A Grand Cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas

[oldguysandgalls]

Well....(with 7 cruises already under our belt ), we just came back from a 9 day cruise on The Grandeur of the Seas, sailing out of Baltimore Nov.5th-Nov. returning on Nov.14th.

What a wonderful, elegant and well appointed ship, truly, truly GRAND.

We had a large interior stateroom on deck 8, while Trevor our stateroom attendant tended to every detail.

We had all our meals in the Windjammer Cafe, because we like the freedom of eating whenever we like. The food in the Windjammer was outstanding in variety, taste, and presentation. Imagine sitting at a table by the giant windows surrounding the entire Windjammer Cafe, overlooking the ocean before your very eyes. It was magical.

The shows in the Palladium Theater were outstanding, SRO on all nights.

The lounges were a joy to spend time in, like the Schooner Bar, the Vking Lounge, the tinkling of the piano keys, the ambiance...aaaaaaaaaaah how we long to get back.

The ports of call, San Juan, St Thomas, Samana, and Labadee, were breathtakingly beautiful.

The crew of the Grandeur of the Seas are all smiles, and very professional, respectful and helpful in every way.

Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze.

Hope to sail you again soon Grandeur of the Seas.

[stargazer73]

Originally Posted by oldguysandgalls

The crew of the Grandeur of the Seas are all smiles, and very professional, respectful and helpful in every way.

Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze.

Hope to sail you again soon Grandeur of the Seas.

No mention of being stuck waiting to enter the bay and arriving 12 hours late after the port of Baltimore was closed to be checked for storm damage? I was curious if there was heavy weather during the wait. Or if there were any problems or help with missed connections or flights when you did arrive? Perhaps you drove and it wasn't an issue.

[pjlee3333]

I don't know if the original poster experienced it, but I thought that Friday's weather was rougher than we've normally experienced on that ship, even when we've been on it in November out of Baltimore. It wasn't the worst but did have extra motion to it. Once we got into the bay Satuday morning, the weather was still overcast but the motion became better.

We were fortunate in that we had taken the airport shuttle from our hosue to the port and was a quick email to confirm a new time. For us, if this hadn't worked a taxi would have worked. We did see what seemed to be at least 2-3 phones in use from the time it was announced on Friday until Saturday afternoon with people making changes to their travel arrangements. 2-3 phones were set up on the shore excursions side and then guest relations had 1-2 more (I think) on Friday. The internet was made no cost and was in constant use. We went to bed after m idnight and got up about 7 and most of the internet stations were always full.

It was interesting to see some of the sites in the daytime that are usually only passed at night, such as the Chesapeake bridge that is part bridge part tunnel.

They cruise staff did plan extra activities for Saturday, have some of the football games on in different lounges, etc. We also didn't have to put luggage out until noon and be completely out of the room until 6 pm.

I enjoyed the extra time but feel for those who lost basically a day of their cruise and the crew, both on the ship and in port, that had to make this work. From what I saw, both handled it well.

[Captain Jake]

Rough weather last week.The beaches took a beating.Norfolk at the mouth of the bay was worse than here.Glad everyone made it safely.Would love to sail down the bay sometime
:cj

[oldguysandgalls]

Originally Posted by stargazer73

No mention of being stuck waiting to enter the bay and arriving 12 hours late after the port of Baltimore was closed to be checked for storm damage? I was curious if there was heavy weather during the wait. Or if there were any problems or help with missed connections or flights when you did arrive? Perhaps you drove and it wasn't an issue.

Yes Stargazer you are right, due to the storm there was a delay of about 12 hours in docking in Baltimore, but remember, weather can and will affect a ships departure and/or arrival. The seas were a little rough on Saturday but nothing compared to what we experienced on Friday the 13th.

Fortunately, docking later then expected was not a problem for us as that we usually fly in the day before a cruise and leave the day after the end of the cruise thereby avoiding 'problems'.

We believe that RCL's gesture of a $150.00 credit per passengers towards re-arranging flights is in our opinion a generous and gracious offer by RCL, as well as the free usage of the internet and telephone to re-arrange flights etc.

We had a Grand cruise on a the Grandeur of the Seas".

[tiyana4]

Thanks for your positive posts.

The pax on the next sailing were not so lucky. The 12-hr delay cost them dearly. According to another thread about the Grandeur, it literally pushed their departure time beyond 3 AM, and shortened their stay in Bermuda to only 6 hours. I hope they offered the next group of pax something comparable in credits.

[pjlee3333]

Other than knowing they gave them a chance to cancel I'm not sure. I can say we had a similar situation 1 1/2 years ago on the same ship when it was coming back from Bermuda. We ended up boarding 24 hours late and having St. Thomas cancelled. Not completely the same situation since Bermuda was their only destination and only 5 days instead of 9. I will say that on our cruise they gave us money back on our seapass account based on the category cabin that you had, ie inside, outside, balconey, etc. They also refunded 1 day of fuel charges, some port charges, and I think one other item. I don't know for sure that this happened on this cruise but I wouldn't be surprised.

I do know that as we were leaving they were settingi uip for supper (it looked like a buffet) in the dining room so those who hadn't had a chance to eat, and wanted to at that time of the night, would have something other than room service available.

I also realize that, given the time of boarding, luggage delivery would be a problem if people didn't have nightclothes in their carryones and wanted to go to bed soon after boarding. They also missed seeing the ship going out under the key bridge (the rest would have been after dark anyway).

[oldguysandgalls]

Originally Posted by tiyana4

Thanks for your positive posts.

The pax on the next sailing were not so lucky. The 12-hr delay cost them dearly. According to another thread about the Grandeur, it literally pushed their departure time beyond 3 AM, and shortened their stay in Bermuda to only 6 hours. I hope they offered the next group of pax something comparable in credits.

Thank you Tiyana; and yesssss.... I am the eternal optimist.... and yes I too feel for the pax that had such a short Bermuda cruise. I am pretty sure though that RCL as always, will try and make up for their loss.

[ribarfly]

Originally Posted by oldguysandgalls

Well....(with 7 cruises already under our belt ), we just came back from a 9 day cruise on The Grandeur of the Seas, sailing out of Baltimore Nov.5th-Nov. returning on Nov.14th.

What a wonderful, elegant and well appointed ship, truly, truly GRAND.

We had a large interior stateroom on deck 8, while Trevor our stateroom attendant tended to every detail.

We had all our meals in the Windjammer Cafe, because we like the freedom of eating whenever we like. The food in the Windjammer was outstanding in variety, taste, and presentation. Imagine sitting at a table by the giant windows surrounding the entire Windjammer Cafe, overlooking the ocean before your very eyes. It was magical.

The shows in the Palladium Theater were outstanding, SRO on all nights.

The lounges were a joy to spend time in, like the Schooner Bar, the Vking Lounge, the tinkling of the piano keys, the ambiance...aaaaaaaaaaah how we long to get back.

The ports of call, San Juan, St Thomas, Samana, and Labadee, were breathtakingly beautiful.

The crew of the Grandeur of the Seas are all smiles, and very professional, respectful and helpful in every way.

Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze.

Hope to sail you again soon Grandeur of the Seas.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Grandeur of the Seas, she has a special place in our hearts. Our very first cruise was on the Grandeur back in 1999 when we celebrated our 25th anniversary and that is what started our addiction to this cruise life. We sailed on her again in 08 out of Tampa and the ship & her crew were just like we remembered them, AWESOME
Ron

[MJonTravel]

Nice post. Trevor was our stateroom attendant last year as well. We had a JS on Deck 8. Probably the same person.

[oldguysandgalls]

Originally Posted by ribarfly

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Grandeur of the Seas, she has a special place in our hearts. Our very first cruise was on the Grandeur back in 1999 when we celebrated our 25th anniversary and that is what started our addiction to this cruise life. We sailed on her again in 08 out of Tampa and the ship & her crew were just like we remembered them, AWESOME
Ron

We are addicted too Ron & Sue! We haven't stopped checking for cruises since Nov.16th/09, that's when we got back from the Grandeur of the Seas ( the 9 day one out of Baltimore). Guess the only cure is to book another cruise soon, very very soon eh?

[Its5oclksomewhere]

Originally Posted by tiyana4

Thanks for your positive posts.

The pax on the next sailing were not so lucky. The 12-hr delay cost them dearly. According to another thread about the Grandeur, it literally pushed their departure time beyond 3 AM, and shortened their stay in Bermuda to only 6 hours. I hope they offered the next group of pax something comparable in credits.

My sister and I were on that cruise.... because we lost a whole day in Bermuda.... we got 25% off of what we paid for the cruise towards our next cruise.... I just received the certificates in the mail yesterday..... even though we lost a day, we still had a wonderful cruise.... the ship and the crew are the best, and they did everything possible to compensate us.... I have sailed this ship 4 times, and each time was wonderful!! I will miss her dearly!!

[jmf123]

Originally Posted by oldguysandgalls

What a wonderful, elegant and well appointed ship, truly, truly GRAND.

What a pleasure to read your entire post about the beautiful Grandeur of the Seas! We loved our first Royal Caribbean cruise on board the Grandeur's Inaugural sailing in 1996.

[philnpen]

It is always great to read positive posts. Ever wonder why people must tend to try to change one's opinion by posting negative comments?

I too, love the Grandeur and had the same ports as the OP on our first cruise on the ship. When we arrived at the cruise dock at 11:30 the ship was just entering the harbor as it had burned out a bearing on one of the generators and could not cruise as fast. RCCL stored our luggage, provided buses to the Inner Harbor so we could get something to eat and do some sightseeing there. Took the bus back about 4:00 and boarded. Each guest received $25 on their Sea Pass account. Still had a great time.