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Grandeur 12/4/04 review


DrD

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It takes too long for them to put these up in the review section, so here it is:

 

 

What a great cruise!

 

As to the previous review, remember to take it with a grain of salt. They only ate in the dining room once the whole cruise! If I ate ALL my meals in the buffet I'd probably not give the food a good rating either.

 

Embarkation: quick and painless

 

Ports: good. I do have to criticize RCCL for the way they handled the change in ports. Of course we knew about it (from this board, among other sources) but many people didn't. They have all our e-mail, why not send us some useful information along with all the advertising? But I did like Key West. Costa Maya is a good port as long as you book an excursion, or at least go to Mahahual (a 5 minute taxi ride.) If you stay right there by the dock it can be a bit boring.

 

 

Food: Excellent! All our dinners were outstanding. I did not have 1 thing I didn't like. The escargot were some of the best I've ever had. The steak was very good, the tenderloin excellent. The deserts were all yummy also. We had great tablemates so this may also have had something to do with it, basically all 7 dinners were just some of the best times I've ever had on a cruise. See also service below. I didn't eat lunch in the dining room, I was a bit disapointed that they had the same lunch menu each day. Breakfast in the dining room was good. Happily they got rid of cajun night which was not a hit last year with all the Louisiannans on the trip!

 

The windjammer was very good. Lunch was better than last year with more variety and better overall food. One day they had a barbeque by the pool that was awesome. Breakfast was OK, the same everyday but still good. Hot food was hot which was an improvement from last year. I enjoyed the smoked salmon everyday, since I know how much it costs at home I had some on a bagel with onions and capers just about everyday.

 

Solarium cafe was very good with great french fries, good burgers, OK pizza.

 

Room service is the best in the biz with a great menu and anything you want from the dining room during mealtimes. they even had the dining room menus in the room service book. It was prompt, it never took more than 20 minutes to bring our morning coffee after we called.

 

Entertainment: Outstanding. The dancers were excellent, although I missed 2 of the 3 main dance shows. The one I saw, Jump Jive and Swing, was great! I like big-band music and it was cool to see how people danced backed then. The Royal Carib dancers are really good (although I'm not a big critic or anything.) The comedians were good although 1 was the same as last year and he didn't change his act at all. The guy on the last day was the best! So funny.

 

Bars: outstanding! STRONG drinks. My wife put on her comment card they were too strong but I wrote below her that they were great. I hope she doesn't mess it up for the rest of us!

 

NOTE: there is a new coffee bar and Ben + Jerry's bar on deck 6 where the smaller purser's desk used to be. Must have been put in in drydock. Unfortunately it was not yet open but looked pretty much ready. Something to look foward to.

 

Service: the best! RCCL really has this down. Our waiter, Gockam (sp?) from Turkey, was so good and really, really funny. He had us in stitches every night. I could go on and on about him but I won't. Assistant waiter was quiet but also very good. I love all the little "shows" the wait staff put on. I really feel bad for the previous reviewer who missed out on the best part of the cruise. Next time go to your table! Our room attendant, Shawn from St. Vincent was also very good and friendly. He would greet us by name and open our door for us when he saw us coming. Everyone on the ship was so nice, always said hello, even when people were being rude to them (yes I saw that alot, don't people ever say thank you anymore? These people are not animotronic serving robots you know.)

 

Ship: I love the Grandeur's overall design, more glass and ocean views than any ship I've been on! I did not notice any wear and tear except for a small rust stain on our ceiling. I would like more outdoor dining, however. Great artwork throughout and the Christmas decorations were wonderful! Trees and garland everwhere. A beautiful ship.

 

Stateroom: great, especially for the price. Plenty of room and storage and a huge balcony. The beds could be better though, a little thin and too low for me (but I'm tall.)

 

 

Overall, a wonderful cruise. RCCL really has a fine product. All 6 of my tablemates who were of varied ages and experience agree with me, they all had nothing but great things to say each night at dinner. In fact I didn't run into anyone who had anything bad to say. I think people are more likely to write a review if they've had a bad time.

 

This was one of the best, if not the best, cruises (out of 5) I've taken. For the price it is the hands-down winner. My wife and I are really torn on whether we should go back to Princess for our next cruise or just stay on RCCL.

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DrD,

I'll bet you have a good time where ever you go. What an upbeat guy! Your tablemates were lucky. :-) We are sailing on the Grandeur (first cruise) Jan 15th. and I can hardly wait after reading your glowing review. Thanks!

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Great review. Who is the Captain on the Grandeur and who is the CD.

 

I also feel the previous review was questionable as they never really got into the fun of dining in the main dining areas.

 

My tickets arrived today for the 1/15 cruise.

 

Thanks,

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Well, that's true! But I have been on other cruises and this was the best so far. (out of 5)

Ditto! I loved this ship! We did the same cruise last year (12/6 instead of 12/4)and the decorations were beautiful and the service was amazing. I will definitely cruise her again but not in Dec..the days up and down the river were too cold to be poolside or on our balcony brrrr.:o

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DrD,

 

Great review - we were on the Grandeur in Aug. and loved it also.

I read some of the complaints, and sometimes wonder if they were on a different ship.

Only 11 months till our next Grandeur cruise - 13 night repo, Thanksgiving 2005, that I booked right after the last cruise!

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DrD - Glad to hear you had a good time. I was worried after some of your post from before the cruise. I was on the week before and had a great time as well. How was VCL?? There were very few people up there my week but we all had fun and danced the night away.

 

Dawn

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The captain was Sven something Norwegian, I'll look it up when I get home. He was a nice guy, very visible. On the last sea day he did a Q+A that was very interesting. Duane was the CD.

 

I don't do much nightlife but there were always some late-night activities such as comedy, music, karaoke, or game shows. There was a pool party 1 night also but we didn't go. They also had 70's night and 50's night.

 

I did not go to the VCL late night.

 

As you might gather, one of my favorite activities this time was sleep! That's what having a todller and an baby will do to you!

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That is great DrD that you had a great time.

 

We are going on Grandeur at the end of April from New Orleans on a back to back and I can't wait, I just want Christmas to hurry up and then it should not be long until April.

 

Do you have any pictures from your cruise?

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Thanks for your review DrD. Other than the Christmas decorations, your experience aboard the Grandeur was very similar to ours during our Grandeur cruise this past April. We liked the ship so much we're going back in April 2005. She's a beautiful ship with a great staff and wonderful service. They better hurry up and finish the coffee shop and Ben & Jerry's before April!

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Glad you had such a good time,very glad to here that at least on granduer you are still able to receive dining room menu in room service, as we will be back aboard to bermuda in may!Last year on mariner I was flatly refused any dining room selections from room service.Brought this matter to the attention of the C&A loyalty ambassador,and was told "that dining room menu was NEVER available in room service"! But it had always been available on our other 9 RC cruises. One of many reasons I will never board that ship again.Thanks for the update!

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I have pictures but I have not yet put them up on the web anywhere, I'll post when I do.

 

The captain's name is Svein Steinmoen, the CD is Duane Davis. I have all the compasses if you have any questions about entertainment etc.

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DrD, is Duane Davis a temporary fill-in CD while Tom Canosa is on vacation, or has he been assigned to the Grandeur as Tom's permanent replacement?

 

He didn't say one way or the other, but he certainly didn't act like he was just filling in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

hey psulzer! where in Louisiana are you from? i am from jennings and will be on same ship. this will be our 9th cruise-6 caribbens and 2 alaska's. i can't get enough of this cruisin'. it is wonderful!! we usually go on rhapsody out of galveston so costa maya is a new port for me.

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Yesterday I booked a 9 night cruise on the Grandeur (out of Baltimore in July) for my family, my in-laws, and brother-in-law and family (50th anniversary celebration)....... your review made me happy that we picked this cruise..... it certainly sounds like we will be happy with the ship........ not all reviews have been as "glowing"....... it is my in-laws first time cruising, and we want it to be a good experience for them.

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hey psulzer! where in Louisiana are you from? i am from jennings and will be on same ship. this will be our 9th cruise-6 caribbens and 2 alaska's. i can't get enough of this cruisin'. it is wonderful!! we usually go on rhapsody out of galveston so costa maya is a new port for me.

 

Hi Shallwechat, we're from Baton Rouge and this will be our first cruise. Did you sign up for the Meet & Mingle? We'll be there if it is actually held. DH and I are in our 50's and we are hoping to have a LOT of fun on this cruise! I've gotten lots of good info. off of this board so I hope everything goes smoothly.

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