8 Nights Italy, France & Spain Cruise

Extraordinary experience aboard the Super yacht Luminara

I was very fortunate to get to sail on the Ritz Carlton Luminara superyacht last week. This exceeded my expectations in every area. The attention to detail on the ship was exceptional. No expense was spared to create a very soothing luxurious relaxing experience. Gorgeouse fresh flowers adorn every table and corner of the ship. All of the rooms are suites that are thoughtfully appointed with the best toiletries and snacks. Each suite comes woth your own personal butler. Michele was absolutely perfect. The joy and pride of each and every crew member was evident at every interaction. I am vegan so I never have high expectations of the menu option. But the 7 course tasting menu I had blew me away. The shopping experience is relaxing and enjoyable. The pool and common areas never feel crowded. But also there is a subtle luxurious vibe throughout the ship as if you are all sharing in a truly special experience.

Amazing food options and elegant ship

This is one of the best cruises I’ve ever been on. The Marina is a beautiful ship and with only 1,450 passengers a perfect size. It’s beautifully decorated in a very classy, elegant yet understated manner. The service is excellent and attentive and the staff is very kind and professional. The cruise director is very professional and provides exceptional customer service. The food quality and selection is outstanding. Every meal is delicious and the presentation is excellent. The specialty restaurants are sublime and add to the already large selection of dishes. Our room is spacious and comfortable and very well appointed with a huge bathroom with two showers, a full bathtub and all in marble. The internet works well and exceeds my expectations. I like the fact that specialty restaurants, coffee, soft drinks, teas and juices are included. Aquamar is an amazing restaurant with tasty food and healthy options. Overall we love this cruise and the ship and would cruise on it again. Highly recommended.

Grandeur of the Seas with Teenagers

After I booked our cruise, I read reviews about how the Grandeur of the Seas is the smallest oldest ship in Royal Carribean’s fleet and that there is not much to do for teenagers or children. I could not find reviews of the ship by parents travelling with teenagers - which is why I want to share this review to help others planning for a cruise. 1. Embarkation was very smooth. The drop off area at the port was not crowded - we were able to pull up right away and unload our luggage. Our arrival time was 12:30. We got there around 12:10 and were able to get on quickly. The security line had about a 10 minute wait overall. Please note - if you want to bring water bottles on board (allowed one 12-pack per room), you have to carry it on. I did not know that before unloading our luggage. Getting on the ship was quick and everyone at the port was friendly. Once onboard, it did not feel crowded. Our stateroom was supposed to be ready by 1, so we headed straight there. They opened the doors to the stateroom hallway around 1:10. 2. Onboard activities. There was a lot of trivia. We did a few different trivia games. There was a lot of music around the ship. There were a few entertaining events at the pool deck (belly flop, worlds sexiest man, dancing), but I agree not a lot of activities for teenagers. However- that was not a problem for our family. During sea days, we hung by the pool, enjoyed the hot tub, and played card games which I brought. We also enjoyed the hot tub most nights, and enjoyed watching the outdoor movies. I wish there was a larger selection of movies - they played the same movies multiple times. We were lucky it rained only one night of our cruise, and it was light, so the kids still went in the hot tub. 3. Entertainment. There was only one night without entertainment in the Palladium. However, there were two nights that had “18+” shows for the 9/9:15 time, which we wanted to go to since we had the late dinner time 7:45). We did take our 12, 14, and 16 year old children to the 18+ stand up show the last night. It was not too bad - but would not recommend for younger children. I would have liked more older children family friendly entertainment options for the evenings. I also took my 14 year old to the battle of the sexes “18+” event on the last night. There was nothing inappropriate during that event, and it was entertaining to watch. I’m glad we went even though it said 18+. 4. Staff. The staff was exceptional. The windjammer staff was very attentive and always cheerful. The bar staff was quick, even though they were the busiest on board. The entertainment staff was very good at getting everyone engaged. The cruise directors were amazing, and the activities from pool side games, trivia, dancing, and karaoke were well run. My favorite staff were our waitstaff at the main dining room, the Great Gatsby. We went to dinner every night and the wait staff learned our preferences. There were two nights the waitstaff and chefs danced / did a small show. I did not meet an unkind staff member onboard the ship. It was a great experience. 5. Food. The food in the windjammer and the main dining room were great. We did not eat breakfast much because we don’t typically. The breakfast menu at the windjammer seemed to be the same every day, but had a lot of selection. They also had a made to order area for breakfast, lunch and dinner (omelettes, pasta station, tacos). Lunch always had hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, fries, Mac and cheese, salad, and fruit with other dishes rotating. They had Indian dishes for every meal - which we enjoyed trying and were very delicious. They also had a carving station and grilled chicken every day. I never found the Windjammer to be crowded, and we were always able to find a table. We cruised about 5 years ago on a larger ship, and found the Windjammer to be much more crowded on the larger ship. Dinner service was great, but some picky kids ended up ordering steak every night. The other kids branched out to try new things and enjoyed everything they ordered. Dinner menu included an Indian dish every night - my daughter ended up liking those and ordered most nights. They also offered French onion soup a lot of nights, which we loved. The menu the last night was the most limited, with only 4 main dish option. Other nights had 8 options. The park cafe had sandwiches, soup, pizza, and dessert at periods throughout the day when the other dining venues were closed. Everyone in my family also ate their weight in ice cream. There was only one ice cream station, but the line was never long. 6. Coco Cay. We enjoyed Coco Cay, but we do live in Florida, so it wasn’t that much different than a beach resort. I would recommend saving your money and not booking a private area/ excursion for Coco Cay. There are lots of free chairs. We brought our own snorkeling gear and enjoyed the snorkeling area. We also enjoyed the hammocks. There is a shuttle you can take from area to area, and we used that to see the various areas of the island. There was a free splash area for smaller kids too. The water park looked fun, but we chose not to do it since we live in Florida and have annual passes to local water parks. If we go back, I will probably try the zip lining. Staff on the island was awesome, and there were maps and information stations around the island. The food was included and options were burgers, hot dogs, fries, salad, fruit, taco station, and sandwiches (portobello, Cuban, and beefsteak). Getting off and on the boat was very smooth. 7. Staterooms. We booked adjoining balcony rooms for my family of 5. It felt like having a much larger space because we could go back and forth between the rooms with an interior door. The balconies do not adjoin however. We made use of our room and spent mornings and evenings on the balcony. We had one child sleep on the couch, but only pulled it out once. The mattress on the pullout was pretty worn. Otherwise, the stateroom was clean and did not appear overly worn. The biggest complaint from the group was that the shower had a curtain which frequently wrapped around you during a shower. I think newer ships have doors for the shower, which would be much nicer. The water was hot (sometimes too hot), and had good pressure. 8. Beverage package. We did not purchase a beverage package, and I’m glad we didn’t. With all of the drinks we had (5 of us), it was less than one drink package. The free water stations were good and there was also tea, lemonade, and mango juice available for free. We got coffee from Starbucks one day, but drank the free coffee the rest of the days. No problem staying hydrated. I was worried about this, since I drink a lot of water, but the quality of the water from the machines was good and easy to access across the ship. We brought on the allowed 12 bottles of water per stateroom, and used those for shore excursion days. 9. Port - Bimini. We did the Sapona snorkling trip and it was cool, but you don’t see as much as if you were at a reef. You have to walk quite a bit after getting off the ship to the place the boat went out from. Then you have to sign waivers. About a 20-minute boat ride to the snorkel sight (which I enjoyed), about 30 - 45 minutes at the snorkel sight, then a 20-25 minute boat ride back. Overall, we enjoyed it and would recommend. The mall/shopping area on Bimini was very small. There were lots of people trying to rent you golf carts - almost chasing you. We went back to the ship for lunch, then we went to the free beach. The water was beautiful and we enjoyed swimming. Overall, a nice port. If we go again, I will probably book another excursion and make use of the free beach again. 10. Port - Nassau. We did the sealion encounter at Blue Lagoon. I did not receive much information about the excursion beforehand, so want to share details for those trying to plan their day. Everyone going to Blue Lagoon will leave the ship at the same time. That was a bit hectic because a lot of people went to Blue Lagoon. You will meet in the Palladium Theater, then depart the ship together. You will wait in lines at the dock, and the Blue Lagoon staff will sort you by experience and have you sign waivers. We ended up at the end of the line and got assigned the last time for the sealions which was actually great. You then board boats to get to blue lagoon. The groups were too large so about 20 of us ended up on a smaller boat to get out to the island, which was able to travel at a faster speed so we got to the island first. There are free chairs with umbrellas - and there are plenty of them. You will be given a time to leave the island - and everyone on your ship will have the same time. Do not miss your departure time! We got there around 10, with a departure time of 1-1:15. Our excursion included the water park, which was inflatables on the water. We did that for about an hour. We did not have a food package, but we got a snack from the snack bar. They accept cards and Apple Pay. Our sealion encounter was at 12, were told to be there at 11:45. The encounter was fun - you have time in the water on a platform to shake hands, pet, hug the sealion. Then you do photos out of the water. Whole thing was less than 30 minutes. We were also able to walk to the back and see the sealions in their pens. We then had about 30 minutes prior to departure time, so we swam in the swimming area. It started storming as we were leaving, so I feel bad for the ships that had later arrival times, there were 6 ships in port that day. We were the last to board the boat back to port from Blue Lagoon. We boarded our ship when we got back to port and had lunch on our ship. There were 6 ships leaving port, and we were the 2nd one out. Smooth experience. 11. Port - Key West. Everyone has to go through customs the morning of Key West. That takes awhile and makes the debarkation process long. It was close to 11 by the time we got off the ship. Big positive - you don’t have to go through customs when getting back to Tampa and disembarking at the end of the cruise. We live in Florida, and have been to Key West several times. So we just booked a golf cart and cruised around. We rented the golf cart that morning over the internet (got our cell service back in port). Sounded like the people in front of us booked a 3-hour window and missed most of it due to the line leaving the ship and walk to the rental place (they also said they got lost). You also need a license for anyone driving. There are no refunds - the guy seemed pretty mad. We enjoyed the golf cart though! We also got conch fritters from the conch stand - definitely recommend. In the past we have done the Mel Fisher Museum and it is really cool, so I recommend that. The beaches in Key West are not my favorite. There’s also lots of shops and bars. 12. Disembarkation. We put our larger luggage out the night before. We carried the rest off. We had to be out of the room by 8am, and out disembark group was at 8:15. We did sit in the Schooner Bar for about 10 minutes, and then got in line. There were 2 lines, and wrapped through the Centrum and around the back of the elevators. It was the most crowded I experienced the ship. The lines moved quickly and we got off in about 10 minutes. We were able to quickly find our luggage. Note - you will have to carry your luggage from there to your car….we made it, but it was a little rough because we had a lot of bags. We also did forget where we parked - I always take pictures of where we park our vehicle, but must have forgotten in the excitement of getting on the cruise. One last thing - I was really worried about getting seasick as I am prone to it. I did take Dramamine while at sea, but my other family members did not. We felt the boat rocking, but it wasn’t bad. I do think we had relatively calm seas during our trip. I only really felt it overnight one night. We were in a room midway in the ship, towards the back, which i recommend if you are prone to seasickness. I felt movement more in the extreme front and back of the ship, more in the front. But overall, a good experience.