Voyager of the Seas Reviews from a Brit Perspective

[The_Big_M]

I have never travelled with RCI, but one wonders if VOS standards have dropped because she is now operating in this Region.

 

It could be that distance is a factor. For example, US ships get provisioned out of the US, but when operating locally they don't serve lobster which is still done in the US. My guess is it's too difficult/costly to freight here so they just drop it.

 

However, generally in food RCL is weak compared to other lines, so it's not just local either.

[avalon007]

On our Radiance cruise earlier this year my husband had some very nice oysters & they advised they were from Tahiti, so they must ship things in from all over the place as at that time Radiance had not been near Tahiti for 6 months.

[avalon007]

Good one Barry, yes I got stuck into the Kippers for breakfast on Arcadia a few mornings, lubberly jubberly. Had the black pudding, snags, bacon, hash browns and Omelette with them but, I am a growing boy like you LOL. Nothing like a full English Breakfast including ye olde kippers.

 

I had to eat the cooked brekkie every day for 49 days as they had no gluten free cereals on board.

 

 

You guys can keep your kippers! :)

 

Good try re the lack of gluten free cereal forcing you to indulge in the full English breakfast. ;) Any wonder you grew if you did that for 49 days straight!:p

 

I don't mind some bacon or a hash brown now & again with a nice omelette, but the black pudding & sausages you can keep, could never take to sausages knowing what they are wrapped in & also what is in them.

Too much of a lucky dip for me! :D

 

I wasn't keen on the 'scrambled eggs' on Radiance, I think they use powdered egg. So I just had my scrambled made fresh at the omelette station, just added a bit of tomatoe & onion - beautiful!

 

Otherwise I found the food fine, I would try things & if it wasn't to my taste I'd try something else, the salads especially were very fresh & a huge variety.

[NSWP]

You guys can keep your kippers! :)

 

Good try re the lack of gluten free cereal forcing you to indulge in the full English breakfast. ;) Any wonder you grew if you did that for 49 days straight!:p

 

I don't mind some bacon or a hash brown now & again with a nice omelette, but the black pudding & sausages you can keep, could never take to sausages knowing what they are wrapped in & also what is in them.

Too much of a lucky dip for me! :D

 

I wasn't keen on the 'scrambled eggs' on Radiance, I think they use powdered egg. So I just had my scrambled made fresh at the omelette station, just added a bit of tomatoe & onion - beautiful!

 

Otherwise I found the food fine, I would try things & if it wasn't to my taste I'd try something else, the salads especially were very fresh & a huge variety.

,

Many ships these days use the liquid egg in a 1 litre carton, saw them using that at the Omelette Stations on Arcadia.

 

One thing I do not like on the American ships is the nuked bacon, burnt to oblivion. But that is the way the Americans like their bacon. Nice Danish bacon on Arcadia, cooked nice not nuked.

 

Don't worry, I will take on board Celebrity Solstice my 'Freedom Gluten Free Cornflakes,' just as the appetiser for the FULL American Breakfast to follow. LOL.

[avalon007]

,

Many ships these days use the liquid egg in a 1 litre carton, saw them using that at the Omelette Stations on Arcadia.

 

One thing I do not like on the American ships is the nuked bacon, burnt to oblivion. But that is the way the Americans like their bacon. Nice Danish bacon on Arcadia, cooked nice not nuked.

 

Don't worry, I will take on board Celebrity Solstice my 'Freedom Gluten Free Cornflakes,' just as the appetiser for the FULL American Breakfast to follow. LOL.

 

All I can say about that is - "Those that over indulge - Bulge" :p

 

On Radiance the omelette station eggs were normal it was the ready made scrambled only that were not great, the ready made fried & poached were normal as well.

 

The bacon though was a choice of either the crispy American which was the streaky bacon with all the fat included, or what they called English bacon which is what we are used to, lots of nice short cut pieces cooked just right & less fat, or at least fat you can remove if you want.:)

 

I found Royal actually tried to cater to our Australian tastes, even had Vegemite available.

 

They had Australian yoghurt brands available, plus several Australian cereals I noticed as well at breakfast.

 

However, we enjoy trying foods from other cultures as well, which they catered for, with asian, indian etc always available.

My husband tried a Blackened Salmon Cajun dish for lunch one day in the Windjammer & he still talks about how good it was, & I had the best coconut slice I have ever had on Radiance. Mmmm, can still taste it.

 

But for me that's what travelling is all about, doing something different than what you do at home. Otherwise you may as well sit at home watching the world go by on the National Geographic Channel. :D

 

After some of the things I've seen food wise in places like China, Egypt & Morocco, it makes the Windjammer looks like a Michelin 5 star restaurant!!! :D

[The_Big_M]

,

Many ships these days use the liquid egg in a 1 litre carton, saw them using that at the Omelette Stations on Arcadia.

 

Don't worry, I will take on board Celebrity Solstice my 'Freedom Gluten Free Cornflakes,' just as the appetiser for the FULL American Breakfast to follow. LOL.

 

Yes, weird stuff that egg in a carton. They use it on Celebrity as well.

[fishtaco]

Can you eat as much as you want in MDR on VOS?

 

I think we only go on cruises for the food:)

 

I always do a late seating but if its a rushed affair on RCI I wont be too happy!

 

Actually we are usually last out of MDR for dinner,possibly why we have never seen a single show on a cruise:D

 

I havent cruised on many lines but believe it or not P&O Australia MDR run circles around Carnival USA MDR food and quality.

 

RCI will be quantity for me as I am expecting the American bland fried to a crisp everything!

 

Do RCI have Bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese for brekky in MDR?

Its a nice side to the full cooked Brekky:D

 

Den

[avalon007]

Can you eat as much as you want in MDR on VOS?

 

I think we only go on cruises for the food:)

 

I always do a late seating but if its a rushed affair on RCI I wont be too happy!

 

Actually we are usually last out of MDR for dinner,possibly why we have never seen a single show on a cruise:D

 

I havent cruised on many lines but believe it or not P&O Australia MDR run circles around Carnival USA MDR food and quality.

 

RCI will be quantity for me as I am expecting the American bland fried to a crisp everything!

 

Do RCI have Bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese for brekky in MDR?

Its a nice side to the full cooked Brekky:D

 

Den

 

Hi Den,

 

My experience on Royal which I believe to be the same on VOS is that in the MDR you can order seconds or additional meals no problem.

 

We do late seating as well but go to the first nightly show at about 7pm before dinner so we don't miss anything, that's how they set it up, so the first seating goes to the later show after their meal.

 

We eat quite healthfully & don't like fried to death food, we had no problem on Royal getting very nice meals, rarely fried anything from memory.

 

In the Windjammer you can of course choose to eat fried chips etc if you want, but plenty of variety that isn't fried.

 

I do recall seeing smoked salmon & bagels in the Windjammer for breakfast, can't recall regards the MDR.

 

But my experience was if you want it & they can possibly get it for you they will, especially if you ask nicely.:)

[cassamanda]

Do RCI have Bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese for brekky in MDR?

Its a nice side to the full cooked Brekky:D

 

Den

Don't know about MDR but they do in the Windjammer

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

I'm interested to know P&OMAN are your excerpts all from the same cruise, or are they excerpts from different cruises on Voyager gathered together?

I'm wondering if the Voyager crew have trouble with longer itineraries. The reason I say that is when we boarded in New Orleans for our cruise to Singapore the crew, at first, were all at sixes and sevens. It appeared they couldn't handle more than a 7 day itinerary which is what the ship had been doing out of New Orleans for over a year I think it was.

Eventually, they sorted themselves out and were fine until they took on the new crew along the way to cater for the Asian market, then there were troubles again.

My personal opinion is that on a ship of any size there should only be one culture "Ships Culture"... and that's it. The crew need to remember that and leave their countries culture behind. The crew did tell us that as there were so many different nationalities of crew on board, although they were proud of that they did say there was a lot of clashing going on between staff, particular after the new crew came on board for the Asian market. Their English, I must say, was far from up to scratch whereas the rest of the crews English was good.

I've read a few reviews from the Asian itineraries and they seem to be generally favourable. I think that is again because she's been doing shorter itineraries than she's currently doing out of Australia.

We had excellent entertainment for our 42 days. Gordon is an excellent and well respected and experienced Cruise Director and interacted with the guests continually.

The food in the MDR and in the Windjammer was fine with little queueing in the Windjammer, only if everyone happened to turn up at the same time, but even then it's HUGE so caters easily for everyone.

I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed our experience on Voyager, found some faults but reminded ourselves she's not a new ship.

At the end of the day I think it's best to board a ship with an open mind and look forward to the experience in a positive way and make the best of it all. Try not to compare because afterall it would be boring if every ship that sailed the seas was exactly the same in every way.

 

Jilly:)

[P&OMAN]

I'm interested to know P&OMAN are your excerpts all from the same cruise, or are they excerpts from different cruises on Voyager gathered together?

 

They were 3 seperate excerpts all from the same cruise.

[Brossy]

The thing is I can't remember a queue that stretched outside the dining romm- which is what she is reporting- on any of our RCL cruises - maybe we were just lucky.

And as far as the Ice Shows go on the Navigator- same sized ship- in October- we could just turn up at any session of any of the shows we liked. It seems from my Aunts comments- though I am not sure yet- that there is only one show in 14 days and that everyone is allocated a time. On all other cruises with ice shows we have had 2 seperate shows. You had to book ahead for Oasis, as with all of its shows and get tickets for the Independence but on Navigator it was just turn up. Jennie

 

I'm wondering if this queue is at the 2nd sitting dining? We had 2nd sitting on our 2 night Radiance, and everyone was lined up outside to get into the restaurant. The queue moved quickly once the restaurant was opened.

 

Another update from my Aunt. Guess tickets would have been a better option. Apparently there was one big group who have been conspicuous in their {bad] behaviour throughout the cruise. At the ice show my aunt attended they were "minding" 26 seats- she counted. Of course it is not allowed, but that sort of behaviour needs to be dealt with by the staff. Other passengers pay for their passage too!! Jennie

 

Did she say how many ice shows there were? We were on the Mariner of the Seas for 7 days and they performed the same ice show all week so it gave everyone a chance to see it. I imagine on a 14 night cruise there would be many opportunities to go but maybe other passengers don't realise the shows are repeated?

 

I did the 1 night Voyager cruise and found the ship to be very tired and worn out (mainly in the cabins though). The ship isn't as nice as Mariner and doesn't appear to be as well set up. The windjammer isn't as big and there didn't seem to be as many eating venues as on the Radiance. I guess we can only hope that some of these things get fixed when she goes into drydock in 2014.

 

I for one am really looking forward to my cruise in January on her. I never imagined that a ship this size would ever cruise from Sydney so I can't wait!

 

I also heard a rumour from a high up staff member onboard that Liberty of the Seas might be heading down under in late 2014! ;).

[bazzaw]

I don't understand why people queue at all for dinner - especially for traditional dining where everybody has a fixed dining time and an allocated table??? We even saw this on the three Cunard Queens - where people , all dressed up to the nines (Tuxes, long dresses, etc ) are queued up at the entrance to the dining room as though they are waiting for a cafeteria to open?

 

What am I missing??

 

Barry

[Katana_Geldar]

It could be that distance is a factor. For example, US ships get provisioned out of the US, but when operating locally they don't serve lobster which is still done in the US. My guess is it's too difficult/costly to freight here so they just drop it.

 

However, generally in food RCL is weak compared to other lines, so it's not just local either.

 

But we have lobster or lobster-like things here! Why not Balmain bugs?

[avalon007]

I don't understand why people queue at all for dinner - especially for traditional dining where everybody has a fixed dining time and an allocated table??? We even saw this on the three Cunard Queens - where people , all dressed up to the nines (Tuxes, long dresses, etc ) are queued up at the entrance to the dining room as though they are waiting for a cafeteria to open?

 

What am I missing??

 

Barry

 

Yes, I know what you mean, we never bothered to arrive early at the MDR as you are guaranteed your table & we were always busy doing the 8pm trivia before our second dining at 8.30pm anyway.

 

Plus if you are first to arrive you end up waiting for the rest of your table guests to arrive befoe they start serving, so it's not like there is any benefit, except maybe choosing your seat at the table?

[NSWP]

I don't understand why people queue at all for dinner - especially for traditional dining where everybody has a fixed dining time and an allocated table??? We even saw this on the three Cunard Queens - where people , all dressed up to the nines (Tuxes, long dresses, etc ) are queued up at the entrance to the dining room as though they are waiting for a cafeteria to open?

 

What am I missing??

 

Barry

Queuing on the Cunarders ? Because the Poms are punctual Barry. One expects to see long lines outside of the MDR on any ship the first night of cruise as pax don't know where to go, or have to be shown to their table, but after that it should settle down, but not always !

 

I have seen queues at Breakfast and Lunch at the MDR door as well as the Buffet entry, maybe the pax are dying of starvation.

 

Human nature rules.

[avalon007]

Queuing on the Cunarders ? Because the Poms are punctual Barry. One expects to see long lines outside of the MDR on any ship the first night of cruise as pax don't know where to go, or have to be shown to their table, but after that it should settle down, but not always !

 

I have seen queues at Breakfast and Lunch at the MDR door as well as the Buffet entry, maybe the pax are dying of starvation.

 

Human nature rules.

 

Gee, wish someone had told my dad that, he was a Pom & was never on time for anything, ever! :D

 

My mum used to tell him we had to be somewhere at least an hour before we actually did & he was still often late!!!!!

 

We found that arriving at the buffet in the first half and hour after it opened we never had any issues with queues or getting seating. The peak times in the morning seemed to be closer to 9-10am.

 

Same for tender tickets, the ship often had an early bird special where no ticket was required if you left the ship before 9.15am, we always took advantage of that & saved ourselves some time.

 

Sometimes we were coming back on board for a late lunch whilst some people were only just getting off!

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Here's a well written article from earlier in the year, it's bound to give you all a Friday giggle..

Jilly:)

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/queue-cheers-as-the-poms-prepare-to-crack-that-quip/story-e6freuy9-1226437124176

[NSWP]

Here's a well written article from earlier in the year, it's bound to give you all a Friday giggle..

Jilly:)

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/queue-cheers-as-the-poms-prepare-to-crack-that-quip/story-e6freuy9-1226437124176

A classic Jilly, thanks. Yes I experienced 1500 Poms on Arcadia this year with their 'quaint habits.' They thought I was an 'uncouth colonial' having ice in my Magners Cider, to wit 'You Orstralians must like freezing your tonsils with all those cold drinks.' And I experienced many more interesting English gentry on my car journey around 'Mother England', post cruise. Most of them very nice though by jove.

 

Tally Ho !

[The_Big_M]

Plus if you are first to arrive you end up waiting for the rest of your table guests to arrive befoe they start serving,

 

It must depend on the line, as everywhere I've experienced a shared table, they've served people as they arrive.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

A classic Jilly, thanks. Yes I experienced 1500 Poms on Arcadia this year with their 'quaint habits.' They thought I was an 'uncouth colonial' having ice in my Magners Cider, to wit 'You Orstralians must like freezing your tonsils with all those cold drinks.' And I experienced many more interesting English gentry on my car journey around 'Mother England', post cruise. Most of them very nice though by jove.

 

Tally Ho !

 

 

Lol....Les, you want to pop across to our Arcadia Jan 2013 thread and have a read. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Toodle pip ...:D

 

Jill:D

[NSWP]

Lol....Les, you want to pop across to our Arcadia Jan 2013 thread and have a read. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Toodle pip ...:D

 

Jill:D

By jove, thanks m'lady, I shall toddle over there.

[robinph]

I'm wondering if this queue is at the 2nd sitting dining? We had 2nd sitting on our 2 night Radiance, and everyone was lined up outside to get into the restaurant. The queue moved quickly once the restaurant was opened.

 

 

 

Did she say how many ice shows there were? We were on the Mariner of the Seas for 7 days and they performed the same ice show all week so it gave everyone a chance to see it. I imagine on a 14 night cruise there would be many opportunities to go but maybe other passengers don't realise the shows are repeated?

 

I did the 1 night Voyager cruise and found the ship to be very tired and worn out (mainly in the cabins though). The ship isn't as nice as Mariner and doesn't appear to be as well set up. The windjammer isn't as big and there didn't seem to be as many eating venues as on the Radiance. I guess we can only hope that some of these things get fixed when she goes into drydock in 2014.

 

I for one am really looking forward to my cruise in January on her. I never imagined that a ship this size would ever cruise from Sydney so I can't wait!

 

I also heard a rumour from a high up staff member onboard that Liberty of the Seas might be heading down under in late 2014! ;).

 

 

Just off the Voyager today, there were 4 ice shows which guests were allocated a time depending on their dining seating (early or late) and there card number (large letter and numbers) 2 shows on day 8, early seating even numbers at 2pm and late seating even numbers at 4pm. On day 11 another 2 shows this time early seating odd numbers at 2pm and late seating odd numbers at 4pm. From what I have heard there were empty seats at the first days sessions, but by the second day the word had got around how good it was,and the weather was bad, so I think most people decided to go to the show, which ended in complete chaos, not enough seats for everyone, auditorium filled to standing room only on both sessions, with a lot of people missing out, some people misssed out on the early session were told to come back to the second session only to be made to stand to the side and wait to see if there were empty seats which did'nt happen, so they missed out again, there were some very irrate passengers, they deffinetly need to add at least another 2 shows to accomadate everyone especially when the ship is sailing at full capacity. The ice show is brilliant and not to be missed, just make sure you get there very early to get a seat, we got there 35 minutes before the show and it was nearly full then.Robin:)

[Cpt Des]

Robinph,

Yes I agree there should be more Ice Shows to cater for the crowds.

There were also some angry scenes on our recent trip from Freo to Syd Nov 5th because people could not get in.

How long is it going to take for RCI to get the message I wonder ??

[avalon007]

Maybe there are issues regards how many shows the ice dancers are physically able or allowed to do that we are not aware of, which restricts the number of shows?

Or they only join the cruise for a few days of each cruise like the other entertainers do, so hard to add additional shows etc.

 

It would be a reasonably dangerous thing to do at best of times, let alone if they were tired etc, plus add in the movement of the ship.

 

Also very hard for the cruiseline to know that everyone will decide to turn up at the last 2 shows & not the first 2.

 

They probably don't dictate which show you should go to, as it could then cause conflicts with other prebooked activities etc.

 

It's like any other activity onboard, mystery dinner as an example, they only have 1 a week & it only seats so many, those who leave it too late often miss out.

If the ship puts on extra events though, quite often they may be left with empty seats so it's a catch 22 for them I guess.