Live - One Way Voyage(r), Boston to San Juan 10/30

[Momof3gurlz]

Sorry for the lack of posts. As stated, internet is HORRIBLE.  This is the first time I’ve even been able to get the CC board to load, I was starting to think it was blocked.  I’ve been taking lots of pictures, will post them when I can.  There seems IMO to be a lack of entertainment so far on the ship.  Sleepy piano music in Schooner Bar and piped in elevator music on the pool deck.  

Edited October 31, 2022 by Momof3gurlz

[mo&fran]

19 hours ago, Td6462 said:

This is the only test I can get to complete at the moment. 

That test says the server is Vancouver. Isn't that on the west coast of North America.

[Momof3gurlz]

Going to try to post some pics while I’m here.  We are loving our Jr Suite.  

 

 

 

 

[Momof3gurlz]

A few more from yesterday.  Brave souls on the Flowrider on a windy 62 degree afternoon.  
 

We backed out of this channel, literally at the end of the Logan Airport runway. 

 

 

It was a beautiful sail away out of Boston. 

 

We watched a little football at the Schooner Bar. Here’s their bar stock.  

 

We were starving at 6:30 and didn’t think we’d last until our 7:30 My Time reservation.  Andy suggested we stroll thru the WJ to see what they had.  Wayyy in the back, we found them grilling up thin rib-eye steaks, so we decided to just eat there.  With a baked potato, salad, broccoli and Key Lime Pie for dessert it was delicious.  
Today turned out pretty nice on the pool deck, sun & clouds and about mid-70’s. One quick little rain shower and then the sun returned.  I do wish they’d had some better music.  I tried a Goombay Smash (delicious) and a Mojito which was disappointing - too sweet and not enough mint.  I’ll keep trying!

[DaniDanielle]

Have a great time!!! 

[bobmacliberty]

Glad that you were finally able to post.  The internet (or lack of it) would really bother me.  Schooner Bar liquor selection looking as weak as R Bar.  I'm sure you'll still find some good drinks.  My last 2 cruises also had the sleepy piano music.  What's up with that?  Where's the upbeat sing along stuff?

[Tree_skier]

On 10/24/2022 at 12:08 PM, Momof3gurlz said:

Welcome to my first Live report! We're less than a week from departure, so I figured I'd get this started. I debated doing this report but ultimately decided to go ahead since there aren't many out there for Voyager so hopefully this will benefit some.  I'm pretty tech challenged so this is a stretch for me.  I also don't have the writing skills of some of the well-known posters, nor do I have a fancy camera or GoPro.  It'll just be my I phone and my 2 cents worth.  My photography skills consist of point, shoot and hope for the best.  I plan to update this at least once a day and answer any questions you may.  **Disclaimer - this is all dependent on Internet speed on Voyager**.  Please don't ask me to post web speeds or pings or anything like that -- I wouldn't know how LOL.

 

I'll start with a little about us.  We're Deb and Andy from RI.  Both retired and the parents of 3 adult daughters and 5 grandchildren.  We took a hiatus from cruising for quite a few years, focusing on our kids with school, sports, family trips, etc.  We came back to cruising in 2013 for our 25th wedding anniversary, sailing on Explorer of the Seas and we were hooked.  Our most recent cruise was in April of this year on Anthem of the Seas 7 nt Bahamas run out of Bayonne. 

 

About This Cruise

I came across this while browsing sailings out of Boston for this year.  I don't love to fly so the repositioning and only having to fly home was appealing to me.  

Also, the rates for a Jr Suite seemed quite reasonable.  We typically sail in OV Balcony cabins but booking the Jr Suite for this cruise would bump us from Emerald to Diamond.  Here's our itinerary:

 

LEAVING FROM

 10/30 - Boston, Massachusetts

Departs at 4:00 PM

 10/31 and 11/1 - Cruising

 11/2 Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Bahamas

From 8:00 AM '- 5:00 PM

 11/3 - Cruising

 11/4 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

From 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

 11/5 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

From 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

 11/6 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Arrives at 6:00 AM

We're staying overnight in San Juan on 11/6 at the Casablanca Hotel and we fly home the next day on Southwest into our local airport here in RI.  One of our daughters will drive us up to Boston on departure day and we can Uber home from the airport - it's a whole 7 miles.

We've been to St Thomas several times and have visited quite a few beaches.  With the later hours and if weather permits, I'd like to do a sunset catamaran sail.  During the day we'll probably just walk around downtown. 

Puerto Plata is new to us, we plan to just check out the area.  We're cruising with friends in January on NCL with a PP stop, so this time is more of scouting trip. 

I was hoping to book Coco Beach Club but it's sold out.  I'll ask onboard to see if there are any cancellations, but not holding my breath.

We have Voom internet and have purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package for me and the Refreshment Package for Andy.  He doesn't drink alcohol but loves Diet Coke, virgin Pina Colada's and Bloody Mary's and is a coffee fiend.  I'm not really a big drinker and we're lucky to break even with the packages, but for us it's worth the convenience, YMMV.

No specialty dining reserved, we'll play that by ear.  We're usually happy with the MDR and may check out the Windjammer options a couple of nights.

 

 

 

Sorry I'm late to the party... 

[Ozark_Kid]

The Jr Suite looks nice.  I want to try one soon. 

Hate hearing that the internet is not working good.  Don't let it bother you,  we can enjoy the pics latter.

[nich3cats]

I was on a b2b oct 16 & oct 23. In the room the internet was almost unusable. Up on deck 5 promenade it worked a little better but still very slow. Very disappointing considering the cost was very high. 

[Coralc]

4 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Going to try to post some pics while I’m here.  We are loving our Jr Suite.  

 

 

 

Where is your refrigerator/cooler? 

[Td6462]

51 minutes ago, Coralc said:

 

Where is your refrigerator/cooler? 

Also in a JS. Our "cooler" is located next to the slider in the bottom cabinet. As a newer cruiser, i did expect something different from our first JS. I don't actually mind the "closed in" balcony. I actually like not having another cabin be able to look around the corner. The room is IMO lacking in quality.  I will stipulate our other two cruises were on Odyssey and Symphony so this is a big age difference. We chose this b2b to island hop from a home port. All else aside IMO this is the seemingly happiest crew we have had of our ship trips this year.

Edited November 1, 2022 by Td6462
Spelling

[Td6462]

Tonight's surf and stream test 11:15 PM.

[Biker19]

14 hours ago, SG65CB said:

Seems like "Stream" is not being delivered as promised.

RCI doesn't advertise/promise the speeds of the two tiers - we only know them from customer reporting.

[grapau27]

13 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

A few more from yesterday.  Brave souls on the Flowrider on a windy 62 degree afternoon.  
 

We backed out of this channel, literally at the end of the Logan Airport runway. 

 

 

It was a beautiful sail away out of Boston. 

 

We watched a little football at the Schooner Bar. Here’s their bar stock.  

 

We were starving at 6:30 and didn’t think we’d last until our 7:30 My Time reservation.  Andy suggested we stroll thru the WJ to see what they had.  Wayyy in the back, we found them grilling up thin rib-eye steaks, so we decided to just eat there.  With a baked potato, salad, broccoli and Key Lime Pie for dessert it was delicious.  
Today turned out pretty nice on the pool deck, sun & clouds and about mid-70’s. One quick little rain shower and then the sun returned.  I do wish they’d had some better music.  I tried a Goombay Smash (delicious) and a Mojito which was disappointing - too sweet and not enough mint.  I’ll keep trying!

Nice photos Debbie.

Graham.

[flamingos]

14 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Sorry for the lack of posts. As stated, internet is HORRIBLE.  This is the first time I’ve even been able to get the CC board to load, I was starting to think it was blocked.  I’ve been taking lots of pictures, will post them when I can.  There seems IMO to be a lack of entertainment so far on the ship.  Sleepy piano music in Schooner Bar and piped in elevator music on the pool deck.  

I am so sorry to hear that - but by 'sleepy piano music' you're not talking about the woman playing classical music, I hope.  We really enjoyed listening to her.  

[flamingos]

8 hours ago, Td6462 said:

Also in a JS. Our "cooler" is located next to the slider in the bottom cabinet. As a newer cruiser, i did expect something different from our first JS. I don't actually mind the "closed in" balcony. I actually like not having another cabin be able to look around the corner. The room is IMO lacking in quality.  I will stipulate our other two cruises were on Odyssey and Symphony so this is a big age difference. We chose this b2b to island hop from a home port. All else aside IMO this is the seemingly happiest crew we have had of our ship trips this year.

The crew is awesome, and part of that is the captain.  If you go to the Top Tier event, they bring out regular crew to recognize for years of service.  Nice touch.

[Sea Dog]

16 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

 

Here’s their bar stock.  

 

 

 

Looks very pitiful. Hey at least they have Maker's. So disappointing to see this

[Momof3gurlz]

Just a quick update and I hope to post more tomorrow.  I finally went to the internet desk this afternoon to complain about the inability to access nearly any website.  I wouldn’t have cancelled the plan because it’s still important to us to be able to iMessage back home or WiFi call if needed.  But to be honest, if we couldn’t get better internet service I would expect some sort of credit or refund against what we paid. If I’m going to get terrible service, I shouldn’t be paying full price for it.  We had the same plan (Voom Surf) on Anthem in April and had no issues at all.  Anyway, he offered to upgrade us to Surf & Stream at no charge and things seem to be working okay now.  Still a bit slow, but at least we websites load now.  
Tomorrow is Coco Cay so I should be able to get up to speed.  

[ClemsonTiger96]

I’m enjoying your review so far, and can’t wait to read the rest. My wife and I both love the Voyager and Freedom class ships, over the larger ones. Puerto Rico is also a favorite stop of mine. Have a wonderful cruise!

[buffet24]

Saw you guys leaving Boston on Sunday... Bon Voyage Voyager!!! 

[Td6462]

10 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Just a quick update and I hope to post more tomorrow.  I finally went to the internet desk this afternoon to complain about the inability to access nearly any website.  I wouldn’t have cancelled the plan because it’s still important to us to be able to iMessage back home or WiFi call if needed.  But to be honest, if we couldn’t get better internet service I would expect some sort of credit or refund against what we paid. If I’m going to get terrible service, I shouldn’t be paying full price for it.  We had the same plan (Voom Surf) on Anthem in April and had no issues at all.  Anyway, he offered to upgrade us to Surf & Stream at no charge and things seem to be working okay now.  Still a bit slow, but at least we websites load now.  
Tomorrow is Coco Cay so I should be able to get up to speed.  

Same for me... it appears we are still strapped to the ship's internet. It seems the coco cay network is just a repeater network of the ship you are on. I did a speed test next to a couple on Liberty with surf and stream. They are getting 38mbps down and 8.5mbps down on the Liberty network. Sitting directly next to them on the voyager network I'm still getting .5mbps down and .12 mbps upload. So frustrating! 

[Momof3gurlz]

Good morning from Coco Cay!  It’s a beautiful day here, but it might be our last day of really nice weather.  We have another sea day tomorrow, then Puerto Plata which looks like rain for at least part of the day.  Saturday looks like all rain in St Thomas 🙁 and thunderstorms in San Juan.  
The upgrade to Surf & Stream seems to have solved the internet issues so let’s get back to this “Live” report actually being live!

I have dinner menu pictures and Cruise Compasses.  The compasses I’ll post later on.  We‘ve only been going to the WJ for breakfast & lunch so unfortunately I don’t have MDR menus for those.  
 

 

Night 2 was Halloween.  There were a lot of people dressed up, some really great costumes. We did not dress up and made it to the MDR for dinner.  We both had the Poblano Pepper Soup, Braised Beef Short Rib and Mississippi Mud Pie.
Service was a little slow but everything was hot and tasted great.  Sorry, but I forgot to take pictures of anything but the soup.  
 

 
 

After dinner we hung out at the R bar.  We’ve found the staff there to be the best so far.  They just work together, in a tight space I might add, like a well oiled machine.  They’re also very friendly and engaging.  @Sea DogGreg, who knows which of the bartenders will still be on when you sail, but Bradley in the R bar is great. 
Right now I’m going to enjoy my first cocktail of the day, so I’ll add more later.  

[Momof3gurlz]

On 10/31/2022 at 6:22 PM, bobmacliberty said:

Glad that you were finally able to post.  The internet (or lack of it) would really bother me.  Schooner Bar liquor selection looking as weak as R Bar.  I'm sure you'll still find some good drinks.  My last 2 cruises also had the sleepy piano music.  What's up with that?  Where's the upbeat sing along stuff?

 

On 11/1/2022 at 7:50 AM, flamingos said:

I am so sorry to hear that - but by 'sleepy piano music' you're not talking about the woman playing classical music, I hope.  We really enjoyed listening to her.  

I agree it’s lovely, relaxing music.  I just don’t want to listen to only classical music.  
Things picked Halloween night and yesterday on the pool deck.  They had salsa dance lessons, a live duo and of course the Belly Flop contest.  Last night was 70’s night which is always fun & lively.  

[Momof3gurlz]

On 10/31/2022 at 7:02 PM, Tree_skier said:

Sorry I'm late to the party... 

Don’t worry, you haven’t missed much LOL.  Technical difficulties pre-empted the “Live” portion but it looks like we’re back in business. 

[Momof3gurlz]

2 hours ago, buffet24 said:

Saw you guys leaving Boston on Sunday... Bon Voyage Voyager!!! 

What a great picture, thank you so much for sharing!