Voyager OTS review 2/10, (long!)

[clansac]

I'm not sure I can type it all in one post so I may have to edit to add more later! I learned so much reading here that- thanks everyone! We are two mid-thirties adults and our 4 year old son.

 

DAY 0

Travel day for us, coming from California to Houston Hobby. We stayed at the Springhill Suites HOU for the night, originally planning to use their cruise escape package to get to Galveston for departure the next day. (see below)

 

DAY 1

Do NOT take the Springhill Suites escape package. We had received the message from RCl requiring all guests to check in no later than 3:30 for the 5pm departure. Springhill Suites contracts with Coach America and their shuttle arrives sometime between noon and 2:30. That seemed to be cutting it very close for us. After much debating with the clerk who said "No way, the boat won't leave without you" we canceled the transfer part of the reservation.

 

We called just about every cab company in Houston or Galveston and could not get a reservation. I gave up and called Hertz and Enterprise and we ended up renting from Hertz. It was cheaper than a cab (we paid $78 one way) and ended up being simple and convenient. If we go out of Galveston again, we'll rent a car. I also made a return reservation to rent a car since it turned out so easy.

 

We left Houston at 9:30 and after a brief stop at Walmart, dropping off the car and taking a cab to the pier (you cannot take luggage on the Hertz shuttle), we were on the boat by noon. It was fast and easy! We headed straight to the Windjammer to grab some lunch and then to our room at 1pm to drop our stuff.

 

We spent most of the afternoon exploring the boat and took our DS to play miniature golf. Our luggage arrived in plenty of time for dinner and we changed and headed for the dining room. Overall the evening was relaxing and uneventful.

 

DAY 2- At Sea

Day 2 at sea was very relaxing. We played mini golf, taught DS how to play ping pong, took him to the Adventure Ocean to play and meet other kids and DH and I sat in the solarium and read for a while. This was the first formal night and we opted to skip it in favor of Johnny Rockets. The new early seating time at 5:30 really messes up the Adventure Ocean for dinner plan because they still don't start until 6. I thought that was pretty silly- if you're going to take the kids to dinner, why not move the time to make it also match up with the seating time? Anyway, Johnny Rockets was as good as at home but nothing special. We have one around the corner.

 

Entertainment this night was clearly designed to meet the majority of the population on the boat. We observed that at least 75% of the people were well over 65. So Elvis night was I guess... interesting for them. We didn't go and instead just hung out on the boat.

 

DAY 3- Cozumel

We had Dolphin Encounter at Chankanaab booked through RCL. You exit the ship and wait for the people to give you wristbands then put you in taxis. It was a fast ride to the park. There were no seat belts in the cab, so if you have little kids with you, hold on tight. Lockers are provided for all of your stuff and there is a very brief orientation before you get in the water. We spent about an hour in the water and it was really exciting to get to touch the dolphin. You do a kiss, a dance and then pet a few times, as well as watch them do some behaviors. Was it worth the $300 for our family? Probably not. I think I'd do it again with just me doing the Royal Swim. They seemed to have a lot more interaction and a lot less time making a video. After the swim, you have to go upstairs and watch the video they made and then go to the giftshop to decide what to buy. We bought one picture, no video. After that, we went to the snorkel area to try to snorkel. It's a very rocky entrance and there were lots of beginning snorkelers and many people who didn't swim well. The water was beautiful and I wish we'd had more time. The last cab leaves from the park at 12:30 so we didn't have much time to explore and take the "paid" cab back. We could have had our own later at our cost.

 

We took our cab downtown to Margaritaville and had lunch and did a little shopping. We weren't on the hunt for jewelery so I have no idea if the prices were good.

 

DAY 4 Roatan

We had originally booked Victor Bodden to take a private tour and particularly, go to the Boys and Girls Club. Something happened and we lost communication with the Boys and Girls Club the week before our trip (their website and email also disappeared) so we canceled our tour. We decided to spend the day at Coral Cay on the island and drinks tour. I'm so happy we did. The facilities there look like a postcard- so beautiful and amazing. The water was gorgeous and we spent most of the morning swimming and listening to a band.

 

(more to come later)

[brn2crz]

Just want to add...The AO hours imo have always been a little goofy..We have been on Rhapsody 3 times.,Mariner 1 Voyager 1...We have done early and late...And there are always conflicts...

I think on Mariner...early was at 630....and AO opened at 7..I know it was the same on Rhapsody...one of us would have to get up from dining and run him down...(up)

I love the program and the kids have always had a blast.....But their timing stinks.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review...We loved Roatan..

[clansac]

Day 4 Roatan continued:

Our Coral Cay departure was scheduled for 10:30am so we decided to go exploring a little first. We took a pedicab to Yabba Ding Ding and found some great locally made crafts and a hand painted map. We walked back from the shop (about 10 min) stopping along the way to look at some other crafts and talk to some local kids. I speak fluent spanish so this was easy for us but we also found that most of the kids and many adults spoke at least some english. We paid for everything in USD. We fell in love with Roatan and felt like this was a place we could actually live. Don't get me wrong, it's a very poor community but the people were sweet and the sense of community was beautiful.

 

Coral Cay was stunning. Truly stunning. I don't think I can even describe how beautiful it was. I easily could have stayed there three days. Bring lots of sunscreen, we did get burned despite lathering on the SPF 50 over and over. If we went back, I'd also take the Sea Spi tour out to the shipwrecks you can see from land.

 

After the beach, DS was tired so we took him back to kids club and DH and I headed back out to find an internet cafe. We checked our email in a small room run by a 10 year old boy who was fanatically trying to fix a problem with his PSP. We paid $3 for an hour and had diet coke and checked our email in an air conditioned room while trying to help this kid fix his PSP. Great way to end the day!

 

DAY 5 at sea

Some general observations about the ship- we loved the crew. Everyone went out of their way to be nice to our son, treat him special and greet us all. I felt like I was on vacation with a king. It helps that our son is very well behaved and that he is used to being around adults so he also interacted well with them. He sat in the dining room with us nearly every night and our serving team made a well noted effort to speed things up. Even still, he was happy talking to them and we had to slow down our pace of eating to keep up with him.

 

The passengers however, were not so nice! I've never seen such bad elevator manners. I cannot count how many times the ladies from the "red hat convention" pushed, shoved or cut people off getting in to the elevators. Many many times they'd stand in front of doors, not let people out first and just shove their way in. We found that overall, the passengers gave us Americans a bad name. I even saw a man snap his fingers at a server in the Windjammer to demand that she appear with more coffee. Wow.

 

The ship was in excellent condition and we felt like it was well maintained, clean and comfortable. There wasn't anything that we were longing for that we couldn't find somewhere. Our balcony on deck 6 was well prepared and exactly what we needed for the trip.

 

More on entertainment- the Texas jokes are so old by this point! The comedy show was nearly entirely of Texas jokes. Not being from Texas, really they weren't even that funny!:) We did like the Magic Show but if you have kids with you or you don't want to know how the tricks are done, do not sit in the upper balcony. You can see nearly everything... :(

 

DAY 6 Progreso/Yucatan

Ds had no interest in the ruins today so we left him on the ship and headed out for Dzibichaltun. I would have loved to go to Chichen Itza but it seemed like a very long drive for not much time there. We did NOT take the ship tour and used AutoProgreso at the pier. It was a perfect tour for only $60 for the two of us.

 

The tour did not leave until 11 so we had about 2 hours to wander Progreso. We did not feel the same sense of community or safety here and I was glad that I speak Spanish because we did wander well off the beaten path. There is a flea market for shopping at the end of the pier where the shuttle drops you off. We wandered into town looking for an internet cafe and a grocery store. Since the ruins did not include lunch, we wanted to get some food. We paid in USD at the grocery store and spent about $10 to get a lot of candy for our son's class, cookies, pan dulce, 2 diet cokes and gum. We also visited an internet cafe with lightening speed internet for $1 for a half hour. We had some trouble here because he didn't know how to convert pesos to dollars. We should have only paid 30 cents but I gave him a dollar and called it done. He seemed really embarassed and was a really nice guy- we still got a great deal at $1 anyway.

 

We took an air conditioned bus to the ruins, spent about 2 hours wandering around with a local guide who told us everything we wanted to know and more. I teach ancient civilizations including Mayan history and his information was dead on and accurate. The grounds were very large and hot so take water with you if you're going. We really enjoyed this ruin and there were few people there so we got lots of amazing pictures making it look like we discovered the place!

 

Day 7 at sea

This day we played Bingo and DH lost a poker tournament. We had previously won $90 in the casino playing the quarter push machines but he managed to lose it all in the poker tournament in about an hour! We packed and checked out the last few corners of the ship we hadn't seen.

 

That night, we had dinner at Portofino. It was excellent. I do not think anyone should cruise without having dinner there. We had planned on Valentine's day dinner but couldn't get a reservation. I wouldn't do it any other way now- it was the perfect end and left a great taste in my mouth for the cruise!

 

Disembarkation day

We self-disembarked (express) and we were off the ship by 8am. We had to walk tot he main cruise terminal (read Carnival Terminal) to get to the Hertz office. We got our keys, took the shuttle to the Hertz lot and were on our way to the HOU airport by 9:30. We arrived and checked into our 1pm flight with plenty of time at 10:30. It was quick and painless. The weird and annoying thing was that the TSA guy spent forever checking our licenses to our boarding passes, when the US customs guy spent about 10 seconds confirming our passports. We had tried to give the TSA our passports on the way out but that seemed to confuse them... so we went back to licenses.

 

Overall, a perfect vacation- we all had a great time and got to do what we wanted! I'd be happy to answer any questions--

[wolfganghowell]

Thanks so much. I agree with you about Roatan - just a beautiful island with people to match. Our cabdriver told us the crime was very low because everyone knows everyone else!! I hope as development continues Roatan keeps its beauty....in every way.

 

I had to laugh at your remarks on the "red hat ladies". Isn't it amazing how a group of any kind feels a sense of entitlement. So may times people single out the teens or the young people when rudeness crosses all ages! I try to walk as much as possible on a cruise because of the elevator manners. What happened to waiting for people to get off first? :)

 

So it appears the dinner times have stayed at 5:30 and 8. Works for me since we have late seating.

[brn2crz]

Yeah...Funny thing on the change of eating times..All of our documents said 830....It did say 800 on the seapass...But who really looks at that..:rolleyes:

But since we missed dinner the first night due to the late departure due to fog....Then the second night..we were just kind of wandering the ship before dinner because it was formal night and we were doing pics and a show ..Not really knowing what time it was..But was planning on 830 for dinner...then Tuesday we went to Portofino...Then we go down on Wednesday for Dinner...about 820...again doors are open...So we go on in...People are already in to entrées :eek:

We sit down and say...What time is it..820...doesnt' it start at 830..No 8..:o I think what through me off was in reading the compass,and show times...and it would be talking about show times and say..."main seating 830" thinking that mean our eating time,when that meant what time early (main) seating show time was at...

Yeah I know..sounds simple enough..But hey we were on vacation mode...and just very vegged out:p (great review glad you enjoyed it)

The Voyager is a great ship to have here....Hope we can get something year round soon so DS can go again :(

[buckanear]

The passengers however, were not so nice! I've never seen such bad elevator manners. I cannot count how many times the ladies from the "red hat convention" pushed, shoved or cut people off getting in to the elevators. Many many times they'd stand in front of doors, not let people out first and just shove their way in.

 

How sad :confused: . There were 68 (give or take) red hat ladies on board the ship. One of the women is a member here at CC. Fortunately for me, I'm a little on the abrasive side and would have beaten them at their own game. If they tried to push their way into an elevator before I got out, I would say something snotty :D. Just kidding. That stuff just steams me. :mad: I don't really have many manners though when people are rude to me. It's a wonder that I love my job :p :rolleyes:

[Rancher Dave]

Very well done review. It is always nice to see how different folks with different backgrounds see things, especially the bit about going into the off the beaten path in Progresso and the ruins info.

 

Brn2Cruz...I did ask yesterday if they thought they may be in Galveston year round, they said they would only find out when the sailings are released...but at the same time he did sound like he expected a return to Europe for 2009 based on yield management decisions.

[brn2crz]

Yeah..I have no doubt about the Voyagers return to the Med for now...But I am enthusiastically optimistic...that when the next 3 ships are all out...There will be room here for something..Be it Voyager,Vision or Radiance class...I think it will happen... (remember...I still believe in the Cowboys also :p )

[brn2crz]

Yeah..I have no doubt about the Voyagers return to the Med for now...But I am enthusiastically optimistic...that when the next 3 ships are all out...There will be room here for something..Be it Voyager,Vision or Radiance class...I think it will happen... (remember...I still believe in the Cowboys also :p )