Voyager of the Seas - Review 13/12/16-20/12/16

[J_Busworth]

I have just returned back from a 7 night South Pacific cruise onboard Voyager of the Seas, below is my somewhat lengthy review. I apologise in advance if it is tedious or boring. I didn't do every activity but tried to do most of the things offered onboard. I am also happy to answer any questions anyone might have. I will attempt to add photos after the review.

[J_Busworth]

Embarkation

Embarkation in Sydney was very smooth. I arrived at the port at 1pm and was onboard by 1.30. The porters came straight up to the car boot to take my bags, so I go go straight through to checkin with no wait followed negligible wait for security.

 

Cabin

I had cabin 8392 which is an aft balcony. It felt spacious for its size, with the beds by the balcony and a 2 seater couch. The beds were very comfortable, not too soft or hard. The balcony was great! The larger size and the two loungers were most welcome, plus the superstructure actually allowed for some nice photos. It's location at the far back of the ship was good as it meant I had to walk to the lifts, and it was nice and quiet.

[J_Busworth]

Dining

Main Dining Room - The food in the MDR this cruise for dinner was excellent as was the service. Our table had Stanley as our waiter with Tijana as his assistant. They both took good care of our table.

The menu order was; Mojo, Saffron (Formal), Shiitake, Coconut, Sage, Celery (Formal) and Pomodoro (Christmas Menu).

Escargot was offered and ordered every night despite the. warnings of a shortage on the menu.On the first formal night, I did the Chops steak which was only $10 that night, it was one of the best steaks I've had. On the second formal night, I did the Lobster for $20, it was of very good quality that would rival some land restaurants. For the final night there was a special Christmas Menu, the Turkey was absolutely divine. Pepper Grinders were available every night. MDR lunch and the Tutti Salad Bar were as always excellent.

Windjammer - The windjammer had a very substandard selection on this cruise. Puff pastry rapped Meatloaf was available on the carvery twice for lunch, with beef and ham only on one day each. Long lines formed formed of 30+ people for the single fries station the whole cruise, no attempt to fix the issue. The breakfast was very poor as well with most of the food cold and tasteless. But I must point out that the Bananas were in a bowl next to the ketchup and mayo, well away from the other fruit. (Hopefully you get this)

Cafe Promenade - I enjoyed Cafe Promenade very much, the Cheesecake Lollipops were to die for as were the coconut ranger cookies. These and all the other selection were available every second day. The pizza in the other hand was horrible and dry. The milkshakes here using the Ben and Jerry's ice cream was very good.

Izumi - Izumi was easily my best meal onboard. I had a sashimi platter which was very fresh and high quality. I also had a chicken breast hot rock and enjoyed it very much. The service here was impeccable here.

Giovanni's Table - Did Giovanni's for lunch on the final sea day as it was 20% off and enjoyed it very much. It was an 8 course degustation lunch. The highlights were the lasagna and the antipasto platter both of which I enjoyed. The fried seafood on the other hand was terrible.

Room Service - Breakfast was good. They always were on time and had better food than the windjammer. At others times it took a long time to get food, although the honey stung chicken was worth the wait.

[J_Busworth]

Entertainment

Production Showtimes - This cruise had two production showtimes. The first show "Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme" was very entertaining. The singers and dancers were spectacular in this Broadway tribute. The second show "Music in Pictures" was equally as good. They singers and dancers were very professional in both performances.

Headliner Showtimes - This voyage had a rather disappointing selection of headliner showtimes. Whilst they were all good, it would be nice not to have the same comedian twice and two different Beatles tribute bands. The farewell show with Bruno Lucia was the best of the bunch, he was very funny and had the whole crowd interacting and laughing along.

Ice Show - Ice Odyssey was extremely impressive. Repeated 5 times throughout the cruise, I went twice and was just as amazed at the skill of the skaters the second time round. Whilst the storyline was difficult to follow at times it seemed to generally flow and make sense.

Live Music - Kieran in the Pig and Whistle was very good, he had the whole crowd singing along with him. Maggy in the Piano Bar was also enjoyable and had a sizeable crowd.

[J_Busworth]

Onboard Activities

Parties - The parties on this ship were good, with Elise the activities manager being the

life of all of the parties. I went to the Glow Party in Studio B, The Dancing Under the Stars party on the pool deck during which we did the Mannequin Challenge and the 70's Disco Inferno Party on the Royal Promenade where we had a conga line stretching the length of the Promenade and all did the YMCA dance with the Macho Men. Overall the party scene on this cruise was very lively and fun!

Ice Skating - You had to arrive early for ice skating, as the sessions were often full well in advance. I went a 1pm once and was given a ticket for the 3:30-4pm session, with others having to come back on another day. The rink is only 1/4 size however is still a lot of fun.

Flowrider - The flowrider was very difficult although also very fun. They had stand up sessions from 9-11am and 3-5pm and a boogie boarding session from 11am-3pm every day of the cruise.

Bingo - Bingo was offered everyday at 4pm in the star lounge for $38 and if you repeated Elise's morning show passcode you got an extra game card for the final game. I won $410 on one occasion and got payed out in cash at Guest Services. Charlotte and Elise who ran this were full of energy and made it lots of fun.

Trivia - I only attended a few of the trivia sessions on this cruise that were run by Grace. They had general knowledge trivia in the mornings and music trivia in the afternoon most days. I did well on the ABBA and Beatles trivia, coming second and third. I also tried Christmas trivia, which I was ok at.

3D Movies - There was a 3D Movie in the La Scala Theatre at 2pm and 10:30pm most days. I saw The Martian one night and Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children during the first sea day. Other movies on included Trolls, All of the Kung Fu Pandas, X-Men Apocalypse and the latest Star Wars.

Christmas Carnival - On the final sea day there was a Christmas Carnival. It was a great way to celebrate the holidays on the ship. The singers did a carols concert with everybody singing along in the Royal Promenade which was absolutely packed to capacity. Santa did photo ops in front of the Christmas Tree and the kids got to decorate and eat gingerbread cookies. They even made it snow in the promenade over the singers and guests

[J_Busworth]

Ports

Mare - In Mare I was on the first tender off the ship at 8:30, before tender tickets were required. I chose to go to Yejele Beach, and booked a transfer through Royal for $10 each way. It had beautiful white sands and coral for snorkelling close to the shore. As it was warm and sunny the beach got busy quickly. I left around 1:30 and headed back to the ship. I visited the markets in Tadine, where the tenders docked before joining the long queue for a tender back to the ship. The ship left early at 4pm as everyone was onboard and a storm had begun to arrive.

Noumea - We arrived in Noumea at 11pm on Friday night instead of the scheduled 10am Saturday arrival due to the storm arriving in Mare. We were able to get off to experience the nightlife in Lemon Bay. The ship ran a shuttle for $10 each way between Midnight and 4am. During the day I did a City Sights, Beach and Aquarium tour organised by Royal Caribbean. We were supposed to leave at 10:45am but didn't leave until 11:30 due to the disorganisation on the dock. We visited two lookouts, one used as a firing point for cannons by Australia in World War 2. We visited the beach to have lunch which was provided. After this we went to the Aquarium which was absolutely stunning. Loads of fish, turtles and coral, all of which is released and replenished every 6 months. We arrived back at the ship at 3:30pm for the ships 4:30pm departure.

[J_Busworth]

Disembarkation

I had tag 20 which was supposed to be called at 8:45. At 9am there was an announcement for all tags 16-22 to now proceed to the gangway, this led to absolute chaos with hundreds all trying to get off at the same time. I waited over an hour to get off, with the line stretching the Casino round the port side lifts, through the stair lobby, out the starboard side board, all the way to the back of the ship and then forward again. They only had 2 staff members doing the whole things which really slowed things down.

 

Summary

Overall I had a great cruise onboard Voyager of the Seas. Cruise Director Mitch, his staff Charlotte and Grace and Activities Manager Elise really made this cruise fun and memorable, I hope to sail with them again and would not hesitate to book Voyager of the Seas again.

[DonnaK]

I haven't read a review of Voyager in a long time.

 

Thanks so much for sharing so many details with us!

[Haoie]

Nice! I'm just fresh off the Radiance myself and loved it.

 

What were the general age/nationality demographics of this sailing?

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[J_Busworth]

Nice! I'm just fresh off the Radiance myself and loved it.

 

What were the general age/nationality demographics of this sailing?

 

The captain said in his reception that there were under 3000 Aussies onboard and it showed. This was followed by Kiwis with just over 100 onboard Mainly younger crowd although there was a few older seasoned cruisers. Average Age in the 30s

[Haoie]

That's quite different age wise to the Radiance [mostly 55+]. We had maybe 80-85% OZ too.

 

Must be cause yours was a pretty short sailing so the younger crowd?

[J_Busworth]

That's quite different age wise to the Radiance [mostly 55+]. We had maybe 80-85% OZ too.

 

Must be cause yours was a pretty short sailing so the younger crowd?

Probably the short sailing and the start of school holidays last week whilst yours started in the school term. 1196 under 18s onboard.:eek:

[Sallyandtex]

Nice! I'm just fresh off the Radiance myself and loved it.

 

What were the general age/nationality demographics of this sailing?

 

Hi we are going on Radiance in Jan.

What was the entertainment like?

My daughter just came off Voyager same as this review, and whilst had a ball, said the entertainment was poor compared to last year.

[J_Busworth]

I will try to upload some of my favourite photos from the cruise.

Yejele Beach - Mare

Flowrider- Halved for Boogie Boarding

Christmas Carnival

This year's Christmas menu

View from balcony 8392 after arriving in Sydney.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[J_Busworth]

Hi we are going on Radiance in Jan.

 

What was the entertainment like?

 

My daughter just came off Voyager same as this review, and whilst had a ball, said the entertainment was poor compared to last year.

 

 

I have been on Radiance before, and it has in my experience much better entertainment. Voyager repeated the same comedian twice, I didn't particularly like him. The other entertainment was ok. Production shows better on Radiance, as were other headliners.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[clarky213]

We're doing almost the same cruise next December so it was good to see your review. Thank you. It all adds to the excitement 😀

[pk_crusing]

I had friends on this sailing, awaiting to hear what they thought.

We did Voyager out of Hong Kong last October, and as you can guess was a large Asian guests and our 4 kids were part of the 19 on the sailing. Hubby and I are going on Explorer 8 nights doing the same stops.

Thank you for your review great reading.

[Haoie]

Hi we are going on Radiance in Jan.

What was the entertainment like?

My daughter just came off Voyager same as this review, and whilst had a ball, said the entertainment was poor compared to last year.

 

Take a read of my earlier topic for entertainment:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2432808

 

And feel welcome to ask any questions there!

[megsie]

We were a family group of 13 - grandparents down to a 2 year old - and on this cruise.

It was just a fabulous family experience. So much for the children to do. The Christmas theme on the last day was very nice, even bonbons at dinner.

And the waiters, chefs, kitchen staff still sing at dinner!

Almost 3900 passengers and 1200 kids so it was very busy.

Particularly, our waiter at dinner was so patient and helpful with all the grandkids.

We did not hear of any whinging on this cruise.

Great time - all wanting to do it again.

[J_Busworth]

We were a family group of 13 - grandparents down to a 2 year old - and on this cruise.

It was just a fabulous family experience. So much for the children to do. The Christmas theme on the last day was very nice, even bonbons at dinner.

And the waiters, chefs, kitchen staff still sing at dinner!

Almost 3900 passengers and 1200 kids so it was very busy.

Particularly, our waiter at dinner was so patient and helpful with all the grandkids.

We did not hear of any whinging on this cruise.

Great time - all wanting to do it again.

I'm glad you had a great time like me! :D I was also happy to see the waiters still do a show during dinner.

[lucymorgan]

thanks for the review. I was especially interested in the review of the ports. Any other information or tips about the ports would be great!

Edited December 21, 2016 by lucymorgan

[megsie]

Unexpectantly we docked overnight in Noumea arriving around 11 pm. Due to some bad weather coming from Fiji. The ship arranged shuttles (cost) to Lemon Bay restaurant and nightlife area returning about 3am.

So there was no problems getting off the next morning. Free shuttles to the cruise terminal - about 5 mins. Ship excursions came to the ship for pickup.

We did the Tchou Tchou train - 2 hour tour then visited the supermarket and markets.

Mare was a tender port - so a little time spent in queues. If you were ready to go first up there was a call that no tender tickets required for the first 3 tenders. We had a leisurely breakfast and had about around 15 minute wait to tender ashore. Ashore another 15 minute wait to get on a bus to the beach.

Remembering Mare is a very small island and population, so I think every bus and minibus on the island were involved in the transfers.

As it started to become windy and a little overcast most seem to leave then. Same queues again. Considering the number of passengers onboard, I thought the queue waiting was OK as mostly we were moving along and the day was not overly hot.

And the beach was well worth visiting.

[J_Busworth]

thanks for the review. I was especially interested in the review of the ports. Any other information or tips about the ports would be great!

 

Mare is very underdeveloped, it is still very much an island with traditional culture. They literally brought out every bus in that island for us, most of them were good quality, some had aircon, others not. Everyone was very friendly. I was on the first tender of the ship, and the first one on the white sand beach as well.:D It was much nicer with less people on the beach and trying tonget buses so try to get off early!

 

The locals were selling coconuts and doing hair brading at the beach. If you get a coconut don't forget to go back and get it cut in half so you can eat the insides! Snorkelling gear here is recommended so you can see the colourful fish and not so colourful reef. Bring your own or hire for $10 at the beach (the ship runs out fast)

 

I would really recommend doing the Aquarium in Noumea, but don't do the ships tour as it is a ripoff. Just get a shuttle into town (free) then get the HopOnHopOff bus from the terminal to Anse Vata (where the Aquarium is located). Lemon Bay Is a nice for lunch or to go swimming, it is just a five minute walk from the aquarium, there are many restaurants along the beachfront here. If you are travelling with kids then the Tchou Tchou Train is a nice tour for them, although expensive. (have done before, only 2 hours with great stops).

 

Everywhere in Mare and most places in Noumea with exception of the aquarium which accepts card will take AUD so that's all you need.

 

It does get very warm and sunny in both ports so sunscreen is recommended for those with fair skin and insect repellent in Mare.