Grandeur of the Seas Planned Upgrade

I sailed onboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas earlier this month (Click here to read my blog post about it!) and thought that it was a fabulous ship, very well maintained and spotlessly clean, but slightly lacking in the technology that some of the newer, more modern ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet boast and thus what passengers have come to expect. However, I was excited to hear that in May 2012 Grandeur of the Seas is going into dry docks in Cadiz, Spain for an upgrade of the services and public areas onboard.

Grandeur of the Seas is amongst a whole host of Royal Caribbean's ships which are planned to be refurbished between now and 2014. Splendour of the Seas, another ship I have sailed on and enjoyed, will be first to be upgraded and the plans will see most of the Radiance, Vision and Voyager class ships getting similar treatment.

From the little information that is available I can gather that the cabins will be upgraded, new internet systems will be put in place, Television services will be improved and some speciality restaurants will be added. The introduction of speciality restaurants, like those which are available on the newer ships, will be an excellent move and I believe will appeal to many passengers, including myself, who like to have a larger choice of where to eat, especially on some longer sailings.

One thing which I liked about Grandeur of the Seas was the more traditional interior decor which it had. The light beech pannelling throughout the ship combined with the large, open and very light areas made the ship feel cosy but not confined. I hope that this is something Royal Caribbean are not planning to change during their upgrade.

As would be expected with any ship which has been sailing since 1996, some of the furniture in the cabins is looking a little tired and in need of a change, as is the case with the bathrooms. The areas themselves I found to be very clean but could do with a few changes and improvements which I believe will make the ship even better.

I will be back on Grandeur of the Seas in June 2012 for a Mediterranean cruise leaving from Venice so I'll be one of the first people to see the new and improved ship and I have to say- I can't wait!