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Embarkation
Embarkation in Barcelona was nice and easy with virtually no queues and we were on board by 12.00 within half an hour and cookies and refreshments were available in the terminal which was a nice touch. One tip make sure you complete all of your online check in forms so then you will not have to fill in paper forms at the cruise terminal. I have to agree with previous reviews regarding the muster drill it was nice not to have to wear our life jackets but it did seem to go on forever and was then repeated in 3/4 different languages.
Cabin
Our cabin was nice although not the best cabin we have ever experienced, we had a balcony cabin on deck 9 and I have to admit it did look a little tired in places especially the bathroom which needs some attention. Our steward Cameo was great very friendly and couldn't t do enough for us we had fun towel animals every night waiting for us, it was sad to say goodbye to him. We had 3 bags and mine was the last to arrive at our cabin around 7pm just as we were heading out to dinner, I have to admit I was relieved when it arrived.
Dining
We used the My Time dining option which really worked for us it was great as you can book whatever time suits you which is especially good on the day you have excursions and you can book for the whole week if you wish. I have food allergies and cannot eat wheat or gluten and on my first night I explained to our waiter and he was great along with the assistant waiter and head waiters. Domnick our waiter was good and Claudio our assistant waiter were so good we asked to be moved to there section for the remainder of our cruise. Nothing was to much trouble and every evening I was given the menu for the following day and the chef would make what I wanted especially and every evening the food was great. We ate once at Johnny Rockets which was ok but nothing special for breakfast we ate mainly in Windjammer cafe like all cruises it was packed and you will struggle to get a seat but there is lots of choice available. Often we had breakfast in our cabin due to early excursions and even though it states on the room service form they deliver from 7.00am. I crossed this out and often asked for delivery between 6.00-6.30 and it was always delivered and they called everytime to say it was on its way which was a nice touch. We had lunch in the main restaurant a couple of times which was ok, but you were always seated on large tables which was a bit annoying if they were having 3 courses and you only wanted 1 course as the food was always brought out together so you had to wait.
Excursions/Ports of Call
We did excursions in Naples where we did the Amalfi coast and Pompei which was great our tour guide Bruno was very good and informative but it was a long day exhausting and lots of walking. The following day we did the full days excursion to Rome again a very long day and exhausting again lots of walking 2 days in a row so be prepared. We didn t get off the ship to see Florence or Pisa as we were to tired. Villefranche was beautiful we did a morning excursion to monaco and monte carlo which was ok we ve been before and it was how I remember it very clean very posh quite an experience if you haven t been especially the size of the yachts in the harbour. Our guide for Monaco was pretty useless quite lazy dropped us of and gave us a time and told us to meet. Marseille was cancelled due to bad weather so it was a little rocky when we woke up but the captain navigated around the storm and it was fine according to our waiter and steward this was pretty common. Excursions are expensive but that's always the case if you book through the ships. The only tip I can give is we got stuck in traffic leaving Rome and were late back to the ship they were waiting for us so we were glad we booked through RCI, if you don t book a trip through RCI the captain will NOT wait and will go without you so ensure you have plenty of time to get back to the ship especially in Rome.
Entertainment
The shows were pretty standard for a cruise ship singers were quite good dancers OK although costumes and production were very professional. The comic act we thought was pretty poor although the ice show was very good. The cruise director Mercedes we didn t think was very good only ok not great, and I think they need more evening quizzes which were fun however daytime entertainment was lacking compared to the size of the ship and facilities available I expected better. We had 3 parades through the royal promenade all of which were fun and its an experience to see it.
Summary
Overall we had a great time and voyager didn't disappoint the mini golf course and ice skating are a fun touch that we hadn't experienced before. We met the captain, Patrick who was nice and friendly very young which was surprising. We had a great time although our cabin was showing its age the ship wasn't we would recommend RCI and this ship. The staff were always friendly and service was great no complaints and although she s a big ship we didn t feel overwhelmed by her size.
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