Voyager of the Seas: All Aboard!

CEBU, Philippines - Thank God for blessings. And a doube blessing at that.

The ever active and visible Singapore Tourism Board recently hosted a media get together to share their latest destination branding strategy that is centered on the experiences available in Singapore, enabling travelers to personalize their visit according to their preferences.

After an interesting discussion on long-term marketing plans and promotions, several prizes were raffled off. As luck would have it, I won two round-trip tickets to Singapore, courtesy of Cebu Pacific Air. The grand prize was a five nights Asian cruise courtesy of the Royal Caribbean. The FREEMAN's Lifestyle Executive Editor Marlinda Angbetic Tan was all smiles when her name was drawn. Right there, we agreed to share our prizes . Our incredible journey soon began.

What made our cruise doubly exciting was the mere fact that we would be boarding the Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas which has been heralded as the most revolutionary vessel ever built and one of the largest in the world. It also has the distinction of having a broad range of passengers in all ages. This ship is designed for the activity and sports minded. It also attracts a good percentage of families.

The Voyager of the Seas entered into service in 1999. It can handle up to 3,144 guests. Built at Aker Finnyards in Finland, the ship measures 137,276 GT with a displacement of 64,000 tons. It is 1,020 ft long overall, with a maximum width of156 feet.

The Voyager is referred to as a "Floating Hotel" due to the range of facilities that it offers, along with some world firsts for cruise ships when it was launched. The ship features the first rock climbing wall and ice-skating rink at sea. During Voyager's   first weeks at sea, there were doubts on how effective the ice rink would be due to the ice occasionally cracking in places due to the instability of the ship and the hot ventilation pipes on the deck below. These merely turned out to be teething troubles and today, the ice rink is used throughout the cruise as a public ice-skating venue and for the scintillating ice show.

An innovative feature of Voyager of the Seas and another first is the Royal Promenade which is a marble floored street stretching just over 3/4 the length of the ship and features shops and light dining venues. This area is the heart of the ship for evening activity, along with the three story high “La Scala” theatre in which some of the latest production technology is used to produce Broadway standard shows at night.

Almost all outward facing cabins on Voyager feature balconies as well as en-suite bathrooms and an innovative interactive television service.

Spa and Fitness

The center has a relaxation area with sea views, 14 massage and treatment rooms, full service beauty salon and a workout area with stereo and TV monitors, nearly two dozen treadmills, elliptical machines, free weights and an aerobics area with wood-suspended floor, mirrored wall and two large screen TV monitors.

Adjoining to the spa is the spacious, 10,000-square-foot, adults-only Solarium which is one of the most  popular spaces onboard. The décor is themed to ancient Greece with statues and mosaics, a pool and two whirlpools.

With all these five star amenities on board, we set out to simply sit back and relax as the ship shifted the scenery with each destination.

Our ports of call included Port Klang and Penang in Malaysia,   then Phuket, Thailand, where we went off shore and enjoyed a leisurely tour highlighted with a soothing Thai massage.

As sun-struck days turned into starry evenings, we shifted our focus from discovering fascinating sights on shore to exploring a host of entertainments onboard.

Should you find yourself to be one of these privileged guests, you might reflect that your journey on this floating resort has rewarded you with discoveries beyond expectation, as rich and stimulating as fine port wine.