Voyager of the Seas 10-10-10

[WK-Orlando]

First let me say that if you have not taken the inside loop around the Mediterranean, it is something to consider. Second, I will warn you to prepare for an expensive trip. The exchange, the VAT taxes, the $5 baby cans of coke.. This is not one of those discount Caribbean trips. Tours are expensive, lines are long and even the toilets cost money. Then there are the French to deal with! Will cut to the chase.

Starting with the stops.

All were great.

Barcelona was the starting point. Watch out for the pick pockets and stay out of dark alleys and you will be fine. Easily three days worth of cool stuff to see and do. Airport is nice and cruise terminal is good as well. Fly Delta and you can even check your bags at the pier rather than dragging them to the airport.

Naples, Rome, and Florence

First, form a group of eight and call Limos in Rome. Both of our drivers were great! Stay off the ship bus tours. The lines are horrid and traffic worse. The small mini-bus they use for eight is comfortable and can get through traffic in half the time. Drivers will let you set your own agenda and can get you around the lines. (likely a tour mafia of sorts... use it when it works!) We saw twice what the big bus tours saw and it cost us less money. Pay for everything in Euros.... The exchange is NEVER in your favor... Pampai was great, but be careful of trips to the Leaning Tower. Stairs are VERY dangerous and saw a couple of people get hurt. Long difficult climb that leaves ankles in serious pain from the worn out steps. In Rome, you really need the limo driver! Without help, you will spend half the day stuck in traffic and the rest standing in lines. In all, Italy was not as clean as France and Spain but a lot more fun and relaxed. Next time we do this, we are going to take a cruise that starts in Rome so we can have extra days there. A week would not be enough to see half of the good stuff...

Nice and Toulon France

'Nice was nice' but the transport strike cost us half of the day. The French information ladies were overwhelmed by people looking for help and gave very bad information... By the time we figured out how to get from the port to the city around the transit people, half the day was lost.

In Toulon, there is nothing near the port... Have to take a tour and best to just go with ships groups. Only problem was they wasted several hours of our time in this little boating community that was already shut for the season and even if open had nothing to do. Would have been better if they left us in the main part of Toulon which has nice places to walk and shop. Still a nice stop. Were forced to return early when the ship contacted the tour operator and warned of highway blockades by striking unions. The guide told us strikes are a national pastime in France and that most of the French people want to shoot the strikers for all of the trouble they are causing and the fact that people not in those key unions already have to work 5 years longer and more hours each week to pay the taxes that cover the bloated union pensions.... Glad we got out before it got really ugly. Did get to watch them burn a casket at the Nice train station... very classy... The strikers were definitely not the image France tries to market.

The Ship:

Voyager is a very nice ship. Showing a bit of her age but still better than most. The season in the med is ending and they are obviously doing some prep work for her next assignments. As a rule RCL has the best ships in the industry (imho) and despite what I am reporting below, I stand by that opinion. This ship had some problems but fortunately not that impacted us too much directly. Most of what I describe below is not attributable to the ship but to management issues we have not encountered on other RCL ships. I was very surprised at some of the staff compared to other RCL ships I have been on.

Ship Issues:

There were several areas of the ship with the ole sewer smell going strong. Decks 7 and 8 starboard were particularly bad as was the elevator areas of decks 1 and 2. My cabin was deck 8 starboard-aft and our section was ok but we had to walk through that stink to get out to the common areas and it was not a appetizing smell... Went most of the week and I was surprised people did not make more of a fuss. But that hallway was always empty... This was all week. Not sure why they could not fix it. Likely the entire system needs to be purged and that is dry dock activity.

Our steward was very nice and professional. Cabin always clean. Basically met all the best expectations except for the day we came back and found our door propped open and steward nowhere to be found. We had camera, prescriptions and other items out and anyone could have helped themselves. Decided to wait for him to see what was up and 15 minutes later he returned. Told him we did not appreciate the door being left open when he was not around and he said he was detained. I let it drop but did ask that he close our door when not actually in our room. We took the hint and started locking everything in the safe that would fit.

Shops Aboard:

The usual lack of merchandise in the shops. Everything was picked over and even if you really want to spend, there is not much worth it. Even the cheap stuff was trashy and in short supply.. Even almost out of t-shirts... This may be due to the season end but I have noticed that a lot of ships have cut way back on what they stock in the shops and gone way down on the quality/class of the items. Nothing high end at all worth even looking at. Can't even guess how much money RCL is leaving uncollected by stocking the stores so badly. Also, beware of the taxes. On these med routes they collect an 18% sales tax on everything. They claim you will get it back, but only some of it (less than 13% and only on stuff over $50... no refund on taxes for food, drinks, services...) and it takes work to really get the refund, including a long line on the ship for paperwork and at the airport police station to get it stamped. Just assume that money is gone... take the already high drink prices, add tips and then 18%... One small drink cost me over $7 and that was bottom shelf stuff... First and last drink I ordered... Started bringing my soda from shore as a coke was not much better.

Other signs of cheeping out are popping up and seem to be getting worse with each trip... As a frequent cruiser, I no longer 'need' the ship pocket map but my wife collects one from each ship we sail on for scrapbooks. Sad thing as they have dropped them much to the confusion of new passengers trying to figure out the layout. No chocolate on your pillow any more (yes not much but always a nice way to finish the evening... can't cost them more than a few pennies.. its the little touches people that make the experience). The list goes on. Each item is minor on its own but taken together, does diminish the quality feeling of the cruise. Internet on this ride was almost unusable and of course the charges rack up while you sit and stare at nothing. Really wish they would start charging by bandwidth use rather than time. But that would mean, no service, no money... most ports had free wifi nearby, or even in the terminal building, so take a cheapo netbook along and the money you save on the internet will almost buy you the computer. Beware iPads as they are very difficult to connect on most of these ships due to the crummy wifi chips Apple uses. Better off with a netbook and you can use it to back up your photos every night... Fits in the safe very nicely!

Food:

In general, the food is still VERY good on RCL. The anytime dining option needs a lot of work. We were turned away several times for not making a reservation when the dining room was half empty. The greeters were very unpleasant people and we got tired of the hassles after the second night and started using the buffet for the remainder of the cruise. The waiters in the restaurant were top notch. So, if you can get in, it is great... Princess has a much better handle on this anytime concept. Best to use fixed dining on RCL until they 'train' the dining reception people better. Turning guests away from a half empty room is very tacky... half of the reservations never turned up... If they are going to demand reservations every night for anytime, then it is not really anytime anymore... :-) We did anytime on Oasis this spring and it worked fine... So maybe just Voyager that needs to toss the Matradee overboard. Sharks have to eat too... :-)

Buffet hours have been cut again so when your tour returns at 4pm and you are really in need of a bite, nothing til 6:30 at night (closes at 3pm and at 9:30pm). Johny Rockets and the freezer pizza on deck 5 are it and both are really horrible. Really wish they would dump Rockets for a burger place that uses something that tastes better and does not burn the snot out of everything (Well done and cremated are the only options...). They were empty most of the time and the milkshakes and onion rings are all we could take that tasted normal. Saw a few people get up and leave the food behind. One lady tried to get the charge dropped it was so bad.. Other lines have the buffet/burger solution running about twice the number of hours RCL does now. The burgers in the buffet were actually good(way better than Rockets), but only served at lunch now, not available at dinner... Dinner buffet was very limited in selection. Upside was Sushi and ice cream at the buffet every night...

Really irritating to return from an expensive tour and not be able to get anything to eat. Most of those ship tour included lunches are not very good and these tours are a lot of exercise. Our private tours took us to really nice places to eat but we had to pay for the food. Actually not expensive and very quick...

Art Auctions:

For those of you that like the art and hate Park West. Well on Voyager, both are gone! These rides only have one sea day and stay in port until 7pm so not much of an opening for art sales anyhow. They are gradually dumping Park West off all of the ships (can't imagine why :-) but what is replacing them is not much better. On Oasis, the new operators use the same methods, shaky claims and had a very limited inventory. We bought a take-off item but mostly there was not much sold and not much to buy... We really like the art activities on the ships if not the art companies so I am hopeful it will make a comeback and all of the legal bills will convince the lines to clean up the shady operators.

Entertainment:

OK, here is where I will get very tacky. THE ENTERTAINMENT STANK!!! (except for the Ice Show.. Very good as always..) The stage shows were horrible, a waiter climbed over us in the dark theatre, cutting my wife's foot with his shoes, and never even stopped to apologize. We left when he tried to go over us again. The performers were definitely the third string and the shows must have been designed by someone in early rehab dementia... Many people walked out including us... First cruise in 12 years that we did not stay for one whole show the entire cruise... One show was Beatles impersonators... will not say more... The cruise director was nice and his assistant was very good but there was really nothing good to do in the evenings. Most boring ride we ever took with regards to the entertainment. I know these trips are ports every day, but at least a good comedian or guest singer that is not lip syncing. Throw us a bone people.... would have even suffered a comedy juggler... some entertainment relevant to the region.. there is an idea! Spain and Italy have to have some acts for hire... The activities on the promenade were about the only thing that kept people up past 9pm at night. If not for those, would feel like a NCL or Holland America graveyard ride. We were on Grandeur early in the year and despite being a much smaller ship on a four day run, the entertainment was MUCH better. Obviously Oasis was fantastic this Spring! Maybe they don't want to spend on a trip with late ports everyday or corporate wants the passengers to throw this cruise director to the sharks... I asked the assistant what gives and he just shrugged his shoulders and said this is what they were given to work with. Guess he had already heard enough people complaining... just chuckled with him about the impersonators and asked if they got more than room and board for that routine or did they have to work the laundry to cover their meals. That busted him up big time. :-)

Oh well.. I will sign off by saying that the itinerary was GREAT. If not for the Union of Lazy Pampered Wine Bloated Frogs messing up two of our stops, it would have been FANTASTIC! Everyone that wants to see Europe should take a cruise like this first to get the feel of the different places. Then you can go back in the future and park for a week or so at your favorite spots. Cost wise these cruises are really the only way to go if you want to sample a lot of different spots for a reasonable price. We will def go again but likely not on RCL for this run. Maybe if there is a ship change... Still bought our future booking credits as this is the only stinker ride they have given us over the last 10 years and we have taken three this year alone.

Good Sailing!!!

[jorapp]

Wow. It is too bad you had such a disappointing onboard experience. So many times folks have to endure unpleasant occurances in port or during excursions, which are (for the most part) out of RCI's control.

 

Most of what you described seemed to be ship related. I sure hope they address these areas before our turn onboard Voyager in Feb. If we experience these problem, DH will absolutly insist we try another cruise line, which would make me sad.

 

C'mon RCI, get your act together!

[baggal]

We were on the Voyager this past summer - same itinerary. I agree that the buffet, or at least one side, should be open earlier. But weren't there sandwiches in the Promenade Cafe (on 5) or tapas between 5 - 6 p.m. at one of the bars (on 3 or 4 I think)?

 

We had MTD. I had made a reservation months in advance for a table for 4 for 7:30 p.m. for every night. On the first night, we were very rudely told to return at 8:15. I refused and told the maitre d that I made these reservations in March (this was late June) and I wanted to be seated right away. Again I was told to come back at 8:15 p.m. I felt like I was in the "Chinese Restaurant" episode of "Seinfeld." I could see I was getting nowhere so I told her that I had a medical condition that required THAT I EAT RIGHT AWAY (which is pretty much the truth - low blood sugar was already kicking in). We were then seated. Then I did something that I rarely do - I complained to the headwaiter. And he did something that I never expected. He immediately went out to "ream" her. And the next thing I knew, I had a new best friend who apologized profusely. I didn't let her off the hook so quickly. I told her she needed to work on her communication skills (she had recently been promoted - or so she said). As it turned out, we had a wonderful table WITH THE BEST SERVICE THAT I HAVE EVER HAD ON A CRUISE. We stayed at that table for the rest of the cruise, and even though we were tired at the end of a long day of sightseeing we looked forward to going to dinner because of the wonderful service (the food, IMO, was no wonderful). But my DH joked that he felt he was pressured to be at dinner exactly at 7:30 p.m. because of my initial request.

 

End of story - RCI does need to get the kinks out of their MTD system.

[Merion_Mom]

 

Oh well.. I will sign off by saying that the itinerary was GREAT. If not for the Union of Lazy Pampered Wine Bloated Frogs messing up two of our stops, it would have been FANTASTIC! Everyone that wants to see Europe should take a cruise like this first to get the feel of the different places. Then you can go back in the future and park for a week or so at your favorite spots. Cost wise these cruises are really the only way to go if you want to sample a lot of different spots for a reasonable price. We will def go again but likely not on RCL for this run. Maybe if there is a ship change... Still bought our future booking credits as this is the only stinker ride they have given us over the last 10 years and we have taken three this year alone.

Good Sailing!!!

 

What an awful thing to say.............I am laughing so hard, the tears are running down my face! :eek: ;) :D

[kikiw]

I was on the Voyager right before your cruise, and I have to agree about the entertainment. The ice show was good, and the Majestic part of the farewell show was good, but the other shows weren't that good. We've notice waiters climbing over other guests to take an order or serve a glass of alcohol as well. Luckily, we didn't get disturbed.

 

I was turned away from MTD on formal night too. We were there at 6, but they couldn't seat us until 9. She said we really should make reservations a day in advance, so we made a reservation for the rest of the week for 8:30, and went to cancel if the menu wasn't to our liking.

 

My cabin is on deck 7, but my family and I didn't notice any sewer smells. I was in the aft section on the right side if your face is facing the front of the ship. (No, I can't tell starboard from port side)

 

Thanks for writing your review of things. I've been tempted to write one, but not sure if anyone would read it since we did pretty boring things.

[WK-Orlando]

They really need to explain that my time is reservation required. On the other lines, my time is like a regular restaurant. Reservations are only available on the ship and most people just show up and wait for a table with one of those little pagers. RCL way is not very flexible. Still have to lock to a time rather than go when you feel like it... That is what my time should be. On Oasis, there was a line for those of us that just showed up. Was not a long wait either and that ship is huge. They even had info on the TVs showing the wait times for all of the food venues so we could decide to go now or wait awhile...

 

Think the Voyager system is just a waste. Might as well not have it. or at least they need to explain it better.