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Overview
The Grandeur of the Seas is a beautiful and elegant ship. We visited her just before the holidays and the ship was filled to capacity with a mix of couples and families, but we never felt a sense of overcrowding and never experienced any longer-than-normal lines. The children's area was an especially popular place during our cruise, and the Adventure Ocean program kept the younger set well-occupied from early in the morning until late at night. Grandeur offers plenty of daily activities and entertainment to appeal to every age group.
The cabins on the Grandeur of the Seas are considerably larger than those on the Sovereign-class vessels of the Royal Caribbean fleet. The service in both the cabins and the dining rooms was excellent. Royal Caribbean has added a computer center to the Grandeur of the Seas, offering passengers access to the Internet and to their e-mail 24-hours a day, for $0.50 per minute and $4.95 for a digital postcard.
Public Rooms
Passengers enter the ship by way of the Centrum, a central atrium that boasts dramatic staircases, marble floors and an abundance of glass and chrome. There is expansive glass on every level of the Centrum, affording breathtaking views of the water.
There are abundant lounges and bars scattered throughout the public areas on the Grandeur of the Seas. Our favorite lounge is The Schooner Bar, a quiet, warm, inviting, nautical-themed piano bar, and the perfect place for an after-dinner drink and conversation with friends. The striking and dramatic Viking Crown Lounge is used primarily for social functions and is the location of the late night disco.
The ship's Casino Royale is very glitzy and gaudy, but a bit cramped and smoky. There are so many mirrors and lights in the casino, that a walk through can be somewhat disconcerting. At the entrance of the casino there is sunken treasure (literally), covered with a glass floor that you must walk across to enter. Many passengers do a double-take the first time they see this glass-covered treasure trove, as you almost get the feeling that you are going to step into it and fall. The casino offers the usual assortment of slot machines, as well as blackjack, roulette, craps and Caribbean stud poker tables.
Entertainment
Royal Caribbean is known for having quality entertainment, including performances by well-known headliners, and the Grandeur of the Seas is no exception. We had two headliners on our cruise -- The Coasters and Rondell Sheridan. The disco was great fun, playing a variety of great dance music for the late night crowd. A talented singer performs Cole Porter standards and Broadway show tunes in the Centrum each evening.
Family
We had four kids in our group, ranging in age from six to 13, and we could barely drag the younger ones out of the children's center and Adventure Ocean program. They adored the ball pit and the pipe-like sliding board, as well as the arts and crafts activities and video arcade. The activities were perfectly in tune with the various age groups. Royal Caribbean also has children's menus in the dining room, as well as a soda card program for unlimited soft drinks for a flat fee depending on the length of your cruise a 3-night card is $7, 4-night $9, 7-night $15, 10-night $21,and an 11-night card is $23 per child for the entire cruise.
Gratuity
Suggested tipping is $3.50 per person, per night, for the cabin steward; $3.50 per person, per night, for the waiter; $2 per person, per night, for the assistant waiter. All bar and wine bills have an automatic 15 percent gratuity added to them.
Dining
The Great Gatsby Dining Room is understated elegance with a lovely Art Deco motif. Large glass panels surrounding the room afford views of the sea and tables are available for two through ten people. While the service in the dining room was excellent and attentive, we found the food to uninspiring and we found many dishes to be either under-seasoned or not prepared according to our tastes or expectations. The meat dishes tended to be the best. Our waiter and assistant waiter were constantly apologizing for the food, because they knew that it left a lot to be desired. They tried hard to please us as best they could, and their guidance about what to order was usually right-on
Cabins
The Grandeur of the Seas has 576 outside staterooms, 212 staterooms with private verandahs and 399 inside cabins. In addition, there are 83 suites and four family suites. All of the staterooms have a private bathroom, twin beds that convert to queen-sized beds, telephone, color television, radio, wall safe and individually controlled air conditioning. The suites have additional amenities like refrigerators and VCRs. There are 14 staterooms designed for the physically challenged. While the standard cabins are smaller than those found aboard many other mass market ships, the 157 square-foot staterooms are well designed, with lovely, soothing, pastel decor and ample storage space for a seven-night cruise.
Fitness and Recreation
The Grandeur of the Seas boasts a generous amount of open deck space and ample deck chairs. The Main Pool is large and offers a wading area and whirlpools. An elegant Roman-themed Solarium Pool is more subdued and features a retractable glass roof in case of inclement weather. The Solarium Pool itself has underwater jets, and is surrounded by additional whirlpools.
The spa and salon offer a superb selection of treatments and services. The salon and the spa boast floor-to-ceiling windows, so a sea view is never far away -- whether you are having your hair styled or getting a massage. The private treatment rooms are wonderful and quiet and relaxing, and some of them have private showers or hydrotherapy tubs.
The gym, which is part of the same complex as the spa and salon, offers the latest array of exercise equipment, as well as a full slate of fitness classes. Floor-to-ceiling windows line the fitness center, so guests can gaze out at the water during their workouts. The ship also offers table tennis and shuffleboard.
Dress Code
There are two formal nights per seven-day cruise. Generally, about half the men opt for dark suits instead of tuxedoes.
Fellow Passengers
On one-week Caribbean cruises during school vacation periods, you'll find lots of families with children. During other periods, you'll find about an equal number of passengers in each age group, with the average age being in the mid-40's.
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