4/28 Grandeur Post-Drydock Review (LONG)

[NEUCruiser]

Sorry for the length of the review- I know I loved hearing about your trips before we sailed and hoped this might help others based on questions I had seen on previous posts. I hope to have my pictures posted tomorrow (once I find my camera to computer cable). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

 

Background

I am 28 (2 previous cruises) and my DH is 26 (1 previous cruise). All previous cruises were 7 nights on Carnival and this was our first with RCL. I was lucky enough to find a one day sale that got us an amazing rate for the cruise. Neither one of us are big partiers/drinkers. We were both looking forward to a relaxing vacation full of afternoon naps, beachside lounging and generally taking it easy.

 

Pre-cruise Stay in New Orleans

This was a repositioning cruise so we flew into New Orleans the day before the cruise. Our flight was uneventful and we checked into the Embassy Suites (right on Julia Street, down the road from the terminal) around 10PM. We missed the complementary happy hour early in the evening but enjoyed the free breakfast buffet the next morning. We were pleased with our room (11th floor regular hotel room) which was very clean and had a balcony with views of downtown. When we woke up in the morning, we went to the hall balcony and were able to see the Grandeur ready for us to come aboard. We decided to check out the ship by the Riverwalk mall early thinking we would not be able to board until 2:00 (according to our docs), but were pleasantly surprised when we ran into a crew member who said embarkation would start at 10:30/11:00.

 

Embarkation

We took a cab from the Embassy to the terminal (somehow we were charged $15 to go 3 blocks- I think we were scammed) around 10:45. Porters took our luggage and we were quickly whisked into the terminal to get our set sail passes. There was no line and were processed in less than 5 minutes. We then had to wait about 15 minutes before they started letting passengers go through security and board the ship. We were on the ship and exploring by 11:15.

 

The majority of the people on the ship were 40+ and not many people were around our age. There were also very few children on board- I didn’t see more than 50 total and they were all very well behaved. The lifeboat drill was excruciatingly long and forced us to face the hot sun. The Captain (Remos I believe) droned on after the drill and did not dismiss us until he had given us every fact he could about the upcoming voyage (very unnecessary). Several passengers commented throughout the cruise how painful the Captain’s updates were when he would drone on in monotone for long periods of time.

 

Ship

The ship had just come out of dry dock and it was evident that major refurbishment had occurred. The most obvious improvement was that the gigantic dent in the side of the ship had been repaired and painted. Apparently, not all of the work was finished in time for embarkation so we did see crew members painting and varnishing during our first 2 days. The pools were also being painted/grouted on the first day so they were closed. The ship itself was sparkling clean. It appeared that carpeting had been replaced in some areas (around the pool deck and in some rooms). The buffet was also completely redone with new furnishings and a new configuration (more on that later).

 

I was nervous booking Grandeur (as a smaller and older ship) that we would not have enough to do during sea days or that she would be worn out. I was pleasantly surprised with all the facilities onboard. We enjoyed the Library (a decent book selection) and visited its balcony when pulling out of port. We also made use of the Card Room which had a great selection of games to kill time with. The dining room was very classy and we enjoyed our 10 person table in the corner by the window (I guess we were stereotyped as the loud, young crowd table). The main Pool always had chairs available (no chair hogs in sight). The Solarium Pool was a nice respite for the windy sea days. The chairs are very comfortable although it can get hot like a greenhouse with all the glass. The gym was in great shape and highly used on our cruise- looked like a couple new machines. I was disappointed with the “sports deck”- you had to weave in and out between sunbathers. The climbing wall wasn’t used that much- it seemed too close to the edge of the deck for me to dare attempting it! All in all-there was plenty to do to stay active and plenty of places to escape.

 

My favorite places were the Viking Lounge, the Library balcony, the Promenade Deck and the Relaxation Room in the Spa. After getting too much sun, the Viking Lounge was a great, quiet space to people watch over the pool deck during the day. It was also pretty packed at night with a DJ. The Promenade Deck was a quiet place to just sit and watch as we sailed down the Mississippi. Hidden away, the Relaxation Room in the spa was a great escape and had amazing views!

 

Cabin

We had an inside cabin (4547)- opting to save money for this cruise. During the drydock, the crew replaced all the mattresses and linens. The furniture remained the same, but it appeared that they had reupholstered the walls to match the linens (right next to the beds). The bed was not as comfortable as we were hoping for. Even with an egg crate, we found it fairly hard. The duvet, while it looked nice, was very “stiff” and heavy (I prefer fluffy blankets). It was still nice to know we were the first to have the fresh sheets (which will probably soften with more washing). We still had an old, small TV that tilted out so you could watch from bed. Our cabin attendant, Natalia, was the consummate professional and kept our tight space (plenty of storage) spotless throughout the trip. She also mentioned that the threatening letter about pool towels is all bark and no bite- just meant to discourage abuse of passengers stealing towels. In fact, we regularly grabbed additional towels from the pool deck and never had to sign them out. One minor annoyance was that the bathroom toilets also stopped flushing for a couple hours at 2 points during our stay.

 

The inside cabin is really dark. I don’t usually use an alarm clock (and didn’t think to bring one) and found my internal clock completely messed up by the lack of light. Our room was also right below the Casino and we were awoken more than once with the sounds of something being dragged above us. However, it was an incredibly convenient location (right near the Atrium lobby and Dining Room) and was worth the noise.

 

Food

The dining room food was fantastic! We ate in the dining room every night and once for lunch. I could go on for days about the menus (I took pictures of some of them). There was only one night when I had a meal that I wasn’t thrilled about and my waiter was quick to suggest a replacement. The desserts were also very good, but not as good as the main entrees and starters. We had purchased soda cards and our glasses were waiting for us every night and never went dry. Our waiter (Nichmedin) and Assistant Waiter (Dwayne) were quite the characters- they managed to provide 5 star service while entertaining us at the same time! The main seating time allowed us to watch the sun set during dinner.

 

I work for a university where buffets are standard cuisine so I am used to all levels of quality and did not have high expectations. This is our personal opinion (and others may disagree), but the buffet was pretty bad. The new layout sounds great in theory (separate salad, Asian food, breads, sandwiches, hot dishes, dessert stations), but was poorly executed. The highest traffic areas (hot foods and desserts) were located in the center of the buffet which really only had space for 2 people deep. I was constantly elbowed or bumping into someone. The dessert station (which had a staff member serving you) did not have space for a crew member to stand so they took up precious aisle space.

 

The lunch buffet food was ok but had a lot of fish items or dishes with heavy sauces. The sandwiches were pre-prepared which would not be very attractive to those that want to build their own. The salad bar had a decent selection. We only had lunch 2 times at the buffet and went for the Solarium grill instead. The burgers were adequate but the fries were fantastic. Service was a bit slow.

 

The breakfast buffets were the worst. The food often looked gelled over and was cold. The eggs tasted like powder and the sausage was undercooked. The French toast was consistently soggy and the pancakes dry. The doughnuts tasted like they weren’t thawed out. On the good side- the fruit selection was very good/fresh and they had a decent selection of dry cereals. Since the point of a buffet is to quickly get food, I was not willing to wait in line for the omelet/egg station. I never did understand the logic surrounding what items you can/can not serve yourself on.

 

Service

Whether it was in the spa, in our room, at the dining room or in the buffet, I have to rave about the service we received on this ship! I constantly felt like staff went above and beyond to accommodate any request we had. We thought we would run into resentment from bar staff about having soda cards but were also greeted with a warm smile when we placed our orders (unlike on Carnival). Our experience with the exceptional level of service enticed us to sign up for our next cruise on RCL while on board!

 

Entertainment

We are not much for organized pool games, trivia contests or Bingo (still haunted by the non-stop annoying reminders over the PA from Anna Banana). The Cruise Director, Simeon, did his best to entertain the mostly older crowd who seemed to like his overly cheesy jokes. Our favorite act, by far, was Mosaic. They are a group of 6 men who perform a variety of songs using no musical instruments besides their mouths. They really were amazing and play Vegas regularly (notaboyband.com is actually their website). We also saw the Beatles Tribute Band which was ok, but probably appealed more to the older crowd (no offense). We did try out one production show (something like Music Across the Decades) but decided to leave 15 minutes into it…the ship was rocking a lot and it just wasn’t very good.

 

Ports of Call

Cozumel

We took a cab ride over to Playa Mia ($14 each way for 2 people). We got there before the park opened (they officially open at 9) and had first pick of location amongst the sea of beach chairs. We paid for the basic package ($19 each) that included admittance and use of all facilities and non-motorized sports. They had 100s of beach chairs lined up by the beach and more comfortable chairs available by the pool (where we chose to spend our time). The beach was decent but had a quick drop off. A water trampoline, igloo climbing wall, kayaks and paddle boats were included in admission. I saw several people snorkeling and there were jetskis available for additional charges. There was some construction underway but it was not too loud. They also offered all inclusive packages to include drinks and a buffet. There was also a Mexican cooking class going on under the tent. Overall, it was a decent location with a lot of activities to keep active people busy. We also visited downtown to walk around the shops but did not find anything that was that great of a deal.

 

Grand Cayman

We went to the Royal Palms Beach Club on Seven Mile Beach. The taxi ride was $4 per person from the dock. Admission was free and we paid $5 each for beach chairs. The location was pretty packed with cruise visitors (I counted 5 ships in port that day). We stayed in the crystal clear water for the majority of our visit. The bar had great drinks and reasonable prices on food. One annoying thing was that the jet ski rental and parasail rental company kept driving their boats/jet skis directly up through the water filled with swimmers up to the beach- seemed dangerous to me.

 

Aruba

This probably would have been our favorite port had we chosen the right excursion. We booked the Half Day Jeep Safari. Neither of us can drive a stick, so we had to negotiate to get a working automatic. The tour took us through the rugged landscape of the north coast. The scenery was very pretty, but got old after awhile when we were baking in the desert sun. We made stops at the Boulders, the fallen Natural Bridge, the Gold Mill Ruins, drove by a chapel and the Lighthouse. The description of the tour advertised a beach break and we were disappointed to learned that the “break” consisted of a 30 minute stop at Abashi Beach. We quickly jumped into the water and to cool off and wash off all the dust/dirt. The tour would have been a lot better if we did not spend so much time at each of the stops and instead stayed at the beach longer. We plan to return to Aruba on a future cruise and check out Baby Beach which our tablemates raved about. The shopping was also supposed to be pretty good, but we did not have enough time to explore as we got back to the ship rather late.

 

Puerto Rico

Since our flight did not leave until 3:30, we decided to book the Old San Juan Walking Tour through the ship (they stored our luggage for us). The bus picked us up at the terminal and dropped us off at Old San Juan (about 10 minutes from the terminal) for our tour. Our tour guide (a former junior high history teacher) was very knowledgeable about Puerto Rican history and went on in depth about each of our sites (I had some flashbacks to my school days where I dreaded history lessons). Her English was not very good and she talked very fast so it was hard to follow her. We visited the El Morro fortress, saw the outside of La Fortaleza (currently used as a palace), the Cathedral of San Juan (a wedding was going on) and several Plazas. The streets were very narrow and paved with unique blue cobblestones. We walked past several high end shops but we did not have time to stop as the tour was bringing us to the airport. Old San Juan was beautiful with varied architecture (gothic, French, art deco, etc.) and pastel buildings. There was a lot of construction going on through out the island and it sometimes reminded us of South Beach. We look forward to returning to Puerto Rico for a future extended vacation.

 

Debarkation

We had an excursion booked with the ship after debarkation and waited in the Theatre until called (around 10:00). We were off the ship and had cleared customs by 10:30 and loaded onto the tour van by 10:20. The wait was pretty long to get called but the actual processing was very quick.

 

Travel from Puerto Rico

We arrived at the airport at 12:00 for our 3:30 flight. The line for US Airways was a 2+ hour wait to check bags. After we finally checked our bags, it was another hour to get through the tightest security I have ever witnessed at an airport. I spoke with a USAir staff member and apparently there were 2 cruise ships (ours and a Princess ship) debarking that day and the airport has difficulty handling the volume of passengers all departing at once. He said it is always like this on Saturdays and Sundays. US Air also lost one of our 3 bags and 3 days later I have little hope of getting it back! Bottom line- consider staying an extra day in Puerto Rico or give yourself extra time (at least 3.5 hours) to catch your flight!

 

Overall Thoughts

We really enjoyed our vacation on Royal Caribbean and took advantage of the on board credit program to reserve a spot on a future cruise. The service was spectacular and the ship is a beauty! I highly recommend Grandeur as a ship that offers enough variety to accommodate everyone’s needs!

[isujim]

Thanks for taking the time to post this............we will be on the Grandeur for the first time out of Baltimore this fall........your review has been very helpful and we look forward to it.

[Lightsluvr]

What a great review. I appreciate it.

 

LL

[debalex]

Thanks for the great review! I am now sooo looking forward to being on the Grandeur to Bermuda in less than three weeks! :)

[dagadget]

Nicely done review. Grandeur is one of the ships that we may sail on in the future. Thanks for the review :)

[wraithe]

Excellent review, thanks for taking the time to post. I'm looking forward to crusing Grandeur in October, and again in April 2008 for a B2B.

[Radio]

WoW ! ! Great review :)

 

I think that the Grandeur will find a way to work out the new Windjammer serving strategy.

 

I can't wait to sail on the Grandeur again in a few weeks. . .

 

Grandeur- Bermuda 07-08-2007

Grandeur- Bermuda 09-16-2007

Grandeur- Can/NE ? ? ?

 

Radio

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[bickee]

I loved the Grandeur! What a wonderful smaller ship with great service. And this was BEFORE drydock...I can only imagine it now. Thanks for the review!

[michigal]

Thanks so much for posting your review. Very helpful and informative!