My husband and I drove to Baltimore and boarded Grandeur on Oct. 3, 2103. Parking was a breeze, close to the entrance, not crowded. Boarding was easiest of any of our 11 cruises, even though security made us empty our water bottles, and yes, it was only water. However, we found the ship a bit dingy. Cabin 2510 was at the far front end of the ship. Very noisy when the anchor was dropped, lifeboat/tenders were lowered, and when the thrusters were operated each time we docked. Promised ocean view was not quite. There were 2 portholes above a 4 foot ledge, so ocean was only visible if we stood up. Cabin attendant Cliff kept the cabin very clean, and brought our requsted twice a day ice and made us a towel animal every evening.. He was very pleasant. It a surprise that we could not get water brought in a pitcher with the ice.

Lack of sanitation in public areas was glaring. No insistence on hand sanitizing when entering eating venues, rest rooms frequently out of paper towels and low on toilet paper. Rarely saw anyone cleaning rest rooms and never railings in public areas.

The casino allows smoking, and you could smell the smoke 10 feet out, so we were not able to visit the casino at all. Read more