Grandeur April 16-25 (!) review

[zachnlucy]

Let me say first that this was a fabulous cruise in spite of, or perhaps partly because of, that little bump into the pier at Costa Maya. The Grandeur is just beautiful, without exception all of the staff were friendly and eager to please, food was great, weather perfect, etc. I’ll cruise her again. This was our first RCI experience and I loved it.

 

 

Friday, April 15

We flew into NOLA in the morning, got to the Hilton Riverside (adjacent to Riverwalk and a couple of blocks from the pier), waited around a bit for my sister and her husband to arrive, and then hit Bourbon St. Had dinner at Acme Oyster (a dozen raw oysters for me – yum) and then proceeded to walk Bourbon. Never again will I drink the evil nasty green frozen concoction named “Hand Grenade.” :o They were plentiful and we had a few. I’m now sure the main ingredient was grain alcohol with some green melon flavoring added. It was billed as the strongest drink on Bourbon and lived up to its name. It was the Hand Grenades that forced me to miss the Meet and Greet two days later. To those who attended, some of whom I met later on the ship, I am so sorry. I had just forgotten I was 48 while imbibing said green drink and paid later.

 

 

Saturday, April 16

For those of you who arrive the day before, I recommend Harrah’s for breakfast on Saturday morning. The buffet was great and about $7 each I think.

 

 

Hugely hungover, we made it onto the ship at about 11:30 am, though the staterooms were closed off until 1:00 pm. We checked out the Great Gatsby and our dining table. We have been in a corner somewhere on every cruise before and were expecting the same. What a surprise! Table 120 (right next to the Captain’s table, at which we never appeared). The assistant captain or something was there the next night. We noticed that everyone at their table got bottled water, and ours was out of a pitcher. Our water was just fine but I did find it funny.

 

 

A couple of the drinks of the day later (hair of the dog and all that), I was feeling human again. Got in to our aft JS and fell in love with that balcony. Luggage arrived about 3:00 pm and we spent a bit of time unpacking and grinning like crazy. We were on a cruise again! Muster was easy and fast, made it back to our balcony for sailaway. I love cruising out of NOLA because of the time spent on the Mississippi. After dinner, which was great, we spent some more time on the balcony before the Welcome Aboard Show. It was pretty good, although the RCI singers/dancers seemed a bit out of sync. Met Tom Canosa, our CD (funny guy) and the comedian, Eric Lyden – he was hilarious. My husband spent the rest of the cruise doing his imitation of Arnold Schwartenegger being the Captian (we’re going down). I guess you had to have been there. :) After the show, we hung around on the balcony and got to bed. The bed was very low to the ground and hard. Our steward did deliver a pad the next day to help a bit, but by the end of the cruise, my back hated me.

 

Oh man, I’m making this too long. I’ll post more later but will try to abbreviate it.

[P&DinDE2]

PLease type bigger I cant read it ,& would love to hear your review!

[zachnlucy]

Let me say first that this was a fabulous cruise in spite of, or perhaps partly because of, that little bump into the pier at Costa Maya. The Grandeur is just beautiful, without exception all of the staff were friendly and eager to please, food was great, weather perfect, etc. I’ll cruise her again. This was our first RCI experience and I loved it.

Friday, April 15

We flew into NOLA in the morning, got to the Hilton Riverside (adjacent to Riverwalk and a couple of blocks from the pier), waited around a bit for my sister and her husband to arrive, and then hit Bourbon St. Had dinner at Acme Oyster (a dozen raw oysters for me – yum) and then proceeded to walk Bourbon. Never again will I drink the evil nasty green frozen concoction named “Hand Grenade.” They were plentiful and we had a few. I’m now sure the main ingredient was grain alcohol with some green melon flavoring added. It was billed as the strongest drink on Bourbon and lived up to its name. It was the Hand Grenades that forced me to miss the Meet and Greet two days later. To those who attended, some of whom I met later on the ship, I am so sorry. I had just forgotten I was 48 while imbibing said green drink and paid later.

Saturday, April 16

For those of you who arrive the day before, I recommend Harrah’s for breakfast on Saturday morning. The buffet was great and about $7 each I think.

Hugely hungover, we made it onto the ship at about 11:30 am, though the staterooms were closed off until 1:00 pm. We checked out the Great Gatsby and our dining table. We have been in a corner somewhere on every cruise before and were expecting the same. What a surprise! Table 120 (right next to the Captain’s table, at which we never appeared). The assistant captain or something was there the next night. We noticed that everyone at their table got bottled water, and ours was out of a pitcher. Our water was just fine but I did find it funny.

A couple of the drinks of the day later (hair of the dog and all that), I was feeling human again. Got in to our aft JS and fell in love with that balcony. Luggage arrived about 3:00 pm and we spent a bit of time unpacking and grinning like crazy. We were on a cruise again! Muster was easy and fast, made it back to our balcony for sailaway. I love cruising out of NOLA because of the time spent on the Mississippi. After dinner, which was great, we spent some more time on the balcony before the Welcome Aboard Show. It was pretty good, although the RCI singers/dancers seemed a bit out of sync. Met Tom Canosa, our CD (funny guy) and the comedian, Eric Lyden – he was hilarious. My husband spent the rest of the cruise doing his imitation of Arnold Schwartenegger being the Captian (we’re going down). I guess you had to have been there. After the show, we hung around on the balcony and got to bed. The bed was very low to the ground and hard. Our steward did deliver a pad the next day to help a bit, but by the end of the cruise, my back hated me.

Oh man, I’m making this too long. I’ll post more later but will try to abbreviate it more.

[P&DinDE2]

Thank You so much I thought I was going blind for a minute!! Glad you had a great time, we sailed Grandeur last year & doing it again in July, We loved it!!

[Mike&Nancy]

Please don't abbreviate....I want to hear everything about this cruise. Keep it coming just the way it is, except, I have to add the bigger print makes it much easier to read. You know-old age and all that jazz. :)

 

Nancy

[Pam713]

More! More!!

[zachnlucy]

Sunday, April 17 -- first day at sea

It was a joy to wake up to that pretty blue water. I was up before dawn and got a couple of pictures of the sunrise.

We ate all of our meals in the dining room. Breakfast and lunch were open seating and since we had a table for the four of us at dinner, we sat at large tables and met new people. I was looking forward to eggs benedict for breakfast, but they were odd. Tried them a couple of times with the same results. I think it was the hollandaise sauce, kind of bland. The omelettes were great. We had a fun service team, J.R. from the Dominican Republic, and Tanya, from Serbia. They didn’t even bat an eye when I ordered three appetizers that evening.

One thing I noticed was lacking (compared to the Carnival Conquest) was daytime activities. We spent a couple of hours by the pool and I was amazed to find several available chairs near the pool at 11 am.

This was the first formal night and we did the Captain’s Reception at 5 pm, then on to dinner. I didn’t make it to any of the big production shows during the cruise (don’t care for them), but my husband, sister and brother-in-law went to most of them. The show that night was “Jump Jivin’ Swing”. DH tells me all of the shows were okay. I hung out on the balcony during those times and that was the best show onboard.

A cheese plate, chocolate chip cookies and milk from room service ended our day. Also, for those who’re interested, you can order juice from room service 24 hours a day (orange, pineapple, cranberry, apple), which came in handy with the rum we purchased onboard. We did pay the $9.50 surcharge the first day, but when we bought a few more bottles the first day we were grounded in Costa Maya, they waived the surcharge.

Monday, April 18 – Cozumel

We did the Cozumel beach break excursion at Nachi Cocum through Island Marketing. That was a great relaxing day. Our own palapa, two loungers and two tables, free drinks and a buffet lunch, snorkeling equipment or a kayak (for an hour), all for $32 each. It also had a nice freshwater pool and you could just swim up to the bar. Whenever I started heading that way, the waiter had a couple of rum punches waiting for me.

[terri23]

zachnlucy, thanks for the review. Whenever we go to new orleans, we go to acme oyster house as well as ... you guessed it...tropical isle for hand grenades. you didn't know the secret is never have more than 2 if you have to get out of bed the next day - see what kind of tips you pick up here on CC? DH rode in the MS150 bike ride from houston to austin last month, and sported a "I (heart) hand grenades" sticker on his rider number. :D

[LDR]

We're booked on the Grandeur 12/10/05. We're also staying an extra

night AFTER so we can try Bourbon Street in the evening and find a

couple of Hand Grenades.