We NEED some reports on VOS - please.

[fishtaco]

 

The cabin. Since it was only a one night cruise we just had a inside cabin. The cabin itself was small, compared to an outside on P&O (the only equal cabin I have been in and outside and inside are about the same). It was nice though, just could of been a little bigger. I was with my parents and my Mum was laying in the bed while we were putting things away and in the short amount of time see got bites all over here from the bed, not a good sign. Apart from that the room was nice. During the Dreamworks parade (was great to watch, when I could see) the music was either way too loud or the speakers are horrible ad the music sounded horrible, the speakers must of been at maximum volume and it cause it to become high pitched, destroying the quality. .

 

 

Hi this is a bit disturbing as it suggests the cabin had BedBugs:eek:

 

Did you report the bites on your mum to RCI? If not you should report it immediately and also make sure they did not hitch a lift home on your luggage!

 

Did you stay in a hotel before your cruise? the reason I ask is that the bites may have come from a hotel bed and only showed up later that night/day.

 

We have encountered Bed Bugs (not on a cruise though) and my wife is allergic to them,she comes up in big swollen marks that last for well over a week,if she got bitten on a cruise she would be too embarrassed to leave the cabin:eek:

 

Den

[fishtaco]

Before we went on our Cunard cruises -- we had some "fears" which proved to be unfounded. I am now starting to feel the same about Voyager :eek:. - but whether they prove to be unfounded is yet to be discovered. I have heard nothing but good about Radiance and Rhapsody - but does it appear that there now seems to be nothing but bad about Voyager??

 

Barry

 

Barry I think it all seems bad as well:eek:

 

But when you are looking forward to a cruise on a different ship and are excited i think we tend to remember the few "Bads" more.

 

You cant really rate a full cruise ship experience on a one night sampler and going back on other VOS reviews the good well out weighs any bad.

 

Most of the bad seems to be about long boarding waits and cold buffet food,lack of buffet choice,wait staff not cleaning the Buffet tables enough! Most on here are well a where of the buffet pitfalls on any ship.

 

Given the shear size of VOS and amount of Guests it holds I am sure some will feel they did not quite get that "Personal" service and attention they expected?

 

Given the great low price I paid for a 14 night cruise on VOS I will take the "Bad" along with the savings :)

 

 

 

 

Den

[Cruisegroover]

I went on the one night VOS and yes there were a lot of problems. RCL can control embarkation queues, hygiene, computer crashes etc but not passenger behaviour.

 

Next cruise I will be taking my own wipes and gel just like I do when travelling around the world. I will even to try avoid the buffet just like I do at home as you see the same hygiene issues. I've seen the same health issues on P&O in the past and at least we were allowed onboard. One cruise I was on we didn't board until midnight whilst the cleaned the ship!

 

I was forturate enough to be one of the first onboard and i got to enjoy many parts of the ship in relative peace and quiet before things got of control. I saw a minority of people drunk, people pushing and shoving others out of the way to get to bars, lifts etc. I heard people complaining about not knowing they needed an adapter, that is was US currency and that if you opt for the cash option why couldn't I pay for my drinks with Aussie dollars. I asked some people did they read the documentation and there said no we didn't bother. Say no more. One person complained they wanted room service on Saturday and were upset they didn't get it. It clearly stated no room service on Saturday. A lot of people come in large groups and I saw one group who up showed for mytime dining expecting to get a table of 20 without a reservation right there and now. Would they do the same at a busy resturant on a Saturday night I think not.

 

It is unforturate that a lot of people will be turned off cruising but given I have done 2 previous RCL cruises and doing another shortly. I think on forthcoming VOS cruises things will be sorted out (hopefully) and with a different demographic onboard (instead of people intent on partying hard for one night only) things will be ok.

 

I loved the ship and will book another cruise on VOS. I can understand that some people thought it was too big but lucky for us we have a much larger choice of cruise ships now so there will be something for everybody.

 

Looking forward to hearing from those people leaving today when they get back. And as somebody else earlier mentioned about going on Solstice in two weeks it will be interesting to compare given both are very big ships as I'm going as well.

[bazzaw]

I recognise that when a ship gets a new home, there are often "teething troubles". I recall that nobody had a good thing to say about Pacific Jewel after her first cruise here.

 

VOS has 5 cruises between now and when we go on her, so we are hoping they sort things out and the initial high excitement dies down

 

Barry

[avalon007]

I really am expecting more "Las Vegas" on VOS than the "Buckingham Palace" of QM2 :D Here were some of my thoughts re QM2 after our first short cruise on her in 2011 http://ukagain2010.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/queen-mary-2.html

 

 

Barry

 

Hi Barry,

 

I can't speak for VOS but from what I have seen of QM2 you would probably find Radiance a nice ship, especially the Colony Club area which was one of my favourites, lots of lovely classic English styling.

 

The casino was also quite nice (for a casino) done out in Art Nouveau style & not as glitzy as many others I've seen.

 

Thought you may like to see some pics of those areas (attached).:)

So if VOS doesn't turn out to be your cup of tea you may find Radiance could be.

 

Julie

[avalon007]

In general I think judging RCCL by the 1 night VOS cruise is like judging the Gold Coast by schoolies week!:eek:

 

The biggest mistake RCCL made was expecting the majority of Australian cruisers on a 1 night cruise (around schoolies week time) to act like civilised human beings.

 

Most of the people that were drunken idiots, stole from the shops, complained about the power points, didn't read their cruise documenation etc etc would be the same sort of people that do the same on land.

A persons morals don't change because they are on a cruise ship for 24 hours. Disgusting bunch IMO.

 

They are probably the same type our taxes pay to support! :rolleyes:

 

Sorry for all you decent members of society who had to be trapped on board with the animals. I'm really disgusted & embarrased as an Australian, imagine what first time crew members to Australia must think of us!

[The_Big_M]

I think on forthcoming VOS cruises things will be sorted out (hopefully) and with a different demographic onboard (instead of people intent on partying hard for one night only) things will be ok.

 

 

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that at least 500 of the passengers there were 'bargain hunters' rather than those necessarily interested in a cruise.

 

A large number of spaces were sold through a bargain site, and the customers in that demographic are those looking for a great deal whatever the type, rather than selecting just because it's a cruise.

 

 

I can understand that some people thought it was too big but lucky for us we have a much larger choice of cruise ships now so there will be something for everybody.

 

I'd find that amusing if so given how there's been a fair number here complaining that we should only get bigger ships in future and no ships that would fit under the bridge in Sydney.

 

Your statement is evidence that there is a space for both and even though I'm not a fan of the White Bay location, I think it would be a terrible situation if those requests for big ships only were ever to come about. Even in the home of big ships - Florida - there are still more smaller ships that continue to operate out of those ports as well.

[timtam2]

Oh yes. The coupon cruisers were everywhere. I remember a press release from Royal Caribbean saying how thrilled they were with the respnse to the coupon sale and how they would use that sales channel again. Maybe not such a good idea after all RC!

 

Eeeeeeeeeeeek ! Bed bugs? Now I'm feeling itchy!!!!:eek:

[bazzaw]

Oh yes. The coupon cruisers were everywhere. I remember a press release from Royal Caribbean saying how thrilled they were with the respnse to the coupon sale and how they would use that sales channel again. Maybe not such a good idea after all RC!

 

Eeeeeeeeeeeek ! Bed bugs? Now I'm feeling itchy!!!!:eek:

 

Coupons? What coupons???

 

Whether cruises are sold by "Coupons" (whatever they are), advertising in the Sat/Sun papers, or quiet emails like I sometimes receive, we all appreciate a good deal! :D I suspect the very nature of this one day cruise was the problem. Although we once did a 2 night cruise on Pacific Dawn when she moved to Brisbane - it was VERY cheap - but I didn't notice anything untoward about the passengers on it??

 

Barry

[Guest012]

 

Eeeeeeeeeeeek ! Bed bugs? Now I'm feeling itchy!!!!

 

 

 

No bed bugs in our cabin nor did we hear off any via the jungle grapevine ....however we did see crew, with nifty looking equipment, on our deck either cleaning carpets or fumigating cabins ( masks on) we did have some bugs onboard i think it was when we left Wellington but they were the flying squashable variety:p:D loved to hang out in the shower...

 

Coupon selling cruises now :confused: how pathetic...

 

As i stated in another place one nighters will always be booze cruises attracting a great number of not so dedicated cruisers...... the best minimum sampler you can do are the two night repos... the greater majority of deads@*t drunkards WILL not fork out for a oneway airfare as well as a cruise fare......IMO........:D:D:D

 

Stop worrying so much everyone...........i am sure things will get better....fast .....won't they Mr. RCL

[Cruise ship fan]

Hi this is a bit disturbing as it suggests the cabin had BedBugs:eek:

 

Did you report the bites on your mum to RCI? If not you should report it immediately and also make sure they did not hitch a lift home on your luggage!

 

Did you stay in a hotel before your cruise? the reason I ask is that the bites may have come from a hotel bed and only showed up later that night/day.

 

We have encountered Bed Bugs (not on a cruise though) and my wife is allergic to them,she comes up in big swollen marks that last for well over a week,if she got bitten on a cruise she would be too embarrassed to leave the cabin:eek:

 

Den

 

We live about 2 hours drive away, so we didn't stay in a hotel. Sadly we have no evidence because they faded pretty quickly and they changed the layout of lower bed in the cabin at night, from two singles to a double so the sheets were all changed. We washed all the cloths as soon as we got home so we should be clear now.

[barnsey1802]

I got a laugh out of the guy at one of the bars waving a fifty dollar note around and then complaining because he couldn't use it.lol

 

At the end of the day I really enjoyed my day on the voyager its a beautiful ship and would love to do a longer cruise on her. We didn't witness too much bad behavior, so I guess we were lucky.

Deidre.

[The_Big_M]

Oh yes. The coupon cruisers were everywhere. I remember a press release from Royal Caribbean saying how thrilled they were with the respnse to the coupon sale and how they would use that sales channel again. Maybe not such a good idea after all RC!

 

Yeah, not sure myself. But it's an easy way to expand the market for them... though of course, at a hit to revenue.

 

And BTW, there's another 500 of those passengers on the upcoming Solstice 1-nighter. Me worried after the reports above... ? :eek:

[simmo67]

I got a laugh out of the guy at one of the bars waving a fifty dollar note around and then complaining because he couldn't use it.lol

 

At the end of the day I really enjoyed my day on the voyager its a beautiful ship and would love to do a longer cruise on her. We didn't witness too much bad behavior, so I guess we were lucky.

Deidre.

 

My group of 8 girls had a fantastic cruise. The ship was very grand, loved the Promenade and Pig & Whistle pub atmosphere, the schooner bar had a really good Piano man playing to all hours of the morning (songs you knew the words to), 70s show was lots of fun-threw flashing rings into the audience, the sun came out in the afternoon so we could sit around the pool area with cocktails in hand, we were lucky enough to be on the Crown & Anchor priority line so were onboard early, headed straight to Windjammer where food was fresh and staff very talkative. We were there for a good time..so much to do in so little time and I'm sure we saw most things. Dining room was lovely, I thought the food was great. I even won $100 in the casino which paid for all my expenses...so i was happy! Gee im glad I was oblivious to all the bad things that were going on...certainly didn't ruin our night :D

[Red Robyn]

My group of 8 girls had a fantastic cruise. The ship was very grand, loved the Promenade and Pig & Whistle pub atmosphere, the schooner bar had a really good Piano man playing to all hours of the morning (songs you knew the words to), 70s show was lots of fun-threw flashing rings into the audience, the sun came out in the afternoon so we could sit around the pool area with cocktails in hand, we were lucky enough to be on the Crown & Anchor priority line so were onboard early, headed straight to Windjammer where food was fresh and staff very talkative. We were there for a good time..so much to do in so little time and I'm sure we saw most things. Dining room was lovely, I thought the food was great. I even won $100 in the casino which paid for all my expenses...so i was happy! Gee im glad I was oblivious to all the bad things that were going on...certainly didn't ruin our night :D

 

Great to read a positive review

 

Thank you so much

[dancinman66]

Hi Greg, the take away cups were all that was available at Latte-tudes. We had no Noro o. Our cruise

yeah was not taken much on the cups

maybe that is a new thing they are doing

does not look good though

Greg

[dancinman66]

Yeah, not sure myself. But it's an easy way to expand the market for them... though of course, at a hit to revenue.

 

And BTW, there's another 500 of those passengers on the upcoming Solstice 1-nighter. Me worried after the reports above... ? :eek:

I find it sad also that we have so many not nice people using these short cruises as a booze cruise and behaving poorly

giving australia a bad name

They don't do it on all ships, but vos was special due to a number of factors - new, size, price and schoolies week time

 

a few can really ruin it for others

 

they did pretty well considering

the bed bug thing is just one of those issues alot of the ships have issues with

personally only occasionally affects me but yick

 

I am still loyal to royal - with a bit on the side for princess and cunard

[megsie]

We also had a good time on the Voyager one nighter. Travelled with DH, daughter and 6 year old grandson as a birthday treat for him. He loved the Dreamworks characters, parade, aquanauts kids club, video arcade to play air hockey, adventure beach, putt putt, ice skating show, eating in the MDR and even loved the waiters' singing! The service was good in MDR, food served hot at early sitting and at breakfast. The staff were very nice to the grandson, remembering his name and always having a few special words for him. We didn't get to the Headliner show, 3D movies, casino, any of the many bars, pub, Johnny Rockets, disco, 70's show in the mall or freestyle ice skating. There was heaps of entertainment. Lots of people and a party atmosphere for sure. Have seen baby boomers behaving the same - somewhat inebriated on some cruises. Probably average age late 20's to 40's but certainly some older and families and more women than men in my estimation. We didn't see any "schoolie" types or behaviour but we were in bed at a reasonable time. Mall was very busy but wouldn't expect this was indicative of a longer cruise.

Noro has been in our community during winter and spring with some closures to preschools and nursing homes to try to stop it spreading. I didn't mind that the embarking started around 11.40 so the ship could be sanitised. Although it was well worth being a Platinum C&A as we were aboard around 12.00.

Our room was smaller than expected (quad), similar to Sun/Dawn Princess but it was ok, could do with some updating. Did not like the Windjammer setup much but appreciated food served to plate in the circumstances. We like the Radiance setup better but always prefer MDR when possible.

Had breakfast at 7.00, collected our luggage from room and headed straight off Voyager for a full line of taxis and no passenger queue.

[dandtgeddes]

Judy, thank you for that information.

 

I will let my kids know, DS16 and DD12, going on 17, and see if they have any more questions, if so, I will e-mail you and put CC dandtgeddes in the subject line so you wont think it is spam.

 

Thanks again for your help, when one spends a lot of money on a 14 day trip one is concerned that everyone will enjoy the cruise.

 

God bless you:)

 

TraceyG

[davethescot]

Gosh that's not good and doesn't sound like the same Voyager we were on. However I must say, and anyone reading this don't shoot me down I'm just stating a fact, but RCCL took on Asian crew when we departed from Barcelona to Singapore. New Orleans to Barcelona was fine. From Barcolona onward we noticed a deterioration in the cleanliness in the likes of the Windjammer so I know where you're coming from there.

We had to report a matter of bad hygiene of one of the new Asian crew twice to one of the Officers. That new crew member took no notice of what was said as we saw the same disgusting habit happen again.

 

It's not the Asian crew's fault, he appeared not to know better due to his culture. On board ships there is no room for 'culture habits' of crew they all need to be trained as one, with strict hygiene being paramount.

 

Hope RCCL get this all sorted now before the season really swings into action.

 

Jilly

 

 

I did the one night sampler on the Voyager and I thought the ship was great. The cabins are looking a little bit rough around the edges but on the whole the ship is great with loads of variety of things to do.

 

Yes there were quite a few Chinese, Japanese and Korean staff on the ship but I certainly didn't see any problem and found all the crew to be extremely efficient and hard working. I think the Aussies on board need to take a long hard look at themselves before judging other nationalities and cultures. During this one night cruise I saw 2 extremely drunk woman (probably in their 50s) abusing a security cruise member who was asking them to move back to make way for the parade characters. One of them then chose to straddle the banner and start to dry hump it! I saw another woman of a similar age vomit in the communal area. There was stag party on board who totally took over Jonny Rockets and became quite abusive to anybody else that came in and I then saw a very drunk man asleep in the corridor at the end of the night.

 

I find these people far more hazardous than crew members.

 

I know this is not a typical representation of a cruising crowd as this was a one night cruise but I just think that we should be very careful about casting aspersions on other cultures when we are far from perfect ourselves.

 

I love cruising and have always had a fantastic experience and I do like to party myself but within reason.

 

The ship overall is great and it's really good that Royal Caribbean is making an effort to bring bigger ships to our region.

[nenasmum]

Yes there were quite a few Chinese, Japanese and Korean staff on the ship but I certainly didn't see any problem and found all the crew to be extremely efficient and hard working. I think the Aussies on board need to take a long hard look at themselves before judging other nationalities and cultures. During this one night cruise I saw 2 extremely drunk woman (probably in their 50s) abusing a security cruise member who was asking them to move back to make way for the parade characters. One of them then chose to straddle the banner and start to dry hump it! I saw another woman of a similar age vomit in the communal area. There was stag party on board who totally took over Jonny Rockets and became quite abusive to anybody else that came in and I then saw a very drunk man asleep in the corridor at the end of the night.

 

I find these people far more hazardous than crew members.

 

I totally agree. I was not on this cruise but I am shocked at the behaviour I have read about. I suspect most of the people behaving so appallingly were not the Asians with the "culture habits" Gold Coast Cruiser has alluded to. In the many cruisers I have taken I have never found the "Asian " crew members anything but exemplary. Equally I have travelled to many Asian countries whose standards of public hygiene would certainly put Australia's to shame. Other places . of course , can shock you- but a lot of that is to do with poverty rather than anything else. Such generalisations about "culture habits" belong in the "I'm not a racist but..." box and deserve to be shot down. Jennie

[Cruise ship fan]

We didn't get to the Headliner show, 3D movies, casino, any of the many bars, pub, Johnny Rockets, disco, 70's show in the mall or freestyle ice skating.

 

They never showed the 3D movies. We went to try and watch the Avengers but never opened, so it looks like they hadn't taken the signs down from the last cruise. Also does anyone know what was wrong with the top floor of the show room. It was closed all cruise with only a few people sneaking up there during the show.

 

I wouldn't say it was a schoolies crowd instead more of a older people thinking they are schoolies crowd. There was hardly anyone my age (any schoolies would be my age) on the cruise.

[6andy6]

Such generalisations about "culture habits" belong in the "I'm not a racist but..." box and deserve to be shot down. Jennie

 

Ironic.

 

As your generalizations about Australians falls in to the same category. Whip yourself with birch twigs much my dearie or maybe that gun your using to shot them down ought to be turned around?

 

Btw - sometimes cultural generalizations do have a grain of truth in them so get over yourself. As anyone that has travelled to the sub-continent or any number of Asia countries tries would know. Just as some cultural generalizations about Australians also hold true.

 

A generalization does not mean the whole nation does something but that something can be more common somewhere than elsewhere - would you say it was a generalization for example to say you find more squat toilets in India and Asia than in Western nations or is it a incorrect generalization that for many Australians tipping is not part of any social outing. Both are true yet it is not racist to say so - it is a fact. Nor does it mean you are making a criticism of that culture but an observation.

 

And maybe spend money from your next cruise budget on a dictionary that shows you what racism actually means....

[Guest012]

Ironic.

 

As your generalizations about Australians falls in to the same category. Whip yourself with birch twigs much my dearie or maybe that gun your using to shot them down ought to be turned around?

 

Btw - sometimes cultural generalizations do have a grain of truth in them so get over yourself. As anyone that has travelled to the sub-continent or any number of Asia countries tries would know. Just as some cultural generalizations about Australians also hold true.

 

A generalization does not mean the whole nation does something but that something can be more common somewhere than elsewhere - would you say it was a generalization for example to say you find more squat toilets in India and Asia than in Western nations or is it a incorrect generalization that for many Australians tipping is not part of any social outing. Both are true yet it is not racist to say so - it is a fact. Nor does it mean you are making a criticism of that culture but an observation.

 

And maybe spend money from your next cruise budget on a dictionary that shows you what racism actually means....

 

 

Thank you.... beautifully written ;):):cool:

[megsie]

We saw a billboard advertising Madagascar, 3D for 7.30 and I think 9.30. We didn't get there so do not know if the movie showed or not. Sometimes they have an area reserved for gold card holders (not gold C&A members) but I don't know if this was the reason. There was a large number of people at the ice skating show who on leaving were receiving information bags and maybe an area was held for them - just guessing though. Agree with your thoughts re schoolies!