Photos of the ship, ports, dailies, and kid schedules can be seen at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/snjnova/collections/72157662533971337/
A cruise is a cruise is a cruise. But there’s something special about pulling out of your driveway at 10:45 AM and being in your cabin by 1:15 PM. No TSA lines or fighting for a space for your rollaboard in the overhead luggage bins. Just drive 75 ...
As we're within quick driving distance of Baltimore, a holiday cruise with our teen twins seemed like a great way to spend 12 days at sea. In general, it was an excellent cruise with a handful of caveats.
I've broken it down into specific areas to make it easy to read.
The Ship
Grandeur is far from a new ship. She’s 21 years old and this was voyage number 152 in her career. She’s had ...
I picked this cruise for the following reasons:
- Baltimore is a convenient port as we don't have to take flights with heavy luggage
- It's the perfect time to go on Caribbean vacation
Both embarkation and disembarkation went very well. However there was an issue with this sold out cruise that they changed my stateroom without letting me know in advance. The guest services staff was ...
We have taken this cruise for many years. We live less than 30 minutes from the cruise port so not having to worry about plane flights over the holiday/winter time is a tremendous plus. We have done it with the same group of friends and are already booked for next year. That said, the staff is excellent, but most other aspects of this ship are mediocre. Very little to do on sea days and more ...
loved the service, loved the food,(did not use the specialty restaurants) we loved the main dining room and our servers. Dining room service was Fast not Rushed but no waiting for food. The entertainment was varied and live no canned music.Our cabin was very clean and quiet (deck 2 -2125). Our room steward was very attentive.The ship size was perfect,and we never had to wait in line anywhere. the ...
Wanted to do a cruise over the Christmas and New Year holiday. This cruise left from Baltimore which was very convenient. Expected kids to be on board but didn’t expect them to be able to run amok. No parental supervision or any reprimand from the cruise line. Our dinner table was for sitting 12 people. We requested to get a table for 4 and the maitre d’ was very arrogant in our request and ...
Departing from Baltimore was excellent! We anticipated a wonderful, joyful Christmas cruise. In actuality, the decorations and activities were minimal and low budget. The entertainment was generally passable, but it was nothing special. Not enough activities for children/teens. Overall the ship experience was disappointing. The islands and excursions were generally good. We loved exploring ...
We loved all the holiday festivities aboard Grandeur but it’s just not enough. The ship is showing signs of age. The crew for the most part is great but the food left a lot to be desired in both MDR and buffet. We had toilet problems 3 times and the last night going back to Baltimore we literally had no heat and they couldn’t fix it. It was about 30 deg. in our room. There were no good solutions ...
The Grandeur is a nice, smaller (by today's standards) ship. Out of Baltimore, most of the passengers have sailed her before, many have sailed her multiple times. This was our first sailing on the Grandeur. Everything from the Palladium Theatre thru the shops and the Atrium is smaller than most ships but the casino is comparable to most of the larger ships we've been on. The main dining room ...
A nice trip but a poverty-centered, rude. and penny-pinching cruise line. Everything is extra, even room service ($8.95 + 18%). The coffee and juice is cut 50/50 with water (I watched them do it) and when my wife complained because her premium Scotch was so watered down it did not even have a smell, the bar tender admitted it and opened a new bottle! I saw food service staff taking out the ...