All Things Voyager of the Seas Please!!

[MellowMel]

Thanks Melissa! You made my day and a lot of other peoples' days that were dieing for this news.

 

My pleasure!

[kruzkween]

YES, that was horns...it was huge TEXAS LONGHORNS and red, white & blue banners. At 7:00 am we had a helicopter hover overhead and take arial photos. It was all a publicity thing welcoming Voyager to Galveston, TX. Quite exciting!!

 

kruzkween

[Agutaya]

We got back yesterday and had a great cruise. I plan to write up a review but don't have time right now. We thought the food and service were good. The ship looked in good condition too. The cruise director, Eric Dowes, and his staff did a great job. They were all very friendly. Captain Gerry was very personable. We saw him around the ship several times. The night he plays with the band (in Studio B) shouldn't be missed. He's quite good.

 

FYI I just scanned the Cruise Compasses and Behind the Name Tags sheets from the January 6-13, 2008 VOS cruise. They are here: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/562133476arMoqu

 

More Later,

 

Mary

[jwhouston]

We got back yesterday and had a great cruise. I plan to write up a review but don't have time right now. We thought the food and service were good. The ship looked in good condition too. The cruise director, Eric Dowes, and his staff did a great job. They were all very friendly. Captain Gerry was very personable. We saw him around the ship several times. The night he plays with the band (in Studio B) shouldn't be missed. He's quite good.

 

FYI I just scanned the Cruise Compasses and Behind the Name Tags sheets from the January 6-13, 2008 VOS cruise. They are here: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/562133476arMoqu

 

More Later,

 

Mary

 

Mary,

 

You are such a sweetheart! Thank you soooooooo much. We leave on the 20th for this itinerary and I was hoping someone would scan these.

 

jwhouston

[robtx100]

One thing I found interesting in the Cruise Compass is that on day 2, the captain's welcome aboard is 745-815 with photos at 715. We have early dinner seating, so how is that going to work?

[crazy 4 cruising]

One thing I found interesting in the Cruise Compass is that on day 2, the captain's welcome aboard is 745-815 with photos at 715. We have early dinner seating, so how is that going to work?

 

that is an interesting question. we usually do late seating & did on the Voyager TA & so had no problem. fortunately the pictures with the captain were taken right by where the concierge lounge was for that trip. we never did go out to the promenade for the "reception" as we had out own party going on in the CL. that doesn't seem very fair for main seating folks as far as pix with captain gerry.

[kruzkween]

Don't know how long it will take for Cruise Critic to read, approve of and post my review, so I thought I'd try to copy it here...if it's not too long. Seems that many people are asking questions (like I did before this sailing!) and maybe my opinions and observations will be helpful to someone.

......................

 

This was the third week sailing from Galveston; the first week being Christmas and the second New Years.

We arrived before 1:00 Sunday afternoon and had a very smooth check-in. RCI even offered small snacks and champagne at the end of the check-in, before you head up to the gangway; nice touch.

We went straight to our cabin (inside, deck 9) to drop off our carry-on stuff before heading to the Windjammer for lunch. We found no ice in the tiny, tiny ice bucket and no trash can in our cabin. The cabin was small but offered very efficient storage and plenty of room for all our “stuff”. There is a very small refrigerator, not very cold at all, and it was full of drinks & snacks. If you take your own sodas or anything you would like to put in a refrigerator, you’re out of luck...no room at all. So that space was essentially non-existent and unusable; but that was OK, there was more than sufficient storage space for two people.

I found the lighting around the vanity not good at all for putting on make-up. The bathroom light was much better, but you had to stand in there. At least there was a chair at the vanity, and the hair dryer was in a shallow drawer there. It was a small 1250 watt dryer that you had to hold the “on” switch the whole time you used the dryer. For a quick touch-up job that was fine, but to blow dry a major hair-do, it was quite uncomfortable.

The bathroom shower had sliding doors instead of the irritating and burdensome shower curtain. That was the best invention yet for one of those tiny little showers!! There was a shampoo dispenser on the wall in the shower (no conditioner). On arrival, on the bathroom counter were little containers of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shower gel & a little personal vanity kit.

We like to “explore” after we eat lunch the first day. We saw that there was going to be Texas 42 lessons/games/tournament throughout the week, and we went looking for the game room. It is located on Deck 14, in a more or less out-of-the-way place, at the back of the ship. It’s actually located right beside (inside) the place where you sign up (outside) for climbing the rock wall, and there is a door leading outside from the game room...but it’s locked and you can’t use it. The only access is from the inside hallway . Nice carpeted room with 10 or 12 suede-topped game tables and chairs. Board games and such were available there also, but during the designated Texas 42 times, the cards, games, etc. could be taken to an adjacent room to play.

There are lots of places inside to sit & read, or just people-watch. Voyager has a beautiful 2-story library, but the book shelves are more than half empty. Not much to offer, but a lovely place for some quiet time or lap-top computer work.

Other than in the casino, finding smoke-free places isn’t a problem at all. The smokers were very good about only smoking on the designated side, and it’s easy enough for non-smokers to stay away from there. I’m allergic to smoke, and I didn’t have any problem, other than the several times I went to the casino.

And speaking of the casino, we didn’t care at all for this one. There were hardly any slots under 25 cents; some of the “banks” of slots were located so close together that you literally couldn’t walk between them; and the slots seemed extremely tight. Now we’re not big gamblers at all, and others who play “bigger” than we do might have had different experiences and opinions, but my husband & I were extremely disappointed in this casino.

The three-story La Scala Theatre was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. You could see well from just about any seat, even the highest seats on the top story. The acoustics in there were great as well. We found the entertainment to be very good. Sunday night, we didn’t go to the theatre (were still in the dining room!!) and I have no idea what the entertainment was. Monday night the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers performed “Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme”, and they are quite a talented group. At the end of this cruise (Jan. 6-13) this group was leaving the ship, their contracts were up, and a new group of singers & dancers was beginning for the Jan. 13-20 cruise. Tuesday night was the magic & grand illusions of LARAF; a team consisting of a man & his nephew...and they were very good. Wednesday was “Music in Motion”, featuring the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers; another very good show. Thursday was “Cash & Friends”, a man & his wife (Ben & Dana Marney) doing a tribute to Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash and Patsy Cline. They were both good, very talented, but this was probably the show my husband & I liked least. Friday was the Ice Odyssey...OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This professional production could rival anything you might see at the olympics; it was nothing short of fabulous. They did the first shows on Tues. at 3:00 & 5:00 and tickets went very, very fast for those shows. Then on Friday, this was the evening entertainment, with shows at 7:00 (for late seating) and 9:00 (for early seating). You could pick up complimentary tickets for any of the shows from 8:30-11:00 Tues. morning. By 10:00, tickets for both Tues. shows were completely gone. I didn’t have any problem at all getting tickets for the Fri. evening show tho. As a matter of fact, some people who went on Tues. were so impressed with the show that they later got tickets for Fri. too. Yes, it was THAT good!! Saturday’s entertainment was comedian Ralph Achilles, Captain Gerry sang & played the guitar (and he was quite good!!), the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers did one number, and then they did a tribute to the staff & crew. There was certainly nothing spectacular about this entertainment, but it was good and it was an appropriate farewell.

One little note about Captain Gerry...he was the most interactive, fun, “human” captain I’ve ever seen. He came over the speaker system usually twice a day, giving the “technical info” that captains do, then finished up with a cute Chinese Proverb. Sometimes he quoted other “words of wisdom” too. It was always light, fun and interesting, and almost made you look forward to the captain’s messages each day, rather that dread them and tune him out.

It wasn’t till Tues. that we discovered the Promenade Cafe. They don’t talk much about it, and you just have to learn on your own. Since it’s along the Royal Promenade with all the other places like Ben & Jerry’s, Scoreboard, Pig & Whistle...places that you have to pay for anything you get...we thought the Promenade Cafe was the same...WRONG! They have sandwiches, pizza, fruit, cookies, desserts, panini, coffee, hot chocolate, milk all for free. You can actually eat a light lunch or supper there, or have snacks all day and very late into the night (3:00 AM I think). The cookies available were chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, coconut and peanut butter and they were all very good. Before we retired for the night, we’d go by the Promenade Cafe and get several cookies and some hot chocolate and take them to our cabin for our bedtime snack. It was just great...I’m just sorry that we didn’t know about it from the beginning!! The Windjammer closes at 9:30, so after that, the Promenade Cafe is the only snack place open.

Someone on the message board asked about the drinks-of-the-day. They were: Sun.–Texas Beach Tea; Mon.–Bahama Papa; Tues.-Coconuts; Wed.-Mango Cooler; Thurs.-Lava Flow; Fri.-Ocean Rita; and Sat.-Rum Runner. They all sell for $5.95 in a regular glass and $8.95 in a sloozie souvenir glass...whatever that is!!! Someone also asked about the price of liquor on the ship...Absolut 2/$19.95; Crown Royal 2/$33.95; Cruzan Rum $28.95; Bacardi Rum $37.95.

Bits & pieces...

No hand sanitizer available anywhere on the ship; bring your own!

Dining room service terribly slow; took us two hours every night

Formal nights were Mon. & Thurs.

Lobster was served Fri. night

Soft-serve ice cream in the Windjammer; one machine had

strawberry & chocolate, the other chocolate & vanilla...look first!

News flash deluxe...they now serve Dr. Pepper on Voyager; I saw

it myself & asked about it...it’s really there!!

Several days were very windy & pretty chilly; be sure to bring long

pants and a jacket of some kind

The lifeboat drill is at 4:15 and all muster stations are on Deck 4

Solarium was a great quiet place; the retractable top was open all

the time, even when it was chilly or rainy...don’t know why (it

rained briefly Sat. afternoon)

Eric was the Cruise Director and he came on the ship Jan. 6...this

was his first sailing on Voyager; he’s from Arkansas and was

wonderful; very personable

In Montego Bay, there was NO shopping at our pier; it’s just a terminal where buses, taxis, shuttles, etc. pick people up. The Hot Spots Shuttle will take you around to the shopping areas (hop-on hop-off type). One place it was printed said it cost $12, another said $15. Since I didn’t do that, I can’t say exactly how much it was. I was also told by a lady who took advantage of this, that a free shuttle was available to take you from our pier over to the other pier to shop in the terminal area there. I don’t recall hearing of this before hand, and Holli the shopping guide didn’t mention it at her port & shopping talk.

In Grand Cayman, I was impressed with two particular places. One was a store called 20enty...everything in the store is $20, or 2/$20 or 3/$20. It’s beside Del Sol in Bayshore Mall. They had some very pretty silver & gemstone jewelry, paper weights, stainless steel bracelets, gemstone wine stoppers & little globes; lots of neat stuff. I’ve never seen this store before, but I liked it a lot. The other store, I’m sorry to say, I didn’t write down the name or location, but my purchase receipt says Tortuga Rum Comp Heritage Craft, North Sound Road. Looking on the shopping map, I’m going to say with reasonable certainty that it’s the Tortuga located at 5e, just in front of the Bayshore Mall. That’s the best I can do as far as identification...sorry!!! Even tho I’m not sure exactly where it is, it’s worth looking for. The special thing about this store is that with any purchase of $5 or more, you may use their computer for 15 minutes, or make a 5-minute phone call...FREE. The computer was high-speed; it was great. There were two computers and two phones available. A lady was making a phone call while I was on the computer and she said the connection was great. The ladies in the store were very nice too. I recall the store had a little bit of everything; T-shirt type souvenirs & other clothes, liquor, rum cakes, candy & snacks, jellies & sauces, etc. The store was very deep; at the back of the store, in a room on the left was the liquor, rum cakes, jellies & sauces; the computers & phones were in a room on the right, sitting on a long counter, with two stools in front of the computers. There were also clothes in that room too. OK, for a non-observant girl from Texas, that’s the best I can do!!!

The last thing I’ll comment on was our disembarkation experience...in a word—BAD! They began calling for Early Departure guests about 7:45. We were instructed to go to Deck 4 aft. We were in the Windjammer at that time. They had previously announced, both in writing and over the PA system, that Early Departure would begin at 8:00. By the time we got to the room, picked up our luggage and headed for the elevator, it was about 8:10. It took a minimum of 20 minutes to get an elevator. When we finally got to 4, there was such chaos that no one could even move. And they were trying to parade Galveston tour groups thru the masses on 4! Even tho some people were losing their patience, most were very courteous and we all made the best of a situation that we couldn’t do anything about. We finally got off the ship and started down the gangway headed for customs, around 9:15. We made it thru customs and outside around 9:45. Our parking lot shuttle was waiting there, and the rest was smooth and easy. I certainly hope they rethink and redesign the Early Departure process on Voyager...and VERY SOON!!

Bon Voyage to all of you leaving on Voyager soon! I hope I’ve helped in some small way to enlighten you and help you be more knowledgeable before you begin your cruise. I also hope that you enjoy as much fun & relaxation as my husband & I did. It was a fabulous cruise and we certainly hope to sail on Voyager of the Seas again.

 

Blessings to all...

kruzkween

[cws1966]

Hi,

We have a complimentary dinner at Portofino's included with our cruise, so we are definitely planning to go. I was wondering how some of you who have been decided on which night to make ressies. Is it only open at night or also for lunch?

 

We thought we would try and find out what nite the menu in the main dining room is Italian and go that night. WE really enjoy dining in the dining room and didn't want to miss out on a really good night. We definitely won't go to Portofino's on formal night.

 

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[crazy 4 cruising]

good review kruzkween. glad to see Voyager did like Rhapsody & Splendour and have DP. didn't have it on the trans atlantic, but I didn't much expect it to. Believe it or not, it does sound like disembarkation IMPROVED from the TA.

[MellowMel]

Italian night was Day 4 - Wednesday. Everything I had was excellent in Portofino - the shrimp risotto, pear and gorganzola salad, penne and beef ragout, the tiger garlic shrimp, and finally and the best flourless chocolate cake. The filets, the mushroom pasta, seafood pasta, lobster skewer and tiramisu all got rave reviews also.

 

Hi,

We have a complimentary dinner at Portofino's included with our cruise, so we are definitely planning to go. I was wondering how some of you who have been decided on which night to make ressies. Is it only open at night or also for lunch?

 

We thought we would try and find out what nite the menu in the main dining room is Italian and go that night. WE really enjoy dining in the dining room and didn't want to miss out on a really good night. We definitely won't go to Portofino's on formal night.

 

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[MakinGold]

good review kruzkween. glad to see Voyager did like Rhapsody & Splendour and have DP. didn't have it on the trans atlantic, but I didn't much expect it to. Believe it or not, it does sound like disembarkation IMPROVED from the TA.

 

What is DP?

 

Debarkation Problems?

Dedicated Porters??

Dance Party???

[Agutaya]

kruzkween, thanks for the good review. We were on the same cruise. I'll make a few comments below.

 

There is a very small refrigerator, not very cold at all, and it was full of drinks & snacks. If you take your own sodas or anything you would like to put in a refrigerator, you’re out of luck...no room at all.

We just took everything out of the refrigerator and put in on our table. Our room steward took it all away for us. Then we put our soda in the fridge - not that it made much difference since it wasn't much cooler than room temp.

 

There are lots of places inside to sit & read, or just people-watch. Voyager has a beautiful 2-story library, but the book shelves are more than half empty.

We got on early and saw the library before most people were on the ship. It had lots of books. I was surprised when I saw it later and it was very empty. So, if anyone wants a good selection they should head to the library first.

 

One little note about Captain Gerry...he was the most interactive, fun, “human” captain I’ve ever seen. He came over the speaker system usually twice a day, giving the “technical info” that captains do, then finished up with a cute Chinese Proverb. Sometimes he quoted other “words of wisdom” too. It was always light, fun and interesting, and almost made you look forward to the captain’s messages each day, rather that dread them and tune him out.

Yes, Captain Gerry was great! On one of the port days I didn't get off and saw him at the Cafe Promenade. He stood talking to us for at least a half hour. The crew speaks very highly of him.

 

They now serve Dr. Pepper on Voyager.

The captain said at the Q&A that getting Dr. Pepper on the ship was something they did to accomodate Texan cruisers. Nice touch.

 

Eric was the Cruise Director and he came on the ship Jan. 6...this was his first sailing on Voyager; he’s from Arkansas and was wonderful; very personable.

I agree whole heartedly. He is great and had a great staff too.

 

In Montego Bay, there was NO shopping at our pier; it’s just a terminal where buses, taxis, shuttles, etc. pick people up. The Hot Spots Shuttle will take you around to the shopping areas (hop-on hop-off type). One place it was printed said it cost $12, another said $15. Since I didn’t do that, I can’t say exactly how much it was. I was also told by a lady who took advantage of this, that a free shuttle was available to take you from our pier over to the other pier to shop in the terminal area there.

There are some shuttle busses withing the port area that are free. I just happened to find it out and used their service. It worked fine to go over to the small shopping area near the ship.

 

I certainly hope they rethink and redesign the Early Departure process on Voyager...and VERY SOON!!

Totally agree. They need to have a waiting area for the express departure people. Having them all congregate on the steps while everyone else is trying to go to their assigned departure area is just an accident waiting to happen (not to mention a heated argument).

 

We had a very good time. The staff was friendly and helpful. I thought the Voyager would be harder to find my way around. When someone on this message board mentioned that entertainment is forward and food is aft it helped a lot. Also you need to remember that you can not walk from one end of the ship to the other on decks 2 and 3. A bit of a hassle when trying to go Studio B or the Screening Room.

 

Mary

[MakinGold]

Now I get it . . . DP = Dr. Pepper!!! :o

[TEXASMUNK]

It seems that no one listens! Everyone seems to think the times for departure are posted for others and it won't hurt for them to head down early....only problem is that 700 other folks think the posted times are designed for others as well.

 

Since Voyager is based in Texas, maybe they will issue the crew cattle prods and the process will get much smoother. (Please, no replies about torture, I AM kidding):cool:

[cruizinmimi]

The captain said at the Q&A that getting Dr. Pepper on the ship was something they did to accomodate Texan cruisers. Nice touch.

 

Mary

 

But do they serve Diet Dr. Pepper????? That is a biggy for me:D :D

[FLACRUISER99]

Is this photo real or a joke :eek: http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com/fp80114-l.jpg

[Jeano222]

This is not a joke. The horns are 140 long and weigh 600 pounds. I think they can only withstand a certain amount of wind. Most unique thing I have ever seen, I love it!!!!

[JLS cruiser]

Is this photo real or a joke :eek: http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com/fp80114-l.jpg

It's real. The horns are 140 feet long powered by multiple blowers and the four Texas flags are 70 by 85 feet.

 

Not only are they real, they are up for auction on eBay. RCL is going to use them through April and then send them to the winner of the auction along with a cruise for two in a balcony room.

 

Total value of auction: over $50,000. Only been a couple of bids so far.

[kruzkween]

Voyager of the Seas 1/6/08:

This was the third week sailing from Galveston; the first week being Christmas and the second New Years.

We arrived before 1:00 Sunday afternoon and had a very smooth check-in. RCI even offered small snacks and champagne at the end of the check-in, before you head up to the gangway; nice touch.

We went straight to our cabin (inside, deck 9) to drop off our carry-on things before heading to the Windjammer for lunch. We found no ice in the tiny, tiny ice bucket and no trash can in our cabin. The cabin was small but offered very efficient storage and plenty of room for all our "stuff". There is a very small refrigerator, not very cold at all, and it was full of drinks & snacks. If you take your own sodas or anything you would like to put in a refrigerator, you’re out of luck...no room at all. So that space was essentially non-existent and unusable; but that was OK, there was more than sufficient storage space for two people.

I found the lighting around the vanity not good at all for putting on make-up. The bathroom light was much better, but you had to stand in there. At least there was a chair at the vanity, and the hair dryer was in a shallow drawer there. It was a small 1250 watt dryer that you had to hold the "on" switch the whole time you used the dryer. For a quick touch-up job that was fine, but to blow dry a major hair-do, it was quite uncomfortable.

The bathroom shower had sliding doors instead of the irritating and burdensome shower curtain. That was the best invention yet for one of those tiny little showers!! There was a shampoo dispenser on the wall in the shower (no conditioner). On arrival, on the bathroom counter were little containers of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shower gel & a little personal vanity kit.

We like to explore after we eat lunch the first day. We saw that there was going to be Texas 42 lessons/games/tournament throughout the week, and we went looking for the game room. It is located on Deck 14, in a more or less out-of-the-way place, at the back of the ship. It’s actually located right beside (inside) the place where you sign up (outside) for climbing the rock wall, and there is a door leading outside from the game room...but it’s locked and you can’t use it. The only access is from the inside hallway . Nice carpeted room with 10 or 12 suede-topped game tables and chairs. Board games and such were available there also, but during the designated Texas 42 times, the cards, games, etc. could be taken to an adjacent room to play.

There are lots of places inside to sit & read, or just people-watch. Voyager has a beautiful 2-story library, but the book shelves are more than half empty. Not much to offer, but a lovely place for some quiet time or lap-top computer work.

Other than in the casino, finding smoke-free places isn't a problem at all. The smokers were very good about only smoking on the designated side, and it's easy enough for non-smokers to stay away from there. I'm allergic to smoke, and I didn't have any problem, other than the several times I went to the casino.

And speaking of the casino, we didn't care at all for this one. There were hardly any slots under 25 cents; some of the "banks" of slots were located so close together that you literally couldn't walk between them; and the slots seemed extremely tight. Now we’re not big gamblers at all, and others who play "bigger" than we do might have had different experiences and opinions, but my husband & I were extremely disappointed in this casino.

The three-story La Scala Theatre was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. You could see well from just about any seat, even the highest seats on the top story. The acoustics in there were great as well. We found the entertainment to be very good. Sunday night, we didn’t go to the theatre (were still in the dining room!!) and I have no idea what the entertainment was. Monday night the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers performed "Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme", and they are quite a talented group. At the end of this cruise (Jan. 6-13) this group was leaving the ship, their contracts were up, and a new group of singers & dancers was beginning for the Jan. 13-20 cruise. Tuesday night was the magic & grand illusions of LARAF; a team consisting of a man & his nephew...and they were very good. Wednesday was "Music in Motion", featuring the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers; another very good show. Thursday was "Cash & Friends", a man & his wife (Ben & Dana Marney) doing a tribute to Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash and Patsy Cline. They were both good, very talented, but this was probably the show my husband & I liked least. Friday was the Ice Odyssey...OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This professional production could rival anything you might see at the olympics; it was nothing short of fabulous. They did the first shows on Tues. at 3:00 & 5:00 and tickets went very, very fast for those shows. Then on Friday, this was the evening entertainment, with shows at 7:00 (for late seating) and 9:00 (for early seating). You could pick up complimentary tickets for any of the shows from 8:30-11:00 Tues. morning. By 10:00, tickets for both Tues. shows were completely gone. I did not have any problem at all getting tickets for the Fri. evening show tho. As a matter of fact, some people who went on Tues. were so impressed with the show that they later got tickets for Fri. too. Yes, it was THAT good!! Saturday's entertainment was comedian Ralph Achilles, Captain Gerry sang & played the guitar (and he was quite good!!), the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers did one number, and then they did a tribute to the staff & crew. There was certainly nothing spectacular about this entertainment, but it was good and it was an appropriate farewell.

One little note about Captain Gerry...he was the most interactive, fun, "human" captain I’ve ever seen. He came over the speaker system usually twice a day, giving the "technical info" that captains do, then finished up with a cute Chinese Proverb. Sometimes he quoted other "words of wisdom" too. It was always light, fun and interesting, and almost made you look forward to the captain's messages each day, rather that dread them and tune him out.

It wasn't till Tues. that we discovered the Promenade Cafe. They don't talk much about it, and you just have to learn on your own. Since it's along the Royal Promenade with all the other places like Ben & Jerry's, Scoreboard, Pig & Whistle...places that you have to pay for anything you get...we thought the Promenade Cafe was the same...WRONG! They have sandwiches, pizza, fruit, cookies, desserts, panini, coffee, hot chocolate, milk all for free. You can actually eat a light lunch or supper there, or have snacks all day and very late into the night (3:00 AM I think). The cookies available were chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, coconut and peanut butter and they were all very good. Before we retired for the night, we'd go by the Promenade Cafe and get several cookies and some hot chocolate and take them to our cabin for our bedtime snack. It was just great...I'm just sorry that we didn’t know about it from the beginning!! The Windjammer closes at 9:30, so after that, the Promenade Cafe is the only snack place open.

Someone on the message board asked about the drinks-of-the-day. They were:

Sun.–Texas Beach Tea; Mon.–Bahama Papa; Tues.-Coconuts; Wed.-Mango Cooler; Thurs.-Lava Flow; Fri.-Ocean Rita; and Sat.-Rum Runner. They all sell for $5.95 in a regular glass and $8.95 in a sloozie souvenir glass...whatever that is!!! Someone also asked about the price of liquor on the ship...Absolut 2/$19.95; Crown Royal 2/$33.95; Cruzan Rum $28.95; Bacardi Rum $37.95.

Bits & pieces...

No hand sanitizer available anywhere on the ship; bring your own!

Dining room service terribly slow; took us two hours every night

Formal nights were MONDAY & THURSDAY

Lobster was served Fri. night

Soft-serve ice cream in the Windjammer; one machine had

strawberry & chocolate, the other chocolate & vanilla...look first!

NEWS FLASH deluxe...they now serve Dr. Pepper on Voyager; I

saw it myself & asked about it...it’s really there!!

Several days were very windy & pretty chilly; be sure to bring long

pants and a jacket of some kind

The lifeboat drill is at 4:15 and all muster stations are on Deck 4

Solarium is a great quiet place; the retractable top was open all

the time, even when it was chilly or rainy...don’t know why; it

rained briefly Sat. afternoon

Eric is the Cruise Director and he came on the ship Jan. 6...this

was his first sailing on Voyager; he's from Arkansas and is

wonderful; very personable; clean jokes & stories

In Montego Bay, there was NO shopping at our pier; it's just a terminal where buses, taxis, shuttles, etc. pick people up. The Hot Spots Shuttle will take you around to the shopping areas (hop-on hop-off type). One place it was printed said it cost $12, another said $15. Since I didn't do that, I can't say exactly how much it was. I was also told by a lady who took advantage of this, that a free shuttle was available to take you from our pier over to the other pier to shop in the terminal area there. I don't recall hearing of this before hand, and Holli the shopping guide didn't mention it at her port & shopping talk.

In Grand Cayman, I was impressed with two particular places. One was a store called 20enty...everything in the store is $20, or 2/$20 or 3/$20. It's beside Del Sol in Bayshore Mall. They had some very pretty silver & gemstone jewelry, paper weights, stainless steel bracelets, gemstone wine stoppers & little globes; lots of neat stuff. I've never seen this store before, but I liked it a lot. The other store, I'm sorry to say, I didn't write down the name or location, but my purchase receipt says Tortuga Rum Comp Heritage Craft, North Sound Road. Looking on the shopping map, I'm going to say with reasonable certainty that it's the Tortuga located at 5e, just in front of the Bayshore Mall. That's the best I can do as far as identification...sorry!!! Even tho I'm not sure exactly where it is, it's worth looking for. The special thing about this store is that with any purchase of $5 or more, you may use their computer for 15 minutes, or make a 5-minute phone call...FREE. The computer was high-speed; it was great. There were two computers and two phones available. A lady was making a phone call while I was on the computer and she said the connection was great. The ladies in the store were very nice too. I recall the store had a little bit of everything; T-shirt type souvenirs & other clothes, liquor, rum cakes, candy & snacks, jellies & sauces, etc. The store was very deep; at the back of the store, in a room on the left was the liquor, rum cakes, jellies & sauces; the computers & phones were in a room on the right, sitting on a long counter, with two stools in front of the computers. There were also clothes in that room too. OK, for a non-observant girl from Texas, that's the best I can do!!!

The last thing I'll comment on was our disembarkation experience...in a word—BAD! They began calling for Early Departure guests about 7:45. We were instructed to go to Deck 4 aft. We were in the Windjammer at that time. They had previously announced, both in writing and over the PA system, that Early Departure would begin at 8:00. By the time we got to the room, picked up our luggage and headed for the elevator, it was about 8:10. It took a minimum of 20 minutes to get an elevator. When we finally got to 4, there was such chaos that no one could even move. And they were trying to parade Galveston tour groups thru the masses on 4! Even tho some people were losing their patience, most were very courteous and we all made the best of a situation that we couldn't do anything about. We finally got off the ship and started down the gangway headed for customs, around 9:15. We made it thru customs and outside around 9:45. Our parking lot shuttle was waiting there, and the rest was smooth and easy. I certainly hope they rethink and redesign the Early Departure process on Voyager...and VERY SOON!!

Bon Voyage to all of you leaving on Voyager soon! I hope I've helped in some small way to enlighten you and help you be more knowledgeable before you begin your cruise. I also hope that you enjoy as much fun & relaxation as my husband & I did. It was a fabulous cruise and we certainly hope to sail on Voyager of the Seas again.

 

Blessings to all...

kruzkween

[petel]

Voyager of the Seas 1/6/08:...................

Solarium is a great quiet place; the retractable top was open all

the time, even when it was chilly or rainy...don’t know why; it

rained briefly Sat. afternoon....................................

 

Blessings to all...

kruzkween

 

That was great! ....a lot of very useful information. Just one note that might be important to some: There is no retractable top on the Solarium. It is open air but because of the decks above the actual pool area it appears that it might have a retractable roof - It doesn't. It is very protected from wind and there are plenty of chairs both in the shaded areas and in the sun. The chairs are much more comfortable in the Solariulm than around the main pool areas. Enjoy :)

[DFW-Cruiser]

Kruzkween - very good info to have - THANKS!

 

Linda

[Oma24boys]

But do they serve Diet Dr. Pepper????? That is a biggy for me:D :D

 

That's a DITTO here on the Diet DP:D :p :D

[CrissyBarrows]

Voyager of the Seas 1/6/08:

This was the third week sailing from Galveston; the first week being Christmas and the second New Years.

We arrived before 1:00 Sunday afternoon and had a very smooth check-in. RCI even offered small snacks and champagne at the end of the check-in, before you head up to the gangway; nice touch.

We went straight to our cabin (inside, deck 9) to drop off our carry-on things before heading to the Windjammer for lunch. We found no ice in the tiny, tiny ice bucket and no trash can in our cabin. The cabin was small but offered very efficient storage and plenty of room for all our "stuff". There is a very small refrigerator, not very cold at all, and it was full of drinks & snacks. If you take your own sodas or anything you would like to put in a refrigerator, you’re out of luck...no room at all. So that space was essentially non-existent and unusable; but that was OK, there was more than sufficient storage space for two people.

I found the lighting around the vanity not good at all for putting on make-up. The bathroom light was much better, but you had to stand in there. At least there was a chair at the vanity, and the hair dryer was in a shallow drawer there. It was a small 1250 watt dryer that you had to hold the "on" switch the whole time you used the dryer. For a quick touch-up job that was fine, but to blow dry a major hair-do, it was quite uncomfortable.

The bathroom shower had sliding doors instead of the irritating and burdensome shower curtain. That was the best invention yet for one of those tiny little showers!! There was a shampoo dispenser on the wall in the shower (no conditioner). On arrival, on the bathroom counter were little containers of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shower gel & a little personal vanity kit.

We like to explore after we eat lunch the first day. We saw that there was going to be Texas 42 lessons/games/tournament throughout the week, and we went looking for the game room. It is located on Deck 14, in a more or less out-of-the-way place, at the back of the ship. It’s actually located right beside (inside) the place where you sign up (outside) for climbing the rock wall, and there is a door leading outside from the game room...but it’s locked and you can’t use it. The only access is from the inside hallway . Nice carpeted room with 10 or 12 suede-topped game tables and chairs. Board games and such were available there also, but during the designated Texas 42 times, the cards, games, etc. could be taken to an adjacent room to play.

There are lots of places inside to sit & read, or just people-watch. Voyager has a beautiful 2-story library, but the book shelves are more than half empty. Not much to offer, but a lovely place for some quiet time or lap-top computer work.

Other than in the casino, finding smoke-free places isn't a problem at all. The smokers were very good about only smoking on the designated side, and it's easy enough for non-smokers to stay away from there. I'm allergic to smoke, and I didn't have any problem, other than the several times I went to the casino.

And speaking of the casino, we didn't care at all for this one. There were hardly any slots under 25 cents; some of the "banks" of slots were located so close together that you literally couldn't walk between them; and the slots seemed extremely tight. Now we’re not big gamblers at all, and others who play "bigger" than we do might have had different experiences and opinions, but my husband & I were extremely disappointed in this casino.

The three-story La Scala Theatre was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. You could see well from just about any seat, even the highest seats on the top story. The acoustics in there were great as well. We found the entertainment to be very good. Sunday night, we didn’t go to the theatre (were still in the dining room!!) and I have no idea what the entertainment was. Monday night the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers performed "Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme", and they are quite a talented group. At the end of this cruise (Jan. 6-13) this group was leaving the ship, their contracts were up, and a new group of singers & dancers was beginning for the Jan. 13-20 cruise. Tuesday night was the magic & grand illusions of LARAF; a team consisting of a man & his nephew...and they were very good. Wednesday was "Music in Motion", featuring the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers; another very good show. Thursday was "Cash & Friends", a man & his wife (Ben & Dana Marney) doing a tribute to Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash and Patsy Cline. They were both good, very talented, but this was probably the show my husband & I liked least. Friday was the Ice Odyssey...OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This professional production could rival anything you might see at the olympics; it was nothing short of fabulous. They did the first shows on Tues. at 3:00 & 5:00 and tickets went very, very fast for those shows. Then on Friday, this was the evening entertainment, with shows at 7:00 (for late seating) and 9:00 (for early seating). You could pick up complimentary tickets for any of the shows from 8:30-11:00 Tues. morning. By 10:00, tickets for both Tues. shows were completely gone. I did not have any problem at all getting tickets for the Fri. evening show tho. As a matter of fact, some people who went on Tues. were so impressed with the show that they later got tickets for Fri. too. Yes, it was THAT good!! Saturday's entertainment was comedian Ralph Achilles, Captain Gerry sang & played the guitar (and he was quite good!!), the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers did one number, and then they did a tribute to the staff & crew. There was certainly nothing spectacular about this entertainment, but it was good and it was an appropriate farewell.

One little note about Captain Gerry...he was the most interactive, fun, "human" captain I’ve ever seen. He came over the speaker system usually twice a day, giving the "technical info" that captains do, then finished up with a cute Chinese Proverb. Sometimes he quoted other "words of wisdom" too. It was always light, fun and interesting, and almost made you look forward to the captain's messages each day, rather that dread them and tune him out.

It wasn't till Tues. that we discovered the Promenade Cafe. They don't talk much about it, and you just have to learn on your own. Since it's along the Royal Promenade with all the other places like Ben & Jerry's, Scoreboard, Pig & Whistle...places that you have to pay for anything you get...we thought the Promenade Cafe was the same...WRONG! They have sandwiches, pizza, fruit, cookies, desserts, panini, coffee, hot chocolate, milk all for free. You can actually eat a light lunch or supper there, or have snacks all day and very late into the night (3:00 AM I think). The cookies available were chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, coconut and peanut butter and they were all very good. Before we retired for the night, we'd go by the Promenade Cafe and get several cookies and some hot chocolate and take them to our cabin for our bedtime snack. It was just great...I'm just sorry that we didn’t know about it from the beginning!! The Windjammer closes at 9:30, so after that, the Promenade Cafe is the only snack place open.

Someone on the message board asked about the drinks-of-the-day. They were:

Sun.–Texas Beach Tea; Mon.–Bahama Papa; Tues.-Coconuts; Wed.-Mango Cooler; Thurs.-Lava Flow; Fri.-Ocean Rita; and Sat.-Rum Runner. They all sell for $5.95 in a regular glass and $8.95 in a sloozie souvenir glass...whatever that is!!! Someone also asked about the price of liquor on the ship...Absolut 2/$19.95; Crown Royal 2/$33.95; Cruzan Rum $28.95; Bacardi Rum $37.95.

Bits & pieces...

No hand sanitizer available anywhere on the ship; bring your own!

Dining room service terribly slow; took us two hours every night

Formal nights were MONDAY & THURSDAY

Lobster was served Fri. night

Soft-serve ice cream in the Windjammer; one machine had

strawberry & chocolate, the other chocolate & vanilla...look first!

NEWS FLASH deluxe...they now serve Dr. Pepper on Voyager; I

saw it myself & asked about it...it’s really there!!

Several days were very windy & pretty chilly; be sure to bring long

pants and a jacket of some kind

The lifeboat drill is at 4:15 and all muster stations are on Deck 4

Solarium is a great quiet place; the retractable top was open all

the time, even when it was chilly or rainy...don’t know why; it

rained briefly Sat. afternoon

Eric is the Cruise Director and he came on the ship Jan. 6...this

was his first sailing on Voyager; he's from Arkansas and is

wonderful; very personable; clean jokes & stories

In Montego Bay, there was NO shopping at our pier; it's just a terminal where buses, taxis, shuttles, etc. pick people up. The Hot Spots Shuttle will take you around to the shopping areas (hop-on hop-off type). One place it was printed said it cost $12, another said $15. Since I didn't do that, I can't say exactly how much it was. I was also told by a lady who took advantage of this, that a free shuttle was available to take you from our pier over to the other pier to shop in the terminal area there. I don't recall hearing of this before hand, and Holli the shopping guide didn't mention it at her port & shopping talk.

In Grand Cayman, I was impressed with two particular places. One was a store called 20enty...everything in the store is $20, or 2/$20 or 3/$20. It's beside Del Sol in Bayshore Mall. They had some very pretty silver & gemstone jewelry, paper weights, stainless steel bracelets, gemstone wine stoppers & little globes; lots of neat stuff. I've never seen this store before, but I liked it a lot. The other store, I'm sorry to say, I didn't write down the name or location, but my purchase receipt says Tortuga Rum Comp Heritage Craft, North Sound Road. Looking on the shopping map, I'm going to say with reasonable certainty that it's the Tortuga located at 5e, just in front of the Bayshore Mall. That's the best I can do as far as identification...sorry!!! Even tho I'm not sure exactly where it is, it's worth looking for. The special thing about this store is that with any purchase of $5 or more, you may use their computer for 15 minutes, or make a 5-minute phone call...FREE. The computer was high-speed; it was great. There were two computers and two phones available. A lady was making a phone call while I was on the computer and she said the connection was great. The ladies in the store were very nice too. I recall the store had a little bit of everything; T-shirt type souvenirs & other clothes, liquor, rum cakes, candy & snacks, jellies & sauces, etc. The store was very deep; at the back of the store, in a room on the left was the liquor, rum cakes, jellies & sauces; the computers & phones were in a room on the right, sitting on a long counter, with two stools in front of the computers. There were also clothes in that room too. OK, for a non-observant girl from Texas, that's the best I can do!!!

The last thing I'll comment on was our disembarkation experience...in a word—BAD! They began calling for Early Departure guests about 7:45. We were instructed to go to Deck 4 aft. We were in the Windjammer at that time. They had previously announced, both in writing and over the PA system, that Early Departure would begin at 8:00. By the time we got to the room, picked up our luggage and headed for the elevator, it was about 8:10. It took a minimum of 20 minutes to get an elevator. When we finally got to 4, there was such chaos that no one could even move. And they were trying to parade Galveston tour groups thru the masses on 4! Even tho some people were losing their patience, most were very courteous and we all made the best of a situation that we couldn't do anything about. We finally got off the ship and started down the gangway headed for customs, around 9:15. We made it thru customs and outside around 9:45. Our parking lot shuttle was waiting there, and the rest was smooth and easy. I certainly hope they rethink and redesign the Early Departure process on Voyager...and VERY SOON!!

Bon Voyage to all of you leaving on Voyager soon! I hope I've helped in some small way to enlighten you and help you be more knowledgeable before you begin your cruise. I also hope that you enjoy as much fun & relaxation as my husband & I did. It was a fabulous cruise and we certainly hope to sail on Voyager of the Seas again.

 

Blessings to all...

kruzkween

 

 

great review!! I was on this sailing as well and had an amazing time!!

[kruzkween]

Talk about being a part of history...this was totally awesome!!!! I don't know who came up with the brilliant idea to put the longhorns and flags on the Voyager, but that person must be a genius. This "caper" will get RCI more positive publicity than they could EVER buy in a traditional manner, I guarantee. Not to mention the specific interest in Voyager of the Seas for the entire winter season.

 

Here is the link to the Texas Longhorns listed on eBay. It gives the complete description of the "item", including the value, and tells how an interested person can bid on this extremely unique piece of Texas. It also explains all about the charity that will get the money from the sale...check it out!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120209311557

 

Glad to know about the (non)retractable roof. That explains why it wasn't closed when it rained!! And you're right, it is a GREAT place to lay around and read or nap.

 

kruzkween

[maggiecharlie]

kruzkween your review states that Formal nights were MONDAY & THURSDAY and Lobster was served Fri. night.

 

Isn't Lobster usually served on the ast formal night?