Douglas Ward
This large, family-friendly ship has many eating venue choices
The Ship. The exterior design is like an enlarged version of the company’s Vision-class ships. With its larger proportions, it provides more facilities and options, yet manages to maintain a healthy passenger/space ratio.
Embarkation and disembarkation take place through two access points, designed to minimize the inevitable lines at the start and end of the cruise. A four-deck-high Royal Promenade, the interior focal point (in the style of London’s chic Burlington Arcade), is a good meeting place. It is 394ft (120m) long – the length of two American football fields – with two internal lobbies that rise through 11 decks, one at each end.
The entrance to one of three levels of the main restaurant, together with shops and entertainment locations spin off from this ‘boulevard,’ while ‘interior promenade-view’ cabins, with bay windows, look into it from above. It houses a traditional English pub (the Pig ’n’ Whistle, with draft beer and street-front seating), Promenade Café (for Continental breakfast, all-day pizzas, sandwiches, and coffees), Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream (extra cost), Sprinkles (for round-the-clock ice-cream and yoghurt), and Scoreboard (a sports bar). Several themed shops are located here, and a bright red telephone kiosk houses an ATM cash machine. It’s a cross between a shopping arcade and an amusement park and a nice place to see and be seen. The RCI company chairman even donated his own treasured Morgan sports car to grace it. The best view of the whole promenade is from one of the cabins that look into it, or from a ‘captain’s bridge’ that crosses above it.
At the forward end is the showlounge. In the center, a stairway connects you to the deck below, for the Schooner Bar (a piano lounge that’s a feature on all RCI ships), while gaming tables and slot machines can be found in the Casino Royale.
A second showlounge – Studio B – houses a regulation-size ice-skating rink that has real, not fake, ice – plus arena seating for up to 900 – and broadcast facilities. A number of slim pillars obstruct sight lines, however. If ice-skating doesn’t appeal, try the neat two-deck library; it was the first aboard any modern cruise ship, and is open 24 hours a day.
Drinking places include a gastro pub called The Tavern; the small and intimate ‘R’ Bar; and the Golden Room (private casino lounge). Jazz fans might like High Notes, an intimate room for cool music atop the ship within the Viking Crown Lounge, or the Schooner Bar piano longe. For golfers, there’s the 19th Hole, a golf bar.
Studio B houses a 400-seat conference center and a 60-seat multimedia screening room. Many decks above, couples can tie the knot in a ‘wedding chapel in the sky,’ the Skylight Chapel.
Although the ship is large, cabin hallways have a warm and attractive feel, with artwork cabinets and wavy lines that lead you along and break up the monotony. The theme-park, banquet-style regimentation is well organized. You will, however need to plan, otherwise you’ll miss out on some of the things that you might like to include in your vacation.
Because cruise fares are so reasonable, there’s always a push for extra-revenue items, drinks packages, and extra-cost dining options, etc. In the end, however, you should have a decent cruise trip. Facilities for children and teenagers (in four age groupings) are quite extensive, and include Adventure Beach, an area for all the family, with swimming pools, a water slide, splash, and game areas.
Overall, this is a good all-round ship for all age groups.
Accommodation. The cabin price grades are in four major groupings: premium ocean-view suites and cabins; interior (atrium-view) cabins; ocean-view cabins; and interior cabins. Many cabins are of a similar size – good for incentives and large groups – and 300 have interconnecting doors (good for families).
Standard outside-view and interior (no-view) cabins are of a reasonably adequate size, with just enough facilities to make them comfortable and functional. Twin lower beds convert to queen-size beds, and there is a reasonable amount of closet and drawer space, but the bed(s) take up most of the space. Bathrooms are small but functional, with dimensionally challenged shower enclosures, and no cabinet for personal toiletries. Overall, they’re cramped.
Some 138 ‘interior’ cabins have bay windows that look into an interior horizontal atrium – a cruise industry first, when the ship debuted. (You’ll need to keep the curtains closed in the bay windows if you are scantily clad, because you can be seen from adjacent bay windows.) Regardless of which cabin grade you choose, all except for the Royal Suite and Owner’s Suite have twin beds that convert to a queen-size unit, TV, radio and telephone, personal safe, vanity unit, hairdryer, and private bathroom.
Some accommodation grades have a refrigerator/mini-bar, full of ‘take-and-pay’ items. If you take anything from it on the day of embarkation in Miami, Florida, sales tax is added to your bill.
Note that cabins with ‘private’ balconies aren’t so private. The balcony decking is made of Bolidt – a sort of rubberized sand – though the balcony rail is wood. If you have a cabin with a connecting door to another cabin, be aware that you’ll probably be able to hear everything your next-door neighbors say and do. The bathroom vacuum toilets are explosively noisy. Cabin bath towels are small and skimpy. The menus from room service are basic.
Dining. Sapphire, the main dining room, is very large and set on three levels, each with an operatic name and theme: Carmen, La Bohème, and Magic Flute. A stunning staircase connects the three levels, but fat support pillars obstruct sight lines from many seats. All three have the same menus and food. Choose one of two seatings, or My Time Dining, which allows you to eat when you want during dining room hours. The tables are for four to 12, and the place settings, china, and cutlery are of good quality.
The food in the main dining room is all about standardized banquet catering and batch cooking. The menu descriptions sound tempting, but the food, although prepared well, is just so-so. Vegetarian and children’s menus are also available. Note that there are no wine waiters.
Most meat dishes are disguised with gravies or heavy sauce reductions; rice is often used as a source of carbohydrates. Green vegetables are scarce, but basic salad items are plentiful, and the desserts are very decent. Breads and pastry items are plentiful too (though these are thawed and then baked from frozen ‘starter’ dough), but the croissants lack any hint of butter.
Other dining venues and eateries (some cost extra, but the food is mostly cooked to order) include favorites such as Chops Grille Steakhouse (for premium veal chops, steaks, and seafood items), Portofino (for Italian-American cuisine), and Giovanni’s Table (for Italian trattoria-style dishes). Reservations (make them through the digital system) are required; note that menus do not change.
Windjammer Marketplace is a cavernous, casual self-serve buffet eatery, but note that the plastic plates for hot items are mildly warm, at best. Breakfast buffet items and lunchtime salad items are pretty repetitive. Beverage stations have just the basics. Burgers and hot dogs in self-serve buffet locations are displayed in steam dishes. If you are disabled or have mobility difficulties, do ask for help.
Johnny Rockets is a retro 1950s all-day, all-night diner-style eatery that has burgers and malt shakes. All indoor tables have a mini-jukebox with dimes provided to make your selection of vintage records. There’s a cover charge, whether you eat in or take out.
Promenade Café is for Continental breakfast, all-day pizzas, sandwiches, and coffees in paper cups, while Sprinkles has round-the-clock ice cream and free yoghurt, pastries, and coffee.
Entertainment. The 1,347-seat La Scala Theater, a fine showlounge, is located at the front and spans five decks, with a few slim pillars and almost no disruption of sight lines. The room has a hydraulic orchestra pit and huge stage areas, together with rather loud sound, and superb lighting equipment.
In addition, the ship has an array of cabaret acts. There is also late-night adults-only comedy. Arguably, however, the best shows are the Ice Spectaculars.
Spa/Fitness. The Voyager Day Spa and Fitness Center is reasonably large, and measures 15,000 sq ft (1,400 sq m). It has a main and an upper level, and includes an aerobics room, fitness center, several private body-treatment rooms, and men’s and women’s sauna/steam rooms. Another 10,000 sq ft (930 sq m) of space is provided for a Solarium (with sliding glass-dome roof) to relax in after you’ve exercised.
Aft is a 32.8ft (10m) rock-climbing wall, with five climbing tracks. Other sports facilities include a roller-blading track, a dive-and-snorkel shop (for equipment rental and dive lessons), a full-size basketball court, and a nine-hole, par 26 golf ‘course.’