Grandeur of the Seas - Baltimore to Bermuda - Sep 28 to Oct 03, 2019

We arrived at the Cruise Maryland Terminal around 11:15 am, dropped off our suitcases at the baggage carts, paid $75 for parking and walked to the terminal building. The port team in Baltimore is well organized and always does a great job. We were through security and check-in in about 10 minutes and we were eating in the Windjammer buffet within 30 minutes of our arrival.

Main Dining Room: Waiter Amlan and Assistant Waiter Tapas were excellent. They remembered what we drank, that my wife liked using a straw and provided fast and accurate service. However, unlike other cruises, they seemed busier than before and did not call us by name. They also did not have time to talk to us so we could learn more about their countries, their families and about their responsibilities on the cruise. We did have one problem, which was reported to the chef, who stopped by to explain and apologize. A complementary bottle of wine was given to us the following night. I was impressed by the efforts to make things right. Very nice. We also enjoyed talking to the people sitting at our table. One couple was from Baltimore and the other was from California. (They were the ballroom dance instructors on the cruise.) Nice people. Windjammer Buffet (Breakfast and Lunch): Good food, not great. Breakfast was better than lunch. Burgers were no match for Guy's Burgers on Carnival. There did not seem to be as much variety from day to day as on previous cruises. At times, the buffet got very crowded, but we never had a problem finding a seat. The staff working in the buffet were very friendly. (Tip: We used hand sanitizer at the entrance to the Windjammer and brought a small bottle of our own, so we could use it every time we returned from the buffet. ) Park Cafe (Lunch): This is located in the back of the Solarium. We had a light lunch in the Park Cafe one afternoon. It was seldom crowded and is a nice alternative to the busy Windjammer. The Main Dining Room is also open for breakfast and lunch on most days, but we did not eat there.

The casino was smoky and smelly, regardless of where we sat (in smoking or non-smoking). It’s time that cruise lines ban smoking from casinos. While we didn’t win (as expected), we did enjoy playing and there were some newer machines to choose from.

Schedule: We could not understand the logic of the schedule for entertainment. On some nights, shows started later, but on others they started at 7:00 pm - so we had to rush through the end of dinner to make the early show. 7:30 pm would be a better start time for early shows. People with late dining had the option to go to the later shows. Headliner Show: We did not go to the ‘Welcome Aboard’ show on embarkation night, but one of our table-mates said most of the show was identical to the show they saw on the ship several months before. On night two, the main show was an Eagles Tribute Band. It was a good show, if you liked the Eagles. But, the Eagles tribute band was also the headliner show on night three . Port (Bermuda) Schedule: On the night that we stayed overnight in Bermuda, we got back on the ship at 5pm, went to dinner, then found nothing to do after dinner until the 9:45 pm Eagles Band show. We had planned on getting off the ship and walking around the shops near the dock, but we found out that the stores all closed at 6pm. And, due to regulations, the casino and stores were closed. So, we watched a lip-sync contest in the Centrum for a while, with hundreds of other people who had nothing to do from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. There should have been an early show in the theater. (This would have been a great time slot for ‘Love & Marriage’ game show). Other entertainment / activities. : On Tuesday evening, after leaving Bermuda, we watched a show with the ship’s singers and dancers. This is not what I enjoy, but my wife liked it - and those kids really worked hard. We also saw the ‘Love and Marriage’ game show on our last sea day. We’ve seen this before and we always laugh a lot. Very entertaining. And, we participated in an afternoon ‘fair’ on the last sea day in the Centrum (with bean bag toss, limbo, cupcake designing, etc..). Lots of fun and my wife won a prize! We saw some of the poolside entertainment - sexiest man, Caribbean band music, etc… We did not participate in Bingo or in the art auctions/seminars. The farewell show was good, but the flag celebration in the Centrum was great. This is one of the activities that differentiates the Grandeur from other ships. Overall, the entertainment staff of the Grandeur does a great job in making sure there’s a wide variety of activities from early morning to late at night.

We did not bring any kids on the cruise.

Outstanding. The best characteristic of Grandeur of the Seas is the people. This is the friendliest ship we've been on. Everyone seemed to take great pride in satisfying the passengers. We only had pleasant experiences with everyone, from the port (luggage handlers, security, embarkation staff), to housekeeping, to guest services, to the food staff (several of them talked to us for a while in the Windjammer) , in the spa, etc. Really, the friendliest ship in the fleet, and despite my minor complaints, they made the cruise wonderful.

Ship is small and easy to navigate, though I still got confused about where things were (usually the Main Dining Room and the Theater) every day. Windjammer layout (most of the food in a center circle) gets very congested during breakfast and lunch. The ship is kept very clean and despite being old (for a cruise ship), it is in very good shape. The crew works hard to keep it looking great. There are always places to get away from the crowds and get some quiet time. The Solarium is an excellent alternative to the crowds and noise of the outdoor pool areas.

Our room was ready at 1:00 pm and our suitcases showed up around 3:00 pm. We had an ocean-view cabin on deck two (forward cabin 2526). The room was small, but had plenty of room and storage space for two people. An extra person would have been a challenge. There is enough room under the bed for a couple of large suitcases. The closet had about a dozen wooden hangers for our clothes. We briefly met our cabin steward and only saw him a few times for the rest of our cruise. Our room was always clean by the time we got back from breakfast and after dinner. We had towel animals in the room twice on our five day cruise. If you are considering booking a room on this part of the ship, be aware that noise is an issue on our return to Baltimore. For a few hours before we arrived (4:00 am to 7:00 am), we heard a lot of loud banging and rumbling from the deck below as the crew moved things around in preparation for unloading at the dock. The bathroom was fine, except for the shower curtain (always annoying) and the shower head, which seemed to have a mind of its own when the water was turned on full blast. As on most cruise ships, there are only two power outlets in the cabin, located on the desk, just to the left of the TV. And, speaking of TV, it was awful. Not that we wanted to watch a lot of TV, but half the channels were Royal Caribbean’s content (daily show, cruise shopping, shore excursions, etc..) which repeated endlessly. There were a couple of sports channels, a few news channels (either ends of the spectrum - Fox & MSNBC), a few channels for kids, a music channel with nobody I’ve ever heard of, a couple of channels that showed old TV shows, etc… But, very little new content and no movie channels. I seem to remember better choices on past cruises, so this must have been a cost-savings measure for RC.

Off the ship on-time, through customs with a less than 10 minute wait, bags were waiting for us in the terminal. Total time from ship exit to car was about 20 minutes.