Back from the Grandeur - Good, Bad and UGLY!!!!

Hello Everyone - Just back from the Grandeur trip out of Baltimore. The boat, service and food was outstanding. We left Baltimore in the rain. Had rain and terrible winds all day on Monday. Tuesday we got into Freeport and it rain. It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that we finally saw the sun.

Good - Getting on the boat was easy and very organized. We got there at 12:30 and went right through customs and right onto the boat. Room was ready along with lunch. Key West and CocoCay is the ultimate best time to be had. Cape Canavaral is good pending what you do for excursion. We did Island of Adventure at Universal Studies. Awesome roller coasters. You left the port for an hour bus ride. This was very worth it. Getting off the boat at the ports was easy and fast. The shows, parties and entertainment was great and very worth it.

Bad - First stop is Freeport. I am not sure why RCCL stops there because it is not a nice area. The area is very depressed. The shopping is nice but if you are not planning on shopping check out the excursions or stay on the boat. If you go shopping go to the International Bazarre first and then to Lucya. You move around in taxi's very cheaply but some of the taxi's are kind of rough.

VERY UGLY!!!!! - Be Prepared - Getting off the boat when you get back to Baltimore is bad enough to spoil the whole trip. The night before they give you colored tags for your luggage and take the luggage then. They make you get out of your room at 8:00am. You find a place to hang, breakfast is available only till 9:00am. The ship doesn't clear customs until 10:30. Then they start calling your color. You then get off the ship get your luggage in a big room. Then you have to get on a bus where you have to repack all your luggage on these buses and they shuttle you to the parking or waiting lots. If you are flying you leave first and they shuttle you to the airport. We did not get off the boat until 12:00 noon. By this time, people are cranky and pushing to get on the shuttles. Everyone was complaining.

Special Notes: I would suggest that you do book your excursions online. You have to do this at least 10 days before you leave. A majority of the excursions can be booked on the boat but the popular ones like snuba in Key West was all booked up even before the 10 days. If you try and book something online and it says book on boat, most likely is it sold out. Scuba in CocoCay is the bomb. You can book that on the Island. They have plenty of scuba gear to go around. You rent all the equipment for $27 and you can have it all day long - well worth it. First day on boat there is a show done by Lisa about shopping in the Bahamas and Key West. She has a VIP pass that they sell for $20. It is a book full of coupons. Although we did use some be aware that this book is not just for the two stops. It also has coupons in it for other ports that you might not never visit. So you have to judge to see if it is worth it. Also, when they get on board they want to sell you a soda pass for $42. This allows you to have soda all week long. My husband bought two of them and with gratuity it came to $96.60. I did usually don't drink soda and he definitely did not drink this much soda. Plus they have free flowing ice tea and water. You might want to reconsider this. Everytime you asked for a soda they served it to you in a little 8oz glass. I would suggest that you take with you a big mug and help yourself to all the ice tea or water that you want.

Overall experience was an ultimate experience, can't wait to do it again.

Robin

Hello,

We were on the same cruise & had a blast!! cant wait to cruise again! I missed the meet & mingle on monday due to being a little green around the gills! didnt get sick but had to lay down for a while & ended sleepinf for 3 hours, so I apoligize to those who I talked to all these months about having a meet & mingle!

I really think royal caribbean should think about skipping Freeport (Big dissapointment) & think about staying at coco cay for 2 days & we could have 2 fun beach days! that was the best!! I loved snorkeling!

I really enjoyed everything about our cruise, disembarkment... well its all part of it but it was so sad to leave the ship!

I would recomend sailing Grandeur to anyone I absolutly loved it !!