Review of the Voyager of the Seas to Canada 9/5 - 9/10

I've participated in the cruise critic web site since March 2004 and have read many reviews, comments, and questions about various cruise ships. I have completely enjoyed this web site and the comments and reviews posted by others on the site. I have had many questions answered by other cruisers, learned from other reviews, and have disagreed with certain comments made on specific topics.

With that being said, I am posting my personal review of the 5 nights I spent on the Voyager of the Seas to Canada. This was my 6th cruise overall and the 4th with Royal Caribbean. I am 39 yrs old and was traveling with my mother and my two children, ages 7 & 8.

I want to start by saying that during the past several months, I had the pleasure of chatting with several people on this cruise through the "meet & mingle" boards. Royal Caribbean does not host an official cruise critic meet & mingle on sailings that are less than 7 days, but I started a thread anyways and several other passengers joined in. We decided to have a gathering on the ship the first night so that we could meet eachother. We wore Mardi Gras beads as an identifier and some of us even met during the check-in process. It was wonderful to meet the folks that I had been chatting with over the summer months. A great bunch of people. And, it was a lot of fun to run into folks throughout the week. I'm very glad that I participated on the meet & mingle boards before sailing. I also found that there were a lot of people "lurking" on the boards and reading for information but not commenting. I realized this as it was posted on our meet & mingle thread that I am 6 ft 2 in tall with red hair.....three different people came up to me at different times during the cruise to ask if I was "Adventure Girl" and then told me that they had read my posts on this web site.

Anyway, we arrived at the Bayonne cruise port around 2:45 pm. After reading previous reviews I knew to stay to the "right" when entering the port. I thought that I was in the "right" lane, but after waiting for 30 min in backed up traffic I realized that there was another lane and I was actually in the middle lane and not on the right.....so keep in mind....if you are parking your car for the week....stay as far right as you can go....even if it doesn't look like there is an extra lane there. We parked the car, carted our luggage from the parking lot to the terminal (not far), and waltzed through check-in. No lines, no waiting. After checking in we had to wait about 30 minutes as the ship was not cleared for boarding. Royal Caribbean provided hot dogs, sandwiches, soda and water while we waiting.

We boarded the ship around 3:45 pm and went straight to our cabin to drop our carry-ons. We had an inside cabin on deck 9. I thought the cabin was in very good condition. We were completely satisfied with the cabin and the beds were very comfortable. We toured around the ship, registered the children at the Adventure Ocean program, made my salon appointment, and then went to meet all of my cruise critic friends.

We had the main seating in the dining room. We were in the Carmen dining room on deck 3. Royal Caribbean made the perfect seating arrangement by having another family with 2 young children seated with us for dinner. Our table mates were very nice and we had great conversation each night. Our waiter was Vilas from India and our assistant waiter was Ellen from Estonia. They were both very accommodating with the children, friendly, and professional. The dining room bar server was Alan from Dominica and he too was very personable, funny, and accommodating. I thought the food was average in the dining room. I was never disappointed with anything that I ordered and always left feeling full.

The highlight of the first night was the sail-away....leaving Bayonne at 10 pm and passing under the Verazzano Bridge. That was a site to see. The ship only clears the bridge by about 12 feet. My children were screaming as it appeared the ship was going to hit the bridge. It was definitely something not to miss. We then ran down to the main Promenade for the Mardi Gras parade. That was also enjoyable.

Monday was a full day at sea. The wind was very strong the entire day, and the entire week for that matter. The wind didn't stop my boys from swimming and they said the pools and the hot tubs were very warm. I went to the salon today and had the frangiapani scalp and neck massage. I have had this treatment done on every cruise that I have taken and this one was by far the best. I was very happy with the salon staff.

Monday was the formal night and the captains cocktail reception. We met the captain and also went to the evening show. I thought the shows were good and the cruise director, Richard Spacey, was excellent. He was very funny and entertaining. The shows throughout the week were typical Royal Caribbean shows....a couple comedians, the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, Krooze Komics, and the ice show. I enjoyed all of the shows.

Tuesday we were in New Brunswick. We left the ship around 10 am and went to the museum. The tour of the museum was very good....we took about 1 hour in the museum and then browsed a few gift shops and returned to the ship around 1 pm. Lunch in the dining room and then up to the pool deck for the afternoon so the boys could swim.

Wednesday we were in Halifax. We left the ship around 10 am and took a taxi to the Citadel. My boys really enjoyed this and we walked around the fort for about 2 hours. We returned to the ship around 1 pm and again, went to the pool.

Thursday was a full day at sea and again, it was very windy. We did have sun basically every day, but the wind was very strong. Even with the wind, a lot of people were on the pool deck today to enjoy the sun. The ship offered different activities during the days at sea, including music on the pool deck and music on the main promenade. There was also an ice carving demonstration today.

My childen participated in the Ocean Adventure kids club. They went to several activities throughout the week and by the last night, didn't want to leave. The counselors in the kids program were very friendly, funny, and kind to the children. The kids earned tickets for participation and at the end of the cruise were able to pick out prizes. My youngest also played family bingo and won three prizes during that. They also had Pirate night, which began with children's dining at Johnny Rockets, and then coloring pirate hats, face painting, and a pirate parade around the ship. My boys had a great time doing all of that. They also made several friends on the ship...including a couple of teenaged boys they idolized all week around the pool. According to the Adventure Ocean staff, there were 28 children on the cruise in my boy's age group. (This was perfect....not too overwhelming) The staff told us they had over 900 children the week before.

The fun ended on Friday morning. We were up and out of our cabin around 8:45 a.m. and we went to Cleopatra's Needle to wait for our color tags to be called. Since we were driving home, we had orange tags and were the last color to be called. Orange tags were called around 10:30 a.m. By the time we walked off the ship, found our luggage, etc. we were in the car and on the road home around 11 am

I thought our entire week was wonderful. I have sailed on the Adventure of the Seas twice and felt like I was home again on the Voyager of the Seas. The ship layout is basically the same as on the Adventure. I thought the Voyager was in good condition. I didn't notice any rips, tears, wearing, or any other flaws with the interior or exterior. I always noticed crew members cleaning, polishing, waxing, washing, etc. in all parts of the ship. The bar servers on the pool deck were always available and were friendly and interesting to talk to. As I mentioned already, our dining room staff was wonderful. The food in the dining room was good, I wasn't too happy with lunch in the Windjammer. Some items were good, others were not so good. But, I always found something to eat.

I went to the evening shows, including the Love & Marriage game show and the Rockin through the Decades dance party. Both were a lot of fun. The theatre was packed for the Love & Marriage show....which was very, very funny. My entire week was full of rest, relaxing, and having fun.

I was a little disappointed with my cabin steward. Don't get me wrong, my cabin was always neat and cleaned twice a day. But, Selena, the cabin steward was the most unfriendly person I have ever met. She never smiled, she never acknowledged us in the hallway, once I asked her to open my room for me as I forgot my key and she snarled back a nasty response. I believe she was just overworked. She and her assistant seemed to have responsibility for the entire hallway.....from the elevator area to the end of the ship.....basically two hallways in length. That is far more than I have seen on other ships.

I would definitely sail on the Voyager of the Seas again. In fact, I'm already looking into the summer 2005 sailings!

Excellent review! I'm sailing on VOYAGER in a little over a month so it was nice to read so many positive comments. It's seems most people are very satisfied with VOYAGER these days.... of course there are always exceptions to the rule! ;)

Sorry your cabin stewardess was not a little more friendly. I have no doubt she was overworked, but it doesn't take much to offer a smile .... I have to do it all the time in my job, even though many times it's the last thing I feel like doing. Maybe she didn't attend the training for "Gold Anchor Service" that Royal Caribbean likes to tout so much??!! ;)

Welcome home.

Ernie

Kim, It was great meeting you at our "unofficial M&M". Again thanks for coordinating the get together. Also, thanks for a great review, makes me feel like I was there. OH, I was !!!!!

We were on 8/27 sailing and had Vilas as our waiter in Carmen DR (to the side of the staircase). He was great. Our asst. waiter was Christian, though. He was very good. I guess they moved the staff around for the next cruise. I echo your review. Will post mine (of 9 day) as soon as I get a chance.

Thank you! we leave on next Sunday's sailing. Can't wait:)

By the way....in case anyone is interested....I usually "sneak" vodka or gin or wine in my suitcase when going on a cruise....on this cruise I carried two bottles of wine in my carry-on. I figured I would just give them up if anyone said I couldn't take them on board. I went through security w/o a problem...no one questioned anything in my bags. So, I don't think we need to call it "sneaking" liquor on board anymore. Apparently, it is not that big of a deal....unless you are carrying a large volume of liquor on board.

(I still ended up with a huge bar bill at the end of the week anyway)

Hey Adventure Girl - Enjoyed your review. Nice to hear from another Tall Girl. I'm also 6'2" and I stand out in a crowd. My hubby, like your is also 5'11". Sounds like you enjoy cruising as much as I do. So if I see you on an upcoming cruise, I'll be sure to say hi.

ps I'll be looking for my formal gowns in the bridal shops from now on. Sounds like I'll be able to find some great bargins with gowns that are actually long enough. Take care.

From the contents of your post, it sounds like you do a lot of reading on these boards! LOL ....I'm reading your post and I'm thinking...."did I mention in my review that my DH is 5' 11" and did I mention I wore one of my $5.00 gowns on this cruise?" Your so funny.....good memory!

Maybe we can cruise together sometime! That would really shock the passengers! I have to tell you.....I was in The Vault (disco) 3 out of the 5 nights....each night there were these 3 guys there...not traveling together...just always at the bar together. The first night I was there, I got up to go to the bathroom and I could tell they were looking at me. When I returned, one of the guys shouted out "Whoa, wholly, look at how tall you are! How tall are you?" And then the usual 2nd question...."did you play basketball?" The guy said "I'm 6 ft tall and you are towering over me!" (I was also wearing 2 in heels!) Well, on the last night of the cruise, this guy insisted on taking his picture standing with me to show his wife and friends back home....he also kept saying to me that he wanted to challenge me on the basketball court. I told him not to waste his time....I would stuff every shot he attempted!

Anyway....thanks for the comment......maybe we will run into eachother on a ship sometime. Take care.

Kimberly

Hi Kimberly - I know what you mean about the basketball question. I've had people ask me if I play in the WNBA. Unfortunately, I was way to uncoordinated to play basketball. I enjoy being tall though. One thing for sure is that people ALWAYS notice you. My 15 year old daughter is already 6'0". She's tall and slim. But she's way too prissy so she doesn't play basketball because she doesn't want to sweat! LOL. Talk to you later.

Beverley