Surprisingly, many people who take cruises stay on board when the ship is in port. That's not us. We enjoy our ports too much to miss any, and on this itinerary with long port days and only one sea day, we spent less time exploring the ship than usual.
Nonetheless, we enjoyed our stay aboard Voyager of the Seas, which is indeed a magnificent destination. One of the most prominent features of Voyager Class-ships and the newer, larger Freedom-class ships is the Royal Promenade.
All cruise ships have shopping areas, and many are quite lovely, but Voyager of the Seas, with its wide walkway that includes cafes, bars and a soaring ceiling, set a new standard when she introduced the Royal Promenade about eight years ago.
It very much feels like being on a nice street in a European city, and there's even a classic Morgan roadster parked by the Scoreboard, a sports bar that features multiple flat screen TVs. Cater-corner from the scoreboard is the Pig and Whistle, an Irish pub serving Guinness and Murphy's Stout.
Across from that, Seattle's Best Coffee serves excellent espresso drinks for which they do charge, but they give away fresh baked good including delicious oatmeal cookies and pizza to anyone who asks. Surprisingly, there's also a self-serve coffee for free right there, and that coffee, as everywhere on Voyager of the Seas, turned out to be quite good, which is in contrast to my coffee sipping experience on many cruises. There's usually music playing at one or more of the Promenade venues, whether a folk singer in the pub or a jazz band on the street.
All cruise ships have shopping areas, and many are quite lovely, but Voyager of the Seas, with its wide walkway that includes cafes, bars and a soaring ceiling, set a new standard when she introduced the Royal Promenade about eight years ago.
It very much feels like being on a nice street in a European city, and there's even a classic Morgan roadster parked by the Scoreboard, a sports bar that features multiple flat screen TVs. Cater-corner from the scoreboard is the Pig and Whistle, an Irish pub serving Guinness and Murphy's Stout.
Across from that, Seattle's Best Coffee serves excellent espresso drinks for which they do charge, but they give away fresh baked good including delicious oatmeal cookies and pizza to anyone who asks. Surprisingly, there's also a self-serve coffee for free right there, and that coffee, as everywhere on Voyager of the Seas, turned out to be quite good, which is in contrast to my coffee sipping experience on many cruises. There's usually music playing at one or more of the Promenade venues, whether a folk singer in the pub or a jazz band on the street.
The Promenade is a pleasant place to stroll, and it attracts lots of guests, even when activities like the Captain's cocktail party or the opening night Island Frenzy Parade are not in progress.
I had a Guinness at the pub and some great Mexican pizza, cookies and coffee at Seattle's Best during our cruise, but upon returning to the ship, we primarily unwound at the Crown & Anchor Diamond Member's lounge, to which we received an invitation the first day. We received this benefit as a result of having taken more than ten cruises on Royal Caribbean --- those three night cruises add up! --- but you can get a short cut to Diamond perks by booking a suite for your next cruise. The lounge had free drinks, using only name brands like Coca Cola, Jack Daniels and Tanqueray, along with hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. The only problem was that we couldn't take our drinks out, and the room itself is nice but has no views.
Because there were so many past guests on this cruise, by the second night of these free happy hours, all of the seats were filled and people were standing around. Royal Caribbean upped the ante, opening Cloud Nine, part of the Crown Viking Lounge, to accommodate the overflow. Perched high on the fourteenth deck and surrounded by glass walls, this became the preferred Diamond lounge, although our concierge, who attained tickets to the ice show and for preferred tender times for us, was stationed in the original lounge. Bartenders served us, but sometimes guests helped themselves, making their own drinks. It was a nice stop before dinner.
The three level dining room is gorgeous. We were seated on the top level for dinner, so we didn't have as much of a sense of the grandeur of the restaurant as we did when we enjoyed breakfast on the lower level, but it was still very nice. Our table mates for the trip were two nice couples, one from Las Vegas and the other recently transplanted to South Carolina from Chicago.Because most port stays ended at 7 PM, we signed up for late dining on this cruise, and by the time we finished delicious dinners, it was 10:30 PM. Sometimes the big show of the night was presented pre-dinner, but more often it started at 11 PM. On cruise ships there's always great entertainment including the opportunity to dance to terrific bands until well past midnight.
Lest I forget to mention it, the Voyager of the Seas Orchestra which backed all the shows and also played gigs around the ship both as the full band and as combos, proved to be the best band I have ever heard on a cruise ship. Each musician was a gifted soloist, and the arrangements were extremely tight. By the time we dropped into bed, we were worn out, but most ports arrived to our floating resort at 7 AM the next morning.
The first night, the seas were rough. I was surprised by the amount of rolling on a ship so large (138,000 tons, or almost twice as large as most mainstream ships). I slept like a log, which is to say that I felt like I had been cut down in the Pacific Northwest and spun by kicking lumberjack boots until I started down rapids. Not really.....but close. It was a good reminder that no matter how large the ship may be, a mid-ship location is much better for limiting ship movement during stormier parts of the year for any given itinerary.
Our D1 balcony room was forward, primarily because that was where I could get a triple occupancy balcony at the time of booking. A big advantage of booking early is the choice of the best locations.
Many of the finest suites on ships, however, are located at the extreme ends of the ship, and experienced cruisers frequently prefer the greater solitude and feel of the sea that those locations offer. Again, it comes down to finding what is best for you personally, which is something a Cruise Planner like me can help you understand, especially if you're a landlubber who doesn't know if he has sea legs.
Because we would not arrive at our first port, Villefranche, until 10 AM, Amy and I had decided we would work out at the gym, setting a wake up call for 8 AM. Morning came very quickly, but we dutifully headed over to the state-of-the-art health club. Amy wanted to do the elliptical cross training machine, but I knew we would be doing a lot of walking in port, so I persuaded her to do mostly upper body lifting instead. Like most places on the ship, we could look out at the ocean as we trained. After about a half hour of pumping iron, we took a jacuzzi in the gym. Amy headed back to the room to shower, but I went over to the dry sauna before returning. If you have the time, a quick workout is a great way to start a cruise day.
