Voyager review

Just back from the Voyager and have a few thoughts. Up front, I want to say that we are big Royal Caribbean fans. This was our 6th cruise (4th on RC). We have also cruised Carnival and Norwegian. We keep coming back to RC for service, food, ships,etc. Now for my thoughts...are we the first family to have been disappointed by a Voyager class ship? We went on this cruise, paying a great deal more than we had for past trips ($5200 for 3 in a junior suite), because we had heard over and over how much better the Voyager class was. It was our son's senior spring break and we were traveling with 10 families with seniors. We made a joint decision to splurge for this trip. The kids and adults did have a wonderful time, but I can't say we were overwhelmed by the Voyager. Our kids are seasoned cruisers and decided among themselves that they really didn't find that much more to do on the Voyager than they had on the Enchantment. I guess we were all just expecting too much. A few of our disappointments were:

Several of our families were separated for meals. One family was split between 3 tables. Several between two. We remedied this with the head waiter, but they really weren't happy with all the shifting we required.

No limes the first 24 hours. I know this is minor, but when one of the mainstay drinks is Corona, this was unacceptable.

Upon ordering a frozen coffee drink the first day at the Cafe Promenade, I was handed a hot drink. They corrected it, but it was obvious that the gentleman had no idea how to prepare what I had ordered. I finally gave up on his third try. Lines were also lengthy at the Cafe. There was no good system for who they waited on. Suggestion...move the coffee bar to an independent location. This worked wonderfully on the Enchantment.

We have been used to cruise directors that are entertainers. I can't even tell you the name of this one. Due to the amount of varied entertainment, our group was guessing he was a good people manager, but on stage he was rather dull.

The ship has a great running track on the upper pool deck, which I myself used in the early morning hours, but can't hours be limited? By noon when we were all ready to sunbathe, it became irritating to have runners still passing by weaving through the crowds.

Being in a junior suite, we expected our room and room steward to be above average. The room was beautiful, but not the cleanest. We arrived to find dirt around the edge of the room on the carpet and the last guest's hair still in the shower and on the bathroom floor. Also a note for future travelers, we had aft cabin 1694. Even though our balcony was very large, we were somewhat disappointed with it. It was totally covered, so you were never able to sunbathe on it. I know in this day of sun awareness that would be a plus to some, but it wasn't to us. It was also uncomfortably warm on our balcony. One side had a steel wall that totally blocked our view and air circulation. Again, this is a matter of taste, if the ocean breeze is too cool for you, this is the room for you, but we missed having a nice breeze that we had experienced before on our balconies.

We had the worst experience of all of our cruises on disembarkation. Total chaos was the order of the day. We're not sure who was to blame for this situation...TSA, US Customs or Royal Caribbean. We do know that there was only one card scanner present that created a major backlog for people, but maybe that was to control the customs lines. We were glad we didn't have an early flight. Ours was noon. Word to the wise ...don't schedule an early flight.

I'm sure many of our complaints can be explained by the fact that is was spring break and the ship was at capacity. It seemed obvious to us that the staff was not used to operating at full capacity, but because it was spring break we had paid a premium to be there. Shouldn't that demand their normal service lever...not long lines and shortages?

Despite our disappointments, we had a very memorable trip. We know some of our negatives can be attributed to a travel agent that wasn't on top of her game. We did encounter many positives. Our waiter and assistant were above reproach and the food was actually quite good considering they were cooking for 3600 people each meal. The shows were generally good. The production shows were somewhat lacking, but we knew we weren't on Broadway and they were still entertaining. An obviously gay comedian would not have been my choice for a family cruise, but he was funny and our son is 18 so was not a problem for us. Overall, the entertainers in the bars were excellent and friendly. The bar staff and casino staff were also always accomodating. To close a less than perfect cruise beats every other vacation in our minds...we were just a little let down. Come on Royal Caribbean..Voyager class ships are touted as your flag ships...shouldn't they live up to the hype?

Thanks for the review because I am booked in 1394 for my upcoming cruise on the VOS. I am one that wont mind about the balcony not getting much sun. My medications prevent me from basking.

Did you ask the steward to clean the room better or did you just let it go?

My flight home is not until 2:30 so I am sure I will have plenty of time

Glad the wait staff was good, I enjoy the DR so much.

Just wanted to respond to your review of the Voyager....

We, too, are just off the Voyager, 3/27 - 4/2. We have sailed Carnival, Costa, Princess, and Norwegian. Hadn't been on RCCL because we just couldn't find an economical cruise. Well, we finally were able to find a "deal" for the Voyager and we made it on board. My husband has wanted to sail this ship for 6 years! This was my daughter's spring break from college and she brought a girlfriend. They had an absolute blast and met alot of nice kids!

I found several peculiarities on this ship.

The walk/jogging track went right through the deck to sun/ layout. So, if you used the track, you were constantly weaving through tons of people, chairs, etc. What a dumb place to put a track :( Unless, of course, you got up at 5/6 a.m. and walked?

They closed buffet lines at 3:30/4 p.m. just when tons of folks were returning to the ship on port days. Thus, making LONG lines in the one buffet line that was open. Very hard to find drinks other than "eat time".

$42. for a drink card is a bit much for me. That would buy an awful lot of "cokes" on land.

Renting a rubber swim mat at Labadee for $10 was also a bit of a stretch.

I do believe this is, by far, the best ship for teens/young adults. You couldn't ask for more to do. We did the rock wall, free skate (the skates are incredibly uncomfortable-plastic and unforgiving), mini golf, etc. All was fun, but once was enough.

The dining room food was exceptional. Every meal was excellent and the crew could not have been friendlier. Buffet was average - always something good to eat :)

In closing, would I sail RCCL again - only for a bargain. We did have a wonderful time, as always, but it would take an exceptional bargain to get us on RCCL again.

Forgot one thing....my husband, myself and daughter thought the shows were pretty bad. The comedians were funny. But..the singers, etc. left alot to be desired. I think if their microphones were turned down a notch, they would've sounded better.

QUOTE:An obviously gay comedian would not have been my choice for a family cruise, but he was funny and our son is 18 so was not a problem for us.

You mean he was cracking gay oriented adult jokes, or was it the fact that he appeared gay that you thought inappropriate for families??

MTS

He was cracking gay jokes in the family show (welcome aboard show). He also did an adult humor show late at night. Several of the people in our group said he has appeared on the Comedy Central network and is very up-front about the fact that he is gay.

He was cracking gay jokes in the family show (welcome aboard show). He also did an adult humor show late at night. Several of the people in our group said he has appeared on the Comedy Central network and is very up-front about the fact that he is gay.

That's odd. Why would he crack jokes about his lifestyle during his show. What type of jokes were they? His being obviously gay should not be a problem, but if they were adult rated gay jokes that's inappropriate.

MTS

You're right being gay is not a problem. We have a couple of dear friends that are gay and never would I judge them on that fact. Not to get hung up on this factor...my point was that the general level of entertainment on the boat was not great.

Well sounds like your overall experience was nice. I'm curious to try the Voyager class ships myself, but unsure if a ship that size will work for me.

I have sailed the 80-90 tonners and enjoy that size and layout.

I'll be on a Radiance class in a few weeks, and like the idea of all that glass so you can see the ocean from so many public rooms. To me, that makes the cruise more enjoyable, rather than feeling enclosed. I heard the Promenade on the Voyager class has no windows the entire length of the Promenade.

I like to see ocean when I'm sailing the high seas. ;-)

MTS

I loved VOS and am going again this summer. I have been on a few cruises and found nothing to complain about on Voyager. I hated one of our ports but the ship was fabulous!!!! Going back on July 15th. True, the food in the Windjammer was decent, nothing to brag about. The dining room meals were fine. For a ship with 3000 people, we never waited in line and there was plenty of everything. We don't buy the soda card because we don't drink Coke. We bring our own snapple and ginger ale. So the price of the card doesn't affect us. You are on vacation....lighten up! Where else can you get transportation, room , meals, and entertainment for a week (10 days for me)at those prices. A hotel room down the Jersey shore costs 2-$300.00 per night. And "that ain't the Caribbean!"

Well sounds like your overall experience was nice. I'm curious to try the Voyager class ships myself, but unsure if a ship that size will work for me.

I have sailed the 80-90 tonners and enjoy that size and layout.

 

I'll be on a Radiance class in a few weeks, and like the idea of all that glass so you can see the ocean from so many public rooms. To me, that makes the cruise more enjoyable, rather than feeling enclosed. I heard the Promenade on the Voyager class has no windows the entire length of the Promenade.

 

I like to see ocean when I'm sailing the high seas. ;-)

 

MTS

I never thought that I would like sailing on a Voyager class ship as I thought it would feel like a mall. Boy was I wrong. There are plenty of places on the ship to be at home with the sea.

I had cabin #1694 which is located on the back of the ship. A great cabin with a huge balcony. Loved it so much that I am booked in #1394 next door this time on the Navigator again.

We were on the Voyager in March of '04, and the Explorer in March of '03. We have been RCCL lovers for years, and have done about 10 of their cruises. BUT! We notice things seem to be slipping! Embarkation on the Explorer was horrendous in '03. Good on the Voyager in '05. Our friends were on the Explorer cruise that returned on Easter Day. They had many complaints, and they are seasoned cruisers w/RCCL and had been on the '03 Explorer trip. Not the least of their complaints re:the Explorer was a horrible disembarkation wait and confusion; a large loosely formed group who took over the ship and were extremely rude and noisy; public restrooms got worse all wk. and by the last day stunk and wouldn't flush, the only bad waiter they ever had, torn up "golf course", food not up to usual standards and yet they still did had a nice time. We were on Princess at the same time they were on the Explorer. (We did Tahiti w/Princess last fall -our first time w/them.) There are things I like about RCCL - the extra "bells and whistles, esp. for kids and older teens/young adults. But on Princess, the drinks cost less; the omelet station is quick, the beds and pillows are more comfy, embarkation and debarkation a breeze, and the food was good (esp. the PIZZA! On both ships.) Service was also OUTSTANDING! We ALWAYS sail during spring break. RCCL knows how to handle crowds. I'm wondering if they are short staffed? (Our head waiter 2 wks. ago was a formerly w/RCCL! EXCELLENT professional and very, very friendly!) We thought the Voyager last yr. had better service and was better organized than the Explorer, but we loved the Pig and Whistle on the Explorer in '03 due to the kareoke in there! But maybe RCCL's Voyager isn't better anymore!?!

Was on the voyager in May of last year. Liked her so much, we booked her for a promanade room this upcoming May. I can't imagine that things have changed so much in a year that I'll suddenly hate the ship.

I'm glad that your overall trip was good. Sounds liike the negatives were really a lot of minor things that added up to make it seem more major.

I can't wait for my trip in a month - I mean, even a "bad" cruise is better than a good day at work, isn't it? ;)

I'm trying not to beat a dead horse, but I just want people to realize that the quality level may not be as high as we've experienced in the past. Most of the reason that the minor issues became major to us was due to the rate we paid for our week. The very next week our room was $1000 cheaper. Yes, it cost $300 a night for a 4-5 star hotel, but we were paying $742 per night. When you added the few drinks, souveniers and one excursion to our bill the grand total was $861 per night. We booked nearly a year ahead to get this rate. Those numbers don't include the additional $1000 in airfare that it took to get there. We love to cruise and will probably cruise again next year, but we'll do a great deal of research and will probably return to a smaller ship. Also, lucky for us, our son will graduate from high school and we'll no longer be tied to Easter Week for our cruise. This was the first year that our spring break fell Easter Week. The crowds were so much worse than we had experienced on previous spring breaks. I don't want to sound like a winer. Last year we cruised on the Enchantment and had not one complaint. We loved the ship, the food, the entertainment, etc. We're not a "hard to please" family. That's why we found this cruise to be so disappointing. We were anticipating another perfect cruise and I just want others to be aware that it doesn't always work that way.

Can you tell me what was the name of the gay comedian?

Nan, for sure the price paid can make you feel "different" about your experience. Sounds like you paid through the nose! Once we took our children on a 3 day cruise over Easter. Had to get a room that would accommodate 5 as a result. We DID really enjoy our cruise. But our per person rate was so much more than the rate we'd paid 3 times for a ship we could see docked next to us, it made me judge our ship much harsher. Also, when your son graduates from h.s., and I speak from experience w/a college soph. right now, STAY within the realm of college spring break weeks (usually very late Feb. through March til Easter) or your son will find there won't be many young people his age on the ships. They are in school or working til about Memorial Day, when families and school's out trips start all over.

I don't see this going away yet, so I will ask also. What is a "Gay Joke"?

If you give us a quote, maybe you would not be asked about over and over.

If you can not think of one joke to quote, then it was not as big a deal in the first place. So please tell us one.

(If anyone is not happy with this posting to bad)

I'm trying to make a point.

I can't remember ANY joke a day after I hear it, so who cares whether he can remember one. His statement was that it wasn't appropriate for the audience being served. You don't have to remember what exactly was said to remember that.

I was on VOS a couple weeks before you. The cruise director was so good. She had a great personality and got everyone laughing and having a great time. It was the 1st time I've ever felt the cruise director had added to my cruise enjoyment. She was going home to the UK for 6 weeks and got off the ship when we did. She was a tough act to follow I'm sure.

For clarification, I'm curious as to which of the problems you attribute to the travel agent, re: "We know some of our negatives can be attributed to a travel agent that wasn't on top of her game."

 

 

No limes the first 24 hours. I know this is minor, but when one of the mainstay drinks is Corona, this was unacceptable.

No limes ya that would ruin my vacation

The ship has a great running track on the upper pool deck, which I myself used in the early morning hours, but can't hours be limited? By noon when we were all ready to sunbathe, it became irritating to have runners still passing by weaving through the crowds.

lets see you want to sun bathe on the running track, have you ever thought not to sunbathe on the running track?

We had the worst experience of all of our cruises on disembarkation. Total chaos was the order of the day. We're not sure who was to blame for this situation...TSA, US Customs or Royal Caribbean. We do know that there was only one card scanner present that created a major backlog for people, but maybe that was to control the customs lines. We were glad we didn't have an early flight. Ours was noon. Word to the wise ...don't schedule an early flight.

card scanner on the ship or in customs?

Shouldn't that demand their normal service lever...not long lines and shortages?

you should have said shortage, you only gave one example of a shortage, and that would be limes. If anything else was in short supply you did not tell us

Despite our disappointments, we had a very memorable trip. We know some of our negatives can be attributed to a travel agent that wasn't on top of her game.

then why are you blaming RCI for your TA shortcommings

To sum up me feelings about this post, You go on a cruise on spring break one of the most crouded, and costly times and you complain about the crouds and cost. you complain about there are no limes for one day

Nuff said

I was on the same cruise as Nan59 and had similar sentiments. It wasn't a bad cruise by any means, but little things seemed off. The Explorations! staff was impatient, and the Cafe Promenade bartender seemed often flustered. Still, our waiter and assistant waiter were both excellent, as was our stateroom attendant. We also ran into the Hotel Manager several times, and he was friendly each and every time. It cannot be easy having close to 3200 passengers onboard.

Will post my review later but wanted to share my 2 cents here first.

Windjamming.. looking forward to your review!;)

My DH and DD's ages 9 and 14 have sailed the Exporer once and the Voyager twice.

We loved these ships but after our most recent sailing in December we decided to try another cruise line for our next trip. The service was practically non existent. On our first night in the dinning room they had us assigned to different tables!

The lines at matr'd desk were redicously long the first night to straighten this out. Then they tried to squeeze 8 people into a 6 person table, then gave us a table which wabbled badly and finally my husband fixed the table because it seemed the staff didn't have a clue. The head waiter finally showed up hours after we had settled in to let us know that the location of our table was a fire hazard but he would allow us to stay there? Our waiter and assistant waiter were wonderful to us from then on so it wasn't a total waste.

There was a very cold atmosphere on this ship compared to the first time we sailed.

The kids club counselors were not warm and friendly anymore and none of the staff ever smiled at anyone.

We never had lobster night in the dinning room and when I asked our waiter what was up with that he said they were worried about running out of food for the next week which was their 10 night holiday sailing. What a dissapointment to spend this much money and never even be offered a lobster. I know there lobster isn't anything to write home about anyway.

IMHO RCCL does a good job with first impressions but once you sail this ship its kind of a "been there done that" sort of feeling. Once you get past the rock climbing walls, small iceskating rinks, indoor promenade, there's nothing really to entice you to come back.

After reading the Princess boards and there new features such and Movies under the Stars which is a 300 Sq feet Movie screen set up outside over one of their pools, I must say it sounded very intriquing to me. At night they cover the lounge chairs with cushions and serve cocktails and you watch a movie or concert or sporting event. This is something you could only do while on a cruise as oppossed to an indoor iceskating rink or promenade.

I have also read their reviews of the seafood buffets on Princess which are served on several evenings and include all the lobster and king crab legs you can eat as well as twin lobster tails which are offered in the dining room.

RCCL better watch out or Princess may come in and sweep up all their unsatisfied customers which I know are plenty at this point.

Methinks people would enjoy their cruises a whole lot more if they weren't looking to nitpick every minor inconvenience. No offense intended, but to be upset enough to post about the lack of limes or a drink mistakenly served is bit much. Let's be grateful for the positives and the negatives will tend to be quickly forgotten!