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Voyager of the Seas was built at the Kvaerner Masa Yards in Turku Finland for Royal Caribbean in 1999. Following her inauguration by figure skating champion, Katerina Witt, she sailed her maiden voyage on November 21, 1999. Currently, she is the largest passenger vessel ever built, exceeding the previous record holder, Grand Princess by about one third!
Despite her size, Voyager maintains the lines of a sleek ocean going vessel rather than the slab sided boxes we've come to expect from other recently introduced mega ships, full of the rounded curves and lines that befit the lady that she is. This is no shoebox with a prow! To create her great size, Royal Caribbean took no cheap shortcuts to provide maximum space on board. From a distance, no one will mistake Voyager for a barge, something that can't be said for many other new mega ships. Her beauty is inherent, without the need for an outlandish livery or paint scheme.
Fact is, curves are expensive! Not only in cutting and fitting of steel and furnishings, but also in the fact that curves do not permit the cruise line to maximize interior volume! Although Voyager is a huge ship, it would have been a simple matter for Royal Caribbean to have squared off her lines, and extended her upper superstructure rearward toward her stern and forward toward her prow to gain significant amounts of additional tonnage. This was the exact method utilized by Princess in designing their Grand Princess! Although it works, the resulting ship lacks the aesthetic qualities of a less "cost conscious design" Grand Princess, (along with other recent tonnage also from Princess, Celebrity, NCL and Carnival) was designed by Accountants! Voyager of the Seas by artists!
Regular fans of Royal Caribbean's ships may be a bit disappointed with Voyager! Gone are the vast walls of glass, and the relaxed atmosphere provided on most of its other ships. Although the familiar resemblance between the recent "Vision" class of ships and Voyager is apparent, Voyager provides a much different "feel"! Taking a page from Carnival's book, Voyager is intended to provide 7 day, almost not stop entertainment! The energy level on board is quite high, almost electric! The attraction of the ship lies internally, within its extensive selection of public areas, all of which are intended to provide views of fellow passengers and crew members, rather than the sights past which the ship is traveling. The resulting cruise will be unlike any experienced on prior ships of RCI.
Embarking passengers arriving at the terminal will find themselves in awe at the size of Voyager! The feeling continues, virtually unabated, throughout the week to come! Voyager impresses, and does so nonstop! Passenger's first impressions of Voyager will come immediately upon boarding through one of the two Centrums, soaring 11 and 13 stories in height. Riding one of 6 scenic glass elevators, guests take in their first glimpse of the Royal Promenade, the most incredible space ever to go to sea! Although at first overwhelmed by the surroundings, due to the brilliance of the design, passengers quickly learn to find their way around.
Although the ship stretches 1,021 feet in length, the full amount of that length being accessible to passengers, marginally ambulatory passengers need not pass up a sailing on Voyager for something of a more manageable size. The majority of Voyager's public rooms are located in an area stretching about the length of that provided on a midsize ship. It will be unlikely for passengers to find themselves at the opposite end of the ship from where they intend to go! Much benefit is derived by placing the dining rooms and cafes just astern of the aft Centrum, rather then in the very stern of the ship as, increasingly, has become the norm on today's ships. Typical traffic flows from the dining rooms forward, along the Royal Promenade, through the casino, or into Studio B, all conveniently accessible from any dining room level. Voyager's aft areas contain the sports and youth facilities, none of whose participants, I'm sure, will be bothered by the distances involved to get to there. For other passengers, it will be rare for them to need to walk much aft from the rear Centrum.
It's doubtful we'll see Voyager outside of Caribbean waters any time soon. Like the earlier ships, beginning with Song of Norway, through Majesty of the Seas, Voyager is designed and intended for Caribbean sailing, PERIOD! There are no enclosed pools to provide cover in cooler climates. She doesn't even carry passenger tenders, relying, instead, on tenders contracted for from the local port authority's.
Voyager is 1,021 feet in length, 157.5 feet wide (at the bridge wings), with a 29 foot draft. She is 142,000 tons. Voyager carries 3,114 passengers (double occupancy), with a maximum capacity of 3,838 (all berths filled). Registered in Liberia, she is operated by officers of many nations, and served by an international crew numbering 1,176. Diesel engines supply 75,600 kilowatts of power for three electric propulsion motors located in azipods beneath the hull.
Voyager is the first RCI ship to eliminate propeller shafts and rudders, exchanging them for two, off set, electric azipods able to turn through a 360-degree arc. A third "unipod" provides straight-ahead propulsion from a fixed pod/propeller combination. (The design of azipods are best described as being akin to sterndrives on personal pleasure craft vs. inboard motors )The use of azipods provides Voyager with a degree of maneuverability unmatched by her smaller cousins, and, without the need for stern thrusters! Stopping distances have been drastically reduced by eliminating the need to stop and reverse the momentum of the propellers; the new procedure requiring simply aiming the azipods 180 degrees from normal, thus providing immediate and powerful forward thrust.
Voyager has two sister ships currently under construction in Finland: Explorer and Adventure of the Seas. RCI also holds options for three more, as yet unnamed!
Some facts that may be of interest:
Voyager of the Seas is as long as a 17-car freight train;
She's longer than 4 Boeing 747s;
She is twice as wide as Broadway in NYC;
Art on board represents the largest investment ever made by a cruise company: 12 million dollars.
During a typical week's cruise, Voyager passengers will consume:
1,600 lbs. of ribs
1,500 lbs. of tenderloin
326 lbs. of legs of veal
600 lbs. of veal loin
600 lbs. of pork loin
261 lbs. of legs of lamb
1.5 TONS of chicken
3000 lobsters
1,275 lbs. of fish
2,500 lbs. of striploin
2,000 lbs. of bacon
600 lbs. of smoked ham
700 lbs. of racks of lamb
761 lbs. of turkey
1,500 lbs. of shrimp
300 lbs. of smoked salmon
500 lbs. of cheese
2,000 lbs. of potatoes
5000 lbs. of fresh vegetables
700 gallons of ice cream
3,000 lbs. of fresh fruit
20,000 cans of beer
9,000 cans of soda
5,000 bottles of wine
1,000 bottles of liquor.
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