Grandeur of the Seas Review

ROYAL RIPP OF FIASCO

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Grandeur of the Seas

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2011
Cabin: Interior Stateroom
Traveled with children

Arrived at palma airport on early flight from manchester was directed by RIC rep to make my way to coach number four spent ages looking for non existent coach with kids in tow, went back to rep informed her there was no coach number four she said sorry i meant coach with PIER FOUR on it.Arrived at check in SHED and it took an eternity to be seen to no one seemed to no what they were doing and chaos was the order of the day. my daughter had booked a four bedded cabin and when she arrived there was just one double bed stuck in the middle of the cabin and no bunks for the kids. our baggage arrived at seven in the evening. To add to the calamity we had booked as a family of five on a fixed dining and were told when we arrived for dinner that we were three on one table and two on another, it was one problem after another.it is also standard on most ships to have a complimentary tea and coffee tray, not here though, however you can have a choice of six cans of coke four bottles of water at four dollars plus for a botttle and four boxes of biscuits all chargeable to you should you avail of them. There is also an ongoing problem on this shp with the toilets and some days you could smell it all over the place. Kids clubs are free up to ten at night but are then charged at six dollars per child after that so a couple wanting to watch a late show,you guessed pay again sam. also be sure to remind your kids to return towels as should they forget you are charged 25 dollars per towel. Also please note there are no bar prices displayed in any of the bars and you have a 15% gratuity and a further 8% Spanish vat charge on all bar bills. Entertainment was of poor quality, karaoke, bingo, fat blokes belly flopping into the pool. You don't get your bill while the morning of departure and should there be mistakes they are nigh on impossible to rectify as the entire ship is disembarked by eight thirty, i went to try and query my bill but could no longer wait as i was being called for my airport bus at ten to seven. The chaos continued as again we were split up for our journey to the airport three on one bus two on another, when we arrived at palma airport we were not told which check in gates to go to and had to find out ourselves from the thomas cook office all in all very unprofessional. Wine lovers beware also as they charge around fifty five dollars for a bottle which you could get in a supermarket for a tenner in the uk. if you drink a lot there are good packages available and good soft drinks deals for kids but other than that drinks are quite expensive made worse by the Spanish vat and fifteen per cent tip, which is a double whammy as most people pre pay their tips, all in all for our family the tips and bar charges were well in excess of £250 that's not including the tip i always give to the cabin maid,nattalie who was wonderful. Food was reasonable i have had better and worse, the best laugh though was when the menu said roast beef and Yorkshire puddings, all the brits were ordeing it and the yorkshires were a well known brand of tiggies about the size of a fifty pence. Would i travel again with RCI, most certainly not they seem to be totally disorganised and only after your money all the time. they give very little information if any at all to the independent person who may wish to make their own way as opposed to their very very expensive excursions, in one port the authorities had laid on free shuttle buses to the town but they never announced it as you would have found out that you could have caught a train to rome for fifteen euro return as against their 80 dollar trip. they even had a poor girl trying to flogg you orange juice on your way into the windjammer restaurant, even the daily bulletin they shove through your cabin door is all a sales pitch they don't miss an opportunity oh no, the skull and crossbones would be a very appropriate flag for them.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

quite a small inside cabin which RCI call staterooms, no problem to me i dont go on a ship to look at a cabin only to sleep in it

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