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Grandeur of the Seas- Looking for info


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Good day cruisers! I am about to embark on my very first cruise Oct 31 on Grandeur of the Seas- an 8-night trip to the Bahamas and Perfect Day. I am having a hard time finding much information on the vessel. I've only found 1 cruise compass that isn't like a year old (and was only a 4-day sailing) and, well, no one seems to talk much about her. 

Anyone around who has sailed on her recently who can give me some insight? What types of shows/activities are available? Do you have any recommendations- things my hubby and I shouldn't miss? I appreciate any info you can share!

Only 88 more days!

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Welcome to the blog, tmellison.  I live in NOVA so we’re practically neighbors !

Grandeur is one of Royals oldest and smallest ships but she has a BIG personality. Since we live so close, we sail her a few times a year.  In fact, we’re on just a few weeks before you (12 Oct).

There are the usual activities, pool, hot tubs, casino, shows.  There are a couple of specialty restaurants (Chops - steak house and Giovanni’s- Italian theme) and the usual dining rooms and buffets.  There are no water slides, no zip line, no laser tag but I always seem to find plenty to do !

What kinds of things do you enjoy ?

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I’ll be on that same sailing, and it will be our third cruise on Grandeur. The last time was four years ago. It is a smaller and older ship, but we really enjoyed it. I felt like we got more personal service on it than on a bigger ship, but that’s me.  I found a Cruise Compass on this site for a similar cruise for March 2019, I believe. 

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2 hours ago, tmellison said:

Good day cruisers! I am about to embark on my very first cruise Oct 31 on Grandeur of the Seas- an 8-night trip to the Bahamas and Perfect Day. I am having a hard time finding much information on the vessel. I've only found 1 cruise compass that isn't like a year old (and was only a 4-day sailing) and, well, no one seems to talk much about her. 

Anyone around who has sailed on her recently who can give me some insight? What types of shows/activities are available? Do you have any recommendations- things my hubby and I shouldn't miss? I appreciate any info you can share!

Only 88 more days!

The main difference on this class of ship is that the shows aren't "reserved" in advance.  I find the Centrum to be a great place to hang out and have a drink, alcoholic or non.  I like to dance in the Centrum with my wife whenever the music accommodates.  They rotate performers around for variety.  Being older, I prefer the Solarium unless I want to listen to music by the pool.  It's hard to get lost on the Grandeur.  As@WAAAYTOOO notes, it's a fine ship and the one we've sailed most often (we lived near Baltimore for many years).  I think the RC Singers and Dancers do a great job on the production shows or special theme performances in the Centrum.  Guest performers are decent, too.  Frankly, I like their shows better than Oasis class "Broadway-style" shows.  Whatever you choose to do, have a great cruise!

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3 hours ago, tmellison said:

Good day cruisers! I am about to embark on my very first cruise Oct 31 on Grandeur of the Seas- an 8-night trip to the Bahamas and Perfect Day. I am having a hard time finding much information on the vessel. I've only found 1 cruise compass that isn't like a year old (and was only a 4-day sailing) and, well, no one seems to talk much about her. 

Anyone around who has sailed on her recently who can give me some insight? What types of shows/activities are available? Do you have any recommendations- things my hubby and I shouldn't miss? I appreciate any info you can share!

Only 88 more days!

If you go to the Cruise Compass section of this site, I see eight from 2019 alone, mine included. 

You'll find her to be a throwback to classic cruising.  Lots of windows with lots of views of the sea.  Venues are huge, but there is not a lot of them.  No pub, no Boleros.  Theater has real seats, as opposed to movie theater type, and there is actually room to walk down the aisles.  Evening entertainment is in the theater or centrum.  No Broadway style shows, all production type and entertainers.  Roof opens in the Solarium.  No mini golf, but there is a rock wall.  Crew was great, bar staff remembered us & our drink right away.  We had My Time Dining and our wait staff wasn't great - assistant much better than waiter - and as a result only ate in there twice.  We ate in Izumi and the WJ - and in Bermuda & Charleston instead.  

We didn't attend a single show, and skipped the Centrum stuff most of the time.  One event I thought was fun was Dancing with the Stripes.  Crew is paired up with a passenger in a dance competition.  

If you have periscope, I scoped from our sailing in April.  I'm @KathLuvsGH.  There was a fellow periscoper on for a travel agent visit, and he scoped the common areas, @EpcotBill is his name.  

She's a great little ship, showing her age a bit but still a great cruise.  She has a big group of loyal followers.  You don't see a lot about her as not too many people take the effort to fly to Baltimore to cruise.  

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6 hours ago, TJP said:

I’ll be on that same sailing, and it will be our third cruise on Grandeur.

 

if you see a woman wondering around with her head totally up in the clouds, that'll be me! Say hi lol

  • 4 hours ago, KathyC said:
    • If you have periscope, I scoped from our sailing in April.  I'm @KathLuvsGH.  There was a fellow periscoper on for a travel agent visit, and he scoped the common areas, @EpcotBill is his name.  

What is "periscope"?

Thank you all for the wonderful information!

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I had a bad experience on the Grandeur in June on a 9 day to New England cruise.  On 4th day I had a flair up with my newly diagnosis of Sciatica. I was in and out of infermery and down in an interior cabin that I did not care for. You had to practically climb the bed to get out of your side couldnt sit  and could barely walk. The ship was not smooth gliding I always felt scared because it was so choppy. They would not let me cancel my shore excirsions there were 2 l lost my money for me on  and  my hubby did go solo. The food was just so so the only thing I liked  was our waiters and some of the crew very nice. I mean not blaming them for my illness that put a big damper on the whole experience. It was just such an old small ship nothing stood out except embarcation we walked right on  there by 10 am. Debarcation I left  in an ambulance to ER. My sciatica was so bad that  I could not even sit  in a plane from Baltimore to San Diego not even with the strongest meds. My husband ended renting a car with me laying on my right side in back of a full size rental.So it was my least favorite cruise and we have done several with RRCL. We have one coming in June from Houston this one will make up for New England! Sorry such a long reply but this is therapeutic at this point?

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9 hours ago, tmellison said:

What is "periscope"?

Periscope is a live streaming app.  @Matt, who runs this site, does a broadcast 3 days a week, answering questions and talking about Royal Caribbean.  You can download the app just to watch other live broadcasters, you never need to "go live" yourself.  Matt also has a live broadcast on Facebook a couple times a week, YouTube and Instagram once a week.  I tagged him so he can post his current schedule. 

On Periscope, there is a large group who broadcasts live from cruise ships all around the world.  It's a great way to see the ship before you go on it, and ask questions.  Most of us will do our best to answer them live if possible, or if it requires some research (or going to a different part of the ship) we will and show you the answer.  Matt also periscopes from the ships when he cruises.

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37 minutes ago, SPS said:

How has this post been active (as of now) 19 hours with @coneyraven , the "Grandeur Poo-Bah", not replying? :6_smile:

So sorry I'm so late to the game ..... too much yard work over the Weekend.  For @tmellison - may I make a suggestion, join the Grandeur of the Seas Fans Facebook Page..... everything you ever wanted to know about Lady G can be found there. 

As for my wife and I, just like @WAAAYTOOO, we live in the area so driving to Baltimore is a snap, so...... Grandeur has become our second home.  Sure, it doesn't have all the bells & whistles of the newer ships, but she makes up for it in impeccable service, a relaxed atmosphere, and just an overall good time.  We were on her last year for Halloween, it was, by far, the best cruise yet.  some of the most amazing costumes.  The GI Joe was the best.

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7 hours ago, Josie said:

I had a bad experience on the Grandeur in June on a 9 day to New England cruise.  On 4th day I had a flair up with my newly diagnosis of Sciatica. I was in and out of infermery and down in an interior cabin that I did not care for. You had to practically climb the bed to get out of your side couldnt sit  and could barely walk. The ship was not smooth gliding I always felt scared because it was so choppy. They would not let me cancel my shore excirsions there were 2 l lost my money for me on  and  my hubby did go solo. The food was just so so the only thing I liked  was our waiters and some of the crew very nice. I mean not blaming them for my illness that put a big damper on the whole experience. It was just such an old small ship nothing stood out except embarcation we walked right on  there by 10 am. Debarcation I left  in an ambulance to ER. My sciatica was so bad that  I could not even sit  in a plane from Baltimore to San Diego not even with the strongest meds. My husband ended renting a car with me laying on my right side in back of a full size rental.So it was my least favorite cruise and we have done several with RRCL. We have one coming in June from Houston this one will make up for New England! Sorry such a long reply but this is therapeutic at this point?

Sorry you were unable to enjoy your vacation.  It's hard to have a good time when you hurt.  Hope you have a better time on your next cruise.

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6 hours ago, KathyC said:

On Periscope, there is a large group who broadcasts live from cruise ships all around the world.  It's a great way to see the ship before you go on it, and ask questions.  Most of us will do our best to answer them live if possible, or if it requires some research (or going to a different part of the ship) we will and show you the answer.  Matt also periscopes from the ships when he cruises.

Again thrilled to see someone else asking a question I have, and will piggy back. I found and downloaded Periscope, found  (the awesome) Matt to follow and I think 1 or 2 more informative folks (I found twangster and love2cruise, I think, as I saw their names frequently and were easy to search). How would I find other "scopers" relating to RC to follow there? Do I just search "cruise" to find folks that post live? I want to follow you frequenters that are here on these boards as RC is my new hyper focus interest. My plan is to book my next cruise while on board Navigator in September and am trying to gain knowledge to make an informed decision by then. 

These boards have been a gold mine of info and I really appreciate all your input in all the threads!

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Here is a recap of a 2017 trip on Lady G:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6453-recap-grandeur-9-night-bermuda-bahamas-august-2017/

Keep in mind CocoCay has changed dramatically since then so ignore the CocoCay stuff and focus on the ship.

This is from yesterday's visit to Perfect Day.  Start with this post in my Empress blog and go forward from there.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14213-empress-b2b-14-nights-on-the-biggest-little-ship-july-2019/&do=findComment&comment=145134

 

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3 hours ago, PRebecca said:

Again thrilled to see someone else asking a question I have, and will piggy back. I found and downloaded Periscope, found  (the awesome) Matt to follow and I think 1 or 2 more informative folks (I found twangster and love2cruise, I think, as I saw their names frequently and were easy to search). How would I find other "scopers" relating to RC to follow there? Do I just search "cruise" to find folks that post live? I want to follow you frequenters that are here on these boards as RC is my new hyper focus interest. My plan is to book my next cruise while on board Navigator in September and am trying to gain knowledge to make an informed decision by then. 

These boards have been a gold mine of info and I really appreciate all your input in all the threads!

I'm @KathLuvsGH if you want to follow me.  Many of us scope more than just cruises, but if you look through our broadcast list, you can pick and choose what you want to watch.

Our periscoping group uses a specific hashtag to make scopes easy to find.  It's #RCPeriscopers.  The group we belong to is called Royal Caribbean Periscopers, and if you are on Facebook you can find us by typing in rcperiscopers.live

I'm sure Cruisin Kat will see her ping and jump into the conversation soon.  But in the meantime, another way to find cruise scopes is to do a search with the name of the ship, or maybe a port that you're going to, and find other people not in our group who also have scoped from there.  

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8 minutes ago, PRebecca said:

@KathyC super helpful, thank you!! Great info to get me started! Is this what people mean when you refer to "live blogs"? If I am following on Periscope then I'll catch it? That's my last questions so thanks again!!

Live blogs are different from Periscope.

A scope is a live video chat basically where someone scopes and you can interact with them and they can answer you back.  Similar concept to FB live or Instagram live video.  You can also watch this back on replay but you will lose the live interaction.

A live blog is basically someone who is documenting their cruise "live time" while they are on the cruise with entries throughout the day or once a day etc.

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19 hours ago, PRebecca said:

How would I find other "scopers" relating to RC to follow there?

You might also want to check out the list under "the Periscope Peeps" section here that @CruisingKat(Kathy) posts every month of those who will be planning to scope.  She has all their handles listed and you can find people to follow that way if you are interested in their ship or itinerary.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/forum/10-periscope-peeps/

There is also a RCPeriscopers FB page that you might want to join as many of those who scope are on there.  The monthly list is also posted there.

Also, keep in mind that not all the people who frequent the message boards are on Periscope.  And some are on Periscope but just watch and don't scope.  

It's a complex community but a great one.  Took me a while to figure it all out too.

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22 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

You might also want to check out the list under "the Periscope Peeps" section here that @CruisingKat(Kathy) posts every month of those who will be planning to scope.  She has all their handles listed and you can find people to follow that way if you are interested in their ship or itinerary.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/forum/10-periscope-peeps/

 

Good grief, there's a whole post on "how to"; I should have gone there first, thanks for pointing me in the right direction!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

My Soulmate and I will be sailing on the next cruise (NOV 08) as you get off Lady G (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, in NOV, as we just got of Harmony ... early 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

 

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John (cruise director) and his wife Katrina (activities manager) just finished vacation and are back on Lady G.  I gotta say, their Crazy Quest is the most unique I've experienced.  We missed the Neil Diamond show (we actually didn't attend any shows that sailing) but it's all we heard about the rest of the night.  Wish we had gone to that one! 

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