Grandeur of the Seas - Day 8 - St. Kitts (Part 2)

I return to the cabin to find Dad reading and having already devoured half of our 4 cookie plate suite treat for today. He'd probably eat Rocky Road ice cream and cookies for every meal if no one else was cooking for him.

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. 

Hmm, that's odd Dad because I got one on my bed. Maybe it fell off, let's go look. I open the door to his bedroom and discover where our 2nd Compass copy really was:

Leave it to Dad to not even notice that his bed was occupied, much less by a creature holding his copy of the 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.

Grandeur of the Seas - Day 5 - St. Croix (Part 2)

Our first stop once back on board was to the buffet now that our stomachs weren't doing flips on St. Croix's roads. On port days, the buffet is the only place outside of room service listed as open in the Compass. Certainly not the greatest but it was the quickest. On the plus side, I noticed a waffle station and real scoop able ice cream added to today's selections.

I think that English muffin thing was a ham and cheese sandwich with the rest being the usual pizza and fries

Today's suite treat plate was the same pastry assortment we get at Chops breakfast. Guess they run low on ideas on longer cruises?

After a stop at the cabin to drop off our stuff, we grabbed our soda cups and headed down to the Freestyle machine on deck 6. Perhaps the most convenient machine to our usual haunts but always the one with the most issues. The machine dumped enough ice for 5 cups but wouldn't dispense Dad's favorite orange soda for anything at first despite showing as in stock. The icon for any flavor that is out of supply greys out and doesn't let you select it. Once Dad had an acceptable choice in his cup, we headed over to Schooner just as True or False trivia was starting. Cori and Allan joined us for the usual 4PM trivia and we merged with some other new friends from trivia. We all made small talk about our day in port and it was funny to see people's reactions to hearing that we fed beer to pigs.

A little time back in the cabin where I checked out the side effect of our extensive walk being a new sunburn on my shoulders. I applied a spray on sunscreen everywhere skin was visible each day before going out but I still got burnt. We had brought along a 50 SPF bottle that was half used from a previous trip and one that was 100 SPF that we never got around to opening. Dad suggested that the 50 SPF bottle had expired its effectiveness and we left it behind when packing at the end of the cruise. The Caribbean sun is no joke even in the cooler months of the year so definitely check your sunblock and reapply especially if you're in the direct sun all day like at the beach. We also took the time to drink a lot of water once back on board and soon felt much better.

Tonight was the night that we decided to give Izumi a second chance so at 6PM we headed upstairs. Someone must have really put a bug in their ear so to speak because from the moment we arrived, they couldn't do enough to well...kiss our asses if you'll pardon my choice of phrase. Arden, the manager, seated us himself and asked if we'd gotten the chocolate covered strawberries he'd had sent to our cabin. Mystery solved on that 2nd plate of treats we thought were a redo for the rescheduled formal night. We explained that we didn't know what they were from and Arden was surprised to learn that his card was not included with the delivery. He gave us his card now and urged us to call him with any further issues regardless of wherever on the ship they might happen. He offered that if something went wrong elsewhere, he'd work with whomever to fix it.

This time our waiter was Prashant and it was like he'd been assigned just to us. He explained every part of the menu explaining the choices, covering what we could choose with the package, and giving his recommendations. I jokingly refer to him as our personal ninja waiter because I had no idea he was hanging out close behind me until I looked up to ask for a water refill and he was at our table immediately. We were pretty much the only table in the restaurant at this time until an officer with his guests came in near the end of our meal. Dad got the Pork Gyoza Dumpling (one we'd both tried and liked before, $8) from the Starters portion of the menu and liked it. I ordered the Snow Crab California for $13 from the Signature Rolls portion. This is a roll that sounded simple enough for me to recognize the ingredients to choose as a sort of starter sushi. Was pretty good.

Dad finally got to try his Tonkotsu Ramen bowl ($13) and liked it. He later agreed with Prashant that having that and the hot rock would be too much food. I got a good laugh out of Dad devouring the bowl before admitting that he didn't realize this was the same ramen I indulge in at home from the little packets.

I chose to also get the Crispy Philly roll again and even with Dad taking a couple I couldn't finish the rest of it from being too full.

Having enjoyed a complete 180 in service and continued good food, we definitely wanted to try the new Japanese Pancake with Vanilla Ice Cream dessert that had been added to the menu since we were last on the Grandeur. Prashant explained that it's made with slightly different ingredients than your usual breakfast pancake giving it more of a cake taste but not as dense. It did seem a bit odd in my mind to be looking at a plate of breakfast but following each pancake bite with an ice cream chaser. Overall delicious dish!

At one point, the setting sun came in through the side door at such an angle that it bothered Dad's eyes. Both Arden and Prashant were watching us so intently (plus we were at the table right next to the podium) that when Dad commented on the sun, they both moved the large sushi class sign over in front of the door to block the sunlight. They both stood on either side of the sign in front of the doors looking so triumphant with big smiles that I thought they might have stayed there blocking the sun with their own bodies for the rest of the meal if we'd asked.

At the end of the meal, Arden came back over to check in and invited us to come to Izumi's sushi making class for free to be held later in the cruise. I had briefly considered booking this class pre-cruise since our Ultimate Dining Package included a discount for these extra fee "culinary experiences." I told Arden I'd think about it (Dad had no desire for sushi making) and I'm not sure Arden intended to take no for an answer. Each time we saw him around the ship, he'd smile, wave, and yell out Hi Danielle! before reminding us about the class. A couple days later, we had a confirmation card for the class delivered to our cabin as Arden had signed me up anyway.

After dinner we headed down to the Centrum to sit and watch the second of the night's 60 Seconds or Less Game Show. We've participated in these little challenges on other cruises (patterned after TV's Minute to Win It game show) and saw several that were the same tasks. Dad didn't like how some of the contestants modified what they had to do (i.e. holding the weighted pantyhose tied around your waist to aim it at the water bottles rather than the rules of solely swinging your hips to do it). If it was a matter of them doing that to win and keeping me from winning a free cruise (and no not just a free cruise back to Baltimore), rather than a keychain I might have cared a bit more.

The next activity in the Centrum was the Battle of the Sexes Game. We've seen it played in various forms from straight trivia games to some trivia and some physical challenges. This time they split up the men and women to sit on opposite sides of the Centrum and Dad volunteered to be part of the group of guys to participate when Jeff was having a hard time getting anyone else. I'd been part of this game on the previous Grandeur cruise so I wasn't feeling the need to do it again. The bulk of the challenges were relay race based such as getting a keychain across the space and dropped into a cup while tucked between your legs.

After all the challenges, the teams had a tie score so Jeff added the balloon popping relay game as a tie breaker. When I last participated, the cruise staff member running that game had me be the one to sit in the chair (as the heaviest person on the team, not said but understood) while the other ladies blew up a balloon, tied it off, and ran at me to pop it in various ways between our two bodies. The final round required the runner to pop her balloon between her front and my back while I was bent over the chair. She got so into pulling me against her to pop it, I had bruises along my upper arms for the next several days. This time Jeff picked Dad to sit in the chair.

Dad started out standing in front of the chair to pop the balloon between the two guys facing each other. The first guy to run at him was so overzealous and most likely already getting the most out of his drink package that he knocked Dad so far back, Dad slammed his arms against the chair behind him before falling into the chair itself. Thankfully the chair was there or Dad would have hit the hard floor directly. I had moved over to get pictures of each balloon popping and caught the moment Biddy reacted to the fall.

The guy did apologize and the staff did ask if Dad was alright. Dad chose to continue on with the game.

The guys won the tie breaker round and were awarded gold medals:

By the time we'd gotten an elevator to head back up to our cabin, Dad's left wrist looked like he had his own balloon underneath the skin.

Dad didn't want to go down to medical (we had purchased insurance) as it was after hours so after a brief first aid assessment to make sure he could still move freely we followed it up with a dose of Advil and a makeshift ice pack made up from a cabin towel and our ice bucket. He sat with the ice pack on his wrist for the next hour and the swelling went down to looking more puffy than the original large bump. We had both planned to shower tonight which he was able to do despite the sore wrist and he sat with more ice afterwards for a bit before heading to bed. We set our alarm for somewhat earlier than necessary for our privately booked tour in Antigua tomorrow so we'd have time in the morning to head down to the medical center if Dad deemed necessary. Leave it to us to walk away from Battle of the Sexes with real battle wounds.

Grandeur of the Seas - Day 2 - Sea Day (Part 2)

Our first time on the Grandeur, we bought a 4 night dining package with the intention of trying all three restaurants on board and then returning to our mutual favorite on the last use. It was because of this package that we tried Izumi at all as Dad's idea of Asian food is the local Chinese takeout. The idea of eating sushi was so anathema to him. We each had the hot rock option that last time and the whole experience and food was great. He even joined me in eating the Crispy Philly sushi roll!

So I was really looking forward to returning to Izumi for potentially several visits because it offered me the chance to try multiple sushi options without making Dad go hungry. Grandeur does not have the hibachi option that Oasis had but they told us there was plans to add it. I'm curious to know where they'd put it as the venue is so small. One of the things Grandeur has that the ships with hibachi no longer have is the tableside hot rock cooking which is a fun experience of its own. Since Izumi is still a la carte pricing on Grandeur, having the Ultimate Dining Package meant we each had a budget of $35 to use. Anything over that would be charged to our onboard account. If your dining companion is willing, the totals can be combined so that if you wanted a little more than they did, the package would still cover it. We went for that option so we had $70 to "burn" basically.

Dad's excited for his hot rock meal to come

Tonight our waiter was Leonardo and things started out fairly well. This was the first time a restaurant had offered us the choice of ship water, bottled water, or sparkling water. That's something both Celebrity and Oasis did when they saw we were in suites. Several times on Oasis they even made a big point of grabbing bottled water for us when everyone else around us was being served ship water out of the pitcher. We've always been fine with ship water as they call it but I'm assuming they would have charged us for the use of bottled or sparkling water.

Leonardo brought over our complimentary bowl of edamame warning that it was super salty. We've never been fans of edamame but I tried one this night. It was essentially inedible because it tasted like a salt lick. I tried it on my other Izumi visits and it was never that salty.

I chose to try the Shrimp Firecracker Spring Roll from the Starters ($9) and was pleasantly surprised by how I didn't find it too spicy, even with the dipping sauce.

Next we just had to repeat that Crispy Philly from the Signature Rolls section. ($13) This time it seemed a little too breaded and too crunchy to really get the taste of a Philly cheesesteak. 

Dad ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen bowl ($13) which we thought was coming next. 

See a large Tonkotsu Ramen bowl in the above picture? Nope? We never saw it either.

Next came out our respective hot rock orders. Last time we had both ordered the beef tenderloin but this time Dad went with the Mixed Skewers ($19) and I chose Mixed Seafood ($18). Dad asked Leonardo if he could choose all beef from the list and he said he'd have to ask the chef. The chef of course had no problem with that. Last time, a waiter came over and gave us a lesson on using the hot rocks and did most of the cooking in front of us. All that was left was us to let it sit cooking until it had reached our desired doneness. 

This time, we were brought our own hot rock platters, got warned about them being hot, shown how to use these new comically large tongs, and left to our own devices. Because Dad's beef was thick pieces for skewers, they took so long to cook that his rock actually went cold! I was concerned about food safety for mine because my limited experience preparing seafood at home only knew that shrimp turns pink when done. Had no knowledge about how to tell when the salmon or scallops were done. 

We did try to ask Leonardo for help but once a couple Pinnacle members came in to dine with a couple officers at the table next to us, we were forgotten about. I watched Leonardo bring a hot rock to a woman at a full table on the other side of us and she wouldn't let him leave until he cooked it all for her. A task he didn't do a good job of hiding his annoyance over. After trying a couple bites of the salmon and scallops and eating the couple shrimp and (now overcooked) lobster tail, I gave up on my entrée. By this point, Dad was having such a hard time getting the beef to cook through, he had decided that if they brought the ramen bowl after this, he wouldn't want it. 

Arden Religioso, the Izumi Manager stopped by our table thinking he was helping out by offering dessert. We shared our displeasure with the lack of service making sure to point out how this could be an undercooked food safety issue and how we never saw that bowl of ramen. Arden was very bothered by this news and immediately went over to loudly reprimand Leonardo. I have a tendency to immediately lose my appetite when there's bad service so we turned down dessert and asked to have our card swiped so we can leave. As it was, having to sit there trying to cook on this rock one handed positioned off to my side, left me with a very stiff and sore arm and shoulder by the end of the meal. Leonardo rushed our receipt right over and our total showed as $72, the total of all our items we actually were served plus the cost of the Tonkotsu Ramen bowl we never received. We insisted he take off the cost of the bowl which would put us under the $70 maximum covered by our package. Regardless of our meal and service quality, we would have paid that extra $2 if we'd gotten all we ordered. That change seemed to be out of his realm of knowledge and Leonardo and Arden had to both crowd around the machine to figure out how to alter our receipt. While they worked on that, we suddenly had the attention of five waiters rushing to clean up our table. Needless to say once we were given the corrected receipt to sign, there was no extra tip added tonight.

Back to the cabin for a quick pit stop and found that Moses had done something for us no steward has ever thought to do - we each had a towel animal left on our beds. Even on Oasis with a 2 bedroom suite we only got 1 towel animal. Yes I'm 39 but I still love seeing what cute creation they leave for us. Moses left us with the animals until it was time to make another one 2 days later (RCL seems to follow an every other night towel animal policy whereas Carnival will leave one every day). 

Tonight I had a dog and Dad had a bunny waiting in bed for him:

We headed down to the theater to see tonight's late show headliner, Bill Cook - an illusionist. We sat in the lower level back of the theater section reserved for suite guests. This section is manned by a crew member (usually from the activities staff) until 5-10 minutes before the show starts. Then they leave the ropes open and anyone can come use those seats. While most every other place that suites could go as an extra perk included pinnacles on the sign, this space did not. Yet we noticed several passengers showing their blue colored cards listing pinnacle level and being let in. While it never impacted us finding a seat since we always got there a little early, it just doesn't seem right since this space was not marked as including them too. And yes, I'm sure our treatment this time in the concierge lounge added to my disdain in the theater.

One of the other concerns I had about our reserved suite seating perk is the description in RCL's new Key Program that listed those passengers as also getting reserved theater seating. As you can see in the picture above, this section is only 4 rows of seats and would be impossible if also shared with Key passengers. It was a pleasant surprise though to notice that there's a whole separate section of the theater that they've reserved for Key guests. One evening we happened to walk in on the theater's upper level and found the same love seat style setup only without the suite designation. Off to the right side of this upper level featured a sign that reserved that wing of seats for Key guests. As always, there's nothing stopping any cruiser from sitting in any other spots in the theater if they so choose but we like the love seat style couches in the back. A little more room to breathe helps the fluffy crowd. 

That upper level of seats from the video screen on back is the reserved theater seats for Key members.

Bill Cook came to our seating area before the show to introduce himself and joked that we wouldn't get away with not being included simply because we sat in the back. He put on a relatively good show including those seated in the lower level and a couple people in the top balcony seats in a few tricks. 

It was still relatively early in the evening so we wandered down to the shops to see if I could find a specific RCL themed Tshirt I'd seen lots of people wearing. All the shops were open and there was a couple people manning the counter in the center of all the shops but there was no one manning the actual RCL logo shop. We and another woman walked in to browse and kept calling out to say hello and ask if anyone was working or if the shop was really open. No response, no one from the counter bothered to come in or respond to us. The woman joked that everything must be free then but turned to leave. I took a few moments to browse the limited RCL themed T-shirts they had on racks. Not finding the one I wanted and still having no one notice we were in an unattended shop, we left. 

On to Park Café for late night snacks and found that most everyone else had the same idea. Tonight's offerings included hot dogs and hamburgers in addition to nacho fixings and desserts. I went with straight cheese nachos and they weren't too bad. 

As we headed back to our cabin, we noticed that we weren't the only ones who'd felt a lot more motion as we walked through the ship. The barf bags have been put out along the stairwells!

Earlier at our trivia, it had been announced that from then on, the Progressive trivia sessions would be moved to 9AM so that a regular morning trivia could be held at 10AM. When our newly minted Progressive team member Cori heard that, she declared that 9AM was too early for them to bother getting up and she and her husband Allan quit our team. Thus for the next couple sea days, our "Made Up Team" was made up of just Dad and I.

With an early trivia time, we set our alarm for an even earlier breakfast and headed to bed.