Voyager of the Seas Picture Review Dec 2012 Australia & New Zealand Cruise

[Iluvcruising2]

Great pics, enjoying your review as usual.

 

I have a question regards staff speaking English.

 

Not sure if English is your main language but if not it's so good you wouldn't know it wasn't. :) Although in Singapore I recalled many people spoke English very well anyway.

 

So I think you would be in a good position to judge if what has been said on other threads is correct, that many of the new Voyager Asian staff brought on board for the pre Australia cruising, do not speak english very well, causing communication problems for some passengers?

 

Did you find this was the case?

 

Singapore is a young nation, gaining independence in 1965. Our very enlightened founding Prime Minister, Cambridge-educated Mr Lee Kuan Yew, decided that English would be our working language and all things were to be done in English, including schooling, Government, business etc. It was a controversial decision simply because 75% of Singapore's population was Chinese (and that time, there was a strong sympathy for Communism and such). So, an iron-fist was required. :)

 

We are much better off today because we have a working population that is English literate.

 

As for your second question, you are right. There may be some issues with English speaking staff on board. I think your experience would crucially depend on the nationality of the staff that are serving you.

 

In our case, it turned out that our waitress and assistant waiter were both very experienced Filipinos. Their command of English was very good. Our stateroom attendant was also a Filipino and his English was also good.

 

However, I did notice a fair number of staff from China onboard. For instance, the guy serving me the alcohol at the MDR was a nice chap from China. His English was barely passable. I ended up conversing with him in Mandarin, when asking for beer recommendations.

 

Similary, many of the front service desk staff were from China. I didn't really need the help from the front desk, but I would think that not all of them have a strong command of English.

 

Even the Crown and Anchor loyalty Manager (Ms Anita from China) and her staff speak English that one would perhaps consider to be passable, though the accent may be a little bit difficult to understand for those unacquainted. When we bought our future cruise certificate, we also ended up conversing with the C&A staff in Mandarin.

[Iluvcruising2]

There were time changes on Day 4 and Day 5. At 12 noon, the clocks would be put forward by 1 hour. We lose time as we were sailing east.

[Iluvcruising2]

This was from Day 4.

 

 

 

Day 4 was a sea day. There were many, many activities on the ship. If you tried to go to all, you would be rushing from activity to activity. So you had to choose.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Day 4 morning. The first of 2 sea days. A good time to catch up with sleep. We found the aft JS to be of a very good size for the 4 of us.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

The Windjammer at about 8:45am. Not very crowded.

 

 

I must say that the fried rice available at WJ breakfast was very nice, at least according to my palate.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

After a somewhat late breakfast, my wife and I decided to go for the dance classes. There were 2 this morning, held back-to-back, at Studio B (which is the ice skating venue, Deck 3 aft)

 

10am - Mambo

11am - Swing

 

It was rather crowded!

 

A disclaimer - I have no clue about dancing. So, attending dance classes was something to try on a cruise ship. As Royal likes to say, why not?

 

 

 

There would be a Big Band dance time that night, 10:30 to 11:30, in Studio B. We didn't attend that though.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

All that dancing works up a very good appetite for lunch.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Lunch!

 

 

[Iluvcruising2]

More lunch!

 

 

[avalon007]

Singapore is a young nation, gaining independence in 1965. Our very enlightened founding Prime Minister, Cambridge-educated Mr Lee Kuan Yew, decided that English would be our working language and all things were to be done in English, including schooling, Government, business etc. It was a controversial decision simply because 75% of Singapore's population was Chinese (and that time, there was a strong sympathy for Communism and such). So, an iron-fist was required. :)

 

We are much better off today because we have a working population that is English literate.

 

As for your second question, you are right. There may be some issues with English speaking staff on board. I think your experience would crucially depend on the nationality of the staff that are serving you.

 

In our case, it turned out that our waitress and assistant waiter were both very experienced Filipinos. Their command of English was very good. Our stateroom attendant was also a Filipino and his English was also good.

 

However, I did notice a fair number of staff from China onboard. For instance, the guy serving me the alcohol at the MDR was a nice chap from China. His English was barely passable. I ended up conversing with him in Mandarin, when asking for beer recommendations.

 

Similary, many of the front service desk staff were from China. I didn't really need the help from the front desk, but I would think that not all of them have a strong command of English.

 

Even the Crown and Anchor loyalty Manager (Ms Anita from China) and her staff speak English that one would perhaps consider to be passable, though the accent may be a little bit difficult to understand for those unacquainted. When we bought our future cruise certificate, we also ended up conversing with the C&A staff in Mandarin.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply, seems the reports are correct then.

 

Hopefully they will improve their language skills as they travel with more english speaking people.

 

Unfortunately most Australians will not be able to revert to Manadarin, so could be frustrating at times.

 

I'm suprised Royal place people with poor language skills or hard to understand accents in front desk areas where commincation is paramount.

 

I try to be tolerant of language barriers, but you are often left wondering if the point you are making actually got across.

 

I have found that Phillipno people usually speak good english with a strong american accent.

 

I see why the people in Singapore speak english so well now, I agree your first PM was a wise man & has set Singapore up well for the future, especially since english is the international language of business.

 

Plus a little known but beneficial result of that decision, the abilty for Singaporian's to write excellent, clear & concise cruise reviews on English speaking cruise forums!! :D

[Iluvcruising2]

Time for the sweet endings.

 

 

[Iluvcruising2]

More sweet endings.

 

 

 

Back home, we hardly eat such desserts. You can imagine that it is a real treat to have so many of them during a cruise!

[Iluvcruising2]

Thanks for the detailed reply, seems the reports are correct then.

 

Hopefully they will improve their language skills as they travel with more english speaking people.

 

Unfortunately most Australians will not be able to revert to Manadarin, so could be frustrating at times.

 

I'm suprised Royal place people with poor language skills or hard to understand accents in front desk areas where commincation is paramount.

 

I try to be tolerant of language barriers, but you are often left wondering if the point you are making actually got across.

 

I have found that Phillipno people usually speak good english with a strong american accent.

 

I see why the people in Singapore speak english so well now, I agree your first PM was a wise man & has set Singapore up well for the future, especially since english is the international language of business.

 

Plus a little known but beneficial result of that decision, the abilty for Singaporian's to write excellent, clear & concise cruise reviews on English speaking cruise forums!! :D

 

Thank you for your compliment. Even as our first PM insisted on English as the working official language, he also made a second language compulsory. It was called the bi-lingual policy. For the Chinese Singaporeans, it would mean taking up Chinese. It was tough, trying to juggle both languages. But it certainly has borne fruit - in the world today, being able to speak both English and Mandarin could give a person significant advantages.

 

Back to the issue of Royal placing Chinese staff at their front desk, my best guess is that they need such staff to deal with their new market - China!

 

We did have some conversations with staff onboard. The Voyager sails from China during her summer months. You can imagine that managing the Chinese crowds would be very challenging as many of them do not speak English. I remember that as we were disembarking from our Singapore to Shanghai June 2012 Voyager cruise, the Day 1 Cruise Compasses waiting on the attendant's trolley to be delivered to the staterooms were in Mandarin!!

 

Needless to say, I personally would not recommend sailing out of China at this juncture, unless it is a re-positioning. I have heard of some stories from Singaporeans who have taken those cruises, and even we don't really like it, and we speak the language!

[avalon007]

Thank you for your compliment. Even as our first PM insisted on English as the working official language, he also made a second language compulsory. It was called the bi-lingual policy. For the Chinese Singaporeans, it would mean taking up Chinese. It was tough, trying to juggle both languages. But it certainly has borne fruit - in the world today, being able to speak both English and Mandarin could give a person significant advantages.

 

Back to the issue of Royal placing Chinese staff at their front desk, my best guess is that they need such staff to deal with their new market - China!

 

We did have some conversations with staff onboard. The Voyager sails from China during her summer months. You can imagine that managing the Chinese crowds would be very challenging as many of them do not speak English. I remember that as we were disembarking from our Singapore to Shanghai June 2012 Voyager cruise, the Day 1 Cruise Compasses waiting on the attendant's trolley to be delivered to the staterooms were in Mandarin!!

 

Needless to say, I personally would not recommend sailing out of China at this juncture, unless it is a re-positioning. I have heard of some stories from Singaporeans who have taken those cruises, and even we don't really like it, and we speak the language!

 

I understand when sailing out of China they would need Chinese speaking staff, but when sailing out of Australia for 6 months of the year the majority of passengers from my experience are Australian, they need to consider shuffling staff to best suit the passenger demographic.

 

Good tip about chinese sailings, I had been considering one for 2014, I had visited China in 1988 & Hong Kong since then & would like to see how they have changed, which is lots from what I can tell.

 

I would find it difficult though having lots of Chinese food choices on board because my experience is that Chinese food is not what Australians think of as Chinese, very different than the local Chinese restaurant & I enjoy cruising & dining on more familiar fare.:)

 

My uncle by marriage is Chinese (left China in his 20's) so I'm familiar with Chinese people, I didn't have any issues travelling in China, although the food was awful, even the western dishes all tasted of Chinese spices.

 

But a land based China trip followed by a short Shanghai to Singapore & repositioning home may be OK.

 

I wonder how the passenger demographic on the Shanghai to Singapore and the Singapore to Sydney cruises would compare to the fully Chinese cruises?

[Zanny]

Iluvcruising2. In regards to the trip on Jan13th the ship only goes to those 3 places in NZ on the nOrth Island and does not sdo the sounds. but thats okay as we will have the opportunity to be in warmer weather for the first 7 days then down to N.Z. for the next 7 and that qwill be much cooler. So when we are in the South Pacific we will be able to make use of the ships pools etc.

Reading your reviews makes me more excited about going on the ship now. I was having some doubts as there had been alot of negatives reviews on her cruises since she has beenn over here. Did you visit Johnny rockets cafe on board? If so how did you enjoy it. my son although he is 22 he is looking forqward to going there even if there is a $5 cover charge.

Another question is how did you find the obard shops? I usually buy Clinque cosmetics on my cruises and its normally about half the prices than we pay here. but some posts say theres not alot of affordable shopping on the ship. And i like Estee Lauder perfumes. Did your wife look at any of these by chance? Would be helpful if you could answer any of these questions.

Thanks Zanny:)

[LoveCruisingCC]

Really appreciate you taking the effort to write this review for the benefits of future cruisers. I have further questions regarding entertainment. Can you tell me what the headliner show is? Is it suitable for young kids? Which shows would you recommend for young kids? My kids will not attend Adventure Ocean (younger one is only almost 3, so will be taking them along to shows at night if it is suitable. I am hoping there will be a musical production, magician on top of the ice skating show.

[Iluvcruising2]

I understand when sailing out of China they would need Chinese speaking staff, but when sailing out of Australia for 6 months of the year the majority of passengers from my experience are Australian, they need to consider shuffling staff to best suit the passenger demographic.

 

Good tip about chinese sailings, I had been considering one for 2014, I had visited China in 1988 & Hong Kong since then & would like to see how they have changed, which is lots from what I can tell.

 

I would find it difficult though having lots of Chinese food choices on board because my experience is that Chinese food is not what Australians think of as Chinese, very different than the local Chinese restaurant & I enjoy cruising & dining on more familiar fare.:)

 

My uncle by marriage is Chinese (left China in his 20's) so I'm familiar with Chinese people, I didn't have any issues travelling in China, although the food was awful, even the western dishes all tasted of Chinese spices.

 

But a land based China trip followed by a short Shanghai to Singapore & repositioning home may be OK.

 

I wonder how the passenger demographic on the Shanghai to Singapore and the Singapore to Sydney cruises would compare to the fully Chinese cruises?

 

Yes, they should indeed consider the cruise demographic, that I agree.

 

You are spot-on about Chinese food. In reality, there is no such thing as Chinese food, simply because there are too many variants of Chinese food. Even within China, the food is very different in the various regions, e.g. the Northern regions versus Cantonese type of food (from Guangzhou & Hong Kong), just to give an example.

 

I attended a business conference not too long ago, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There were two Chinese delegates, from Beijing. They asked me how I found the food served by the Malaysian hosts. My reply was that the food was very good. As a matter of fact, Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese food is quite similar, due to the geographical proximity. The Chinese representatives commented that they found the food very strange. I replied that the Chinese food served was similar to those found in Hong Kong. They replied that they were used to the Northern style.

 

On your demographic question, I was told that cruises out of China are predominantly Chinese. I think you are looking at 80% to 90%. For those cruises, I think Royal Caribbean would gear the product offerings towards the China market.

 

On our Singapore to Shanghai re-positioning this year, the majority of cruisers were Singaporeans (1,800+). There were also sizable numbers of Australians (can't remember but I think 500-ish) and Americans (in the hundreds). Very few Chinese from China.

 

For our recent Australia/NZ cruise, 2,800 of the 3,400 cruisers were from Australia. Talk about 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!'

[Iluvcruising2]

After lunch, we headed to Deck 14 to look for the grand piano so that my wife could practise with the kids. There is a nice lounge just beside High Notes with a Yamaha Grand that was unlocked.

 

 

The view of Deck 12 from the Deck 14 lounge.

 

Not many people on the sun deck.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Iluvcruising2. In regards to the trip on Jan13th the ship only goes to those 3 places in NZ on the nOrth Island and does not sdo the sounds. but thats okay as we will have the opportunity to be in warmer weather for the first 7 days then down to N.Z. for the next 7 and that qwill be much cooler. So when we are in the South Pacific we will be able to make use of the ships pools etc.

Reading your reviews makes me more excited about going on the ship now. I was having some doubts as there had been alot of negatives reviews on her cruises since she has beenn over here. Did you visit Johnny rockets cafe on board? If so how did you enjoy it. my son although he is 22 he is looking forqward to going there even if there is a $5 cover charge.

Another question is how did you find the obard shops? I usually buy Clinque cosmetics on my cruises and its normally about half the prices than we pay here. but some posts say theres not alot of affordable shopping on the ship. And i like Estee Lauder perfumes. Did your wife look at any of these by chance? Would be helpful if you could answer any of these questions.

Thanks Zanny:)

 

We didn't patronize the Johnny Rockets onboard as we are not really fans of burgers and fries. Do try it though. I am sure it is very good.

 

The onboard shops were quite good. They had made some improvements compared to our June sailing. There definitely was a perfume shop with many brands. They put up signs claiming that prices on board were much cheaper than onshore because the Australian dollar was very strong. I can't remember if I took any photos, but if I did, I'll post them subsequently.

 

My wife did visit the shops but she didn't buy anything.

[Iluvcruising2]

Really appreciate you taking the effort to write this review for the benefits of future cruisers. I have further questions regarding entertainment. Can you tell me what the headliner show is? Is it suitable for young kids? Which shows would you recommend for young kids? My kids will not attend Adventure Ocean (younger one is only almost 3, so will be taking them along to shows at night if it is suitable. I am hoping there will be a musical production, magician on top of the ice skating show.

 

There would be a different headliner show every evening, other than some of those days in port when the ship stays late. You can check out the details when you receive the daily cruise compass.

 

On our sailing, there were two Production shows, one in the first week and the second during the second week of sailing.

 

There was also a magician, a hypnotist, many singers, impersonators and other random stuff.

 

By all means, bring your kids. The headliner shows are all kid-friendly.

 

There was some adult entertainment, including a late night adult stand-up comedian, Love & Marriage gameshow (slightly adult) as well as the signature Quest. All the more adult entertainment are clearly marked and I don't think they start any earlier than 10:30pm.

 

Don't worry if you miss the Love & Marriage gameshow live. They usually repeat these shows on the Royal Caribbean channel in your stateroom TV the very next day. On this cruise, it was channel 14.

 

Speaking of which, when you are in your stateroom, it is worthwhile to tune in to channel 14. At least for this cruise, the Cruise Director (Gordon) made informative videos almost daily. The Captain also featured regularly on these videos as he gave very interesting insights on the navigational aspects of our journey.

 

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Day 4 afternoon 2:30pm was very, very special.

 

Di and Tony, kindly hosted a wine afternoon in their Owners' Suite, for about 15 or so cruisers from our cruise critic roll call. All of us were strangers, going into this event. After this, we made some new friends!

 

We all brought a bottle of wine. Di and Tony kindly arranged for some cheese and crackers.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

The views from the OS balcony were fantastic, particularly because the balcony was on the hump.

 

Di & Tony's OS was on the starboard side of the ship.

 

This picture was forward facing. You can see the Navigation bridge.

 

This picture was aft facing.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Today was wash & fold day. A bag of laundry for just $15, but note the restrictions. Only socks, underwear, T-shirts, pajamas and swim wear.

 

Wash & fold appeared thrice during our cruise. Our stateroom attendant told us that they were valid for that one day only. Originally we thought we could just keep the bag & order form and use it as and when we wanted to.

 

 

You can see that we stuffed the bag. Plenty of underwear, kids' PJs, T-shirts etc. Very convenient. The clothes would come back within 48 hours.

[Iluvcruising2]

Day 5:15pm, Crown and Anchor welcome back party, held at Studio B.

 

This was the Captain addressing the party.

 

There were 700+ C&A members on board, of which 400+ were Gold.

 

There were just 3 Pinnacle Club members and 6 Diamond plus.

 

I can't remember the number of Diamonds but I think it was fewer than 30.

 

26 Emerald members.

 

100+ Platinum.

 

Studio B, with a capacity of 700+, was only about half full.

 

Edited December 25, 2012 by Iluvcruising2

[Eng23]

I recall the hot tubs in the Solarium area on the Voyager of the Seas were also sheltered, even though the Solarium pool was in the open.

 

The hot tubs at the pool area were in the open though.

I believe you are correct. The hot tub on Voyager Class in the solarium is in a covered area on each side of the solarium pool like the Freedom Class with the exception of not hanging over the side of the ship.