Review of Voyager 4/29/2006 trip

[Bigbudman]

I will try to post this in sections as it will be very long.

 

 

Day 1

With the trip booked by a local travel agent. We arrive at the airport at 6:30am an hour early for the security delay. We were amazed how fast TSA was at PVD. 5 minutes max

The Southwest flight did leave on time, but was a rough ride even though it was a bright clear day? After a 1 stop in Tampa, we were off to Ft Lauderdale. Upon arrival in Ft Lauderdale, our TA had arranged for a Expedition stretch limo to bring us to Miami. She had come on this trip with friends and family and her husband. In fact, we were the only non family in this very large group it seemed. When people ask about the benefits of booking with an agent, this may be a good example. We were well taken care of, and the price was less than we could find online, without the limo

Once at the port, the luggage is taken at curbside. Tip your porter, these guys work for your money. In 20 min we were walking onto the ship, this was now 1:45pm.

 

The ship:

We were greeted by a friendly young man and he set the tone right away. “Bring your bags to your room and go have a drink and enjoy the day he says.” We followed his commands

We did the spa tour, it was a waste. These treatments are available at home at half the cost. The gym was decent, the spinning class was available only if you bought a 4 day pass. This makes no sense, a true spinning class should not be done more than 2x per week. These are not complaints, just observations.

We noticed some minor wear and tear on the ship, but with the amount of people this ship sees, it was minimal at best.

We met Anthony our room attendant, we asked for a foam pad. The bed was very thin and I could feel the bottom on my back when I lay down. (Should be noted at 6'2 300, most beds don’t like me). Anthony was very busy with luggage and requests, including our for the safe to be reset.

In 5 minutes the safe guy was fixing the safe, Anthony had a puzzled look when asked about the foam pad when he left. We figured that was a no go.

We headed to the Windjammer for lunch, at the door wa a man with Portofino flyers. He directed us to the reservations area for Portofinos. We booked Monday night.

The Windjammer was next, no lines,good food and friendly service. Healthy food was at a minimum, but in all was good. Tipped the table attendant directly, he looked surprised?

Stairs were the way to travel, elevators were slow due to people still boarding. Had to just sit for awhile on the pool deck with a drink to decompress. The views of Miami are wonderful, we just sat until 7:30. The ship was delayed from its 5:30 schedule.

Late seating for dinner, good food overall. We bought the wine package, its available at the table.

This was a long day and bed seemed like a good idea. Anthony had found a foam pad for the bed, YAY ,Much better with the pad.

[Bigbudman]

Day2:

We ordered breakfast from room service the night before. It arrived on time 8am, and we were already in Nassau.Very rocky trip so far with rough seas and a bad vibration underway. We ate on the balcony, overlooking the shops and port at Nassau. This was very nice. We walked off the ship at 10am, no lines no waiting.(Its all about the timing). We did little shopping, had fun with the locals trying to sell me a fake Rolex. He didn’t notice I was wearing a real 2500.00 watch?

We were back on the ship by 11:30, and just in time for lunch. The Windjammer was empty, so we had prime seating overlooking Nassua. Our attitude was, why get stuck on a tour with a load of people being herded around like cattle? Here we re sitting 120ft in the air, with a priceless view. Having a nice quiet lunch and relaxing.

It was then off to the deck for some sun A bucket of Coronas sitting with us and the breakwater side view was the best part of the trip yet The waves were breaking providing us with a wonderful show, the deck was not crowded as most people were on shore. 1pm came and everyone was back, the deck got crowded, but we already had ringside seats for the disembarkation from Nassau.

Later we checked out the cigar lounge(empty). Had some snacks, and took a nap to get ready for the formal night.

Formal night was well done, organized and on time. We got to know our tablemates, they made the trip much more fun. Our waiter, Turkay, was very nice and very funny. Vincenzo was the head waiter, we saw him everynight. He was very active in helping his waiters, soemthing I had not seen before on our first cruise.

 

 

 

 

St Thomas

We arrived at 7am, and were awaked by the next door cabins 18yr old screaming off the balcony. Just screaming like a fool. This would get worse as the week went on.

We had not booked an excursion, as usual we opt to go it alone. We are usually very successful, this time no exception. Once at havensight, we found a cab outside the gate, we asked him to take us to a nice beach area with drinks and chairs. In less than 5 minutes we were at the Marriot Resort, $6 each for the ride. WE rented 2 chairs with an umbrella for $25, the beach was perfect, and at one point we were the only people in the water. We used the outdoor shower to rinse and changed into dry clothes for lunch. The resort had a covered bar area with food on the beach This as it would turn out was the best part of the trip. We took a cab back to Havensight ans shopped before getting back on the ship. The prices were all over the board, I found the same hat priced from 11.95 down to 3.95

Next was a sea day,

Drink, eat, drink, eat......

[aliceluvsbubba]

I enjoyed the first 2 parts of your review...please continue. Thanks...trying to read all the reviews and learn as much as I can from everyone else.

[Bigbudman]

San Juan:

Breakfast on the balcony again, however; the horrible next door neighbors started early today. Starting the day with some weed smoking (yes weed, I'm a retired police officer, I know the difference) and then a bout of hacking and coughing that lasted 30min. The 18 year old alternately spitting his flem over the side....

We decided to head for shore.

The port was clean and weather was very overcast. We spoke to some locals that advised some demonstrators had been out of control and to "Watch your back" So, of course we headed straight into town to check it out...

The streets are very narrow, I will include a link to some photos. Some nice shops, others with the standard junk. We saw wooden back scratchers with the words Puerto Rico written on them with black marker! LOL That was classic.

The people were nice and police were every 20 ft(no kidding) they had full flack vests on. You will see a boat in the pictures looking for something near shore?

We walked for the afternoon and ended up at senior Frogs near the port. Very dirty, bathroom was a mess, food was average.

I could have done without this port. I should note we had some better knowledge of the area, as my wife lived there as a child, and speaks the langauge.

This was the second formal night. 90% of the men wore suits or Tuxes. Women were more apt to dress to impress.

 

 

Picture link

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=550178621

[Bigbudman]

Day 6 we arrived in Labadee Haiti. Weather was cloudy, and we decided to take it slow. Had breakfast on the balcony again, we highly recommend this option.

The tender line by 10am was short and we were on the shore in 10min. We walked to the Dragons Tail beach. It was much too rocky to swim. We continued to Hideaway beach and were met by a local working for the cruise line to assist us. He offered to bring chairs down to the waterfront for us, we agreed. He found us a great spot, I tipped him $5. He was very grateful, as I found out later, they are only paid $12 US by the line for the day.

The water was clear and the sun began to break thru a bit, this was the hottest sun I have ever felt! If it had stayed out, I would have sought cover under the trees! If you are visiting the beaches, you must bring water shoes. We carried our in a backpack, inside of a plastic shopping bag as not to get everything else sandy when we packed them back up.

The people without shoes, did not fare well. Most fell, or were in too much pain to continue out.

The beach barbecue was fantastic! great ribs,burgers,salad and a 3 bean salad that was the best I have ever had!

We noticed a women topless next to us, she did not even get a second look from most people. Sorry no pictures of her...

Tookthe tender back around 2:30, the last tender left at 4 so we were early. Time for a shower, and a nice lunch at the Windjammer. The tables were empty, the view was fantastic!

I would add, we always left a tip at the Windjammer. The table attendants always remembered us the next day, and always greeted with a big smile.

I think the key to our success on this trip was to avoid the rush and return early. much more relaxing.

The next day was a sea day as we headed home.

The last night, our luggage is outside, and we are in bed at 1:30am. The fools next door are screaming as they walk down the hall. The mother in her forties, and the 18yr old. Once in the room, it sounded like they were having a battle with the furniture. he decides to go out on deck and talk on a cell phone so loud we could hear him with the door shut! Then was yelling into the room to the mother"Last night M(&ther(&*uker we gonna rip it up!

This among other swearing and ghetto speak. I called the front desk and asked for them to have the fools call it a night. After 3-4 minutes a woman comes to the fools room and speaks with the mother. I hear the mother say" We paid 3 thousand dollars for this trip and we can do what ever we want." I felt something pop in my head, i walked out into the hall to find several other passengers with thier door open complaining to the lone guest relations girl. The fools mother still ranting and raving, I told the mother to shut her son up or i would.( Lets say I was loud enough to be heard in Miami) The poor guest relations girl calls for all security to deck 6. I returned to my room and let security fix the problem.(although pummeling the little fool had entered my mind)They were nowhere to be found in the morning, i dont know what happened to them. I had kept my cool for 6 days, that night was the last straw.

 

In Miami, disembarkation was not smooth at all.

The colors assigned were to wait until they were called then head down to the gangway. It seemed everyone just headed down at the same time and flooded the area. No organization at all, this could be done better.

Customs was easy and very professional.

 

Side notes:

We ordered the wine and chesse package for the room for the first night, it never came. I asked what had happened, they said it was a late order? i ordered it before the cruise?? They said, we cannot find any record of the purchase. I was given credit to go on the internet in the library to look at my account. No good, could not find a thing.

I got a message on the room phone stating they found the order.

Day2 we get the platter and wine at 1pm, we did not expect it to be there. We made the best of it and started drinking at 1pm.....

Day 4 at 6pm, i get a knock on the door. We were getting ready for dinner. Its room service with another platter and wine......I told him the story, he smiled and said"I'm not taking it back" I tipped him well and put the cheese into zip locks we had brought thanks to this forum.

 

Alcohol:

We brought Champagne, and wine. We ended up with 2 more from room service. The we bought the wine package with dinner. We did not want to see another bottle by Day4. We brought 2 back!

No one checked our bags ever, it seems to be a dead issue.

 

Shows:

The shows were very good. The Circ de Soliel couple was the best.

 

Travel agents:

We were very happy with our agent, she actually made the trip more fun. Book with an agent, they do more than you relize.

 

Rude people:

No need to tolerate bad behavior. Stop it right away. This is your cruise too.

 

Best spot:

The deck 14 High Notes lounge. It overlooks the entire ship, great during the day or at night. next to it is a private room never used. Nice romantic spot,wink, wink.

[Bigbudman]

Lastly,

The meet and mingle was a small gathering. We were given some nice RCCL trinkets. I got to meet some fellow cruise critics, and later had some lunch together. Its well worth the effort to get enough people together. Thanks to C2C for keeping it all together!

[jdmaillet]

I enjoyed your report, thanks for posting. Glad security finally took care of your neighbors, but sad you had to endure it all week. You excercised great patience!

 

Although I live in Wa now, I grew up in Rhode Island. My Dad retired from the Warwick police dept. about 20 years ago.

 

Just Hi, from a fellow (former) Rhode Islander! How I miss it! I go back as often as I can.

 

Jenn

[Calicruisefamily]

Great job on the review it brought back alot of good memories from last year when we took the same cruise:rolleyes: . It is sad the cruise line only pays $12 for the day, They deserve so much more Labadee was one of our best ports.

 

 

Voyager 12/16/06

Voyager 11/26/05

S.S. Azure seas 11/90

 

Can't get enough of Voyager :D

[aliceluvsbubba]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do a trip report. :) It was full of hints and tips--ie tipping in the Windjammer, I never even thought of that.

 

Glad security took care of the neighbors, sorry it was so loud though...what are people thinking?!? ugh!

 

Travel agents, I agree with you on that one, we have a treasure in ours, took us forever to find one that we liked, but she is a true gem! :) (She's on her way to the Freedom this week, lucky girl!!)

 

Thanks again!

[wolfcathorse]

After drinking all that wine do you remember who your captain was? :D

[Bigbudman]

I enjoyed your report, thanks for posting. Glad security finally took care of your neighbors, but sad you had to endure it all week. You excercised great patience!

 

Although I live in Wa now, I grew up in Rhode Island. My Dad retired from the Warwick police dept. about 20 years ago.

 

Just Hi, from a fellow (former) Rhode Islander! How I miss it! I go back as often as I can.

 

Jenn

 

LOL, small world I retired from Warwick PD in 2001.

[moakes]

Wow! I feel like we had the same neighbors. However, I was on the Navigator that left the same day. Two or three guys that would curse up a storm loudly out on the balcony, scream, yell: PARTY!!!!. We complained on the second night and I think a few others did too. After that they were MUCH more quiet.

[Bigbudman]

Wow! I feel like we had the same neighbors. However, I was on the Navigator that left the same day. Two or three guys that would curse up a storm loudly out on the balcony, scream, yell: PARTY!!!!. We complained on the second night and I think a few others did too. After that they were MUCH more quiet.

I was surprised how much I could here in my room from the balcony next door. Much worse if the slider was not LOCKED. Locking moves the door up and seals it.

[wolfcathorse]

Do you remember who the captain was? Was it Capt Gerry or Capt Charles

[BillOh]

We had a great time on the same cruise! We had a nice quiet area up in 8542. Enjoyed your pictures.