Just back: transatlantic on voyager of the seas

[stacon]

We finally took our dream cruise. Flew to Barcelona Spain, boarded Voyager and crossed the Atlantic - arrived in Galveston after 15 nights. I'm a loyal RC cruiser, but the Voyager left my loyalty a little shaken. But that's another story. Overall the trip was unbelievably wonderful. We spent a couple of days in Barcelona before the cruise and those were glorious days. PICKPOCKETS IN BARCELONA - you WILL be watched and targeted if you have baggage etc. and are on or around tourist attractions. We were targeted the minute we stepped out of the cab on La Rambla at the Miro sidewalk art piece. We spotted the two young (20ish) small ladies and foil their plan, but another couple in our travel group lost $600 to pickpockets later. The held one of them until police arrived and all went to the police station,but of course, no money was recovered.

 

We stayed at El Jardi just off La Rambla. We adored El Jardi. We could easily walked everywhere we wanted to go. We were in a terrace room and it was great. Price is very affordable at 100 euros per night for the room. So many wonderful memories from there.

 

Voyager - we were in room 9322, starboard on the "hump".

 

I won't go on and on but if you have any questions, let me know. Ports were Cartegena, Funchal, La Palma, Nassau and Miami, then two sea days around Florida to Galveston.

[FEMH]

Well, what shook your loyalty with RCCL?

[cruizinmimi]

Please tell us what you did not like about the Voyager of the Seas. Was it the condition of the ship? Was it service and staff? Give us some details, please:D:)

[stacon]

Our group of 14 was supposed to be at two tables, next to each other. When we boarded we discovered we were scattered all over the dining rooms. One member of our group worked with Asit (a head waiter) to try to get us at least in the same area. He made comments like "there are three thousand guests that we're trying to make happy" - in itself not a bad thing. I know there are 3000 on board, but I sure like the pampered feeling I've had on all my other cruises, like all the staff were there to please me (and every one else of course). There were 6-8 other similar things through the 2 weeks, each rather minor in itself, but visiting with other guests soon revealed that it was a common feeling among us. Our overall conclusion was that the ship may be just too big, too many passengers, for the number of crew to comfortably handle. (With some persistance, we were able to snag a table for 14 and had a wonderful time. Waiter Sandy was awesome.) I had never considered trying any other cruise line because I've been SO happy with RC, but now I'm wondering.......

 

Again, let me emphasize, we had a BLAST on our cruise. The "downs" in no way spoiled our cruise, they just opened that door of curiousity of what other lines have to offer.

[As the ship sails]

I'm wondering if some of the problems could be contributed to there being alot of sign offs that cruise. Mid December is the last time for sign offs for the crew as they do not allow sign offs over Christmas and January. Many of the crew may have been in "I'm going home mode". No excuse but thinking that may be why. Honestly the Voyager crew is generally a good group but then I'm kind of partial as my boyfriend is one of them!;):D Sorry to hear that a few let you down but glad to see you have a good attitude and enjoyed your cruise regardless!:)

[GaryfmCol]

Please tell us what you did not like about the Voyager of the Seas. Was it the condition of the ship? Was it service and staff? Give us some details, please:D:)

 

We were on that cruise AND, the one before it..

 

With the exception of some rainy weather over in Europe on the first cruise, and, too much smoke in the casino, we loved the cruise.

We had problems with the ships computers for doing e-mail, but, they

are just at the end of their service life, we believe and, all need replaced. Other than those two minor problems it was a GREAT cruise.

 

Not too much to complain about...and, we didn't either..

 

Staff was EXCELLENT!

[Morecruisesplz]

I'm wondering if some of the problems could be contributed to there being alot of sign offs that cruise. Mid December is the last time for sign offs for the crew as they do not allow sign offs over Christmas and January. Many of the crew may have been in "I'm going home mode". No excuse but thinking that may be why. Honestly the Voyager crew is generally a good group but then I'm kind of partial as my boyfriend is one of them!;):D Sorry to hear that a few let you down but glad to see you have a good attitude and enjoyed your cruise regardless!:)

 

Just being nosey, but is he moving to the Oasis, is that why you wanted to book the inagural? I know some of our "friends" who are crew on various ships are trying to get to the Oasis.

[CruisenFunToo]

I'm wondering if some of the problems could be contributed to there being alot of sign offs that cruise. Mid December is the last time for sign offs for the crew as they do not allow sign offs over Christmas and January. Many of the crew may have been in "I'm going home mode". No excuse but thinking that may be why. Honestly the Voyager crew is generally a good group but then I'm kind of partial as my boyfriend is one of them!;):D Sorry to hear that a few let you down but glad to see you have a good attitude and enjoyed your cruise regardless!:)

 

 

We were on this cruise, and in fact our waiter was a sign off when we reached Texas and our service was outstanding!! We had a great table of 10 cc members and the staff went over and above to do whatever we needed.

 

The head waiter worked very hard for us on the second night to put us all at the same table and in many ways really made the cruise for all of us at that table.

 

The issues with the computers and email is another story but come on you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean and the tech to get the web to that part of the world is just not there.

 

 

Steve and Cindy

[As the ship sails]

Just being nosey, but is he moving to the Oasis, is that why you wanted to book the inagural? I know some of our "friends" who are crew on various ships are trying to get to the Oasis.

 

No worries.:D Actually no he does not want to work on the Oasis. He is actually trying to move to the Mariner so he will be closer to me.;) He will be going back to the Voyager for his next contract so this spring I promised him that I would do a B2B2B2B to keep him company on the ship and let him live in guest quarters for awhile.:p As far as the Oasis.......I'm just silly and like to spend money so thats why I booked the Oasis for the Dec 1st and 5th sailing.:eek::D Plus I have several friends that have booked this sailing also.

[As the ship sails]

We were on this cruise, and in fact our waiter was a sign off when we reached Texas and our service was outstanding!! We had a great table of 10 cc members and the staff went over and above to do whatever we needed.

 

The head waiter worked very hard for us on the second night to put us all at the same table and in many ways really made the cruise for all of us at that table.

 

The issues with the computers and email is another story but come on you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean and the tech to get the web to that part of the world is just not there.

 

 

Steve and Cindy

 

I agree. Usually the Voyager crew is outstanding but the OP may have encountered a few that had a different attitude. Not everyone stays on their A-game when they are in their final cruise from going home.;)

 

Gotta agree with you about the internet also but the phone lines are just as bad. My boyfriend always calls me from his cabin and the last few weeks the phone connection was horrible. Sometimes it would cut in and out so bad that I would tell him to hang up and call me back and then we would get a better connection. Its not so much about being in the middle of the ocean than the fact that the Voyager is in dire need of updating. Hopefully when it goes into drydock in May some of these issues will be addressed.:)

[ricko1]

We finally took our dream cruise. Flew to Barcelona Spain, boarded Voyager and crossed the Atlantic - arrived in Galveston after 15 nights. I'm a loyal RC cruiser, but the Voyager left my loyalty a little shaken. But that's another story. Overall the trip was unbelievably wonderful. We spent a couple of days in Barcelona before the cruise and those were glorious days. PICKPOCKETS IN BARCELONA - you WILL be watched and targeted if you have baggage etc. and are on or around tourist attractions. We were targeted the minute we stepped out of the cab on La Rambla at the Miro sidewalk art piece. We spotted the two young (20ish) small ladies and foil their plan, but another couple in our travel group lost $600 to pickpockets later. The held one of them until police arrived and all went to the police station,but of course, no money was recovered.

 

We stayed at El Jardi just off La Rambla. We adored El Jardi. We could easily walked everywhere we wanted to go. We were in a terrace room and it was great. Price is very affordable at 100 euros per night for the room. So many wonderful memories from there.

 

Voyager - we were in room 9322, starboard on the "hump".

 

I won't go on and on but if you have any questions, let me know. Ports were Cartegena, Funchal, La Palma, Nassau and Miami, then two sea days around Florida to Galveston.

 

Three things.. Did The hotel have a porter to help with luggage from the taxi to inside the hotel lobby?. Did the hotel have a lobby inside away from the thugs.. Lastly Exactly where is the hotel. I tried to find it just now.. I missed something..

Sounds like you encountered some kind of problems, would you please share... Thanks in advance... :)

[caribbeanboy]

We were on this cruise, and in fact our waiter was a sign off when we reached Texas and our service was outstanding!! We had a great table of 10 cc members and the staff went over and above to do whatever we needed.

 

The head waiter worked very hard for us on the second night to put us all at the same table and in many ways really made the cruise for all of us at that table.

 

The issues with the computers and email is another story but come on you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean and the tech to get the web to that part of the world is just not there.

 

 

Steve and Cindy

 

I guess it doesn't matter whether the ship is Europe, Asia or the Caribbean b/c it's all about satellite !

[J & G]

We finally took our dream cruise. Flew to Barcelona Spain, boarded Voyager and crossed the Atlantic - arrived in Galveston after 15 nights. I'm a loyal RC cruiser, but the Voyager left my loyalty a little shaken. But that's another story. Overall the trip was unbelievably wonderful. We spent a couple of days in Barcelona before the cruise and those were glorious days. PICKPOCKETS IN BARCELONA - you WILL be watched and targeted if you have baggage etc. and are on or around tourist attractions. We were targeted the minute we stepped out of the cab on La Rambla at the Miro sidewalk art piece. We spotted the two young (20ish) small ladies and foil their plan, but another couple in our travel group lost $600 to pickpockets later. The held one of them until police arrived and all went to the police station,but of course, no money was recovered.

 

We stayed at El Jardi just off La Rambla. We adored El Jardi. We could easily walked everywhere we wanted to go. We were in a terrace room and it was great. Price is very affordable at 100 euros per night for the room. So many wonderful memories from there.

 

Voyager - we were in room 9322, starboard on the "hump".

 

I won't go on and on but if you have any questions, let me know. Ports were Cartegena, Funchal, La Palma, Nassau and Miami, then two sea days around Florida to Galveston.

 

Can you elaborate a bit on your cabin on the hump? Do you have any pictures? We are right next door (9320) in Feb.

[TEXASMUNK]

Were al your reservations "linked" with a request to sit together for dinner?

 

They work hard to try and accommodate all requests, sounds like your was flat out ignored.

 

You were just a bit vague on what else troubled you, please come back and share!!!!

[powelweb]

We were also on this cruise and were 2 parties (3 and 2) travelling together, and we had linked reservations but ended up at different tables for dinner.

 

This was rectified before dinner the first day as we were all put at the same table, but I heard from others that part of the dining room issues were from many cruisers who had done the last week's Med cruise and made friends with whom they wanted to sit with on the TA.

 

FWIW, we still had a great trip.

[ssantow]

I agree. Usually the Voyager crew is outstanding but the OP may have encountered a few that had a different attitude. Not everyone stays on their A-game when they are in their final cruise from going home.;)

 

I was also on the Voyager TA and it must be that the whole crew was on their last cruise before going home. Attitude of the staff was a major problem. It was as if no one cared about the paying passengers. Dining room staff was great and steward was wonderful but the rest were terrible. Most common heard phrase from staff and crew was "it's not my fault".

 

Gotta agree with you about the internet also but the phone lines are just as bad. My boyfriend always calls me from his cabin and the last few weeks the phone connection was horrible. Sometimes it would cut in and out so bad that I would tell him to hang up and call me back and then we would get a better connection. Its not so much about being in the middle of the ocean than the fact that the Voyager is in dire need of updating. Hopefully when it goes into drydock in May some of these issues will be addressed.:)

 

I am so glad to hear that Voyager will be in for repairs in May. I was amazed at how worn down and poorly maintained this ship is. It really needs to be fixed right away, not in May. We saw carpeting coming undone and turning into a trip hazard. Many public restrooms were dirty and on the verge of unsanitary. Paint peeling and rust forming on outside decks. Even the simple act of replacing burned out light bulbs was not being done. My biggest fear is that a first time RCI cruiser may get a wrong impression of Royal Caribbean if they saw this ship.

[cruiseray1]

(With some persistance, we were able to snag a table for 14 and had a wonderful time. Waiter Sandy was awesome.) .

 

well then why complain.?

looks like it worked out.

I'm only a new Royal fan having just come off Indy.

Where else would you turn Carnival?

Unless you go Crystal seems to me Royal is the best out there.

Did you email the dining room after you booked and explain that you wanted 14 people at one table? Did they respond?

I emailed the diningroom staff months before we sailed and requested a specific table and guess what? They emailed me back said "request noted" and once I boarded discovered that they assigned us the EXACT table I requested.

Not too shabby considering there were over 4,000 passengers.

Just curious did you email them before the sail date?

T

[J & G]

OK, now I'm getting worried.....we are cruising on Voyager in Feb with family. For two of the couples, it will be their first cruise. They are SO excited.....I really don't want them to be disappointed!

[stacon]

Hey,

I am just now getting back online. When you're gone from Thanksgiving till Mid December, no one puts Christmas on hold - you still only have 2 weeks to get it all done, so it was a busy weekend....

 

back to your follow up questions:

 

 

J&G - If this had been my first cruise I would have been absolutely blown away by how WONDERFUL it was. Don't worry about your friends. I was comparing this cruise to other RC cruises I've taken, and my issues were very minor. Nothing that I saw or experienced would have dampened my excitement as a first timer. I'm so excited that you have 9320. A couple in our party had 9320. You will absolutely LOVE being by the elevators. We had no noise at all from the elevators (did occassionally hear guests talking as they past the room, but nothing unusual). Your balcony view is incredible. Why don't you send me an email asking for some pix - that will remind me to get some from Sandra of 9320, both of the room and the balcony view. We have been so busy with Christmas we haven't gotten together yet to share pix! stacon1@comcast.net.

 

Texasmunk: The table arrangements were handled by our TA, so I can't tell you about how it was "linked" etc. This is the same TA we've always used. All the members of our party used the same TA. The fact that we were not together initially created an issue, but the disturbing part to us was how we were treated by Asit. I requested the Maitre d', Joel. He got things resolved quickly and asked Asit to finish assigning us to our table for 14 on his computer. Asit was again rude to me as he was completing our info on his computer. As to the other issues, I hate to go into detail because you start sounding like a complainer. Already one person has said "well then why complain. looks like it worked out". I get annoyed at those kind of people who miss the spirit of my comments when i see them, so I'll take a pass on further details.

 

Ricko1: Hotel Jardi does not have a porter. We had to "wrestle" our three large suitcases and several smaller ones up the stairs to the lobby, and then back down to the taxi when we checked out. The lobby is upstairs and away from all that lingers in the streets of Barcelona. There is a elevator from the lobby up to the rooms, but it is so small that it took us two trips to get all our stuff to the room. AND I WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT !!! What an incredibly fun experience it was. All the other members of our party stayed at Apsis and were dropped at the front door and had an elevator in the lobby. But after visiting us at Jardi, they were so jealous of our location! Type this address into google maps. Plaça Sant Josep Oriol 1, 08002 Barcelona, Spain‎. Click on the satellite view and drill down to the closest view. The four terraces of the hotel will be visible at the top of the map. I could never figure out if cars could drive there so didn't insist that the taxi driver take us to the door. We got out of the taxi on La Rambla and walked back to Jardi, pulling our luggage. Pickpockets were on us immediately. We did spot them and foiled their plan, but do be careful. They are everywhere a tourist is. Anyway, taxis can drive back to Jardi from La Rambla so next time I'll know to have the taxi take us to the door.

[stacon]

As the Ship Sails,

 

Thanks for your comments about the crew. You may be exactly right about the "I'm leaving" mode and that could explain what I encountered.

 

In thinking back, several of them were talking alot about home.

[J & G]

Hey,

I am just now getting back online. When you're gone from Thanksgiving till Mid December, no one puts Christmas on hold - you still only have 2 weeks to get it all done, so it was a busy weekend....

 

back to your follow up questions:

 

 

J&G - If this had been my first cruise I would have been absolutely blown away by how WONDERFUL it was. Don't worry about your friends. I was comparing this cruise to other RC cruises I've taken, and my issues were very minor. Nothing that I saw or experienced would have dampened my excitement as a first timer. I'm so excited that you have 9320. A couple in our party had 9320. You will absolutely LOVE being by the elevators. We had no noise at all from the elevators (did occassionally hear guests talking as they past the room, but nothing unusual). Your balcony view is incredible. Why don't you send me an email asking for some pix - that will remind me to get some from Sandra of 9320, both of the room and the balcony view. We have been so busy with Christmas we haven't gotten together yet to share pix! stacon1@comcast.net.

 

Thanks....e-mail is flying through cyberspace as we "speak"...... I look forward to pictures of 9320.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I was getting worried that the newbie cruisers would be disappointed. I know your service in the dining room got off to a bad start, but how was the food itself? (Did you already answer that and I have forgotten?)

[cujosmom]

We were also on the Med and TransAtlantic on the Voyager with a 2 day pre-cruise in Barcelona. We had absolutely no problems whatsoever in Barcelona even though we had read about the horror stories about the pickpockets there. We walked everywhere and also rode the subway system numerous times.

 

My husband even put a "decoy" wallet in his back pocket with those fake credit cards you get in the mail (that have "your name here" embossed on them) and never had anyone even attempt to take it.

 

Our hotel, the Hotel Continental was at the top of Las Ramblas just a block from Placa Cantalunya. EXCELLENT location and economical hotel. We actually took the Aerobus from the airport to Placa Cantalunya for 4.05 euros each and walked to our hotel with our luggage in tow - still no problems. And we certainly looked like tourists dragging our suitcases behind us !!!

 

We thought the ship could have been in a more pristine condition but I saw nothing (maybe I wasn't looking hard enough) that turned me off to the Voyager or RCL.

 

There were lots of empty tables for late seating that would have accommodated 14 people. Perhaps the OP had main seating and empty tables were more scarce. We had our reservation linked with the couple we were traveling with and we did have the same table assignment on both cruises.

 

We were in hump cabin 8620 (port side). I will try to attach some photos for you to see. The balcony was large enough to have 4 chairs on it.

 

[texascruzer]

Cujosmom, thank you for the review and pictures. I was on the Voyager last January and felt as you did that it could have been more pristine but was in pretty good shape for as old as the ship is. I don't think they work as hard at keeping up the ship when they know it is going into dry dock in just a few months. I am not going to complain because I booked my cruise at a really good price. :D As long as it floats.

[ToddinVA]

We're going on the Voyager the last week in May (Western Med cruise). Good to hear that it's going into drydock for over a week at the beginning of May!

[J & G]

We thought the ship could have been in a more pristine condition but I saw nothing (maybe I wasn't looking hard enough) that turned me off to the Voyager or RCL.

 

We were in hump cabin 8620 (port side). I will try to attach some photos for you to see. The balcony was large enough to have 4 chairs on it.

 

We noticed in January that Voyager had a few areas that could use some spiffing up.....but nothing that we were put off by. The miniature golf was in pretty bad need of repair......we played anyway and still had fun. The fact that it was in bad shape only added to the challenge....;) The balcony plexiglass was really dirty, but I don't think that dry dock fixes things like that. We took Windex wipes and cleaned it ourselves.

 

Do you have any pics of the balcony of your cabin? We are in 9620 and are wondering just how much room we will have. We are traveling with family members and we always seem to end up hosting the pre-dinner wine-on-the-balcony event......(the one with the wine becomes the host, I guess :p ).

 

Thanks for the info.....