Note - this page contains multiple reviews.

Name: James Lackey
Email: trooper@bluegrass.net
Age: 32
Occupation: U.S. Army
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 28 NOV-5 DEC 98
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 93
CruiseDirector: 88
CabinComfort: 99
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 97
FoodLidoDeck: 88
DiningRoomService: 92
CabinQuietness: 99
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 89
ShoreExcVariety: 93
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 94
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 99
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 97
TenderService: 98
GoodForSeniors: 97
BeautySalonStaff: 93
EntertainmentLounges: 100
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 99
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 93
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 98
Casino: 99
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 94
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 93
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 96
OverallCruiseValue: 99
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 07 Dec 1998
Time: 21:25:09
Remote Name: 206.84.49.115
Remote User:

Comments

I have read alot of reviews about the Grandeur of the Seas and I thought I would put in my two cents worth, maybe I can answer
some questions that I had. Let me first start off by telling you that I am in the army and I have to save two years to take my
family on a cruise. The last cruise we were on was the Premier ship SeaBreeze and before that was the Oceanic. The Grandeur
is in a class by itself, the brass, glass and marble everywhere you looked gave it the atmosphere that this is the grandest ship in
the world. The crew's meticulous attention to detail is seen everywhere. Never a day went by when we didn't see the crew wiping
down the brass, cleaning the floors and painting the ship. My mother lives in the Miami area so we made our own flight
arrangements and stayed at her house until time to cruise. We flew down the day before Thanksgiving, we bought our ticket in
June and the price was $197.00 on Delta Airlines. We checked before we left and the same flight was over $800.00 so book
early. As I said before we are not the richest people in the world so I booked a cat. O, inside lower level cabin, then we got an
upgrade to an inside cabin of the 4th deck (main deck in the brochure Cat N.) When we looked at our tickets at my mother's
house we noticed that the cabin numbers were not correct. We had booked in January for the 28 November sailing so we had
routes all plotted out in the brochure. Our inside cabin was 4513 so when we read that the room was 4032 I had thought
something was wrong. I looked in the brochure and found that we had gotten a 6 category upgrade to a cat. F, larger outside
stateroom, on the main deck (deck 4). Our price was $802.00 per person for the inside cabin and we got the outside. Pays to
book early. Debarkation, we got to the port of Miami and were met by the porters who took our luggage to the ship. These porters
are 'tipped' about a dollar a bag. I gave them a little more. We rode the escalator to the check in point and found a large line and
alot of people milling around. We got in line to check in. Make sure you have all the paperwork that comes with your tickets filled
out. You would not believe the amount of people that didn't have this filled out and that took some time waiting for them. It's funny
to see how many are frantically triing to fill them out while in line. We checked in and then we were shown to another line. This
second line is the line to go through customs and get on board. Be advised that this does not open until 12:30 p.m. and will not
open earlier for any reason. At 12:30 prompt they opened the gangway and we walked down a long walkway to the ship. The
photographers stopped us at the end of the walkway to take our pictures, this signifigantly slowed things up. Be advised that
there are two lines on this walkway and they will tell you, a line on the left and a line on the right. All in all it took about an hour
to get checked in and get on board. We walked in and found we were on the 4th deck (main deck) in the middle of the Centrum
and were greeted by members of the staff. We walked across the Centrum and found a desk where a crew member looked at our
ticket and handed us an envelope, it contained our room keys. They use a card system, you put this atm looking card that they
give you in a slot and pull it out and the door is unlocked. We lost one of our keys during the cruise, not to worry, we went to the
purser's desk and showed them our I.D. and they programed a new key card for us. We walked down the left side of the ship in
this hallway and found our room, WOW! The room was very good sized, we had a 14" color t.v., vanity area, love seat, huge
closet with alot of hangers in it, two end tables and twos beds which we had put together by the steward to make one bed. The
window in our room was a picture window, not a porthole. It was a very nice sized window that both my wife and I could look out
at the same time with room to spare. We found our way to deck 9 (sun deck) and all the way forward is the Windjammer Cafe
where they were serving lunch. It is a buffet style lunch with chicken, rice, mashed potatoes, vegetables and a fella carving
corned beef. Get ready to get corned beef to death, every time I went to a buffet there was corned beef, sheesh. When you first
walk through the door a person hands you a tray with a plate, silverware, and a cloth napkin. Walk through the whole line first
and make your way to the front of the Windjammer, I went through the line and then went to look around and found that they were
making sandwiches to order. There was no signs or warnings that they were doing this, I told my family that they were making
sandwiches and they went and got one too. In the mornings they have an omelette bar in the front of the WindJammer too, at
lunch they have burgers and a taco bar in the front also. Don't be fooled by the buffet line, take the time to walk to the front of the
restaurant. I would like to go through room by room and tell my impressions of these. WindJammer Cafe: Like I said, go to the
front first and see what they have and then you can go back. Beautiful huge windows all around the cafe, wood rails and floors
leading to carpet where the sitting area is. They have an ice cream bar there also, great place to eat on the run. We never went
there for dinner just breakfast and lunch.

Viking Crown Lounge: WOW! What a sight to be at the top of the ship with huge windows surrounding the whole lounge that give
you views of the ocean or ports. It doubles as a disco at night. One night was 70's disco night and the place was packed and
they even had dance lessons that taught you the "John Travolta". After that night the place wasn't nearly as crowded which
makes me think that they should have had more disco nights.

ShipShape Center: I just passed through here as I am on vacation and I do enough working out in the army. I did get my
grandmother a 50 minute massage here. It is $75 for 50 minutes and then a $10 tip. If you book for a day that you are at port it is
$10 off the $75. I wish I would have known that because my grandmother didn't get off the first two stops.

V-Deck: Video games for the youngin's my son loved this place. He is 11 and found about 6 others kids his age that were always
there. We just turned him loose and he had a great time, we only saw him during dinner and then when it was time to go to the
ports. We did see them a couple of times going through the midnight buffets. We were complimented on how well our son acted
so I guess he was okay.

Main pool: nice and big with a bar at one end and a calypso band playing all caribbean music, they were a hoot and everyone
seemed to enjoy them. The pool had two whirlpools on both sides of it that always had people in it. The pool itself had a shallow
end and then sprinklers that went all the way across the pool and then a deeper end for swimming. They even had a belly flop
contest one afternoon.

Solarium pool: This is a very nice place that had a hot tub on both sides of it. It is roman decor and really made you feel like
Ceasar sitting in the hot tub with those surroundings. There was a bar at one end of the pool and a pizza, hot dog, and seasoned
french fries at the other end. You should know that there are no "regular" fries on board, only seasoned fries, but boy are they
good. The pizza is okay as far as frozen goes. There is plenty of cheese on it. The hot dogs were good too and a welcome
change from gourmet food, if you know what I mean.

Palladium Theatre: This is very very nice with marble floors at the front and before you get to the carpeted walkways there is a
green glass portion of the floor that shows the theatrical frown and smiling masks. There is a balcony that had great views of the
stage. The chairs were very comfortable in a tan and brown cloth. Each seat also had a drink holder in it. No smoking in the
theatre. We only made it to one show and it was the Newlywed and not so newlywed game. What a riot, do not miss it. There
was a group called Rain that did Beatles songs, it was standing room only so we didn't go.

Casino: This was a place where I spent alot of time, I love blackjack and only get to play when I cruise. The casino was done in a
Egyptian theme. There is a sphinx at one end of a row of slot machines and a lion head sphinx at the end of another row of slots.
The slots were very very tight, wait till you get to San Juan if you like the slots. The majority of the blackjack dealers were from
England and they very funny to lose to..haha.. Three dealers in particular were very funny and we would actually wait until they
dealt before we played. The pit boss would switch them out from the craps table if he saw us come in and wait. My whole family
played except my son, too young. Paul ( the red head) would say, 'very nice, very nice indeed.' in his british accent. Declan
would say, 'smashing' in his british accent and Kevin was an all around hoot. You'll know Kevin because he has a goatee and
looks like the devil himself, but don't be fooled these three made it very enjoyable loosing our money. There is a glass floor at one
end of the casino that you walk across, under the glass is pirate bones and old coins and chalaces all under lights, it looks
great.

Schooner Bar: Very nice little bar on deck 6 (Mariner deck) on the right side of the ship near the back. It is a piano bar and has
big glass walls that give you a view of the ocean while you sip on your Pina Colada. The first ngiht they had this jazz band there
that was way too loud, they never came back after the first night. All the rest of the evenings there was a piano player that played
soothing music and this seemed to be a great meeting place for people to relax.

South Seas Lounge: This is where bingo is played and the Captain's cocktail party, and in the evenings they have this four
person band that was outstanding, they played 50's and 60's, country and western, and some rock. This was definatly the place
to be in the evenings. One night they had kareoke in this lounge from 7:30 to 8:30 and then again then next day for an hour. The
place was packed and some great singers, they were hard acts to follow so I stayed put in my chair.

Singin' in the Rain Lounge: In my opinion this was a great waste of space. There was nothing there except for big comfortable
chairs and walls of glass showing the ocean. We found this place to be very quiet and we played cards there. I felt they should
make this a kareoke bar and they wouldn't even have to change the name of it.

The Great Gatsby Dining Room: The dining room is huge with the main floor on the 4th deck (main deck) and the balcony on the
5th deck (promenade deck). It has green carpeting and accesories and alot of dark varnished wood. The main staircase leading
up to the balconey has a statue of an elegant lady at the bottom of it, what an added touch of class. We had our meals in the
balconey at table 5, by a window. It was very nice. I am a simple person and felt a little uncomfortable when the waiter would
take my napkin from the plate and lay it across my lap, I thought I should be doing this instead of him. The waiter and asst.
waiter were very eager to give us the best service and they really did. The food was great and I never had a complaint. I don't care
for chilled soups or very many soups for that matter, they have chicken noodle soup if you don't like the selection. It's not on the
menu, it's on the childrens menu, that's how I knew. I don't care for alot of different salads either so I would order heart of lettuce
and tomatoe and they would bring iceberg lettuce and tomatoes and cut it for me. If you don't care for what's on the menu they
always have steak and chicken breast available. I have been on cruises were you couldn't get another lobster tail if you wanted it.
One person at our table ordered THREE lobsters and he got it without a second thought.

The Centrum: Glass, marble, brass. The glass elevators were very nice. This was the place to be and the place to be seen during
the formal nights. They were taking formal pictures on deck six on both formal nights and on deck 4 one night. There are palms
around the centrum, no words can really explain this beautiful place, you'll just have to see it for yourself and then try to explain it
yourself. I'll bet you can't put it into words. The Centrum goes from deck 4 (main deck) all the way to deck 10 (compass deck). I
took alot of pictures and video of this as I found I couldn't get enough of it. To look down at the person playing the grand piano
and the guests in thier gowns and tuxedos dancing in the middle of the centrum was like being in a dream.

Champagne Bar: This is the bar at the beginning of the Centrum it was very nice with very comfortable chairs. They had caviar
and wines and of course champagne. We were a little disappointed because we had seen a picture of the champagne fountain
and thought it was as tall as us, in reality it is about 2 1/2 feet high and the fountain didn't work.

You pay for purchases and shore excursions on what's called a supercharge card. We opened ours with cash, no where have I
read that they took cash, only charge cards. For those of you, like me, that don't use a charge card you may use cash. I opened
my account and they didn't take any cash then. I was a little scared about this because I was afraid I would spend more than I
had with me. I played some black jack and put thier money on my charge account later that day..haha.. Anytime you wish you
can go and put cash on your account at the pursers desk which is on deck 6 at the front of the Centrum. They even take your
Super Charge in the casino which I thought was very sneaky. A person could get into trouble doing that if he wasn't careful. We
bought our son a Coke stamp that they put right on his own Super Charge card, it entitled him to as many fountain cokes as he
could drink. This was a great option. You could get this started at any bar on the ship. We started our son's at the Champagne
bar. They put a red Coke stamp on the card. The cost was $15.00 plus 15% gratuity, so it was over $17 overall but still a great
bargain. The Cokes on board were $1.73 a can after gratuity added. ($1.50 plus 15%) The mixed drinks were $5.95 in a Royal
Caribbean glass that you could take home with you. The drink specials change from day to day and are $2.95 but they don't
come in the keeper glasses. You have to add 15% to each of those prices. There are sodas in your cabin and a bottle of water
also. There isn't price list but we did have to buy a Sprite and a bottle of water, they even added 15% to this, I wondered who I
was tipping since it was already there. We brought our own sodas on board, I can hear you wanting to faint now, but that could
quickly add up and noone said a thing to us about it. We packed a suitcase with sodas in them. We've done that on all our
cruises. With the extra money we saved we had a good time with instead of paying $1.73 for one soda.

Labadee: I didn't care for this place. It rained while we were there and I realize that this isn't thier fault but it really put a damper
on things. I'm not much about going in the water but I did get a paddle boat for my wife and I. It was $10 for a half hour, you
charge it to your super charge account. I know why they put it in 1/2 hour increments. After 5 mins of paddling I was finished and
wanted to go back. I was worried about the Haitians charging me for a full hour, I checked at the pursers desk after I got back to
the ship and found that they charged me $10, BONUS, I thought it was $10 a person but it was $10 for the whole boat. They had
banana boat rides also for $8 a person and that looked fun, we were going to do that later on but the rains came. We headed
back to the ship. We heard while on the tender back that they had opened the bar on shore for free drinks and shrimp cocktails
to try to keep people on the beach. Too late, we were soaked and already heading back to the ship. After we left Labadee we ran
into some rough seas there were 18 foot swells that went splashing up the side of ship. My mother got very sick and I got sick
also. I didn't feel too bad until about two hours from San Juan and then it was too much for me to take I had to go lay down. I
couldn't wait till we got to San Juan and then I felt better after that.

San Juan: It was okay, we wanted to go to the Bacardi Rum Factory and to Arecebo, the world's largest telescope, but we had
some bad weather and didn't get in until late so we missed both. We took a tour of old and new San Juan including San
Christobal fort. It was a very nice tour. Make sure you shop around if you didn't get a tour from the ship. The same tour started at
$25 and then the farther down the pier you went it got cheaper, we got it for $10 a person and the fella was outstanding. He didn't
get paid nor did he ask until after it was over. We went to Mcdonald's for lunch and had a Big Mac, welcome change of pace
again from gourmet food. Note, Aracebo is not offered as a shore excursion. We knew about it by getting ready for our cruise.
The cruise line does not even mention it so you'll have to rent a car or pay for a taxi to see it. It's only open one hour a week and
it's between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, the day you get to San Juan.

St. Thomas: This was our favorite stop. We took the tram to the top of Paradise Point and got some great pictures of the pier
with our ship and an added bonus was seeing the Grand Princess there also. What a huge ship it is, I talked to some people that
said they didn't care for it because it was too big to get around and the service wasn't as personal. The Tram cost $12 per adult
and $6 for children. It's a little scary being that high hanging from a wire but it's worth it. We didn't take any snorkeling tours or go
to the beach, we did walk to K-mart and buy some t-shirts that said St. Thomas, I figured they would be better than the ones
being sold by the side of the road. We had a pre-paid phone card and used it there also. My mother in law got a kick out of us
calling her from St. Thomas. When we left St. Thomas we were heading into bad weather again, we could see that there were 3
other ships with us all in the immediate area and the captain made an announcement that we would all be running together in
case any of the ships needed assistance. That kind of made me nervous but it turned out not too bad. The seas were better than
before we got to San Juan.

Nassau: We didn't go to CocoCay because there was an engine problem. I had heard from one of the black jack dealers that
they haven't been to CocoCay in two months because of the problem. We were told that the wouldn't be going for another 6
weeks either, so if you are going between 5 Dec and 16 January, don't plan on going to CocoCay and start to plan on Nassau.
We weren't told about it until Thursday, the day before getting into Nassau. Nassau was fine, I had been there 20 yrs earlier and
found it dirty, it was cleaned up and the people didn't seem as pushy for you to buy thier wares. We walked to the British
Colonial Beach, it cost $5 a person but that included all snorkeling gear, floats, paddle boats, towels, security guards, and a
great view of the ship. You see the British Colonial as you are pulling into port. Its the only beach that's close to you and I mean
close. We walked through downtown and took a picture of a policeman with my son. We bought some t-shirts there too and then
headed back to the ship.

The t.v. in our room had four movies to choose from and one in spanish. It had a picture of the view from the bridge too. It had a
channel that showed the weather report and how far we have traveled and our position in the Caribbean. We also got CNN,
Headline News, ESPN. There were channels that showed the port talks from the Palladium Theatre and the shows that they had
so if you missed it you could watch it on the t.v. later. There were channels that had caribbean music on it and another that had
spanish music on it.

We didn't buy any shore excursion because we found that it was cheaper to do it yourself. I suppose if you wanted to go
snorkeling you should get the excursion but for us to take a tour of old San Juan it was cheaper to talk to the tour cabs at the
pier. The tram to Paradise Point at St. Thomas was the same price on the ship as at the starting point. The starting point was
easily within walking distance of the pier.

The midnight buffets were outstanding but again with the corned beef being carved. They had sandwiches, chicken, rice,
vegetables. The deserts were the best I've ever had. There is this chocolate cake there that was about 4 layers with creamy icing
and then on the top and sides was this hard chocolate shell. WOW! It was sooooo good. I looked for it everytime I went to the
buffet. During the Captain's Gala Buffet there were so many ice carvings. There was one smack in the middle of the buffet that
was the Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor with a blue light shining in it. The Capt's buffet was a let down for me. There was, of
course, corned beef, and so many plates of pate. It was all gorgeous but nothing looked at all good except for the deserts which I
had three, yes three, I was on vacation. We ended up going to the solarium pool and got pizza and hot dogs and fries. Some
midnight buffets were in the WindJammer and there was one in the Galley, note that there are two lines, one for looking and the
other for eating.

The Solarium pool serves pizza from 11:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. and then from 1:00 a.m. till 6:00 a.m.

I was afraid about the traditional speech from the waiter and the cabin steward about getting an excellent rating and the tips. This
was surprisingly pain free. The Steward talked to us and said that if we felt he did an excellent job to please indicate this on the
comment card, if not please indicate this also. I was shocked. He got an excellent rating. The Waiter said he tried to do
everything in his power to satisfy us and that if were happy to please say so on the comment card and if he needed any
suggestions to put that on there too, again shocked. He got an excellent rating.

Negatives: We had ordered the Royal Occasions package for my mother and her husband. It included a bottle of champagne that
is in your cabin when you get there. We got to thier cabin and found that is was not there waiting, so I waited for a while and it
never showed up. I went to the pursers desk and told them what had happened and they were very apologetic and called the
head wine steward from the dining room while first sitting was eating. The head steward came and was very apologetic, he got on
the radio and the bottle was delivered to the cabin while I was standing at the purser's desk. The package is outstanding, you get
a full bottle of champagne to start the cruise off with and then another full bottle that comes with your breakfast in bed and desert
in your cabin and a large silver engraved picture frame. This package is $79 and well worth it.

Debarkation: It was a little bit of a headache, we had second seating so we sat in the dining room for most of it. The pursers kept
calling peoples names off to come to the purser's desk. Be advised that they don't let anyone off until they talk to everyone they
call. I figured it was people who hadn't settled thier bill. I went to settle my bill and they couldn't find my name anywhere. They
checked the last page of thier record and found that only myself and one other person got a refund from thier charge account. We
were very careful what we spent our money on. I guess if you have a high paying job and can afford to do whatever you want with
your money, more power to you, but we are on a tight budget. Once everyone's bill was clear and customs cleared us they start
calling off colors, the night before they give you colored markers to put on your bags depending on when your departing flight
was. We were staying an extra day in Miami so we were the last to get off.

We were off the ship by 10:30 and on our way to the terminal. The amazing thing is that in two hours there would be another
2100 people on the ship and started thier vacation.

It is quite hectic trying to find your bags in the mass of people all trying to find thiers and then getting out and finding your ride to
your destination. We had put orange strips of yarn on our luggage to identify them and found this system to work great. The
orange strips stood out in the crowd so we easily found them, remember that alot of luggage looks alike and you should consider
using this system yourself. We found our bags in nothing flat and we had a car waiting for us to take us back to my mother's
house.

I have copies of all the daily bulletins called the Compass that shows what is going on for the day, these are quite helpfull and I
would be glad to send copies to you. I also have the a couple of the kid's Compass too. Send me an e-mail at
trooper@bluegrass.net and I'll give you my address for the self addressed stamped envelope. I wish I had one of these before I
came on board. Feel free to e-mail me with any specific questions and I'll be glad to answer them for you. Happy cruising.

Name: Cheryl Campbell
Email: cheryl.campbell@attws.com
Age: 26
Occupation: Systems Analyst
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 12/19/98
Itinerary: Miami-Labadee-San Juan-St.Thomas-Cococay
FoodDiningRoom: 96
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 75
DiningRoomService: 96
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 79
CabinSteward: 96
ShoreExcVariety: 75
FoodVariety: 77
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon: 75
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland: 75
GoodForFamilies: 82
LoungeService:
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 80
BeautySalonStaff: 95
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 70
BeautySalon: 95
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 75
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram: 80
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 80
DiscoNightclubs: 75
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 70
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 79
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 28 Dec 1998
Time: 19:39:55
Remote Name: 199.5.241.53
Remote User:

Comments

Some background before getting into my opinions:

There were 15 of us traveling, ranging in age from 16 to senior citizen. We traveled over the Christmas holiday, and this was a
family outing. There were three married couples, their 7 kids, a grandma, and me, the fiancee of one of the kids.

Positive aspects:

The food in the main dining room was consistently good, as was the service. Not a tremendous amount of variety over the week,
but not too bad.

The ship itself is very elegant and beautiful. I felt like we were floating on an elegant hotel rather than a big ship. Very classy and
tasteful decor.

Our cabins were not big, but served their purpose well. The beds were surprisingly comfortable, and were always promptly made
up and turned down at the appropriate times.

I expected to have to actively avoid cigarette smoke more since I had heard that cruise ships are notoriously smoky. I was
pleasantly surprised to find that the only place that was rather smoky was the casino. That was a pleasant surprise.

Negative aspects:

We were told soon upon our arrival that we would not be sailing to Cococay, the fourth port, but would be going to Nassau
instead. We were told that maintenance was being performed on one of the engines, preventing us from reaching Cococay in
time. We were disappointed, but assured ourselves that we would find something to do in Nassau. On Thursday, we were told
that we would not be going to Nassau, either, that we would be at sea for the rest of the cruise. Apparently the engine problems
that had forced us to arrive in San Juan at around 6:00pm instead of in the morning had persisted, essentially crippling the
vessel. We were crawling through the water, pitching and rolling about because we were going so slow. To make up for missing
essentially two ports, they announced that we would be receiving a $250 onboard credit for each 3-person cabin. What a pathetic
attempt at reimbursement. I feel that there is much more they could have done, more money they could have reimbursed us, and
they should have made much more of an effort to provide us with information. I think they knew long before they told us that they
whole cruise was going to be thrown off by engine problems. It was very disappointing to me to see how they handled this
problem.

I found it irritating to observe that RCCL gouges its cruisers on shore excursions and other little things. They require snorkelers to
wear a life vest and flippers, and then graciously only charge $5 each for the privilege. What a scam!

The food in the Windjammer Café was glorified cafeteria food. It's bland fare and watered down juices perhaps served to highlight
the main dining room's food by contrast. If that was the intent, it succeeded fabulously. There was not a good selection of food
available, either. It was tiring to see the same sandwich meats and rolls every time in the Windjammer.

Overall it was a good cruise, but I had expected more as a first-time cruiser. We are cruising again on RCCL this summer, so
hopefully all the engines will be working!!

Name: Marisa Kamin
Email: marisakamin@yahoo.com
Age: 22
Occupation: Graduate Student
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Majesty
SailingDate: December 13, 1998
Itinerary: Labadee, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel
FoodDiningRoom: 100
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 100
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 99
CabinQuietness: 98
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 99
FoodVariety: 99
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 100
PrivateIsland: 94
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 97
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 98
CruiseActivities: 97
Casino: 98
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities: 100
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 92
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 97
Stabilization: 94
ShopsOnBoard: 98
SpaceRatio: 97
OverallCruiseValue: 99
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 28 Dec 1998
Time: 20:18:05
Remote Name: 129.171.39.247
Remote User:

Comments

We had a great time on the cruise!!! Originally we were supposed to go in August, but we had to postpone the trip until
December. What a great plan: the weather was much more pleasant (but still very warm) and the ship was decorated for the
holidays to get you in the holiday spirit.

FOOD - The food was great. We had been on the Sovereign of the Seas in March and did not have very good food. The Majesty
more than made up for it! I had steak (my favorite) every night (prime rib, filet mignon, ny strip, roast beef, steak diane, tenderloin
skewers)! There was also lobster tail, shrimp, soft shell crab, delicious pastas, etc. etc. We ate SO much! The desserts were
also pretty good. Try to order the cheese blintzes! Yum! (This was our favorite dessert.) The midnight buffets were so-so, but the
Gala Buffet was pretty good.

PORTS/EXCURSIONS -

Labadee was our first stop. We took the waverunner tour. You get a good high speed tour of the coastline, with a few stops for
explanations of what you are looking at. The beach was also nice, but try to explore the island a bit more (don't stop at the beach
right where you get off the tender - that's where everyone is).

Ocho Rios was next. We signed up for the Mountain Biking/Dunn's River Falls excursion. Unfortunately, it was a bit overcast
when we pulled into port and we had a rainshower, which made for a slightly muddy bike trail. (If you do this excursion, be sure
to wear clothes that you don't mind ruining!!!) We took a bus ride through Ocho Rios and Fern Gully up to Murphy Hill. There,
they give you helmets and bikes so you can begin the 14 mile descent on a rocky dirt path towards Dunn's River Falls. It wasn't
too hard in terms of pedaling (it was 90% downhill), but I was squeezing the hand brakes pretty hard throughout the ride!!! Overall
the bike ride was fun, but I thought Dunn's River Falls was better. The water is very cold and it takes about 90 minutes to climb.
There are many stops for pictures along the way. You can bring a camera (if it's not waterproof, you can give it to the guide to
hold while you climb). Our excursion lasted nearly the entire time we were in Ocho Rios. This was good because there was
nothing else we really wanted to see and it didn't seem safe to wander through town.

Georgetown was the best port. Again, it was overcast when we pulled into port (in fact, we had to drop anchor on another part of
Grand Cayman since the seas were so rough in Georgetown). Thinking it would rain, we put on non-beach clothes and went
shopping (a little expensive, but the rum cakes looked good; try to go into the store with black coral designed by Bernard
Passman...). It turned out to be a wonderful day, so we went to the seven mile beach anyways, just to take pictures. The water
was so beautiful! We were sorry we didn't have our bathingsuits on!!

Cozumel was the last stop. We opted for the Cozumel Snorkeling Tour. This is very good for beginners, but not too exciting for
more advanced snorkelers. There is no beach at Playa Corona (where they take you). The snorkeling gear did not seem very
clean either, so we were glad that we bought these things called ScubaGuards before we left (they are latex coverings that go
over the mouthpiece). Everyone looked at us like we were crazy, but we were glad we bought them! You can stay at Playa
Corona for as long as you want, but we left after about 2 hours and went back to the ship for lunch. After lunch, we took a cab
into town. We didn't find many bargains in the shops, except for vanilla extract and kahlua.

SERVICE - The service throughout the cruise was superb. Our waiters were wonderful. They always brought more food for us! We
ended up eating two entrees every night! The first night, we told the assistant waiter what we wanted to drink, and every night
thereafter he brought us our drinks before we even asked! Also, we asked our room steward to make towel sculptures (since we
didn't get one on the first night!) Every night we would rush back to our room after dinner to see what he created (two kissing
swans, a scorpion, a stingray, a sea turtle, a heart, and an anchor). We saved them all until the last day and took a picture of all
of them together!

Honestly, I don't think we could have had a better time. The food and service were fantastic. The weather was nice. The cruise
staff was VERY friendly. We won a little in the casino. And to top it all off, we were invited to dine with the captain one evening!
This trip really reaffirmed our faith in Royal Caribbean and we would definitely recommend this cruise to everyone!

Name: Gerard Lee
Email: gtkyl@aloha.net
Age: 46
Occupation: Information Systems Management
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 11/28/98
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 89
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 89
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets: 89
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 50
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 79
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 85
Stabilization: 80
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 80
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 04 Jan 1999
Time: 11:10:17
Remote Name: 207.12.25.110
Remote User:

Comments

CRUISE REVIEW m/s Grandeur of the Seas - 7-Day Eastern Caribbean November 28 - December 5, 1998

INTRODUCTION

Aloha! My wife Iris and I just got back from our third cruise. We are in our mid-forties and live in Hawaii. I'm an
Information Systems Manager for a community bank in Honolulu and Iris is 'retired.' We were supposed to have
repeated our cruise aboard NCL's s/s Norway but ended up on RCI's m/s Grandeur of the Seas. In February, I
booked two category P2 Penthouse Suites on the Norway for $2,698 and $2,673 respectively, as I had convinced
my mother to accompany us. On November 11, NCL informed our travel agent that our suites were scheduled to
be taken out of service in order to be prepared for renovations. NCL offered to move us to category S2 Junior
Suites on the Pool Deck but we declined as my mother had her heart set on a verandah. Our agent scrambled to
find us another ship that sailed out of Miami on the same date.

After many long distance calls (as I happened to be in California on a business trip), our agent found a category
AA Family Suite on the Grandeur of the Seas for $7,406. In addition to being more expensive, the itinerary wasn't
to our liking as it included two beach stops but we had few options unless we changed sailing dates or port of
embarkation. Neither were feasible as we had scheduled a post-cruise trip to San Francisco and, with so little
warning, airline seat availability was problematic.

As a result, we didn't receive our cruise documents from RCI until November 20, less than a week before we flew
to Miami.

EXPECTATIONS

Iris and I thought we would be traveling in familiar surroundings having sailed aboard the Norway last November.
Now, we had to readjust our plans and expectations. Other family members and friends had sailed aboard RCI's
m/s Legend of the Seas to Alaska and spoke positively of their experiences. My mother was making her first
cruise and wanted lots of space and a verandah.

We rated each facet of our cruise using a scale of one to ten, 10 being excellent. We've also tried to point out
differences between ships and cruise lines, where appropriate.

THE AIR PROGRAM

We didn't use either cruise line's air program as I wanted to control our itinerary. Our agent booked us on
American Airlines for $741 per person. We left Honolulu at 6:24 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and arrived in Miami
(via Dallas) at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. A short cab ride later we arrived at the Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel to unwind
after the long flight. As we've done previously, we flew in a day early in case of airline difficulties and have found
that starting off a cruise well rested made for a more enjoyable experience.

The return leg began on Saturday afternoon, after booking a shore excursion that toured Miami. We did this
because our flight to San Francisco didn't depart until 1:40 p.m. and I didn't want to face a long wait on the ship.
(When you book a tour on the day of debarkation, you're supposed to get off first.) We stopped off in San
Francisco for three days to unwind and do more shopping but that's another story.

Rating: Seven. (Am I getting larger or is the space between seats getting smaller?)

EMBARKATION

We caught a cab from the hotel to the Port of Miami at 11:30 a.m. even though the cruise documents indicated
commencement of boarding at 12:30 p.m. It was fortunate that I recognized that the Grandeur wasn't at Pier Ten
as indicated on our cruise documents otherwise we would have had to make a long walk back to where our ship
was docked.

The RCI procedure is similar to that used by NCL. We passed through a security checkpoint and slogged
through a long serpentine line leading to a bank of agents. We were given temporary (paper) boarding passes
and waited in another line until the doors leading to the gangway were opened at 12:30 p.m. We then passed
through a second security checkpoint, had the obligatory picture taken, and boarded on Deck Four where a
number of RCI representatives were providing directions to the staterooms. We huffed and puffed and trundled
our way up four flights of stairs to Bridge Deck (Deck Eight), where we obtained our room keys and made our way
forward on the port side where our suite was located.

I went to the Conference Center, located inboard of the Singin' In the Rain Lounge on Deck Six, to activate our
charge cards. We then proceeded to a buffet lunch in the Windjammer Cafe located on Deck Nine. The entire
check-in process took about one hour and 15 minutes which is just too long.

Rating: Four. Improvements are needed. I feel Carnival's boarding process is still the most efficient as you're
able to complete the requisite paperwork, activate your onboard charge cards, and obtain your room keys before
boarding. This means that once you're aboard you're truly on vacation.

THE SHIP

The m/s Grandeur of the Seas is, in a word, beautiful. RCI's newer ships are pleasing to the eye with clean lines
and large expanses of green glass. This is a compliment from someone that prefers the classic lines of the
Norway, QE2, and the Vistafjord. The Grandeur looks sleeker than its close relatives Legend and Splendour of
the Seas as the stack is located aft of the Viking Crown Lounge. However, I find the atrium (Centrum as
described by RCI) to be a waste of space as the expansiveness that one experiences in land-based atriums is
only hinted at on a ship due to its reduced scale. I feel that a large portion of the space could be better utilized to
enlarge the public spaces like the shopping arcade and the casino or to add a second show lounge or a movie
theater.

There are ten passenger decks, beginning with 'B' Deck (#2) and topping off with RCI's signature Viking Crown
Lounge on the appropriately named Viking Crown Deck. Decks 'A' and 'B' contain most of the staterooms without
verandahs. We boarded the ship on Main Deck (Deck Four) which is where the Champagne Bar and Terrace, the
lower level of the Great Gatsby Dining Room, and more staterooms are located.

Promenade Deck (#5), one level up, houses the upper level of the Dining Room, Casino Royale , the Purser's /
Shore Excursion Desks, and the lower level of the Palladium Theater. It offers passengers a spacious,
uninterrupted circuit of the ship on its teak deck. (My mother did three laps each day.) Mariner Deck (#6) houses
the Boutiques of Centrum (shops), a photo gallery, the theater's balcony, the South Pacific and Singin' In the Rain
lounges, and the Schooner Bar. Commodore Deck (#7) contains all of the Category 'D' staterooms with
verandahs, eight Category 'C' suites facing aft, fifty-one Category 'K' inside staterooms, the Library, and the Card
Room.

Our suite was located on Bridge Deck (#8), houses the majority of the suites, forty-seven inside staterooms,
along with the Explorer's Club and Crown and Anchor Study. These last two are not rooms but open areas with
comfortable seating used for lounging around and do not offer bar service. Another deck up is the Sun Deck (#9)
where the pools, one indoor (Solarium) and one outdoor (Main), six Jacuzzi, the beauty salon, and the
Windjammer Cafe are located. Above that is the Compass Deck (#10) which houses the children's areas, the
jogging track, a well-equipped exercise room, and the Observatory. As on the s/s Norway, the decks are best
negotiated by number instead of by name. (I wonder why they label them with names in their brochures and
diagrams but nowhere else?)

Iris and I missed the enclosed promenade on the Norway as it was a space where one could take a leisurely
walk or lounge in air-conditioned comfort. When not in our suite we spent most of our time in the Explorer's Club
on Deck Eight or on the seating around the Centrum on Deck Six.

Captain MacDonald announced that the ship was making its 100th cruise and was sailing with 2,136
passengers from 33 countries and 770 crew representing 51 countries. A truly international ship.

Rating: Nine.

OUR STATEROOM

We occupied stateroom 8018 on Bridge Deck, a category AA Family Suite located on the port side of the ship. It
contained two bedrooms, two bathrooms, one with a bathtub, the other with a shower, and a living area. The
suite, approximately 520 sq.ft., was designed to hold up to eight people so with just three of us it was very
comfortable.

I was a little apprehensive about booking this suite as my mind kept conjuring images of a space that vacillated
from Animal House to Eight Is Enough. I expected to find crayon marks on the walls and beer stains on the
furniture. In addition, I couldn't picture how the suite was laid out. How did RCI fit five rooms plus a verandah into
the space shown in the brochure? Would we have been better off to select one of the Family Suites astern or to
book two Category 'C' suites? (I tried the latter as the cost was comparable but only one suite was left.) Except for
a small scribble mark on one of the walls, the unit was immaculate.

As you enter the suite you are faced with a narrow corridor with a walk-in closet (4' by 6.5') on your right and the
small bathroom on the left. The door to the second bedroom is just past the closet. This bedroom was 8.5' by 9'
with two twin beds and two Pullmans hidden in the ceiling. Just past the bathroom is a vanity. This hallway leads
to the living room (11' by 13') on the right with a sofa, two chairs, a glass table, and a wall unit containing a small
TV, a refrigerator, a credit card operated safe, and numerous storage spaces.

To the left of the living room is the 'master' suite, approximately 8' by 16', with twin beds made up as a queen bed.
This space probably looks just like a 'C' Suite as there is a queen bed, vanity, two closets, a bureau, and the
large bathroom. This space can be closed off by a large sliding glass door and drapes. Just off this bedroom is
the verandah which is accessible from the bedroom and the living room.

The suite was attractively decorated in shades of beige, peach, violet, and green, with honey-colored wood
cabinets and trim. There was excellent lighting although I would have liked some control over its intensity, a
plethora of mirrors, and relatively quiet air conditioning with three control panels.

The bathrooms were slightly different in size and layout. The first was 5' by 6', decorated in shades of white and
grey, with a vanity, medicine cabinet, full-sized tub/shower, and the ubiquitous marine toilet. The second
bathroom was slightly smaller at 4' by 5.5', decorated in peach and white, with a 30-inch diameter shower in
place of the bathtub.

Alas, we suffered through periodic bouts of 'the head from the twilight zone.' Nothing would happen when you
tried to flush it. A few seconds (or a minute) later, the unit would flush itself. One afternoon both units stopped
working altogether. We saw several maintenance workers on our deck and found out that all of the suites were
suffering similarly.

Ah, the verandah my mother wanted. It was about 5.5' by 11', with sliding doors from both the living room and the
master bedroom. It was just large enough to hold a chaise lounge, three small chairs, and a tiny table. The
partition between verandahs was not full height but we were not bothered by our neighbor. (The living room took
space away from the verandah. Otherwise, it would have been 5.5' by 20'.)

I would have liked a peek at one of the Family Suites located astern. From shore it looked like both bedrooms
and the living room faced a very large verandah. One of the problems with our unit was that the second bedroom
was essentially an inside stateroom. As designed, stateroom 8018 and its counterpart starboard were designed
for a couple with children. It doesn't seem suitable for two or three couples to share for a week as one couple
would enjoy vastly superior accommodations.

Our steward was Jermaine Roberts who kept the suite nice and neat and stocked with the three large bottles of
water that Iris consumed daily. (The water tab was more than $57.)

Rating: Seven, due to the malfunctioning heads.

ENTERTAINMENT

Next to food what we look forward to most are the production shows in the theater. The Palladium Theater is
larger than that found aboard the Norway, but sight lines are marred by posts near the back of the main floor and
up on the balcony. Unfortunately, the quality of the entertainment put on by the Wave Revue Singers and Dancers
was abysmal. While the dancers were satisfactory, the sets were amateurish and the vocalists had difficulty
hitting their notes and staying on key.

The saving grace as far as entertainment was concerned were some of the guest acts, especially Rain. This
quintet's repertoire consisted of Beatles tunes and they looked and sounded like their more famous brethren.
We were also entertained by a juggler who managed to complete his act while pedaling a unicycle on a heaving
deck as well as two comedians. Alas, one night we had a female magician that was anything but magical. My
mother asked if this was entertainment. I'm sorry to report that RCI has a long way to go before it comes close to
that offered by Carnival or NCL.

The Captain's Cocktail Reception was held in the South Pacific Lounge which is beautifully decorated space
although it is stuffed with too many chairs near the stern. This space was also used during Big Band night for
music and dancing and is where Bingo was held. A question for RCI: Why were the drapes drawn at all hours?
The back of the lounge had large windows that would have provided a picturesque ocean view.

The Casino Royale is situated between the Centrum and the Palladium Theater on Deck Five. There are poker
and slot machines, table games, and one craps table. The first night out the casino had to be closed due to a
short circuit that resulted in a cloud of foul smelling smoke. My mother managed to break even for the week while
Iris and I weren't as fortunate.

We never made it to the Viking Crown Lounge at night. Iris and I spent time up there during the day relaxing and
one day we watched the belly flop contest in air-conditioned comfort.

I love caviar and Champagne and had intended to partake of both in the Champagne Bar. Unfortunately, I never
did so but we did have drinks there one night while listening to the Memories play dance music. At other times
the Rosario Trio would play light jazz.

The Centrum Shops (yes, we consider shopping entertainment) offered low priced jewelry, a small selection of
clothing, liquor and cigarettes, and souvenirs. The stock wasn't replenished during the week. While superior to
Carnival, the shopping aboard the Norway was much better.

Ratings: Centrum Shops - Five Palladium Theater - Three South Pacific Lounge - Eight Singin' In the Rain
Lounge - NR Schooner Bar - NR Casino Royale - Five Viking Crown Lounge - NR Champagne Bar - Eight

FOOD

The Great Gatsby Dining Room

We requested main seating for four in the two-story Great Gatsby Dining Room. This is a wonderful space
located on Decks Four and Five, with a dramatic stairway entrance and walls of glass windows on the upper
level. The lower level is 'framed' by very large portholes.

We were situated on the first floor adjacent to the Captain's table in the center of the dining room. We were not
joined by anyone which allowed us to dine at our own pace.

Our waiter, Toward Baker from Nicaragua, and assistant waiter, Ketut Partakusuma from Indonesia, provided
'excellent' service. (Those of you that have sailed with RCI will know what I mean.) By the second day, Kusuma
knew that my mother wanted lemon in her iced water and that she wanted decaffeinated coffee during dinner
while I wanted high test with dessert.

Our head waiter was Hedi from Tunisia. He was the first head waiter that I felt deserved his tips. He stopped by
to chat with us each evening, assisted us with our shrimp and lobster shells, and performed table side service.
We were presented with two cakes during the week, the first to celebrate my Mom's birthday, the second for our
wedding anniversary. Each time we ended up taking the cake back to our suite. The first time, my mother and Iris
brought it back as I had left the dining room ahead of them to attend to 'personal business.' They didn't bring any
silverware so we ate the cake with our hands. When I related this story to Hedi he remembered to provide us with
silverware when the second cake was presented to us two nights later.

I thought the wine list lacked the sophistication found aboard the s/s Norway as well as being somewhat pricier.
Since Iris and my mother are teetotalers, during the week I ordered a Caymus Conundrum for $38, a
Puligny-Montrachet for $57, and an Australian wine (Black Silk?) combining Chardonnay and Riesling for $19.
Anthony Pinnock from Jamaica was our Sommelier.

Unlike the s/s Norway, the m/s Grandeur of the Seas doesn't have an alternate fine dining restaurant so we had
dinner in the dining room each night.

The Windjammer Cafe

The Windjammer Cafe, a self-service cafeteria, is located forward on Sun Deck and offers excellent views and
average food. There were two to four lines operating, depending on the time of day, which meant that we never
had to wait to fill our trays. There were salad items and at least three hot dishes at lunch. Breakfast offerings
were limited to fruit, cereal, inedible scrambled eggs, two meat items, and strange French Toast. One could also
have eggs to order.

There were staff ready to carry your tray and escort you to a table. We made a friend in Geri, a cafe attendant from
the Phillippines, who stopped by to talk to us each time she saw us.

Room Service

Hurrah! Full lunch and dinner service off the dining room menu was available. We tried breakfast and lunch in
our suite. Service was very slow on one of days that the seas were rough. It seems that many others had the
same idea.

Midnight Buffets

Three late night buffets were held in the Windjammer Cafe, one was held up on deck (Caribbean night), and two
were held in the Dining Room. We attended the Gala Midnight Buffet held on Thursday. Actually, we just lined up
to take pictures of the beautiful works of culinary art. None of us were willing to stand in another line to partake of
the goodies.

Ratings

Location Ambiance Food Service

Great Gatsby Dining Room 8 Breakfast 6 6 Lunch 7 3 Dinner 8 9 Windjammer Cafe 7 Breakfast 5 7 Lunch 6 7
Midnight Buffet 8 No experience Solarium Cafe 5 No experience Room Service NA Breakfast 6 5 Lunch 6 5

Other Comments

I don't care for open seatings in the dining room. Most breakfasts and lunches were open seating. You don't
receive the level of service you get at dinner and sometimes you just want to eat and aren't in the mood for
conversation. Anyway, we ran into a very rude assistant waiter (code named Joe) during lunch one day. We were
seated with a couple from Virginia and were having a pleasant conversation when Joe came to clear the table.
Unfortunately, our table mate hadn't finished his meal. Joe haughtily informed him that he shouldn't put his knife
on his plate if he wasn't done and took the knife off his plate and placed it on the table. Our table mate was very
gracious and didn't say a word. We were flabbergasted and that night we related the story to Hedi (the Head
Waiter) who said he would straighten out Joe. I hope Joe got a good kick in the okole (Hawaiian for posterior).

PORTS OF CALL

Labadee

Gee, did we travel 5,000 miles to go to the beach? (I can't remember the last time we went to the beach back
home in Hawaii.) No, we spent a quiet afternoon onboard.

Rating: No experience.

San Juan

Due to the distance from Labadee we didn't arrive in San Juan until 12:30 p.m. This meant we had very little time
to sightsee and shop if we were to be back aboard by 5:30 p.m. to get ready for dinner. After the rough seas just
about everyone wanted to get off the ship so we didn't debark until almost 2:30 p.m. We just walked around old
San Juan to price jewelry and purchase some small souvenirs.

Rating: Five. Insufficient time.

St. Thomas

Ah, a major advantage for RCI over NCL. The Grandeur of the Seas docks at Havensight which permits one to
come and go with ease. The deep draft of the Norway meant that one had to tender in. Last year we booked the
scenic tour (which was aboard a very uncomfortable jitney) just to be able to get ashore early. This time we
skipped the tours and just walked off the ship and strolled around Havensight Mall. Around 9:30 a.m. we caught
a cab to Charlotte Amalie to begin some serious jewelry shopping.

My mother was searching for an opal ring and I always look at watches. My mother found a very nice ring that was
thousands cheaper than in San Juan or back home. Luckily for Iris, I came up empty in my search for the new
Concord chronometer or a Girard-Perregaux Ferrari watch. I did manage to buy a new camera.

Three hours later and several thousand dollars lighter we returned to Havensight. We took the tramway up to
Paradise Point to take a few pictures, had lunch ashore, then returned to the ship.

Rating: Nine-plus for shopping.

Nassau

Due to a problem with a bearing shaft as well as the heavy seas and high winds Captain MacDonald reported
that we would be unable to make the planned stop in Coco Cay. Instead, we diverted to Nassau which was about
three hours closer. This was a bonus stop for us as we hadn't planned to go ashore in Coco Cay.

Iris and I were here two years ago so we didn't take any excursions. We took my Mom shopping and I was able to
get the cufflinks that I was looking for from Coins of the Realm. They're made up of Bahamian ten cent
coins,lacquered blue, and encased in some type of protective finish.

If you're looking for leather goods from MCM then Nassau is the place. I found the prices to be about 40% less
than back in Honolulu.

Rating: Six.

DEBARKATION

My theory was that if you wanted to disembark early, you booked a shore excursion. (This was true last year.) So,
even though we had done so previously, we booked RCI's version of the Miami Scenic Tour. Unfortunately, due to
the aforementioned changes in itinerary, the Grandeur didn't dock in Miami until 6:30 a.m. so everything was
thrown off schedule. Thus, we didn't debark until almost 10:00 a.m., having waited almost two hours in the
Palladium Theater, and didn't arrive at the airport until 12:40 p.m. All told, it was worth spending $19 each to see
the highlights of Miami.

Rating: Five. Our tour guide was excellent. I would have given this a higher rating if we had debarked earlier than
10:00 a.m.

SUMMARY

Overall Rating: Eight.

Dress Code: I had expected RCI to be a little dressier than NCL or Carnival. There were two formal nights, one
dressy casual (which meant a coat but not necessarily a tie), and four casual nights. I did see more men in
tuxedos as well as one preteen. Good for him. On the other hand, I also spotted men in jeans and T-shirts. Alas,
let's go back to the old days where one dressed for dinner every night.

Tips: We spent more than $320 on tips. This included our Stateroom Steward ($100), Waiter ($100), Assistant
Waiter ($60), Head Waiter ($50), and Sommelier ($20).

The ship: While the Grandeur's interior spaces are drop dead gorgeous, Iris and I missed the ambience of High
Tea in the Club Internationale and strolls along the enclosed promenade deck onboard the s/s Norway. We also
think that RCI should consider an alternative restaurant like the Le Bistro that NCL offers.

We had eight to twelve foot seas with Strong Gale force (50+ mph) winds for about three days. The ship handled
these seas fairly comfortably, although it rolled more than I had expected. I actually thought the stabilizers weren't
working as our view out of the dining room windows changed from ocean to sky with alarming regularity.

Value: NCL is a much better value than RCI. Yes, the Grandeur is a visual knockout when compared to the
Norway. Yes, the food was slightly better. And yes, the service in some places was better. But, no, it wasn't worth
$2,000 more.

RCI seems to be the 'egalitarian cruise line.' They should make an effort to provide superior service to suite
passengers. Aboard the Norway we had access to the ship's concierge who was able to activate our onboard
charge account, book our shore excursions, and make reservations for dinner in the alternate restaurant on the
day and at the time we desired. On Celebrity and Princess, suite passengers are serviced by a staff of butlers
and benefit from priority boarding. RCI should provide service commensurate with the price differential (between
suites and standard staterooms) or reduce the price differential.

Itinerary: I know many people book this ship for the two beach opportunities but I think a more attractive itinerary
would be Miami - San Juan - St. Thomas - Nassau - Miami. This would allow more port time in San Juan while
preserving the wonderful days at sea. Each of these islands offers nice beaches. The problem I have with Coco
Cay, Labadee, and other similar 'private islands' is that there is nothing to do for those (of us) that don't want to
swim, snorkel, or play on the sand. How about an island with a golf course or shopping?

Suitability: I don't think we've found our ideal cruise line yet. I dislike crowds and announcements and we don't
play Bingo or participate in many of the organized activities. A friend thinks I'd like Celebrity as this line doesn't
make announcements. I'm looking for a cruise line that offers superior food, service, and good entertainment in
an uncrowded environment that doesn't require having to rob a bank. Something like a less expensive version of
Radisson's Song of Flower. On the other hand, my mother thinks that Crystal should be our next choice. (I told
her about the large casino on the Symphony.)

By the way, NCL gave us certificates for 50% off on a Caribbean cruise in 1999. We may use these as my mother
wants to do more shopping.

Aloha from Hawaii!

Gerry and Iris Lee gtkyl@aloha.net

Name: Steve Grindeland
Email: cleanprint@compuserve.com
Age: 44
Occupation: Sales
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: December 5, 1998
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 100
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 99
FoodLidoDeck: '
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets: 95
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 95
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff: 95
PrivateIsland: 100
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: ''
TenderService: 100
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff: '
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess: '
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon: '
EntertainmentPoolside: 100
CruiseActivities: 100
Casino: 95
AirSeaProgram: '
MedicalFacilities: '
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 99
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 05 Jan 1999
Time: 17:23:20
Remote Name: 199.174.220.98
Remote User:

Comments

DAY 1 - Saturday December 5th

Our trip couldn't have been much better, it was like a fairy tale. We were treated like kings & queens. We found it
really paid off flying down to Miami a day early. Some we heard had a problem with late flights and fears of not
getting their baggage in time for departure. Saturday around noon we took a cab to the pier and found our
beautiful ship, 10 stories high with over 2000 people boarding! And I mean beautiful!!!. It was docked right in front
of the USS Norway. We only waited in line about 45 minutes to get our boarding passes and to embark. The first
thing we did was to get our room keys and find our rooms. We were in rooms 3047 & 3049. Our rooms were
bigger than I thought they would be. We had plenty of room for all of our clothes and 'stuff'. Our room was made
up into single beds when we arrived but asked room attendant 'Albin' to put the beds together to make a king
bed. The bed was very comfy except the mattresses kept splitting apart. I would recommend bringing duct tape or
something to hold them together. Molly said if Steve would stay on his side of the bed there wouldn't be a
problem! :-) Albin was great. Our rooms were kept up very well. We had a mint on the beds every night before
bed. The kids room had bunk beds. It worked out perfect for them. Without having our baggage yet we set out to
see the ship and have some lunch. This ship is incredible, 2 pools, 6 hot tubs, 1 formal dining room, 1 casual
dining, 1 huge theater, 2 smaller lounges, the list goes on and on. We found the Windjammer Cafe and had
lunch. The Windjammer Cafe is on the 9th floor near the pool deck. It is a buffet and a casual place to eat. Then
we got the kids their Coke cards. For $15 the kids can get all the pop they can drink for the whole cruise. Their
drinks were available at any bar on the ship. The cards are only good on the ship and not at the ports of call. If
your kids drink allot of pop it is worth the value. We visited the teen center and found where the kids would be
hanging out till 1-3AM. Royal Caribbean has separate recreation schedules called the 'Cruise Compass' for the
adults, teens, and for the younger children. The compass tells of all the activities going on that day. The next days
compass is placed in your room at night before retiring along with the mints on your pillow. We had met a couple
from South Carolina 'Anita & Jarrod' on the internet a few weeks before we left that were to be on our cruise also.
Marilyn bumped into them during the life boat drill. They were a very nice young couple 27 years old. Anita was a
baby nurse and Jarrod is in research in the medical field. We had great fun with them at different ports of call and
also on the ship. After meeting them a few minutes they were just like family After walking about the ship we
checked back to our rooms to see if any of our baggage had arrived. We found a couple of bags. It was nice to
only get a few at a time for unpacking. By 5:00 all of our luggage had arrived. At 4:30 the first day we had a life
boat drill. You have to wear your life jacket to your 5th floor promenade deck muster station out side. Once
outside they call off room numbers. When yours is called, you are to shout out how many people are in your
room. This goes by pretty fast. Not long after our ship leaves Port of Miami, as our new friends, Marilyn and I are
on the Promenade deck waving good bye to Miami. Then it is time to get ready for dinner in the Great Gatsby. We
had early dining seating at 6PM. This was a perfect time for us because the kids had to get going for their
programs. What a grand room. I don't know how this happened but we were seated in a small dining room with
only two other tables of eight. We did not have any table mates at our table. We wished we did though. We were
greeted by our waiter 'Ali' from Turkey. He was great. He pulled out our chairs and put our napkins on our laps.
The table was set with eloquence. The first thing we noticed was all the silverware, of course we couldn't resist
but to ask Ali what all the silver was used for. We were handed menus complete with appetizer, soup & salad,
main course and dessert. There were no prices on the menu either (all included). Our assistant waiter was
Caesar. He kept our water glasses filled and cleared the dishes. We found that if Ali dropped something, it was
Caesar’s job to pick it up. The meal was delicious. The service could not be better. Our Head waiter was Carlos,
his job was to oversee some of the other waiters. They were all very attentive to the kids as well as Marilyn & I.
They even cut Jake’s meat for him. After dinner the kids had orientation for their activities. Jake was in the
Voyagers group. Molly wasn't feeling so great, a touch of seasickness, she laid down to sleep it off, but made
sure her mom would wake her by 10:00 for her teen activities. Marilyn & I went to the Palladium Theater. It was a
grand theater. Hard to believe this is all on ship. Our entertainer tonight was comedian Rick Star. We also were
introduced to Jeff Martin our cruise director. He is very good, very funny and very outgoing. After the show we
found many areas for dancing and drinking. At 10:00PM Josh & Molly (feeling sleepy but all better) went off to the
Teens Welcome Party in the teen center on the 10th floor. All the kids came home at midnight beaming, excited
and tired that night. Marilyn & I checked out more of the ship before calling it a night, ready to get rocked to sleep
after a long day. Life sure is great!

Day 2 - Sunday December 6th

A full day at sea is a great way to get to know your way around the ship, even though we continually seem to be
lost and learn more about the activities available to you and the kids while on board. In the morning we started
the day with several walks around the promenade and pool decks. It was a beautiful warm sunny 80 degree day.
The water is a turquoise, beautiful blue. Ocean all around as far as the eye can see. We only saw an occasional
cruise ship way out in the distance. Marilyn and I lost each other but bumped into each other in the dining room
for breakfast. Except for dinner, the dining room is open seating, where at dinner you have assigned seats. We
separated again with plans to meet at the pool in 15 minutes Marilyn soaked up the Caribbean sun rays, relaxed
by the pool and listened to the Caribbean band playing pool side while I tried to find her. It is kind of like playing
hide and seek, I never did find her. From this point on we used our walkie talkies quite often. Marilyn decided to
take in a health class, “Eat More and Weigh Less”, a good class to take on a cruise ship when you are definitely
“eating more”, while I continued to walk. We did not swim in the pool this day because the pool water was a little
cool but the hot tubs were very relaxing. Marilyn and I went t dance lessons and learned the Cha Cha Cha, don’t
think we’ll use it but it was fun for the moment! On pool deck “at sea” days they put on a horse auction and then a
horse race. This is done with wooden horses and a roll of the dice to see which horse gets to the finish line first.
The winner of all the different heats won over $1000, great way to buy another cruise! After the horse race, they
put on a art auction. Josh (15) really enjoyed this and even won a free print for staying for the whole auction. The
little old ladies got quite a kick out of him conversing with them at the auction. Tonight we picked up our tender
tickets (tenders are shuttle boats that are used when docking is not possible at port) for our Labadee port of call
the next morning. These were available on the 5th floor excursion desk. I opted to get the tickets for the second
tender (boat to shore). We wanted to get to shore early for our beach day. My son Jake (10) had lots to do today.
His group played T.A.G., had wacky olympics, made jerseys and played a new game called Gaga Ball. He liked
Gaga ball best. Josh (15) and Molly (13) met their counselors for lunch, ran with their friends, swam in the pool
and really enjoyed their teen activities for the night. They had “College Night”, which consisted of a lot of college
oriented games and also won some cool prizes. The days at sea are the evenings that are formal nights in the
dining room. The men ware a suit or a tuxedo and the women wore either a formal or an evening gown. When I
saw Marilyn in her evening gown, I was in awe. She was stunning!! The most beautiful woman I’ve ever scene.
We all went down to the Great Gatsby dining room to dinner, of course getting lost first. The problem is that even
though you know which floor you want to go to, you have the bow and stern of the ship which is only connected on
a few levels. The Centrum area is in the middle, thus weaving your way down and around to get where you want
to go. The waiters dressed up differently each night depending on what the theme was for the night. Dinner
(Italian Night) was again very delicious. After dessert the kids proceeded to dash off to meet their friends or go to
their next activity while Marilyn & I went to the Palladium Theater to watch the Royal Caribbean production of “The
Beat goes On” with the Wave Revue Dancers. This show was excellent with 50’s, 60’s and 70’s music. Very
talented singers, the main singer looked just like Leonardo DiCaprio. All nightly shows are Vegas material. Too
bad they only las an hour. Jacob’s group the “Voyagers” came out on stage in pirate costumes and sang us a
song. The did a nice job. Also on stage tonight was the comedy team of Wild & Haines. They were fantastic. The
did some juggling and much more. They were fantastic !!! We missed the adult game show “The Feud”, because
we decided to spend some time with our new friends, Jarrod and Anita getting pictures while everyone was still
dressed up. We then walked around the ship to go bar hopping and look for some slow dance music.
Purchasing one of those luscious Caribbean drinks can’t be missed. Dancing cheek to cheek on a cruise is very
romantic. Before retiring for the night we took a moon light stroll outside hand in hand. Life is grand!! Back to our
room again we found the next days Cruise Compass and of course our before bed chocolate mints. Albin even
had the beds turned down and many times the pillows were decoratively placed. Time again to be rocked
asleep. What a wonderful life!

Day 3 - Monday December 7th

Today is Labadee, Haiti, our first of four ports of call. After a late night last night we set our alarm clock to wake us
up because we wanted to get an early start to the beach. Woke up the kids and got out gear packed including the
snorkel equipment we purchased before the cruise. We figured instead of renting, bringing our own snorkeling
equipment would pay for itself in this one cruise. We met up with our friends Jarrod & Anita in the Windjammer
Cafe at breakfast. Again we had a very good meal and the food selection was impressive. French pastries and
fresh fruit were among our favorites. Seems like we’re always eating. After filling our water bottles with ice in the
cafe and gathering up our stuff we proceeded down to deck 2 gangway to board our tender. The water jug was a
lifesaver, a one quart bottle with a shoulder strap and large neck for putting ice in. The Caribbean sun makes you
very thirsty. The staff provided towels for us as we were loading the tender. What an awesome view of the
Grandeur from the tender as you pull away to the docks. Before we made it to the docks we could hear the native
music and see some of the shops on shore. We chose the second beach to the left from the dock. The beach
was very calm and water was beautiful shades of blue. The first thing we did when we neared the beach was to
claim a hammock. We all took turns laying in the hammock long enough to get a few pictures of us relaxing. We
would have liked to lay there longer but there was so much we wanted to do and the water was calling us.
Gathering up seven chairs, lined them up at one end of the beach, unpacked our gear, it wasn’t long before we
were in the water. It was nice and clear but we saw very few fish, no reefs at the beach we were at. At a shack
about 600 feet away there were foam mates for rent at a price of $5 each. Three of them were rented for us all to
share. It was wonderful to lay out on these mats in the water. This was paradise. It wasn’t long before it was time
for lunch. We set out to find our eating area when we decided to stop into the shops to see what the natives had
to sell. They saw us coming and were all over us. Come here and let me show you...” The price is $50 but you
are my friend, I give you deal. How much you want to spend?” We started with looking the natives in the eyes and
saying no thank-you but they wouldn’t take no for an answer and would still grab you and pull you to their wares,
finally we learned not to make eye contact and just ignore them and keep walking. Josh found a beautiful hand
carved chess board box with all the chess pieces for $50. Josh was able to talk him down to $25 and bought it.
We each bought something and went for lunch. RCCL has a buffet set up with food brought from the ship for us
all to eat. There was hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, salads and cookies. It hit the spot just right. Time to get
back to the water and enjoy some more snorkeling. The whole time beautiful Caribbean music was playing.
Before tendering back to the ship we found lots more treasures to buy. The Haitian Market is the place to buy your
souvenirs, many items for $4-8, many hand carved, unique, beautiful wood items made from the gum tree. We
hoped our suit cases would stretch. Once back on ship we got ready for another casual dinner in the dinning
room. Tonight was Italian Night in the dining room. Carlos, our head waiter showed us some magic with three
cups and some disappearing water. Very impressive! I had to show him some magic I knew with three glasses
also. Jake, my 10 year old had lots to do tonight. It was Rock-N-Roll night complete with pizza and soda. They
played games like Balloon Stomp, Hoola Hoop Contest and did the Hand Jive Twist. Josh & Molly were busy
doing “Babe Crusade”, (taking instant pictures of babes for their counselors) and “Battle of the Sexes”. Highlight
of dinner was always the desserts, tonight we ate flaming desserts, rich chocolate cake and pistachio ice cream,
saying good bye to the kids for the evening Marilyn & I headed for the Palladium Theater to see the Royal
Caribbean Celebrity Show staring “Rain”. Rain is a group that looks and sounds like the Beatles. They were very
entertaining with many of our favorite Beatles hits. Feeling ready for more, we walked to the South Pacific Lounge
to watch an adult game show called “Novel Quest”. It is claimed to be the wildest, wackiest game on the high
seas, and it was. It was just hilarious and brought tears to your eyes because you laughed so hard. Upon
returning to our room after a long fun filled day we found Marilyn had left her nightie on the bed and it was made
into a very pretty flower. It is again time to get rocked to sleep. How can life get much better than this?

Day 4 - Tuesday December 8th

Today is a sleep-in morning as we do not dock in San Juan until the noon hour. What a great feeling finally to get
some sleep! In the morning we all meet in the Windjammer Cafe along with Anita & Jarrod for a late breakfast
and to watch as we pull into the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its amazing how this huge ship is maneuvered!
This Port of Call is either a touring or shopping day. I decided to take the day and spend some one-on-one with
my son Jake and stay on the ship and hang out... After Marilyn, the kids and Anita & Jarrod headed for the
gangway on deck four for a day of shopping, Jake & I hurried to find a place to take pictures of their debarking.
Marilyn & I each carried our walkie talkies so we could keep in touch. Jake and I went swimming in the pool
making use of our underwater camera’s, played some cards and met some real nice folks from all over the
country. Most of them had been on many cruises, some the second this year, and they say cruising is very
addictive. Most had already been to San Juan so they are also staying on-board. The pool is very small and is
salt water but feels very refreshing. It was fun to converse with Marilyn from the ship to the shore with the walkie
talkies and all while they were walking the narrow streets of San Juan. This is what they did and saw.... 'Getting
off the ship right away we encounter some beggars, my kids weren't quite sure what to think of this. There were
also bums sleeping on the side of the side walks, or crawling around begging, obviously in very poor health. The
streets are very, very narrow, not sure how buses and cars maneuver around, the buildings are all tall and very
skinny side by side about 5 feet from the street. Jewelry shopping and T-shirt’s are what the specialties of San
Juan are, there is no tax charged on jewelry so it was the big buy of the day. My kids saw McDonald’s and had to
run in to get some fries and burgers, after our cruise food I'm not sure how they could stomach it. We were told
that if we wondered away from the main streets that there was a chance you would never return, pretty scary
thought! Josh saw a Hard Rock Cafe and had to buy a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt, this was probably the highlight of
the day for him. It actually felt great to get back on the ship safely and made you feel very grateful to live in the
U.S.!...' Once everyone was back on board and ready for dinner it was back to a casual night at the Great Gatsby
Dining Room. Tonight’s theme was “America the Beautiful”. Yes, Red, White & Blue and of course Prime Rib
Dinner was the specialty of the evening along with good old apple pie. Our waiters all sang & paraded around
the dinning room for us, they put on quite a show and were very entertaining. Jake left dinner early to get ready for
tonight’s holiday show in the Palladium Theater. The show tonight was put on by the Royal Caribbean’s Wave
Revue and called “Happy Holidays” Jake's kids club sang and danced on stage for us too, this put us all in the
holiday spirit. About a 1/2 hour after the holiday show “The Newly Wed, Not So Newly Wed Game' was to begin so
we changed to better seats and stayed for the show. Jeff Martin, our cruise director was the host of the show and
did a great job. He picked volunteers out of the audience in different stages of marriage to be his victims. It's
amazing what couples will say about their marriage or spouse just to get points! The show was very funny and
entertaining and turned quite risqué. Glad it wasn't me up on stage. All I can say is “At away Woody”! Now in the
holiday spirit we made our way to the pool deck where there was dancing under the stars to the music of the
“Caribbean Four”. What a fun night. There must have been one to two hundred of us dancing different Caribbean
dances. The teen kids had learned these dances earlier and were having a ball with the rest of us. During the
dance they provided a pool side midnight buffet. We weren’t very hungry but of course we ate anyway. Josh and
Molly stayed out dancing and playing with their friends until 3:00 a.m. and then finally dragged themselves back
to their beds. Getting sleepy a few hours earlier we decided it was time to get rocked to sleep again. Hard to
believe so much fun can be packed into one day on a ship. Thank you Royal Caribbean!! Life is grand!!!

Day 5, Wednesday, December 9th

Today is our St. Thomas port of call. We rushed through breakfast and were off the ship heading for St. John for a
beach and snorkel day. We separated from our friends today since they took an excursion that had Snuba diving
(part scuba, part snorkel) and Jarrod was being adventurous and wanted to try it. He had a great time and saw
lots of fish but I wished we would have had Anita with us since she didn’t get to see any pretty fish where she
was snorkeling. We took a taxi to Red Hook, then a ferry to St. John, and then another taxi to Trunk Bay. WOW!!!
Well worth the adventure except it took 1 1/2 hours. The taxi drivers drive crazy and pass slower moving vehicles
when they aren’t able to see around corners or over hills. I just closed my eyes, they also drive on the wrong side
of the road, the taxi driver said he likes it better that way, then he’s not on the crash side of the vehicle! I guess
that makes sense!!! Trunk Bay is a beautiful, tropical, exotic beach in St. John National Park! Incredible, quiet bay
with long stretches of powdered sugar feeling sand and the water was the most incredible tealish-blue color. We
went snorkeling and saw brilliant, colorful fish amongst the reefs, we also took allot of pictures with our
underwater cameras. Towards the end of our snorkeling the fish started getting very brave and started swimming
very close to us and even would brush against our bodies. Kind of a scary feeling and you could hear the kids
scream through their snorkels! I imagine they could also hear me scream! At Trunk Bay they have a snorkel trail
that had underwater signs that told the names of the different colored fish and also about the different coral
formations seen. This is very helpful since we knew little about the formation structures. The water was
refreshing since the temps were still in the 80’s and the kids loved playing in the sand that felt like powdered
sugar. We all kept T-shirts on over our swimsuits when we snorkeled because we didn’t want the sun to burn
our backs. We also tried out the snack bar at the beach which was very expensive but the only place to eat. Time
flew by way too fast! The taxi was waiting for us when we finished, ferries only run on the hour so we planned on
an extra hour to get back. We used this time to shop by the pier in St. Thomas for T-shirts, and we were still on a
diet Mountain Dew hunt for my addiction but never did find any on the whole trip, the addiction was gone by now
any ways. There is no Diet Mountain Dew in Miami, on the ship, San Juan, or St. Thomas. My new addiction is the
tropical Caribbean Pina Coladas drinks and any other fruity drink! At the pier shops Steve bought me a beautiful
cross necklace with diamonds and sapphires in it. Of course he wanted to wait for the perfect moment to give it
to me but couldn’t stand the wait and so gave it to me as soon as we got back to our room. The ship is ready to
sail away and is heading for Nassau, Bahamas, approximately 850 nautical mile. After our Caribbean Dinner in
the Great Gatsby was the Wave Revues “Star Struck” show. The show was excellent with allot of costumes and
glamour, and highlighted movie musicals from throughout the years. Excellent, excellent, excellent! The shows
are over in 1 hour and always leaves you wanting more. After the show was another game show staring the
ship’s staff. It was called “Liar, Liar”, it was a version of “To Tell The Truth”. This show was kind of corny and
nothing really special. Maybe if we knew the staff better it may have been funnier. While we are at the shows the
teens had their teen pool party and played volleyball against the youth staff and then watched a movie. By then
Molly couldn’t take it anymore and feel asleep in the teen center and when she woke up everyone was gone
except for the counselor who was waking her up. The kids are all very, very tired, but having a great time! Early to
bed tonight and it’s only midnight! We get to sleep-in tomorrow since it is a sea-day! I Love Life !!!!

Day 6, Thursday, December 10th

How I love days at sea! No telephones, no appointments, just a day to relax and do whatever you want to do. This
morning when we woke up we were too tired to walk to breakfast so we ordered roomservice. French pastry’s,
fresh fruit and an omelet. I could get used to this kind of living. Since I hadn’t taken the video camera out of it’s
case yet on the ship, I thought today would be a good day to get the ship on video. I took a tour of the ship and
after viewing the video at home I was so thankful I had taken the time to do this. This gives you very vivid
memories. The afternoon was spent laying pool side listening to the Caribbean band in the hot tropical sun,
drinking exotic frosty drinks, watching the belly flop contest, watching an ice carver, spending some time in the
hot tub and then watching the youth talent show. The day just flew by and before we knew it was time to start
getting ready for dinner early because we didn’t want to miss the Guest Talent show in the South Pacific Lounge.
We had some very talented fellow cruisers. One lady even performed a song she had written for her grand
daughter. Tonight was a formal night and during formal nights there are professional photographers around the
ship taking formal pictures. These are offered later in the photo gallery, 8x10’s for $20. With all the pictures the
photographer took we waited until the last night to view all the photos together and then purchase the ones we
liked. After dinner we went the Tony Tillman Show, either I was too tired to enjoy him or he really was an
obnoxious singer. I noticed some people walked out of his show. I would have loved to get some shut eye during
his show but he was so loud and annoying and I was afraid I would be the next one to be picked on! After his
show I went back to the room to sleep, I was too tired to even go to the Midnight Gala Buffet, I really wanted to see
it too. Steve went down to look at it but decided to crash right after also. My son took some photos of the buffet so
I at least get to see his pictures. I would suggest taking a nap on sea days just to catch up with your sleep but we
found we might miss something if we take time to nap. My kids had a great time today with their friends. At noon
they started their activities by meeting their teen counselors for lunch. The 1st activity was a Royal Caribbean
boxer shorts swap, which teen could trade their boxers for the coolest trade was the winner, my son was thrilled
that he traded his for a bra, he didn’t win though! After the boxer swap they played “Name that Tune”, and then
had a huge scavenger hunt. Our only rule was that the kids had to join us for dinners, since this was most of the
parents rule the kids didn’t mind taking time out of their schedules to eat with their parents, but right after they
would run back to their rooms to change and then were off to play board games, watched a movie, and then had
a foozeball tournament. The teens all went to the Gala Midnight Buffet and then had another type of scavenger
hunt. Their day wasn’t finished until 3:00 a.m. Don’t know how they find their energy! Another night over and
everyone is so tired no one feels the boat rocking them to sleep tonight!

Day 7 and 8 - Friday December 11th and 12th With a noon arrival in Nassau today, we had and took a golden
opportunity to sleep in this morning. When we rose we packed lightly for our day in Nassau. We choose the
shore excursion “Close Dolphin Encounter” for our final full day. We had time for a good breakfast in the
Windjammer Cafe and watch as we came in to port. Right off the ship was a little local market with natives
braiding hair. My daughter decided to get her long hair braided, I asked if it could be done in 1 hour since we had
a Dolphin Encounter excursion, “No prob mon”. It took 2 of the woman to braid it but they did finish in 1 hour, 70
braids in all. At 1:30PM we were escorted to a small boat to take us to the location of the Dolphin Encounter. The
boat ride was probably about a half hour. We arrived in a beautiful tropical paradise complete with palm trees,
turquoise water and dolphins. This is where part of the movie the New “Flipper” was filmed and 2 of their
dolphins stared as Flipper. We were taken to a shelter to watch a video and listen to instructions on what to
expect when we got into the water with the dolphins. There were many different groups of people taking turns to
get into the pool with the dolphins. We decide to split up so we could take pictures of each other while with the
dolphins. We stood in a pool of water waist deep and the next thing you knew you were being kissed by a
dolphin. We were told to hold our arms out, and then you were hugging the dolphin. Our dolphin couldn’t resist
splashing me. When taking pictures here we suggest that you have a towel to cover up your camera quickly as
the dolphins do splash. After we each had our turn dancing with these wonderful animals we watched the “Swim
with the Dolphins” program. They had a man in the water holding his hands out in front of him and two dolphins
put their noses to his feet and pushed him around the pool. That was cool! Then we walked around this tropical
paradise on all the beautiful wooden piers looking at all the different dolphins and their pens, lots of Kodak
moments here on this pictorial bay. Next we walked to the souvenir shop and bought T-shirts and other
momentos while waiting to board our boat for the ride back to the ship. Once back on the ship we regretfully
watched the debarkment talk on t.v. and then had to pack all of our bags and have them tagged and outside our
rooms by 12AM in preparap

Name: Jill Humbert
Email: jillhumb@msn.com
Age: 35
Occupation: cruise consultant
NumberOfCruises: 13
TravelAgent: Yes
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 12-5-98
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 85
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 85
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff: 100
PrivateIsland: 100
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 98
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 98
OverallPortsofCall: 98
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 100
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram: 75
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 88
EmbarkDisembark: 86
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 05 Jan 1999
Time: 18:59:38
Remote Name: 153.34.146.189
Remote User:

Comments

This was our third RCI cruise, the other two being on Sovereign, which is probably still our favorite compared to
Grandeur. Yes, the grandeur was much newer, prettier, and bigger cabins, but . . .

Air/sea pkg (which I generally don't buy) was a bit of a disappointment, they changed our air 4 times before we
acutally left town! When we landed in Miami at 10:30 am, we were able to check in at the airport (wonderful!) but
were then told that a bus would not be available until 1 pm to take us to the terminal because they were having a
late embarkation! We opted to pay for a cab, which we were glad we did ( espcially with our impatient 6 year old
daughter)! They started boarding us at noon, we were one of the first ones on! I did ask a very nice lady at the
purser's desk why I was told about the late embarkation - she had no idea, since it was actually early, but said I
would have to take it up with home office after returning home. One other note - we (I) had a last minute medical
emergency 5 days before sailing - my husband call RCI (we are both cruise agents) who told him they could not
help us at all in arranging another sailing date. Even my agency called them, but they would do nothing. We did
not ask for a refund, only to go a week later, or at another off-peak time. No dice, said RCI! Luckily, we were able
to go. Ship is beautiful - our cabin (inside cat. N) nice size and comfortable for three of us (I liked the curtain to
separate the sleeping and desk area) but for us the storage space seemed a bit limited (I'm comparing
somewhat to Celebrity cabins here) Also, as I'm sure you've read, shower VERY small - curtain constantly sticks
to you! The third bunk actually recesses into the ceiling - very nice! Our cabin was not extremely clean, much hair
in most of the drawers I opened (yuk!) and when the chair cushion slid off our chair, my husband found several
past pax items (lipstick, toys, etc).

We certainly prefer Celebrity's food, so I was prepared, but was still a little disappointed. Quality was not bad, and
certainly did not starve! Buffets especially lacked some choices, lots of leftovers here, and the fruit and salad
choices never changed from day to day. The one night we ordered room service it was prompt and served hot!
Breakfast also arrived when ordered.

Casino was never too crowded - I was there every night - mostly played craps, which I love. Great dealers, even
ran into one who recognized me from previous cruises on the Century! Very friendly and helpful. But, shame on
you, RCI, for bringing up the minimum on the blackjack tables. It is now a whopping $10 minimum just to play
one hand! I played just two hands - this seemed to keep away many people who like to play 'for fun'.

Highlight of the cruise was the kids club. Best I've seen yet!!! The counselors on board were unbelievable, and
kept my busy daughter busy all day and night! She got all kinds of souveniers, (nice ones!) and made so many
friends. My hat goes off to them! Again, this made the cruise one of the best we've had! The kids even got to be in
the Christmas show with the RCI singers/dancers. What an experience for her!

The Beatles act, 'Rain', is a must see. Probably the best show I've ever seen at see. Another great reason to sail
this ship! Get on before they get off!

I'll be glad to answer any specifics - happy cruising!

Name: Ken I. Stephens
Email: srehm32291@aol.com
Age: 54
Occupation: Spanish Instructor
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 12/5/98
Itinerary: Labadee, San Juan, St. Thomas, Nassau
FoodDiningRoom: 98
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 99
FoodLidoDeck: 96
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 99
FoodMidnightBuffets: 97
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 98
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 95
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 98
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 98
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 98
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 98
EntertShowLounge: 98
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 94
Casino: 94
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 97
EmbarkDisembark: 97
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 97
ShopsOnBoard: 98
SpaceRatio: 98
OverallCruiseValue: 98
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 12 Jan 1999
Time: 13:18:19
Remote Name: 216.1.0.45
Remote User:

Comments

Our experience aboard the Grandeur of the Seas was a wonderful experience. So wonderful if fact that we are
planning a Christmas cruise aboard another Royal Caribbean ship with additional members of our family. The
Grandeur is truly a magnificent ship. The decor is contemporary with a clean soothing appearance. We were
amazed at the ship's impressive size and felt as if were were staying in a luxurious resort.

Although we arrived at the Port of Miami during the peak boarding time, the embarkation process went smoothly.
Within 45 minutes we were aboard the Granduer and being directed to our cabin. We selected a cabin which
included a balcony. This we found to be well worth the additional cost as we spent a great deal of time relaxing
and enjoying the view in privacy. The size of the cabin was large and very comfortable for the three of us.

All of the meals were exceptionally good aboard the ship. We especially enjoyed the formal dinners and casual
lunch in the dining room. The dining room staff was efficient, friendly and never made us feel rushed. On one
occassion we ordered breakfast in our cabin. Not only was the food delivered on time but it was more than
adequate for the three of us.

The entertainment in the Palladium Theater was very enjoyable and much better that any previous cruise ship we
have been on. The Beatles tribute preformed by Rain was exceptional. Other activities on board such as the Ship
Shape programs were well-organized.

The ports of call provided some diversity. We found Labadee to be the most beautiful and relaxing. It was
interesting to explore Old San Juan and El Morro. In St. Thomas we hired our own taxi who took us on a private
tour of the island. Shopping in Charlotte Amalie was a bit hectic since there were 5 other cruise ships in port. Too
many people! Our final stop was in Nassau, Bahamas instead of CocoCay. We considered this a bonus and
spent the afternoon exploring Atlantis. The hotel was preparing for its grand opening celebration the next day and
the hotel grounds were covered with sound and lighting equipment. It was obvious that many celebrities were
arriving by the incredible number of limos out front. We didn't see any :-( Although we are not big shoppers, it was
enjoyable to walk around the shops and straw market in Nassau.

My overall impression of the cruise was that it exceeded my expectations. The service provided by the staff was
excellent. The captain was very visable and personable. The only negative aspect was the disembarkation
process. This was a bit tedious and seemed somewhat slow. We were fortunate enough to be the only
passengers hanging out in the dining room after breakfast while the ship was being cleared by customs. Our
waiter, Robert from Jamaica insisted that we stay and avoid the congestion in the hallways. He kept us
entertained with conversation while everyone else pushed and shoved to get off the ship.

Advice to anyone considering a cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas--Go! You won't regret it!

Name: Paul Hatch
Email: pshatch@webtv.net
Age: 28
Occupation: government
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 120298
Itinerary: eastern caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 97
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 99
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 95
DiningRoomService: 99
CabinQuietness: 75
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 80
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 15 Jan 1999
Time: 20:09:43
Remote Name: 209.240.197.28
Remote User:

Comments

This was our 2nd cruise and was an absolute delight! RCI made the transfers easy and pretty much stress free.
We had a 4 hour hold over in the Miami airport which became slight drudgery but finally ended. I guess they do
this to make sure you don't miss your ship.

I travelled with my wife and once on board we found the ship to be very elegant minus a few unpolished brass
fixtures here and there. The teek on some of the decks also looked like it had seen better days. But I was
impressed as I walked the ship during the cruise to see staff actually out sanding the walk ways and teek
steps/deck areas to re-stain them for that new look.

We booked an inside cabin near the bow which was fine because we spend little time in there anyway. The only
problem with this was that we bucked 6-8 foot seas the whole trip and we felt a little of the pitching of the ship.
That's fine though, it comes with cruising.

This ship gave me lots to do between shows, programs and just lounging around. I found a good majority of the
passengers to be elderly which worked out nice because they were usually in bed early. So, if you book late
dinner and show seating, finding a seat in the Palladium theater after dinner for the shows is easy and not much
of a hassle.

The ports of call were nice, especially the Virgin Islands. RCI needs to be a little pickier who they let sell goods o
their beach. At Labadee, Haiti the local shop keepers were pretty ferocious and in speaking with a lot of fellow
passengers, they stayed way clear of the shops. My wife and I were shopping and since we didn't buy one
keepers goods, he put a 'hex' on us as we walked by and hissed at us. Not a good way to get repeat customers.

We did the walking tour in San Juan and the guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant to be with. It was 90
degrees so we kind of hustled to get it over with though. The ship stopped in Nassau Bahamas and we signed
up with a driving tour of Nassau. Big mistake! Our tour guide was rude, condescending, arrogant and very
impatient. Needless to say he didn't get a tip. I felt kind of cheated because this guy represented RCI in an
anscillary duty and it kind of brought my day down. Oh well, life goes on.

Now to the most important part of the cruise, the food! Every meal in the dining room was an absolute delight and
a taste to behold. The selection was good, the service was excellent and the company was good. The head
waiter Byrun was most outstanding with his wit, his dinner 'shows' and his kindness and concern for our meal. I
wanted eggs benedict one morning in the dining room and requested an extra helping of hollandaise sauce. The
waiter brought a whole bowl full!

Overall the cruise was outstanding and very relaxing. We will definitely book on RCI in the future.

Name: joanie greene
Email: jgreene138@aol.com
Age: 43
Occupation: teacher
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Grandeur
SailingDate: 11//7/98
Itinerary: labadee,san juan,st thomas,nassau
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 89
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 89
DiningRoomService: 92
CabinQuietness: 99
FoodMidnightBuffets: 99
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 98
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff: 98
PrivateIsland: 100
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 100
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 89
OverallPortsofCall: 80
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 70
CruiseActivities: 88
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 70
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace:
Stabilization:
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 12 Mar 1999
Time: 21:22:44
Remote Name: spider-wb031.proxy.aol.com
Remote User:

Comments

I throughly enjoyed this cruise. When I first got there I felt lost but after the welcome drink I loosened up and by the
end of the vacation I knew the whole ship. I thought the food was very good especially the lunch buffet in the main
dining room. The disco was fun and the bingo was great even though I lost every game. The staff was so pleasant
and accomadating that I could have stayed on the ship for a very long time. I thought the service in the dining room
was excellent and the ship was very clean. The only two things I didn't like was when I found out I would not be
going to CocoCay, but Nassau instead. I went to the Atlantis because the cruise line said we could use the
facilitities but they truly asked us to leave the pool because we weren't guests of the hotel so we returned to the
ship. I was also upset with the debarkation procedure because you feel like your packed on the Titanic just waiting
to get into a lifeboat. Labadee was just excellent and the cruiseline makes it very comfortable for you when you get
to the port. I must say that the poolside activities needed more uplift and perhaps more activities, but the band
called the Carribbean Four made up for everything. I bought their CD's on the ship and never stop playing them. I
must say however I would definately go back on the same cruise ship again if I had the chance but I now want to try
the new Voyager. Cruising is the only way to go in my eyes.

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