Voyager of the Seas Review
Some faults, but overall a great cruise (very long review with lots of info).
Rating by category
Additional details
I went on this cruise with my husband and 2 adult children 21 & 18. It was a 50th birthday present for me. We have only been on one other cruise before, a few years ago on the Ruby Princess through the Mediterranean. That particular cruise was very busy, with very interesting/exciting ports every day and only one and a half days at sea, so we didn't really get time to relax or discover all the ship had to offer. So we decided another cruise would me a great present. I deliberated long and hard for many months as to which cruise would suit us the best. I researched ships, itineraries, ports, cabins, cruise length and read just about every review I could find. (Yes I'm one of those OCD type). The Ruby was a beautiful ship but there were no young people under 50 aboard. Not sure if this was because of the destination or the ship but my kids only found 4 other teenagers on the entire ship. So I wanted to make sure we went on a ship that had lots of young people. The Voyager had the florider and rock climbing wall and was more geared for families than the Princess ships doing similar itineraries. I read mixed reviews, ranging from great, down to downright terrible, so I was really torn as to want to do. In the end, a great deal came up for 2 guaranteed balconies on the Voyager, so we I booked them and decided to try our luck.
Like any holiday there were pros and cons.
Firstly, we were assigned 2 interconnecting balcony rooms forward on deck 10 within a few days of booking. As our kids are older we didn't need interconnecting rooms, so we would have preferred separate rooms as the interconnecting rooms lose the lounge to make way for the door between and is replaced with a single chair. Nothing major, just would have preferred the lounge. We were generally happy with the cabin. Cabin was bigger than the Ruby, wardrobe was smaller, but still big enough. One of the worst aspects of our trip was the bed, it was so hard!! We didn't sleep well at all. The cabin was under the gym, sometimes there was some banging if there was a class on but they only had a couple per day and didn't schedule anything noisy till 9am so it wasn't too bad. Our room steward didn't speak much English so we found it a bit hard to communicate, the room was generally well looked after, dusty after 12 days, as wasn't vacuumed.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
We liked this spot. Foward of the ship, so more movement than in the middle, so avoid if you get seasick. It was under the gym, however we only heard some banging when there was a noisy class on and there were only a couple scheduled each day, one at 9am and one at 5pm, so not too bad. Convenient for us as it was one deck under and right near the stairs to the gym, which we used regularly (had to work off all that food somehow :) ) and the adults only pool area. Don't book here if you have trouble or don't like walking as the dining areas are all at the other end of the ship.
Port Reviews
Isle of Pines (New Caledonia)
Very pretty island. We didn't rush off the ship, had an easy brekkie and waited until they called open tender. Still plant of time to explore and snorkel.
Mystery Island
Nice island. Very remote. We didn't hurry off the ship, had an easy brekkie and waited until open tender was called. Still left plenty of time to explore and snorkel. I think people who booked an excursion could have been disappointed as the snorkeling we did was equally as rewarding as our friends who did the excursion.
Noumea
Wasn't a whole lot to do. Some people went to the beach. We just spent the time looking for wifi. After a very long search at Macdonalds, cafe's and the library, we finally were told they have free wifi in the town park, only a block from where you get off the shuttle bus from the ship!! Wish someone had told us first, would have saved us a lot of time and hassle.