Voyager OTS Review - Western Med

[Chester & Brewster]

I picked up so much info pre-cruise from reading other peoples reviews, that I wanted to add mine in the hope that it might help out someone else.

Background:

This was our first cruise. 2 adults, no children. We attended the Cruise Critic meet & mingle.

Pre-Cruise:

We flew from Cork to Barcelona on the Friday night, and opted to stay out of the city centre at the Ibis Viladecans. Hotel was fine – Ibis standard fare, and for less than €50 per night, it was a great deal. It was a straight forward bus ride into the city centre for €1.35 each on the Saturday. We ate tapas in the market for lunch, which was excellent. We went to see the Montjiuc fountain on Saturday night which was a real spectacle, highly recommended.

Embarkation:

We ordered a taxi for 10.30am, which took maybe 15-20 minutes to get to the Port. Porters were waiting to take away our luggage; we walked straight into the check in area, paused only to fill in a swine flu declaration, and walked straight up to the counter. We hardly broke stride. Sea pass cards were issued, up the escalator & we were on board. The whole thing took less than 10 minutes. Very impressive.

The Ship:

The beauty of being on board so early was that there were only a handful of people around, and we could have a real good look around without too many crowds. We headed up to the Windjammer for lunch – in fact we never ate in the Windjammer the whole week; preferring to go straight through to the less crowded Island Grill at the back. We were keen to try the honey stung chicken we had read so much about – but we thought it was pretty bland and dry. Rooms were available at 1pm. Luggage was delivered by about 3.30pm.

The accommodation:

We were in a balcony stateroom on deck 6 aft, starboard side, #6344. It was great – loads of storage space. Our stateroom attendant was excellent – did everything we asked of him (not much to be fair). There was a “keep your finger on the button” style hairdryer & a safe. Soap was supplied & there was a shower gel dispenser in the shower, but we didn’t use it. Shower was not too cramped & had a washing line for drying wet swimmers etc. We had an issue with the door lock not long after embarkation – basically the battery had died so it would not open. Maintenance dealt with it very swiftly.

The muster drill:

No lifejackets required. Our muster station was in the MDR, so no mass of sweaty bodies standing around. Very civilised.

My Time Dining:

We pre booked MTD, and ate in the MDR every night. MTD was deck 5. We ate at a variety of times between 7-8pm & at a variety of table sizes between 2-10 people and everything ran smoothly. We did call in advance to book every day. We met some great people & had some good fun tables. The food varied from outstanding to average, as did the service. One night DH was “told off” for using his (only) knife to eat his starter, and it was put back on the table (dirty) for him to use it again for his main course?

Wine & Dine Package:

We pre booked the 12 bottle gold package. It was no hassle to get a bottle of wine from the Windjammer as well as the MDR. We never tried to order a bottle from our package either through room service or at one of the bars. We tended to get a bottle plus ice bucket & 2 glasses from the Windjammer at about 4pm to drink either on deck or on our balcony. We put in a valiant effort & drank 11 out of the 12 bottles. We ordered the 12th in the MDR after dinner on the last night & brought it home with us.

Portofinos:

We attended the Portofinos wine series dinner on Thursday night (after Livorno). It was $54.95 each for 5 courses plus wine. Having never eaten a regular $20 dinner in there I can’t tell you if it was any better or worse than “normal”. The service certainly wasn’t any better than the MDR. The food was good, the wine was nice, but it didn’t blow us away & I wouldn’t be tripping over myself to book it again.

Room Service:

Excellent, both for breakfast & afternoon snacks (see drinking bottle of wine on balcony above!) Prompt service, hot food where required & fast clear away of the tray. We tipped €2 each time.

Johnny Rockets:

We went for lunch on the last day. Food was OK – burgers lovely, onion rings disappointing; dancing waiters a bit cheesy. It came to just short of $20 for food, a coke, a beer, tax & tip for 2 of us.

Entertainment:

We only went to one show – the Beatles, who were pretty good. Shows aren’t really our thing, so I can’t comment on the ice show, the parades, bingo, napkin folding or any of the other activities that were going on.

Fitness centre:

We used the gym a few times during the week, as well as running around the track on deck 12. The gym was reasonably well equipped. Some of it is a bit old, but it was clean & all in good working order. Our main aim for the week was to use the stairs rather than the elevators, and I am pleased to say we did not set foot in one single elevator!

Everything else:

We had a go on the rock climbing wall, in-line skating & mini golf. Didn’t make it to the skating rink or disco. We lost our stack of quarters in the casino over a few nights for a bit of light entertainment. Had a quick browse round the shops once, didn’t buy anything so can’t really comment. Didn’t use the spa; prices looked better on port days – I remember a “3 treatments for $99” offer. Bars were all fine, but I do wish they wouldn’t allow smoking inside, it’s vile. Drink prices vary from bar to bar – we paid between $14 & $24 for 2 Margaritas. Borrowed a couple of books from the library, but didn’t use the internet or wifi.

I'll add a separate post for the ports........

[Chester & Brewster]

Sea Day:

 

Some queues for towels and spare sun loungers were in short supply. First formal night – I’d say those who did not dress up were definitely in the minority.

 

 

 

Naples:

 

We walked to the Circumvesuviana train station (approx 15 minutes) & headed for Sorrento. It was quite a long journey (32 stops or something similar!), so we came back on the hydrofoil straight across the bay – much quicker, but more expensive, about €13 each I think. Sorrento is very pretty & we had a lovely lunch & general mooch around.

 

 

 

Civitavecchia:

 

There is a shuttle bus to take you to the port gate. There were no signs telling you where to wait, so we hazarded a guess & a bus arrived after about 5 minutes. Good job too – as about 30 people had decided to queue behind us – we must’ve looked confident!

 

Walked to the train station (maybe 10 mins) & caught the 8.40am train to Rome. It was busy, lots of people didn’t get a seat. A BIRG ticket was €9 & allowed us bus, train & metro travel for the day. Most folks got off at San Pietro, so we decided to stay on until Termini. From there we got on the metro to Colliseo & thus began our whistle stop walking tour of Rome. From the Coliseum we walked up to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Castel San’t Angelo & the Vatican. We had lunch in Piazza Navona. We caught the train back to Civitavecchia from San Pietro at 2.00.

 

 

 

Livorno:

 

Stayed on board to relax & enjoy the ship.

 

 

 

Villefranche:

 

Tendering started early, so we caught one before 8am & walked the short walk to the train station (notice a familiar pattern here?). Caught a train to Nice, which was only 2 stops. By 9 am we were having breakfast in a café on the Promenade des Anglais. Had a stroll around the town, punctuated by coffee stops & headed back at 12.15 for lunch in Villefranche & a couple of hours on the beach. 2nd formal night.

 

 

 

Marseille:

 

We’ve visited Marseille before, so spent another day on board.

 

 

 

Disembarkation:

 

We had arranged to pick up our hire car at 10am, so went for the last time slot. The whole process was smooth & well organised, the only delay was for cabs, but then we didn’t really expect any different having got off almost last. The queue flowed well & we were soon heading off to collect our hire car. There is a car hire office at the port, but it is closed on Sundays.

 

 

 

Post Cruise:

 

We had booked 3 days post cruise north of Barcelona, at the Hotel Rocamar in Cadaques. Lovely town, well worth a visit.

[doemichael]

thanks for the review, I better get orginised for next week lol

[doemichael]

forgot to add you fitted a lot into Rome, we are taking the train and hope we get to see as much as you did lol you sound so orginised .

[Chester & Brewster]

forgot to add you fitted a lot into Rome, we are taking the train and hope we get to see as much as you did lol you sound so orginised .

 

Rome was the only place I bought a guide book for, and had a decent map. It was pretty straight forward, but definately a whistle stop tour. I reckon we walked abour 2-2 1/2 miles in total.

[doemichael]

Rome was the only place I bought a guide book for, and had a decent map. It was pretty straight forward, but definately a whistle stop tour. I reckon we walked abour 2-2 1/2 miles in total.

 

 

We were in Rome in December and done loads of walking too, mostly because we got lost one night and walked for miles and miles lol

 

Must remember to pack the guide book now you mention it.