We sailed on the Voyager of the Seas June 20-27 from Barcelona to Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes, Toulon and return to Barcelona. As a point of reference we are experienced cruisers having sailed on RCCL (5x), Princess (5x), NCL (3x), Carnival (1x) and Holland America (1x). The couple that joined us on this voyage have also cruised extensively and are Platinum level passengers on RCCL. In fact they had sailed on Voyager shortly after its launch so this was their second experience with the ship. We booked the Voyager because of its reputation and the relatively good fares we were able to find. The itinerary was not new for us as we had sailed on Ruby Princess in August 2009 to many of the same ports.

I'll set the tone for this review by saying that of all the cruises we've taken, only 2 were rated anything other than a great experience. This trip ranked 2nd from the bottom, just slightly above our shipboard experience on Holland America's MS Ryndam (affectionately known by our friends as the "Cruise From Hell").

On the positive side, there is much to like about Voyager. Despite its age the public spaces of the ship are well-maintained and the Promenade still is impressive. While it lacks a few of the "wow" features of the Freedom of the Seas (which we had been on several years ago), the variety of venues and things to do are still quite good. The cabins are decent size, well laid out and had comfortable beds, but overall were starting to show their age in terms of look and feel. We found the food in the main Dining Room to be on par, more or less, with the other mass-market cruise lines. The friendliness and helpfulness of the staff was hit or miss. Read more