Dorothy Earl

Age: 52
Occupation: Database Specialist
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean International
Ship: Voyager of the Seas
Sailing Date: July 7th, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

I spent the last three days before I left on my cruise reading reviews and I found them to be incredibly helpful, so the least I can do is provide a review as well … particularly one that fills in the blanks (day-before program and traveling with kids). I was taking my 8-year old daughter on this trip … just the two of us and I knew from past cruises that Royal Caribbean knew how to pamper adults, but I had some misgivings that they wouldn’t be the right choice for Genni. I needn’t have worried. We both had a fabulous time.

I had opted for the day-before program and they put us up at the Hyatt Regency in Miami. We walked down to Bayside on Saturday and got our first glimpse of what we would be in for the next day, as the Explorer sat at the pier. Having cruised many years earlier on the Sovereign of the Seas I was partially prepared for the size, but it still was an impressive sight.

The next morning we were directed to check in at the Royal Caribbean Desk in the hotel lobby at 9:30 where we were assigned bus #2. We were to return to the lobby at noon to board our bus. I expected this process to be a smooth transfer, as it had been 14 years ago. I didn’t bank on the sheer logistics of moving that many people and their luggage. Since the security changes require that day-before passengers move all their luggage to the hotel (instead of RC transferring the bulk of it from the airport to the pier) we faced a considerable delay to load it and then unload again at the pier. You couldn’t board the bus until you saw the driver load your luggage. You couldn’t board the ship until the driver unloaded your luggage and you identified it to the porter on the pier. Accordingly, it was an hour and a half from the time I left my hotel room till the bus even left the hotel. I urge anyone who chooses this option to grab a cab to the pier. You’ll be among the first to get to the ship and relax, instead of spending all afternoon in long lines waiting for the next process.

At the pier the porter who stands there watching the bus driver unload your luggage is primarily interested in repeating to all the folks getting off the bus that he is going to take your luggage directly to your cabin and it will be there when you get to your cabin. So if you want to “remember” him, now is the time. We all blindly forked over several bucks, but we didn’t get the advertised service. I don’t mind tipping a baggage handler, but I object to the fabrication. The fact is that if that young man was the one who delivered my luggage to my cabin door, then he sailed with us … because although most of it arrived just before we sailed, the last piece didn’t get there until 7:00 p.m.

Embarkation involved a long wait to snake through the lines, but we were in a nice air-conditioned terminal and the staff was quite efficient. An interesting note is that the notarized statement I’d been directed to bring (from Genni’s father stating that he gave his permission for her to leave the country for a trip with me) was never asked for during the boarding process. One of those pre-cruise hassles I could have done without!

For those of you taking children, take special note that they punch holes in their boarding cards (drink restrictions). Those holes are quite handy for slipping the card onto a clip or key ring. I was one of the few who had carefully packed a clip that was attached to a long band and Genni wore that around her neck whenever she left the cabin.

I had selected an atrium view cabin. I knew I would have a couple hours each morning to sit and enjoy a view while Genni was sleeping and I had decided that people-watching would be fun. It was certainly the right choice. We had a bird’s eye view of everything from the eighth deck right above the Pig and Whistle. The vantage point worked well in the evening, too. Genni was able to watch the antics of the Krooze Komics from the window seat while I did my hair each evening for dinner. I was concerned that the music below would be a problem for sleeping, but it wasn’t. Despite the fact that we generally called it a night by 10:30, the music was a distant sound … and less of an intrusion than the thumps and bangs of closing doors and flushing toilets.

The décor – Prepare to be absolutely overwhelmed. At first you try to take it all in at once and it blows you away. You go from Ancient Rome to Star Trek to Cleopatra’s Egypt and then you wander down the cobblestone street. There isn’t a gradual segue from one to the other. You have to learn to take each environment as it’s own little experience.

Traveling with Kids – RC has a well-planned program to assure that in the case of an emergency when your child is not with you, your staff will bring the child to the muster station. You are to proceed directly to your muster station where you will be reunited. Children under the age of 11 receive a wrist-band during the boarding process which identifies their muster station. And they must wear it during the entire trip. I saw one child who was refused the use of the waterslide because he was clearly under 11 and didn’t have one on. They do not, however, have much of a system for reuniting lost children with their parents. I went through an incredibly tense time when I lost track of Genni at one point and she clearly failed to remember our contingency plan for returning to the cabin if separated unexpectedly. Please do yourself a favor and rehearse the “lost child” plan with your offspring several times.

The Children’s Menu – Bring a pencil with you to the Dining Room. The eight-page children’s menu has plenty of stuff to do but the crayons break incredibly easily and I was particularly concerned about the amount of crayon wax Genni left on the tablecloth. By the end of the cruise you may need to bring a puzzle book that is age-appropriate for your child. There were apparently only 2 versions of the children’s menu and how often can a kid do the same mazes?

The service – My experience mirrored that of so many others who wrote reviews. If the server had a shot at a tip, you got great service. If not, you could expect professional service, at best. There was a marvelous exception. During one of the open seating breakfasts in the dining room, we were served by Ashton and he clearly had fun with all of his guests. I am disappointed that RC does not take heed what all these reviewers say. The attitude of many of the help in the Windjammer bordered on sullen. Can you imagine such a thing being tolerated of the staff at Disney World? I think RC needs to bring in some Disney trainers.

The food – I was very satisfied with the Dining Room experience. The ambiance, the service, the food. I certainly have no complaints. The one meal I didn’t care for was the pot roast at lunch (too tough), so I sent it back and they brought me something else. As for the Windjammer, we used it often for breakfast and the food was standard buffet fare … but I’m relatively easy to please. I can recommend the waffles, which you can bury in strawberries and then load on lots of whipped cream (you diet next week, remember!) …although, some mornings the strawberries were still a bit frozen. As for the extra expenses for the unlimited soda pop, I had planned to go for it, but I discovered that Genni was quite delighted with fruit juice on the rocks in a fancy goblet at meal times. As for me, if I ordered iced tea, I was drinking considerably less sugar … and since my sugar intake with those breakfast waffles probably exceeded what I normally have an entire day, I skipped the expense. One warning: When you enter the Windjammer, that bundle of silverware they slap on a wet plate and hand you does not contain a spoon. Spoons (if they are stocked) are located by the yogurt and also by the cold cereal. The one server seemed surprised that I wasn’t satisfied with the offering of tablespoons by the cold cereal, but wordlessly disappeared into the kitchen to fetch me one teaspoon for my daughter. Then she had to make a return trip for one more for me.

Snack and drinks – Everyone was drawn to Sprinkles … whether it was working or not. Remember, we had an atrium-view cabin within clear view of the parade of passengers trying to get ice cream. Like a stingy slot machine, the thing only seemed to be paying out in the afternoon or early evening. As for extra touches, there was usually a nice bin of two different kinds of sprinkles to add, but there were no sauces to apply. Mind you, it’s not like we needed more goodies, but it was a dreadful tease to have those sauce dispensers sitting there advertising the fact that they should be dispensing four different kinds of sauces … and they had tape across them. Special note: They only provide cones. If you want it in a cup, go to the Café Promenade first and grab a coffee cup and a plastic spoon.

The entertainment – if you are bored on this ship, it’s your own fault. The list of musical entertainers contains something for everyone. I even had the delightful opportunity to chat with the Rosario Strings who I remember from my first cruise on the Sovereign of the Seas in 1988. Our first headliner act was the Nelsons, who I thoroughly enjoyed. (Yes, despite the fact that I have an eight-year-old, I came of age when Ricky Nelson was still very popular.) Our second headliner was All 4 One, a one-hit wonder from the sixties that I remembered as well. The parades are not to be missed. We could have viewed them from the cabin, but I figured the pictures would be better from ground level. We chose the Pig and Whistle as our viewing spot and I highly recommend it. Arrive about an hour early to get a seat outside and you will be rewarded with an uninhibited view of the approaching parade. In the unlikely event that someone stands in front of the tables to block the view, your children will still have the option to stand on a chair (adults who stand on the chairs are immediately notified to step down) and still be able to see.

The waterslide – It’s not open very often … maybe only a couple hours a day. But it is certainly worth planning part of the day around a time when it is open. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just for kids. They readily let adults play with their kids and we had a wonderful afternoon at this surprisingly unused amenity.

Adventure Ocean – On the afternoon of the first day at sea I had to force the issue of Genni going to Adventure Ocean. She was having a wonderful time with me and wasn’t too sure about going into a situation where she didn’t really know anybody. I dropped her off and came to check on her an hour later … she was having so much fun she briefly acknowledged my presence and returned to her friends. It became her number one choice of what she wanted to do as we reviewed the overall schedule each morning. The staff is wonderfully energetic and seems to have a wonderful time with the kids. I believe her two favorite events were the pirate party (with face painting) and the pajama party (she got to take three of her stuffed animals). They had a nice mix of craft activities, games, and science experiments. They also housed each age group in an imaginative play space where they could work out some excess energy during free time and interact with the other kids. The one thing they could have done better was include some things on the schedule that encouraged parental involvement (beyond the 5-minute balloon toss on Labadee). I would have valued some opportunities for more of a shared experience with my daughter. Just for starters, a far-flung family scavenger hunt on Labadee could have replaced the tiny scavenger hunt they had for the kids in their limited play space. I heard a number of parents (with kids of all ages) bemoaning the fact that their kids were dumping them when what they really wanted to do was go “explore” as a family.

Ports-of-Call –

Labadee was beautiful. My daughter had never swum in the ocean and had the delightful experience of finding several large starfish in the water. I thought the beach mats were over-priced, but the banana-boat ride was worth every penny (not available for children under ten). Leave your money on the ship and just take your boarding card for drinks. I heeded the reviews and skipped the marketplace. Those who went in were sorry (it was difficult to evade the vendors and escape) and those who purchased could have saved money and bought the same stuff in Cozumel for less. As for braiding the hair, I heard one woman was quoted $50 for a full head … and $35 for the crown. She asked how much she could get for $25 and they turned her down. Nobody paid nearly that much in Jamaica the next day.

Jamaica was my favorite. Again I took the advice of the reviews and had booked Peat Taylor’s tour two days before I left home. The guy was marvelous. Dunn’s River Falls was a blast (buy your water-shoes at home like we did … the Voyager was selling them for $20/pair). Don’t go it alone and listen to the guides. They do a very good job and their focus is on making sure it’s a safe climb. You’ll be expected to tip the guides at the end of the climb … but you don’t have to bring the cash to the falls. They will follow you back to your locker. Peat took us downtown to shop after lunch at the ship and we went to the flea market. It was a neat experience. Although there was plenty of persistence on the part of the shopkeepers, it was more in the way of a gentle invitation to “see my things” and “wouldn’t this be nice for the little girl?” But if you were pretty clear that you weren’t interested, they abandoned the pitch and settled back into their chair.

Grand Cayman – we never went ashore. Although we had planned to go to Stingray City, we decided the day before that we needed to take a break and relax … after all it was supposed to be a vacation and we’d begun to fall into the trap of trying to experience everything. We took a much needed relaxation day and spent much of it on the pool deck. Special Note: We happened to be in the pool under the bandstand as the ship left port that afternoon and for about 20 minutes we had a one-foot wave that sloshed back and forth as the ship picked up speed. There were only about 20 of us in the pool and we had a riot.

Cozumel – I would have liked to do the ruins, but not in July. So we settled for a little bit of shopping and then back to the pool deck to relax. You can spend $6 for a taxi ride to downtown … or shop right at the pier. The closer you are to the ship, the less chance you have that the shopkeeper will deal. Cross the street to the older marketplace and the starting prices are better than the final prices the pier shopkeepers give you. I was anticipating a fun experience of some friendly give-and-take bargaining. Instead I discovered that the shopkeepers were largely a sullen lot, particularly on the pier. Most of them in the older marketplace were much nicer.

What to pack –

Be certain to bring 2-3 of those one-time use waterproof cameras. They take great out-doors pictures and you don’t have to worry about someone stealing an unattended camera (who wants a throw-away camera half-filled with someone else’s pictures?). And only the very fool-hardy would take along an expensive camera on the climb up Dunn’s Falls. Ladies, don’t listen to those people who are trying to figure out on how to get by with less … be sure to over-pack. You’ll be less likely to decide you need something you didn’t bring and end up buying it at inflated ship’s prices. Far better to return home with a few things you never got the chance to wear. Remember, you will be changing 4-5 times a day. We had three fun months of pre-cruise shopping and planning. I even made us some matching outfits. All that extra changing means you should bring extra underwear … especially for the kids. Be sure to bring conditioner for your hair. They provide a combo shampoo-conditioner. I heard more than one woman who was searching the shops on board and ashore for separate conditioner. The effect of all that sun and salt-water resulted in rather frizzled hair and you will wish you had conditioner.

Disembarkation was incredibly smooth. I was supposed to be in the first group off, but I didn’t get my act together until they were already calling the second group. The luggage carousels worked very well and all my luggage was on carousel one … just as I had been told it would be. I had tied flower-pattered ribbons to each piece and even the guy next to me (who was trying to figure out which black, unmarked pieces were his) could spot my stuff long before it reached us. Frankly, the airport baggage handlers should take lessons from how RC handlers loaded the luggage on the carousels. Nearly all the pieces were upright with at least one handle either facing on the top or on the side … very easy to grab. When I got outside, I had some confusion determining where the bus to the Ft. Lauderdale airport was. It turned out to be one of the three buses parked under Miami airport signs. I had to go back and ask three times before someone escorted me to the unmarked bus. When I boarded, I found that everyone else had stumbled around in similar confusion.

This was without a doubt one of the best vacations I have ever taken … my daughter even rated it higher than our past big vacation, which was a week at the Wilderness Lodge in Disney World.

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