Grandeur of the Seas Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,829 reviews

I had fun, in spite of RCI

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Grandeur of the Seas
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BluesCruise
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2013

Solo cruiser, 50-ish female here. This was my 10th cruise, and my first was as a child, in 1970, so I remember the good old days of cruising.

Let me start by saying that dinner in the Main Dining Room is one of my favorite things about cruising. Sadly, that's where RCI let me down the most. The MDR service/food was bad. We had a table of 10, table #305. Our waiter was Densta a.k.a. Maxwell. Food that was supposed to be hot was often served lukewarm, at best. If we sent it back, the replacement dish was sometimes lukewarm, as well. I suspect some of the food wasn't hot when it left the kitchen, as was the case with mashed potatoes in a ceramic dish. It was assumed by the waiter, head waiter, and even the chef, that if the dish was hot, the food in it was hot. It wasn't until the guest had them actually taste or touch the mashed potatoes that they realized the food was not hot. They should be using food thermometers in the kitchen to make sure they put out hot food!

Another problem was that Densta did not seem up to the task of serving a large table. He seemed scattered and disorganized, and after he brought the food out from the kitchen, he kept lifting the lids from the same dishes multiple times before serving them to the correct guest. This probably contributed to the food losing heat before being served. After we'd complained up the chain about the cold food problems, Densta started putting a dish in front of a guest, then saying, "Try it. Is it hot?" with each dish, with each course, over and over again. If we said it wasn't, he'd say he'd get a replacement, but it would take so long for the replacement to come (and by then we had no faith that it would be any hotter), that often, we didn't want a replacement. If we declined, he'd insist, several times. We had to resort to sternly saying, "I don't want it!" before he would let it go. This exchange became maddening, and we couldn't enjoy our dinnertime conversations without the constant, frustrating interruptions. I know he wanted to make it right, but he took it too far. ONE "are you sure?" would have been enough. We started ordering multiple dishes for each course, hoping at least one of them would be edible, so we wouldn't have to wait for a replacement.

Cabin Review

It was fine for one person. If I had had a roommate, I don't know where they would have hung their clothes, LOL. I like that the bathroom had ample storage for toiletries. It was dark and quiet. The cabin steward, Karen kept ice in the bucket for my wine, which is all I asked of her.

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