Just Back From Bermuda and Grandeur 7/18 Sailing. WOW

I was a little nervous heading in to this cruise based on a few negative comments regarding Grandeur. This was a family cruise including my Dad who hadn't cruised in many years. It goes without saying we wanted it to go well.

Let me say this...This was one of the BEST cruises we have been on. The crew is SECOND TO NONE. Yes, the Grandeur crew is the BEST we have ever had.

The ship...beautiful since she underwent the refit. I did experience one issue with the toilet (would not flush) on the first night but there was someone sent up within MINUTES and he fixed the problem. No worries!

Nothing but good times! I highly recommend Grandeur!

Thanks for your post on Grandeur. We are leaving on her this Friday for Bermuda. We can't wait! Do you have any other tips about Bermuda or the Grandeur?

I'm glad that you and a great time.

Thanks for the report!

It is so nice to read an upbeat and positive review like yours! Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad you had such a great cruise.

Thanks for sharing. We leave on Grandeur on Sept 26th

for our first cruise. I am so excited!

Was the food good?

Did you see any shows?

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Ditto all of the above responses! It is wonderful to read a positive upbeat review - especially when we are booked for the 8/8 cruise on Lady G.

Food was outstanding. Period. We ate at Chops and Giovanni's Table. Both were great! We don't do the dining room as I like to wear casual during vacation. ;-)

The Windjammer was great as always!

Ricky the CD and his staff are incredible. We have never seen a CD staff get so many people involved in the shows and dances. The 70's dance party, arial shows, "Behind the Scenes with the RC Singers and Dancers" are not to be missed. My wife and I were lucky enough to be picked as the "middle" couple on the Love and Marriage game show. Never had so much fun making an a&& out of myself. LOL

Of course...Quest is not to be missed. I was interested to see it outside of the Studio B Ice rink, but it was excellent in the large lounge setting.

Thanks for your post on Grandeur. We are leaving on her this Friday for Bermuda. We can't wait! Do you have any other tips about Bermuda or the Grandeur?

We hired a private taxi for 1 full day in Bermuda. 7 hours and we saw the entire island including the aquarium and caves. It was $320 plus tip. There were 5 of us. I think it was worth it. Enjoy!

How was the pool area run? Was it easy to get pool loungers on sea days? Summer cruisers tend to be families with kids rather than the usual mature couples who do not spend hours at the pool? Was the over 16 rule enforced at the Solarium? Did you try Izumi?

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Just to be sure I'm interpreting your signature correctly, was this your first time on a Vision class ship? BTW, If I understand the future CD thread I believe this is Ricky's last contract on the Grandeur. Sounds like a shame.

Roy

How was the pool area run? Was it easy to get pool loungers on sea days? Summer cruisers tend to be families with kids rather than the usual mature couples who do not spend hours at the pool? Was the over 16 rule enforced at the Solarium? Did you try Izumi?

 

 

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It was not easy to get loungers on sea days. Get out early by 8 or so and it shouldn't be a problem. No enforcement of chair saving but I have never seen that rule enforced so no surprise here. All families. I'd say at least 500 kids on board. We had one of them with us. ;-)

It appeared that there were no kids in the Solarium. Food at Park Cafe in the Salarium until 2a each night. The late night food is burgers, dogs, pasta salad, fries, nachos with cheese and chili, and pizza. Day time at Park Cafe is roast beef sandwiches along with pre-made sandwiches like tuna salad.

We did not try Izumi.

We were on GOS in January and ate Izumi. The sushi was fantastic and very fresh. Pricing is ala carte, but would be comparable to your neighborhood sushi bar.

Had friends who tried the hot rocks and they were not terribly impressed. Food was good, but not enough spices to be used while 'cooking'. DH and I just had sushi. We were fortunate enough to be on the sailing that the Executive Chef for Izumi was on trying some new things and got to speak with him for quite a bit (server noted that DH was part Japanese so that may have been part of it) about how they are going to try to put more of a teppanyaki type meal onboard in the future. Not sure how I feel about that, as I really don't care for that.

If you are going to try Chops and Giovanni's - see if they still have the Specialty Dining package - makes a good deal to try all three;).

Also, Izumi offered a Sushi making class on one of the last sea days, but you need to check on that almost as soon as you board because it is limited to approx. 15 people and the spots go very fast. I think it was around $20pp but you ended up with a nice lunch of sushi after the class. I would do it again in a heartbeat:D

So you're saying to get a lounger at the pool get there very early? The pool that. Is on the top of the ship? Eat breakfast then. Get out there? Going on my first cruise soon.

So you're saying to get a lounger at the pool get there very early? The pool that. Is on the top of the ship? Eat breakfast then. Get out there? Going on my first cruise soon.

It depends on what you like to do but us...we grab our breakfast, walk out to the pool deck, select our chairs, and eat our breakfast next to the pool. :-). We always take our plates back and dispose of our trash.

Speaking of Grandeur, I just saw it leaving Port Canaveral at 10:00 am...unusual?

Grandeur has a Bahamas route that includes Port Canaveral and also goes to the Caribbean on other trips so there is a nice variety if you like to go out of Baltimore. We also had a great time on the cruise last week.

Anyone know room service menus of gots?

sent from my galaxy s4 please excuse any error's thanks

Anyone know room service menus of gots?

 

sent from my galaxy s4 please excuse any error's thanks

Room service menus are all the same across RCI (at least those cruising out of the US)

Anyone know room service menus of gots?

Thanks to Linda:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36762748&postcount=5

Thanks to Linda:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36762748&postcount=5

Thank you

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Speaking of Grandeur, I just saw it leaving Port Canaveral at 10:00 am...unusual?

It was not leaving, it was arriving. It leaves at 21:30. With the long t sail from Baltimore it's time at Port Canaveral runs on th.e late side.

Roy

Having sailed on Grandeur on its last Bermuda sailing of 2013 last November, and now last week on Grandeur’s July18-25 Bermuda sailing, I have a few observations about Grandeur between the 2 trips we were on (beyond the obvious ones re: the weather, the crowd - many, many more kids in July, etc.):

1. NO STAFF SINGING AT DINNER IN MDR anymore: This was a big surprise. At the end of the week, I asked our waitress Brenda about the lack of singing and she said that they had ended the 2 MDR staff sings on Grandeur just a few weeks before our July 18 sailing. Am I correct that the staff sings at dinner has been a fleet-wide Royal Caribbean feature for years? I have certainly had it on all 3 different RCCL ships I have sailed on in recent years. Wonder if RCCL is doing away with the singing across the fleet? Anyone have any intel on this?

I for one will not miss the singing at all. How do others feel?

2. NO BRIDGE, NO MEETINGS OF FRIENDS OF BILL W this time: On our Nov. cruise, there was bridge every sea day afternoon at 2PM in Conference Room C, followed by a meeting of Friends of Bill W in the same space at 4PM every day. On last week’s cruise, we saw neither one despite looking. More surprised at the lack of the latter than the former.

3. NO DISCOUNT CARD AT STARBUCKS: On Grandeur last November and Jewel this March, the Starbucks offered cards which got you a free beverage after buying 6. None offered on Grandeur last week. Boo hoo!

4. DAMAGE STILL VISIBLE ON DECK 10 FROM THE MARCH STORM: Port side forward and starboard side aft, you still see the temporary metal plates covering the splits in the deck plating and they still have patches in the railings. Obviously none of this damage existed last Nov. Speaking with couple of the Engineering officers at one of the meet and greet events, I was told they are still designing the permanent fix which will involve installation of some sort of accordion-like expansion joints at multiple places on Deck 10 so that the same thing does not happen in the next big storm when the ship gets “torqued” lengthwise (twisted if your prefer that term) by heavy seas.

Thanks for mentioning that the wait staff did not sing at dinner. We had My Time Dining and went at 5:00 most days and thought we missed the singing due to leaving dinner early.

To the OP and anyone else with cruise experience, do you think July might be the time when more kids are on board? I don't mind kids at all, I work as an aide at an elementary school so I have lots of experience with them. I just wondered if by the middle of August more families with children are gearing up for school and not still vacationing as there are often August activities like band and football practice where daily attendance of student participants is required? Or does the time of year or month matter? Just curious.