Grandeur Of The Seas

Launched in 1996, Grandeur of the Seas is the 3rd Vision-class Royal Caribbean ship, together with Vision OTS, Legend OTS (now Marella Discovery 2), Enchantment OTS, Rhapsody OTS and Splendour OTS (now Marella Discovery).

In 2021, after 23 years of RCI service, Grandeur OTS was planned to leave the RCI fleet and to be transferred to Pullmantur Cruises Spain, but these plans were cancelled. As a replacement for Grandeur OTS in homeport Baltimore MD was scheduled Enchantment OTS. Pullmantur planned to deploy the liner in Northern Europe for Baltic Sea and Norwegian Fjords itineraries with roundtrips from homeports Trondheim Norway and Warnemunde-Rostock Germany.

History - construction and ownership

Royal Caribbean International (RCI) is a US company, trademarked brand and subsidiary owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL, shipowner). RCI was established in 1968 and currently has over 1/5 of the worldwide cruise market. RCI also has RCCL's largest fleet as both numbers of vessels and GT tonnage (ship sizes and capacities). All Royal Caribbean liners have names ending with "of the Seas".

The 73,817-ton, 1,950-passenger Grandeur of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean's older cruise liners. However, passengers would never know it from ship's sleek public areas: a grand Art Deco-inspired dining venue, glitzy Palladium Theater and a sweeping 6-story atrium. The 2012 refurb gave Grandeur a new life. Royal Caribbean spent millions to add Oasis-class features to ships which lack in balconies, dining variety, and all the latest perks of the line. Post-makeover, Grandeur of the Seas now sports updated staterooms, including shipwide Wi-Fi and flat-screen TV's. Speciality dining venues, a redesigned atrium and an outdoor movie screen all give guests more ways to enjoy the time onboard. Browse daily restaurant menus and activity schedules by digital "Wayfinder" signage - large touch-screens by the elevators, which also help find directions and are incredibly helpful when you can't remember whether you're aft or forward on the ship.

Cruise itinerary program

Grandeur of the Seas itinerary program is based on Canada, Bermuda and Caribbean cruises from Baltimore MD. Feature port destinations include Nassau Bahamas, Cozumel Mexico, Jamaica, Florida (Key West and Port Canaveral), as well as Coco Cay (the private island of Royal Caribbean in the Bahamas).

In mid-January 2021, Royal Caribbean announced the company's first-ever homeporting in Bridgetown Barbados with Grandeur OTS. The itinerary program (December 2021 through April 2022) also featured 3x new for RCI ports - Scarborough (Tobago Island), Port-of-Spain (Trinidad Island) and Kingstown (St Vincent Island, Grenadines).

RCI's ex-Barbados program is based on fly-cruise deals (roundtrip flights from the USA) and 3x itineraries - two 7-night and one 14-night.

• 7-night "Southern Caribbean Explorer" itinerary visits Scarborough (Tobago), Port-of-Spain (Trinidad), St George's (Grenada), Kingstown (St Vincent, Grenadines), Roseau (Dominica), Castries (St Lucia)
• 7-night "Southern Caribbean Adventure" itinerary visits St George's, Kralendijk (Bonaire), Oranjestad (Aruba), Willemstad (Curacao), Port-of-Spain
• 14-night "Ultimate Caribbean" itinerary visits St George's, Kingstown, Kralendijk, Oranjestad, Willemstad, Port-of-Spain, Cartagena (Colombia), Colon (Panama) and Puerto Limon (Costa Rica).

 Bookings opened on January 13, 2021.

Cabins

Grandeur Of The Seas staterooms (a total of 997, in 23 cabin grades) include 94x Suites and 118x Balcony cabins. Most Grandeur OTS cabins are 130-145-ft2 sized Insides (400) and Oceanviews (380). Wheelchair-accessible cabins are 14. The largest accommodation on the ship is the Royal Suite (1185 ft2 / 110 m2) with terrace (160 ft2 / 15 m2).

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

For a quick bite choose Grandeur's Windjammer Marketplace. It's set up in various stations, so you can grab everything from cheeses and pizza to carved meats and dessert. Beginning at 3 p.m., afternoon tea is offered there each day. During busy times, it's difficult to find tables. For more formal dining, better check out the two-level Great Gatsby dining room. It's open daily from 7 to 9:30 a.m. for breakfast and from noon to 1:30 p.m. for lunch (when it's converted into a Brasserie 30 restaurant, which serves excellent dishes like shells with pesto sauce). Set-seating dining times are 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Passengers can opt for any time dining, which allows to avoid set tablemates and eat between 6 and 9:30 p.m. The alternative dining venues onboard Grandeur of the Seas include the Chops Grille (which carries a fee of $30 per person), Giovanni's Table Italian restaurant (serves family-style dishes for $15 per person at lunch, and dinner for $20) and Izumi (mostly Japanese food and sushi restaurant, with a service charge in addition to a la carte fees for menu items). The Viking Crown Lounge serves tapas-style small bites, but if you are a serious foodie, better consider the Chef's Table exclusive experience. You'll pay $95 for five-course, wine-paired dinner hosted by Grandeur's executive chef and sommelier, and it's worth the price.

Follows the complete list of Grandeur of the Seas restaurants and food bars.

• Great Gatsby Restaurant (1039-seat aft Dining Room; offers Brasserie 30 lunch on sea days; Chef's Table)
• Windjammer Cafe Lido buffet restaurant (790-seat, offers Early Breakfast at 6:30 a.m., Breakfast between 7:00-11:30 a.m., Lunch 11.30-3:30 p.m. and Dinner 6.30-9:00 p.m.)
• Chops Grille (74-seat speciality restaurant; reservations recommended)
• Giovanni's Table (Italian speciality restaurant; reservations recommended)
• Izumi (Asian speciality restaurant)
• Park Cafe (68-seat deli restaurant; complimentary - serves the Solarium area).

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

The shows in Grandeur's Palladium (main theatre), are designed around the dining times. Grandeur OTS boasts a library with an honour checkout system, a rock wall with different areas for climbers of various skills, two shuffleboard courts, a photoshop and several stores specialized in jewellery, souvenirs, cigarettes, cigars and liquor. There are also many themed bars and lounges, including a pool deck bar, Schooner, Viking Lounge, South Pacific Lounge and a piano area. The open atrium is called the Centrum and stretches from deck 4 to deck 10. Several youth facilities are scattered around the ship, including a teen nightclub and an arcade area. A special edition of "The Compass" named "Explorations" is published specifically for kids. Most enrichment consists of activities like gaming lessons in the casino and dance classes in the disco, free of charge. If you expect lectures and the like, Grandeur of the Seas probably is not the ship for you. The line offers a number of shore excursions through its "Explorations!" desk. Glass-bottom boat trips and sightseeing tours are very popular, as are beach excursions, but have in mind that you may be able to access some of the beaches for free or for a lower price if you go on your own.

Additional amenities include Complimentary 24-hour Room-Service, Adventure Ocean (Youth program), Internet/WiFi Access, Laundry.

Follows the complete list of Grandeur of the Seas lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens and adults.

• Palladium Theater (870-seat, features grand production shows with dance, acrobatics, comedy and games)
• Photo Gallery and Shop; Art Gallery
• The Centrum (6-deck atrium and social hub, offers aerial acrobatics entertainment); Card Room; South Pacific Lounge (328-seat show entertainment lounge); Diamond Club and Lounge; Concierge Club (suite and past guests only); Viking Crown Lounge and Nightclub
• R Bar (43-seat cocktail bar); Cafe Latte-tudes Bar (36-seat speciality coffee bar, Starbucks Coffee); Ben and Jerry's (ice cream bar); Schooner Bar (133-seat piano bar)
• Centrum Boutiques (duty-free; clothes, perfumes, accessories, jewellery, logo souvenirs, General Store/alcohol and cigarettes)
• Casino Royale (282-seat)
• Royal Caribbean Online centre (Internet computers room; 24-hour)
• Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center; 6 jacuzzis; 3 pools
• Solarium lounge (includes Cafe Bar, pool bar and adults only pool area)
• Outdoor Movie Screen
• Video Games Arcade; FantaSeas Teen Center and Disco Club; Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Adventure Beach; Adventure Ocean kids lounge area
• Sports Court (golf simulator, table tennis, basketball court); Jogging Track; Rock-climbing Wall.

Grandeur OTS was built in 1996 by the Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner Masa. Vessel's construction was completed on November 20, 1996. Ship's godmother was Aviva Ofer - wife of Sammy Ofer and mother of Eyal Ofer (a member of RCI's Board of Directors). The naming ceremony was on December 13, 1996, held in PortMiami. On Dec 14 started the inaugural cruise (maiden voyage) to the Caribbean. The RCI ships Grandeur and Enchantment were the world's first passenger liners fitted with Dynamic Positioning System.

Grandeur was extensively drydock refurbished in 2012. During the upgrade, the ship's colours were revived looking brighter and warmer. The newly-added amenities and facilities included Park Cafe, R Bar, outdoor movie theatre (large LED screen), Giovanni’s Table, Chops Grille, Izumi, Centrum's (Atrium) aerial entertainment, ship-wide Wi-Fi coverage.

The relatively smaller in size Grandeur OTS has the 7-deck high "Centrum" - a distinctive feature of all older RCI ships. Viking Crown Lounge is located right on top of the Atrium - the best place for scenic sea- and port views. The design of passenger cabins makes them look bigger than their actual size. Inside their bathrooms, there are also medicine cabinets along with all the line's feature bath amenities.

Inaugural roundtrip Barbados cruises 2021

For winter 2021-2022, Royal Caribbean scheduled for Grandeur OTS a total of 15x roundtrips from Barbados. The company's first-ever homeporting season in Barbados (December 5, 2021, through April 17, 2022) included 3x different itineraries.

7-day "Southern Caribbean Explorer" (from $1040 per person, with double occupancy)

7-day "Abc Caribbean Adventure Cruise (from $660 pp)

14-day "Ultimate Caribbean Cruise" (from $750 pp)

Grandeur OTS refurbishment 2013 review

The list of deckplan changes after ship's drydock 2013 refurbishment included:

• cabin upgrades (LCD TVs, bathrooms, new interiors, linens, furniture)
• complimentary “Park Cafe” (deli)
• “Chef’s Table” (gourmet dining package)
• “Chops Grille” (steakhouse)
• "Giovanni's" (Italian cuisine)
• “Izumi” (Asian/Japanese cuisine)
• new "Centrum" Atrium program (aerial acrobatic spectacles)
• "R Bar" (1960s-themed)
• RCI Nursery
• "Viking Crown" (received new a la carte menu)
• New lounges (“Concierge” and “Diamond”) were added.