Grandeur - any review or onions from the first cruise and a half?

[Mkripke]

I am on the March 20th cruise and have been anxiously awaiting some comments

[trfccruiser]

I'm on the 23 January sailing and am anxiously awaiting comments too!

[jean87510]

best way to check is go the site that must not be mentioned (begins with the 6th letter of the alphabet) and join one of the December sailings pages.  I'm going to be on the 12/26 one as a surprise Christmas present from my husband and also on the February 20th one.  I plan to update here and the site that must not be named.

[Travelling2Some]

I was bored and curious about the "onions" so I wandered in.  Agree that your best bet is to check out the Roll Calls for those sailings and the site that cannot be named.  (Hint:  Countenance of the Literary Tome). 

[little britain]

I am on 2/20 and so far 2 shore ex have already been cancelled for “operational reasons”. Not sure what’s going on🤷‍♀️
My friend was on the first sailing. Ship looking very tired. Food good. Not much entertainment - not sure if they even had all the entertainment staff on board yet. 
 

[Bailey & Sophie]

 

What does 'onions' mean?

[KroozFoolz]

I think it was supposed to be "opinions."

[Mkripke]

yes "opinions" sorry about that

[SRF]

I have sailed on Grandeur many times.  In fact, it is the only RCI ship I have sailed on.  FYI, I live less than 30 minutes drive from the cruise port in Baltimore.

 

She is a cruise ship, not a floating amusement park.  But traditionally, the staff has been AMAZING.

 

The entertainment has been very good, but no Broadway show or ice show or aqua show.

[little britain]

Ship definitely short staffed - apparently many were in quarantine - hopefully because they had just boarded and not because of the big C.  The staff that were on board were amazing.  

 

The entertainment was very poor - the guy singing (shouting) in the Schooner Bar should consider a career change!    There was a silent disco for about 30 mins each night.  No RCI singers and dancers (presumably in quarantine) 

 

You are off the ship by 9am on on the last day - which is a pain for those of us with flights back at 8pm that night.  RCI offer 2 trips with airport drop off - one is to a beach and one is to a rum factory - so you will be at the airport sticky and salty or with a hangover!   Not a good way to board a  10 hr flight! 

 

This ^^ was as reported to me by my friend - lets hope that the first cruise, new port, teething issues and things can only get better! 

Edited December 15, 2021 by little britain

[glentally]

On 12/15/2021 at 9:17 AM, little britain said:

 

 

This ^^ was as reported to me by my friend - lets hope that the first cruise, new port, teething issues and things can only get better! 

Oh my, that's a shame it was such a disappointment.

[zekekelso]

On 12/15/2021 at 3:54 AM, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

What does 'onions' mean?

They are root vegetables. Not usually eaten by themselves, but very tasty when included in other dishes, especially in combination with garlic. 

[little britain]

On 12/14/2021 at 11:10 PM, jean87510 said:

best way to check is go the site that must not be mentioned (begins with the 6th letter of the alphabet) and join one of the December sailings pages.  I'm going to be on the 12/26 one as a surprise Christmas present from my husband and also on the February 20th one.  I plan to update here and the site that must not be named.

Any updates please? 
Looks like she sailed a day late yesterday?

TUI Marcella not allowed to sail from Barbados this week because of the cases on board : she’s being used as floating hotel and pax are being refunded 50%

[firefly333]

On 12/15/2021 at 8:16 AM, SRF said:

I have sailed on Grandeur many times.  In fact, it is the only RCI ship I have sailed on.  FYI, I live less than 30 minutes drive from the cruise port in Baltimore.

 

She is a cruise ship, not a floating amusement park.  But traditionally, the staff has been AMAZING.

 

The entertainment has been very good, but no Broadway show or ice show or aqua show.

I'm booked on her and hoping she is ok. I like shows and dont remember a ship without a ice show. Havent been on grandeur or that class. I'm hoping for more on her as well.

[little britain]

Boarding Sunday took 5 hours.

Finally Sailed Monday night. Pax allowed off to go to beach etc but 10pm curfew in Barbados.

Bonaire has been dropped from this weeks itinerary - 1 days cruise fare back as compensation ( not sure of format). 

[firefly333]

59 minutes ago, little britain said:

Boarding Sunday took 5 hours.

Finally Sailed Monday night. Pax allowed off to go to beach etc but 10pm curfew in Barbados.

Bonaire has been dropped from this weeks itinerary - 1 days cruise fare back as compensation ( not sure of format). 

I thought I'd read the ship sailed a day late. Wasnt sure much of why it took so long. 

 

Hoping for more news on what's going on on the ship like shows and just anything about the ship. 

[RocCruisers]

We were on the first cruise.  Biggest problem is getting to the ship and then on it, between testing, apps, flights, checkpoints, more testing, and sheer exhaustion.  They could of done a little better of cleaning and repair during the lead up.  Food was fine.  Crew was excited to be there.  Reported 800 passengers and 800 crew.  Entertainment was okay.   Port intensive.  Good cruise overall considering covid protocols.  It may be awhile for everyone to feel comfortable sailing out of Barbados on RCL.  

[firefly333]

Does it have a diamond lounge with a working coffee pot? 

 

I like my coffee in the morning. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, RocCruisers said:

 It may be awhile for everyone to feel comfortable sailing out of Barbados on RCL.  

By then, RCI may not be sailing from there any more.

 

Biker, who thinks that the RCI experiment with island home porting (Vision out of Bermuda, Adventure out of Nassau, Grandeur out of Bridgetown) in the COVID era was a one time thing.

Edited January 4, 2022 by Biker19

[jean87510]

10 hours ago, little britain said:

Any updates please? 
Looks like she sailed a day late yesterday?

TUI Marcella not allowed to sail from Barbados this week because of the cases on board : she’s being used as floating hotel and pax are being refunded 50%

I left on Sunday.  Saw she sailed a day later.  I was posting my adventures daily on that secret social media site.

I will say Im a little pissed that they are getting port fees back for Bonaire.  We argued and lost trying to get port fees back for St. Lucia getting dropped which we found out when we boarded.  

The ship was great.  About 800 passengers.  Around 300 didn't show up due to testing issues.  Remember we left when it was impossible to get test results  day after Christmas, flight cancelations...  I could write a book about the preboard experience which was the worst ever in 20 plus cruises.  It was chaotic from the moment we stepped off our plane until we walked on ship 4 hours later.  I cancelled my February 20th cruise because there is no way Im going through that again.  It may have been easier arriving the day before but we didn't have that option it being Christmas plus a lot of cancelations of the flights.

Ive flown international since covid to Bahamas, Mexico, Punta Cana.  I was on Cozumel when regulations changed to get back to USA last winter.  The hotel and island were very helpful.  Bahamas was easy and everyone was helpful.  I went there when they had a lockdown at night.  Barbados was just pure chaos.  One example I have is the woman checking me in at the port.  The bar code that we all have on our phones that we show along with our vaccine card and passport?  Forget it.  She reentered all of our vaccine info, credit card, passport, and slowly.  We were sweating, hungry, exhausted.  I said why are you reentering?  She said Americans always have fake vaccine cards.  I said my credit card isn't fake nor is my passport.  Why are you reentering?  Just pure aggravation.  

I know others had easy experiences.  I didn't.  And I wasn't the only one.  There were quite a few people from my cruise who were upset with the chaos.  

[RocCruisers]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Does it have a diamond lounge with a working coffee pot? 

 

I like my coffee in the morning. 

Best morning coffee was in the Solarium.  Nice quiet breakfast too.

 

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Biker, who thinks that the RCI experiment with island home porting (Vision out of Bermuda, Adventure out of Nassau, Grandeur out of Bridgetown) in the COVID era was a one time

Agreed.  

 

12 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

I know others had easy experiences.  I didn't.  And I wasn't the only one.  There were quite a few people from my cruise who were upset with the chaos. 

By tomorrow, hopefully it will feel like a normal cruise. That's when my anxiety went away.  

[jean87510]

28 minutes ago, RocCruisers said:

Best morning coffee was in the Solarium.  Nice quiet breakfast too.

 

Agreed.  

 

By tomorrow, hopefully it will feel like a normal cruise. That's when my anxiety went away.  

lol.  The CRUISE itself was wonderful.  I had a great time onboard.  Nicest staff.  If I had a magic lamp and I could move Grandeur experience to leave out of Barbados to the US for the 2/20 cruise, I would.  Just not that port to leave out of. 🙂

[firefly333]

I just read that the buffet is closed for dinner. Seems the percentage is too low to open the dinner buffet. ..disappointing for me. .. though hopefully will be open by the time I'm on.

[trfccruiser]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

I left on Sunday.  Saw she sailed a day later.  I was posting my adventures daily on that secret social media site.

I will say Im a little pissed that they are getting port fees back for Bonaire.  We argued and lost trying to get port fees back for St. Lucia getting dropped which we found out when we boarded.  

The ship was great.  About 800 passengers.  Around 300 didn't show up due to testing issues.  Remember we left when it was impossible to get test results  day after Christmas, flight cancelations...  I could write a book about the preboard experience which was the worst ever in 20 plus cruises.  It was chaotic from the moment we stepped off our plane until we walked on ship 4 hours later.  I cancelled my February 20th cruise because there is no way Im going through that again.  It may have been easier arriving the day before but we didn't have that option it being Christmas plus a lot of cancelations of the flights.

Ive flown international since covid to Bahamas, Mexico, Punta Cana.  I was on Cozumel when regulations changed to get back to USA last winter.  The hotel and island were very helpful.  Bahamas was easy and everyone was helpful.  I went there when they had a lockdown at night.  Barbados was just pure chaos.  One example I have is the woman checking me in at the port.  The bar code that we all have on our phones that we show along with our vaccine card and passport?  Forget it.  She reentered all of our vaccine info, credit card, passport, and slowly.  We were sweating, hungry, exhausted.  I said why are you reentering?  She said Americans always have fake vaccine cards.  I said my credit card isn't fake nor is my passport.  Why are you reentering?  Just pure aggravation.  

I know others had easy experiences.  I didn't.  And I wasn't the only one.  There were quite a few people from my cruise who were upset with the chaos.  

Thanks for the info you have made me thirsty for more info. Love to see your daily updates but don't know about the social media site.Are you planning to post a review here?We are on her in 3 weeks and desperate for info.

[Tonyll13]

Hi from England the airport/boarding experience sound similar to our own in Cyprus to board Jewel last October  for the Greek islands cruise, it's a long day and everyone is past their best by late afternoon with many folks still to process.

We got on board just before dinner.

We are on the January 30th sailing plus b2bs for our 50th anniversary, should have been Australia and New Zealand but that was not to be so would love to hear more about these cruises

Tony and Maureen