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The Vision OTS is a medium sized (by today's standards) ship that doesn't drive you crazy with crowds. It is big enough to have lots of options for activities but not so big that the numbers of people are overwhelming. There was always a quiet place to read somewhere on the ship. Missed the cafe in the atrium for coffee and pastries: this ship only had the specialty coffee bar and Ben and Jerry's which was extra tariff. The Windjammer buffet was most crowded at lunch. I usually had breakfast and lunch in the dining room because it was more pleasant: fewer people and less noise.
My Time Dining has some hiccups early on but they were ironed out for the rest of the trip. Loved the chilled fruit soups. The early week menus were leftovers from the Baltic and the regular menus were served the second week. We had to divert from Lisbon because of the strike, it was disappointing but not a trip killer for me. The Bay of Biscay was a bit rough but things mellowed out and the Atlantic behaved herself beautifully the rest of the trip.
I was dismayed that the library was the cigar bar at night, if you were an early riser the smoke smell when you went in for the puzzles and newspaper was really terrible. The computer area was sufficient but the connection was slow and frustrating.
The spa area was very nice. My only issue was that the exercise floor area was much too small and in the morning it was difficult to find room to lift weights and the machines were always full.
During this trip the promenade was blocked on the bow so you could not get a full walk around the ship in and would either have to double back or go through the ship to continue your route.
I would have liked to see more movies shown during the day, especially at sea. The geographer from Canada who gave the port and history lectures was truly interesting and actually made forensic geology fun. The shows were disappointing to me, just not my cup of tea but I heard from others that they enjoyed them.
The management of RCCI has a much better staff than they deserve. Corporate cutbacks were obvious but the room stewards, mechanical guys working around the ship and the waitstaff were universally competent, kind and eager to please.
In all, I very much enjoyed this cruise.
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