Grandeur, December 3, 2005 – Tampa

Today we arrived in Tampa, Florida.  Steve and I flew home the same day and the rest of the family enjoyed a day locally before their travels home.

This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean and I wanted to share a few observations.

1. Crew- The cabin stewards seemed more overworked than we’ve seen previously.  They often didn’t get the cabins done until afternoon.

2. Food – The food was pretty good but the experience at the Windjammer was not.  With so many stations by the time you got everything for the meal, any hot food would be cold.  Plus there weren’t enough tables for large groups or even tables you could put together.

3. Cabin – Our cabin was very nice but the mattress seemed old as I was waking up every morning with a backache.  I also got bedbug bites.  We spoke with another passenger who had the same complaint.

Here’s a listing of each day:

• Precruise, November 18-19
• Baltimore, November 20
• Sea Day, November 21
• Bermuda?, November 22
• Sea Day 3, November 23
• St. Maarten, November 24
• St. Maarten 2, November 25
• Sea Day 4, November 26
• Curacao, November 27
• Aruba, November 28
• Sea Day 5, November 29
• Grand Cayman, November 30
• Costa Maya, December 1
• Sea Day 6, December 2

I would try this cruise line again but on a newer ship and hopefully after mattresses have been upgraded.  Bottom line the itinerary, service and experience was wonderful.  The family time was priceless.