Voyager Sydney to Auckland Jan 2014

I'm pretty new to this board, so I don't know if this is the right place to post this. If not, please let me know. Also, I don't know how much space they allow, because this is long:

This was only our second cruise, our first being years ago on another small ship with Renaissance. We had a port-side balcony cabin that time and that was our main criteria when searching for a cruise this time. We had always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand and had originally booked on Oceania, when we found a similar cruise with Regent for virtually the same price, only with everything included in the cost. In pricing out the tours we wanted on Oceania (some as much as $300 per person), the potential cost of our alcoholic drinks, internet and gratuities, it was a no-brainer to switch to Regent and we are so glad we did.

We felt spoiled from the moment we walked onboard, greeted at embarkation with a glass of champagne, our luggage waiting in our cabin, as well as a welcome tray with a bottle of Champagne, flowers and fruit. We could order two bottles of liquor for our cabin (I ordered more Champagne and Absolute vodka, which were delivered immediately.) On subsequent days, we could order wine by the glass from room service, at which point they asked "Do you want a bottle?" and from that day on a fresh bottle of wine appeared in our room. That, plus the fact we could order everything from aperitifs to wine to cocktails to after dinner drinks and suffice to say we were well taken care of.

One of the main reasons we chose Oceania initially was its reputation for fine food. I certainly don't have any complaints about the Voyager on that score. Every lunch and dinner was like dining in the finest restaurant back home. You could order anything you wanted, as much as you wanted. One dinner, for example, I had fois gras sliders and tuna tartare as appetisers, beef wellington and butter poached lobster an an entree and grand marnier souffle with vanilla sauce for dessert. Each day there was a themed lunch on the pool deck: once it was an Australian buffet, including kangaroo and crocodile, and every type of barbeque. The next day was a seafood buffet, with local New Zealand green lip mussels, king crab legs, made-to-order Pad Thai, sushi, fish curry and paella. (OK, the paella wasn't very good - the seafood and sausage were way overdone.) We could order from the room service menu and did that for breakfast every day but one. I don't think the breakfasts were very good, probably because they were overwhelmed with having to prepare that many in a short amount of time. Everything was overdone - bagels were almost burnt, the french toast was so hard it bounced off the plate when we tried to cut it. Once we ate breakfast at La Veranda and the made to order cheese omelet was incorrectly prepared. He added the cheese to the eggs and stirred them, instead of melting the cheese inside the omelet. But those are quibbling complaints. In general, the food was so amazing, the first thing I wanted when we returned home was a plain burger!

Our cabin was so beautiful, everyone who saw our photos exclaimed "That is your cabin on a ship???" A beautiful marble bathroom with a shower AND a bathtub. A walk-in-closet, extremely comfortable bed with as many pillow as we wanted, a lighted vanity and chair, a sitting area, desk, sofa, two chairs and a coffee table that was transformed into a dining table when room service used a tabletop which was stored in the closet. There were comfortable throws which we used to sit on the wicker-type furniture on the deck at night, binoculars in the cabinet, a flat screen TV and our own Illy Espresso maker. I could easily live in that space indefinitely. My only complaint was I couldn't blowdry my hair in the bathroom because there was no plug. I had to do my hair at the vanity next to the bed, which was hard to do sitting down and which disturbed my husband every morning. There must be some reason they don't put a hairdryer plug in the bathroom, but I don't know what it is.

We spent three days with their pre-cruise package in Sydney (well worth the extra cost of only $399 per person) and one day post cruise on our own in Auckland. Our pre-cruise tours included a boat cruise of the harbor one day and a trip out of town to the Blue Mountains on the next. Our hotel was the Four Seasons, which was in an excellent location to walk to the Rocks, the bridge, the harbor and the Opera House. Our favorite restaurant (Jacksons on George St.) was right across the street from the hotel and we ate most of our dinners there. It is a reasonably priced Irish pub with fabulous pub fare, including wonderful lamb shanks and steak and kidney pie.

We watched the Voyager come into port from our hotel window with great anticipation. At first, we had received word that we would not be able to board until 5pm that evening, due to a problem the ship had with people getting sick on the previous voyage. (It was only a small percentage - 2% I believe.) To compensate, the cruise line arranged a free lunch for the passengers at the Four Seasons. In the end we were able to board by 4pm. Then an announcement came from the captain informing us that because of high seas we would not be able to depart that evening as planned, but would stay in port until the next morning. It was a beautiful evening in Sydney and we had an amazing dinner on deck with a perfect view of the illuminated Opera House and shimmering water. I was in the computer room the next morning when I felt the ship moving.

Speaking of the computer room, that was the only downside of the trip. I love photography and writing and was looking forward to chronicling our trip daily from our cabin or balcony on my blog. That proved to be impossible, since the internet was so slow as to be infuriating. It seems that is a common problem at sea. The person on the ship with the most thankless job, in my opinion, was Emily who was in charge of the computer room. She had to remain tactful and patient with every person who was irate at not being able to connect in their room, or even had problems in the computer lab. I heard her say the same things constantly to person after person every time I was in there.

As part of our package we had received $750 in shipboard credits (some from the ship, some from our travel agent.) which could be spent on spa treatments, more expensive wines and spirits or at the gift shop. Everyone was scrambling on the last day trying to spend those credits. The jewelry was very expensive as was almost everything in the gift shop. I didn't want to spend $350 on a blouse! I was able to spend part of my credit splurging on a special event in the Observation Lounge: a champagne and caviar cocktail party. I love caviar, but wouldn't normally spend $105 for a little jar, (there there three different priced options, that being the most expensive) but I could do it guilt-free on this journey. While in the Observation lounge we were treated to a whale sighting. Once, during dinner, we spotted a pod of dolphins leaping out of the water next to the ship.

We had many land tours to choose from and because we were in a deluxe suite, we were able to book our choices in advance of the lower classifications. We booked our tours on the first day we were able to do so and it is a good thing we did, because those choices sold out quickly and other people had to go with their second choices. I was happy with our choices. Many involved long-ish bus trips, but the countryside was so beautiful and I too many photos out of the bus window. We punted (a flat bottomed boat guided by handsome young men, like Venetian gondoliers) on the Avon River in Christchurch. We had a wild ride on 8 person Argo vehicles in Dunedin, seeing seals and a lone penguin emerging from the sea. We had tea at a sheep farm with a sheep herding demonstration at Pencarrow Lodge in Wellington. I took hundreds of photos of the incredible colors and sights at the Hot Springs and Thermal Baths in Rotorua. In the end, I had 1800 photos to edit and whittle down, which I liken to having to choose among favorite children.

A special treat in Wellington was a completely unexpected opportunity to visit with an old friend we had not had contact with in almost 30 years. We happened to be in port and available at the same time as him. A resident of New Zealand, he had visited our area that many years ago and we had a short but sweet time together. As it happened, he was in town and available and picked up us at the ship. We spent the afternoon together and he drove us all over town, showing us Lord of the Rings studios, beachhouses Peter Jackson had built for the cast, up to a mountain lookout, and down to a lovely beach location where we had coffee and finally he took us to Parliament for a private tour (because he works there). His greeting and farewell to us was "Kia Ora" a lovely Maori phrase meaning "Be well/healthy", doubling for "Hi". The New Zealanders are among the friendliest in the world. As we were punting on the Avon, we witnessed picnickers teaching their little children to stand, smile and wave to us as we floated by.

The night before the last day at sea I found myself getting teary during crew's farewell show in the two floor Constellation Theater. I felt such gratitude for the amazing experiences we had and the love and care we felt onboard. The choices we made, beginning with switching from Oceania to Regent, our choice of Australia and New Zealand, our choice of cabin, our choice of tours, were perfect and I wouldn't change one thing. My memories will stay alive for the rest of my life due to the many photos I took. If you would like to go on a virtual journey with us, they are located here: https://picasaweb.google.com/maggiwun/BucketListTripToAustraliaAndNewZealandJan2014?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I am posting a separate thread on the land portion of our trip, which details the Regent tours we took.

Great write up. Thank you for taking the time to post. I did want to make a couple of comments and ask a question since we were on the cruise before yours. Have to agree that Emily has a most difficult job but does it so well and always with a smile.

In my opinion, the number of people that were ill on the Voyager was significantly higher than the 2% that was reported by someone on board (think a zero needs to be added to the "2"). Most illnesses went unreported because, although the person that was ill would probably not mind being quarantined, the person they were traveling with would have also been quarantined. Not everyone was sick with stomach issues, a great number caught something related to a cold. I say related because wasn't so much in your head as in your chest and it caused coughing that went on for 2-3 weeks after the cruise for some of us. When on bus excursions, it sounded like a bunch of dogs with kennel cough:) So, my question is whether there were many people coughing on the segment you were on?

How lovely that you had lunch at the Four Seasons. We stayed there for 10 nights after the cruise. It is in a perfect location for seeing the local sights and is a 2 minute walk from the ferries, waterfront, etc. We decided to upgrade our room to one with access to the executive lounge because we read that the rooms at the Four Seasons were very small. Did you find this to be the case?

I had to laugh when you wrote about not wanting to purchase a blouse in the boutique for $350. I purchased a watch for $375 (that I added to my "Regent" collection of watches that I only wear on the ship). We have used on board credits for the wine tasting event with very top shelf wines but decided that purchasing something in the boutique was allowing us to have something to remember and wear again. We also purchased a lovely necklace (only $50) for our pet sitter.

Your comment about needing a plug in the bathroom is a good one. If I can remember, I'll put that on my comment card on our cruise next month so perhaps the new ship will have one. Having a plug in the bathroom of the Four Seasons was such a treat after days of interrupting my DH with the hairdryer.

Thanks again for your report. Obviously it made me relive the time we spend on the Voyager last month.

Good to know that I'm not the only one who gets teary at the crew show. They do a wonderful job and the song at the end is amazing.

Hi TravelCat! Great hearing from someone who was just on the cruise before us. I wondered about the "2%". Of course, we never get the whole story. Now that you mention it, we did notice some coughing on the tour busses, but then, my seatmate on the plane from Mich to LA was coughing something fierce. We were all diligent about using the hand sanitizers and taking our Vit C and never got sick, thank God.

The room at the Four Seasons was OK. I'm used to small rooms in Chicago and New York and this was bigger. Our travel agent asked for an upgrade to a harbor view room, which was nice. We could see the ships come into port past the opera house each morning and watched the Voyager pulling in. The welcome bottle of wine and the cheese tray was very nice.

Poor Emily! I mentioned her in my comment card. Hope she gets some recognition. She wasn't in the crew thank you film at the end of the cruise. Is the slow internet unique to Regent or are all the cruises that way? Could you get it in your cabin, because I couldn't. You see I like to write and usually I do that during my trip at the end of every day, instead of taking days to do it once I get home. That was a disappointment to me. And we're on the same page with the missing bathroom electrical plug.

Are you going on Regent again?

Yes, we are doing Regent again. Due to an overfull cruise, we took the Singapore to Sydney cruise. The change put us way to close (in my opinion) to our March cruise. We have nothing booked on Regent after that - mainly because of itineraries. Repeating an itinerary isn't a big deal but the prices on itineraries we have done previously are so high that it doesn't seem worth it. We are booked to go on Oceania in late November (a repeat itinerary but an affordable one -- even though we upgraded to a huge suite).

On our next cruise, we are actually taking (and planning to use) face masks (like they do in Asia). We will use them in Beijing because of the polluted air and, if someone near us is coughing and sneezing, we'll use them. I would rather look weird than be sick for 3+ weeks.

Regarding the internet, it is always somewhat slow (not unique to Regent), but, parts of the world are slower. We were able to get a connection in our suite and did not have it drop out (but it was the same speed as the computer room). By the end of the cruise, Emily decided that our new Kindle tablet (the one released in November, 2013) was outperforming the more expensive iPads. There are technical reasons for it -- she was recommending the Kindle by the end of the cruise:-) Of course, too many people online does slow things down. I love to go to the computer room right after dinner since so few people are online and the speed is much better.

Sounds as if you have a good TA. We paid for our upgraded suite but felt it was worth it. As you know, prices in Sydney are very high. Having breakfast included as well as cocktails with hot and cold appetizers made it worth the extra cost. Also, the room was twice the size (almost exactly twice) of the regular rooms.

Did you book another cruise onboard? We tend to purchase the $2,000 future cruise certificate that is fully refundable within two years. It gives you the same discount you would get if you book a cruise onboard but you do not have to pick the cruise that you want.

We got all kinds of offers from Regent to change our plans on this cruise. Is that common? I almost want to book again next year to see what they offer us in exchange. The last upgrade offer we got was to take the Dubai-Rome 20 days for the same price AND $7200! But the dates were not convenient, plus we really wanted to do AUS/NZ.

We had originally booked on Oceania, but switched to Regent when we found out about the all inclusive pricing. How do the two compare?

We can't make plans yet for the future. This year is fully booked, so I will have to wait to see what offers come down the pike.

We got all kinds of offers from Regent to change our plans on this cruise. Is that common? I almost want to book again next year to see what they offer us in exchange. The last upgrade offer we got was to take the Dubai-Rome 20 days for the same price AND $7200! But the dates were not convenient, plus we really wanted to do AUS/NZ.

 

We had originally booked on Oceania, but switched to Regent when we found out about the all inclusive pricing. How do the two compare?

 

We can't make plans yet for the future. This year is fully booked, so I will have to wait to see what offers come down the pike.

We have sailed once on Oceania (the Riviera). It is the most beautiful ship we have sailed on. The service is as good as Regent. The food is not as good as Regent (except in the specialty restaurants where it is better but you are limited as to how many nights you can dine there). The "staterooms" are not as large as Regent and some do not have balconies.

Although we will sail on the Riviera again, we prefer Regent. We like the all-inclusivity of Regent and, in our opinion, sailing on a luxury ship wins out every time:-)

I too missed having a 110 outlet in the bathroom for my hairdryer. The real problem started when I couldn't plug it in at the vanity either, because of the size of its plug end (the outlet was too close to the vanity top, and the plug's built-in reset/fuse box was too large). I asked the butler for an extension cord, and he came up with a 220 converter for the other outlet. Unfortunately, while it made my plug fit, there was no transformer for the extra voltage and the hairdryer immediately started to overheat. Getting a 110 extension was finally managed by asking reception to check their office area for a "regular" extension cord.

I figured out: The ship has 110 and 220 outlets and was built in Europe. Most of the ship's equipment runs on 220 and has European plugs, so 110 is really the add-on afterthought. And 220 outlets are never allowed in bathrooms for safety reasons, so it's kind of understandable the designers don't think about ladies' hairdryers ever being used in bathrooms.

It would certainly be nice if new-builds would replace the "shaver only" outlets (does anyone still use those??) with 110s.

I too missed having a 110 outlet in the bathroom for my hairdryer. The real problem started when I couldn't plug it in at the vanity either, because of the size of its plug end (the outlet was too close to the vanity top, and the plug's built-in reset/fuse box was too large). I asked the butler for an extension cord, and he came up with a 220 converter for the other outlet. Unfortunately, while it made my plug fit, there was no transformer for the extra voltage and the hairdryer immediately started to overheat. Getting a 110 extension was finally managed by asking reception to check their office area for a "regular" extension cord.

 

I figured out: The ship has 110 and 220 outlets and was built in Europe. Most of the ship's equipment runs on 220 and has European plugs, so 110 is really the add-on afterthought. And 220 outlets are never allowed in bathrooms for safety reasons, so it's kind of understandable the designers don't think about ladies' hairdryers ever being used in bathrooms.

 

It would certainly be nice if new-builds would replace the "shaver only" outlets (does anyone still use those??) with 110s.

Highly doubt you will ever see full 100V plugs in any ships bathroom. The shaver plugs are 110V but, low current draw. Water and elictricity do not mix and the low voltage shaver plug is a concession for shavers, nite lites and other low current draw appliances. Hair dryers are relatively high current draw and any issues around water could start an electrical fire. If you check in your bathroom and near sinks in the kitchen, you will see that the plugs have small buttons to reset if the plug has a current problem as they are near the water issue. These are called ground fault interuption plugs and in Europe, even those plugs are not allowed in the bathroom thus ships that are built in Europe (most cruise ships these days) are not allowed to put plugs that hair dryers can use in homes, hotels or ships.

Hopes this explains things and why you won't be able to dry your hair in a ships bathroom or hotels in Europe.

Yes that certainly does explain it, thanks. Does that hold true for all other cruiseships as well?

Can't say for sure there aren't cruise ships with other plugs in the bathroom but, highly doubt it. My guess is none but, there might be a surprise or two out there.

Am concerned about the ship size and its ability to take the sometimes ROUGH seas in this area.

Thanks for great review.Did you experience any vibrations problems?

Sort of waiting to see if Mariner may make this cruise in 2016,prefer that ship.

;)

We were center of this ship on the 8th level, so the motion of the ship was less than it would have been on the rear. I didn't notice a sound like vibration at night, which was probably the paneling in the cabin, but it didn't interfere with my sleep. On rougher days we had a bit of trouble walking down the hallways. I'm sure that's why they put railings on both side of all the walkways. It took me a day of two to get used to being at sea. But I never got motion sickness, nor did it affect my appetite (darn!) :-)

was on mid 6 th floor, felt like vibrating bed and tub.DH not bothered by it,and did NOT notice it it similar area on Mariner.

Guess ship handled rough sea area pretty well,just concerned since many posters on other lines complained about it.BUt we hate those mass market big ships,so we ll have to take our chances.

How soon in advance did you book,hear they sell out quickly??

Again loved all your details.Appreciate the time it took .:)

Thanks Alexandra. We did book early, in February I think for an end of December cruise, in order to get the ideal room we wanted. As it turned out they had overbooked and we kept getting offers to give up our room for a Penthouse suite, or for other dates to alternate places, more days, and even a cash rebate. We decided to keep what we had and I'm glad we did.