Semi LIVE from Voyager of the Seas 21 Feb 2017 Fiji and South Pacific

[lucymorgan]

Is the lovely Laura still in the D lounge? We are boarding on Sunday and hope she is still there [emoji1]

 

 

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Hi Kay two - yes she is :)

 

 

 

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[reedy8]

Is there a kettle in the cabin? Thanks xx

 

 

Yes, they put kettles in cabins on UK & Australian cruises. You can pick up little UHT milks from the windjammer at breakfast, or often your room steward will get one for you. Its up to you, but I found both the tea bags & instant coffee provided was bit mediocre so you may wish to bring your favourite brands, they don't take up much room

[ImpulsivePuppy]

great stuff, love the pics!!

[The Scurvy Pirate]

I was wondering when is the 2nd formal night? Also, when you get back, could you please post the various Cruise Compasses? Trying to get a feel for the ports and the meals being offered in the MDR each night. Trying to figure out if I want to do a multi-night specialty package.

[lucymorgan]

I was wondering when is the 2nd formal night? Also, when you get back, could you please post the various Cruise Compasses? Trying to get a feel for the ports and the meals being offered in the MDR each night. Trying to figure out if I want to do a multi-night specialty package.

 

 

The second formal night is tonight (day 11)

 

I will post the compasses when I get home. I also have some of the menus. The mdr has been very good for dinner.

We purchased a three night package and in our opinion the food at Izumi and chops was fabulous. The food at Giovannis was very nice as well. We heard others complaining about chops earlier in the. Cruise but what we had was great

 

 

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[lucymorgan]

Don't know if you mentioned it, but can I ask you is the cruise director and activities manager?

 

 

 

 

I love how they have added Australia Plus, it is really just a bunch of ABC programs and News 24 that are shown via cable all across Asia-Pacific, also had it in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. On Voyager in December, we had a Channel 7 connection for the first and last sea day so that might be where you saw MKR.

 

 

Sorry for the delay in responding - the cruise director is ken and the activities manager is Katie. Sorry I don't know their last names. I'll see if they have the names posted somewhere.

 

Thanks for the info about the tv [emoji3]

 

 

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[Cruising Our Way]

Hi,

I have a question what is the procedure for tickets for the ice show?

Steve.

[lalenalei]

We embark in 10 days! Excited!

 

Would you please tell me what time the spinning classes were? I'm trying to book a massage around it. Thank you!

[lucymorgan]

Hi,

I have a question what is the procedure for tickets for the ice show?

Steve.

 

 

There were two ice shows on our cruise (Blades and Ice Odyssey). This was not made clear and it was only because another pax told me that I found out. They don't give out tickets - instead you attend the show(s) for your muster station. So for example C06 was ours and it is printed in the Cruise Compass when yours is on. However, it didn't seem to be full when we went and they open up entry to everyone else 5 minutes before the show.

[lucymorgan]

We embark in 10 days! Excited!

 

Would you please tell me what time the spinning classes were? I'm trying to book a massage around it. Thank you!

 

 

Hi Lalenalei

 

I had a look at the cruise compasses and there is indoor cycling at 8.00 am on one of the days (probably others - I haven't looked). Of course you can go in at any time and use the bikes :)

I will post the cruise compasses soon.

Cheers

[lucymorgan]

Mystery Island: I wasn’t sure that we were going to enjoy Mystery Island as it is so small and we are not usually beach people (Would you believe we don’t even go in the pool or hot tubs on board?!). I was worried that with a ship the size of Voyager, it would be crowded and not have much to do. I purchased cheap snorkelling gear from Anaconda for $9 a piece (end of summer sales) before we left on the cruise and we planned to give snorkelling a try. Mystery Island turned out to be lovely and despite being complete novices at snorkelling we did get to see some fish. Warning - There were bluebottles on the other side of the island to the ship so few people went snorkelling on that side. Make sure you take reef shoes (unless you plan to use flippers) as the sand is full of tiny sharp coral pieces. You can buy/rent snorkelling equipment on board and on the island. If I had known that I would probably have supported the islanders by purchasing there. I think they were about $25-30 AUD a set. The islanders take Australian, New Zealand and US dollars. There were no reef shoes to be had – on board they had kids sizes but no adult sizes. DDs gopro had a flat battery so no water pictures! The cheap snorkelling gear we brought with us worked beautifully – I had been worried that because it was cheap it would leak but if was great.

 

As it was my birthday that day, we had dinner in Izumis. The food was wonderful!

 

Isle of Pines: This island is much larger and is also beautiful. The sand really is stunning - like white powder. We started off snorkelling on the side of the island closest to the ship and a lovely Japanese couple called us over to look at a school of fish. Then a nice fellow told us that the best snorkelling was on the other side of the piece of land (just about 200 metres away), on the left side of a tiny island joined to the main island by a sand bank. We saw lots of beautifully coloured fish and even an octopus! What fun! Lots of people were buying lobsters ($20 AUD) for lunch.

 

Noumea: There was a free shuttle bus from the working port to the terminal building (I believe smaller ships dock directly at the terminal building). Inside the terminal building is a market (upstairs) a coffee shop with free wifi and 2 hop-on-hop-off bus operators. WE went with the first one ($15 charged directly to your sea pass – although I noticed she put 5 lines not 4 and she fixed it when I mentioned it – so be careful). There was a much more popular hoho at $10 but in the end I was pleased we paid a little extra as there was hardly anyone on our buses and we got great seats. I am always a bit worried about hoho busses being full at the end of the day as this happened to us in one European city and we ended up having to catch a taxi to be sure we were back in time. In Noumea, we did a full circle on the hoho (about 45 minutes) before choosing where to go back. There is a great supermarket just near the terminal building (called Casino) it was large and sold a few souvenirs, clothes etc as well as lots of food items. We bought lots of pepsi max and water to take back on board. We were amused to find cans of Slow Cow Mind Cooler (sort of the opposite of Red Bull) and purchased 2 for 58 cents each. LOL!

[lucymorgan]

Mystery Island Pics

[lucymorgan]

[lucymorgan]

[lalenalei]

Gorgeous photos! I didn't think about reef shoes (NOT popular with us locals in Hawaii), but we don't want to bring fins, so I guess we will have to get some...

 

Thanks for the info on spinning class, too!!!

[cruise4anniv]

As requested, here are beer and wine prices at one of the bars (casino). I have the whole menu but they are slow to upload so if anyone wants them I can do it when I get back.

 

These prices are in USD (the currency used on the ship). There are also a number of events that serve free 'champagne' - especially the art auctions and there seems to be an offer for 20% off bottles in the MDR most days. There are also buckets of beer available - I know the price is a bit cheaper by buying in bulk.

 

 

 

Thanks for this info - how much are cocktails??

 

Are the prices shown above in US $ I assume and do they include the 18% gratuity? I am confused with conflicting info at the moment :confused:

[cruise4anniv]

Oops think I need to update my signature!!!

[lucymorgan]

Thanks for this info - how much are cocktails??

 

Are the prices shown above in US $ I assume and do they include the 18% gratuity? I am confused with conflicting info at the moment :confused:

 

 

Hi are there particular cocktails you are interested in? (The menu is pretty long) The prices do include gratuity and are in USD. You can get the cocktail of the day for $8US which is what I did. There are also sometimes 2 for 1 offers in some venues.

[lucymorgan]

Mystery Island Airport

[lucymorgan]

I wanted to mention that the Windjammer calmed down after a couple of days and most days it was possible to find tables at the times we went.

 

Also the MDR service was significantly improved as they introduced a buffet breakfast on deck 3 which had good selections and good service. I was impressed with the quick response to the earlier issue of slow service.

[Skyesong]

Thank you for posting about your trip. We're going on this cruise in December.

 

I'm just wondering if you noticed much that could be done on Mystery Island for someone who doesn't swim/snorkel. I'm taking my 85 year old aunt with me, and whilst she is fairly spritely, she's very much a non swimmer. I'll also have a 6 year old with me. Trying to decide whether it's worth getting off the ship there, or just having another day on board.

 

Thank you.

[lucymorgan]

Thank you for posting about your trip. We're going on this cruise in December.

 

I'm just wondering if you noticed much that could be done on Mystery Island for someone who doesn't swim/snorkel. I'm taking my 85 year old aunt with me, and whilst she is fairly spritely, she's very much a non swimmer. I'll also have a 6 year old with me. Trying to decide whether it's worth getting off the ship there, or just having another day on board.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Hi Skyesong,

 

My 77 year mum didn't get off the ship (it is a tender port). She has been there before.

My daughter had her hair braided and that was fun for her. I saw lots of little children getting this done as well. If you prepare your 6 year old, I think it would be a nice experience. There are also a lot of market stalls with little hulu skirts and tropical clothes.

Don't discard the idea of snorkelling or even just spending time in the water. It was very calm and very shallow and although we are not confident swimmers, I think it is an ideal place to try snorkelling or swimming. The airport is interesting as well - it is just a tiny grass field and a tiny building but interesting to see.

 

edit: also, if you want to bring along school supplies, there is a place to donate them to the islanders. If your mum hasn't been there before, I think it would be interesting for her to get off the ship to have a look.

 

edit again: there is also a free islander performance, a coffee shop (we didn't go there) and some wildlife to see. It is easy to return to the ship after a short time so I would encourage your mum to get off and have a look

[Skyesong]

Thanks Lucy.

 

Not sure my 6 year old boy has enough hair for braids lol!

 

I might just take my son off the ship and chill out on the beach for a few hours.

[Opua Kiwi]

Skyesong

 

The locals should be offering a tour of their village and talk about their way of life where they live on Aneityum Island.

It is only a couple of miles and they will take you over on their small boats.

 

I haven't done this yet, but probably will next time there.

Ask around when you get of the tender and I'm sure you'll be directed in the right direction.

[lucymorgan]

Thanks Lucy.

 

Not sure my 6 year old boy has enough hair for braids lol!

 

I might just take my son off the ship and chill out on the beach for a few hours.

 

 

LOL - I saw a young boy about that age with short hair but long hair on top getting braids :)

You could get some snorkels and masks and try out the water - it is really shallow about knee to thigh height.