Dilema - What To Do? Your Opinions

[gooselover]

:( DH and I are booked on FOS in 10/09. We haven't done the airfare yet, but I can tell you that from Oklahoma to FL is probably going to be about $1000+ total.

 

I just found a special pricing for Voyager out of Galveston in 2/09. We can drive there easily and save over $1000 in airlines.. The price is about the same as the FOS in October 2009. Of course, the itinerary is different that FOS - Eastern, and Voyager only has 2 cruising days...we have done the Western before, but the only place we have been to on this Western itinerary is Cozumel.

 

Has anybody done the VOS with the 4 stops - Progresso, Rotan, Costa Maya and Cozumel? What is your opinion of this cruise?

 

What would you do? Thanks for all the advice!

So,

[LMB01]

You have to decide what is important to you - ports or expense. Personally, we don't care about the ports as we rarely get off the ship. We often book on based on suite price as long as it is a time when there will likely not be many children on board.

[cb at sea]

Aside from the cost of flying, you have to consider the packing issues! By driving, you can pack and bring up to 200 lbs PER PERSON!!!!! (Not that anyone NEEDS that much stuff, but you have the option!!!! Heaven!)

We don't really care about the ports, either--after all, you're paying to use the ship--not the ports! USE the ship!!! Enjoy it! It's a destination unto itself!

[gooselover]

I might mention that we have aft cabins reserved on BOTH of them.

 

Your opinions on Voyager??????? Thanks

[DFW4]

We sailed Voyager this past March, and leave in 2 weeks on the Explorer. I only wish we had Voyager or other RCCL year round from Galveston.

 

While I too would love to try a Freedom class, just can't swing the extra air to Florida...seriously considered driving, but from Dallas not fun!

 

You can't go wrong with Voyager.

 

Johnathon

[SF BAY]

I say stick with the Freedom.

I would sign up for the Southwest ding and when it met your price jump on it.It goes into Fort Lauderdale and is the highest rated air in the US.We cruise 2-3 times a year and always arrive a day early and even if you leave out of Miami the shuttle is less than 25 PP from the airport. Should you choose to arrive a day before about 2 weeks out I would use priceline to get a room. Good luck and have a great cruise whatever you decide to do

[gooselover]

We had even considered driving from Tulsa to Port Canaveral - 16 hours of driving!!!!!

[wsantelope]

We did this itinerary out of Galveston in February. Costa Maya was still closed because of the hurricane last year so we had an extra sea day....It was great and I would totally save the money and do Voyager.

Roatan was AMAZING - absolutely my favorite port I have been too....a poor country with beautiful land and totally native. I just really enjoyed the "Raw" feel of this island.

Victor Bodden (www.boddentours.com) is an AMAZING guide and West Bay Beach is amazing. The horseback ride was cheap and through the water, through the town etc etc etc..... I can't say enough about this port.

Not much to do in Progreso - other than to see Merida or some of the nearby ruins (Uxmal - Great, we did this and NOT crowded), Chitzen Itza or there is a Cenote tour that looks neat....I'll have to recall the name...I found it on yucatantoday.com.....we just didn't have time for it. The port itself is kind of yuky (But Roatan makes up for it!)

Voyager was great itself....I've never been on a larger class ship than that but there gets to a point where I think is bigger really better?

I'm actually going back to a smaller ship for the next cruise.

I miss the covered solarium (Not covered on Voyager which may be something to consider if you travel in the late winter/early spring...depending on how much you like to hang out at the pool deck. Very cool / windy on sea days to/from in that time period IMHO.

Hope some of this helps!

[Lynn the Cruiser]

I'd go with the Voyager. We are doing the same next year...going on the Explorer out of Bayonne. It is only about a 2 hour drive for us. It will be my 3rd time on the Explorer (my sister's 5th) and my 3rd Eastern cruise. I just love to cruise, give me any voyager class and any itinerary and I'm happy.

[realtreebar]

We did this itinerary out of Galveston in February. Costa Maya was still closed because of the hurricane last year so we had an extra sea day....It was great and I would totally save the money and do Voyager.

Roatan was AMAZING - absolutely my favorite port I have been too....a poor country with beautiful land and totally native. I just really enjoyed the "Raw" feel of this island.

Victor Bodden (www.boddentours.com) is an AMAZING guide and West Bay Beach is amazing. The horseback ride was cheap and through the water, through the town etc etc etc..... I can't say enough about this port.

Not much to do in Progreso - other than to see Merida or some of the nearby ruins (Uxmal - Great, we did this and NOT crowded), Chitzen Itza or there is a Cenote tour that looks neat....I'll have to recall the name...I found it on yucatantoday.com.....we just didn't have time for it. The port itself is kind of yuky (But Roatan makes up for it!)

Voyager was great itself....I've never been on a larger class ship than that but there gets to a point where I think is bigger really better?

I'm actually going back to a smaller ship for the next cruise.

I miss the covered solarium (Not covered on Voyager which may be something to consider if you travel in the late winter/early spring...depending on how much you like to hang out at the pool deck. Very cool / windy on sea days to/from in that time period IMHO.

Hope some of this helps!

 

 

We are booked for the 11 jan 2009 on this same itin thanks for the information very helpful!!:)

[TXMary]

We did your itinerary on the Voyager in January and loved it! Like ther other poster, Roatan is my favorite Caribbean port so far. It was beyond gorgeous and I absolutely fell in love with it. We also used Victor Bodden, went to the Iguana Farm, toured Roatan, went to a beach, ziplined...just had a wonderful day with an awesome tour guide.

 

We didn't get to Costa Maya either because of the hurricaine damage but we have been there before. I loved Costa Maya and we didn't do anything but take a taxi to the fishing village. A great day.

 

Been to Cozumel several times and it's always a fun day.

 

Progresso was okay. We didn't do anything there either but take the free bus into town and look around.

 

We had gone on the Explorer last fall so we were sort of familiar with this class of ship. It's my favorite class. The perfect size and we love the Promenade.

 

You can't go wrong on the Voyager out of Galveston. I am seriously considering booking the other route for next spring. We were going to Savannah for a land trip, but not sure that air fare will be worthwhile. We can be in Galveston in about 4 hours and cruise. That is appealing.

[sandytoes03]

Hard call. I would be interested in the ports and ship (Freedom) more than the Voyager trip, but 1000 is a lot of cash. As someone else said, it just depends what is important to you. If it's your only cruise for a while and you have your heart set on Freedom, then that's what you should do. If I were you I would lean towards the Freedom cruise.

[KarinaGW]

We had even considered driving from Tulsa to Port Canaveral - 16 hours of driving!!!!!

 

As said by everyone else, you need to decide between ports and cost. But, just to play devil's advocate...if the two of you are sympatico in a car (and marriage does not necessarily guarantee this) and you have a couple days at either end, you might want to contemplate the drive.

 

I have driven my son back and forth between Maryland and Tallahassee 3 times (14 hour drive) and we have a blast. We always stopped in Atlanta for a day of zoo and aquarium, followed by Medieval Times before continuing the second leg. OTOH, I would probably push my DH out into traffic after about 5 hours.

[kidless]

:( DH and I are booked on FOS in 10/09. We haven't done the airfare yet, but I can tell you that from Oklahoma to FL is probably going to be about $1000+ total.

 

I just found a special pricing for Voyager out of Galveston in 2/09. We can drive there easily and save over $1000 in airlines.. The price is about the same as the FOS in October 2009. Of course, the itinerary is different that FOS - Eastern, and Voyager only has 2 cruising days...we have done the Western before, but the only place we have been to on this Western itinerary is Cozumel.

 

Has anybody done the VOS with the 4 stops - Progresso, Rotan, Costa Maya and Cozumel? What is your opinion of this cruise?

 

What would you do? Thanks for all the advice!

So,

 

We love Progresso one of our favorite ports, Once we did the Merida tour which takes you to Merida the capital of the Yucatan. We loved this city because it wasn't your typical cruise tourist port like Cozumel (although we always have fun in Cozumel) We got to see more of what a typical Mexico city was like, the old churches and houses we really enjoyed it. Another time we just went to the flea market and then the beach this also was one of favorite times it was just very relaxing and we did it on our own so it was inexpensive.

Costa Maya we have only been to once and did not know what to expect. We would very much like to do again, this time wearing our swimsuits to do the swim up bar.

I'd say take the Galveston cruise, but purely because I have been eying that one up myself and would love to do it if we could work up the logistics of getting up there (long story) but I personally love the itinerary. But you know in my opinion there is no bad cruise or itinerary. To me the destination is the ship the ports are just icing on the cake. Save your $1000 for another cruise......

[isujim]

:( DH and I are booked on FOS in 10/09. We haven't done the airfare yet, but I can tell you that from Oklahoma to FL is probably going to be about $1000+ total.

 

I just found a special pricing for Voyager out of Galveston in 2/09. We can drive there easily and save over $1000 in airlines.. The price is about the same as the FOS in October 2009. Of course, the itinerary is different that FOS - Eastern, and Voyager only has 2 cruising days...we have done the Western before, but the only place we have been to on this Western itinerary is Cozumel.

 

Has anybody done the VOS with the 4 stops - Progresso, Rotan, Costa Maya and Cozumel? What is your opinion of this cruise?

 

What would you do? Thanks for all the advice!

So,

 

Hi neighbor..........we took this cruise as part of a b2b in April. The itinerary you mention was our favorite of the two weeks. Like you we drove to Galveston from the OKC area. However I would consider SW airlines to Houston if you decide to take this itinerary......that 8 1/2 hour drive after a cruise is a real downer..........and with SW, you should be able to fly to Houston a lot cheaper than the $1,000+ to fly to Miami.

 

Great cruise, great itinerary........and the voyager is a great ship as well.

[isujim]

I might mention that we have aft cabins reserved on BOTH of them.

 

Your opinions on Voyager??????? Thanks

 

We also had an aft jr. suite on the voyager.........1694 I believe for both weeks of the b2b.......it was simply wonderful........the balcony is unbelievable and seas were as smooth as glass when we went in April.......if you have aft cabins for both reserved, you certainly can't go wrong.

[ccxnola]

lover,

I hope you are thinking of our Feb 22, 2009 departure from Galveston on Voyager. Mardi Gras in 2009 is on Feb 24th!! We'll be having a GREAT Mardi Gras cruise with fun, parades, beads and other CC activities. Join us!! The cruise plan works fine and all the ports are interesting. We too have been to Cozumel on other cruises, but the other ports will be a new experience for many of us. Check out our Roll Call - it's over 15 pages already and the M&M is assured!!

[jlbkty]

I might mention that we have aft cabins reserved on BOTH of them.

 

Your opinions on Voyager??????? Thanks

 

We live near Houston and have always gone out of Galveston. We were on Voyager March, 2008. It is a beautiful ship in my opinion. However, we have only been on Rhapsody of the Seas the prior 5 times we've sailed. And once on a tacky little ship that was Carnival (but we don't talk about that!) Voyager is VERY nice.

 

We are taking a Panama Canal Cruise in March, 2009 out of Miami. We are having the same problems you are with airfare. We booked airfare with RCCL initially and felt $800 was WAY too much at that time. Now it doesn't look so bad! I would cruise out of Galveston EASILY over having to fly to get to a port. And, since you can bring more luggage by driving to the port, you can smuggle in some soda pop and bottled water if you want to without worrying about weight!

[gooselover]

Just to let you all know, we decided to forego the Freedom for Voyager. We also got a residential special pricing for Oklahoma and saved another $200 on the cruise AND snagged an aft.

 

I appreciate what everybody did to help us with this decision. It sounds like a great itinerary - especially since I wasn't thrilled about the four ports. tcc/cs

[TEXASMUNK]

Voyager is truly wonderful. But you also have one added advantage on Voyager! In all seriousness, different folks from aroudn the country have different ways of doing things, etc. You will be sailing with a ton of folks from OK and TX. The attitude of the passengers is infectious. It translates to the crew and everyone else onboard.

 

We cannot wait for Dec when VOYAGER comes HOME!