We were looking for a cruise for the week after Easter. Just weren't willing to pay an extra $900 for our 6 year old for 7 nights on the Voyager class ships. 90 days out from sailing found great pricing on a Junior Suite for a 5 nights on Grandeur of the Seas, and only paid $249 for our son. Grandma and Grandpa also came along in a D1 balcony also at a great price.

Embarkation was the smoothest that I have ever encountered. Blew off RCCL's offer of expensive bus transportation with a 2:00 PM departure from Tampa airport. Instead took a van from Bay Shuttle. It was clean, reasonably priced, and they had us to the dock in 20 minutes after a 5 minute wait at the airport. We had no line at check in, didn't even need to use the Platinum line. We boarded the ship at 11:20 AM and could get some lunch in the Windjammer. Staterooms were ready at 1:00PM.

Ship is in great shape for a 10 year old vessel. I was worried about this "sewer smell" that previous reviewers mentioned. It was NOTHING. Maybe a little musty smelling, but certainly not a sewer. I thought no more about it after boarding. Our cabin, 8576, was a Junior Suite. Very spacious with a balcony. Never had one before, and now I am spoiled. Room was clean, plenty of storage, a little wear on the wood work, and it didn't bother me a bit. One interesting thing, we had a pipe going through the middle of the cabin near the bed from floor to ceiling. Got used to it fast, you looked for that in the middle of the night if you had to use the rest room! Again, it turned out to be no problem. Our six year old liked having a bathtub. Read more