J. Riley

Age: 47
Occupation: Healthcare Consulting Company Owner
Number of Cruises: 9
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean International
Name of Ship: Voyager of the Seas
Sailing Date: February 23rd, 2003
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

We had a Category D8, superior outside room with balcony on Deck 8. The room was quite spacious (in comparison to an inside cabin – our three sons were in one of these across the hall from us.) We had a sofa and sitting area, which was nice, but the biggest advantage from the balcony (other than being able to sit out on it) and the sliding glass doors leading to it, was the tremendous amount of light it affords the room.

We had PERFECT weather on this cruise – I think there was only one overcast day that didn’t last long before it burned-off. Temperatures were quite warm to hot (Mexico, in Playa del Carmen, was 105 the day we took our shore excursion to Xcaret!)

We ate most evening meals in the Magic Flute restaurant. Our waiter, Christian (Romania), and Assistant waiter, Boris (Bulgaria), were GREAT. Raquel (Philippines), the wine steward at dinner, was FANTASTIC and we’ll always remember her.

Harley, the waiter in the Aquarium Bar was a joy and he too will not be forgotten. Cathy-Ann, our room attendant was polite, friendly, fast and efficient and her services were greatly appreciated. Leonardo, our sons’ room attendant was great as well and really deserved “combat pay” for dealing with our sons’ late hours and messy room!

My wife and one of our sons took in the “Broadway” revue and said it was truly a treat – very talented performers putting on a very professional and enjoyable show.

Now for the cruise stops and our excursions: first was Labadee. We spent a couple of hours on the beach, had a few “Coco Loco’s”, and light lunch from RCI’s barbeque transported from the ship.

Jamaica came next. We had paralleled arriving with the Sun Princess, which moored at the James Bond pier. Our boys and us split up and went on separate excursions – we went to a working plantation called Brimmer Hall, where we rode around the acreage sipping rum swizzles and learning about the flora grown on this producing estate. A little shopping at the estates shops allowed us to pick up three pounds of the magnificent Blue Mountain coffee. A tour of the great house finished this portion of the trip and then we were off to Dunns River Falls. Although we didn’t climb it (except “dry”), we met up with our children who had climbed it three times! The falls were much nicer than we had heard and it was a very pleasant interlude. Next was a little shopping at Soni Plaza in town.

Tendering to Georgetown, Grand Cayman, took just a few minutes. Two other ships were in harbor that day – Carnival’s new Conquest and the Carnival Paradise. Although the Conquest is a big ship at 110,00 tons, we could still look down on her from the top decks of Voyager. Turning around to look at Voyager from land, the sheer size of this vessel is nothing short of awesome! The Caymans appeared very affluent and very Americanized, with a lot of our fast food restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Burger King, etc., and this was a little disappointing – we could have been in Miami! The beaches, though, were gorgeous and we spent about 4 hours lounging on Seven Mile Beach and swimming in the crystal clear waters. We headed back to town for an hour’s shopping. My wife purchased some fresh water pearl/black coral earrings.

Next morning, we arrived in Cozumel and we elected to take a ferry to the mainland and spend the day at Xcaret, a seaside ecological park. What a beautiful place! Gorgeous, azure waters, a fantastic underground river, which we floated down for an hour, beautiful lagoons and cenotes in which to snorkel and swim…a beautiful day! The sea breeze here made the hot day much more tolerable than in-town Playa del Carmen.

The one sour note was our youngest son had his Sea Pass card stolen on the last night outside The Vault disco. The thief had charged $60 to my account by the next morning. A thoroughly unpleasant encounter with a rude Guest Services representative ensued in which he and RCI would not remove this charge from my account. Subsequently, a faxed letter of complaint to RCI’s “Customer Service” office in Miami failed to even produce a response, so needless to say, I am disputing this charge to my Visa account. Also, watch the mini-bars! My son’s account was charged $53.00 for five bottled waters and a Sprite because the contents of the fridge had to be moved to access some of these items and you move it, you pay for it, whether consumed or not! These examples are truly beneath and company that otherwise provides experiences “like no vacation on earth.”
 

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