JennyJenny

6 hours ago, Skid said:

@JennyJenny remember that every wall, door and even the ceiling is metal, so you can hang anywhere.

I saw in another thread someone hung up one of those fabric shelf things! How clever! Hung it right from the ceiling!

7 hours ago, Crabbycruiser said:

As for the afternoon tea, you might be thinking of another cruise line...and yes, they still do it.....but RCI has the belly flop contest...

It was definitely RC that we were on but this was over ten years ago. I'll have to make a point to watch the belly flop contest! And I've never done trivia so that sounds fun too!

3 minutes ago, JennyB said:

Welcome @JennyJenny Those magnets that @Skid linked are what we bought.  Our first cruise with them is Monday.  I'm hoping to be able to get more things off the floor and desk area.

Let me know how they work for you! They are in my Amazon cart now for future purchase!

56 minutes ago, MotleyCruiser said:

answer to #2:  https://www.monstermagnetics.com/

That site is amazing! Forget the cruise, I can see several things I could use for home and work there! Thank you!

1 hour ago, mom2mybugs said:

>>If you do get the refreshment pkg, and you aren't picky about brand name vs regular water, you do not need to get the 12 pack of water.  You can ask for a bottle every time you get a drink or pass a bar and take them back to your room.  That might factor into your cost  <<

I prefer bottled water but not too particular about the brand. The bottled water on the ship stuff I saw was all Evian on the photos of the menus at the snack and bar areas?

>>   There are tons of free options too... Reg. Coffee, hot/iced tea, flavored Crystal lite type water, lemonade and there is also still water that is just fine to drink and tastes good to me.  You can bring your own refillable cup (you just have to use their cups and pour it into yours).  So lots of options for sure!  <<

I am definitely trying to stay away from anything with sugar or sugar substitutes in it. I love and live on iced tea so if the iced tea on board is palatable then I'll drink that most the time. I'm definitely bringing my refillable thermos/waterbottle!

>>I have also brought 3m command strips hooks and those were incredible.... Held a ton and reusable with a new strip next time.  <<

I use those a lot at home and hadn't even thought about them for the ship!

 >>People here are wonderful answering questions.  I hope you have an amazing cruise this time!!! Jane<<

Yes they are! Thank you, Jane!

4 hours ago, Skid said:

Welcome @JennyJenny.

>>These are the ones we used and they worked great...<<

Added to my Amazon cart! Thanks!

4 hours ago, Skid said:

 

 

 

4 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

>>They used to do a 70's show in the Centrum with the "Village People".  <<

I have a silver wrap dress that would totally work for a 70's theme and I could probably get away with it for a white theme since it's such a light soft silver. That way, I'll be ready for either or both!

>>but try to wear your best for formal night.  No one really cares about the other nights....<<

Oh yes! I have two gowns and I am going to go full on dress up (with pretty flat sandals) for formal nights!

>> Now for excursions, you should be able to download a brochure that contains a table of contents page.<<

I did not know this! Thank you! I will definitely do the brochure approach!

>>The Grandeur is easy to get around, and the music in the Centrum reaches the higher decks.  If they are putting on an aerial show, folks will start grabbing chairs at least 30 minutes early.<<

They have aerial shows now??? Wow!

>>I think you already figured out what you wanted.<<

I did the math and unless the refreshment package goes on sale, the Cafe card and Evian package will be fine for my needs with an occasional glass of wine if I feel like it. I am a little OCD so I spent an hour or so doing math and estimations and percentages

>>Because it is windy on the pool deck when cruising, you might find Deck 5 better for staring at the sea or sunsets, etc.<<

I am actually looking forward to the Solarium since I won't have to be a responsible mom for the whole trip. I can just be an old lady in a hat on a lounge chair where it's kind of quiet maybe

>>Have fun!<<

Thank you!

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

>>You can buy the Refreshment Package without your roommate being required to do the same. <<

Thank you! I don't want her to feel obligated to buy a package so I wanted to double check

>>As for the magnets, they are rated by strength...<< This is what I thought. It JUST occurred to me that I could go ahead and order the magnets and test them at home when I get them. Insert a "doh" here ->

>>You can review old Cruise Compasses to get an idea of the theme nights...<<

I had noticed 70s nights in the few I skimmed through. I'll have to do another pass through them! I thought I saw someone mention they got some sort of communication close to sailing with more info but I can't seem to "refind" that thread.

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

>>Their sales aren't always sales and they always seem to have one going on.  When they advertise 20% or 30% off, it is the discount off of the onboard price which is more expensive than a non-sale price online ahead of time. <<

Oh wow! Really? Glad you said that. I thought the 20-30% off was off the package deal!

>>If you want to monitor prices on various items I would suggest adding what you are interested in to your cart.  It won't lock in those prices, but you can always go to our cart later and see what the going rate is for those items. <<

Oh! That's a great idea!

>>...but this is Royal IT so we can't have nice things.  <<

I have to confess I am in IT (CISO) so I do grasp frustration with websites and all the planner stuff not working. On the flip side, because I deal directly with the security and lifecycle development of systems, I also grasp how difficult it is to make them work perfect at all times especially handling such volume as they do. Net net: I get frustrated myself when things don't work but at the same time, my heart does go out to those trying to make it all work in the background and how difficult it can be to coordinate so much data at once and having things change and shift. My hat goes off to them and I'll take a deep breath when I get frustrated.

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

>>As for the fitness center, hope someone who has visited Grandeur can chime in there.

Have a great cruise!<<

Thank you so much for your detailed response and good advice!

Hi. I am new here. 

I cruised once over ten years ago and without going into detail, it was a miserable experience due to the individual (my x) I was traveling with at the time. I have always wanted a “do over” and I am finally booked on the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore next April and really looking forward to my first cruise (I am not going to count that long ago miserable experience).

I will be single for this cruise but do have a gal pal roomie and a few other couples on board I know so I won’t be “adrift and alone”. As it’s been so long and so much seems to have changed from when I went last (no more afternoon tea?  ) and I am the one planning things for me this time versus just showing up and smiling, I have a few questions (and will probably have more). Everyone here seems so happy to help answer so I do my best to look for an answer before I ask.

(Have been reading this discussion board for a few weeks now and watching a lot of Youtube videos!)

1.     1. Beverages when sailing with a roommate – I have done my calculations and decided that I am going to purchase the Café Select Card and the flat of 12 one liter bottles of Evian. IF the refreshment package goes on sale for 20% off then it appears that will be a good value for me as I would like the occasional mocktail or extra bottle of water. Not a big soda drinker and while I don’t mind an occasional alcoholic beverage, I plan to bring my own bottle of Champagne and pretty sure my roommate will bring a bottle of wine. I can easily go the whole cruise without alcohol. Question: from my reading it looks like the only package where the entire room is required to purchase the same thing is the deluxe one with the alcohol. If I am considering purchasing the Refreshment Package, does my roommate have to also? Trying to figure out if I can just buy it if I see it go on sale or if I should pre-coordinate with them because they’d have to buy it too?

2.     2. My auntie is a big cruiser (on other lines) and I mentioned the magnetic hook “hack” to her and she said she’d tried it and the hooks just slid down the wall once you put anything on them and were useless. But I am wondering if she just bought the wrong hooks because I still see people raving about them?

3.    3.  Has anyone actually seen or used the showers in the fitness center on the Grandeur? I’ve seen the advice on using those vs the room shower and as I plan to get some kind of workout in each day I’d be happy to use that set of facilities and let roomie commandeer ours. Was wondering if it’s like the typical gym or spa-ish locker room where I can take a shower after a workout session or while roomie uses the room shower. Sounds like they are bigger but I can’t find pictures or anyone who has actually posted about using the Grandeur ones specifically (just generic mentions that they did or might or their spouse did in passing).

4.     4. When do you find out about theme nights (if any) so you can pack/plan/prepare?

5.     5. It looks like things go on sale in the cruise planner. If I log in, do you see the specials right there on the main page or do you have to click on each item you want to watch individually and “hunt through” for them? Just wondering if I could do a quick peek to see if there were sales or do I need to set aside time to click through each thing and check?

I’ll stop there. I am sure I will have more questions. I haven’t been on my very own all by myself grown up with no kids to supervise vacation in over ten years. I can’t wait! So excited!