Back From Voyager

[kaylin]

This is payback for those that helped me before we left on our trip. Hope I can help a few people out by telling them how our cruise on the Voyager of the Seas went. We sailed out on 6/7/08. We were in room 8218 (in the front of the ship with a balcony) and our kids, ages 16, 19, & 20, were in room 8223 (on the inside just down the hall from us).

 

SHIP AND DINING

We had been on Voyager before a couple of years ago when it sailed the caribbean. It's a great ship and still is in my opinion. Some of the food was great, some not so great. I would go to Portofino's or Johnny Rockets on the second formal night because none of us liked our food in the dining room that night. (I got the Thai barbeque chicken which was recommended that night but I didn't like it, hubby and kids got some pasta, with seafood I believe, but the sauce had a weird flavor). I never saw lobster on the menu which was disappointing. Don't be afraid to get as much as you can eat, my son usually got an appetizer, at least two main courses, and a couple of desserts and devoured them all.

 

CREW

They work their tails off and it shows. All of them were polite and gracious as always. Our room attendant was already working each morning when we woke up and was still working in the evenings when we got back on the ship. I had heard the towels weren't quite as white as they should be, and that was true, but I also think if you look hard enough you can always find flaws.

 

Our dining room servers were wonderful. Our head waiter was Nuran. We ate in the Magic Flute dining room on deck 5 at 6:00. I thought we'd never make it to eat that early, but we never had a problem (although a couple of nights we were 15 min late or so but our waiter said that was no problem at all). Since we were on our own at all the ports we made sure to be back to the ship a little early (had to be back by 6:30 anyway and we were usually back by 5:30 or so). Also, most days we ate a big breakfast on the ship and didn't eat much in port since it was expensive and so we were definitely hungry when we got back to the ship so it worked out well for us.

 

PASSENGERS

There were a wide variety of nationalities on board. I had heard some people complain on the boards people were pushy and rude, but we didn't really experience any of that. Once in a while someone would brush by and maybe bump you, but it certainly wasn't intentional. Americans (and me included) are just used to having our own little comfort bubble and don't like it when it's invaded...but I'll tell you, being on the crowded streets in Italy, and on the buses and trains, you better get used to it. A few times we were crammed on those buses like sardines and when I thought no one else could fit, five more would pile in.

 

FLYING

I would recommend flying to Barcelona at least a day early, but we didn't. We flew from Dallas to New Jersey's Newark, then had a service pick us up in a Cadillac Escalade (one of the few things 5 of us and our bags would fit in) and take us to New Yorks JFK where we flew into Barcelona. Guess our travel agent thought she was saving us money doing but it was a pain and cost us $150 for the ride. (and if it all hadn't worked out perfectly we could have missed our flight and then our ship.)

 

CHECKING IN and CHECKING OFF THE SHIP

It was a breeze. They have it down to a science. Met us at the airport with a sign, took our bags, got on a bus where they took us to the ship. Checking out the last day was the easiest ever, and we've cruised alot. Once we disembarked, our bags came out on a carousel like the airport and we had our bags within 5-10 minutes and were headed for the airport.

 

BARCELONA

Be sure to get your euro's as soon as you can because you'll need them. Hubby traded some dollars for euro's at no charge at one of the duty free shops right at the entrance to the ship (RC personnel told him where). Then we tried to get a cab, but none would fit 5 people (even the vans couldn't) so we waited for the bus which came up right outside the ship and paid 3 euro's apiece roundtrip to go to Las Ramblas.

 

We only had a little over two hours but just walked up and down and shopped the little vendors and took some pictures. It was a beautiful place. My kids (even though they are mostly grown) loved all the street performers. They had their pictures taken with Edward Scissorhands and a few others and then gave them some money. There were jugglers, mimes, gymnasts, and everything you could think of.

 

Had heard there was alot of pickpocketing from the boards, but we never experienced any of it at any of the ports. I had a small purse I carried over my head that came down in front of me and hubby and the boys carried their wallets in their front pockets and we never had a problem. We did see a man being arrested at the airport but don't know why.

 

We came back to the ship, at dinner at 6:00 It usually took at least an hour and a half to eat. We were so tired, hubby and I went straight to bed, of course the kids stayed up and went to the show.

 

Woke up at 10:30 and ship was really rocking. It was the same way when we cruised to Alaska a few years ago. When you are out on the open sea it's alot worse than when you are closer to shore. It was the roughest night. The last night or so was a little rough, but not as bad as the first one.

 

VILLEFRANCHE (Nice, Monaco)

We had heard horror stories of the tendering process on the boards, but it went pretty smoothly for us. Hubby got up that morning, you could get tender tickets at the bar on deck 5 starting at 9:00 for a 10:00 a.m. arrival. They told us they would call our number around 10:30 or 11:00 so we went down to the lounge at 10:15 and they called our number at 10:30 and we were on land before 11:00.

 

This was a beautiful place. When you tender you walk through a building that has tourist information. We were told to go to the top of the hill to catch the bus to Nice, which was a little too simplistic. Everyone was wandering around a bit before we found the bus stop. (look for the signs at the top of the hill, and cross the street and go down into town) It's less than a 10 minute walk at most if you are going the right way. Make sure you are waiting for the city bus and not the mini bus. We got on the bus and paid 1 euro apiece to get to Nice.

 

When we first got off the bus we just looked around and didn't see much, then we walked across the street from the bus station and looked down and you could walk down below the street into some fabulous shops with lots of people and cafes and one large gathering spot with live entertainment. We kept walking through them and finally came out onto the beach. It was very rocky but lots of people laying out, some topless.

 

We then looked to the left and saw a big waterfall above the city. We went up lots of steps (there were people on trams going up as well) to Chateau Hill where the giant waterfall was. Got lots of great pictures looking over the city as well as the waterfall. We walked down a different was and saw an very old, very beautiful cemetery with huge monuments and statues. We kept walking and eventually came back into the middle of the shops we had come from and stopped and ate some gelato before heading out.

 

We went back to the buses and for 1 eu apiece we went to Monaco which took 45 minutes. We didn't have a whole lot of time here, but we walked along the pier and looked at the huge yachts and lots of ferarri's driving around which my kids loved. If you look around you can see the Monaco castle jutting out on top of the hill. Again, we walked up alot of steep steps to the palace, but we have fun doing stuff like this. We saw the guards, lots of cute little shops and took great pictures of the city below.

 

Hubby got a little stressed out because we weren't sure what bus to get on but asked around and then when one showed up, it was too full and we couldn't get on. We got on the next one fine and made it back to the Ville in plenty of time. I think it's definitely a little stressful when you have to schedule your time and we weren't exactly sure what we were doing, but we always managed somehow.

 

Got back to ship at 5:50 and had to rush to make it to dinner but we made it. After dinner we sat at the Pig and Whistle Pub and listened to live entertainment and went to bed around 1:00 a.m.

 

LIVORNO (Pisa,Florence)

 

We were tired from all the walking the day before so we slept in a little this day and were off the ship by 9:00 a.m. We took the RC shuttle for $10.00 rt to Livorno where we went to the Tabachhi shop (it was just across the way and a RC person was standing outside the shuttle pointing the way) where we bought bus and train tickets to Livorno. We were planning on going to Livorno, then to Florence, but the guy selling tickets said we didn't have enough time to do both, and I was glad he told us, he was right. It is 3 hours roundtrip so that's a big chunk of your day. I was disappointed, but we'll just have to know better next time. Tickets for 5 of us for the bus and train to Pisa was 34 euro's roundtrip, I believe. Be sure you validate your ticket in the little machines before you get on the train. I never saw anyone check, but you never know. I think we forgot a time or two.

 

When we got off the train we were across town from the tower. I don't know if we'd stayed on if we could have gotten closer or not. It wasn't a problem though, since we now had plenty of time, so we just walked across town and got to see the city. It was a nice, clean place it seemed and each day the weather had been warm, but not too hot, so walking was fine. It took us about 25-30 minutes to walk to the tower and we got our pics, shopped at the vendors there, and then went into a cathedral next to it. I think it was 5 eu apiece to get into the church.

 

Walked back to train station. There was a McDonalds inside and we used the restroom where someone was charging. No toilet paper.

 

When we got back to Livorno we wanted to shop, but really wasn't anything there much. We went to another McDonalds to go to the restroom and there was no attendant at that one, so it was free. Only one bathroom for men and women though. Again, no paper. I learned my lesson and brought some in my purse after that.

 

CIVITAVECCHIA (Rome)

 

We were one of the first off the ship since we knew we had a lot to do in a short time. We took the FREE port authority bus to the end of the pier then followed some other people to the train station, 5-10 min walk maybe. We bought a BIRG ticket for 9 eu apiece which is good for the train and the city buses. It took an hour to get to Rome.

 

We then walked to the city bus station where we got on bus #64. There was a gentleman on it that spoke perfect English and saw us get on the bus and obviously saw we were tourists and if he could be of help. We said we wanted to get to the Colisseum and were looking for the Hop On Hop Off bus to get there (we thought our tickets were good for that bus as well). He said the city bus could get us there and so he got off with us at the the San Piedro (?) bus stop near the Vatican and then pointed us to bus #87 which took us right to the front of the Colisseum.

 

For 4 euro's apiece at goporta.com we had purchased not tickets, but just a way to bypass the line and purchase tickets at the reservation counter where there was no line at all. There was a long line otherwise so that helped alot. Be sure you have euro's to get in my husband tried to pay with a credit card and they wouldn't accept it. We loved the Colisseum and Palantine Hill as well. All very interesting. You could even see them excavating more ruins which was fun to watch.

 

I wanted to go the Trevi fountain, but was afraid we wouldn't have time to visit the Vatican and St. Peters, so we decided to go straight there. We then went back outside and tried to catch the HoHo bus but when my husband got on, the man said it would be 24 eu apiece. We only wanted to go one more stop, so that would definitely not have been worth it for 5 of us since we could ride the bus with our BIRG ticket, so we backtracked our way on the city bus again to the Vatican. A little confusing, but we made it.

 

We were at the Vatican by 1:30 or so but they said it was not open so we went to St. Peters (which is mostly what I wanted to do anyway). For 5 eu apiece, it's a little more if you want to take the elevator, we walked up the dome of St Peters. We stood above the inside of the Cathedral part way up and looked down on the inside which was breathtaking. Then we walked the rest of the way up, which was grueling but fun, to the very top of the outside. Awesome views of Rome. Then back down and walked around inside. So many people, but so quiet until a group of high school kids started singing Amazing Graze...it echoed and gave you chills to hear it. Then we went underneath and saw the tombs of the past popes. There were men from the monastery who were bent down praying at the tomb of the last buried pope.

 

Then we walked across the street and ate some pizza from a cafe there. At the ship that night we ate at Johnny Rockets which was very, very good. Don't miss the sundae, mmmmmm. It was a great day in Rome. :)

 

NAPLES

We had a wonderful time that day, but it started out not so great. No offense to anyone, but Naples was by far the worst port. The trash strike was still going on, so trash was just piled up on the street everywhere and there was just sludge....ick. I had heard traffic was bad in Italy, but it was nothing like here...we almost got run over. People going down one way streets the wrong way, not stopping, etc.

 

I had heard that on the boards that the train station was only ten minutes away but we walked for almost 45 min before we found it. Maybe we went the wrong way....I just don't know, but I wish we'd have taken a taxi. I just didn't feel as safe here as other ports.

 

We got to the station and you wait for the trains underground. A boy cursed my teenage son out for not having a light for his cigarette. The train was dirty with hard plastic seats, not large and cushioned like the ones at the other ports. Grafitti covered literally everything.

 

We purchased our tickets to Pompeii/Scavi for 11 eu apiece. Make sure you get off at Pompeii Scavi (ruins) or you'll go into the actual city. Pompeii was interesting. More stray dogs all over the place than we'd seen anywhere else.

 

We were going to go to Mt Vesuvius, but we were tired of walking so we decided to take our train ticket and go to Sorrento, which was probably 20-30 min further down the line. That was the best decision we ever made. It was absolutely gorgeous there. We ate pizza at a restaurant by the ocean and got some gelato at a cute little bakery in town. It is what you dream of when you dream of Italy. We just walked around and look at these amazing views. It was probably my favorite place of all.

 

Not wanting to take the train back and go back into Naples, we got a ticket for the hydrofoil. It was 10 eu apiece but worth it's price in gold. It's a big boat that only takes 30 min to get back to Naples. We took the 4:30 one back, but there was one or two after that as well. They docked right by our ship so we were back on board in 5 minutes.

 

PALERMO

I had talked to a crewmember on the ship and he'd said that he loved the shopping in Palermo, so we decided just to take it easy and shop that day. We got there and walked around a while and didn't see much shopping and were not in a great part of town, so we finally walked back toward the ship and stopped at a hotel and asked about the shopping. She gave us a map and told us a street where they sold Gucci and such but we said, ummmm, not that kind of shopping, souvenir shopping. She told us where to go and we did find great shops and a street where there were vendors and all kinds of veggies for sale, and huge swordfish on ice, men with slaughtered pigs thrown across their backs, and also clothes and everything else. The kids loved it.

 

OVERALL

We loved our trip and will think of it for years to come with the best of memories.

[Mike073]

Kaylin - nice writeup. Just so you and others know, when you visit the crypt under the Bascilica in Rome where many of the popes are buried, when you see the tomb of St. Peter, there is a single candle burning just to the side. It is just behind the marble wall behind that candle where the SCAVI tour ends at the bones of St. Peter.

[Moondawgie]

Thanks for that great review, Kaylin.

[newcruiser25]

Thank you so much for the information. It is very helpful.

[bdoster]

Loved your review, thanks for taking the time to write!

[tomko2]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. Terrific write-up.

We'll be doing a second Med. cruise next August with Cannes/Livorno/Barcelona being new ports for us.

Kathy:)

[cujosmom]

While in Rome, you said the Vatican Museum was closed. Do you know why it was closed?

[Broch]

Could you please tell me what your dining times were. Thanks