I chose to cruise for my husband's 80th birthday because that is what he wanted. We love cruising and RCCL is our favorite cruise line. However, I had to consider finances for the family joining us and this was the most affordable. They didn't have to fly to Baltimore and it was only 5 days.

Grandeur of the Seas is older and therefore does not have the bells & whistles the newer ships have. The kids would have had more to do one of the Oasis class ships, but those are quite a bit more expensive. We had two granddaughters (10 & 7) and twin grand nephews (8) in our group and they thoroughly enjoyed the kids program. We had a junior suite and our son and nephew each had a large interior cabin. The advantage of a large interior is that there is a king size bed and two beds above it on each side so parents didn't have to sleep in a bunk bed, which I believe is the case in the smaller interior cabins. The kids liked coming into our cabin when having to wait for the parents because we had a balcony and room for them to sit.

The service in the dining room was slow, but there were 11 of us so I'll cut them a break. They really tried hard to please. However, sometimes the wait to refill a glass of water was long. The food was ok. The Windjammer was always packed, but somehow we managed to get a table, even the one time we showed up for lunch at the same time. If you like a peaceful meal time, try the dining room for lunch. The menu is limited but they have a great salad bar which attendants prepare. You choose the ingredients and they put it in a bowl then chop it for you. Nice. Wish I had discovered it early on, I would have bypassed the Windjammer. Read more