Royal Caribbean
Voyager of the Seas
Eastern Caribbean

Eric Vargo

Voyager of the Seas. Need I say more? One of Royal Caribbean’s elite. One of the nicest ships I have ever been on. I have been on four other cruises. One with RC (Sovereign of the Seas) and three with Carnival (Celebration, Destiny and Glory). Voyager of the Seas is in a class of her own. The Royal promenade, Viking crown lounge, Solarium and the Rock wall are only a few of its highlights.

Embarkation was a breeze. The best I have ever experienced. After dropping off the bags and parking the car; we proceeded directly to the terminal. The whole process only took about 20 minutes. We got right onboard and started kicking back a few tropical drinks. It is definitely not one of the nicest ports I have ever been to, but it served its purpose. Soon enough we were on our way to beautiful Bermuda!

First day at sea was very relaxing. Breakfast and lunch were good. We ate in the Windjammer café for both meals. We tried going to Johnny Rockets but the line was way too long. Needless to say we never made it into Johnny Rockets. There was always a long wait. We did some shopping, gambling and hung around by our favorite bar; the Aquarium bar. It was amazing. There are huge fish tanks with beautiful tropical fish that make up the walls of the bar. Vijay, one of the bartenders there was great. He served up some very good drinks. The Royal promenade was a nice place to hangout. This is where all the shops are along with a sports bar, champagne bar and café. The Pig and Whistle bar, also located on the Royal promenade, was excellent. They have a wide variety of different beers and cocktails. The bartenders here were excellent. There is a Ben and Jerry’s and Seattle Coffee shop on the promenade also. We saw the show “Vibeology” in the La Scala theater on this night. I’m not really into the shows so I really can’t help anyone out determining whether it was good or not. I had no idea what was going on. It seemed to me like it was just a lot of singing and people jumping around.

Day One in Bermuda was amazing! The ship docks at the Royal Naval Dockyard in King’s Wharf. We did the Catamaran reef snorkel. The shore excursion was ok. The crew was great. I had a pretty good time. The water wasn’t all that clear and my pictures didn’t come out as nice as they usually do. I still had a lot of fun chasing all the fish around for up close picture. After we finished snorkeling the crew served up the rum swizzles. The swizzles were very tasty and had a good kick to them. One of the couples we ate dinner with told us they did the shipwreck snorkel. They said it was amazing. They said the water was crystal clear and the wrecks and fish were plentiful. I would recommend the shipwreck snorkel over the catamaran snorkel to anyone who’s interested in snorkeling.

After snorkeling we walked around the dockyard and ended up catching a cab to check out some of the southern parts of the island. We saw a number of different beaches, landmarks and forts. We stopped at: Gibbs lighthouse, Somerset bridge, Scaur Hill Fort, Church Bay, Horseshoe Bay, Somerset Long Bay, Stonehole Bay, Warwick Long Bay and Mangrove Bay. I suggest if you take a cab to go with a group of people. This will make the fare much cheaper. The fare is not negotiable. It is pretty expensive. We rode around for about an hour and a half and it cost about fifty-five dollars. A lot of people rented the scooters. It seems like fun. I wanted to do it but after riding in the cab and observing how Bermudians drive and the way the roads are I changed my mind. The roads are very steep with tight corners and the locals drive very fast and will pass you on either side. Not to mention they drive on the left side of the road. If your looking for a way to get out of work for a few weeks after vacation; this might be the way to do it.

That night we saw the magic show by “Laraf”. They were not Royal Caribbean employees. They performed for about an hour and did their world record breaking trick Metamorphosis. It was a pretty nice show.

Day two in Bermuda was more laid back for us. We took a ferry to St. George. Actually, we wanted to go to Hamilton but we ended up getting on the wrong ferry. St George was beautiful. There are a few forts, a lagoon, some very large houses and there were also two cruise ships here: Norwegian and Celebrity. The replica of the “Deliverance” is also here. We did some shopping there and then hopped on a bus over to Hamilton. The bus ride was nice. We were able to see a large portion of the island. The bus ride took about an hour from St. George to Hamilton.

Hamilton was very nice. The city was very clean and everyone was really friendly. It was very busy though; lots of traffic and people shopping. Not to mention there were also two cruise ships here. There are a lot of shops here. Everything from art to clothing to restaurants, banks, jewelry, and liquor stores. We bought liquor, souvenirs and also had lunch here. We ate at Hanagans, which is located on Front street across from the cruise terminal. It is an Irish Pub with excellent food and drinks. I must warn you though. Everything in Bermuda is imported which means everything is very expensive. Lunch ran us about fifty dollars! We had sandwiches and a couple drinks. Gasoline is over seven dollars a gallon in Bermuda right now! After lunch we hopped on the ferry back over to King’s Wharf (we boarded the right ferry this time). About an hour after getting back on the ship it was time to depart Bermuda. Everyone was on the upper deck watching as Bermuda slowly disappeared on the horizon.

The final day at sea was a relaxing day. We picked up a few last minute gifts and tried our luck one last time in the casino. That night we saw the farewell show. There was a juggler and a comedian. They were both pretty good. The R.C. singers and dancers did one final act and the cruise director did a skit about the ten “dumbest” questions people asked him while on this cruise. My favorites were: “Does the crew sleep on board?” and “Does this elevator go to the front of the ship?” The number one question was: “When I go to the photo gallery, how will I know which ones are mine?”

Before dinner each night we stopped at the Island grill which is located next to the Windjammer café. They have a sushi bar here but it is only open from like 6-9 and it is not listed in the daily “compass”. The sushi chef was amazing! The sushi was out of this world! The food in the dining room was very good also. We had second seating at 8:30. The waiter(Cem) and assistant waiter (Francesco) were excellent. They were very polite and prompt. Cem always gave us his choice of appetizers and main course dinners each night. His choices were always a good decision.

Debarkation was another story. R.C. had trouble located some people who were supposed to report to customs by 8 a.m. I think they finally cleared us around 9:15. We were sitting in the theater with nothing to do. Customs was easy but not very fun. It was the first time I have ever been charged by customs for alcohol that I had bought on the ship and in the islands. Our color didn’t get called till about 10:00 a.m. and then getting off the ship was a disaster. They had buses taking us to the terminal. The lines were all the way up to the fourth floor. We didn’t get off the ship till about 10:30. We were crammed in the stairways this whole time.

Overall, this was one of the nicest cruises I have been on. The ship was amazing. Bermuda was amazing. Couldn’t have asked for much more. The staff was great the food was pretty good and we always had something to do. I will definitely sail with Royal Caribbean again in the near future. Anyone who has any questions about this cruise or any others I listed that I have been on feel free to e-mail me.