Voyager of the Seas arrived in Galveston today for her final season! (11/21/10)

[TexasTodds]

We were lucky enough to be spending the day in Galveston yesterday, and were driving down Harbourside to see the Conquest, and much to my surprise, there were TWO ships...I knew then that the Voyager had finally returned! I also say the line extending out of the terminal (about 1:45 pm) and wondered what was up--I immediately went to cruise critic (gotta put in a plug...I just love my new iphone), but couldn't find anything other than the Galveston Cam thread.

 

Voyager is a beautiful ship...we tried to wait around to see her off (watched Conquest leave from the patio at Fisherman's Wharf while eating dinner), but by 5:15, just had to leave...maybe next time!

 

Now off to do research on the Mariner, for planning a future cruise!

[hooked-on-travel]

About 2:30 in the afternoon, the lines for embarkation were all the way out the door, down the driveway, and almost to the front door of the Carnival terminal. I am attaching pictures. Maybe these unfortunate issues caused that to happen. We came back by at 4:45 and Voyager's muster drill was just ending, so apparently things were not moving as slowly as they appeared to be.

 

The unfortunate incident I saw was in the 9:00 hour in the building where you claim luggage and then wait in a long line to go see the customs person. They did close a few customs lines for a little bit while they were working with the person in the corner nearest those lines, but I think the lines were only closed about 15 minutes. I don't think the incidences in the building would have held things up much, but couldn't say for sure. We were in the 8:15-8:45 group and think we got off near the end of that time range. We were checking in our bags at the airport about noon and we were on our way.

 

Does anyone thing it took longer to get everyone on board since there were 871 children?

[ask2112]

Voyager was a great boat to sail on when we lived in San Antonio. But Mariner is nice as well!

[Fitnessmaniac]

Hi Rick - tell us what you really think! :D

 

We will dearly miss our crew that has been so great to us on Voyager these last few years but I can assure my fellow Texans that Mariner will be a lovely lady to sail. We enjoyed her and will be booking the 11/29/11 cruise when on board in only 6 days. YEEHAW!

 

I'll be happy to post a report on Voyager when we return and will try to give pertinent details on entertainment and activities.

Hey there! We had to cancel our 11/28/10 because our children wanted us to be home for our 40th wedding anniversary. However..we are booked for the 11/29/11 with you guys again! (for the Mariner)

We just booked Voyager for 1/30/11 as well. Can't wait! :)

[joandian]

I loved Mariner and can't wait for her to be cruising out of Galveston.

 

Jo

[pcl_cruiser]

We are going on the Voyager over Christmas. I am very excited and we are planning to sail on the Mariner in two years, we are doing an Alaska cruise in June and on the Allure next Dec and we are gonna try out the new Carnival Magic when she docks in Galveston sometime in 2012 as well.

[wolfganghowell]

Hi marcia - well we will "see" you next year! :) I see you are doing Infinity - she's a beauty and the food is awesome. :) I remember I had great luck in the casino - 21 hit about 8 times in a row on roulette. By the 4th time, the pit boss was staring at me thinking I was a witch and a crowd was gathering wondering how many times it would keep happening. :D

 

Now if only some of the TA people would give us a report. :)

[sevenseassailor]

Voyager or Mariner no matter which so long as we have a ship in Galveston. It does seem RCL is getting a fare premium out of Galveston. Only problem for me with all Voyager class ships is no Chops. Just did Oasis end of Oct and will be glad to sail on smaller ship. Oasis was just too big with cabins too small. So we will be on Voyager Jan 9th to 23rd and hanging out in Concierge Lounge for pre-dinner drinks.

[carkosh]

Voyager or Mariner no matter which so long as we have a ship in Galveston. It does seem RCL is getting a fare premium out of Galveston. Only problem for me with all Voyager class ships is no Chops. Just did Oasis end of Oct and will be glad to sail on smaller ship. Oasis was just too big with cabins too small. So we will be on Voyager Jan 9th to 23rd and hanging out in Concierge Lounge for pre-dinner drinks.

 

Isn't Voyager the only ship of the class with no Chops? I know when we sailed Mariner a couple of years ago we ate in Chops. We have a b2b in March on Navigator; I'm pretty sure I noticed Chops on one of the deck diagrams...will have to check again.

 

Btw, we loved Mariner & are so glad she's coming to Galveston next year. DH wants to do Voyager (which we haven't sailed on yet; I know, weird, since we live 90 miles from Galveston lol) because he loves New Orleans!

 

Carol

[shmthaus]

Though we will be sad to see Voyager leave, we can't wait till 11/11/11 when we board Mariner for her inaugural (sp?) out of Galveston for 9 nights. I wonder if Derek will jump ship.....:D

 

I know that RCCL says the economics for a full time ship out of Galveston doesn't add up, but many of us thought they were wrong when Rhapsody left. We mounted an email campaign, but to no avail..:(

 

Oh well, about 5 more years before we can go anywhere we want with no time constraints..... I hope my retirement can support it...:rolleyes: or I may be welcoming guests at Walmart...

[shaggyofwv]

Isn't Voyager the only ship of the class with no Chops? I know when we sailed Mariner a couple of years ago we ate in Chops. We have a b2b in March on Navigator; I'm pretty sure I noticed Chops on one of the deck diagrams...will have to check again.

 

Btw, we loved Mariner & are so glad she's coming to Galveston next year. DH wants to do Voyager (which we haven't sailed on yet; I know, weird, since we live 90 miles from Galveston lol) because he loves New Orleans!

 

Carol

 

 

Mariner has a Chops, but the Explorer does not. Mariner may be the only Voyager class with a Chops, but I have only been on two Voyager class ships so I cannot say for certain.

[Darkwolfe]

In one way, if you're a local cruiser to Houston, you're going to be getting at least something of an option between Mariner and Voyager. Voyager is only going to NOLA when she comes back across the pond after all.

 

That's driving distance from Houston so if you gotta have a Voyager fix, it CAN be done! :D

[BonTXNY]

We're GLAD she is back.

We have a B-2-B scheduled soon, on her

for our 5th year in a row....

 

Thanks for posting these photos of this beautiful ship and, the Galveston sunset.

 

Hey, Gary and Susan, we were with you on the Rhapsody a few years ago. We met you at Gaido's the night before our cruise. Jack and I will be on the Voyager on Jan. 9. I noticed you have a b2b in Jan. Would be fun to meet up with you again. If you'll be on our cruise, please come on over to our roll call.

[pspercy]

We had a PR for the crossing

 

How was the PR ?

Thinking of a TA in one, comments welcome.

[dplusd]

We just returned from our first TA on the Voyager yesterday. The ship is in excellent condition and the staff were all very friendly and efficient. Our stateroom attendant (Melvin) and MDR waiter (Bonny), were both excellent and helped make our cruise so enjoyable.

 

We had beautiful weather in all the ports and for the crossing...could not have been much better. There was just one day early in the cruise that the upper decks were closed due to high winds.

 

The food was good and we enjoyed Portofino's a few times during the cruise. If you go to Portofino's ask for Peter...he is the best. We ate at Johnny Rockets a couple of times and that is a refreshing break from "cruise food" every day. I sure wish RCCL had good pizza...that one thing I miss on board.

 

We disembarked at 8:45 and did not notice a medical emergency. It may have been over by the time we entered the building. The lines were long, but I thought they moved pretty fast...certainly not the worst I have seen!

 

Glad to hear the sailing left close to on time yesterday. Last year we were on the first sailing after the TA...the fog delayed cruise that kept us in Galveston until the morning of day three! Weather was pretty good yesterday...even a little warm!

[hooked-on-travel]

We had a PR for the crossing

 

How was the PR ?

Thinking of a TA in one, comments welcome.

 

It was our first PR. We did it as an adjoining cabin. Loved having 2 rooms. We did deck 8. Windows lean out to see down better, at least that's what it seemed to us. There was only one night that we didn't want to watch the parade. The noise didn't last long. There was never really any noise from the neighboring room when the door was shut. It was a good choice. We booked the PR as a 3 cat upgrade promotion. What else would you like to know?

[pcl_cruiser]

It was our first PR. We did it as an adjoining cabin. Loved having 2 rooms. We did deck 8. Windows lean out to see down better, at least that's what it seemed to us. There was only one night that we didn't want to watch the parade. The noise didn't last long. There was never really any noise from the neighboring room when the door was shut. It was a good choice. We booked the PR as a 3 cat upgrade promotion. What else would you like to know?

 

We are going in a PR in a few weeks on the voyager. I am excited, it looks like a great experience. Is there plenty of room?

[Bigtex1622]

I found out last night that CD Mike will be back on VOS.

So fun, so great, cannot wait !

 

:rolleyes:

[Kellie Poodle]

I found out last night that CD Mike will be back on VOS.

So fun, so great, cannot wait !

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

That is awesome news! Will he be there in January?

[Bigtex1622]

Originally Posted by djmike

Got an e-mail from the boss today and it looks like I will have a super short vacation and be doing a short fill on the Voyager from March 6 - May 15 which will include the TA.

 

I look forward to seeing many of my CC friends and sailing again out of Texas.

 

Mike Szwajkowski

[Northern Bear]

Originally Posted by djmike

Got an e-mail from the boss today and it looks like I will have a super short vacation and be doing a short fill on the Voyager from March 6 - May 15 which will include the TA.

 

I look forward to seeing many of my CC friends and sailing again out of Texas.

 

Mike Szwajkowski

 

Lucky for them! Don't know why but we just didn't care for Mercedes...

[cruizinmimi]

Soooooooooooooo....who will be the CD from Nov., 2010 thru March, 2011????????;);)

 

I will miss you DJMike!!!!!:)

[ssb]

We just returned from our first TA on the Voyager yesterday. The ship is in excellent condition and the staff were all very friendly and efficient. Our stateroom attendant (Melvin) and MDR waiter (Bonny), were both excellent and helped make our cruise so enjoyable.

 

We had beautiful weather in all the ports and for the crossing...could not have been much better. There was just one day early in the cruise that the upper decks were closed due to high winds.

 

The food was good and we enjoyed Portofino's a few times during the cruise. If you go to Portofino's ask for Peter...he is the best. We ate at Johnny Rockets a couple of times and that is a refreshing break from "cruise food" every day. I sure wish RCCL had good pizza...that one thing I miss on board.

 

We disembarked at 8:45 and did not notice a medical emergency. It may have been over by the time we entered the building. The lines were long, but I thought they moved pretty fast...certainly not the worst I have seen!

 

Glad to hear the sailing left close to on time yesterday. Last year we were on the first sailing after the TA...the fog delayed cruise that kept us in Galveston until the morning of day three! Weather was pretty good yesterday...even a little warm!

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

A little more information!!!!!!!

 

We disembarked at 8:00 and did notice a medical emergency.

There were no lines at that time!

We were off and outside in 10 minutes

Even our German friends with foreign passports

were off in 15 minutes who were riding with us.

 

Only hitch was our ride and pick up was sleeping when we arrived and called.

 

Wonderful trip and table mates were the best along with others.!

Nice meeting all the cruise critic friends and look forward to the next cruises with ya'll!!!

 

No real complaints!!!!!

[Jimnbigd]

I wish Royal would have a Galveston ship year round!

 

They used to have 2 ships -- Rhapsody OTS (7 day) and Splendour OTS (4 & 5 day). Plus there was a Celebrity ship for a season (I forget which one). I'm not sure why RCCL says no, but at least we still have one part of the time. I especially miss the Splendour OTS. Our church would do a 5-day cruise each year Monday through Saturday, so we don't have to miss Sunday church. Our only option now for a 5-day cruise from Galveston is the Carnival Ecstasy (to be replaced next year with the Carnival Triumph) -- not bad, but I prefer RCCL.

[Jimnbigd]

Though we will be sad to see Voyager leave, we can't wait till 11/11/11 when we board Mariner for her inaugural (sp?) out of Galveston for 9 nights. I wonder if Derek will jump ship....

 

I don't think Derek knows yet which ship he is on. He is getting married in 2012 but does not yet know which ship.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1313689

I wonder how Mariner's Wig & Gavel Pub compares with the Voyager's Pig & Whistle. Probably close to the same layout I guess.