Review - Voyager - 3/19/05

This is a review – our opinions – Please take whatever info you would like from this post. Just remember - Your vacation is what YOU make of it!

What a great cruise and honeymoon! We left from Miami to cruise the Eastern Caribbean. I have to say that my husband and I have been on several other cruises and this by far was the best! From the food to the service, everything was outstanding! Talking about food…there was always something to eat and snack on. I couldn’t tell you how Ben and Jerry’s, Portofino or Johnny Rockets is because we didn’t go to any of those places. We felt there wasn’t a need. The ship in general is beautiful. There is so much to do.

We had a balcony. This was a first for us but it was worth it. I have to say sitting out on the balcony either reading a book or eating breakfast, listening to the water as the boat passes through was incredible.

The shows are a must see! We really enjoyed the ice show as well as the others. For the ADULTS…if you want a good, hearty laugh, then go see The Quest! That was the funniest entertainment. As they said on the ship “What people will do for a key chain!”

-I have read that many people are concerned with Labadee, but seriously we felt very safe. There was plenty of security around. It was very pretty there, however extremely HOT! We tendered to the island and stayed for lunch.

-In St. Thomas we went to Magan’s Bay, which was beautiful. We enjoyed snorkeling there. I would recommend getting there early though because it gets crowded. After the beach, we went shopping. We found unfriendly individuals. This was a disappointment because this was a first for me. Most of the places I have been to, people have been friendly and happy for your business.

-Puerto Rico was interesting. We didn’t go on any tours there just went shopping and walked around. The people were very friendly :)

If you have any questions, let me know and I will be happy to answer them. I wish everyone a safe and fun cruise!

Welcome home. Great review! Sounds like you had a great time.

thank you for your review! (and congratulations on your wedding. what a great way to spend your honeymoon!) we are leaving sat for the voyager...counting the days!

a few questions:

what about this water park in labadee? do i have to pay to get into? what is in the water park?

we would like to go to portofinos...which dinner night would you have skipped?

what kind of shopping did you find in san juan and st. thomas? any great deals?

sorry for so many questions...we are just so excited! thanks:)

Hi everyone- I'm new to the boards. I was planning on just browsing, but I saw this thread and couldn't help but register/answer. We just got back from that cruise too (today is our recovery day!) and my group had an absolute blast. To answer your questions, needinsomesun:

what about this water park in labadee? do i have to pay to get into? what is in the water park?

The water park in Labadee is slightly overrated in my opinion. We cruised on the Explorer a few years back and decided to sign up for this. You do have to pay, though it's fairly cheap (I think $10-15). There's a section of the shoreline they rope off. In it there are two inflated "iceberg" slides, a few water trampolines, and other activities like that. The first 15 minutes were fun, but my sister, friends and I got bored really quickly. I think younger kids might find it more entertaining than we did ( we were 13, 11, and 14), so if you have youngsters you might consider it.

We've been to Labadee twice since then (including this past Thursday...*sigh*) and have found plenty of other activities to entertain ourselves without paying for them.

we would like to go to portofinos...which dinner night would you have skipped?

Ah, Portofinos....fabulous idea. Make sure you get your reservation quickly, though. We had a party of nine and made reservations as soon as we got on the ship. It is slightly costly ($20 per person), but the food is to die for. I would recommend not skipping one of the two formal nights (for our itinerary, it was Monday and Wednesday). And probably not the first night either. We went on Thursday night, but that was because it was our friend's birthday.

what kind of shopping did you find in san juan and st. thomas? any great deals?

In St. Thomas, there is a small shopping center right as you get off the ship. Most of what you'll find there is jewelry. I didn't see any particularly great deals and didn't buy anything. We took a taxi to the downtown area, which had more of a variety of shops, though there were still a lot of jewelry stores. At one point, we encountered this lady. Apparently, her job was to direct tourists. She was extremely friendly and informative and pointed us to a bathing suit shop called Swim on In.

We hardly shopped at all Puerto Rico because we took a tour through the city and up to the fort St. Christopher. It looked like the best place for shopping was right in the area as you get off the ship, though.

I hope I gave you the information you need. Please feel free to ask me any more questions! I'm always happy to gush about the trip. When do you leave for yours? Oh and by the way, the Cruise Director, Drew Devine, is outstanding. This last week was his first cruise as a Cruise Director, but we found him to be funny, nice, and highly personable. I hope you have an amazing time and I cant wait to hear all about it when you get home!!

Glad you guys had a good time! :)

We're going back on the Voyager in about a month- I'm wondering if Norman Clifford is still the piano player in the Schooner Lounge...?

sounds familiar...let me dig up my Compasses and check for you....

Actually, right now its a man named Peter Ritz.

hi again,

thanks so much for all the great info. we are leaving sat...can't believe it is only a few days away.

per your info, i think we will skip the water park. thanks for letting me know that it isn't worth the money.

did you see any knock-off purses in st. thomas and if i love to shop, it sounds like it would be worth cab fare to go downtown. also, did you hit the beaches? i can't decide between sapphire and coki...any opinions?

do you have kids? we have three: dds ages 10,7 & 4. i would love info about the adventure ocean club too.

are the formal nights the nights at sea?

how was the entertainment? i hear we will be seeing the platters. anything special we should bring or insider tips.

sorry for all the questions. i am so appreciative of all your great information!:)

Actually, right now its a man named Peter Ritz.

thank you :)

hi again,

 

thanks so much for all the great info. we are leaving sat...can't believe it is only a few days away.

 

per your info, i think we will skip the water park. thanks for letting me know that it isn't worth the money.

 

did you see any knock-off purses in st. thomas and if i love to shop, it sounds like it would be worth cab fare to go downtown. also, did you hit the beaches? i can't decide between sapphire and coki...any opinions?

 

do you have kids? we have three: dds ages 10,7 & 4. i would love info about the adventure ocean club too.

 

are the formal nights the nights at sea?

 

how was the entertainment? i hear we will be seeing the platters. anything special we should bring or insider tips.

 

sorry for all the questions. i am so appreciative of all your great information!:)

Hi Needinsomesun---we cruise this Sat. as well on the Voyager---Have you checked out our thread on the Roll Call? If not, here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=86256

I hope you all will sign up for the M & M. :)

just back 2 days ago as well... we had the time of our life! first of all to answer a few questions....

the arawak aquapark in labadee in our opinion was fabulous and we are a group of 6 with 4 teens 12,13,15,17 and two 40 ish adults. it was extremely fun and 50 minutes was enough as it can be tiring (those icebergs on the adult side are a little hard to climb and quite high lol). make reservations NOW or as soon as you are on the ship because the folks trying to naievely book it when they got to the beach in labadee were mostly out of luck. we went at 9 am as soon as we got off the tender and it was a great way to start the day :) we thought of doing it again but as i said it was full and there are so many other choices we chose to proceed onward .

knock off purses? kate spade, gucci and prada all over the straw market in nassau and i believe in charlotte amalie to a lesser extent near the vendors set up under tents near the main drag downtown. they barter easily.

in our opinion.... sapphire beach is the way to go.... we wanted some water sport options so megans bay was out, coki was NOT appealing to anybody on our safari taxi as we drove down by it (graveyards, trash, unkempt businesses, junk yard cars, actually kind of disgusting. we LOVED sapphire and did snorkle there (but be careful with all the coral it is easy to scrape yourself in some parts). it was not quite as idyllic as trunk bay on st johns but it was lovely.

adventure ocean? excellent... mind you nothing beats the kids program at disneys magic or wonder , but on voyger there are amazing choices and the staff was great! dont miss "circus of the seas" for the younger kids (they looked like they had a blast)especially if you want to be on the "cruise in review video" they sell at the end of the week. they showed it at the farewell show at la scala as well the night before debarking. our own preteen and teens loved the navigators and the guests choices as well and thought optix was awesome as was the scavenger hunt.they made some friends but spent time with us as well.

entertainment...we thought it was incredible. we watched the ritmous duo, beatlemania, tavares, rhythm and rhyme, mike wilson as an impressionist and another comedian who were both awesome. skipped dreamscape so we cant comment. the ice show was great, the quest was too in most ways except for some folks who literally cheated by bringing anticipated props and supplies) , love and marriage... so so. (i think it depends on who they get on stage to make it or break it)

formal nights... 2... we only did 1 though and it was fun. men in tuxes and suits but some others more casual. noone stressing over "rules" that i could see. the ladies mostly in nicer dresses or skirts but few gowns.

random thoughts.....

embarkation was as painless as possible... we were at the pier at 1130 and on the ship by 12 15 in the windjammer :)

drew devine the new cruise director is so good VERY enthusiastic and talented... a little crazy but as he says... "youre here for a good time but not a long time , so sleep when you get back to work lol and let the good times roll!"

the crew of voyager was incredibly patient, polite, helpful and most of all TOLERANT of many rude and pushy passengers. my family could not believe how condescending and inappropriately directive many guests were to those working so hard to please them. folks, it does not hurt to say PLEASE and thank you to those waiting on you, cleaning up after you etc. we realize they are working, but they are people too and a smile and gratefulness goes along way in someones life. as i said, the crew and staff were so wonderful... it was the "herd mentaility", "me first" self absorbed passengers that were a little hard on the nerves at times.

the ship was immaculate . we have sailed 4 times on other cruises, carnival, rccl, and disney and voyager was the oldest ship we have been on but it was still lovely. if passengers would pick up after themselves just a bit (we saw people setting down frozen drink glasses tipped over in the elevators, and people walking away from a plate of dumped scrambeled eggs in the windjammer). the crew quickly rectified this and hurried to take care of both situations.

labadee... is paradise. the aqua park was fun as i already mentioned, the bananna boats were the hit of the trip (we went twice lol), playing volleyball on the beach in the sun was fun, the haitian market was even fun (yes they are hopeful and persistent to get you to look at their wares but they are not rude and there is so much poverty in haiti that we didnt mind looking and buying at all. lunch was excellent.. just a fun beach bar be que with music and the works. we did not prefer hideaway beach as it was so rocky nut rather passed nellies beach as it was really busy and did barefoot beach in the middle of these two. wear your shoes on the walkway to dragons breath point... the sun makes the walkway HOT and we had to run as out feet were cooking literally.

we loved the food. yes there were some things better than others and the desserts usually looked better than they tasted but for the most part... all was really ok :) we had wises from thailand and dora from columbia at la boheme main seating and they worked hard! we also ate at the windjammer counless times for b, l, afternoon tea, and a few dinners and it was fun too.

we had two inside adjoining cabins on deck 8 as a family of 6 . i thought i would go crazy as we have had ocean views and balconys in the past but it was fine. a quad was even doable. its all what you make of it and your attitude i think. the over the door pocketed shoe holder in each cabin saved our lives as far as keeping things orderly. mary our room steward was excellent too.

johnny rockets.....hmmm... not a big deal to us. we went and had to sit for an hour while they made our burgers (veggie ones) and sundaes as they said they had a computer glitch??????????. didnt quite understand that one and how it effected the gilling of bugers and serving of fries but it was still a nice view down to the water sitting outside and hey .. its a vacation :)

cafe promenade was fun... we had sadwiches, pizza, coffe and cookies at crazy hours just for the heck of it lol.. the parades were a kick as well to watch from here .

debarkation was orderly and the best of all... just as i walked out at 830 with the travel lite option a of carrying my own luggage off easily ... my cell phone rang and angel from eric fandinos "limos of miami" called to tell me he was pulling up cubside to pick us up as i had previously arranged to whisk us up to west palm beach international for a 12:10 departure on independence air. it was a white stretch, cokes and champagne glasses, moon roof, disco lights etc. as we relaxed at the end of a perfect week and watched the cruise in review video we had bought and listened to cruise music in the limo as we pulled away from voyager we all were feeling so blessed and a little homesick for our week of utopia already!

we cant wait to book a summer 2006 freedom cruise :) !

jodyluvsdisney -

Thanks for all the great info....we leave on Sat. Our family is similar to yours--4 kids and we have adjoining rooms, though they are balconies :) So I have learned alot from your review....

Would you mind explaining Labadee a little more? Specifically, the info about the beaches...I'm confused. It sounds to me like there are separate beaches, though I thought it is just one big area. I like your hint about buying tickets early to the water park and going there first thing...that sounds like the perfect plan! Do you just go to the desk and buy them whenever you please? Did you happen to notice the hair braiders on Labadee and if so, did their area look hygienic? We've encountered a variety of places on other islands that vary widely with their hygiene efforts...don't want my girls getting any nasty bugs!

Thanks a bunch!

Thanks so much for your helpful reviews. Sounds like everyone had a great time! I was so glad to hear about the Piano Bar. I have posted so many questions on these boards inquiring as to whether there is a sing along piano bar on the voyager and the answers are always very vague. Some people refer to karaoke bars instead, others say that High Notes is a piano type bar, but perhaps not what I am looking for and then I heard that Schooners could be it. When I was on the Carnival Victory they had a piano bar and I spent so much time there singing along with the room... it was a blast.

Was the Cruise Review video worth it? How much does it cost? On several land vacations I have purchased things like that just to find it to be mostly canned stuff that could be from any vacation with a few special effects thrown in. However, you purchased yours and I'd be interested to know how it turned out.

I will be doing Labadee, Ochos Rios, Grand Cayman and Grand Bahama Island and was curious as to whether or not you found any great snorkeling. I am traveling with a group and I guess we'll be bringing our own snorkel gear, because I don't prefer using the stuff you rent, but I would rather not take a snorkeling excursion. Is there anywhere decent right off the beach at these ports without doing an excursion?

Thanks for all of your help... loved reading your reviews!!!:o

jodyluvsdisney---

I too was on this cruise. We had a wonderful time!! My seven year old son participated in Adventure Ocean and begged to go everyday. I neglected to buy a cruise in review video, because I figured it was a bunch of canned stuff also. You said that the children's circus was on it? I wonder if there is a way to purchase it now. I'm guessing I'm out of luck, but if anyone knows, please let me know!

By the way, we had my 13 yo son and my 7 yo son on this cruise, and they just couldn't get enough of everything! I hardly saw my oldest, except at meal time, and of course when he needed stitches he looked us up very promptly (yes, stitches. cut his knee at the pool--the doctor was very friendly, but the nurse needed an attitude adjustment!) It was their first cruise and they absolutely loved it all.

Jody,

I can't believe you had to deal with stitches. I've often wondered how medical problems are handled on ships. Do you pay for services and submit to insurance when you go home? Are the prices reasonable? I would think they would at least price medical fair reasonably, as opposed to the prices of optional things on ships, but who knows...

How was the care in terms of competence? If you needed serious medical help on a ship, based on your experience, how comfortable would you be?

Donna;)

Just out of curiousity, what did you all do in Nassau? Going in 3 weeks and haven't made any plans in Nassau.

Thanks

M&C

ok... labadee.... divided into different beach areas but all one destination. they give you a map in your cruise compass brochure you get in your cabin the night before arriving there but when you get off the tender at labadee itself , the arawak aqua park is immedialtely to your right and the bannana boat hut is to your immediate left as is "nellies beach". continue to your left for a bout a 2 minute walk and youll come across "barefoot beach" and the location for the snorkle rentals (also in short supply in the afternoon, so get earlyish if interested!) then continuing in the same direction eventually about a 3 - 5 minute walk was "hideaway beach" which again was secluded but rocky. the hair braiding area was near the haitian market but in its own fenced area and looked more customary and attractive than the other opportunities we saw streetside in nassau and st thomas, but was staffed by locals and we were not interested in giving up the necessary amount of time, and some of the "victims" (lol) looking a little stunned as their hair was being done and they had their head tipped sideways at an unusual angle with many braids to go lol) the possibility for lice is real although im sure there are more regs here than elsewhere so we didnt go. just stop at the explorations desk on deck 5 next to guest relations and the royal promanade and book the aqua park, bannana boats etc. the day you board if you havent done so online already. you wont be sorry;) , so much FUN !

the cruise in review video was worth it because although there is already preordained footage about the ship on the dvd there is a ton of footage from our 3/19/05 voyage number 275 as well... bonvoyage parade, sports deck, circus of the seas (alot of footage of this :) ), the quest, belly flop and sexy legs contest, each entertainer, drew devine , etc so it is at least 15 minute more or less of our own individualized trip . we bought it down at the photo shop on deck 3 for 29.95 the night before we debarked so maybe its not too late if you email guest relations IMMEDIATELY???

i think the shooner bar or the champagne bar as well as high notes had a singalong piano deal going on ...just check your compass.. its listed there for sure. karaoke idol search was in cleopatras needle lounge 2x and finals were in la scala on the last night.

to everyone about to go on this marvelous ship... get ready for some fun and relaxation and please be kind to the hard working crew and staff!

nassau... since it was the first morning after just getting on the day before, a sunday, and youre only there from 7-12 30... we decided to not do the yellowbird as planned and just get off and browse the straw market for an hour on our own after a lesiurely windjammer breakfast which was stress free.we passed the yellowbird boat walking back to the ship and i heard they had a fun time although the boat didnt appeal to me (sort of rundown?). after taking a tall ships sort of style party boat named "the jolly roger" in antigua a few years ago as a shore excursion that even included a rope swing for swinging out over the water once at the beach and a walk the plank choice as well along with the obligatory rum punch, limbo, conga line dance etc. we were glad we took it easy this first morning. whatever choice you make will be fun im sure !:)

How can you arrange for the water park or the banana boats online ahead of time?:)

use the explorations desk for your reservations/tickets for water park, banana boats etc. they will help you on the ship at deck 5... or u can do it online before you go , on rccl's website until about 10 days before you sail. good luck!:)

Donna, Im the one that had to deal with stitches, not jody. Anyway, as far as competence, they handled everything professionally. I would feel very comfortable with them in a very serious situation. As far as costs? $450 for the stitches (including $25 for bandages!!) Just hand them the handy dandy sea pass card and send it in to the insurance when you get back. (I need to do that today, come to think of it). As far as the nurse with attitude, I'm sure she was just frustrated. When we were there, there were some "sick" crew trying to get out of work.....She just seemed a little annoyed to be there at that particular time when we walked in. While we were waiting to see the doctor, some parents brought their little girl in who had smashed her fingers in the elevator doors. She was very upset (no broken bones, thank heavens!), and the nurse did help to calm her.

Debbie

Debbie,

Thanks for the info... sorry for the confusion. Sometimes I look at these boards until my eyes are bleary. Glad it all worked out for you. Can't believe they even charge incredible prices for medical care. But at least you guys were cared for well, which is the most important thing.

Donna:o

Sleeples23: Unless things have changed -dramatically- since I was on Voyager last May -- the Schooner Bar is turned into a sing-a-long piano bar during the evening hours. Hubby and I were there every night, usually for about an hour, either singing along, or taking over and singing a song or two ourselves. :)

Mona,

Thanks so much for confirming that. I am not exaggerating when I say that was definitely one of the highlights of my Carnival Victory cruise. It was my one and only cruise, but I did really love that part of the trip.

By the way, how do you get that picture of the ship with the date of your cruise on it? I absolutely love that!

Thanks,

Donna:o

MonaCK---Thanks for info on sing-a-long bar at Schooner's. Just what we are looking for too. Can you tell me how late they had the sing-a-long? We have late seating at dinner and hope we will not miss it, as it is something our group looks forward to. We have cruised with Carnival the last four years and decided to try RCCL for a change and we too were hoping they had the sing-a-long piano bars . Patty