Voyager 3/23 -- short review

[tiredmommy]

I won't give a detailed review, but instead will highlight some of the issues I know I had questions about beforehand.

 

(1) the ship and all public areas -- beautiful; tip-top shape; no complaints at all

(2) Windjammer -- we actually never ate here, and greatly preferred instead the Island Grill which is in the back of the WJ. It was less crowded with some really nice views out the back of the ship. A lot more serene! As far as the quality of the IG food, we loved it. Omelettes made to order in the morning [3 minutes in line tops], pizza, burgers, grilled fish, and the BEST fries on the ship for lunch, great fruit, pastries, dessert bar and salad bar all day. Tip: you can get soft drink refills in here from the drink stations. They also had great lemonade.

(3) Promenade Cafe -- cool little place in the fore of the promenade which has coffee, tea and hot chocolate all day, plus breakfast pastries in the morning, and pizza, sandwiches and cookies the rest of the day. We would stop by here on the way to ... anywhere we went ... and grab a slice of pizza or a cookie. My kids would get cookies to bring with them to the screening room to eat during the movie. Tip: you can easily get soft drink refills here also.

(4) Main dining room -- we had a GREAT waiter named Shimrei Shimrah from India. The food was VERY GOOD. We loved the prime rib the first night. After that, we all seemed to order the fish each night and these dishes were consistently good. We asked for and received two lobster tails each on lobster night -- they were small but good. The salads and soups were excellent. Listen to what your server recommends -- they know by now what dishes are the most popular/tasty/successful and what have not been well-received by the passengers. The menus on the last night was not that good as I recall -- that might be a good night to do Portofinos!

(5) Speaking of Portofinos - I know this has been discussed to death but it is SO worth the $20 pp fee. The portions were huge. The quality of cooking [the sauces, the presentation, the food itself] is much higher than in the dining room. I had the shrimp and risotto appetizer, the gorgonzola and pear salad and the tiger shrimp entree. Each dish was superb. [my husband wasn't as enthusiastic about the fish but he loved his calamari.] I saw the seafood skewer at another table and it looked incredible. We all ordered the dessert sampler, and, having done that, would stick strictly with the tiramisu next time. While the flourless cake was very good, you really can't eat more than 3 bites of it b/c it is so rich. The creme brulee was good but just ok. The panna cotta was just weird. Lovely atmostphere. I'd eat there every night if I was on my honeymoon!

 

 

I'll reply to this so it doesn't get too long.

[tiredmommy]

(6) family oceanview stateroom -- we had cabin 9200. I can't say enough good things about this room. It was truly gigantic. There is a bunk bed alcove behind a curtain that has its own closet, reading lights, and shelves where my boys kept all their shoes, books, ipods,etc... Then, the sofa opens up in to a queen sized bed. Then our bed was a king. Then you have a sitting area with two chairs and two small storage ottomans in front of two very large windows. There were closets and storage spaces galore. there were drawers and storage areas we never even used. I don't see the big deal about having only 1 bathroom. As long as you plan [usually with mom going first while everyone played outside a little longer b/c she takes the longest to get ready!], everyone showered with no trouble and the boys could get dressed behind their curtain. weird tip: we used the glasses that are in their cupholders in the bathroom to hold our toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, brushes, etc... to help keep the counters clean.

 

(7) seasickness -- nobody got sick but the first night and half the next day, we were REALLY ROCKING. I believe this has been reported by others on the board. My inlaws have been on 35 cruises and said they've never been on a ship moving that much. The sea looked pretty rough with white caps everywhere. Although our room was in the front of the boat, the movement rocked us to sleep instead of making us sick. After that first night, there was hardly any noticeable movement at all for the remainder of the trip. So, don't let potential movement keep you from booking 9200 -- it was really only noticeable one night and that wasn't even sickness-inducing -- for us at least.

 

(8) kids camp -- 8 year old loved it (make sure they do the pirates of the caribbean session and the circus session)

 

(9) Paradise Beach in Cozumel -- it was windy and the water was freezing that day, so maybe that tainted it for me, but I wasn't loving it. My kids had a nice time on the coconut tree thing and the bungee trampoline, but the iceberg is REALLY difficult to climb -- my husband could barely do it. My biggest problem was that as soon as you left the dry beach to walk in to the ocean the sand turned into these huge rocks. It looks like perhaps sand had been imported to cover these rocks and the sand has washed away over time??? There were 4 ships in port and the chairs were all full and the beach was crowded -- not really my cup of tea but maybe it would be good for you. tip: On a prior cruise, we did do Pancho's Backyard for lunch and thought the entire experience eating in the courtyard with the little band playing was wonderful. Of course that was w/o kids which was why we opted for Paradise Beach this time.

 

(10) Roatan -- the ship docks at a very poor area of the island. It really didn't look like an area that would be pleasant to walk around. We had opted ahead of time for the ship's Tabayan Beach Break. It was rainy that day, so this may have tainted my opinion of this particular excursion but again, I couldn't get very excited about it. We were put on a very rickety, old school bus and driven on this hilly road that was vaguely reminiscent of the roads you hear about in other countries where rickety old buses full of people slide off the mountains! Anyway, the beach was nice [not nice like Destin but nice], but my husband and several others said the snorkeling was really not good at all. It also got very crowded and many people didn't even have chairs. I think I would prefer a driving tour of the island instead. The island itself looked different from Mexico -- hilly and very green with lots of vegetation -- and it would have been interesting to drive around it.

 

(11) Progresso -- we opted for the Dzibulchalatan [spelling?] excursion through RC but I did notice the AutoProgreso people in the shopping area right where you get off the ship and they looked respectable and offered similar tours for less money. We road greyhound-type buses to the ruins site [about 35 minutes away]. We all really enjoyed this excursion. [we chose this over Uxmal and Ch. Itza b/c the rides to the other two are 2 hours each way and that is too long with 3 kids on a bus!] The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable, descendants of the Mayans, and still spoke the Mayan language. The ruins were nice enough, and there is a nice museum and a tiny outdoor snack shop. Our table mates did the Yucatan Reef beach trip and were very disappointed and said the food was horrible. I know it gets good reviews on the Progresso board however.

 

I'll stop here one more time. to be continued...

[pmfan]

Thanks for the review. I love reading them.:)

[tiredmommy]

(12) don't miss Zlata in the Champagne Bar. This was our favorite place to go. It was kind of quiet and out of the way. We tried to get ready for our 8:00 dinner by 6:00. Then we went to the champagne bar for one of the daily champagne specials. Then we hit the 6:30 show and dinner after that. Zlata is so friendly. You'll love her.

(13) The RC singers and dancers shows were enjoyable. Two of the singers are incredible. If there's a comedian with a puppet --don't go to that show [just my humble opinion as there were many in the audience laughing!] If there is a comedian named Glen Smith, go to his show. It turns out he is a phenomenal piano player who tells a few jokes between his songs. Very entertaining. Finally DO NOT MISS Las Pampos Gauchos and the Luminescence show beforehand.

(14) ice show -- definitely go. tip #1 -- don't freak out about getting the tickets. I think on Monday night, you'll get the Tuesday compass and it will say you can get the tickets starting at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. I walked down there at 9:00 on the dot and walked right up to the table and got my tickets. It didn't seem to be a big deal -- no big lines or anything. Maybe I was on a cruise with bunch of ice-skater-haters, but there was no mad rush at 9:00 a.m. for the tickets [maybe they all showed up at 9:05!] tip #2 -- do NOT show up on time for the show or you will have horrible seats and by that I mean seats at tables that watch a television set showing the show. Show up 15 minutes early and get a good seat.

(15) If you are going to spend $100 in the spa, get a full body hour long massage. Don't do like I did and buy the "happy hour" package. For $109, I got a great, but short, shoulder massage, a pretend "express" facial where some liquid was rubbed on my face and that was it, a lame foot massage, and a really lame scalp massage. Definitely just get the full body massage and skip the "express" versions of the other spa services.

(16) embarkation -- although your ticket says not to get to the boat until 1:00, THEY LIE! Make sure you are in line by 11:00 [earlier than 11 is not necessary]. You will go through security and be checked-in and receive your cards. Then the doors open and you can get on the boat -- usually it's 11:30 but for us it was 11:45. We went to the Island Grill, ate lunch, and then headed to our room which opens at 1:00.

(17) disembarkation -- I don't know what express departure was like, but I can tell you I won't be doing the traditional departure again. We had to leave the room at 8 and wait in the dining room or Studio B for our color to be called. It wasn't called until 9:45. Then we had to stand in a long, slowly moving line to pick up our luggage. We did not leave the building until 11:15. Yuck. Next time, we'll definitely be doing express departure. I avoided it b/c I thought we'd be able to hang out in the room and even sleep late, but since you have to leave the room at 8 anyway, there's really no point.

(18) employees -- my husband and I were very impressed with how friendly all the employees are on this ship. I mean REALLY friendly. Everyone seemed so courteous and genuine and outgoing and plain happy to be there. The guy who welcomed us to the windjammer every day was a hoot. Overall, this is a really nice ship with lots of fun things to do [don't miss deck 4 -- it was like a hidden treasure -- the BEST chairs to read a book in -- very peaceful and quiet; shuffleboard, as well as a way to get to the absolute front of the boat.]. You will love the Voyager.

[Rancher Dave]

 

Nice review.

 

As for the Gulf of Mexico, being shallow as a body of water she does become a bit rough. I noted one night back many years ago when I crewed boats in the Summer (150' boat I was on that night) rocked worse in 15' choppy seas in the GOM than in 25' rollers in the Atlantic. Granted the 15' chop was in a Hurricane (minimal hurricane) so the winds along with the waves made that a rough ride. We even tipped over enough one roll to kill the AC for half the boat (long tech story) but a flip of a switch by the AC tech the next day and it was working fine again, but it was one hot night riding in to the dock thru the storm.

[ginag]

Thank you for the review and the great tips! :)

[raad04]

We are booked for Tabayana Beach thru RCI and I have some questions....was the lunch served good? Also, did you have to pay for the lockers? Any other info, I would appreciate.

Also, we are looking at booking the excursion to Dib (SP?), anyway, did you feel you had enough time? How about the snack? What did it consist of? Did you do anything after returning from the ruins?

Thanks so much for the review and your answers.

[whiteheather]

Thanks for your review, it is great to read so many positive things about the Voyager. My first cruise is to the Western Med in October and some reviews/comments I have read make me wonder if I have done the right thing booking a cruise as some people seem to have an endless list of complaints.

[themerle]

Thanks for the review, lots of helpful info.

[tiredmommy]

The lunch buffet at Tabayana consisted of your choice of barbecued something [smothered in bbq sauce -- none of us ate it] or burgers which were pretty good. They also offered beans [not refried -- more like Cuban style], and an excellent rice pilaf. You also could get fresh watermelon or pineapple. We did not try to go through twice so I can't say if you can get more than one trip through the buffet or not. It was a fine beachy lunch.

 

We didn't rent lockers, so I have no idea if they are available. We usually leave one person with the valuable stuff [money, camera] at the chairs and that person is usually ME since I like to lay there while dad and the kids do the fun stuff.

 

Re: the dzib. ruins in progresso, there was plenty of time during the tour. I don't remember exactly, but I think the guided part was about 45 minutes and then you had around two to three hours after that to explore. I was actually worried it was going to be too long, but we ended up finishing everything we wanted to do right on time. They gave us each a free bottled water when we first got there which we drank while we were walking around. After the guided portion, you can go off on your own.

 

We opted to go back to the snack shop [on 2nd floor near the gift shop] and eat first and then go back and explore. We did this mainly b/c we were dying of thirst and wanted to get out of the sun before we headed out again. Definitely wear sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat on this excursion. The stuff at the snack shop was not included in the tour. We bought cheese nachos for the kids [like the kind you get at a football game], I had nachos with fajita meat, and my DH got a burrito. You could get soft drinks, water, tea, beer and margaritas if you wanted them. I think we spent about $20.00.

 

Tip: try to sit either right near the driver on the bus or under one of the two or three speakers that run down the middle ceiling of the bus -- otherwise, you'll have difficulty hearing the tour guide during the bus portion.

 

Also, I have to say, my kids actually all three went out of their way to thank us after returning from this excursion and said how interesting it was. I think they preferred it to our two beach days.

 

have fun

[tiredmommy]

one last thing I left out of the review but thought about today was the sirloin steak. They offered it every night in the dining room as an alternative selection and then on the last night, you could get it as "sirloin steak oscar". While I generally loved the food and could always find something to order I liked [again go by the waiter's recommendation!], we hated the sirloin. Very tough yucky steak. We did love the prime rib however, so you can still get your beef fix! Otherwise, we always tended to order the fish -- there was also some good duck one night.

[raad04]

Many, many thanks for the hints. I will be more prepared now for both excursions.

I thought the excursion to "Dib" included a snack, but I guess that is just water. Funny. Anyway, I am planning on bringing some granola bars on the ship to just have on hand for those excursions, shopping trips, where we might get a little hungry.

When you returned to the pier area, did you attempt the double decker bus ride? Wonder if there would be time for that?

I am glad your kids had a great time exploring the ruins.