Great Family Experience
Voyager of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 13
7 Night Western Mediterranean (Ravenna To Barcelona)
Sail date: July 29, 2024
Ship: Voyager of the Seas
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 6200
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 4 months ago
Review summary
We enjoyed this cruise. We would do another if the price were right.Embarkation
We had some wait time as they got the room ready. We were in a terrible mood due to the long trip, heat, wait time, and a mix-up about our bags that the crew ultimately resolved. But, while waiting, we did this raffle thing and won a dinner for two- amazing, unexpected, and totally worth it, the dinner turned out to be great too! (We didn't mind buying drinks that weren't included in the free dinner since overall it was a great excuse for a date.)
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I loved the main dining hall- the whole experience. I felt that they did a good job of thoughtfully addressing the "Cruise 15" (gaining 15 lbs on a cruise) by offering a good number of options, reasonable portion sizes, and no-added-sugar dessert options. Be careful with the kids- sugary drinks are all too readily available, not to mention ice cream, donuts, desserts, etc.
Onboard Activities
Kids did rock climbing and ice skating. As a family we did the silent dance party and one of the movies. We spent a lot of time at the pool. The highlight was the dance party- family friendly and kids loved it. My only quibble is that the kids- aged 8,9,and 13- couldn't do a lot of activities on their own or without a parent signature. I did not feel this was necessary, esp. for my kids, who for ex. have been ice skating for years and in my opinion really didn't need supervision. There were not a lot of things kids could do on their own besides the swimming pool.
Entertainment
We didn't do these.
Children's Programs
The kids' program for kids aged 6-12 is Adventure Ocean. My teen (age 13) was uninterested in the teen activities (or maybe just shy?) and so only the little ones did a kids' program. Adventure Ocean is super limited. First, the hours are limited - 9-12 am, then pick up, and available again from 2-5 pm. So there's constant back-and-forth between drop off and pick up, and no option for couples who might want to drop off the kids so that they can have a nice dinner (like a babysitting option). Then, the activities were limited- seems like it was mostly just playing Minecraft. A better activity plan would have included taking kids out to the sports field, mini golf, ice skating, or similar, and have a full-day plan (e.g., 9-5, same as day care).
Service and Staff
We loved the towel animals and had a great relationship with our waiters in the main dining hall. A small quibble is that Windjammer staff were much less friendly than main dining hall staff.
Ship Quality
Lots of cleaning going on all the time, my allergies didn't get triggered, and none of us got sick, so I'd say they are doing an excellent job.
Cabin / Stateroom
It was more spacious than I thought it would be given that it was on a ship. Ship cabins tend to be small. We put the kids in the bunk beds, put our oldest (13 yrs old) w grandma in one of the double beds, and we got the other double bed. Would have liked a curtain between us and grandma, but otherwise, it was very manageable. We had enough furniture to do things like have a breakfast in the room.
Ship tip
Pack a swimsuit. There's not much to do onboard, but the pool was always available.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
I really enjoyed this port. I booked a shore excursion for the wine and old town (labeled "strenuous"- strenuous I think only in the sense that there were some stairs. I saw many older people do this activity anyway. Would not recommend for people who need accommodations such as people in wheelchairs). Very walkable, very manageable, and the tour guide was exceptional. I recommend getting a connoli (actually a "cannolo").
It's far from Rome but pretty good transportation options to the city. We took the train and it was fine- got in in about 1 hr. You'll need to take a taxi from the boat to the train station, and some drivers won't take you- they only want people who want transport directly to Rome. However, those who do go to the station only charge 6 euros for a car share. Plan for a lot of walking in and around stations, and time in Rome will be extremely limited due to having to navigate this large city, take buses and trains and taxis, wait on line, etc.- don't plan more than 1-2 activities there.
Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy
We did a shore excursion that included Pisa and Florence. Pros: we saw a lot in a limited amount of time, including Pisa and Florence. Cons: not enough time and would have wanted more time to shop, esp. the first stop which was a leather shop- I wish we could have had even 1/2 hr there. Guides were just ok. We wound up almost missing the group because they were about to leave without us (need a better system for keeping track of the group). We were provided a lunch in a beautiful restaurant that was, in terms of food quality, just acceptable- two very plain pastas, an indifferent staff, and so-so wine. However, they kept the wine and I believe another liquor going, so there was that. The lunch was counted as part of our "free time" so the two hours you got on your own wound up being less than 2 hours.
I loved this stop. By this time in our voyage (I believe this was day 5 or so), we were pretty exhausted from the heat and travel and so we were not up for going on to Nice, Cannes, etc., nor doing another excursion. So we stayed in Villefranche. Pros: we had lunch at a nice seaside restaurant that had a great salad with French bread and cheese- whole family loved it- as well as crepes which we could check off our list of "what to do in France." I had the pastis- a strong local aperitif that I would highly recommend. We had plenty of time to shop for souvenirs and got bread and pastries for next day's breakfast, which we did picnic-style in our room.
I have mixed feelings about Barcelona. On the one hand, there's plenty to do and see here. No shore excursion was available for this port, which was the last stop, so I booked a tapas and flamenco walking tour through Viator which worked out really well. We also enjoyed the City History Museum, which was recommended by our tour guide and wound up being cool and largely empty. The museum showcases the history of the city from Roman times through the Middle Ages. On the other, Barcelona is a poop- and urine-strewn city with widespread electrical problems. Some parts of the city stank. Our flamenco show was cancelled due to an outage, and we had some electrical issues in our apartments. Locals treat this as if it were normal. Barcelona is also covered in graffiti and in some areas- such as near tourist sites- there are numerous pot shops. Not great for the kids.
Disembarkation
This was fine- no problems here.