We don't fly so it is convenient to drive to Baltimore from Ohio. Embarkation was quick and efficient. Food in Windjammer and MDR was excellent. Band played great dance music and we enjoyed the recorded ballroom music in the South Pacific Lounge. Should have dance teachers hired on every cruise because there were a lot of people that like the lessons. It was lucky that Dave and Betty Begin just happened to be traveling on the ship and John Blair hired them. Debarking was also quick and efficient, customs was quick, and we were able to find all our luggage quickly. My only criticism would be about the catamaran excursion on St. Croix. The weather was very threatening and they never should have taken us out on that boat. Some people cancelled at the last minute and got their money back. I wish we would have known that because it was a miserable trip. No more ships excursions for us on future cruises. Read Less

The Grandeur has the best crew on any seas, always smiling and friendly looking to make your day the best. This ship is smaller and older by today’s standards,if your looking for all the bells and whistles this ship is not for you,if you want a nice relaxing cruise with good service this is the one for you, if you have children I suggest another ship they may get board if they are a little older not much for them to do.The food and service in the dining room was good, the windjammer also good just hard to find seating sometimes. The production shows are the same ones that have been on this ship for sometime now, the headliners were very good don’t wait until the last minute to try to get a seat. Embarkation and disembarking the ship could not go any easier.The port of Baltimore is easy to navigate no matter how you choose to get here. Read Less

We chose this ship primarily because of the cheaper cost, itinerary. (St Croix) and port of departure. We own property on St Croix and wanted to visit to take care of a little business as well as see friends and have a vacation in the mean time. Price: This cruise was cheaper than getting to JFK, flying to STX, renting a car for a week, renting a cottage for a week and handling all our food expenses. I think the location as well as price attracts many repeat cruisers. We found people who had been on the ship 33 times! 3-6 times was fairly common. Also, as others have said, it is an old crowd with many diamond members. Crew: They are excellent. Every one of them. Can't say enough nice things about the wait staff, room attendants, customer service etc. They get to know you quickly, like to kid around and talk and always took good care of us. Passengers: Much older crowd with very few kids. That's ok because they tend to be a laid back, smart, experienced crowd that are fun to meet. Maybe it's the mid-west and mid-atlantic vibe due to the departure location but almost everybody is very friendly. Some folks practically live on this ship. Activities: It's an older ship and doesn't have a lot of activities, especially in the evenings. That's ok with us. We are 60 & 64. We don't need DJ blasting pool parties. If we really want to see a Broadway show we'll take a train to Broadway. A little more entertainment and more outdoor dance options like an afternoon pool party would be nice. They did have a fun 70's night but most dances seemed to cater to an older crowd of very well practiced dancers doing waltzes, cha-cha's and even tangos. That left us feeling a bit left out but the showy dancers are still friendly. Most dancing takes place in the Centrum which is ringed with seats for 3 levels and open all the way from decks 4 through 8. It was nice to be able to walk down the hall from our deck 8 room and look down & check out what is going on. We enjoyed "enrichment" watercolor painting with Rosemary and her hubby. They are a lot of fun. Also the after 9 PM piano singalongs in the schooner bar with Russ were fun. What shows they did have were fun with comedians, singers and a jazz sax player. My wife saw the cruise director put a great Neil Diamond tribute. I was at a wine tasting at the time. Ports: We did a 12 night Eastern Caribbean run and the ports are were very good. St Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Martin. We mostly did 3rd party tours. We had one RCL excursion on St Lucia; a catamaran ride for sightseeing, swimming at a bay and then viewing the Pitons. The crew on the cat was a blast and very knowledgeable. On/off was super easy as the cat was docked right in front of our ship at the port. Cabins: I said that we went cheap. We were in an interior room. It was 136 sq feet. It was tight getting in & out of bed but otherwise very serviceable with plenty of cubbies to put stuff. Others have said that suitcases don't fit under the bed. We solved that by leaving then open so they slid under, but that limits how many you can fit. I suggest bring bags that nest inside each other when empty like Russian Dolls. Bottom line: if you like an older crowd and are looking for a laid back relaxing ship this fits the bill. We would defiantly go again if we were still going be nearby the departure point. Read Less

I love the longer cruises. When I leave the ship I always feel that I’m leaving family behind! It’s always like a big reunion each time I return to the ship. Lots of repeat cruisers because of the friendliness of the ships crew! My cabin was an interior 3079, close to the elevator which I wanted! A little noise from the Centrum, however not enough to bother me, plus nothing goes on the Centrum after 11 pm I’m a solo traveler and never feel alone on this cruise! Highly recommend! Not to be missed is the Neil Diamond show, it’s great. On day 11 of the 12 night cruise the Veterans and First Responders were recognized as they are on this ship every cruise, plus earlier in the cruise they had a Veterans get together. Last night of the cruise there’s a Flag parade, Flags from each country represented by crew are proudly displayed! When they get to the USA there’s an uproar! Great ship, great crew and fantastic passengers! Read Less

We were on the 2/14 sailing. We were honestly a bit unhappy with all the itinerary changes from our original booking, and especially losing our Coco Cay day, but we were pleasantly surprised. We are not used to so many children being on Lady G, and in all honesty, I will compare my travel dates with school holidays for future trips (too many people not realizing they weren't sailing on a large ship with not much for kids). The check in process at Baltimore is always seamless. We were out of the shuttle and on the ship within 30 minutes. We had in inside stateroom, 2609, and it was just as expected. Our stateroom attendant was wonderful. This is the first time I have had an uncomfortable mattress on the ship. It was quite hard, but it wasn't unbearable. We picked deck 2 because on most of our cruises we had exited on deck 1 for all our excursions and the cabin location was very convenient to that. This cruise, we exited mostly on deck 4, so it wasn't as convenient as we had hoped. We enjoyed the food in the Windjammer and were pleasantly surprised that the ice cream machines were always working. We weren't so lucky with the Freestyle Coke machines. They were out of many flavors of soda for most of the cruise and unfortunately, the machine would pour a cup full of carbonated water and then you'd have to wait the allotted time to get a beverage. We had My Time dining. Our head server was Rajesh. That team was WONDERFUL!! They always had our drinks ready for us and a wine list available. They were very pleasant and efficient and made it a wonderful dining experience. The food in the dining room was very good. We didn't have anything we didn't enjoy. The entertainment was somewhat enjoyable. We loved the Real Time band. The singer had a TON of personality and made it a lot of fun to be in the Centrum when they were playing. Both comedians were very good. We LOVE the Royal Caribbean orchestra. What we find most lacking are the Royal Caribbean singers. Unfortunately, they were having a very difficult time staying on pitch. It was so bad we couldn't even stay. They really need to get singers who can actually sing. Singing louder when you don't know the words and can't find the pitch doesn't help. We enjoyed all the ports. We did the USS Yorktown tour in Charleston - only $12 to Uber over. We took the bus to a very crowded WDW in Port Canaveral. We absolutely LOVED Pirate's Cove in Freeport. They certainly have improved the beach every year. With the taxi, beach admission, chairs and umbrella, food and lots of beverages the excursion was $77 for both of us. We had a great time. The staff there is always very helpful and a lot of fun. So, if you're looking for an inexpensive beach day on a clean beach with clean restrooms, give Pirate's Cove a try. In Nassau we taxied over to Breezes Bahamas for an all inclusive day pass. We really like it. It's not fancy like Atlantis or Baha Mar, but we've met the nicest people and enjoyed a beautiful day at a lovely resort with beach chairs and umbrellas, full all you can drink bar, beachside grill, lunch buffet inside the hotel, pool, hot tub, non motorized water sports and much more. In Miami we took the Big Bus who's kiosk was just outside the ship. What a fun (and hot) day that was. We took both the city and beach tours, which took about 3 hours for both. We had some excitement with our bus breaking down, but they sent another one out for us. This is a hop on, hop off tour. We didn't get off until we went back to the Bayside hub where we grabbed lunch. If you're ever there - the seafood place in there is delicious. $13 for a fish and shrimp platter that was more than two of us could eat (and we didn't have breakfast as we had to get off for customs). Honestly the best fried fish I have ever eaten. We hopped back on the beach tour again and got off at SoBe. The art deco architecture is really something to see. We absolutely loved it and I think it wound up being my favorite port. This sailing was the BEST cruise director and cruise director staff we have ever encountered. Mike S outdid himself. I'm so sad this was our first experience with him and he is now headed to Symphony, but that gives us reason to sail Symphony - he was extraordinary. And the "Fountain" act the CD staff did was just hilarious. People often ask why it matters who the CD is - people like Mike are why. You can tell he takes pride in his work. Loved his magic acts, too. It's always nice to see a CD who does more than just talk! He and Captain Thor did Bad Dad Jokes which was also quite amusing. It's really nice to be on a ship where you see the captain out and about talking to the guests and participating in the activities. All in all, it was a great cruise and we'll be sailing on her again in the not too distant future. While I love the larger ships, Grandeur just feels like home. Read Less

This was our 7th cruise (Previously - 5X on Carnival Pride, 1X on Royal's Anthem). Were concerned after reading reviews and comments about this "small ship" that caters to "old people". At 51 & 56, my husband and I loved our time on the Lady G. The entire staff was outgoing and friendly and truly made us feel welcome. We even ran into Captain Thor at Starbucks one morning. He made it a point to speak to us and seemed sincere in wanting to know how we were enjoying our vacation. Although Mike, the Cruise Director, and Nick, his assistant, were heading to new ships after this sailing, they are leaving behind BIG shoes to fill. They were outstanding! The ship is small but is absolutely perfect for a relaxing vacation. It has everything you need! Ocean View Cabin 3638 was small, but we don't spend much time in our room anyway. The biggest challenge was showering. My husband is 6'7" and the bathroom does not accommodate large people well! We ate the majority of our evening meals in the main dining room. Some meals were excellent, some were just okay. The coffee was terrible! Unless you enjoy yours with a very bitter taste and many grounds floating in it, I think you would agree. Wait staff was super and made sure we were taken care of. Bartenders at the R Bar were simply the best! We purchased the beverage package this time and ordered drinks throughout the ship. A Cruise Critic member had recommended trying a BBC - which we did - and we loved it! The unfortunate thing was that they were not consistent throughout the ship. Not sure if it was a language issue, but we received drinks that were not what we asked for many times. If we had been paying as we went (rather than the package), I would have been a little upset. We spent a lot of time in the Solarium. Enjoyed the pool! They did allow children in on the colder days, but only for certain blocks of time so it was tolerable. There always seemed to be kids under 16 in the area (not in the pool), but staff members did not ask them to leave. Most were well behaved so it wasn't an issue. I'm a parent and I love kids, but it seemed as though not many moms and dads watch their kids too closely. I observed kids barreling into/out of elevators without any respect to the elderly getting on/off; kids were picking food up from the buffet without using the prongs (mom's watched but didn't say a word), etc. Kids will be kids - but simple manners would be nice. Service was incredible. We were surprised how many staff called us by name. Definitely the friendliest ship we have ever been on. We had so many awesome conversations with other guests. Everyone was so nice. It made it one of the best vacations we have ever had. We packed gym clothes, but am ashamed to admit I only went once. There was a nice assortment of cardio machines and a great view of the ocean! The entertainment was pretty good. We loved laughing at the comics. They were fabulous. I loved 70s night and the Veterans' Tribute. What an awesome way to pay homage to our military men and women. Kudos to RC for hosting this event and for providing the flag cake. The crew talent show was excellent. Brilliant idea! Nice variety for a small ship!! Everyone has different likes and dislikes, but I cannot imagine anyone that goes on this ship would not have a good time. Loved the east coast/Bahamas itinerary. We are booked on the Anthem in November 2019, but am now wishing we would have booked Grandeur instead. That said, we will go back! Read Less

Despite this ship being "refurbished" it is severely outdated!! I felt like areas such as the ceiling were not maintained well, many fixtures were tarnished and attention to detail was lacking. All our other cruises had different carpet to distinguish port vs starboard, however, this ship did not. The carpet was also stained and I saw a place where chunks were missing. The picture in the cabin did not match any of the other decor (more modern) and none of the pictures in the halls made me go, "Wow! That's cool." I was not impressed with service by any means. Our main waiter was a delight & very friendly, we felt like dinner (& even breakfast in the main dining) took forever. Sometimes up to 1.5 hours with 3 children. Not ideal. Our oldest also asked for a straw, every single night (sometimes multiple times) and received a straw maybe 4-5 times on a 9 night cruise. When we had breakfast in the main dining area we rarely saw whoever was waiting on us. We opted for the Wind jammer for most breakfasts for this reason. Lobster night was a disaster and our table went by the way side. The dining room was not full but it was obvious that the staff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The next day, my husband ran into our waiter who apologized and said they have to wait for the lobster and count each lobster tail that goes out. He said it's like that every lobster night. Entertainment left a lot to be desired! While the comedy shows & skits were funny and entertaining I would expect these type of events to be held at one of the bars. Almost ALL of the music is geared towards senior citizens. I hardly heard anything current or music I knew or enjoyed (in my mid 30's). Shows were skimped on in our opinion. I booked a 75 minute hot stone massage at the spa while in port and also stopped in to find out the class schedule in the gym. I thought the gym schedule was very limited and times were not convenient. For my massage, I arrived on time (15 minutes early) with another woman and there was no body at the receptionist desk. The gym trainer came out and after sitting at the desk for a few minutes finally asked what I needed. ((Umm...what?!)) He directed me to the relaxation room and I asked if I need to fill out any papers. He said, no that the massage therapist would handle this. The woman and I went to the room and she looked at me and said, "that was the oddest greeting I've ever had at a spa!" I couldn't agree more! On top of that, we sat for awhile before being greeted by anyone in the spa. And of course, there was paper work to fill out! My massage therapist was out at the desk helping people (as there was no receptionist there) and later apologized for the wait. I waited over 35 minutes between the relaxation room and a long time between undressing for my massage. There was NO discount taken, which really surprised me. There were no extras such as aromatherapy and no tea or snacks offered while waiting at any time. While the massage was lovely, it was over priced. Wi-Fi was not always reliable and in my opinion, $16 a day is outrageous for Wi-Fi. I would NOT recommend this boat for those cruising with children! We cruised with our children ages 2, 6 & 9. Our oldest, also has high functioning autism. There are not a lot of kid activities on board and seemed solely geared towards senior citizens. The kids club/nursery hours left a lot to be desired. The nursery is limited to 5-6 babies/toddlers at a time. The kids club is very small and is limited, I believe to 50 - 3-11 y.o. Overall, the staff was very nice & supportive! On Day #8, there was a belly flop contest & volleyball tournament in the ONLY pool that kids are allowed in. It was our last "nice" day (weather wise) on the ship -- why on earth would you close the pool kids are allowed in? I should also note here that NO swim diapers are allowed in the pool and that there are no areas for children to get wet who aren't potty trained. We were told by a lifeguard to just take the swim diaper off. ((Uhh...what?!?) The one activity that we really enjoyed as a family was the scavenger hunt. We had 30 minutes to find staff members from various countries. I was irritated with how many senior citizens who shushed my children (on excursions and the boat) and asked me to tell my children to be quiet & stop running around. For every time this happened, there were at least 3 couples (grandparents & parents cruising without children) who stopped to say we had a lovely family and sweet children. While I realize RC has nothing to do with this, it made my experience and my children's experience unpleasant. This is our vacation as well. We had an infuriating experience while boarding the ship in Charleston. The previous night we had asked guest services if we would be allowed to bring on (sweetened) Vanilla Almond milk as this is a dietary restriction and the only thing my autistic son will drink besides water. He also takes his medications in the milk (hides the taste). We also had a doctor's note asking to allow us to bring this on ship in port. She told my husband to follow up in the morning as she would email someone to find out. We did and at that point there was NO answer. The representative called security and they told us this would be NO problems bringing back on board. When we returned to the ship. The gentleman who scanned our cards confiscated the milk and told us that Almond milk had been provided in our cabin and that we were not allowed to bring on the almond milk. We explained that my son would not drink their almond milk because it was not sweetened and that we went through security with no issues, that they had approved it earlier in the day, etc. My husband spent at least 45 minutes fighting with various staff members. We were told that they attempted to contact us in our stateroom (never called either of our cell phones) and that they "changed their minds" per the FBM (Food & Beverage Manager) because they were having an inspection. My husband explained several times that this was a dietary & medical need for our son. We also argued that we brought on two containers in Baltimore with no issues. Why when we were still in the US would we have issues. And their website clearly states that food/drinks may be brought on for dietary purposes. Finally, after arguing the manager said, "Fine, I'll take a risk allowing you to bring this on." We also requested a fridge prior to our cruise and it was not in our stateroom when we arrived. Our stewardess brought a medical cooler but the almond milk did not fit in this and I kept our milk in a small cooler, getting ice every 12 hours. Once they provided us almond milk, they exchanged the cooler for a fridge on Day #3. Shore excursions booked through RC were NOT family friendly. We did a guided tour of Kennedy Space Center. This tour was between 11-7:30. There was NO planned lunch or dinner. This would have been nice to know having 3 small children. We bought junk to hold them over. There was no schedule provided and very limited free time. Our tour guide was knowledgeable but not very friendly. It was hard to hear her and quite frankly became boring (possibly due to the lack of food/energy). It was also A LOT of hurry up and wait. We also had an issue with this excursion because we did not realize our shore excursions tickets were left in our Day 1 daily "newsletter". We went to the shore excursions desk the night before to have them printed. However, the day of the excursion when we were standing in line, we realized that they printed my husband & I's tickets 3x each. Remember, party of 5. Our tour guide took ALL the tickets and told us to take it up with the shore excursion staff. The next day, we checked and the assistant manager was called and came out to explained that our credit card was charged for SIX adults but would be refunded after we explained the situation. Funny thing is, is the tour guide gave a count for those tickets, that assistant manager was not happy with them either. Our next RC shore excursion was at Atlantis (Nassau, Bahamas). We went on a small tour bus with about 25 people. We went in a door and we immediately were left behind with another family because there were NO ramps for strollers. Literally, we were left to find our own way through the resort. My husband and the other dad took turns carrying both strollers down the various steps. About 20 minutes later, after wondering around, we found our "guide" who had a few remaining people left and had to ask where the kids section was. She had zero clue that we were left behind. It was unacceptable!!!! On a side note: the family that we met at Atlantis were on their first cruise and had the exact same complaints that we had! They were wondering if cruising just wasn't for them. Overall, this cruise left A LOT to be desired. My husband and I have sailed 4 times, twice with our 3 children. I'm not sure if a bigger Royal Caribbean ship would suit us better or what. But I'm hesitant to book again with RC as we were not impressed. For a cruise line that offers Autism on the Seas program this was not even a kid friendly boat nor did the staff understand the needs for special needs children. After spending what we did, it was a disappointment. However, we tried to make the best of it. Read Less

Coming from CT and not wanting to fly, we chose Grandeur and Baltimore. We have little interest in RCI’s monsters from Bayonne, and NCL’s product is simply unacceptable on many levels. It is too bad HAL and Celebrity abandoned the huge NY market, Amtrak to Baltimore beats a winter flight, and Grandeur’s reasonable size was enticing. While food quality and service level show the same deterioration which is damaging mass market cruising across the board, Grandeur’s staff are friendly, competent and seem to care about delivering a good experience. The cruise director needs a hard “slap upside the head”. A number of activities got re-scheduled/relocated; he failed to show up at one venue because he didn’t reset his clock for time change; he neglected to schedule anyone to run another activity - he had a glib tongue, but needs to do his job. The ship was clean, but showed age and careless maintenance - many rust spots on balcony, the hinges on the doors between balconies were inoperable, doors were sloppily locked in place with metal straps - meaning that cleaning had to be done by going through each cabin. RCI is obviously getting maximum mileage with minimal upkeep. Interesting, very loyal, passenger mix / very many multiple repeat cruisers, virtually all came from within a two or three hour drive of the port - obviously sharing my approach. The itinerary was ideal - I love sea days, hitting the warm Gulf Stream within 24 hours of plowing through ice on upper Chesapeake Bay is a great attraction of winter sailings. Read Less

I live near port of Baltimore and looked forward to not having to fly somewhere. I was interested in the ports being visited. I knew the ship was smaller than what I was used to but didn't think it was as old as it was. This was first cruise on Royal Caribbean. I've cruised Celebrity, Princess and Carnival. It was my 11th cruise. I was a bit shocked how outdated the cruise ship was especially with inability to check account on tv. I had a Jr suite which should be called Balcony Plus, because it was a little bigger but didn't even offer a bottle of water as a perk for the more expensive cabin. And I was for some reason, unaware that there would be a POLE in my cabin at bottom of my bed !! Maybe it was in small print. I booked cabin on internet right under the spa....bad move. Water runs through pipe. The middle of night they clean spa and move furniture around...woke me up every night. We had 5 ports to visit....we had 7...SEVEN...cruise excursions cancelled !!! Yep, they offer soooo many excursions and it's a small ship so they said about 2/3 of them get cancelled. DUH !!!! The same excursions are offered to their ships that hold 2 and 3 times as many people. Therefore cut down the list for smaller ships and maybe, just maybe you won't be rescheduling&cancelling over&over. I felt sorry for Shore Excursion staff. In the dining area.....no real complaints about food, but about the specialty people bugging us with their menus and not getting the hint to stop interrupting us while having a nice time with our newfound friends was a problem. The prices are outrageous for the specialty restaurants and if not getting enough people then lower the doggone prices. It's a good thing that my main reason for cruising is to enjoy the view of the sea and it's very relaxing on balcony doing just that. The entertainment was pretty good and won a little in casino which helped me afford bottles of wine for dinners. Cannot understand why an $8 bottle of wine has to cost $35....4 times more. It was a 12day cruise so the 2 bottles we brought onboard only lasted a few days. All the staff in all the areas were very nice, pleasant people. No complaints there. But doubt I will be looking toward Royal Caribbean for next cruise. That POLE by my bed got run into a few times...glad it was padded. I will certainly do more research before booking my next cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise for two reasons - to get out of the cold for 13 days and we did not have to fly to get to the port. Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze; no issues whatsoever. We are frequent cruisers and this was about our tenth cruise on Royal and the oldest ship we have ever been on. The Grandeur's age was not a factor. She was clean and surprisingly in better shape than expected. You cannot compare a ship of this age with all the bells and whistles the new ones have, and we do prefer ships of this size. Daytime activities were lackluster and uninteresting. If you weren't into trivia, line dancing, art auctions/lectures or drinking, there was not much to do. With three sea days going and returning to port, a lot more could have been offered. Many activities had an upcharge. I attended a cupcake decorating class for $25, which included decorating one cupcake and making a frog out of fondant - really??? It was an outrageous amount for that. The entertainment staff was average at best and the cruise director, although a very nice man, was not cruise director material. It was uncomfortable listening him at times. Unable to book a balcony cabin for the first time, we had an oceanview cabin on Deck 2. Surprisingly, we really liked the location and brightness of the cabin and did not miss a balcony at all. My only complaints were a very small shower and a curtain which never stayed in place. The other issue was a terrible smell coming from both the sink and shower drains. It was not pleasant at all. Service was outstanding on this ship. The crew was wonderful and was always willing to do anything they could for you. The Windjammer is appropriately named - always jammed. We ate in the dining room most of the time. Food in the dining room was good, not great. No excursions for us this trip; we took advantage of a beautiful beach at every port as the weather was beautiful. All in all, I'm not sure I would do this itinerary or ship again. I think once was enough for us although there were many, many repeat cruisers on board. There is a great advantage in not having to fly. Read Less