Quick Review of Voyager of the Seas 2013 Sydney - Melbourne - Hobart

[beastyfb]

Hi all!

 

My 1st time cruising with RCI and it honestly was fantastic. My head is still spinning (literally) from getting used to the waves...but it was all worth it.

 

I will be making a video review of it all but for now if you want to check out some snippets of the ship, it's here:

 

Ok, onto the review.

 

Food: So I heard a lot of people complain about cold food and what not, so I just want to put you cruisers who's never been or are thinking of going on at peace. The food is amazing. It was hot (sometimes too hot!) and everything is fresh. My favourite was the hotdog...for some reason those sausages were just so juicy. Of course the fine and formal dinning were amazing too. I will be making a video review of the food soon so if you want to check it out, check back at my channel on youtube.

 

Hygiene: Everyone is made to use hand sanitisers...fantastic. I felt so clean and my hands are super smooth now.

 

Activities: There are so many activities on board but I won't spoil it for you by telling you what happens. Just know that they are fun...however, depending on the time of day, sometimes there are quite a few people doing what you want, eg mini golf was busy and the pool was super packed but on other days, the pool was totally empty and I could play rounds and rounds of golf without anyone bothering me.

 

Windjammer: This cafe gets alot of crap in reviews and I just want to let people know I'm a pretty fussy eater. All I can say is, they served me some of the best foods I've had (bistro style stuff). If you've been to center point buffet, it's like that...but on a ship.

 

Staff: The staff were super friendly. We had a waiter called Noel and his assistant Arnold...they were so good. Every night they would make table cloth animals and my son's food would be cut up for him before he eats. If there's ever extra food he would bring us some. His assistant Arnold is always friendly and smiling...made us feel so comfortable. Our room keeper was excellent and always high 5ed my kids. Our room was super messy and he packed it all up and even sorted our soft toys and made a little diorama with them on our bed!

 

Seasick: I get seasick easily. But I didn't get sick at all this time. Even though we had a pretty rough ride in the bass strait. The ship was pretty steady and i really only felt a few bumps and "drops". It was late at night and I slept through it. Having watched a video of how the ship was made (which they showed on TV) I was reassured that the ship wouldn't tip over...and it didn't. In fact, I was so worried I tied a string to a spoon to the ceiling of our room and the spoon never really moved that much. Maybe a few degrees at max.

 

Overall, I had a fantastic time, the kids got looked after by the kids club and we got looked after by all the things you can do on board.

 

No, the carpet is not old.

No, there was no mold in my shower.

No, the food was not cold.

 

The only thing I had bad to say about the cruise was the omelette station guy...he was grumpy like he didn't want to be there...but in all honestly, everyone else was super happy and friendly...just not this guy!

 

Oh and if you go play in the Casino, "Great White" is the slot to play...we won so much off that machine lol.....alas we spent it all on deal or no deal at the kid's arcade...

 

Anyway, so here's to a peace of mind for you people reading negative reviews out there.

 

ps...bring a universal adapter. They have two 120v and one 220v for the Aussies.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[tillydog]

I'm not good at writing reviews but just to add a few things if the OP doesnt mind.

 

The first few days, there was no self service at all, which was great. I was initially worried that there was Norovirus onboard, but it turned out to be precautionary. We were Norovirus free all cruise! Yayyyy!

 

Grumpy omlette station guy stood out a mile! A cheery "Good Morning!" from me was occasionally met with a less than cheery reply! (Maybe he's in the wrong kind of job!)

 

Gordon Whatman is a brilliant CD. He was here, there and everywhere! He was friendly and very chatty (even before consuming his morning coffee!).

[icat2000]

Thanks for your review and taking time to make a video.

[bazzaw]

Great to hear a very positive review. Were you a first time cruiser? - or just first time on VOTS?

 

Barry

[mrsandy]

From a not first time cruiser - I have to add my bit. In my opinion, this ship is 5 star ship - it was fantastic and I also was a bit worried from some of the Australian reports on this ship. Anyone going on her you will have a great time and yes, she is a very stable. I haven't got one complaint that I can remember - just enjoy your cruise.

[Nerang]

Thanks for your review. It is great to read something positive after all the negative reviews.

 

Looking forward to our cruise in 2014.

[chris_kelowna]

Thank you for your very positive review! We'll be going on this ship in February and your review is very reassuring.

[beastyfb]

I'm not good at writing reviews but just to add a few things if the OP doesnt mind.

 

Grumpy omlette station guy stood out a mile! A cheery "Good Morning!" from me was occasionally met with a less than cheery reply! (Maybe he's in the wrong kind of job!)

 

Gordon Whatman is a brilliant CD. He was here, there and everywhere! He was friendly and very chatty (even before consuming his morning coffee!).

 

No I don't mind at all, please add or ask me questions...hahaha...yea, Gordon was awesome...we have 2 small kids so we watched one of his show on the tele. (they have a television station that broadcasts news and info to you!)

 

bazzaw - I'm a 1st time cruiser but I've been on a few boats (much smaller) and was scared of the rough seas. So anyone who are reading this that gets a bit seasick don't worry...I had all the meds next to my bed and I didn't even have to use it. The captain and his team are very good and friendly (and you also get to take a photo with him! - make sure you dress up he's in his uniform).

 

Oh...one other thing I might add is that, if you have never been to america (like me), you may want to consider bringing extra cash for the follow things:

 

Casino - it's cheaper to change aussie dollar to us...if you use your seapass card, they charge you 3% fee.

 

Tips/gratuities - we were totally thrown off by this as aussies don't usually give this much tips but the crew members expect a tip...and if I remember correctly they were:

 

Tipping guide (as i remember from the TV - they show you the day before you leave so you don't have to worry)

 

Room attendant: $5.00 / per day, per guest

Dining Room Waiter: $3.75 / per day, per guest

Assistant Waiter: $2.00/ per day, per guest

Headwaiter: $0.75 / per day, per guest

[goodycruising]

Good review! Could I say - please put a review in the review area too? We are going on the next trip this does out of Sydney and I hope by the time we do our review it will be a long list of good ones!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=105

:)

[beastyfb]

Good review! Could I say - please put a review in the review area too? We are going on the next trip this does out of Sydney and I hope by the time we do our review it will be a long list of good ones!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=105

:)

 

Yea good idea, I'll do that...although I don't think they've updated their cruise date field...it doesn't let me select 2013 for cruise date lol. (but I'll check back periodically and write one when it's all fixed) :)

[Newcruizer5]

My wife and I were on this cruise as well. It was our first cruise and we had a wonderfull time, our best holiday for a long time.

 

The food was amazing, we chose my time dining, 7.30pm each night, which was perfect, we had a great table for 2, excellent waiters and our 3 course meal was easily completed by 9pm in time for a stroll down to the theatre for the shows each night.

 

The Buffet was also great, sometimes a bit hard to get a seat at peak time, but if you went to breakfast or lunch a bit later getting a table was easy. The food was really good, much better than we expected.

 

The ride was very smooth, my wife is not a good traveller so we were worried about getting seasick, but after the first night there were no problems.

 

Our balcony on deck 8 was great, much bigger than we thought it would be. The balcony was a good size, great to sit out on, private and sheltered from the wind. We were lucky to be on the starboard side so looked straight out at the opera house when in Sydney and the view leaving the harbour was spectacular.

 

We didn't find the public areas crowded, except for some of the peak times, and often we wondered were all the people were because some of the bars seemed quite empty for the number of passengers, which was good because there was room to yourself and you could get a drink easy. Prices for drinks were very reasonable, especially if you are used to Perth prices.

 

The disembarkation was so smooth, we were at the airport within an hour of leaving our cabin. Of we knew it was going to be so quick, we could have got an earlier flight, so we ended up spending about 3 hours waiting at the airport.

 

Overall an excellent cruise, can't wait to go again, we were amazed how good it was, certainly exceeded our expectations.

[megsie]

We also enjoyed Voyager.

The experience was a little different to Radiance and Rhapsody but we have found all cruises are unique and have their pluses and minuses. I think it needs updating, minor things like cutaining in MDR, drapery in theatre and High Notes and replacing of cream carpet. But this did not have any impact whatever on our enjoyment of the cruise.

The crew were mostly Asian with some having better English than others. But they were always keen to communicate with a hello or a little conversation. Wait staff was great as was room attendant, very keen to please. Gordon the CD was certainly out there, singing and entertaining around venues as well.

Enjoyed Ice Skating show - amazing, Rock & Roll night, Quest, Jazz night with Big Band and RCI singers amongst other entertainment. Parade, characters and 3D movies great for young ones and not so youngs! Schooner Bar piano/singer very entertaining as well as the female covers band in Cleopatras Needle.

We dined for breakfast with room service on the balcony when it wasn't too cold or windy. MDR for lunch on sea days - very quick, tutti salad bar there very good as well. Dinner in MDR served piping hot but cut down to a main and dessert - too much food! Johnny Rockets $4.95 cover charge plus drinks. Had milkshake, flavoured soda and half onion rings/French fries for late lunch one day cost around $12 for 2. Went to Windjammer twice, found a table in Island Grill area but was very busy. Liked Promenade Cafe for snacks, afternoon tea or light lunch - Pizza, wraps, mini croissants with lettuce, tomato, ham & cheese - yummy. Coffee, tea, hot choc, iced water there but pay for special coffees and Ben & Jerry ice cream. Dairy whip ice cream free in Windjammers.

Our JS was very spacious and in good condition, walk in wardrobe - great idea. Kettle & coffee percolator in room.

The only serious negative was in the last day or two we saw a lot of glasses being left on the floor of the lifts - could be quite dangerous as we saw a young girl almost stand on them when we got on the lift.

Only had one negative conversation - too big, too many people etc. but we didn't feel this and always found our space.

[avalon007]

Great to hear the good reviews rolling in. :)

 

What was/were the 3D movie/s showing?

[joejoe 59]

Thanks so much for your very informative & positive review. We are also on the next Voyager cruise & very excited now:D

[spiritreturn]

Hi, we went on the Carnival Spirit for a Christmas cruise and I vowed I would never cruise again once we got off, this was our 5th cruise so we were looking forward to the experience, but, there were over 900 children, some of them rude, obnoxious and not controlled at all by parents, on board, and it was awful. However, after reading your review I would now love to cruise on the Voyager, we sailed on the Rhapsody last year and enjoyed that, so now I am eagerly seeking a good deal on Voyager, and definatly not when school holidays are on!!! lol

[Ned49]

Hi, we went on the Carnival Spirit for a Christmas cruise and I vowed I would never cruise again once we got off, this was our 5th cruise so we were looking forward to the experience, but, there were over 900 children, some of them rude, obnoxious and not controlled at all by parents, on board, and it was awful. However, after reading your review I would now love to cruise on the Voyager, we sailed on the Rhapsody last year and enjoyed that, so now I am eagerly seeking a good deal on Voyager, and definatly not when school holidays are on!!! lol

 

We had the same experience with Carnival and it wasn't school holidays. We will be sticking to RC in the future.

Was there a lot of children on board Voyager?

[Kiwiaus]

Thank you for your review. We are on VOS in March and it has confirmed my views that we will have a great time. Some people are never happy and it appears they are the one's that usually write the ship reviews!. :):):)

[avalon007]

Any cruise at christmas would be full of kids, but 900 is a lot.:eek:

 

We cruised on Radiance last year during school holidays, just under 400 kids on board & never saw more than a few here & there, no problem at all.

Royal really have the kid minding thing well worked out I think.

[Gaznjo]

There was mould in the shower of room 7455...

 

I loved having hard shower door but the downside was at every join and the rubber strips along where the doors closed were covered in black mould....

 

The food in the dining room was great .......

 

Breakfast in buffet was hit and miss fried eggs straight off the plate Yumm ... lots of yummy fruit.... English bacon cold and tough..... we wont even talk about the toast .... not even my yummy soft runny eggs where enough to soften them ..... but the french toast was really yummy too

 

People have different experiences .... spoke to one couple and they said their bath towels were thread bare and yet ours where always plush and soft...

 

New years on the promenade was great ..... just as well we had the promenade and the weather was not great for deck parties...

 

oh and speaking of food .... loved the Tutti Salad Bar in the dinning room for lunch

 

I will do a review of my own along with some pictures..... it will be hard not to keep comparing it to princess as they both have their pluses

 

and garry will have a video

[beastyfb]

Great to hear the good reviews rolling in. :)

 

What was/were the 3D movie/s showing?

 

Yup, there were 3D movies...we saw rise of the guardians and Madagascar 3. Quite impressive for a cinema on a boat!

[beastyfb]

There was mould in the shower of room 7455...

 

New years on the promenade was great ..... just as well we had the promenade and the weather was not great for deck parties...

 

 

Is this the New Zealand Cruise you're talking about in 2012? Yea my in-laws came off Queen Mary II Cruise last year and they kept comparing it to that and saying how the QMII was heaps better (but I also think you pay heaps more!) Having said that I can vouch for the awesomeness of this cruise...it would've been nice to celebrate new years on the cruise like you did! Anyway, I decided to put some photos up from our trip that I photographed...just so 1st timers like me can "see it to believe it".

 

[megsie]

Beautiful photos, gorgeous family. Thanks for sharing.

[avalon007]

Yup, there were 3D movies...we saw rise of the guardians and Madagascar 3. Quite impressive for a cinema on a boat!

 

 

Thanks, where there any non animated 3D films?

How many movies to select from all up, do you recall?

 

They also have a normal cinema as well don't they?

[joejoe 59]

Loved your photos thank you.:)