Voyager 2014 makeover question

Hi,

Anyone know if in the makeover VOS had her adults only solarium covered with a canopy - seems to indicate this is the case on Royals website?

Hi,

 

Anyone know if in the makeover VOS had her adults only solarium covered with a canopy - seems to indicate this is the case on Royals website?

Hi, looking at the pictures that are coming off Voyager at the moment, the answer sadly is No, she didn't get her solarium covered.

Hmmm, all a bit confusing. See the web page Royal has about the refurb here http://www.voyageroftheseas.com.au/voyager-of-the-seas/

Scroll down the page & you will see Item 15 - where they say:

"Completely unwind in the serenity of our glass canopied, adults-only solarium."

I was hoping it was covered in as on our NZ cruise on VOS it was too cold without a canopy. It was also my least favourite solarium area on any of the RCCL ships I've been on.

I guess we need to hear from someone who has been on her since her return to know for sure. ? :)

Hmmm, all a bit confusing. See the web page Royal has about the refurb here http://www.voyageroftheseas.com.au/voyager-of-the-seas/

 

Scroll down the page & you will see Item 15 - where they say:

 

"Completely unwind in the serenity of our glass canopied, adults-only solarium."

 

I was hoping it was covered in as on our NZ cruise on VOS it was too cold without a canopy. It was also my least favorite solarium area on any of the RCCL ships I've been on.

 

I guess we need to hear from someone who has been on her since her return to know for sure. ? :)

This is a pic from a guy currently on Voyager. As you can see most of the grecian columns & Greek statues have gone, so its obviously a recent pic. No sign of the canopy..

Anyway, i hop on Next Tuesday, so will confirm or deny it then for you.

Great, if nobody pipes up before then it would be good to get your confirmation.:)

Have you been on Voyager before to compare the before & after makeover? If so, a run down on what has improved would be good.

On Voyager at present.Definitly no cover.Lion and statues all removed.

On Voyager at present.Definitly no cover.Lion and statues all removed.

Thanks for the confirmation. They have their web page wrong it seems.:rolleyes:

Also a disappointment as it the area is less functional in cooler weather.

Glad to hear the mix of Greek & Roman statues have gone, they looked a bit B grade Hollywood movie prop to me & a clash of cultures to some degree.

So what are your thoughts on the big makeover? What has improved, what is a disappointment?

Ship looking good.All soft furnishings renewed.Staff good.A lot of complaints about food in MDR.Quite a lot of items on menu not available.Shortage of drink lists and those available have no prices on them.No explanation for this.

They should have those trivial negatives sorted soon enough once she hits Sydney & gets into the Australian season I would imagine.

Have you tried the flowrider or 3D cinema?

Too old for Flowrider! Seems well used however and those using it seem to enjoy.Mini golf has been renewed and is next to Flowrider.It is more my scene.

Over the last few days have been filming a promotional video around the ship using a drone in dining room etc.Even stopped the ship for 10 minutes to film above and around it.To be used as marketing campaign in Australia.

Also a disappointment as it the area is less functional in cooler weather.

 

Glad to hear the mix of Greek & Roman statues have gone, they looked a bit B grade Hollywood movie prop to me & a clash of cultures to some degree.

 

Wonder why they removed the statues... the area looks a bit plain and boring now.

I did a NZ cruise on Voyager late last Feb, and the only time it was too cold to really use the pool etc in the Solarium was when we were going through the sounds. Otherwise the water was heated enough that I quite often enjoyed an evening swim.

Wonder why they removed the statues... the area looks a bit plain and boring now.

Agreed - some statues are better than nothing at all! It's possible they'll update that area later though, can only hope.

I did the Singapore to Darwin sector - I would never book a cruise straight out of a refit but I was a guest as a competition winner.

Very disappointed - and no I'm not a whinger. Some people drew the short straw and with compounding issues such as delayed boarding, short staff, short on food and certain drinks, and other sundry issues, etc I believe they have every right to complain. Some had greater issues than I did.

I've cruised 14 nights on her before last New Years Eve so can compare apples to apples

Food was disgraceful in the MDR - first time in 26 cruises I've actually sent meals back - not because I didn't like them - because they were stone cold and/or disgusting. Our seating was 8.30 pm - on the 3 nights of the 5 nights we ate there service was incredibly slow.

Gionvannis and Izumis were a welcome relief for a decent meal - worth every cent - even the Windjammer was a welcome relief :p

Some of the new virtual balcony cabins had no air conditioning and only hot water - can you imagine the heat? The virtual balcony cabins are very cool though (if you air-con is working LOL)

The ship is extremely short staffed (I understand 400 crew did not board in Singapore - or perhaps jumped ship in Singapore after doing the 4 night music booze cruise. The reason our boarding was delayed - passengers refused to leave the ship and/or went "missing". Singapore immigration put the ship into lockdown until they were found - then the crew had to do a massive clean up). After finally boarding (that didn't bother me - the new Singapore cruise terminal handled 3500 pax - albeit not enough seating) the ship was also delayed due to waiting for a food delivery - I believe they ended up leaving without it.

There is no longer a tea/coffee/drinks station on the pool deck (not on our sector anyway). Which means if the Windjammer is closed you either have to go to Deck 4 to Cafe Promenade or go back to cabin for room service. Ridiculous, particularly if you have been swimming or it's before 7.00 am or after 9.30 pm when the Windjammer opens/shuts.

Flowrider is great :D

High notes - Deck 14 (or 15???) is the new nighclub - just doesn't cut it for a nightclub now The Vault is gone (The Vault is now Giovannis)

Many complaints floating about were re Guest Services inability to do anything and their rudeness.

We were able to buy 5 days of the drinks packages :D I don't drink but got the Royal Replenish package which was great at $20 per day for mocktails (real mocktails! not just the fruit juice stuff), premium coffees from Cafe Promenade, bottled water, soft drink, etc. Well worth it.

My cabin (9530) had a dodgy card reader - every time I left my cabin I could never get back in so I would have to trudge down to guest services (no I was not demagnetising the cards). On Day 3 I finally spat my dummy at Guest Services at 2 am (going back for my 3rd lot of new cards for the day). Eventually on Day 4 they sent maintenance to fix it. Guess what...................but they did send me a bottle of wine for my trouble pffffft. :rolleyes:

Viking Crown Lounge/High Notes furniture is still shabby

The Staff Captain is the rudest person I have ever come across on any cruise ship and tore strips off the poor guy in Cafe Promenade (he was the only one working) when he couldn't find his staff card near the register. Seriously, in front of passengers - he should be thrown overboard as the 2nd in charge.

Hopefully all the dramas will be ironed out between Darwin and Sydney. Many many journalists got on in Darwin - I hope for RCL's sake they have some stuff sorted.

I have to write a proper review but these are just some things that came to mind - yep no canopy over the Solarium which is a shame, particularly for an NZ cruise

PS: I have a feeling they didn't finish a lot of things - ran out of time? There are no coffee tables in the cabins any longer, but my cabin had new curtains and a new sofa lounge and new carpet

Someone has posted an official CC review of their Voyager cruise after boarding in Singapore and only being on board for 24 hours. Needless to say they are not happy.

However, I am confident that RCI will iron out the kinks before we board on the 29th.

Sorry to hear the Solarium has not been covered which the refurb blurb indicated was happening. I loved the covered Solarium on the Rhapsody. But hopefully, we can still use it on our way to NZ like Drew did. If not, will have to make the most of it on our way to Fiji during the first week of our cruise.

A couple of other things that spring to mind after reading that review.

Their new you beaut wifi doesn't work very well at all and incredibly slow. The satellite was also out a lot so mobile phone service was non existant - a pain as I need to work. The Captain called it the "alleged wifi" haha

You have to pay to watch a movie on your television! Now that's just wrong. Charges were $12.99/$14.99 for regular movies (not the porn channels LOL)

Cleanliness - there is none - the public toilets were disgraceful - hardly ever cleaned - no toilet paper - I wouldn't be surprised if there's a gastro outbreak if they don't get that sorted! Same with Windjammer - tables not cleaned properly.

I did run into two old staff from my last cruise. My dining room waiter (he was serving breakfast) and the crew member who greets you at the Windjammer - does anyone remember the "washy washy" girl? She was on there.

Debbie, you mentioned that the tea/coffee station is gone from the pool deck. I take it that means there is no free ice-cream/frozen yoghurt either?

Not sure teen son will cope without that. lol!

Debbie, you mentioned that the tea/coffee station is gone from the pool deck. I take it that means there is no free ice-cream/frozen yoghurt either?

 

Not sure teen son will cope without that. lol!

It's still there but wasn't always open

BTW I had a fun time but those that know me know I'd have fun on the Titanic :eek::eek:

Thanks for the additional revues. Anyone try the 3D cinema?

I recall when Voyager left Asia maybe 2 years back there were a lot of issues with staff & noro. I think the crew on Voyager tends to be more Asian so they have a different attitude at times & after dealing with mostly Asian passengers in the off season it requires a 'readjustment'?.

But by the time we cruised on her the problems & noro had been sorted.

We booked her again for march 2016, which in the final weeks of the Sydney season so all issues I expect stemming from the Asia/Australia change over will have settled down.

We liked VOS but prefer Radiance, but sometimes you can't find the cruise you want to the places you want, at the time you can travel & also get the ship you prefer as well!

I wish they would do some new itineraries altogether though, some Tonga & Samoa, Tahiti even would be nice out of Sydney for a cruise that isn't a repositioning.

Disappointing to read that VOS is not up to scratch. I wonder what Explorer will be like:eek:

I agree completely with Debstas comments.I will detail more when off ship.The MDR is very poor and for the first time ever have gone to Windjammer for dinner and it is much better. I am Diamond with RCL but this will be my last.The only compliment I can give them is the number of times they sorry.Problem seems to be at management level.

I'm thinking my cruise on the 8th will be interesting!

I'll make the best of it. ;-)

Interesting to note that the Voyager "Upgrade" website has been updated and the Solarium is now just listed as Adults Only with no mention of the Glass Canopy.

Interesting to note that the Voyager "Upgrade" website has been updated and the Solarium is now just listed as Adults Only with no mention of the Glass Canopy.

Yes, that's because I advised them via their Facebook page of the error & they said they would fix the web site & seems they have!

:D