Grandeur of the Seas Review
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We had a great autumn trip to Bermuda from the Port of Baltimore. It was a bit chilly but that didn't stop us from using the pool as much as we could on the first day! Cruise Director Ricky was fantastic, as was the activity director and the rest of the staff. Grandeur, though older, is a great ship with lots of fun and activities on board.
Bermuda was wonderful in September and not too hot. We did get some rain while we were there but were still able to enjoy Horseshoe Beach and some other local attractions.
On the second day, we took the bus excursion to the zoo, aquarium, and Crystal Caves. I must not have read the description very well, because the bus ride was very long with lots of stops, though it was just chartered for the cruise passengers. The driver was pleasant and told us lots of great tidbits about Bermuda, its culture, and the daily lives of the people who live there. I really found it all quite interesting but with two small children in tow, they were only interested in getting to the zoo and aquarium. The zoo and aquarium were fun, and though it's a small zoo, we only had about 40 minutes to go through the whole thing. I would have liked more time there. Then we went to Crystal Caves, which was very nice and interesting. However, if you've been to any caves already, I would recommend skipping the trip. I've been to Crystal Caverns in Pennsylvania, Shenandoah and Luray Caverns in Virginia and I think at this point I don't think there are many more interesting caves to see. For an adult or teenager I think this was a great trip and very informative and fun. For small children, I'd recommend getting an all-day bus pass to go at your leisure. The tour also said it would be three hours, but we had to be there before the 9am departure and did not get back to the ship until after 2 because bus drops you off in Hamilton and you have to get yourself back to the ship via ferry - again, this would have been GREAT for just the two of us because we could have had a leisurely shopping trip and return to the ship, but with small children we really needed to get back because the kids were just done after all that bus riding. So I guess to sum it up, it was a great excursion but I would not recommend it for families with small children, and maybe I should have read more into it.
Cabin Review
Junior Suite
The stateroom featured the standard amenities that a junior suite has. Be aware there is a pole in this cabin at the foot of the bed on the right side. It wasn't really in the way, but some people might be bothered by it. Other says "pole" cabins are slightly larger, but I don't know if this is true. Cabin 8544 is right by the stairs and very close to the Centrum elevators, but there wasn't much noise. Even when they were having parties down on the main deck, the noise did not travel into our room so I think it's an ideal location and very close and convenient for dining and the Schooner Bar. My only complaint is that throughout the night we kept hearing a flushing noise. It wasn't enough to wake me up, but if I was awake already I found it hard to fall back to sleep. I believe we were under the gym, which makes no sense as to why there would be activity above, but maybe it was something with the pool system. For this reason I would not stay in this cabin again, but I did really enjoy our cruise and it didn't ruin anything for me... I'd just seek out a different cabin next time.