Voyager of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas in Labadee
As you can see on the picture above (by comparing the aspect of the balcony decks), there are minor differences in the design of the two generations of Voyager-class ships: Voyager, Explorer and Adventure of the Seas, the first generation, and Navigator and Mariner of the Seas, the latest one.
Hence, this section comes with a full list of differences between the sisterships.
Passenger accommodations
The most obvious change has already been stated — it is the use of glass balconies instead of steel balconies on NV/MA. In addition, the balcony dividers are made of plastic in place of steel (thus reducing privacy), but the balconies are wider. Lastly, the suites on decks 9 and 10 are larger on the 2nd-generation ships — esp. the Owners Suites (22% larger) and the Royal Suite (12%).
Glass balconies (right) offer a better view of the ocean
Passenger public spaces
On deck 4, the Aquarium Bar was transformed into Bolero's, a Latin-themed bar. Aquariums are very hard to clean up and expensive. Perhaps they will be removed from the first generation ships eventually.
Aquarium Bar (left) and Bolero's (right)
The sports bar in the Royal Promenade (on deck 5) was changed into a wine tastings bar called Vintages. The golf bar up in the Viking Crown on deck 14 is used as NV/MA's sports bar.
Scoreboard Sports Bar on Voyager (left) and Vintages on Navigator (right)
On VY/EX/AD, the aft dining area only consisted of two casual restaurants — a very large Windjammer Café, and Island Grill, aft, which both serve the same food — and an upscale Euro-Italian restaurant, Portofino.
On NV/MA, the area was expanded both forward and aft, making room for more restaurants.
The popular upscale steakhouse Chops Grille (first introduced on Radiance of the Seas in 2001), was added opposite to an enlarged Portofino. Windjammer Café was moved aft, replacing Island Grill, and long lines could be avoided by the use of so-called food stations. Finally, the former Windjammer area was assigned to host an Asian-fusion restaurant, Jade, and a sushi bar, The Plaza.
Top: Windjammer on VY/EX/AD and Jade on NV/MA Bottom: Island Grill (1st gen.) vs. the new Windjammer Café, with its food stations
The extension of Windjammer Café aft of NV/MA required more room than the former Island Grill. That's why Deck 11 is a little longer on the Voyager-class ships of the second generation than on that of the first.
This expanded aft section also made way for more privacy for the balconies underneath.
The extended aft of Deck 11 (right)
The last major change in the layout of the second-generation Voyager-class ships is the complete redesign of the youth areas. The kids pool of the 1st-generation ships, Adventure Beach, was deleted and replaced by a teen-only open deck, The Back Deck. This also made more room available for the kids club, Adventure Ocean. Last, the teen areas doubled in proportions: while on VY/EX/AD it only consists of a single night club — Optix —, on NV/MA, it is made of two rooms: The Living Room, a disco-like lounge, and Fuel, a larger night club.
Adventure Ocean (left) and The Back Deck
Optix on Adventure (left) and Fuel on Navigator (right)
To gain a better idea of these layout modifications, feel free to have a look at the plans and pictures on the Aft Dining Area page and on the Youth Areas page.
