Hits and Misses from my Southern Caribbean Cruise on Voyager of the Seas

My sister and I recently returned from a 7-night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas. We departed from Puerto Rico and visited the ports of St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Kitts. My excursions at these ports also allowed me to experience the islands of St. John and Nevis.

Overall, it was a wonderful cruise. Even though my sister was quarantined for a day and I had issues with getting back home, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Of course, nothing is perfect. Here are some hits and misses from my cruise on Voyager of the Seas.

Hits

Our Cabin: I picked cabin 1108, which is a balcony cabin on the 11th floor in the forward section of the ship. I picked this because it’s a bigger cabin than most normal balcony cabins, but it was still the same price as other balcony cabins. The inside was spacious with a separate sitting area.

 

Our balcony was huge! I loved sitting out here.

For some reason, our cabin attendant called it a Junior Suite and provided us twice-a-day service instead of the “new normal” once-a-day service.

The Ports/Itinerary: When my sister picked out this cruise with a different port every day and no sea days, I was skeptical. I’d never done a cruise this port-intensive and I thought it would be stressful. However, I loved every port we visited and I experienced lots of new-to-me sights. I’ll review my excursions in future posts. But for now, here are the few words that come to mind when I think of each island:

St. John: Unspoiled beaches and lush vegetation

St. Maarten: Crystal clear water

St. Croix: Sea life everywhere

St. Lucia: Twin peaks

Barbados: Interesting flora and caves

St. Kitts: Monkeys galore

Nevis: Cutest island

Puerto Rico: Historic Old San Juan

I couldn’t pick a favorite island if I tried. They were all interesting in their own way.

Main Dining Room: My sister and I were assigned to the early dining time at a table for 8 people. We shared our table with three couples, and I enjoyed our conversation. The food at the main dining room was also my favorite food on the entire ship.

Service: Our dining room servers were great, and we loved our room attendant, Emmanuel. He was so friendly and thorough. Every crew member we encountered was upbeat and helpful. I loved the energy of the morning “washy-washy” crew member.

Misses

Dining Options/Food Quality: Since Voyager of the Seas is a smaller and older ship than the other Royal Caribbean ships I’ve experienced, the food options were not as varied. There were no fast food food options on the Lido deck. The only included food options were the main dining room, the buffet and the Promenade Cafe that had a very limited selection of pizza, sandwiches and cookies. While I enjoyed the buffet for breakfast, I was not a big fan of it for lunch. The buffet selection was not nearly as plentiful as I experienced on Anthem of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas.

I did splurge on a sushi dinner at Izumi one night (the cost was an extra $35). The sushi didn’t taste as fresh or flavorful as the sushi I get in local restaurants near my home. Even the ice cream cones from the machine weren’t that good. The ice cream had more ice than cream.

Entertainment: The nightly entertainment was the biggest miss on Voyager of the Seas. The ship doesn’t have a big Broadway production like the larger Royal Caribbean ships have. The main shows included a jazz band with singers and dancers. I watched a Broadway songs show as well as a show with music from movies. Both shows seemed like they hadn’t been updated in 20+ years and were geared toward people over age 70. The one bright spot in the entertainment was the ice skating show. It was the only show where the people filled up all of the seats.

Overall Thoughts

Voyager of the Seas didn’t have the “wow” factor I’ve experienced on other ships like Harmony of the Seas or even Carnival Celebration. The nighttime entertainment was not compelling, and don’t think my kids wouldn’t have been very impressed with the ship in general. However, it served as a fine vessel to take us to those great ports. I felt pampered with the service and the food in the main dining room. And, I would sail on the ship again for the right itinerary.