Grandeur of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We chose this cruise because it was the only one that would fit with the dates that I could get away from work, and the port was close enough to home that we could use award points for our flight.  We should have spent more money and taken a different cruise.

The ship is old and showing her age. Is needs to go in dry dock now, instead of waiting until April 2017.  There is a ton of rust; the carpet is in bad shape, and the bathrooms in the cabins are just awful!  When I read other reviews I thought people were just overly critical; they weren't!  It is true that the shower curtain is about six inches too short and that you literally flood the bathroom every time you take a shower. I have to be clean and normally take two showers a day.  I dreaded taking a shower on this trip because of the mess it made.  They try hard to keep it clean, but with her age, the carpet is old and looks nasty and dirty.  My husband got a stomach bug the last day at sea, and we both came home with colds. 

The ship is very small, and there is not room for a kids pool section.  Therefore, one side of the pool on the main pool deck it a kids pool, and the other is the adult pool.  If you are looking for a kid-free zone, you will have to go to the Solarium to the indoor pool, but it is miserably hot in there. 

The dining in the main dining room was fantastic!  We had excellent service from Melroy and Alexandsar.  They made our 21st Anniversary special and tried very hard to get to know us and please us during our 9-day cruise.  The food in the Windjammer was cold, and the oatmeal was soupy.  The coffee was way too strong and never hot.  They biggest problem was they ran out of chocolate soft serve ice cream!  How in the world do you let this happen? They ran out while we were in port in Nassau and didn't bother to restock the ship. You should never run out of any food, especially the ice cream.  The food in Chops was amazingly good as usual.  It seems like this is being done on purpose to force you to spend money on the specialty restaurants.  

The entertainment was not the best we have ever seen.  We only went to one show, and it was just ok.  We spent the bulk of our time in the casino but were disappointed in the selection of games and payouts.  The slots were very tight.  We enjoy Norwegian's casinos much more.  We have to get up early for work, and it is hard for us to change our schedule on vacation.  The evening activities that I would like to participate in start way too late for us.  Why not have something earlier for the folks that eat dinner early and go to bed a before 10:00?

The service was lacking.  I am not sure what has happened to RCI, but they have gone downhill since my last cruise with them in 2014.  I purchased the drink package when I booked my cruise in February.  My cup was supposed to be in my stateroom when I arrived, but it wasn't there.  I went to guest services and inquired about my cup.  I was told that the shipment of containers had not arrived, but they were hopeful that they would be delivered before we left port.  They knew there was a chance that the cups wouldn't get there on time, but they continued to sell drink packages to passengers that had not pre-ordered them.  You would think that the folks that per-ordered their packages would receive their cups first, right? Wrong!  After we had set sail, I inquired again about my cup and was told it would be delivered within two hours.  After two hours had passed, I called Guest Services again, and they said I misunderstood and that I wouldn't be getting a cup until we reach Coco Cay (7 days into our 9-day cruise).  I told them that was completely unacceptable and after raising my voice, they just happened to find me a cup.  The rest of the passengers received little Slurpee cups.  To add insult to injury, they ran out of ice a lot and ran out of the most popular types of soda's before the cruise was over.  This issue along with running our of ice cream has made me question what sets RCI apart from Carnival and Norwegian.  I can cruise cheaper with them, get better itineraries, get my beverage package when promised and all the ice cream I want!  

On this trip, you arrive in port during the middle of the day instead of first thing in the morning.  We decided we like coming into ports in the morning instead of the afternoon.  Bermuda was beautiful!  However, we felt rushed while in port.  We arrived at 2 PM on Saturday.  All of the stores in Hamilton and Kings Warf closed at 6:00 PM and only the stores in Kings Warf were open on Sunday.  If you cruise to Bermuda make sure you dock on a weekday instead of the weekend.  We wanted to go to Horseshoe Bay, but the cabs and buses didn't start running until 9 AM, and our ship was scheduled to leave at 3 PM.  We opted for Snorkel Park.  It was $5.00 a person to get in, $10.00 for lounge chairs and $15.00 for an umbrella.  It's not the prettiest beach I have ever seen, but it was a nice relaxing day within walking distance to the ship.  Beware that drinks cost a lot at this beach park.  I paid $6.00 for a bottle of water and diet coke.  Take your drinks and food from the ship to save you some money.  Nassau was not my favorite, and I can't for the life of me figure out why the straw market is so famous.  It is nothing but a bunch of junk and the same thing over and over again.  No one sales anything different at this place.  Market Street is way overpriced shops, but we enjoyed walking around and seeing the area.  We would have gone over to Atlantis, but again we were in port from 2 PM until 12 AM.  A little late for us, and we didn't feel safe walking around Nassau after dark.  We got back on the ship and enjoyed a lovely dinner in the less crowded dining room.  Coco Kay would be a fun place, and I hope to visit one day again.  We only had a couple of hours to enjoy ourselves before the rain hit. It rained the entire day, so we ate a nice lunch and got back on the ship after trying to wait out the rain.

I can say we will not take a cruise on this ship again.  As for RCI, I'm not sure.  Never say never, but they are not the same cruise line they were two years ago, and that is a real disappointment to us.  

Had we known the conditions of the stateroom we would have upgraded to be more comfortable. Phone rang one night but because space was cramped could not get to phone before the party hung up.  Everything else on the ship was fair to excellent.  We did not participate with entertainment, gambling and/or children's activities.  We basically sunned, ate and slept plus seeing Bermuda and Bahamas only.

As experienced cruisers, we took our children of 8 and 11 on this trip in one of the interior staterooms with the pullman berths.  We recommend center and low cabin placement when on an Atlantic cruises to help with roll and pitch, but we had very good waters for our trip.   Our 11 year old hung with the tweens and teens the entire trip.  Our 8 year spent a few hours in Adventure Ocean, but he was the oldest in his group of Explorers of 5-8 and was bored quickly.  Food, staff and entertainment all meet our high standards and we were very pleased with the cruise.     Well aware that this is an older ship with limited activities, it was an excellent value for us.

We did a pirate sunset cruise out of Bermuda which was very nice, but short of a captain and first mate wearing bandanas, I was disappointed with the "Pirate" aspect, expecting them to at least give the kids foam swords or eye patches. - They did get to drive the boat though.

Second day in Bermuda was spent at Horseshoe Bay, beautiful as ever with tons of exploring for the kids and warm waters for swimming.

In the Grand Bahamas we did the Balmoral Dolphin Encounter and beach break - it was great as we met Mickey the dolphin.  Then swam in perfect water with a ton of underwater wildlife to interact with.   Fish, Crabs, Starfish, Snails and more all easily seen.   We planned to go out into Nassau afterwards, but the shops and restaurants seem to all close up at sunset and the seedier types seemed to come out.  We did a quick turnaround back to the ship.

Our day in Coco Cay was hampered by bad weather, but was still pretty enjoyable, we went and did the Sting Ray City trip, which was cut short due to lightning, but even after playing with the Sting Rays, we were fully refunded without even asking.

An issue with the kid Royal Replenish Drink package went 4 days before being resolved, other than that, we had a great trip!

Enjoyed this trip.  Having done 50+ cruises I highly recommend Grandeur of the Seas.  I was concerned that an older smaller ship would not be enjoyable.   I was completely  wrong.   The ship was beautiful,  intimate,  great staff and smooth sailing.   The only thinh I didn't enjoy was their private island Coco Cay.

We had a great time on the Grandeur, the entertainment was great, the food delicious and there were just enough people on the ship to make friends, but not feel crowded.  Oscar and William were great waiters and Victor took care of our room and needs perfectly.  Hope to board this ship again.

Most people would love this cruise, I did not. Nor do I plan to take another. Lots to drink, and a excellent time to do so, if you can afford it. The service was excellent, scenery was beautiful, if you don't mind 17000 feet of water below you, when you can't see anything. However, I must be honest, this was a very busy place, or so it seemed to me. I feel our travel agent, and Royal Caribean did a excellent job, I'm just not a cruiser. 

The Glass Bottom Boat excursion tour guide was very good with the history of Bermuda. The cruise ship was great! The only thing we had a problem with was that we didn't have a lock on your suit case and some one went thought it. You set your suitcase outside the room the night before you disembark. We take a picture before putting outside the room. They don't scan when you leave, so there was no reason for anyone to get in anyone's bags. Also no one every checks to see if you are leaving your bag and there are employees standing around, so why not look at bag tags?

Overall a good experience. The staff was friendly and helpful. The ship was clean and the service was excellent. The onboard shows and entertainment was great.

Wish we had more time in port, would have liked the gratuities charged explained better, show schedule could be a little better so not to conflict with other activities.

This was our second Royal Carribean cruise, first on the Grandeur of the Seas. The trip was a five day cruise out of the Port of Baltimore.  Although the ship is one of the older ones in the fleet and does not have all the bells and whisltes of the newer ships, it did not disappoint!  The staff was extremely helpful and friendly and the ship was super clean.  Our only destination was Bermuda and it was beautiful.  Would highly recommend going to Horseshoe Bay Beach.  It is as beautiful as any pictures you see.  The entertainment aboard was your typical cruise entertainment and the food was plentiful.  Looking forward to another Royal Carribean cruise in the future.

I really enjoyed my first cruise and happy that we chose Royal Caribbean. Service was very good on the ship! Overall we enjoyed the food but definitely preferred the Gatsby dining room to the buffet especially for dinner.

We did this cruise in conjunction with a 7-day visit to DC and a 2-day visit to Hershey, PA, driving from the St. Louis area.  I had never been to DC or to New England, so it was a treat to see so much on vacation and make the drive really worthwhile.  We are active seniors, but this was a little tiring for us.  The weather was sometimes cool, often foggy, even rainy, but we were in Boston in record heat. We were not enthused with Boston, but that could be because of our visit to DC just before the cruise. We loved Bay Harbor and Halifax, and enjoyed walking around Portland and St. John.  Baltimore was an easy port, and embarking & disembarking were easy.

We had never cruised on RC, being partial to Princess and HAL, but this route was perfect for us. RC is not in the same class as our favs, but it was still a good cruise. The staff was attentive and cheerful, John and Katrina Blair were great, the Great Gatsby (we did MyTime dining but requested a table with servers Melroy and Victor each night) had delicious & well-prepared food, and the ship was well-maintained. We enjoyed the musical entertainment; we did not attend the comedians or game shows. There were some opportunities for us to dance a bit, which is always a plus. The Windjammer food was repetitive and disappointing, the port information was scanty both on line and on ship, and we packed extra clothes for the Smart Casual evenings which never happened.  Still, it was a good cruise and a decent value.

Time to relax, adequate staterooms, love the pool and spy facilities for adults, dining staff and choices are good, staff very efficient and friendly, entertainment very good for smaller ship.

The worst room, in size, presentation and  "amenities"

Refrigerator,   under the dresser, cable on top of the dresser

the smallest room ever,

balcony barely fit  2 chairs and a table, no people

We of course asked for a change and they said "not available"

2 days without water

3 times the toilet stop working

no soap, or shampoo or nothing, when I asked they brought it.

out of the 6 shows just two where good i mean excellent, the other ones in the theater, where boring, noise and repetitive, we have lo leave the theater in one occasion.

The other ones  presented in the "Centrum" where absolute impossible to be seen, no space for all people.

The only wonderful experience where the people:

Room attendance did as much possible for us to be better.(not in his hands).

Formal Dining room beyond excellence

Windajamer, more than excellent, all of servers went beyond themselves to help.

Customer service good 2 persons specially.

The ship in general needs too much work, all the windows dirty.

Things broken here and there.

In the balcony you could see , dirt and unfinished parts.

So beside the wonderful people that help us.

In conclusion the ship was not a good experience.

Believe it or not our children will let you now very quickly if they are having a good time or not. My son who's 5, did not leave Adventure Ocean until closing time everyday. I hardly saw him the entire cruise. The ports of call are awesome and some of the best historical sites yet. If you don't like a huge ship but one just large enough that has all the basics then this one is tailored just for you. Great main dinning seating along with specialty setting as well for a small up charge that you can't beat anywhere. Overall I rated this 5 stars because of value and I love bang for my hard earn bucks, and this was less than $85 per night pp. Take your time and shop they do have some great deals out there you just have to look and watch for them and grab it and this is one of them.      

Very disappointed with the shows. Had an excursion to Boston for a harbor and city cruise that was awful. They overbooked the cruise to the harbor so a lot of people had to stand.

We had a lot of fun. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.................................................................

This was the first time we had sailed on Royal Caribbean, so we knew nothing about the ship's layout, dining, etc.  We worked with a travel agent and he booked us an inside cabin that we assumed would be fine.  I should note we booked this cruise 7 months before departure so there were plenty of cabins for our travel agent to pick from!  The room was NOT OK.  I will talk more about that in the cabin review section.  Overall, the cruise was fine.  We loved the ports and the food in the main dining room!  We never ate at any of the specialty restaurants because the food in the main dining room was so good.  Also, the ship offered a sushi-making class that was a fabulous deal!  For $30 each, we got to make a Calofornia roll, a shrimp tempura roll, and two pieces of nigiri (when sliced, that made 18 pieces of sushi)!  We also got miso soup and unlimited bellinis.  It was a great class with lots of food and drink.  I definitely recommend it!

This is our 2nd cruise on the Grandeur. The first in 2001 was the Med and our first experience with Royal Caribbean and it was a positive one. The ship had been updated since then and is scheduled for another in 2017. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Ike was a fabulous room attendant. The Head Waiter, Yilmaz Komsu,  was very friendly always welcoming us by name and making sure our meal & table (My Time Dining) was satisfactory. We were fortunate to have Michael & Meldon and Melroy & Victor as our servers. The captain was a gracious host at several parties. John & Katrina Blair were wonderful hosts as our Cruise Directors and the "headliners" they scheduled were great, especially James Stephens 111 and David Klinkenberg. We enjoyed the music of the  "Grandeur Band", Fresh Beat, Harmony Duo and Doug playing the piano in the Schooner Bar. There were 2 "aerial act" performances in the Centrum that were most enjoyable. The shore excursions were very informative and entertaining. It was a great cruise to Maine, especially Bar Harbor, and St. Johns and Halifax in Canada. The Port of Baltimore was very efficient.

i would like to recommend that there be NO SMOKING on board.  The ship and staff were excellent. Had a great time. Would recommend this to my friends. 

Service was outstanding. This cruise was one of the better one I have had. All aspects of the cruise form beginning to end was very good. I loved my room and my room attendant provided outstanding service. The food was excellent. I especially enjoyed the wide food variety provided in the Windjammer café. The activities were very appealing, especially the dance classes. There was a major improvement in the internet service, it was much, much faster than the last time I cruised. I very much enjoyed the shows.