Treat Yourself to a little Grandeur
Written: Dec 10 '02 (Updated Dec 10 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderful dining room food, Wonderful waiter and head waiter, Great entertainment
Cons: Shore Excursions and shore excursion staff, Assistant Waiter
The Bottom Line: I strongly recommend the Grandeur of the Seas for your next vacation. If you love food and relaxation, look no further.
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| smarterwebs's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas |
This was my third cruise with my wife and first with our child. We spent about $1300 for an outside stateroom which was far less than for the other cruises we have been on. We only paid $199 for our son (seemed like a real bargain). Turns out he was the life of the party. Everyone seemed to love him and I think he guaranteed us a table to ourselves at dinner. We enjoyed dinners enormously. We tend to be a little introverted, so it suited us well.
We ate all but one meal in the main dining room. Breakfast and lunch are open seating and quite frequently we were still able to sit alone. Sometimes we got stuck with rather annoying folks and uncultured swine (haha). The food was in a word amazing. I ate two entrees and at least two desserts at every meal. As if this wasn't enough, at 10:30 p.m. each night the short order cook whipped up great hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza and fries. I was a frequent visitor. I believe in getting my money's worth. You've paid for the food, so get in there and scrap for your share. I am happy to say that I ate more than my share. I gained 8 pounds during the trip (210 - 218). I am about 6 feet tall, so I'm not tremendously overweight.
The ship was beautiful with 6 nice hot tubs. We were always able to find an empty one as my son loved being in the hot water (he is only two). Unfortunately, he was too young for the kid's activities. The kids in the activities seemed to be having a great time. I would highly recommend this cruise for people with kids that are potty trained. I would also recommend it for couples as there is plenty of nightlife. There are bars everywhere. I recommend that one of the people in your party get a drink pass for about $33 to get unlimited soft drinks. You get a little sticker on your ship card. All you have to do is flash it to get a soft drink. Then find a bar with nice waitresses and you will get bigger than average glasses.
We took one shore excursion in Grand Cayman. It was the highlights of Grand Cayman. At $30 each for adults, I'd say pass next time. Grab a cab to the turtle farm, catch a turtle and get some nice snapshots. Skip Hell and the beach. The other two stops were just tourist traps. Cozumel is a broken down, dilapidated town with poor infrastructure and every gem stone you can imagine. We took a hair-raising taxi ride into town and bought some silver. Make sure you bargain with the merchants. We walked out and came back more than once. Too bad that doesn't work in Hard Rock Cafe (haha).
We were told by more than one of the cruise staff not to bother getting off the ship in Progreso, Mexico. You know the little place that got whacked by at least one hurricane this year. We stayed on the ship.
The weather for our cruise was not that great. We left out of New Orleans in November, so what did we expect. If you take this line out of New Orleans in the fall or winter, bring at least one jacket. Several days were too cold to lay out or hang by the pool. The wind got very strong too. Some lady actually stopped and seemed very concerned that our son might be blown off the ship (okay, it wasn't that strong).... Actually, one evening I walked on deck near the bow. I was able to jump straight up and land about 4-5 feet in front of where I jumped - pretty strong wind.
Overall, we had a magnificent time. We napped very well, ate like kings and queens and escaped the stress of every day life. I did check my email once, but at 50 cents per minute, I cringed when I got the bill (won't do that next time).
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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Epinions.com ID:
smarterwebs
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 1 member
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