All Things Voyager of the Seas Please!!

[ChaseM]

Ok we just returned I still have a hangover give me a minute.

The ship is magnificent. Capatin Gerry is by far the most outgoing and fun Captain I have experienced. He plays in a band and is a guitarist and lead singer and really pretty good.

The Ice shows were like watching olympic skaters they are that good and not to be missed.

The food was ok. Not the greatest but by the scale today it must not have been to bad. Of course a $1000 liquor tab probably did not help that much.

The shows were all very good as I found the entertainment to be above par.

The royal promenade is like walking through a high end shopping mall. I really could not believe I was on a cruise ship and I have cruised 10 times.

Of course watching an Ice show while cruising was a bit surreal.

 

You will love this ship she is beautiful.

Any othe questions I will be more than happy to answer them

 

Happy cruising.

P.S.

Galveston is lucky to have a ship of this magnitude call Galveston home for 4 months.

[TEXASMUNK]

Did you notice of the Texas hold Em Table is manned by a dealer or are they using the electronic dealer?

[sooner2]

did you have a safe in your room= how about mini-refrigerators= are there enough hangers in the closet? can you take Diet Cokes and bottled water on board? did you carry your own suitcase off the ship or put them out the night before?

lots of questions!

what did you do onshore?

we're in a Promenade inside cabin on Deck 7

[Paula_MacFan]

I too am curious about self-disembarking. Did they allow you do this and carry off your own luggage?

 

Did they show NFL games?

[wolfganghowell]

Chase - thanks - and now the ??'s begin!! :)

 

I know some of the answers from past experience.

Yes - they do self disembarking. You have to sign up for it and it is early.

Yes they show NFL games but since it is by satellite and you are at sea there is no guarantee they can't lose the signal. There's a sportsbar on Voyager so common sense would say that is where the games will be shown.

 

All rooms have safes - mini fridge may be for certain size cabins only.

 

Since you're "hanging" - any especially nice and fun bartenders to look for? What's the entertainment like in the Pub at night? When are the parades in the Promenade. Thanks for the report.

[gbcruise]

Bless you, even with the hangover! I was starting to get worried!

 

We will be on han 20th. What were the first movie runs? Was the comedy act family friendly? Did you have excursions in each port? Did you dine at Portifinos? When were the ice shows scheduled? What were the drink of the days & are they less expensive on their "day"?

 

Thanks in advance for the answers to my many questions.

[Snoozeman]

Yes they show NFL games but since it is by satellite and you are at sea there is no guarantee they can't lose the signal. There's a sportsbar on Voyager so common sense would say that is where the games will be shown.

 

Another example of needing to be Texanized. On the AOS this fall they primarily showed Soccer even taking one Football game off before it was over in order to watch the pre-game show of an upcoming soccer game. Seems the crew had more influence than the pax. Surely they would not do this on the Voyager.

[Paula_MacFan]

Another example of needing to be Texanized. On the AOS this fall they primarily showed Soccer even taking one Football game off before it was over in order to watch the pre-game show of an upcoming soccer game. Seems the crew had more influence than the pax. Surely they would not do this on the Voyager.

 

Hopefully not -- especially with the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs.

[Paula_MacFan]

Chase - thanks - and now the ??'s begin!! :)

 

I know some of the answers from past experience.

Yes - they do self disembarking. You have to sign up for it and it is early.

Yes they show NFL games but since it is by satellite and you are at sea there is no guarantee they can't lose the signal. There's a sportsbar on Voyager so common sense would say that is where the games will be shown.

 

All rooms have safes - mini fridge may be for certain size cabins only.

 

Since you're "hanging" - any especially nice and fun bartenders to look for? What's the entertainment like in the Pub at night? When are the parades in the Promenade. Thanks for the report.

 

I guess I should have been more specific in my question about the NFL games. I am quite aware they have a sports bar and have enough 'common sense to know' if they showed the games they would be shown there.

 

Someone had previously posted about the games being shown on the in-room TV.

 

I would like to know if the games will be shown that way as well.

 

Plus, I really wanted to know from someone who had just come back from the Voyager, since common sense would tell you it would be more relevant.

[msunrullieone]

:) OK, after 11 hours sleep, I can probably reply more coherently! Yes, they will have the NFL playoff games on the Voyager. My son asked one of the bartenders who said yes. They did have one NFL game on that I know of, while they also carried both bowl games that Texas teams were playing in.

 

Entertainment--The ice show was great. We saw Gary Mule Deer's comedy show, and he was hilarious and family-friendly. The Captain and crew were friendly. I encountered one snippy clerk at the Royal Promenade shops, but other than her, everyone was nice.

 

Casino/Bars--we won big the first two nights, but then kind of evened out. The Wheel of Fortune slot machines were paying off big for the most part (in my experience.) We found the casino bar wait staff to be sloooooow....30+ minutes for a drink. The dealers were friendly, but we think the Rhapsody dealers were a bit more fun. The Aquarium Bar bartenders (right outside the casino) were our favorites. They were very friendly and fast. The Sports bar was fun too. We thought the Pig and Whistle was too cramped together.

 

Dining room--We had excellent service from our waiters. No complaints! The formal nights were on Monday and Thursday. The Windjammer is the Windjammer. No complaints about food or service.

 

Our stateroom attendant was friendly and efficient.

 

We were docked alongside the Freedom of the Seas in Cozumel. The Adventure Ocean staffs had the kids having a pep rally of sorts shouting back and forth between the 2 ships. It was kind of cute.

 

Johnny Rockets was OK--nothing to write home about. We ate at Portofinos one night--it was really good and the service was superb.

 

Disembarkation--we sat in the Platinum/Diamond lounge in the Magic Flute dining room. Our color was called about five minutes earlier than the schedule. We found our luggage and were out the door thru Customs in about 10 minutes. No problem.

 

We booked another cruise while onboard. Cecilia, the Loyalty ambassador, was very nice and personable.

 

Again, in summary from my previous post, we liked the Voyager, but preferred the Rhapsody!

[Snoozeman]

I guess I should have been more specific in my question about the NFL games. I am quite aware they have a sports bar and have enough 'common sense to know' if they showed the games they would be shown there.

 

Someone had previously posted about the games being shown on the in-room TV.

 

I would like to know if the games will be shown that way as well.

 

Plus, I really wanted to know from someone who had just come back from the Voyager, since common sense would tell you it would be more relevant.

 

Yes, if it's on in the sports bar it will be on in your cabin. They have a TV studio that you can observe on one of the lower decks. We can pound the glass if they don't show the 'Boys.

[Paula_MacFan]

Yes, if it's on in the sports bar it will be on in your cabin. They have a TV studio that you can observe on one of the lower decks. We can pound the glass if they don't show the 'Boys.

 

Thank you. This is my first time on RCI, so all I have to compare to is Princess. Of course we watched NFL games on the MUTS there, and I know RCI doesn't have anything like that.

 

Thanks again.

[wolfganghowell]

Wow, Paula - so very sorry you took offense. I was only trying to be helpful and I did not mean my remark on common sense to come across as snide in any way. That was just me thinking aloud - sorry if my attempt to assist offended you. Welcome to Royal Caribbean.

[petel]

:) OK, after 11 hours sleep, I can probably reply more coherently! Yes, they will have the NFL playoff games on the Voyager. My son asked one of the bartenders who said yes. They did have one NFL game on that I know of, while they also carried both bowl games that Texas teams were playing in.

 

Entertainment--The ice show was great. We saw Gary Mule Deer's comedy show, and he was hilarious and family-friendly. The Captain and crew were friendly. I encountered one snippy clerk at the Royal Promenade shops, but other than her, everyone was nice.

 

Casino/Bars--we won big the first two nights, but then kind of evened out. The Wheel of Fortune slot machines were paying off big for the most part (in my experience.) We found the casino bar wait staff to be sloooooow....30+ minutes for a drink. The dealers were friendly, but we think the Rhapsody dealers were a bit more fun. The Aquarium Bar bartenders (right outside the casino) were our favorites. They were very friendly and fast. The Sports bar was fun too. We thought the Pig and Whistle was too cramped together.

 

Dining room--We had excellent service from our waiters. No complaints! The formal nights were on Monday and Thursday. The Windjammer is the Windjammer. No complaints about food or service.

 

Our stateroom attendant was friendly and efficient.

 

We were docked alongside the Freedom of the Seas in Cozumel. The Adventure Ocean staffs had the kids having a pep rally of sorts shouting back and forth between the 2 ships. It was kind of cute.

 

Johnny Rockets was OK--nothing to write home about. We ate at Portofinos one night--it was really good and the service was superb.

 

Disembarkation--we sat in the Platinum/Diamond lounge in the Magic Flute dining room. Our color was called about five minutes earlier than the schedule. We found our luggage and were out the door thru Customs in about 10 minutes. No problem.

 

We booked another cruise while onboard. Cecilia, the Loyalty ambassador, was very nice and personable.

 

Again, in summary from my previous post, we liked the Voyager, but preferred the Rhapsody!

 

How about the food? Were the menu selections and quality what you thought they would be compared to Rhapsody?

[petel]

Thank you. This is my first time on RCI, so all I have to compare to is Princess. Of course we watched NFL games on the MUTS there, and I know RCI doesn't have anything like that.

 

Thanks again.

 

Happy Birthday Paula and welcome to RCI. We really are a bunch of gentle souls around here. :)

 

Wow, Paula - so very sorry you took offense. I was only trying to be helpful and I did not mean my remark on common sense to come across as snide in any way. That was just me thinking aloud - sorry if my attempt to assist offended you. Welcome to Royal Caribbean.

 

Wolfe, you are such a gentle soul.............. and your posts are always very helpful. Too bad typing doesn't have body language and facial expressions. Once we get to know each other it is so much easier to read what is said and not be sensitive to how it is being said. I sometimes still get in trouble with my DW for that very thing. I still review what you did for me and now that I have been on Voyager it's even better!

 

:) Happy New Year ! :)

[wolfganghowell]

Thanks petel, we keep missing each other on the high seas but always land on the board! :) I feel bad I made her mad - I was just thinking of all the places I've seen the games - casino, C&A lounge and then remembered they had a dedicated sports bar so figured that would be it. Duh - tone is so hard. Just imagine when I start making jokes or being facetious. I hate getting cirtually yelled at! :eek:

 

I don't know if your itinerary is the Roatan one but if it is, we LOVED it there last August. Wish now we had booked that itinerary but are looking forward to being in Grand Cayman again.

[petel]

Thanks petel, we keep missing each other on the high seas but always land on the board! :) I feel bad I made her mad - I was just thinking of all the places I've seen the games - casino, C&A lounge and then remembered they had a dedicated sports bar so figured that would be it. Duh - tone is so hard. Just imagine when I start making jokes or being facetious. I hate getting cirtually yelled at! :eek:

 

I don't know if your itinerary is the Roatan one but if it is, we LOVED it there last August. Wish now we had booked that itinerary but are looking forward to being in Grand Cayman again.

 

I knew exactly what you were saying .... and I understand Paula's remark completely (after I re-read yours) :D

 

We're getting spoiled this time - B2B (Jan 20th & 27th) Can't wait to get back to Roatan. DW wants to go back to the cameo factory.

 

My jokes and remarks are restricted to the Roll Calls ;) after folks have a chance to get use to me. :rolleyes: Although once in a while DW says "do you know how you sound?":o

 

I really hope someone puts my mind at ease about the food ... the crossing was too much Europe vegtables and not nearly enough good meat and seafood.

 

MTF

[wolfganghowell]

My psychic powers tell me that the menus will be changed to the ones used on the Caribbean itineraries. That seems the logical change but hey, if I were that good of a psychic, I'd do a lot better at Three Card Poker onboard.

 

And since I had a professor at UT who vowed to give students an F over any misspellings, I did not mean "cirtually" yelled at but "virtually." Ah - those were the days when we typed our papers on a typewriter!!! And I was a writing major - and yet I am still flunking Tone of Voice 101. :D

 

Looking forward to the 1/13 announcement - hoping it is good news for 2009.

[petel]

My psychic powers tell me that the menus will be changed to the ones used on the Caribbean itineraries. That seems the logical change but hey, if I were that good of a psychic, I'd do a lot better at Three Card Poker onboard.

 

And since I had a professor at UT who vowed to give students an F over any misspellings, I did not mean "cirtually" yelled at but "virtually." Ah - those were the days when we typed our papers on a typewriter!!! And I was a writing major - and yet I am still flunking Tone of Voice 101. :D

 

Looking forward to the 1/13 announcement - hoping it is good news for 2009.

 

Yes but will they be able to follow them????????????

 

and I had no idea what "cirtually yelled at" meant :eek: but I wasn't worried - I knew it wasn't going to hurt much. ;)

[msunrullieone]

How about the food? Were the menu selections and quality what you thought they would be compared to Rhapsody?

 

The food was delicious! The menus seemed comparable to what we had on the Rhapsody. There was Prime Rib, Filet, Chicken, Duck, Steak with Crabmeat, and yes, there was Lobster. The desserts were good--we wanted more chocolate, but that was our personal preference. Everyone seated at our table had cruised before, and there were no complaints from anyone.

[petel]

The food was delicious! The menus seemed comparable to what we had on the Rhapsody. There was Prime Rib, Filet, Chicken, Duck, Steak with Crabmeat, and yes, there was Lobster. The desserts were good--we wanted more chocolate, but that was our personal preference. Everyone seated at our table had cruised before, and there were no complaints from anyone.

 

 

Thank you :) thank you :) thank you!

 

We always want more chocolate. Chocolate in both hands is a balanced diet! :D

[crazy 4 cruising]

Since you're "hanging" - any especially nice and fun bartenders to look for? What's the entertainment like in the Pub at night? When are the parades in the Promenade. Thanks for the report.

 

On the TA we had 3 great bar tenders in the concierge lounge, not sure where theyw ill be regularly. Manuel from Honduras, Iros & Branislav Kunic from Croatia--they were great. There were 2 Pablos--1 Skye Bar, other Pool Bar that were great. They rotate them every 3 weeks they said, so no telling where they are now.

 

My jokes and remarks are restricted to the Roll Calls ;) after folks have a chance to get use to me. :rolleyes: Although once in a while DW says "do you know how you sound?":o

 

Marilyn is soooooooooo smart;)

I really hope someone puts my mind at ease about the food ... the crossing was too much Europe vegtables and not nearly enough good meat and seafood.

 

MTF

actually Pete--we had the regular 7 day menus as well as additional ones. EVERYONE on a 7 day gets the same 7 day menus--according to our head waiter, they just add different menus on longer than 7 dayers. I had printed out from CC a list of the 7 day menu and lo & behold, we had every single one of them, not in the order they had listed, but we had them. I agree that there were some interesting menus:eek:

[wolfganghowell]

Thanks crazy - yes I recall several of our bartender buddies in the past told us that they get moved around the ship. We generally like to find one or two that make our drinks the way we like and we reward appropriately. It's also fun to develop a little relationship - last time our Schooner bartender took a picture of us. :) Hmm, hope it wasn't for his dartboard........ha, Mr Wolf behaved himself. ;)

 

This is also our first as Diamond so we are looking forward to the Concierge Lounge. I assume the best way to tip there is cold hard cash!

[marise]

I am pretty sure that webcam onboard the voyager is NOT working, because it does not show the HUGE and beautiful christmas tree beside the red classic car!

 

We were on the cruise out of Galveston, and had a fabulous time. The voyager was decorated beautifully. The Cruise Director Karen, and her staff were friendly, full of energy and lots of fun. We took part in lots of trivia sessions at the schooner bar which were fun. I loved the shower stalls, which are round and have a shower door as opposed to those curtains that always stuck to you!!! The beds are new(or felt that way) and were very comfortable. I took an inside cabin, as I always do, and the only thing I did not like was that they did not provide water jugs in the room, and I was forced to use the water from the mini bar which cost too much. So take your own water bottle and refil it in the windjammer, if you don't want to pay the atrocious $2- per bottle of tasteless water!!!

 

The ice shows were really nice and it is not cold in the arena at all. We enjoyed a couple of games of mini golf and ping pong. The casino took a lot of my money as did bingo! The food in the dining room was delicious and service was the best. We did not eat at Portofino's and the young adults in our family who did eat at Johnny Rockets thought it was cute!

 

The Voyager (our first on this class of ship) was beautiful, but too big a ship for us. The Captain was very entertaining. He always attached a joke to end his announcements, and he was very talented with his guitar and voice. Played and sang very well, and is not hard to look at either :)

 

Marise

[crazy 4 cruising]

I am pretty sure that webcam onboard the voyager is NOT working, because it does not show the HUGE and beautiful christmas tree beside the red classic car!

 

isn't that a beautiful tree. we were on her last DEc as well as on the TA to GAlveston & the decorations on the tree were differnt this year.

 

We were on the cruise out of Galveston, and had a fabulous time. The voyager was decorated beautifully. The Cruise Director Karen, and her staff were friendly, full of energy and lots of fun. We took part in lots of trivia sessions at the schooner bar which were fun. I loved the shower stalls, which are round and have a shower door as opposed to those curtains that always stuck to you!!! The beds are new(or felt that way) and were very comfortable. I took an inside cabin, as I always do, and the only thing I did not like was that they did not provide water jugs in the room, and I was forced to use the water from the mini bar which cost too much. So take your own water bottle and refil it in the windjammer, if you don't want to pay the atrocious $2- per bottle of tasteless water!!!

 

I don't think I have ever been on a ship with a water jug. I do know that they have started only doing ice in the buckets at night, unless otherwise requested by the passengers.

 

The Voyager (our first on this class of ship) was beautiful, but too big a ship for us. I know exactly what youmean. BUT give it a second try. We felt the same way after last DEc's cruise on her, but then got very comfortable on her doing the TA. course 15 days on any ship helps you to get to know your way around, but we have since booked on the Mariner & have another booked on the Voyager. If that's all that's in Galveston, well...

 

The Captain was very entertaining. He always attached a joke to end his announcements, and he was very talented with his guitar and voice. Played and sang very well, and is not hard to look at either :)

AMEN to that & I loved his little grin. He was all over the ship during the TA & very personable & friendly.

Marise

 

Sure hoping for a good announcement on Jan 13--like another ship:D