Z reviews Voyager! 13 Jan 2008

[TEXASMUNK]

When asked why I love to cruise, I always add one important note....

 

You cannot get a DWI on a cruise ship!

 

Been there will the over indulgance, grateful I have a wife who doesn't beat me up until the next morning...when the commentary has the most impact while suffering a hangover.

[Hypo]

*I almost didn't recognize the woman in the show cause she went from platinum blonde to brunette and around a B cup to a DD :eek: ).

 

 

Z, Los Pampas Gauchos use one of the RCCL dancers from the ship as the female part of their act. I have seen them several times, and always a different woman. (Unless he picks up a new girl friend for each cruise? lol)

 

I agree with you that their act is very enjoyable and high energy. Do not miss the Artistry in Fluorescence part of the show. It is pretty neat.

 

Hypo

[Choozin Croozin]

I'm dying to know if Zan got to feeling better and if Alex cheered up. It's like Friday afternoon on a soap - will she feel better-- will her mood improve. Oh, the suspense!

 

I never thought of that, but YOUR RIGHT! Alex reminds me of that commercial for RCCL....the one where every time mom goes to take a pictures she frowns? LOL.. I'm NOT dissin' her, that's life with that age!! :) Been there done that.:rolleyes:

[SuzyQCruise]

Yare such a peach for doing this. I sounds like such work...but the fruits of your labor are sooooo appreciated!!

 

Perhaps, could Day 5 be done earlier than later, being a sea day and all...

:D

 

Do have a nice couple of days off, while you are slaving for our benefit...

 

We are leaving Friday afternoon....so will enjoy what you have time to do...

[tkportersat]

Awe :( I did that excursion twice and we loved it. I usually am one of the ones that drinks too much and dances on the way back, just can't help myself! The photographer Nacho was a hit with us too.

 

I went on the same catamaran tour in Cozumel and honestly it was terrible, the snorkeling was no more than a swim with a mask as it was not on a reef as advertised, and like you say no sailing...next time in Cozumel I will likely just shop and save snorkeling and diving for when I go to Australia or Fiji where I really like the reef.

 

Sounds like you had a tough day during the Cozumel port day...with your DD being however older teens get....my DD is 7 so I have a few years before I face those challenges.

[zantedeschia]

 

Z, Los Pampas Gauchos use one of the RCCL dancers from the ship as the female part of their act. I have seen them several times, and always a different woman. (Unless he picks up a new girl friend for each cruise? lol)

The guy introduced her as his wife. The picture on the compass showed her as platinum blonde, which is how she looked a year ago last time I saw the show.

[zantedeschia]

Yare such a peach for doing this. I sounds like such work...but the fruits of your labor are sooooo appreciated!!

 

Perhaps, could Day 5 be done earlier than later, being a sea day and all...

:D

 

Yes, it's time consuming. I am determined to get days 4 and 5 done today!

[HighlandCruzer]

Z... thanks a lot for your review and compasses. I leave this Sunday and it's been a real treat to get a sneak peek into what to expect. Though I'm not big on "planning" my day as I'm one to just go-with-the flow :) it's still nice to see what stands out as not-to-be-missed.

 

I hope everything works out between you and your daughter. Lord knows I've brought much drama to my parents as a teen. :D

[cpayne]

Anxiously awaiting more details....do tell!

[vssy]

Yare such a peach for doing this. I sounds like such work...but the fruits of your labor are sooooo appreciated!!

 

Perhaps, could Day 5 be done earlier than later, being a sea day and all...

:D

 

I am also most interested in day 5! Thanks again. It is great to have these in advance! I leave Friday as well to visit my daughter & 2 month grandson in Houston. I can look at them there but her printer is on the fritz!

Thanks again!!!!

[zantedeschia]

Day 3 through Day 5 Cruise Compasses are up. Going back to writing now. :cool:

[mimmik]

Thanks for all your work, Z. It is much appreciated!

[scopewest]

This is a great review, thanks so much!

[vssy]

Thanks so much for your hard & frustrating work on the compasses! It is so helpful.

[TEXASMUNK]

#1

I love the review!!!!

 

#2

Problem with a child? Why do you think people recommend you bring duct tape on a cruise?

 

#3

People we are ALL reading these daily updates, there is NO NEED to COPY the whole darn thing in your reply!!!!!

 

#4

I have to assume, but since the review is not quite over, the daughter is not left on some island or thrown overboard.....can't wait for the next installment. <---yes, I am a crumudgen!!!!

 

and did I mention ..... THERE IS NO NEED TO REPEAT THE WHOLE REVIEW just so you can add a one line reply? Reply, but save us the scroll time!!!

[dnoble74]

OMG, glad to see another great Z review! This time last year we were on board Splendour (we miss that beautiful ship)! Frank & I are getting ready for our turn at Voyager, departing on 2-10-08. My bro and SIL are joining us. Your scans of the Compasses are really great! You and Scott are still together, huh? Hope you're doing okay! Again, thanks for taking the time to review your cruise and scan the Compasses!

 

Debbie

[zantedeschia]

#1

I love the review!!!!

:D :D :D Thank you all for the nice comments!

 

Problem with a child? Why do you think people recommend you bring duct tape on a cruise?

I did not take duct tape but I did take a power strip and that was well received, with 3 cell phones and the laptop and the camera charger. Cell phones are also used as alarm clocks and for telling time.

 

Did not use the mini sewing kit or safety pins or rubber bands. Didn't use the water shoes or the drawstring carry bag. Didn't use any of the first aid stuff but that's not something I'm going to leave behind. I took some Clorox wipes but beyond wiping the telephone and the remote control, we couldn't figure out what else to wipe.

[zantedeschia]

I had forgot to mention yesterday was the Welcome Back Party for all Crown & Anchor members, gold, platinum and diamond. They had 2 times for it, 5pm and 7:30pm. The lure of free champagne wasn't enough to motivate me to go, I wasn't in the mood for socializing.

 

Later in the evening was the Country & Southern Rock in Studio B where Capt Gerry made an appearance playing the guitar and singing. Everyone is really impressed by our musical Captain!

 

I wanted to clarify that I returned Alex's excursion tickets not out of spite but because she has this penchant of refusing to do things when she's in a mood, and I did not want unused tickets going to waste. I took her off my credit card cause I knew she would go to her boyfriend on the Internet and I didn't want her wracking up a zillion dollars in Internet charges. Forgot to mention I ripped off half the door decorations in a snit, the part that had Alex's name and her "birthday girl" ribbon. Jonathan stuck it back on where it hung precariously. Pity I didn't offer him the tape.

 

Shrek the III is showing in the Screening Room today.

 

Something that backfired on me - I picked the starboard side cause I thought we'd see more land. But it was always the port side that was docked facing land and since we always came in on the mainland-facing side of the island heading south, it was the port side that saw land as we approached.

 

Roatan has capacity for 2 cruise ships at any time - a docking spot and a tender spot. We had the dock spot. The Costa Mediterranea had the tender spot and was moored not too far from us. This was about the smallest pier I think I have ever seen. Perpendicular to the ship, you walk right off and into Roatan. There's a small open air market adjacent but I suspect that will expand the more the tourist dollars flow into Roatan. The tender ships disgorge people right next to where Voyager unloads, you'll see when I post the pictures. The weird thing about it was there was never a crush of people.

 

Today I realize there was no parade the first day. There are a bunch of other events missing but I'm waiting to see if they happen later in the week, and especially on the two remaining sea days. I missed the Johnny Cash Tribute on Day 2 which people say was pretty good. I think I would have gone if I'd gone if I'd know they were also doing Patsy Cline (yeah I know, it was right there in the Compass if I had bothered to read it).

 

There is some post-apocalyptic movie on the TV with Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone, an unlikely pairing of movie stars. We don't find out the title. There are 2 Sandra Bullock movies (the other is Premonition) and 2 Drew Barrymore movies that play this week, kids get engrossed and are loathe to be torn away, I promise to look them up and buy them when we get back. Looked them up in IMDB, the movies are Demolition Man, Lucky You and Music & Lyrics.

 

My telephone reads Claro HNO, the Honduran wireless provider.

 

The weather outside is about 85 and mostly sunny. I'm later told this is unusually warm weather as it is still the rainy season.

 

The tour I selected is the Hikers' Ridge and Forest Adventure. We picked up the group on the pier right near Voyager. They separated us into 3 groups, fast, medium and slow, gave us water, a walking stick and a glove which everyone donned but I tucked into my waistband. We went into the slow group because I planned to treadmill every day to prepare for this but got lazy and didn't walk nearly enough. For some reason, someone decided they wanted the groups to be even and insisted people switch groups, a stupid decision one would think since I believe most people would know which would be the best group for their fitness level. We volunteered to switch and got put into the fast group.

 

While we were milling around, I chatting with a lovely woman whose name was Lou. Another couple recognized Jonathan and called out a friendly greeting, turns out he had played miniature golf with them.

 

We set off, the trail starts not far from where we are. We are to climb Mt. Mariah, elevation of about 850'. The pace not surprisingly is way too fast for me and I flag pretty bad. We drop out of the fast group, let the medium group catch up, then we drop out of that group and pick up the slow group. What's kicking me mostly is my asthma, partly my weight, I really need to drop about 25 pounds, and partly the heat. I totally give up near the summit, perhaps 60 to 80 yards of trail and another 40 to 50 feet in elevation. We were close, we could see the top of the ridge a little further up the trail. The people running the show are concerned and on the phone and call someone on the bottom to come up and take us back down. They do not leave us. I'm given an aspirin to help me breathe, when I think of it, it makes sense (thins your blood). Takes about 30 minutes to work, I'm kind of amazed by this. I honestly believe I could have made it if I'd stayed with the slow group, and I not shy about expressing this. If you decide to go on this, be warned the trail is quite steep and they still do this excursion in the summer when temperatures can reach 100 to 105F. A neat thing is the guide found some fresh guavas for us to try, I'm the only one that was adventurous enough. Guava being my third favourite fruit (after cherries and grapefruit). The flesh is pink, bland and full of tiny stone-hard seeds, that I spend a considerable amount of time spitting out.

 

Two people come up to take us back down, a security guard type who speaks no English and the owner of the tour company, a man named Felix who also happens to be a pastor. I do note the Spanish they speak sounds very different from the Spanish spoken in Southeast Texas, quite the different dialect. I know a mere smattering of Spanish but I have a good ear for languages (I used to speak Canadian French fluently, and I've studied Spanish and Japanese).

 

I really like the trip down because we have a dedicated guide who chats with us freely and answers my questions. I ask him about history and racial tensions as I've noticed many different colors of people in Honduras. He talks about it at length, there's the blacks descended from the slaves, some blacks that still retain their African heritage and language, the Spanish and the French. Quite the cultural melting pot. I had to run back to the ship cause I had forgotten my money. I didn't find him but I found someone who works for him and gave him $20 for the trouble we caused, hopefully it found its way back to Felix.

 

Even though Alex won't admit it, I know she misses the neat things we do on shore. She was in the room, we related our experience and she said she thought she could have completed the hike. Jonathan did too, but he didn't want to leave me. I asked Alex if she wanted to go back out and do something on the island. She agreed, and a truce was formed.

 

We went back out to the road that winds its way along the shore where there are more shops. If aggressive locals bother you, do not do this! I did what everyone says to do and picked up someone who offered to take us sightseeing in a taxi. His name was Edward, and there is another Edward associated with a different taxicab group we found out later. Edward wanted to take us to West Bay Beach. I insisted we wanted to eat some local food, he assured us he would do this. There was a woman cooking on the side of the road I wanted to try, no, no, her food is terrible. I asked him what he thought of our hiking cruise and he didn't have very nice things to say about Pastor Felix. Do you know Victor Bodden? No, he didn't like him either. I get the impression he's jealous he's not on the Internet to drum up business like Victor and Felix can.

 

I don't have enough money to pay him, so he takes me to one ATM machine which rejects my card, then a second one which also rejects my card (or my card rejected them). He says to get the money from the ship ATM and pay him after we get back. I'm immune to the pestering from the locals but Alex caves in to a little girl that both Edward and I had told to go away. She takes a bracelet and tells me to give the little girl a dollar. The bracelet is made out of coconut shells I think, it's pretty. These are the same type bracelets that other woman are asking $5 for.

 

Edward doesn't drive the taxi, someone else does. We speed up a winding road over the ridge to the other side of the island to West Bay Beach. This is one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen and I've been to some prime beach territory in places like Oahu and Sydney, Australia. We go to a restaurant that doesn't take plastic so he walks us a short distance down the beach to another restaurant that's attached to one of the beachfront hotels. He doesn't eat but allows me to buy him a beer, Alex has a strawberry daiquiri, yes she wants rum in it and I get Port Royal, a local beer which I like a lot. Edward says it's a "ladies' beer", meaning mild but it's more Corona mild, not Bud Light mild.

 

The food we got was not what I wanted. He didn't listen to what I insisted I wanted instead giving me what he thought I wanted. To his credit, I'm not a typical tourist and he couldn't know that so he just did what he thinks most people want, which is go to a nice beach with resorts on it. The food and drink was $50 which was way more than I wanted to spend and not the local food, which is what I wanted to try. I ordered some excellent conch ceviche, Alex got a huge pile of nachos. I got a "Honduran special" which was a very tough piece of skirt steak, rice, beans, tortillas, salsa. Probably sort of what the locals eat but not exactly. Aside from the ceviche, the food wasn't all that great. I explained to Alex how ceviche was raw fish that is cooked by the marinating action of the acid in the lime juice.

 

Back at the ship, I give Edward two five dollar bills that I have on me and run in to use the teller. Go back out and he's nowhere to be found. I asked about for 10 minutes, then he comes walking up. I give him another $60 which he says he's splitting with the driver. Through all of this he never quotes a price, tells me to give me what I feel is good, what he was worth. I think he was more than satisfied with $70 and would have accepted less.

 

I'm not finished shopping so I stroll down the street to the pharmacy. I find they're selling lamisil for double what I paid for it in Cozumel (14 for $60 as opposed to 28 for $60) and the clerk does a double-take at the price when she goes to convert. "This is expensive!" she exclaims. Then I go upstairs to the Casa de Habana where the guy there swears up and down the cigars are real Cubans. Something like 90% of cigars being passed as Cubans are fakes tho the people selling them will swear up and down they're authentic. I run into Jonathan's mini golf couple there who tell me I had it easy, the trail got a lot worse on the way down. Muddy and in parts so steep there were rope handrails they needed to use.

 

On the elevator (yes, I'm using the elevator because I'm so depleted from the hike) someone asks me how many cruises I've been on because they spied my platinum seapass! I had been showing it to a lot of people to find out they didn't know what it meant. :p (Sorry, I'm pleased as punch this is my first platinum cruise...)

 

Tonight is the Love & Marriage Show and the Battle of the Sexes, our Cruise Director Eric reminds us via public announcement. I didn't attend either but neat things happen during the Love & Marriage Show that I'll tell you about tomorrow.

 

Today is Wednesday and I'm just now beginning to figure out my way around the ship without consulting the map prior to every move. Still turned around 180. :(

 

In the room the kids are watching Spiderman III and one of the Fast and the Furiouses, II we suspect.

 

I finally have time to catch the Champagne Special. The bartender is named Zlata (from Croatia) and is the first and only crew member I bond with. Forging fast friendships with crew is something that happens all over the place on a smaller ship, but Voyager seems to be too large for this to happen. Anyhow, if you're crusing soon, be sure to go by and see Zlata and she will take good care of you. :) I also met a delightful gentleman named Glen whom I passed the time with. Ken and Anna was sitting at the other end of the bar sharing a bottle of champagne. I swear, we saw them everywhere we went, at the shows, onshore, you name it.

 

Glen has to go get ready for dinner so I decide to go watch the sailway. About this time I notice they are calling 2 names. How exciting, we get to play the "will they leave the people at the pier?" game! Passengers were gathered at the rail, some calling down to the people below, saying, "Leave them! Let's go!" I informed quite a few people who were not privvy to the fact that 2 people had yet to reboarded.

 

We were supposed to sail at 6 and at 5:53, 2 people stroll into the pier area, seemingly without a care in the world. The crowd goes nuts, some people yelling, some cheering, some whistling at the duo who are oblivous to the fact that they're holding up the entire ship. They saunter up to the gangplank and wouldn't you know it, they stop and fish around for their seapasses! I got the impression they were of the ilk that thought the cruise ship would wait for them no matter how late they were. They board, the gangway is pulled up and the thrusters fire up, that fast.

 

Back at the room, the hastily stuck on door decorations (the bottom half) are gone along with 3 of the bows. I query Lowell but he says he hasn't touched them.

 

Tonight is the second ice show. People on CC have said that you don't have to have a ticket, that there are a lot of empty seats. Not so on our sailing. I had noticed they had put out tickets on the counter at the purser's desk, but those were collected pretty fast. When we went to get seats, they *were* taking tickets at the door. Jonathan and I went down first and Alex showed up 10 minutes later. As far as I could tell, there weren't any empty seats.

 

Okay, about the performance. Words are not coming to me. The ice show was AMAZING. Maybe even more amazing than the Promenade (bite my tongue)!!! I can't emphasize enough if you do anything while on the ship, go see the ice show. The theme was tarot cards, with The Lovers, The Fool, The Magician, The Moon, The Sun, The Chariot, The Wheel of Fortune, etc. There were quite a few spills and flubbed landings, the most spectalar was the woman who fell on her double jump, I think it was an axel. I was impressed that she even attempted a double axel, a difficult jump even not on a moving ship and a tiny ice rink (which was real ice btw). It was outstanding. Do not miss the ice show on your cruise.

 

Time for dinner. The flow and balance of the conversation is still messed up. Alex is intensely disliking Randy, the alpha male who still is spending his time initiating talk with the other two husbands. Carol spends most of the time chatting with Angela. I wonder if Alex, Jonathan and I should switch our seats to try to disrupt the group, but I decide that's petty and not worth the effort. Tonight is Italian night, one of my favourites. I had the risotto, antipasti, garlic soup, strawberry soup, all of them good, and the lamb shank which was tender but a bit gamey. Strong, as Anna says. Speaking of Anna, I'm deciding that Anna and Ken are my favourite couple of the table. Anna is captivating with her thick Mexican accent (think Charo), bubbly personality and positive outlook.

 

At one point they were talking about drunk people wearing Time Machine t-shirts. What were they talking about? I didn't remember any Time Machine group. It wasn't until the next day I realized they meant *Travel* Machine, the agency that represented the KTDY group cruise from Louisiana!

 

For dessert I had the angel food cake which was not light and fluffy, but dense and gritty. Not sure what they did to knock down the angel.

 

I want to go to the 10:15pm event in Cleopatra's Needle featuring the Voyager Orchestra playing Big Band music but Alex wants to go to bed and I'm too worn out from the hike to go by myself.

 

We have rough seas again. Today's sudoku is set up wrong, it isn't symmetrical, which I find annoying.

 

More to come.

[Rockiesfan]

Thanks again for the compasses! We are all reading them and planning out our days (except DH, who keeps muttering "aren't you spoiling it to know it all ahead of time?" - not the obsessive type like the rest of us - but then asks "Do they have the dodgeball tournament on this one?") The info has already helped me pick my Portofino's and ice show times.

 

Can't wait for the next installment!

[Dialemic]

I will tease you more! I'm looking at booking the Mar 30 Voyager cruise, which I believe is the one you're on. :D

 

Me and my wife are gonna be on that one, leaving out of Galveston :)

[pruske25]

Thanks for sharing, We are going on Feb. 17 so thanks for the heads up. Like where the Captain was, and I am looking forward for the potato & jalapeño soup, sounds so good. Waiting patiently for the rest.

[takeavacation]

Just curious -- how old is your daughter, Alex? I have 2 teen girls myself --- 17 and 15.....so, just wondering.:rolleyes:

[zantedeschia]

OMG, glad to see another great Z review! This time last year we were on board Splendour (we miss that beautiful ship)! Frank & I are getting ready for our turn at Voyager, departing on 2-10-08. My bro and SIL are joining us. Your scans of the Compasses are really great! You and Scott are still together, huh? Hope you're doing okay!

Debbie

Deb, Hi! Nice to hear from you!

 

Yeah Scott and I are still together, doing better, he's behaving at least. :)

 

Just curious -- how old is your daughter, Alex? I have 2 teen girls myself --- 17 and 15.....so, just wondering.:rolleyes:

Did I forget to mention? My daughter turned 19 on the first day of the cruise. We did the birthday candle in the dessert thing Sunday at Portofino's and again on Monday in the dining room.

 

She's been cruising with me since she was 15. This was her 4th cruise.

[zantedeschia]

Btw, days 6 and 7 of the compasses are posted. I'll finish the kids' compasses later.

[WichitaCruiser]

Great review - it's so helpful! Sympathies on the DD - I remember when my daughter was there - no fun! The good news is that at 35, she is now a good friend and she and her DH have been on 5 cruises with my DH and me, and we've had a ball on those. (I'm just glad her Dad didn't shoot her at 13!)