DBeas0106

The only place with an actual stand alone bar is Wonderland, which you can pop in without a reservation and drink. The Cheshire cosmo is my favorite. I am unsure if Symphony has Giovanni's wine bar but that would be your only other option with the DX package. The other specialty restaurants don't have a stand alone bar, so you would have to dine in to get any other special drinks.

I’m with @KenCP being a creature of habit myself, I know the bars I will be frequenting and always treat the bartenders in those location(s) well earlier in the cruise and have a conversation with them. Afteralll, they are humans - not to hijack the topic, or get on a soapbox - it’s good to remember.  
 
I would also say not to forget the non-alcoholic perks of the unlimited package the fresh juice in the morning, the premium coffees, and always add a water to your drink order. I extras can be taken back to the room or on excursions 

I’m with @KenCP being a creature of habit myself, I know the bars I will be frequenting and always treat the bartenders in those location(s) well earlier in the cruise and have a conversation with them. Afteralll, they are humans - not to hijack the topic, or get on a soapbox - it’s good to remember.  
 
I would also say not to forget the non-alcoholic perks of the unlimited package the fresh juice in the morning, the premium coffees, and always add a water to your drink order. I extras can be taken back to the room or on excursions 

I’m with @KenCP being a creature of habit myself, I know the bars I will be frequenting and always treat the bartenders in those location(s) well earlier in the cruise and have a conversation with them. Afteralll, they are humans - not to hijack the topic, or get on a soapbox - it’s good to remember.  
 
I would also say not to forget the non-alcoholic perks of the unlimited package the fresh juice in the morning, the premium coffees, and always add a water to your drink order. I extras can be taken back to the room or on excursions 

We use Way.com to park at an airport hotel, then Uber/Lyft to the port.

Being a NJ girl from Central Jersey.  Here are a couple of things I would do depending on your style.
1. Princeton is a really nice town to walk around.  See the university campus, have lunch or dinner.  It is quaint and probably 15 mins. off of the NJ Turnpike, exit 8A.  8A is about a 45-60 mins away from the port.  My family loves to do this just on a lazy day.  The Nassau Inn is beautiful and historic.  It was built in 1756.  You could stay the night prior there, get up early in the a.m., have breakfast and still be at the port by 10:30.
2. If you take the Parkway, and enjoy the beach, there are some great beaches in NJ that are not like the MTV show Jersey Shores.  Belmar is a great stop.  If you are a Springsteen fan, than you want to go to Asbury Park.  The Stone Pony is a bar that Bruce Springsteen is still known to come in and try out some of his music....never announced, just shows up.
3.  Red Bank is also a great walking town, and is known for their antique shops, but a little further out.  Maybe 75-90 mins from port.
4. If you like Horses you can do both the beach or Princeton in one day.  Go to Freehold race track.  You basically skirt through the state using Rte 33.  It runs perpendicular to the Parkway and NJTPKE.  IE go to the beach during the day,  take 33 and 45 mins later you are at the racetrack.  There is a huge mall right there, so in case you forgot anything you can pick it up there.  If you do the Princeton option, it is @30 mins. to the race track.  
5. Hoboken is another option.  It is the new hip place.  It has a train station that can take you into the city.  
We usually sail out of Bayonne if the itinerary and ship work.  Will be going on Oasis this summer.  We go up the night before and stay with family right off of exit 8A.  We typically leave at 9:30-10 (depends on the day of sailing) Leave too early on a work day you will hit traffic.  We are always at the port within 45 mins.  Drop off our luggage, park the car, and are on the ship by 11:15 with cocktail in hand.  It is true,  that unfortunately, the entry is a bottle neck, but at 11 it moves faster than it does @ noon.  
Finally, you need to go to a true diner in NJ.  There is nothing like a NJ diner menu.   Two of my faves are:  Porkroll and Cheese sandwich (nobody flame me for saying porkroll, not taylor ham....baha NJ joke) and the other is French fries with brown gravy.    
Hope that helps you regarding ideas outside the box.
 

Be aware though that Southwest (if that is your preferred airline) no longer goes to Newark...

The rate to park at the port has increased to $25 per day.  
There are no car rental facilities right at Cape Liberty.  Enterprise has a location close-ish.   
Newark airport is a $20 Lyft or Uber away from the port.  That's probably a worst case rental car scenario.  
Newark airport is home to many hotels.  All the chains are represented.  

If you're going to drive in, you may want to look at the cost of those two one-way rentals vs. just paying to park your own car at the garage at Cape Liberty. Cost is currently $22/day, so depending on what Enterprise / Alamo / Hertz want to charge you, could be a break-even or maybe a little better. The garage there is covered, clean, and safe (it's inside the cruise terminal fencing / entry gate and has cameras everywhere).
As for where to stay, you can find some reviews of hotels near to the port at this page on Eat, Sleep, Cruise. You can also check out hotels at Newark Airport and in nearby Jersey City, but I can't really recommend any particular one as I live all of 40 minutes from the port and have never needed to stay in a hotel in those areas. I can tell you that staying in Jersey City will give you relatively easy access to the PATH train into NYC; there are a few stops in Jersey City, with Exchange Place probably being the closest to the hotels you'd most likely stay in.
Hope this helps!

Concur that the Centrum and Deck 5 are great spots.  What is nice about the Centrum is that the music carries all the way up to higher decks.  So to just listen to Centrum music, you can sit almost anywhere amidships.@Curt From Canada  captured everything very nicely, and I actually prefer the shows on Vision class to those on Oasis-class; it's the singing and dancing without crazy plots.  Have a great cruise!  (We miss the ease of going to Baltimore from Bel Air now that we have retired to NC.)

Grandeur .....
Oh, where do I begin ....
For my wife and I (we are in our mid-50's), Lady G is the sweet spot between traditional cruising and the modern cruise experience.  We have found her the easiest ship to navigate, the crew is second to none, and our ability to just relax has been stunning.  The facilities are in fantastic shape in spite of her age.  Izumi, on the back side of the Viking Crown Lounge is stunning with its views...... Oh, and speaking of views, unlike today's monster ships that tend to focus your attention inward, Grandeur (along with other Vision and Radiance class ships) focus your attention outward towards the ocean ...... the sheer number of windows, especially in the Schooner Bar is amazing.
 
Lady G is our home ship out of our home port, we've been on her several times and have at least one more (so far) booked on her.

My Soulmate and I will be sailing on Grandeur (NOV 08) ... (it will be our 3 cruise on her in the last 2 years).  We have sailed on every class of RC ship (except Empress and Majesty).  She is, obviously, one of our favourites.  Here are our biggest observations:
1) Baltimore port is very easy to navigate ... in and out.  You will not feel like you are on a "cattle call".
2) If you love to dance (or even like it a little bit), this might be the best cruise ship in RC's fleet.  We are always in the Centrum at 4:30ish to dance all the way until late seating.  Live bands on RC are great ... Lady G does not disappoint.  While you are dancing or enjoying the music, you will notice a "connection" to the sea.  Everywhere from the Centrum you can see outside.  Some of the larger ships rob you of this experience ... drink it up.
3)  If you like a piano bar, the Schooner Bar is very similar to the ones on other RC ships, with one small exception.  We find it is a little more intimate, a little more inviting, and a great place to hang out.  AND, just like the Centrum, you are always connected to the sea ... there are wonderful views from virtually everywhere in the Schooner Bar.
4)  The staff is excellent ... we have seen some of the crew twice now and really hope we see them again in NOV.
5)  We are big "show people".  Still, even the basic performances on this small ship are very enjoyable.  They are genuine and feel more like someone is performing in your living room.  Very special.
6)  If John Blair is the Cruise Director, he will perform his Neil Diamond Tribute.  We have seen twice (JAN 2006  & NOV 2018).  It is excellent.  After seeing the first time, I found myself listening to a lot more Neil Diamond.  Not to be missed.
7)  The ship is extremely easy to get around.  This was different for us on our May cruise, as we just got of Harmony ... earlier in the year.  It is kind of nice to not have to plan 30 minutes in advance to get somewhere (slight exaggeration).  Have I mentioned yet, that you CAN ALWAYS SEE THE SEA.  This is a big plus and something not to be missed.
8.  Relax ... we are always relaxed on this ship.  The Solarium is small, but very quiet and relaxing.
9)  If you like to walk, the best place is on Deck 5  where you can walk outside all around the ship ... it is shaded for 95% of your trip.  Did I mention that you are still really connected to the seas.
 
As others have said, there are very few bells and whistles.  Still this is one of the most enjoyable cruise ships we have experienced.
HAVE A BLAST ...
Curt From Canada

We cruised on Grandeur in May (5 nights to Bermuda) and loved it. We’re hoping to schedule another cruise for 2020. As previously noted, she doesn’t have some of the amenities that other ships have - no zip lines, water slides, etc. - but that was perfect for us. We are a couple in our 40’s and wanted a low key, relaxing vacation. Food ranged from good to very good; service was great. One of the shows was lots of fun (Motown review), others were somewhat painful, but that didn’t matter to us. Embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. Baltimore’s port is very easy to navigate. We had a great time and are ready to go again!

I agree we did the 12 Night Christmas and New Years sailing a couple of years ago and had a great time. Nothing like being in 80 degree weather in the Caribbean during Christmas and New Years. They had a group aboard that does Christmas carols every year, they had a great gingerbread town set up. The staff were great and it has an indoor pool and solarium so if (when) it's cold you can still swim and jacuzzi....
Santa handed out gifts (RC mug) to the kids....they had eggnog and Charleston, SC is a very cute town to visit.
Enjoy!

We have sailed on Grandeur during the holidays the past 2 years and we really love it.  It’s a small ship (compared to the monster ships) but we enjoyed it very much.  We were very disappointed to find that they have discontinued the combo Christmas +NY cruise that we have been taking.
There are no water slides or laser tag or bouncy things but it is more of a traditional cruise. There are 3 specialty restaurants- Chops, Giovanni’s and Izumi.  The food and service are very good so will not starve. Getting into and out of the port are easy. I highly recommend Grandeur. Just make sure you know what you’re getting....or more importantly, what you’re not getting.

Instead of doing gifts this year, we thought a cruise would be a great way to get out of the hustle and bustle (and the cold) of our city just in time for Christmas. As a couple in our mid-30s, we are eyeing up a last-minute - at least by RCBlog suggested standards -  Holiday sailing from Baltimore on Grandeur (8 nights w stops in Nassau, Perfect Day, Port Canaveral, and Charleston SC)
We’ve never sailed on Grandeur, and we’re aware that she is a Vision Class ship that hasn’t been amplified or refurbished in quite some time. While we do understand that we aren’t getting the best in modern amenities as other classes of ships, that’s not to say there aren’t things to love about her.
So.....What are your favorite things about Grandeur?
Any tips you can provide to help us have an enjoyable Christmas Holiday sailing are greatly appreciated.
Thanks! 
-Doug
Previous sailings on: Enchantment, Majesty, Freedom

New cabins added in dry dock have it too For example on Liberty a cabin added during the last dry dock had it.  
Outlets stay on.  Lighting and AC cut off.  I used my grocery store saver card.  A hotel key card works too.  

Harmony, Symphony (I'm assuming), and all Ovation class ships have this feature.
Any card will work. You're supposed to use your SeaPass card, but literally any card that can fit in there will work.
No, those are always on. It's just the lights and A/C