CRUISE REVIEW: RCCL – Voyager of the Seas CRUISE DATES – April 28th – May 3rd This was my (Ryan) 13th overall cruise. It was my 8th time on RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines). I am 46 years old. I travelled with my wife (aged 40). I estimate she has been a few more cruises than me and this specific cruise elevated her to Diamond status, which frankly is less expensive for me then actually buying her real diamonds. My best buddy Jarad (aged 45 and his wife Vicki (age 49) joined us. It was Jarad’s 2nd overall cruise and his wife’s 1st. We were celebrating my wife’s recent 40th and Jarad’s wife soon-to-be 50th birthday. I must offer this message, which repeats in all of my past reviews: People select cruising for a variety of reasons. Some chose their cruises based on ship amenities, dining options, port interests, affordability, entertainment, staterooms. For our traveling party, it was less about the ship and more about the company. I will offer this bottom line, Voyager is moderate-size compared to other RCCL’s but this particular cruise felt bigger and longer (duration-wise) and that’s me paying an ultimate compliment. INTRODUCTION Voyager is 138K Gross tons. It holds a capacity of about 3600 passengers and 1200 crew. That number includes maximum capacity. We traveled a week after Easter. While I believe nearly every cabin was full, I would say most school-aged kids were NOT on the ship and there was maybe 3200- 3300 passengers aboard. Still felt full. The ship itself is about 27 years old. While there ABSOLUTELY some areas that needed some updating, I will say that the ship holds up relatively well. There were some amenity updates about 5 years ago. Most noticeably the Ice Rink and Waterslide. The ship is 15 decks high. As part of the Voyager Class, which includes the sister ships of (Adventurer, Explorer, Mariner and Navigator) it’s the first class with the Royal Promenade concept. This was revolutionary at the time and in my option sets these ships in a far and above the smaller classes of RCCL ships. The Promenade is essentially a centralized area with bars, stores and info hubs, which offers a similar appearance of in an indoor mall. Also, a gateway to all the central venue locations. Easier to access and navigate the ships by using this area as the focal point. EMBARKATION/ PREDEPARTURE RCCL has this down solid. Here is what you can expect. It all begins with the drop-off (We took an Ubers from our hotel in Orlando to Cape Canaveral). It was about a 1-hour ride. You are greeted by Porters. They take your bags and to ensure you see them again aboard ship, you give them a nice tip. If you are a 1st time cruiser, you should know that it’s like an airplane. You check your bags and it will arrive at the destination. Obviously, you’ll need to make sure they are properly tagged with your stateroom number and, in a few hours, you will see your bags outside of your room. May I suggest you take a carry-on bag aboard with you. Perhaps a change of clothes and enough to get you by the 1st few hours on the ship. Most Boarding paperwork is done via the RCCL phone application, there was little else to do other then go through a security checkpoint. The Embarkation is VERY organized in every way. I think their award-winning application makes it super-efficient. By the time we got in to the cruise terminal and onto the ship it was about 10 minutes. I should mention that this process is as consistent as every other RCCL we’ve done the past 2-3 years, which is our 5th RCCL in 3 years. Even the muster drill is pretty streamlined. Everything is well marked. You go to that muster station. They check you in. They tell you that if there is an emergency, you go to that specific muster station. That process took 3 minutes or less. Our check-in was 11am. We arrived at 1050am. We were on-board and past the muster station by 11:05am. Keep in mind, rooms are not ready till about 1pm. Although our room happened to be ready by 12pm. Our 1st move was grabbing lunch at the Windjammer. I will have more to say about the Windjammer in a bit but let me say this: The most crowded part of the ship will always be the Windjammer Buffet on Day 1 of the cruise. Finding a seat proved to be very difficult but this is a common thread with RCCL ships. STATEROOMS Most cruise ships have 3 basic room styles. Interior- Exactly as described. All walls no windows. Exterior- Your room will have window(s) so that you can see outside to the ocean and also some that overlook the Promenade. Balcony- Your room will have a door that leads you out onto a private veranda. We chose to have Balcony rooms that faced out to the ocean Everyone is different but unless the upgrade is way too expensive you should always do your best to get a balcony room. Here is why: It makes your room feel bigger (Another area to retreat). Its also just a spectacular feature to be on your private balcony taking in the ocean. Just majestic. The Staterooms: Most cruisers understand the rooms on these ships are smaller than typical hotel rooms. Most of the Balcony Rooms on RCCL are slightly less than 200 square feet with about 45-48 square foot balcony. For a couple it's perfectly fine. We were comfortable. We are now at the point of next travel with our children; we would need an adjoining stateroom. There is a couch to sit on, ample closet space, a vanity, 2 small end tables on the bed side, a refrigerator, and safe. The bed is INCREDIBLY comfortable. The bathroom was predictably small. Like most RCCL cruises, you have a very small area to move around and the shower felt like a small space capsule. Once again for 2 people it was fine. If you have more than 2 kids and they are not toddlers, I would highly recommend getting a 2nd stateroom. I was actually pretty disappointed in the lack of outlets and phone plugins. I totally understand the ship is over 25 years old and these things were not considered at the time. However, on a billion-dollar ship with indoor plumbing and state of the art electrics and infrastructure, you would have thought adding some phone plugins by the beds during their renovation a few years ago would be an easy fix. Just to make you aware. The only outlet is on the vanity and not near the bed. They had a phone by the bed that had a small USB to plug in a phone. Let me also say the televisions were not great. Once again not the end of the world but our television was a little temperamental. It took awhile to load when we powered on and worked maybe 75% of the time. DINING The Main Dining Room (MDR) of RCCL is now becoming my favorite part of each cruise. Let me begin by saying that our dinner time was 7:30pm. We would often come at 7:50ish as we’d see some shows prior and it was NEVER an issue for our wait staff. The table for 4 we had was in a weird part of the Dining Room (right by the staircase) but we dealt with it and we were so pleased with the food and wait staff that the awkwardness of where the table was positioned didn’t bother us much. Our Assistant Waitress was Nobu and our Waiter was Manas. In case any of you get them as your servers, I feel confident that our servers were the best of the best. We actually learned that the service on the Voyager was ranked 1st out of all the RCCL ships. We even got to know our Head Waiter (Indian guy with an American first name). Great fella. The food was outstanding. I say this as a guy who has eaten similar meals on other RCCL ships. I’m not a food snob but I would say for a 5-day cruise it's probably not necessary to spend any extra money and eat in the signature dining. The one caveat is if it’s a 7 day or more cruise and you simply need a 1-day break to try something new. Specialty Dining: I believe Voyager had 3 Signature Dining options (Chops, Giovannis Table and Izumi). Hey, if paying extra money on food is what you desire then go for it. I am sure they are all lovely spots. You will probably get hounded on the ship with RCCL trying to get you to make a lunch or dinner reservation at one of those spots. OTHER PLACES TO EAT This is the one thing we missed from the much larger RCCL ships. Besides the MDR and Specialty Restaurants there are only 2 other food options. The Café Promenade: Serving sandwiches, pizza etc at ALL times of the day. They also have regular coffee or you can pay for the upgraded gourmet coffee. The quick food was good and definitely is a get-me-over till the next meal. You also have the Windjammer. Here is a word about the Windjammer. It’s a fine place to eat. It’s a buffet and EVERY food you can imagine is served. They even have dishes from multiple cultures, which is great to see. When you enter, you will be greeted by what my friend Jarad has defined as “The Chief Cleanliness Ambassador.” To be more literal, a person singing you reminders about washing your hands before eating. There will be different tempos and tunes that all have the same cadence of “Washy-Washy”. Its fun. Its memorable and everyone on board gets it. That’s because everyone eats there at least once a day. This is actually the biggest downside of a NOT huge ship. For us, we ate at the MDR for dinner. Perhaps others eat at the signature dining places for dinner too. However, Windjammer is really the only viable stop for breakfast or lunch. **Technically you can change it up and do breakfast in the MDR but Windjammer is simpler and less formal. Here is the rub with the Windjammer….There is no great method on seating. Its often crowded and getting a table for four was timely and difficult. I’m not really sure what the solution is other than creating more space in the Windjammer or creating another complimentary breakfast spot on the ship. SHIP LAYOUT The ship layout was somewhat simple and easy to navigate after a day. The Main spot was Deck 5. The Main Promenade had stores, pizzeria, Guest Services, a few bars and kiosks. It had a good flow and it was appealing to walk around. A Deck below was the Casino and some bars. Deck 3 had the Ice-Skating Rink and Photo Gallery. The MDR was Decks 3-5 on the Back of the Ship. The Main Theater was Decks 3 and 4. On Deck 5 was a smaller venue (A lounge for more intimate events). There was a lot to see and do. Deck 6 had a kiosk to book next cruise and Deck 7 had a Library Cardroom. Deck 11 is where the Windjammer lived. In addition, there were two pool areas. The Main Pool was hopping. It was the middle of the ship. In the back of the ship was a Adults-only Solarium Pool. The pools all had whirlpools and bars around. We spent a great deal of time in the Solarium. I should clarify that it wasn’t a full indoor solarium. It had some pillars around it to have that feel but it was generally outside but less noisy (no music or children). Deck 12 is where you find Adventure Ocean for the youth and Vitality Spa for the Adults. Also. a running track and a stand-alone bar. Deck 14 had the Perfect Storm waterslide, which is a GREAT feature they added a few years ago. Also, a Rockwall, which is a RCCL special as well as the Flowrider, which Jarad hammered out pretty nicely. Flowrider is a surf simulator. The deck had a nice Sports Court for basketball and other sports as well as Mini Golf. Deck 15 had the Viking Lounge, which overlooks the entire ship. This is one of the last ships to have this feature. I happen to love it because it feels like a speakeasy of sorts. Only 1 set of elevators takes you up. The Izumi Specialty restaurant was up on that floor as was another lounge called High Notes. The ship also has a chapel in case you want to get married or have a Sunday church on board or just want to be a little closer to God. THE BARS I counted about 8 bars. Maybe 9 if you count the casino. Most of the bars serve the same drinks but offer different themes and views. The Schooner bar is signature on RCCL. This is where you find some late-night piano entertainment. The bigger ships have more space and you would get dueling pianos. None the less it has a nautical theme. Also serves as the main hub for trivia. There are a few bars on the promenade. There is the “R-Bar” which has more of a quiet, elegant, lounge feel. You also have the Pig and Whistle, which has the English pub flavor. As mentioned earlier, there are a few bars in top decks. This includes 2 by the pools, one of the sports decks and 2 in the Viking Crown area. Lastly, there a general Tavern Bar, which had some tv’s to watch the games. When in session, you can get drinks in the small lounge, the theater and in the Ice-rink. This brings up the age old question: Is it the drink package worth it. There is some simple math going on here. Drinks are about $10-$15 each. The package will be around $65 per day at it's cheapest. Also remember, everyone over the age of 21 in the stateroom must get the package. So if you and your stateroom mate can bang out about 10 drinks a day between you then go for it. While drink package is good on RCCL private island it obviously is not served on the other touristy ports. Thus, putting a mid-day pause on your drinking. None of us got the alcohol package. I’d say we all averaged 2-3 drinks a day which was great for us. I am a huge Diet soda drinker. For $10.99 a day I had unlimited Diet Coke. You can refill at any bar or refill on Deck 5 by the café or Deck 11 by Windjammer at the Freestyle machine. There were a few times I got a rum and diet and it was discounted because my diet was included. ACTIVITIES AND ACTIVITY CREW We did more activities then usually. Honestly, being without children made it easier to do this. Jarad and I did lots of trivia. We also participated in a late night raunchy adult interactive game in the ice rink venue. Heck, I did something I’ve never done on a cruise before. While taking an outdoor stroll with our wives on the outer decks, we came across the shuffleboard and had fun playing. The entertainment crew was really fabulous. They were fun, engaging and seemed to really love their jobs. Everything was well-organized. My feeling on this ship is that almost any of the Activity Crew were polished enough to be the Cruise Director. Feels like they are on their way. Speaking of which, the Cruise Director Eric (pronounced Aric with a thick Mexican accent) was one of the best Cruise Directors we ever had. Here is why that statement is surprising. My speculation is that ANY RCCL crew members’ ultimate goal is to work on the biggest and newest ships. The amenities are nicer and newer etc. Thus, my anticipation is that the crew on the much larger ships are just overall better. While this may be the case many times, I will say the Voyager entertainment and activities crew were above my expectations. What makes a good Cruise Director, Eric was omnipresent. Beyond emceeing the headline shows, you would see him walk about on the ship, talking to passengers, being genuinely engaged and interested. He was fun, witty and really into his job. We actually saw him one day greeting passengers getting back on the ship from one of the ports. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Cruise Director do that. PORTS We had 2 stops. The first was supposed to be Labadee Haiti. Dues to violence on the island, they rerouted us to the Dominican Republic. We learned about this about 2 weeks before the trip. In addition, we had a stop at Perfect Day in Coco Cay (Our favorite spot) Port 1 Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) We didn’t know what to expect. In all our cruises, this was the 1st time on this island. We were happy that it wasn’t Bahamas or Grand Cayman, or Honduras (islands we’ve seen quite often). Pamela I were slightly disappointed in how the excursions were handled. Here is what happened. About 2 weeks before the trip, we chose an adventure to something they called Oceanworld (similar to Seaworld). When we got to our stateroom, we were issued a letter stating this would be canceled due to interest. So, we then decided on a hiking adventure. No problem, right? Wrong. On Port Day, we got a call on our stateroom phone saying that the hike was cancelled. This was literally 60 minutes before getting off the ship. We then decided to quickly pivot to the zipline tour. While it was a fun activity and we got a discount from RCCL it was still aggravating having these items switched up. Jarad and Vicki did a history tour of DR and they really enjoyed it. One other note about Puerto Plata itself. They really stepped up their port game. In addition to some nice shops right off the ship, they also have created this outdoor water oasis (swimming, lazy river, music etc). It was very well done. PORT 2 Perfect Day at Coco Cay I’m not sure how more I can say other than this place gives me great vibes and thrills. I love everything about this spot. I could/ would love to live here forever if they had cable television. As it turns out, there are a few hundred RCCL employees who do live on the island prepping for 2 ships to come in every day of the week. I’m estimating 70,000 passengers a week. Kind of a cool gig. Ships roll in at about 9am, they disappear by 5pm. You get your nights to relax on a 1.5 mile square island of pools and oasis. There were plenty of places to eat and sit. As you may be aware, RCCL provides all the food you would need on the island (no cost). Here is what you can expect: There are beaches, water sports, outdoor activities, and an incredible kids splash area. A lagoon pool, which I understand is the largest lagoon pool on any private island in the Caribbean. Great music, steel drums the whole works. It was just an enjoyable day overall. One thing the island can’t control is the weather. We got off the ship at about 10am. It was a dreary morning. At around 12:45 it began to downpour. Jarad and I had a Jet Ski adventure that we signed up for. Sadly, that was nixed due to weather (Not RCCLs fault but still incredible how hard it was for me to do these adventures on this cruise). The Jet Ski was scheduled for 1pm. Wouldn’t you know that at 1:20pm the sun started to peak out. Fate would have it that I shouldn’t be jet-skiing on Coco Cay that day. We made the best of it. Had fun in the water swimming and relaxing. CHILDRENS AREA ON THE SHIP This was only the 3rd. RCCL I did without children. What I observed was that they were NOT many school-aged children on this particular cruise as we purposely chose to go the week AFTER Easter break. What we did experience was a TON of children under the age of 5. Generally, preschoolers and infants. Like other RCCL ships, they had Ocean Adventure. I will say that we stayed clear of it. Not to be harsh but as much as I love my children. My focus was on my wife and friends. For what it's worth, the children looked like they all enjoyed myself and I’m absolutely confident RCCL did an amazing job with childcare. I am also confident they operate like MOST RCCL cruises. That is as follows: Adventure Ocean is for infants to Teens. The care opens at 9am closes at 12pm for lunch break then reopens from 2pm – 5pm. Closes for dinner. Then opens from 7pm -10pm. Then has extended care from 10pm – 1am at $10 and hour per child if you use the 10pm – 1am care. LIVE ENTERTAINMENT I am writing this knowing full well that some of the acts can change for each sailing. For us this is always the highlight of our cruise. “Generic Comedian” This may sound insulting but the first night we had a comedian. He was just “ok.” Obviously comedy is subjective but I’ve seen about 100 comedians on these ships and I’d probably rank him 50th. He was pretty good but not overly memorable. I recall him saying that he does a lot of RCCL ships so I’m sure it’s the same shtick. Once again, he was not terrible but he got the job done. Generic Comedian performed on the last night as well. Once again, he was slightly above average but not overly memorable. Although he seemed like a genuinely great guy that you want to cheer for in life. He has some talent there. “RCCL Production Show- Broadway Revue” I fully recognize that I am a sucker for these things. For RCCL is pretty formulaic. You have 2 lead females singers, 2 lead male singers and 8-10 super impressive dancers. You pick a theme and you mix it all together into a 45–50-minute show. It also features the RCCL Band. If my memory is correct, it was a 9–10-piece band and they were all very good. I enjoyed it all. I am always super impressed by the quick costume changes and the high-end set pieces. “Gametime” Ice Show The theme was something along the line of Gameplay. I remember skaters dressed like a deck of cards and some homages to old games, but quite frankly the theme is not as relevant. This was my 4th or 5th RCCL ship with an Ice-Skating performance and somehow, my mind is always blown. When you see this kind of thing on television (generally the Olympics), you think, well that’s kind of cool and amazing. However, when you see these skaters in an intimate and close venue it just absolutely mesmerizes you. I can sense a bunch of cool dads who were dragged to this show by their wives and daughters whose faces were contorted into an amazement. Don’t miss this show in this ship or any other RCCL ship. It’s a must. “Ed Alonzo” While he is not a A-List Celebrity, he might be the most famous act I’ve seen on a cruise ship. With the Osmond Brothers being a close 2nd back in 2009 (Not Donny or Marie but their lesser known siblings). I digress. Eds been on a bunch of sitcoms, including “Saved By the Bell” and “Full House”. He is a Comedian Magician. He has an interesting look and vibe. Almost like the Groucho Brothers. I will say that he delivered. He was funny, witty and quite entertaining. “RCCL Production Show Number 2- Through the Movies” – Similar theme and format as Night 2 but different sets, songs and costumes. While they were all so very talented, the consensus with my wife and my friends was that the 1st production show was a bit smoother. Feels like the second one, although plenty entertaining, needed a little more brush up. Some Tips and Feedback on the entertainment: Unlike the bigger ships (Oasis Class or Larger) this ship does not offer a full Musical Production. In some ways it’s a bit disappointing but in other ways, I like the smaller ships because you don’t need to over program what shows you are going to see. With the bigger ships, all the shows need to be reserved in advance and it’s a bit of a pain in the neck. TID-BITS OF THE SHIP Formal Night- Formal Night was the 2nd Night of the cruise. Not a lot of fanfare. As a general rule of thumb, tuxes on formal nights are now completely obsolete. Quite frankly this tradition has been fading fast. For the last few cruises, we’ve seen less and less of guys in formal suits. It’s been a few years since I wore a suit on formal night. I would say less than 10% of men were in suits. Jarad and I both wore sport jackets and kakis. The wives wore nice summer dresses. This seems to be the norm. Many others went with button down shirts. INTERNET- It’s a hefty fee. I know, we should put the devices down while on vacation. However, with two young children at home and my obsession with knowing the sports scores it was a necessary. I would grade the WIFI service as a 7.5 out of 10. The bigger ships are far better but we’ve also had worst WIFI services (ala The Adventurer). For $20+ per day per device, we just expected perfection with this. For us, it worked best in public places and was a bit glitchy in our stateroom. TRAVEL INSURANCE Here is the tip. Before traveling make sure you get travel insurance. I shopped it around and got the wife and I covered for about $125, which also covered us for the 2 days prior to the cruise we spent in Disney. My thought process was to protect ourselves for a last-minute trip cancellations or lost luggage or flight delay. It also covers for medical, if needed on the ship, which in the past I’ve had some need for but NOT on this trip. Bottom line, if you have some kind of growth from an insect bite, which is what happened in my last cruise, you need to pay out of pocket to the ship but insurance covers that. RCCL can get you travel insurance but I promise you it’ll be double then what you find online. -Ship is meticulously cleaned ALL the time. I mean everything sparkles; windows are so clear you could Never any trash on the floor. People always wiping things and washing things made me feel good. There was 1 small blemish. On the last day of the cruise, I went to use the pool bathroom and every stall was filled with poo. I did tell a staffer and it was cleaned up quickly. For the most part it was a great experience in terms of bathrooms and general cleanliness. I will tip my hat on the designing of the ship. On Deck 11, by the Windjammer, the men’s urinals had an awesome overlook view of the ocean. Very tranquil stuff. Everyone likes to pee with a view. Some VERY minor critiques: I sound like a broken record but seating by the pool, especially on seas days really sucks. Luckily for us, our wives preferred to be upper deck and away from the pools and noise, but if you want two seats or more by a pool, good luck. People get up at 6am, grab a towel and drape it around a prime spot to reserve for the day. Now RCCL is somewhat on top of that. They monitor and if they are tipped off on this practice, they will take your towel and belongings and put it by the towel station. They will then put a cover on the seat that says something to the effect of “you tried to reserve a chair and we moved your stuff to the towel station.” There are two issues with this policy. Someone else will be turned off by sitting there because there is a cover and feels like they may be blamed when that guest returns back. Also, it’s a surefire way to piss off your guests. To me there is only 1 viable solution to this gamesmanship and nonsense. When a guest books a cruise, they should get to pick their pool chairs. If necessary, upcharge for prime spots or have a lottery or do something. The current system is NOT effective. Also, way too many high-end boutique stores on the Promenade Deck. I’m sure RCCL has done the calculations and know people like to spend money when they feel trapped. I just feel like there should be some more imaginative stores or venues to put in those spots. TIPPING: RCCL standard tipping was $18 per person per day. While I do not have the exact breakdown, I know it goes to the Housekeeping and Wait Staff. Also goes to people you don’t always interact with (pool staff, entertainment, mechanics). Having it automatically charged to your room account via the Credit Card on file is the easiest method to make this happen. You also have the option NOT to tip at all or tip in cash. Here is what we did. When a passenger authorizes the recommended tip amount to be automatically added to the bill, NOT all the money goes directly into the pockets of the hard-working crew who deliver exceptional services. Some of that money is administrative fees and or credit card charges lost in the transaction. Instead, I had them NOT deduct tips on my room charge. We gave cash to our Cabin Steward, Our Head Waiter, Our Assistant Waiter) and the Waiter. The only reason we tipped the head waiter was because he was super helpful. You do not need to usually tip in cash the Head Waiter. By my calculations we still paid the recommended amount of about $180 for 2 people on a 5-day cruise, but we circumvented admins getting fees and put cash directly into the pockets of those staff we interacted with each day. Overall, Cruise Experience on Icon of the Seas was an “A”. I am a tough grader by nature, especially when you see a lot of the same things on RCCL, but my expectations were low considering we are use to being on the much bigger ships but Voyager exceeded most of my expectations.