Anyone recently on the Voyager?

[mbtaz]

We'll be leaving in less than 2 weeks for a European cruise. Anyone who has recently returned, do you know the time of the parade the first night? Thanks in advance

[German Wunderkind]

All the parades (on embarkation day and last day of your cruise) will be held at 11:45pm.

They last about 10 minutes.

 

If you have any other question (I returned 2 weeks ago) I still have all the daily Cruise Compasses.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Sue L]

Our parade was at 10:45 pm not 11:45 as the previous poster mentioned.

[mbtaz]

Guess I will wait til I board, thanks for answering though. German, what nights were formal nights? What's the best night, in your opinion, to eat at Portofino's? Thanks so much.

[German Wunderkind]

Formal nights were on Sunday (Marseille) and Thursday (Naples).

 

Totally personal: I would go on Tuesday.

But my taste may not be yours. Ask your waiter or head waiter - they will be able to show you the menu for the whole cruise - and can give their recommendation as well.

 

Enjoy your cruise

G.W.

[gvanassche]

German Wunderkind,

 

We too will be leaving in 2 weeks with the Voyager.

Would love to view the Daily Cruise Compasses...

 

Thanks,

Glenn.

[German Wunderkind]

Hi Glenn,

 

I will try to scan them today or tomorrow. I will put a note to this thread where you'll be able to find them.

 

For now: Have a great vacation

G.W.

[dellas1000]

Hi I am going on VY in 6 weeks and would also love to see the newsletters too. Also what cabin did you have ??? Were the beds comfortable??? I would be grateful for any tips etc...Was the sauna and Jaquzzi free also.

[German Wunderkind]

Hi dellas1000

 

We had a Promenade View cabin on Deck 8.:(

We were not very impressed because of the couches they put into the room they reduced the amount of drawer space a lot. But compared to a normal inside cabin the little light was nice.

One thing I noticed was that you could hear sounds from the English pub 3 decks below. People with a light sleep and on Deck 6 (just one above the pub) might get in trouble there.

 

My parents had a standard balcony cabin and that was the typical balcony cabin you will on any modern RCL ship.

 

Voyager of the Seas is already equipped with the new RCL bedding.:) In my opinion it’s 200% better than what they had before. But beds like eating and entertainment are always a very personal thing. What I find comfortable or enjoyable others might find to hard or simply dislike it.

 

Jacuzzis are free of charge.

On Voyager you’ll have a great variety to choose from: Main Pool area, Solarium area and even in the Gym area you will find a Jacuzzi. At least one pool and one Jacuzzi are open 24 hours.

Sauna and Steam Room in the Gym area are also free of charge. They will operate from early morning (6 or 8am) until 10pm.

 

Tip: Go to the ice show. Even if I didn’t like it as much as I enjoyed it on my Freedom of the Seas short trip it’s still amazing what they are able to do on a ship.:eek:

 

Sorry no other tips so far from me because I was not very impressed with Voyager.

Being on RCL’s Radiance Class, Voyager Class and Freedom Class (and on some other ships from other lines) within one year I personally have to admit that I dislike ships over a certain limit.

Voyager (and Freedom) tends to catch the people inside. Except for the Viking Crown Lounge there is for example no bar where you can sit during the day, read a book and watch the ocean going by through floor to ceiling windows. Bad for people like me with inside cabins during inclement weather.

 

But I am pretty sure that you will enjoy Voyager nevertheless. I hope you signed up for the Meet&Mingle. If you meet a guy from Canada (tocanada) there – please say high from German Wunderkind!

Enjoy your TA

G.W.

[mbtaz]

Thanks G.W. I'd love to see the daily compass's when and if you have a chance to scan them.

 

I love the Voyager class ships, I've been on all except the Voyager which will complete the class. I also love the Seranade, wait, come to think of it, I have yet to be on a cruise ship that I didn't enjoy, lol.

 

Thanks again for the info.

[dellas1000]

Thanks German WK ,

You have answered my questions perfectly and appreciate that. Im looking forward to it. This will be my first time on Voyager. I have to say my favourite ship is Celebrity's Century. I will go to the ice show for sure. The guy from Canada is on my cruise so I will have to remember to say hi from you .

 

I have a Promenade on deck 7 but it is just me in the cabin so Im sure I will have enough space. I was wondering about the pub but I am high enough to avoid the worst. Im glad the beds are the new ones.

 

Thank you again

 

Dellas

[BillOh]

Hi I am going on VY in 6 weeks and would also love to see the newsletters too. Also what cabin did you have ??? Were the beds comfortable??? I would be grateful for any tips etc...Was the sauna and Jaquzzi free also.

 

In May of this year voyager had a new looking comfortable bed in 8542.

[alynn]

We had 3 formal nights Sunday Tuesday and Thursday, only because on the Sunday which was to be the first formal night 1000 pax were stranded on shore due to the sea getting up whilst at Villefranche and the tenders couldnt get back, formal night was cancelled at 7.00pm and most of the passengers on board were dressed ready so we just went with it. The upside was the captain gave a complimentary bar throughout the ship until midnight. Good for us who were on board, not so good if you were stranded ashore.

 

This aside got to agree with German, not my favorite ship

[German Wunderkind]

First of all I finally was able to scan and upload them to a website.

So go to http://people.freenet.de/panamarowdy/index.html to see the Daily Compasses.

I included the departure information and the Behind the Names flyer also.

 

Regarding the times of departure I have to say that on our sailing they were pretty much on schedule.

We had a flight at 3pm so we decided to take a cab and a colour on the bottom of the list. Had to wait in line for a cab for more than 45 minutes.

Otherwise very smooth departure.

 

This will be my first time on Voyager. I have to say my favourite ship is Celebrity's Century. I will go to the ice show for sure. The guy from Canada is on my cruise so I will have to remember to say hi from you .

 

I have a Promenade on deck 7 but it is just me in the cabin so Im sure I will have enough space. I was wondering about the pub but I am high enough to avoid the worst. Im glad the beds are the new ones.

Dellas

 

It would be nice of you to say Hi - he's a nice guy and I met him already twice on RCL ships.

 

Even for one person you will miss the drawer space.

It depends where your room is located. If you have a room at the aft end of the promenade you should probable be ok. Our cabin was 8581 and it was directly above the pub. But if you have a good sleep the sound will not bother you.

 

mbtaz:

You're absolutely right. Even when I sometimes don't like the ship/service or whatever I always tell me that I am very lucky to be on a cruise again.

Like someone on this board posted a while ago:

Even a lousy day at sea is better than a good day at work.

 

With this in mind enjoy all your trips and if I can answer any more questions I will certainly try.

G.W.

[Calicruisefamily]

We had such a good time on Voyager last year that we booked her again for this Dec. We can't wait :D Don't miss the ice show it's great !

Cali :)

Voyager W. Caribbean 12/16/06 "Our First AFT 1688"

Voyager E. Caribbean 11/05

S.S. Azure Seas Baja 11/90

[Shar27]

Sorry no other tips so far from me because I was not very impressed with Voyager.

 

German, was it the Voyager class that you do not like or the Voyager ship in particular. I am sailing on the Voyager next year.

 

We have been on the Explorer and really enjoyed her. I prefer the Radiance class as well, but when taking along my 3 children, the Voyager class offers so much more in the way of entertainment for them.

 

Thanks for all of the great advice.

[German Wunderkind]

It's not the ship it's the class. At least for 80%.

 

VY Class and Freedom Class are simply great for families with children or people who like to party. They have all these opportunities.

 

If you like all these gadgets and are satisfied what kind of vacation these ships will deliver - great.

 

For 20% it's Voyager itself.

In my opinion and in the areas I could observe the service level was well below RCL standards.

Friendliness of the crew was missing (people were not greeted, crew members not stepping aside when trying to pass them); information and invitations were not or simply delivered to late to the staterooms.

Entertainment was not what I have had on other RCL ships.

 

But I have to say that other people really had a great vacation so maybe it was only bad luck for us on this trip. And meals, entertainment and friendliness is something everybody rates different.

 

So keep cruising on the Mega ships even if it means for me that I'll find an empty cabin on the smaller vessels:D

 

It's all about information before booking a cruise.

I once had a Swiss couple on our table, who was totally disappointed after 2 of our 14 day with the ship because they wanted something totally different. Their TA recommended (after calling RCL) a Transatlantic on Radiance Class. Naturally older passengers and they were wondering about nightlife on this "small ship". Their only other cruise had been a Voyager Class ship in the Caribbean.

Quote: "We had 7 days of party and expected the same here."

A waste of money and time - that's why this board is simply terrific. Thanks for all the advice I got here!

 

G.W.

[mbtaz]

The compasses are great, they are getting me even more excited than I was to begin with!

 

One question, may be silly, in the casino, do you get paid in Euro's or USD?

 

Thanks!!!

[gvanassche]

German Wunderkind,

 

Danke schön for those Compasses...

 

Glenn.

[caroden]

German Wunderkind

 

I am very surprised, after the absolute fiasco regarding our Meet and Mingle, that you are telling people not to forget to sign up. (See Meet and Mingle farce) by caroden.

 

I understand from the sailing after ours that their Meet and Mingle on the Voyager was terrible too. Just a token jug of lemonade and even then only the assistant cruise director turned up and only 8 passengers.

 

Voyager doesn't seem to do Meet and Mingles very well or even care about them.

 

Sorry we never actually got to meet you on the 9th September, but as you know Miami never sent through the list of registered passengers, due to them changing computers over to mainframe and experiencing IT problems. I have just had an email, apologizing for the upset of not meeting up with all the registered passengers that we had been talking to for months beforehand on the boards, from Head Office. Some of us did find each other though, and that did sort of make matters a little easier to bear.

 

Sorry, you didn't like the Voyager. We thought it was fantastic. We had a Junior Suite on deck 9 mid ship and never heard a sound. The food was fab, the ice shows were fab, the evening entertainment granted could have been better, and I'd agree I have seen better on other cruise lines.

The staff were always friendly, and having a joke with us. You must have just been unlucky. We also made some terrific friends.

 

The only thing we were truly annoyed about, was the fact that there was an outbreak of Norovirus onboard during our cruise, and it wasn't until day 5 when the outbreak had obviously taken hold, that they started getting out the hand sanitizer gel at the restaurant entrances. This should have been done from DAY 1!! They should have also made an official announcement that there was an outbreak of Norovirus and it would have stopped the 'dodgers' skipping the sanitizer at the restaurants and going on to touch serving utensils with unwashed and disinfected hands when in the Windjammer.

 

We know of three people who went down with Norovirus, and that was just from our Meet and Mingle group.

 

Which ship do you think is the best overall?

 

Carole

[Shar27]

Sorry, you didn't like the Voyager. We thought it was fantastic. We had a Junior Suite on deck 9 mid ship and never heard a sound. The food was fab, the ice shows were fab, the evening entertainment granted could have been better, and I'd agree I have seen better on other cruise lines.

The staff were always friendly, and having a joke with us. You must have just been unlucky. We also made some terrific friends.

 

Carole

 

Carole, I am so happy to hear that you loved the Voyager. I got kind of scared after reading German's comments. We are booked in a GS in Feb/07 with my DH and three kids.

 

We really enjoyed the Explorer and wanted to try another Voyager class ship.

 

I am wondering about our M & M as well. I have been on the roll call boards for months and so far there are only 3 of us talking and we are less then 5 months away. I find that quite strange as I have always had quite an active board before even if they didn't all show up for the M & M on the ship.

[dellas1000]

Im going on Voyager in 5 weeks so I will write a full report . I think it is a matter of personal taste and also what you want out of a particular holiday. If you were a couple looking for a good standard and more formal holiday then I would proberbly choose Celebrity. For a family cruise or a group of friends I would proberbly say Royal Caribbean. I had the choice of doing trans atlantic with Oceania Regatta which is a intimate ship or the Voyager. I chose Voyager as Im cruising by myself and thought i might get bored on a smaller ship for that kind of sailing. If I had have been going with my partner I would have defiantely done Oceania instead.

 

I think different cruise ships for different destinations and occassions. I have never had a bad cruise though.

[German Wunderkind]

mbtaz

Everything on the ship is in USD. So just take enough Euros for the ports of call otherwise you won’t need them.

 

Glenn

Gern geschehen.

 

Carole

Let me put it that way:

Even if our Meet and Mingle was a fiasco or farce I think it’s not what RCL or the people on Voyager are doing for you, it’s just about meeting people you’ve been chatting for quite a time.

 

So even if they don’t come up with drinks or raffle prizes I don’t care and I will tell people to sign up to meet each other.

I have been to a couple of Meet & Mingles over the years where nobody from the Cruise Line showed up, no drinks or food was served or where simply the crewmembers were clearly pissed of that they had to be there.

 

On the transatlantic there will be about 20 people from this and from another board I personally know. They are all very friendly and I would assume that most people will show up at the Meet & Mingle (perhaps it’s on a sea day on that cruise instead of our port day meeting). So I think that everybody should try to go there even if organisation on Voyager is very bad.

 

My Voyager experience is based on 5 day during the week where I never left the ship and had the ability to walk in every corner of the ship. I met quite a lot of crewmembers during these days and I have to say that in comparison to other RCL ships they were less friendly and helpful.

 

Not speaking to passengers in hallways, blocking the aisle for passengers while talking to other crewmembers, officers not saying “Good morning” when entering an elevator and so on and so on.

I certainly made some friends among the passengers (and to some of the crew) but at the end of the week I glad I could leave Voyager.

 

Norovirus is fairly common these days. RCL in general has “problems” in fighting it. Experienced the same thing on my last Transatlantic and last year two times and every time the sanitizers were put out way to late.

I don’t know why they can’t put them out after the very first passenger has reported the illness. Spoke about this point to a couple of officers on different ships but never got a satisfactory reply.

Announcements are rarely made but they were not even on the highest alert level on our cruise. I have seen a ship on highest alert before and I have to say that this crew could have done more to prevent the virus from spreading.

 

Best overall in the RCL fleet or the whole cruise market?

In the RCL fleet I like the Radiance Class. For me this class has a very nice interior and exterior décor/design, has the right amount of amenities and is just shy of being to big already.

If you are asking about the whole market I have to say that I personally like Oceania. They are good, have nice ships and are not to expansive. But they are not the best.

Best cruise ships are the three ships from Hapag Lloyd. Catering more to the German market than to the rest of the world they offer (for honestly said quiet a bit of money) a great service. But they are small ships and you can’t compare them to the modern mega ships with all their amenities.

 

Shar27:

I’m sorry I scared you but look at my signature.

In the last 6 years I cruised on 17 RCL and Celebrity cruises. I naturally compare the ships and service I get on these cruises against each other. And in my signature are only RCL and Celebrity cruises not the other cruise lines I went on.

I am trained to see more “problems” than the normal passenger. I will notice them and memorize them when other people might simply shrug one’s shoulder and walk away.

And I might have had bad luck this time.

Didn’t had a good wait staff but I simply don’t know how the waiters have been 5 tables away.

 

You definitely have not made a bad decision.

You could have booked Navigator or Freedom or any other ship in the world and the staff might have a bad week there as well and you would say: bad wait staff but otherwise it was a great cruise.

Best thing for you is you know the ship, you know what kind of cruise it can deliver and so you are not disappointed if you would have expected dark oak wood and are seeing only plastic on the walls.

 

Can only agree to what dellas1000 wrote. Different ships for different people or occasions.

 

And keep in mind you are on holiday. Don’t take everything too seriously.:)

If you have to wait in line at the windjammer smile:) and think to the people at work who have to stay in line at their restaurant at the same time!

 

G.W.:)

[Shar27]

Shar27:

I’m sorry I scared you but look at my signature.

In the last 6 years I cruised on 17 RCL and Celebrity cruises. I naturally compare the ships and service I get on these cruises against each other. And in my signature are only RCL and Celebrity cruises not the other cruise lines I went on.

I am trained to see more “problems” than the normal passenger. I will notice them and memorize them when other people might simply shrug one’s shoulder and walk away.

And I might have had bad luck this time.

Didn’t had a good wait staff but I simply don’t know how the waiters have been 5 tables away.

You definitely have not made a bad decision.

G.W.:)

 

Thank you for your reply. I know I will have a fabulous time, I am just being paranoid. There are only 2 of us chatting on our roll call and because of the 3rd/4th person sale, we saved almost 2 K travelling on this ship as opposed to another Voyager class ship. There are 5 of us in a GS including my 3 children.

 

I guess I was just nervous wondering why the Voyager was so cheap compared to the other ships? The more I thought about it, the more I started convincing myself that there must be somthing wrong with the Voyager.:rolleyes:

 

I do shrug off thing that I am sure you would be upset about with your experience. I had a wonderful time on my Explorer cruise this past January, but if I think about all of the little things, I can come up with at least 20 or more items that needed a lot of improvement including having an attendant walk into our room with chocolate covered strawberries while we were dressing for dinner without knocking.:eek:

 

Anyways, I am sure I will have a fabulous time. I just have to stop overanalyzing everything and enjoy. As you say, I could be slaving away at my desk at work.

[caroden]

:p Shar 27

 

The suites are brilliant. You will have a wonderful time. If you have kids they will really enjoy themselves.

 

I read so many stories from passenger reviews about the Voyager before we went, that I thought we were going to end up on a ship with dreadful food and fighting for sunbeds everyday.

 

The truth is the complete reverse. The food was wonderful. The meat like none I have ever tasted. The Aberdeen Angus Beef just melted in your mouth - never mind needing a steak knife!! As for sunbeds, there were thousands of them and we never had trouble finding one.

 

We all enjoyed our cruise. Staff always said goodmorning to us, even in the corridors. The only problem place seemed to be the Spa, and many people had problems with incorrect bookings and overcharges. My advise is to stay away from the Spa.

 

It's true, you need to get the cabin numbers of all people who you speak to on the board, just in case you do want to meet up yourselves, and next time I will ensure that we do, just in case The Meet and Mingles don't go as planned.

 

Enjoy your cruise - stay safe and sanitize those hands!

 

Carole