Grandeur Of The Seas

The 1996-built Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship is the 3rd Vision-class Royal Caribbean liners, with sisterships Vision OTS, Legend OTS (now Marella Discovery 2), Enchantment OTS, Rhapsody OTS, Splendour OTS (now Marella Discovery).

The vessel (IMO number 9102978) is currently Bahamas-flagged (MMSI 311315000) and registered in Nassau.

In 2021, after 23 years of RCI service, Grandeur OTS was slated to leave the RCI fleet and be transferred to Pullmantur, but these plans were canceled. Grandeur OTS's replacement in Baltimore MD was 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 passenger shipping company, trademarked travel brand, and subsidiary owned by Royal Caribbean Group (RCG/shipowner). RCI was established in 1968 and currently has over 1/5 of the worldwide cruise market. RCI also has RCG's largest fleet by both vessel number and GT tonnage (ship sizes and capacities).

All RCI liners have names ending with "of the Seas".

The 2000-passenger ship Grandeur OTS is one of Royal Caribbean's older 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 refurbishment gave Grandeur OTS a new life. Royal Caribbean spent millions to add Oasis-class features to ships that lack 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 HDTV'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.

Decks and Cabins

Grandeur Of The Seas staterooms (997 total, in 21 grades) include 95 Suites, 122 Balcony, 380 Oceanviews, 400 Inside. Cabin sizes vary between 140-190 ft2 (13-18 m2). Most cabin balconies are sized 40 ft2 / 4 m2. The largest is the Royal Suite (1185 ft2 / 110 m2 plus 160 ft2 / 15 m2 terrace). Wheelchair-accessible cabins are 16.

The boat has 12 decks, of which 11 are passenger-accessible and 5 with cabins.

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 desserts. 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 pm and 8:30 pm. 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 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 Chef's Table exclusive experience. You'll pay $95 for 5-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 7-11:30 am, Lunch 11.30-3:30 pm and Dinner 6.30-9 pm)
• Chops Grille (74-seat specialty restaurant; reservations recommended)
• Giovanni's Table (Italian specialty restaurant; reservations recommended)
• Izumi (Asian specialty 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 dining times. Grandeur OTS boasts a library with an honor checkout system, a rock wall with different areas for climbers of various skills, two shuffleboard courts, a photoshop and several stores specialized in jewelry, 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 Centrum Atrium 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. RCI 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); Crown Lounge (fka Diamond Club Lounge & Bar for past guests only); Concierge Club (suite and past guests only); Viking Crown Lounge and Nightclub
• R Bar (43-seat cocktail bar); Cafe Latte-tudes Bar (36-seat specialty coffee bar, Starbucks Coffee); Ben and Jerry's (ice cream bar); Schooner Bar (133-seat piano bar)
• Centrum Boutiques (duty-free; clothes, perfumes, accessories, jewelry, logo souvenirs, General Store/alcohol and cigarettes)
• Casino Royale (282-seat)
• Royal Caribbean Online center (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.

Itineraries

Grandeur of the Seas itinerary program was based on Canada New England, Bermuda and Caribbean cruises leaving from homeport Baltimore MD. The roundtrips (operated in the period 2013-2020) visited ports in The Bahamas (Nassau, CocoCay), Mexico (Cozumel), Jamaica, Florida (Key West and Port Canaveral). In Baltimore, Grandeur OTS was replaced by Enchantment OTS.

In mid-January 2021, RCI homeported the ship in Bridgetown Barbados. The itinerary program (Dec 2021 - April 2022) featured 3x new for RCI ports - Scarborough (Tobago), Port-of-Spain (Trinidad) and Kingstown (St Vincent Grenadines).

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

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

In summer 2022, from Galveston Texas Grandeur OTS offered 4-5-night short breaks to Mexico (Costa Maya and Cozumel).

In 2023 the ship was homeported in Miami (5-day "Eastern Caribbean" to Key West Florida and Labadee Haiti, and 9-day "Southern Caribbean" to St Maarten, St Croix USVI, Puerto Rico, Dominicana, Labadee) and during summer in Tmapa (4-day to Cozumel, and 5-day to Bahamas/CocoCay and Nassau).

Grandeur OTS was constructed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards (Helsinki Finland). The 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 colors 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.

Grandeur OTS' namesake is the RSSC's boat Seven Seas Grandeur (2023).

Grandeur OTS refurbishment 2013 review

The list of deckplan changes after 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.

Drydocking 2024 (March 24-April 24) was at Grand Bahama Shipyard (Freeport Bahamas). This project was mainly for routine maintenance and classification works, technical overhauls (machinery upgrades), safety inspections, but also included hotel upkeep (new carpeting and upholstery in all public areas).

Inaugural roundtrip Barbados cruises 2021

For winter 2021-2022, Royal Caribbean scheduled for Grandeur OTS a total of 15x roundtrips from Bridgetown, 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)