Live - One Way Voyage(r), Boston to San Juan 10/30

[Momof3gurlz]

Welcome to my first Live report! We're less than a week from departure, so I figured I'd get this started. I debated doing this report but ultimately decided to go ahead since there aren't many out there for Voyager so hopefully this will benefit some.  I'm pretty tech challenged so this is a stretch for me.  I also don't have the writing skills of some of the well-known posters, nor do I have a fancy camera or GoPro.  It'll just be my I phone and my 2 cents worth.  My photography skills consist of point, shoot and hope for the best.  I plan to update this at least once a day and answer any questions you may.  **Disclaimer - this is all dependent on Internet speed on Voyager**.  Please don't ask me to post web speeds or pings or anything like that -- I wouldn't know how LOL.

 

I'll start with a little about us.  We're Deb and Andy from RI.  Both retired and the parents of 3 adult daughters and 5 grandchildren.  We took a hiatus from cruising for quite a few years, focusing on our kids with school, sports, family trips, etc.  We came back to cruising in 2013 for our 25th wedding anniversary, sailing on Explorer of the Seas and we were hooked.  Our most recent cruise was in April of this year on Anthem of the Seas 7 nt Bahamas run out of Bayonne. 

 

About This Cruise

I came across this while browsing sailings out of Boston for this year.  I don't love to fly so the repositioning and only having to fly home was appealing to me.  

Also, the rates for a Jr Suite seemed quite reasonable.  We typically sail in OV Balcony cabins but booking the Jr Suite for this cruise would bump us from Emerald to Diamond.  Here's our itinerary:

 

LEAVING FROM

 10/30 - Boston, Massachusetts

Departs at 4:00 PM

 10/31 and 11/1 - Cruising

 11/2 Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Bahamas

From 8:00 AM '- 5:00 PM

 11/3 - Cruising

 11/4 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

From 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

 11/5 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

From 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

 11/6 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Arrives at 6:00 AM

We're staying overnight in San Juan on 11/6 at the Casablanca Hotel and we fly home the next day on Southwest into our local airport here in RI.  One of our daughters will drive us up to Boston on departure day and we can Uber home from the airport - it's a whole 7 miles.

We've been to St Thomas several times and have visited quite a few beaches.  With the later hours and if weather permits, I'd like to do a sunset catamaran sail.  During the day we'll probably just walk around downtown. 

Puerto Plata is new to us, we plan to just check out the area.  We're cruising with friends in January on NCL with a PP stop, so this time is more of scouting trip. 

I was hoping to book Coco Beach Club but it's sold out.  I'll ask onboard to see if there are any cancellations, but not holding my breath.

We have Voom internet and have purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package for me and the Refreshment Package for Andy.  He doesn't drink alcohol but loves Diet Coke, virgin Pina Colada's and Bloody Mary's and is a coffee fiend.  I'm not really a big drinker and we're lucky to break even with the packages, but for us it's worth the convenience, YMMV.

No specialty dining reserved, we'll play that by ear.  We're usually happy with the MDR and may check out the Windjammer options a couple of nights.

 

 

 

[Momof3gurlz]

I wasn't sure how much CC would let me include in the first post, so I'll add a little more pre-cruise info here. 

 

How We Cruise

For us a cruise is all about relaxing and unwinding.  Yes, we're retired but let me tell you, retired folks are busy!  How did we ever get anything done when we worked? We both enjoy reading.  Sea days are spent on the pool deck doing just that, along with a good amount of people watch and listening to whatever music is played poolside.  Hopefully the weather gods cooperate.  Andy likes the casino (blackjack), me not so much.  We love afternoon naps with the balcony door open.  (There may or may not be a euphemism there 😉).  Before dinner, we like to find a bar to sit at and love to chat with others or the bar staff.  And we love listening to good live music.  Shows are not really our thing but we do like comedy. 

 

Packing has begun, meaning everything I'm considering taking is pulled out.  Weather stalking has also begun but it's a little early to be too accurate, so as that picture gets clearer I'll start narrowing down what will actually go in the suitcases.  Since we're flying home on Southwest, luggage isn't really an issue with our 2 free bags each.  

 

I hope you'll follow along!  Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.  

[Luckynana]

Sign me up, Deb!  I'm looking forward to following you along.  May the weather gods be with you, and smooth sailing all the way!!🛳️

[jmh2006]

I am here to along for the ride!  Sounds like a really unique itinerary.  Can't wait to meet you, Maryann and all the others on our Bella cruise.

[clochette]

looking forward to following along, seems like a great itinerary.

[grapau27]

47 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Welcome to my first Live report! We're less than a week from departure, so I figured I'd get this started. I debated doing this report but ultimately decided to go ahead since there aren't many out there for Voyager so hopefully this will benefit some.  I'm pretty tech challenged so this is a stretch for me.  I also don't have the writing skills of some of the well-known posters, nor do I have a fancy camera or GoPro.  It'll just be my I phone and my 2 cents worth.  My photography skills consist of point, shoot and hope for the best.  I plan to update this at least once a day and answer any questions you may.  **Disclaimer - this is all dependent on Internet speed on Voyager**.  Please don't ask me to post web speeds or pings or anything like that -- I wouldn't know how LOL.

 

I'll start with a little about us.  We're Deb and Andy from RI.  Both retired and the parents of 3 adult daughters and 5 grandchildren.  We took a hiatus from cruising for quite a few years, focusing on our kids with school, sports, family trips, etc.  We came back to cruising in 2013 for our 25th wedding anniversary, sailing on Explorer of the Seas and we were hooked.  Our most recent cruise was in April of this year on Anthem of the Seas 7 nt Bahamas run out of Bayonne. 

 

About This Cruise

I came across this while browsing sailings out of Boston for this year.  I don't love to fly so the repositioning and only having to fly home was appealing to me.  

Also, the rates for a Jr Suite seemed quite reasonable.  We typically sail in OV Balcony cabins but booking the Jr Suite for this cruise would bump us from Emerald to Diamond.  Here's our itinerary:

 

LEAVING FROM

 10/30 - Boston, Massachusetts

Departs at 4:00 PM

 10/31 and 11/1 - Cruising

 11/2 Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Bahamas

From 8:00 AM '- 5:00 PM

 11/3 - Cruising

 11/4 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

From 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

 11/5 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

From 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

 11/6 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Arrives at 6:00 AM

We're staying overnight in San Juan on 11/6 at the Casablanca Hotel and we fly home the next day on Southwest into our local airport here in RI.  One of our daughters will drive us up to Boston on departure day and we can Uber home from the airport - it's a whole 7 miles.

We've been to St Thomas several times and have visited quite a few beaches.  With the later hours and if weather permits, I'd like to do a sunset catamaran sail.  During the day we'll probably just walk around downtown. 

Puerto Plata is new to us, we plan to just check out the area.  We're cruising with friends in January on NCL with a PP stop, so this time is more of scouting trip. 

I was hoping to book Coco Beach Club but it's sold out.  I'll ask onboard to see if there are any cancellations, but not holding my breath.

We have Voom internet and have purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package for me and the Refreshment Package for Andy.  He doesn't drink alcohol but loves Diet Coke, virgin Pina Colada's and Bloody Mary's and is a coffee fiend.  I'm not really a big drinker and we're lucky to break even with the packages, but for us it's worth the convenience, YMMV.

No specialty dining reserved, we'll play that by ear.  We're usually happy with the MDR and may check out the Windjammer options a couple of nights.

 

 

 

Great start Debbie.

Excellent introduction.

I will be following along.

Graham.

[Broons77]

We just got off Voyager yesterday, she's in great shape and I'm sure you'll have a great time.  Staff was outstanding, and they'll be very happy to be in a warm climate again.  It was a rainy and cool on our trip and they were bundled up at both the Pool and Sky Bars.  They were also stretched a bit thin in places, so they'll also be happy to be picking up additional staff once in PR which was the scuttlebutt I heard from a couple of them.  Staffing issues were especially apparent in the specialty restaurants, our dinners/lunches in Chops and Gio's were a bit underwhelming.  But that's about the worst I can come up with, the rest of the trip was fantastic.  Looking forward to hearing your experience!

[Luckynana]

21 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

I am here to along for the ride!  Sounds like a really unique itinerary.  Can't wait to meet you, Maryann and all the others on our Bella cruise.

Same here, Jennifer!  I think you and I are also booked on Beyond in 2024?

[bobmacliberty]

I'm all in Deb!  Perfect timing as the lives from Greg, John, John, and Renee are all winding down.  

[Woody14]

I am on this cruise with you,  I won't have internet so I won't be posting as we go but I will chime in when we return and I make it back to Canada where I can post again.       We are departing from Vancouver on Thursday night getting in to Boston of Friday, never been there so looking forward to exploring a bit before boarding on Sunday.

 

 

[DaniDanielle]

Enjoy!

[sgmn]

Great beginning Deb, sounds like a unique itinerary. Looking forward to following along 😀 

Sue

Edited October 24, 2022 by sgmn

[bedfordmom]

Hi I am also on this cruise with you. Thanks for doing a live review. I won't have internet as I am seriously unplugging for the week.  I have already learned something from your post. I didn't realize that you could have one alcohol plan and one soda plan for adults on RCI.  The last couple of New England cruises have been on Norwegian.  My husband also doesn't drink and NCL's alcohol plan requires that both adults take the package. Since they usually only charge  for the gratuities, I did it once but even the gratuities  are pretty high if one doesn't even drink. Something to remember for next time though I really don't drink enough to make a package worth it. I will be bringing the two bottles on (all mine) and most likely won't drink that either. I do like the really sweet drinks like Pina Coladas.  Will just buy a couple. 

[Ocean Boy]

I'm ready....

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

Sign me up, Deb!  I'm looking forward to following you along.  May the weather gods be with you, and smooth sailing all the way!!🛳️

Thank you!

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, jmh2006 said:

I am here to along for the ride!  Sounds like a really unique itinerary.  Can't wait to meet you, Maryann and all the others on our Bella cruise.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  I’m also looking forward to meeting everyone in March. 

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, clochette said:

looking forward to following along, seems like a great itinerary.

Thanks for joining ( and posting the link for me)!

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Great start Debbie.

Excellent introduction.

I will be following along.

Graham.

Thank you Graham!

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, Broons77 said:

We just got off Voyager yesterday, she's in great shape and I'm sure you'll have a great time.  Staff was outstanding, and they'll be very happy to be in a warm climate again.  It was a rainy and cool on our trip and they were bundled up at both the Pool and Sky Bars.  They were also stretched a bit thin in places, so they'll also be happy to be picking up additional staff once in PR which was the scuttlebutt I heard from a couple of them.  Staffing issues were especially apparent in the specialty restaurants, our dinners/lunches in Chops and Gio's were a bit underwhelming.  But that's about the worst I can come up with, the rest of the trip was fantastic.  Looking forward to hearing your experience!

Thanks so much for sharing this!  Sorry you didn’t have better weather. 

[Momof3gurlz]

55 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

I'm all in Deb!  Perfect timing as the lives from Greg, John, John, and Renee are all winding down.  

Thanks for joining Bob! I can’t possibly hope to compare to those pro’s, but at least there’ll be pictures and who doesn’t love those.  
BTW, you need to do something about this…

[Smellytoes]

I’m following along even though I’m sailing with you

[Momof3gurlz]

45 minutes ago, Woody14 said:

I am on this cruise with you,  I won't have internet so I won't be posting as we go but I will chime in when we return and I make it back to Canada where I can post again.       We are departing from Vancouver on Thursday night getting in to Boston of Friday, never been there so looking forward to exploring a bit before boarding on Sunday.

 

 

Hi there!  Enjoy Boston, it’s a great city.  Who knows, maybe we’ll bump into each other on the ship.  

[Momof3gurlz]

37 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Enjoy!

Thanks Marietta!

[Momof3gurlz]

31 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Great beginning Deb, sounds like a unique itinerary. Looking forward to following along 😀 

Sue

Thanks for following Sue!

[dani negreanu]

Count me in, and.... thank you 😘