- The name of the cruise line & cruise ship: Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas
- Travel Month & Itinerary: September 2023 (5 days) Tampa, Nassau, CoCo Cay
- Have you taken one or more cruises on this cruise line before? My first time on any cruise
- Why did you choose this cruise? My sister had booked it, and I was curious to experience it
- Likes/Dislikes and/or what worked well/didn't work well. (See specifics below)
- Any helpful tips/suggestions Enjoy the evening main dining room and make new friends over a nice meal
- Would you recommend to others? Yes
And a more detailed trip report . . . what I had already posted prior to the creation of this Forum/Board . . .
As many long-time TUGGERS know, I have been mostly a timeshare and road trip warrior vacationer. I have enjoyed a several Amtrak adventures but have not ventured into the realm of cruising. With my sister's husband passing away about 18 months ago, she lost her #1 travel partner and one of their favorite things to do was to cruise. In the prime of his life, before cancer started robbing him of life's little joys, they cruised on average twice a year. So when she started jonsing to get on a ship, I said I would join her. My husband is adamant about not going on a ship, being herded around on a mobile hotel, so he blessed my joining her for a rather short 5 day itinerary out of Tampa to the Bahamas and back.
Now that I've been back for about a week, I can objectively comment about my experiences . . . the good & the bad. Prior to the trip, I had repeatedly said "How bad can it be?" and "Even if it does suck, I can tough out just about anything for 5 days." Thankfully . . . for me (and my sister) it didn't suck and I had a great time! Everything folks say about the comforts and relaxation on a cruise ship were true. The one we were on was Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. An old ship for sure, it's "smallness" was part of what I enjoyed. At capacity, it holds roughly 2,200 guests + crew. I never felt things were crowded. Even on the two port day adventures (Nassau and CoCo Cay), there were not throngs of people making getting around a hassle or too busy.
The crew on the ship, as well as those in port (we did do an excursion in Nassau through R/C), were outstanding and obviously committed to their guests' enjoyment and comfort. The price for what we received was of a good value, overall. But you had to watch what you were doing and make some savvy decisions. My sister did great in advising on how "we" should handle the "drink package" offer, since neither of us are big drinkers (alcohol or soft drinks) and for our dining, we avoided the upscale restaurants with the add-on price tag(s). We did all of our dinners in the Great Gatsby (one of the two main dining rooms) with the "early seating" at 5:30pm with a specific table and the same table companions (2 other couples from the same family) . . . which allowed us to have nice dinner conversations as we established new friendships. The food was exceptionally good . . . high quality with outstanding service provided by our dining wait staff team.
For lunch (when we were aboard the ship) we ate at the Windjammer Buffet, which had plenty of options from healthy to decadent. For breakfast, we did the buffet a three mornings, and the other main dining room (I don't recall the name) the other two. We did do the CHOPS Steakhouse, which is one of the fine dining "add-on" restaurants, for lunch on the day we boarded and prior to sailing. The 1:30pm late lunch of an 8 oz filet mignon with all the accompaniments, served as a nice and early dinner . . . for just $28 pp when booked prior to the cruise. It was well worth it, especially to be able to sample the dining experience in one of their specialty restaurants.
I mentioned CoCo Cay as one of our port days. This is a private island owned and operated by Royal Caribbean. The day we were there, one of their much larger ships was also in port with Grandeur. I was a bit concerned that with potentially 6,000-7,000 people "at the beach" it would be crowded and people would be annoying. WOW I couldn't have been more wrong. With several themed areas including some with additional charges (like the huge water park), we took up at their South Beach area which was well furnished with beach lounges, restrooms, dining and of course, a great beach with a swim up bar. As they like to say, it was a perfect day at CoCo Cay.
About our cabin, we had an exterior with ocean view on the 2nd deck. Yes, it was low but also midship. It was very comfortable with a lot more space that I expected. The furnishings were nice and comfortable. The bathroom was of an acceptable size and set up but the shower was a bit tight, with a clingy shower curtain that was a bit annoying. But that was really the only negative about our cabin.
So about the negatives or down sides . . . the casino had quite a few slot machines, but I'm not a slot player so I can't comment much about them. But the table games . . . well, their table minimums were generally pretty high in my opinion. Other than roulette with a $5 table minimum, the other games were too rich for my blood. I love 3 Card Poker, but after dropping over $500 in two days at a $10 table, I stopped playing and went to roulette for the rest of the trip. Blackjack was $15 and craps appeared to be $12, which seemed like a weird number, but what do I know . . . I don't play craps. I enjoyed the friends made at roulette and the dealers were seemingly more friendly and engaged with guests, than at the other tables. The guys playing Texas Hold Em (not sure of the table min there) were loud when they were doing well, but seemed miserable most of the time.
Bingo . . . mmmmm what to say about bingo? I love bingo and play it nearly every weekend at our local Elks Lodge. I'm used to playing 9 cards for 20 games, with prizes of $100-$150/game . . . for under $50. Bingo on the ship was roughly $50 for 9 cards for just 3 games. The cash prizes were based on their sales, and were roughly $300, $400 and $600 (the last game). I suppose when I think about the 3 Card Poker and paying $35/hand (ante, bet, 3 card + 6 card bonus) , I suppose $50 for 3 games of bingo ain't bad. BUT DAMN . . . it's just bingo! The best thing (and deal) with their bingo was if you bought their BINGO Players T-shirt for $10, you would get an extra set of cards at each bingo session. I felt that may have been the best $10 I spent on the entire cruise.
Another big money grab is the on-board photos. They had photographers all around the ship, most with nice backdrops for those must have souvenir momento photos. Prior to the trip, we were offered several pre-cruise deals including one on photo packages. I could have done that and probably saved some money, but was told it wasn't worth it. Also, I doubt I would have wanted 10 or 15 photos which I believe was the smallest package offered prior to the trip. As it turned out, there were 5 I wanted, and rather than paying $25 each, I did get the 5 photo package for $99.95 which also came with a DIY free photo book through their partner Mixbook. Not familiar with them but I wish it has been with Shutterfly, who I use all the time for my vacation photography. I still feel $20 for 8x10 color photos is high seas robbery, but what the heck? We split the package and ended up using our $50pp ship board credit for it.
About the beverage packages . . . if you are going to drink a lot . . . either soft drinks or booze (beer, wine, cocktails) . . . it doesn't take much to break even on their deal even if it does work out to $75-$85per person per day. I believe the prices were roughly soft drinks $4-$5, beer/wine $7-$9 and cocktails $14-$18. Folks who bought a soft drink only package, got a special refillable cup that they could fill throughout the ship. The downside to the beverage packages is that everyone in your cabin must buy the same package, to prevent sharing drinks, etc. Like I said, not an issue for us. My sister had "diamond" status with R/C so she received 4 free drinks/day, which she graciously shared with me. I ended up only purchasing one adult beverage, a captains & diet coke for just under $15.
Being a captive audience on the ship, there were a couple of times when I felt like the sales people for the various ships' stores, were a bit annoying. But as seasoned timeshare owners, we both knew how to ditch them quickly and not get engaged with their sales tactics. That said, I did find their duty free store to be a great deal on liquor, buying 4 liters to take home.
I should mention that being a smaller ship in the R/C fleet, their swimming pool was relatively small . . . too small for a ship with 2,000+ guests. The posted capacity was just 44 people, which was easy to exceed by just those sitting around the perimeter and on the "baja" shallow areas. Being mid-September, there weren't a lot of school age kids on the ship, but enough to make swimming a challenge. And the "adult only" area and pool didn't really suit my interests. The retractable roof didn't function properly, so I felt like the enclosed area was too warm to be comfortable, especially without the sea breeze while sailing.
I'm not sure what more I can say about the cruise experience. I am thankful to have done my first cruise with my sister who is very experienced with the routine and how to go about everything. I could see how it might be overwhelming to navigate the parking at the port, check-in & boarding and then all that goes on and is available on the ship. But I was very comfortable and had a great time . . . and would cruise again!
For anyone who's interested in seeing more of the photos from our trip,
check out my cruise photo album over at Facebook. (That's also where all the food porn photos are!) It's set for "public" so anyone can see and read more details about our experiences. I'll leave you all with this selfie I took as we headed out for CoCo Cay in the Bahamas.
