Review of Cruise aboard MS Seven Seas Voyager November 2003

My wife and I have previously cruised with Holland America (Maasdam & Veendam), Celebrity ( Mercury) and Cunard (QE2). In March of 2003 we were invited on a pre-inaugural cruise on the brand new Radisson Seven Seas Voyager. We were so impressed that we booked for a one week Western Caribbean cruise in November 2003. We flew to Florida with Virgin, using their premium economy service, 5 days before our cruise and spent a blissful few days at the Hilton Beach resort on Marco Island.

EMBARKATION On Sunday the 23rd we drove from Naples to Fort Lauderdale arriving at check-in to find long queues. The link between the laptop check-in computers and the ship was faulty and the signal repeatedly failed, preventing staff from checking passengers in. Although there appeared to be large numbers of RSSC people behind the check-in desks staring at the computers, nobody actually appeared to be able to resolve the problem. Arriving passengers, including ourselves, soon became annoyed at the lack of information, lack of seating, and most of all the lack of anybody willing to explain what was happening! There seemed to be no manual back-up in place in case of just such a crisis. Not what you expect from a 6 star ship! After about an hour of waiting, the link was re-established and we were checked in. Read more