Review: Voyager of the Seas 04/03/11-04/10/11

04/03/11-04/10/11 Western Caribbean Cruise from Galveston

This is my first review so take it easy on me please

We booked this cruise about a year in advance using our BOA RCCL Visa points. We got a balcony for around $950 before taxes and fees and had enough points to completely pay for one of us.

The last time we cruised out of Galveston was back in 2005 on our first Royal Caribbean cruise with family friends aboard Rhapsody of the Seas. Our last 3 cruises have been Alaska (Rhapsody), the Southern Caribbean (Adventure) and Hawaii (Rhapsody) which all required the additional expense of flying.

Since we did the 2010 Hawaii to Vancouver trip in April to celebrate our 30th anniversary & then went to London to visit our daughter, with a side trip to Paris, in July we didn’t think we’d be able to afford another cruise in 2011. However, since we were able to use our points & drive instead of flying, we were able to pull it off.

We left home about 6am on Sunday morning for the approximate 5 hour drive to Galveston. We arrived in Galveston about 11am. We parked at the Galveston Park’n Cruise which was just across the street from Pier #2. We had booked online & prepaid. We were driven in a golf cart to the main road, which we then had to cross with our luggage and then went straight into the check in line. By 11:15 we were thru check-in and seated in a waiting area as the ship had not yet started boarding. This was the quickest, easiest check in we’ve ever experienced - all of 15 minutes total. There were cookies and juice available to anyone wishing to partake. Around 11:45 boarding began. By 12:30 we were already on the ship and had eaten lunch in the Windjammer.

Staterooms opened at 1:00 as promised and we preceded to our room and unpacked. We were in 7588 mid-ship balcony. Next we took a tour of the ship since this was our first cruise aboard the Voyager of the Seas. I like to take pictures before the ship is overflowing with passengers. We had cruised on Adventure of the Seas in 2009 so it was easy to get around & know where we were going this time.

A new place that we ventured to this time was the helipad. We had never been there before but a very nice crew member pointed out the way and told us it was an awesome place for sail-away, just don’t be re-enacting the “I’m on top of the world” scene from Titanic. It was extremely windy out there but we were the only two people there at that time.

The loyalty ambassador opened at 5pm and we made our way to book our next cruise which we had decided on before leaving home. I had written down the cabin numbers for the corner aft balconies and we were able to snag one of those at a good price $889 per person for a 7 day Southern Caribbean Cruise next March.

We had early (really early, 5:30pm) seating for this cruise. We have always had early seating but in the past it has been 6:00-6:30 on the various ships so 5:30 seemed really early, but 8:00 was too late for us so it all worked out. We had requested a table for 6-8 as we were traveling with a family friend who is our age (47-51) and her mother who was 84. When we checked out our dining arrangements early in the afternoon we found we were seated at a table for 4. We requested a change to a larger table but the cruise was sailing at capacity and there were no other tables available. We ended up with just us 4 but I feel we would have had better conversations at dinner with more people. We also booked our reservation for date-night for the two of us for Friday (which would be the second formal night) at Portofino’s at 6pm.

I had purchased the 5 bottle wine package for this cruise once we boarded the ship. The cruise ended up sailing about 30 minutes late, around 5:30 instead of 5:00. Apparently there is some type of law or requirement that the ship is a certain distance out of local waters before they can sell bottles of wine... therefore I was not allowed to have my wine I already purchased with my meal. I could purchase a separate glass of the house wine La Tere but couldn’t drink the bottles I already paid for... so no wine the first night at dinner, except my “wining”.

The first night we had dinner and skipped the welcome aboard show. We strolled around for a while checking out the shops and then sat down outside The Pig and Whistle for Derek’s show. This was the first time we had heard him perform and he was entertaining... be forewarned (and he warns everyone upfront) that if you are easily offended then his show is not for you, nor is it for children. I was not offended and enjoyed laughing out loud, clapping, singing along and watching the folks inside really get involved. We planned to go back another night but were always so worn out by the time the show started we were heading back to the cabin. I used my 2 for 1 coupon for a glass of wine at The Pig and Whistle since I missed out at dinner.

The second day (Monday) was a sea day & we didn’t do much of anything. We attended the Meet & Mingle which was held in the “High Notes”. There were a good number of members who showed up, probably 25-30. The ship provided coffee, tea, lemonade, water, cookies and finger sandwiches and the CD, Activities director and another lady showed up to answer questions. It probably lasted about 30-45 minutes.

Afterwards we played a little ping pong, miniature golf, etc. During the day we had breakfast in the main dining room, the great Tutti Salad for lunch in the MDR, Sat on the balcony and read, took an afternoon nap. We had dinner in the MDR which was Formal Night and then attended the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers performance after dinner. The show was entertaining in a Six Flags sort of way...

The third day (Tuesday) was another sea day & we did much of the same. During the day we went to the “Voyage Behind the Scenes” presentation in the theater which was a power point presentation of different areas of the ship with the CD giving information about the ship and what goes on behind the scenes. In the afternoon we shared a double dip from the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop at the Cafe Promenade. We attended the show this night which was “A Tribute to the King” starring Travis Ledoyt who did an excellent job.

Our fourth day (Wednesday) was a port day in Roatan, Honduras were we had booked an independent tour thru Bodden Tours and requested Joanne Jones as our guide. We docked in Roatan, walked right off the ship and went to their kiosk to check in. We waited approximately 15 minutes and then our party of 4 was taken in a Toyota minivan on a tour of Roatan for $25 USD per person. The vehicle was comfortable & air conditioned. Joanne was very polite, spoke English very well, was very outgoing and pleasant. She would take us anywhere we requested. I told her that we wanted to see an overview of the islands and places that she would take her guests, as well as some good picture opportunities and finally we wanted to visit the Monkeys. We left on our tour around 8:45am took a driving tour of Roatan, then went to see the Monkeys early before it got to busy.

The stop for the monkeys was an additional $5 USD paid directly to the facility. The monkeys are not native to Roatan but come from the mainland of Honduras. The monkeys, as well as the other animals are caged and have been saved. There was no overcrowding and they have them separated by how long they’ve been there and how well behaved they are. As they are around people more, they become more tame and you are allowed to go into the cages to interact with them. The limit the number of people in each cage and watch the animals very closely. We saw an anteater, a squirrel, several spider monkeys, several parrots, a toucan, baby spider monkeys, Roatan rabbits which have very short ears, several adult deer and a fawn.

Joanne took us to a private beach in Honduras that is not open to the public but you can pay a day rate to visit while you are in port. However, I failed to write down the name of the complex. It was to die for. When we arrived there was not one person on the beach. There were a lot of chairs, covered eating areas, a bar, volleyball court, the large beds, etc. It was absolutely beautiful and definitely somewhere that I would want to spend an afternoon should we ever make it back to Roatan.

We also went to West End Beach and the shopping/eating area around it. Joanne recommended a place that her family eats, Chapi Catrachas & we had burrito with chicken & beans for $1 each or you could add lettuce/tomato/avocado for another $1.

We stopped at a couple of shopping areas and stopped right above the Blue Ocean Reef for a picture opportunity and souvenir shopping.

We had a great day for $30 per person and had an amazing opportunity to interact with the monkeys. It was on of the highlights of our trip.

We returned to the port around 2pm and then spent another hour looking thru the local vendors to see what they had to offer. We boarded the ship around 3pm and took a nap before going to dinner.

On the fifth day (Thursday) we arrived in Belize and were tendered to port. The early morning from 8-9 am was open tendering for anyone who wanted to go ashore. We had booked a private tour with Cave-Tubing.com so we got off on the first tender. They were waiting for us right as we arrived with their names on a placard and checked us off a list. We boarded a bus with 20 or so people and were on our way. We had signed up for the ATV ride then Cave-Tubing. Our guides were Speedo, Tonio, Jose and our driver was Dirty Harry. Speedo was “keeping it real” for us and was very entertaining during the 45 minute drive. He told us about the city of Belize as we drove thru it and about the “Butts Up” philosophy of Cave-Tubing. We learned on the way out that this is the “dry season” in Belize and parts of the river were only 6 inches deep. The people who were riding ATV were dropped off first at a location about 5 minutes are so from the park where the caves are. We had a chance to use the restrooms or change as needed and then geared up for the ride. Helmets were provided for use if you so chose, however due to the heat and the easy terrain most folks went without them as did we. The ride was pretty easy and only lasted about 30 minutes or so. Afterwards we rode the bus to the park and met up with the rest of the group. Some of the others had done a zipline or were just waiting to do the cave-tubing. We all got a headlight and a BIG yellow tube and started our 25 minute hike thru the rainforest. The walk was fairly easy and mostly flat terrain with an occasional rock or tree root jumping out in front of you. We crossed the river 2 or 3 times in any where from ankle deep to waist deep water on the way. Once we arrived at the caves everyone got into their tubes and then hooked together by putting our feet under the person in front of you’s arms. It wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. The one thing I disliked (and it could have just been me) is that after the first “butts up” I was more or less laying across the top of the tube and not so much sitting in it anymore. It worked out ok because you could see the top of the cave and the sides very well but I couldn’t sit up to see what was coming up. With the water being so low we didn’t really “float” down the river, there was more “them pulling us” down than anything... but at least I didn’t have to paddle or get out and carry my tube so all was good! After the tubing trip we walked a short way back to the bus and boarded for a quick ride back to the place we had ridden ATV. They had a large covered area with a bar (for those who wanted to try the local beer or mixed drinks) or have water or chips. The excursion came with a free lunch which was home-made chicken tamales. We tried them as we like tamales but theirs were a little undercooked for my liking. It was a mesa type dough with probably a whole chicken thigh (including the bone) inside which was wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed for 4 or more hours. However, on ours the dough was still gooey and not cooked like we have had them here in Texas.

This was also an independent trip that we did outside Royal Caribbean and we paid $75 per person for both the ATV ride and the cave-tubing. I believe when I priced it thru RCI it was either $89 or $99 per person just for the cave-tubing. Speedo pointed out that when the cruiseline excursion was leaving the water we still had another 15 minutes or so to float the river.

I think we got a good value for what we paid but I think it would have been more enjoyable when the water was a little higher.

We arrived back at the dock area around 3pm or so and had time to look around at the local shops before taking the tender back to the ship. By the time we got back to the ship and clean up it was time for dinner. After dinner we walked around the promenade for a while then went back to the room & enjoyed the balcony before retiring early for our next big port day.

On Friday, day six, we arrived in Cozumel where we were docked.... along with 4 other ships including Freedom of the Seas, Carnival, NCL and TransCarib.

For this port we had booked a ship’s excursion for a 3 hour ATV ride thru the Jungle and to some Mayan ruins. We met up with our group at the end of the pier, filled out all the necessary waivers, then boarded a bus with about 10 people, then drove down to the other pier at the end of town and picked up 7 more people from the NCL ship that was in port. It took approximately 30 minutes to arrive at the ATV site. Once there we had the “souvenier photos” made, then watched a safety video, were given bandanas to use either as a do-rag or dust mask, safety goggles and a helmet, all which were required to be worn. Everyone who had ridden before rode a “blue” 4 wheeler and newbies got a “red” 4 wheeler. The ride last a good 2 hours and was definitely a lot more strenuous than the ride we had done in Belize. It was extremely dusty due to it being the dry season. We had friends that had done this excursion back in 2005 in June and they were covered in mud - that’s the part my husband was excited about - however there was definitely no mud on this trip! The terrain was extremely rocky and my back was sore the following day. About 1/2 way into the ride we stopped at the ruins and heard some history, had time for pictures and a bottle of water.

On the way back we stopped either at the same ruins but on the back side or a different area, I’m not sure which. Once we arrived back at the initial site you could purchase the local beer or water as well as your souvenier pictures which were 8x10’s, 1 for $15 or both for $20 - we were suckers and took them both. We arrived back at port before 3pm and spent about 30 minutes at the shops before heading back to the ship for a shower - we definitely needed it! That night we had dinner at Portofino’s.

Saturday, day seven was a sea day that we just had a lot of R&R. We tried out the Whirlpool in the ShipShape/Spa area, then got into the hot tub in the Solarium, then laid out until we dried off. Had lunch in the MDR then a nap in the afternoon. Dinner in the MDR and then returned to our cabin to pack.

We chose the 2nd time to debark the ship which was 9:00-9:45am... apparently the Customs and Immigration Departments were being extremely slow in the process so we ended up not leaving the ship until almost 10:15, then stood in line for 45 minutes. We finally excited the port area around 11:15am, wheeled our bags across the street and were on our way.

I saved the dining/crew/etc. reviews for last as with everything else they are only my opinions & what I liked/disliked, someone else may have hated/loved.

Our MDR waiter was Bonaventura from India. He was so nice and personable. He tried to please us in every way. He has been with the company for 6 years and is expecting his first child. The Voyager is repositioning on 5/1 and his baby was due the end of April or first of May so he was hoping he would make it home in time for the birth. His wife had a sonogram but was so excited she forgot to ask what the baby was so they won’t know until it is born. We REALLY enjoyed have Bonny as our waiter. Our assistant waiter was nice but often times slow with refills and bread service. On two different nights the wine service was horrible, we had bread, water, placed our orders and had our appetizers before the wine was ever served. Our Head Waiter came by most every night and help with taking the shells off the shrimp one night. We ate in the MDR every night except Friday when we ate a Portofino’s. This was our 5th RCI cruise and we both felt the food quality has definitely gone down hill. Several nights it was very good, but more nights it was not good. One night we both ordered the prime rib medium rare, mine was so dry I couldn’t eat it... I know I could have sent it back but after the appetizer and bread I wasn’t too hungry anyways. The seafood was always good. My husband had the steak (not the chops one) one night and he said it was great. I had the beef filet one night and it was the best meal I had. The final night we both had the NY Strip and it was cooked as requested but was so tough you couldn’t hardly eat it.

On Friday night when we went to Portofino’s (at 6pm) there were only 4 couples in there at that time. Our waitress there was also from India & she was very nice and talkative. She went out of her way to take care of us. My husband ordered the T-Bone steak and I had the filet mignon. My steak was cooked perfect medium rare as requested but was a little on the tough side. My husband ordered his med-rare also and it came out well-done, he did send it back (since we were paying extra for this nice meal) and it came out med-well so he just ate it since he had requested that I start eating and not wait until his came out again. The breads and dips before dinner were great & the appetizers (I had the Orzo Shrimp) were wonderful. We were both so full after dinner that we skipped dessert.

The first day we had breakfast in the main dining room and it was ok. Nothing special, nothing wrong either. The rest of the week we ate breakfast in the Windjammer as my husband prefers the breakfast buffet & I could skip breakfast altogether. I tried the made-to-order omelet station one morning but didn’t find it tasty enough to stand in line for 20 minutes.

On Sea Days we ate in the MDR for lunch. I had the Tutti Salad each day and my husband ordered off the menu. Lunches were good but nothing to write home about.

A couple of times we visited the Cafe Promenade after returning from a shore excursion and my husband got the oatmeal cookie and I had the lemon poppy seed cake and both were good. One day I tried the cheese pizza and found it to be quite tasty.

Just about every day I would stop by there and make me a to-go cup of tea with 2 tea bags and bring it back to the room where I made iced-tea for the afternoon & evening.

I’m not a big sweet eater and prefer salty to sweet so I skipped dessert every night. However, I did order a cheese and cracker plate to go and Bonny was always happy to bring it to me to enjoy around 9:30 or so in my cabin with the remainder of my bottle of wine. I really enjoyed that little luxury.

So overall I definitely think the food could use some improvement... however, I didn’t have to shop, cook or clean up afterwards so I was a happy camper, err I mean cruiser.

The overall appearance of the ship was good, but there is normal wear & tear. The carpets are stained in the hallways to the cabins and could stand to be replaced. The crew was always cleaning, shining, polishing, wiping down, etc. every where you looked.

The crew was extremely friendly and always had a smile on their face and “hello” or “welcome back” when they saw we were repeat cruisers on our Sea Pass card.

Our cabin attendant was Aldrin and he did an outstanding job. Never had to ask for a thing, had ice twice a day, we’d go to breakfast and when we’d come back to the room it had already been cleaned. He seemed to always be in the hallway and would have our door opened by the time we arrived and was always asking if he could do anything else for us.

We filled out the survey card and commended our waiter and our stateroom attendant. We prepaid our tips but included extra cash tips for Bonny & Aldrin.

There was a parade very late 11pm or so on the first or second night, then the last night there was one earlier like 5pm that we caught just a bit of on our way to dinner.

We had a great time and love cruising! We are excited about our next cruise which is only 325 more days :-) away and will be our first cruise as Platinum members... which I know is nothing compared to most folks on this board but we finally get that balcony discount & priority boarding!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask & I will try my best to answer them.

Wish I could have stayed on the ship for another week... we came home to no central air on Sunday. At 1am that night (Monday morning) we had tornadoes and our electricity went off. We were without electric all day Monday, all day Tuesday, had to go to the laundromat to have clothes to wear to work and to my aunt’s house to bath and be able to dry our hair, move everything from our side by side refrigerator inside and upright freezer in the garage to my brother’s house... finally at 9:30pm on Tuesday night the power came back on! So Wednesday after work I had to go load up all my frozen stuff and bring it back home & restock the fridge/freezer - but first I had to clean out the inside... you just don’t realize its dirty til you take everything out. So after going back to work the day after the cruise, being without electric for 2 1/2 days, hauling laundry to the laundromat and moving all my food twice & working all week - I need another vacation!

Excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to report on your holiday.

Cindy-Sounds like you DO need another vacation! Thanks for taking the time to write your review-the Voyager is my favorite ship.

I understand and agree about turning Platinum. We were excited too and our upcoming February cruise on the Mariner we got to use the balcony discount. :D

great review, very detailed. thanks for posting.

Hi there - do you have a cruise compass for your trip? We are sailing April 24 and would love to see them. Thanks much!

Nice review, thanks for posting.

This was a lovely worded review, thanks Ace :) Sorry about the trouble you faced when you got home, I hope everything will work out fine.

Hi there - do you have a cruise compass for your trip? We are sailing April 24 and would love to see them. Thanks much!

I do have them all. If you would like to give me your email address I will try to scan them in to PDF files in the next few days & email them to you.

Great review! We are also sailing on the 24th for our first cruise! Did you happen to notice if they were letting you bring on bottles of water/soda? I know that they were cracking down b/c of Spring Break.

Great Review!!!!!!!!:D

We have never wanted to get off ship after a cruise end!!!!!!!

Have done mostly same trip as you on Voyager!

Loved it all also!

Glad you loved cruise and RCCL.

Vogager is a wonderful ship!

You have teased me good.:)

We will be leaving on Vogager in two weeks May 1st!!!

Wish you were going with us!

IM SORRY DOUBLE POST PLEASE DELETE!!!

Great Review!!!!!!!!:D

We have never wanted to get off ship after a cruise end!!!!!!!

Have done mostly same trip as you on Voyager!

Loved it all also!

Glad you loved cruise and RCCL.

Voyager is a wonderful ship!

You have teased me good.:)

We will be leaving on Vogager in two weeks May 1st!!!

Wish you were going with us!

Great review! We are also sailing on the 24th for our first cruise! Did you happen to notice if they were letting you bring on bottles of water/soda? I know that they were cracking down b/c of Spring Break.

I did not notice sorry. I did hear some people saying that they had taken their 12 pack of Dr Pepper away from them & told them it was available on the ship... she was upset because she hadn't been able to find it anywhere.

great review.we will be on vos in nov. 2011. how were the beds?

great review.we will be on vos in nov. 2011. how were the beds?

My husband thought they were great (he sleeps on 100 on our number bed/I sleep on 35) and I thought it was a little hard, however with the gentle rock of the ship I had no problem sleeping like a baby!

I did not notice sorry. I did hear some people saying that they had taken their 12 pack of Dr Pepper away from them & told them it was available on the ship... she was upset because she hadn't been able to find it anywhere.

Dr Pepper IS available. It's not offered on the Coke card, you must pay for it individually. I bought it regularly at the Promenade Cafe and at the Solarium Bar. It comes in the can and they provide a glass with ice/straw.

Is it safe to assume they also offer Diet Dr. Pepper?

Thanks.

Is it safe to assume they also offer Diet Dr. Pepper?

Thanks.

Sorry, cozzello. I can't confirm that. I only asked for regular Dr Pepper and I wasn't even looking to see what else was available.

A woman stopped by my chair in the Solarium and said she hated to disturb me, "but WHERE did you get that DP?" and she was thrilled to find out they were available onboard.

Thanks for your reply, I am hoping that my favorite will be available.

Happy Easter!!

I'm bummed -- I can't see the pictures in your great review. Am I the only one that can't view them?

I don't see any pictures, either. Thought it was just me!