VOYAGER still in port

[looneytunes31419]

The voyager has just left the port. They need to come up with a better solution when they come back it took some time to turn her around.

[TEXASMUNK]

in Galveston, I would have to believe they probably had triple and quadruple safety procedures in place for the first turn around.....

[Cruisedeacon]

so much for sitting in the port for the week.... I guess a cruise around the block is better than sitting still for a week...

 

even though sitting still on the Voyager is better than sitting still at home..

 

will be on her in two weeks

 

:)

[sailinglisa]

The voyager has just left the port. They need to come up with a better solution when they come back it took some time to turn her around.

 

 

Since the ship just arrived back in the USA from Europe, not only did the passengers have to go through immigration but so did all the crew. Then I'm sure the ship was inspected (Coast Guard) to make sure it was still up to all standards. Then, maybe a health inspection was also conducted. And with weather delays, well, you can see how things can get backed up.

[TEXASMUNK]

Now, if there is a way to hurry the next 63 days.....

[Emi's Mom]

Now, if there is a way to hurry the next 63 days.....

 

Exactly 3 months for us :(

[Lightsluvr]

Can it be just three weeks??

 

LL

[TerriDHair]

No, but it can be 20 days! :D

[crazy 4 cruising]

Since the ship just arrived back in the USA from Europe, not only did the passengers have to go through immigration but so did all the crew. Then I'm sure the ship was inspected (Coast Guard) to make sure it was still up to all standards. Then, maybe a health inspection was also conducted. And with weather delays, well, you can see how things can get backed up.

 

actually I was on the TA. We had over 1100 foreign passengers & they took longer to go through customs. Customs was a piece of cake for us & we were near the beginning of those that disembarked--can't imagine how it was for the US citizens further down the line. Crew went through immigration in San Juan & Coast Guard inspection was in San Juan. Someone on our Roll Call said she did not get off until 12:30 and the traffic was so bad that her son could not get them until 1:20. We were "scheduled" to disembark at 8:15 and did not until 9:30 or so. Our porter said that we were late getting into port. The roughest seas we had were in the Gulf of Mexico Sat during the night--the wind was awful. I noticed that we were pulled in and not backed in and I just thought it was due to the wind. Never thought about it turning around. There was a lack of porters when the first of us got off--45 were scheduled, but the ship pulled 20 to help get the luggage off-loaded and the port folks did not know that they needed them. I am sure that there will be many glitches to resolve & I just hope that Galveston steps up and makes the changes. Not having a ship there for the entire year is not going to be fun.

 

The crew is so excited about going out of Galveston & since there were reportedly 1000 Texans on Voyager, we did our best to start teaching the crew "TExan"!!!! You know y'all, fixin to....

[TerriDHair]

actually I was on the TA. We had over 1100 foreign passengers & they took longer to go through customs. Customs was a piece of cake for us & we were near the beginning of those that disembarked--can't imagine how it was for the US citizens further down the line. Crew went through immigration in San Juan & Coast Guard inspection was in San Juan. Someone on our Roll Call said she did not get off until 12:30 and the traffic was so bad that her son could not get them until 1:20. We were "scheduled" to disembark at 8:15 and did not until 9:30 or so. Our porter said that we were late getting into port. The roughest seas we had were in the Gulf of Mexico Sat during the night--the wind was awful. I noticed that we were pulled in and not backed in and I just thought it was due to the wind. Never thought about it turning around. There was a lack of porters when the first of us got off--45 were scheduled, but the ship pulled 20 to help get the luggage off-loaded and the port folks did not know that they needed them. I am sure that there will be many glitches to resolve & I just hope that Galveston steps up and makes the changes. Not having a ship there for the entire year is not going to be fun.

 

The crew is so excited about going out of Galveston & since there were reportedly 1000 Texans on Voyager, we did our best to start teaching the crew "TExan"!!!! You know y'all, fixin to....

 

Brenda, welcome back to the US. Other than the disembarkation glitches, what can you tell us about the Voyager and her crew? We'll be making our way to Texas in a couple of weeks and boarding her on the 13th. Any tips you can pass on? Any stand out bartenders, entertainers, or other crew? Who is the captain? I read it was Capt. Gerry who we had the pleasure of dining with once and also hearing him sing and play guitar on the Mariner in the pub...he was great! I'm starting to get really excited now...I need news! :D

[FEMH]

Yes, I would love to have some insider tidbits as well. There are 11 of us sailing on 03 February and I can't wait!! We've been booked since last February.

[texascruzer]

I was one of the silly ones standing on the dock in front of Harbor House for almost two hours waiting for Voyager to leave. It was very windy and cold. Went to eat and by 6:30 she still hadn't sailed so we left. Very disappointed. I should have stayed home and watched it on the web cam.:(

[crazy 4 cruising]

The Voyager--well she is not the Rhapsody <sniff sniff>, BUT this being the 2nd time on her, it was much easier to get around. She is BIG that is for sure and when you have an aft cabin as we did, you walk alot, BUT good news I got on the scale today & had gained less than I normally do on a 7 day!! I am sure the walking had something to do with it. the crew is GREAT. Captain Gerry is FANTASTIC. very personable and entertaining. Unfortunately I did not get to see his concert as a table mate was having his own piano concert for the table & a few friends & I could not disappoint him. I was hoping that they would play it on the TV, but they did not:( Do not miss Captain Gerry's noon report and his Chinese friendisms.

 

The crew is working hard to learn Texan. Let's see standouts--we only did 2 night entertainments. They had alot of European entertainers & few comedians. I am ot into opera and etc, so we just did not go. PLUS this was the first ship with a concierge lounge after making diamond and we spent as much time in the lounge between 5 and 8:30. made lots of friends there & got to know bartenders and servers. Let's see, good bartenders--Manuel, Branislav, Iros, "Manny", 2 pablos; bar servers Ali Babba, Olga, Roxie, Angelica, PAtricia. A couple of them rememberd us from last Dec:eek:

 

The CD Karen Mayberry was good, but she is transferring off in the near future, not sure when. Erky from Turkey transferred on during our trip--we knew him on the Rhapsody. The CD staff is good, it's just that there are so many activities at the same time that it is hard to get to know all of them. Standouts that we worked with alot were Eugenio & Betty. The Ice Skating show is a must see. It is basically the same show that we saw last Dec on VOS, but it is still great. Did not see any production shows. Sports staff is much bigger than on Rhapsody or Splendour and so didn't get to know them as well. They are more relaxed about Walk-a-Mile & are only out there for 10-15 minutes period & will not let you say--well I was there... the track was very congested & we got to where we would walk before and have our last lap coincide with the sports person coming out. we visited more with Marissa, probably becasue she was female & so are we.

 

Dinning room staff was great as always. We saw our asst waiter from Dec and he remembered us, plus a couple of staff from Splendour & 1 from Rhapsody. We knew they had gone out of Texas when they said y'all and it didn't sound forced. Our waiter was Eva Bartolis from Hungary , Asst Waiter was Dilyanna from Bulgaria & Head Waiter Nihat from Turkey.

 

Our room steward was phenomenal--the 2nd best we have ever had. Luis Rivera from Honduras. The ones down our hall from aft to centrum were very friendly and we visited with them all the time. The ship is very clean and I was pleased to see how clean the public restrooms are kept.

 

Concierge--Martin Sanchez was friendly. We had a different scenario than most of y'all will. There were 1500 crown & anchor members on this TA. I am not sure how many D, D+ & suite folks, BUT enough that the regular night loung --Cloud Nine--would not hold us, so we had the night CL in the Cleopatra's Needle lounge. Had 3 bartenders & 4-5 servers every night.

 

Shop staff were very nice, but the merchandise or lack of it was disappointing. hopefully they will be restocked by now. The liquor store was the first to not have a tasting night. we asked the sales guys & they even asked their boss & no go--they did have a tasting last Dec so I am

guessing it is a new manager.

 

The ship is decorated beautifully for Christmas & since she is the only ship I have seen this time of year, I have nothing to compare it to. I did notice that the tree decorations were not the same as last year.

 

The one HUGE bummer shold not be a problem out of Galveston. We had LIMITED music at the pool and the live stuff was not good. I would have been happier to have had taped. Talk about boring at the pool wihtout music. We were diasappointed to because we had met the Hot Spices (I think that's their name) when we were on the Monarch in Sept & they told us they were getting on VOS in San Juan on Dec 21st--they did not:( , but were supposed to get on in Galveston.

 

Sorry to have gone on and on. I did not intend for this to have been a review, but y'all asked.

 

There is a surprise in store, but I will leave that as a surprise.;)

 

feel freee to ask any questions

[BillOh]

I see the waves too! But how will she get out??? Looks like she's facing inward...maybe she'll back up a bit and then come out to the right.

 

That is what I wondered on my first trip on here in 06, she was at the end of the channel in Miami. But here thusters can rotate 360 degrees so she can move directly away from the dock and turn a full 360 in her own length.

[TerriDHair]

The Voyager--well she is not the Rhapsody <sniff sniff>, BUT this being the 2nd time on her, it was much easier to get around. She is BIG that is for sure and when you have an aft cabin as we did, you walk alot, BUT good news I got on the scale today & had gained less than I normally do on a 7 day!! I am sure the walking had something to do with it. the crew is GREAT. Captain Gerry is FANTASTIC. very personable and entertaining. Unfortunately I did not get to see his concert as a table mate was having his own piano concert for the table & a few friends & I could not disappoint him. I was hoping that they would play it on the TV, but they did not:( Do not miss Captain Gerry's noon report and his Chinese friendisms.

 

The crew is working hard to learn Texan. Let's see standouts--we only did 2 night entertainments. They had alot of European entertainers & few comedians. I am ot into opera and etc, so we just did not go. PLUS this was the first ship with a concierge lounge after making diamond and we spent as much time in the lounge between 5 and 8:30. made lots of friends there & got to know bartenders and servers. Let's see, good bartenders--Manuel, Branislav, Iros, "Manny", 2 pablos; bar servers Ali Babba, Olga, Roxie, Angelica, PAtricia. A couple of them rememberd us from last Dec:eek:

 

The CD Karen Mayberry was good, but she is transferring off in the near future, not sure when. Erky from Turkey transferred on during our trip--we knew him on the Rhapsody. The CD staff is good, it's just that there are so many activities at the same time that it is hard to get to know all of them. Standouts that we worked with alot were Eugenio & Betty. The Ice Skating show is a must see. It is basically the same show that we saw last Dec on VOS, but it is still great. Did not see any production shows. Sports staff is much bigger than on Rhapsody or Splendour and so didn't get to know them as well. They are more relaxed about Walk-a-Mile & are only out there for 10-15 minutes period & will not let you say--well I was there... the track was very congested & we got to where we would walk before and have our last lap coincide with the sports person coming out. we visited more with Marissa, probably becasue she was female & so are we.

 

Dinning room staff was great as always. We saw our asst waiter from Dec and he remembered us, plus a couple of staff from Splendour & 1 from Rhapsody. We knew they had gone out of Texas when they said y'all and it didn't sound forced. Our waiter was Eva Bartolis from Hungary , Asst Waiter was Dilyanna from Bulgaria & Head Waiter Nihat from Turkey.

 

Our room steward was phenomenal--the 2nd best we have ever had. Luis Rivera from Honduras. The ones down our hall from aft to centrum were very friendly and we visited with them all the time. The ship is very clean and I was pleased to see how clean the public restrooms are kept.

 

Concierge--Martin Sanchez was friendly. We had a different scenario than most of y'all will. There were 1500 crown & anchor members on this TA. I am not sure how many D, D+ & suite folks, BUT enough that the regular night loung --Cloud Nine--would not hold us, so we had the night CL in the Cleopatra's Needle lounge. Had 3 bartenders & 4-5 servers every night.

 

Shop staff were very nice, but the merchandise or lack of it was disappointing. hopefully they will be restocked by now. The liquor store was the first to not have a tasting night. we asked the sales guys & they even asked their boss & no go--they did have a tasting last Dec so I am

guessing it is a new manager.

 

The ship is decorated beautifully for Christmas & since she is the only ship I have seen this time of year, I have nothing to compare it to. I did notice that the tree decorations were not the same as last year.

 

The one HUGE bummer shold not be a problem out of Galveston. We had LIMITED music at the pool and the live stuff was not good. I would have been happier to have had taped. Talk about boring at the pool wihtout music. We were diasappointed to because we had met the Hot Spices (I think that's their name) when we were on the Monarch in Sept & they told us they were getting on VOS in San Juan on Dec 21st--they did not:( , but were supposed to get on in Galveston.

 

Sorry to have gone on and on. I did not intend for this to have been a review, but y'all asked.

 

There is a surprise in store, but I will leave that as a surprise.;)

 

feel freee to ask any questions

 

Thanks for the great reply! Voyager is the only Voyager-class ship we haven't been on, we've been on the others (Mariner three times) along with Freedom and Liberty so we know we'll love the ship and be able to find out way around! And I know what you mean about the aft cabin...I booked this one last-minute so didn't get one but on nearly every other recent cruise we've taken we've had one. I'll just have to take the stairs more this trip!

Can't wait to see Capt. Gerry again. When we last saw him he told us at dinner that he'd just found out his wife was pregnant, and I believe they had a teen son at the time. We thought the Capt. looked like Bruce Willis, hehe.

We probably won't do a lot of shows, either. We used to be sure not to miss a one, but have kind of transformed into "hang out in the bars making friends" cruisers, lol. We enjoy listening to good music when we're there, too.

We're Diamond, too. I don't know, of course, how many D and D-plus will be on board our sailing. You mentioned Cloud Nine...is that typically open as a satellite lounge on Voyager? We had a similar situation as you described on a C and A member cruise I was on, they made the Pharoah's lounge into the CL. I wasn't yet Diamond then, though.

Thanks for all the info about the staff! I'll add it to my notes and hopefully will run into many of them.

SURPRISE??? A SURPRISE??? Tell me, tell me, tell me! ;)

 

[crazy 4 cruising]

Thanks for the great reply! Voyager is the only Voyager-class ship we haven't been on, we've been on the others (Mariner three times) along with Freedom and Liberty so we know we'll love the ship and be able to find out way around! And I know what you mean about the aft cabin...I booked this one last-minute so didn't get one but on nearly every other recent cruise we've taken we've had one. I'll just have to take the stairs more this trip!

 

Can't wait to see Capt. Gerry again. When we last saw him he told us at dinner that he'd just found out his wife was pregnant, and I believe they had a teen son at the time. We thought the Capt. looked like Bruce Willis, hehe.

 

We probably won't do a lot of shows, either. We used to be sure not to miss a one, but have kind of transformed into "hang out in the bars making friends" cruisers, lol. We enjoy listening to good music when we're there, too.

 

We're Diamond, too. I don't know, of course, how many D and D-plus will be on board our sailing. You mentioned Cloud Nine...is that typically open as a satellite lounge on Voyager? We had a similar situation as you described on a C and A member cruise I was on, they made the Pharoah's lounge into the CL. I wasn't yet Diamond then, though.

 

Thanks for all the info about the staff! I'll add it to my notes and hopefully will run into many of them.

 

SURPRISE??? A SURPRISE??? Tell me, tell me, tell me! ;)

nope, can't tell. however, the secret will be revealed at a press conference the day of your cruise--jan 13th:D

 

we were told that they use the cloud nine as the bar. the cl is really small, as I'm sure you know.

 

If you see any of the crew I mentioned, tell them Brenda from Texas from the TA says hi.

[J and G]

The Voyager--well she is not the Rhapsody <sniff sniff>, BUT this being the 2nd time on her, it was much easier to get around. She is BIG that is for sure and when you have an aft cabin as we did, you walk alot

 

You had an aft cabin? We have cabin 7688 on an upcoming cruise. Do you happen to know what furniture is on the balcony of the corner afts? I am hoping for a table that is large enough for breakfast....

 

And.......what secrets? On the 13th? We're departing that day....is there something we should know?????? C'mon...spill it....pleeeeease!

[crazy 4 cruising]

You had an aft cabin? We have cabin 7688 on an upcoming cruise. Do you happen to know what furniture is on the balcony of the corner afts? I am hoping for a table that is large enough for breakfast....

 

And.......what secrets? On the 13th? We're departing that day....is there something we should know?????? C'mon...spill it....pleeeeease!

 

sorry, don't know about furniture on corner aft. we were in 1694 in the middle and had a round table--nice sizxe--with 4 chairs and 2 loungers and there could have been much for furniture. Haven't down-loaded my photos yet, I'll try to post one when I do.

 

NO secret buster am I. I am sure someone from the TA will spill it on here with pictures. since I don't have a photo of the surprise, I can't post it. heheheeh. I am sooooooooooo mean, sorry.

[J and G]

NO secret buster am I. I am sure someone from the TA will spill it on here with pictures. since I don't have a photo of the surprise, I can't post it. heheheeh. I am sooooooooooo mean, sorry.

 

Pictures???? OK, that is just "cruel and unusual punishment" to keep a secret from us....

 

Can you at least give us a hint???? Does it have anything to do with longhorns? I have read a rumor about something to do with longhorns.....

 

C'mon.....don't be such a meany......

[crazy 4 cruising]

Pictures???? OK, that is just "cruel and unusual punishment" to keep a secret from us....

 

Can you at least give us a hint???? Does it have anything to do with longhorns? I have read a rumor about something to do with longhorns.....

 

C'mon.....don't be such a meany......

 

so what was the runmor you read? I'll tell you if you are right, I promise.

[J and G]

so what was the runmor you read? I'll tell you if you are right, I promise.

Thanks.....I've read that "they did a trial run with the "longhorns" on the front of the ship" in preparation for some event with the media that is supposed to happen on Jan. 13...and that there would be some sort of announcement on that day.

 

Any advice you might have on what we should be prepared for would be greatly appreciated.....we always arrive early, but we don't want to get caught in a "media frenzy"....

 

It will be hysterical if there is something really "Texan" happening that day, since BIL and SIL from Seattle are traveling with us.

[crazy 4 cruising]

Thanks.....I've read that "they did a trial run with the "longhorns" on the front of the ship" in preparation for some event with the media that is supposed to happen on Jan. 13...and that there would be some sort of announcement on that day.

 

Any advice you might have on what we should be prepared for would be greatly appreciated.....we always arrive early, but we don't want to get caught in a "media frenzy"....

 

It will be hysterical if there is something really "Texan" happening that day, since BIL and SIL from Seattle are traveling with us.

 

I don't know about a media frenzy, but the captain did tell us at the mett & mingle that there would be a conference. since I am a graduate of UT & thus that makes me a Longhorn, I have to tell you that those are NOT longhorns, cow horns yes, but longhorns NOPE. that is all I am going to say.;)

[J and G]

I don't know about a media frenzy, but the captain did tell us at the mett & mingle that there would be a conference. since I am a graduate of UT & thus that makes me a Longhorn, I have to tell you that those are NOT longhorns, cow horns yes, but longhorns NOPE. that is all I am going to say.;)

OK...well, that is enough to pique my interest....it should be fun.

 

Thanks for confirming the news conference thing. I wish that there was some big announcement of a ship in Galveston or Houston on a permanent basis. That is probably too much to wish for.....but, heck, it's Christmas and I'm going to keep wishing.....

[crazy 4 cruising]

OK...well, that is enough to pique my interest....it should be fun.

 

Thanks for confirming the news conference thing. I wish that there was some big announcement of a ship in Galveston or Houston on a permanent basis. That is probably too much to wish for.....but, heck, it's Christmas and I'm going to keep wishing.....

 

ok, since 1 of my fellow passengers just posted on a different Voyager thread, I'll copy & use his picture

 

 

it's not hte best picture I saw, but it is sure better than the picture I got--NONE. I'll try to get a better picture & post it.

[Emi's Mom]

That is what I wondered on my first trip on here in 06, she was at the end of the channel in Miami. But here thusters can rotate 360 degrees so she can move directly away from the dock and turn a full 360 in her own length.

 

I wish my car had 360 degree thrusters :eek: :D