Having sailed into the pacific on other cruise lines previously, we chose Voyager of the Seas to try a new cruise line, try a different itinerary and to take advantage of a fantastic deal on a suite. We travelled as a married couple in our 30’s with no children. We have commented below on the positives, the so-so’s, the negatives and the things we didn’t use and couldn’t comment on. We've also included some info on the ports we visited and our cabin. Positives first: Crew: The crew on board were fantastic. They were extremely friendly, positive and efficient. Nothing was ever too much trouble and communication was never a problem. When issues did pop up they were quick to remedy them and make things right. All rooms were also ready from 1pm on the first day which was truly amazing given the last cruise had only vacated the rooms at 8am that morning. Crew were a definite 10/10 Food: The food was plentiful and options abounded. The buffet was kept clean and offered a good variety for casual dining. Some meals were themed (e.g. Mexican/German) offering a bit more variety, but most days had wide variety of the “staples” of a cruise buffet. The possible only downside was the massively overworked one ice-cream machine which always had a queue but was well serviced by staff to always be running! Being in a suite we had “free” room service (all other ordered carried a $7.95 USD delivery fee) - we made use of this on a number of occasions, especially for a hot breakfast on tender days, and the service was always efficient. Entertainment: Night Activities: The entertainment on board was quite good – the band was excellent and the ice skating shows were phenomenal. The quality of the other shows were above average but were often poorly timed with other ship activities forcing guests to make choices. It also wasn’t made clear that when the ice skating shows were advertised with muster numbers, that that was the only show you had guaranteed access to (you could try for the others by waiting in line 5 mins before start time). Of the shows we did attend we really enjoyed. The cruise director, Carlos, was entertaining and had a great sense of humour. Extras: The Behind the Scenes tour was fantastic and our tour guide Jason was very knowledgeable and kept everyone engaged. We cancelled our Galley Brunch after this tour though, as we saw this being run in tandem and it looked like a total disaster. Disembarkation: Disembarkation was well explained and many guests made use of the self disembark program. We left at our designated time of 7:15am and were off the ship and at our airport transfer point within 30 minutes and then at the airport in another 30 beating Sydney’s morning traffic. One point to note – Royal Caribbean charge $35USD for a transfer to the Sydney Airport – this is a TOTAL RORT. The train (which you can take from Circular Quay) is $19 AUD or if you simply stroll off the ship past the Royal Caribbean transfer bus, a number of entrepreneurial transport companies were offering competitive rates – we paid $15AUD for a transfer to the domestic terminal in a small mini-bus and waited only 10 mins for it to arrive. Virgin Airlines had also set up a check in counter near the terminal offering to take your bags if you were connecting to a virgin flight (not sure how this worked though as we were flying Qantas). Some “in the middles” second: Embarkation: Embarkation was pretty efficient given the number of passengers but signage was TERRIBLE. Thankfully many passengers were happy to help each other to get everyone going in the right direction – drop your luggage off first (they did have stapplers if you needed), then join the MASSIVE queue to get checked in. Some further information before hand, or even signs at the terminal would have been helpful. Have everything ready because the desks upstairs are tiny and you will be basically on top of one and other signing things. On the plus side you can take two 750ml bottles of wine or champagne on board per stateroom (in hand luggage only) which we did and had no dramas with. We also placed a 6 pack of bottled water in each of our suitcases which were not confiscated and saved us a BUCKET load on bottled water (charged at $4 USD a bottle). Powerboard however had had war declared on them and they were being confiscated all over the place (We did see them all laid out when we got off though so you would get them back). Entertainment – Day Activities: These were generally good although very clearly not catered to an Australian market. For example, trivia is a very popular activity in the Australian cruising market, and yet it was very poorly run (i.e. the host didn’t have the correct answers or failed to maintain control of the activity) and it was often scheduled in the wrong venue, or without enough pencils/paper meaning there weren’t enough seat to accommodate those wishing to participate or that some people missed out. There were plenty of other activities to replace those missed out on if needed though, definitely no excuse for being bored! Extras: The Mystery Dinner was a bit of a pain to organise – we thought we had it booked on day one but never received confirmation and had to follow up multiple times to get a solid answer from the restaurant (Giovanni’s Table). The performance was ok, but the food and company were great – worth going to but not at the price currently charged ($79 USD), particularly as the menu is set, and more limited that the restaurants normal offerings. The acting was a bit cheezy but fun but the concept was never really explained – it just sort of started and everyone was left a step behind. And finally the negatives: Age of the Ship: The ship is due for a dry dock refurb in 2019 and it is in desperate need. While the ship would have been glorious at first launch it is easy to spot its age – furnishings and flooring were faded and many maintenance issues popped up throughout the cruise (e.g. out of service elevators, out of service public bathrooms, out of service exit doors to the external walkways on deck 11). The crew do do what they can with what they have and the ship was kept as tidy as possible, but a refurb is definitely due. This didn’t detract too much from our experience – we just ended up using the stairs a lot more and taking detours – it might impact those with accessibility concerns. Americanness: We understood the ship operated in USD and had a very American culture on board before booking but having sailed previously on other lines which have done more to cater for the Australian market we did find this a bit confronting sometimes. The food is definitely not quite tailored to Australia’s tastes and was often over salted or full of sugar – we will never get used to sweet bread! We also witnessed an incident in the gym on the treadmills – some operated in miles per hour and other kilometers – we watched a poor lady fly off the back of one after thinking she had programmed it to 7 km p/h only to find it was in miles – a simple sign alerting users to that fact or highlighting what setting the machine was in would have stopped this. The plugs in the wall are American/European – all good we knew that – but all the plug holes are indented so you will need the circular adaptors. We also noted a very large number of power boards were confiscated at check in – but the TV in our room ran off a US powerboard which we used with adaptors to overcome the indented plug situation. The upsell: Perhaps part of the American culture of the ship but there was ALWAYS an upsell – everywhere. Drinks packages, internet, dining packages, tours, casino promotions, bingo etc. The amount of space dedicated to things you had to pay extra for in the cruise compass, the constant announcements and staff pushing package documents on you was a little ridiculous. While everyone was quite polite if you said no, having to continually say no did dampen the mood on occasion. Be prepared for massive upsell! Cleanliness: While our room was kept spotless the public areas of the ship were left a little wanting. Part of this was to do with the passengers, many of whom have clearly never been taught manners or common decency (e.g. knocking cups of sticky drink over and just walking away without altering anyone, kids spilling cereal over carpeted areas, kids having food fights with left overs from room service trays). Part of this was to do with just never seeing any cleaning staff outside of room attendants and dining staff. We never saw public toilets being kept clean, railings being cleaned or ever elevator buttons being wiped down (and wow did they get festy fast). Children: The biggest biggest negative of this cruise, and perhaps the main reason we would reconsider sailing with Royal Caribbean again were the children. We purposely chose this cruise outside of Australian school holidays to actively try and avoid a ship overloaded with children. We have sailed on cruises before where the number of children was far to high, but this cruise took this to a new level. There were very clearly a large number of families with children in the 8-16ish bracket who clearly got on board and set them loose with the view to picking them up before they got off and not interacting with them in between. While it may seem unfair to blame the cruise ship for the actions of these children (and there totally negligent parents), we failed to see any action taken by Royal Caribbean to address the issues they were causing which is why we are raising it here. The large number of unsupervised children resulted in some rather poor behaviour over the course of the cruise – especially given their partaking in a number of “fun activities” including – pushing all the elevator buttons and then bolting, ringing room doorbells at all hours of the day and night (we personally had one at 5:30am), making prank calls at all hours of the day and night (we had them at 2am) having food fights with cereal or yoghurt, pillaging room service trays which had been left in the hallway for collection and throwing things around, running around the ship and often sending people flying or running into them and knocking drinks over, moving furniture or knocking things over and leaving it that way, leaving plates of food/drink on the stairs, underage drinking in the cabin hallways, unsociable language and screaming and physical fights/wrestling in confined spaces which other guests had to walk around to avoid. For some reason Royal Carribean also determined the curfew for under 18’s is midnight!!! This meant security were “powerless” (or claimed they were powerless) to stop this sought of behavior from children who were unsupervised before midnight. Despite multiple complaints (we personally overhead several while at guest services to make our own about a series of 2am prank calls) nothing seemed to be done about this. We aren’t sure how this could be fixed but we have NEVER encountered such poor behvaiour or such large numbers of unsupervised children on another cruise (e.g. Carnival, P&O, Celebrity, Princess). We can only hypothesis that the offered “kids club” activities were simply not suitable and as a result of there being no consequences for the bad behvaiour it was simply allowed to continue. Things we can’t comment on: - We didn’t make use of the casino but it was always packed and had lots of promotions. - We didn’t make use of the internet (VOOM) but heard lots of positive things from those who were using it, although heard some interesting things about trying to make use of Netflix noting georestrictions getting confused about what country we were in. We were going to purchase 24 hours at one point of the cruise, but were a bit shocked to learn the advertised $17.99 USD price (for streaming level internet) was not available as a “day rate” – only if you bought a whole cruise worth of internet. One day was $29.99 USD which seemed a bit silly to us. We did make use of free wifi in Noumea and Villa. - We didn’t buy the drinks package as we felt we couldn’t make use of the price. The soda only package was $10USD a day and a soft drink was $3.50 a glass. We were in a suite, so if we purchased a soft drink we were given a can for $3.50. Other guests were provided a glass (poured from a bottle, not fountain drink) for the same price. If you don’t buy a drinks package you have access to free tap water (desalinated on board and without the weird after taste), milk, tea, coffee, lemon cordial, iced tea, raspberry cordial (or something red flavoured). In addition at breakfast you also have access to orange juice, apple juice and chocolate milk. There were also two additional packages available, one for soda/water/coffee and one for unlimited alcohol. Ports Noumea – We had never been before so booked a shore excursion “city to the bay” which was a great little 3 hour tour with an excellent tour guide. This also included coffee/tea and a French pastries at a restaurant which had free wifi (bonus!). A number of other guests made use of the hop on hop off bus ($15 AUD per ticket). or the choo choo train tour – both of which were highly rated. The ship also offered a free shuttle service into the city to the ferry terminal. There is a little supermarket (Casino) right near there which offers free wifi and a great assortment of snacks if you need to stock up. We did have coke confiscated from us returning to the ship, but they were fine with the bottled water we bought. Lifou – We detoured to Lifou after our Mystery Island stop was cancelled due to safety concerns given the weather. This was handled quite well and communicated clearly to everyone via a note in the stateroom which included the new tours available. Anyone who had booked a tour for mystery island had this refunded by the onboard account system. The ship operated a tender out to Lifou – no tender tickets needed until about 9am but lines did get long. The beach was beautiful but very rocky (10/10 recommend reef shoes if you want to go swimming). There were lots of little stalls set up with hair braiding, massages and food – the prices got cheaper the further along you walked. Vila – We didn’t leave the ship for Vila as we had been on a number of occasions – but can 10/10 recommend the mud-buggies – a GREAT adventure for the whole family. If you do go on any tours in Vila many stop by the villages and the children are extremely grateful for small wrapped candies, stationery etc. We took a pack of 24 pencils from Kmart (pencils with erasers in funny shapes on the end) and wrapped starbursts last time and they went over great! Mare – The ship tendered again for Mare – there is a small market when you first disembark the tender which was nice, but had most of the same things already seen at other ports. The main “attraction” was the one shore excursion offered by Royal Caribbean - $15USD a head (same price for adults and children) return bus transfers to Yejele Beach. We did this, as we were only two people, but many more savy families realized they could offer a taxi AUD and all be transferred to the same place for much cheaper. The beach was set up with many stalls offering hair braiding, massages and lots of food (BBQ lobster, corn etc). Beautiful spot and well worth the trip – not much to do on Mare otherwise. OVERALL Overall, we had a good time and enjoyed the experience in the main. The perks of the suite were great and the service was world class. Unfortunate that the behaviour of other passengers (mainly the unattended children) damped the overall experience. We would be unlikely to book a Voyager of the Seas cruise again, but may consider a newer ship(e.g. Ovation). Read Less

Keen to try RCI given all we had heard about them. We cruised on Carnival Spirit exactly 12 months prior for the same number of nights and very similar itinerary. Whilst we went with the mindset that it would be different to Carnival it is of course hard not to compare. We are a couple aged about 50. Embarkation went well, although took a little longer than I recall with Carnival, probably due to the additional number of passengers. We live in Sydney so very easy to arrive by train at Circular Quay and walk around to the OPT in 5 mins. This makes us very reluctant to fly anywhere else at this point. I love how you get on and your holiday starts straight away on beautiful Sydney Harbour. Lunch in the Windjammer quite chaotic as usual, but this does settle down a little after the first day. The staff I found to be friendly by and large but at times a little remote. VOS is very near the end of her AU season so perhaps some were understandably a little tired and ready to go home. Enjoyed hearing from the captain each day although trying to hear announcements outside was pretty hopeless. We had MyTime dining which suits us very well. Our request for a table for two was easily accommodated. I recommend pre-booking your preferred times if it suits you. We ate between 8 pm to 8.30pm each night and had the same table and same waitstaff. They were terrific, friendly, attentive but not obtrusive. The number of steps the wait staff must clock up each evening must be quite considerable. As we do not have children with us the late time is better for us. Service was a bit slow on the first night, about 1h 45 mins for dinner and we were a bit concerned that it would be like that every night but things improved significantly after that. The food was excellent, particularly the soups. I don't usually rave about soups but I am finding that it is the soups that I am particularly wanting to replicate. We had a la carte breakfast in the MDR also about half of the time. No complaints here either. Room Service breaky twice on the balcony. Lovely way to start the day. We enjoyed a light lunch from the Promenade Cafe about half of the time, very nice sandwich type offerings. The pizza was generally too much dough for me. Windjammer for the other half of breakfasts and lunches. Whilst the range and choice is great at the Windjammer, I am still not a fan of the buffet/help yourself and noisy indoors environment in the buffet. We usually made our selection and then took it outside to eat. They push the drinks and dining packages very hard on the first couple of days, including whilst you are eating. This gets a bit tiresome, but they do leave you alone if you say you are not interested. We did not buy either package but did have a steak one night in the MDR (additional charge) that is supposedly from Chops. We were underwhelmed, although on a longer cruise we would probably try the paid dining venues just to mix it up a bit. The paid dining areas never looked full and over 9 nights the MDR never disappointed. We never bother with "specialty" coffee or drink soft drink or juices. We drink ships water and maybe 2-3 cocktails on sea days and a couple of beers a day for the Mr. I purchased a bottle of wine and enjoyed it over 3 days. It was nice but at $US50 it would want to be. The fact that you can take a bottle of wine each on board is great. Kettle in room too, so I took coffee bags and asked the bar staff for wine glasses and we enjoyed a coffee on the balcony in the morning and a wine on the balcony some evenings. Awesome. A prepurchased drinks package would have cost us $AU1100 to $AU1350. We spent about $AU550 on the ship on drinks via pay as you go. The decor inside the ship is beautiful. Very easy on the eye. Plenty of spots to find depending on whether you are after a place with action or a quiet corner. Daytime entertainment mostly consists of Bingo, Trivia or presentations trying to sell you very expensive items of questionable and probably very overstated quality. We did not go on the Waverider, rock climb or ice skate etc, but those who did seemed to be enjoying it. We cruise for chilling out time with each other. The adults-only pool area was not very appealing to us. It is a thoroughfare to/from other parts of the ship. There was not very much seating available and it mostly felt a bit dark and dingy. An overall not very pleasant space to be in. This was a disappointment to us and we found ourselves continually comparing it to Serenity on the Spirit. In fact, it just does not compare to Serenity with the outlook over the back of the ship, no through traffic, a lovely shaded sitting area near the bar for those who don't want to be on a sun lounge and the pods and hammocks. The main pool area is big, but predictably noisy. It's "horses for courses" as to what takes your fancy here. We felt the outdoor areas overall felt more sterile on VOS than on the Spirit. I felt that there were noticeably fewer children on this trip than our last, but perhaps they were just all occupied in areas that we were not in. Shows: a bit hit and miss for us. The ice skating show was the standout. The rest = so-so. We could have happily missed most of them and in fact did only get to barely half of them. a nice ambiance along the promenade area in the evenings and the lady singing in the Pig and Whistle (Kristine?) was terrific. She was the stand out for us. The rock band outfit murdered many of the songs they sang. The musicians were OK but the singer not so. We would have liked more comedy, and missed that after the Spirit. As we were aiming to avoid two cyclones in the area (off QLD and Fiji) the captain and crew took a different route to Noumea than is usually the case. We headed towards Lord Howe Island and passed a piece of land sticking up out of the ocean called Balls Pyramid. That was a nice and unexpected detour. Quite spectacular. We then headed northeast to Noumea. The ship certainly feels nice and stable. Ports were Noumea (did the train = Ok and bought pastries at the popular pastry shop.) No indication as you left the ship that you could not bring food back onto the ship, only that you could not take food off. So the pastry's that I bought back for the hubby (he did not get off in Noumea) had to go into the bin beside the drinks stand on the wharf. (Where they probably came on board with the rubbish anyhow to be disposed of via ships waste). I did feedback about this suggesting that advising of this fact on exit would be a good idea. I felt my feedback was dealt with adequately, although I am not sure that anything will change. Would not get off again in Noumea (been here 3 times now) unless we were going to go to Amadee Island or some other tour further out of Noumea appeals to us. (We have been to Amadee 28 years ago and would go again). It is still grotty and dirty and the main town area has a slightly menacing feel about it. The area around Lemmon Bay and Orphanage Bay is quite pleasant. Mystery Island was replaced with Lifou due to a predicted 3-meter swell at Mystery. This was disappointing to us but there is nothing that can be done about the weather. Tendering at Lifou was a bit tricky due to the wind and chop. We have been here before. The wind made it a little unpleasant although still pretty. Beach here is nothing special, although I understand there is a beach about 30 mins drive away which is very nice and a lot of people like snorkeling here about 10 mins walk away. Port Vila: I have not been here before, it was the standout and I would look for it as part of our next cruise. On this occasion, we went to Iririki Island and chilled by the pool after a quick walk around. Next time we will venture to one of the other resorts a little further away or perhaps tour to one or two of the popular spots to see here. Very pretty harbor area and markets not too bad at the pier. It is a little daunting as you exit the wharf area as there are lots of drivers touting for business. The police force was there keeping drivers outside the gate and allowing a few operators to escort you out to their van or "water taxi". I have never seen so many vans in one place! I would recommend that you have a reasonable idea of what you want to do here prior to arrival. The yellow building Duty-Free was very cheap and worth a stop if you are after alcohol duty-free. Finally Mare, very underdeveloped, which is part of its charm. It looks like they have done some work on the pier since we were last here 12 months prior. This time I just had a little wander around near the pier. Some people do swim or snorkel near the pier but it is very rocky and so difficult to get in. We did not go around to the beach this time as my husband was not feeling very well and it was quite windy. The beach here is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen however and I would go there again. I understand that RCI is not visiting Mare again? I am not sure if that is correct. We had a balcony room on the hump #7318. Great room and would book it again. Steward was unobtrusive but did a great job of keeping us very tidy. I still think a balcony room is one of the best things about cruising for us, as we like to come back to our little bit of space and just enjoy looking at the ocean or port in peace after the busyness of the ship. This is, however, a matter of personal preference. I did the All Access ship tour which covered the Bridge, laundry, engine control room with a lot of detail from the Chief Engineer, Waste Handling Area, crew recreation area and the Galley. Whilst the Galley area is very large I am still amazed at the number of meals that they manage to produce out of this area each day. A very interesting insight behind the scenes and I would do this tour again on another ship. In summary, the ships each offer a very different product but, if we were to compare VOS to Carnival Spirit: Food about 20% better on VOS, although my husband does not think so. Drinks and tours in $AU on the Spirit about 25% cheaper and easier than thinking in $US all the time. Decor on VOS is FAR easier on the eye. Gym, used by the Mr, better on VOS than the Spirit. All equipment seemed to work on VOS; on Spirit half of the bikes were out of service. Pool towels and gym towels on VOS were often stained and looked a bit tired. Bathroom towels good. Buffet area larger on VOS. Full glass balconies on the Spirit. Love, love, love them. Guys Burgers on the Spirit excellent and free. About 1000 less pax on the Spirit. Comedy and shows overall better on the Spirit, but ice show up close on VOS very good. Water slides on Spirit, none on VOS. Bigger pool area on VOS. Two separate pool areas, + Serenity on the Spirit Serenity area on the Spirit by far way better than the Solarium on VOS. I would travel again on RCI, given the right price and itinerary etc, but will probably be back on the Spirit (or Legend after the refurb) or will try one of the other ships out of Sydney. Read Less

We chose this cruise as it was travelling to Port Vila and Mare and we had not travelled to either of these ports before, we had also been on Voyager before and enjoyed the ship. We were blown away by the level of service this time around, we both think that because it is nearing the end of the Aussie season that the staff had their routines on point. Our cabin attendant Jonathon and all the baristas in the promenade were amazing. We also found all the staff at guest services, Windjammer and the bars were amazing. We went to both Izumi and Giovanni’s Table, both were delicious, the sashimi and gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce were particular standouts. We took the 3 pack dining package for $75 pp (us) and both felt it was good value. We would have preferred more movies in the theatre, there were only about 3 this trip, the others were poolside, which we find distracting with kids running around. Loads of trivia was available, oragami classes. We found the duty free was rubbish as we could get cheaper perfume and make up in Australia. Our cabin was a slight disappointment, it was a promenade, inside cabin. Unfortunately it was an adjoining room and not completely sound proofed around adjoining door. We could here them talking, watching tv etc and they could hear us. It didn’t ruin the holiday, but won’t be getting a cabin there again. We loved Port Vila, we took a private tour with Tony Manusale (who was amazing) and visited the blue lagoon, turtle bay, waterfall and duty free shopping. We would both like to go back. We also loved snorkelling in Jenek Bay in Lifou, it is beautiful, it costs $15 pp but is worth it compared to other areas. We are both over Noumea and find it quite dirty and Mare was a beautiful looking island but not a lot to do. Overall a great cruise but we might leave the South Pacific for a little while. Read Less

We have just got of the Voyager of the Seas after a B2B going to the Pacific Isles...both itineraries were slightly changed due to heavy weather in the region...Thank You Captain Sindre Borsheim, one of the friendliest captains that I have met, we hope he keeps sailing in our waters. We did the 3 day cruise in February on the Voyager and were so impressed that we added another 7 days to our 9 day cruise in March (we have cruised around 5 times on her before) The deciding factor for us was The Cleanliness (see below) and THE MUSIC in the form of 2 good bands ie Music Venture, fantastic musicians, and good for younger legs than ours. The other was the Tony and Dana Duo who have the larges of music repertoires and can read their audiences very well and play what they want to hear/dance too. I live with a very low immune system due to cancer treatment so cleanliness where ever I go is of the upmost importance and my antennas are always scanning for any coughs, sickness, unclean areas etc. On the Voyager I was amazed at the frequency of the handrails, lift buttons and the rest of the ship was being disinfected. There was only one bar where the waiters did not have disinfection cloths for the tables when I bought it to the Hotel Directors attention it was addressed right away. For me I know I can spend a longer time on board without to much danger hence the B2B (16 days). Yes, there is some rust around but which ship doesn't? There were kids on board but when did that become a dirty word? Food was always plentiful with a good choice of dishes---BEST PAVLOVA ever All in all we had a ball and hope that Royal Caribbean keep the Tony and Dana Duo sailing in Australian Waters...Oh and Captain Sindre too Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted to experience and compare it to Celebrity cruise line. No quiet areas to escape the noise, curfew for children was midnight...arghh. Kettle in the room was good, especially as coffee was pretty rubbish even if purchased. You’ll need to request coffee sachets as they’re not provided routinely. Unfortunately it’s the cyclone season in March so it was rough, with a diversion from Lifou to isle of Pines. The pool was drained during rough weather and deck activities were cancelled on the roughest days. Ice show was a standout, dancers were excellent, but the band was way too loud and singers had to screech to be heard. We tried Giovanni’s, a specialty restaurant and were very disappointed. Take your own lanyard if you want one as they are not provided and they charge US$9-$11 to buy one on board. We didn’t get a drinks package as you can buy a bottle of wine for the dining room meal, and they will keep it until the following night for you if you haven’t drunk it all. No complimentary water so if you don’t want to be constantly forking out money for bottles, pack an empty one and fill it at the café. Embarking and debarking was seamless and so quick. Cabins were spacious and beds were comfortable. We requested adjoining cabins with our friends, with balconies that would open up between us. This was confirmed on booking but alas the baclony doors are fixed. There are no shampoo, conditioners or moisturising creams in the bathroom so pack your own unless you’re happy to use the pump action combined shampoo/conditioner in the shower which is pretty low quality. Pack your US adaptor plug. There is also an outlet beside the mirror that takes a Euro plug if you want more than one item charging at a time. There were 3000 passengers on board and we found it very crowded at times. Ports we called into were isle of Pines and Niumea. We don’t recommend purchasing tours from the ship as the locals have pretty much got it covered and you can just purchase all your sightseeing options right at the shuttle drop off point. There is really only snorkelling to do at Isle of Pines and we’d read it was pricy to hire the gear. We bought a great set of goggles and snorkel from Kmart for $10 and they worked well! The promenade area was great and had a wonderful atmosphere of an evening. We established our Amex card for the final account with them, but once on board you can change it to a global currency card which is what we used as it was loaded with US dollars. We probably wouldn’t travel with Voyager again as we found the Celebrity Solstice better in many regards. Read Less

Saw a last minute deal inside cabin and convinced my wife. 2nd time cruises. 50s couple. The Voyager is aging yet still a fine ship. Adult pool Solarium area and gym sauna and steam very good. Food and restaurants and service very good. Great value for 7 days. Had the dining package...worth it and you get 40% off wine bottles. Visited Isle of Pines...brilliant. Neumea OK took the hop on hop off bus to Anse Vata beach and hung out for lunch at Le Meridian (stayed before). The Sapphire dining room and service was great. Drinks are expensive without the drinks package yet don't drink that much outside wine with dinner...very good wine list. Enjoyed the theatre entertainment and singers and band. The ice scating show was very good.They had new movies playing in the evening which was great. All in all we had a great time and would do RCL again. Read Less

I booked this cruise because it was on special and I needed a rest. Embarkation and disembarkation were swift and problem free. There were a lot of children on board left to run wild, unsupervised. Normally we love trivia, however with such a large ship all venues were too small for the amount of people wishing to participate. After the first 2 days I gave up. I asked for extra chairs in High notes and was told that was all they had out. The La Scala theatre was huge and comfortable. We also enjoyed attending the ice skating show at our alotted time in studio B. My husband had a soda package. The drinks were always warm never cold and filled with so much ice that they were flat. They had large bottles of soft drink left on top of the bar just sitting there not in ice, even around the pool area where they were directly in the sun. My husband ordered a can and it was still warm. Although this was brought to their attention, nothing was done about it while we were there. They did offer him cans sent to our room and a refund of the price of the can. He declined as he did not want them to think he was after something free and that his complaint was legitimate. The food was excellent quality, plentiful with of a lot of variety. The ship was always clean. The house keeping, dining staff and galley crew were top notch. We were to stop at Liffou and Noumea however conditions were not favourable for Liffou being a tender port so we stopped instead at Isle of Pines. No problems with us it was lovely. We had a game of mini golf. I went to play the last bingo for the cruise but there was no jackpot it was just a normal game. The Captain seemed a nice man, approachable with a sense of humour. I would probably go again if the price was right but otherwise choose another line with smaller ships that can cope with the amount of passengers they have on board. Read Less

I have just returned from a 9 night Sth Pacific Cruise on Voyager. Balcony Stateroom, Deck 7 The staff once again are so wonderful and I really appreciate the hard work they do and the sacrifices they make to provide the wonderful service they do. Always friendly and so helpful. The Voyager of the seas has a lot to offer. This is my third time on Voyager. She is starting to get a little tired in some areas and is due for a refurbishment later this year. She will look wonderful once completed. Dining experience was once again lovely. Having such a variety of meals to choose from and the service is exceptional. shows and entertainment were varied and entertaining. My most favourite show this time was BLADES in Studio B/. The Ice dancers looked like they were having a great time and the show was a lot of fun. Thank you . Read Less

We chose this cruise as we had been to the pacific islands on Celebrity Solstice twice and wanted some new experiences - a new cruise lin, different itinerary and different ship, hence friends recommended RCL and some friends from a prior cruise were travelling on this cruise - we are a married couple late 50s and also travelled with a friend from work, a single lady in her early 60s. Positives first: Staff were excellent,, efficient and helpful everywhere on the ship - they work so hard to make the cruise wonderful. Entertainment and enrichment activities were also terrific generally, although sometimes wrong venues were used and numbers could not be accommodated, so we missed out, but overall there was plenty for everyone to partake in. The shows were terrific, especially Aussie Boys, Beatles show and Ricochet, fantastic!!!! The band does often drown out the singers though, which is a pity. Seating in the theatre was comfortable. Carlos the Cruise Director was fun and entertaining with a gorgeous singing voice! Food was terrific in all areas, plentiful ,fresh and delicious - we enjoyed it all, such terrific variety! VOOM internet was great and worked really well. Embarkation was pretty efficient given the number of passengers and we were on the ship within 30 mins. Rooms were all ready by 1pm which is amazing given the previous passengers had left the ship only 4hours earlier! Disembarkation was even quicker (we self disembarked) :) It seemed all to be really well organised. Okay ...so the negatives: Unfortunately, the Voyager has seen better days. She is old and it shows - it is like they have given up on her and she really needs to be dry docked for a full refurb. Flooring and furnishings look faded and jaded.The public rest rooms in particular were an issue - they would often smell and the door buttons or flush were old and often not working. As the cruise went on, more and more of them had out of order notices (applies to male and female toilets). Cleanliness in public areas was disappointing - the lift buttons were filthy and appeared not to be cleaned across the ship during the whole cruise. People took to using tissues to push the buttons! In comparison with Celebrity, we rarely saw anyone cleaning handrails, bathrooms, lift buttons or cleaning generally across public areas (they did in the eateries however) and when returning to the ship after Noumea, there was no sanitizing hand wash offered at all which really surprised me, although it was offered on other off ship days. Ahh, the children ....we had chosen this cruise out of school holidays on purpose, so we were amazed with the amount of school aged children on the ship. Unfortunately, there was a component whose parents left them to their own devices and the result was young children constantly running along the strolling areas, running up and down the stairs, pressing all the lift buttons, leaving food plates/cups in lifts and on stairs, prank calling (we had a call at 5am !!!) and running past knocking on doors. The crew and security staff ignored this behaviour completely. The other issue is that the curfew for children is midnight !!! Therefore in bars at any hour of the day and night there were young children being disruptive, ridiculous! I am not sure what the answer is here, whether they limit numbers, insist on them attending Kids Club, give staff more power to reprimand or bring this behaviour to parents attention and offer consequences, but to a degree it did impact on our (and others) enjoyment. Many others commented and were unhappy too. The Cabin: We had a deluxe balcony which was lovely and in a great spot on Deck 12, close to stairs and lifts. We never really met our stateroom attendant however other than him waving to us and we back to him and smiling and greeting him with a hello, the few times we saw him. On day 2 when he had not called in (usual practice over our other 4 cruises) and our room was not made up by almost 3pm, I called and asked should we have placed a card in the slot (thinking it was our issue) He said he had been at training and would be there later to make up the room - not an issue for us at all and I told him that, however a note to advise us would have been helpful. Our room was kept clean and fresh however and we loved having the kettle in the room. A blocked shower on day 3 was fixed very quickly which we appreciated. Minor things : our shampoo container remained empty the whole cruise (luckily I had my own) and we had to search for milk and soap replacements when they ran out completely. We had a drinks package and this was great - it made our days lovely and easy - we enjoyed experiencing different cocktails, wines with dinner, unlimited bottled water and lovely coffees at the specialty coffee shop. Excursions: We did the RCL Galley tour which seemed a bit disorganised. The tour was interesting but quite brief and we had trouble hearing our lovely host (she needed a microphone) as the kitchen of course was noisy and very hot, with a very slippery floor. We had been asked to wear closed shoes, but some wore thongs and nobody seemed to care. We also did not meet the Chef as promised, and were redirected haphazardly in circles by other groups touring at the same time and afterward we found out we had missed a section of the tour! Would not bother again, although we learned a little and the brunch afterward was lovely. Noumea - we did the hop on hop off bus which was fun. We'd been to Noumea 3 times prior and had seen Aquarium (highly recommended) and had done a few other sightseeing tours, so we were happy just to visit markets and stop at Lemon Beach. The transfer from ship to bus exchange was great and worked well. Vanuatu - we did the ship's excursion on the Reef Explorer (glass bottom boat) which was excellent. Well organised and really fun little tour. We were excited to visit the extensive markets at the dock - unfortunately, it was very hot and the merchandise very junky, all the same stuff, stall after stall, so we just bought a magnet. In summary, we did enjoy the cruise, as did our friend (her first cruise) but we would not recommend the Voyager until a refurbishment is completed. We would however try RCL again to give them another go, on a different ship. Read Less

We sailed from Sydney on the Explorer two years ago circumnavigating New Zealand. That was such a fabulous cruise we came back to see some of the Pacific islands. Firstly, I want to state that the Captain was fabulous. He made sure to thank his crew every day, which I had never heard another captain do so frequently, The room attendant, Engel, was also the best I've experienced on any RC ship; as were the dinning room attendances at table 599. As for guest entertainers, and skaters on board, all were really great. The production entertainers on the other hand, not so much. People actually were walking out of their first show, us included. Since we did not go to the second show, I have no idea if it was as bad. My only issue with any of the crew is the fact that HOTEL MANAGEMENT does not provide CREAM for COFFEE!!!!! All servers I asked stated that it was NOT AVAILABLE on board, despite the fact that when I paid $3.00 at the speciality coffee café I was able to secure REAL CREAM for my coffee. To add insult to injury, on disembarkation day, while waiting our turn, there were 2 litres of cream sitting beside the coffee pot. I have pictures to prove it!!! Our waitress told us the lack of cream for coffee in the restaurants was an issue with a great many of the passengers she served. I tried to address this issue on board, and ended up having a hotel staff member show up at our cabin with a cup of whipping cream. The food in the main dinning rooms and at the Windjammer, was ordinary but edible. The café on deck 5, which is the only place to get any food outside of dinning room hours, was constantly running out of it. On several mornings they were even out of coffee at 7 a.m. Now on to the ship, which is in very sad condition: On embarkation day, by 1 p.m. there was an announcement that there was NO WORKING PLUMBING above deck 5. The issue was not resolved for several hours. There was no further announcements, so sometime around 4:30 p.m. we finally asked and were told the plumbing was now working on all decks. On another day, just was everyone was heading to the gangway to head out on tours, the ship suffered a complete power failure. This only lasted a few minutes, but the elevators took up to 15 minutes to reset themselves. Speaking of elevators, almost all of them had burned out floor light indicators. Some decks had burned out up\down light or call buttons, and some elevators would stop moving for several minutes at a time. Our cabin, on deck 12, although very clean and well cared for by Engel, had a consistent issue with the toilet not flushing. We saw the plumber almost every other day. The public toilets also had issues, some of which were not fixed for the entire 14 day cruise. In one washroom outside of the theatre on deck 4, the accessible cubicle has a very heavy pocket door closure which had the handle missing on the inside. Anyone using this toilet had to leave the door slightly ajar or you were stuck inside!!! The outside of the ship itself could use a coat of paint as the rust was really noticeable. Some is to be expected, but in my experience, this was a little much. As for shore excursions, I would not recommend the Ciffs of Jokin on Lifou, Loyalty Island. The description of this tour on the web site involves a lot of creative writing. Sight seeing in Nadi, Fiji was fine but also not totally accurate. "Shopping" in the town was for 30 minutes at a store of the guide's choosing, as opposed to allowing sufficient time to see the main street shops. We paid to go to two beautiful resorts which were both worth the expense; Pearl South Pacific outside of Suva, Fiji and Le Meridien Resort, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. This resort was a last minutes substitute for Mystery Island, which is still a mystery to us. There was a cyclone heading towards Mystery so the captain made a course change. As for Villa, Vanuatu, we really wanted to take the "Tranquility Island & Turtle Sanctuary" tour, which, according to Royal Caribbean's web site, could only be booked on board. On day 2, we were the first people at the excursion desk. We were told this tour was full, and had been for months. When we asked how that could be since it was only available on board, the clerk didn't know but stated the tour only accommodated 25 people!!!! I then wanted to know who could they even offer a tour with that limited numbers when there were 3100+ people on board???? Again, no answer, and she didn't really care. Noumea, New Caledonia would have been great, if it wasn't raining all day. They cyclone was catching up to us. As for children on board, we rarely saw them. All were very well behaved. I'm a Diamond level member of Royal Caribbean's Crowne & Anchor club, so I will sail RC again. Read Less