Voyager of the Seas Review

Cruising the Adriatic on RCL's Voyager of the Seas

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Voyager of the Seas
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ACSWILM
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jun 2014
Cabin: Interior Stateroom
Traveled with children

EMBARKATION: Finally got to the port and were frustrated by the confusion and inefficiency: though several RCL folks held up signs that pointed us in the terminal direction, they were too busy chatting with one another to advise us that the luggage had to be left off at a totally different building (which we had passed by already), so up the escalator, down the escalator, stand in some more lines . . .then come to find out we could have gone to the front of that line b/c we had already affixed our RCL baggage tags all over our luggage, but none of the helpful RCL folks that had seen us on the way mentioned this either.

Finally checked in at the terminal and got our cabin keycards; they punched two holes into the kids' cards (to prevent their buying any alcohol on board) but then, when I asked for a hole to be punched in my card to allow me to put it on a lanyard, they said it might prevent ME from buying alcohol!!? Why not have another shape punch for the kids? Don't many folks put their cards on lanyards?

SHIP INFO: The Voyager is a very nice ship with lots of space, but a few areas are not used to their full advantage. For example, there is a lounge/bar on Deck 14, which on other ships is prime real estate, as the views are tremendous and nearly 360, but this space was to my knowledge NEVER mentioned in the daily Cruise Compass (the daily flyer re happenings onboard). We did visit there one evening and there was a live low-key band, so that was a pleasant surprise. The lounge near the guest reception desk had live music, but I felt sorry for the performers b/c it was used more as a space to pass through rather than to linger. The Aquarium Bar had what looked like fish tanks lining the walls, (and my husband thought they had perhaps recently been drained for cleaning due to a persistent odd smell in that area) but there were no glass walls, just fake coral and such, so I doubt that they were real aquaria. As stated, the smell lingered all week and we didn't care to frequent it. The Schooner Bar with live piano music and singing was VERY popular every evening. The two-tiered disco named the Vault was decorated in retro fashion and suffered only due to the DJ (DJ Amir) who tended to play what he seemed to like more than to cater to his audience. For example, one evening there was a 70s theme and he was to play 70s music from 10:45-11:45p, but he stopped 10 minutes early (with a full dance floor no less) and started playing songs that I'd never heard of (and I have teenagers at home!). The dance floor pretty much cleared out and I'm relatively sure the bar lost money and customers. We doggedly stayed, though, hoping for a reversal of fortune; finally "Low" by FloRidA came on (and we were rocking it) and MIDSONG he cut to an unknown song. We turned our faces up to his booth and gave 4 thumbs down and left the Vault; no surprise, the Schooners Bar was hopping, with people dancing in the very limited carpeted space between the piano and seats (there is NO dancefloor in Schooners) and not to live music, but to the running track from the piano player's laptop!! We later told him he was a better DJ than the paid DJ.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

STATEROOM: Anyway, boarded without further problem and went to see our cabins: both on deck 8 but separated by several cabins since we booked last minute (it's too bad, as we DID have a connecting door to a cabin that would have accommodated us). One cabin had a "promenade view" which turned out OK, though I'm certainly glad we were on Deck 8 and not 6 or 7. The Promenade- view cabins essentially have a big window overlooking the interior promenade of the ship, which is the venue for at least 2 late-night (11p) noisy parades and other musical action, so not ideal for those who retire early. The other cabin was a standard interior with bunks, so seemed a bit tighter for space but actually had more storage areas. [I found the design of having the outward swinging closet doors and the bathroom door all colliding in the small entryway to be lacking, and the mirrored bathroom medicine door swung out the wrong way entirely.] No toiletries save bar soap and the shampoo/conditioner combo in the shower were provided. We never use the mini-bar/fridge except to keep the odd water bottle cooled, but ours never worked even after being replaced, and smelled funny if you opened it.

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