On the Grandeur Trans Atalantic..now

IwannaGo Now · April 26, 2011

Grandeur of the Seas..Trans Atlantic...Apr 24 - May 8, 2011

I'm currently on The Grandeur.... I booked a Grand Suite, my first in a ton of cruises. The last time I was on RCCL was the Voyager....10 or 11 years ago.

I flew out of Orlado, FL Sun, Apr 24th to Miami, changed planes, and landed in Panama CIty. After the fun of going through Immigration, and then Customs I found the Royal Carrib agent who checked off my name, and told me to wait somewhere over there, with a motion of her head. After about 10 minutes, she told me and others that had found her to follow her. We went out side, and she said to get on that bus, with another head motion. Okay.....there were maybe 8 or 10 of us on the air conditioned bus, and after about 15 to 20 minute we departed. I gotta tell ya, there was more side to side motion on that bus than any cruise I've been on.....otherwise, it was okay, although older. About 40 minutes into the trip to Colon, the driver pulled over, and got off the bus, in front of the Police Academy....no explanation, no words, nothing. We were speculationg that he was quitting bus driving, and joining the Policia, but people on the other side of the bus saw a van pull up, and 2 passengers got out, put some luggage on, and joined us.....guess they had missed the bus at the airport, and finally caught up to us. The whole thing only took about ten minutes, and the passengers thanked us. It would have been nice if the driver had told us what was happening, though.

Arriving at the pier at Colon.....now the fun begins!! The bus stopped at the end of the pier, where hoardes of "porters" were at the ready when the luggage started coming off. There was nobody telling us what to do, or where to go. The porter loaded my 2 bags, and grabbed my carry on....I hung on tight to my briefcase that had my Passport, cash, and other more important stuff. He walked....fast too fast for me, and I couldn't keep up...to the opposite end of the pier. By the time I got to the hole in the wall where he put the luggage through, it was too late to get my carry on...he said something in a heavy Spanish accent, which I thought was to the effect that it would go right on the ship....can't get it back now....I gave him $3, and he was gone in a flash. Anothr pax, a lady was following her porter, and I asked if she knew where we were supposed to go now. She said she was just following her guy. He did point to a door, and we went in there. There was hardly anyone there.....a nice lady gave me another form to fill out, another customs, or immigration...not sure which...and the health form, that I had filled out at the hotel that AM. They didn't have any pencils, so I had to go in my briefcase to get one, ot easy to do given the size of the table we were at, and my Passport fot its Number. the "regular" line had about 4 people in it....the Diamond, and Suite line had 6 people. I got into the suite line, and was up to an agent pretty quickly. He wanted the regular paperwork, and my reservation for my return flight?? RCCL had e-ticketed it through Choice Air....glad I printed out the itenerary, that appeared to satisfy. He disappeared for at least five minutes, with my Creidit Card, and when he came back asked if I had cruised with RCCL before. He then congratulated me on my "Gold Card". I asked him about retriving my carry-on luggage, and he assured me that it would be waiting at my cabin when I got on the ship. I went to the next stop to get my Pic taken. I asked them about my carry on that had been whisked through the hole in the wall. Now I'll explain why I was so concerned. It was a small UNLOCKED carry on suitcase. In it was ALL my medications....including my insulin, and needles, testing eq, my camera, Ipod, and a ton of other expensive, not to mention, life saving stuff.....that I was carrying on...for that reason. The guy taking the Sea Pass card said to see if my luggage had made it to the cabin, as promised.....if not to come back. I got on the ship, and went right up to my Grand Suite.....8506. No luggage. I went in, and dropped off my briefcase...which had a lot of cash...I tried to put it in the room safe, that I finally found.....lots of cabinets in a suite!!! I tried to set the combo....it wasn't working like it was supposed to. I had to find the carry on with my other stuff, so I locked the brief case, and went back down to see the guy who took the card photo. He directed me to the other end of the pier. I walked down there, and went in. I don't walk so well anymore, so this was killin me! There were a bunch of porters, all sitting together. One of them told me, I think, I couldn't be there. When I tried to explain, another big guy escorted me away from the group, and I told him that I was looking for my carry on, without telling him what was in it. There were a few of those big carriers that they use to bring the luggage to the ship, and they were stacked with bags....but he wouldn't let me look for mine. I went back to the ship, and the picture guy just shrugged his shoulders, and said it would probably show up. I did a lot of walking, and finally found where they were doing the luggage, and was able to locate my carry on......thank goodness it was intact, and my stuff appeared to be okay, whew....without it I wouldn't have been able to sail. I had two checked bags. One showed up quickly. The other didn't. After the fire muster I met my room steward. He asked if I had all my luggage....I was missing my big suitcase. He went searching for it, and did find it. He tried the safe, and had no luck, and called maintenance. I finished unpacking my garment bag, and put the big case on the bed.....it was missing the lock I had put on. It was a TSA, approved, combination lock, and I had checked it when I retrieved it at the airport in Panama City....it was locked, and has a tamper thing that tells if TSA had opened it.....it was fine. I opened up the case, and everything was there.....mostly clothes, and a shaving kit....but burried in the clothes were my binoculars....they were still there. At the bottom of the case was my twisted lock.....just the horseshoe thingy (hasp??) was twisted like a pretsel. More on this later.

Okay, I was beat, and still hadn't eaten....and it was now after 6. I went to the Windjammer...I've heard all the issues with the food. I'm pretty easy to please, but the things I tried.....well, I've had better frozen dinners! I grabbed a great LOOKING piece of Chocolate Cake......it did LOOK good. It had no chocolate flavor, and was kinda a wet consistency.....mabe they had just thawed it out?? An way, there was hardly anybody there....and I mean hardly ANYBODY....maybe 20 people?? I stopped at the anytime dining room.....only saw a couple of tables with people at them.

I returned to my cabin. It was plenty big....but showing it's age. Stained, but had been cleaned, carpet. The marble counters were stained, but clean. same for the bathroom sinks. The balcony.....really big, but the wicker was unravling on the bottom of the chairs, and table. I asked my steward (Yousef) to try to get me a lounge tomorrow.....he came back with an older one ten minutes later.

I went to the Welcome Aboard show......okay, I actually counted the people there....78 when the show started. The CD, Rico, explained that there were about 600 people on board!!! Out of that, more than 300 were from Spanish speaking Countries. So he said that since there were so many non English speaking people, that he also would be repeating his stuff in Spanish too. (For English....press 1??). He said that they would be embarking a group of about 200 people from the UK when we get to Barbados the 28th. The Show was really....well, not good. The dancers/singers did a quick number, and were introduced. Then a singer/commedian did his act. He would tell a joke...in Spanish, then repeat it in Engligh. His jokes were almost as old as he, and he was kinda old. I have to be honest, and say that there ended up to be about 100 people there, however about 10% of the audience walked out during his act. He sang a few songs in Spanish too. This was to be his last cruise, after 15 years with RCCL. I went to my cabin after the "show" . I thought the TV had network feeds, but it appears that it's selected reruns of CBS, for RCCL. There were about a half dozen channels with the same move on, in different languages....but I couldn't find it itn English....go figure.

Back to the mangled lock...I went to the Purser's desk to ask if RCCL's Security would destroy a lock to get into the bag. David Castillo ( Suite liason, or something like that, since they don't have a real Concierge on the Grandeur).. agreed that it would take a lot of force to do that to that type of lock, and apologised for it, saying they would not. He told me to buy another in Curacao tomorrow, and they would reimburse me. Finally I felt treated like a Suite Guest!! The Suite amennities are few on the Grandeur......other than a great sized cabin, not too much difference so far. There was a fruit basket, however, it may have been left over, as there were obviously grapes picked off, the strawberries already showed signs of being tired, and by this afternoon are moldy, a lot moldy. They allow use of a bathrobe. Expanded room service. I called for coffee and muffins this AM. It took about 15- 20 minutes. I've heard on CC that they don't have half-and-half, except their own mix.....I did ask for it, and got non-dairy creamer.....I did bring my own Coffee Mate....thanks CC. My cabin steward didn't get to my cabin till about 11. I had checked and the Royal suite, and the Owner's suite adjacent to mine were still not sold the last time before they stopped selling on line, but are occupied now. Seeing that there are so many cabins empty on this cruise I'm surprised they didn't assign someone to assist my attendent. He is doing good job. A strange thig going on in the bathroom, though. The cold water is warm, not room temp warm.....really warm. The first night is was actually scalding hot?? There are two sinks, both are still warm. Also the sinks have extremely low pressure, and it took 15 seconds to fill my 16 ounce coffee mug....Yeah, I timed it, out of curiousity.

So, on to the evening. I went to the WJ for dinner....again, nothing outstanding....I tried a little bit of a lot of stuff. Some was okay, some not so good at all. I wanted to go to the early show, so I saved dessert for after.

The show was Beatle maniacs. It was pretty good. They are versatile musicians, and for the most part it's all them. They go through the different stangesbof the Bealtles Music stlyes, and how they changed. They also changed outfits, and had some background "canned" music to fill in, however, they got a little out of sync during one segment....I noticed, but I'm a musician, former band performer, so I would notice. Again, the room had a ton of empty seats, which makes it difficult for a performance, but they did get the sparse audience to participate. They were good enough for me to go to the second show, whc had a few more people. Again, even the Beatles threw in some Spanish for the benefit of the mostly Spanish guests on board. I did notice there were a bunch of hastily made up Spanish language translation signs in the shops.

Between shows I grabbed something for dessert. They had another good looking chocolate cake....I tried it. Still no flavor, and a "wet" not moist, texture??

I went to bed after walking around for awhile. There really isn't much that I could find going on, that I could find.....but that's me. I didn't go up to the Disco. NOW the fun begins.....I'll spare you the details, but I woke up around midnight to my stomach, being unhappy...to say the least. It was accompanied with nausea, and I was scared to death that it was the dreaded noro......I took what stomach medication I had with me, and spent the next couple of hours, well you can figure it out. I didn't vomit, luckily.....but it was no fun. I have only eaten ship's food since breakfast Sunay 5:00 AM at the hotel, which was cookies. So obviously something I ate didn't agree with me....and I have a good tolerance for stomach stuff.

Okay we're almost pulling into Curacao.....hopefully more later.

CruisinGerman · April 26, 2011

Dear friends:

We were on the previous cruise (Easter week) -- April 17-24. Full to capacity. The crew was looking forward to your transatlantic cruise -- 1/3 the number of passengers.

Please don't get upset about the Spanish language. All of those cruises out of Colón are purposely marketed as Spanish language cruises for the Latins. On our cruise last week there were only 60 English speaking passengers, and the rest were from Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, and other Latin countries. On our cruise, basically nothing was done in English and only a few times at the shows did Rico ask if there were any English speakers so that he would not have to repeat the whole script again in English if there weren't any.

Our cruise (holiday week) was full to capacity with a very young, lively crowd. The disco and deck parties were jammed pack until 3 in the morning or later. There was a lot of energy on the ship all week, and everyone was very well behaved.

The very nature of a 14-day transatlantic cruise in between vacation periods is going to mean a complete change in passenger profile. There will be more retirees and others on package holidays.

We thought the ship was immaculately clean. Yes, we did have a similar water problem to the one you are describing. All staff members were most caring and attentive. The food tasted exactly like on all the other RCCL ships in our opinion.

The first show you didn't like was actually quite well received by the Latin crowd on our cruise -- and it was packed to capacity. This man floats around the various RCCL ships -- we had also seen him on Adventure a few months ago.

The ship has been a Spanish-speaking ship since last November, for the Colón Panamá season. Your translatlantic cruise is going to be the "conversion" back to an English speaking ship for the upcoming summer season.

Let me know if you have any questions (from the perspective of someone who just got off the ship) and in any case I hope you have a great trip.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

Bobal · April 26, 2011

Many thanks for this, I'm finding it really interesting as our next cruise will be on Grandeur in a couple of months. Looking forward to hearing the next instalment but is there any way you could leave a gap between paragraphs to make it a little easier to read :o

I suspect this cruise may be like the Adventure in the Med, sailing out of a Spanish port with a mix of Spanish and English. It's nice to have a different feel onboard.

I wonder if you know who the CD will be when the cruise is in the Med. We were hoping it may be Abel who was Entertainments Guy on Adventure last summer and does the same role on the Grandeur during the winter and, I believe, he filled in as CD on the Grandeur for a few months earlier this year. He's a fluent Spanish speaker and a really great guy and this would seem to be a good chance for him to have his first proper role as CD.

Please keep the reports coming and enjoy the rest of your cruise :)

Scotland01 · April 27, 2011

Good luck with rest of cruise. We are booked on Granduer Aug.28 so keep up news. Sailed on her twice 8 years ago and she was getting a bit run down. Thought she was coming to Med to be sold to Pallatur a division of RCI. We just booked as a wee extra as we could get direct RCI flight package from Glasgow. We sail a lot from Barcelona and there are many languages on announcements. Much prefer a nationality mix. We were on a P&O in Jan. and no surprise 100% British!

kimberley · April 27, 2011

Looking forward to the rest. Have a great cruise. Kimberley

IwannaGo Now · April 30, 2011

Sorry, way behind on posting from the Grandeur....currently it's Sat 4-30-11, about mid cruise.....here are the updates... and in spite of what it sounds like....I enjoy myself...after all I'm on a ship!!

Tuesday afternoon.....Still Curacao. Went to the "mall area" for wi-fi, and checked emails. I then went back to the ship. I don't think I mentioned that getting back on the shp is a production. Of course your stuff goes through the scanner thing, and you go through the metal detector. I set it off every time, and get wanded. This time my stuff went through, but I set off the alarm, and I thought I was going to get thrown in the brig. All my cargo short's pockets have metal snaps...my passport set it off?? belt buckle, sun glasses in my shirt pocket.....geez....glad I don't have artificial joints!! I went up to lunch in the Windjamer....I'm starting to see a trend developing. If not for chocolate chip cookies, and ice cream, I might lose weight on this cruise. There just isn't any taste, except for too much salt in the gravies. They had pork roast.....extremely dry, and bland.....the pork gravy was real salty. Roast turkey....not bad at all.....but the turkey gravy was not very good, no taste to it. No mashed taters, but they did have steamed potatoes. There are alway many desserts to chose from.....if you like chocolate, stay away from any chocolate type cake. They had Black Forest cake...one of my favs..but not here. I mentioned before about the cake.....I'm pretty sure they must have a billion frozen nasty layers of this faux chocolate cake, and they just put something else on it, and serve it. Same horrible texture, and wet like, no chocolate flavor. I don't know, nor could I identify the frosting on this one, I think I tasted a cherry like substance in it somewhere. For me to leave chocolate is unheard of.....I left this on the plate!! I know food is subjective, but I really am easy to please. Carnival didn't serve much chocolate for dessert, but when they did it was good. I thought that with so few passengers on this cruise the food quality might be better than I've heard. No way. I'm hoping for improvement as time goes on. I did have a good asparagus, and shrimp soup yesterday. Last night the Lobster bisque....Campbell's would have been embarassed to put it in a can. It actually tasted like it's tomato soup, but not as good! Today they served cream of veggie....I know what they did with the left over bisque.....just changed the name, and add salt. I do like the way the Windjammer is set up, except for the coffee station...just one area with two dispensers...one regular, one de-caf. Another machine was out of service so far at every meal. Tonights menu looks slim going in.....could be a tough night. Tonight they start having just one showtime, as there are few people attending... and it's the juggler family tonight.

More to come

Dinner Tues, week one.

Soups apparently are hit or miss. Cream of mushroom in the WJ tonight. Many of the soups are pureed. This was dark, and had a mushroom taste, but not a hint of a chunk, or slice of mushroom. I don't remember eating anything I would call great, or even very good. The Southern fried chicken had little to no breading, and was pretty pink in the middle....I didn't eat it, given the other night's mis-adventure.They did have a Belgium Chocolate tart....which was actually a pie.....and it DID tastle like dark chocolate....YAY!! They went and ruined it with the texture, that was way too thick, and dry..they had coffee ice cream.....which saved it. They also served apple pie and they did have vanilla ice cream for that. I do admit I had some of each.

The show (one a night at 7:45 till further notice) was about 3/4 full. The juggler guy was pretty funny, although he spoke much in Spanish, without a translation sometimes, and carried on a continuing banter, in Spanish, with a lady in the front row. He was a pretty good juggler.

Not much going on that interested me, so I went and watched some TV.

Wed AM, and afternoon....Got room service.....full breakfast....they only take about 15 to 20 min to deliver. So far no complaints about the breakfast.....well the donuts are pretty hard, and dry. They did have chocolate frosted ones yesterday, but a LOT of fruit flies were all over them....they appeared to like them so much, that I let them have them all. I walked around the ship....no problem if you wanted a pool chair...tons of empties. They have been trying to do activities, but there is no passenger interest. Baggo, poolside, (no idea what that is!!) didn't happen, as nobody signed up.

Lunch was,....well....a lot of different stuff. I sampled sweet and sour pork...nice flavor, but the pork was tough, and dry. Kidney & steak pie...way too salty, beef was tough and dry....don't think I found a kidney, if there was supposed to be any in there. Beef, on the carving table...didn't try it. I tried assorted cold salads.....okay, but nothing to get excited about. The cream of asaragus soup was very good, and even had asparagus in it. I had a slice (slim slices on all pies) of what was labeled Lemon-meringue tart. Plenty of lemon flavor, but again, the texture was very sticky, gooey, and thick.

A few asides. I got a call from Mr Castillo asking if I had replaced the mangled lock yet. I told him I didn't find one in Curacao. He wanted to know if I wanted to try again in Barbados tomorrow...I would. He said they had paged me a few times. I did hear them page someone, from deck 8, without a cabin #, but it certainly didn't sound anything like my last name name. I was stopped in the hall by an official looking Lady, who wanted to know if everything was okay with the cabin. I did mention the warm, cold water, and slim volume, and pressure. She said it would be taken care of. I took the opportunity to give kudos to my cabin guy, who had some help now. The weather has been perect...not very hot, although the ship's info station only gives the outside temp in C, so it's around 27. They give the pool temps in F, 81 go figure, again.

They did have a crew/passenger pool volleyball game after lunch....but no comentator....

Wed PM

Dinner in the Windjammer. "New England" clam chowder...not. Appears to be thickened with flour...distinct uncooked flour taste. Very little potato, or clam content...and I dug around the bottom of the pot, looking. It appears the buffet selections are shrinking a bit, as they figure out how many people are eating in the WJ. Dessert selections, too, are not as expansive.....same "Black Forest" cake, and apple pie as before....

Roast pork on the carving station...it was tender, but the gravy, still is a salty liquid. The Asian section did have some kind of crisp cicken, which wasn't bad at all....and it was cooked! Egg drop soup was okay, and needed salt!! They seem to have a salt inconsistency thing going on. All in all, another unremarkable meal. I am eating in the WJ because it appears to pretty much have the same things the dining room has. Okay, no snails here, or shrimp cocktail, but I sample a taste of many things, and if I find something that is palatable (to me) then I go up and get a regular serving....much more convenient than the DR.

The show tonight was Joey Van, an aging, impressionist. He was a pretty funny guy, but didn't speak Spanish, so he didn't get a lot of laughs, as many don't understand English. It was apparent the audience didn't get a lot of the sight gags, either. The room was about 2/3 full, as there is only one show now, a night. I went up to the WJ for dessert...apple pie, and vanilla ice cream. Pie has a unique unflakey, texture, and filling had to come out of a can.....not really bad, just different. The WJ attendents are attentive, but too quick to clear utensils, and drinks....no matter how you try to arrange things to indicate you're returning. Maybe they're bored, since the place is pretty empty. They do come around and asked if you want something, often. The rest of the ship's crew is very friendly, and always have a smile, and a "hello". Unless you're a smoker, or drinker, not much happening after the show. I went to the cabin, and tried to find something on TV, which is an Samsung 32" LCD, although not HD. The remote is often finicky when changing channels. I do miss the bow cam that many ships have.

At 10:45PM the phone rang...it was David Castillo, Suite guy, telling me he located some luggage locks, if I would like to see them, rather than look for one tomorrow in Barbados. I thanked him, and said I'd check them out tomorrow.

Thursday AM

We pulled into Barbados just before 8. I have a scenic view of an enormous sugar cane elevator, that they use to fill the cargo ships....really nasty with bird droppings.....If I stretch, I can almost touch it from my balcony, it's about as high as deck 9+ . It's cloudy....nope, it's raining. Supposed to be showers all day....could be a cabin day....glad I brought my own movies. BTW for any techies....the TV will accept, and read an external hard drive (that's where I put my movies). I brought a cable to connect my PC to the TV, but am using just my portable hard drive.

I decided to order Eggs Benedict from Room Service, per my Grand Suite, extended room service menu Perk. I was told that I could not do that. I reminded the phone guy I was in a Grand Suite, and he asked when I ordered Eggs Benedict? Okay, I know there's a language barrier, but I'm trying to order them NOW. "Did I order them yesterday?"....no, I want them this morning. "They were only for yesterday mornng"....huh? "You can not have them this morning." Okay give me some pastry, then. "How many?" Pastries? "Yes" I don't know, a couple, with a pot of coffee. "How many?"....a pot, "For how many pople?" Just me, but I want a pot.....can I get real cream with that. "You don't like the non dairy?" No, I'd rather cream. "Okay." I knew I should have pressed 1 ! LoL Room service got here in 15-20 minutes...pretty consistently. I got 4 mini pastries, and a mini pot of coffee....enough for 2 cups....and a RCCL home made cream mixture, that tasted a lot like whole milk, certainly not cream, or half&half. I do bring my own Vanilla Coffee Mate, to add a hint of vanilla flavor to the coffee, but am I glad I brought it. Guess I have to order for more than one from now on, to get the "Big Person" pot of coffee.

Out of curiousity I checked the temperature of the sink "cold" water....86. I do carry a digital, accurate thermometer, to be sure the refridgerator is cold enough for my medication. The fridge is 52. I mention this cause the maintenence guy was here to check out the temp, and pressure yesterday afternoon, while I was on the balcony reading. He knocked on the balcony door, and gave me the "thumbs up" to indicate all was well, I guess. I do't notice any change... the water is still a little pressure spray, like a kitchen sink sprayer without pressure.... any less and it would be a trickle spray, and of course, warm. The shower is gangbusters, but when I got out of the hot shower, and turn the sink water to fill the sink, the cold water is near scalding for about a minute (takes that long to half fill the sink for shaving) before settling down to warm "cold" .

I just got a call....9:30am to tell me they had a lock for me at the front desk......I don't know why they are sooo concerned about an $8 lock!!

I went to the pier shopping area....pretty bleak. There is free wi-si there.....well, there are 3 Big Ships in port with us...we being the last to tie up....there was a great signal there, but no IP addresses available.....too many people trying to get on the net. After about 45 min, I give up....since my battery only lasts an hour. I return to the ship, and try lunch......cream of chicken soup....big hunks of chicken, no veggies, and I think the chicken ran thru with boots on, no chicken flavor......not bad tasting for whatever it was, but needed salt. Bangers and mashed....must be in honor of the 200 pax we picked up today from the UK. Bangers too salty, as were the mashed. Chicken a-la-king....nosalt, no a-la-king flavor, lots of chicken...that tasted like chicken. Dessert...will I ever learn?? There was a cube shaped multi layer chocolate something. Really thin slices of wet....really wet cake, and a coffee type frosting. Didn't eat it. Good thing there are cookies!!

Got an envelope from Crown and Anchor delivered to my cabin. I have no idea what it said, as it was all in Spanish. I went to the C&A desk....but nobody there....they wouldn't be back till 5:30. I wrote on the envelope to please translate and send it back to me, and but it on the keyboard. I went back to the shopping area....still can't conect to the NET....and neither could a ton of other people....all of us asking each other if we got on.....I saw one guy that got on, and he was still there his net phone, and I don't think he was going to ever leave. I again tried till I was running out of battery, and came back to the ship. I mentioned the sugar cane evevator, and the bird droppings...well it appears the birds enjoy my balcony too, and are lining up on the rail.....have to get the Lysol wipes when we leave.

I turned in the coupon I had for free internet.....5 minutes, or 10% off a package....$35 for 60 minutes. I'm going to try to send this within 5 minutes....wish me luck. So far there has been NO special stuff for Suite Passengers, nor any formal nights. I think tomorrow (day 6) will be the Capt's welcome aboard thing.

Thursday 4-28-11 Eve.

Dinner in the Windjammer again. Everytime I look in the My Time dining room area, I see few people. I think more are going to the Winjammer. Nothing appealed tonight. Even the soups looked sad. I ended up with sweet and sour chicken...Asian style, which wasn't too bad. The fried rice was okay. There was some kind of beef on the carving board, that looked like pork....I passed. I tried very little. Dessert was a chocolate pie/tart. It did have flavor, but again, the texture reminded me of Play-Doh. The show was a production number....first time for ths show. It was pretty good. Kinda a conglomeration of Broadway shows, and called "Rhythm, and Rhyme", I think. Pretty good sets, and costumes. There seemed to be a combination of the live band, and canned music to fill in. The showroom was almost full....given we added 200 UK passengrs today. did I mention that they gave me two small locks to replace the larger size one that got removed? They couldn't find the size I had, so figured I could put two little one on instead?? I asked why I couldn't get Eggs Benedict, and they said yes I could, it's on the Suite Room Service Menu...but they called room service, and was told that it was too late for breakfast room service....after the agent finally got the person on the other end of the phone that they wanted to know WHY I couldn't get eggs benedict this morning they said they now have a new policy of one specialty item. Today apparently it was some sort of Quiche. This was news to Customer service, and weren't aware of the change. I was told to call them if I want anything and they would get it for me. So now if I want something that room service won't deliver, I hav to call Customer Service, who will call the kitchen, and I guess someone will deliver it. Pretty good system. It would appear that there is little, to no, communication going on with RCCL....even within one of it's own ships!!

They are making a big deal of William and Kate's wedding, with a replay in the Showroom at noon tomorrow, with a toast, then another toast at the Capt's Welcome party....the Cruise Director asked from the stage if we were excited about it..(probably to cater to the 200 UK pax that embarked today)....and about a half dozen people applauded.....a few ladies beside me just laughed and said they weren't invited, and didn't care. Guess the USA press think it's a bigger deal than the Brits!!

Pretty rocky tonight...but I like the motion!

Friday...4-29

We set our clocks ahead one hr at 2AM....Our debakation is 6 hrs ahead of us, so I guess we are going to catch up gradually. I got my room service coffee (requested a BIG pot), and enjoyed it on the balcony. Kinda windy, but comfortable. I asked my cabin steward for some different pillows since the regular ones are pretty thin. As a Grand Suite passenger one of the perks is a pillow menu, with a choice of 4 different pillows. I asked for the Goose Down. I could only get one, as they were gone. Oh well...getting used to disappointment with this suite thing. Did I mention that the tub, although a normal size, has these good size bumps on the bottom third of the tub. Even adjusting the shower head still makes it necessary to stand on these.....well kinda like standing on almost hockey sized smooth rocks. I have bad feet, so it's difficul standing there. Moving forward causes me to push the drain stopper down, which I've done many times, and before I realize it, I'm standing in water. Plenty of pressure, and water volume in the shower.

Lunch was again unremarkable. No sense saying the same things over, and over. If I stumble on anything really good, I'll let you know. Tonight is the first formal night. I checked the dinner menu, but saw nothing to get excited about. I thought one of the Suite Perks was free pressing on the first formal night, but haven't gotten any notice about it. I did receive a new fruit basket, and a plate of a couple different cheeses, half a dozen crackers, grapes, a few walnuts, and strawberries....yay, perks!!

Decided to skip the Capt's welcome aboard (day 6??) and the 1st formal night dinner, and went to the Windjammer again. Cream of asparagus soup was really good last time, it was more a puree this time, and no pieces of asparagus...but was still tasty. The penne and scallops that was in the main dining room was here too, and was pretty good. The had deep fried shrimp fritters, which hd a shrmp flavor, and wo doesn't like fried dough...I really do!! Desserts do seem to be getting less bountiful, but there was a chocolate something called a royal cake which wasn't very large. It did have a chocolate flavor, but was really thick, not cakelike....semi solid play-doh-like. Maybe just old frosting, or fudge that didn't quie make it. It relly wasn't bad tasting....but I was in fear of a sugar coma, so didn't eat it all. I really did wonder how they would get it off the fork, as it put a really thick coating on it.....but it was definately chocolate!!

When I got back to my cabin I had a bottle of wine waiting. They had e-mailed me previous to the cruise asking what kind I would like, as a suite perk. I emailed back that I would prefer Diet Coke. I got wine....I won't whine! The Royal Suite didn't sell on this cruise.....I guess they don't upgrade to that. They are going to hold a raffle at the show tonight to sell that off. The show tonight is at 10:15....I hope I can stay awake, to buy some raffle tickets. The show is a singer named Elvy Rose.

Well I just came back from the show. There was no raffle for the Royal Suite. I could hae sworn that's what the Capt had announced during his noon time report. Maybe I misunderstood...doubt it, but maybe. I went to the Showroom at 10, but nobody was there. I asked the waiters milling about where the raffle tickets were. They directed me to the Casino. I went to the Casino. They told me the raffle was at the Bingo. Once again....this is becoming, what I'm experiencing as typical Royal Caribbean. I went back to the showroom. People started arriving, and about 10:25 cruise director Rico announced that they would have an AUCTION for the Royal Suite. The proceeds would go to Make a Wish....great organization, but I'm guessing they would have made more with a raffle, and given everybody a chance. The bidding started at $500....eliminating most there. Only a handful bidded, and it went for $875. I don't know what the guy who won had for a cabin....but if he went from an inside to a Royal Suite for $875....he got a deal. I was wishing I could have sold my Grand Suite at auction, then I would have been able to bid. I think it was just another of Royal Caribbean's ineptness. Flame if you must, but the left hand knows not what the right hand is doing here.

Elvy Rose is a Spanish singer. Her first number was a really energized "I've got the Music in Me"... with coochie-coochie's...her words, not mine, complete with immediate audience involvement, including kids, and some yelling. She said she was going to do some 60's 70, 80's and Spanish songs. Her next song was a Spanish version of Roy Orbison's "Crying". I was tired, and disappointed in the non-raffle, and we are losing another hour of sleep tonight as we set the clocks ahead again......so I left.

Cosmic Rays · April 30, 2011

OMG!!!

Things don't appear to be meeting your expectations, let alone exceeding them. Is the food on offer really that bad? I get the impression that there aren't many on board en route to Europe and Palma, Majorca - is that right ............. and where did the voyage start from?

I do hope things improve all round for when we join her on May 15th for a week out of Palma............

cello56 · April 30, 2011

Is there a reason why you are eating dinner in the Windjammer every single night? Perhaps you would enjoy the food in the main dining room more? I would certainly give it a try. Buffets night after night must be getting kind of old.

trinitytrees · April 30, 2011

cosmic rays........ would you consider posting any tips after your cruise, we go on our first RCI cruise end of may from palma? so your experiences of the cruise ccould help us.........thanks in advance

louhun88 · April 30, 2011

:(:(

Im going on the Grandeur on 8 May 2011, i hope the food is good for our first cruise!!!

Sharon Sails · April 30, 2011

Wondering why you took this cruise, as you sound so miserable... wouldn't it be cheaper to stay at home and cook your own meals? Sounds just horrible!:eek:

wg6530 · April 30, 2011

Wondering why you took this cruise, as you sound so miserable... wouldn't it be cheaper to stay at home and cook your own meals? Sounds just horrible!:eek:

It does sound that way doesn't it? OP says he is glad to be on a ship, but seems to see the dark side of things. some of the "issues" seem mundane or comical to me. Why post here if detectors go off if you have plenty of metal on your clothing and metal in you pocket? Passengers are only safe if the detectors are reasonably sensitive. Why post if suite pillow menu choices are limited on day five of the cruise? No surprise if you wait. Why post that Royal is making a fuss about an $8 lock after you complained at guest services? Why not try the dining room if MTD is uncrowded and you do not like Windjammer's food? I hope the OP just enjoys sharing details and does indeed have a fabulous time on the ship.

Cosmic Rays · May 1, 2011

:(:(

Im going on the Grandeur on 8 May 2011, i hope the food is good for our first cruise!!!

It will be!! Food is subjective and you will be fine. My motto has always been.........hot food, hot plates!!

Do enjoy your first cruise around the Mediterranean - a week today!!

Delbankin · May 1, 2011

It certainly has been an interesting read. Was quite looking forward to our cruise at the end of May but this sort of review puts a dampner on things. But then again, perhaps main poster should become a restaurant critic!

I was hoping to find out lots of things about the ship before we join her at the end of the month but nothing much has been revealed other than the amount the poster eats in a day and how bad it is.

Hopefully those of you on the ship before us can give a more revealing view.

I do however appreciate the time taken by our poster to document the trip.

D.

CruisinGerman · May 1, 2011

Dear friends:

We were on Grandeur April 17-24 Easter Cruise as mentioned above. It was actually our family members who were on with us who had the Royal Suite booked for both cruises, but had to cancel the transatlantic portion just a few days before the April 17 cruise.

The ship is fine. Just remember it is not a Voyager, Freedom, or Oasis class ship. There are no ice rinks, water slides or flow riders, and no Royal Promenade.

All of the crew were outstanding, from the laborers right up to the officers.

The captain on the ship right now is one of the most personable RCCL captains we have ever met.

Because food is subjective, I will not say whether it was good or bad. I will only say that it was exactly the same as on any other RCCL ship -- and we have been on 5 ships in the last few months.

This should be a dream cruise for the original poster. The 14-day translatlantic cost half of what the 7-day Easter cruise cost -- and it is running with only 800 passengers. On our cruise, the deck was always crowded. I hope the Original Poster is taking advantage of the fact that the ship is empty and there aren't any crowds or waiting anyplace.

When we disembarked, the ship was being fully re-stocked in Panamá for the transatlantic. I am surprised to hear that part of the food is stale.

Very few Americans were to be onboard (which is understandable given the distance of the departure port from the U.S.). Mostly Spanish-speakers plus a British charter group that was boarding in Barbados.

Rico the cruise director is one of the most energetic cruise directors RCCL has. The entertainment staff was also top notch.

I think my only complaint about the ship would be that, if you are now accustomed to Voyager class and newer, the gym area and facilities on the Grandeur just seem too small. But that's how ships were built back then.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

fowlisbabe · May 1, 2011

It certainly has been an interesting read. Was quite looking forward to our cruise at the end of May but this sort of review puts a dampner on things. But then again, perhaps main poster should become a restaurant critic!

I was hoping to find out lots of things about the ship before we join her at the end of the month but nothing much has been revealed other than the amount the poster eats in a day and how bad it is.

Hopefully those of you on the ship before us can give a more revealing view.

I do however appreciate the time taken by our poster to document the trip.

D.

We are also joining the ship at the end of May. I am surprised that the OP has written so many negatives on the ship.

We are looking forward to our trip on the Grandeur and won't let the previous postings put us off. A cruise is what you make it yourself - and in our case we plan to enjoy!

IwannaGo Now · May 1, 2011

Gunther...thanks for the encouragement.....my bad for not researching this cruise a little better, so I could have been prepared. You are right, the ship, although showing wear, it is clean. I'm disappointed in the food.I'm a meat and potatoe guy, but haven't gotten it in the Windjammer yet. I see he dinner menu for tonight has fried chicken, mashed, and gravy. I'm thinking of trying the dining room.

Bobal....Abel is the activities director, and has a frequent presence around the ship, and is very approachable. I seldom see Rico Bruiel (SP??) the Cruise Director, except to intro the shows.

Saturday..4-30-11

I'm not liking this losing an hour an night thing....takes till 11am to finish waking up. I have been getting my morning room service coffee, and enjoying it on the balcony. Room service delivery has slowed just a bit. I did go up the the Windjammer for a couple of blueberry pancakes, which were good. I just wish they would be hot by the time you get a table. Maybe I'll try to order them on Room service some A.M. Not a lot going on for spectator activities.

Lunch in the WJ ...tried the penne with seafood sauce....okay.....the Lamb stew....real salty, and tough lamb.....the good news was that the mashed taters were not salty, so they offset each other. They had some BBQ chicken out on the deck....not too bad at all. Desserts...not good at all. Tried some cream pie thing,...two bites was more than enough. Not a lot of appetizing selections. Choc chip cookies are still okay!! ;-) Although I like a chewy cookie, and these are crisp....they are still pretty good. Kinda cloudy today, breezy, and not overly warm....not real rocky though. This is my first crossing, and I thought it would be rougher.

I fell asleep this aftrnoon listening to my book on my iPod on the balcony...guess losing an hour a night is getting to me.

I skipped dinner, and went to the one show at 7:45. I like it when the cruise director tells a few jokes before the headliner does the show, but Rico just does a quick intro, and then after the show tells what's happening currerntly, and for the next day. He has been doing the post show thing in English first, then Spanish, but many people leave after the English version.....so we'll see what happens.

The show was Rey...something, I keep throwing out the Compass with the show info, sorry. He really had a talent for Ventriloquism.....but his show was really lacking....he needs a writer. I was surprised as he had an obvious Spanish surname, and his first puppet character was a parrot named Pedro, or something similar, but didn't do too much Spanish. His show was comprised of the characters singing in their puppet voices....for much too long original songs. With his "merlin" type puppet, he did a long mind reading skit guessing the number, converted to animal/country/color thing that has been around for tons of years. His jokes were all heard before, many times, and got few laughs.....maybe cause he didn't translate them to Spanish. I did feel bad for him as many did leave during his performance, and he did a good job not moving his lips, and apparently made his own puppets....he was good, his material....not so good.

I went up to the Windjammer after the show....all seem to last about 45-50 minutes....for something to eat. I know I sound negative about most of the food.....not my fault...it is lacking, absolutely lacking. I tried the lamb chop.....dry and tough. Theu also had Lamb kabobs.....actually ground lamb roasted on a stick that resembled a cat-o-nine tail,... I'm guessing they may taste the same. I went through the line again, looking for somethin I might eat.....really slim tonight. I checked ot the desserts....also slim. They did have what they labeled a Chocolate Mousse Tart.....I had to give t a shot.....After attempting to cut it with a fork, I had a flashback to the Belgium Chocolate tart....that was pie shaped.....this was the same offering, cut in small cubes instead, but unmistakeably the same thing.....except, a few days older, and a firmer texture, unable to eat this one at all......and I'll be really checking the dessert forks from now on, cause there's no way that cementicious stuff is coming off them, without some solvent!! The chocolate ice cream was gone, but the attendant said more was enroute There were no Choc chip cookies either, but another kind, which was prettty good...although I'm not sure what it was, but had a slight coconut flavor, and was less crispy, and a bit chewy. After I finished it, the ice cream arrived...vanilla...had a small scoop.

I had thought about going to watch Karaoke, but that wasn't starting till 11PM, and since we were turning the clocks ahead, to my mind was really midnight....I went to my cabin, where there was not much on tv....Glad I brought my own movies. DVD's were also supposed to be a Suite Perk....but I have't seen any reference to them on my suite perks letter....nor have I seen any in the Library, or elsewhere. I set my watch ahead...and went to bed to a gently rocking sea, and looking out at the billions of bright stars through my slider.....makes it all worthwhile!

IwannaGo Now · May 6, 2011

Finally go the internet back some time this (Friday) morning......I'll catch you up....Currently...Noon fri, ship's time

I'll try to answer questions the next posting, as I read them.

Cosmic Rays...In my opinion, the food is not very good. It's okay, but not really good. We left Colon 24 Apr, with about 600 pax...more than half of which were from Spanish speaking Countries. We took on about 200 pax in Barbados, from the UK.

Cello56.....I have been going to the WJ mostly because I signed up for My Time Dining, the WJ pretty much, with few exceptions, has the same items as the DR. Everytime I pass the My Time Dining room, there are very few in there.....last night I peeked in....4 tables had people at them. I read the dinner menu daily, and I see, for the most part, the same in the WJ. I don't enjoy sitting there for one to two hours to eat. Maybe I'll check it out tonight, before the Crown and Anchor returning pax party.

WG6530.....I didn't complain about the lock. My suitcase was obviously boken into at the pier in Colon. If somebody is breaking into luggage, then RCCL should know about it. I didn't ask for compensation. If you read the post you will see I was amazed that they would page me on the ship, and also call my cabin at 10:45PM.,and then again the next morning, about a lock. I just related my experience with reboarding the ship....didn't think it was complaining....maybe my way of saying the terrorists HAVE won! Regarding the pillows...Why advertise a perk, in the cabin, and then not have enough for all pax........you were probably right...I shouldn't have waited till the 5th day..I could have gotten the same answer on day 2....if not me, then another person would have been denied.....but maybe they won't write their experiences.....lest they be set afire!! LoL

Regarding the food.....I have gone to a Buffet Rest in the South East, called the Golden Corral, and this food is not even on a par with it....or Appleby's, or any of that type chain. My posts of other cruises will say if I enjoyed something, or not. I admittedly have not tried much of the beef.....not a beef eater....maybe that's good, I don't know. Of course I have not sampled everything on the line, but try to at least take a taste of much of it, and if I find something to my liking, I'll go back for more. I don't like to waste, and I'm not going to eat something I ordered in the DR, that is too salty, too tough, or too dry. or if it just doesn't taste good. I would love to see a poll on how people rate the food......Excellent....good.....okay......not good.

I have witten reviews on some other cruises....some good, some bad. I am only giving my opinion as I experience it. My recent cruises the last couple of years have been 2 MSC cruises, CCL Dream, and Freedom, and NCL Dawn. I have been cruising since way back when ships only carried 400 pax. I do prefer a smaller ship. I'm not going to lie to just appease the cheer leaders, and say everything is the best ever! This, because of the price was my first Suite....which doesn't have the perks that are advertized in the brochures. I am not miserable at all, disappointed in RCCL....OMG, did I say that out loud??....My last RCCL cruise was the Voyager....10 years ago, and it was a great experience. I'm just stating things as my opinion. For all that say I'm being negative.....I'm being truthful. Cruising in general has been going downhill...especially the food.....as they try to make it affordable for more people...at the expense of cutting costs. I guess if you recently started cruising then you wouldn't understand what it once was. DISCLAIMER......Your cruise experience may vary...........

Sunday....May Day....oops shouldn't say that on a ship!!!.....May 1, 2011.

I think we are now in the middle of the Atlantic.....still fairly calm seas.

The sun wasn't quite up yet, that I could see. It was 7:45 ships time.....I realize that my "home time" is actually 4:45AM....I'm still tired, but get up anyway. It's windy, and feels cool out on the balony. I call room service for coffee. They arrive in about 15 minutes today....maybe everybody's sleeping....due to the time change.

I went up for brunch, got a couple eggs, over. Not many people in the Windjammer, and they are corraling us to one small section. I walked around the ship to give my cabin steward time to tidy up. I entered the TV Trivia game. There was one husband-wife team, and me. Amazingly we tied, so we each got a RCCL travel cup. All the trivia games I've seen are sparsely attended. They were practicing Sextant use up on the top deck. They don't use this antiquated system of navigation, but since we are in the middle of the Atlantic the Captain decided to have the crew practice doing the reconing. They did explain what they were doing. The Capt was answering questions too. Ths exercise only had about 15 people attending. I did get to look at the horizon, and "see" the filtered reflected sun in the instument.

Lunch was pretty sad pickings I sampled a Pork Stew...they must get good deals on the cuts of meat. Tough, salty, and dry! I grabbed a spoon of sticky dry rice. I made a small cold cut sandwich instead. Dessert....they are stil trying to get rid of that nasty chocolate concoction ....this time pie shaped, again. A variation was the same chocolate mess, with pecans mixed in....didn't even try either....or anything else.

I went to watch the Pool Olympics....It took 20 minutes to get enough people for 2 teams....and resorted to a few kids in the mix. Only lasted about 20 minutes. It's pretty windy, and feels cool by the pool....lots of empty places. I checked the temp on my balcony...76, but with the wind it does feel cooler.

I went to the Gatsby Dining Room for My Time Dining. They were able to seat me right away....There were 5 others in the room. During my meal another dozen, or so came in. I ordered a Caesar salad, and fried chicken. The salad was really big, I only ate about 1/3. The chicken was pretty good...sorta bread crumb coating, more oven, or pan fried, than deep fried. I ordered a capachino (SP???no spell check on this program) pie, and ice cream. The pie thing was okay. It took just over an hour from beginning to end. During dessert my waiter, Francis, told me that tomorrow night is the 2nd Formal night, Capt's Dinner. I asked if it was lobster night. He said no lobster on this cruise. I thought he was kidding, but he said, really no lobster, beef, and shrimp cocktail, and he would really be surprised if they serve lobster.

I attended the Welcome Back event. They did have free drinks, I got a diet coke. They had hot, and cold finger foods on the dance floor along with a big logo ice sculpture. A couple of officers were mingling, and meeting pax. I asked the officer who came up to me if he was connected with food services. He said no, but could find answers to any questions. I asked him if there was a lobster night. He didn't know, but wouldfind out for me. I saw him talk to some other officer, who went into the room where the food was coming from. The original officer came back to report that w are on the European menu, and no, they do not have lobster, but that the boss was going to see if any was on board, to haave for me tomorrow eveing. Okay, that did impress me....again, I was NOT complaining, but gathering information for future cruises....and others, who might want to know. He came back a few minutes later to tell me that they could not find any, and said he was sorry. Perhaps being on the European menu would explain the difference in what I, personally, am experiencing with the food issue????

Rico said a few things, bilingually, and intoduced the Captain, who did his thing, and he did say there was a large difference in pax, there being only 300 English speaking onboard....he then translated. Rico intro'd the Crown and Anchor lady who did her sales pitch. They acknowledged a couple, onboard with over 300 cruise points, (not sure if that converts to days onboard or not) and gave them a bottle of something. Rico then thanked all for attending. On the way out the officer's, and some crew were lined up, thanking us as we left.

Out of curiosity, I went to the Windjammer. Identical menu items there, although the chicken I had in the DR was bigger, and a lighter color than what was being served. They had a few more items here...a deep fried pork thing, and minute steaks, and of course the Asian area. So I probably will return here.....I won't get shrimp cocktail in the WJ.....maybe I can get that in room service....if I really need it. I would rather be in control of my portions, seeing there was no discernable difference in the menu....I also find that the Main Dining room is usually too loud for me, so I'll either do My Time, or most likely WJ.

I went back to the cabin, since the show was at 10:15, and it was about 8:30. I started watcing a movie I had brought, and lost track of time. When I noticed, it was 10:30....so I skipped the show, which was "Tango Buenos Aires" with the singers and dancers. I haven noticed the shows being rebroadcast on the cabin TV. We lost the satellite feed to a couple stations, because of our position. CNN , and FNN are gone, there is an audio podcast of BBC....but who can understand those guys???....just kidding!! The CBS network...for RCCL. is jst repeating the same repeats of a few different shows and sitcoms. My movie ended, and I went to bed.

We lose another hour tonight....bringing us to 4 hours ahead of Daylight Saving Times.

****************************************************************************************************

Monday Grand 5-2-11

I awoke during the night, and we had began to roll pretty good. What had woke me up was a noise, that turned out to be the mini-bar soda, and water that ws removed, and placed in a drawer in the bar area. After adjusting the sodas, and water, I tried to get back to sleep, but couldn't. The stars were not visible....must have gotten cloudy out there. I like the motion, not complaining!! I should mention that the Grand Suite appears to have much better sound insulation than other cabins I;ve had. I do hear the ocassional cart rolling above me in the Windjammer, but it's more of a slight rmble, and not that intrusive. I haven't head any voices, or noise from either neighbor, I'm glad neither side smokes on the balcony either.

I drifted off sometime after 5 AM, and awoke at 8...couldn't keep my eyes open, and fell bak asleep till 9. I forced myself out of bed, and called room service for coffee. The in room coffee maker only makes 1 cup, and there's one de-caf, and one regular filter thing....one cup won't do it for me...easier to call for a pot, and they usually get here in about 15 minutes.

It's partly cloudy, we're not rolling like we were during the night. It's not as windy either, but has cooled down a bit, with less humidity. They stopped giving the pool temps on the TV in F but right now at 10:30am they are at 27.2 C...and the air temp is 21 C. Although I think it's cooler, without the wind it's comfortable out here on the balcony...but the forecast is calling for ocassional showers....

I was getting ready for a late breakfast when I noticed that they had changed the breakfast time to end at 11:00 in the Windjammer. I went back to my compass's, and uptill, and including day 6 it was noon time. It was already 11:20....but when I got there they were still serving, and people were still arriving. I'll have to pay better attention to the times. I never havea problem with the breakfast food.

We are periodically pitching and rolling. Nobody is in the pool....and the water is rougher there than on the sea. It's still kinda cool, and only one guy is in the whirlpool. Very few are scattered around the pool...and it's around noon.

I went to post yesterday's dissertation, but there was no internet access. I'm not sure if that is one of the satellite's we have lost or not....I'll try later.

I watched the pool olympics this afternnon at 2. There were more people out, but many were covered with their towels, as it was still abit cool....nobody i the pool, except for two guys in the olympics. I enjoyy watching these games, as they're usually entertaining, and Abel, the activities direstor does a good job.

I then went to , and a screen message to try in a few minutes. After a few attempts, I quit.

I took a nap instead...out of my bodyclock not adjusting too well. If I ever do anothr crossing, I'll make sure to do it in the Westbound direction, to gain an hour of sleep. I'm learning stuff on this cruise.....especially about trans Atlantic crossings.

I decided to forego formal night, since There was no lobster The WJ had the same menu, except for the carved fillet of beef in the DR. The carving station had pork. Again, nothing remarkable. I had duck, which was good. I tried a couple of shrimp ravioli which seemed better last time. The lobster bisque was the same as last outing. There was apple studel among other offerings.....sorry I have to complain about this....I was unable to break through the strudel to the plate to get a forkful. I tried to get through with a spoon, and was afraid the whole thing would fly off the plate. I took the thing apart with my fingers, and ate the inside filling along with a scoop of ice cream. I don't think strudel is supposed to be like armor plating, but I could be wrong.....if so I'm sure I'll hear about it. The icecream was good!!

I went back to the internet area. and could not get access again. I did see a card on one of the stations in the rear that said theywere having trouble, and were working in it. In the center of the area was now a big 8x10 sign...no two, one in Spanish... advertising 50% off internet time till 9AM the morning we get to Tenerife. Guess it doesn't matter much if it 's not working. I'll try later.

A couple asides.... I did receive, this afternoon, a small plate of two Choc covered strawberies, and a few chocolate goodie type things, and a yummy orange flavored square....a nice touch. They also delivered a four page "Times Digest, Headline News" flyer, as there are no news stations on the tv currently....anther nice touch.

**************************************************************************************

Tuesday..5-3-11

I slept till 8:30 this morning....at home I would never sleep this late...must be the constant time changes. Too cold to update this on the balcony with my Room Service coffee. It's 71.2, according to my trusty digital refrig thermometer, with a slight breeze....being from FL...it's cool to me. It's pretty cloudy out there with breaks of sun....forecast is for 87 with 78% humidity, per the Compass.

Yay....we don't have to set the clocks ahead tonight as we're 5 hrs ahead of daylight savings time, already, and Tenerife is one hr behind Palma de Majorca....so I believe we will lose one more hour after we leave Tenerife.

We're still missing some satellite TV stations so I don't know if we have Internet access yet. I did check at 11PM last night and still none.

The waters are pretty calm...slight movement, which gets ocassionly more pitch, for only a minute or so, and no white caps on the slight waves.

The TV does show a mixture of Classic Movies, and some not so new movies on 2 chanels...Chanel 20 is touted as a Family comedy venue, and 21 is Action adventure....showing...Casablanca, Moonstruck, Singing in the Rain, and such, with a couple of newer ones, like Social Network,and Rabbit Hole....on a 24 hr basis. Little Fockers, How Do You Know and True Grit (new one) have been showing in 5 different languages....but not English, I don't know why not??

I skipped the show again last night in favor of a movie I brought with me. The 10:15 show was described as 'Hot, Latin,and passionate....the star of Tango Passion", staring Daniel Bouchet, who, I think, is one of the ship's dancer's and singers, per one of the crew.

They are showing lasts nights "Love and Marriage" show on the TV this morning. I'm hoping they show all the ship's shows that have had a late performance time.

Before I went to "brunch" just before 11, I check on the Internet access....but still none, per the signs....now on almost all the stations.....still advertizing the 50% off sale...LoL! It should say 100% off !!

Why do you think that they keep making the table area smaller, only one relativly small open area, in the WJ? I know they changed the breakfast time to end at 11.....but given the time changes, people appear to be sleeping later. Given the fact that it was actually crowded, and with only 900 pax onboard you still have to hunt for a table that was empty, and devoid of dirty plates?? I took 3 rounds around before I found an empty, clean table. As they don't provide trays, and there is only one coffe dispenser available, I go without a beverage, till an attendant gets to asking if I'd like some thing. By the time he returns, I am just finishing, so I leave with my coffee, and go on deck. It's sorta drizzling, only a few wandering about. I go inside to finish my coffee, and wander about.

I stop at Guest Services to ask if they have an estimation of when Internet Satellite will be back. They tell me maybe late tonight, or tomorrow.

I see the new "Times News" coming out.....has the headline...."Osama bin Laden dead; Obama nails him, leads American comeback" Obviously a liberal slanted report. It doesn't say where the news info comes from on the flyer. I didn't even know Obama had a gun!! LoL

I am happy they got him. I can't wait to get the news stations back on the TV....but it will be old news by then, if I understand the paper correctly, he was killed Sunday afternoon...and Obama was getting ready to read a speech then, but no time-line on our report...so I don't know when we'll catch up with the world.

It looks like we're heading toward somewhat clearer skies ahead...the seas are still pretty calm, with just the slightest rolling.

I keep a watch for marine life, but haven't spotted any, except for the ocassional flying fish....but I just spotted the oddest thing....it appeared, from my perspective to be an orange basketball size thing....not too far away. Upon looking with my binocs....it's some sort of bright orange buoy, with a bit of deep back near the bottom.....we are in the middle of the Atlantic.....I don't see any ships around from my starboard side balcony...just thought it was strange.

Lunch... in the WJ...good pork roast....tasty and tender, and non salty gravy that was pretty good....sure, the one time they didn't have mashed potatoes to go with it!! Ya think they're just messing with me??? LoL ! They had mini sugarfree eclairs, that actually were pretty good. They also had something called an apple something or other, which was a cream layered pastry with apple slices on top, that also was pretty good.

I went to the pool olympics, at 2:00...which I'm pretty sure were cancelled, due to lack of people, and cool weather, although there were a bunch of people around the pool area. I left at 2:25.The sun was hit or miss....mostly miss, and we haven't hit the forecasted 87....right now at 4:30 it's 72, and very dry...still a little breezy, on the balcony.

I attended the passenger talent show at 3:30. Only 5 acts....a whistling couple who just loudly made some noise...no tune or anything...luckily they only did it for about 30 seconds....kinda funny actually. 3 singing acts, 2 girls, and a guy who were pretty good....and should be commended for getting up there, and performing. One act was a quasi magic show, he did have a very attractive assistant. I didn't get the act...I think it was just a comedy spoof, perhaps. The singing acts got together at the end to sing the Beatles "Yesterday'....pretty good for little to no rehersal. The grand finale was the 3 vocalists, and audience participation for the Beatles "Hey Jude"....the audience needed more practice! There were maybe 100 people at the show.

The sun came out, and stayed out at around 7PM. They drained the pool, and started what I thought was a thorough cleaning....but at 9 they are doing something else....maybe painting, or coating?? It is 9:20 (PM) the sun is just setting....really weird.

Dinner in the WJ...not too bad....pork chop was tender, and not dry....but just when I said the gravy was better at luch, they salted it up again. I had a bit of the John Dory Filet (fish) I had never heard of it, but it was tasty, and flaky, and really good. I went back for a regular helping, and it was a new tray. Damn! I put a little of the white creamy sauce they had for the fish. It was horribly salty, and the fish was not cooked. So the first piece I had was really good....second piece was inedible...go figure. Maybe it's not really a food issue, but a preparation problem?? I had a piece of some kind of white cake with choc cream between many layers. The cream was good....why can't they make a cake that tastes like a cake should??? Ice cream was good... ;-)

I went to the show...7:15 tonight. A flautist named Viviana Guzman. She put on a pretty good show. A combo of pictures, and different flutes from around the world accompanied by the band, and canned music at times.

Sometime this afternoon they changed the movies on the TV. Now they are showing much newer, fairly recently released DVD's on both channels 20 and 21.

Still no internet, or news channels though....

NO turning the clock ahead tonight!!! YAY!

*************************************************************************

Wed 5-4-11

Day 11...already. Time does go by just as quickly, maybe more so, on a ship. Still gently rolling, but more witecaps on the water this AM.

It's about 73, a little more breezy than yeasteday....so coffee is inside this AM. The Compass is forecasting 72, with 80% humidity, and partly cloudy, but it's nice and sunny currently.

The Compass left in the cabin last evening reports that they are unable to get back the "C-Band" satellite link, and it will probably not be fixed until we dock at Tenerife. They seem to have changed the movies on TV again, but now there are a bunch of older DVD;s on there....Twister, Freakonomics, You Got Mail.....and some I honestly never heard of...V for Vendetta, The Girl Who Kicked The Honets Nest. Still the original 2 movies on the 5 foreign channels. I did catch a bit of the movie Chicago yesterday, but it's not on todays lineup. They are showing "Burlesque" today in the showroom at 3.

Sunrise this AM was about 8.....I believe sunset is about 9PM tonight, again.

The 70's theme night was enjoyable, and was in the Centrum at 10:15, complete with the RCCL "Village People"....it did get a ot of laughs, as Dicso was revived for a night. The party moved to the night club around a half hour, or so later. I went to the cabin.

The weather quickly changed around 10AM...clouds, cool feeling, and looks like it may rain, but I don't believe it did. I did my trek around the ship and read the daily news at the Customer Services area, which was only one piece of paper today. There still is no by-line, or date-line, so I don't know who is editing the news, but it was mostly a biased report of the conservative/liberal responses to the Osama/Obama thing. I try to give my cabin attendant time to tidy up, altough I'm a fairly easy guy to clean up after....At 12:30 the sun is trying to break through, and I do see patches of blue ahead....here's hoping.

The sun stayed hidden till about 7...like yeterday..must be an Atlantic thing..LoL. It hovered around 73, and a little breezy but I didn't notice much humidity.

I monitored one of the classes this afternoon....piano lessons. They have been ongoing, but this was the firsy one I asked to sit in on. I thought they were progressive, but it was still basic piano....they only have the one level. It was interesting as each student has their own keyboard, and at the end of the hour session gets a RCCL certificate of completion.

I tried the Dining Room again this evening. They were serving Lamb Shanks, and I wasn't sure if they would be served n he WJ. I asked if I could order the main course prawns as a starter, and was told no, they would give me 2 meals, if I could handle it. I ordered scallop risotto starter, and lamb shank. The risotto was good, and hot, but the scallops were tepid, but good. When they bought out the lamb, they also brought out 4 prawns, and said I could have them as a starter too.?? Again, hardly anybody in there. I had the warm choc cake.....very good, but it needed a side of insulin, and instead they brought me ice cream. It does appear that maybe the food is somewhat better in the DR...or better prepared??

The show was at 7:45, and called ALL ACCESS, with the RCCL singers, and dancers. Not bad, but it seemed to go too quickly.

The Quest Game is later tonight....10:15....hope I stay awake...it's always been a hit on other cruise lines, and sounds to be the same.

Tenerife at 7AM tomorrow...I think it will still be dark?? Hope the weather is good.

I did go to the Quest game....and it was hilarious, as these shows usually are.

****************************************************************************

Thursday 5-5-11 Tenerife

I woke up to the Capt speaking over my cabin speaker...7:30 am. We were in Tnerife, and awaiting clearance. The sun was peeking over the horizon, and it was 68 F ....cold, by Florida standards. I made a cup of coffee with the in-suite coffee maker for the first time, nasty, but it was working. I showered and left the ship after stopping at Guest Services to inquire where the nearest internet wi-fi was. Only one guy seemed to think it was on Main st. I got on the shuttle to down town, and asked at the info station where the bus drops you off. She directed me to a brown and white building about a 3 minute walk to the left....after crossing the bridge (which was about a 5 minute walk). To me all the building were a shade of beige, so I kept walking till I saw another info area. I asked there and was told right around there....of course, in not so good English...and I don't know any Spanish. I went to a bench outside, and tried to access the net.....everything in the area, required a password, and only had 1 bar for a weak signal. I went inside, and asked again. She said sometimes that happens, and directed me across the street to an outdoor cafe. They told me no wi-fi...and directed me to the Atlantico Cafe, down the street. I found that, and yes they have free wi-fi, do they take dollars...no but take Visa. I ordered a diet coke, and he wrote down the password. I tried signing on while he brought me a regular 8 oz bottle, of regular Coke....I was able to connect, but unable to get an IP address...which means no internet. I tried several times...no luck. The waiter guy really spoke no Englais, and asked if I wanted more coke. No thank you...no wi-fi. I gave him my Visa....He said it would be 10 Euro.....for a coke??? They had a minimum.

I walked around down town, giving myself a tour, and ran into ships crew.....also trying to find wi-fi.....they were not having any luck either. I stopped at a Barclay's bank, figure I better get some Euro.....I gave the teller $30....figured I'd get around 20+ Euro....I received 10 Euro, and some change. They had a $9+ fee to change. I do have pics of the receipts....will try to upload, when I get back home. I walked around some more, and ran into other crew trying to log on at another outdoor cafe.....they were not having any luck either. I sight-saw (????) some more, and decded to go back to the ship. Still no internet here at 1:15... My battery is chaged up enough....I heard that there is access a short walk from the ship to a small restaurant.....If that don't work....have to wait till....who knows??

I did find the internet place...it was literally a hole in the seawall we are moored to. There were only a handful of stations, that I saw thru a window, and I don't think there was wi-fi access. There was a line, to the outside. I saw a sign with prices, and I think it was 1.80 E for 60 min...I can understand the line. So I won't send all my stuff till we get back internet on the ship (still nothing at 3PM), or I get to Palma de Majorca, Sunday. I am staying a night there before flying back to FL Monday.

It's clouded over, and still pretty cool, with sprinkles thrown in.

I received a call from Customer service asking if I would like to leave the ship early at 7:30, or later.....the difference being only about an hour, but as a Suite passenger, I had that option. Also, would I like to purchase transportation from the ship to the airport. I explained that I was staying in Palma till Monday, she replied, that would explain the 6:40 am flight, she saw on my documents, and that she was wondering how I would be able to make that time. I also told her that RCCL had already sold me transportation from the pier to the hotel, and I had a voucher. She asked which hotel, and I told her. She said she would call me back.

We sailed around 4. Dinner in the WJ. Roast pork on the carving station...not bad, and the mashed potatoes were actually very good tonight. A lot of repeat stuff....hope they're not leftovers..lol.

Desserts still need a lot of help.

I noticed we had CNBC, now, on the CNN channel,....on the fox station was now BBC world news. I thought the internet might be back, and headed to the internet area, with my computer....nope....still down. The Compass for tomorrow doesn't mention anything about the "C band equipment" they were going to fix in Tenenrife.

I went to the show..."Pompas Gauchos". The first 20+ minutes of the show was a black-light flourescent thing....which was very good, and at times comedic. Then the Gauchos, from Argentina, did an entertaining drum, whip, bolo, and other dance stuff. They were pretty funny at times.

When I get back to the cabin, I have an invite to a suite pax "private gathering" in the Library tomorrow evening...from 5:15 to 6:00

As I did too much walking today, and my feet said "no more tonight", I went to the cabin to settle in with one of my movies.

I set my watch, and travel clock ahead one hr, and am going to go to sleep.

Abel, the activities director anounced that he has been promoted, but didn't say where he would be wouking....

CruisinGerman · May 6, 2011

While we were on the previous cruise, April 17-24, and the maitre d' was telling us how there were only going to be 600-800 passengers on the transatlantic, I asked if they were going to do open seating in the dining room, instead of assigned tables and early or late.

He said they seriously thought about it, but it wouldn't work because many of the passengers on the cruise were not subject to pre-paid tips and that would give too much incentive to passengers not to tip.

I think RCCL should have planned this better and sold this cruise with pre-paid tips (like they do when you purchase MTD). Had they done so, I think the dining experience would have been much more comfortable for everyone.

We personally don't like the buffets. We find the food fresher and hotter in the MDR -- we even go there for breakfast, and for lunch when it is open for lunch.

Sorry to hear about the Internet. On our cruise it worked fine.

The shows you are seeing are pretty much the same shows we saw.

We didn't have lobster on our cruise either. I don't think they provisioned it for the Colón cruises because they were sold at such low prices. And remember, your 14-night translatlantic is priced at half of what our 7-night cruise from Colón cost.

Do keep us posted and I hope you have a good cruise for the remaining time the next few days.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

Bobal · May 6, 2011

Many thanks for such a detailed (and entertaining) review - I love some of the humourous touches :) Thanks also for introducing gaps between the paragraphs which makes it much easier to read.

I'm pleased to hear Abel is onboard and I suspect he will be taking over as CD in the Med, he was excellent on Adventure last year and a number of us felt he was ripe to take over on a smaller ship and this is the ship on which he usually spends the winter, so it seems logical. We're really looking forward to seeing him again.

It's a shame you've had a poor experience with food, I only hope it improves once they start the Med route. I think you may have found it a little better in the MDR but do understand why you might not want to sit in an almost empty room. One thing which is interesting is hearing how a quiet ship operates - I've heard lots of complaints about some cruises been overcrowded but at least there's more of an atmosphere onboard when there are lots of people. The mix of nationalities and low numbers seem to have made for a not-very-exciting experience.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation and thanks once again for your reports. :)

IwannaGo Now · May 7, 2011

Lost the internet again till this afternoon....it is now ship's time...2:55 PM

There were instruction for debarkation in the cabin by noon. The weather has been iffy, with the sun coming and going. They didn't do a lot of pool activities although the pool area was fairly crowded......here's the latest..

Fri..5-6-11

I woke up around 8:00, which was really 7.....last time change...YAY!! I just realize that yeasterday was Cinco (SP??) de Maio....there was no mention of it at all yestersday....or is that just a Mexican thing?? I'm sure I brutalized the spelling, but I think you know what I was referring to.

I wake up often during the night, and turn over, and go back to sleep. I have noticed a neighbor's cabin light on almost all night, several nights. Given the balcony dividers are frosted glass, light travels far (and fast, of course!!) I don't know if they are night owls, or fall asleep with the light on....would that make them "Light sleepers"?? Too early for my humor!...,..... The light goes out around 4:45, I know, I should close my drapes, but I like to lay in bed, and hear the waves, and watch the stars. Also, if the sunrise doesn't wake me up I'd sleep all day......I could never take an inside cabin!

Pretty cool today...66. I call room service, and am hungry so I ask for poached eggs......all I can get today is some kind of omelet with a lot of stuff in it, that I'm not interested in. So the AM Suite room service menu is useless.....The customer service desk had told me to call them if I wanted some thing like that, and they would take care of it, but it's already 8:30.....do I call the desk for my whole order, or just eggs??...or do I call back room service after the desk for my coffee?? I settle for the "BIG" pot of coffee, and pastries. Service is a little slow this AM...almost 1/2 hour. I usually get the same guy who takes the order, and the same delivery guy, who always offers to pour my coffee for me.....maybe that's a suite perk?? No, probably cause he enjoys the tip. I do appreciate the gesture, but decline.

I went to see the belly flop contest at 11:30, but the weather is nasty, and nobody is at the pool....must be cancelled...I can see why, it's cold, and raw.

Seeing the internet is back up, I grab my puter, and head for the internet area. It was crowded....other people must have been going through withdrawal too!! I uploaded the latest to CC, and check my e-mails. Although the half price signs are gone, they had had the prices listed at 1/2 when you sign on. I'm hoping it stays that way till we arrive in Palma, Sunday!

They delivered the Suite perk, cheese plate again...

I took a nap again, as a headache set in....I think I got jet lag from the time changes....glad that's over.

I shower, and it's time for the suite pax party. Now this was what I expected. They had hot, and cold h'ourderves..(SP!!) drinks, wine, soft, or they got whatever you wanted, and many officers. The capt came, and stayed till after the 6PM end....and made sure to talk to everyone there. Maybe around 30 pax were there. I met many of my fellow suiters, and did not raise any concerns that I've raised here....not the place....I'll add it to my comment sheet. I have been told that RCCL does read the postings on CC, by someone in corporate. The officers attending were very down to earth, unlike some other cruise lines....so I'll offer kudos for that. As the Capt left he mentioned to stay and have drinks, and enjoy.

I head for dinner in the WJ....at lunch they had a sad meatloaf. At dinner they had clam chowder again....but it was okay this time....with lots of stuff that should be in it. I had shrimp fritters...another repeat....and good again. They had prime rib roast at the carving station...it looked good, but I pass. I sampled a few other things....most okay. I had a lemon meringue tart for dessert...which actually wasn't bad.

The show tonight at 7:45. First Abel did a little thing called "60 seconds" and had 2 audience members strap a converted Kleenex box containing ping-pong balls on their waist, with the box in back. They hd 60 seconds to jump, bend, whatever, to get the balls out of the box. He (Abel) will be a fine CD, as he has the personality, and spirit to do so. This was the best part of the show. "Ole Ole" two guys playing flaminco type music, a guy playing a little conga drum, and ocassionally dancing, with a girl who danced for short segment during parts of the songs, mixed in with canned music, videos, and slides....everything sounded the same to me....maybe I'm lacking in culture. Their show was about a half hour, and Rico pretended that we wanted more, and "brought them back" for "one more". Many had left already.

Tomorrow is the last day, but I see no "leaving the ship" lecture, nor any info in tomorrow's Compass, other than the self assist exiting, and gratuity info, and a reminder to put the "Guest Satisfaction Survey" in the box on deck 5, or it won't be read.....maybe we get that tomorrow night??

Sat, May 7

I woke up a little after 1AM and sensed something was different....we appeared to be going slower, when I looked outside, we were really close to a shore line....lots od bright lights, but didn't appear to be a city.....I forgot we were going to pass the Rock of Gibralter.....the Capt had mentioned it at the Suite Gathering. He said around 3-ish....must have had a tail wind. I just saw the shore lights, and could see city lights ahead of us in the distance. There was also a lightning show going on over that area. Back to sleep!!

I got up just before 8. Now that we're in the Medditerranean there's more traffic. There's a cargo ship nearby, and a few tankers about. It's another nasty day....misty, and cold...okay 66 isn't cold to many people....but it's cold to me. Although there's a lot of white caps out on the sea, we're pretty steady...with just a slight rumble. I call for room service coffee, last morning for room service...I will miss having someone bring me coffee in the morning...and turn on the TV for the news....guess we lost a few channels no CNBC, or BBC...kinda in the dark world wise again...maybe they'll have a paper today. The movies for the day seem to alternate from the old, to the other old....but I notice True Grit (remake)is on the list today.

The Cruise Director update this morning said there would be a 5 step debarkation process delivered to the cabins, and to have your luggage out between 7, and midnight.

IwannaGo Now · May 14, 2011

Sorry it took so long to finish....but as you read, maybe you'll get an idea of what thea past few days have been like.....

Thanks for all your comments...negative (I recognize them...;)), and positive.

SAT...May 7, continued...

I took a nap again, as a headache set in....I think I got jet lag from the time changes....glad that's over.

I shower, and it's time for the suite pax party. Now this was what I expected. They had hot, and cold h'ourderves..(SP!!) drinks, wine, soft, or they got whatever you wanted, and many officers. The capt came, and stayed till after the 6PM end....and made sure to talk to everyone there. Maybe around 30 pax were there. I met many of my fellow suiters, and did not raise any concerns that I've raised here....not the place....I'll add it to my comment sheet. I have been told that RCCL does read the postings on CC, by someone in corporate. The officers attending were very down to earth, unlike some other cruise lines....so I'll offer kudos for that. As the Capt left he mentioned to stay and have drinks, and enjoy.

I head for dinner in the WJ....at lunch they had a sad meatloaf. At dinner they had clam chowder again....but it was okay this time....with lots of stuff that should be in it. I had shrimp fritters...another repeat....and good again. They had prime rib roast at the carving station...it looked good, but I pass. I sampled a few other things....most okay. I had a lemon meringue tart for dessert...which actually wasn't bad.

The show tonight at 7:45. First Abel did a little thing called "60 seconds" and had 2 audience members strap a converted Kleenex box containing ping-pong balls on their waist, with the box in back. They hd 60 seconds to jump, bend, whatever, to get the balls out of the box. He (Abel) will be a fine CD, as he has the personality, and spirit to do so. This was the best part of the show. "Ole Ole" two guys playing flamenco type music, a guy playing a little conga drum, and occasionally dancing, with a girl who danced for short segment during parts of the songs, mixed in with canned music, videos, and slides....everything sounded the same to me....maybe I'm lacking in culture. Their show was about a half hour, and Rico pretended that we wanted more, and "brought them back" for "one more". Many had left already.

Tomorrow is the last day, but I see no "leaving the ship" lecture, nor any info in tomorrow's Compass, other than the self assist exiting, and gratuity info, and a reminder to put the "Guest Satisfaction Survey" in the box on deck 5, or it won't be read.....maybe we get that tomorrow night??

Sat, May 7

I woke up a little after 1AM and sensed something was different...I thought we maybe going slower, when I looked outside, we seemed really close to a shore line....lots of bright lights, but didn't appear to be a city.....I forgot we were going to pass the Rock of Gibralter.....the Capt had mentioned it at the Suite Gathering. He said around 3-ish....must have had a tail wind. I just saw the shore lights, and could see city lights ahead of us in the distance. There was also a fantastic lightning show going on over that area. Back to sleep!!

I got up just before 8. Now that we're in the Mediterranean there's more traffic. There's a cargo ship nearby, and a few tankers about. It's another sort of nasty day....misty, and cold...okay 66 isn't cold to many people....but it's cold to me. Although there's a lot of white caps out on the sea, we're pretty steady...with just a slight rumble. I call for room service coffee, last morning for room service...I will miss having someone bring me coffee in the morning...and turn on the TV for the news....guess we lost a few channels no CNBC, or BBC...kinda in the dark world wise again...maybe they'll have a paper today. The movies for the day seem to alternate from the old, to the other old....but I notice True Grit (remake)is on the list today.

The Cruise Director update this morning said there would be a 5 step debarkation process delivered to the cabins, and to have your luggage out between 7, and midnight.

I went to see the "Flag Parade" around the pool, but didn't find it....maybe it was changed to another locale?

I started packing....hate to leave, no matter how negative I seem, I do enjoy having someone make my bed, and taking care of me.

Dinner was in the my time dining room.....Shrimp cocktail, and I'm finishing this 5/14, so I don't remember what I had for dinner. I think I had the brownie sandwich thing for dessert....I won't leave home for it....

Did the prepaid voucher tip thing. I saw Yousef, my cabin attendant.....who was much appreciative of the extra tip.....he did do a pretty good job.

I went to the farewell show.....again, getting old, and don't remember it much. The Battle of the Sexes game was really sparsely attended, but the activities staff did their best, and it had some humorous moments.

The Karaoke finals were fun, but I feel that the Elvis guy was really good, and should have won.

I retire....gotta get up early to leave ....#17 green.....6:35AM in the Paladium.

SUNDAY.....the END!

I left a wake up call for 5:45, although I was awake long before that. Showered,and went up to the WJ to get a coffee to bring back to the cabin...a complete madhouse in there. I go back and drink my coffee on the balcony, although it was a little cool.

At 6:25 I head for my assigned departure area, as they stressed that we must leave as a group, with a representative escorting us, as Immigration, and Customs get upset with RCCL, otherwise. At 6:30 they say 17 can leave.....there were not many of us there.....I follow the crowd outside, although I didn't see anybody leading us. As we do the final "doink", and depart, I see a line outside the building. I spend the next hour , minus 5 minutes, in that line to get to the authority guy. I then get my luggage, and head for my transportation to the RCCL arranged post cruise hotel. I was almost the last guy there on the mini-bus. We waited for awhile for the last guy, who had apparently overslept....he had the right idea, as he breezed thru the no line, and onto the bus.

After about a half hr or so, we drop off a family at a hotel, and there are 3 of us going to the Marina Luz left. After another 15-20 minutes we arrive. The hotel is real close to the airport. The rooms are not available, and wouldn't be until 1PM. It's somewhere around 9:45, or so.

I went outside, and checked out the ocean across the street, but there's no sandy beach here, but a ten minute walk and there's a lagoon beach area.

Back at the hotel, I get my room at 12:45. I was supposed to have a King, non-smoking. Upon enetering the room.....which was really hot, I immediately notice this room had been smoked in...big time. The "king" bed was 2 twins, separetely made up, and pushed together on a tile floor....not connected in any manner. I went to the desk to ask for a non-smoking room, which I was told I had. I said that someone had recently been smoking in there...I was told...oh well, they do smoke, but they're not supposed to......we have no more rooms.

When you enter the room, there is a place to put the room keycard to activate the a/c, and lights.....I figured that's why the room was so hot. The balcony slider was also opened about 12".

I left to do some sight seeing, and let the room air out from the smoking stench.

I did a bit of walking, and people watching, took a trolley tour of the area for 4 Euro, and enjoyed the scenery. I grabbed a chicken sandwich at Burger King..."numero duo"....I'm getting good at this Spanish thing.

Back at the hotel, it was 86 dgrees in the room....I put my card in the slot, and went out on the balcony for 1 1/2 hours reading. When I went back in....84.....hmmm. I checked the air temp coming out of the a/c vent....83.....a/c ain't working. I call the desk and was told it would be fixed next week.....huh?? The hotel had been without a/c when we arrived, but weren't told. I have to be in the lobby at 4:10AM per my letter from RCCL that I got before I got on the mini-bus, to be transferred to the airport.....hotter than hell in there.....I open the balcony door.....dogs barking....planes taking off from the nextdoor airport.....little to no sleep.....wake up call at 3:30AM, I'm awake.....

I shower, and use the pool towel they left on the bed, as the bath towel....well there wasn't one.

I'm in the lobby at 4AM...per the RCCL letter. 4:10...no pickup guy......I wait till 4:35, and ask the desk guy to call me a cab. 5 minlater the cab comes....but no RCCL pick up.

13 Euro later I at the airport....7minutes away. I give the guy 15....glad I had changed some money before leaving the ship...

Now for my flight to Madrid.....At the Iberia desk....American had changed my flight....I was told 60 Euro for my 2nd checked bag....no, no I explain, AA said I was allowed 2 free.....too bad, we allow 1....60Euro, or no boarding pass. I don't have 60 E, I have 12......I have to go to ticketing.....which doesn't open for another 45 minutes. I wait, and have a printout from Iberia's website, afraid this would happen I was prepared....stating that when I start on another carrier, that carrier's baggage allowance prevails......apparently that' only for people who can read and understand English...I was a foreigner.....she said 60 Euro, or no flight. I put it on my Visa card.

The short flight to Madrid is uneventful. At Madrid I have to find the terminal for the flight to Miami. After floundering my way around, and asking for help, a few times, I get to the right terminal, and gate, and get a doughnut, and coffee. I didn't eat anything on the ship in the morning.

I don't understand Spanish, and I don't know what they are saying when they start boarding. Some nice young lady volunteers to help me out, and tell me when I'm to board. Than God, I'm finally on the plane. and buckled in for a long flight....row 43 L....big plane. The great news is, it's a fairly empty plane, and I have both seats to myself to stretch out. The food was actually good....dammit, I hate to say it, but was better than a lot of the stuff I ate on the ship....sorry,

They show a movie, and a nature film.....nice smooth flight. We were pretty high up....I think I saw the space station go by, LoL??? About an hour, and a half before landing....they feed you agai....a long sandwich, and other goodies. The meals, and drinks are free.....still ain't getting my 60 euros worth, though.

I get off in Miami...great to be back where we speak two languages. I go through Immigration, and customs, whatever.....and have to walk a mile to get back to the security line, again, so I can get to the right terminal....29 minutes away...really???? yep....lots of walking, train ride, more walking, moving sidewalks....finally get to the gate for my ride to Orlando.

I vow to only cruise from a port I can drive to, for evermore.

Less than an hour to Olando....I made it......uh-oh, my luggage didn't. Am I having fun yet??....and I had to pay extra!!

Okay.....I give the description....In Miami, did I go through customs, immigration, retrieve my luggage??? What do you mean retrieve my luggage...they told me it was checked thru to Orlando....I saw the tags....look here's my baggage claim tickets....Orlando. Well it was, but you were supposed to get your bags in Miami......recheck them, and then come to Orlando. Where's it say that?? Well, nobody told me that....and if they did, it was in Spanish....no comprende !

American was pretty good about it....and said it happens all the time....they would get my bags to me at the hotel I was staying at.

They were there the next morning, May 10. Thanks AA.....I think I'm ready to join the other AA.

May 11....my birthday....I went to a favorite seafood restaurant to celebrate.....uh-oh stomach is starting to not cooperate.....really not cooperating....I get my meal to go, before the volcano erupts....and just make it back to the hotel, where I proceed to throw, and go, pretty much everything I've eaten since high school for the next 10+ hours......classic food poisoning, per the symptoms....but I think I got it from the Airplane food, not the ship....that would be the 24-48 hr threshold.

So all in all a good time was had......

I think I'll go for a walk now, and see if I can find a dog to bite me....... or at least pee on my leg ;)

ccMiMi · May 14, 2011

Thanks for the closure. I was wondering if you had made home yet. However, this review has got to be the most depressing review on this site. I'm sorry that you appeared to have such a miserable vacation. I hope if you ever decide to cruise again that it is a more enjoyable experience.

Cotswold Eagle · May 15, 2011

Well, I was on the same cruise and had a wonderful time, so it just goes to show, as the OP said, your cruise experience may vary. Food is VERY subjective and personally I found it better than recent RCI cruises on this trip. But as an example, the steak and kidney pie, which the OP hated, I thought was one of the best things I have ever had in the WJ - and there was plenty of kidney in my portions (I had seconds :)), because I remember being surprised!

The Internet was down for a lot of the cruise, but to me that was a mild inconvenience. Maybe the OP had personal or business reasons for it becoming such a big deal in this review.

Perhaps I had lower expectations than the OP, or I'm more easily pleased, but I'd encourage people to listen to a variety of experiences before coming to a conclusion about either this cruise or the Grandeur. I wish the OP had had a better experience and hope your next cruise is to your liking :)

sar2004 · May 15, 2011

Its all a matter of personal taste really.

I have been in hotels that have been marvellous and others have hated them and also vice versa - I expect a cruise to be no different...

What one loves another may not.

My grandeur cruise sales very soon - never cruised before and am really excited and nothing in the above review put me off.

I intend to make the most of every minute and enjoy myself - life is far too short to moan I do know that :D

On the Grandeur Trans Atalantic..now

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