Just Back - Grandeur of The Seas - Questions?

Our first cruise - we're bought and sold with RCI!

ANY Questions please post here.

QUICK review of the cruise - Baltimore MD

Check-in took a couple of hours but things got much better once onboard. First lunch in Windjammer. DELICIOUS.

The dinners were completely awesome. The only thing I did not enjoy was the polenta side dish which was had one evening with the delicious sea bass. I ate seafood practically every single evening. The waiters - WOW - talk about dedication? Thanks to Elisio the waiter, Subur his assistant, and Smiljan, the matre d, our dining experience was a pleasure. These guys were very professional.

Our house maid, Neneng, was also great too. Our rooms were made up TWICE daily and she made some really cool towel animals too.

DRINKS - Awesome and VERY powerful!

FACILITIES - great gym and spa. We often played ping pong and shuffleboard.

SHOWER - small but convenient. VERY CLEAN.

CABIN - Roomy for an inside cabin!!! We maneuvered around really well.

CASINO - we didn't win anything except for 10 bucks which we also lost. NO BIG LOSS.

ENTERTAINMENT - Funny, great shows.

AMENITIES - Totally rocked, 100%. The staff of Grandeur is TOTALLY 100%.

I can tell that you loved it......so have we. We have been on the Grandeur 3x's already and wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again.

I just love the size, the crew, the food, just about everything. Actually, we have never had a bad cruise. But we do love the Grandeur.

So glad you had a great time.

Happy cruising

John/Jennifer,

Thanks for the great post. We are so excited to be traveling the first time like you. We live 15 minutes from Dundalk Marine Terminal and we went down there today to see the Grandeur. We are leaving on the 18th.

If you don't mind if I can ask a few questions.

Did you book excersions from the Ship or did you do your own?

If you did book from the ship which ones and were they worth it? We are planning Universal in Cape Canavaral, Parasailing in Cococay and shopping in the Grand Bahama Islands.

How long did it take you to get off the ship in Baltimore. We got to the Port around 11:00 and notice people were still getting off. The docking time was suppose to be at 9:00am.

Thanks a whole bunch,

Robin

John/Jennifer,

Thanks for the quick review. Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip!

Tell us more about your experience in the ports once you've settled in back home.

I have a couple of questions.

How is the solarium pool? does the roof open or is it enclosed?

How about the main pool, any trouble getting deck chairs?

We are also anxiously awaiting our trip on the 18th.

Robin: have you registered for the meet n mingle? We've only got 13 so far.

Robin,

I can help with a few of those questions:

Docked at Baltimore about 0730. The first people called to disembark were at 0945. This was done by color code depending on the survey you fill out and turn back in during the week. If you are parking your car there or getting picked up, I think you are the last to leave. We got off at 1115 or so. You must vacate your cabin by 0800 so the staff can start cleaning for the next trip.

When we originally arrived at the ship, we also still saw people getting off at 1145. We got in line and went through the registration process rather quickly, but had to then sit and wait for about a hour for our number to be called for boarding. Do your boarding paperwork on-line if you have e-docs. We were able to board around 1300 and were able to drop off carry-on bags at stateroom, and proceed to the windjammer, and were eating lunch by 1330.

Book your shore trips early (on-line). They fill fast once on the ship. We thought about Orlando trips but decided it was too much. This was confirmed at lunch by some tablemates who went to WDW. They said it was hot, the lines were LONG, and did not get to do much because of it. I guess Universal could be the same.

Shopping:

I think anybody who owns a van @ freeport qualifies as a bus or taxi owner/operator. $4 per person (each way) fare from ship to International Bazaar shopping. They will not transport you until they have a full load of people crammed inside (and no A/C on either bus or taxi's we rode). The place is old and well worn. Port Lacaya marketplace is another $1 fare and somewhat nicer. I am not into shopping so I didn't pay too much attention other than that, but I did price a watch and it was always more $$ at the shopping places than buying it on the ship by about $50. Ship was duty free also.

We did not hang around the pool, but there always seemed to be plenty of chairs anytime we walked by.

Where exactly does the ship dock in Baltimore? We are going to a Orioles game in August and were hoping to see her on Sunday morning before we go home. We are staying at a hotel in the inner harbor.

The ship docks at the Dundalk Marine Terminal right down the way from the GMC plant. You can get the exit off of 95 or get it off of Odonnell Street. If you want to send me your email address I will send you pictures I took of her.

My email address is robin200@comcast.net

Robin

John/Jennifer-- We enjoyed meeting you onboard, and agree 100% with your quick review. We also were totally impressed by Royal Caribbean, and will definitely cruise with them again!

Portsider: They did open the glass roof above the solarium pool several times on our cruise. (I wished I'd seen the process--it must be fun to watch it slide back.) This was one of our favorite areas of the ship, and there almost always seemed to be a few deck chairs available (and the ones here have cushions). If you want to really swim in this pool, get there early--at 10 am, they turn on the jets and fountains, which makes swimming a challenge, but floating around is still fun! The main pool area did seem to get quite crowded at mid-day, especially on the at-sea days, but there always seemed to be some chairs available, just not right in front of the pool.

Here are some pics and map of the Port of Baltimore....Click below for many other on my Photo Page...

Radio

;) ;)

Galaxy 08-02(above) and Grandeur 07-04(below) at the Port

Hello All!

12 Days & counting!

Robin, we are also sailing on the 18th! hope you sign up for meet & mingle!

The excitement builds.....

Safes in the room-can you make up your own combination or do you have to use a credit card? I'd like to leave my credit card in the safe-not have to use it to open it! Thanks for info!

J in WV Sailing on August 1

We were on the June 11 sailing in Cat. I cabins. The safe required a credit card to lock and open. The instructions stated not to use your room key card as it could demagnetize the key. However, our kids had no credit card to use in their room & used the key without problems all week. By about the 4th day, hubby & I gave it & used it as well so we could lock the credit card inside. It is a little annoying since you have to use the same card to lock & open. So if hubby's card locked it, his had to open it, mine wouldn't....Some of the higher categories might have had more modern safes, but we survived OK. I was just happy there was one in the room vs. having to use one at the purser's desk.