bren61

On 2/7/2024 at 2:59 PM, Cruiser24 said:

We just got off the 12 night Southern Caribbean sailing on Grandeur.  I read the OP's review just before  leaving and was rather disheartened.  Thankfully, we did not have the same experience.  

 

We prefer the same ships and are well aware that most of them need to be updated.  You can see wear and tear on furniture both in the cabin and around the ship.  This is to be expected when these ships are 20+ years old and I absolutely agree this needs to be addressed by Royal.  However, I did not think that the Grandeur was "filthy and ill maintained".  It seems that all day, every day, there were crew members cleaning in the public areas but indoors and out.  

 

We ate in the MDR most nights and found it to be quite good.  The food was hot when delivered and we enjoyed the variation the menu.  On the nights we ate in the WJ, we also had no complaints.  I did not seem to us that they served the same food every day.  

 

We did not go into the solarium, fitness room or sit on the pool deck so I cannot address those areas.  

 

My problem with the linens is not that they are threadbare but that they are SO ROUGH!  I have a problem with this on every ship.  

 

Since we cruise with Royal a lot, we had seen several of the entertainers and production shows before.  Nothing outstanding but fine, especially for first time cruisers.  

 

We also found the app to have incorrect information on many occasions.  

 

One thing I absolutely agree on is the WIFI.  It was horrible.  We had no WIFI service in our room and had to go the Schooner Bar to sign on.  

 

Even though it is old and could use some TLC, we would not hesitate to go on the Grandeur again.

We were also on your sailing and were very concerned after reading the OP review. I seen a few imperfections, but nothing I couldn't over look and didn't impact our cruise in anyway. With that being said we both realized the bigger ships are more suited for us.

One thing that I do hope they do at the refurbishment is replacing the whole shower unit and include doors. The shower curtain sticking to my body was my biggest complaint every day.

As far as the ports, Columbia is a port that I would never leave the port gates. Really there is no need to since they have a really nice zoo area without having to leave. We heard of some horrifying experiences that happened to several people in Columbia and 3 of them were our table mates, a brother and 2 sisters in their 30s, at our main dining table. They were held and robbed from the cartel, taken to an ATM to drain their accts and sent back to the port to bum money from whoever they could. The girls were not allowed to speak and were held  by the group of 12, and the brother was sent into port. The taxi driver called the Police and they were eventually let go. They are just so very lucky to be alive. I tried to warn them not to go outside if port and they said, we should have listened to you. 

The other incident was 2 beautiful little children was physically trying to be taken from their parents, on a ship's excursion, until everyone seen what was happening and then the entire group surrounded the mother and child so they couldn't get to them. I really think RCCL should not be doing port stops there, it is not safe.

Overall we had a great cruise....but the day we got home I tested positive for Covid. I'm so glad this didn't happen in the middle of our trip, because I've been really sick with this, and yes, we had our boosters 3 weeks before our cruise.

Happy sailing to those of you going on this ship, it will be fine. If it's not to your liking, just do what we are for our next cruise, going bigger. We have the Odyssey booked for next January.

8 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Thank you! Go with an open mind (if you can un-remember the photos) and form your own opinions. 

I definitely will!

5 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Please let us know your thoughts and experiences.

I will, maybe he weekend after we get back. Had I seen these pictures prior to booking I would have booked a different ship.

This has me very concerned & upset to see how bad the condition of the ship is, as we are leaving tomorrow on our 12 day cruise on the Grandeur. I realized that this was an older ship when I booked our cruise but felt that RCCL has always maintained their ships pretty well, (obviously not this one), but some of these issues don't require a dry dock to make the ship presentable, such as the dust, sheets, towels, thermostats hanging out of the wall and the painting and varnishing. This almost makes me not want to go, but I guess I will try to overlook it and be grateful we are able to get away. Lesson learned today, no more booking on older ships. I will try to remember to comment on our thoughts when we return.

I loved all of the Broadway shows except CATS, that definitely needs to go, imo. Chicago was one of my faves. The entertainment is what has made me loyal to Royal, especially the aqua & skating shows, but they aren't on every ship. I cruise next week on the Grandeur for the itinerary and I'm really worried that I won't like it after being on so many larger, action packed ships.

Are you not able to book Valuetrips for January? 

 I don't see any rates for then, but they have them from April on.

We're getting on when you get off. If you post while on board, can you please let me know how the shows and entertainment are?

My husband is also a big football fan, so let me know where the best place is to watch.

I just booked a cruise on the Odyssey of the Seas for my husband and I through our TA on line and got a really good deal.  Fifteen minutes later I went to book another cabin for my son & his girlfriend and it almost doubled in price. I called the agency and they said I got the last cabin in the group rate that they purchased when the sailing was released. My question is, where can I go through that buys blocks of cabins that I can get my son a deal like ours? I don't mind using another agency as long as they are reputable.

On 12/11/2023 at 7:07 AM, z_cruisers said:

I am wondering if you go there on the basic pass how much is it to river tube once you're there? And how much is lunch buffet if not included? Thank you!

Not sure, but I would also like to know.

We are to stop in Colon on Jan 28th and have the Tortuguero Canals booked through the cruiseline. Now I am considering cancelling the excursion after hearing this or am I jumping the gun? I'm hoping that if there is still a problem there that they will do another port, we are already not getting off in Columbia, so that would make 2 ports.

I absolutely love cats, but hated CATS on the Oasis. If they aren't going to bring on a new show, I would like to see Chicago again, I loved that one! All of the others were great too.

Does anyone know who is taking over on the Grandeur in 11 days?

First Cruise:    Jewel of the Seas

Oldest Ship:    Enchantment of the Seas, (soon to be Grandeur in January) 

Newest Ship:   Harmony of the Seas

Favorite Ship:  Any of the Oasis Class (love the Aqua & Broadway Shows)

Do they do 70s Disco Night?

It's a shame that hotels have either the big pump bottles of flavored creamer or the single serves for your coffee, but the cruise lines won't even supply HH. I love my morning coffee, but even their coffee is terrible, so I usually end up drinking tea throughout the cruise, because I can drink that, with just a tad of reg milk & a 1/2 tsp of sugar.

Another option is to add 1/2 packet of hot chocolate mix to your coffee.

Thank you all for your replies, you've made me feel better about just going to relax. Afterall, that is what vacation is all about & my husband will love that...I always have a full list of things to do & places to go not wanting to miss anything, lol!

We always love to go to the card room, have a few cocktails while playing cards or a game.

Do they do 70's disco night? Just wanted to know because I will take my get up if they do.

We have a cruise booked out of Miami on the Grandeur in January based on the itinerary, (ABC Islands).  I hope I don't regret booking such a small ship after sailing so many other big ships. I think the smallest ship we have been on is the Jewel, which was our 1st cruise, so I had nothing to compare it to, and thought it was great.

Most of the activities we used to do, we can't do any longer due to physical limitations, such as flowrider, etc. but that is not what concerns me. What is important, is a nice Solarium, good shows, great entertainment and good food. We love the Broadway shows and know that they are not on this ship, which ok, because we've seen them all and love the ice shows and hope they are on this ship along with other good entertainment. 

I hope, being that this is an older ship, that it is still in great shape and updated recently. We usually drive to port & cruise out of Cape Liberty. We have been on the medium & bigger ships & when the Grandeur was in Baltimore, even though it was closer for us to drive to, we never wanted to sail her because of her size. Now that we are older and can't do all the "fun" stuff, I am hoping that the Grandeur will be more of a fit for us. Are there any cruisers out there that had the same concerns, & were content after going back to the small ships you started on?

I used to tip, but I don't now knowing what they make per hour. I would rather tip our shuttle driver coming from the hotel and the staff on the cruise ship.

I take the boxes of individual creamers on my carry on and never had an issue. I have also taken a small bottle of Hazelnut creamer and they've let it pass through.

We have the Good Hope Estate Pass booked for January through the cruiseline, it looks very nice. We've done all the other popular excursions like Dunn's Falls, Dolphin Cove, Hilton Rose Hall, Blue Hole, Scotchies, & Horseback riding in the ocean, so this looks like we would have a good day here.

On 10/9/2023 at 5:29 PM, bren61 said:

I am looking into getting the Chukka Family Estate Pass @ Good Hope Estate through RCCL for $38.99pp, but it doesn't say if transportation is included. If it isn't not sure what the cheapest option would be to get there?

I emailed RCCL and the transportation is included.

I am looking into getting the Chukka Family Estate Pass @ Good Hope Estate through RCCL for $38.99pp, but it doesn't say if transportation is included. If it isn't not sure what the cheapest option would be to get there?

We will be in port from 5-10:30pm, so I am looking for some tips of what to do locally other than a sunset cruise. Not sure what time the sun goes down at the end of Jan, but I imagine we wouldn't have enough beach time to make that worthwhile. Any recommendations??

I am booking a cruise that sails out of Miami, but the flights are cheaper going in to FLL. What would be our cheapest transportation option to get to the port of Miami in the morning. Many years ago I think we stayed in Hollywood the night before our cruise.

We went to this beach in January and also recommended it to another couple to go with us to share a ride, based on good reviews in this post. Well when we arrived there was not a soul there other than a worker, no beach and water was extremely rough. We turned around, left & went to another beach our driver recommended. This is just my opinion of the place, but may have been a good place to go in the past, not somewhere I would ever go back to.