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Freedom of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

Rhapsody of the Seas

Wellington

Voyager of the Seas 1/6/2007 
This review is from the standpoint of a first-time cruiser. Like as not it will sound somewhat basic to experienced cruisers, but that is certainly ok. 
I'll stick to a day by day format for the most part. I'll also hit specific highs and lows at the end of the review. 
Day 1 Embarkation: From reading previous postings here on CruiseCritic, my wife and I had learned that arriving early at the pier was good. This rule proved to still be true. We arrived at the pier a bit before 11 am and were directed by a porter outside to find a place to have a seat and relax. He estimated that it would be at least an hour and a half until anyone would be allowed to board the ship. 
As we were still dressed for a somewhat cooler climate than Miami, we went on in to the pier building itself and had no trouble locating the waiting room where security was preparing to begin processing people for boarding. A note for people taking laptops, you will have to remove the laptop from its case for security. Try to set your gear up in a way that this can be done quickly and your fellow passengers will thank you for it. 
After about 20 minutes of waiting (During which time we found several people from our roll-call thread), security started working us through the checkpoints in the room and sending us on to check in with RCI. RCI's people were quick and efficient at this point and we had our SeaPass cards in hand very quickly. 
Here a snag did take place. We lined up in queues to wait for the pictures to be taken for the SeaPass cards and were there for the better part of an hour and a half doing absolutely nothing. This was not RCI's fault but was a customs issue with the previous sailing. The people disembarking from Voyager had to stand in the gangway for a very long time. (Tip for the ladies: Don't wear mini-skirts when disembarking at Miami. Everybody in the embarkation area can see you from below and you'll be on public display if you move wrong.) 
Shortly after 1pm the customs issue was cleared and we were able to board. Our cabins were already prepared so we were able to drop off our carry-ons in short order and head for the Windjammer for lunch. Throughout the cruise the Windjammer's selection remained very much the same. The Island Grill section in the back would duplicate the dinner served in the formal dining areas each night. This could be good if you didn't want to go to formal night, but frustrating if the menu wasn't your speed. The food quality in both places remained very good during the week. 
Most of the remainder of Day 1 was spent exploring the ship and watching Miami disappear in the distance. See ya later, we're outta here! We also met our dinner tablemates for the first time. With a bit of luck we'll manage to keep up with them some in the future as dinner was always very entertaining. We were the only Americans at the table. Our other dinner companions were from Sweden and Brazil. Language barriers were minimal as everybody spoke English. When language problems did arise, they became a time to learn something and enjoy it. 
Day 2 Nassau: We had a tour scheduled here (we thought) to go to the Dolphin Encounter. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the ferry dock on Paradise Island, they didn't know anything about it. This was extremely frustrating, but we eventually took heed of the old saw about lemons and lemonade and set off on our own walking tour of Paradise Island. 
This turned out to be a good experience. We walked from the ferry pier through a marketplace (Mostly closed at 8 am) and into the Atlantis Resort. You can't go on the beaches in certain parts of the resort unless you are a guest there. However, you could go into the restaurants, look through the shopping areas, and of course snoop through the casino. The waters around the resort were exceptionally clear and you could easily spot fish in the water from several feet above the surface. The hotel also contains an enormous fish tank around one of its restaurant areas. There were many different species in the tank, including a good sized manta ray. 
After exploring the resort we headed back to the ferry pier and took a locally run ferry back to the cruise ship dock. This was a small adventure in itself. Locally these boats are referred to as water-taxis, but the result is the same. The boats look a bit rough and rock rather alarmingly while at the pier, but once underway the ride was reasonably smooth. Along the way, a local man gave a bit of background on the areas we were passing. He had to do it at a fair volume since the boat was rather noisy, but was fairly entertaining. He did politely request a "showing of appreciation" at the end of the trip. We gave him a couple of dollars apiece and he seemed content with that. Tickets for these water-taxis run $3 each way from the cruise ship dock to the Paradise Island dock. Taking a regular taxi over the bridge will run you $4 per person and you might wind up paying the bridge toll (1$ per vehicle) if you are in a small group. 
Back at the cruise ship dock, we did a bit of shopping. T-Shirts were the scoop of the day as we found a few good ones at 3 for $10. Keep your eyes open on these though, sometimes you'll come across shirts that may have a small stain from shipping. Watch out for the guys pushing the "Free souvenirs". These guys will try to attach a necklace of beads or a bracelet to you, then want a fat tip. A firm "No thank you" will normally keep them at bay. One of our cruising friends said that some character tried to sell them drugs as soon as they got off the ship. We didn't see that, but like any city, there are lowlifes lurking. Just look like you know where you are going and don't stand around looking lost and you'll be fine. 
Day 3 At Sea: Cruising at 20 knots in 6-8 foot seas can be interesting. Even a stabilized ship like Voyager can rock and roll in these conditions. I played it safe and took some anti-nausea meds before anything felt unsettled. As a result, the day was good and I spent a good while on deck four watching the spray crash alongside the ship. My wife and I were fairly lazy this day. There was a lot to do onboard, but we were being deck bums and enjoying it. 
Day 4 St Thomas, USVI: Another tour scheduled here, this one was much more successful than the previous one. We scheduled this tour outside of RCI with Virgin Islands Snuba Excursions (http://www.visnuba.com/) and as it turned out we were the only people that had scheduled that morning. Our guide was Tammy and she walked us through the whole thing with patience (Hey I was totally clueless.) and great skill. We had a great time. I strongly recommend this tour booked outside of your cruise line. You also get tickets to Coral World, which is a small but excellent park. In addition to the Coral World snuba location, they also provide snuba tours on St John. Visit their website for details. 
One other fun note about Coral World. They have a stingray tank there that's open topped and only about 3 feet deep. The rays there are all minus the stinging barb and very very used to people. Hang around for feeding time when the Coral World people bring out a bucket full of small fish and let everyone present feed the rays. You will get splashed, but it's very entertaining. 
Taxi from the pier to Coki Beach/Coral World will run about $9 per person. You'll get a good overview of St Thomas along the way. Some of it good, some of it not so good, some of it familiar (Hey I just saw a KMart!). 
Day 5 San Juan, Puerto Rico: There are a number of things you can do here at San Juan, we chose to go exploring on our own again. A co-worker of mine had remarked to me before our trip that San Juan could be quite hot even in January and he wasn't kidding. The start of the day was hot and muggy, but it cooled off a bit in midafternoon. We walked through the shopping district around 9 am island time as the shops began to open. Some of the shops were very good, but one that we walked into smelled so strongly of mildew I had to leave in a hurry. T-Shirts were again the souvenir of choice and we found a good shop doing the 3-for-$10 sale. We also stopped in at the Del-Sol store and bought a couple of shirts there. Not so inexpensive there, but the color changing dyes in the shirts are very cool. 
We walked back to the ship, detouring to look over the fort along the way. Once back at the pier I stopped at the duty free shop and picked up a bottle of Bacardi Reserve for $11. It'll take me 10 years to use that up as I am a very light drinker. The Reserve is not available in the US. 
Day 6 Labadee, Haiti: RCI's little private spot on the north shores of Haiti. I'll say this, RCI has done a good job of creating a nice island spot that is very relaxing to explore. However, do not take this place as an example of Haiti as a whole. Haiti has a lot of problems that haven't been dealt with by its government at all. This is pretty sad really as the island is probably one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean from what I could see of it, but it's just not safe for tourists except where RCI owns its little peninsula. 
Due to previous warnings on CC, we stayed out of the Haitian market. Later we discovered from some friends who did go there that it was just as bad as every other reviewer has said. 
RCI served lunch on the island. It was a fairly generic burger and BBQ ribs lunch. The burgers were good and my wife tells me the ribs were good too. I've a feeling that the food was brought over from Voyager as the burgers were identical to the ones served in the Island Grill on the ship. 
We spent a good bit of time in the water around Labadee. The swimming areas are well marked and have breakers to keep the larger waves from dragging you under. A number of people were snorkeling in and around these areas and appeared to be enjoying themselves. 
Day 7 At Sea: Our last day aboard Voyager was reasonably quiet. Most of the day the seas were between 3-6 feet, but that night they kicked up nearly to 12 feet. By good fortune, I slept through most of the heavy seas and didn't have any real trouble. 
We took the express departure in Miami. We got into the line for customs at 6:30am and were in our hotel in Coral Gables at 7:30am. If you can carry your own bags, take the express departure and scram! 
The Good: The service onboard ship was excellent. Keith, our stateroom attendant, was an expert at invisible service. We only interrupted him once while he was taking care of our cabin. Juan, our waiter at dinner, had a good sense of humor and never failed to deliver prompt service with a smile. Zsolt, the assistant waiter, had everybody's drink preferences memorized after day one and was just a quick with a smile and a cheerful comment as Juan. 
We had an aft balcony cabin on Deck 6. It was clean and very comfortable. The ship's motion there was not a factor any more than it was anywhere on the ship. Likely, we'll try to get aft cabins on our future cruises simply because the view is so good if nothing else. Many people have asked "What is the green area just outside the Deck 6 balconies?" The answer is that it's effectively a roof and nothing else. The crew lounge is on deck four and you will sometimes hear announcements for them but that is merely interesting and not an interruption to your cabin. 
The Bad: Nothing onboard Voyager really rates a bad comment from my experience. They do try to sell you lots of things and get you to spend money, but every vacation spot on earth does that so it's just a fact. The duplication of the menu for main dining in the Windjammer is a bit annoying. Yet even that is understandable when you have to feed 3600+ people for a week on limited storage. I like hamburgers and they always had those so I can't complain too much. 
One real stinker, the "Cruise in Review" DVD is not just bad, it's downright awful. They take some canned footage and work in what they've filmed during the week. Unless you're on your honeymoon (which we were) or you got in it somehow (which we also were; cowboy hats must be rare on cruise ships) skip it. I've seen kids that could do better editing. 
The "Hmmm.." Voyager is showing some effects of being at sea for nearly eight years now. There's a bit of wear here and there that needs touching up and I wouldn't be terribly surprised if she goes into a refurbish in the next year or so for new carpet in the cabin hallways. To its credit, RCI had crews doing maintenance during the cruise that were normally out of the way of most activities. You'd find a "wet paint" or "wet varnish" sign here and there in very plain sight or you'd smell a bit of fresh paint. They did block off a section of the pool deck a couple of times, but even that really wasn't in the way. 
RCI delivered quite well on this cruise. Enough so that my wife and I have already booked our next cruise with RCI to the Western Caribbean next October on Enchantment. 


Voyager of the Seas - Eastern Mediterranean

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