Travel Adventures of Mike & Traci

  Mike and Traci Jones are an
  adventurous thirty-something
  professional couple from Philadelphia.
  They have traveled extensively and bring
  a fresh, honest perspective on the
  places they've visited. Mike is an
  aspiring travel writer and his style
  makes you feel as if you're right there.
  Traci is the photographer of the two and
  together they vividly share their unique
  experiences. Check out their review of
  the 2009 Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage
  Cruise.
To read all their reviews Click Here!

Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise Review

May 17, 2009 - May 24, 2009

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Although this was our fourth Tom Joyner cruise, it was actually our fifth cruise with Royal Caribbean. This qualified us as Platinum members in their Crown & Anchor Society. We were able to bypass the long maze of passengers waiting to check in and go directly to the counter for Platinum members. Additionally, having filled out our pre-cruise documentation on-line, the check-in procedure for Traci and me took less than five minutes.

This feeling of privilege was short-lived once we got to the top of the escalator. With security photographing each passenger and the ship's photographers photographing people for keepsake items, the line to board the ship was extremely long. We waited for 45 minutes. However, Traci and I had our first celebrity sighting during that time. Smokey Robinson whizzed by us on his way to the entertainer entrance of the ship.

Our cabin was not ready when we boarded so we headed to our favorite little pizza shop on the Promenade Deck. Even though it was our first time on the Mariner of the Seas, we pretty much knew our way around because the ship had the same layout as other Royal Caribbean ships on which we've cruised.

Our cabin was ready by the time we finished eating. We had an inside cabin with a window overlooking the Promenade Deck. For a Tom Joyner cruise, it is the best type of room to have since you can see all the parades and parties. Unfortunately, we waited too late to sign up for the cruise and thus had to settle for a cabin at the end of the Promenade Deck. Our room only gave us a view of the Shore Excursion desk. We did not have a great view of all the action this year. Other than that, we were pleased with our room. There was a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates from the Tom Joyner Foundation waiting for us when we entered. R&B music was playing softly over the PA system in our room as well as in other areas of the ship such as the elevators and Windjammer Buffet. We seemed to always be tapping our feet or bobbing our heads to a nice jam whenever we were in our cabin. During the rare occasions we did not feel like listening to music, we could simply switch of the PA feed.

Our cabin steward dropped by to introduce himself and then Traci and I headed upstairs to the Pool Deck for the Sailaway Party. At last, I began to feel like I was on vacation. The sun was finally shining. DJ Dee Wiz was spinning the cuts. People were line dancing. Rapper Doug E. Fresh along with members of Grand Master Flash & the Furious 5 were emceeing the party. Downstairs on the Promenade Deck, people were socializing. Tom Joyner was shaking hands and posing for pictures. Everyone becomes like one big happy family for a week on this cruise. We all speak to one another regardless of celebrity status or any other factors. The luggage debacle and long lines were soon forgotten. Vacation had started!

                           Traci and Tom Joyner

We eventually made our way up to the Ship Shape Center for the meet-and-greet session with the guest workout instructors for the week. Tom's wife, Donna Richardson, is a well-known fitness instructor that has been putting out workout videos for years. Traci loves to workout and has a very large collection of fitness videos. We have some of Donna's videos as well as the videos of some of the other guest instructors such as Patrick Goudeau. It was pretty cool to shake hands with these experts after having done their workouts over the years. Several of the instructors asked if I would be attending their classes that week but I respectfully declined. I had spent the last seven months losing 25 pounds by watching what I ate and sticking to the 5 AM workouts Traci designed for me from our fitness video collection. Unlike Traci, I had planned for this cruise to be a week of gluttony, sleeping late, and no workouts. I did deviate from this plan one morning when Traci and I attended a tough cardio kick boxing class led by Allegra Feamster. We also rented bicycles in San Francisco and went for a 2-hour ride one day. I'll take credit for that workout as well.  We were at dinner when our ship left port. It left almost three hours late, apparently because of all the luggage that had to be loaded. I later found out that the Los Angeles area experienced a 4.7 earthquake shortly after we left. This was not a major quake but people on land felt the rumble. We felt nothing at sea.

 

CONCERTS

The Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage cruise is like a music festival at sea. Evenings on the ship are filled with live performances from award-winning artists. I noticed there were not as many concerts this year. There was even one night when there was no 2 AM show in Studio B. That was a first. I'm sure the recession had something to do with the cutbacks. Nonetheless, the concerts we saw were of high quality.

In past years, the musical artists that performed on the main stage did two shows. This year Smokey Robinson did only one and Laura Izibor did only one as an opening act to D.L. Hugley's stand-up comedy show. However, Michael McDonald and Babyface (opening act After 7) all did two nights.

Instead of artists performing two shows in the large lounge venue, Chuck Brown played there all week bringing a taste of Washington, D.C. Go-Go music to the cruise. It was a party from Chuck's first note to his last. Kem did one show each night in the small Viking Crown lounge on the top deck. Because of the size of that venue, many people were not able to get in. Those who were fortunate enough to see the show raved about it. Traci and I had seen Kem perform several times in the past so we did not brave the line to see him this year.

Tom tried something a little different this year for the 2 AM Studio B shows. This year, the first three nights in Studio B were host to the Old School Hip-Hop reunion. Each night had a different theme: In the Beginning, Ladies of Hip-Hop, and Bust A Move. I was wondering what type of reception these shows would receive given most of the passengers seem to be older than what would be considered the 'Hip-Hop Generation'. Traci and I had a difficult time staying up to attend the 2 AM shows. It was too easy to ignore the 1:30 AM wake-up call. We did manage to see the Ladies of Hip-Hop show. It was packed and a lot of fun. I was surprised at how many of the lyrics I knew as I joined the audience in rapping along with the performers.

Of course it just would not be a Tom Joyner cruise without Charlie "Last Name" Wilson of the Gap Band jamming in Studio B from 2 AM to 4 AM. Charlie did exactly that for two nights. Traci and I went to see him with seemingly every other passenger on the ship. His band and dancers lit up the stage. Charlie changed outfits at least three times during the show. It was a fun night. As Charlie always says, 'I don't do concerts. I party, Baby'.

                   Charlie Wilson

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