Just Back from 3 Weeks on Voyager

[GMoney]

Just back from 3 weeks on Voyager of the Seas (Western / Eastern / Western) and had a GREAT time. 21 days at sea is hard to beat. :)

 

Here are some quick comments. I'd be happy to answer any questions too.

 

+ You do not get bored after 3 weeks on a cruise ship.

 

+ I avoided getting fat too, gaining no weight, due to a little portion control and 45 min on the eliptical machine everyday.

 

+ The weather was a bit tragic the last 2 weeks - lots of clouds and rain - but still managed to get a decent tan.

 

+ Capt Pettersen left after our 2nd week on board. Hated to see him go because he is really the best.

 

+ For being 6 years old, the ship is in great shape. Little wear and tear here and there, mostly on Voyager Dunes. Lots of work going on when in port to do minor refurbishing in preparation for Europe (for example, the railing on our balcony was replaced). Internet area could use some new PCs, and the gym treadmills, while all functional, really need to be replaced with the current generation of machines.

 

+ Paul Murphy (formerly Guest Relations) took over for Jospehine as Concierge. Paul did a really nice job of sprucing things up and paying attention to details, moving the furniture around a bit, getting actual USA Today newspapers when in port, replenishing the DVD selection, etc. The place was always ready to go at 5pm.

 

+ Lots of Germans on board Weeks 1 & 2; lots of French Canadians on board Week 3.

 

+ Food quality and overall service was the best I've experienced in 34 RCI cruises. Team at JRs was excellent - very nice, enthusiastic, lots of energy.

 

+ Entertainment was the typical horrible cavalcade of comedians and singers. Love RCI, but lets take a few of those Genesis dollars and spend them on entertainment.

 

+ On the 2 B2B days, all B2B guests were escorted off around 11am to pass thru Immigration, and then immediately reboard.

 

+ Knew this going in, but the Eastern itinerary is really a waste. It boils down to a St Thomas / Labadee cruise. Nassau and San Juan (which are not my faves to begin with) are throw ins, with the ship only in port from 7am - 1pm.

 

+ Lots of crew jockeying for (and away) Freedom. Reminds me of when they were filling all of the new Voyager and Radiance class ships.

 

+ Disembarkation was great. Used Travel Lite A to get off at 640am. Arrived at the airport by 7am, in plenty on time for a 838am flight. Security lines were longer than expected.

[cruizinrican]

GMoney, it sounds so wonderful! I have never taken a B2B and I am jealous that you not only did it for those 2 weeks but another week afterwards!?:p

 

I guess you better make sure you love the ship first bc you are stuck on it for 3 weeks if not! We hae also done the VOS twice and love her!

 

How did you wind up picking her to sail on for 3 weeks and why did you choose this type of vacation for you? Just really curious, if you don't mind.

[SRQfireman]

This begs the question....how'd you'd get your clothes washed??? I assume you paid RCI for them to do your clothes? I hope you retained the same cabin?? ...if not, that would have been a pain moving twice.

(you're going to need to change your tag line...the #'s don't add up.."34 RCI cruises" ) :)

[cruizinrican]

This begs the question....how'd you'd get your clothes washed??? I assume you paid RCI for them to do your clothes? I hope you retained the same cabin?? ...if not, that would have been a pain moving twice.

(you're going to need to change your tag line...the #'s don't add up.."34 RCI cruises" ) :)

 

What doesn't add up right? Poster isn't stating he has been on 34 DIFFERENT RCI cruise ships? :confused: He simply stated out of the 44 cruises he has been on, 34 have been on RCI ships. Some people like to sail the same ship many times.

 

Hope this helps.

[GMoney]

Hi Cruizinrican - Thanks for responding to my post. You are correct about what I intended to convey in my signature regarding my cruise history.

 

Voyager has always been my favorite ship in that class, largely because she was the first, because of Capt Pettersen, and because they brought it up to NJ, making it easy for me to sail on her. We booked 2 weeks B2B while on Navigator in Jan, and then booked the third week when we got on Voyager because I had a little extra time and the price was right.

 

Cruising to me is the perfect vacation and I've never had a bad one, so I keep going. :rolleyes:

 

Being on so long is very cool because you really get to know the staff and get a feel for what they see and go through week after week. You're totally right though in that I would not want to be on a ship I didn't fully enjoy for that long.

 

Hi SRQfireman - We did have to change cabins all 3 weeks, but that was due to upgrades so I can't complain. :)

 

Surprisingly, clothes were not too big an issue. I always travel light (carry on and a backpack), but I manage to carry a good variety of clothes. Some things did have to be laundered, but I like their service and the small price was worth it.

 

My SeaPass charges were relatively low ($140, $80 and $180 respectively, including tips). I made the most of my DP coupons and the Concierge lounge, and the weather restricted the amount of excursions.

[Merion_Mom]

Patrick, PLEASE tell us about those upgrades. What did you book/start with, where did you go first, second and third cruises?

 

Also, tell us about that third week: So, you were on board, and bookings were so low for that week that they offered you a "real deal" to stay on for one more week??????

[GMoney]

Hi Carol - The upgrades were significant. We were very well treated by RCI and I am grateful to them for that. It's nice to have your business and loyalty appreciated, because I haven't always felt that way.

 

As for the third week, the deal was the same as a HH special. But when you factor in the onboard credit and the upgrade we ultimately got, the deal was too good to pass up. :)

[Merion_Mom]

So, the actual cabin level upgrades are going to remain a state secret?? :confused: ;) :D

[jrm9999]

Who took over as Captain after week 2?

[GMoney]

Erik Tengelsen of Norway

[jrm9999]

Thanks.

[cruizinrican]

I can't believe what little money you spent while onboard!? Wow, that is really amazing! If I could go and spend that then I guess I could afford to go on a b2b cruise too!! LOL

 

I love the VOS and I think you picked a great ship to spend 3 weeks on.

 

PS-Did you get off on every port still or did you take advantage of getting a front row seat at the pool?

[GMoney]

I stayed on more than I got off, but that was more a function of the iffy weather than anything. Generally, I am perfectly happy right on the ship anyway. Weeks 2 and 3, when I did disembark, it was mostly for quick errands (internet).

[LuvMyVette]

Hi GMoney:

Three weeks of cruising.. I bet it was fantastic. Have you done that on past cruises?

DH/I had Captain Pettersen on Voyager in July last year and he was fantastic. He even showed up to our 10 year vow renewal reception and I was floored. I invited him to join in the celebration and he showed up. Joke was on me since I never expected him to go. He's a very sweet and sincere man. I will definitely miss him.

DH/I are going on our first B2B on Explorer in September. Based on your experience is there anything else that we need to look into? You mentioned that you are escorted off the ship and back on again. How do you obtain your SeaPass cards, etc.? I was informed that we would obtain our new SeaPass cards from Guest Relations. Any information you can provide me would be greatly appreciated.

Did you meet Patsy at the Schooner Bar? We saw her on Voyager in October when we took the five day cruise to Bermuda. At that time she worked in that area. This was our third cruise with Patsy and saw her twice on Grandeur. She was the bar manager at the Champagne Bar.

Welcome back and glad you had a great time!

[GMoney]

Hi LetsParty -

 

This was the third time I've done B2B, but the first time I've done B2B2B.

 

Totally agree with you about Capt Pettersen. He genuinely cares about his passengers. He is retiring in August and we will miss him greatly. Tengelsen is a little more removed and not as personable.

 

B2B works differently depending on where you are sailing from. Bayonne is more relaxed than MIA; we didn't even have to leave the ship then. We actually went to a local mall on the crew bus just as a little adventure. In both cases, we got our new SeaPasses from GR. The second week's SeaPasses will not necessarily be connected to your existing credit card information (don't ask me why, apparently it's not an automatic process, even if you do Sign n Sail for both weeks), so if you have trouble transacting Week 2, that may be why.

 

You should receive a letter from the Chief Purser explaining the process, but I'm not sure how consistent that practice is. I recommend stopping by GR on Day 4 or 5 of your first week, let them know you are sailing B2B, and what the exact process is.

 

I did not meet Patsy; but I love the Schooner Bar. After dinner trivia was very popular there.

 

Hope that helps! Have a great time!

[LuvMyVette]

Hi Patrick:

Thanks for getting back to me.

We had Capt. Tengelsen for our Bermuda cruise in October and it wasn't the same. We missed Capt. Pettersen by one cruise. When we got off the ship, Capt. Pettersen got on the ship. Will definitely miss Capt. Pettersen since he was such a wonderful person. I'll never forget what he did for our tenth anniversary. Our Social Host was in shock that he showed up to our vow renewal. Sad part is that we were late to our ceremony due to pictures so he came back to our reception.

My next favorite Capt. is Capt. Johnny Favelen (sp?). We had him on two cruises and he had such an upbeat personality. He flew back with us to Newark and we were chatting with him at the airport for a while. Great guy.

Thanks for the info. on the B2B. I was also informed to speak to the Loyal Ambassador ASAP and inform him/her of our B2B and our status change. Our first cruise we'll be Platinum and our second cruise we'll be Diamond (finally). Looking forward to the extra perks since several of our cruising friends are already Diamond.

Out of all of the RCI cruises you've been on, do you have a favorite ship?

Thanks again!

[cruizinrican]

GMoney-

It sounds very restful and relaxing! I am definately going to do this in the near future! I am dying to see what I am missing! After 17 cruises there isn't much cruise wise that I haven't done either but a B2B is one I haven't done, YET!

 

Welcome back and I am still jealous! LOL:p

[GMoney]

Hi Trish - Congrats on our change in upcoming status to Diamond! Seeking out the Loyalty Amb is a very good idea. I'd let the Concierge know as well, and you may want to call C&A beforehand. In my experience, a little prompting about your status and its privileges is sometimes required, and if they are important to you, you'll want to give RCI every chance to get things squared away.

 

I'm happy on any ship really, but I prefer Voyager class and then Radiance class. If I had to pick 1 favorite, it'd be Voyager, because of the people and the memories.

 

Best of luck to you!

 

cruizinrican - thanks for all of your kind words!

[dad son team]

GMoney-

 

How often did you eat in the dining room? One of my problem with doing RCI is that the dining room menu is the same on each ship and the food gets boring. Also, is there any advantage to doing a b2b instead of doing a longer cruise that doesn't repeat ports?

[GMoney]

Hi - We ate in the dining room almost every night, save Super Bowl Sunday. Few reasons for this - 1) our waiter is awesome and a good friend, so we basically go to see him, and 2) we had very nice tablemates all 3 weeks. I hear ya about the dining room menu, but I'm pretty flexible with the food and our waiter always brought us nice variations of the main dishes.

 

No real advantage to doing a B2B versus a longer cruise. B2B just gave me flexibility to get on the ship I wanted. I guess some might argue that going B2B get you more points with RCI, but that wasn't my motivation. We wanted to sail with Capt Pettersen again before he goes to Europe and retires. I'm more into the ship than the ports, but it would've been nice to hit St Maarten.

[LuvMyVette]

Hi Patrick:

Thanks so much for the Diamond level congrats. Felt like we were never going to get there! LOL I definitely plan on contacting C&A a few weeks before the cruise and remind them. I already informed our TA, C&A, RCI, etc. so it's on our file. Will definitely talk to the Concierge as well once we're on the ship.

A few people that I know prefer the Radiance class over the Voyager class and vice versa. I guess it depends on what everyone prefers. I'm not sure when our next cruise will be after this one but we're interested in trying one of the Radiance class ships just to see it. The Solarium looks beautiful and I wish they had that type of decor on the Voyager class ships. I also read that there's more glass on the Radiance class ships and you have more of a view from inside the ship.

What year did you start cruising and how many cruises do you take a year? Must be fantastic to be able to have the opportunity to go for so many. Way to go and glad you're having a great time.

Thanks again for your help, it's greatly appreciated!

[GMoney]

Hi Trish - My first cruise was Grandeur in Nov 98, but the pace really picked up in 2000 as far as doing multiple cruises a year. I've been very fortunate to be able to travel so much, so I'm grateful.

 

Try Radiance class - you will love it! And if you haven't hit the Southern Caribbean, I recommend that as well!

[LuvMyVette]

Hi Patrick:

 

WOW all those cruises in less than ten years! WTG! That is fantastic and if you can do it then go for it. Life is short and you have to enjoy every day of it since you never know when things can change. My dad always told my husband and I that if you can do things now, do it, since you don't know what your future will hold. He was right about that.

Do you have anymore cruises planned for this year?

Never cruised to the Southern Caribbean but hope to do so in the future. We cruised to Bermuda as well as Western/Eastern Caribbean. Living 35 minutes from Bayonne is a huge plus and I can pack as much as I want and not worry about the 50lb. limit with most airlines.

Since you're the pro here with cruises.. could I ask a few more questions (please...)?

Have you ever been in a hump cabin? If so what did you like/not like about it? (We have one booked on Explorer this year.)

What is your favorite Radiance class ship? Any of them better than the other?

Do you get any special perks for going on a B2B cruise?

Thanks so much for your help and sorry to keep asking so many questions.

C ya!

[LuvMyVette]

Hey Patrick:

Since you cruise so much with RCI did you ever meet Ray? He has cruised 70+ times on RCI. Met him on Grandeur in 2004 at the M&M party and chatted with him on CC. Just curious...

 

C ya!

[alexkrn46]

Sorry to hear about Capt P, he is one of our favorite captains. We have sailed with him twice. Thanks for the information. Alex