LIVE Voyager of the Seas Oct. 2nd, 2022 - Oct. 9th, 2022

[rudeney]

Cruise Compass Day 4:

 

 

 

 

[Gator0178]

Thank you soo much for your review!! We will be sailing on her in about a week. 

Do you know where and how to get tender tickets. We are trying to get tender 1 for an early excursion we have booked with Oli's Trollies. Thanks in advance!

[Broons77]

Thank you for the wine lists @rudeney!!!  What were your selections in Chops & Gios?

[BlushPell]

Glad you are enjoying your trip and thanks so much for posting. My sailing in a few days is also in Saint John for a long time I believe it is because of tides possibly. Saint John looks like the least interesting port to me and I am glad you shared your opinion on the shore ex I was considering it but now that I see what it offers I will pass.

 

Do you find the ship feels crowded since it is a full sailing?

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, rudeney said:

Vlad said the chef used a slight alteration to the RCCL recipe to make it more moist.

That was my only complaint of the Red Velvet Cake I had on Symphony that it was a little dry. I wonder what he did to make it more moist?

[fsufancc]

On 10/2/2022 at 5:43 PM, rudeney said:

My wife Jan and I boarded Voyager this morning in Boston.  This is our journey. 

 

Yesterday,  Saturday,  we drove from home south of Birmingham,  AL, to Nashville.   We did this in order to have a direct flight to Boston.   The drive was easy on the flight uneventful.   We checked into our hotel,  the Westin seaport around 10pm.  We were up and out this morning slightly after 10 for our 10:30 boarding.   We were at the terminal through security and on the ship shortly after 11.  

 

We are sailing on Oct 23 VOTS just not stopping at Portland.  We live near Nashville and are staying at the Westin too (Bonvoy Points). Thank you for the updates.  

 

How did you get from Logan to the Westin?  Taxi? Uber? 

Then how did you get from the Westin to the cruise terminal/Black Falcon?  It looks like you can walk it, but not sure.

 

Just wondering.

[Rubyfisch]

39 minutes ago, fsufancc said:

How did you get from Logan to the Westin?  Taxi? Uber? 

Then how did you get from the Westin to the cruise terminal/Black Falcon?  It looks like you can walk it, but not sure.

 

Just wondering.

 

I used to live across the street from the Westin. You have a couple of options depending on how much stuff you have and how far you want to walk. There is a Silver Line station not far from the Westin. You can hop on a the airport for free and get off at the first stop outside the airport. Go inside the station and up to the top. From there, cross the bridge and you'll be at the Westin. Lyft and Uber are available at Logan, but they have to pick you up in Central Parking. The signs are very clear, but it is a long walk from some of the terminals. I believe the cab lines are still at arrivals in all terminals but C (which is supposedly in Central Parking).

 

You can absolutely walk from the Westin, but if you have a ton of stuff it might be a pain. When I cruised out of Boston, I drove my parents and our stuff to the terminal, deposited them, and then took my car back to my apartment building. If I had been going alone, I would have walked.

[rudeney]

5 hours ago, Gator0178 said:

Thank you soo much for your review!! We will be sailing on her in about a week. 

Do you know where and how to get tender tickets. We are trying to get tender 1 for an early excursion we have booked with Oli's Trollies. Thanks in advance!

 

I am not sure how they are doing tender tickets.  We booked through RCCL, so we just met in the theater and they escorted us onto a tender.  I think they give priority to those on RCCL excursions, but everyone else has to get in line.  

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, fsufancc said:

 

We are sailing on Oct 23 VOTS just not stopping at Portland.  We live near Nashville and are staying at the Westin too (Bonvoy Points). Thank you for the updates.  

 

How did you get from Logan to the Westin?  Taxi? Uber? 

Then how did you get from the Westin to the cruise terminal/Black Falcon?  It looks like you can walk it, but not sure.

 

Just wondering.

 

Boston Logan really doesn't want you to use Uber or Lyft.  They have to pickup somewhere in "central parking" and we never could find out how to get there as the signs were terrible.  We ended up walking by the taxi staging area (also in parking, directly across from the terminal building) so we took a cab.  Even with tip, it was still less than the Uber price prior to tip.  As you'd expect, the cab drivers and their traffic managers are rude.  We had a bunch of luggage and needed an SUV.  They put us in a RAV4 which barely held it., and only after I yelled at the cabbie to stop trying to slam the tailgate and force my luggage to fit.  

 

From the Westin to the terminal is walkable, but I wouldn't do it with a lot of luggage - the sidewalks are uneven, there's a lot of traffic, plus construction.  We took an Uber and it was $10.  I tipped another $10 because they guy was so nice and helpful.  

[rudeney]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

That was my only complaint of the Red Velvet Cake I had on Symphony that it was a little dry. I wonder what he did to make it more moist?

 

I have no clue!  Vlad just said this this chef tweaked the recipe a bit.  Something about using the "older" recipe maybe?  

[rudeney]

4 hours ago, BlushPell said:

Glad you are enjoying your trip and thanks so much for posting. My sailing in a few days is also in Saint John for a long time I believe it is because of tides possibly. Saint John looks like the least interesting port to me and I am glad you shared your opinion on the shore ex I was considering it but now that I see what it offers I will pass.

 

Do you find the ship feels crowded since it is a full sailing?

 

I would save my money of the Saint John shorex.  There are some interesting sights there, but we were spoiled by Bar Harbor and Portland.  

 

I am not sure what the pax count is, but the ship does not feel crowded.  I've never had to wait in a line to get a drink - behind one person at the most.  We've been able to get a seat in all the bars.  Today is a sea day, headed from Saint John to Sydney, and it's VERY foggy, cool, and drizzly, so everyone's staying inside.  Even with that, it does not feel crowded.  I was down on the Promenade a few hours ago around 3:00pm and it was busy, but not congested.   All the tables at Pig & Whistle were taken, but I walked up and grabbed a drink with no wait.  There was no wait at Cafe Promenade, except about 4 or 5 in line for coffee.  There were plenty of seats at the other bars, and the casino was busy, but you could get a machine or table seat if wanted.  

 

I will say something about the "spirit" of this cruise.  All the passengers we meet are happy and having a great time, but the crew is even more enthusiastic.  They have been AWESOME!  Masking for them is optional, and I'd say about 1/3 are wearing them, but they often drop them when talking to us.  The ship is in good shape - yes, there's some rust and some worn surfaces and such, but it's still beautiful and so far just a great experience.  

 

We've have no problems with shortages, though some wines are unavailable.  For cabernet by the glass, it's pretty much Oberon, which is just fine.  It's listed at $15/glass, but I've not been up-charged with the DBP.  I've been drinking Johnnie Walker Double-Black and not all bars have it.  I have not seen a great selection of bourbon.  I am not a big bourbon drinker, so I haven't really looked for specific brands, but mostly I see Jack and Wild Turkey and such.  I think I saw some Evan Williams, but no Bulliet or other higher-end brands.  

 

Oh, and Voom as been "usable"  I've not done any streaming, but it's bee great for calls and texts, and I'm able to  get to FB and CC, so I guess I'm good with it! 

[rudeney]

We are in the Windjammer tonight.  It was good and not too crowded.  After that,  the show was Frankie and The Dreamers.  They were great!   The best stage show I've seen on a cruise ship. 

 

 

"Working my way back to the Windjammer" (yes, that's what they sang) 

[Broons77]

We normally don't do many shows on board, but we may have to check them out.   I've seen it mentioned how good they are in other threads as well.

 

You've now also got me wondering if I should bother with the St John shorex we have booked.  The rub here is that we need an accessible excursion for DW and this is the only one I've been able to find at any port on our cruise.  If there's really not much to see, we're fine with just wandering into town if it's reasonable pushing distance and conditions to do so from the dock.  We can do some of that in Portland, and I'm looking for a scouting report from Halifax which is our second Canada stop.  Would you vote to bail on it?

Edited October 7, 2022 by Broons77

[DingoMom]

Thank you so much for your Blog (and for answering DH’s question about the Craps table)! We are packing in earnest now for next week. Do we need any short-sleeve shirts or sandals? If so, I need another suitcase!! Thank you!

[RenieRaider]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:52 AM, rudeney said:

Getting ready to leave Bay Harbor

 

Dinner in Giovanni's - steak for me (yes, I still think it's better than Chops)  shrimp for Jan. 

 

 

The wine menu

 

 

we watched the Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme show.. meh.  The band was great,  the lead make was good,  the others were underwhelming. 

 

Now it's time to talk about the elephant in the room...

 

Very clever! LOL "Elephant in the room"  LOL

[RenieRaider]

rudeney  Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us. Good job!

 

Was there storm damage to the Bay of Fundy area? We had concern for the residents after Fiona blew through there.

 

Bingo... did you play? Any luck? What is the cost?

 

Thank you again for your precious time!

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, RenieRaider said:

rudeney  Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us. Good job!

 

Was there storm damage to the Bay of Fundy area? We had concern for the residents after Fiona blew through there.

 

Bingo... did you play? Any luck? What is the cost?

 

Thank you again for your precious time!

 

The only evidence we saw of storm damage was in the low tide caves of St. Martins.  The storms blew down some trees and eroded some soil so they were afraid more trees would fall, so they had the caves roped off.  Otherwise, they said they just had high winds and rain with minimal damage.  We're in Sydney now and it all looks fine, but we only got off the ship briefly to pickup a few souvenirs.  They did cancel some excursions due to storm damage on the Cabot trail.

 

[rudeney]

We played a bit in the casino yesterday and last night.  I won 1,200 in black jack.  1,200 pennies, that is. 😜 Yep, if I didn't have the DBP, I'd have bought myself a drink (or part of one).  We'll probably play some more tomorrow.  Jan has not yet lost all her money in the slot machines.  

 

Today is Sydney, NS.  We were docked by the time I got up and out at 7:30am.  It's foggy/drizzly and cool.  I did water aerobics and some hot tubbing before breakfast. 

 

 

We decided to do Chops this morning as we wanted a change from the Windjammer. 

 

 

We have a massage booked for 1:00pm, then dinner in Chops at 5:30, and the ice show at 9:15.  

[rudeney]

Day 5 Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by rudeney

[rudeney]

Day 6 Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

[DaniDanielle]

We saw 

Frankie and the Dreamers on Anthem.  They definitely were the best show we have seen!!

[Another_Critic]

47 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

We saw 

Frankie and the Dreamers on Anthem.  They definitely were the best show we have seen!!

And I've seen them on several Anthem cruises and recently on Voyager.  They were somewhat better on Voyager, but I still don't see them as being that great.  IMO, the "Dreamers" are better than "Frankie".

 

The Frankie Valli part was pretty good, but the "hip hop" yelling and screaming was a turnoff.

FYI - I like Frankie Valli music.

 

ETA:  I wasn't the only one that had the same opinion on both Anthem and Voyager.  It's like Specta's Cabaret ... people love it or hate it.  😄

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by Another_Critic

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

IMO, the "Dreamers" are better than "Frankie".

 

One of the "substitute" Dreamers before you got on was pretty good too, though I told him to stick to singing when he was on the Flowrider.😇

 

Biker, who has also seen them on both Voyager and Anthem.

[DaniDanielle]

I guess when we saw them “Frankie” kept to more normal singing and dancing.  They had the audience on their feet(nobody was leaving🤪) for a lot of the show.  They performed a second night also and were really good.  I guess it is hit or miss which is a shame.

[Nabalab]

Hey@rudeney

 

The ice show - Do people need tickets/reservations beforehand; or is it first come/first serve?

 

Thank you!