Seven Seas Voyager Review

Know before you go: Regent Seven Seas Cruises' Seven Seas Voyager will spoil you silly.

It's not just the stellar service, the inspired itineraries or the outstanding celebrity lecturers, but also the fact that this is a ship with a big personality. Where else will you find a captain who reads poetry over the public address system along with the weather and navigation reports? Or fiercely social passengers -- like "a family afloat," as one repeat passenger frames it -- who return to Voyager year after year, in large part to spend time together? On our Sydney-to-Shanghai cruise, a mere 24 of almost 600 passengers were new to Voyager. That's a telling statistic.

With its sleek, Scandinavian-inspired design, Voyager has an old school sensibility. It's not showy, it's understated. No Aloha Deck or Fiesta Deck here -- simply deck number four, number five and so on. There's also sort of a clubby feel, in part because Voyager offers complimentary beverages -- from diet Coke to Chivas Regal -- at all its bars. Many suites also have butlers. All very civilized.

That's not to say Voyager isn't au courant. When it launched in 2003, it was the second all-suite, all-balcony cruise ship ever introduced (after sister ship Seven Seas Mariner.) It's also clearly committed to a gold standard when it comes to service. Today, for example, Voyager is fully wireless and a remarkably gracious Internet cafe administrator works pretty much on demand -- both in the computer center and in-suite.

We have been on bigger and smaller ships, and many of them get very high marks. But Voyager provides an experience that raises the bar further. Not surprising to us, the ship boasts the highest staff-to-guest ratio in the industry.

As one woman remarked when asked what she liked most about Voyager: "It's the lifestyle, my dear."

On our cruise, as is typical, 90 percent of passengers were American. The rest were from Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. It's an older demographic, primarily retirees.

The dress code is almost always elegant casual after 6 p.m. Skirts or slacks paired with blouses or sweaters, pant suits or dresses are acceptable for ladies, while men should wear slacks and collared shirts. Sport jackets are optional; jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, shorts, sneakers and bathrobes are not allowed in any public area in the evening. In addition, cruises of 16 nights or longer have have two formal optional nights, when passengers can either wear elegant casual attire or opt for a more formal look (gowns, cocktail dresses, dark suits or tuxedos).

Gratuities are included in the cruise fare. However, many passengers do tip additionally.

Next: Seven Seas Voyager Cabins

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