Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Grandeur of the Seas Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

ADK
Age: 35
Occupation: Paralegal
Number of Cruises: 1
Sailing Date: February 6th, 2006

We sailed off without a hitch from Tampa Florida. Our 5-night Western Caribbean cruise normally leaves from New Orleans, LA, but since Hurricane Katrina closed the ports there, Tampa is where you'll port until further notice.

This was my first cruise so I was not sure what to expect nor did I have any pre-conceived notions of what the ship should look like. I thought the Grandeur was a great ship. It is big enough that you have lots of space and it never seemed crowed except for the midnight buffets. However, we learned our way around the ship in about a day and a half; it is very easy to get around and not intimidating.

The bar and dinning staff are the ship's best features. We found our dinning staff ready to bend over backwards for us and the bar staff was friendly. We went up to the Viking Lounge every evening for a pre-dinner cocktail and the bartender, Nike, immediately learned our names and what we liked to drink. Each evening that we came in, he greeted us with a smile and immediately got our drinks.

Edwin, our waiter was impeccable. He had recommendations ready each evening and learned our tastes immediately. The assistant waiter brought my hot tea first thing each night. There was so much food to eat, it was utterly sinful. The food by the way is wonderful! Great work in the kitchen.

The ship is clean, it does show some signs of age, like the cracked granite bar top in the Viking, but that is minor, especially for the great deal we got on the cruise price.

The shows put on by the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers was first class. I cannot rave enough about the amount of talent in this group. Do not miss their shows!

You can't go bored on this cruise unless you really want to be bored. The event schedule is packed from morning to late night.
My complaints are with our stateroom attendant. Just not up to pare, we put our dirty pool towels on the floor, as instructed, and there were taken, but never replaced (no pool towels at the end of the cruise results in a $25 charge per towel!) We heard about the towel animals and were left with 3, but then found out there is a whole herd of animals, so we should have had one for each day, not just 3. I ordered champagne and strawberries to be in our stateroom on departure day. I had to ask the purser’s desk about my order on day 2 of the cruise and when they were finally delivered, my personalized note was not included, and this was a bummer.

My jewelry came up missing, and I still have received no response from Royal Caribbean though I have called twice and sent an email.

Time in the different ports is short; we went scuba diving and had very little time to see Cozumel. In addition, you are tendered to shore in Cozumel because the piers are destroyed from Hurricane Wilma. This process of getting to and from shore takes up to 45 minutes EACH way, so a lot of shore time is taken away from you.

My biggest complaints are with customer service after the cruise, my jewelry being stolen and our stateroom care.
The cruise itself was fabulous, just wish I still had my jewelry.

Oh yeah, on night 5, the sewer smell began, but not until the very last evening, guess the system was just full. Our stateroom was on the top, 8th floor, so we did not deal with the smell much except in the public area.
 

Ask a Question About Royal Caribbean Cruises