Cruise Ship Reviews : Royal Caribbean International Reviews
Cruisingnut saw things this way:
Smaller ship with great staff, March 22, 2017
Reviewer: Cruisingnut
Pros: Manageable size ship with outstanding service and staff
Cons: Grand Bahama port of call
Departure port: Baltimore, MD
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Outside
Cabin number: 7582
Good for children: No
Good for teenagers: No
This was our "gal pals cruise." The ship, while a 20-year-old lady, is in good condition. While lacking the bells and whistles of her newer, larger sisters, Grandeur has a friendly vibe. You actually get to meet and interact with the crew and fellow passengers. Main dining room meals were very good and our dining room team was outstanding. Chops service very nice and the food good. (Let's face it, it's a steak and hard to mess up.) Chef's Table was excellent! Giovanni's Table food was excellent, but service left much to be desired. It was so poor that our surcharge was credited back to us. Favorite port of call was Charleston. Only wish we would have had more time there. Port Canaveral and Miami were fine, and we did ship excursions that were good. Grand Bahama (Freeport) is a waste of time. NOTHING there, plus docked at a commercial area where we had a lovely view from our window of a cement plant. Because of a front that came through we did not get to Coco Cay (not unusual) and stayed in Freeport overnight. They need to scrap this port from all of their itineraries! Baltimore is an easy 3+ hour drive for us and the terminal is literally right off the I-95 exit. Parking convenient ($15 per day) and easy to walk to terminal. Overall weather was great, and we had a wonderful time. Love the Grandeur and will be cruising on her again in a couple of months, this time to New England/Canada.
Miss Barbara saw things this way:
We went for a springtime boatride.....not concerned about the ports!, May 7, 2014
Reviewer: Miss Barbara
Pros: Enjoyed mytime dining, excellent servers, good table - nice seating in Centrum
Cons: When "children" entered the Solarium pool - adults only should be respected
Date of cruise: April 19, 2014
Departure port: Baltimore
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Outside
Cabin number: 4536
Good for teenagers: Yes
We enjoyed our cruise....we found the ship to be very clean and crew was always cleaning and use of hand sanitizers was a MUST before entering dining. We went for a boat ride - not concerned with the ports! Just wanted to enjoy the ship! We are early risers, not casino people....therefore - Windjammer good for early coffee and juice and then headed down to Gatsby for sit down breakfast. Food choices - good - always excellent pineapple in the AM - Variety at lunch good.....Cannot understand why people wait in line for hamburgers, but their choice, not mine. Dinner has pretty good selections and can check the screen outside dining room anytime during the day to get a quick check first. Enjoyed the Solarium pool - quiet spot as long as parents kept the kids out...which sometimes did not happen. Good bartenders in Solarium pool - especially Nicholas. We enjoyed the Bartenders at the Pool bar especially Dane. Centrum area - very nice....enjoyed our predinner cocktails there with entertainment that was so-so! Ate dinner nightly in mytime - 6:45 every night. Did have table for 2 - our choice - good servers Myla and Carlos....with maitre d' - Savio. Would recommend the Bar Package! Show in theater - adequate. Plenty of seating with excellent loud acoustics. CoCo Cay - too busy with extra ships in. Very energetic Cruise Director Did not get involved in big pool activities, but many folks enjoyed! Embarkation very easy in Baltimore with excellent onsite parking.
Snuffles123 saw things this way:
Old ship, but good value for price charged. Bad experience with norovirus., April 18, 2014
Reviewer: Snuffles123
Pros: Excellent food and nightly entertainment, lacking free daytime activities.
Cons: Aging ship, very few free daytime activities, cutback on daily music, boring
Departure port: Baltimore
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 2907
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
Being an Emerald member of Royal Caribbean, we were disappointed with this last cruise. First of all, we had the norovirus onboard. RC did all they could do, though, to keep the ship sanitary, even going so far as to serve us our food in the Windjammer, constantly wiping down railings and tables after each use, and the extensive use of Germ-X everywhere we went. Entertainment at night was good, and the food was good as usual, but the daytime activities were lacking. Almost everything to do during the day involved extra money. (Spa treatments, Bingo, Fitness Center, Casino Tournaments, sales in the Shops on board, etc.) Because of the norovirus, we were not able to use the library, it was locked. On sea days, it got tedious and boring. They also cut back on the entertainment during the day. Less music playing around the ship, but more sales... This was our third time on the Grandeur, and we have another cruise scheduled in the fall, I hope it gets better or we will be looking to other lines.
frestuff saw things this way:
First and LAST cruise on RCL - Did we get the sacrificial cruise with this one?, February 13, 2014
Reviewer: frestuff
Pros: Overall, we had a good time at Coco Cay and Key West.
Cons: Poor quality of food, attention to details, and service
Date of cruise: January 31, 2014
Departure port: Baltimore, MD
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Outside
Cabin number: 2068
Good for children: No
Good for teenagers: No
Underwhelmed by Royal Caribbean I have to say that I don't really know why other people would have given this ship anything above a 2 star on their reviews. I rely a lot on reviews before making purchases. I know that there are many people out there that do the same and so I would like to include as much information here as possible with the intention of providing helpful information for others. Reviews are mainly based on opinions but I will be providing facts here that are just plain basic that you can form your own opinions. I don't know if we ended up on the sacrificial cruise ship or that maybe our cruise was a fluke but there are other reviews from previous cruises that reflect what we have seen and experienced. I'm just not sure about the other cruise reviews that highly rate the Grandeur of the Seas. I wonder how overly frozen spongy fish, the lack of attention to details and the lack of consideration for sanitation and the health of the passengers - things that are a matter of FACT and not OPINION - would be anywhere near acceptable to anyone. Overall, we had a good time at Coco Cay and Key West. We were able to spend time as a family and get away from the daily routines. We loved that we escaped the snow and ice storms that hit PA that week. Our lives were not totally ruined by this cruise. We made the best of our time and had the relaxing vacation that we hoped for. However, that still does not negate the facts about the issues that we had with the Grandeur of the Seas. RCL still has the responsibility to their passengers to provide them with good food and good service. First, let me give you a little BACKGROUND about us: - Family of 4 - are in our late 30's and our children are 9 and 14 - Working middle class family, we like to find the best deals and are interested in the value that we receive back. - This is our second cruise, the first one was on the Carnival Pride 7 night Bahamas cruise in March 2013. We are new to cruising and are trying out different lines at this stage. This is our first RCL cruise. - I wouldn't say our Carnival Pride was the best cruise, but we enjoyed it overall (here is the link to my blog review of our Carnival Pride cruise last year, http://familysmarttravel.blogspot.com/2013/04/carnival-pride -cruise-from-baltimore.html) - What we liked the most about our first cruise was the food and the service that we received from our dining room team. This is the main draw for us to go on more cruises. - Prefer to leave from Baltimore or nearby PA ports, don't want to fly anywhere - not ready to spend a ton of money on a Disney cruise, we would rather stretch our dollar and go on more cruises for now - We enjoy relaxing vacations, we don't drink except occasional wine or mixed drinks, we don't party, we don't really gamble. - We like traveling, exploring, and learning about different places EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS CRUISE We really liked the dining and enjoyed the food on our first cruise, which was the most important aspect for us for this cruise. We enjoyed Nassau and Freeport on the first cruise but wanted more beach time and looked forward to the Coco Cay and Key West ports of call with RCL. And that's pretty much it, we didn't really get to go on a lot of shows and events on our first cruise because we'd rather relax and not have to run around too much like we normally do everyday. We were not too concerned about: - activities, shows, and events - excursions offered by RCL (we prefer to do our own thing and booked our own excursion on the first cruise) - demographics of passengers (I guess Carnival has a reputation for being a party ship). It didn't matter if the ship was full of old people or young people, as long as people were not rude and inconsiderate. Below is our experience on this cruise: ISSUE: WATER WAS YELLOWISH-BROWN FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS My daughter came back to the room around 12:30 and took a shower. The water turned yellowish-brown on her while she was still in the shower. I didn't believe her at first but then saw it for myself. I called the front desk and was told that they were aware of the issue. I asked if this was safe (thinking that this could be contaminated water that my daughter just took a shower in) and was not given a yes or no answer, only that they are working on the issue. We were told to use the bottled water in the room to rinse my daughter off. I called later on to ask for more water because the ones in the room were not enough and was given some resistance to have more of the $3.95 bottled water sent to our room. The water was still brown around 6 a.m. and black particles were then present in the water after they told us that the problem has been fixed. EXPECTATION: I think that this could have been handled more professionally. There also should have been an announcement made about it so that passengers could take their own precautions. I surely would not have wanted to use the water to brush my teeth until an hour or so later when the system has been flushed through more thoroughly. ISSUE: TOILETS DIDN'T WORK A COUPLE OF TIMES The toilets would not flush a couple of times. At one point, it was not working for several hours. We called the front desk and were told that they would send maintenance down, but no one ever came. Our steward even called maintenance because he would not clean the bathroom and he couldn't get a quick response from them either. EXPECTATION: Maintenance should have been sent down to fix the problem as promised. ISSUE: NO INDOOR POOL FOR KIDS There are only 2 pools and one of the pools is in the Solarium that is supposed to be for adults only. What are kids supposed to do when we are still in the colder areas? The Carnival Pride at least had a retractable roof that they closed in the pool area so that the kids were still able to swim when it was cold outside. I was told by other people that there were kids swimming in the Solarium pool the night before. I didn't want to cause trouble and so I went to the front desk to ask. I was told that children are allowed in the Solarium pool as long as they are supervised by their parents and that they were more concerned about babies in diapers in the Solarium, which was not the case for my 9 year old son. I asked if this was only for when it is cold outside but was told that this was all the time. (this is of course a bit confusing since their info and the signs in the Solarium state that kids under 16 are not permitted in the Solarium pool). With permission from the front desk, I supervised my son while he swam in the Solarium pool. I made sure that he didn't splash anyone or caused any issues and he was well-behaved the entire time, just enjoying swimming in the warm water. He received a couple of looks from adults there, some of them purposely stood in front of the 'no children under 16' signs and shook their heads. No one approached me to say anything about it, which I would have preferred so that I could explain to them that my son is permitted to be there. It was still uncomfortable. I think that it is very poor of those who were standing in front of the signs and not wanting kids to be in there (when barely anyone was really in the pool). Would these adults, I wondered, want to go swimming outside in the cold? Would they want their children or grandchildren to be outside in the cold pool just so they can have their adult pool to themselves? EXPECTATION: The fact that children are permitted to swim in the Solarium pool with supervision should be clearly communicated to all guests so that people don't get dirty looks from some cranky adults. Or provide an alternative for children to have some pool time while we are in the colder areas. We are at sea for 4 days and most of those days are cold in the winter time. Children are paid passengers too. ISSUE: DRESS CODE RULES SHOULD BE APPLIED TO ALL PASSENGERS AND HANDLED IN A PROFESSIONAL MATTER No shorts, barefeet, tank tops, or hats are allowed in the dining room. We were in Nassau and my husband was wearing shorts when we went to dinner (totally forgot about the shorts). We got to the hostess desk and one of the host staff just stared at us from a distance and did not acknowledge us. He proceeded to go towards the back of the dining room where the main hostess was to fetch her. She told us out loud that there are no shorts allowed in the dining room, in front of other people in the line. My husband did go back to the room and changed and then went back to have dinner at the dining room. He called the front desk to politely complain about the way the hostess handled the situation. The front desk took his information and assured him that it will be communicated to the dining room manager. We never heard anything back from anybody. A couple of nights later, we noticed two other people in the dining room, sitting at their tables, wearing hats. My husband addressed this to the dining room manager, Denice and also told her about the earlier incident about his shorts. Denice apologized and told him that she wished he would have told her about it then so that she could have addressed it right away. Apparently, the front desk never said anything to Denice. She explained that the hostess should have sat our family, instead of sending us away, and then privately let my husband know about the dress code so that he may change and come back. This would have been a more acceptable approach. EXPECTATION: I would have expected the host staff to be more professional. I also would expect the staff to apply the rules to all guests. Rules are rules and we respect that, but it needs to apply to everyone. ISSUE: DISORGANIZED MEET AND MINGLE We received an invitation to the meet and mingle that had the wrong date on it. We went to the Viking Lounge on the day printed on the invitation but the outside door was locked and no one was in the room. We went to the front desk and was told that they made a mistake on the date and were sent back to the Viking Lounge to check to see if anyone was there. We went back and the room was still dark with the outside door locked. We received a call from the coordinator who told us that they moved it to another room. She apparently waited by the elevators to let everyone know and since we only checked the outside door, we never saw her. She told us that they did the prize drawing but not to worry about it because we didn't miss anything. The price was a bottle of wine, which she didn't think was great anyway. EXPECTATION: They should have sent another invitation or called each of us (there were not that many signed up) to let us know about the corrected date and place. They could have also put a sign up on the outside entrance to let us know where they were, and let the front desk know so that they can inform everyone when they stop by there. There were so many ways to correct the error, if only they tried. ISSUE: UNTRUTHFUL SECURITY STAFF AT COCO CAY Our kids collected some seashells and found some really cool corals washed up the shore. When we were leaving the island, the security staff told us that we cannot take seashells. The reason for this, they said was that they do not know if Baltimore would allow us to take these seashells into the US. They are concerned, they said that we could possibly get fined for bringing shells in from outside the US. My daughter found a tiny block of coral with 3 shells attached to it, it was so unique which is why she loved it so much. She was obviously upset that she could not take this tiny piece of memento home. It was inconsiderate of the security staff to do this to kids. It's not like they are bringing home some exotic things that are rare to the island. One of the passengers who also got his stuff taken away joked that we'll probably see these in their gift shop. EXPECTATION: Just tell us the truth that you just don't want us to take seashells, don't make up some story about your concern for us because it's obviously a lie. They are seashells, it's not that important, but it is important to the children because it was connected to their experience of walking around the shoreline and finding them. Why? - we took home two gigantic conch shells and a ton of seashells from Nassau on our last cruise without any problems - how could Baltimore officials distinguish between seashells from Coco Cay vs. seashells from Key West? they are seashells for goodness sake! - so if we purchased these seashells from markets in the Bahamas or from RCL, we would be allowed to bring them in to the US? ISSUE: POOR ORGANIZED (AND SANITIZED) BUFFET AT COCO CAY We got to the buffet about 5 minutes before 11:30 when it opened and were able to get food. The line was super long within 10 minutes and it took forever for everyone else to get their food. My husband went around 1 and turned right back around without getting food after seeing how nasty the buffet was. There were no utensils on most of the stations and he watched people scoop rice out with their bare hands onto their plate because there were no utensils, as the RCL staff stood there and watched. EXPECTATION: Would it be so much trouble to maintain the buffet and replace the utensils? There should have been several stations and separate lines for them instead of making guests wait for so long just to get food. These are your customers, they paid for the food and the service, give them the food and service that you promised in a timely and clean manner. ISSUE: ICE CREAM MACHINE CONSTANTLY BROKEN The ice cream machine was constantly out of service throughout the cruise. There were also times when one of the two flavors was not available. My daughter pulled a cone from the dispenser and the first 2 or 3 fell into the catching tray so she got a new cone. She said a staff yelled at her (although she couldn't understand what he said), but he was clearly upset that she did not pick up the cones that fell into the catching tray to use one of them instead of getting a new one. EXPECTATION: There are not that many choices of treats on this cruise, really it's only the ice cream machine, this should have been maintained and stocked appropriately. Staff should not be yelling at guests, no matter how old they are. The catching tray is not that clean, don't expect guests to pick up dropped cones to use them. ISSUE: DRINK DISPENSERS AT THE WINDJAMMER DID NOT WORK, CUPS WERE DIRTY Staff filled drinks and laid out the cups on trays. The drinks in the cups got watered down by melted ice after sitting there too long. You couldn't not taste the iced tea. We have also gotten drinks in dirty cups several times. EXPECTATION: Fix the drink dispensers. Guests prefer to get their own drinks fresh and not watered down. Please wash your cups and mugs. The coffee mugs are all stained brown on the inside. If you can't get the mugs cleaned, then replace them. ISSUE: TABLES AT WINDJAMMER NOT BEING CLEARED We can see staff walking around but the tables were not being cleared. This happened several times, even when the area was not crowded. We have had to clear our own tables many times just so we can have a place to sit. EXPECTATION: Tables should be cleared when people are done. ISSUE: STAFF WIPING TABLES WITH DIRTY RAG AT WINDJAMMER We watched staff going around and quickly (and I mean quickly, 1 or two light swipes) wiping tables. When we brought this up with the dining room manager and how we expected more precautions in the dining room areas due to the recent norovirus issues, she was surprised. She said that they do have sanitizing sprays and that staff should be using them all the time to wipe tables. EXPECTATION: Dining rooms should be clean and sanitized. ISSUE: BUFFETS CLOSED DOWN 30 MINUTES EARLY We usually ate our breakfast at the main dining room. However, we had to get breakfast from the buffet one morning when the schedule said it was open until 11. We got there at 10:30 and they were already closing down one of the stations and closed down one of the two drink stations.
Michelle C saw things this way:
Went after fire and it was in great shape with no adverse affects, January 23, 2014
Reviewer: Michelle C
Pros: Great mid-level ship
Cons: Needs bigger kids rooms
Date of cruise: July 11, 2013
Departure port: Baltimore, MD
Region visited: Cruise to Nowhere
Cabin category: Inside
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: No
Great ship for the market it is in and I like some of the re-figuring of the cabins in the Ocean View category. The fire area was all re-done and not noticeable at all. Good entertainment. Maybe could use more room in the dining area or at least restructuring.
mad4mex saw things this way:
Fantastic food and service, August 27, 2010
Reviewer: mad4mex
Pros: Food, service, cleanliness
Cons: Small pool, not enough activities, more live music at pool
Departure port: 8-19-10
Region visited: Caribbean - Western
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 2542
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: No
My family had a great time! The food and service are excellent. The teens didn't have enough to do so sat around the pool which was always very crowded.
drshock saw things this way:
Grandeur of the Seas 5-day cruise, Caribbean vacation., July 22, 2010
Reviewer: drshock
Pros: Great vegetarian meal choices, very friendly/helpful staff, variety of activity.
Cons: Pools are very small, hot tubs are always crowded and some are closed. Kids!
Date of cruise: July 12, 2010
Departure port: Ft Lauderdale
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Outside
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
We went on this cruise for our honeymoon. This was my husband's and my first cruise. We had an amazing, relaxing time. The ship was beautiful. There was always some form of entertainment. They did a really great job letting us know what was going on. The comedians they had were great. They also showed movies late at night. The movies weren't the best and they showed one of them twice. It would be nice if they showed newer movies. The drink prices were not inexpensive. We enjoyed the casino. There were always quiet places to be together. The nightlife seemed like it would be fun if that was your sort of thing. My husband doesn't dance. They had theme nights at the night clubs. There were activities for the under-21 crowd and for children. There were lots of kids and teens on this ship. The Windjammer buffet was really crowded during meal times and it took a long time to make it through the line. The main dining room was great. The only thing is that since we were on our honeymoon, we wished we could have sat alone in the main dining room for a more romantic dining experience. They didn't give you that option and made you sit with other people. You sat with the same other people for the whole trip which was nice. We did enjoy getting to know them, but wish we could have had the option to dine just the two of us. The staff were outstanding. They were incredibly friendly and helpful. It was so nice to be waited on like that. I have never had such amazing service in my life. This is definitely a highlight of taking a cruise. We really enojyed the reggae band. Just wish there could have been more opportunities for romance. They did have a nice honeymooner's party that only lasted 1/2-hour, though. The whole experience was a dream. The biggest downside to this boat is that the pools are really small. There were so many kids and teens on the ship that the pools were packed - no room to swim. Also, the hot tubs: they had six 6 total hot tubs and they were always packed. They were all open during the day, but in the evening, when most people want to go sit in a hot tub, they would close down half of them. Also, one of the pools was always closed in the evening. I think they would make a lot more people happy if they were somehow able to keep all of the hot tubs open during the open hours. Or they could just extend the hours the pool and hot tubs are open. They closed at 11 p.m. which is early. Overall, it was an amazing experience and recommend this ship to most.
kekap697 saw things this way:
Older ship, good value, May 27, 2010
Reviewer: kekap697
Pros: Convenient, comfortable,
Cons: The shows
Date of cruise: December 1, 2008
Departure port: Tampa
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Outside
Our cuise had a great itinerary, low price for a 10-day. This was my aunt's favorite ship (16 cruises).
Grandeur of the Seas reviews
Average customer rating:
3.97 / 5
3.97 / 5Average Rating based on 8 Reviews:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
4.00
3.88
3.75
3.00
4.14
4.00
3.60
4.75
4.50
3.88
3.75
3.00
4.14
4.00
3.60
4.75
4.50
Cruisingnut saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
5
5
4
4
3
4
4
4
5
5
Smaller ship with great staff, March 22, 2017
Reviewer: Cruisingnut
Pros: Manageable size ship with outstanding service and staff
Cons: Grand Bahama port of call
Departure port: Baltimore, MD
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Outside
Cabin number: 7582
Good for children: No
Good for teenagers: No
This was our "gal pals cruise." The ship, while a 20-year-old lady, is in good condition. While lacking the bells and whistles of her newer, larger sisters, Grandeur has a friendly vibe. You actually get to meet and interact with the crew and fellow passengers. Main dining room meals were very good and our dining room team was outstanding. Chops service very nice and the food good. (Let's face it, it's a steak and hard to mess up.) Chef's Table was excellent! Giovanni's Table food was excellent, but service left much to be desired. It was so poor that our surcharge was credited back to us. Favorite port of call was Charleston. Only wish we would have had more time there. Port Canaveral and Miami were fine, and we did ship excursions that were good. Grand Bahama (Freeport) is a waste of time. NOTHING there, plus docked at a commercial area where we had a lovely view from our window of a cement plant. Because of a front that came through we did not get to Coco Cay (not unusual) and stayed in Freeport overnight. They need to scrap this port from all of their itineraries! Baltimore is an easy 3+ hour drive for us and the terminal is literally right off the I-95 exit. Parking convenient ($15 per day) and easy to walk to terminal. Overall weather was great, and we had a wonderful time. Love the Grandeur and will be cruising on her again in a couple of months, this time to New England/Canada.
Miss Barbara saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
4
4
4
4
5
4
4
4
5
We went for a springtime boatride.....not concerned about the ports!, May 7, 2014
Reviewer: Miss Barbara
Pros: Enjoyed mytime dining, excellent servers, good table - nice seating in Centrum
Cons: When "children" entered the Solarium pool - adults only should be respected
Date of cruise: April 19, 2014
Departure port: Baltimore
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Outside
Cabin number: 4536
Good for teenagers: Yes
We enjoyed our cruise....we found the ship to be very clean and crew was always cleaning and use of hand sanitizers was a MUST before entering dining. We went for a boat ride - not concerned with the ports! Just wanted to enjoy the ship! We are early risers, not casino people....therefore - Windjammer good for early coffee and juice and then headed down to Gatsby for sit down breakfast. Food choices - good - always excellent pineapple in the AM - Variety at lunch good.....Cannot understand why people wait in line for hamburgers, but their choice, not mine. Dinner has pretty good selections and can check the screen outside dining room anytime during the day to get a quick check first. Enjoyed the Solarium pool - quiet spot as long as parents kept the kids out...which sometimes did not happen. Good bartenders in Solarium pool - especially Nicholas. We enjoyed the Bartenders at the Pool bar especially Dane. Centrum area - very nice....enjoyed our predinner cocktails there with entertainment that was so-so! Ate dinner nightly in mytime - 6:45 every night. Did have table for 2 - our choice - good servers Myla and Carlos....with maitre d' - Savio. Would recommend the Bar Package! Show in theater - adequate. Plenty of seating with excellent loud acoustics. CoCo Cay - too busy with extra ships in. Very energetic Cruise Director Did not get involved in big pool activities, but many folks enjoyed! Embarkation very easy in Baltimore with excellent onsite parking.
Snuffles123 saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
4
3
5
3
5
4
3
5
3
5
3
5
4
3
5
Old ship, but good value for price charged. Bad experience with norovirus., April 18, 2014
Reviewer: Snuffles123
Pros: Excellent food and nightly entertainment, lacking free daytime activities.
Cons: Aging ship, very few free daytime activities, cutback on daily music, boring
Departure port: Baltimore
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 2907
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
Being an Emerald member of Royal Caribbean, we were disappointed with this last cruise. First of all, we had the norovirus onboard. RC did all they could do, though, to keep the ship sanitary, even going so far as to serve us our food in the Windjammer, constantly wiping down railings and tables after each use, and the extensive use of Germ-X everywhere we went. Entertainment at night was good, and the food was good as usual, but the daytime activities were lacking. Almost everything to do during the day involved extra money. (Spa treatments, Bingo, Fitness Center, Casino Tournaments, sales in the Shops on board, etc.) Because of the norovirus, we were not able to use the library, it was locked. On sea days, it got tedious and boring. They also cut back on the entertainment during the day. Less music playing around the ship, but more sales... This was our third time on the Grandeur, and we have another cruise scheduled in the fall, I hope it gets better or we will be looking to other lines.
frestuff saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
1
3
2
2
2
5
2
3
2
2
2
5
2
First and LAST cruise on RCL - Did we get the sacrificial cruise with this one?, February 13, 2014
Reviewer: frestuff
Pros: Overall, we had a good time at Coco Cay and Key West.
Cons: Poor quality of food, attention to details, and service
Date of cruise: January 31, 2014
Departure port: Baltimore, MD
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Outside
Cabin number: 2068
Good for children: No
Good for teenagers: No
Underwhelmed by Royal Caribbean I have to say that I don't really know why other people would have given this ship anything above a 2 star on their reviews. I rely a lot on reviews before making purchases. I know that there are many people out there that do the same and so I would like to include as much information here as possible with the intention of providing helpful information for others. Reviews are mainly based on opinions but I will be providing facts here that are just plain basic that you can form your own opinions. I don't know if we ended up on the sacrificial cruise ship or that maybe our cruise was a fluke but there are other reviews from previous cruises that reflect what we have seen and experienced. I'm just not sure about the other cruise reviews that highly rate the Grandeur of the Seas. I wonder how overly frozen spongy fish, the lack of attention to details and the lack of consideration for sanitation and the health of the passengers - things that are a matter of FACT and not OPINION - would be anywhere near acceptable to anyone. Overall, we had a good time at Coco Cay and Key West. We were able to spend time as a family and get away from the daily routines. We loved that we escaped the snow and ice storms that hit PA that week. Our lives were not totally ruined by this cruise. We made the best of our time and had the relaxing vacation that we hoped for. However, that still does not negate the facts about the issues that we had with the Grandeur of the Seas. RCL still has the responsibility to their passengers to provide them with good food and good service. First, let me give you a little BACKGROUND about us: - Family of 4 - are in our late 30's and our children are 9 and 14 - Working middle class family, we like to find the best deals and are interested in the value that we receive back. - This is our second cruise, the first one was on the Carnival Pride 7 night Bahamas cruise in March 2013. We are new to cruising and are trying out different lines at this stage. This is our first RCL cruise. - I wouldn't say our Carnival Pride was the best cruise, but we enjoyed it overall (here is the link to my blog review of our Carnival Pride cruise last year, http://familysmarttravel.blogspot.com/2013/04/carnival-pride -cruise-from-baltimore.html) - What we liked the most about our first cruise was the food and the service that we received from our dining room team. This is the main draw for us to go on more cruises. - Prefer to leave from Baltimore or nearby PA ports, don't want to fly anywhere - not ready to spend a ton of money on a Disney cruise, we would rather stretch our dollar and go on more cruises for now - We enjoy relaxing vacations, we don't drink except occasional wine or mixed drinks, we don't party, we don't really gamble. - We like traveling, exploring, and learning about different places EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS CRUISE We really liked the dining and enjoyed the food on our first cruise, which was the most important aspect for us for this cruise. We enjoyed Nassau and Freeport on the first cruise but wanted more beach time and looked forward to the Coco Cay and Key West ports of call with RCL. And that's pretty much it, we didn't really get to go on a lot of shows and events on our first cruise because we'd rather relax and not have to run around too much like we normally do everyday. We were not too concerned about: - activities, shows, and events - excursions offered by RCL (we prefer to do our own thing and booked our own excursion on the first cruise) - demographics of passengers (I guess Carnival has a reputation for being a party ship). It didn't matter if the ship was full of old people or young people, as long as people were not rude and inconsiderate. Below is our experience on this cruise: ISSUE: WATER WAS YELLOWISH-BROWN FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS My daughter came back to the room around 12:30 and took a shower. The water turned yellowish-brown on her while she was still in the shower. I didn't believe her at first but then saw it for myself. I called the front desk and was told that they were aware of the issue. I asked if this was safe (thinking that this could be contaminated water that my daughter just took a shower in) and was not given a yes or no answer, only that they are working on the issue. We were told to use the bottled water in the room to rinse my daughter off. I called later on to ask for more water because the ones in the room were not enough and was given some resistance to have more of the $3.95 bottled water sent to our room. The water was still brown around 6 a.m. and black particles were then present in the water after they told us that the problem has been fixed. EXPECTATION: I think that this could have been handled more professionally. There also should have been an announcement made about it so that passengers could take their own precautions. I surely would not have wanted to use the water to brush my teeth until an hour or so later when the system has been flushed through more thoroughly. ISSUE: TOILETS DIDN'T WORK A COUPLE OF TIMES The toilets would not flush a couple of times. At one point, it was not working for several hours. We called the front desk and were told that they would send maintenance down, but no one ever came. Our steward even called maintenance because he would not clean the bathroom and he couldn't get a quick response from them either. EXPECTATION: Maintenance should have been sent down to fix the problem as promised. ISSUE: NO INDOOR POOL FOR KIDS There are only 2 pools and one of the pools is in the Solarium that is supposed to be for adults only. What are kids supposed to do when we are still in the colder areas? The Carnival Pride at least had a retractable roof that they closed in the pool area so that the kids were still able to swim when it was cold outside. I was told by other people that there were kids swimming in the Solarium pool the night before. I didn't want to cause trouble and so I went to the front desk to ask. I was told that children are allowed in the Solarium pool as long as they are supervised by their parents and that they were more concerned about babies in diapers in the Solarium, which was not the case for my 9 year old son. I asked if this was only for when it is cold outside but was told that this was all the time. (this is of course a bit confusing since their info and the signs in the Solarium state that kids under 16 are not permitted in the Solarium pool). With permission from the front desk, I supervised my son while he swam in the Solarium pool. I made sure that he didn't splash anyone or caused any issues and he was well-behaved the entire time, just enjoying swimming in the warm water. He received a couple of looks from adults there, some of them purposely stood in front of the 'no children under 16' signs and shook their heads. No one approached me to say anything about it, which I would have preferred so that I could explain to them that my son is permitted to be there. It was still uncomfortable. I think that it is very poor of those who were standing in front of the signs and not wanting kids to be in there (when barely anyone was really in the pool). Would these adults, I wondered, want to go swimming outside in the cold? Would they want their children or grandchildren to be outside in the cold pool just so they can have their adult pool to themselves? EXPECTATION: The fact that children are permitted to swim in the Solarium pool with supervision should be clearly communicated to all guests so that people don't get dirty looks from some cranky adults. Or provide an alternative for children to have some pool time while we are in the colder areas. We are at sea for 4 days and most of those days are cold in the winter time. Children are paid passengers too. ISSUE: DRESS CODE RULES SHOULD BE APPLIED TO ALL PASSENGERS AND HANDLED IN A PROFESSIONAL MATTER No shorts, barefeet, tank tops, or hats are allowed in the dining room. We were in Nassau and my husband was wearing shorts when we went to dinner (totally forgot about the shorts). We got to the hostess desk and one of the host staff just stared at us from a distance and did not acknowledge us. He proceeded to go towards the back of the dining room where the main hostess was to fetch her. She told us out loud that there are no shorts allowed in the dining room, in front of other people in the line. My husband did go back to the room and changed and then went back to have dinner at the dining room. He called the front desk to politely complain about the way the hostess handled the situation. The front desk took his information and assured him that it will be communicated to the dining room manager. We never heard anything back from anybody. A couple of nights later, we noticed two other people in the dining room, sitting at their tables, wearing hats. My husband addressed this to the dining room manager, Denice and also told her about the earlier incident about his shorts. Denice apologized and told him that she wished he would have told her about it then so that she could have addressed it right away. Apparently, the front desk never said anything to Denice. She explained that the hostess should have sat our family, instead of sending us away, and then privately let my husband know about the dress code so that he may change and come back. This would have been a more acceptable approach. EXPECTATION: I would have expected the host staff to be more professional. I also would expect the staff to apply the rules to all guests. Rules are rules and we respect that, but it needs to apply to everyone. ISSUE: DISORGANIZED MEET AND MINGLE We received an invitation to the meet and mingle that had the wrong date on it. We went to the Viking Lounge on the day printed on the invitation but the outside door was locked and no one was in the room. We went to the front desk and was told that they made a mistake on the date and were sent back to the Viking Lounge to check to see if anyone was there. We went back and the room was still dark with the outside door locked. We received a call from the coordinator who told us that they moved it to another room. She apparently waited by the elevators to let everyone know and since we only checked the outside door, we never saw her. She told us that they did the prize drawing but not to worry about it because we didn't miss anything. The price was a bottle of wine, which she didn't think was great anyway. EXPECTATION: They should have sent another invitation or called each of us (there were not that many signed up) to let us know about the corrected date and place. They could have also put a sign up on the outside entrance to let us know where they were, and let the front desk know so that they can inform everyone when they stop by there. There were so many ways to correct the error, if only they tried. ISSUE: UNTRUTHFUL SECURITY STAFF AT COCO CAY Our kids collected some seashells and found some really cool corals washed up the shore. When we were leaving the island, the security staff told us that we cannot take seashells. The reason for this, they said was that they do not know if Baltimore would allow us to take these seashells into the US. They are concerned, they said that we could possibly get fined for bringing shells in from outside the US. My daughter found a tiny block of coral with 3 shells attached to it, it was so unique which is why she loved it so much. She was obviously upset that she could not take this tiny piece of memento home. It was inconsiderate of the security staff to do this to kids. It's not like they are bringing home some exotic things that are rare to the island. One of the passengers who also got his stuff taken away joked that we'll probably see these in their gift shop. EXPECTATION: Just tell us the truth that you just don't want us to take seashells, don't make up some story about your concern for us because it's obviously a lie. They are seashells, it's not that important, but it is important to the children because it was connected to their experience of walking around the shoreline and finding them. Why? - we took home two gigantic conch shells and a ton of seashells from Nassau on our last cruise without any problems - how could Baltimore officials distinguish between seashells from Coco Cay vs. seashells from Key West? they are seashells for goodness sake! - so if we purchased these seashells from markets in the Bahamas or from RCL, we would be allowed to bring them in to the US? ISSUE: POOR ORGANIZED (AND SANITIZED) BUFFET AT COCO CAY We got to the buffet about 5 minutes before 11:30 when it opened and were able to get food. The line was super long within 10 minutes and it took forever for everyone else to get their food. My husband went around 1 and turned right back around without getting food after seeing how nasty the buffet was. There were no utensils on most of the stations and he watched people scoop rice out with their bare hands onto their plate because there were no utensils, as the RCL staff stood there and watched. EXPECTATION: Would it be so much trouble to maintain the buffet and replace the utensils? There should have been several stations and separate lines for them instead of making guests wait for so long just to get food. These are your customers, they paid for the food and the service, give them the food and service that you promised in a timely and clean manner. ISSUE: ICE CREAM MACHINE CONSTANTLY BROKEN The ice cream machine was constantly out of service throughout the cruise. There were also times when one of the two flavors was not available. My daughter pulled a cone from the dispenser and the first 2 or 3 fell into the catching tray so she got a new cone. She said a staff yelled at her (although she couldn't understand what he said), but he was clearly upset that she did not pick up the cones that fell into the catching tray to use one of them instead of getting a new one. EXPECTATION: There are not that many choices of treats on this cruise, really it's only the ice cream machine, this should have been maintained and stocked appropriately. Staff should not be yelling at guests, no matter how old they are. The catching tray is not that clean, don't expect guests to pick up dropped cones to use them. ISSUE: DRINK DISPENSERS AT THE WINDJAMMER DID NOT WORK, CUPS WERE DIRTY Staff filled drinks and laid out the cups on trays. The drinks in the cups got watered down by melted ice after sitting there too long. You couldn't not taste the iced tea. We have also gotten drinks in dirty cups several times. EXPECTATION: Fix the drink dispensers. Guests prefer to get their own drinks fresh and not watered down. Please wash your cups and mugs. The coffee mugs are all stained brown on the inside. If you can't get the mugs cleaned, then replace them. ISSUE: TABLES AT WINDJAMMER NOT BEING CLEARED We can see staff walking around but the tables were not being cleared. This happened several times, even when the area was not crowded. We have had to clear our own tables many times just so we can have a place to sit. EXPECTATION: Tables should be cleared when people are done. ISSUE: STAFF WIPING TABLES WITH DIRTY RAG AT WINDJAMMER We watched staff going around and quickly (and I mean quickly, 1 or two light swipes) wiping tables. When we brought this up with the dining room manager and how we expected more precautions in the dining room areas due to the recent norovirus issues, she was surprised. She said that they do have sanitizing sprays and that staff should be using them all the time to wipe tables. EXPECTATION: Dining rooms should be clean and sanitized. ISSUE: BUFFETS CLOSED DOWN 30 MINUTES EARLY We usually ate our breakfast at the main dining room. However, we had to get breakfast from the buffet one morning when the schedule said it was open until 11. We got there at 10:30 and they were already closing down one of the stations and closed down one of the two drink stations.
Michelle C saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
Went after fire and it was in great shape with no adverse affects, January 23, 2014
Reviewer: Michelle C
Pros: Great mid-level ship
Cons: Needs bigger kids rooms
Date of cruise: July 11, 2013
Departure port: Baltimore, MD
Region visited: Cruise to Nowhere
Cabin category: Inside
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: No
Great ship for the market it is in and I like some of the re-figuring of the cabins in the Ocean View category. The fire area was all re-done and not noticeable at all. Good entertainment. Maybe could use more room in the dining area or at least restructuring.
mad4mex saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
5
5
3
2
5
5
3
5
5
3
2
5
5
3
5
Fantastic food and service, August 27, 2010
Reviewer: mad4mex
Pros: Food, service, cleanliness
Cons: Small pool, not enough activities, more live music at pool
Departure port: 8-19-10
Region visited: Caribbean - Western
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 2542
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: No
My family had a great time! The food and service are excellent. The teens didn't have enough to do so sat around the pool which was always very crowded.
drshock saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
5
4
4
4
4
5
4
5
5
4
4
4
4
5
4
5
5
Grandeur of the Seas 5-day cruise, Caribbean vacation., July 22, 2010
Reviewer: drshock
Pros: Great vegetarian meal choices, very friendly/helpful staff, variety of activity.
Cons: Pools are very small, hot tubs are always crowded and some are closed. Kids!
Date of cruise: July 12, 2010
Departure port: Ft Lauderdale
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Outside
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
We went on this cruise for our honeymoon. This was my husband's and my first cruise. We had an amazing, relaxing time. The ship was beautiful. There was always some form of entertainment. They did a really great job letting us know what was going on. The comedians they had were great. They also showed movies late at night. The movies weren't the best and they showed one of them twice. It would be nice if they showed newer movies. The drink prices were not inexpensive. We enjoyed the casino. There were always quiet places to be together. The nightlife seemed like it would be fun if that was your sort of thing. My husband doesn't dance. They had theme nights at the night clubs. There were activities for the under-21 crowd and for children. There were lots of kids and teens on this ship. The Windjammer buffet was really crowded during meal times and it took a long time to make it through the line. The main dining room was great. The only thing is that since we were on our honeymoon, we wished we could have sat alone in the main dining room for a more romantic dining experience. They didn't give you that option and made you sit with other people. You sat with the same other people for the whole trip which was nice. We did enjoy getting to know them, but wish we could have had the option to dine just the two of us. The staff were outstanding. They were incredibly friendly and helpful. It was so nice to be waited on like that. I have never had such amazing service in my life. This is definitely a highlight of taking a cruise. We really enojyed the reggae band. Just wish there could have been more opportunities for romance. They did have a nice honeymooner's party that only lasted 1/2-hour, though. The whole experience was a dream. The biggest downside to this boat is that the pools are really small. There were so many kids and teens on the ship that the pools were packed - no room to swim. Also, the hot tubs: they had six 6 total hot tubs and they were always packed. They were all open during the day, but in the evening, when most people want to go sit in a hot tub, they would close down half of them. Also, one of the pools was always closed in the evening. I think they would make a lot more people happy if they were somehow able to keep all of the hot tubs open during the open hours. Or they could just extend the hours the pool and hot tubs are open. They closed at 11 p.m. which is early. Overall, it was an amazing experience and recommend this ship to most.
kekap697 saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
5
4
4
5
4
5
4
4
5
4
5
Older ship, good value, May 27, 2010
Reviewer: kekap697
Pros: Convenient, comfortable,
Cons: The shows
Date of cruise: December 1, 2008
Departure port: Tampa
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Outside
Our cuise had a great itinerary, low price for a 10-day. This was my aunt's favorite ship (16 cruises).
