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This was our second cruise with RCI, the first being on the Freedom of the Seas around the Eastern Caribbean last year, which was fantastic.
This cruise on the Grandeur was also excellent (if a little hectic!), but as we started off on the Freedom, the Grandeur obviously seems like a slight step down (the Grandeur is much older than the Freedom, and we heard that it's due for a major refit very soon). Having said that, the ship is still in excellent condition, and the staff are still helpful and friendly, although we found the service not quite as good as on the Freedom, probably due to the fact that the Freedom was predominantly full of Americans and they demand immediate service otherwise they complain loudly (Good for them!), whereas the Brits just moan to themselves and put up with it. Our first room service order for tea took an hour whereas on the Freedom it took all of 5 minutes. I did, however, point this out, and thereafter room service took around 10-15 minutes - so a result.
The facilities on the Grandeur are also not as plentiful and varied as on the Freedom, but, once again, the Freedom is newer and bigger, so hey.
Our stateroom (7557) was next to a service room (as was our stateroom on the Freedom), and in both cases, when the towel racks where shoved into the room or the door was slammed shut (always!), our adjoining stateroom wall, which our bed was against, did a lurch, which was a little annoying at 6 in the morning. I intend to make sure our next stateroom (hopefully on the 'Allure'!!), is NOT next to a service room!!!
The Windjammer restaurant is at the front of the ship instead of the rear in the case of the Freedom, and although we found the food (almost!) as good, it was never piping hot, just warm, so it had to be eaten quite quickly before it went cold. As it happens, my girlfriend was ill one night (I think she ate too much acidic food followed by wine - it definitely wasn't food poisoning or sea sickness...), so a member of staff took her down to medical where the doctor took a look at her and put her on a saline drip for an hour, which did the trick. Beware though that this treatment costs, which we were unaware of..$200 for the drip. I assumed that anything on a cruise ship was free - including a bit of medical attention. I'm pleased to say that I think they took pity on us, as the charge wasn't applied to our account - thank you RCI!!!
Also, due to the fact that my other half was poorly, we had to cancel our excursion into Palermo, but the ticket prices were refunded without a problem.
All in all, apart from a few minor niggles, the ship and staff were fine.
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