Royal Caribbean International
Grandeur of the Seas
9-Day western Caribbean

Douglas Born
Age: 53
Occupation: utility worker
Number of Cruises: 4
Sailing Date: October 28th, 2005

First of all the Baltimore port was easy to find and boarding the ship was very well organized. We arrived around noon and were on the ship within 25 minutes. The staff and crew really were excellent. Decks 5 and 6 were easy to navigate and we never got lost one time. (some ships have partitions blocking the way or you can not access the stairs and elevators from both sides) This ship has a very good layout.

The shows were good and my favorite was a comedian that juggled on a ladder and then later rode a unicycle. This guy was funny.

The food was good and plentiful. I read in another review that there was a charge for the ice cream. This is true at Ben & Jerry's. There was also free soft serve ice cream up in the windjammer buffet. (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla) around lunch time. They also scooped ice cream out of the round containers during the afternoon snack time. There was also very good ice cream available in the main dining room for dessert every night. All free except Ben & Jerry's. Enough said about ice cream.

Because of hurricane Wilma we did not stop at Cozumel but we stopped at Georgetown in the Caymans. We did not stop at Coco Cay because of the weather also. It would have been impossible to board the tenders in rough water. But we did stop in key west for around 15 hours. Since they avoided the bad weather we had smooth sailing all the way. We also stopped at Grand Bahamas island and port Canaveral. I would recommend the sting ray city in the Caymans and the alligator, airboat ride at port Canaveral, they give you a generous portion of gator tail to eat and it is very good. We also saw 4 gators,2 of them sit tight and let the boat float right up to them.

I have really only one complaint about royal Caribbean. I asked about leaving the ship early while we were in port at port Canaveral because of an emergency at home and they told me that I could but they would charge $300 per person. That is totally ridiculous. That was while we were docked at the port!)

All in all I would recommend the Grandeur of the Seas. It is a beautiful ship with an excellent and very friendly crew. I will probably take this cruise again when they repair the dock in Cozumel. I have left out a lot of other good things about this ship but you get the idea.

I would rate this cruise number 2 on my list putting Holland America's Zaandam as number 1 and Carnival's Miracle at number 3 (they are fairly comparable) and the Imperial Majesty's Regal Empress at a very distant and regrettable last place.

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