First Royal Caribbean cruise

Item: Grandeur of the Seas
Rating: 2.8
Author: nightrider

Grandeur of the Seas Cruise Review

nightrider

Contributor Level: First Mate

3 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 20

Helpful Votes: 330

Overall rating:

2.8 out of 5

8 Night Southeast Coast & Perfect Day (Baltimore Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 23, 2020

Ship: Grandeur of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 2567

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

I tried to be as honest and fair as Possible with this review. I rely a lot on Ship Mate reviews for my future cruises. So I understand the importance of an honest review. This was my first Royal Caribbean cruise I’ve done. I’ve also did a Costa cruise and carnival. I will most definitely be sticking with the carnival cruise line! After doing 11 carnival cruises I realized that carnival definitely knows Exactly what people want.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Not bad even with a 4 hour delay

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

I was very surprised that the food was not even close to the quality of the food on Carnival🙁

Windjammer Marketplace

3 out of 5

Big selection of food offered every day but seem to be repeated

Great Gatsby Dining Room

2 out of 5

The beef tenderloin and pork tenderloin were both tough. Both the lobster tails were slightly undercooked. It was very tough to find a good quality dinner in the dining room.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Day Spa and Fitness Center

2 out of 5

Very shocked and disappointed to see the size of the fitness center. I’ve been on many cruises on different cruise lines and I would have to say that this was the smallest.

Jogging Track

4 out of 5

We enjoyed the jogging track nice size and comfortable on your feet

Solarium

3 out of 5

Solarium was a nice place to relax unfortunately they don’t open the roof to allow the sun in on a nice day. Also I did not like the 16+ I guess I’m used to carnival ships where the serenity is 21+

Gift Shop

4 out of 5

Nice shops!

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Palladium Theater

4 out of 5

Show we’re good. On par with other cruise lines. Disappointed that there were only a couple of comedy acts

Centrum

4 out of 5

I always love the live performers.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Our dining room waiter and assistant waiter were fantastic Shareen and John did an outstanding job! Unfortunately I have to say our room Stewart was not a very motivated individual and was rarely in a pleasant mood. A little shocking to see that. Bartenders seem pleasant the few times we did use their services. And generally the other staff seem pleasant

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

I think the layout was quite a bit different than I’m used to another ships. Which I really did not care for. The elevators seem to be busy at all times so we had to use the stairs most of the time. A lot of the bathrooms in the gym and in the common areas seem very dated. I found the beds in the state rooms uncomfortable and very low to the floor. We were on the second floor in room 2567 and we had a bad foul odour

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Smaller room than I’m used to on other cruise lines. Very dated interior. Terrible odour in the room and also along the hallway on the second floor. And I realize that the rooms are only so big but the shower was very small and uncomfortable so I showered in the gym facility most of the time

Ship tip

This ship seems to move quite a bit even in smaller sea conditions. Not sure if they even have stabilizers? So if motion is a problem for you definitely take some type of precaution

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

4 out of 5

Royal Caribbean has a very nice island. We started the morning off I’m one of the beaches in the chills side of the island. Still a bit of snorkeling the water is cooler so be cautious if you go at this time of year probably 65°. Saw four or five stingrays some barracudas it’s a nice experience. Then we went over to the lagoon and enjoyed that area for the rest of the day. Royal Caribbean also did a very good job with the lunch spread that they put out food was very good.

Thumbs Up 1

Charleston, South Carolina

4 out of 5

Very nice port! Wife and I did a horse and carriage city tour got to see a lot of historical buildings. Did a little bit of shopping and then headed back to the ship got back to the ship just in time before the rain and it was roughly 54° that day. 🥶

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

My wife and I decided to carry-on luggage off and we were off the ship and driving out of the parking lot by 7:30 AM the fastest disembarkation I’ve ever experienced! Awesome

Traveler Photos

Royal Caribbean thought of everything when they Designed this designed this island

Highly Recommend the horse and carriage tour!

11 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Totally like Carnival and Princess.

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Patrick4 4 years ago

You went on one of the oldest ships in the fleet. Don't give up on RC yet 👍

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cruisereckoning 4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed

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Cruiserike0322 4 years ago

I totally agree with you about Carnival

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Thomas4 4 years ago

I agree with the cabin. I did the same mistake choosing an interior cabin. These are really really small and the bathroom is so tiny. But that’s all on the Con side of my memories. Everything else was awesome. Food, service, entertainment, embarkation, debarkation, ports of call. Really nice trip. For sure it’s one of the oldest vessels of the fleet and will be sold in the near future (as far as I know). If you give Royal another chance try a newer ship.

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nightrider 4 years ago

Reference to Titan12 comment. I’m well aware of the fact that the cruise lines do not control the parking lots. As a former law-enforcement officer and witnessing a vehicle pedestrian strike against the port of Baltimore staff. I stopped to give a statement to the on-duty police officer and to Port of Baltimore staff. The only reason I brought up the negative experience with the parking lot is to give a complete overview of my experience.

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TITAN12 4 years ago

The parking lot situation is controlled by the Port of Baltimore and has nothing to do with Carnival or Royal Caribbean so it's hard to imagine how one could be better than the other.

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nightrider 4 years ago

I would have to agree with you I did forget to put in my review that the chops specialty restaurant on the grandeur of the seas was fantastic! and probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had on any cruise ship. I had the 9 ounce fillet mignon and the service was exceptional five star to them for that

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CruzeFan 4 years ago

Sorry you didn’t enjoy it. We’ve always enjoyed Royal Caribbean and have found the food comparable or better than what we experience on Carnival.

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phoenixraquel 4 years ago

I agree with you on the food. Carnival’s free food selections blows this ship’s selection out of the water. On the other hand, the grandeur’s specialty restaurants blew carnival’s out the water. I think of Izumi & Giovanni’s Table often.🤤 (Chops Grille is about equal to the steakhouses on Carnival) ..... I can’t wait to try one of Royal’s mega ships. (Hopefully next year). Happy Cruising! 🙂

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RelleCruz 4 years ago

At least you gave another company a try. There’s a cruise for everyone out there.

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