - 11/20, she looked great! I even had the same room steward when I sailed on her in October 2001 out of Boston.

 

Service in the MDR was mediocre as was the food.

[VABeach]

I agaree the crew is wonderful. We still get reaquainted with wait staff that we met in 2005 when we get onboard (the first time we were onthis ship). To stay that long on one ship says something about liking it to me.

 

I have had crew from the Grandeur remember me when I went back to sail her again too. They have to make requests to get back on the same ship, and many of them have been on her for years. I agree, that's how I know they like her so much.

 

It's always cool when the crew remembers you. :) ~

[SheSailsFL]

We sailed 1/15 through 1/19/09 on the Grandeur and I unfortunately have mixed feelings about this ship!

 

Most posters are right - the crew are for the most part awesome! I unfortunately encountered a couple of exceptions, one being our cabin steward, Lindsey, who was my least favorite steward in all of my cruises so far! He was nowhere to be found for hours after we boarded, and would only bring ice, etc. when we flagged him down and asked him.

 

The bartenders at the pool bar were overworked and not very responsive IMHO. You would wait for close to 30 minutes to order a beverage....interesting point...I noticed that if you were carrying your insulated mug you receive when you purchase the soda card, you were basically ignored...so just a tip...if you purchase the soda card, you DONT have to carry that mug...in fact you get better service if you just ask for a soda...and you get a larger cup so you dont have to go for refills as often!

 

For the ship itself...the public areas are still very beautiful and very well maintained. The Windjammer has been revamped and looks gorgeous - great flow prevents the long lines of the past.

 

Our cabin (7530-Balcony) was DEFINITELY showing a lot of wear and tear and was not very clean when we arrived (i.e. bottom of the phone was covered with orange sticky stuff (someone had apparently spilled a drink that had not been cleaned). The mirrors are peeling around the edges in the bathroom, the long drawer in the dressing table sticks (wont open or close), one closet door would not close (so it flopped open and closed all nite with the ship movement). One frustration was that we had a balcony and the weather was very moderate, so we would like to have slept with our door open, however, when the door was open, the HEAT would come on, which WAY overheated the room very quickly. We asked Maintenance to come and look at the problem and they said they could not fix it - the temp was auto-set based on the temp in Tampa (we are now getting close to Cozumel and it's 40 degrees warmer here!)..

Oh well...just dont plan on sleeping with the door open if you are on Deck 7 forward (not sure this is a problem throughout the ship).

 

 

All in all, in spite of my concerns about the cabin and the very few service issues, we did have a wonderful cruise and enjoyed a beautiful day in Cozumel in the middle of winter.

 

For those of you who are interested, the Gulf crossing on the way TO Cozumel (Friday January 16th) was VERY rough and too windy to be outdoors except for the very hearty souls...on the way back (Sunday January 18th) it was PERFECT and the pool deck was packed - a great day for enjoying the sun and drink of the day!

 

For debarkation - piece of cake! We are platinum so we were told to meet in the Viking Crown Lounge at 7:30 and we were off the ship by 8AM - GOOD THING since we had a 10AM flight but we had plenty of time!

 

Enjoy your cruise! I am now planning my late summer Western Mediterranean cruise!