Grandeur of the Seas March 13–31

Aside from a few last minute items my bags are packed and I see the Grandeur of the Seas approaching the Chesapeake Bay. In the morning I’ll be heading to the Port of Baltimore for back to back cruises, first to the Bahamas (PC,Cocoacay,Nassau,Key West) and then the Western Caribbean (Cozumel,Grand Cayman,Jamaica, and Labadee). I’ll be reporting on the journey here and a companion blog with pictures at http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com. I also plan to publish the menus and Compasses, accessible from tabs in the heading of the blog.

I’m mostly a narrative kind of guy but will include links to some of the photos in the blog like this one of the Grandeur passing Fort McHenry:

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I try to minimize my time online, and will be doing as much as possible offline using email. If you post a question I will see it in the email digest of the thread I get in the morning and will try to respond the next day, so you’ll need to be a bit patient.

This will be my first time on the Grandeur (or any unstretched Vision Class ship). I’ve sailed Enchantment, Monarch, Radiance, and Jewel. Royal is not my usual choice in cruising, I sail mostly on Crystal, HAL, and Cunard. Royal’s biggest niche for me is by far my preferred cruise line when I’m sailing from Baltimore. I’m currently Platinum, will have the credits for Emerald at the end of the first leg, and should be Diamond when I disembark.

Looking forward to my final sleep on land.

Roy

I just booked her for Jan 2016. still crossing my fingers my DH gets that vacation time slot.... I will know in less than 6 weeks!!

I look forward to reading your updates :) and seeing your pictures

We are doing the itinerary of your 2nd leg in November on Grandeur. I'm looking forward to reading your review and the pictures.

Hi Roy, Bon Voyage!

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise. While Enchantment is a great ship with ample pool deck space, I enjoyed Grandeur a little more as it felt less crowded because of the non stretch.

Enjoy! :)

I'm sailing Grandeur in the fall, and I don't have much experience with RCCL, so I'd be very interested in your review of the food :D (and entertainment, too).

We also will be sailing the end of November and looking forward to any & all information you can provide.

Happy sailing,

.

Looking forward to this, were doing the western on her in April 2016!!

Safe travels and happy cruising!

Looking forward to your reports.

We'll be sailing on the second part of your trip on Grandeur. Love the boat and the 30 minute commute from my house in Annapolis to the pier. :D

Just need to make it thru St Patricks day weekend and I'll be good to go !

I just found out today that we have friends that are on this trip with you...I hope you all have a blast!

Bon voyage Roy, I hope you have a great time.

I will catch the first half of your adventure then I am off myself on a cruise so will catch up when I get back.

Susan

i just got off granduer this morning, was that you i saw looking at me when we were coming up the bay, lol jk..

Roy,

As I write this you are just off of Chesapeake Beach. Wish we were there at the Rod and Reel toasting you as you sail by.

As posted previously, we are doing GR in June. We always interact with the staff and crew as much as possible. Mostly curious in the staff on board. The Cruise Compass on the first or second day always has the staff profiles. That would interest us the most.

Have a great time on GR and congrats on your advancement in the Crown and Anchor Society!!!

As always, best to you and have an outstanding time on Grandeur!

Rick and Deirdra

Oh I cant wait for all the info!! My parents are on the sailing with you this week and we are all sailing Grandeur in August so I am super intrigued!! Many thanks in advance..

Sailing Grandeur with a large group of family the second week of June. Being led by seasoned cruisers, on our first cruise. Can't wait to read your review. Enjoy!

Thank you LilBlackDress, kleo30, Philly Steve, Illyria, mustangjoe, bubba83, and davy jones (and others who posted since I last checked) Illyria, I’m not really a foodie but I’ll do what I can.

The Airport Shuttle was scheduled for 10 and arrived about 10:05. There were 2 other people onboard headed for the airport. We dropped them off and picked up 3 more cruisers and arrived at the port about 10:55. I don’t think I’d have had the courage to fly in from Maine on embarkation day.

Security was pretty slow and there was a bit of a hitch getting checked in. The ship knew I was on a B2B but somehow I was in the system for the second leg and they thought I had already picked up my seapass on the ship. A call to a supervisor got things straightened out and I was headed up the ramp about 11:45.

The sun had been out in the morning but the afternoon stayed quite cloudy and chilly; the WJ was very crowded. We were told in the terminal rooms would open at 1:30 but crew on the ship said 1, and when I went down about 1:05 the rooms were open. There were no bags outside my door but they both arrived within 15 minutes, I think a first for me on Royal. There was a “Prohibited Item Notification” in my backpack but the slip said “Nothing Taken”. Most of my afternoon was spent unpacking. I am mostly pleased with the layout of my oceanview room, especially the outlets, with 2 each 120V and 240V. The one thing Royal really should do better is the hanger situation; the closet has 2 hanger bars on top of each other, but the hangers do not go over the bar (they attach to adapters which are only on the upper bar), making the lower bar pretty useless.

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Having been on Enchantment Grandeur feels very familiar despite missing a lounge or 2 which was part of the stretch. Finding my way around the ship was very easy. Muster drill was at 3:15 and has been tweaked a bit. We still do not bring life jackets to the drill but now when we arrive our seapasses are scanned negating the need for a roll call. The drill went quite quickly, less than 20 minutes.

Captain Trond came on the PA about 3:50 and announced an on time departure. I went up to the Viking Crown Lounge and there was a toot precisely at 4 and we started backing out of our berth. We passed Fort McHenry about 4:20 and under the Francis Scott Key Bridge 20 minutes later.

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I think when I sailed Enchantment early dinner was at 6PM. On this cruise it is 5:30. I am at a 7-top; today there were 4 vacant seats and a couple from Arizona. I’ve previously stayed on deck until we passed the William Prestton Lane (Bay) bridge, but today it passed by our window about 6PM as we were getting our starters. One of my favorite menu items on Royal is the chilled soups and the Mango soup today was excellent, followed up with Beef Stroganoff and Bannanas Foster, quite a pleasant start to the dining room experience.

There was 1 welcome aboard show in the Palladium Theater. It may be random but it seemed seating was easier to find than on the stretched Enchantment. After a prelude by the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers Cruise Director Dan Whitney and Activities Manager Andre gave the breakdown of our 2200 passengers by country. There are 16 countries represented, 8 with just 1 person eacch. Comedian Kivi Rogers closed out the show.

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I am feeling less than prime and did pretty much nothing after the show. As a parting shot today I noted that 2 special ships arrived in Baltimore today. The USS Constellation has returned to it’s Inner Harbor berth after an extensive renovation. Welcome home.

Roy

Good Morning Roy

Hope you are having a blast.

Question asked many a time. How did security check the # of wine bottles you brought on board? Is it possible for each person to bring 2 if they go through the scanner at different times or do they have a table to check in your wine to match it to the total bottles allowed for that room? How was the weather when you woke up on the ship the 1st day at sea?

I post to my blog by email and then the photos I show are links to my blog. My email provider is down right now, so none of the links will work until the situation gets rectified. I'll let you know when the photos are available.

Sorry, 4gomez, I didn't notice what was happening with wine. I'll suggest you try the Baltimore ports forum.

Thank you dancourt, Aintnofun007, cruisenanny, and CaptainBrunch.

Roy,

As I write this you are just off of Chesapeake Beach. Wish we were there at the Rod and Reel toasting you as you sail by.

As posted previously, we are doing GR in June. We always interact with the staff and crew as much as possible. Mostly curious in the staff on board. The Cruise Compass on the first or second day always has the staff profiles. That would interest us the most.

Have a great time on GR and congrats on your advancement in the Crown and Anchor Society!!!

As always, best to you and have an outstanding time on Grandeur!

Rick and Deirdra

Thank you. If I don’t mess anything up, the staff bios should be here once I get my email to work:

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/staffbio.pdf

On Friday I felt fine on the way to the port but started experiencing chest congestion about the time I boarded the ship. It got worse during the afternoon and was quite noticeable around the time of the muster drill. I went to bed early and slept (for me) late, until about 5:40. As of Saturday morning I am significantly better than the worst I saw yesterday but not up to snuff.

Soon after rising I went up to the WJ for coffee. We were about 40 miles South of Kitty Hawk, and it was totally cloud covered, chilly, and windy. I walked most of a circuit of deck 5, but it was very windy and the passage around the bow was closed, as was all of deck 10.

The Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle was held at 10AM in the Great Pacific Lounge. Cruise Director Dan, Activities Manager Andre, and Group Manager Natallie attended with Dan stopping by briefly to welcome the group and answer some questions. He didn’t stay long but some of the questions concerned port times and he returned with a printout of the latest port schedule. He also indicated that there would be no Aerial shows as there were still some safety issues being worked out. The turnout was quite good, and after the event several of us had a mini Cabin Crawl. There were only 4 cabins on display, and we split the group between 2 junior suites; the one I saw was very impressive. Several people just wanted to see that cabin, with about 15 people remaining to see the oceanview (mine) and inside cabins.

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There has been talk on Cruise Critic about Royal Caribbean ending onboard announcements. That order has apparently not yet reached the Grandeur and we had 2 or 3 morning announcements about bingo and so on. The good news is that we also had Captain Trond’s noon update. He confirmed what we had been feeling with the wind. We had 30kt winds from the south which combined with our motion produced a 48kt wind across the deck. No wonder deck 10 was closed all day and the pool deck was largely deserted. The winds will be dropping through the evening and it looks like a nice day at Port Canaveral. The temperature is actually 72F but feels much chillier with the wind. We saw just a few brief touches of the sun in the afternoon.

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In addition to the Grandeur of the Seas Orchestra there appear to be about 4 small musical groups. Umoja 4 is a Caribbean Island band. The Rosario Strings duo had an afternoon classical concert in the Centrum which in the world of classical music would probably be called a pops performance. They were good although I thought they would be better with a little less amplification. I got that impression in their Centrum set and felt their performance as paart of the evening show with standard instruments strengthened my impression. The Evergreen Trio features a vocalist and does dance standards, The 4th of the bands is Casablanca which I haven’t yet seen.

For the first formal night of the cruise we were up to 5 at table 211 with a couple from Baltimore. We met Head Waiter Edward tonight and my Duck was very tasty. After dinner Captain Trond held his welcome and introduced the senior officers in the Centrum.

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The main evening show was Tango featuring the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers supplemented by a guest dance couple. I stopped by the Schooner Bar after the show for a couple of songs by Derek Conlon at the piano. I thought he was about average as a piano entertainer in the brief time I was there. I’ll check him out some more on some evenings that aren’t as busy. I turned in early once again, finishing up about 10:30.

Roy

I'm sitting on in McDonalds in Cocoa and the wifi is working well. All the links in my last post should now be active (including the staff bios), and I've uploaded the Compasses and menus for the first 3 days as well as the specialty restaurant menus.

The Compasses and menus can be accessed on the appropriate tabs at http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com

If there are typos in any of the links to Compases or menus they should be accessible as blog posts until I verify the links.

OK, I've verified the links and will be deleting the posts.

Roy

Menu and Compass for March 16 are posted to http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com

I slept quite well, not getting up until 6:30. When I went up to WJ for coffee we were about 40 miles from the port. We were within sight of land by 9:45 and pulled up to the dock about 10. We had 6 ships in port today, I believe the maximum the port can handle. 3 Carnival ships(Sunshine, Liberty, Sensation) and the Disney Magic were in the big basin. With the Freedom of the Seas in the new terminal 1, we docked at the terminal designated for port calls. It’s a convenient location, within possible walking distance of Jetty Park to the east and a number of restaurants to the west. I think ships here usually turn around before docking, we did not and were almost bow to bow with the Freedom.

Terminal 4 is essentially a quonset hut, I believe one of the original cruise terminals. It would be adequate for embarkation of passengers on perhaps a 700-passenger ship but is much too small for handling checkin and bags for most of today’s ships. Today it holds just a security checkpoint and toilets.

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I had booked a simple transfer to Cocoa Beach. People with tours assembled in the Palladium Theater and were first to disembark, starting about 10:30. I was on my shuttle bus about 10:45 and we started moving 10 minutes later. I did not have a big agenda but did want to attend at least a part of a church service. The shuttle arrived in Cocoa about 11:15 and it was about a 5 block walk to Riverside Presbyterian Church, where services had started at 11, so I managed to be at about half the service. It’s a very modern building and the organ was lovely.

After church I walked back to McDonalds where I stretched my lunch to about 90 minutes while accomplishing a lot of internet business. My last order of business in Cocoa was picking up some last minute needs at a pharmacy and grocery store. The return shuttle ran every half hour and I arrived almost precisely on time for the 3PM return.

I have been to Cocoa many times and know most of it pretty well. Something I think is pretty new is a “Discovery tower”/museum in the area with the waterfront restaurants and new cruise terminal. The shuttle stopped there on the way back; it would have been an attractive choice if my backpack had been lighter. I was back to my room about 3:30 and went to the upper decks for coffee and to watch the parade of ships passing by. Between the way I felt Friday and the weather Saturday I really have not been walking on the ship, but walked about 6 laps on deck 10 between the passing ships (Carnival Sunshine, Freedom OTS, Carnival Liberty, and Disney Magic with it’s “Wish upon a star” horn). The Carnival Sensation was due to leave at 4 but was still docked at 7. While waiting for the ships I saw a zodiac being loaded after some maintenance work, the apparent reason for our docking facing inland.

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There were 3 of us at table 211 as one couple had a late shore excursion. The blueberry soup was superb and the steak caesar salad hit the spot. The Crown & Anchor welcome back party was held in the Palladium theater between dinner seatings. Several awards were given to top cruisers, we were welcomed by the Captain and Hotel Director, and the Rosario strings performed. On this sailing we are almost exactly 50% first timers and 50% C&A members.

With no formal entertainment I went to the Schooner Bar to check out Derek Conlon from 9 to 9:30. He was not great but good; I will be back. Sailaway came as scheduled at 9:30. Our dock was between two turning basins. We went forward to turn, almost in front of the new terminal 1.

As today’s parting shot, Baltimore in recent years has had 2 ships, one RCI and the Carnival Pride. While Carnival pulled a snit and announced plans to leave Baltimore, this evening they left Tampa for the last time and are starting a 2-week repo back home. My choice of ships out of Baltimore is almost always RCI, primarily because of Carnival’s tired itineraries. In a way Royal did Carnival a bit of a favor, taking some Sundays at the port and forcing Carnival to add a little bit of variety to their itineraries, but probably too little too late. In turn, Royal is upping the ante a bit with some 12-day southern Caribbean itineraries in the offing. Viva Competition.

Roy

Thanks for all the updates. We are scheduled on the next trip on Grandeur March 21.

Did the Captain give any estimate when the Aerial show might start up. We were looking forward to seeing the show on our trip.

Keep the reviews coming. See you Saturday :D

Thanks for the great updates Roy. We can't wait to join you on Saturday. I read somewhere that the drink package was buy one and get one half off if you buy on the ship. Any chance you could confirm that?

Steve

runningtide, I did not hear an estimate but my impression was that it will not be soon. Steve8, I don't know and right now I'm in the Nassau Library where the internet is lightning fast. I'll try to find out when I get back to the ship.

I rose about 5:30 and went up to WJ for coffee about 6. Sunrise is about 7:25 here, When I went up to deck 10 it was quite cloudy and there was just a little speck of sun showing through the clouds, but the colors in the opposite direction were quite good. I had intended to walk about 6 laps while up there but felt like extending it to 8. As I was finishing my walk the crew was running a drill in the pool with a life raft.

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Cococay is one of 2 Royal private resorts. This is my second visit, the first being from the Monarch OTS in 2012. It’s a tender port but uses large shoreside tenders, and the tendering process is quite quick. The island is almost exactly midway between Freeport and Nassau.

Captain Trond came on the PA about 8:30 and announced that it was a beautiful day and we would be extending our stay from 5PM to 6, with the last tender at 5:30.I was booked on the “Nature Walk” tour and was a bit puzzled. My ticket said meet at the information booth at 10:30, but the first tender didn’t board until then. In addition to our delayed departure we arrived 45 minutes early, and I was ashore very close to 10AM.

Our guide Crystal took about 5 of us on a 45-minute walk on the island. The tour was mostly about native plants but we did see several iguanas.

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The people of the Bahamas are very dedicated to natural remedies, and Crystal pointed several of these out including Jumbey, a medicinal plant with long pods as well as Poison Wood, a tree that causes bleeding if touched. We saw a monument to Black Beard (just a monument, he is not buried there) and ruins of abandoned buildings. The tour ended at barefoot beach, where I hung out for about an hour. While a half mile from the dock, the latin sounds of Umoj4 carried prominently to my lounger.

Lunch was a barbecue on the island; I had tender and spicy jerk chicken and corn on the cob. I returned to the ship about 1 and spent some time in the hot tub as well as relaxing in the Solarium.

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Tonight’s dinner was Italian, I enjoyed Strawberry Bisque, Lasagna, and Tiramisu. Captain Trond came on about 5:40 and said all were aboard and we were leaving for what should be a beautiful day in Nassau. It is only 60 miles so we are taking our time. At the conclusion we had a dining staff parade and the waiters assembled on the stairway and sang O Sol amio.

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This evening’s entertainment was the duo of John Joseph and Johnny B. The piano and guitar combo routine included a lot of stand up and at the end improvised a song based on the people they had been talking with in the audience. They were excellent. The late show was the Love and Marriage Game Show. I was in bed by then.

Tonight’s parting shot comes from the show. John Joseph observed that while we are told “say no to drugs”, as we get older the melange of drugs we must take grows exponentially. Ain’t that the truth.

Roy

Thank you for taking the time to post about your experiences on the ship. Jeff and I will be joining you this Saturday. You are doing a wonderful job.

Marty

Thanks, Marty. It looks like our Meet and Mingle will be Sunday 10AM in the Viking Crown Lounge. Steve, I looked at the documents we got the first day, the sheet we got at checkin, the insert in the first Compass, and the first Compass itself. All seem to echo the description on page 3 of the first compass:

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/compass0313.pdf

Unless I’m missing something, it doesn’t look to me like there’s any kind of Buy one, get one half off offer.

I woke about 5:45 and when I went to the WJ for coffee at 6 we were just passing the lighthouse at the entrance to the Nassau harbor. We turned around and backed into the berth furthest from the terminal. Over the next 90 minutes we were joined by the Carnival Sensation, Majesty OTS, and Disney Dream. Between our arrival and the first of the other ships we had the best sunrise yet on the cruise. The moon was just a little sliver but was also bright. While up watching the sunrise and ships I walked about a mile on deck 6. By the time the Dream arrived the crew had harnessed up to do some maintenaince on the superstructure above Adventure Ocean. Returning to my room I found the Centrum area pretty well decked out in green decorations, especially green ballons.

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They got off to a slow start but Key West and Nassau have become my most visited ports since I retired. I’ve been to Nassau previously on the Carnival Fantasy (1993 and 2014), Carnival Pride (2013), and Monarch OTS (2012). I did not book a tour today but mostly visited sites I’ve enjoyed in the past. I also found that the renovations to the cruise terminal are not complete and we come and go through fenced in outdoor areas.

I left the ship about 9. Before leaving the dock I went forward a bit to check out the location of my room, deck 3 about even with the second lifeboar (Boat 8). I had intended to walk to and climb the Queen’s Staircase but my GPS waypoint was set for the upper end of the stairs so I climbed to the top by road rather than by stairs. I have visited the staircases several times but by arriving by road discovered the presence of Fort Fincastle just above it. This was one of several 17th century fortifications in a line. Fincastle has 2 distinctions, it is on the highest point of the island with a superb view, and it is built in a shape which resembles a ship, with a pointed front and a rounded rear.

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After visiting the fort I satisfied myself with just a walk down the stairs and continued to the Nassau Public Library. The library is located in a former jail; it has several reading rooms around a central core which were actually jail cells. The library has very fast wifi, and I spent about an hour there before returning to the ship. I wanted to check for updates to my secondary computer so I swapped laptops and returned to the library. There were a couple of websites that appeared to be blocked at the library, and I headed off to McDonalds for lunch. On the way I passed the World War 2 memorial. I found the inscription interesting; It referenced the sacrifices of the sons of the colony. COLONY was all capitalized; I wonder if there was a message in that. Unfortunately, the wifi at McDonalds was not working so some of my work remained undone, and I returned to the ship about 2:30.

All Aboard was 3:30,, but people straggled in until almost 3:50 (shore excursions maybe). Still, we left within 5 minutes of of our 4PM schedule. I took a position forward on deck 10 where I could watch the lines being reeled in on the bow and then move back just a bit and see the officers moving things along on the bridge wing. I stopped for a cup of coffee in the solarium as Nassau faded behind us.

There was no special dinner for St. Patricks Day but it was excellent anyway, ending with a lovely peach melba. The Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers were due to perform “All Access” tonight but something wasn’t right and the substitution was comedian/juggler Adam Kario. He was ok but nothing special. At the end of the show the sun had set but there were still some lovely colors in the fading light.

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I got my first look at Casablanca, a 3-piece band accompanied by a vocalist. For me they were among the less impressive bands on the ship, rather loud with a lot of percussion and no lyrics I could recognize. Derek Conlon held an Irish singalong in the Schooner Bar. I plan to finish this post and be in bed before 11PM.

Roy