Back from VOYAGER OF THE SEAS - Review and photos

Ernie,

Thank you for your review and great photo's. Having sailed Voyager and
Explorer I am glad to see that Voyager is still a great ship. My bigger
interest though is sailing from Bayonne experience. If you could elaborate
some on that I would appreciate it since I am in NY metro area and will more
than likely be driving too and leaving from Bayonne sooner or later.

Thank again,
George in NY

"E.k.R." <erollerYYY@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:4flhd.245764$as2.79400@bignews3.************** ...
>I just disembarked from the VOYAGER OF THE SEAS yesterday. The 8-day
>cruise began on October 22, 2004 from the new Royal Caribbean terminal in
>Bayonne, NJ (Cape Liberty) and ending in Miami. In between were only two
>ports, Labadee, Haiti (RCI's private beach) and Aruba. We also spent
>3-days in NY prior to the cruise which was a lot of fun. I had the
>pleasure of meeting up in the Village with a fellow ship enthusiast who
>frequents the cruise boards as well a wonderful friend whom I met onboard
>QM2 in May.

SNIPPED

"E.k.R." (erollerYYY@peoplepc.com) writes:
>
> It was my first time in Aruba and I hope to return someday. I was
> pleasantly surprised by this non-typical Caribbean island.

Excellent review. Thanks.

What did you like about Aruba abd what did you do there?

Tudor Jones.

E.k.R. wrote:

> I just disembarked from the VOYAGER OF THE SEAS yesterday. The 8-day
> cruise began on October 22, 2004 from the new Royal Caribbean terminal in
> Bayonne, NJ (Cape Liberty) and ending in Miami.

I noticed that you made no comment with respect to embarkation/disembarkation.
I've seen reviews that cited many complaints about both RCL staffing and the
facility.

We just returned from a week on the NCL Dawn and the NYC cruise area there is a
total disaster. If NYC doesn't do something about the traffic flow there, they
will be losing my business.

Comment?

Jerry in NJ

"George in NY" <georgeny@************> wrote in message
news:92qhd.3302$304.1259@trndny06...
> Ernie,
>
> Thank you for your review and great photo's. Having sailed Voyager and
> Explorer I am glad to see that Voyager is still a great ship. My bigger
> interest though is sailing from Bayonne experience. If you could elaborate
> some on that I would appreciate it since I am in NY metro area and will
> more than likely be driving too and leaving from Bayonne sooner or later.
>
> Thank again,
> George in NY


Hi George,
We shared a stretch limo with another couple from Midtown Manhattan to
Bayonne. It took about 40 minutes (max) and we arrived at "Cape Liberty"
around 2pm. The total cost including tolls and tip was $118. When we
arrived at Cape Liberty we experienced NO lines, a very nice and organized
facility, and a total check-in time from processing tickets to boarding the
ship of about 20 minutes tops. We experienced none of the chaos that other
cruisers have written about. Of course we disembarked in Miami so I can't
comment on the disembarkation process in Bayonne. Since you will be driving
I would recommend arriving later rather than earlier. It seems the people
having the most problems are arriving at the pier too early. At 2pm it was
almost a ghost town ... just the way I prefer it!

Ernie

"Tudor Jones" <ba412@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:cm5e6k$aqo$1@freenet9.carleton.ca...
>
> "E.k.R." (erollerYYY@peoplepc.com) writes:
>>
>> It was my first time in Aruba and I hope to return someday. I was
>> pleasantly surprised by this non-typical Caribbean island.
>
> Excellent review. Thanks.
>
> What did you like about Aruba abd what did you do there?
>
> Tudor Jones.


What was so different about Aruba was it's a desert island. It is mainly
flat with a few spiky mountains sticking up here and there. Very different
looking then most other Caribbean islands I have visited. You see cactus
and many iguanas running around. It was hot though, around 95 degrees the
day we were there. Beaches and water are both beautiful. The ship docks
right in the center of town and you can walk to all the shopping and eating
establishments. There is even a Carlo's & Charlies just like in Cozumel and
it gets pretty wild. We stayed in port until 1am so it was nice to catch a
little nightlife off the ship.

Ernie

<gamarsh@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:41863F43.1685AE6D@attglobal.net...

> I noticed that you made no comment with respect to
> embarkation/disembarkation.
> I've seen reviews that cited many complaints about both RCL staffing and
> the
> facility.
>
> We just returned from a week on the NCL Dawn and the NYC cruise area there
> is a
> total disaster. If NYC doesn't do something about the traffic flow there,
> they
> will be losing my business.
>
> Comment?
>
> Jerry in NJ


Hi Jerry,
Read my comments in reply to George in NY. I pretty much explained it
there. In a nutshell, it was a breeze. My advise, don't arrive too early.

Ernie

"Chrissy Cruiser" <doublebreasted@mail.com> wrote in message
news:1xqhuu5r64d94$.q7ep3d5pft77$.dlg@40tude.net.. .
>> I just disembarked from the VOYAGER OF THE SEAS yesterday.
>
> WTH is going on? First, it's Karens (how are you feeling, Girl?)now you. I
> posted a glowing VOTS review two years + ago NOW it is the abfab thing to
> do.
>
> LOL


I think a Voyager Class ship is calling you!!!!! Three's a charm as they
say. ;)


Ernie

We stayed 3 day pre cruise in Aruba before sailing on the Seawind Crown.
We loved the Island. We used publlc transportation and came in contact
with
many of the locals.
One evening while sitting on our balcony we were stunned to see bats
flying around. Yes. Bats. We were told they are in abundance on the
Island..

SUNNY<.......Nice review Ernie

S'nd I
XXX.

"E.k.R." <erollerYYY@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:4flhd.245764$as2.79400@bignews3.************** ...
>
> So how is VOYAGER holding up five years later? I would say very well!
> The ship itself is truly stunning and I'm once again convinced the Voyager
> Class is the best thing sailing in the contemporary 7-day market. Nothing
> really compares from a hardware perspective, not even QM2. I bring up QM2
> only because she was my last cruise and because she overtook the "world's
> largest" title from the Voyager Class. VOYAGER's overall design, quality
> of materials, art, amenities, innovations, layout, etc. are truly
> unmatched.

One design weakness IMO is the lack of a covered solarium pool, or
retractable cover over the solarium pool. And it's not like it's not been
done before. RCI had the concept of a retractable cover as far back as the
Legend/SplendorOTS, and the Grandeur/EnchantmentOTS.

To me that's one of the great ideas I've seen on a ship. I don't know why
they didn't go for one on Voyager class ships. I would guess that they
never intended for these ships to be used away from hot weather. But it
does rain in hot weather place, and with a cover, you can even air condition
it.

--Tom

"E.k.R." <erollerYYY@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:Rlshd.15211$cS6.2041@bignews6.**************.. .
>
> <gamarsh@attglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:41863F43.1685AE6D@attglobal.net...
>
>> I noticed that you made no comment with respect to
>> embarkation/disembarkation.
>> I've seen reviews that cited many complaints about both RCL staffing and
>> the
>> facility.
>>
>> We just returned from a week on the NCL Dawn and the NYC cruise area
>> there is a
>> total disaster. If NYC doesn't do something about the traffic flow
>> there, they
>> will be losing my business.
>>
>> Comment?
>>
>> Jerry in NJ
>
>
> Hi Jerry,
> Read my comments in reply to George in NY. I pretty much explained it
> there. In a nutshell, it was a breeze. My advise, don't arrive too
> early.
>
> Ernie
>

Dawn sails from Manhattan, not Bayonne.

--Tom