5 Voyager Class Cruise Ships of Royal Caribbean International
The Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager Class consists of five cruise ships that were put in service between 1999 and 2003. All five were built by STX Finland in Turku, Finland and share nearly identical dimensions. Each is registered out of Nassau, Bahamas, is 311 metres or 1,021 feet long and has a capacity for over 3,100 passengers. Each of the five has 14 decks accessible to guest. Each requires a crew over 1,180 to run the ship properly. The Voyager class has capacity for nearly 500 less passengers than the newer Freedom Class ships of Royal Caribbean.
Voyager of the Seas
The Voyager of the Seas is the oldest of the Voyager Class, put in service in 1999. Currently, she is running cruises out of Shanghai and Beijing, China. The Voyager will reposition via Singapore to Sydney, Australia at the end of October, 2013. Using Sydney as a home port, she will carry out various itineraries around Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific through the end of the year.
Explorer of the Seas
The second of the Voyager Class ships was put in service in 2000. With the exception of the month of September, Explorer will be alternating between five night cruises to Bermuda and nine night cruises into the Eastern Caribbean. For the month of September, she’ll cruise north along the New England coast and into Canada.
A typical Bermuda five night itinerary consists of an out and back voyage to King’s Wharf, Bermuda. The boat arrives on Monday morning, staying overnight and departing Tuesday evening. The Eastern Caribbean nine night itinerary also makes its first port call at King’s Wharf before sailing to Philipsburg, Sint Maarten; San Juan, Puerto Rico and Labadee, Haiti.
Labadee is a private beach owned by Royal Caribbean on the north coast of Haiti, not far from the border with the Dominican Republic. There is some controversy with Royal Caribbean using the beach for luxury when their is so much destruction, disease and death in Haiti. However, the cruise line contributes millions of dollars in aid, provides jobs and allows select locals to sell handcrafted items to passengers.
Adventure of the Seas
The middle child of the Voyager Class, Adventure of the Seas went into service in 2001. She will be based out of Southampton, England until the end of October, 2013. While on the other side of the Atlantic, the Adventure will run a variety of cruises to the Baltic Sea, Scandinavia, Western Europe, the Norwegian Fjords and the Mediterranean.
Adventure departs Southampton on November 4 for a Trans-Atlantic cruise to reposition in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The 13 night trip includes port calls in Funchal, Portugal; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Philipsburg, Sint Maarten and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Once in San Juan, the Adventure of the Seas will run seven night Southern Caribbean cruises. Over the week, she will stop in St. Thomas, USVI; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Oranjestad, Aruba and Willemstad, Curacao. This is an affordable way to see these locations that typically are quite expensive to spend a full week at.
Navigator of the Seas
In service since 2002, the Navigator will spend the summer and fall of 2013 cruising the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Based out of Messina, Civitavecchia and Venice, Italy, the Navigator will run seven night cruises with stops in Piraeus, Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey and Chania, Greece.
The Navigator will depart Barcelona, Spain on November 10, 2013 for a 14 night Trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise, ending up in Galveston, Texas. Along the way, she’ll make stops at Sevilla, Spain; Funchal, Portugal and Nassua, Bahamas. A Royal Caribbean repositioning cruise is a great way to experience a Trans-Atlantic crossing at a fraction of the cost of traditional lines like Cunard.
Once in Galveston, the Navigator will be confined to seven night Western Caribbean cruises through the end of 2013. On this itinerary, the ship makes stops at Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico.
Mariner of the Seas
The Mariner is the baby of the Voyager Class, put into service in 2003. She, like her sister the Voyager of the Seas, is currently based in Shanghai, China. Until the end of October, the Mariner will run three to six night cruises with port stops only in South Korea. In November, she moves to Singapore where she will run three to five night cruises to Penang, Malaysia and Phuket, Thailand.
