I was able to get ckeditor to render with a

$col["editoptions"]["dataInit"] = "function(o){CKEDITOR.replace(o.id);}";

However, submission loses the data in the transfer.

You can disable posted data sanitization and check again.

$opt[“sanitize”] = false;
// …
$g->set_options($opt);

That causes the old value to show up in the transfer, but not the updated data.

It appears there is not an easy answer here?  Probably shouldn’t be on the site as part of the sales pitch.  No documentation and the ckeditor usage indicates you should just be able to replace and the element will still be passed in the post.  This not working suggests that php grid is doing something unique of which you have to be aware to get functioning.