Grandeur of the Seas Refurbishment

Has anyone heard anything about first cruise of the Grandeur of the Seas since it was refurbished last month?

Going on our first cruise aboard the Grandeur on 22nd June. Really looking forward to it!

Haven't read any reviews yet, but you can search the RCI forum for Grandeur and will find a few posting with links to some photos now.

Also, there is a group of us on the Roll Call forum for this June 22 cruise, . . . come on over and say hi. You might want to register for the meet & mingle as well.

See you on board.

We just got off the Grandeur – first cruise after the refurbishment.

We had a wonderful time. Our party had three rooms with linked reservations, my wife and I stayed in a suite.

The ship looked nice and everything was new and fresh.

In general our experience on most things was that if you asked three different staff members the same question, you’d get three different answers. I think in part this may have been due to the staff coming from various ships after the refurbishment.

We had heard there would be iPads in every room but that wasn’t the case. One of the staff told us that they were coming later and another told us that they weren’t coming at all.

There was an outdoor movie screen but no movies – at least none that we were aware of and we did ask – was told by one staff member that there would be movies on future cruises and another told us that they didn’t have the required licenses to show movies so there weren’t any future plans to show movies - so not sure if you'll have movies or not. ESPN was on periodically but most of the time just the RCL logo with random music playing.

Had periodic issues with the bathroom in our suite but nothing that lasted much more than an hour – toilets wouldn’t flush.

Had issues with internet access but they seemed to have those issues mostly working midway through the cruise.

The system for creating sea pass cards had issues during the embarkation process. Half of us got cards and were able to get on the ship and the other half were stuck in the terminal building for an hour or more before they got their cards.

Our onboard accounts were screwed up. The charges themselves weren’t incorrect but they were randomly attributed to the wrong rooms and wrong people – am thinking this was due to linked reservations. We didn’t have the ship correct this and instead just exchanged money between each other.

Our passports were mixed up between two of the rooms as well which wasn’t a big issue since we all knew each other so just picked up each other’s passports and traded with each other. I’m assuming this may have had something to do with computer glitches and linked reservations as well.

Overall the complimentary dining wasn’t too good. This was our first RCL cruise so am not sure if this is just the way it is on RCL or if it was due to the new equipment in the kitchens. We ate at Chops one night which was pretty good and we ate at Giovanni’s one night which was outstanding. We don’t care for sushi so cancelled our reservation at Izumi once we realized what it was about.

The Solarium pool had issues and was initially closed but issues were resolved after a couple days.

We didn’t witness the problems with chair hogs that most people talk about – yes there was some but very little that we witnessed and we never had problems finding open chairs.

So overall there were some issues that I believe were due to all the refurbishments but nothing so serious that it interfered with our enjoyment of the cruise and the staff was very responsive in taking care of the issues we encountered.

I’m sure they’ll have most of the kinks worked out by the time you get onboard.

We had a very nice time and I’m sure you’ll enjoy your cruise as well.

Thank you for taking the time to post! I am on the grandeur in 19 days and can not wait! Do you have any photos of the new areas you would be able to share?

Thank you for taking the time to post! I am on the grandeur in 19 days and can not wait! Do you have any photos of the new areas you would be able to share?

I'd like to see pics too. We'll be sailing in Oct. I think it was in '05 that we sailed her last. Really looking forward to seeing the changes.

Thanks so much for this - we'll be sailing on her in just 9 days and have been looking out for someone to post on here after her refit. It will be interesting to see if any of the glitches have been ironed out by then (probably not :rolleyes:)

I wonder why they bothered to put in a big screen if they can't show films on it - it seems a bit pointless just to show the RC logo and promotional pictures.

We sailed on Grandeur in July last year so are looking forward to the improvements.

Thank you for your review! :) We'll be sailing on the Grandeur next year in the Fall so I would think (hope!) they will have the kinks ironed out by then. Do you have pics that you could post?

I’ll look to see if I have any pictures of the ship itself. To be honest, I don’t remember taking any pictures on the ship that weren’t people focused – mostly just took pictures of the sites off the ship but can ask if others in our group have pictures.

After disembarking we spent an overnight in Venice and left the next day. After we got through security, the airport has views of Venice. There was a tornado in Venice at the time and I know one of us took pictures of that – it was a decent size tornado. We watched it for several minutes. It was quite the sight to see a tornado going over an area that we had just been at. You can google some videos on the Washington Post and Time websites. I live in Minnesota but have never seen a tornado until now. It doesn’t sound like it caused damage to the historical sites but did take some roofs off some houses and overturned some boats. A group of children involved in a sailing course had to be rescued. Thankfully I haven’t heard of any injuries.

We were real happy with our rooms and the size of the balconies – deeper than I had expected. I was also surprised by all the storage space in the rooms – lots of it.

Nighttime entertainment was good. On sea days daytime entertainment was only so so and not many options unless you like to watch towel and napkin folding. The trapeze performers in the central atrium need some more practice… which they should have by the time you get onboard. But since the Mediterranean is so port intensive the daytime entertainment wasn’t a big deal to us anyway.

Weather was hotter than I expected – but then again I’m from MN so I wouldn’t have disappointed if it had snowed unexpectedly. :) Bring sunscreen.

Enjoying your comments. We'll be on board on July 13th. Looking forward to it. Did you use the Concierge Lounge? You said you were in a suite.....was that a Grand Suite? Just wondering who the Concierge is and how things were in there.

You said you ate in the Specialty restaurants? Did you get the Specialty package? We aren't interested in Izumi either and just wondered if they would substitute Giovanni's twice instead of Izumi.

Enjoying your comments. We'll be on board on July 13th. Looking forward to it. Did you use the Concierge Lounge? You said you were in a suite.....was that a Grand Suite? Just wondering who the Concierge is and how things were in there.

 

You said you ate in the Specialty restaurants? Did you get the Specialty package? We aren't interested in Izumi either and just wondered if they would substitute Giovanni's twice instead of Izumi.

We stayed in a Grand Suite. It was quite nice and the balcony was wonderful.

We loved the concierge lounge. It’s located on deck 11 alongside the Viking Crown Lounge and Izumi’s. The concierge is Raj and he was just great. Besides making excursion and restaurant reservations' date=' he also took care of our internet issues (got my wife’s phone connected and showed her how to use the ships network), got us a tour of the bridge and found a nice beach for us on Mykonos. He was always checking up on things. I think he said that his previous assignment was on Freedom of the Seas. [/size']

All the staff was very pleasant and attentive especially Patricia.

I brought my lounge card home with me and have been trying to convince my son to change his name to Raj and speak with an Indian accent. I keep saying “I need you to do something for me.” but he isn’t complying.

We didn’t buy the Specialty restaurant package. Like most people I enjoy a good meal but on our past cruises the MDR food was really quite good and so we’ve never seen the need to go beyond the main dining options. I don’t want to negatively influence what people expect but after 4 or 5 days we needed a break. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have looked into getting the restaurant package and planned to break things up a bit more.

As far as substituting Giovanni’s for Izumi’s, if anyone could do it I would place my bet on Raj. The email on his card is gr_suitesconcierge@rccl.com. You could send him an email and see what he can do.

Thanks! Great to hear that Raj is a good Concierge. I was thinking that if we ran into any trouble with the specialty package that he would be able to get it done. I heard he was leaving in July, though, so I hope he will be there on our sailing. We've sailed with RCI for 27 years and I like to get out of the MDR as much as possible! Not that the food is bad.....I just get tired of it sometimes. Thanks again. Keep your comments coming!

thanks for your review. Hope the teething problems are sorted by the time we sail.:)

What is the speciality restuarant package?

What is the speciality restuarant package?

Enjoy dinner at three restaurants: Chops Grille steakhouse, Giovanni's Table Italian restaurant, and Izumi Asian cuisine for just $50 per person.

or also including the Chef's Wine pairing dinner

Enjoy dinner at Chef’s Table PLUS three more restaurants: Chops Grille steakhouse, Giovanni’s Table Italian restaurant, and Izumi Asian cuisine for just $120 per person.

The chef's wine pairing dinner alone is $95 so for anyone who likes to try out the speciality restaurants (and is happy to pay) the latter package works out really cost effective.

Thanks! I didn't know this was offered.

Do you if you can eat all 3 meals at the same place-like 3 dinners at chops? We would only be interested in the 3 dinners for $50 deal.

And do you purchase this package once on board?

Thanks! I didn't know this was offered.

 

Do you if you can eat all 3 meals at the same place-like 3 dinners at chops? We would only be interested in the 3 dinners for $50 deal.

 

And do you purchase this package once on board?

I doubt very much whether you can eat all 3 meals in the same place, particularly in Chops since that is normally the most expensive restaurant.

We purchased ours via the pre-cruise planner but you will be able to buy once onboard also.

We were on the same cruise and bought the dinner package for all four places. Izumi Asian cuisine was very good with good service. It was so good, we went back for a lunch, but the lunch menu was a lot more limited. Giovanni's Table Italian restaurant was superb, but have a big appetite because there is a lot of food. Chops Grille steakhouse was good, but not a five star piece of steak. Service was outstanding at all three. We were supposed to also go to the chef's wine pairing dinner but it was cancelled after the first five nights for lack of attendance. We were credited the money back.

We were supposed to also go to the chef's wine pairing dinner but it was cancelled after the first five nights for lack of attendance. We were credited the money back.

Oh no, this is what I'm thinking may happen with us and we so wanted to try the Chef's Table :( There just doesn't seem to be as much interest in the speciality restaurants on the Med cruises we've been on.

Will be traveling on the Granduer in Nov.

Did they re-do the cabins and if yes, what did they do?

Thank you for a reply.

I have read off of the Royal Caribbean Blog site that all cabins have been refurbished with new furniture and carpets etc and all bathrooms have been replaced. Hope so as we are sailing on her in September and can't wait!

I hope they have got rid of the shower curtains and put the proper shower doors on!

They have put quite a few extra rooms in and I've heard some of them are floor to ceiling glass windows.

We go in 68 days and I've yet to see a review of the new ship or cruiser photos.

I hope they have got rid of the shower curtains and put the proper shower doors on!

 

They have put quite a few extra rooms in and I've heard some of them are floor to ceiling glass windows.

 

We go in 68 days and I've yet to see a review of the new ship or cruiser photos.

We've got one of them on deck 8 (Oceanview), where the old Crown & Anchor study was, and I'm hoping it does have floor to ceiling window, as from what I have seen on the post-refurb pics of the exterior of the ship, the glass facade is still there.

Fingers crossed anyway :)

Just saw this and thought I'd respond since we were on that first sailing after the refurb as well. I submitted a detailed ship review but it hasn't been published yet.

In general, I thought the publics areas were excellent. I saw some before and after pictures in the Photo Gallery of several areas that had been redone and couldn't believe it was the same ship! We thought the MDR was good and ate in both Giovanni's and Izume and liked both, especially Izume.

I saw someone asked about the concierge lounge and Raj specifically and to say he took great care of us in an understatement! He went above and beyond to treat us like royalty!

We booked a grand suite (#8014) and loved all the space and storage. The big bathroom and big balcony were especially enjoyed.

My only minor quibbles were the buffet (often crowded and didn't care for much of the food) and the missing movies that someone mentioned. In addition, we were supposed to be able to pick from a selection of DVDs in our room since we had a suite, but apparently that offering is not available yet either. Would have been nice for our kids, but they had plenty of friends they met in the teen club anyway.

Y'all hang in there until the end of July and I will have a detailed review with lots of pictures. Look for it!

We've got one of them on deck 8 (Oceanview), where the old Crown & Anchor study was, and I'm hoping it does have floor to ceiling window, as from what I have seen on the post-refurb pics of the exterior of the ship, the glass facade is still there.

 

Fingers crossed anyway :)

Yesterday we booked the Grandeur for January 2014. We had the same question regarding floor to ceiling windows. Our TA called Royal Caribbean and asked the question. The reply was "No, there are no floor to ceiling windows in the new category F oceanview cabins on decks 7 and 8. There are conventional windows, but they are larger (47" X 35") than other oceanview windows (39" X 35")."

Since they are "new" cabins, everything should be brand new - hopefully "real" shower doors rather than curtains......