Voyager Med review 23-30th Aug (very long!)

[101Jus]

Well here we go again: take 2! This time I'll post it part by part and reformat it each time before posting the next part. Please bear with me, hopefully it'll be worth it!

 

Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas - Western Med 23rd – 30th August 2008

 

I hope this review will be helpful, in the same way that I learnt so much from all you guys. I'm hoping that the pictures will come out in this review but this is the first time I've tried posting photos. Fingers crossed!

 

Summary:

 

This was a surprise gift for my wife’s 40th birthday and I succeeded in keeping most of it a secret until about 2 weeks before departure when I had to tell her certain details so that she could get her work sorted in time. I had previously booked her leave with her boss and got her PA to book fictitional appointments while we were away to keep her off the scent. How devious am I?!! We took our 2 children, Rebecca 9, and Jessica 3 and this was our first cruise.

 

We had 1 night at Heathrow airport staying at the London Heathrow Marriott followed by 3 nights in Barcelona staying at the Hispanos Siete Suiza Hotel. The cruise was on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas doing a Western Med itinary for 7 nights.

 

The whole holiday was perfect and we all had a wonderful time and have some great memories. The ship was beautiful, the service outstanding, weather was for the most part hot and sunny, good food and we made some great friends.

 

Pre-cruise – London Heathrow Marriott:

 

I had read that this was one of the better Heathrow airport hotels and since we are Marriott Reward members this was a logical choice. We had an early morning flight on the 20th so rather than risking travelling early morning on the 20th I decided to book us in here on the 19th so we could start our holiday early! The hotel was good, the rooms were very spacious with 2 kingsize beds and plenty of space to move around in.

 

 

 

Marriott bedding is some of the best in the business and this was no exception. Another reason for choosing this hotel was for it’s leisure facilities which consisted of an indoor pool, sauna, steam room and gym. The kids had a great time in the pool and as anyone with kids knows; happy children equals happy parents! If there was a downside to the hotel it was that they were in the process of renovating the atrium lounge and one of the restaurants so there were plenty of builders, decorators making noise and the smell of fresh paint was quite strong. The numbers of chairs and tables available was reduced to it was quite busy most of the time. I’d still recommend this hotel to anyone as the work is due to be finished by the end of September. We didn’t use the one restaurant that was open but instead took a cab to the London Hong Kong Restaurant a couple of miles down the same Bath Road.

 

 

This turned out to be a good move as the food was excellent, some of the best Chinese food I have had. It’s always encouraging to see plenty of Chinese customers eating in. Then it was a cab back to the hotel and an early night.

 

The flight:

 

I had booked us flights with British Airways as they were the cheapest flights I could get at the time (around 10 months in advance). We paid £125 each return which for school holidays in August I thought was a pretty reasonable charge. Marriott weren’t running a parking package with the accommodation so I had booked the car with Airparks who use the Q-Park facility conveniently on the same road as the Marriott (next to the Premier Inn). Again this was the cheapest parking I could find at about £70 for 10 nights. I dropped Brigid and the kids off at Terminal 1 with the luggage and I dropped the car off at the car park and caught the shuttle back to the terminal (about 10 minutes). I was gone no more than 30 minutes in total which pleased Brigid as she had the kids and the luggage to watch over!

 

I had checked in online 24 hrs before the flight departure time thinking that this would speed up checkin. How wrong I was! The fast bag drop at the BA desk is anything but fast. In fact we named it the slow bag drop!! As it turned out it didn’t really matter, more of that later. Getting through security was a breeze however. No queues whatsoever. Brilliant! Unfortunately that’s as good as it got. We checked the departures board to find that our flight had been delayed by 2.5 hours. Doh! Turns out the captain had called in sick and so they had to find a replacement. So a big thankyou to his replacement, the flight could’ve been cancelled otherwise. Despite leaving so late we managed to make up about 30 minutes so arrived in Barcelona about 2 hours late.

 

Pre-cruise - Barcelona:

 

We arrived to disappointingly overcast skies but at least it was warmer than the weather we left behind. Fortunately I’d decided not to arrange a private transfer as I’d heard that there are plenty of taxis available at the airport. This was true and although we had to wait for a few minutes to find one which could take all our luggage it was no problem. It cost about 30 Euros (with tip) to take us to our hotel, the Hispanos Siete Suiza. I had chosen this hotel for 2 reasons. Firstly it was an apart-style hotel which meant a double ensuite room, a twin ensuite room, a kichen/diner/living area and a furnished balcony. I figured that we might need a little adult time as we were going to be sharing a cabin with the kids for a week. Secondly I had read great reviews on TripAdvisor. The hotel was superb and the price included a lovely buffet breakfast with sparkling wine available if you so desired! The accommodation was luxurious, clean and spacious (room 507). Now if you’re looking for a hotel on or close to the Ramblas then you’ll be disappointed but there’s a metro stop just round the corner and the Metro is a very quick way of getting round the city. It is, however, very close to La Sagrada, the Gaudi gothic cathedral which has to be seen to be believed. We were tired when we arrived so after unpacking we found a local Consum supermarket just round the corner where we stocked up on essentials i.e beer and wine!! Obviously we had to celebrate the start of our holiday! The hotel restaurant was closed, as many were in Barcelona, for the whole of August but it would’ve been very expensive for a family of 4 to eat in there anyway.

 

 

 

 

We asked reception for some advice as to where to eat and they suggested an Italian restaurant. Little did we realise that it was 20 minutes brisk walk by which time the kids were shattered. Despite the fact that the menu was only in Spanish and the waiter didn’t speak English we managed to successfully order drinks and pizza. The pizza was very good and afterwards they flagged down a taxi for us to take us back to the hotel. We put the kids to bed before having a relaxing drink on the balcony from where we could glimpse the towers of Sagrada beautifully lit up. After a busy day it was time for bed.

[101Jus]

The next day dawned on a brighter note and we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel. Incidentally they have some lovely tarts and pastries to choose from. I tried not to think of the calorific content! I had pre-ordered 2-day tickets for the Hop-on/hop-off Bus Turistic over the internet which were sent to me at my home address. This was another surprise for Brigid. I wanted to pre-pay for as much as possible to avoid having to take too much spending money. The bus tour was very good, spread over 3 different interchangeable routes covering 44 stops. Yes, the stops at the major attractions got busy but if you walked to the previous stop you could get on no problem. It was the simplest way to get an overview of the city and with 2 kids in tow it kept them happy. We stuck to the red route that day and got off at Ramblas and walked all the way from Placa Catalunya to Port Vell. The street performers on Ramblas are great and it’s certainly an experience.

 

 

We took care of our belongings but saw no evidence of the dreaded pickpockets. The performers were great with the kids and they posed for several photos together, one even drew a caricature for Rebecca. Ramblas is also full of flower stalls and other interesting stalls, one was even selling live birds and tortoises. Not quite sure how I’d have got that home; checked luggage or hand luggage?!!

 

 

After reaching Port Vell we wandered to the port where we found Tapas Paradis and had lunch. Kids had hot-dogs, Brigid had tapas while I had fish. Again the food was good; it was nice to look out on the port where we could watch the ships come in. The Seven Seas Navigator was in port that day. After lunch we continued on the bus tour and got back to the hotel around 4pm. The weather had been better than the first day but still rather cloudy.

 

Time to chill out a bit before the next surprise I had in store! I had packed the girls flamenco dresses which will give you a clue as to what I had arranged. Yes, I’d booked 4 tickets to go to a flamenco show at Palacio del Flamenco. The ticket included a plate of paella, a glass of sangria and the show. The venue was very nice, very modern and very clean with lovely decor. The paella was tasty and the sangria nice, however for the price I thought they should have provided refills of sangria. If you wanted another drink they were mega expensive. We declined!! The show was different to the flamenco shows I’ve seen before. I expected lots of young girls in flamenco dresses, guys in tight trousers and waistcoats and plenty of synchronised dancing. However it seemed to be made up as it went along with lots of angst in the performers faces, chanting, singing and music. No young guys or girls, all 30+. It wasn’t my cup of tea but many enjoyed it and the girls found it intriguing.

 

After it finished we caught a cab back to the hotel, put the girls to bed and relaxed on the balcony. I decided to pop down to Sagrada to try to get some shots of the illuminated cathedral; it was breathtakingly beautiful. Then it was back to the hotel and to bed.

 

 

The next day dawned with the familiar cloudy skies but at least it was dry. After another nice breakfast we decided to do the blue and green routes today. The blue takes you through the green areas of Mont Juic which gives you fantastic views over Barcelona, the green takes you along the coast before heading back inland and linking back up with the blue. We got off at the beach area and spent some time on the beach with kids paddling etc. The sun came out and it became pretty hot so after a while we decided to grab some lunch at one of the beach bars. Brigid had a seafood salad and I shared a pizza with the girls, it was good but nothing special. We then completed the bus tours in the afternoon and headed back to the hotel.

 

While we were at the beach we also looked at restaurants for the evening and found one that had plenty of seafood, kids menu and a nice view out to sea from the terrace. Restaurant Litoral was deserted when we arrived by taxi at around 7.30pm but by then the wind had increased and the tablecloths were being blown around. Trust us hardy Brits to weather the elements!! We had a local fish dish a ‘Zarzuela’ which is a fish stew consisting of different fish, crayfish, king prawns etc. It was absolutely delicious and the kids appreciated having a kids menu to choose from (very rare in Barcelona). After dinner we headed back to the hotel and again relaxed on the balcony once we’d put the girls to bed. It wasn’t long before we were forced indoors by a massive storm, lots of thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Another good thing about the hotel is that all the windows have electric shutters which provide complete darkness and help to reduce the noise from the streets below. We both slept through the remainder of the storm.

 

We awoke very excited about the prospect of beginning the cruise today. Another fattening breakfast, this time with sparkling wine to set the mood for the day! We returned to the room and packed up all our luggage. The hotel ordered us a cab for 11.00am, we checked out and sure enough the taxi arrived on time. We arrive at the pier at around 11.20am and handed over 34 Euros for the taxi fare. Let the cruise begin..........

 

Overall we thought Barcelona was fascinating; an intriguing mix of old and new. Some of the architecture was outstanding.

 

 

 

Because we had the kids with us we didn’t go into any of the sights but next time we come back we want to be child-free so we can fully appreciate what this wonderful city has to offer.

[101Jus]

The Cruise – Embarkation

 

We were hoping that by arriving early that we would be able to check-in quickly but we soon realised that we weren’t the first to arrive. There were hundreds of people already there and long queues for the check-in desks. It probably took around 30 minutes to get checked in and the queues moved quite quickly. I think it helped having printed off our SetSail passes prior to arrival. So we boarded Voyager shortly after noon, avoiding the queues for the ship’s photographer in the process. So all in all embarkation wasn’t too bad (even with 2 bored kids!).

 

The Ship

 

Voyager is a beautiful ship and kept in tip-top shape by her crew.

 

 

 

We saw no signs of wear and tear mainly because they seem to be constantly maintaining her; as an example they were removing all the balcony handrails from the cabins to strip and re-varnish them. Nothing can prepare you for the vastness of the ship and at first this seemed a bit daunting but after the first day we managed to find our way around without much difficulty. It really helps having a list of all the major attractions next to the deck numbers in all the lifts. There’s no excuse for getting off on the wrong floor! Incidently we saw no evidence of kids playing with the lifts or messing around, creating a nuisance. They all seemed well behaved.

 

The pool areas were nice and there were 4 hot tubs around the main pools and 2 more around the solarium (adults only). The solarium pool was empty on day 1 but the next day it had been re-filled. A word of advice: the water in all the pools is freezing! There appears to be no heating for the pools so they are for the brave only (our 3 year old screamed every time she got in!). Please bear in mind that they are also salt-water which can be a bit of a shock the first time you dunk your head in! In contrast the hot tubs are very hot, too hot in my opinion, particularly as some of them allow kids in; maybe this is to ensure you don’t spend too long in them!

 

 

Apart from the sea day, there were no problems of overcrowding and it was easy to find a lounger near the pool. However on the sea day it took 20 minutes of wandering around before we found free loungers, even then we couldn’t find 4 together, and they were on the topmost deck way from the pool areas, and this was 10.30am!! Later on we spoke to people who had given up trying to find even 1 free lounger and had resorted to laying their towels out on the bare deck. If your cruise has quite a few sea days please be aware of this; maybe RCI could provide more deck space/loungers as there don’t seem to be enough to go round. The bars and lounges were all very smart and well maintained and as with the pool areas for the most part uncrowded, although coming out of second seating dinner we had trouble finding a seat at either the Schooner bar, Aquarium bar, or Champagne bar. Fortunately the kids were tired so we headed back to the cabin anyway.

 

The Food – Main Dining room

 

We had second seating at 9.30pm at table 349 Carmen dining room, they had another second seating time for the balcony dining rooms at 10.00pm. I had gone with the expectation of receiving wedding banquet style food and for the most part I was pleasantly surprised. The food was hot, well presented and reasonably tasty although some dishes were a little bland. The menu could have been a little more elaborate though; there were a little too many cheap dishes like cod, chicken, turkey and pasta for my liking. No it is not gourmet food but it is perfectly acceptable and in some cases actually very good; the giant shrimp served on a bed of crab mash with a lobster reduction being a prime example. Our waiter offered us seconds and I duly obliged! We had a table set for 11 but on our first night we were the only ones for dinner. On our second evening a family of 5 from Portugal joined us and turned out to be great table companions. We have exchanged contact details and hope to meet up again soon. The dining room is beautiful with huge chandeliers and subtle lighting giving a great atmosphere.

 

We had some great wait staff; our waiter, Harry, from the Phillipines, was an absolute gem. Nothing was too much trouble for him and he even performed magic tricks for the kids each evening and all with a lovely smile on his face.

 

 

Our head waiter, Melvin, also from the Phillipines, was great too and he took the time to get to know the kids as well. Our assistant waiter, Angela, was by contrast nervous and subdued but nevertheless efficient.

 

Formal nights were Day 2 (first full day, sunday) and Day 6 (last but one full day, Thursday). Nearly everyone made the effort to dress up which was really nice, only a few teenagers resisted, and it added to the atmosphere in the main dining room.

 

The Food – Portofino

 

We ate in Portofino twice for a bit of time on our own. We fed the kids in the Windjammer first then they went to Adventure Ocean while we made our way to our 8.00pm reservation. I had made the reservations online but then shortly before we left I was notified by RCI that they had to cancel our reservations because of local tax/VAT issues but that our request would be forwarded to the Voyager and that we should confirm our reservations onboard. As soon as we boarded we made our way to Portofino and confirmed our reservations which had indeed been held for us, which was a relief.

 

We felt that it was well worth the cover charge of $20, the food was of very good quality and the portions larger than in the main dining room. The first time we went I had the fish skewer which was delicious while Brigid had halibut. If you go you must try the dessert sampler, it was fantastic!

 

 

The second time we went the food wasn’t quite as good but still delicious nonetheless. It was nice to have a meal on our own without having to worry about the kids getting bored with a 2 hour dinner. I had pre-booked the Wine and Dine Diamond package which could be used here, in the main dining room, the Windjammer and via room service. I had pre-printed the prices for all the wines to make sure that we were getting value for money each time we ordered a bottle. This worked well and we were happy with the quality of the wines we tried.

 

The Food – Windjammer

 

I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety available here, both for breakfast and lunch (didn’t eat dinner here). In some cases the food seemed to have more flavour than some of the dishes served in the main dining room for dinner. The only downsides were the plastic plates which seemed to cheapen the atmosphere, the fact that the plates were often still wet (though clean), and many of the desserts were over-sweet and artificial tasting. Oh and I never found any cream to pour over them either.

 

Service here was just ok, we had to wait quite a while sometimes before someone took our drinks order and at breakfast and at lunch on the sea day it was nigh on impossible to find a free table for 4. We started to try to find a table first rather than grabbing food and watching it go cold as you tried to find a table. So RCI, more tables please!! Lunch here on port days was fine though. We tended to eat mostly in the Island Grill area as it tended to be marginally quieter and with slightly more upmarket decor and furniture.

 

The Food – Johnny Rockets

 

I have no complaints regarding the quality of the burgers, fries, onion rings or apple pie which were all good, however the service left a lot to be desired. The kids only got their shakes as we were eating dessert and then they tasted horrible and the kids left them. Also in the cruise compass it stated that every half hour the staff would perform a dance routine which we thought the kids would enjoy. Well we were there for an hour and never saw anything.

 

 

I think we’ll skip it next time we cruise and save ourselves the cover charge.

[101Jus]

The Cabin

 

I had booked a Junior Suite, cabin 9598 as another surprise for Brigid. I kept preparing her for how small the cabin was going to be and how cramped it would be for the 4 of us; then she opened the door for the first time..........The look on her face was brilliant! Seriously the cabin was a great size......

 

 

.....and the walk-in wardrobe was an absolute boon. It meant we could stash all our clothes and all 4 suitcases out of sight instead of cluttering the room. Having a bathroom with a bath meant that we could bath Jessica without her freaking out in the shower. The balcony was a decent size as well and was furnished with 2 chairs, a small table, and 1 lounger.

 

Our stateroom attendant, Antonio, from Peru, was excellent; for example the first day I asked him for some ice and thereafter we had ice morning and evening for the rest of the cruise. Also it never ceased to amaze me how he make our room look so immaculate after 2 kids had done their very best to turn it into a tip!

 

The bedding was very nice and the bed huge and very comfortable; the kids thought the sofabed comfortable too. We had to turn the air conditioning down to its coolest setting as the room was a little warm at night but apart from that we had no complaints.

 

The Ports – Villefranche

 

What a beautiful town, so picturesque.......

 

 

We had to tender here and didn’t arrive until 10.00am. We had booked the Monte Carlo & Grand Casino ship tour which didn’t leave until 1.30pm so we spent the morning with the kids by the pools. The kids went to the kids club in the afternoon while we took the excursion. The excursion was very good, expensive, but very good. We drove along the lower Corniche road along the Cote d’Azur; what fantastic scenery.........

 

 

 

Monte Carlo was excellent and we had a great tour guide in Rosy who spoke with passion about the whole area. The Grand Casino was amazing inside but we didn’t bet anything as the minimum bet was 50-100 Euros! We consoled ourselves with a champagne cocktail in the Casino bar! We then took a tour of the Palace area which again was beautiful; all in all it was a fantastic excursion and Monte Carlo is beautiful..........

 

 

 

[101Jus]

Ports – Livorno

 

Livorno is an industrial port and so a bit of a grim view from the balcony this morning. We had booked the Leaning Tower of Pisa ship tour which departed at 1.30pm so once again we spent the morning with the girls by the pool, had an early lunch with them, and then left for the excursion while they went to Adventure Ocean. Pisa is only a 30 minute drive away and this tour included entrance to the tower itself. Once again it was a very enjoyable tour and while the guide wasn’t as good as Rosy the day before, she was competent and interesting. The Field of Miracles and the Tower are breathtaking........

 

 

.......and the view from the top as fantastic as it was scary........

 

 

The combined effect of still feeling the motion of the ship together with the leaning of the tower made for an interesting experience! I felt like I was going to fall off the tower! All in all another great experience.

 

Ports – Citavecchia

 

Another industrial port so not much to see from the ship. We had booked the Tarquinia Lido ship tour for the whole family but unfortunately this was cancelled by the tour operator due to lack of interest. This was a shame as we had wanted to do an excursion as a family and this seemed an ideal opportunity. Rome would have held little interest for the kids (unlike us!), and the 1.5 hour journey time would have made it too long a day for them so in the end we just to decided to stay onboard and chill out by the pool with them. They spent some time at Adventure Ocean so we decided to try out the Solarium, the adults only area. This was lovely, much quieter than the main pool area and very relaxing........

 

 

..........and the sun loungers were more comfy too! There were also 2 large whirlpools either side of the Solarium pool; very nice.

 

Ports – Naples

 

Once again we had booked a half-day excursion, this time to Pompeii. Yet again we spent the morning with the kids by the pools, had an early lunch, kids went to Adventure Ocean while we boarded the cach for our 1.30pm departure. Nothing can prepare you for the vastness and scale of Pompeii. I found this a fascinating tour and could have easily spent another 2-3 days exploring the site...........

 

 

 

[101Jus]

The most fascinating aspect was the casts that they made in the spaces that were left when the bodies were burned and vaporised by the hot ash. These are on display and give an indication of what it must have been like at that fateful time......

 

 

The tour was by an informative guide who used a microphone and everyone in the party had a receiver and earpiece. It seemed to work pretty well as some of the exhibits were busy and cramped with several groups at the same time. Beware: Pompeii covers 66 Hectares so it’s easy to get separated from your tour party and it’s pretty busy! Another great tour and we returned to the ship having learnt a great deal.

 

Ports – Palermo

 

I had booked the Mondello Beach Transfer ship tour for the whole family as I thought the kids would enjoy the beach. The tour didn’t start until 1.30pm so as usual we spent the morning with the kids followed by an early lunch. The tour consisted of an interesting coach tour of Palermo with guided commentary followed by a trip to Mondello beach where we all had a reserved fenced area on the beach complete with a sun lounger each and a shared umbrella. Palermo is a city of contrasts; parts of it are grim and graffiti-covered while other parts are beautiful with wonderful architecture.......

 

 

 

Having learnt a little about the history of Palermo we arrived at the beach. Wow, what a beach! Water so clear and so blue it was amazing. This instantly became one of my favourite beaches of all time. It’s great for kids as the water remains shallow for about 80m from the shore. The general public weren’t allowed in our private fenced area so I felt more relaxed about leaving our belongings while we went for a swim. Just wish we could’ve spent longer here......

 

 

 

 

Yet another great day out!

[marci22]

What a well-organized review, I love the pictures! We really enjoyed Pisa also, glad we went.

[101Jus]

Entertainment

 

I didn’t know what to expect from the entertainment as this was our first cruise. I could only compare it to land-based 4* holiday resort evening entertainment and it easily surpassed this standard. Some of the evening shows we were unable to attend because of second seating dinner (there was only one showtime of 10.30pm) or because the show that in theory we could’ve attended didn’t start until 11.45pm.

The first show we attended was the ice show ‘Ice Odyssey Showtime’ which was spectacular. We took the family and thanks to Lola (one of the entertainment managers) Rebecca was invited to be the star attraction. We felt proud to see her there in front of a packed audience being whisked around on a huge ‘throne’......

 

 

Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to film this because of Artist’s Copyright and I was told off for attempting to do so! Yes, we have seen more professional ice shows than this; more recently the Torvill & Dean Dancing on Ice Tour at the NIA in Birmingham, but these were £40 per head; but considering the small rink area I thought the skaters were fantastic. Well recommended!

 

The next show we went to wasn’t until Day 6 and was the ‘Music in Motion’ production with the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. It was good and we thought the singers had good voices and the dance routines, lighting and sets were all excellent. Not quite the West End but not far off.....

 

 

We also went to the Farewell Show on Day 7 which starred ‘The Artistry of Fluorescence’ and ‘The Flying Spartans’. Again we enjoyed this show, in particular the Fluorescence show which was both very clever and entertaining. The Spartans were ok but nothing you couldn’t see in a theme park theatre. Overall though the entertainment we saw was very good.

 

Children’s Facilities

 

I specifically chose Royal Caribbean as I had read many good things about their Children’s programs (Adventure Ocean) and I wasn’t disappointed. The children’s clubs cater from 3yr olds through to teenagers and were very well run by professionally qualified carers. Rebecca in particular made several friends and usually didn’t need any persuasion to attend; in fact quite the opposite, she often chose to go there rather than spending time with us!! Jessica wasn’t quite as keen but I think this was because she was often the only English speaking child in her group. She always enjoyed it once she was there but sometimes she needed persuading (telling her that Rebecca was going was usually enough). There were always plenty of organised activities going on, some of which continued late into the night. There is no additional charge for Adventure Ocean up to 10pm and from thereafter until 1am it is charged at $5 per hour per child.

 

Adventure Ocean opens 30 minutes prior to the first ship excursion leaving on port days and at 9.00am on sea days. You can book them in for lunch and dinner if you want and they’ll take them to the Windjammer and feed them for you. They will look after them onboard while you take excursions if you want a bit of freedom. We decided that we would only go on local excursions and only for half a day maximum as we didn’t feel comfortable going too far from the ship or for too long whilst they weren’t in our care. This seemed to work out brilliantly as we were able to sample some history and culture alone while still being able to spend time as a family. This way we all had a great holiday and came back relaxed and refreshed (as well as a few pounds heavier!).

 

Outside there is Adventure Beach which is a small area dedicated to a couple of splash pools, a water slide, and a normal slide. The kids enjoyed this area but be aware that the water slide is only open at limited times (usually 5-7pm on port days)....

 

 

 

The kids also receive their own Cruise Compass, dedicated to their particular group, listing all the activities for the day ahead. Rebecca had a great time highlighting all the activities she wanted to participate in.

 

Disembarkation

 

Our flights back to the UK were at 1.25pm so we knew there should be no rush in the morning. We had originally been given brown 2 tags which would have meant leaving the vessel at about 7.15am. That was far too early as we had booked a private transfer to Barcelona airport at 9.30am so I went to guest relations and changed to blue 5 which meant 8.45am. Much better! This meant we could have a leisurely breakfast in the Windjammer and wait for our colour to be called.

 

It was called on time and it was time to say goodbye. We collected our luggage from the carousel at the pier and were outside the terminal building just after 9am. I had arranged a transfer through Angie’s Taxis and they were already there waiting for us. It was 48 Euros and we got to the airport by 9.40am. We had a very friendly driver who told us little snippets about Barcelona as we drove to the airport. I’m pleased we booked this as the queues for regular taxis were very long by the time we left the ship.

 

All in all disembarkation went very smoothly and added to the feeling that everything throughout the cruise was extremely well organised. Everything ran like a well-oiled machine which was very impressive.

 

Other useful info

 

For all you booze smugglers, we successfully sneaked a wine box onboard in our checked luggage. We made sure it was packed in a case containing no toiletries or anything vaguely bottle-shaped and it came through no problem. Going to a bar to get a drink to bring to the cabin to enjoy on the balcony would have been a pain as there weren’t any close to our cabin.

 

We did use room service a couple of times and it always arrived within the specified time, usually 20-30 minutes.

 

Most of the time the ship didn’t feel crowded at all which was a relief as I’d worried that 3600 onboard would make it very crowded. Peak times were breakfast when getting a table was tricky and lunch on the sea day as well as the pool area on the sea day which was far too crowded for us.

 

Go to the welcome parade if you can, particularly if you have kids, as they’ll love it....

 

 

.......but get to the Royal Promenade early to get the best vantage points.

 

We thought that some of the activities were tacky such as the bingo and some of the pool games such as the belly flop. They did nothing but cheapen the experience and the pool games took up valuable pool space from the kids. RCI: please lose these as we don’t want a holiday camp at sea please!

 

We did not notice any smoke blowing onto our balcony from other balconies so this wasn't an issue. However the bars, lounges and Royal Promenade did become quite smokey in the evenings despite having non-smoking areas; it just seemed to drift across. Generally speaking we avoided these and went back to our cabin. The worst experience we had was at the kid’s club talent show held in the High Notes lounge bar; I couldn’t believe the number of adults smoking next to the children. If our kids hadn’t been performing I’d have removed them from that environment. I think Royal Caribbean needs to address this issue and ban all smoking inside the vessel.

 

If you want to spread the cost of the holiday then do what I did and book your excursions online. I booked 1 per month for the 6 months prior to departure. This frees up your Seapass for the bar tab, and prevents a huge bill at the end! (Or not as the case may be!)

 

Summary

 

We all had a fantastic time and would definitely do this type of holiday again. Problem is it’ll take another 2 years to save up for the next one. I guess I’ll have to start planning it now to help stave off the post-cruise depression (PCD)! Would I recommend Royal Caribbean? Most definitely, in particular to young families where the facilities are excellent. Next time around I’d like to take a longer cruise because the time went far too quickly; 14 nights would be superb. Oh well, I can dream!

[101Jus]

What a well-organized review, I love the pictures! We really enjoyed Pisa also, glad we went.

Well thankyou! I just wanted to tell others about our experiences as I've received so much help and information from you guys. It's just nice to give a little back!

 

Justin

[daisysheridan]

This is one of the best reviews I have read!

[sddsddean]

Great review Justin. You now join us other CCer's who are hooked on cruising!!

 

Simon

[windjamming]

Great review Justin! I love the pictures and narrative. We were just on the BR and reading your review brought back some terrific memories.

[101Jus]

Great review Justin. You now join us other CCer's who are hooked on cruising!!

 

Simon

Thanks! Yes we are now hooked on cruising; could be an expensive few years ahead!

 

I see you are booked for Christmas/New Year 2009/10 in the Caribbean. That sounds fab, you must be looking forward to it already. We've already sorted out next years holiday which is a land-based trip to the Turquoise Coast in Turkey but we've already started thinking about a cruise in summer 2010. Nothing like planning ahead!

 

Justin

[CharmedOne]

Justin, thank you for the fab review! I'm hoping to go in the next couple of years myself!

 

PS - Will you marry me? (just kidding;) ) What a sweet guy you are and what a lucky lady she is to warrant such a surprise! Can I show my DH this thread without seeming too obvious?

[NiniB]

Great Review... Thanks for taking the time to share your vacation & wonderful pictures...:)

[101Jus]

Justin, thank you for the fab review! I'm hoping to go in the next couple of years myself!

 

PS - Will you marry me? (just kidding;) ) What a sweet guy you are and what a lucky lady she is to warrant such a surprise! Can I show my DH this thread without seeming too obvious?

If you can get across the pond to Europe I can thoroughly recommend a Med cruise; so much to see and so much history/culture, you'll have a brill time! Time to work on your hubby now!

 

P.S. Is bigamy legal in your State? ;)

[sddsddean]

Don't worry about CharmedOne...I'll marry you!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes, we thought we would try a Xmas cruise. We have 2 weeks off work over Xmas anyway and as its my 50th at the start of December the plan is to fly out to Sandals in the Bahamas for a week (leaving just before my birthady), then fly up to NY to get on the Explorer. People have said its a bit manic boarding for the Xmas cruise as there are people lugging lots of presents etc, so this seemed as good an excuse as any for doing a b2b and getting on the week before. Might be a bit pricey all in, but we've got no kids and work bloody hard, so we don't mind splashing out on our holidays..

 

Simon