Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

Sam and Kim Avalos booked a 7-night cruise on the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas in April 2011, round-trip from Galveston to Roatan (Honduras), Belize and Cozumel. Kim's sister was married on this cruise and the family celebrated together on this great ship in the Western Caribbean.

Pictured here are Sam, Kim and Austin. They sailed in category D3, a superior Oceanview stateroom with a balcony cabin.. We asked Kim for insights on this cruise. See her tips below.

RCL Voyager, Onboard Wedding, Cruise Review & Photos

Compliments of Sam & Kim Avalos April 2011

Pictured here is the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas anchored in Belize.

Kim's sister Stacey is pictured with Scott - they were married on the Voyager and the family celebrated by sailing together to the Western Caribbean. Dan's interview with Kim about the cruise & her tips are outlined below.

Dan: Did you like the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas?

Kim: I loved it! I have never been on a cruise before so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought it was amazing. I knew before we boarded that it was an older ship (1997 or 1999?) and in places you could see its age, but it certainly was nothing that I would complain about. Everything was very clean and well kept. Just amazing!

Dan: Did you like RCL?

Kim: Again, I have nothing to compare it to but, Royal Caribbean was WONDERFUL. I have no doubts that I would travel with them again in the future (hopefully the near future).

Dan: Any surprises - good or bad?

Kim: Probably the biggest surprise for me was the staff on the ship. For whatever reason I thought they would be American. Other than the cruise director I don't think anyone was American. Come to think of it, I think the cruise director was Canadian! I'm not saying this was a bad thing. Actually, quite the opposite. Every staff member that I came across had a different accent and it was amazing to listen to them and hear bits and pieces about their lives and their countries.

Dan: What about the service - cabin, dining, general?

Kim: The service was unlike anything I have ever experienced. We had conversations the first few days wondering what made these people so happy to be serving us. They seemed genuinely happy to be working and it truly was refreshing! Our room attendant Alex was from Haiti and he took great care of our rooms. Everything was always so clean and he always greeted us with a smile (even though he must have thought we were PIGS! Ha ha!).

Our dining room waiter Shawn was from Madrid and he was a funny guy! For weeks after we were home we missed him putting our napkins in our laps for us.

Our next favorite was one of the pool bar waiters. His name was Marian and he was from Romania. Although we did get to have a few short conversations with him, we wished he wasn't working all the time because it would be fun to have him sit down and hang out with us for a while.

Dan: What was your favorite thing?

Kim: Can I pick a favorite? I don't think I can pick ONE favorite so here are a few. First of all obviously I was very impressed with the service. Next I would have to say FOOD was a big favorite. Everything was wonderful from the Windjammer (buffet) to the Main Dining Room to Cafe Promenade and the poolside buffet's. We did eat at Johnny Rockets (I think it was 5.95 extra per person) and that was fun. We did not eat at any of the other specialty restaurants that have additional fees. We probably would have if we felt like we were getting sick of the other food. But we never did! Lastly, I would have to say another favorite of mine was just the ship itself. I feel a little regretful that we didn't spend more time visiting the many bars and different places to hang out indoors. But, luckily I am not regretful that we did not spend enough time outside on the decks or at the pool. There just isn't enough time to do everything!

Dan: Your least favorite thing?

Kim: This is a very small thing and really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but my least favorite thing was probably the back to back port days. We had ports on Wed, Thurs, and Fri. Having been our first cruise (for my family anyway, it was my sisters 2nd cruise) we didn't want to miss anything on our port days. We were up and showered and fed early enough to get off the boat as soon as we could and stayed on the islands as long as we could. We were exhausted in the evening and barely had the energy to stay up late enough to eat dinner (at 8PM). This of course has very little to do with Royal Caribbean as we didn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn and I'm sure as we cruise more we will be able to relax a little more with each trip.

Dan: Did you do any research before the cruise that was helpful?

Kim: We didn't do a whole lot of research on the ship, Dan Yates did most of that for us. We just told him the ports we were interested in and he helped us along. We did do some research on shore excursions and booked everything ourselves on the internet.

Dan: Would you cruise again?

Kim: Absolutely!!!!

Dan: What about ports? Did you have favorite ports or port activities?

Kim: Every port had its charm but I'm surprised that my least favorite was Cozumel. No particular reason, but the other two ports were so beautiful. Roatan, Honduras was a zip line and beach day. The zip lines through the jungle were amazing and the beach was gorgeous! In Belize we went to this little island called Goff's Caye. I've had a picture in my head my whole life of what tropical paradise would look like. This island was it! Need I say more? In Cozumel we went to Paradise Beach and the kids had a blast there. The beach was nice but the water wasn't great. Food was yummy and we got pictures with several exotic animals. So, even though it was my least favorite port, it still was so much fun! As I said before we booked our shore excursions on the internet. I think we did a pretty good job and I think we actually saved a lot of money doing it ourselves rather than through the ship.

Dan: How about onboard entertainment & activities?

Kim: We went to two shows. The ice skating show was great! Very talented skaters. We also went to a show that turned out to be kind of a contest with the entire audience. Had we known what it was in the beginning we probably would not have gone, however it was sooo much fun that we were so glad that we did go. Activities for the kids seemed kind of limited. I'm not sure if it was because they were limited on the ship or if because there were hardly any kids. We had a bit of a hard time with my 9 year old nephew because they wouldn't let him in the teen room with my son and my other nephew and there were only a couple of kids in his age group.

Dan: Other thoughts or tips?

Kim: One tip I would have would be if you are traveling with children that are in different age groups for activities I would probably go on the cruise during Spring break, Christmas break, any time that there is a chance of more kids on the ship.

Dan: Any final thoughts?

Kim: It's been a dream of mine for many, many years to go on a cruise and especially a Caribbean Cruise. My dream has come true and I couldn't have asked for a better vacation. I look back on our vacation with Royal Caribbean and have an intense yearning to be back out on the open water on a luxurious ship! Thanks to Royal Caribbean and to Dan Yates for making our dreams a reality!

  
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