Newbie needs help with Voyager class ship choices.

[Sun Bear]

I went on th 8/7 Mariner of the Seas cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, which was fabulous. I am now thinking about doing the 9-day Western Caribbean on the Voyager of the Seas out of New Jersey.

 

I am concerned that we *may* be dissappointed with the quality of the Voyager of the Seas. The Mariner was gleaming new and everything was spotless. Also I know that as the 5 Voyager class ships rolled off the line that each one was progressively improved.

 

My question is: Would I be disappointed by the older condition of the Voyager and constantly comparing it to the Mariner?? I haven't booked the trip yet and want to make the right choice. Thanks in advance for your help.

[bobbie0253]

IMO

 

You might be dissapointed. Maybe not. Our first cruise was on the Adventure when it was new. The Voyager was a bit of a dissapointment to us, but no big deal. The carpet is worn in areas, some tiles aren't in great shape. Just normal wear and tear. My thinking is: that is why I pay less you the Voyager :)

 

The cruise experience will be pretty much the same.

 

 

We have sailed the Sovereign and Majesty and been happy, so any ship will do for us.

[CruiseAddict82]

I was just on the Voyager in may and loved it!! I didnt really notice any "wear" but we dont really look for those things....the entertainment was outstanding as was the CD (Becky Thompson)...it was a repo. cruise from FL to NJ which I think is what youre doing too? Anyway it was great!!;)

[superjerryw]

Unless you are going in the next couple of weeks you won't be going on the Voyager from Bayonne. If you are talking about 2006, the Voyager will be in Europe. Explorer will be movingto Bayonne to take over the 9 day Caribbean route. We did the 9 day on Voyager in June and had a great time. The ship is very well maintained. We've been on Explorer twice and it has always been fine. I wouldn't worry about the ships condition before booking.

[beachchick]

Although some changes were made from ship to ship, I think that "improvements" are in the eye of the beholder. For us, it's an improvement that they added Chops to the Navigator and Mariner. OTOH, many parents think that removing the kid's pool and "beach" area from the AO facilities on those two ships was not an improvement. For the most part, except for a few changes like that (Sports Bar vs. Vintages Wine Bar as another example) and decor, the Voyager ships are truly sister ships. The only one really big change that I know of (and it was the best improvement, IMO) was making the balconies for the Navigator and Mariner as add-ons to the ship's superstructure, rather than "cutting" the balcony openings out of the superstructure as had been done on the first Voyager class ships. Thus, the balcony cabins are slightly larger and their balconies feel more "open" on the Mariner and Navigator.

 

As for the "newness" factor, if you went on the Mariner this past August, you cruised on a ship that had been in service going on 2 years. That everything felt and appeared shiny and new should tell you something about how well RCI cares for their ships. Consider that since her launching in 11/03, she has cruised every week with 3000+ guests and has yet to have her first drydock, but had seen more than 250,000 (rough estimate) guests by the time you sailed on her.

 

Only you can know whether you will be disappointed if a ship you cruise on (in this case Voyager) is not absolutely brand new. For the most part, RCI does an outstanding job of maintaining their ships. And why wouldn't they after they spend so many millions on them in the first place? You will find that Voyager will not look "fresh off the showroom floor" new; you will also find that she's been through at least 2 drydocks (I think) and is most likely in very good condition. However, if you go in thinking that this "old" ship just won't do it for you, then you might want to consider either the Jewel (I think it's Jewel) or the Freedom as they are the absolutely newest ships in the fleet.

 

Frankly, this is something that we all might want to consider carefully. New builds are extremely expensive. Yes, cruise lines are still adding ships into service, but there will come a point when the market saturation will be met or exceeded. At that point, we'd all better be prepared to cruise on ships that aren't fresh from the boat yards. It boggles my mind that so many people consider a 6 year old ship somehow "too old." I don't decommision my house and build a new one every couple of years; I don't buy a new car every time the new car smell goes away; I don't even buy a new computer just because a new feature has been added. What is it with so many people obsessed with things being new? Is that part of the "youth" culture (you know, women over 30 are old hags, men with a little gray hair are geezers, etc.)?

 

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox and say that I don't think you will be disappointed in Voyager unless you expect to be and allow that to color your cruise.

 

(BTW, Mariner and Radiance are our favorite ships, but I'd cruise on the older ones any time too.)

 

beachchick

[Homebody]

We just got the Voyager on Sunday. She was spotless and beautiful. No wear and tear as far as we could tell. In fact, the seating in Cleopatra's Needle, and La Scala theater, looked brand new

[2CruiseNow]

I've been on 3 Voyager class ships and they were all magnificent. I don't think you will be disappointed! We never noticed any "wear and tear" on the Voyager...we were much too busy enjoying the ship and the ports we were in!! The Explorer and the Navigator were the other two that we were on. We loved them all!! Have fun!!

[dmdick]

We were on the Voyager in 2002 and it was great. We were on the Explorer in 2004 - which is a newer ship than the Voyager, and it wasn't as clean and impressive as our first cruise on Voyager. There were dirty carpets, dirty booths in the windjammer, broken chairs in Cleopatra's Needle, etc. It wasn't so bad that it prevented us from having a great time however. Also, we asked the cabin steward to shampoo our carpet and they graciously accomodated our request. I think the condition of the ship depends a lot on the staff working the ship along with many other factors. We are going on Voyager again in Jan 2006, and I am looking forward to it!

[The Big Booper]

There is a difference in the last two built (MOS and NOS). If you go onto some web-based booking sites, when looking at the ships, the site will give the size of the staterooms. As a result of the redesign the standard cabins (non-balcony) of the last two are smaller than the first three. Of course here there are a lot of people who always go balcony or suite but there are those who cruise at peak periods with kids in 2 cabins and book the lower cabins. Here is a link to Adventure on Yahoo Travel

 

http://www.yahoovacationstore.com/c/stateroom.asp?lineid=44&vessel=378&itineraryID=747545&startdate=6/1/2006&enddate=6/30/2006&.l=N&.gt=Hello,+Guest

 

And Mariner

 

http://www.yahoovacationstore.com/c/stateroom.asp?vessel=417&lineid=44&itineraryID=841658&startdate=6/1/2006&enddate=6/30/2006&.l=N&.gt=Hello,+Guest

 

 

Check it out. Links are good.

 

David

[HB Cruiser]

It is a cruise and you will love it no matter which ship you choose.

 

We like the balconies on the Mariner better than Explorer or Voyager because of them being glass instead of steel. It is easier to see through glass. LOL

And when you are short like us, it was hard to look out the balcony door and see much with that big plate of steel in our way.

 

As far as the overall experience, not including itineraries (sp), we liked the Voyager the best.

 

Tim & Crystal