Voyage of the Seas-March 23 - 30 Review

[piner11]

This was our first on Royal Caribbean. We have sailed on Carnival and Princess before. Not too crazy about Princess, but found Carnival and Royal Caribbean to be comparable in activities and type of passengers (I mean this as a positive).

 

Embarkation- We had stayed at the La Qunita at 8710 Seawall Blvd GALVESTON, TX 77554. Nice hotel with free shuttle; however, since you have to sign up for a shuttle time, and they did not start until 11:00, we chose to park at EZ Cruise Parking. Additionally, we had a lot of bags already in the car, and did not want to have to reload to the shuttle. We unloaded the car at the pier around 10:30, dropped off our crew, parked the car at EZ Cruise with no problems or lines, and walked the two blocks back to the pier. We were onboard around 12 noon.

 

Day 1- We ate breakfast and lunch every day at the Windjammer. Every time you walked into the WJ, they went out of their way to welcome you. GOOD MORNING! GOOD EVENING! I can’t remember the guy’s name, but he called my daughter princess every day. I would highly recommend the Windjammer for dinner. I am not sure if this staff gets promoted to the main dinning room, but they really went out of their way. We had the early dining, which was 5:30 (a little early for us). With a four year old, the late dining was out of the question. However, dinner in the Windjammer started at 6:30. Although it was buffet style, the food in my opinion was just as good as the main dining room. For the kids, you had the option of pizza, hamburger, or hot dogs. You could eat as much or as little as you want. And you could stay as long as you wanted or until your child was ready to go. The other plus of the windjammer was that you could wear shorts and a t-shirt to dinner. For me, being on vacation is not having to dress up. And while we did bring clothes for the formal dining room, my wife and I have already agreed that next time, we would completely skip the formal dining room, thus, cutting our luggage in half. Now that’s a vacation.

 

 

We ate at Johnny Rockets a couple of times, and you get so much, you walk out ill. Tip: Go either during an off time or at night and you usually have no wait. The last day was very crowded.

 

 

Tried the dining room the first night, but found it to be a lot to expect my four-year-old to sit still for the entire time. I know this is not politically correct, but I want others around me to also be able to enjoy their dinner. After day 1, we ate a lot of dinners in the WJ. I think that the waitress in the dining room thought she did something wrong because she kept asking other family members when we were coming back. In spite of eating dinner in the Windjammer, we still tipped all based on the recommended amount. We chose to prepay our tips. They give you a voucher to place in each envelope. That was nice because we did not have to set aside cash at the end.

 

Day 2- At sea. I actually felt sea sick for the first time on seven cruises. During the night, the ship rocked from left to right all night long. After lunch, things calmed down. It was very windy and colder on this day. The hot tubs were crowded due to the pool water being cold.

 

Get your ice show tickets today. If you go when they first become available, you should have no wait.

 

Day 3- Cozumel. We took a tour excursion to Paradise Beach. The beach was really nice, but the water was a little choppy. The buffet style lunch was good, and the draft beer was good. TIP: Order room service on your excursion days, and you can take turns eating while the other is getting ready. Also, saves time from having to up to the WJ only to having to go back down to get off the ship.

 

 

The ice show is in Studio B, and is a must see. My daughter loved it. Since you do not have to turn in your tickets that you stood in line for on day two, I think that people go even if they do not have a ticket. Therefore, arrive early. Seats fill up. On a side note: one night during the cruise, they cover the floor in Studio B for the 80’s dance party. Even if you don’t dance, it is fun to watch the videos of each song from the 1980’s. Additionally, the staff dresses as different artists from that time.

 

Day 4- Roatan. We had previously scheduled a tour with Victor Bodden. I also highly recommend him. Carlos was our driver. Since it rained a lot of the day, Carlos accommodated us. We did the best of Roatan tour.

 

Day 5- At sea.

 

Day 6- We did a tour to a hotel that included use of the beach and pool, along with a lunch buffet. It was nice, but since this place was a hotel, it got crowded with guest, as well as other tours arriving during the day.

 

Day 7- At sea. Being back in the gulf, it was overcast, windy, and cooler.

 

Departure- Since we drove, we were on of the last groups to be called. We were called at 10:15, and still did not get out until 12:00. Next time, I’ll be flying home even if I drove just to get off the ship sooner. I will also recommend carrying your own luggage off if at all possible. You can get off around 7:30 and don’t have to search for your bags. For the alcohol smugglers, as mentioned before, an officer sat at a table at the pier with the confiscated bottles of alcohol. I never did see anyone attempt to claim them.

 

 

Positives-Being our first time on Royal Caribbean, we had a great time, and would definitely cruise Royal Caribbean again. Having said that, as a previous Carnival passenger, I would also take Carnival again. I think that both cater to similar crowds.

 

 

If you’re looking for a quiet place to hear a good band, go to Cleopatra’s Needle. The bar is huge, but never had a lot of people. However, the band played wonderful music. On the night we were there, a father was dancing with his five-year-old daughter.

 

 

During the week, many shows, parades, etc. take place on the Promenade deck. I really like to set up of this deck, but must admit that I also like the way Carnival has their Promenade deck on the side of their ships since you are also able to see outside the ship.

 

 

My daughter did attend Adventure Ocean. We were somewhat concerned about leaving her initially, but after meeting with the staff, we determined that it was very organized. After a couple of days, my daughter loved it. She would go in the morning. After lunch and pool time, she went back in the afternoon. And return after dinner. We never kept her after hours (after 10:00), although, I would not have had a problem doing so.

 

 

Rock climbing wall was a lot of fun. I did it several times without a long wait. Probably, around 5 minutes.

 

 

Our room had ample room for the 3 of us. The beds are high enough to put your suitcases under to make more room.

 

 

We sent bottle water and soft drinks on board in a duffle bag with our luggage with no problems. Additionally, we had an extra bag for souvenirs on our trip home.

 

Negatives- Being spring break, we had some concerns regarding the college crowd. Never had any problems with them. The 13 to 15 year old crowd was my problem. They would take over the elevators around 10:00 pm, and go up and down. On one occasion, my wife and I got into an elevator when a young punk was exchanging words with an older couple. The man told the kid that "Maybe someday he will grow up". The kid replied "Go have another drink". I really wanted to toss the punk out of the elevator, but did not. I still regret that decision since we were in international waters. I think many parents let their kids do want ever they want on a cruise as long as they don’t bother them on their vacation. While I don’t fault Royal Caribbean for the way some passengers act, I think that maybe security should have made more of presence during the late hours.

 

 

 

Overall- Once again, we really had a wonderful time on our first Royal Caribbean cruise. I would probably never experiment with another line outside of Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Next time, I would probably skip the formal dining completely, pack less, and take my bags off the ship. Thus, making a great vacation as wonderful vacation.

[Ollie_WA]

Thanks for a great review....looking forward to boarding The Voyager in 11 days...WooHoo!!!

[pmfan]

Great review. Thanks for writing it.

[pmfan]

Thanks for a great review....looking forward to boarding The Voyager in 11 days...WooHoo!!!

Enjoy your cruise.:)