It was with a lot of trepidation that we booked this cruise on Voyager of the Seas. Our last cruise with Royal Caribbean was on Vision of the Seas in Northern Europe and the British Isles last summer. It was a much less than happy experience, and I wasn't sure what I was letting myself in for when we booked this cruise. However, there was a group of poker players on board and my husband wanted to join them, so we gave Voyager a try. We're really glad we did; she's a great ship and we had a great time on her.

We flew to New Orleans a day and a half early to see a little bit of the city. We took a cab to the Drury Inn and Suites after seeing it suggested on the Homeports board. It's great that the cab fare is a set amount ($33 for one two people, $14 for each additional person) from the airport to any part of downtown New Orleans or to the port. The Drury Inn is comfortable, if not grand or regal, and the location was perfect to explore the French Quarter and waterfront areas on foot. They serve a buffet breakfast and a "5:30 Kickback" snack and drinks buffet as part of the hotel rate. Both were fun, though not gourmet, and we knew we'd be eating tons on the ship so weren't overly critical. We walked to the French Quarter both nights we were there, and to the Riverwalk area during the day. We also took a streetcar out to see the Garden District, and felt we were able to at least scratch the surface of what the city has to offer in our limited time.

On embarkation day we took a cab from the hotel to the pier($7 per person) at about 10:30. Checkin was fast and easy, and since we are Emerald we only waited a few minutes before the priority boarding began. We were on the ship before 11:30, and headed up to the Windjammer, which was still uncrowded. We had read that the buffet setup on Voyager was different from the new ships in her class, with the traditional long serving counters rather than the stations. I found that this worked better than the newer setup on Mariner, and we absolutely loved the Island Grill at the rear of Windjammer. We never found long lines or felt crowded in the Windjammer, even with 3,000 plus passengers. And the food was some of the best we've had on a ship's buffet. There were a lot of familiar items, both in Windjammer and the MDR, but they tasted better somehow. As an exemple, we had a hot spinach dip appetizer in the past that was so salty I couldn't eat it. On Voyager it was perfectly seasoned. I found that was the case in the Windjammer too. Foods that were too highly spiced or too salty on other ships were just right. We ate dinners in the MDR all but one night, and the food was good. Not gourmet, you understand, but I never had trouble finding something that I wanted to try. Sadly, that hasn't been the case in the past. I don't think that beef dishes are Royal's strength, but everything else was pretty good to excellent. One exception was that fish dishes tended to be overly dry at times, but on lobster night (and yes, there was a lobster night) there was a real lobster tail, of good size, and deliciously moist, not overcooked. Our table waiter, Antonio, was absolutely the most professional waiter we have had in several years, and still friendly and fun to talk to. His assistant, Craig, was attentive in keeping us supplied with bread and water glass filled. We had dinner in Portofino one evening to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The meal was delicious and the service matched it. My husband had the filet steak, and I had lamb chops, and we enjoyed both. Read more