Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas Review

Just back from the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas 7/25/04 through 7/30/04.

Warning this review is long… It may sound a bit snide but I had a good time. I have cruised enough to know what to expect.

There were 6 of us total (2 adults 4 teens) in Category AA Family Suite with private balcony on deck 8 Aft - Cabin Number 8694.

This was a 5-night cruise to Saint John and Halifax.

We drove to NJ, it took only about 6 hours from NH.

The port was very easy to find, drop off all bags and dad went to park in the ground level outdoor parking lot next door. (Cost $60.00) We gave the bags and tipped the porter, painless. First impression the ship is beautiful and huge.

Embarkation was effortless, it was around 2pm and we were in our cabins by 2:30.

The Voyager is truly lovely. I was most impressed by the public areas and beautiful art everywhere.

There was no one taking our group photo as we boarded.

Cabin: We were extremely disappointed with the state of our cabin.

We had booked this AA “suite” and as such it is supposed to come with a certain level of service. The ship is 5 years old and the age really shows in this particular cabin. We were most upset with the filthy floor. I am not kidding. The carpet next to the balcony was just awful. It was stained black and you could see where this piece of carpet had been recently replaced. But still the carpet and the bottom of the sliding glass door were black with soot. The balcony itself was large but the chairs (2) and table were old, rusty and stained. Paint was peeling off the sides of the walls and there were no lounge chairs. Just upright, corroded, dirty deck chairs. On the travelocity website it states “balcony with whirlpool tub” I did not count on the whirlpool tub being on the balcony but the tub in the suite is just a plain tub, not whirlpool. If you call RCCL they will read the description to you and this includes the word “whirlpool.” Worst yet, if you even got the deck chairs clean enough to sit on, you would have no privacy whatsoever since the cabins above you overlook your “private” balcony.

After viewing our cabin my husband called the pursers desk to request lounge chairs and to have the carpet cleaned. This would turn out to be a daily call with no resolution until the last morning of the cruise when the carpet cleaners arrived and told us to leave the cabin early so it would be clean for the next guests, unreal. We met our room steward soon after boarding “Anthony” who was nice but not nearly as aggressive as he should have been in getting our requests met. We did not get bathrobes until day 3 and face cloths were an endangered commodity. We never did get the “suite” basket of goodies and personal care items. Oh, yes we did get a coupon for a pants cleaning, no kidding. Another issue with the cabin, we had the master bedroom with sliding French doors but the curtains did not close all the way so I spent quite a while taking down the drapes from the window and attaching drapery hooks onto the rod above the sliding door for privacy. It would have been better and cheaper to have 2 balcony cabins.

After dropping our stuff in the suite, we were off to the Windjammer Cafe for the luncheon buffet. This was just OK. The space itself is nice, overlooking the harbor and the seating was comfortable. The food was only fair and the variety was limited as half of the stations were closed. The kids bought fountain-soda cards.

The teens had an OK time on this cruise. The disco was too young for them and the Vault was 18 and over. They were not allowed to stay at High Notes to hear jazz, which was too bad because they fancy themselves jazz purists. They mostly enjoyed the hot tubs and Johnny Rockets.

My husband loved the gym. The promenade is most impressive.

The elevators are ridiculously slow. I have an idea here: I think when you push the button to call an elevator and wait and wait and finally decide the stairs don’t look too bad, after all it’s only 5 flights…. There should be a button to cancel your elevator call. Just a thought.

Together my family enjoyed the La Scala Lounge and Karaoke in Cleopatra’s Needle. The Ice Skating Show in Studio B was excellent. The song and dance shows were not good. The dancers were fine, the singers were OK but together they were a mess. The leading female singer can really belt out a tune but she is too heavy to be wearing tight clothing and trying to dance across the stage with professional dancers. It was embarrassing to watch. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against large people, I am one myself. But do not try and dress her up as a “sexy” Maria from West-Side story or Roxy Hart from Chicago. It was a joke. Her costumes should be re-designed to flatter her figure.

The adult comedy show was neither adult nor comedy. There were too many kids in the lounge for him to be adult. And I am sure quite a few are now suspicious of Santa and the Tooth Fairy.

An interesting side note: This cruise was full of spiritualists who follow Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj. They were vegetarian and the crew kept mistaking my husband for one of them (it must have been the beard) which was kind of funny. On occasion a “follower” would ask my husband “where is the meeting?” My husband would not miss a beat and say “in the Casino” this was fun. The Guru however caused quite a fervor every time he was in the Promenade or at the Ice Show or getting his photo taken. I thought Elvis was on board! I made such a crack and was stared into oblivion. Where upon I ordered bacon and told them to lighten up for God’s sake. I sneezed and not one of these people said “bless you” hmmm??? Anyway and this kind of spooked me, at the photo gallery, one entire wall was filled with His portrait. So you could buy one as a memory…

On to dining… We did not go to the Portofino’s but everyone told us it was excellent but took about 2.5 hours. But our dinner took about 2 hours anyway. Our servers were terrific Jerry and Michelle. The food was good and the service was outstanding. Latoya was our waitress, she was like family. The dining room was lovely. The Maitre d’ was Moses. He was good and the waiters sang a bit. This is the first time we shared a table and I must say that Mark and Deb from NY were real troopers. It is not easy dining with 4 teens. They are always daring each other to do weird stuff and making food sculpture. I actually bet my kids that Mark and Deb would not return on the second night and when I lost I went double or nothing so I owe my kids a few bucks…

My husband and I greatly enjoyed the Casino. The Casino was large, the slots very tights but the money lasted longer at the tables (3 card poker and Let it Ride) I had more fun playing cards with fellow passengers and the dealers were funny and outgoing.

The Cruise Director was OK. But the shows were same old….

Itinerary: Dull and foggy. We could have stayed in Jersey for all we knew. You cannot blame anyone for the weather. But Saint John is actually nicknamed the foggy city. I liked walking around Saint John (all hills) and Halifax (great boardwalk and citadel) Lots of history and gracious Canadians.

Music: An increasingly important aspect of cruising for my family is the variety and quality of the music on board. The Jazz at the High Notes Lounge was excellent but we could not stay due to age restrictions.

There were musicians playing in the Promenade and the entrance to the Casino but nothing exceptional. The Stingrays are the cover band and they do a very good job if you like that sort of music. The soloist in the Irish Bar was OK. I liked the Sports Bar only when the Red Sox beat the Yankees. When the Yanks won it was not as much fun for me….

The good: Parking, easy embarkation and disembarkation, dinner, people we met, the staff, Ice Show, Gym, Casino, Promenade, Ben & Jerrry’s, Room Service (best room service menu ever), No tenders!, Canadian Authorities, (given a flower at Saint John!) The hot tubs, Johnny Rockets, photos, no hard sell at bingo or the Art auctions, concierge, free library, DVD lending, DJ Z Train turntable scratching class, the Bose Stereo in our suite, 2 TV’s with lots of stations we even got to watch most of the Democratic National Convention.

The Bad: The variety of food, dinner took forever, the weather, the ports, the suite condition, the pursers desk (passing the buck), the shows, concierge lounge (concierge was nice, his lounge smelled like a pet shop and the limited hours were confusing), lack of parties and contests, no whirlpool, no arts and crafts, slow Elevators.

All in all Royal Caribbean is a nicer ship. Tasteful and the quality shows in the little things like ceramic plates through room service, real glasses, filled ice buckets, solid wooden handles, wider cabin doors, huge buffet plates handed to you, no trays needed the plates are enormous. But I think we are Carnival people, it is just more fun.

Till next time,

Enjoy this glorious day.

Nice review, I was on this cruise as well and you are right about that spiritual group aboard. It was so creepy how they all followed that one guy around all week. I never really thought much of them until the last night around 4 in the morning I was up on deck 12 by myself at the front of the ship and all of a sudden a heard of people come walking toward me. I turn around and I see the "spiritual leader guy" being followed around by all the group members as they are doing laps around the top deck with him in front. No one in this heard of people said anything to me but it was just creepy.

Good review; I find it interesting that you picked up on exactly the same strengths and weaknesses that we found when we were on Voyager on 7/2 -- including the lack of certain types of activities.

Incidentally, my sister and her family were in the royal family suite right next to yours -- 8394 -- on our 7/2 sailing. Aside from not having the stained carpet issue, they had two lounge chairs on their deck, as well as four chairs around the deck table. They also had Anthony as their cabin steward and found him very responsive. In addition, they received a little "something" on RCCL every afternoon before dinner -- chocolate covered strawberries, or canapes, or a fruit basket, etc. Can't say why that didn't happen on your cruise, but they definitely did feel that for these and other reasons, the royal family suite was worth the extra money.

juried; I'm not sure why you expected a whirlpool tub on your balcony or jacuzzi in your bath, as these are available in Royal Suites ( the ones that also have a baby grand piano) not in a Royal Family Suite. The names are confusing and therefore misleading, but there is a clear difference in price and amenities.

CaseyT

I'm booked for October in the Royal Family Suite on Navigator. I have seen that balcony whirlpool metioned in the suite description before too (I think at Travelocity maybe?). I know it's not there from looking at pictures but it should be corrected because that's quite the misleading untruth. I'm hoping for the little extras because the extra dollars aren't so little. I have seen pictures of how the balcony above you looks right down onto yours, there is no privacy, but that must have been a surprise if you didn't know that ahead of time.

We were also on the cruise. We're sorry that you didn't make it to the informal CC gathering Monday morning up in the Viking Crown. It was nice to meet the folks that did show.

We had a really nice time but did realize that this would be a very different cruise. A cruise to Canada just isn't the same as a trip to warmer climes! So many fun parts of warm weather cruising are missing. Usually the pool deck is always alive with music and sunbathers and contests and demonstrations and daytime partying and nightly dancing and partying/people-watching and nighttime feasts. The rock wall was closed everytime we looked. It was always too windy or damp to enjoy mini-golf. The weather didn't allow any of that. Fog, rain, and wind limit the outside deck use. That being said, we knew that we had to do other things. We loved being able to teach our 8 yo ds how to ice skate. He and his dad blew a bunch of money on the Arcade. Our ds went to Adventure Ocean every evening and thoroughly enjoyed it. We loved the ice show. Our ds loved going to Johnny Rockets and he did swim at Adventure Beach even in the cool foggy weather.

We enjoyed the ports. We were traveling with friends so we rented a car at both ports. The weather only hampered our fun once in Halifax. We drove to Lunenburg in the rain. Lunenburg was very crowded, overpriced, and wet. We found a restaurant that we all wanted to go to but it was not wheelchair accessible which was a necessity for us. So we left and headed back up the coast and found a great lunch near Mahone Bay.

We were very pleased with the service. We had main seating in the Magic Flute. Our waitstaff was just terrific and very speedy. We never had to wait for anything. They didn't rush us at all but kept the meal flowing. We were always finished by 7:30 if not sooner.

We did notice one area of concern and wrote about it on the survey. There was a lot of peeling paint and rust on the balconies, esp if you looked up from our balcony. Our balcony itself was very clean and neat with 2 chairs and a table.

We were not creeped out by the Spiritual followers but they did make us mad several times. We went to have a before bed snack at the Cafe Promenade. We got our food and sat down at an available table. My dh got up to get us drinks. While he was up, a group of the followers swooped in and started to move tables together and put chairs in rows facing the tables. Suddenly we were surrounded as Rajinder Singh and his entourage sat at the tables and his followers closed around him. My son and I sat there and felt all of these eyes staring at us. My husband tried to get back to our table and was blocked by the "handlers". He finally got around them and got back to us.

We ate but it was very unsettling. As we finished and headed out of the cafe, people practically pushed us along so they could have our coveted table and chairs next to Mr. Singh. I stopped and asked one of the handlers just who the turbaned man was and the handler explained that he was a very important spiritual leader and then tried to convert me.

Overall, we had a great time. It is nice to have someone else do all the chores for a change! We don't want to do a cold climate cruise again. We like the warm climates better, even in July and August. Our friends had only cruised with Carnival before and frankly, I think that they are Carnival folks as well. We are RCI folks but we like the Bahamas and the Caribbean itineraries better. We did like the shorter trip to Bayonne. In the past we have driven to Florida and that is a looonnngggg trip. Next summer we are going out of Baltimore, even closer. We do wish that RCI would start going out of Norfolk, VA. - that's only an hour away.

As for the whirlpool on the deck, when I first started looking at Voyager, I, too, thought that there would be a whirlpool on the deck, because that's something that is specifically listed on travelocity as being in the Royal Family Suite cabin. However, I have to say that it didn't take long to find out that wasn't the case (a simple check of either the RCCL website or cabin description would do it -- I also posted a direct question on this board about that and got an answer within minutes) so I'm not sure how someone could get all the way to boarding and still not have found out that travelocity has it wrong.

Quote by Juried ..."I thought Elvis was on board! I made such a crack and was stared into oblivion''...That's a bit childish don't you think....making fun of another's faith...I am glad they didn't sink to your level and respond to a comment like that....! :mad:

Great information...

We're heading on VOS this Sunday.

A couple of questions

(1) Is there anyway to sit outside of High notes ... my 7 yr old loves jazz, I've already told him we probably couldn't sit in the bar, but I'm really hoping we could sit outside of High Notes to hear the high notes

(2) It seems everyone on Cruise Critic is boarding long before 6 PM, as the paper says we should, yet no one has had trouble getting aboard -- should I just ignore my husband's request and insist we try to board at 3 instead of 6:30 - 7 (as we now have planned)?

(3) I take it, even when it's chilly, the kiddy pool area is good enough for kids -- did they ever open the solarium for kids due to cool temps?

(4) What time did you disembark?

Thanks Bonnie

To LW:

Quote by LW:

Quote by Juried ..."I thought Elvis was on board! I made such a crack and was stared into oblivion''...That's a bit childish don't you think....making fun of another's faith...I am glad they didn't sink to your level and respond to a comment like that....!

I am an honest and honorable person. If you do not like to hear the truth you need to stop reading.

How dare you! I would never insult anyone’s faith! Did I make one comment about their beliefs…NO. I have the utmost respect for freedom of religion but I have just as much regard for freedom of speech.

(Both of which are foundations of the American Constitution, which happens to be MY faith.) I was simply explaining the excitement and near chaos this "leader" created. It was palatable. It was obvious and it was having a direct effect on my vacation experience. (And not an entirely negative effect, I found this whole dynamic rather fascinating.) But truly I did not know if this person was an international star or celebrity (hence the Elvis crack) He turned out to be both.

(1) Is there anyway to sit outside of High notes ... my 7 yr old loves jazz, I've already told him we probably couldn't sit in the bar, but I'm really hoping we could sit outside of High Notes to hear the high notes

NO. High Notes is directly off the elevator with no lobby seating that I could see.

(2) It seems everyone on Cruise Critic is boarding long before 6 PM, as the paper says we should, yet no one has had trouble getting aboard -- should I just ignore my husband's request and insist we try to board at 3 instead of 6:30 - 7 (as we now have planned)?

We arrived early and I thought we would have to wait but we were able to board directly.

(3) I take it, even when it's chilly, the kiddy pool area is good enough for kids -- did they ever open the solarium for kids due to cool temps?

I do not know about the solarium but the kiddie pool area is covered and was pretty active. It looked like lots of fun.

(4) What time did you disembark?

We had green tags, left our cabin by 8:30, went down to deck 4 and we were heading for a public lounge since they do not like people hanging around the hallways and our luggage color was called within 5 minutes. We got lucky here. We grabbed our bags with the help of a porter, gave customs our paperwork as we walked out. NJ is a very easy port, no drama, no yelling. We were on the road by 9:30.

Enjoy your trip!

I don't know about sitting outside the high notes lounge because i never spent any time in there. However you should be ok boarding around 3, that's when we got there and pretty much walked right on the ship. Even if you do have to wait a little bit they had sandwiches and hot dogs with tables and chairs to sit down at in the terminal before you board.

I'm also not sure about the kids area, but there were always people up on the pool deck in the hot tubs, they do have one pool and hot tub open 24 hours, which was nice real late at night. Even with all the fog and clouds (not one sunny day) you could still go outside.

On the last day we were off the ship around 10:30 am but we were one of the last colors called, you most people were already off.

Although I had a good time on this cruise i would never sail up north ever again, it was ALWAYS foggy, cloudy and windy, and the ports of call left a lot to be desired especially St. John. The only redeeming thing about that shanty town was the lobster restarant accross the street from the pier. I had a huge lobster and the best cup of chowder ever, I highly reccomend eating there.

But like I said it was definitely the staff and the ship itself that made this trip so much fun, it would have been ten times better had we gone someplace warm.

Juried,

We are booked on the Voyager in a RFS in January. I would really appreciate any pics you might have on this room.

Thanks!

PS, would the family suites on the floor above have more balcony privacy?

"did they ever open the solarium for kids due to cool temps?"

Here's a news flash for you, Bonnie. The solarium on the Voyager is outdoors. No magrodome. It's exposed to the elements which really sucks when you're in Canada and the weather is lousy. I don't understand why they did not make the solarium indoors as it is on the Brilliance and Vision class ships. This was one of the reasons I give Voyager low marks. There is a large whirlpool inside the gym. That's about it when the weather is bad.

Thanks for the great info! We leave on 8/8 and can hardly wait. :) Couple more questions, if you don't mind...

What about excursions? We haven't booked any yet since the five of us haven't come to a consensus. Doesn't sound like you did any, but do you know if there were still a lot of openings after departure?

Also...I saw your suggestion about arriving earlier for embarkation, but I wasn't clear what arrival time your documents recommended. Mine say not before 5PM, which annoys me. If yours recommended 5PM, did you simply disregard it and board earlier?

Thanks!

My goodness, I don't believe I have ever gotten more information in such few postings -- I had no idea the kiddy pool was covered and the solarium wasn't -- and I agree, not having a covered pool when going North is kind of silly.

The info on the Highnotes is great -- I'll get my son prepared -- no jazz, but a covered play area, he's young, he'll get over it.

And I know now the times I'm going to be dropped off and picked up -- Oh, and St. John's Lobster -- it's on the list -- right across the pier, right.

Lastly, I love the our great Constitution, and I especially appreciate freedom of religion. As we have discussed this very thing with our young children, just today, they asked -- is Canada a country where we can say we believe in God. TOO cute (they were also afraid of sharks and if the Voyager would hit an iceberg) -- and yet, to think of in the past history of many nations and in the present tense of other nations, people are not free to worship or not to worship. It is a powerful gift the framers of our constitution have given us, one that my children already appreciate, enough so that the thought of leaving the US is enough for them to wonder if their freedoms will be violated.

Oh, and Juried -- I fully understood what you were describing -- it must have been incredible to see such untypical behavior particularly on a cruise ship. I might be an old bag, but I never was around to see how people reacted to the Beetles and Elvis -- but I have seen TV footage. No matter who was attracting that kind of attention in 2004, I would have been shocked and curious, as you, Juried, clearly were. Isn't human behavior incredible? Isn't a cruise a great time to spend time pondering such behavior?

Again, thank you all for the awesome information.

Bonnie

Thanks for the great info! We leave on 8/8 and can hardly wait. :) Couple more questions, if you don't mind...

 

What about excursions? We haven't booked any yet since the five of us haven't come to a consensus. Doesn't sound like you did any, but do you know if there were still a lot of openings after departure?

 

Also...I saw your suggestion about arriving earlier for embarkation, but I wasn't clear what arrival time your documents recommended. Mine say not before 5PM, which annoys me. If yours recommended 5PM, did you simply disregard it and board earlier?

 

Thanks!

Allison: Come on over to our Roll Call (link in my signature) and find out the answers to all your questions. Then chime in as we plan our own informal "Meet and Mingle."

Carol

Juried,

We are booked on the Voyager in a RFS in January. I would really appreciate any pics you might have on this room.

Thanks!

PS, would the family suites on the floor above have more balcony privacy?

I do have pictures still on my memory stick. I will try to send them to you later today. They are not very good, you can get all the nice pictures from the web, I have the "real" pictures. Also,the balcony above us (Deck 9) had much more privacy. There are windows above them but you are mostly covered.

Enjoy your cruise, the cabin aside, we really enjoyed this ship and trip.

is Canada a country where we can say we believe in God. TOO cute (they were also afraid of sharks and if the Voyager would hit an iceberg)

Bonnie

Bonnie,

Your children are wise to fear sharks and NOT Canadians. Well done.

Enjoy your trip.

What about excursions?

Also...I saw your suggestion about arriving earlier for embarkation, but I wasn't clear what arrival time your documents recommended. Mine say not before 5PM, which annoys me. If yours recommended 5PM, did you simply disregard it and board earlier?

Thanks!

-We did not book any Excursion. In Saint John you can walk to the historic district or take a horse drawn trolley. It is a great walking city. In Halifax again, you can walk a mile or more just along the boardwalks. It is level and easy. There was a tourism rep riding a Segway along the boardwalk that gave us a local map and some ideas. The kids walked to the Citadel, my husband and I hit the Casino.

- We had a flyer in with our documents stating embarkation after 5pm, we just got to the dock early. I did not plan on being there so early, I left plenty of time for the DNC traffic in Boston but we were able to avert Boston entirely.

Enjoy your trip.

Also,the balcony above us (Deck 9) had much more privacy. There are windows above them but you are mostly covered.

Enjoy your cruise, the cabin aside, we really enjoyed this ship and trip.

I'm going to be in the 9th floor RFS, but it looks as if the balcony on 10 would look down on the 9th floor the same way the 9th floor looked down on you. Is that not the case? Does the 10th floor balcony overhang part of the 9th? I'm trying to temper my expectations a bit but I'm really looking forward to spending time on my big balcony.

I did the 5 night Canada cruise July of 03,out of NYC. We also did not have the greatest weather condition's.The Canadian people are very friendly,and take their weather quite in stride. They welcome each woman off the ship,by handing her a live rose,and the men a nice pin,or flag. It was a welcome surprise,and a very nice touch. It drizzled rain,on and off,most of the day we were in St John. However, it did not dampen our spirits. We took the horse drawn trolley tour,and enjoyed it a lot. It seemed to be a quaint,quiet,and very pretty town. On to Halifax. The weather here,started out a bit better.It was semi cloudy,but dry. We took a rickshaw ride around the boardwalk.Then took a tour on the Harbour Hopper. It's a land based vehicle,that can also go into the water. You get a tour on land,and also around part of the harbour. It was still foggy,in the distance,so we couldn't see a lot out over the water. What we did see,was lovely. On a clear day,if they ever have one,the view's must be fantastic.They tell you on the Hopper,about a horrible explosion that happened in Halifax.A lot of people were killed or injured. I later found a book that told the whole story,in a gift shop,and purchased it. What a sad,but very couragious tale. Canadian's are a tough,proud,people. We then took a bus tour,that included a stop in the cemetery where over 100 of the victim's of Titanic are buried. By the time we stopped here,it was starting to rain.I just opened my umbrella,and continued on. It was one of the major things I wanted to see. I have been totally interested in anything Titanic,since I was about 10 yrs old. They guide you through the stones,and tell you tidbits about certain ones. Most of the victim's buried there were from steerage class,as their families could not afford to have them sent back home. How sad. One child,who has been unknown since 1912,was just ID'd in 2003. The family stated that the Canadian's have been watching over him since 1912,and decided to leave him there.People leave stuffed toys and balloons by his stone. One of the stone's they point out,belonged to a steward on Titanic. They say that White Star Line had the gall to bill his family for the cost of the uniform he was wearing,when he died. I should hope they never paid it. It was a very interesting and informative tour. Hallifax is also a very pretty area,and looks like a nice place to live. I'm sorry for the people who said they would never go back again. They could not have seen and done the things that I did,as I would not hesitate to return. Both St John and Hallifax had a person playing the bagpipe,who pipped us off as we sailed away. Another very nice touch,in my opinion. Each night,back on the ship,it rained and was very foggy. Also so cold and windy,that you couldn't stay outside or walk around the ship.Disappointing,but in spite of that,I loved the cruise.Especially the area.

GranysT:

My son is also a Titanic afficionado. Where did the guide come from who talked to you at the cemetery? Did you see any guides on the pier who held signs or called out that they were experts for a "Titanic tour" of Halifax? Are there any specific "don't miss" Titanic spots that you can recommend?

Carol

Merion Mom: The guide at the cemetery was the one from the bus tour we were on. We booked the tour from the ship.Make sure you get the one that includes the stop at the cemetery. It also included a stop at a museum,where they have a few actual items from the ship. It is not just a Titanic museum,but has a section of it featuring the ship. The Titanic part,is rather small,but it was interesting.They do have a short movie on the Titanic. I really wanted to see it,but by the time I found out about it,there wasn't enough time to see it and still catch the bus. If you get to the museum,you may want to check out seeing the movie first,and then tour the memorabilia.You have to get extra tickets to the movie. These 2 place's were the only things that I saw that related to Titanic. The gift store at the museum however,was where I purchased the book I mentioned about the Great Halifax Explosion. I did not see anyone on shore advertising anything concerning Titanic,tours or otherwise. I hope this helps.

Thanks, GranysT - you have helped me to decide that we'll do it on our own. That way, we can see the movie and spend as much time in the museum and gift shop and cemetery as we want. We can probably sneak up on RCCL's group tour in the cemetery and listen in, if we want to! ;)

Then we're going to do the Harbor Hopper and eat some LOBSTER before returning to the ship!

Carol