trip report, voyager, 2/19/05

the following is a report of our wonderful vacation aboard the voyager of the seas, 2/19-26/05:

this was our first rccl cruise so it was very exciting, almost like our first cruise. we are 5, 2 adults and 3 children 17, 14 and 13. all of our previous cruises were on dcl.

pre-cruise-we flew into ft lauderdale on friday. the airport comfort inn was ok, adequate for one night. the transportion to the pier was not as advertised but it all worked out in the end and we arrived at the pier at 1 pm.

embarkation- we checked our luggage at the curb and since i had filled out the cruise info on-line, embarkation was accomplished in less than 15 minutes. cookies were available in the terminal and the rccl personnel wre very friendly and helpful.

the ship-our first sight of the ship was overwhelming. it is so beautiful and huge and in many locations you can't believe you are on a ship. while the others went to explore i went to the dining room to change our dinner arrangements. we prefer to eat alone and the dining staff was as acommodating as possible given that the ship was nearly full. the only way to eat alone was to switch to late seating which actually worked out for us. it is a little late to eat (8:30) but it allows you to nap before dinner and take advantage of the various snack venues in the late afternoon. on the other hand we never ate at the midnight buffets because we weren't hungry. we had 2 staterooms, a balcony and an inside. the rooms were adequate, sort of motel decor. the storage capability was excellent and we didn't need the shoe bag or any extra storage. i loved the closet and the under the bed storage. the bathroom was spacious and i loved the shower. the balcony was adequate although the plexiglass was dirty with sea spray and obstructed my view when sitting. the balcony chairs are barely comfortable. i love the placement of the bed next to the balcony.

the food-it was often very good, mostly good, occasionally excellent and unfortuately poor. the windjammer buffet and the promenade cafe were quite good and dinner was, mostly good.....etc. to tell you the truth i've never understood all the enthusiasm for cruise food. although rccl does quite well serving over 2000 people for dinner the food is not so outstanding, in my opinion. perhaps a smaller ship. the lunch on labadee was good and lots on fun. frankly, i'm not cooking, serving or cleaning so i am happy.

the service-uniformly excellent. our waiters were competant and friendly but not obtrusive. the stateroom attendants were also, as well as flexible. the children's stateroom attendant bravely entered what quickly became a pig sty every day (3 teenagers 'nuff said) and did a great job despite the mess. other ship personnel were helpful when necessary and all were friendly and attentive. we may not be typical cruisers but we do not want to be entertained at meals nor do we want to mke new friends with the staff so we really appreciate people who do thier jobs without unecessary intrusiveness.

the activities/entertainment-the shows were great. the kids loved bingo, ice skating, the ice show and mini golf. we enjoyed all the shows, although the farewell video of the cruise director was a bit much. do not miss the ice show or the rccl production shows. becky, the cruise director was a bit over the top and by the end of the week i found her mostly annoying (not personally just the cruise director stuff) but as i say we are not typical cruisers and many people seemed to enjoy her routine.

shore excursions-no problems. st john is gorgeous, the hike was moderately strenuous and honeymoon beach was beautiful. san juan was very interesting but hot.(by the way, after san juan i developed a terrrible migraine and ordered room service that evening. 2 of the children ate with me while tom and catherine went to the dining room. we had a good meal and watched the wizard of oz. room service was excellent.) i don't think you need a tour to see san juan, just a map a/o a guidebook. don't miss el morro, san cristobal or the cathedral of san juan. the shopping is ok. IMO st. thomas has the best shopping. labadee is awesome. the setting is beautiful and the location of the beaches allows for less crowding. the weather was perfect, not too hot and we were able to locate our chairs in the shade. rccl staff carries the chairs so be prepared to tip. our waiter suggested dragon's breath beach and it was less crowded with fewer children. the lunch was nearby as were restrooms. there was plenty to do at labadee other than swim. the native market was entertaining although the vendors were very aggressive and after a short time we left the market. the vendors drive away customers by their own behavior and i am suprised that rccl tolerates it. on the other hand, you can always walk away and there is another, less intimidating market area.

disembarking-we left the ship earlier than predicted, unfortuately i relied on rccl info when i arranged for transportation and that resulted in a long wait outside the terminal. in addition, waiting in the theater was uncomfortable. otherwise the procedure was relatively smooth although i don't know why we can't wait in our staterooms or the common areas.

my only real criticism of the trip is the behavior of the teenagers and what appears to be a lack of supervision by rccl. i observed several underage teens drinking. i think it is a mistake to allow 18 year olds to drink, presumably it is the older teens who provided alcohol to the younger teens. in addition, rccl does not provide a venue where teens can hang out. optix does not seem to appeal to many of the teens and it closes before they are ready to call it a night. the activities planned for the teens seem lame even to me (51) and i didn't observe many teens in attendance. fortunately my children found a nice group of friends and thoroughly enjoyed themselves by planning and attending activities with their fellow teen cruisers.

i am happy to answer any questions. i would definately cruise with rccl again although i am not opposed to trying another cruise line. the family consensus is rccl is better than dcl but that is in part because we have outgrown the mouse. i really appreciated the absence of the smaller children.

i want to thank every one i spoke with on this board for the information and the fun of pre-cruise anticipation.

Thanks for your review! We cruise on the Mariner in June and will have a 13 & 15 yr. old. We also have only cruised on DCL (twice), so we are cautiously optimistic about trying a different cruise line. As you said, we've outgrown the mouse, even though we throughly enjoyed both our cruises with them and I'd highly recommend them to anyone with younger children. REading your post made me excited again about our cruise and feeling confident the kids will also find many things to do and also enjoy it! Thank you!

Thanks for your review...we will be on Voyager in April....I am concerned about your description of the teens program...we will have a 16, 15, and 14 year old traveling with us and I was looking forward to them being occupied with good 'wholesome' activities that they will want to attend. Would you mind elaborating on what you felt were lame activities? Thanks!

 

disembarking-we left the ship earlier than predicted, unfortuately i relied on rccl info when i arranged for transportation and that resulted in a long wait outside the terminal. in addition, waiting in the theater was uncomfortable. otherwise the procedure was relatively smooth although i don't know why we can't wait in our staterooms or the common areas.

 

The room stewards need to get those staterooms ready for the cruisers who immediately follow you - that's why people are not allowed to wait in their staterooms. Also, obviously, not everyone can fit into the theater, so some groups are in different common areas.

 

my only real criticism of the trip is the behavior of the teenagers and what appears to be a lack of supervision by rccl.

 

RCCL is not there to supervise children - that what parents are for. Unfortunately, many of them take a vacation from parenting while on a cruise. I'd sure want to know what my underage teen were doing at night - spot checks at the very least?

Thank you for your trip report. We are on Voyager this Sat. and looking forward to it. We've never been on a ship this size, can't wait to see it.

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Voyager the end of April! Are there any must do's aboard the ship and did you book any shore excursions or just winged it on your own.

Thanks!

bobbeasea, you will love the voyager. it wan't too big. by sat night we knew our way around and the signage is very helpful. in addition, a staff person will offer assistance if you even look lost. have a wonderful time.

luv2bcruising, the children enjoyed the sports activities but avoided the dances, prom night, scavenger hunts, ie, non-sports activities. they found a congenial group of teens and they planned their own activities, participated together in sports events and just hung. they had a blast. we insisted on dinner together every night so we could talk about their day and check on plans for the evening. there is plenty for them to do on the ship.

gerif, with all due respect, other cruise lines allow passengers to remain in the stateroom. it may mean that the incomming cruisers will have to wait a little longer. i think that is a reasonable compromise. i agree that parents should be aware of the behavior of thier children (we see the same problem at sports tournaments) on the other hand rccl advertizes programs for children including supervision so i think that rccl does have limited responsibility to supervise children. i also believe it is a mistake to serve alcohol to 18 year olds.

We did meet Herbeeb the first night on the ship..but I don't think we ever saw you again. It was great to meet some of you...most didn't show to our "impromptu" get together. What we didn't realize was that President's day week is when the WHOLE STATE OF NEW YORK SCHOOLS CLOSE. Yes, it was full of kids. Being our second time on the Voyager....we are done with her and ready to move on to a newer ship in her fleet.

Did you have a problem with your toilet? We had to be moved...ours WREAKED or urine for the first 3 days until I couldn't take it anymore. The second cabin was fine. Also, the water was YELLOW in the bathrooms (sink & toilet) for the first 3 days...ewwee....Very weird.

We thought the food was, once again, fabulous. We really enjoyed Becky Thompson, thought she put out tons of energy and thought she was great.

The Quest was a riot! :) Don't miss Love & Marriage, either ....it was sooo stinking funny...you wouldn't believe what this newlywed said!:eek:

I don't think we witnessed any underage drinking..but generally, the kids got more and more "holier than thou" as the cruise went on....

The chair hogging on the pool decks was freaking obnoxious. :mad:

Our first stateroom attendant was not very good....no cute towel animals...the second was very, very nice...a towel animal on the first night we switched until the end of the cruise. :D

Herbeeb - we waited in Cleopatra's Needle until 9:30, or almost 10 before we got off the ship. You don't have to leave the ship when they call your color. We didn't even get a color since we carried our own bags...it's more convenient that way. Our flight wasn't until 3:30, so we had plenty of time to kill.

jdfloyd - Don't miss the production shows, bingo or The Quest. What itinerary are you going on?

bob and diana, all the shows are very good. go to all of them if you can but do not miss the ice show or the production shows. it is remarkable how beautifully choreographed the ice show is considering the size of the rink. also the rink is very intimate and you can really see the effort these skaters put into the show.

we took the eco-hike in st john. it is a 2 and 1/2 mile moderately strenuous hike that ended in the most beautiful, virtually private beach. the excursion included over an hour of beach time, a tour of the gardens and sugar plantation ruins at the local resort and a scenic ferry ride to and from st john. we enjoyed it immensely. the foliage in the national forest is interesting but not overwhelming, don't expect a rain forest.

we toured san juan on our own. it was too hot for tom. (go early) the children and i, armed with a map, a guide book and a spanish student (my 14 yr old son) walked the old city including el morro, san cristobal (the forts) and the cathedral of san juan. many of the buildings have been converted to other uses, such as museums and cultural centers, and there are many interesting monuments (this is where the spanish student came in handy, translating plaques). we also had time for some shopping although IMHO san juan shopping is just ok and easily missed. we spent about 3 and 1/2 hours in san juan. lunch would have been fun and i love ethnic food but we didn't leave enough time.

any other questions, i'm happy to oblige.

gerif, with all due respect, other cruise lines allow passengers to remain in the stateroom. it may mean that the incomming cruisers will have to wait a little longer. i think that is a reasonable compromise. i agree that parents should be aware of the behavior of thier children (we see the same problem at sports tournaments) on the other hand rccl advertizes programs for children including supervision so i think that rccl does have limited responsibility to supervise children. i also believe it is a mistake to serve alcohol to 18 year olds.

RCCL is responsible for children in the children's program. The children's program does not include 18 year olds - however, they are not permitted to cruise without an adult - said adult needs to be responsible for their behavior. If this "adult" is buying them liquor, well . . . .

joe and dianna, forgive my short term memory problem.

kathy and doug, it sound like you had a good time despite the glitches. i would also like to try a different ship or even a different cruise line. you didn't see me much because i was with tom in our stateroom. he managed to have a good time and even completed the hike (on sheer will power, i think). it was a very relaxing vacation. glad we at least met.

leslie

Leslie, thank you for the info.

Bob

I heard that they had a 1am curfew on the Adventure of the Seas this past, vacation week. Was there a curfew on the Voyager for teens under 18 yrs old.

Thanks all of you for your great info...I can't tell you how much knowledge I have gained since finding the CC site a couple of months ago....I know it will make a huge difference in what to expect, what to do/not to do, etc... on our upcoming cruise---so once again...thanks for taking the time to post. Now a few questions!!!

Ontheseas---Which stateroom had the problem? I have a large family (6 of us), so we have connecting staterooms that we reserved over a year ago...they seem to go very fast. I would just hate to be moved if there is a problem with one of our rooms. We have 9530-9532.

Herrbeeb--We are sold on the ice show. I understand you have to get tickets for it. Are they hard to come by? Is it assigned seats?

Thanks again! :)

the tickets were made available on the first sea day. the seats are not assigned. we went about 15 minutes before the show and had plenty of choices except for the front row.

i did not see a published curfew but my daughter told me they closed the teen area (optix) at 2 am. no one ever told her to go to her stateroom although the teens were told to go to the decks after 2 am.

If anyone is here form the 2/19 voyager sailing, we loved Becky. Megamu was great with the first triple axel at sea. the love an marriage game show... what a riot! The just married couple were funny and the couple from Norway were also a riot. Is anyone here from the 2/19 vs sailing?

-Matt