This cruise kind of materialized out of nowhere for us. We hadn't planned to take a cruise this particular year. In fact, we had already booked a family cruise for the following year on Freedom of the Seas. I think it was early July when I received an e-mail from one of the many on-line cruise agents I frequent, with some great deals on last minute bookings. One was on Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral to the Caribbean. The deal was so good we couldn't pass it up.
We decided to drive down to Florida again to keep costs down. Also, I just like driving. To me it's more interesting and fun than sitting in a cramped airplane for hours. The only thing I hate about the drive is the impossibly bad traffic in Virginia and around Washington DC. It never fails to add at least an extra 2 hours to our trip.
After driving all day Saturday and staying the night in a hotel we arrived at about noon on Sunday. This was our first trip out of Port Canaveral and the port itself is nice and easy to get to. There is plenty of parking available and it is reasonably priced. We chose to just park instead of dealing with dropping off our bags and then parking. We had decided to pack light this year so we didn't have as many bags as normal. Check in went relatively smoothly. If I recall correctly, this was when Royal Caribbean rolled out the on-line check in option where you could fill out all your boarding documents on the internet prior to arrival at the pier and just print out everything. The only problem during our check in was that they had 2 lines, one for on-line check in and one for regular. The on-line check in line was much longer but they didn't have enough agents to handle everyone quickly so the people who didn't check in on-line actually moved through faster.
The ship felt like we were home. Since we had been on Voyager Class ships 3 times by now everything was very familiar. Mariner of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas do differ from the earlier Voyager Class ships though. The cabins and balconies are larger and there are additional dining options like Chops Steak House and Jade Asian Dining buffet. Changes in lounges and bars also made the ship different enough to not feel like we had been there done that.
Our cabin was an inside cabin, our first on Royal Caribbean. Since this was an unplanned last minute cruise decision, we planned to go as cheap as possible. The cabin was a bit smaller than we had become accustomed to but I thought it was fine. My wife, on the other hand, didn't really like it. She missed having a balcony and it was a bit cramped with the 3 of us in it. For the amount of time you really spend in the cabin, I didn't mind.
This year we also decided to take a departure from traditional cruising routine and we skipped eating in the dining room the entire trip. We had planned this from the time we booked the trip because we simply wanted to give it a try and to reduce the amount of bags we had to bring on the trip. My wife and I both agreed that it was a great decision. We were able to choose when we had dinner and we didn't have to get all dressed up if we didn't want to. We still brought clothes nice enough to wander around on formal nights in. Most of our dining was at the buffets but we did eat in the specialty restaurants 3 nights. Twice in the Italian restaurant, Portofino (excellent!) and once in the Steak House, Chops. All the food was very good at the buffets and excellent at the specialty restaurants. Service, as always, was also excellent.
Our first stop was in Nassau, Bahamas and it was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't been to Nassau in a long time and I was happy to see that it was much different than my first visit almost 20 years prior. From what I remembered from my first visit, it was dirty and rundown but this time it was really nice and clean with all kinds of shopping and restaurants. We didn't book any excursions so we just wandered around. We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe which has become somewhat of a tradition for us. We have been to Hard Rocks in Puerto Rico, Grand Cayman, Bahamas, and the Virgin Islands. Next we stopped in St. Thomas, USVI. Again we just wandered around. It had rained a bit that day so it was kind of a dreary day. We took our son on the tram ride that goes up the mountain near the pier. It was fun but the parrots that are usually running around in the shoppes at the top weren't there. The next port of call was St. Martin. We docked a the relatively new pier and took a water taxi over to the main shopping area. Again we just wandered around and had a nice time. Just after we returned to the ship a wicked little thunderstorm blew in. It was really nasty with very strong winds. We had been dodging storms for most of the trip and unfortunately, those storms eventually formed into Hurricane Katrina which hit after we had returned to Port Canaveral.
We had another great time on this cruise, as usual. The staff and entertainment were top notch as expected. Our captain, Captain Gerry, was an unexpected surprise. He was really a lot of fun. Usually the captains are a bit stuffy and stiff. It's not their job to entertain. Captain Gerry was completely the opposite. He was very friendly and fun. He made jokes every day with his daily announcements and was always walking around talking to passengers throughout the week. The best part was the last night of the cruise when he made a surprise visit to the pub in the promenade with his guitar! He joined the guitar player who performed there every night and they belted out a few songs together. Captain Gerry sang a few very good renditions of some popular American songs including some Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger. It drew a huge crowd that completely blocked up the promenade. Unfortunately, I didn't have my cameras with me as they were both recharging.
Another great cruise came and went in a blink of an eye. We are always a bit sad on that last night that the cruise is over. It seems to go so quickly. Fortunately, we had another cruise already booked to look forward to.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Royal Caribbean Cruises "Voyager of the Seas" - 2004 Caribbean
After taking a few years off from cruising, we decided to take another trip on Voyager of the Seas in 2004. The main reason we decided to go on Voyager again was because Royal Caribbean had decided to start offering some cruises from the New York area. At the time we originally booked the trip, the ship was to leave from the Manhattan passenger ship terminal. That was much more convenient for us than having to travel down to Florida to catch the ship. Some time after we had booked the trip, Royal Caribbean announced that they were changing the departure port from New York City to Bayonne, New Jersey. They had just reached an agreement with the City of Bayonne to use an old military terminal as their exclusive departure port. This was great news for us since the new terminal, now known as Cape Liberty Cruise Port, is only about 10 minutes from where we live.
This trip was also going to be our longest cruise as we had booked the 9 night Caribbean cruise. As usual, time flew by and it was soon time to head to the pier. It was a breeze, taking all of about 10 minutes to arrive at the terminal. Once there, we pulled up to the drop off area and unloaded our bags and then I went to park the car in the on-site parking. Check in and boarding went pretty smoothly considering it was a new departure port and everything was new and still being sorted out. My only complaint was the condition of area the ship leaves from. It was a 50+ year old military terminal so it was in need of some work. At the time, the word was that Royal Caribbean and the city of Bayonne were going to jointly develop the site into a modern port along with hotels, condos and shopping. I pass by there daily on my commute to work and so far in the 3 years since, I haven't seen any changes at the site.
Anyway, back to the review. Once we were onboard we were pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the ship. She had just gone in to drydock for a minor refresh prior to starting voyages out of New Jersey. We also realized once in our cabin, that it was the same cabin we were in on our first trip on Voyager in 2000. The cabins though didn't seem to get as much attention as the public areas while the ship was in drydock. There was some obvious wear and tear on the cabin furniture, carpets and other areas. Not a big deal, but noticeable.
This was a 9 night Western Caribbean cruise with stops in Labadee (RCL's private beach), Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. Labadee as usual was very nice. This time we didn't hang around much on the beach. We went back to the ship around lunch time and felt like we had it all to ourselves. We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch where there was no wait. In Ocho Rios, we went to Margaritaville because I had heard a lot of good things about it. We had a great time even if I did manage to drink a wee bit too much. Grand Cayman was very nice. This was our first visit there and we really liked the island. We really wanted to see more of it than we could given the limited time we were there. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to our final stop of Cozumel due to a hurricane in the area. Instead, we turned around and headed back to Jamaica, stopping in Montego Bay. We didn't get off the ship there opting to just hang around and relax.
Once again, the trip lived up to all our expectations. The food, service and entertainment were all great. The real bright spot of the cruise was our Cruise Director, Richard Spacey. He was by far the best CD we have ever had on any of our cruises. He really made this trip great.
All in all, it was another wonderful cruise vacation. We all had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it. We had fallen off the wagon and our cruise addiction was back in full swing.
This trip was also going to be our longest cruise as we had booked the 9 night Caribbean cruise. As usual, time flew by and it was soon time to head to the pier. It was a breeze, taking all of about 10 minutes to arrive at the terminal. Once there, we pulled up to the drop off area and unloaded our bags and then I went to park the car in the on-site parking. Check in and boarding went pretty smoothly considering it was a new departure port and everything was new and still being sorted out. My only complaint was the condition of area the ship leaves from. It was a 50+ year old military terminal so it was in need of some work. At the time, the word was that Royal Caribbean and the city of Bayonne were going to jointly develop the site into a modern port along with hotels, condos and shopping. I pass by there daily on my commute to work and so far in the 3 years since, I haven't seen any changes at the site.
Anyway, back to the review. Once we were onboard we were pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the ship. She had just gone in to drydock for a minor refresh prior to starting voyages out of New Jersey. We also realized once in our cabin, that it was the same cabin we were in on our first trip on Voyager in 2000. The cabins though didn't seem to get as much attention as the public areas while the ship was in drydock. There was some obvious wear and tear on the cabin furniture, carpets and other areas. Not a big deal, but noticeable.
This was a 9 night Western Caribbean cruise with stops in Labadee (RCL's private beach), Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. Labadee as usual was very nice. This time we didn't hang around much on the beach. We went back to the ship around lunch time and felt like we had it all to ourselves. We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch where there was no wait. In Ocho Rios, we went to Margaritaville because I had heard a lot of good things about it. We had a great time even if I did manage to drink a wee bit too much. Grand Cayman was very nice. This was our first visit there and we really liked the island. We really wanted to see more of it than we could given the limited time we were there. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to our final stop of Cozumel due to a hurricane in the area. Instead, we turned around and headed back to Jamaica, stopping in Montego Bay. We didn't get off the ship there opting to just hang around and relax.
Once again, the trip lived up to all our expectations. The food, service and entertainment were all great. The real bright spot of the cruise was our Cruise Director, Richard Spacey. He was by far the best CD we have ever had on any of our cruises. He really made this trip great.
All in all, it was another wonderful cruise vacation. We all had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it. We had fallen off the wagon and our cruise addiction was back in full swing.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Past Cruise Review:
Royal Caribbean Cruises "Explorer of the Seas" - 2001 Caribbean
Lisa and I had not really thought of going on another cruise after returning from our trip on "Voyager"in 2000. We really enjoyed that cruise and we were planning to take a break from cruises for a year to save some money. After we got engaged, we began to plan the wedding and we didn't want anything too big or expensive since we would have to pay for it ourselves. The more we thought about it, the more we were leaning toward having the wedding on a cruise. We finally decided on having the ceremony on "Explorer of the Seas". The plan was to have a small ceremony while the ship was still in Miami. We had the choice of having the ceremony in Miami or at St. Thomas which is a U.S. territory (ceremonies at sea are for renewal of vows as they are not considered legal marriages). Our decision to have the wedding in Miami before the ship left was based on prior experience with missed ports of call. We didn't want to pick St. Thomas and not get there because of weather or other unexpected problems. We also wanted some guests to be able to attend the ceremony if they were not also coming on the cruise.
Unlike previous years, we decided to drive to Miami this time. It was fun. I enjoyed the drive down to Miami which we spread out over three days with stops in North Carolina and Jacksonville, FL. We arrived in Miami the day before the cruise and went to our hotel which was in the Miami Beach area. After checking in I took a drive to make sure I knew how to get to the pier. It was only about a 15 minute drive from the hotel. The rest of our party was also to have arrived by that night. Only one person attending the ceremony was not able to also join us on the cruise. Everything went relatively smoothly except for some minor problems like my best man's luggage being lost on his flight into Ft. Lauderdale. Luckily the bag was found later that night. Good thing we had everyone get there the night before.
We were all able to board the ship early because we had the first ceremony scheduled for the day. Lisa, Zachary and I were all on board by about 10:00 A.M. (generally, boarding is not until around 12:00 P.M.) and our cabin was ready so we could change for the wedding. We were very pleased with both the ceremony and reception. Everything was well organized and very nicely done. The wedding , of course, was in the chapel. Flowers were provided as well as a photographer as part of the wedding package we ordered. The reception was in one of the lounges (Maharajas' Lounge) and was also very well done. The reception was a full two hours with an open bar and food. We opted for a DJ for the second hour of the reception which turned out to be a very good idea. The only minor issue we had was the fact that they gave us such a large room for the reception. There were only about 11 of us in the whole party and the room was big enough for a couple hundred people. A more intimate room would have been better. That didn't detract from the party at all and everyone had a great time at the reception. The reception was done by 2:30 and we headed back to the room to change and take our usual video tour of the ship.
The ship was just a fantastic as "Voyager". Our cabin, a mini suite, was also very nicely appointed. It had a large walk-in closet and a bathroom with a tub. The cabin also featured a very large balcony, a queen size bed and a couch that pulled out to a large bed for Zachary. My family's cabin was a deluxe family cabin which was situated at the very front of the ship. Although it did not have a balcony it did have large windows that faced forward with a great view out of the front of the ship. My best man and another friend of mine had an inside cabin which was rather small but nice. The limited space was put to good use and it seemed very comfortable. Those who have been on "Voyager" will not have a problem getting around on "Explorer" as the layout is mostly identical with some minor changes.
The itinerary was different than last year on "Voyager". Royal Caribbean had added a fourth stop on this seven day trip which we feel is too many. You simply do not have enough time at each port to really enjoy it. You always feel like you are rushed. I would rather have an extra day to explore and enjoy the ship. The first stop was in Nassau, Bahamas. I had been there on my first cruise 16 years ago and it was still not very interesting. Since we stopped there on the first day out which was a Sunday, most of the shopping was closed. Aside from shore excursions there is not much else to do there. I would recommend that Royal Caribbean skip that stop and make it a sea day. The second stop was St. Thomas which we have been to before. It is a very nice island with lots of shopping. I went on a mountain bike tour which was good but not recommended for those who are out of shape. The ship also stopped in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was our first visit to Puerto Rico and we really enjoyed it. We would have liked to have had more time at this stop as there was lots to see. We have discussed a return trip to check it out further. Finally the ship also stopped in Labadee which is Royal Caribbean's private part of the island of Hispanola. Beach activities, rafts, jet skis and other water sports are available. Lunch is served on the island by ships crew. This is always a nice stop.
Our family and friends all had a great time on this cruise. There were some first time cruisers as well a some veterans among the party that joined us on the cruise. This was however, the first time any of them had been on a Royal Caribbean ship and they loved it. Their reactions were much the same as ours when we returned from our trip on "Voyager". I think we have just added some additional names to the list of people who consider Royal Caribbean the best cruise line they have ever been on. Most of my family had been on several cruises before this and they cannot stop raving about this one. They loved the ship and the entertainment most of all. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the food did not seem to be as good as it was last year on "Voyager", especially the breakfast and lunch buffets. This did not have an effect on our enjoyment of the cruise. In fact, my family was so pleased with the cruise that they requested a brochure for "Adventure of the Seas", the next ship in the "Voyager" class and planned a cruise for the following summer.
Lisa and I had not really thought of going on another cruise after returning from our trip on "Voyager"in 2000. We really enjoyed that cruise and we were planning to take a break from cruises for a year to save some money. After we got engaged, we began to plan the wedding and we didn't want anything too big or expensive since we would have to pay for it ourselves. The more we thought about it, the more we were leaning toward having the wedding on a cruise. We finally decided on having the ceremony on "Explorer of the Seas". The plan was to have a small ceremony while the ship was still in Miami. We had the choice of having the ceremony in Miami or at St. Thomas which is a U.S. territory (ceremonies at sea are for renewal of vows as they are not considered legal marriages). Our decision to have the wedding in Miami before the ship left was based on prior experience with missed ports of call. We didn't want to pick St. Thomas and not get there because of weather or other unexpected problems. We also wanted some guests to be able to attend the ceremony if they were not also coming on the cruise.
Unlike previous years, we decided to drive to Miami this time. It was fun. I enjoyed the drive down to Miami which we spread out over three days with stops in North Carolina and Jacksonville, FL. We arrived in Miami the day before the cruise and went to our hotel which was in the Miami Beach area. After checking in I took a drive to make sure I knew how to get to the pier. It was only about a 15 minute drive from the hotel. The rest of our party was also to have arrived by that night. Only one person attending the ceremony was not able to also join us on the cruise. Everything went relatively smoothly except for some minor problems like my best man's luggage being lost on his flight into Ft. Lauderdale. Luckily the bag was found later that night. Good thing we had everyone get there the night before.
We were all able to board the ship early because we had the first ceremony scheduled for the day. Lisa, Zachary and I were all on board by about 10:00 A.M. (generally, boarding is not until around 12:00 P.M.) and our cabin was ready so we could change for the wedding. We were very pleased with both the ceremony and reception. Everything was well organized and very nicely done. The wedding , of course, was in the chapel. Flowers were provided as well as a photographer as part of the wedding package we ordered. The reception was in one of the lounges (Maharajas' Lounge) and was also very well done. The reception was a full two hours with an open bar and food. We opted for a DJ for the second hour of the reception which turned out to be a very good idea. The only minor issue we had was the fact that they gave us such a large room for the reception. There were only about 11 of us in the whole party and the room was big enough for a couple hundred people. A more intimate room would have been better. That didn't detract from the party at all and everyone had a great time at the reception. The reception was done by 2:30 and we headed back to the room to change and take our usual video tour of the ship.
The ship was just a fantastic as "Voyager". Our cabin, a mini suite, was also very nicely appointed. It had a large walk-in closet and a bathroom with a tub. The cabin also featured a very large balcony, a queen size bed and a couch that pulled out to a large bed for Zachary. My family's cabin was a deluxe family cabin which was situated at the very front of the ship. Although it did not have a balcony it did have large windows that faced forward with a great view out of the front of the ship. My best man and another friend of mine had an inside cabin which was rather small but nice. The limited space was put to good use and it seemed very comfortable. Those who have been on "Voyager" will not have a problem getting around on "Explorer" as the layout is mostly identical with some minor changes.
The itinerary was different than last year on "Voyager". Royal Caribbean had added a fourth stop on this seven day trip which we feel is too many. You simply do not have enough time at each port to really enjoy it. You always feel like you are rushed. I would rather have an extra day to explore and enjoy the ship. The first stop was in Nassau, Bahamas. I had been there on my first cruise 16 years ago and it was still not very interesting. Since we stopped there on the first day out which was a Sunday, most of the shopping was closed. Aside from shore excursions there is not much else to do there. I would recommend that Royal Caribbean skip that stop and make it a sea day. The second stop was St. Thomas which we have been to before. It is a very nice island with lots of shopping. I went on a mountain bike tour which was good but not recommended for those who are out of shape. The ship also stopped in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was our first visit to Puerto Rico and we really enjoyed it. We would have liked to have had more time at this stop as there was lots to see. We have discussed a return trip to check it out further. Finally the ship also stopped in Labadee which is Royal Caribbean's private part of the island of Hispanola. Beach activities, rafts, jet skis and other water sports are available. Lunch is served on the island by ships crew. This is always a nice stop.
Our family and friends all had a great time on this cruise. There were some first time cruisers as well a some veterans among the party that joined us on the cruise. This was however, the first time any of them had been on a Royal Caribbean ship and they loved it. Their reactions were much the same as ours when we returned from our trip on "Voyager". I think we have just added some additional names to the list of people who consider Royal Caribbean the best cruise line they have ever been on. Most of my family had been on several cruises before this and they cannot stop raving about this one. They loved the ship and the entertainment most of all. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the food did not seem to be as good as it was last year on "Voyager", especially the breakfast and lunch buffets. This did not have an effect on our enjoyment of the cruise. In fact, my family was so pleased with the cruise that they requested a brochure for "Adventure of the Seas", the next ship in the "Voyager" class and planned a cruise for the following summer.
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