Grandeur of the Seas Review
4.0 / 5.0
smbren
10+ Cruises • Age 50s
Rating by category
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Value for Money
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Dining
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Entertainment
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Additional details
Sail Date: Nov 2016
Cabin: Grand Suite
We are happy with Royal. We sailed last year on Grandeur and I'm writing this review based on that trip, and sailing again in about a month on the Grandeur again.
We like the Vision class ship, so this is just a slightly smaller ship than we prefer, but it is a great ship with a fantastic crew. And if you are in a suite, you're in for a treat with the concierge (I won't mention the name in case he's on holiday when you sail). The nice thing with a ship this size is the crew really does get to know you, and you get to know them. Not always so easy on the larger ships.
One thing we were disappointed on was the food quality. We felt that the selections in the dining room had been cut back a bit, and it seemed probably as in a cost cutting manner. Even Chops we weren't thrilled with the quality of the food on this trip. This is the first time we've not been completely satisfied with dining on Royal, so it isn't something that we have experienced on a regular basis. We hope to see an improvement this time around and will again return to Chops.
Cabin Review
Grand Suite
Cabin GS
The cabin was fantastic. We've been doing Grand Suites for our last few sailings now, or similar cabins on other lines. Prior to the Grand Suites, we did Junior Suites for a bit, and balconies prior too. As anyone that has moved up in cabin category knows, it is hard to go backwards in categories.
But the room is great, plenty of room for two. Great sitting area. Large balcony. The other nice thing with suites as opposed to balcony rooms and below is all the 'little things' in the room are always kept up and not waiting for the next dry dock. In the grand suite and above, we also always find a nice treat in the room in the afternoon from fresh fruit, chocolate covered strawberries and other treats. The bathroom had double sinks, a tub and plenty of storage space. There was more than enough closet space for us to hang all the clothes. With the sitting area and the deck, enough room to have people visit for a drink before or after dinner.
The cabin was always cleaned by our great cabin steward Dennis. He's actually been our cabin steward on a past sailing.
Port Reviews
Baltimore
We drove in the night before. It was unseasonably warm so we walked along the Inner Harbor and went out for dinner. Arrived early and probably one of the first 10-20 on the ship. If you've never gotten a ship that early, you should try it as it is so unusual to be able to walk through decks and see noone, even the crew is busy with the debarkation/embarkation tasks.
St. Kitts (Port Zante)
We did a beach excursion and enjoyed a day at the beach. The only reason I am giving this a 3 and not a higher rating is that I would like to see excursions booked through the cruiselines to not have people coming up to you on the beach every 20-30 minutes to sell stuff. I would expect this if not booked through the cruise line, but expect a bit better experience when booked through the cruise line. But other than that, it was a typical beach day.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia has a 'gated' area for the cruise port. This area has shopping and a bar with Bounty Rum (yum!, try the banana daiquiri it's much better than on the ship!). The nice thing about the 'gated' area is that the only people allowed into the area are the ones that are operating the various shops. You have to step outside the area before you are hounded by taxi's and tour options, etc. There are a few tour providers that are allowed inside, but it is not many and they do not hound you, so it is a nice area to get off the ship for a bit if you like.
Trip in a month or so we have an excursion for this island and I'll review that next.
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