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I took a fast, 4-night weekend getaway cruise onboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, which is the oldest ship within the cruise line’s fleet. Debuting in 1996, this Imaginative and prescient-class cruise ship is almost 26 years previous!
My sister and I booked the smallest and most cost-effective room obtainable onboard Grandeur of the Seas to stay to our journey finances. We at all times like to save cash after we can, so we are inclined to e-book the most affordable cabins onboard.
Like most cruises, the most affordable cabin obtainable for this itinerary was an inside stateroom assure. Inside cabins haven’t any home windows or pure gentle, however nonetheless present the whole lot wanted for a cushty say. With a assure cabin, you can not select the placement of your stateroom onboard. This typically means staying in much less fascinating areas, sometimes within the entrance or again of the ship.
Learn extra: Inside cabin vs. balcony room on a cruise ship
My sister and I had been in search of a weekend cruise to take this fall collectively, so we have been excited to discover a low cost crusing from Tampa, Florida. I had by no means cruised from Tampa earlier than, though I reside in Florida, so this appeared like the proper alternative to go to town.
Given the ship’s age, we weren’t solely positive what to anticipate onboard. For sure, we set our expectations fairly low about all the cruise expertise so we wouldn’t be dissatisfied. In fact, age is however a quantity if a ship is effectively maintained and refurbished once in a while.
The inexpensive worth was the largest draw for us to e-book this crusing, costing simply $466 every. This 4-night itinerary featured two sea days, together with at some point in Cozumel, Mexico. This worth included gratuities, taxes and costs. Subsequently, we every paid about $116 per day for this crusing, which felt affordable contemplating we booked solely the cruise two months in the past.
Our inside cabin was solely 142 sq. ft, however I wouldn’t hesitate to e-book the identical stateroom once more on a Imaginative and prescient Class ship. Right here’s what our low cost and small cabin appeared like on Grandeur of the Seas.
Whereas Royal Caribbean is understood for constructing the largest and most revolutionary cruise ships on the planet, Grandeur of the Seas is way from huge or revolutionary
As an alternative, Royal Caribbean’s smallest cruise ship affords a totally completely different trip than something proven within the cruise line’s advertising and marketing materials.
You received’t discover waterslides, zip traces or surf simulators on the highest deck of Grandeur of the Seas. Quite, you may take pleasure in stunning ocean views with loads of locations to loosen up across the small ship. Grandeur of the Seas represents a extra conventional period of cruising earlier than ships grew to become floating mega-resorts.
I really like every kind of cruising, so I used to be excited to step again in time onboard Grandeur of the Seas for a extra low-key Royal Caribbean expertise. As a result of there was much less to do onboard, we ended up spending extra time in our cabin than we usually do. With two sea days, it was pretty sizzling and humid to be on the skin decks, so we loved retreating to our air conditioned inside cabin all through the day.
For this crusing, we have been assigned cabin 3505 on Deck 3. As anticipated, our cabin was situated on the very entrance of the ship
Since this crusing was brief, we actually didn’t care concerning the location of our stateroom. We anticipated that we might be assigned a cabin on the entrance or again of the ship, as these are sometimes the cabins that individuals don’t need to e-book. Whenever you e-book a assure cabin, you get assigned the leftover staterooms.
Learn extra: The 5 greatest cabin areas on a cruise ship
We weren’t stunned to seek out that our cabin was situated on the very entrance of the ship. We have been almost the final row of inside staterooms whereas strolling in direction of the entrance of the ship. The hallway had an fascinating design as we approached the entrance of the ship, with a zig-zag hallway resulting in our cabin.
It’s been some time since I’ve stayed on a cabin situated as little as deck 3! This made for straightforward entry to the ship’s most important atrium, which begins on Deck 4. I significantly appreciated the fast entry to Cafe Latitudes within the morning, as I really like a heat latte to start out my day.
Grandeur of the Seas additionally represents a time the place many ships have been constructed with extra inside and out of doors cabins than balcony cabins; as such, there have been only a few balconies obtainable to e-book onboard.
On this small cruise ship, there are round 1,000 cabins onboard for company to e-book and 780 of those are inside or outdoors cabins. There are solely 95 suites and 122 balconies obtainable. So, if you happen to’re planning to sail on Grandeur of the Seas – or every other Imaginative and prescient-class ship – you’ll possible find yourself in both an inside or outdoors cabin like us.
To our shock, the within cabin was in pretty good situation and the stateroom felt larger than we anticipated
As soon as we boarded Grandeur of the Seas, we made our solution to our cabin to unload our baggage and take a look at our home-away-from-home for the following 4 nights. Because the ship was very previous, we didn’t have excessive expectations for the situation of the stateroom. I anticipated a variety of rust, together with worn down furnishings and an outdated rest room.
After weaving in direction of the entrance of the ship, we discovered cabin 3505. At simply 142 sq. ft, this cabin is on the smaller facet for inside staterooms. For comparability, Royal Caribbean’s new Odyssey of the Seas has inside staterooms round 185 sq. ft in dimension.
Regardless, our inside cabin on Grandeur of the Seas felt larger than we had anticipated. We had a king mattress behind the cabin, though we ended up separating the beds after one night. Whereas I choose having the beds collectively, my sister insisted on separating the mattress into the dual beds configuration after the primary night time.
I’ll admit, it was troublesome navigating across the facet of the beds once they have been configured collectively as a king mattress. As soon as we separated the beds, we have been in a position to navigate simpler and the room felt extra spacious.
The mattress was very comfy. I used to be nervous the mattress would really feel over used given the ship’s age, however the beds gave the impression to be in good situation. Every part was clear as effectively.
Subsequent to the mattress, we every had a small nightstand to make use of. These nightstands felt bigger than a typical cabin nightstand, which we appreciated!
Behind the mattress, we had two small lights that we used within the night earlier than bedtime. I want these lamps had USB plugs for us to make use of, however we made do.
Adjoining to the mattress was a small loveseat for added seating within the cabin. I at all times respect having one other place to take a seat aside from the beds in a cabin. In case you’re like us, this extra seating additionally turns into further storage!
The cabin additionally featured an arrogance with drawers for storage, together with a small TV and a secure to make use of through the cruise
As with most cruise cabins, we had an arrogance area surrounded by drawers and shelving. The mirror was additionally illuminated with a vibrant gentle, which I take advantage of to prepare every day.
The perimeters of the mirror additionally opened for added shelving. This was one space of the cabin the place you may actually see the damage and tear. This was merely beauty, however the hinges appeared fairly rusted out and worn down.
The drawers have been fairly massive on the best facet of the vainness – I used to be really in a position to unpack my whole suitcase into these three drawers. We didn’t even use the area above the TV, though having ample storage can be obligatory for an extended itinerary.
We additionally famous that our cabin didn’t have a mini fridge, which is often customary for many cabins as of late. It could have been good to maintain our bottled water cool in a fridge, as this was a sizzling and humid crusing to Mexico!
As with most older ships, we had restricted shops to make use of for charging units
Older cruise ships will solely function one or two shops so that you can use in your cabin. Newer ships have applied charging strips with a number of shops and USB ports to make use of, which is a welcomed change. To ensure I’ve sufficient ports to cost the whole lot, I at all times deliver a USB adapter to plug into the European shops in my cabin.
This cruise I used to be a bit scatterbrained – and sadly forgot to pack this. I additionally forgot to pack my moveable charger, so I used to be scuffling with only one outlet.
My sister and I shared the 2 shops throughout our cruise, so we needed to be purposeful with our charging. Each time we left the room, we made positive to cost one thing for later. I did bear in mind to seize my additional lengthy cellphone charger, which was helpful to cost my cellphone whereas utilizing it in mattress.
The closet had ample area to unpack with hangers and drawers
Whereas unpacking, we had more room for storage than we would have liked for this fast crusing. My sister and I each traveled with simply carry-on baggage, so we didn’t have a lot to unpack. I ended up utilizing the vainness drawers, so my sister used the closet area. She was in a position to cling the whole lot up and we ended had additional area to retailer our baggage within the closet.
The closet got here with a number of hangers, though you is perhaps needing extra relying on how lengthy your cruise is. The closet additionally featured extra drawers fairly than shelving, which was notable. General, we had loads of area to unpack and retailer our issues.
Our cabin was situated subsequent to noisy neighbors, and we may typically hear them speaking within the morning and late at night time
The gang onboard our crusing was there to have a very good time! I can’t let you know what number of bachelorette and bachelor events we noticed throughout our cruise, together with pal teams and household reunions crusing collectively.
As such, the crusing was not a quiet one! The hallways have been buzzing with folks able to celebration. We may hear the cabin subsequent to us at any time when they have been within the room – it felt as if we may hear their whole dialog. Whereas we didn’t have a lot foot site visitors on the very entrance of the ship, it nonetheless felt like we may hear loads of noise. Fortunately, I always remember to deliver my earplugs after I cruise and this helped me sleep every night time.
One of many largest surprises in our inside cabin was the situation of the toilet, which we anticipated to be very outdated
After trying across the cabin, we determined to take a look at the toilet. Sometimes on older ships, the bogs really feel very outdated when it comes to design and decor. Within the spring, I sailed on one in every of Norwegian Cruise Line’s oldest ships, Norwegian Solar, and our rest room was lime inexperienced coloured! Final summer season, our cabin on the oldest Carnival ship – Carnival Ecstasy – had vibrant blue, squishy flooring. The truth is, the toilet’s rest room was additionally so near the wall that we almost needed to sit sideways.
For sure, we had low expectations for the situation of our rest room for an previous ship. I used to be anticipating outdated decor, poor design and many rust.
To our shock, the toilet was a lot better than we anticipated and should have been refurbished within the current decade. The vainness had gentle woodwork, which accented the white flooring and partitions. There was a colourful backsplash behind the sink as effectively, which was a enjoyable addition.
Noticeably, we didn’t have a lot counter area or storage within the rest room. Between the 2 of us, we stuffed up the toilet counter rapidly with our cosmetics.
Whereas the toilet was higher than anticipated, the bathe was one of many worst I’ve had on a cruise ship
A cruise ship bathe is generally nothing to put in writing residence about. Older ships are inclined to function small, cramped showers – that are something however luxurious. It’s not unusual to have a capsule bathe with both a dingy bathe curtain or a space-pod sort of plastic door.
Fortunately, newer cruise ships have redesigned rest room areas with bigger showers, which actually makes an enormous distinction within the cruise showering expertise.
The bathe was oddly formed, virtually like a trapezoid. The worst a part of the expertise was the bathe curtain, which might cling to us whereas showering. This made the tiny area really feel even smaller! In case you tried to push the curtain away, you needed to cope with dripping water all around the backside of the toilet flooring.
I’ll admit that I don’t go on cruises to have a spectacular showering expertise and I notice it’s a small (perhaps even foolish) factor to complain about. However, it’s a every day exercise that we didn’t take pleasure in on Grandeur of the Seas. Additionally, if you happen to needed to bathe your youngsters, I can think about it could be a nightmare expertise on this cabin!
Due to our loyalty standing, we have been additionally in a position to request upgraded toiletries for our crusing
When cruising with Royal Caribbean in a regular cabin, you’ll sometimes solely discover a 2-in-1 thriller liquid in your cabin – it’s marketed as ‘double obligation’ shampoo and physique wash. This cleaning soap leaves my hair feeling dried out usually, so I normally pack my very own shampoo and conditioner after I cruise. I’m high-quality utilizing the offered thriller liquid as physique wash, however having conditioner and higher shampoo is a should.
My sister knowledgeable me on this cruise that we are able to request unique toiletries onboard due to our Diamond + standing. I had fully forgotten about this amenity, so we requested the upgraded toiletries from our stateroom attendant. After returning to the cabin on our first night, these have been offered for us to make use of! We liked having greater high quality toiletries throughout our crusing.
General, this inside cabin was comfy throughout our brief cruise on Grandeur of the Seas – and I’d e-book it once more!
As a result of this cruise was solely 4 nights, this low cost and small inside cabin was good for us. Inside cabins have the whole lot wanted for a cushty keep, particularly throughout a brief itinerary. I had set my expectations low for this cabin contemplating the ship’s age; to our shock, it was higher than anticipated.
Whereas the cabin was understandably outdated, I discovered the stateroom to be in related situation to cabins onboard Royal Caribbean’s Voyager-class ships and Radiance-class ships. I’ve lately sailed on each of those ship lessons, and our cabin on Grandeur of the Seas was similar to my staterooms on Jewel of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas.
I’d completely e-book one other inside cabin onboard Grandeur of the Seas. With only a few balconies and suites to e-book anyway, most company will discover themselves in an inside or outdoors cabin onboard as effectively. Although the room was fairly small at 142 sq. ft, the stateroom grow to be a comfortable place to return to every night.
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