A Cruise Ship is a Hotel at Sea
I know so many people that have never experienced a cruise vacation just because they don’t understand what makes a cruise so special. Think of it this way, a cruise ship is like an all-inclusive hotel on land except instead, it floats along the ocean.
I know. You’re ready to pounce on me because alcoholic beverages are not included in the fees and the alcohol packages add a hefty expense on most cruise ships. Yes, you are correct. However, I do not cruise to drink alcohol. I cruise to enjoy a vacation filled with sunshine, ocean breezes, and many, many included amenities.
I recently hopped aboard Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas ship and had a wonderful time. How did I select this particular cruise? I looked at the cruises offered at my chosen port on the dates I had available to vacation. Voyager of the Seas met my requirements. It’s a simple, yet exciting selection process.
Facts about Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas
Yes, Voyager of the Seas is an older, smaller ship but still awesome and still huge enough to hold 3,258-passengers. There are 15 decks on the ship and the length of the ship is 1,020 feet long, comparable to the length of three football fields. The good news is that Royal Caribbean spent $97 million in 2019 to enhance this ship.
Even better, compared to other ships, I landed a great deal sailing on Voyager of the Seas. Look at the prices of the new ships, like Star of the Seas, Icon of the Seas, or Utopia of the Seas. Those ships are way out of my travel budget. Voyager of the Seas offers many of the same cruise benefits and in my opinion, comparable activities, dining, and entertainment.
Weekend Cruise Ports of Call
This cruise was a 3-night weekend cruise, but you must trust me when I say that three days and nights on a cruise are so action packed that it feels like a very long vacation. This weekend trip began on Friday and ended early Monday morning. The ship visited the Royal Caribbean owned, private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay and Cozumel, Mexico. The third day was a day at sea, floating calmly in the beautiful Atlantic Ocean soaking up sunshine and enjoying everything the ship has to offer.
Voyager of the Seas Embarkation Morning
First, I will disclaim that I am no stranger to cruising at sea. To date, I’ve taken 16 Royal Caribbean cruises, six of which were solo. A solo cruise is not a “singles only” cruise. It’s simply a vacation when I travel alone. I pick a date, pick a ship, book a cabin, and pack my bags. I pack only comfortable clothes, sneakers, and flip flops. No fancy attire needed.
On embarkation day of my Voyager of the Seas cruise, I arrived at Port Canaveral around 10:30 am as my boarding time was 11:00 am. I dropped off my big piece of luggage at the designated drop off location. I parked my car on the second floor of the parking garage. There is a parking fee that you pay when entering the parking garage using a credit card at a drive-up machine. I simply swiped my credit card, grabbed the ticket from the machine, and parked my car. There’s an elevator and stairs that you can take to get down to street level. On street level, you follow the signs to the terminal building to first go through security.
Since I checked in my large suitcase, I only carried a small duffel bag and my handbag. The large luggage piece that I dropped off earlier will be waiting outside my stateroom door later on in the day.
I headed quickly through security and right to the check-in area. The check-in process on a cruise is easy with help from the Royal Caribbean app on my cell phone. A Royal Caribbean team member simply scanned my Set and Sail Pass, and I was ready to board.
Stepping Aboard the Ship
The magnificence of the ship hits you as soon as you take your first step aboard and enter the ship right into the Royal Promenade, the center of the ship, a four-story very long atrium. Boarding the ship is a relief knowing that I arrived safely and on time, so my vacation has officially begun. The smell in the air is a mix of coffee and pizza served at the Café Promenade.
Since my stateroom will not be ready until 1pm, I have two hours to explore the ship and read the daily planner on the Royal Caribbean app that shows at a glance all the activities for the 3- night cruise.
Within the first hour on the ship, I like to locate my designated muster station to show the muster attendant that I completed watching the safety briefings on the app. Your muster station number is based on cabin location and where you would meet in the event of an emergency.
During my exploration of the ship, I rode the elevator up to pool level, walked around and then headed back down to visit the main dining room, Royal Theater, skating rink, and other ship venues. I took a few moments to window shop along the retail stores located on the Royal Promenade level. The stores do not open until the ship embarks from the port.
Before I knew it, it was time for an early lunch, so I took the elevator up to deck 11 where the Windjammer Café offers a huge buffet. From burgers to pasta to the best bread selections, there were tons of food choices, so it was hard not to overeat on day one!
My Inside Cabin With a Promenade View Stateroom
At 1pm, I headed to my stateroom, number 6553 on Deck 6. Most staterooms are located between decks 6 and 12. When it comes to accommodations, there are inside cabins (no windows), outside cabins that offer an ocean-view window or a full balcony, and higher priced spacious suites. For my Voyager of the Seas cruise I reserved an inside “Promenade View” cabin that featured an interior window view of the Promenade walkway below. So, while I didn’t get any natural sunlight, I did feel like this inside cabin was lighter and brighter than a standard inside cabin. My cabin was ideal for watching the afternoon parade. I was pleased that the room was quiet. Somehow I didn’t hear any music or voices from the Promenade.
Cruise staterooms are on the small side but once you get used to it, you realize it’s just the right size. With so many activities to do on a cruise, you basically only sleep, shower, and get dressed in your stateroom. While the room is comfortable, the bathroom is minimal, and the shower is standing room only. I can’t guarantee that you won’t hit your arms on the shower wall while shampooing your hair.
In addition to twin size beds that were put together to form one larger bed, my stateroom provided a sitting area with a couch, vanity area with a large mirror great for applying makeup, TV, and a tiny cooler type of refrigerator. The room was immaculately clean, and the stateroom attendant assigned to my room visited once daily to remake my bed, vacuum, and rehang my bathroom towels. He also provided daily flyers alerting me to store sales and other special events. I must not forget to mention the adorable, clever towel animals that he made for me daily.
Restaurants and Lounges Aboard
There are multiple dining options on Voyager of the Seas. Some options are included, and others require a fee. The complimentary dining options include the main dining room, the Windjammer Cafe buffet and the Café Promenade. The specialty restaurants include Giovanni’s Table, Johnny Rockets, Chops Grille and Izumi.
Here are my thoughts on cruise dining. Why would I need to pay a fee for a restaurant when there is so much delicious food at the free dining room and the buffet?
For breakfast, I prefer the Windjammer Café where I can fill up on just about every breakfast food you can imagine from omelets made to order, bacon, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, grits, fruits, cereals, muffins, bagels, croissants, donuts, the highly popular hash brown triangles and so much more!
For lunch, I would either return to the Windjammer Café or stop in the Café Promenade 24-hour cafe for coffee, tea, mini sandwiches, and pizza.
My daily afternoon snack was the free ice cream cone at Sprinkles near the pool on Deck 11. I also ate my weight in Royal Caribbean chocolate chip cookies, lemon cookies, and coconut cookies. They are so good! On the Royal Promenade, there is also a Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream shop if you don’t mind paying a fee.
I ate dinner in the main dining room for two nights on the cruise. The servers in the main dining room are incredible, oftentimes knowing what I needed before I asked. I dropped a fork and before I could even reach it, the server replaced it with a new fork. Being that I had the same dining room server for the entirety of the cruise, he took special care of my meals as I have a shellfish allergy, making safe suggestions for me from the menu.
Rather than go to the “formal night” in the main dining room and avoid having to dress fancy, I opted to eat dinner at the Windjammer café one evening. The buffet offers a great dinner with a ton of dinner selections from American dishes to Asian, Indian, Italian, French, Mexican, and Caribbean. There’s something for everyone.
One note: The Windjammer closes at 9 p.m., so if you’re looking for an evening snack, you can get a mini sandwich, fruit cup, or slice of pizza at Cafe Promenade.
Whether you purchase the alcohol refreshment package or pay for drinks ala carte, there are many bars and lounges on Voyager of the Seas including:
:: Schooner Bar
:: The Tavern
:: Pig and Whistle Pub
:: Solarium Bar
:: Pool Bar
:: Sky Bar
:: Viking Crown Lounge
:: Star Lounge
:: R Bar
:: Casino Royale Bar
Beverages note: Although you can get free basic coffee and tea in the Promenade Café, you pay for fancy coffee and teas like lattes, espresso and other specialty drinks. You can get free juice, water, and iced tea around the ship, but you pay for soda, alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic cocktail type drinks like virgin pina colada or virgin strawberry daquiri.
Shopping on the Royal Promenade
In addition to bars and cafes on the Royal Promenade, there are also a variety of shops. Featured in the retail stores are designer brands, Royal Caribbean merchandise, snacks, toiletries, souvenirs, and other exclusives, many at special prices you won’t find on land. Popular items that are often set up like a sidewalk sale spread among the Promenade floor are watches, liquor, jewelry, perfume, and apparel, all tax and duty free, offered with special cruise sales. It’s always nice to take a break from the non-stop sport of eating and stroll down the Royal Promenade to souvenir shop.
Music, Theater, and Other Shows
After dinner, I looked forward to visiting the Royal Theater, as there was a different musical production or act to enjoy each evening. My cruise offered the following theater shows:
:: Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme
:: Music in Pictures
:: Comedy show
:: Juggler
I laughed. I sang along. I was amazed at the level of talent stepping onto the stage.
One evening, I had the pleasure of seeing The Ice Odyssey ice-skating show at Studio B. The show was phenomenal with performances by talented professional skaters from all over the world. The music, costumes, and impressive choreography/jumps had me on the edge of my seat throughout the show. During the day, there is free open skating for guests at the rink, but I didn’t want to risk injuring myself. Note: You need to make reservations ahead of time and wear pants and socks to free skate.
In addition to the production shows, there are also live bands performing continuously each night at different ship venues. Talented world-class musicians play a variety of musical genres.
Out on the pool deck, a DJ plays popular music and teaches line dances. There are also outdoor movie nights playing popular movies on the huge screen at the pool deck. It was so nice to relax on a lounge, enjoying the ocean breeze while watching a free movie.
Swimming on the Voyager of the Seas
There are two pools on deck 11 of Voyager of the Seas. The adult-only Solarium pool is where I spent most of my time. Quiet, comfortable, and a nice way to meet and chat with other adult cruise passengers. While the sea day was quite busy at the Solarium with lounges all claimed by 10am, I simply placed my towel on a chair and spent most of the time enjoying the sun while in the pool and hot tubs. I could have reserved a cabana for a fee but it wasn’t cost-justified for me.
The ship offers many lounges and chairs on other various decks outside the Solarium, so I moved around to different parts of the pool decks to enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean. Adding to the fun tropical atmosphere at sea is the continuous bar service while at the pool. Servers took orders and delivered cocktails (with tiny umbrellas!) right to my chair.
Other Onboard Activities
One look at the daily itinerary on the app and your calendar will quickly fill up. Whether you want to go to trivia, take dance lessons, play bingo, sports competitions, alcohol tastings, pool games, or listen to live music, you can keep busy all day long.
Here are other activities:
:: The Perfect Storm water slides
:: FlowRider surf simulator
:: Battle for Planet Z Lazer Tag
:: Basketball/volleyball/pickleball court
:: Rock climbing wall
:: Ice skating
:: Royal Caribbean Arcade
:: Miniature golf
:: Vitality℠ Spa and Fitness Centre
:: Outdoor jogging track on Deck 12
:: Park West Gallery art collection
:: Casino Royale
:: Library/Board games/card room
Visiting Perfect Day at CocoCay and Cozumel
The first port we visited aboard Voyager of the Seas was Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island. The island is separated into sections, each beach area enjoying a beautiful view of the ocean. There is an Oasis Lagoon pool area, South Beach, and Chill Island quieter beach area. There are also excursions that require a fee including the Thrill Waterpark, CocoCay Beach Club, Hideaway Adult Beach, private cabanas, and more. I ate for free at the amazing barbecue buffet and other free restaurants like the Snack Shack and Captain Jack’s Hideaway. The pool’s swim up bar is a fun addition to spending the day at CocoCay.
The second port we docked at was Cozumel. Cozumel is a popular destination for its beautiful beaches, water activities (like snorkeling and scuba diving), and shopping. I had already visited Mexico a few times, so I did not purchase an excursion tour. Instead, I walked off the Voyager of the Seas and spent a few hours strolling through the Port’s private shopping plaza exclusive for cruise passengers that features many shops, restaurants, and bars. I was excited to purchase locally-sourced honey and handcrafted bracelets as I had purchased on previous visits.
Lots to Do For Free on the Ship
You don’t need to spend a lot of additional money onboard this ship. You pay enough money when you book the cruise. As I mentioned, you can eat for free, attend activities for free, and watch a huge array of amazing entertainment for free. Meals in the main dining room and at the Windjammer Marketplace buffet, as well as at Cafe Promenade are free. Shows in the Royal Theater are free as are the majority of activities and events aboard the ship. The fitness center is free as is the sports court, ice skating rink, water slides, FlowRider surf simulator, rock climbing wall, Karaoke, laser tag, and miniature golf. There is even a free Adventure Ocean Kids Club for passengers 3 to 17 years old.
I continue to avoid paying the additional fees associated with alcohol drinks, specialty restaurants, spa services, arcade, WIFI, professional photos, and room service.
There is a caveat that I must mention. You are required to pay automatic onboard gratuities that covers all standard tipping onboard. This covers the stateroom attendant and main dining room servers, so you are not expected to tip extra unless you feel the need to reward a special team member. I typically pay the automatic gratuity upon making my reservation, so it’s not charged to my credit card during cruise week.
Disembarkation Day is Always Sad
The minute I step off a cruise ship, I’m already contemplating my next cruise weekend. It truly is a unique hotel, one that glides along the big, blue ocean. The sunrises and sunsets are spectacular. The fresh air and sound of the ocean waves, so relaxing and rejuvenating. Each morning, I made my way out to the open deck to sit down with my tea and just soak it all in.
Here’s the best part: I was able to sit back the entire weekend and for once, let someone else do the driving, thanks to the Captain of Voyager of the Seas.