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Voyager of the Seas NOV 24 - New Zealand: Review

Lilfrog79

By Lilfrog79,
in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers

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Lilfrog79

Lilfrog79

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Hi,

Just a quick overview of VOS, from it’s first real Aussie Voyage (From her home in Sydney).

I have noticed pretty mixed reviews of the VOS so far, and I guess everyone is going to have their own opinions of the ship etc.

Personally for me, I enjoyed the cruise, but I think I'm not one to complain about little things. Firstly let me say this was my 4th Cruise, with all being on board RCCL. 2 aboard Rhapsody and once on the Radiance. All from Australia. Never cruised another line yet so unable to do comparisons to other Cruise lines, but can make comparisons, between the three ships.

I'm mid 30s and Single, just so you get an idea who is reviewing.

Anyways, enough about that lets start with

EMBARKATION: Sydney: OPT -

Arrived at pier about midday. I am a Platinum Member and was on board in 25 minutes. Very organized, and lines split up for different groups. I would say if you are a first time cruiser (Hence not a member of the crown and Anchor Society, it would have taken over an hour to get on board, but can't really comment on that. The lines looked long however).

Once on board, straight to the Windjammer for a feed. The place is very busy, and due to previous outbreaks of the Norovirus, staff are serving. Food is good. Usual buffet fare, but set out lovely and pretty tasty. About as good as other two ships. I did hear people complain you couldn’t serve yourself (And this lasted till day 12) however I would rather someone else scoop up my soup than be at higher risk of illness…. That’s just me though. Some people are just grots).

Also, unable to get to room till 4pm due to extra room cleaning. No worries. Just went and sat by the pool and explored the ship. Wasn’t long before we had our rooms and bags and were unpacking. A little patience goes a long way some times.

THE SHIP:

It's big. Some may like this, some won't. I don't know how many times I heard the older crowd complain that the ship is TOO BIG. May have been hard for some people to get around. Me personally I loved the size, and now want to go bigger. One of the downsides to a big ship such as this, is generally the crowds tend to be bigger than on the smaller ships. The Windjammer often seemed crowded and at times it was hard to find a table. I know people wont like this. It never bothered me, and most of the time it look less than 5 minutes to find a table (Less if you are happy to share with strangers, which most people are happy to do. I was with a larger group, which made it harder). MDR always had a line, but it moved very quickly. And the promenade was often pretty busy too.

The promenade is very impressive, but one thing I didn’t really like was the closed in feel. If you weren’t reminded, you would almost think you were in a shopping mall on land and not on a cruise ship. Would have loved a bit more sunshine somehow but it’s still pretty darned impressive. More shops than the other two cruise ships, and more room.

There are a lot of bars and areas to sit and relax inside the ship. So many, that it’s hard to enjoy them all. Once you find a favorite spot, stick to it.

The ship was clean. Spotlessly clean. Extra cleaning going on all the time. Staff spraying and wiping things 24 hours a day. Anyone who got sick I suggest needs to improve their hygiene as there was never a time in the day I didn’t see staff cleaning. On the rare occasion I used the public restrooms there was always a cleaner stationed there, cleaning and disinfecting.

If you are extra observant, you will notice some things appear worn, but overall it wasn’t that bad, and the ship was still stunning. Due for a spruce up, but not bad for her age!

SERVICE:

Overall cannot complain one little bit about any of the staff on board. They were all super friendly and very helpful. Staff obviously had to work extra due to the previous outbreak on board, and you could sense this a little in the Windjammer, however overall they were all very good as usual with RCCL. Again I heard a few people say they encountered some rude staff, but I suggest if you are polite, you will get the same in return. A please and thank you goes a long way.

FOOD:

The food is as good or bad as the other RCCL ships, (depending on if you are a Michelin class chef, which some people seem to think they are). The MDR food was very good; I never had a bad meal. I know people at my table had a few meals they didn’t like (their own choice) but the waiter was on to this very quickly and they were swapped with no problems. The majority of my meals were lovely, with some really enjoyable, and some just nice. Good variety, and it pays to be a bit daring with your choice, as you could be delightfully surprised.

Windjammer was hit and miss. Most of the time the food was pretty good, and at times it was very good. Anything I didn’t like I just went back and tried something else. Unable to self serve I found it paid to be precise with what you wanted. People winged that they didn’t get enough of something or too much of something. Staff aren’t mind readers so be specific. I.e One scoop of that. 3 Slices of this etc etc.

The ITINERARY:

Don’t go to NZ expecting much time by the pool. And pack warm clothes. I won’t go into detail of every port, but there is lots to see and do, whether you plan ahead or not. Shame it was so cold on board as there was no relaxing on a lounge by the pool, and one of the shortfalls of this ship is that the solarium doesn’t have a closed roof, which leaves nowhere really to relax by a pool when it’s cold (Which was most of the time in NZ).

Aukland, the port is right in the middle of the main street lots of shopping to be done. Taraunga, I suggest a tour or rent a car to go somewhere, otherwise again, you can just get off an walk around town. Napier, head into town by free coach that RCCL put on, or go on a tour. We went to the Aquarium, and it was nice. Dunedin is beautiful, and if you get a chance go to the Cadbury Factory (If you like Chocolate).

The Sounds are amazing. Especially Milford sound. So beautiful. Snow capped mountains. Wow, have to see it to believe it.

Overall:

Okay, so that’s most of my observations. Overall I rate this cruise experience as a 7 out of 10. I would do it again, but if I had to travel NZ again, I would prefer to go on board the Radiance, so I could relax by the pool, indoors haha. I would have loved some heat and sunshine, to chill out by the pool, but these things can’t be helped. It’s nice to have experienced the Voyager, and to be able to say I sailed on board the biggest ship to call Oz home. If I had to choose a favorite from all three Aussie RCCL ships I would say overall my favorite is the Radiance. Followed by Rhapsody then the Voyager. That said, if I were offered a trip tomorrow on board her I would go in an instant. For those winging about stupid things like lines and crowds and staff, you clearly are hard to please. I heard people winging they didn’t like all of the shows or Gordon the cruise director. However with 3500 people on board you are never going to be able to make everyone happy, and those who tend to be unhappy are usually the one’s you hear complain the most! The rest just spend their time having a good vacation.

If anyone has any questions please feel free.

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Mikey22

Mikey22

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Good review and a very similar experience to what we had.

The Cool weather was also an issue for us as we like being on the outside decks, we realised NZ would be chilly and took warm clothes but was surprised how cold it was near Melbourne and from there to Sydney around 19C I think, cold for Summer.

 

Enjoyed NZ but would prefer this ship around the Pacific Islands other than the tenders could be a big problem.

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Guest012

Guest012

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Thanks for your review thoroughly enjoyed it.... we agree she's a 7 out of 10 .. never had queuing issues on first cruise unless you wanted hot chips in the windjammer ... lol ... although for us she was too big for our liking, our last long cruise was Ocean Princess and we felt she lacked cruise ship atmosphere we enjoyed the experience .. PS they need to change the lighting in the promenade because as it stands it always looks a grey and dismal day ... we need sunlight..... please.... cheers Shiona

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suncityga

suncityga

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Thank you for a great review.

 

We have sailed on Radiance (Alaska) and Voyager (Med), and we also enjoyed both ships. Although we are more 'destination cruisers' (vs 'ship cruisers'), we prefer bigger ships for longer cruises. We are looking forward to sailing Voyager from Sydney in February for 32 nights.

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musicorn

musicorn

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Great review that shows that if you go expecting to have a good time that is what you will most likely get.

 

I am going on the Voyager in January and have read review after review that have been negative about this ship. I have to keep reminding myself that my first cruise was on the Pacific Sun and the reviews for her were worse but she was my favorite P&O Ship. So as you say we all like or hate different things.

 

My favorite ships to date are the Norwegian Pearl and the Radiance. I do worry that we may not be able to have our midnight swims as we did on the Radiance at Christmas last year.

 

If you want to cruise NZ again i can recommend the Radiance for this trip for all of the reasons that you have mentioned.

 

Thanks again :)

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bazzaw

bazzaw

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Great review that shows that if you go expecting to have a good time that is what you will most likely get.

 

I am going on the Voyager in January and have read review after review that have been negative about this ship. I have to keep reminding myself that my first cruise was on the Pacific Sun and the reviews for her were worse but she was my favorite P&O Ship. So as you say we all like or hate different things.

 

My favorite ships to date are the Norwegian Pearl and the Radiance. I do worry that we may not be able to have our midnight swims as we did on the Radiance at Christmas last year.

 

If you want to cruise NZ again i can recommend the Radiance for this trip for all of the reasons that you have mentioned.

 

Thanks again :)

 

I believe that life is a bit like a "one way ratchet" :D Once you have experienced something - you cannot un-experience it.:D With cruising, this means that once you have been on a ship with good food, you remember it and cannot help but compare any future cruises to it. Same thing goes for all other aspects of cruising - staff, decor, cabins, entertainment, etc. I think that is why experienced cruisers can be such whingers !! :D

 

Most/many? people recall their very first cruise to be the best one of all - for me that was 7 days on the old Pacific Star!! :D I didn't have anything to compare it against - but it did have things that other cruises and ships have not been able to match (or is it merely that I enjoyed these things immensely because they were my first experience of them ) :confused:

 

Barry

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Lilfrog79

Lilfrog79

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haha thanks for Apologising for all of NZ Kiwi Cruiser :)... The weather wasn't THAT bad, just not good enough to lay by the pool with a coctail... But that's okay, it just means I can book another cruise to accomodate my need in the near future LOL....

 

 

Anyways, to make up for the crummy weather, the country is beautiful.... so much so, that I plan to come back soon for a longer holiday.... And we had perfect weather going through the sounds (I've been told a lot of cruises cop rain and fog and can't see a thing) so I suppose the clear sunny day we had was a rare luxury!

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