Ricky & Jennifer Porter

Number of Cruises: 1st Cruise
Ship: Grandeur of the Seas
Sailing Date: November 23rd, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

There are travelers, tourists and vacationers. If you are the latter, this cruise is for you. Let me start by saying we are travelers, and with our cruise curiosity being sated now, we are not planning another cruise ... unless it's first class and free. That being said, the following is what we thought of the Grandeur of the Seas and our cruise experience.

We read the more recent reviews of our ship prior to sailing and brought a small coffee pot on board. As it turned out, we enjoyed the coffee and we never unpacked the coffeemaker which remained packed on top of the books. The coffee could have been either changed by the ship or the other reviewers must like lame coffee.

The ship was beautiful. We truly enjoyed the aesthetics. The artwork was plentiful and high quality. I am an artist and I was delighted to wander around looking at the art. At the end of the cruise, I went back looking for one of my favorite pieces to get a picture and never did find it. Great art was everywhere. The boat was very well designed. We agreed with the other reviewers that the promenade deck was a great design and the wood decking comfortable and nice looking; however, we were surprised at how we had the deck all to ourselves most of the cruise. The decor was tasteful and comfortable all over. We found space to put everything away in our cabin and had room to spare. The center atrium was magnificent. She is a pretty ship in Bristol condition.

We personally did not mind, but there were many complaints from other passengers about our itinerary. Everybody is a captain! We stopped at Progreso and Cozumel in Mexico and Key West, FL. Again, we consider ourselves travelers so we are curious about every place we go. With the ports of call subject to change, we do not suggest anyone try to see the world via this form of transportation. So all you armchair mariners, if you are going to whine about ports of call, stay home or stay onboard and go play bingo.  Weather, fuel economy and politics can change a heading in a heartbeat. "The best plan on any boat is no plan at all" sayeth a 14 yr. old, swamptrash  dockbilly in Florida.

We took the Chichen Itza excursion out of Progreso and the box lunch was terrible. Lots of people do not like tuna fish on cardboard and I happen to be one of them. We felt gouged by the food on that tour. It was crap. For the  price of the tour ($98), we had higher hopes for our lunch. Convicts eat  better. We enjoyed our guide and the tour was great. Likewise the food  onboard was nothing to brag about. The service onboard was great, the food bit the dust except the desserts. Fire the cook, keep the pastry chef.

The cruising experience in general was relaxing and very enjoyable on a social level. We enjoy talking to people and we loved nearly everyone we met onboard. It is a happy, positive experience for families to dine together  without the pressures of production and clean up. Incidentally, we were onboard during Thanksgiving week and there were more families than normal. We  enjoyed the kids.

We recommend this cruise from New Orleans, LA or any other cruise out of the Big Easy as we are partial to New Orleans and Louisiana's. We cannot imagine how bland and colorless other cruises must be, after we found the local  passengers on this ship such a highlight on our cruise.

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