rci-voyager5

Note - this page contains multiple reviews.

Name: Scott & Betsy Vetter
Email: vetter@worldnet.att.net
Age: >35
Occupation: Project Manager
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Voyager
SailingDate: March 05 2000
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Cabin: 8601-TR
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets: 100
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 100
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland: 100
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 100
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff: 80
EntertainmentLounges: 100
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 100
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 100
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 100
Casino: 100
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs: 100
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 100
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 28 Mar 2000
Time: 12:45:39
Remote Name: s01.austin.ibm.com
Remote User:

Comments

We set sail on the 16th Voyager of the Seas cruise. The ship was well detailed and finished. It appeared
that no corners were cut in the design. You start to notice the custom loomed carpets in the library, the
ceiling detailing, the computer controlled lighting, and changing art exhibits only after days. Most people
will never see that the floor mats in each of the elevators reflect the day of the week. I respect the
freedom the architects were given when designing the promanade. From the paneling in the pub, the
hand painted designs on the fire doors, the hull shape of the overlooks, or the complex machine at
Spinners. But the boat isn't the only thing to see. Ken Rush, the cruise director, was outstanding. A
professional, and approachable person that kept you interested in the activities and developed a strong
following from other guests. There were 28-30 items on the dinner menu each night. Our wait staff made
us feel comfortable and well served. The ship is very stable. At one point it left port while we were eating
dinner and if it wasn't for the announcement from the captain, we wouldn't have noticed. I gave the rock
wall a try and made it to the top (my wife pulled me up). 8th deck, stern is the best cabin location. Close
to things you need a change of clothes for. I was amazed how they could move 3500 people on and off
the ship with no delay. A fantastic total experience (ports, ship, food, activities, and entertainment)

Name: David Bedrosian
Email: Excchc@aol.com
Age: 30 somthing
Occupation: self employed contractor
NumberOfCruises: 9
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Voyager
SailingDate: 12/05/99
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Cabin: 9252/D9
FoodDiningRoom: 87
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 94
FoodRoomService: 30
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 75
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 98
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 91
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 88
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 74
PrivateIsland: 88
GoodForFamilies: 92
LoungeService: 99
TenderService: 94
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 87
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall:
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 89
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 92
DeckSpace: 85
Stabilization: 99
ShopsOnBoard: 96
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 99
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 05 Apr 2000
Time: 19:18:49
Remote Name: spider-tl062.proxy.aol.com
Remote User:

Comments

This vessel is by far the most beautiful and best designed ship I have sailed on. Pictures and video clips
that I have seen cannot show the views I experienced. I can also say that I have not yet found the words
to describe this floating city. May I also add that I never felt overwhelmed by the size of the ship. It's
layout was very easy to navigate and I was able to master my way around within the first day. Of course
a new ship is not without some areas that the crew and staff are still trying to perfect. More about that
later, as this is to be expected for a third sailing of a new ship.

EMBARKATION: RCI still needs to master this procedure. I talked to many passengers that waited up to
three hours to board the ship. The VIP desk for Crown and Anchor diamond members however reduced
this time to fifteen minutes.

CABINS: Well what does one expect? Yes, they are small. We had Cat. D9 superior ocean view with
private balcony. Yes, the balcony was indeed private. Though the cabin was just slightly larger than a
standard inside cabin, we had no trouble making it work. Just enough room for everything.

ROYAL PROMENADE: Measuring 1and1/2 football fields long this was the focal point of the ship. From
snacks to shopping, scheduled entertainment, sports bar and upper casino. I have only one word for
this area. Intoxicating, no not in the literal sense, I'll save the other for the Vault.

DINNING ROOMS: Three level dinning room, the Carmen/La Boheme/Magic Flute. Decorated beautifully
with walnut finished furniture and woodwork. We experience excellent service here. I suppose this was
why I decided not to switch to the 2nd seating I originally requested. Our waiter also was quick to point
out the best choice for the evening as well as the dishes that have been experiencing difficulties. The
entrees for the most part were very good, but soups were cold and the dinner did take up to much time
for my attention span. I must also say that I don't care for the open breakfast and lunch seating. I would
have preferred to be at my table with our waiter. This service was the only one provided at sea as well,
as while in port.

OTHER DINNING: Windjammer and Island Grill. Excellent design, it was very easy to fill ones plate and
find a comfortable place to sit. My first visit here was the last. I went for breakfast and found that the
food was, "not edible" would be putting it nicely. This was also later confirmed by other passengers.
Johnny Rockets. Long lines kept me from this restaurant. It is my understanding that they will begin
charging for food here come the first of the year due to its popularity. Room service. Or lack thereof.
They have a real problem here. It is being delivered to the wrong cabins. 24 hr. pizzeria? great pie but
why do they close at 4 am.

MAIN THEATER: The La Scala. Very good production shows and special guest appearances. I was more
impressed with the theaters on the Sovereign Class Ships.

CASINO: For those that like slots, this casino is jam packed with them. Gaming tables include caribbean
poker, roulette, craps and blackjack. Lady luck didn't shine down on me here. However, a little casual
play was in the budget. One other note, the ten dollar minimum at the blackjack tables is no cheap date.
If you search hard you can find a fun dealer with a smile but many have left their personalities at the
door.

STUDIO B, CENTER ICE: Located on deck 3, this area doubles as an ice skating rink and RCTV
television studio. When not being used for some of the video productions still being taped for the cruise
lines advertisements it hosts some spectacular professional ice shows. It also was used for some of the
new passenger game shows that the cruise staff have come up with. The new games were both unique
and exciting. This does appear a lot larger on television than in person. I estimate the skating area to be
about 40'x60'. I still cant believe the excellent skating considering the size.

THE VAULT: This disco does deserve special recognition. This is only because it is thoroughly
soundproofed. The entrance to this area is gained through a pair of doors with a neutral zone
in-between. This is so that when the disco door opens, it closes before one enters the disco through the
second door. Considering its close proximity to the Schooner Bar, it never did intrude on anyone else's
enjoyment. I have to also mention that to open the doors, you placed the palm of your hand on a switch
that resembled something from Star Trek. A little corny but fun.

OTHER LOUNGES: There are also many other public lounges to meet everyone's needs. From the
piano bar to the jazz bar and from some more intimate lounges as well as those designed for people
watching. I chose the later and met a lot of new friends that made the cruise that much more enjoyable. I
met people from all around the world and well, just had fun!

POOL DECK: This would be the only area of the ship that seemed small. It was cluttered with the stage
for the band that played pool side and when walking around one also got stuck in a bottle neck. The
Solarium pool seemed like the place for the older crowd. It looked comfortable but wasn't this cruisers
style. Also no dome on it for rainy days.

CRUISE STAFF: They have been very busy fine tuning everything. This being a 3 sea day cruise I felt
that they did not provide enough activities, however they did try. I did have a drink one evening with our
cruise director Jeff Martin. He did agree that their are many areas that need improvement and that his
staff as well as all other departments are working hard to make the changes that are needed. I was also
impressed that during the ice show the final night Jeff remembered me and addressed me by name. How
they can do that with 3500 people on board I'll never know. Jeff's assistant Ricardo is full of excitement
and one can tell he sincerely loves what he does. I wouldn't be surprised if he is promoted to cruise
director in the near future.

BAR SERVERS: These are the guys and girls that seldom get the recognition they deserve. Well,
people, they make the cruise an enjoyable experience. Over nine servers remembered me from cruises
dating back well over 5 yrs. At many of the bars I could not buy a drink all week. I will not mention them
as not to get anyone in jeopardy with their job but drinks were plentiful and free.

OTHER ACTIVITIES They included shore excursions, miniature golf, inline skating as well as a golf
simulator. I did not use any of these but I am sure they were enjoyed by those who did.

IN SHORT: I enjoyed everything about this cruise. One does need to remember that the cruise lines are
now offering so many things to do that one must understand that you can no longer do everything. You
have to choose if you would rather be a part of the pool games or see the ice show. With this attitude
you can rest assured you'll have fun.

Dave

Name: Theresa Uicker
Email: tuicker@inwave.com
Age: 37
Occupation: Information Technology Consultant
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Voyager
SailingDate: 01/23/00
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Cabin: 3608/H
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 69
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 70
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 78
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 97
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 88
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService: 77
ShoreExcValue: 79
GoodForHoneymoon: 75
CasinoStaff: 69
PrivateIsland: 90
GoodForFamilies: 75
LoungeService: 75
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 69
BeautySalonStaff: 75
EntertainmentLounges: 88
WheelchairAccess: 75
ExerciseFacilities: 92
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 88
EntertainmentPoolside: 75
CruiseActivities: 79
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 85
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 75
DeckSpace: 92
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 82
SpaceRatio: 69
OverallCruiseValue: 83
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 07 Apr 2000
Time: 22:27:44
Remote Name: usrpri-4-173.inwave.com
Remote User:

Comments

SUMMARY This is a very long review with a lot of detail, so here is a shorter summary for those who
don’t want to read the whole thing.

Check-in and check-out were fast and easy. That was the best thing about the whole vacation. No muss,
no fuss. The cabins were great. I wouldn’t change a thing, but I might add a couple of amenities.

The ship was large, beautiful, and elegantly decorated. The art collection is worth a look. There were
some new features like a peek-a-boo bridge. Unfortunately, the size of the ship seemed to contribute to
the inconsistencies in running it. We found doors that were intermittently locked, and lots of dead-ends.
The attempt to design it to feel small, when it was actually large, resulted in a lot of wasted space and
bottlenecks. ‘You can’t get there from here’ is a common finding on Voyager.

The dining room food was good, but not up to the level of elegance one would expect for the price of
this cruise. The service was variable. We were lucky and got good waiters, but lots of mistakes were
made. Singing waiters are back. The serenaders were new to us, but well appreciated. The rest of the
food on the ship was okay, but lacked variety and presentation. Leftover desserts and meats from the
prior night’s dining room menu were prominently identifiable. The Café Promenade food was good, but
the service lacked style.

While there was plenty of food on the ship, I hated the way you only had one choice for food most of the
time. During dinner, the Windjammer was closed. In the early mornings, you couldn’t get soda because
the bars, even the ones by the dining areas, weren’t open until 9:00am. Depending on the time of day
you went to the Café Promenade, you might or might not be able to get sandwiches or pizza. One thing
people do on cruises is eat. I think the guests should be allowed to set their own eating schedules,
instead of being forced to eat on the ship’s schedule in order to get real food.

There were lots of activities and entertainment on the ship. While many reviewers have talked about how
nicely everything was scheduled, so you didn’t miss anything, I did not find that to be the case. Some
activities were scheduled concurrently with others, while most were scheduled back to back. The activity
schedule just wouldn’t stay on track, so you found yourself running from event to event, always late.
Yes, you could usually get to the evening shows 15 minutes early, but if you really wanted decent
seating, you had to be there 30-45 minutes early. I enjoyed all the activities and entertainment, but I
think there’s lots of room for improvement. My experience indicated RCCL just hasn’t learned how to
smoothly entertain and manage activities on a ship with over 3500 passengers. That’s twice the size of
what they’re used to, and I think they’re finding it’s more than just increasing the size of everything.

The worst aspects of the cruise were our fellow passengers and the crew. The problem with the
passengers boiled down to the number of unsupervised children swarming the ship. If RCCL doesn’t do
something about this problem, we will not be back. The crew was a mixed bag. We liked our service staff
for the most part, but some of them were truly awful at their jobs. Some others just don’t belong in the
service industry, since they obviously have no concept of the meaning of ‘service.’ Since service attitude
starts with management, I’d suggest a different management team for this ship. The current team is not
getting the job done.

There is very little service on Voyager. It’s evident from the behavior and attitude of the crew that we are
not welcome there. We are simply a source of income, and tolerated because of it. They expect to get
their income if they put in the time, regardless of the quality of their work.

The last thing I’ll say is that this cruise does not provide value for your cruise dollar. If you think a cruise
is an all-inclusive vacation (except for personal services and purchases), you are on the wrong ship.
Your all-inclusive Voyager cruise dollar pays for a narrow choice of okay food some of the time, plus a
sprinkling of activities you may or may not be able to take part in due to lack of space or poor timing.
Absolutely EVERYTHING else is extra—even things you’re used to getting for free on other ships. It was
a wonderful experience overall, but I don’t believe we’ll sail this line again.

CHECK-IN/OUT I was prepared for a much longer process, as on our first cruise. It was a little difficult to
tell where to go, as the various lines aren’t labeled all that well, however, once we got in the right line, it
was very smooth and relatively quick. I was equally impressed, perhaps more so, with check-out. On our
first cruise, we had to catch an 11:00am train, and it was a close call, even though we got off early by
comparison to other passengers. On this cruise, we were asked on Thursday what time our outgoing
flights were. We were automatically given an early departure time, and told to be ready to debark
between 7:00 and 7:30am. We were off the ship by 7:20, and at the airport before 8:00am, for an 11:05
flight. The airline check-in agent even asked us what we were doing there so early!

Another aspect that was much simpler than our first cruise was luggage pickup. Instead of finding
ourselves in a terminal with a pile of 6000 suitcases, supposedly arranged by color, we went to a regular
baggage claim conveyor, designated by our departure group. Even though our party included four blind
persons and one elderly lady, we had no trouble securing all our bags quickly.

One thing that disappointed me about the check-in process on a ship that is highly touted for the quality
of its service, was that the crew member who greeted embarking guests did not seem to know the ship
very well. We were initially directed to the wrong elevator to go down one floor, when we could have
walked down a set of stairs that was right next to the greeter, and landed practically in front of the
correct corridor. As it was, there was no greeter on our deck, and it took us nearly 20 minutes to find our
cabins, which were in a dead-end hallway behind Studio B’s technical center.

THE SHIP The ship was gorgeous all by itself. Everyone says that, but it can’t be stressed enough.
RCCL advertised its $12 million art collection, but I wasn’t prepared. I especially enjoyed the variety of
artworks to be found throughout the ship, particularly the sculptures, which were done in an equally
impressive array of materials. Almost every blank wall or alcove contains a sculpture, a collage (2D or
3D), photography, or painting.

The ship’s designers paid particular attention to the visual component of the experience. The Aquarium
Bar was lined with wall-sized, backlit aquaria, filled with live, tropical fish. The Schooner Bar contained a
wooden rendering of the prow of a schooner, and gave one the feeling of being enclosed in a small
below-decks cabin. While the Promenade is advertised as a ‘mall in a ship’, to me, it was more
reminiscent of a courtyard or partierre than a mall. Comparisons might be made to some of the smaller
streets in New Orleans’ French quarter.

Voyager is equipped with a large variety of outdoor activities and athletic facilities. I wanted to try
everything. Unfortunately, the way activities are scheduled, there truly isn’t time in a week. For instance,
the inline skating track is closed much of the time, including while the ship is in port. Miniature golf, the
golf simulator, and the sports court are also closed much of the time. The rock climbing wall is often
closed, and when it’s open, everything is by 90-minute appointment only. If you didn’t sign up for your
timeslot in the first two days, there was no chance of getting on that wall.

One of our party was interested in playing ping pong, and while we found several tables, we never did
find out where the balls and paddles were kept. The same was true of shuffleboard. We saw several
game boards on deck 4, and while there was a group of college-age men playing, we couldn’t figure out
where to get pucks and instructions to try this activity ourselves.

You can walk all the way around the ship on deck 4. That’s something we couldn’t do on our first cruise.
Since our rooms were aft on deck 3, and the La Scala theater was forward on decks 2, 3, and 4, we
discovered the first night that you can’t go directly from one end of the ship to the other on deck 3
because Studio B is in the way. You have to go up to deck 4, walk across, and go back down to deck 3
to get in on the first balcony level. Because the casino fills the middle of deck 4, and you cannot bring a
camera into the casino, we often walked aft to forward OUTSIDE. This worked great, except at
unpredictable intervals we would find the forward doors locked. We’re not talking 2:00am either. This
would happen at 8:00pm, or 2:00pm. Sometimes it appeared the crew were cleaning the deck, but at
other times, it was completely deserted, with no obvious reason for the doors to be locked.

Voyager has a peek-a-boo bridge on deck 10/11. It has windows from which you can spy on the captain
and crew as they pilot the ship. There are technical readouts available there too, including speed,
winds, and heading. Our biggest disappointment was the curtains were closed early on departure
night—the only time we actually got there the whole week. Later, we learned in the Not-So-Newlywed
show that one honeymooning couple swore solemnly to have made whoopee in the Captain’s chair that
first night. Maybe that’s why the curtains were closed!

THE CABINS Our cabins were aft on Deck 3, in an isolated corridor behind the Studio B technical center.
They were quiet, and very smooth. Lots of people complained about the vibration of the azipods, but
truthfully, while I felt the vibration, it wasn’t a detraction in any way. I get seasick very easily, so I always
choose an outside room, aft of center, on a low deck to minimize the motion. Deck 3 seemed kind of
high, but it worked out well, and we think we had the best cabins on the ship.

Our cabins were small, by comparison to the same class rooms on Carnival, but they were more
comfortable. The mattresses on the beds were better, and the floor plan of the room maximized the
available space, even though it was less. There were very few drawers, but everything we brought fit
easily on the closet shelves. I can’t understand why everyone complains about lack of space. How much
stuff can you bring on a one-week cruise anyway?

The bathrooms were small, but the round shower stalls with doors were very nice. Some people
complained about the water not being hot enough, but I didn’t find that to be a problem. However,
around 9:00am, it was common to run out of hot water while the heaters recovered.

The rooms had no clocks, and the clock on the phone was several minutes off. Since we brought
several of our own, this was not a problem, just an observation. A bigger problem, in my opinion, was
there are no guest laundry facilities on the ship. Valet laundry is nice, but too expensive. A laundry on
each deck, such as on Carnival’s Destiny and Triumph, would be really nice. While they had valet
laundry, and I even considered it, all I wanted was to have some dresses pressed. I was told this service
was not available by itself. Ironing boards and irons or steamers should be provided in a guest laundry.
A flat space in the cabin where a travel iron could be used would be nice too.

THE FOOD To be honest, I was disappointed in the food on Voyager. The dining room fare was good,
but the menus were more varied and interesting on Carnival’s Destiny. I particularly enjoyed the Beef
Wellington and the Chateaubriand on Voyager. Since I don’t eat seafood or fish, I was unaffected by the
poor quality of the lobster tail. Those in our party who had the lobster thought it was too small, and
poorly cooked.

What Voyager lacked in dining faire was made up in full by our waiter, busboy, and wine steward,
however. Since we don’t drink much, we particularly appreciated the free soda at dinner. Several of us
also participated in the Wine & Dine program, which allowed us to choose a different bottle of wine each
evening to go with dinner. It was a fine opportunity to try different types of quality wine. The only problem
was the price, which was 25% more than we were told two weeks before the cruise. Our food was
generally served hot, and was quite tasty. The waiters willingly accommodated requests for multiple
entrees or appetizers, so we could try everything once. The desserts were scrumptious. It just wasn’t
what I was expecting for the price.

One thing that disappointed us was the arrangements for breakfast and lunch in the dining room. On
our first cruise, we went to the dining room for breakfast each morning. One thing that made it so
enjoyable was that we went to our same assigned table, and had our same assigned waiter for all meals.
On Voyager, in the morning, only the lowest level of the dining room was open, and you were seated in
different places with different people every day. Our party of eight showed up the first morning in two
groups of four, a couple of minutes apart. The first group was led to one table, and when the second
group came, they weren’t allowed to sit with us. We sent one of our party back to the door to collect
them, and they sat with us anyway, but the waiters were in a snit because they were late. We didn’t go
back for breakfast or lunch the rest of the week.

We had read the singing in the dining room was no more, as there had been an accident with insurance
repercussions. While they no longer serve baked Alaska for dessert, the singing waiters are back. They
don’t interact with the guests as much as they did on Carnival, but it added a measure of friendliness the
dining room lacked without. Unfortunately, it’s only about twice a week. I also noticed the frequency of
anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings/honeymoons was much less than it had been on Carnival. We
tried to arrange a celebration for several anniversaries in our party, but were unsuccessful. None of the
materials we received before or during the cruise indicated how to set up an anniversary cake at dinner.
Our travel agent forwarded our request to RCCL before we left, but nothing came of it. On Carnival, all
we had to do was mention it, and the deed was done.

One very nice touch was the first formal night. Serenaders came to each table and played a romantic
selection. Their repertoire is very good, although we heard the same tunes requested at several tables.

On the topic of food, there is only one midnight buffet on Voyager—the grand buffet on Thursday night.
One thing I liked better was that the food was displayed for picture-taking only from 11:30pm-12:30am.
The problem was the disorganization of the picture line, and lack of space for all the viewers. We were
told the displays were all the same, but one could see the center display was different, so after passing
one table, everyone doubled back, thinking each table would be different. Unfortunately, this caused a
major traffic jam. The plan was to funnel all the photographers back out the restaurant door, but the flow
was impeded. The eating wasn’t to start until 12:30am, when the photographers were done, but because
of the large number of photographers, the eating didn’t actually start until after 1:00am. By that time, we,
who had been done since 11:50pm, were too tired to stay and partake. The worst thing is the grand
buffet happens the night before Cozumel, where a lot of people have early tours scheduled. It seems so
inconsiderate to keep the guests up so late the night before.

While I’m on the topic of food, let me mention the ice cream station on the Promenade. It was a
self-service sundae bar, where you could get either soft-serve ice cream or frozen yogurt. Unfortunately,
the frozen yogurt machine broke down the second day and remained out of service the rest of the trip.
The soft serve machine lasted until Friday, when it, too, broke down. There was no one staffing the area
on a regular basis, so the station constantly ran out of cones, and a sanitation officer would be appalled
at the state of the topping bar. Someone needs to keep this place clean and repaired, especially since it
gets a lot of use by the kids.

THE RESTAURANTS We’ve heard mixed reviews on the Portofino restaurant, but because it was Italian
we wanted to try it. Unfortunately, it was completely booked for the week by Tuesday, so we didn’t get in.
I have a comment about the $6 per person cover charge, though. While I can understand that the
waiters who work the Portofino do not earn tips the way the other dining room waiters do, and the
charge isn’t outrageous for a nice Italian dinner, the whole selling point for a cruise is that the food is
included in your fare price. Considering the amount the cruise line takes in per week in cruise fares
alone, I’m having difficulty believing that these extra fees are really necessary. We cancelled a cruise on
the Grand Princess when we heard the ice cream was free in the dining room, but $2.50 a cone if you
had it on deck. If this trend continues, it may become harder to fill these mega ships, as people opt for
less expensive, more inclusive vacations.

The Windjammer and Island Grill meld from one to the other, so we tended to consider them as one
restaurant. We ate breakfast and lunch there almost every day. I thought the breakfast was decent, but
some of the hot foods looked less than appetizing. The Island Grill isn’t open until at least 7:15am, and
no hot food at the Windjammer until about that time. For those of us who get up early, it would be nice if
there were hot foods available earlier.

The hamburgers and fries were actually pretty good for ship fare, especially the fries, which are usually
cold and soggy and oversalted on buffet lines. My only complaint was the poor quality of the cheese (I’m
from Wisconsin.) Unfortunately, the lunch entrees were less appetizing than the breakfast entrees, and
except for the leftovers from the previous night’s dining room fare, the buffet selections were the same
each day. Yes, you heard right. The morning after the lamb chops for dinner, the remaining lamb
appeared on the line in the Windjammer/Island Grill. The morning after the beef roast, the leftovers
appeared in the Windjammer. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just so obvious amidst the
sameness of everything else, that it gave the cruise an aura of cheapness that contrasted sharply with
the grandeur of the ship itself.

One new thing in cruising is the introduction of franchised food outlets. Voyager has a Johnny Rocket’s.
The food was fine. The atmosphere was relatively authentic. My problem is with paying for food on a
cruise, which has traditionally included all your food. At first, I heard it was always crowded up there.
During our week, it was empty all the time. I saw a total of five people in there, including myself, the
whole week. I might even have gotten over the idea of having to pay for food on a cruise, but for what
you get, it’s too pricey. In fact, we stopped in Washington D.C. on our trip home, and the Johnny
Rocket’s in the train station was about 10-12% cheaper, on the average. On the street in Washington, it
was another 1-2% cheaper than that. A captive audience doesn’t make it right to overcharge. It’s no
wonder no one is eating there anymore.

I was pleased that Voyager offered a diet white soda. I can’t have caffeine or sugar, and most places I
go, I can’t find appropriate drinks. Diet Sprite was available in every bar, which was great. Regular fare
in the Windjammer is milk, coffee, tea, or lemonade, which is okay too, but not calorie- and caffeine-free.
The only problem is getting your bar drinks during your meal. By the time you find a drink cart or the
bar, and get your soda, your meal is either cold or half gone. The bar is in the back center of the Island
Grill, and the close table layout doesn’t really lend itself to traveling easily among the tables with a
loaded tray, not to mention a blind person in tow.

Speaking of layouts, we were disappointed in the lack of open-air seating. The windows in all the
restaurants were wonderful, but there really wasn’t any way to take your dinner outside, like on our
previous cruise. Furthermore, there isn’t enough seating in the Windjammer and Island Grill to
accommodate 3500 guests, even in shifts. It was really hard to find a table if you came in mid-morning.

There is another place to get food on the cruise, the Café Promenade. This little café serves pizza by
the slice, which is really very good for ‘ship’ pizza. Being pizza connoisseurs, we’ve eaten pizza in 49
states, plus Canada and the Caribbean. By our standards, this was decent pizza, even if they didn’t
have Wisconsin cheese on it. They also serve little sandwiches and desserts. The desserts were to die
for, just like everywhere else on the ship. The sandwiches were a bit of a disappointment because they
couldn’t be made to order. They all had something undesirable and irremovable on them. A little silliness
with the service was interesting. We went through the line and got food, but when we asked the girl
behind the counter for a drink, she pointed at the bartender 10 feet away, and told us we had to go
stand in line there to get drinks. The bartender had the ice cream machine, but if you wanted a dish, you
had to go wait in the sandwich line for the girl that served the ice cream. I couldn’t figure out why they
didn’t help each other, since they were essentially behind two ends of the same counter anyway.

Any discussion on the ship’s restaurants should not be left without mentioning the scheduling. When we
booked the cruise, we expected food to be available 24 hours a day. What we didn’t expect was that at
any given time, there would be only one place to get food. During mealtimes, all restaurants were
generally open. When the ship was in port, and between mealtimes, usually only the Café Promenade
was open. There were many times in the mid-afternoon when we were hungry, but the only choice was
room service or the Café Promenade for pizza. Since many people who travel on Voyager have already
been to all the ports of call, and stay on the ship for the sake of the ship, I don’t understand why the
scheduling of food and activities practically forces you to get off the ship.

THE ACTIVITIES This is a good time to talk about activities. There were many disappointments there.
We had read about the tremendous variety of things to do on RCCL ships, including art and cooking
classes, galley tours, bridge tours, exercise classes, dance lessons, etc. That’s true. There were a lot of
activities. They just didn’t turn out to be what we thought had been advertised.

Not being terribly athletic, I surprised myself by finding a lot of fun in the morning fitness activities. That
was the good part of the cruise.

Let’s start with the sports court. Most of the time it was empty. Games were scheduled, and the only
open times seemed to be just before the early seating for dinner. Much of the day it was unused. During
the morning fitness classes, which were held on the court, I noticed that the turf has already been
damaged in some places. This is pathetic on a ship that’s only been out 10 times. The court has a
problem with collecting water as well. When it rains, the court will be a couple inches deep. Then crew
members have to squeegee it out. That should have been planned for by the designers.

The inline skating track had the same problem with water as the sports court. It rained the first night of
our cruise, and the track was unusable until the middle of the next day, as it was ankle deep. There is a
charge for inline skating, so the track wasn’t used much, even when it was open, which did not include
during port stops.

Miniature golf, again, had water problems. It’s also prone to wind problems. Being on Deck 12, maybe
golf wasn’t such a good idea up there. Of course, there is a charge for that too, so we didn’t try very
hard to find time for it. The course wasn’t too heavily used. It’s ALWAYS windy, especially when you’re
traveling at 24 knots, trying to make up for late departure from the last port. One day, the wind was bad
enough that they waived the charge for golf because the balls kept flying away. I wonder how many golf
balls, volleyballs, and basketballs are floating off the coast of Jamaica by now.

The rock climbing wall was the most popular outdoor athletic activity. It was completely booked by
Tuesday, so by the time some of our party worked up the courage to try it, there was no chance. No one
complained about the charges for this activity, and everyone who tried it appeared to be having fun.
Some people even made it to the top. How they do it is you have a group of three people. One climbs,
one anchors, and one spots. During your 90 minute appointment, you rotate so everyone gets a chance
to try everything. They have safety harnesses, and I never saw anyone fall, but some of us wondered
how safe this activity really is.

Last of the major athletic activities was the ice rink. This is the second most popular activity on the ship.
The rink is very small. You can bring your own skates if you want to pack them, but rentals are available.
Interestingly, these were like no rental skates I had ever seen before. They were basically ski boots with
blades, no laces, just clips. The padding was good, and you couldn’t tighten them selectively like you
can with real skates. The sizes run really big. I wear a size 6 shoe, but I found size 4 skates almost too
large. They also run very wide.

For skating, you have to register in advance, which consists of paying your fee and signing an
insurance waiver. There’s supposed to be a limit on the number of people who can skate at one time,
but it was not enforced. There were only a few times when open skating was available, so the result was
three times more people on a small rink than was safe. Not only that, the kids, who were generally better
skaters than the adults, zoomed in and out among the adults, and caused more than one spill on the
ice. Those of us who skate regularly thought the skates, the ice, and the rink were really awful quality.
One little girl said, ‘These skates really suck!’ We left early. In those skates I didn’t have good enough
control to be on such small ice with so many people. The charge was comparable to what you pay to
skate in a rink at home, but the conditions are so poor, you feel like it’s not worth the money.

Of course, Voyager has several pools to choose from, just like most ships. There are twin pools on Deck
11. Their best feature is they’re surrounded by shallow overflow areas about four feet wide. This allows
the pools to be completely filled, and also provides a wading area or foot cooler for those of us adults
who don’t swim well enough to manage the regular pool. There is also a pool in the Roman spa, and this
was our favorite. It is not an area suitable for children, however, as its artsy theme is a bit more adult
than most children today are prepared to handle. No swim-up bars on this ship, but I didn’t miss them.

There were two hot tubs for each pool. I can’t use them because they’re chlorinated, and I’m allergic to
chlorine, but it would have been useless to try anyway, since they were always filled with children. The
sign on each hot tub says, ‘No one under 16.’ Evidently, the children in there were either too young to
read or didn’t speak English. Their diving and splashing and playing was quite annoying to the adults,
who promptly left, leaving the tub to fill with more unsupervised children. At least three of the six hot tubs
were ‘temporarily closed for cleaning’ the entire week.

There’s a real opportunity missed here. The pools close around 6:00 or 7:00 pm. They are emptied and
netted. I don’t understand what the taboo on swimming after dinner is. I’d like to see the pools and hot
tubs open to midnight, and I can’t think of a single good reason why they cannot be. At least there’d be
a chance to get in the pools after some of the kids have gone to bed for the night. Since I never once
saw anyone actually cleaning the pools, and I know it doesn’t really take that long (we have had our own
pool and spa for years), it seems ludicrous to me that RCCL would need to close these activities down
so early.

I had read there would be ballroom dance lessons, among other things. Dance lessons turned out to be
200-300 people crowded onto a small dance floor in Cleopatra’s Needle, trying to learn line dancing.
There wasn’t enough room to do much, and the so-called instructor was buried in the crowd. One day’s
dance lessons were omitted from the Cruise Capers, so most of us missed them. Too bad there weren’t
any real dance lessons available, since there were some opportunities for evening dancing.

Art classes were limited to trying ice sculpture one morning, and napkin-folding lessons on another day.
There was enough empty space on the ship that there could be a lot more art classes than that.
Cooking lessons never happened. The galley tours are no more, since a passenger on another ship
slipped and was injured on a galley tour. The Peek-a-Boo bridge seems to be a replacement for the
bridge tour, which also never happened.

There were scuba certification lessons in the Solarium pool in the morning. The class was small, but the
participants seemed to be getting along well. What I don’t know is why they don’t offer snorkling and
swimming lessons as well. With all these facilities, so much more is possible.

There was a very nice array of exercise classes outside the gym. A morning stretch class was followed
by Fun & Fitness. Walkathons were scheduled before stretching and after Fun & Fitness. Sit-to-be-Fit
classes also counted. For all of these activities, plus the dance lessons, you could earn ShipShape
dollars, which were redeemable for T-shirts, towels, beach bags, etc. It takes a lot of work to get 20
ShipShape dollars in a week. My one suggestion would be that Sit-to-be-Fit should be offered more
frequently for people that want to participate in more athletic activities, but cannot. This class turned out
to be frequented by the elderly, and some of the wheelchair-bound passengers. Even our 85 year old
aunt liked Sit-to-be-Fit.

For those that like Trivia, Voyager was a disappointment. Trivia games were question sheets you picked
up in the Library in the morning, and returned later in the day. The answer sheet was right there, and
you graded your own. No competition. No prizes. One night, there was Team Trivia, on a rock & roll
theme, which re-used the questions from the daily trivia. That was the only competitive event. Some of
the ‘trivia’ sheets were visual puzzles, which are fine, but advertising them as trivia seemed misleading,
especially for the blind members of our party, who enjoy trivia but can’t participate in the other stuff.

There were a few contests, like the Sexy Legs contest and the Belly Flop contest. There were a few pool
games. I never before saw a staff so desperate to find participants. Most of these audience-participative
events ran way behind schedule because no one wanted to be a participant. Could it have anything to
do with the fact that every event was overly complicated—at least when you heard the instructions for it?
The games were entertaining to watch, but took too much time to get underway.

One popular activity they did have was karaoke. The lounge was crowded with would-be stars every
night. Too bad most of them would-never-be stars. You can forgive people for being bad, but to inflict
their lack of talent on the crowd more than once seems excessive. There were plenty of people who
never got a chance to show their stuff. Then there were the kids who evidently thought arm farts to a
beat would be entertaining for us. Perhaps in a school talent show where you know all the kids and it’s
their show, but I thought it was in very poor taste on the ship.

The one thing I need to say about activities yet, is that I don’t understand all the comments about how
wonderfully everything on the ship was scheduled. You never had to miss part of a show because of
another event. You always had time to get to the next event early. Those people must have been on a
different ship, as it was definitely NOT the case on this cruise. Most of the time, there was nothing going
on. At a few strategic times, there were multiple activities at the same time, so you had to make choices.
Many activities ran late, causing overlap with or delays to other activities. Some activities were
scheduled very late on the night before a port call. Some events were scheduled during dinner with a
second show later, but so much later that many people attended both shows at the expense of those
who were at dinner during the first show. I’ve been to many large events, and from my experience, I
would say that RCCL does not yet know how to handle the increased number of passengers on this
ship. They’re still trying to handle the crowds the way they would on a ship half the size.

THE ENTERTAINMENT On our first cruise, we never missed a show—except for the second Las Vegas
revue (too loud, too psychedelic). Dreamscape was a good show. The tribute to Broadway was
forgettable. In general, the shows were kind of boring. Too much singing, not enough variety. We did,
however, enjoy the various comedians. They were very good, and the obstructions in the theater didn’t
matter to the enjoyment of the show. One thing they mentioned is that the theater is traditionally dark
one night. On some nights, there was only one performance. On our last cruise, there were two shows
EVERY night, and never a dark night. I felt shorted on my cruise fare by the lack of quality and quantity
shows.

The ice show was the best show on the cruise. The only drawback to the show was Studio B, where the
ice is. The studio only seats about 700 people, which is about 1/5 the passenger complement. The
shows are given multiple times during the week, but most people don’t realize it’s the same show each
time, so they attend multiple shows. Of course, some go back because it is such a good show. Anyway,
the small seating capacity of Studio B makes it hard to get into this show. I think they need to offer this
show more, rather than fewer times during the week. Once a day would be good. (I note the professional
skaters have their own skates, and the number on the ice at once is limited.)

The Not-so-Newlywed Show also took place in Studio B. The show stuck closer to the television format,
and the cruise director, Ken Rush, played a large part, as was true of most events. The show ran
overtime, so those who were headed for the bingo tournament, which was scheduled directly afterward,
had only moments to traverse the entire length of the ship I was interested to note there were only 33
honeymooning couples on the ship out of 3500 passengers. On our last cruise, with about 3000
passengers, on Carnival, there were 97 honeymooning couples. Since Voyager is actually a very
romantic ship in itself, I don’t understand the disparity. The atmosphere and attitude is something other
than romantic, though. It’s hard to describe, but something between diffidence and disdain. There’s a
certain amount of tension that maintains a natural limit on the fun quotient of the ship.

There was an afternoon game show in Studio B on the last day. It too wasn’t as much fun as it could
have been. Per usual, the games were too complicated. Ken Rush was too annoying as the MC, and as
in every event in Studio B, they overused the technology, especially the sound system. Because they
overdrove the sound system, the sound quality was poor and distorted. You always went away with your
ears ringing. In some cases, they tried to add in video effects, but the delays ruined the spontaneity of
the audience responses to the shows. Another problem was the ubiquitous spotlight. It spent most of its
time on Ken Rush, but in the case of the game show, one of the activities was to solve a video puzzle.
The spotlight blurred the available pieces so no one could see what they were. If it wasn’t that, Ken was
casting a shadow on it. I don’t have a single picture from any of the theaters where Ken’s face didn’t look
like he was wearing black war paint on one side. I spent a week on the ship with him, and I bet I wouldn’t
recognize him on the street without the ‘spotlight shadow.’ I hope on future cruises, the show engineers
can stop playing with the equipment and use their professional skills to add to the production quality.

Prior to the cruise, we were told this ship does not have a guest talent show. But they do. We really
enjoyed this on our other cruise, and were looking forward to a nice show here too. Unfortunately, this
show was a bit stilted. One disappointment was that there were only singing acts. I thought there should
have been some variety in the acts chosen, especially since they had a dress rehearsal and everything.
I’m sure there was plenty of talent on the ship, but the audition process must have been somewhat
one-dimensional. The other thing that bothered me was the way the crew upstaged the talented
passengers during the show.

There are several lounges, with a variety of entertainers on board. We tried them all, and liked some
better than others. My favorite was the string ensemble at the Aquarium Bar. None of the musicians
stood out as truly exceptional. In fact, most of the musicians on our first cruise were better. The Pig &
Whistle is unique, and should be continued. However, I must say I now know all the words to ‘Horse With
No Name’, as it was being played every time I passed by. We missed the variety of music on the pool
deck. While Heat Wave was advertised as playing all types of music, everything they did was reggae.
What a relief to get to Cozumel and finally hear a real marimba band and some mariachi music. Even
calypso would have been a change.

There were several parades down the Promenade. I love the idea, but the promenade is such a terrible
bottleneck that it really doesn’t work. Take note that to get a workable viewing spot, you need to be in
place 30-45 minutes in advance. This is one of the events that often happened during dinner, so us
early eaters had to wait up for the second show. All the people who couldn’t see the first show for lack of
space showed up at the second parade, as well as those who were hoping for a better view the second
time. At the Mardi Gras parade, in an effort to see something, a group of us finally commandeered one
of the glass elevators. It was kind of neat going up and down over the parade, but we couldn’t keep
control of it for very long. We finally gave up because you couldn’t hear anything in there. At a different
parade, I was able to find a spot on the floor of the promenade, but unable to see anything over the man
in front of me, who had a child on his shoulders. The man behind me was smoking a cigar, in clear
violation of the ship’s smoking policy. No problem—not!

The cruise had several scheduled parties, including a deck party a rock & roll party, and a country
hoedown. These were fun events, but each had some problems. The deck party was hampered by the
design of the pool deck. The infamous glass conical sculpture was in the way of every event. The
placement of the bandstand in relation to the cone blocked the view of the band from many areas on the
deck. The rock & roll party was in Studio B and was a lot of fun, but as usual, the sound system was
over-used. It’s not necessary for the seats to vibrate under the audience. A lot of the older crowd didn’t
attend because this party was too loud. The country hoedown was anticipated eagerly by the older
crowd, but I would have to say it didn’t have much real country in it. Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus
are NOT country, and what we had was not a hoedown. It was just a different version of a rock & roll
party catering to a younger crowd. There’s some truly great country music, both newer and older, out
there, but it wasn’t included.

PORTS OF CALL I have only a few comments on the ports of call. A lot of people complain about
tendering to shore. For the record, tendering to and from Labadee was easy and quick. I really enjoyed
Labadee, even though there wasn’t much to do, and the shore tours were overpriced. The weather was
perfect, and the island was accommodating. The local artisans are pushy, but the work you see here is
much better quality than what you find mass-produced in the stores on Jamaica. You need to have cash
for a lot of these folks. Most of them don’t handle credit cards and traveler’s checks. Since I don’t carry
cash on trips, I tend to miss out on these things. We did take an overpriced shore tour, and except for
the German family next to us, who talked over the tour guide the whole way, ‘auf Deutsch’ of course, we
had a perfect afternoon.

At Jamaica, we noticed a new passenger cruise pier had been built. Due to Voyager’s size, the walk to
where the shore excursions left was about a third of a mile. Some older people were tired before they
got started. Another bottleneck was the photo line. We arrived late at Jamaica, so everyone was rushing
to get to the excursion departure points, and here was this line for photos—about 200 people waiting.
They had you captive between the fence rails on the pier. When we realized no one was coming up the
other side, we jumped the fence and skipped the photo. Once people saw us doing it, they did it too.
The rest of our visit was uneventful, and beautiful. Again, the tours are overpriced. The tour guides
don’t see it, so I guess it’s a commission RCCL takes off the top for organizing the groups. I think, in the
future, I’d like to book directly. Cheaper for me, and better for the islanders who actually need the
money. The thing to be careful of in Jamaica is the drug dealers. It can be a dangerous place, so if you
don’t feel like you know what you’re doing, just pay the high price and let RCCL figure out the details.

At Cozumel, we had another perfect day. We took one more overpriced tour, and returned early to go
shopping. We like shopping in Cozumel the best of all the standard western Caribbean stops. One
improvement since our last trip there: the taxi drivers have improved. It’s less common to feel as if you’re
taking your life in your hands when you step into a car with one of them. That did wonders for preserving
the rested feeling I got from wandering slowly about town.

The ports of call are not really the attraction on this cruise. Lots of people choose to stay on the ship.
We considered doing this ourselves, but we noticed that almost none of the ship’s activities and
amenities are available during a port stop. You can barely get a meal. The timing of the stops is
wonderful. You have all day at each stop. On the other hand, if you stay on the ship, you have all day to
kill while you wait for everything to open up again. Be forewarned, there is no duty-free shopping on the
Promenade, and the casino is closed. The sports court, inline skating, rock climbing wall, miniature golf,
and ice rink are closed. Windjammer is closed. There’s no entertainment in any of the lounges. The
pools and salon, however are open. Since not all the crew are off during port calls, it seems to me they
are wasting an opportunity to provide some entertainment and activities for guests who choose to stay
on the ship. Take a cue from Disney. Make sure there’s something going on everywhere, and don’t
force the guests into a bottleneck.

I enjoyed the opportunity to see the available tours ahead of the cruise, and was ready to book them the
first day. We used the TV in our room to do this without trouble. My only comment on the TV booking
system is it isn’t very accessible. We had to help our elderly party members figure out how to work the
system, and I had to do it for our blind party members, to whom it was completely unusable.

THE PASSENGERS One of the criteria we use when choosing a vacation, including cruises, is what type
of people we’re likely to be with. On a cruise ship, this is particularly important as the lot of you are
trapped together in a relatively small space for a week. Our previous cruise was on Carnival, and we
found our fellow passengers to be entirely too focused on drinking and late-night partying. Since we
were traveling with a group of older relatives, and we wanted them to have a good time, we chose RCCL
because it has a reputation for a pleasant, more laid back atmosphere. Fun, but a little more sedate
than Carnival. They were certainly sedate. I don’t want fellow passengers to be drunk and rowdy, but
neither do I want to spend a week with 3500 comatose passengers. We met some very nice people, who
seemed ready to have fun. But at events, the audiences and participants were very uninspired and
non-spontaneous. No wonder the crew had to work so hard to get things going!

The only lively passengers were the more than 700 children on the ship. Voyager has the most
wonderful children’s facilities I’ve ever seen. They’re reserved for the children, and they’re kid-oriented.
Too bad their use is not included in your cruise fare. I’m not talking private babysitting after 10pm, or
care of infants here. I’m talking $4 per hour per child for use of facilities that can’t be used by anyone
else anyway. Since most of the passengers wouldn’t qualify as wealthy, you have to expect that parents
couldn’t afford that kind of fee for children’s activities. Where do you suppose those lively kids spent
their cruise? Using the adult facilities, of course.

Groups of pre-teens trolled the outer decks and the Promenade completely without supervision. They
played elevator tag. They rifled the merchandise in the shops. They argued loudly everywhere they
went. They cut lines. They attended events and used equipment intended for adults only. They threw
tantrums. They hogged the pools, and intimidated adult passengers into leaving. They were even
allowed to gamble! All of this was done with the complete approval of the parents, who showed no
embarrassment at their lack of discipline and control with their own offspring. In fact, the parents seemed
to believe their children were entitled to entertain themselves in any way they wanted, regardless of how
it affected other passengers. They took umbrage at any suggestion that their little darlings might benefit
from lessons in etiquette.

One afternoon at bingo, a group of pre-teens were talking and carrying on so loudly that the people
around them could not hear the numbers being called. Realizing that many of the adults in the room are
very serious about their bingo, Richie the money man asked the children to be quiet. Their parents
complained about the embarrassment of their children, and Richie was reprimanded. Furthermore, he
was required to publicly apologize to the children the next afternoon at bingo! I wanted to ask for my
money back right then. The best moment on the cruise was when a comedian said, ‘I bet you just want to
do it all over again next week (cheer)—without the kids (bigger cheer).’

Without exception, every person on the cruise that we spoke to thought the children on this cruise were
completely out of control. They were swimming in the Solarium pool, which is marked as an area for
parental accompaniment due to the Roman theme and nude statues in the room. They were in the
whirlpools, which weren’t supposed to allow anyone under 16. They were in the bars. They were in the
casino. In the ladies room at the casino, there was a slot machine. I caught a number of children playing
slots at that machine, where they were unobserved by security. They should never have been in the
casino, period! They were allowed to play bingo, even though the cash prizes were thousands of dollars,
and it is clearly used as a form of gambling on the ship. I knew how to play poker when I was a child, but
that doesn’t mean I should have been allowed to play it in a public gambling hall. One of the comedians
made a joke, ‘Where do you think the parents of all these kids are? On some other cruise.’ If RCCL
wants to get return visits from their former clientele who do not have/bring children aboard, they must
deal with this issue more intelligently.

Another problem with our fellow passengers was that of the smoking policies. They were completely
ignored and unenforced. Cigars were to be smoked only in the cigar club. I saw cigar smokers all over
the ship, including in Studio B and on the Promenade, which were designated non-smoking areas.
Designated smoking areas turned out to be wherever ash cans were placed. Ash cans appeared on
each floor next to the stairwells. This was probably convenient for smokers waiting for dinner on Decks
3, 4, and 5. On the other hand, those of us who had cabins on Deck 3 aft, had to run the smoker’s
gauntlet every time we went to our cabins. If one is a non-smoker, it’s truly annoying to walk through a
group of smokers and find one’s hair and clothes imbued with the smell for the rest of the evening. While
I know smokers have their rights too, I’m seriously considering a next cruise on Carnival’s Paradise.
There were many wonderful bars on Voyager, but we couldn’t spend much time in them due to the
cigarette smoke of other patrons.

THE CREW In general, I can say that the crew was disengaged and indifferent. There were some
exceptions, but the cruise experience can’t improve until problems with the crew are resolved.

Our dining room steward, Cem, was extremely professional, and a high point of our cruise. The busboy,
Lalit, made mistakes that wouldn’t have been tolerated on our last cruise, but he had such a friendly
attitude and personality, that it was easy to forgive. The head waiter said hello every evening, but pretty
much ignored us until the last night. We hadn’t tipped much, but I wish I had given more, when we
started to complain about some of the problems on the ship and he really listened seriously to us. Of
course, we were begged to give them good marks on the evaluation, which we wanted to do anyway.
The thing is some of the problems were related to dining service and we didn’t know how to bring these
up without hurting those who did a good job.

The purser’s staff was professional, but not very helpful or friendly. Long lines developed often, and
service was slow. It was not uncommon to wait in line for a long time, and move up to the window, only to
have the purser leave and never come back. After waiting a while, the person would realize the purser
was not coming back, and would wind up in the back of the line waiting again. They certainly were not
interested in answering questions, as I saw them snap nastily at several people who asked where the
mail drop was.

Our cabin steward, Annie, was very competent, but not as good as the one we had on Carnival. She was
quite visible and friendly, but slow. I guess we believe the pinnacle of cabin steward professionalism is to
be invisible. There’s something awkward about being in the room when they come to clean, especially
since we weren’t there that much. It took several hours to come up with the key to unlock the connecting
doors between our cabin and the inlaws next door, even though we asked right away.

The salon staff were very competent, but not very forthcoming or friendly. I didn’t experience the hard
sell that I did on Carnival, and my haircut was better, but I felt as if my presence was an inconvenience
to them. If customers are not wanted, why bother to include a salon at all?

The social hosts were second only to our dining room steward. Unlike Carnival, they seemed to make
more effort to include everyone. I didn’t find the same people being chosen for every activity. They were
high-spirited and fun and really made up for some of the disappointments I experienced on this cruise.
They hosted the parties and most of the activities and did their best to see that everyone had fun too. I
liked the way they traded off duties with each other. They seemed to be a working team who got along
well together.

The cruise director, on the other hand, was a disaster. He was friendly, and seemed to want to do a
good job, but he just wasn’t very good. He wasn’t funny, and he wasn’t spontaneous. He gathered
attention to himself at every opportunity. I would have expected him to take over smoothly and step out
smoothly, but it was always obvious when Ken’s part was coming up. He didn’t seem like a team player to
me. At the same time, it’s my expectation that the cruise director is ultimately responsible for everyone’s
total cruise experience. Ken seemed as helpless as the rest of us to solve the problems with
unsupervised kids, enforcement of policies, and provision of services on the ship. He generally talked
too long and upstaged everyone who was on stage with him. One thing I found particularly annoying was
the way he would get on the PA about 20 minutes before an event and advertise it for 2 minutes or
more. About 10 minutes before the event, he did the same, but for 3-4 minutes. If you happened to be in
the middle of an activity at that time, his address superceded everything. For example, if you were doing
aerobics, the music would be covered up by Ken. If you were learning napkin folding, you lost 10
minutes of your lesson to Ken’s interruptions of the instructor. From what I saw, he already had a captive
audience. No real need to advertise the events.

An important point here: the cruise director is the single most important component of your cruise. A
good director will make you forget all the disappointments and minor hassles. A bad one will magnify
them.

We asked one crew member about the apparent reduction in service levels on Voyager, compared to
other ships. We were told in confidence that there are so many more services to staff, that the number
of crew to perform each function was severely reduced. For example, each cabin steward was handling
twice the number of cabins they would on a comparable, but smaller ship. Dining room stewards were
handling twice the number of tables. Other areas, like the pool areas, simply weren’t staffed much of the
time. What good is a larger, more elegant ship if the service is so bad no one wants to sail on it?

SERVICES Let me start with the photographers. I thought the pictures were boring, compared to those
that were taken on our last cruise. I will say the photographers worked fast, and they covered the cruise
better. One bad experience: one of our party had her picture taken kissing the pirate. When we went to
look for the picture, we were told that someone else had bought it. Everyone on the ship seemed to
have seen and known about that picture, but our group never saw it. We even had a negative search
done, but they had lost the negative. As usual, the professional photos were expensive. Unlike our
previous cruise, you could not order reprints in a different size, so if your 8x10 turned out nicely, it was
impossible to order 50 wallets for your relatives back home.

Take-home video. As usual, the video was overpriced, and the quality was poor. The editing was nice,
but I thought the producers spent too much time on the effects and less time making memories. On our
last cruise, there was a video for each day of the cruise, covering all the events, so you could order one
or all to take with you. There was a lot of guest interaction with the videographers, and it was more
personalized. In addition, there was a highlight tape covering the whole week. I bought the entire set. On
Voyager, there’s only one tape, and it’s only 25% filled. There’s no sound except some dubbed-in
background music. The blind members in our party were extremely disappointed in the tape.

As a sighted person, I have a beef with RCCL’s picture-taking policies. I can only take one camera with
me, so I usually take the video camera. During the ice show, we were told not to take flash pictures
during the performances, and that no videotaping was allowed. At the end of a performance, I was
taking a 3-second shot of each group, so that I could turn them into stills. I was told I wasn’t even allowed
to take a 3-second shot of the group posing for bows because video cameras were not allowed.

Since we’ve already paid the royalty for the performance in the price of our cruise, I think I’m entitled to
take pictures or video if I want. So, I don’t understand why we aren’t allowed to videotape at any of the
performances on the ship. Showing excerpts of good performances to our friends and families back
home can only help RCCL’s ticket sales. Since the performers were hardly what I’d call big name, I doubt
I could sell tickets to see them on tape, even if I had a good enough tape. Personally, I feel I was denied
the opportunity to have a personal remembrance of my trip by a silly, unenforceable policy. Worse, the
Gestapo atmosphere, especially in Studio B, really detracted from my enjoyment of the cruise. At every
turn, I wondered whether it was okay to take pictures.

Let us say there was little actual service on Voyager, and the attitude among crew was not welcoming. It
was thinly disguised disdain. We are not customers who are paying for a product. We are employers, a
source of income, and they expect to get it if they put in their time—whether or not the service is
provided.

Back to RCI Voyager