Royal Caribbean Baltimore

We cruised on the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, Maryland from November 1 – 11, 2015. We have found that Royal Caribbean has become very cheap in many ways (they will be addressed here). We enjoyed the cruise but a lot of improvements can be made to make the experience even better and provide the «WOW «factor that they try to promote. I will explain in the next few paragraphs.
First of all is the service of the employees. Service on board was very good; I have no issues with the actual work being done. That being said, there were very few smiles. I find smiling makes the service experience a whole lot better even if the actual work output remains the same. Happy employees make the experience on board better. Our stateroom attendant (Asmadi Fnu) and our dining room server (Ann Jelie) were two employees who worked very hard and were very friendly and always smiled; they provided the «WOW factor to me and deserve to be personally recognized in this review.
Secondly, the entertainment. The entertainment on the ship was very good. The cruise director was super funny. I would have one suggestion for the cruise director. It would be nice to have a couple of announcements through the PA system with various activities to attend (this is in addition to the Morning Show shown daily on Channel 14 on TV and the Cruise Compass). A perfect time for the afternoon announcements would be right after the captain’s message at 12:00 each at sea day. I have seen this on various competitor’s cruise ships.
Thirdly, the process of going ashore on port days (no tender). Although a minor point, I found it disappointing that there were no announcements made stating that we are ready to go ashore. They stated it was early on one day and that is why they did not make an announcement. However, they never made any announcements for any of the ports we went to with the exception of Grand Cayman as we tendered and they needed to let people know when a certain tender ticket could proceed to shore.
Finally and most importantly, the food. I did not have any particular problem with the food tasting horrible. I did however, find many ways that Royal Caribbean has become very cheap with the meals. The main thing I noticed is the menus at The Great Gatsby. They have only a section for starters and entrees and a separate dessert menu. I know from most (if not all) of my previous cruises there were three sections on the main menu. Most people only get one appetizer and one entrée. Of course you can order more if you would like in which case I did but the menu should have a third area. Another thing I did not like was during the first night or so while waiting in line; we were approached by an employee trying to get us to spend money at Chop’s Grill while we were waiting in line. We do not like spending more money on food when we go on cruises and we just use the included restaurants on board the ship. While I can see them advertising their restaurants for the people who do want to try them, there should not be an employee at the line for the main dining room. They should keep their advertisements on television, at the beginning of the cruise and perhaps a posting or two around the ship. Also worth mentioning is the fact that there are items for purchase from Chops Grill available to be ordered from the main dining room menu. While I am sure the food from Chops Grill would most likely be great, when I go to the dining room I do not want to see items for purchase on the menu (this does not include alcohol of course; as that is fully expected). The chocolates on the bed have disappeared too which, in my opinion, proves even more that Royal Caribbean is getting very cheap.
I wanted to also say that the process of embarkation and disembarkation was stellar at the Baltimore Cruise Port; a definite 10 out of 10! Everything went very smooth and it took very little time to process during both of these activities. I think it probably took about 30 minutes to get on the ship and about 30 minutes to get off the ship.
All in all, we enjoyed our cruise but we definitely got the feeling that Royal Caribbean is penny-​pinching really bad. While nothing on this cruise will prevent us from considering Royal Caribbean for a future cruise, there are many improvements that can be made to improve the guest experience.

I recently sailed to Bermuda on a 6 night cruise from Baltimore. The ship was very clean, and all the service staff were exceptionally pleasant and helpful. The one big negative I have is the food, which would have to improve to be called mediocre. They have a bunch of «premium dining options» on the cruise where you can pay extra for better food. I kinda got the idea that the regular food was made intentionally bad to induce people to pay for the premium food.
All in all, I’d say paying just over $ 700 for an all inclusive 6 night vacation is a pretty good deal.

Pay all that money to board a cruise with a bunch of rude staff at the port! This is my second time cruising with royal caribbean and I honestly don’t think ill ever cruise with them ever again.
The staff here is so rude and ignorant it’s ridiculous, I’m trying to board the cruise on a positive note but the staff here is just so negative it irks me.
Incident one. A group of elderly women were exiting their vehicle, they were parked nearby the crosswalk and a staff member came out and yelled at them like they were dogs! Telling them to hurry up or else they’ll get fined, then rolled his eyes at them when they were taking their time. They’re old! Have some respect! Help them get out or something if you want to speed things up.
Incident two. A security guard called me over to try to lure me into buying a specialty dining package, I said no thanks and she called me «a broke ass.» Really though?
Royal caribbean needs to teach their staff about respect and courtesy. Will never cruise with them again.

We enjoyed our cruise! The pros: drink and dinner packages; the food, the quick on boarding and exiting the ship; Darryl and Ricky were great and brought a lot of energy and excitement; the wait staff at The Gatsby (victor and Manuel) and Anthony at Starbucks! Good trip for families. They had awesome food especially Giovanni’s!
The cons: no ongoing music at pool; the shows were not that great (singers couldn’t sing), the band at the pool couldn’t understand what they were saying, couldn’t hear and/​or understand the captains announcements, too many teens preteens running amuck with no parents to see the shenanigans, people started saving chairs by the pool (sometimes unoccupied for hours) at 0700! Adult pool had no music and no air circulating,
Overall it was a good trip, but we will go to another line next time… one with more activities outside of ring toss and beanbag throw. ;)
Would recommend this for families with kids.

Enjoyed a really fast 7 day cruise from Baltimore to the Bahamas 2 weeks ago.
Never sailed on Royal before, but since it was right here 20 min from my house, seemed like a good idea, And it was!
Smallish ship, but lots to do and did not feel crowded. And it was spotless.
Doing Bermuda on same ship next month.
Great price, excellent home port and lovely service. I might just leave my bags packed and start counting the days!