Voyager Review 2/3 - 2/10

[horsesrus]

Just returned from the Montego Bay, Grand Caymen, Cozumel trip last Sunday. Had a wonderful time, Voyager is a beautiful ship. I had read a few things here before we sailed that had me a little concerned (food, age of ship, service, etc) so wanted to share our experience. Our cruise background is we are platinum members and have sailed on Rhapsody, Splendour and Jewel in the past as well as Carnival and Disney. I'm going to break this up into a few different messages as this started getting REALLY long.

 

Day 1: Arrived approximately 11:00 a.m., although there were still some debarking passengers waiting for pick up as well as a lot of vehicles coming in the process was quite painless and went very smooth. The traffic was well directed and there were plenty of porters available. We parked at the port authority lot (lot B), it took about 20 min for DH to get parked and return on the shuttle. Cost approx $70 for the week per vehicle.

 

No wait at check-in. DH and I were eligible for priority check-in and the hospitality area but were traveling with DS and his GF who were not eligible so we didn't take advantage of those, we were checked in and on the ship within minutes of entering the terminal.

 

Enjoyed lunch in the Windjammer, the food was very good in my opinion and there was a great variety to choose from. Don't miss the Island Grill, all the way toward the back. You'll find the hamburgers and hotdogs there during the day and omelet stations for breakfast. Of course, it is not 5 star dining and I didn't go into it expecting that so I was not disappointed.

 

We then spent some time checked out the ship while we waited for our rooms to be available. DH used the restroom outside the Windjammer at my request so he could tell me about the waterfall urinal. LOL The ship is beautiful and other then a few VERY minor things that you really need to be looking for it was very well maintained. The only thing I saw that was obvious was the black duct-tape patching the glass floor at the entry to the casino. The promenade is nice, this was the first ship we've sailed that had one. Ben and Jerry's and Seattle's Best are both on deck 5. There's also a stairway from the Promenade that goes down to the casino, which I personally found VERY convenient!

 

We went to the La Boheme dining room (deck 4) to check out our table which was a 12 top toward the back near a window, very nice table. Didn't make Portofino reservations, the concierge had contacted us the week before sailing (which was very nice, we were never contacted by the Splendour concierge) and took care of that for us.

 

Rooms were available by 1:00. DH and I were in 1324, GS on the hump, beautiful room, nice balcony but I'm not sure it was any larger then a GS balcony off the hump since it was narrower on one side, it seems the ones on Splendour were just as big. One thing I loved about the balcony is the normal size table, tall enough to share a nice breakfast on, there was also one of the short balcony tables, two chairs and a lounger. Now that I've "done the hump" I don't know that I would go out of my way to get one again.

 

DS and his GF were in 1257, inside stateroom, it was a very nice room as well, very well laid out and plenty of storage for two people. The beds were very comfortable and of course the new bedding is awesome.

 

For those interested in suite ammenities we did not have free internet access (read that somewhere here), there was no pillow menu which surprised me as Slendour had them, there were a couple extra pillows in the closet so that made me happy. We had the Evian water and a fruit plate on arrival and received petits fours one formal night and a cheese plate the other. Of course we also had access to the concierge lounge. The lounge was on deck 9 but our welcome letter indicated that the evening cocktails would be served in Cloud Nice on deck 14 due to the large number of diamond guests. The evening drinks were not available in both places and there was no separation of diamond and suite guests, everyone had evening cocktails on deck 14. The concierge was Gershwin (hope I didn't butcher his name too bad) and he was very helpful, not extremely friendly the first encounter with him but he was much better in future interactions, he may have just been stressed that first day. We didn't use the lounge a lot, went for drinks a couple of times in Cloud Nine and met some very nice folks there. Grabbed breakfast in the lounge one morning before an early excursion. We don't drink coffee so can't comment on that. There was a machine in the lounge on deck 9 though.

 

Our room steward was great, came to meet us the first evening, brought me an ashtray for the balcony right away and assured us robes would be brought to the room as soon as they were available (they were running behind on laundry). We didn't see her a lot after that first day, she was in and out before we ever knew it and did a great job keeping the room clean and ice stocked. When she did see us in the hall she always greeted us by our names which was very impressive (just imagine the number of names they have to remember week after week). We did use the pressing service, filled the bag that first night and everything was returned back to us early afternoon the next day. I have used this service in the past, it's really quite reasonably priced and they've always done a good job.

 

Dinner the first evening was very good but I honestly can't remember exactly what I had, I never had anything in the dining room that I didn't like. The food was really very good and the service was excellent. Our waitress Eva was the best we've ever had. The first evening I was quickly looking at the dessert menu (had been talking instead of looking) and asked for what-ever was chocolate, Eva apologized that there wasn't a chocolate selection that evening so I picked something else really quick. My dessert was delivered with a side order of chocolate ice cream, very thoughtful if you ask me!

 

We were at a table of 11, myself and DH, DS and his GF, a group of 3 ladies traveling from Colorado and a couple from New Orleans traveling with their 12 year-old grandson and brother/brother-in-law. We've never had a bad table but this was the best group we've been seated with. For those that wonder how they decide how to group guests at tables, for what it is worth, at least one of the other groups at our table was in a GS and on our last cruise we had other GS or JS guests at our table so I have a suspision that plays into it. I was surprised to be at a table with a "child" since I always though they put people with children at tables with other children. Don't get me wrong, we were not upset by this at all, and I only point it out since people have wondered or asked in the past how they decide. I honestly don't know and am just stating some observations and assumptions. And I said "child", that way, because I don't want to insult this young man, he was a hoot and a very well behaved, well traveled, we enjoyed having him at the table.

 

We didn't see the show this evening, in fact, we really didn't make it to a lot of the shows, there always seemed to be something else going on that we wanted to do. We were pretty tired this night so hit the hay early. I didn't even make it to the casino the first night!

[Rancher Dave]

Glad you had a good time.

[zantedeschia]

Looking forward to more of your review!

[buckanear]

I'm glad you had a wonderful time!

[Cindy]

Thanks, horsesrus! This is GREAT! I can't wait to read more!:)

[Aprille]

Interesting news on the CL situation. Our upcoming cruise will be our first as Diamond and we are in a hump cabin right across from the CL.

 

My understanding was that the CL was always available to suite guests in the evening but that a satellite lounge was open if there were too many D/D+ guests onboard. I wonder if the may have been short-staffed on this particular sailing.

 

Great detailed review. Please keep it coming!

[tbruin3235]

Interesting news on the CL situation. Our upcoming cruise will be our first as Diamond and we are in a hump cabin right across from the CL.

 

My understanding was that the CL was always available to suite guests in the evening but that a satellite lounge was open if there were too many D/D+ guests onboard. I wonder if the may have been short-staffed on this particular sailing.

 

Great detailed review. Please keep it coming!

 

I think this might be the "norm" for Voyager. On my 1/6/08 cruise, there were no drinks in the regular lounge in the evening, even for suites. Drinks were only in the satellite lounge.

[terri23]

same here - cocktails in Cloud Nine only. And Gershwin didn't give out many warm fuzzies to us, either ;)

 

looking forward to the rest of your review :)

[TexCruise371]

Thanks for the review and glad you had a wonderful cruise!

[wolfganghowell]

Can't wait for more - thanks so much. I'm curious if the concierge only contacts suite guests or if they contact Diamond guests as well. We are Diamond for the first time and are hoping to have the concierge do our ice tickets and Portofino reservations. We're in 1334, just down the hall from you.

[realtreebar]

thanks for sharing! just want to know what the pool's are like?

[terri23]

Can't wait for more - thanks so much. I'm curious if the concierge only contacts suite guests or if they contact Diamond guests as well. We are Diamond for the first time and are hoping to have the concierge do our ice tickets and Portofino reservations. We're in 1334, just down the hall from you.

 

We were newly minted diamonds as well. They didn't contact us beforehand. Gershwin did handle the ice show tickets and we appreciated that. He didn't have much "pull" with Portofino, which seemed to fill quickly, so I recommend that you take care of that yourself upon boarding so that you get the day and time you want.

[horsesrus]

Ok, I'm back, days 2 and 3 were sea days so I'm going to just cover them together below.

 

Day 2 (Monday) - since this was our first cruise on a ship this size I admit I was a bit concerned about mobs of people on sea days, particularily on the pool deck. What we found was that the pool decks, although well used, were not unbearably crowded, neither were any of the other public areas other then the Promenade when a cooking demo was going on. I had a co-worker that was traveling on this same ship the same week and I only ran into him once during the 7 days and that was 3 days into the cruise. We didn't lounge at the pool this day nor did we utilize the pools or hot tubs at all this trip so I'm sorry to the person that wanted pool information. My son and his GF did use the pool and one of the hot tubs on Wednesday afternoon and the comments he made were that the pools were not cold, they were salt water, and the hot tub was hot.

 

We played bingo a couple of times on Monday, the first session I fogot to bring "Bingo" from my room so husband hurried up to the room to get him for me, by the time he returned I had already been informed by the staff that Bingo had been phased out, in fact the comment made was "we're not even supposed to say Bingo Dog any more", apparently they no longer contract with that company. Bingo dog is being replaced with a seal but they didn't have the seals on Voyager yet. The second bingo session this day they gave away an upgrade to an Owner's Suite for the remainder of the cruise to the winner of the cover all. DH was standing (one number away for those that don't play bingo) when another man toward the front of the room snatched it away from him; DH needed B6, the winner won on B5 DANG! Just as well, once I stayed in an Owner's Suite I would have been spoiled to that!

 

This was formal night and the captains welcome reception. We had pics with the captain (who looked much younger then I had expected and was quite handsome in his cowboy hat and Tux!). We attended the reception and listened to the captain speak briefly.

 

Regarding formal night attire. Let me just preface with... I am strongly on the "for" side of dressing formally on formal night, so read this with a grain of salt for those that are not. I'm not trying to start a formal discussion, just giving my observations. The dress on formal night ranged from tuxs and formal gowns down to sport coat and church dresses for ladies. I felt like the passengers in our dining room made an effort to dress for the occassion and I saw no jeans, shorts, sweat pants or anything that was blatently not formal.

 

We had late seating, did I mention that, and they moved it from 8:30 to 8:00 on our sailing which was nice. I think that the early seating changed from 6:30 to 6:00.

 

This night was also disco night and there was a parade which we did not stay up for. The first day's cruise compass had an overview of activities for the week in which Friday was listed as disco night (one of my favorites), but they either changed it or that was a misprint. My DS and his GF went, it was all held in the promenade and they said it was very crowded. If I had to look for something negative to say about this ship it would be that any activities held on the Promenade tended to get crowded and there were few places to sit. Although very pretty, it just doesn't seem to be the best place to be holding activities.

 

Again, I can't remember exactly what I had for dinner but it was good, I think it may have been a filet and I'm pretty sure escargot was on the appetizer menu this night.

 

Jumping backwards real quick, I forgot we had lunch as Johnny Rocket's, they did not charge extra for sodas. We loved the burgers, did not think they were dry at all and the rings and fries were good as well. I don't drink shakes/malts so can't comment on those. One other day DH and I went for just a light afternoon snack (HAH!) and shared a tuna sandwich. We fully expected to pay 2 surcharges since we both ate but the server only charged us for one, I guess since we only ordered 1 sandwich, thought that was very nice and she got a bit of that extra in tip from us. There is one waiter in particular at Johnny Rockets that you just can't miss, he would dance all by himself when the other waiters weren't dancing, didn't catch his name but he's a tall skinny guy, VERY entertaining and seems to really enjoy it!

 

Day 3 (Tuesday) - pretty much more of day 2, we did sit on the pool deck a bit this day, there seemed to always be lounge chairs available, not always right up by the pool maybe but I always saw empty ones. I also always saw "saved" chairs, those always seemed to be the ones closer to the pool. They did post in the daily compass that saving deck chairs was not permitted and that chairs left more then 30 minutes would be cleared for use by other guests. I didn't witness this being enforced but I was glad to see they addressed it. The solarium was always very quite and not too full, lots of people sleeping and reading in there. Although it is not covered it did always feel warmer in there then on the main deck, I guess since it's sheltered from the wind.

 

We did see the ice show on Tuesday evening 5:30, it was awesome. I'm amazed they can do such a nice show in such a small piece of ice, that takes talent.

 

We ate at Portofino's on Tuesday as well, we had read a suggestion this was a good day on this itenerary and I do agree it worked out well. We had the filet, which is excellent. I love the dessert sampler and would recommend that.

 

Ok, I think that's about it for sea days, other then I did make my share of donations to the casino, the machines seemed tight to me. I played in the slot tournament, didn't place but had fun. The bar staff at the pool bar and sky bar are all great, especially one young lady from Romania (I believe) at the Pool bar. I'm terrible with names, I'll have to start carrying a note pad with me so I can start passing along the names of some of the outstanding staff. For those interested, they did have a Texas Hold'em Tournament, I think it was on the last sea day, Saturday.

 

Ports of Call coming soon.

[lccruiser2006]

The bar staff at the pool bar and sky bar are all great, especially one young lady from Romania (I believe) at the Pool bar. I'm terrible with names, I'll have to start carrying a note pad with me so I can start passing along the names of some of the outstanding staff.

 

 

If she was a fairly young blond (long hair always pulled up) that might've been Kristina (spelled with a C maybe?). She was one of the highlights of our Jan. cruise. Our embark day was the same as the AFC & NFC Championships, & she was tending in the Sports Bar. It was so busy, loud & chaotic all afternoon & evening in there, but the very next day she greeted all of us by name. We were very impressed with her all week...even when she was super busy she was efficient, sweet & friendly. One of the few employees that gave any warm fuzzies.

 

I'm loving your review...thanks for taking the time to write it!

[horsesrus]

That description sounds like her. We found most of the staff to be quite friendly but she just stood out as did a few others including our waitress in the main dining room; Eva. We also really like Anthony the activities director, he was on our last Splendour cruise and we were happy to see him again. Oh, and Yerkie (spelling?) from Turkey, he's a major clown!

[cruise-bunny]

That description sounds like her. We found most of the staff to be quite friendly but she just stood out as did a few others including our waitress in the main dining room; Eva. We also really like Anthony the activities director, he was on our last Splendour cruise and we were happy to see him again. Oh, and Yerkie (spelling?) from Turkey, he's a major clown!

 

Hi

Did they have Sushi on the ship?

We sail in 3 weeks, I am sooooo excited.

Sandy

[horsesrus]

I didn't see Sushi anywhere, that doesn't mean they didn't have it, I just didn't see any.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

[horsesrus]

Montego Bay, Jamaica

 

Day 4 (Wednesday) - We were somewhat undecided about what excursion we wanted to do in Jamaica and ended up booking on the ship rather then prior to sailing which we normally do. We had finally settled on an excursion on 2-person boats but that one was sold out and even though we went through Gershwin to book for us, we were unable to get on that one. We ended up settling for the combination bamboo raft/banana plantation/rum tasting and lunch.

 

I don't have too many negative things to say about this cruise as a whole but this was the one big disappointment for us and it's one of the only two negative comments we made on our comment card at the end of the trip.

 

The process of getting off the ship and to our excursion was terrible, they basically unloaded everyone into this small building where excursion operators stood with signs. Now, I am more then just a little bit claustrophobic so being crammed into this building with thousands or other people just about made me pass out. Fortunately, our operator sent us to stand by a ficus tree by the wall between the two exit doors which got us out of the biggest part of the mob. After about 30 minutes or so of that a RCCL representative came through directing all the tour operators to take their guests and go outside (apparently they realized they needed to unclog that place before something bad happened).

 

We traveled about 30 minutes or so by van down some very winding and narrow mountain roads, I just tried very hard to not pay attention to the road. We arrived at the start of the bamboo raft ride and that's where the trip really went down hill. The guys that worked there were aggressively selling Red Strips, Sodas and Water before you got on the raft and I was asked for cigarettes by that guy as well as by our raft "captain" and he actually asked for two so his buddy on another raft could have one. Now, I didn't really mind in respect that it wasn't going to put me in the poor house to give them a few cigarettes but I felt it was in really poor taste. However, that wasn't near as bad as the constant "suggestions" by our raft captain that he'd take care of us if we took care of him. We did not hear this once but at least 10 times on the 20 minute trip down the river. We saw almost complete naked locals bathing in the river as well as locals washing their laundry. Not that I don't understand that this is their way of life but if they are going to be doing tours of the river they really need to do it in an area that makes the visitors feel safe and I did NOT feel safe at all this entire trip. I felt we were invading their space and it was very unwelcome. I was afraid that if I didn't "take care of" our captain he wasn't going to take care of us and I don't even know that that would have meant!

 

Our captain insisted on giving me a "pedicure" in which he rubbed my feet with lime stone, it was very weird.

 

These boat captain's would take guests down the river then pay some local $10.00 to bring their rafts back up the river. The locals bringing the rafts back up were scary as well and one was screaming loudly as we were coming down the river "I'm going to "blank" your wife". Not sure who's wife was being referred to but I was ready and willing to gouge out eye balls and seriously injure someone if they came anywhere remotely close to me. I'm a country girl, throw hay bales and 50 lb feed bags on a daily basis, so I was ready to fight!!! By the time I got off that raft I was almost shaking, I gave the crazy man who had suggested he get an $80 tip $40 dollers, thanked God for my safety and waited anxiously for my son and GF to arrive safely.

 

The rest of the trip was cheezy and mosty I just wanted to get back to the ship so that probably played into my opinion of everything else. Some guy climbed a coconut tree like a monkey and we took a tour of the banana "plantation" which looked to be a single little grove of a few dozen banana trees. We had jerk chicken for lunch and a small rum drink. We went directly back to the ship and I can honestly say I will NEVER get off the ship in Jamaica again. I read some bad things about Jamaica but I went into it with an open mind figuring that if I was on a ship sponsored excursion I would be safe. Although nothing bad actually happened to me, I was very afraid the whole time and that's just not enjoyable.

 

I don't want to ruin Jamaica for anyone, I have read a lot of positive experiences but I would advise against this excursion and I gave RCCL my feedback on my experience as well.

[houcruzer]

Hi

Did they have Sushi on the ship?

We sail in 3 weeks, I am sooooo excited.

Sandy

 

We ate in the Windjammer on Wed. night and they had sushi in there.

 

hc

[Rancher Dave]

Sounds like you really had a blast on the cruise. I am sure you are looking forward to next cruise already. I know our day aboard VOS today really got the brain going thinking about NOS coming up in just under 4 weeks.

[Jungle Jane]

We were on the Freedom of the Seas and were docked with you in Cozumel! Did you happen to be on starboard facing the dock? We were on port facing the dock-what a site that dock was, esp at the end of the day when everyone was piling back on the 2 ship! Lots of hooting and hollering! Good times...

I took a great pic of our 2 ships--my pics have been disappearing for some reason but I'll try:

 

[tray]

Sounds like you really had a blast on the cruise. I am sure you are looking forward to next cruise already. I know our day aboard VOS today really got the brain going thinking about NOS coming up in just under 4 weeks.

 

Hey Rancher Dave! How did everything go today? I was thinking about you guys...knowing you were having a great time. Did you post your experiences on another thread? I'll have to go look now! Have a great evening!

[tray]

horsesrus: Thank you so much for taking the time to write this wonderful review! We leave in about a month and I am getting so excited. I love reading about your days....sorry to hear Jamaica was such a nightmare. We have been to Jamaica twice, and I have heard it has gotten so much worse there. We are going to Sunset Beach (thanks to the suggestion of one of my roll call friends!) which is right by the dock. Otherwise, we weren't getting off the ship there. Looking forward to reading more!

[horsesrus]

We were on the Freedom of the Seas and were docked with you in Cozumel! Did you happen to be on starboard facing the dock? We were on port facing the dock-what a site that dock was, esp at the end of the day when everyone was piling back on the 2 ship! Lots of hooting and hollering! Good times...

 

Yep, we were! One of our favorite things to do in Cozumel is get back on the ship and watch everyone returning from a day of of too many yards at Senior Frogs, it's very entertaining. We spent about an hour at 1/2 Senior Frogs before going back to the ship and there were a couple of young ladies there that had clearly enjoyed themselves while in Cozumel. They hunted down fellow Voyager passengers when they arrived (we were the lucky paxs) and requested that we make sure they left when we did so they didn't miss the ship. We were happy to help and had a good time watching them have fun with the waitstaff! I guess that could have worked out badly for them but we apparently looked like nice, semi-sober, responsible middle aged folks and had our son and girlfriend with us that we were already looking after.

 

Did you enjoy Freedom? I thought Voyager was big until we were docked next to Freedom, I can't believe how massive that ship is!

[amickeyfriend]

Thanks for the review of the raft trip in Jamaica. We had seriously considered taking it when we were there, but just took the bus into town and walked around for a few minutes. I though we might do it in April, but after reading your review, I know that we won't. Thanks for sharing.

Bev