11/13 - 11/18 Voyager of the Seas - A Review

[cruzelovr]

Mike,

 

Having cruised extensively with different lines, I found that this cruise was fantastic. I see that you had problems, and I'm sorry for that, because we all go on vacation to relax, not to be accused of anything. I agree that the Windjammer was a zoo on embarkation, but that has been my experience on any cruise that I haven't been in the first group of people to get onboard.

 

The Voyager was the nicest ship I've been on, not by far, but just for what is offered onboard, not that I did everything available, but I was glad the option was there.

 

We did have great weather for November in an Atlantic crossing! That was one thing I was worried about. We had an aft balcony (8390 - if anybody gets the chance, BOOK IT!) and I wondered if we'd get any use out of it on the sea days, but we used it every day, even on Thursday until the rain started.

 

I found the Compass was not as clear as others I'd seen. A lot of things had a deck number but no room (Aquababies program - for example). And on a ship that large, finding somthing by deck number is like a needle in a haystack.

 

I don't like announcements, (luckily the speaker in my cabin didn't work so when I was in there I didnt have to listen) especially to tell people who can't read that bingo is starting and that basically run down what's in the compass. I liked that Celebrity had NO announcements, and I normally like the captain's announcements at noon, but I found this captain a little long winded.

 

My cabin steward - Romero from Costa Rica was the best and friendliest I've had in 9 cruises. He would see us coming down the hall and go and open the door for us (we had a stroller, so this was quite helpful). My wife left him a note asking for extra pillows, we had extra pillows. Always happy, always smiling. I know that we really lucked out with him!

 

Dining room staff was good, It was a different experience for me with the staff this time, I found them friendly for the most part, but that was because they were coming over to talk to my daugher (16 mos. old). A lot of the crew, especially the females, would tell us, about their little ones back at home in the Phillipines, or Honduras, or wherever home was. It was kind of nice, but kind of sad, because you knew they missed their kids, but this was the one way the they could afford to try to get them a better life.

 

Anyway, I thought this cruise was great, I booked another one onboard too. But my wife called Carnival today to do some comparison shopping and we can cruise with them for about 500 bucks cheaper, that's over and above the shipboard credit that we received for the 2 cabins we booked. I was floored because the past few years, Carnival has been higher priced than many of the other lines, and my daughter will be over 2 so she can use the kids program, it goes to a few ports I haven't been to yet, but it doesnt' have as much to do onboard... There's a bunch of us going (DW's family) so I guess we'll vote on it and see what we're doing.

 

I see you have some other cruises coming up, have fun on them!

[Mike2131]

Mike,

 

Having cruised extensively with different lines, I found that this cruise was fantastic. I see that you had problems, and I'm sorry for that, because we all go on vacation to relax, not to be accused of anything. I agree that the Windjammer was a zoo on embarkation, but that has been my experience on any cruise that I haven't been in the first group of people to get onboard.

 

The Voyager was the nicest ship I've been on, not by far, but just for what is offered onboard, not that I did everything available, but I was glad the option was there.

 

We did have great weather for November in an Atlantic crossing! That was one thing I was worried about. We had an aft balcony (8390 - if anybody gets the chance, BOOK IT!) and I wondered if we'd get any use out of it on the sea days, but we used it every day, even on Thursday until the rain started.

 

I found the Compass was not as clear as others I'd seen. A lot of things had a deck number but no room (Aquababies program - for example). And on a ship that large, finding somthing by deck number is like a needle in a haystack.

 

I don't like announcements, (luckily the speaker in my cabin didn't work so when I was in there I didnt have to listen) especially to tell people who can't read that bingo is starting and that basically run down what's in the compass. I liked that Celebrity had NO announcements, and I normally like the captain's announcements at noon, but I found this captain a little long winded.

 

My cabin steward - Romero from Costa Rica was the best and friendliest I've had in 9 cruises. He would see us coming down the hall and go and open the door for us (we had a stroller, so this was quite helpful). My wife left him a note asking for extra pillows, we had extra pillows. Always happy, always smiling. I know that we really lucked out with him!

 

Dining room staff was good, It was a different experience for me with the staff this time, I found them friendly for the most part, but that was because they were coming over to talk to my daugher (16 mos. old). A lot of the crew, especially the females, would tell us, about their little ones back at home in the Phillipines, or Honduras, or wherever home was. It was kind of nice, but kind of sad, because you knew they missed their kids, but this was the one way the they could afford to try to get them a better life.

 

Anyway, I thought this cruise was great, I booked another one onboard too. But my wife called Carnival today to do some comparison shopping and we can cruise with them for about 500 bucks cheaper, that's over and above the shipboard credit that we received for the 2 cabins we booked. I was floored because the past few years, Carnival has been higher priced than many of the other lines, and my daughter will be over 2 so she can use the kids program, it goes to a few ports I haven't been to yet, but it doesnt' have as much to do onboard... There's a bunch of us going (DW's family) so I guess we'll vote on it and see what we're doing.

 

I see you have some other cruises coming up, have fun on them!

 

I hope your toilet was not part of the flooding/phantom flushing cycle. We did not experience any flooding, just the occasional time delay flushing symptom.

Cruise pricing seems to have been crazy for the last year or more. We actually booked a balcony cabin on the Oceania cruise (12 nights) for less than we were originally quoted for an equivalent stateroom on the new Crown Princess (9 nights). I understand that the Crown will be brand new (we were looking at July of '06), will sail out of NYC, will be sailing in the summer, etc., but, given Oceania's reputation for great food and service, a chance to experience a smaller ship, very limited smoking, a fantastic itinerary, no formal nights and the chance to escape the Northeast in February, we could not pass it up.

I feel we will definitely enjoy the Regatta and Diamond.

[Jennygirl]

I'm just coming on the boards after coming home from this very same cruise and I am floored by your review. It's hard to believe we were on the same ship but then thats what opinions are for. If there were two more opposite reviews, yours and mine would be it. Of course, like anything else, different strokes for different folks but I gotta tell you Mike, you missed a great deal in NOT eating in the dining room. Not only were the selections varied but the food was delicious and we were a group of 12 with many different tastes. Our waiters were UNBELIEVEABLE - their names were Strawberry and his assistant was ROSS - they couldnt have been more accomodating every single night. These guys were worth every penny of our tips and believe me they didnt have to be as nice as they were. I loved them as did our whole group. THe service and food was impeccable and you missed out. We also ate in Portofino as did you and we agree it was fabulous.

 

You shouldve seen the ice show Mike. It rivaled any ice skating I've seen on TV. The music, skating and lightwork was just beautiful and I'm happy I got to see it. I feel bad that you ranked the other shows in LaScala theatre as just "okay". These singers/dancers work their tails off to bring us top notch

entertainment and I feel they fulfilled their part of the bargain. I saw every show and enjoyed each one.

 

The rooms: We were on deck 10 - balcony room and it was comfortable, roomy and I liked the cut outs on the drawers.....who the heck would even think of commenting on them but now that you mention them I thought they were cute. Plenty of closet space and we had no problem with anything in there except the stateroom attendant NOT filling up the fridge with more M&M's when I ate them.... :) The beds were okay, not the greatest but we toughed it out for 5 days, no big deal. I did experience the delayed flushing of the toilet as someone mentioned and thought that was worth a chuckle as did several of my group while exchanging stories.

 

I won't go point for point with you but I'll just tell the folks that are reading this that this was a very nice 5 day jaunt to Bermuda and RCL was wonderful and we would sail the VOS again.

[Mike2131]

I'm just coming on the boards after coming home from this very same cruise and I am floored by your review. It's hard to believe we were on the same ship but then thats what opinions are for. If there were two more opposite reviews, yours and mine would be it. Of course, like anything else, different strokes for different folks but I gotta tell you Mike, you missed a great deal in NOT eating in the dining room. Not only were the selections varied but the food was delicious and we were a group of 12 with many different tastes. Our waiters were UNBELIEVEABLE - their names were Strawberry and his assistant was ROSS - they couldnt have been more accomodating every single night. These guys were worth every penny of our tips and believe me they didnt have to be as nice as they were. I loved them as did our whole group. THe service and food was impeccable and you missed out. We also ate in Portofino as did you and we agree it was fabulous.

 

You shouldve seen the ice show Mike. It rivaled any ice skating I've seen on TV. The music, skating and lightwork was just beautiful and I'm happy I got to see it. I feel bad that you ranked the other shows in LaScala theatre as just "okay". These singers/dancers work their tails off to bring us top notch

entertainment and I feel they fulfilled their part of the bargain. I saw every show and enjoyed each one.

 

The rooms: We were on deck 10 - balcony room and it was comfortable, roomy and I liked the cut outs on the drawers.....who the heck would even think of commenting on them but now that you mention them I thought they were cute. Plenty of closet space and we had no problem with anything in there except the stateroom attendant NOT filling up the fridge with more M&M's when I ate them.... :) The beds were okay, not the greatest but we toughed it out for 5 days, no big deal. I did experience the delayed flushing of the toilet as someone mentioned and thought that was worth a chuckle as did several of my group while exchanging stories.

 

I won't go point for point with you but I'll just tell the folks that are reading this that this was a very nice 5 day jaunt to Bermuda and RCL was wonderful and we would sail the VOS again.

 

As you said, everyone has a different opinion. As to the dining room, we did not think the menus sounded very appealing. It got to be a daily game to see if anything sounded really good (it never happened). If we had eaten in Portofino every night the dining portion of the cruise would have been top notch.

As I mentioned, we had tickets to the ice show - and would have attended if circumstances had not prevented it. As to the other shows, the comedian during the welcome show and the juggler in the farewell show were entertaining. The lead female singer was very talented, but how many Broadway tribute shows can you see? They are on every cruise.

Your bed must have been newer than ours (think the Seinfeld episode where Elaine cannot even stand upright after a night on the sofa bed). Absolutely horrible.

RCCL is a bad match for us. Other cruisers, you included, had a wonderful time - and that is fantastic. We had some high expectations, were very disappointed and will move on to other options.

[teddie]

Mike,

 

With all due respect, I find that you seem very hard to please. Perhaps your standards exceed what might be found on a mainstream line like RCI.

 

You missed out on some potential highlights, (eg, dining room food/experience, Ice Show) IMHO.

 

I was on the Voyager two weeks prior to your sailing. I wonder if we were really on the same ship.

[Mike2131]

Mike,

 

With all due respect, I find that you seem very hard to please. Perhaps your standards exceed what might be found on a mainstream line like RCI.

 

You missed out on some potential highlights, (eg, dining room food/experience, Ice Show) IMHO.

 

I was on the Voyager two weeks prior to your sailing. I wonder if we were really on the same ship.

 

and actually thought about that before I wrote the review. But in light of very good to great experiences on Princess and Celebrity, I can't believe we went in to the cruise with unrealistic expectations. We were expecting a cruise comparable to Princess and probably a notch below Celebrity (certainly RCCL's pricing would lead one to expect that). I thoroughly research a cruise and knew the cabins would be smaller, the lines longer, etc. We even discussed the fact that, with such a large ship, there would be differences and adjustments to be made from our previous cruises on the Coral Princess and Summit.

All that being said, the cruise was a real disappointment. I do think a ship as large as Voyager is just not for us. Too bad that the industry seems to be headed in the "ship as the destination" direction. The higher passenger to crew ratio lessens the personal touch, undoubtedly stresses the staff, and definitely inpacts the cruise experience. Ultimately, RCCL's decisions (and resulting product) make it a bad fit (and poor value) for us.

RCCL has a proven formula that is just not our style but, from a purely business standpoint, why would they change it? We certainly would not expect them to. There are thousands of passengers like you who enjoy it, so we will move elsewhere.

[teddie]

RCCL has a proven formula that is just not our style but, from a purely business standpoint, why would they change it? We certainly would not expect them to. There are thousands of passengers like you who enjoy it, so we will move elsewhere.

 

Thanks for your response, but I must take exception to the last part of your answer, as it seemed a tad condescending to me.

 

As a preteen in the mid-sixties, I sailed from NY to Sydney via the Suez Canal, (both directions!), so I have done some old-fashioned cruising.

 

I have also more recently cruised on the much smaller Enchantment (pre-stretch) and two Voyager-class ships.

 

If excellent and friendly service, and a thoroughly enjoyable vacation experience are reserved for "thousands of passengers like me", I say, bring it on!

[Linda/Ohio]

All that being said, the cruise was a real disappointment. I do think a ship as large as Voyager is just not for us.

 

Thiis was my first cruise on a megaship too. I have been on a number of other RCCL ships and actually prefer a smaller ship. I did think the Voyager was a good choice-as it would handle well in rougher seas. I certainly don't think all cruises are like the megaship cruise...if you try RCCL in the future may I suggest the Brilliance or one of her sister ships. Much more user friendly.

[Mike2131]

RCCL has a proven formula that is just not our style but, from a purely business standpoint, why would they change it? We certainly would not expect them to. There are thousands of passengers like you who enjoy it, so we will move elsewhere.

 

Thanks for your response, but I must take exception to the last part of your answer, as it seemed a tad condescending to me.

 

As a preteen in the mid-sixties, I sailed from NY to Sydney via the Suez Canal, (both directions!), so I have done some old-fashioned cruising.

 

I have also more recently cruised on the much smaller Enchantment (pre-stretch) and two Voyager-class ships.

 

If excellent and friendly service, and a thoroughly enjoyable vacation experience are reserved for "thousands of passengers like me", I say, bring it on!

 

That was certainly not my intent. I only meant to say that there are different experiences that appeal to different cruise passengers and RCCL did not provide one we will repeat. If we had experienced the "excellent and friendly service and a thoroughly enjoyable vacation experience" you reference we would certainly agree. We didn't.

For us, I really think that Oceania will be an excellent fit - a small ship experience, no formal nights (dressing up does not make the food or wine taste better), very limited smoking, a reputation for excellent food and service, a great itinerary, etc.

[shirleygr]

You judge an entire cruiseline with 1 5 day cruise?

You obviously have had good experiences on RCCL because you frequent their ships. That is terrific.

 

If, however (with a frame of reference of good experiences on 2 other cruise lines), you had a poor cruise on your first outing with another line, would you go back? I doubt it. There are other choices out there and we will spend our cruise dollars elsewhere.

This is a prime example of the old adage that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

 

Mike, I would have agreed with you about not giving a second chance up until this past May. We really wanted to cruise out of NY and decided to go with NCL. Our first cruise was on NCL in '98 (our honeymoon). We had a dreadful time--crew was rude, food was just okay, itinerary changes, etc. After writing to them several times and receiving not one reply from NCL, I decided not to cruise with them again. Then we decided we really wanted to cruise out of NY and didn't have alot of choices at that time of year--NCL Dawn was about our only choice. I did some research on this site and the Dawn seemed to be consistently well reviewed, so we took a chance. And we really enjoyed our cruise with them. The food was good, the variety of dining venues was appealing and the crew was consistently pleasant. We are considering another cruise with NCL since NY is so convenient for us.

Anyway, while I am sorry you had a disappointing cruise, I also have to agree it is somewhat unfair to judge a cruiseline by just one cruise. And that is from someone who has been in the same place you are. Whatever you decide, I hope your future cruises are much more pleasant.

[Mike2131]

Mike, I would have agreed with you about not giving a second chance up until this past May. We really wanted to cruise out of NY and decided to go with NCL. Our first cruise was on NCL in '98 (our honeymoon). We had a dreadful time--crew was rude, food was just okay, itinerary changes, etc. After writing to them several times and receiving not one reply from NCL, I decided not to cruise with them again. Then we decided we really wanted to cruise out of NY and didn't have alot of choices at that time of year--NCL Dawn was about our only choice. I did some research on this site and the Dawn seemed to be consistently well reviewed, so we took a chance. And we really enjoyed our cruise with them. The food was good, the variety of dining venues was appealing and the crew was consistently pleasant. We are considering another cruise with NCL since NY is so convenient for us.

Anyway, while I am sorry you had a disappointing cruise, I also have to agree it is somewhat unfair to judge a cruiseline by just one cruise. And that is from someone who has been in the same place you are. Whatever you decide, I hope your future cruises are much more pleasant.

 

Unfortunately, I feel second chances are reserved for a restaurant that might have had an off night (and that is only for those where the first experience was not so bad that we would not go back even for free).

We are not willing to invest several thousand dollars on the chance that this was a one-off bad experience. Another old saying seems appropriate - "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

The relative convenience of sailing out of NYC (or even Boston) is definitely not enough of a lure for us to venture forth on RCCL again.

[Kwaj girl]

Here's my .02 as posted on another thread before I read your review here. One thing I MUST add about the dining room.....the Moroccan Rack of Lamb was to die for! And I agree with you about smaller ships. At least for us, that's the way to go!

 

"Our overall experience was not as wonderful as I'd hoped. We've been on over 50 cruises in our lifetime (yes, we count our blessings and are very thankful that we've been able to to do this!) representing more than 10 cruise lines of all types, but this was our first, and likely last, cruise on a "megaship". DH & I bought this for our extended family of 12 as their early Christmas present. They sailed in Promenade cabins & we had a grand suite. THAT was the saving grace as far as I'm concerned, especially having the concierge lounge as an "oasis" away from the family drama! We, too, put up with the crowds and the EXTREME rudeness of way too many passengers, from the cutting in line at Windjammer (after going there twice, we never went back!), overcrowding & pushing to get into the elevators (my 84-yr-old MIL ended up with a nasty "goose egg" on her arm after someone shoved her aside to get out of the elevator FIRST) and the "me first" attitude everywhere. Is this a "northeast" thing?

Bermuda was fun; it was good to go back since our last visit was in '98. The transportation passes are great for getting around the island by bus & ferry.

Our service staff was mostly efficient and took care of our needs; we are not the "demanding" types.

I was appalled by the ridiculously huge amounts of food waste observed in the Windjammer. Some people just heaped their plates and left most of it to go to waste. Others perhaps let it go to "waist".... I don't think I've ever seen such a large number of morbidly obese travelers as we did on this trip (JUST an observation, no flaming, please!).

As usual, disembarkation was held up by individuals that did not report to onboard immigration as required and others that hadn't settled their shipboard accounts at the purser's desk. Color tags didn't seem to mean much; we were in the first group called but they just seemed to let anyone off who was in the area closest to the stairwell...maybe just to get them out of the way? Some of our group said they had to wait quite awhile to get off the ship but once they were off, it was quick to get the bags & back to their cars.

Will we sail RCCL again? Probably, but only on one of their smaller ships!"

[Mike2131]

Here's my .02 as posted on another thread before I read your review here. One thing I MUST add about the dining room.....the Moroccan Rack of Lamb was to die for! And I agree with you about smaller ships. At least for us, that's the way to go!

 

"Our overall experience was not as wonderful as I'd hoped. We've been on over 50 cruises in our lifetime (yes, we count our blessings and are very thankful that we've been able to to do this!) representing more than 10 cruise lines of all types, but this was our first, and likely last, cruise on a "megaship". DH & I bought this for our extended family of 12 as their early Christmas present. They sailed in Promenade cabins & we had a grand suite. THAT was the saving grace as far as I'm concerned, especially having the concierge lounge as an "oasis" away from the family drama! We, too, put up with the crowds and the EXTREME rudeness of way too many passengers, from the cutting in line at Windjammer (after going there twice, we never went back!), overcrowding & pushing to get into the elevators (my 84-yr-old MIL ended up with a nasty "goose egg" on her arm after someone shoved her aside to get out of the elevator FIRST) and the "me first" attitude everywhere. Is this a "northeast" thing?

Bermuda was fun; it was good to go back since our last visit was in '98. The transportation passes are great for getting around the island by bus & ferry.

Our service staff was mostly efficient and took care of our needs; we are not the "demanding" types.

I was appalled by the ridiculously huge amounts of food waste observed in the Windjammer. Some people just heaped their plates and left most of it to go to waste. Others perhaps let it go to "waist".... I don't think I've ever seen such a large number of morbidly obese travelers as we did on this trip (JUST an observation, no flaming, please!).

As usual, disembarkation was held up by individuals that did not report to onboard immigration as required and others that hadn't settled their shipboard accounts at the purser's desk. Color tags didn't seem to mean much; we were in the first group called but they just seemed to let anyone off who was in the area closest to the stairwell...maybe just to get them out of the way? Some of our group said they had to wait quite awhile to get off the ship but once they were off, it was quick to get the bags & back to their cars.

Will we sail RCCL again? Probably, but only on one of their smaller ships!"

 

I live in the Northeast (but am originally from Texas) and I must agree about the extremely high number of rude passengers. One of those knocked my girlfriend out of the way as he was trying to grab one of the phones on the dock at King's Wharf (she estimated that he weighed about 350 lbs.). He could have hurt her pretty badly. I hesitated to mention these passengers in my review since I was commenting only on the RCCL experience, but they certainly did not enhance the enjoyment of the cruise. We wondered if they were representative of the usual passenger mix on a RCCL cruise.

I booked the Diamond Princess as a surprise Christmas present and we will see if they handle a large ship cruise better (I have no doubt that they will). The smaller number of passengers will definitely help. In addition, we will be in a mini-suite with the upgraded mattresses vs. the rack we had to endure for sleeping on the Voyager.