Royal Caribbean - Voyager of the Seas Review

This was the reposition cruise of the Voyager of the Seas from Bayonne, NJ to Miami with stops at Labadee and Aruba.

We left our house at about 3:30 pm on November 16 and headed off to Newark, NJ to stay at the Best Western because we had a parksleepflycruise deal. For $155 we got a hotel room, transfers, breakfast, and parking for 10 nights. The hotel is right across from the airport but is not very attractive, but the rooms were bigger than expected and clean enough for one night. The breakfast was good with a wide selection of food.

Day 1 -- We woke up to some cold weather with temps in the 30's. Had a nice breakfast and sat in the hotel room for a couple of hours. Once the time came to leave we checked out and sat for over an hour down in the hotel lobby. We were finally able to load our van at about 11:15 am and headed off to the terminal. It was only a 15 minute drive so we arrived at the VOS by 11:30. Check in went smooth with the set sail pass plus the fact we went through the suite line because we had a JS. We were easily on board by 12:00 and were able to go right to our cabin and drop off our bags. We had many hours to explore this huge ship and attempt to learn where everything was so I would not get lost. Muster drill began at 4:30 and we were supposed to leave by that time. An announcement was made that we would set sail by 5:30 which I was not happy about because I had main seating at 6:00 and I wanted to watch us go under the Verazzano Narrows Bridge. We actually ended up sailing off at about 5:50 so I missed the one thing I was looking forward to the most .

Day 2 -- Sea Day. Temps were still in the 60's so it was to cold for my blood to swim but I was still able to enjoy a round or two of golf. First formal night and I saw a wide range of attire.

Day 3 -- Sea Day. Finally some warm weather since we were in the Bahamas and heading toward Labadee.

Day 4 -- Today is the day that we arrived in Labadee but an hour later than scheduled due to the fact that we did not leave Bayonne on time. The weather was in the high 80s which was good because I always heard how hot it was there and I was a bit scared. The tender process went very smooth and we were off the ship only a few minutes after docking. We spent the greater part of the day at Hideaway Beach sharing a beach mat and then took a side trip to Dragons Breath. The beaches are very nice but be warned of the rough sand and rocks in the water. BRING WATER SHOES! The food was very good and my DH enjoyed the BBQ ribs. The marketplace was the worst shopping experience I ever had. Talk about pushy. I had my DH do the shopping for what he wanted and I stayed away.

Day 5 -- Sea day. We had nice weather with temps in the 80's and were able to enjoy the pools and outdoor activities.

Day 6 -- Finally Aruba with temps is the high 80‘s. I have wanted to visit this island for years but I am sorry to say was let down. I took the Banana Bus Tour to all the hot spots . Our driver, AL was very informative and we had fun on the way back to the ship with music blasting and maracas and tambourines. I found Aruba to be very dirty and broken beer bottles all over especially at the California Lighthouse. We took a walk after dark off the ship and headed toward Carlos and Charlies and heard a good time going on in there but did not venture in. Its on a pretty dark street and my son was getting scared because he know about Aruba's recent headlines. The dinner in Aruba was lobster so my DH was glad we stayed on board but many passengers were not happy they missed one of the best loved meals.

Day 7 -- Happy Thanksgiving. It was very odd waking up on this holiday on a ship. I never even thought about what day it was until I went into the Windjammer and saw the carved turkey. We had our second formal night and I saw many more people dressed up this time. It must have been because of the holiday.

Day 8 -- I hate the last full sea day because you need to pack and you know that your vacation is almost over.

Day 9 -- What a long day. We were given the wrong colored luggage tags so we ended up having to carry our luggage off the ship which is not an easy task. We then had to carry it one terminal over, so we could drop them off at the American Airlines check in. That did make life easy once we ditched the bags and we got our boarding passes which made life easy at the airport. We took JMS limo service and although the company was OK, I would not use them again. One of the families that I was sharing the bus with got off the ship rather late and the driver left us for a while to take someone else to the airport. He did come back to get us when promised but we had an accident outside the airport terminal. He was parking the bus and almost ended up pinning a man between our bus and his truck. Not a great way to end a trip.

Royal Caribbean .. Review

Bayonne, smooth and easy entrance to the ship.

Windjammer and Island Grill - average to say the least. I would have liked to have seen a different food offered for breakfast and lunch as the days went on instead of the same thing over and over. I also like the idea of having an area to eat outside and the VOS only had that in Johnny Rockets. The staff on Celebrity was faster at removing used plates and was more readily available to carry your tray.

Dining Room - We had table 500 in the Magic Flute. Our dining staff Vincent and Sal were wonderful and our head waiter made his rounds several nights. The food was OK, but Celebrity once again edges out because of the selections they offered such as quail. Promenade Café - very friendly staff and the cookies are great. Pizza on Carnival was the best so far.

Johnny Rockets - I was not even going to eat here but we decided to give it a try. Food was good and the singing and dancing was fun to watch. It is a good gimmick and was worth the $3.95 charge.

Kids - 800 were on board and you knew it. Every where you looked kids were running around and riding the elevators for the fun of it. We also had a table behind us in the DR that had 4 young girls eating alone while the parents were at a near by table. They through items over the railings, stood on their chairs and were very demanding. We commented on this with the head waiter and our table was moved back some and I believe he spoke to the parents because although they were not perfect they did get better the following night.

Entertainment - Celebrity wins this section too. Although I enjoyed the two shows, Celebrity had better costumes and props. Cabin JS 1394 - I loved the size of the balcony and cabin but was let down because I never really got any sun because it is all covered. I also did not seem to use it enough to warrant getting a balcony again.

Room Steward - Wilburn - It was hard to know I even had one. He was never around but somehow managed to make the room twice a day. I would like to give a shout out to Arlene down the hall though. She was always there to say hello and ask how are day went and she was not even ours!

CD - Allan Brooks - Becky was supposed to be back for this cruise but we still had AB. He was good but I still don't see what the big deal is about a CD. Ice Show - DON'T MISS I am still amazed that I was sitting in the middle of the ocean watching a skating show. Wonderful.

Adventure Ocean - I wish that they would have had a club area that separated the teens into two groups. The younger teens are put with the older teens and that a bad mix. I would also like to see more activities in the evening and are age appropriate. My 11 year old did not want to do anything with Adventure Ocean because he said they were childish.

Overall, I found Royal Caribbean to be a step down from Celebrity but a step up from Carnival and although it was not my favorite cruise of all time, we had fun and enjoyed ourselves and I did book another cruise while on board only this time, back to my favorite island - Bermuda on the Empress of the Seas.

If you are looking for a ship that has something for everyone, the Voyager Class is great. My kids loved all the activities but I know that I would be perfectly happy on a smaller ship and I have my doubts I would try the Freedom.