We are a couple in our 50's, this was our 8th cruise: RCCL Nordic Empress, Dawn Princess, RCCL Vision of the Seas, Carnival Celebration, HAL Veendam, RCCL Radiance of the Seas, Grand Princess, and Grandeur of the Seas. We took our grown children and 6 small grandchildren, ages 5 months to 6 years for a Thanksgiving cruise out of New Orleans.
OVERVIEW: The ship has a nice layout, in our personal opinion, just the right size to offer many amenities, and yet still feel relatively small. After a few days you could easily find your way around the ship, not so with a supersize vessel like the Grand Princess. Also, after a few days, you would keep running into the same people, which we like, as it gives a feeling of community. The ship is in need of some refurbishment here and there..it's not bad, but there is evidence of wear and tear. The dining room is large on two levels, and very pretty, and the atrium is stunning. The artwork aboard the Grandeur is some of the most impressive we've seen on a ship.
DINING: This was rather disappointing, the food was better on all seven of our other cruises. We are not "picky", and we know that you are not going to get real gourmet dining on a ship that has to feed over 2000 people all day long. We ate the breakfast buffet in the Windjammer most days, it was OK, very good selection of things. The best thing there was the made to order omelets. The lunch entrees in the Windjammer were fair, at best, with some of the hot dishes lukewarm, and a limited selection of the hot dishes. They always had a good salad bar, and sandwiches. We did not attend the Gala midnight buffet or the midnight chocolate buffet, I heard they were impressive. In the Great Gatsby dining room, they had a nice selection of entrees each night, but by and large they were just mediocre. ( On other cruises, there were a few dishes that were truly outstanding and memorable- but not so here) The desserts were good, especially the flourless chocolate cake, which was super rich and so good.