An overall good week with some ups and downs
Written: Dec 25 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stateroom, food, service
Cons: Weather, no free soft drinks, tendering/shuttling process
The Bottom Line: Royal Caribbean provides a great experience. Do your own research about what to expect ahead of time. Relax and enjoy it!
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| eopedaw's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas |
We (my wife and I) just returned a week ago from a Dec. 11-18, 2004 cruise (for our 15th anniversary) including stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Costa Maya. Our experience began with a flight into New Orleans and a good transfer shuttle from the airport to the river port. I would recommend this service for anyone who is uncertain about getting to the port on time and having someone to help with your bags. We booked our shuttle ourselves and saved over 50% of what RC would have charged and had the same service as those who paid the full amount. It was excellent on the way in, but not on the way out (more later).
Check in at the port was quick and easy. The shuttle bus pulled in next to the ship so you could see where you were headed to - and it was kind of a nice 'appetizer' to see it before you went through the check in. They had us check in according to the deck that you stay on and it was fairly efficient and quick. You get a cool 'seapass' which you use for the whole cruise for everything from getting on and off the boat to making purchases, etc. The seapass system gives you a good feeling of security on the boat and you must keep it with you at all times.
On our first night ('casual night') in the main dining room, we had a good dinner and met one half of our assigned dining companions (the other half showed up the next night). Overall, dining in the main room (The Great Gatsby) was good. Our waiter (Suterno) was great, as was his assistant (Maria). They knew our names and/or preferences and served us well all week. We had great seats in the center area on the lower floor.
Food was good for the most part. I liked having breakfast and lunch in the Windjammer Cafe. Many options and you can get what you want, when you want it. It's self serve, except for desserts and the occasional drink cart that comes around. My wife would have been happy to have had all the meals in the main dining hall where you are served all the time. Dinner in the main hall is always assigned seating while lunch and breakfast is open seating. Don't let open seating fool you into thinking you sit where you want. You're basically crammed into tables with other people that you don't know. That's fine if you're into that, but it was difficult to enjoy breakfast and make small talk with strangers (picture being at Denny's in one of those weird corner seats). I usually have a half a pot of coffee before I speak to anyone in the AM's and after one trip to the main hall for breakfast decided not to go back there again. My wife, once again loved it and would have prefered the pampering.
Dinner is always good in the main hall (and they usually had almost all the same foods available in the Windjammer for dinner as well). Though your waiter may not say so, feel free to order more than one of anything you want. We're not pigs by any means, but we occasionally ordered three appetizers between the two of us because we wanted to try different things. I would occasionally order two entrees for fear that the 'new thing' that I was trying wasn't going to be great. The steak with butter is a great alternative! They always list alternative items on the menu in case the main items don't sound great to you. I am not a big seafood person, so I enjoyed having options. Overall the entrees were great, but I didn't always enjoy the desserts as much in the main hall. Oddly enough the desserts in the Windjammer were usually better.
The midnight buffet/chocolate buffet was interesting, though in retrospect, I am not sure it was worth staying up so late to see foods made into sculptures. I still am laughing about the idea of taking pictures of food (if you go, you'll know what I am talking about). While you may get the idea that it's a chocolate buffet, there really wasn't that much chocolate.
My wife really enjoyed being able dress up each night in the main area. We anticipated that more people would 'dress up' more often in the main area and were surprised that even people were a little more casual that we guessed they would be in terms of dress. I only saw a handfull of men in tuxedos, so if you're wondering about the need for that, don't sweat it - just wear a coat and tie or suit.
You have the opportunity to have a professional photo done each evening and you don't have to buy it (@ $20 per photo 8 x 10, if you do) and it's fun to have them taken and a nice option if you want some nice photos for later. Lots of people seemed to enjoy having their photo and spending time looking at theirs and others' photos in the gallery later.
Our first stop was in Cozumel and it was okay. We purchased a package excursion to some 'new' Mayan ruins. While our tour guide (Laura) was great, the tour was really disappointing to me. Just when I thought the tour was going to end at some great final site of ruins, we walked back to the waiting area and was told it was over! RC needs to do a little better job in it's PR of some of it's excursions. We were under the assumptions we'd see 'three Mayan temples' and basically came across some large piles of rocks that we'd likely pass up if were weren't told what they were. It was a disappointing waste of money and it conversations later with others, they felt the same way. We were (ahead of time) warned about the need to avoid the over-commercialized sites so we chose this one for a different feel. I'd rather have the over-commercialized one looking back.
Grand Cayman was our next stop. Because of the recent hurricane, we were all 'tendered' or shuttled to the shore. This process was a Royal Caribbean pain! Lots of waiting to get to shore and then a long line to get back on to the boat. We skipped the RC excursions and went to a place called Captain Marvin's; just a few block walk from the tendering point. For half the cost (and half the crowd), we got a nice boat ride out to a snorkeling point over a reef and a good bit of time at 'stingray city'. It was an overcast day, but it was good fun overall. I'm not big into snorkeling (the sea was a little rough for me), but the stingray experience was worth it. I would highly endore Captain Marvin's place to anyone. Very professional and great service for about $30 per person.
Our next stop was in Costa Maya. It was a long pier to walk down on a rainy and almost chilly day for some decent shopping for those last minute souvenirs (though the shopping was a little better in Cozumel and the prices cheaper). We stayed on the ship a little longer into our port stay hoping the rain and clouds would pass, but it just got worse so we made the 1/4 mile walk to the shops.
There's nothing RC can do about the weather, but the last two days at sea on the return trip to New Orleans were cool, cloudy and/or rainy. We spent most of that time wandering the ship and filming/photographing everything for our kids! We blew $20 in the casino just for kicks. We're not gamblers but it was fun to see what it was like.
Some of the shows and/or entertainment options were good and others were not so good. All of that is simply a matter of taste and with the exception of the juggler/comedian and the band that played the '50's/'60's show, the best entertainment on the ship was our waiter and watching Harry Potter and other movies in seven different languages. If you like song and dance shows, you're in for a treat. I had way too many of those earlier in life and found them to be less appealing than watching the waves.
Beware of thinking that all you can eat means all you can drink with reference to sodas/soft drinks. Even the cans of soda your room attendant provides are $1.50 each! You can opt to buy a 'pass' for $30-$40 (they pro-rate it as the week goes on) for unlimited softdrinks. I was going to buy it, but decided to just have tea, lemonade, coffee, milk and juices which were free and in good quantities most all the time.
We got back to New Orleans and went through the waiting process of getting off the boat. Customs was a none issue - they didn't check anything; we just walked off.
Getting back to the airport on our pre-paid shuttle service was a bit of a pain. We paid an on-site service at the port to take our bags and store them at the airport while we spend a few hours walking around New Orleans (we had a late afternoon flight out). They were a great service and I would recommend them to anyone. I felt the shuttle folks were a bit misleading, however. We asked if we could take a later shuttle to the airport since we got off the boat at about 10:00 AM. We were told that it wouldn't be any problem at all and that there were shuttle running to the airport all the time. That was not the case. After walking around New Orleans (obviously too much to see in four hours), we ended up waiting for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the shuttle to show up to take us to the airport. On top of that, while we were waiting we had to deal with a lot of conflicting info from various RC staffers in the port about whether or not we could get a shuttle, etc after we had been led to believe earlier that it was not a problem to take a later shuttle. Advice - make sure you get a 'shuttle pass' and that you have the names of anyone you talk to about getting a later shuttle if you follow that route.
Overall a good experience. Good for couples and I saw lots of children having a good time as well. Not sure I'd bring infants (I was surprised to see some) because you spend all your time with them; but that's simply a personal opinion.
Didn't get to use the rock climbing wall but it looked fun. The gym is great and we ran and lifted weights at least two days to counteract all the food we ate! My wife really like the steamroom/sauna a lot. We never got in the pools, but liked the hot tubs. Shopping on board is okay; expect a mix of good deals and high prices.
Next time I cruise, I'll probably try Carnival or another vendor. It seems (from what I heard from other people on board) that Carnival is trying get a little more class, while RC is trying to reach out to families and fun folks more and is a little less classy than it used to be. That isn't to say that our service wasn't great and that it wasn't a good experience.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
eopedaw
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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