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First cruise March 18

Rach Kev

By Rach Kev,
in Royal Caribbean International

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  • Clarea changed the title to First cruise March 18
M-H-B

M-H-B

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Welcome, hope you enjoy your cruise. 

Best time you will spend will be in learning the search functionality for these forums because everything you need to know is already here in past threads. Lots of “tips” past posts, and interesting and worthwhile things to read. 🙂

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cb at sea

cb at sea

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Research your ports...the more you know about them, the better time you will have.

 

Do what you want...it is a vacation, after all!

 

 

Try breakfast in the dining room, rather than the buffet....it's nice to be served!

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lazydayz Great Review Rare

lazydayz

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Don't try to everything the ship has to offer on your first cruise.  Each evening, study the daily activities for the next day and pick out the things you want to do on the ship.  Don't worry if you don't make it to all of them. 

 

If a tour of the ship is offered on boarding day, take it.  Attend the first time cruiser session if offered on your ship.  

 

Skip the port talks and shopping talks, as they are mostly just sales pitches.  

 

Give the main dining room a try for dinner.   If you don't like your table or dinner mates, you can ask to change tables.

 

Lunch is the main dining room on port days is wonderful.  Love the salad offering and I am not much of a salad person.  And at lunch, you can request a private table. 

 

For most ports, there is little need to book a ship excursion.  Do research on your ports, then research private vendors.  The port of call forum is helpful for this.  You will usually save money and have a more intimate experience on privately booked tours.  On the same token, if your ship is in port for 10 hours, don't book a private excursion lasting nine hours.  It takes time to get on and off the ship.  

 

Always give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship.  I like to be back at port at least one hour before "all abroad."  

 

Don't rely on your cell phone for the time.  Some ships stay on ship time, which might be an hour different from the port time. 

 

Don't forget to take some time to relax and enjoy the experience.  One of my favorite parts of cruising is just watching the water.  

 

 

 

 

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Rach Kev

Rach Kev

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1 hour ago, JohninDC said:

Arrive at least one day prior to sailing; flying in the day of the cruise is too risky with delayed or cancelled flights, etc.  

 

What ship?  What home port?  What airport?

Voyager of the seas. Sydney.

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Rach Kev

Rach Kev

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33 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

Don't try to everything the ship has to offer on your first cruise.  Each evening, study the daily activities for the next day and pick out the things you want to do on the ship.  Don't worry if you don't make it to all of them. 

 

If a tour of the ship is offered on boarding day, take it.  Attend the first time cruiser session if offered on your ship.  

 

Skip the port talks and shopping talks, as they are mostly just sales pitches.  

 

Give the main dining room a try for dinner.   If you don't like your table or dinner mates, you can ask to change tables.

 

Lunch is the main dining room on port days is wonderful.  Love the salad offering and I am not much of a salad person.  And at lunch, you can request a private table. 

 

For most ports, there is little need to book a ship excursion.  Do research on your ports, then research private vendors.  The port of call forum is helpful for this.  You will usually save money and have a more intimate experience on privately booked tours.  On the same token, if your ship is in port for 10 hours, don't book a private excursion lasting nine hours.  It takes time to get on and off the ship.  

 

Always give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship.  I like to be back at port at least one hour before "all abroad."  

 

Don't rely on your cell phone for the time.  Some ships stay on ship time, which might be an hour different from the port time. 

 

Don't forget to take some time to relax and enjoy the experience.  One of my favorite parts of cruising is just watching the water.  

 

 

 

 

wow that's very helpful. Thank you. we are celebrating my fiftieth so are keen to try out the fine dining that night 🤩

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M-H-B

M-H-B

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1 hour ago, Rach Kev said:

Voyager 10 days South pacific

Watch out for the cost of things in AUD in Noumea - I took my son to a place that looked similar to a local equivalent of a maccas and didn't get much but when converted to AUD, it had cost me almost $40!

Don't get the RCI Hop On Hop Off excursion or anything  like that - when you get off the shuttle that takes you into Noumea from the ship, there is a tourist hub and you can book everything there for much cheaper.

If you come over to the Australia/New Zealand forums then there are heaps of experts on the South Pacific and Voyager over there 🙂

 

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Rach Kev

Rach Kev

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9 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Arrive at least one day prior to sailing; flying in the day of the cruise is too risky with delayed or cancelled flights, etc.  

 

What ship?  What home port?  What airport?

Voyager Sydney Sydney cruising South Pacific

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mr walker Holiday Sharing Rare

mr walker

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6 hours ago, M-H-B said:

If you come over to the Australia/New Zealand forums then there are heaps of experts on the South Pacific and Voyager over there 🙂

 

 

Good advice, and we are mostly a friendly bunch 🙂

 

 

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bonsai3s

bonsai3s

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Envious...we were on the Voyager...Sydney to Heaven....ok, South Pacific.

Wish we were sailing with you...what would you like to know?  Any specific questions?

 

Don't know your itinerary...but if you are sailing to Isle of the Pines...simply walk off the ship...walk to the left...and you'll find some of the most breathtaking beaches in the world...water so clear you can see the bottom.  Happy Sailing!

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ReneeFLL "Live from...." Rare

ReneeFLL

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Here is your roll call. You will be able to chat with others on your cruise. Always good info here.

 

Day 1 - Sydney, Australia
Day 2 - 3 - Cruising
Day 4 - Lifou, Loyalty Islands
Day 5 - Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Day 6 - Port Vila, Vanuatu
Day 7 - Mare, New Caledonia
Day 8 - Isle Of Pines, New Caledonia
Day 9 - 10 - Cruising
Day 11 - Sydney, Australia
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2chiefs

2chiefs

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On 1/22/2020 at 1:54 PM, lazydayz said:

<<<SNIP>>>

 

Lunch is the main dining room on port days is wonderful.  Love the salad offering and I am not much of a salad person.  And at lunch, you can request a private table. 

 

<<<SNIP>>>

 

 

 

 

Our experience is that lunch in the main dining room is on Sea days, not Port days.

 

But yes, we agree, they are wonderful in our opinion. Most ships have the Tutti salad bar and many ships have a buffet set up as well as a' la carte off the menu.

 

T

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lazydayz Great Review Rare

lazydayz

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1 hour ago, 2chiefs said:

Our experience is that lunch in the main dining room is on Sea days, not Port days.

 

But yes, we agree, they are wonderful in our opinion. Most ships have the Tutti salad bar and many ships have a buffet set up as well as a' la carte off the menu.

 

You are correct, it is sea days!  Thanks for catching that. 

 

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dandtgeddes

dandtgeddes

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Welcome to CC Rach / Kev 😀

 

Take a squiz at the Roll Call, also sign up for the Meet & Mingle.

 

Most of our group is from NZ too, Jaffas mostly, but it is always nice to meet up with fellow Kiwis onboard, although, I am Aussie by birth...

 

See y'all soon!

 

TraceyG😊

 

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Guest William Scheigert

Guest William Scheigert

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Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Definitely join the roll call, which is located right here:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/voyager-of-the-seas-march-18-2020/

 

As it gets closer, see if they are having a Cruise Critic meet and greet, it will be nice to meet fellow CC members.

 

That sounds like an amazing itinerary, I am quite jealous!

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