Dad suggested we try out room service for lunch today as we were both feeling a little burned out on Windjammer options. The room service menu was the same as the one we had on Oasis so click here to check that out. The last time we were on the Grandeur we tried ordering late evening room service after skipping dinner to attend other activities. The food took almost two hours to show up and was mostly cold and/or inedible. This time we had to try it again #fortheblog!
The information from our concierge Carlington said that dialing #53 from your cabin phone is the special suite line to room service. On Oasis there was a separate number to dial for suite people and expedited service but this #53 number turned out to be the one they advertised in the Compass for everyone to use. We didn't realize that until a few days later so it was a bit surprising to be told by room service that our order would take 30-40 minutes. Seemed a bit high considering this was lunch on a port day with half the ship off enjoying St. Kitts. They were able to tell what cabin was calling without my having to say it was a suite and honestly, 30-40 minutes was just barely reaching the longer than it should take threshold. However, our order didn't actually arrive until 50 minutes later but was at least still hot.
A few years back now, RCL decided that rather than charge per item like some other lines, they would institute a $7.95 delivery charge. That charge applies per each time you order. It doesn't matter whether you order one item for a snack or 20 dishes for your whole deck to have lunch. The nice thing about having shelled out all this extra money for a suite, is that this new extra charge is waived for anyone staying in a Grand Suite or above. When the crew member arrived to deliver our food, she seemed a little confused and harried commenting about forgetting something or having to go get our other something. We of course have no idea what she's talking about because she'd brought in all the right amount of dishes. She asks to use our cabin phone to call back down to room service. After chatting with them for a minute, she seems clearer and calmer before telling us it's all good and taking the few dollars in tips we always give out for room service delivery before leaving. Our only guess is that she was confused by not having gotten a delivery charge receipt for our order that she would have needed us to sign, not understanding at first that suites don't get charged.
For comparison sake, and the fact that it was tasty then, we ordered 2 of the same dishes we tried on Oasis - the Classic Philly Cheesesteak and the Grilled Quesadilla. Here, along with two orders of pizza not knowing they'd bring a whole freaking pie, is how it arrived on Oasis:
And here is how it arrived today on Grandeur:
So who wins in the great Room Service battle of the RCL ships? Drum roll please....it's a tie! Grandeur earned high marks for their Philly Cheesesteak because it had seasoned meat strips versus old school SteakUmms flat patties and all that on top is melted cheese over the meat and the bread! Who needs fries, just give me a side of that cheese melted toasty bread! However, Oasis won out for the quesadilla since theirs had evenly distributed melted cheese, was perfectly toasted, and came with the three listed dipping sauces of guacamole, sour cream, and Pico de Gallo. Grandeur's quesadilla had burnt edges, cheese only at the bottom which hadn't fully melted, and only included a half filled cup of the Pico de Gallo. Either way it was a filling lunch dined al fresco on our balcony watching people coming back from their tours.
We headed down to the Schooner Bar to participate in our routine 4PM afternoon trivia but once again was missing our new trivia teammates, Cori and Allan. Mark ran this trivia and it was so challenging, we only scored 4 points! When going over the answers, Mark realized that one of his questions was gotten right by everybody so he joked that he'd have to throw that one out next time. We decided to skip playing Pictionary in favor of changing for dinner before visiting the Concierge Lounge.
Once we arrived, the place was so packed with Pinnacles that we had to go almost to the other end of the Viking Crown Lounge to find a seat. It took a while for bar service to even notice us. I wonder if they make pins that look just like the Pinnacle one but really say "I paid too damn much for you to give me less service than any fellow passenger while in a space that I only have access to because I paid extra for a suite!" Sorry for the rant but there's a difference between being busier than usual because of the high number of Pinnacles so service is slow and being outright skipped over while the bar staff waits on someone else just because they were Pinnacle. RCL crew can't control how Pinnacles in the concierge lounge treated us but they can control the poor service.
I think even Carlington was tired of making small talk with the Pinnacle crowd because once he saw us, he pulled up a chair to say hello and never left. We discussed everything from small talk to Dad's bruise story to Carlington's personal life and career history. We asked him about the rumored plans to make this lounge for suite guests only and Carlington told us that it was supposed to happen 1 1/2 years ago but management decided that they like how the Grandeur gets many high level returning guests and wants to keep them happy. I guess they consider the bottom line of a repeat customer more valuable than someone (also a repeat customer) who shelled out a lot of money in the first place to be able to enjoy the included perks. Carlington shared how several new ideas like having the Next Cruise people come up to the concierge lounge to meet with passengers (aka go where the money is) to make them more inclined to book again for another high priced cabin was ideas he proposed and RCL ran with. It was a fascinating conversation hearing about what things are like behind the scenes and what new ideas may be coming down the line.
We unfortunately had to end the conversation to make our 6PM dinner reservation at Izumi or we could have been sitting there chatting all evening. As soon as we walked into Izumi, Arden immediately called Prashant over to wait on us. He gave us the same menu rundown and his recommendations but this time seemed to really be pushing me to order the sushi. I didn't think I could be given how I never get to try it at home but at this point I was sushi'd out. I did repeat the Firecracker shrimp appetizer but this time the wonton wrapper wasn't very good and kept falling apart.
I got to try the same Tonkotsu Ramen bowl Dad enjoyed the other night and was proud of myself for being able to eat it all with only the chopsticks.
This time Dad ordered the beef tenderloin hot rock and true to his word, Prashant cooked it all at the table for him.
Arden once again pushed for me to attend the sushi making class but this time declared that he'd gone ahead and signed me up with a confirmation card already being sent to our cabin. Alrighty then, now I'd feel too guilty not to attend. I grew up with a Jewish side of the family and an Italian side of the family so trust me, I know guilt! What goes well with guilt but ice cream! Our Chops waiter Alberto had recommended we try the Assorted Mochi Ice Cream, or as he put it, the ice cream balls. Mochi is described as a soft pounded sticky rice dumpling formed around an ice cream filling. The ice cream serves as the flavor while the rice provides sweetness and texture. You choose 3 balls made up of any combination of strawberry, mango, green tea, or chocolate ice cream. Dad of course went with all 3 chocolate while I mixed it up throwing 1 strawberry in the middle of my 2 chocolate balls. It does have an unusual texture that makes you think twice when taking a bite since your brain is thinking of soft creamy ice cream but it ended up being really good.
The chocolate flavor also seemed to have some chocolate chips or chunks inside which I normally don't like but this wasn't enough to be distracting.
With our bellies full, we headed back down to the Schooner Bar to look for our new Pub trivia friends. Found only one of the guys there playing by himself so we joined him but wasn't much extra help. We tried to check out Finish that Lyric next but the Centrum was packed. Up to the deck 8 chairs instead but alas, they were spoken for too. Guess word had gotten out about our spot as we even saw someone bringing out the chairs from their cabin to sit together along the rail.
Back to the one place we knew we'd be able to find a seat, our cabin, I was admiring the swan towel animal on my bed when Dad said he didn't get a copy of tomorrow's Compass.
After going over tomorrow's schedule and relaxing in the cabin for a while, we stopped off to refill our soda cups before heading to the theater to watch Mary Poppins Returns. I have loved the original Mary Poppins movie all my life so I was really interested in seeing this sequel. However, this movie was so darkly lit and reminded me more of a superhero action movie than a beloved children's classic. I lasted about an hour before I started feeling fidgety and dozing off all at the same time. A good crowd had gathered to watch the movie but soon many people, even families with kids, were getting up and walking out. We made it until the last 20-30 minutes before finally giving up and heading back to the cabin for bed. I'd gladly watch the original 20 more times before I'd care about seeing the last part of this sequel.
Tomorrow we're back in our final port of St. Maarten, marking our 3rd visit to this port and our third different activity done in this port.
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