Voyager, March 24th, I just got back!

[TulaSeoul]

I don't have the time to post a full review right now, but wanted to post to say we just returned from a 7 night VOS out of NOLA yesterday. Overall a great experience. If anyone has questions please post and I'll check in throughout the week.

 

FYI this was my first ever cruise....so I don't have anything to compare it by, but we have taken many tropical vacations....

 

My husband and I traveled with our 12 and 5 year olds, used the kids' clubs quite a bit so if you have any specific questions about these please feel free to ask away.

 

Just a few thoughts to get things rolling....

 

--Ship was very clean and staff was very accomodating. Most staff we encountered were very friendly and would go above and beyond to assist. Some had a difficult time with English but with patience they would answer questions or get someone who could answer.

 

--We enjoyed the food. Attended one formal night in the MDR....Windjammer quite a bit. Food in the MDR was excellent the times we dined there. Windjammer was good, some things we didn't like at the buffet but we could always find something we enjoyed, and always there were excellent deserts, fruit, cheese, etc. Johnny Rockets one day for lunch and it was fun and yummy, but it was just diner food, fun more for the atmosphere. Food by the pool grilled one day (excellent).

 

--We did a beach day for each stop. One through the cruiseline and two on our own. Jamaica we did Time and Place and truly enjoyed this experience though it won't be for everyone. Cozumel we went to Playa Palancar on our own and were very glad this was our choice, beautiful beach, excellent food, not too crowded. Beach break on 7 mile beach for Grand Caymen and although the beach was beautiful I wish we had just done this on our own instead of paying the high prices for the beach break which was basically just transportation and a chair (and one small free drink). We opted for lunch on our own and spent 80$ for four people, no alcohol. The food was good but not excellent.

 

--Entertainment: We were probably skimpy on this....my husband and I aren't night owls and we picked up our daughter in the kids' club by 10 every night. Ice skating show was excellent. One comedian (juggling) in the main theater was very funny. Our kids went ice skating themselves and really enjoyed it. Broadway "hightlights" show in La Scala was entertaining. We skipped the casinos.

 

--I had a few issues with the teen club. Not the staff (they were great), but the level of freedome for "younger teens" (my son is 12 and this was considered teen). He ended up finding a really good group of kids his age to hang around but we had some challenges with him personally because of the freedom aspect. Free to go around the public areas of the ship as teen club participation allows the teen kids to come and go as they please. We set limits on it (dropped him off and said "meet us by the pool in two hours) and knew that he was in one of several areas with his friends, but I saw lots of kids wandering the ship...and a couple of times we had to go hunting him down because he had lost track of time (at least that was his excuse, ha ha). If you have a kid this age who is a "tester"....it could be a challenge, unlimited food, sodas (we got the soda card for him) and freedom to roam....lots of temptations for a 12 year old IMO.

 

That's it for now.....ask questions if you have them!

[dandtgeddes]

Gidday TulaSeol.

 

Our whanau (family) is going on our first RCI cruise later on this year.

 

I have a question regarding the tween / teen clubs.

 

What sort of activities are available for the 12 year old group?

 

My little miss could be a handful regarding the open deck policy but like you, rules and cerfews will be enforced.;)

 

Thank you for the alert though.

 

TraceyG

[anteaters]

Hi! I just asked this on another strand but you'd be perfect for the answer! We're boarding on Saturday for 7 days from New Orleans for a similar sounding cruise and will be on with our 6 and 9 year old daughters. Can you advise on the kind of clothes to pack for them? Do shorts and t-shirts work for everything or do they need capris/jeans for the MDR for lunches and dinners? If we take them to formal night, do they need to wear a dress or skirt? Also, did you ever do your 5-year old in the evening hours and if so, how did it work out in terms of his/her enjoyment and your being able to get to a show? Also, did they have that option I've heard about where the children start dinner with you but are given their food in the first 45 minutes and then picked up for the Kids Club area or is it not on the Voyager? Any advice or suggestions for 6 and 9 year old girls would be appreciated. Thanks!

[anteaters]

Hi! I just asked this on another strand but you'd be perfect for the answer! We're boarding on Saturday for 7 days from New Orleans for a similar sounding cruise and will be on with our 6 and 9 year old daughters. Can you advise on the kind of clothes to pack for them? Do shorts and t-shirts work for everything or do they need capris/jeans for the MDR for lunches and dinners? If we take them to formal night, do they need to wear a dress or skirt? Also, did you ever do your 5-year old in the evening hours and if so, how did it work out in terms of his/her enjoyment and your being able to get to a show? Also, did they have that option I've heard about where the children start dinner with you but are given their food in the first 45 minutes and then picked up for the Kids Club area or is it not on the Voyager? Any advice or suggestions for 6 and 9 year old girls would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sorry, I just thought of more to ask! First, our family is booked in one of the larger family oceanview rooms at the front of the bow. If you happened to have chosen that too, any info about your experience with that would be appreciated. Oh, and with Kids Club, can you give any examples of a typical morning, afternoon, or especially evening there for your non-teen child(ren)?

[TulaSeoul]

Clothing questions for kids....my kids didn't attend the formal night we attended, but I saw plenty of kids there. A variety of dress, I would think for 6 and 9 year old girls a nice choice would be a sun dress of some type, it doesn't need to be dressy, but if they enjoy dressing up there were some younger kids who were wearing "Sunday church best". Casual sundresses, t-shirt style, would be fine for casual nights in the MDR. Some kids were wearing shorts in the MDR. The compass stated 'no short pants' in the MDR, but no one was turned away. Depends on your comfort level. I don't know if VOS will pick the kids up in the MDR, we didn't use this. Our daughter (age 5) did fine in the MDR. One night she wanted to go eat with her "friends" and the kids club will take them to Windjammer (no cost, just need to sign up with the kids club staff before 4:30 that day) and she enjoyed that.

 

Evening activities, our daughter fell into the youngest age category, which was 3-5, so things will be a bit different for your girls, but I did glance over the other age activities for kids age 6-9. They had things such as a pajama party, movie night, science experiments, pirate themed party, etc. All very cute. I think maybe the 9 year old group got to play games in the arcade for free one evening...but I can't remember for sure. I know some of the younger kids did a pirate parade one night around the boat. Mini-dance party as well. I believe there was a talent show for all of the kids' but that was during the afternoon session, and we had a mommy daughter spa afternoon so she didn't make that! I know for the 9-11 year olds they had some sports tournaments, basketball and ping pong I believe...and I think Wii games as well. My daughter, who can be quite clingy at times, asked to go to the kids' club each evening. She loved it. The staff were very caring and knew her easily by name after the first visit.

 

For most of the main shows there were two seatings, 7:00 and 9:00 give or take. The two main shows we attended in LaScala only lasted an hour so we didn't have any problem attending without our daughter as she wanted to be at the kids' club in the evening. She went to and greatly enjoyed the ice skating show with us. We didn't go to the late night things (some of which we heard were very entertaining), a few adult game shows, etc, because we wanted to keep her on a somewhat normal sleep schedule (you can pay for longer childcare past 10:00, but we just didn't want to do this). Plus we were tired, ha ha.

 

Teen activities, they had sports tournaments (basketball, rock climbing, and ping pong), a teen pool party, a dance party in the teen club, one free evening in the arcade. I believe they also had a scavenger hunt which they had to complete in pairs so they wouldn't be alone wandering around. I know they had guitar hero and wii sports tournaments. Sometimes I saw groups of kids' playing cards with staff when I would go to check on my son. I believe a group of them went to a movie on the ship (very small movie theter) one afternoon.

 

Teen activies are broken down into morning, afternoon, and evening to late night. Most "party style" activities, pool party, dance party, were at night, around 9 or 10. Game type activities such as Wii and sports tournaments were during the day. Lots of times I think the teens were just hanging out and talking in the teens club or by the pool. My son spent a great deal of time shooting baskets with other boys his age.

 

I can't give anyone more precise schedules but they do have a teen and a youth compass each day. I didn't save any of them but there are multiple activities each day of the cruise, including port days. Our kids got off the boat with us at each port.

 

I would recommend that teens attend the "meet and greet" the first evening of the cruise, when you get on board they will be able to tell you what time. Ours was at 8:00 p.m. My son met two or three other kids his age that evening and that was who he mostly hung around for the rest of the trip.

 

There is a youth information open house the first evening as well (on ours it was scheduled for 7:00) which will give the kids age 11 and under a chance to see the kids club, meet the staff, and give parents a chance to ask questions of staff. You will also need to fill out a form, sign a waiver, etc. The kids club isn't actually open for drop off until the first FULL day of the cruise, but the open house is worthwhile so you can spend a short time with your younger kids there to help them get excited about it and see other kids there as well.

 

Any other questions, ask away!

[anteaters]

Thanks so much! You are a wealth of information! I appreciate your time.