Quick recap of VOTS Western Caribbean

[kcmo74]

Hello all, me and 10 members of my family returned last Thursday from a 5 night sailing in the Western Caribbean onboard the Voyager OTS. This was our first sailing with RCI, but my 3rd cruise, wife and daughter's 2nd cruise, and 1st cruise ever for the rest of my in-laws. We planned the shorter more basic route as a trial for my wife's family to see if they are cruise people or not. My three person family took a Celebrity cruise to Alaska 2 summers ago with my family and my wife loved it, so she declared we are officially cruise people and wanted to find out if her family liked it as much as she does. We are from Kansas City, MO and our family is out of Wichita, KS so leaving out of Galveston was very appealing to us, as we could avoid flying and make the 9-10hr drive in one day (depending on how many Buc-ee's stops you make). We drove down Friday 12/1 and arrived in Galveston around 7pm, giving us enough time to grab dinner at The Spot along the seawall. The Spot was great and we enjoyed the food and atmosphere, we stayed at the LaQuinta North and it was perfectly fine for a 1 night pre-cruise stay. Galveston was foggy and overcast that first night and on embarkation day. We had a boarding time set for 11am and showed up at around 10:45am, the parking had some issues with their machines being down but once in the lot and parked it was wonderful to be so close and have our car right there when we returned. There was virtually no wait/lines in the terminal and we were through security within 15-20min. Once onboard we got our safety stuff out of the way then stopped by the MDR to setup our reservations for a group of 11 for the whole trip, we were assigned a time and after the first night we were able to go straight to our table at that time every other night. We didn't do any specialty dining this trip as we wanted the family to get a good feel for what was included with their base fare. We grabbed some lunch in the Windjammer and rooms were ready by 1pm. Overall, I feel like Voyager is in pretty good shape for her age, you could see signs of wear in spots but that's to be expected. Our cabin was in good shape and our room attendant was very receptive to anything we asked for. 1 cleaning a day, and he just asked whether we preferred it in the morning or evening. 

 

DINING

We did Windjammer for most breakfasts and lunches, and the food was generally good. As many have said before a buffet is a buffet, it's kind of a quantity over quality proposition. We had many good items at the Jammer and the diversity of food was good; deserts, as usual, were the most hit and miss area as many lacked a lot of flavor. The only dinner we were in the Jammer for was briefly on the last night to get the kids a quick bite before they headed off to Adventure Ocean. The Italian fare looked plentiful and diverse and the couple things I tried were quite good.

We had all of our dinners in the MDR, so my first chance to try it after reading about all the changes on here. Our last sailing on Celebrity was right before they started making all of the MDR changes so I do have a frame of reference for what it was like before. Overall, our group found the quality of food to be quite good, there were no temperature issues and only a few items that went barely eaten. We have the mindset on a cruise that it is food we don't have to make ourselves, a lot of it is food we wouldn't come across at restaurants we usually go to, and it's included at no extra charge. So with those points in mind we definitely feel like we got a good bang for our buck. Our waitress was accommodating to us ordering multiple apps and entrees nearly every night, she was even bringing dishes we didn't order for people to try if she had extra or overheard somebody saying they wished they had ordered that. We found the new menus to have enough diversity to leave us satisfied every night, with the Mexican menu probably being the least favorite of our group. I am disappointed that every sailing doesn't include a Lobster night, and feel that should be a staple. The steaks were smaller and thinner, but they definitely weren't bad or near the worst I've ever had. The beef dishes like prime rib, tenderloin, etc. were all very good. I definitely ate way too much and left the MDR full every night.

We had the soda package and it was fine, other than being disappointed is one of the only ships without the Freestyle machines, so waiting at bars all trip got a little old. The soft serve was good as was Ben & Jerry's, the pizza was nothing to write home about but still fit the bill when you need a quick snack or to tide the kids over.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We participated in trivia and some of the other gameshow type things and all were well attended and a good way to spend some time. The Royal Mystery game was interesting but needed to have a bit better direction, as the host said we were her first sailing ever that nobody got the correct answer. We attended Ice Odyssey and our whole group thought the show was very good. Our in-laws said the comedian onboard was pretty good, but they weren't impressed with the Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme show at all. Adventure Ocean was a highlight for us, our 6 year old went to the kids club on Celebrity a couple of times when she was 4 so she was ready and willing to give it a try this time. After the first session her and her 2 cousins wanted to go back for every session they could after that. It provided a great place to drop the kids before dinner every night so the adults could have one meal to themselves. My wife is also a big casino lover and spent the majority of her free time there, she played enough to get the instant free cruise offer for 2 which we just booked a 7 night Inside Passage to Alaska on Brilliance for June, only costing us about $500 including gratuities.

 

PORTS

First stop was Costa Maya, we already had a full beach day planned for the next day at Cozumel so we just decided to stay in the port area and do some shopping before returning to the ship. The port area was plentiful with shops, and the persistent workers trying to lure you in pretty much stopped if you told them no thank you. My daughter picked up several souvenirs and musical instruments, and my wife got a few crafts and trinkets. We had some gelato and the wife had a yard margarita which were both good. They both loved the flamingos and how close they are to you, they are both huge flamingo fans. Other than that it was just a basic stop, we were able to ride the tram back down the pier, and were back on in time to grab some grub just before the Jammer closed.

 

Second stop was Cozumel where we spent the day at Paradise Beach. I left a more detailed review of the club on the Cozumel page of "Ports of Call", but the cliffnotes is that the club was great. The food and drink was unlimited and all very good, the facilities were nice and clean, the service was fast and friendly, and we wouldn't hesitate to return there the next time we were in Cozumel.

 

WEATHER

As I mentioned leaving Galveston it was foggy and overcast for the whole first day. Day 2 it cleared as the day went on and ended up settling in the high 70's with minimal wind, so a pretty good sea day. Both port days were sunny and in the mid 80's. The last sea day on the way back was the roughest seas we had. The wind picked up a lot and the boat was moving much more than the previous 4 days. They closed the outer decks along with the slides, flowrider, etc. By the evening it started to calm down, but our in-laws definitely weren't fans of that day.

 

 

Overall, we had a great cruise and we will be doing RCI again for that Alaska trip in June. The rest of the family said they had a good time, but cruising isn't going to be their first choice in vacations, at least we tried. Unfortunately, our vacation ended on a sour note as we were driving back through Dallas on Saturday. Some mattresses came off a truck on the highway causing traffic to swerve/slam on breaks and we ended up being the back of a 3 car pile-up and coming away with an undriveable/possibly totaled vehicle. Luckily we all walked away in tact, with my wife having some bruising and soreness being the worst of it. Finding a rental car on a Saturday was a nightmare and it's a process I hope I never have to go through again on a vacation. Silver lining it happened on the last day and not the first. So that wraps up our first RCI voyage and if anybody has questions or will be on VOTS or this route in the near future, ask away I'm an open book.

[Twenty2020]

What were the ages of the kids in your group? Did they all enjoy AO? How many sessions did they attend and what were some of the activities?

 

We're going on VOTS with a 9&6 yo. 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Twenty2020

[kcmo74]

1 minute ago, Twenty2020 said:

What were the ages of the kids in your group? Did they all enjoy AO? How many sessions did they attend and what were some of the activities?

 

We're going on VOTS with a 9&6 yo. 

My daughter is 6 and my niece and nephew are 9 & 10. They all enjoyed it and all wanted to go back anytime they were able. They probably attended 7 or 8 sessions, they went every night to the 7-10pm session and caught a few morning (9am-12pm), and afternoon (2-5pm) sessions on sea days. They mostly said they played games but didn't go into great detail, I know they played gaga ball several times, and they came back with prizes they won from some of the games. They made friends that they saw at other times around the ship when with us. They also all wore their pj's to the final night and watched the Super Mario Bros movie.

[SG65CB]

I remember that Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme show on Voyager. Mostly I remember I didn't like it. I have seen a lot of Broadway musicals but I did not recognize most of the songs in that show. They seemed to be mostly obscure songs from very old plays. They should update the show. It would also be good if they displayed the name of the play and the name of the song on the video screen so we'd know what we are listening to. 

 

They had another show called Music in Pictures on Voyager with the same problem. That was a 7 night cruise, maybe they didn't have that show on your cruise since yours was 5 nights. 

[kcmo74]

27 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

I remember that Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme show on Voyager. Mostly I remember I didn't like it. I have seen a lot of Broadway musicals but I did not recognize most of the songs in that show. They seemed to be mostly obscure songs from very old plays. They should update the show. It would also be good if they displayed the name of the play and the name of the song on the video screen so we'd know what we are listening to. 

 

They had another show called Music in Pictures on Voyager with the same problem. That was a 7 night cruise, maybe they didn't have that show on your cruise since yours was 5 nights. 

Their critique of it was exactly the same obscure songs/musicals that the material was pulled from. Also, that the music was so loud it was hard to hear the singing at all.

[bundtkate]

2 hours ago, kcmo74 said:

Some mattresses came off a truck on the highway causing traffic to swerve/slam on breaks

This is a very Texas happening. There's a bit of joke amongst those of us who live around these parts where we'll send each other photos of the most ridiculous ways people attempt to transport things that don't fit in their vehicles. Here's a solid example, pulled from a local forum:

 

I'm sorry y'all fell victim to this unfortunate habit. You'd think law enforcement would do something about this given the potential consequences, but seeing this stuff  is about as common as St. Louis people asking where you went to high school so doesn't seem to be a priority just yet. 😅 Glad you at least had a nice cruise first and I hope your next visit to our state comes without the extra excitement!

[Twenty2020]

On 12/12/2023 at 10:14 PM, kcmo74 said:

My daughter is 6 and my niece and nephew are 9 & 10. They all enjoyed it and all wanted to go back anytime they were able. They probably attended 7 or 8 sessions, they went every night to the 7-10pm session and caught a few morning (9am-12pm), and afternoon (2-5pm) sessions on sea days. They mostly said they played games but didn't go into great detail, I know they played gaga ball several times, and they came back with prizes they won from some of the games. They made friends that they saw at other times around the ship when with us. They also all wore their pj's to the final night and watched the Super Mario Bros movie.

 

That's great. I was concerned that with no kids pool area / splashaway and what appears to be a significantly shrunken AO area compared with other Voyager class ships that we may have made a poor choice of ship. 

[ONECRUISER]

Had one my Best Cruises on Voyager, though that was 25yrs ago when I was on Cruise #004. Defiantly one first Royal Ships Built for Families. She will always be in my Memories, hope to get on her again at someday!

[ONECRUISER]

On 12/12/2023 at 10:20 PM, bundtkate said:

This is a very Texas happening. There's a bit of joke amongst those of us who live around these parts where we'll send each other photos of the most ridiculous ways people attempt to transport things that don't fit in their vehicles. Here's a solid example, pulled from a local forum:

 

I'm sorry y'all fell victim to this unfortunate habit. You'd think law enforcement would do something about this given the potential consequences, but seeing this stuff  is about as common as St. Louis people asking where you went to high school so doesn't seem to be a priority just yet. 😅 Glad you at least had a nice cruise first and I hope your next visit to our state comes without the extra excitement!

Though have seen stuff stacked like this EVERYWHERE, In the City & out in the Country, Georgia, LA, PHX, Detroit, Miami... Been while but many times seen things flying out back of Pickups and off the roofs of cars  not being strapped down right, sometimes items were being held as the drove drown the road. Oh Look another Mattress or Chair on side of the Interstate

[kcmo74]

21 hours ago, Twenty2020 said:

 

That's great. I was concerned that with no kids pool area / splashaway and what appears to be a significantly shrunken AO area compared with other Voyager class ships that we may have made a poor choice of ship. 

The times the kids attempted swimming the pool was "too cold" for them, and the hot tubs were full or just not that exciting to kids. They definitely filled their time with AO and weren't disappointed. I think the older ones were going to do the slides and stuff on the last sea day, but they were closed due to the rough seas, so it was a full day of AO instead.

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, kcmo74 said:

The times the kids attempted swimming the pool was "too cold" for them, [snip] I think the older ones were going to do the slides and stuff on the last sea day, but they were closed due to the rough seas, so it was a full day of AO instead.

I did the slides on Voyager while docked in ... Akureyri, Iceland.  🙂  Wanted to do them in Greenland, but was I was busy on deck taking photos while cruising through Prins Christian Sund.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Another_Critic

[Twenty2020]

On 12/15/2023 at 9:31 PM, Another_Critic said:

I did the slides on Voyager while docked in ... Akureyri, Iceland.  🙂  Wanted to do them in Greenland, but was I was busy on deck taking photos while cruising through Prins Christian Sund.

 

 

How are the slides on VOTS? I had read a few reviews that said they were really slow and lame.... But I could have been mixing that up with another ship. 

[Another_Critic]

17 hours ago, Twenty2020 said:

 

How are the slides on VOTS? I had read a few reviews that said they were really slow and lame.... But I could have been mixing that up with another ship. 

Probably about the same as Oasis, but definitely faster than Liberty.