Grandeur - 2016 to Bermuda

Just catching up on Grandeur's most-recent reviews here. Most are from the Bermuda itinerary, and all really seem so positive about Bermuda, (which is our favorite RCCL destination).

With all of the glowing Bermuda reviews, we can't seem to understand why RCCL has chosen to shorten Grandeur's 2016 "Bermuda" itinerary to a total of five days, with only a half-afternoon upon arrival followed by an early-afternoon departure the very next day? Their existing one-and-a-half days or two-and-a-half days ashore itineraries were, in our opinion, already too short for such a wonderful destination. We're trying to figure out RCCL's logic to shorten the "Bermuda " itinerary to just five days? In 2016 it's really not much more than a five-day "cruise to nowhere" with a brief overnight in Bermuda.

I know in 2016 we could travel to King's Wharf, Bermuda, on another ship to get a bit more time ashore, but we're so spoiled being able to drive to Grandeur's home port of Baltimore, it's not worth it to us to have to fly to get to another ship's departure port.

Is anyone else frustrated by this change in Grandeur's Bermuda itinerary for 2016? :confused:

You could always take the Carnival Pride out of Baltimore for a week long Bermuda cruise. She just received her 2.0 upgrades and is a beautiful ship with wonderful food. The crew on that ship has been voted Carnival's most friendly the past couple of years. I sailed her 14 day repo cruise in Feb and we had a great time.

You could always take the Carnival Pride out of Baltimore for a week long Bermuda cruise. She just received her 2.0 upgrades and is a beautiful ship with wonderful food. The crew on that ship has been voted Carnival's most friendly the past couple of years. I sailed her 14 day repo cruise in Feb and we had a great time.

Maybe I missed it but the Pride does not sail out of Baltimore to Bermuda.

I don't even like just 6 days on the Grandeur so I'm looking at Celebrity's Summit out of Bayonne.

Well, we're both half right. The Pride has been sailing the Bermuda itinerary out of Baltimore for a little over a year now, mostly 5 days. Last year they threw in a couple of 7 day sailings. I notice this year they're back to 5 day sailings only.

Count me among the frustrated.

I’m going on the 7-night Grandeur cruise on July 17th this year. But looking elsewhere for next year because the alternating 5 and 9-night itineraries are pretty bad.

The 5-night arrives in Bermuda at 1pm one day and leaves 230pm the next day. It’s tough to enjoy Bermuda with two partial days like that.

The 9-night arrives in Bermuda at 2pm one day and leaves 3pm the next day. So, you would think you’d make it down to the caribbean after the short Bermuda stay (like they do out of New Jersey with stops in St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee after Bermuda on a 9 night). But the Grandeur only makes it down to the Bahamas on a 9-night cruise. :mad:

I’m with iheartbda on looking at Celebrity Summit.

BTW, the Pride has 5-night Bermuda cruises scheduled for Oct 26, 2015 and April 10, 2016 that arrive at 130pm one day and leave 130pm the next day. Even less time than the Grandeur and only at the beginning and end of the season.

We are very disappointed that RC changed Bermuda cruise from 7 day to 5 day. Sailed on both and the 7 day is so much better. We still have lots to see and do in Bermuda.

The Grandeur cruise from Balt to Bermuda is always sold out early. I can not imagine why RC made the change.:(

Agree with OP - the seven day Bermuda was great and we want to repeat but neither the 5 day nor 9 including Bahamas are of interest. It will be interesting to see if they continue to sail full.

At this point we are looking at a land stay in Bermuda though we would prefer a ship.

Well, we're both half right. The Pride has been sailing the Bermuda itinerary out of Baltimore for a little over a year now, mostly 5 days. Last year they threw in a couple of 7 day sailings. I notice this year they're back to 5 day sailings only.

GEEZE, don't know how I missed that itinerary when I looked.:o

Funny, everyone here is saying that 5 days is not long enough and then there are those who wonder if there's enough to do on longer cruises.:D

I can not imagine why RC made the change.:(

I think Grandeur's shorter time at King's Wharf in 2016 permits RCCL to put Anthem out of Port Liberty, NJ, at King's Wharf for a day, too. :cool:

It will be interesting to see if they continue to sail full.

At this point we are looking at a land stay in Bermuda though we would prefer a ship.

Methinks RCCL's marketing folk believe Grandeur's 5-day "Bermuda" cruise will still sail full because Baltimore is such a desirable drive-to departure port for folks (like us) from MD/VA/DC/PA. The 5-day will just turn into a "cruise to nowhere" with an overnight in Bermuda. :cool:

My wife has also put me in charge of putting together a 2016 Bermuda land stay trip, although we, too, would rather sail there than fly.

Funny, everyone here is saying that 5 days is not long enough and then there are those who wonder if there's enough to do on longer cruises.:D

I can't speak for others, but for us the frustration is because the length of time actually tied-up at King's Wharf in Bermuda in 2016 has shortened to two half-days.

As for whether there's enough to do on these Bermuda itineraries,... I could be wrong, (and my wife reminds me I usually am...),... but I'm pretty sure the at-sea number of sailing days are identical outbound and return no matter the total published number of days for a Grandeur Bermuda cruise out of Baltimore.

I can't speak for others, but for us the frustration is because the length of time actually tied-up at King's Wharf in Bermuda in 2016 has shortened to two half-days.

 

As for whether there's enough to do on these Bermuda itineraries,... I could be wrong, (and my wife reminds me I usually am...),... but I'm pretty sure the at-sea number of sailing days are identical outbound and return no matter the total published number of days for a Grandeur Bermuda cruise out of Baltimore.

I meant people wonder if there's enough to do in Bermuda.

One problem with the Bermuda itins are the channels entering and leaving Bermuda. They will not allow cruise ships in those channels after dark or before sunrise. So as in Nassau, and other ports, where they will leave way after dark and you will have a long day there.

R&D

I think Grandeur's shorter time at King's Wharf in 2016 permits RCCL to put Anthem out of Port Liberty, NJ, at King's Wharf for a day, too. :cool:

We sailed on the Grandeur June 5th this year to Bermuda. While on board we booked our cruise for 2016 - and yes we were extremely sad that the Grandeur is not sailing to Bermuda on a 7 day. Based on what we were told by the future cruise agents was exactly with you mention, change to due to the Anthem stoping in Bermuda AND they also mentioned that the Anthem sales are "soft" and they are trying to pushing cruisers her way.:D

I like the 5 day to Bermuda. For us it's a nice quick getaway. Of course I'd love more port time, but not having tons of vacation time the 5 days are great for us. Also the Anthem is soooooo expensive that I can do Grandeur instead and still be able to cruise.

We sailed on the Grandeur June 5th this year to Bermuda. While on board we booked our cruise for 2016 - and yes we were extremely sad that the Grandeur is not sailing to Bermuda on a 7 day. Based on what we were told by the future cruise agents was exactly with you mention, change to due to the Anthem stoping in Bermuda AND they also mentioned that the Anthem sales are "soft" and they are trying to pushing cruisers her way.:D

Port Liberty has had 5N sailings to Bermuda for several years now. Used to be the Explorer, now Liberty this year and Anthem next year even when Grandeur had 6&7N sailings - so I don't understand the "it's Anthem's fault" :confused: for the terrible port times when Explorer, Liberty and Anthem have the same 5N sailings as always.

As an inside cabin dweller, we compared 5N Grandeur vs Anthem when pricing first came out and Anthem was only $80 p/p more and with the new Grandeur port times, which are horrible :eek:, we went with Anthem. Now with the return of BOGOHO, Anthem interior is $32 less p/p than Grandeur. Even the balconies are cheaper on Anthem. Definitely should push people to Anthem. FWIW, driving time is about the same to both ports for us.

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Just looked up some old information. We started going to Bermuda on Celebrity in early 2000. We left on Sat. got into Bermuda on Tues. at 9AM and didn't leave until Thurs. at 3PM.

As the years went on, going from Celebrity to NCL to RCCL, the arrival got later and the leaving got earlier.:( More time on the ship means more pax spending.;)

There used to be three places the ships could dock, Hamilton, St. George and Dockyard. The small ships have been retired and the large ships cannot get into Hamilton and St. George so the leaves Dockyard and only two ships can dock at the same time there. It's almost become musical chairs to schedule the ships.:D

For everyone sailing post small ships, there was nothing like docking right in the center of Hamilton, then moving over to St. George and docking the equivalent of a block from the town square. Sometimes it could be too windy to make it thru the town cut into St. George so the ship would stay in Hamilton for the whole time. Good location since Hamilton is about in the center of the island so no more then halfway to anywhere.:)

We are extremely sad about the shortened schedule to Bermuda!! We loved our time there and always saw something different, a five day cruise is ridiculous. RCCL needs to look long and hard at going back to 7 night cruises to Bermuda, we have been there each May for the last 7 years! Not sure how long the breakaway (NCL) stays there but if it is a longer cruise with a decent length stay, we will jump from RCCL in a heartbeat? Hope RCCL listens....

Just looked up some old information. We started going to Bermuda on Celebrity in early 2000. We left on Sat. got into Bermuda on Tues. at 9AM and didn't leave until Thurs. at 3PM.

 

As the years went on, going from Celebrity to NCL to RCCL, the arrival got later and the leaving got earlier.:( More time on the ship means more pax spending.;)

 

There used to be three places the ships could dock, Hamilton, St. George and Dockyard. The small ships have been retired and the large ships cannot get into Hamilton and St. George so the leaves Dockyard and only two ships can dock at the same time there. It's almost become musical chairs to schedule the ships.:D

 

For everyone sailing post small ships, there was nothing like docking right in the center of Hamilton, then moving over to St. George and docking the equivalent of a block from the town square. Sometimes it could be too windy to make it thru the town cut into St. George so the ship would stay in Hamilton for the whole time. Good location since Hamilton is about in the center of the island so no more then halfway to anywhere.:)

I looked at all the options and ended up booking the Veendam for 2016 which still docks in Hamilton.

Roy

Good plan, Roy. We docked in Hamilton and St. George years ago on Nordic Empress. Had a cabin overlooking Hamilton's main street.

Rick and Deirdra

For everyone sailing post small ships, there was nothing like docking right in the center of Hamilton, then moving over to St. George and docking the equivalent of a block from the town square. Sometimes it could be too windy to make it thru the town cut into St. George so the ship would stay in Hamilton for the whole time. Good location since Hamilton is about in the center of the island so no more then halfway to anywhere.:)

Agreed. Our first sailing to Bermuda (way back in 1987 on RCCL'S Nordic Prince, (which was RCCL's first-time experiment retrofitting/extending a hull like they eventually did with Enchantment, too)) tied up front-and-center in Hamilton for several days. We had such a terrific time in Bermuda then, we knew we wanted to sail there again. For us, back in 2012 the best of everything was being able to sail out of Baltimore to Bermuda. Maybe again in 2017 if the itineraries change back to spending more time in Bermuda? :confused:

I meant people wonder if there's enough to do in Bermuda.

Oops. Sorry I misunderstood.

I can only speak for us, but on our two cruises to Bermuda we've only had a total of 4 1/2 days ashore, and there are still many places we'd like to explore/enjoy. But then, we're "O-L-D". :rolleyes:

I like the 5 day to Bermuda. For us it's a nice quick getaway. Of course I'd love more port time, but not having tons of vacation time the 5 days are great for us. Also the Anthem is soooooo expensive that I can do Grandeur instead and still be able to cruise.

Both valid pluses for you, and we understand. Anytime someone can get away on any cruise, regardless of the number of days, it's terrific. Plus, if it's a bargain, then it's definitely a win-win. :)

We just completed a 5 night cruise to Bermuda out of Cape Liberty on the Liberty of the Seas. Our arrival and departure times were the same as Anthem's will be in 2016. I was disappointed to see the arrival and departure change for Grandeur in 2016. I was hoping that they had continued the 7 day cruise as we wanted additional time in Bermuda. A 5 day cruise arriving at 1 and departing at 2:30 the next day really doesn't give you much time at all to enjoy all Bermuda has to offer. When you factor in the transportation times of a ferry to Hamilton or St George or even the shuttle or bus to Horseshoe Bay, you really have little time to enjoy it. We will be looking at NCL and Celebrity assuming they continue their 7 day sailings to Bermuda for 2016. Based on what I saw in their itineraries you arrive at 9 am day 1 and depart at 5 or 6 on Day 3 (2015 itinerary). Its a shame because I liked Grandeur and liked sailing out of Baltimore. Really wish RCI offered a similar true full 3 days in Bermuda on a 7 day cruise.

I liked Grandeur and liked sailing out of Baltimore. Really wish RCI offered a similar true full 3 days in Bermuda on a 7 day cruise.

Our sentiments exactly. :confused: