Voyager resumes sailing 4/15/22

[Sunshine3601]

I am having trouble understanding how they didn't even cabins ready for passengers they had plenty of time to set up each cabin as needed.    I hope your sailing improves. 

How is the food?    

[Jimbo]

Update @little britain current conditions, found your room steward yet? Better yet, has he found your cabin yet? 😉

[flamingos]

On 4/16/2022 at 4:25 AM, little britain said:

But they have cut off access to the back of the ship… you can no longer walk around the outer deck 11 but have to go via an internal corridor. Seems strange. 

Can you describe this better, please?

[CatLadyFemme]

Ooof. We are on the May 22nd sailing, so following along closely!

[Saab4444]

14 hours ago, flamingos said:

Can you describe this better, please?

The outdoor space in front of the former Johnny Rockets location is now enclosed space but I believe this is deck 12. On deck 11 they took away the open deck in the front of the ship for more cabins. In the back of 11 is Wondjammer and this has always been enclosed.

[freddyfish]

14 hours ago, flamingos said:

Can you describe this better, please?

Where there used to be a walkway so you could walk all around the ship they have added a new block of staterooms with panoramic views of the front of the ship, and a few insides. The result is that you can no longer do a full circle and have to go through a hallway to get round. Also the extra cabins mean less public space and more passengers 🙃

[Saab4444]

5 hours ago, freddyfish said:

Where there used to be a walkway so you could walk all around the ship they have added a new block of staterooms with panoramic views of the front of the ship, and a few insides. The result is that you can no longer do a full circle and have to go through a hallway to get round. Also the extra cabins mean less public space and more passengers 🙃

The question was about back of the ship…

[soremekun]

So......... No tipping on this cruise?

[Kbonner]

My 5 cents on board VY:

arrived 11:30, boarding relative smooth 

3 pc of luggage -----the last one was found at 20:00hrs

cabin was not prepared, no C&A paperwork, no amenities, no C&A perks, not even the basics, also no bathrobes. 

After meeting cabin attended bathrobes were delivered but she did not understand our amenities set (Pinnacle)-perk. so, this took another day; 

the second day she brought another pair of bathrobes.....

wines still not arrived, went into an argument with useless Loyalty ambassador the 3rd day about any of my missing wines; she seems to be not motivated and never followed up,

elevated the issue to management and received my wine on the eve of day 3;

 but--- they do not have all of the C&A listed wines on board, of course my selected wines were not available , no follow up by LA, you have to work these Loyalty issues by yourself , no help....

ship totally understaffed at 60%, seems to be many are trainees , so i call the inaugural cruise their / our stress test;

Overall so far the excuses are "understaffed" not fully trained. I could show sympathy with that but stop -I paid a high price and expect a RCCL-conform service and not some subpar Guinea pig service.

Many  do not seem to understand English well, so lots of misinterpretations;

suite and Pinnacle lounge excellent and knowledgeable staffed;

you have to talk with the "management not the cashier" in order to resolve issues. It works .

Oh forgot- the wines on the eve of day 3: no corkscrew, no glasses, so I considered them display wines until further inquiry brought the tools.

Enough, I need and want to enjoy this cruise, so stop for now

 

 

[freddyfish]

6 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

The question was about back of the ship…

Sorry must have missed that. Incidently they changed the wondjammer to windjammer now ... 😄

Edited April 18, 2022 by freddyfish

[Another_Critic]

Another excerpt from the poor planning department at RCI ... just received an email that Anthem's SeaPlex will be closed the first 6 days of the May transatlantic.  To add insult, it's closed when 5 of the 6 days are sea days.  🙄

 

"Due to scheduled maintenance, the first floor of the SeaPlex will be temporarily closed during your sailing as we renovate the floor beginning on Day 1."

 

 

[little britain]

Sorry for the radio silence! Lack of Wi-Fi - which costs $24.99/$19.99 to buy on board so I’m trying to hold on till it’s more cost effective to offset my 2 free days! 
 

To resume…

Easter Sunday was spent in Gibraltar- a lovely sunny day. Not marked in any way on board, no chocolate or Easter egg hunt or Easter bunnies!    And being the first sailing back was not marked either- a few balloons along the Promenade ( left over from the Travel agent shake down cruise ) but no welcome glass of bubbles as we boarded. 

 

Due to bad weather unfortunately our day in Lisbon has been cancelled so we headed north to Vigo instead 

 

Food is of good quality and well presented- especially in the WJ. I must admit not being a fan of the return to self service.   However I think they are a bit short on veg… I was served 1” of asparagus tip with my shrimp and in Giovannis one small broccoli floret accompanied my very tender steak! 

 

However they are not geared up for the European market and don’t realise that shutting the dining room at 9p causes the large Spanish families all to arrive at 9 or even after.

 

The menu is the standard RCI one with the additions of a pie and a curry every day. 

 

Crew are not wearing the Smile behind the Mask badges. Perhaps they haven’t been delivered yet. 

 

Day 5 and I still haven’t seen my steward but now have 4 tubes of shampoo and 2 of conditioner. 
My 2 remaining bottles of wine arrived, not in ice bucket - just left on the side.  Not received any c&a paperwork either. 

 

Solarium pool temperature is freezing because the heater element is not working… and the solarium bar cannot open apparently because the shutters are broken!  Now it’s too cold outside to use the pools anyway! 

 

Digital signage boards are incorrect with some still showing the spa and gym at the front of deck 11 whereas it’s now at 12 aft. Keeps your steps up whilst looking for it I guess!  When was this ship in dry dock?! No sauna or steam room any more on this ship either. 

 

Top tier event was held in the theatre for platinum and up. Luara from Brazil is the lovely LA on board.  She said all paperwork was given to housekeeping to distribute so I feel housekeeping are one of the week links here!

 

1211 c & a members on board 

357 gold

206 platinum 

108 emerald 

297 diamond 

213 d plus

32 pinnacle 

 

Top cruiser had 1869 points. 

 

There was no M&M event despite having over 50 registered. However the other roll call on that other site has over 330 participants. I suspect that M&Ms won’t return. 

 

The number of senior crew are more visible. They are actively trying to rectify the service issues I believe.  However bar staff are still slim in the ground, not circulating to take your orders and as mentioned some don’t have very good English. 

 

Entertainment - the 70s Promenade party was back last night! Complete with CD in an Afro wig and the YMCA men.  How we’ve missed that!!!

We’ve had a group of 4 young men called the Jack Pack ( been on Britain’s Got Talent) singing Buble and Valli - can’t go wrong with that. Ice shows postponed until later in the cruise due to the weather.  

No entertainment show at all on the first formal night. I think it was meant to be the acrobat show. 2 films showing instead in the theatre - Clifford and No Time to Die.  Why didn’t they ask the Jack Pack singers to do another show? 

 

The shops are selling bags at very reduced prices. I guess they are old season Kate Spades… as the shop hasn’t been open for two years. Gotta love a bargain!  I’ve only bought 2 so far but there are many days to go… 

 

Edit: make that 3 Kate Spade bags… 

Edited April 19, 2022 by little britain

[Jimbo]

26 minutes ago, little britain said:

Sorry for the radio silence! Lack of Wi-Fi - which costs $24.99/$19.99 to buy on board so I’m trying to hold on till it’s more cost effective to offset my 2 free days! 
 

To resume…

Easter Sunday was spent in Gibraltar- a lovely sunny day. Not marked in any way on board, no chocolate or Easter egg hunt or Easter bunnies!    And being the first sailing back was not marked either- a few balloons along the Promenade ( left over from the Travel agent shake down cruise ) but no welcome glass of bubbles as we boarded. 

 

Due to bad weather unfortunately our day in Lisbon has been cancelled so we headed north to Vigo instead 

 

Food is of good quality and well presented- especially in the WJ. I must admit not being a fan of the return to self service.   However I think they are a bit short on veg… I was served 1” of asparagus tip with my shrimp and in Giovannis one small broccoli floret accompanied my very tender steak! 

 

However they are not geared up for the European market and don’t realise that shutting the dining room at 9p causes the large Spanish families all to arrive at 9 or even after.

 

The menu is the standard RCI one with the additions of a pie and a curry every day. 

 

Crew are not wearing the Smile behind the Mask badges. Perhaps they haven’t been delivered yet. 

 

Day 5 and I still haven’t seen my steward but now have 4 tubes of shampoo and 2 of conditioner. 
My 2 remaining bottles of wine arrived, not in ice bucket - just left on the side.  Not received any c&a paperwork either. 

 

Solarium pool temperature is freezing because the heater element is not working… and the solarium bar cannot open apparently because the shutters are broken!  Now it’s too cold outside to use the pools anyway! 

 

Digital signage boards are incorrect with some still showing the spa and gym at the front of deck 11 whereas it’s now at 12 aft. Keeps your steps up whilst looking for it I guess!  When was this ship in dry dock?! No sauna or steam room any more on this ship either. 

 

Top tier event was held in the theatre for platinum and up. Luara from Brazil is the lovely LA on board.  She said all paperwork was given to housekeeping to distribute so I feel housekeeping are one of the week links here!

 

1211 c & a members on board 

357 gold

206 platinum 

108 emerald 

297 diamond 

213 d plus

32 pinnacle 

 

Top cruiser had 1869 points. 

 

There was no M&M event despite having over 50 registered. However the other roll call on that other site has over 330 participants. I suspect that M&Ms won’t return. 

 

The number of senior crew are more visible. They are actively trying to rectify the service issues I believe.  However bar staff are still slim in the ground, not circulating to take your orders and as mentioned some don’t have very good English. 

 

Entertainment - the 70s Promenade party was back last night! Complete with CD in an Afro wig and the YMCA men.  How we’ve missed that!!!

We’ve had a group of 4 young men called the Jack Pack ( been on Britain’s Got Talent) singing Buble and Valli - can’t go wrong with that. Ice shows postponed until later in the cruise due to the weather.  

No entertainment show at all on the first formal night. I think it was meant to be the acrobat show. 2 films showing instead in the theatre - Clifford and No Time to Die.  Why didn’t they ask the Jack Pack singers to do another show? 

 

The shops are selling bags at very reduced prices. I guess they are old season Kate Spades… as the shop hasn’t been open for two years. Gotta love a bargain!  I’ve only bought 2 so far but there are many days to go… 

 

Edit: make that 3 Kate Spade bags… 

Makes you wonder doesn't it what the ship has been doing the last 2 years, no upkeep it at all with all the issues. Hope you get some kind of refund before you get off.

 

Really disappointing. 😞

[little britain]

I spoke with a senior GSM 2 days ago offering to give them honest feedback as they are going to get blasted in the survey…. He said he’d call me the following morning…..guess what ….!

[kochleffel]

Thank you all for training the staff before my cruise. If enough of you keep at it, maybe they'll have figured it out by then (August, the Denmark-Norway itinerary right before the Arctic Crossing).

[bonsai3s]

LB...thank you. 

Hoping things will be better when we board.

[Devi8or]

Sucks to hear, Voyager is one of the ships I'm considering. My sailing would be a long time from now, so they have plenty of time to get it together before then

[ckmommy]

Wow--this is so disappointing to read.  We are on VOS June 15th for 11 nights.  I sure hope things get better.  Sorry for the bad luck on the cruise so far.  

 

[rudeney]

I am sure they will have things worked out before our CAN/NE cruise in October.  I hope yours gets better!

[little britain]

Some random comments:

 

no towel animals ( for me yet) 

 

digital safe display in my cabin not showing numbers entered

 

the digital signage boards say every day is going to be 84F.. it certainly isn’t! 

 

some blinds in dining room not working so cannot open curtains

 

no progressive trivia ( 4 sea days on this trip) 

 

b2b meeting at 9am on a seaday. Really!  They couldn’t do it later?

 

Not sure if this is meant up happen but I “won” 3-4 different times during my free $8 casino play - the machine said “congratulations I was a winner on line xx”, flashed and made winning sounds (!), and a credit sum appeared in the Win column. But when I pressed play that sum disappeared - it did not add to my initial credit total - and I walked away with nothing.   I’m not a casino player so I’m not sure if I was meant to press anything after each win? It is only $3 approx in winnings but it was annoying! 
 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by little britain

[little britain]

B2B info:

-about 270 b2b.

-complimentary testing on board next Saturday.

-if you’re positive then you aren’t allowed to sail. 
-get your room steward to move your luggage if moving to different cabin ( ha ha ha).

-strongly recommended to spend the day in Copenhagen as they sanitise the ship ( electrostatic fogging) - they are laying on free shuttle busses 

- if you’ve bought duty free it isn’t returned to you until the end if your final cruise 

 

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, little britain said:

B2B info:

Can we assume Voom has gotten better to allow so much posting?

[little britain]

20 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Can we assume Voom has gotten better to allow so much posting?

Yes I’ve finally succumbed and bought Wi-Fi (surf) at $33.98 for the remainder of the voyage.
Today is day 6. Just bobbing across Biscay. it’s quite rocky. 

[bigeck]

4 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Can we assume Voom has gotten better to allow so much posting?

It's not the actual WiFi but where the best signal is. I'm in an Aft JS on deck 7 and it cuts off every few minutes. A lot of places on the ship has a poor signal. At $22 a day I would expect better

[bonsai3s]

LB...that's a lot of B2B passengers.  Is there a "special lunch" for those who will stay onboard?

 

Where is the Voyager docking?...Oceankaj?

 

Will the free bus to town be provided for the entire season out of Copenhagen?

 

Has the bar service improved? 🙂

 

How's the food and service in the MDR and specialty restaurants?

 

Is the Windjammer served or self-served? Any special local dishes being served?

 

Hope you got all your C&A amenities by now.