Voyager 6/18

[TimTunison]

First, I want to say thanks to all who posted messages about previous Voyager sailings out of Bayonne. I found the information to be quite helpful as I obessed about my upcoming cruise. As a way of saying thanks, I thought that I'd post some more information now that I've returned from the 6/18 voyage.

 

It was awesome! Bayonne is fine...busy, but fine. I think they've figured out what they were doing wrong. I found it no more "crazy" than Miami, San Juan or New Orleans. We docked at 8am this morning...they started letting people off the ship at 10:30am. Our color was called at Noon. We were in our car headed for the New Jersey Turnpike at 12:55pm.

 

One major note about people traveling with children...we took our 13 month old baby boy with us this cruise. He had a great time. I can't tell you how excited my wife and I were when I read on RCCL's website that the Voyager had a kiddie pool. Our son, Griffin, loves the water!

 

However, nowhere online did it say that children who are in diapers (yes, swim diapers too) or who are not potty trained are not allowed in any pools. But, when you step onboard, this rule is posted at every pool, including the pools just for kids. We were shocked to find out that Griffin would never be able to step foot in the pool. I'm assuming this is because the pools use salt water instead of chemicals. Parents bringing little kids on the ship may want to consider this. (And yes, a lot of people were breaking this rule.)

 

The staff was wonderful with Griffin. I was amazed at the massive number of stateroom attendants/waiters who knew Griffin's name by the end. So many of them came up to us today to hold Griffin and say goodbye! What a friendly crowd of employees! He's a good baby...and didn't cause any trouble while on board.

 

Oh...the cribs that RCCL offers are really pack-and-plays. Griffin slept just fine!

 

This was our 5th cruise...we've sailed on Grandeur, Majesty, Rhapsody, Radiance and now, the Voyager of the Seas. Voyager class is amazing...and well worth the drive to Bayonne, even if Grandeur is sailing out of a port 15 miles from my home. This was also the smoothest sailing we've had to date--only one half-day of rocky seas...and even that wasn't bad.

 

Labadee is great...what a relaxing day on such a beautiful beach! They've really cleaned the place up since we were there 5 years ago. It's wonderful. I think Labadee is much nicer than Coco Cay. And there are plenty of chairs for all!

Ocho Rios is okay...I'm not a big fan of Jamaica. My wife and I were offered drugs twice. Be prepared for this! One guy walked up behind me and whispered "smoke" in my ear. That was a bit unnerving!

Grand Cayman is one of my favorite ports. We always end up spending way too much money there! The shopping is great--my wife is still not too happy about my new Tag Heuer watch! But she got a nice braclet herself!

We skipped Freeport...apparently there was some freak accident there the day before we were to arrive and the pier was severely damaged. So, we ended up with another day at sea. Many folks were furious!!! Come on...what's so wrong with a day at sea??? It's a cruise!!!

 

The deck chair saving is still a problem. But I don't see how RCCL could better manage it. Most chairs are gone by 8am. But be sure to check the back of the ship. We found plenty of seats on Deck 12 at 10am...but this is the kids section of the ship...but it really wasn't that loud and the kids didn't get in the way.

 

That's all for now! This 9 day trip is great...I'm jealous of all of you who have tickets for future sailings!

 

Don't miss the ice show, the Quest & Karoake Idol! What a great time!

 

Have fun and get out there! And have a Coco Loco for me.

 

Tim

[sealegs9]

Tim-

Thanks for your review. Going on the Voyager 8/27. Will have to plan anti-chair hog strategy with my fellow cc/s on the cruise.

[A.S.]

Hi, Glad to hear that you had a good time. Did you eat Breakfast or Lunch in the Windjammer? If so, how many lines were there? We were on Carnival's Victory and there was always a long wait to get anything. I'm hoping that the Voyager is more organized. Thanks for any info.

[dctraveler]

Also want to confirm that boarding was not a problem on the 6/13 departure to St. John. But on return the baggage folks misplaced one of our bags in the wrong color grouping. Help was not very forthcoming and of course there's nothing to do but wait til all the bags are off and then look in every pile to see where yours is. No one from Royal Caribbean was present and the Bayonne vendor acted as if this was the first time something like this had ever happened!

 

Otherwise the 2 stops are great tho most travelers will vastly prefer Halifax to St. John, but St. John gives the feel of a fishing town that hasn't been cruise-i-fied by tourism. In SJ, if doing your own walking tour be sure to visit the old fire house in the town square -- it has a working paper-coded alarm system from the 19th century that really shows how things were back then (free admission). Also, for souvenirs, when in Halifax, there's a terrific supermarket about 10 minutes from the ship where you can buy Canadian preserves and coffees that make great gifts.

 

Also, though they don't advertise it, you can get fax copies of the daily newspapers from NY, Britain and Canada, free, outside the Business Center on the ship at around 10:30 am each morning.

 

Compared to Holland American, RC's food is not quite as good -- but the salads are superior and small sandwiches in the Promenade Cafe are among the best bets on this ship.

[TimTunison]

I couldn't agree more. The sandwiches in the Cafe Promenade were wonderful. The egg salad with pickle was my favorite of the bunch. And yes, all of the food there is free! Pizza, sandwiches, cookies, cakes, pies & coffee...all free. This is a great place to grab a bite for lunch or a quick snack between meals.

 

The Windjammer has 4 lines...the front two are always long...but if you walk toward the back...into the "Island Grill" section, there is no line!!! The Windjammer food is hit or miss. The breakfast food was always cold by the time you sat down. But, the french toast is not to be missed. My wife ate it every morning. Overall, when you consider how many people they're serving, the Windjammer food is decent.

 

We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets several days. A great time to do this is on port days when you return to the ship in the early afternoon. There was no wait! But, be sure to be prepared for up to a 45 minute wait on sea days. Trust me, the burgers and shakes are worth it. The food is free, the sodas & shakes are not. Yes, you can order it "to go" but you still have to stand in line with everybody else!

 

One more thing...don't miss out on the last day of jackpot bingo. One guy from NYC won $21,000!!!!!!!!!! I, however, didn't win a penny. But I got a nice Bingo t-shirt for playing 5 times. Right, that was worth the $350 we lost playing. (Still, it was a lot of fun!)

 

Funny, I threw my towel on the bathroom floor this morning and it is still there! How strange? :)

[matt082600]

Tim:

 

Did you utilize any babysitting services while on board. I have a 21 month old and 1 on the way and I am so nervous about cruising with them for fear of nothing for them to do. Let me know your experience if you will. Thanks.

[bythehex]

My sister, her husband and their friends just got off the Voyager yesterday, and they mentioned a few small problems. Like that they couldn't get to Freeport because of the dock accident. That was disappointing, I'm sure. And for example, my sister drinks one glass of white zinfandel with dinner when they're on a cruise, and the ship ran out of it after the first two days. They said they never got their shipment. Also, she said they ran out of cream for the coffee later in the week. I think that's pretty unusual. She also mentioned that their cabin steward never got on the ship in Bayonne, so another steward nearby had to do double duty; they got no towel animals because he was too busy. Not that it's a problem, but it's an amenity he weren't able to provide them. They said they tipped him extremely well because he worked his tail off and certainly earned it!

 

They did state that they had a fabulous time. That the food was wonderful, and they enjoyed the ship very much. After all, that's what it's all about. Not sweating the little things, and still managing to have a great vacation.

 

Sharon H.

[gonecruising]

What time did you arrive to depart in Bayonne and what time were actually allowed to board? RCL says 2:30 boarding time...what time do you suggest we get there? aLSO...we are meeting people in Grand Cayman...is it an hour earlier than on the ship? We need to get this straight before we set a time to meet.

 

thanks

 

thanks

[Harvogel]

Thanks for the review . I was really helpful. How did they handle getting on the tenders in Labadee and Grand Caymen? Did you have to get tickets a head of time?We leave on July 16th and can't wait!

[TimTunison]

They always had cream for me. But it's true, they ran out of White Zin on the second day. It's their most popular wine, so I can imagine it's easy to run out if your shipment misses the ship. We fell in love with Danzante Pino Grigio after the wine tasting...and we bought the last bottle on the second to last night! I just ordered 2 cases from a local wine store. (By the way, RCCL charges $33 a bottle for this wine...I just bought it for $9 a bottle! I love that markup!!)

 

Our stateroom attendant was awesome...and I love those towel animals. You'd think after 4 cruises, I would have seen them all...but he made two new ones! I won't say what they were...as I'd hate to spoil the surprise.

 

Babysitting...we used a babysitter on the last night of the cruise. We've never left Griffin with anyone other than a family member so, as you can imagine, my wife and I were somewhat nervous about this. The sitter showed up right at 9:30pm...we talked with her for a few minutes and then left. We had grandma & grandpa check in with her 30 minutes later...and then we returned at midnight. The baby was asleep and she was sitting on the sofa in the dark. Weird. But she smiled and told us how much she loved watching him and how they played with his toys and she sang songs to him. She seemed like a dream sitter to me. The rate is $8 an hour...we paid her $10 an hour. Just go to guest relations to request a sitter.

 

We had a balcony room...and I'd suggest a balcony to anyone who is traveling with a baby. My wife and I got in some great reading time on the balcony when Griffin was napping. I can't imagine being stuck in an inside room, or even a room with just a window, for all those naps. With the balcony, I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything.

 

And like a said before, don't let the baby stop you from cruising. The staff was absolutely wonderful with Griffin. They made our vacation that much more enjoyable.

 

We arrived in Bayonne very late due to traffic issues. We got there at 4pm and the ship was leaving at 5pm! The check-in folks said it was good that we were late--at one point, they said the line was several hours long! It only took us about 30 minutes to unload, park and check-in. If you're doing the 9 day, I'd get there just after 12pm. They should let you on by 1pm.

[TimTunison]

No tender tickets needed for either stops. The wait was never really long. And they use big tenders--not those little orange ones that RCCL and Princess have used in Grand Cayman in the past. No worries here.

 

Ship time is one hour ahead of Grand Cayman time.

[Lisa Waverley]

Regarding the tenders. The tenders are large but it takes a while to fill them up and again to get everybody off. Allow more time than you think you will need for tendering. On family from the board who were also on the Nativeways snorkel excursion missed the morning excursion due to the timing of tenders. They were the first to board a particular tender and so had a 3/4 of an hour wait while it filled up.

 

Was Griffin the adorable little blonde boy on deck 8 starboard side?

[TimTunison]

Lisa...that's my boy with his curly blond hair! We were in 8266. I'm honored that you remembered him (at least I hope we're talking about the same baby...there were only a couple that I noticed)!

[LuisaL]

I was not as impressed with this trip as I had hoped to be. We did the Navigator last year and found it to be much better. We didn't have a problem with embarkment, so it appears that this was the luck of the draw depending what time you arrived. We arrived at the pier at about noon and I was in my cabin by 1:30. What I did have a problem with was that the ship did not receive thier supplies as planned and ran out of items in the General Store, Liqour(retail), cigs, tissue paper for wrapping glass items and the like.

We spend 2.5 days at sea to arrive in Labadee, then to Grand Cayman followed by another day at sea to arive in Freeport which did not happen due to the dock accident. We then spend 3.5 additional days at sea back to Bayonne. An accident(dock/supplies) can happen to any outfit, the key here is how an organization as large as RCCL didn't have an appropriate contigency plan for these types of deviations. I can't say enough about the value of a backup plan. RCCL answer was to provide one hour of open bar. So although the ship is large with much to do, it isn't equipped with services for 6 days at sea. Food and services of staff were great. The pool was also another problem, guests were getting up early and securing a chair by the pool for the day, unless you want to wake early, you are out of luck to be sitting on the first level by the pool. The other issue I had was the amount of young teens being served alcohol by bartenders and clearly not yet ready to handle that, I saw more than one sick in public space areas. I had no problem with tender service. In comparison to Navigator, it just did not apprear to be as well run and organized. This is not a ship I would travel on again. Don't wish to be negative I did enjoy some things and not others, on the Navigator I enjoyed all things. By the way, if you paid for port charges for Freeport and you don't go to port can you expect to receive your port charges back as a credit, or does RCCL keep that fee, does anyone know?

[2theship]

I'm sorry to hear about the White Zinfandel. Our travel agent sent us a bottle of it and it is our least favorite wine. If I'd known the ship was out of it, I would have tried to exchange it for something else. :-}. As the mother of two teen girls, I heard plenty about the kids who were drinking. As I understand it in at least one case, an older sibling was buying drinks for the younger kids. There were a lot of nice, nice kids on the ship but some made some very bad choices.

 

I agree with most of the earlier comments. The food was fine but not great. Our waiter and assistant waiter were delightful and worked very hard but I think that the systems set up for the dining room need some serious work. For one thing, the bar service in the dining room was sporadic - he only showed up at our table about half the nights. One of them we really wanted something and our assistant waiter went looking for him. He has enough work to do, why does he have to track down a bartender?. Like the others, I was not impressed with the Windjammer but it didn't stop me from eating there. The Promenade Cafe was great. I loved stopping there in the afternoon for a cup of tea and a sandwich. However, I found out on the 5th or 6th day that there were scones in the Windjammer at tea time!!! Wish I known that sooner!

 

There was not one family that missed the Nativeways trip due to sitting 45 minutes on the tender - there were at least three. I know because we were all together on an afternoon trip with Nativeways. That was just a remarkable excursion. I cannot say enough great things about it. It is so much better than a ship excursion and for so much less money - what else is there to say?

 

We were a lot more laid back on this trip than on most previous cruises. We missed a lot of events because we were happy just relaxing. We enjoyed the astronomy lecturer - he even did a late night star watch. We loved winning Broadway trivia, too. (are we geeks or what??)

 

Regarding the poster who said that one of her suitcases was in the wrong color area during debarcation - I'd like to say that NONE of our suitcases was in the right place. They were everywhere. The staff there even told us that they were all in the wrong area. Fortunately, we were able to find them quickly so it was no big deal. We didn't even try to move the car to the pickup area. We just lugged our bags to the parking lot so we got out of there pretty quickly.

[TimTunison]

One more thing I forgot...

 

The Compass was still loaded with errors...make sure you check in with guest relations for what you are supposed to wear to dinner! The compass was wrong at least one time!

 

There is only one smart casual night...not two.

 

Also, the Assistant cruise director, Hamish from Jamaica, is a hoot!