Vision of the Seas Review

Lack of Attention to Detail

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Vision of the Seas
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VAMSCruiser
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Oct 2015
Cabin: Grand Suite

Like others, we were also NOT "WOWed" by this cruise.Embarkation was the high point of the trip! Once on-board, the front-line service personnel (from waiters to bar tenders to cabin stewards) were very nice & seemed quite hard working. However, I don't think upper management was paying attention. Often there seemed to be insufficient wait staff, bar tenders, etc., for the number of passengers. As a result, service was slow & clean up delayed. As one example, at the Park Cafe one day, there was only one waiter behind the counter & one assistant waiter trying to keep up with putting out plates, silverware, napkins, coffee, juice & clean-up. This made for long lines, great delays in getting food & quite annoyed passengers. A day or two later, after many complaints, suddenly there were 2 chefs, a couple of waiters & assistant waiters working during peak times. In the Main Dining Room, the waiters not infrequently would take orders & then come from the kitchen saying the menu item wasn't available (and we were eating 1st sitting) or the food item was not prepared properly as on the menu, for example "rice pilaf" that was just a scoop of white rice. I gave up on trying to get the ice cream on any "a la mode" dessert, because it never showed up.

Two other examples-I pre-ordered a bottle of sparkling wine for delivery on departure day. A bottle of HOT sparkling wine in an ice bucket with NO ice was left in our cabin while we out to dinner! I also pre-ordered a bottle of Chardonnay & a fruit & cheese platter for the midpoint of the cruise. The fruit & cheese platter arrived early while we were on a shore excursion, not on the day requested. The "platter consisted of several whole pieces of fruit & one small slice of cheese. I contacted ship's personnel about this who acknowledged the error & assured me that the order would be delivered correctly on the requested day. Come the day, an identical "plate" showed up with a bottle of RED wine.

Embarkation was another example -1/2 the ship's passengers were suddenly released at once, instead of in smaller groups as we were told, leading to a huge crush of people trying to get to the pier at once. I personally saw at least 2 elderly folks knocked to the ground by the crush of people before some one more senior started to try to get order out of the chaotic mess.

Cabin Review

Grand Suite

Cabin GS

Very nice cabin. Nice furniture on the balcony for the long cruise days. This cabin, as well as the ship itself appeared well maintained.

Port Reviews

Barcelona

Flew in 2 days early and stayed at the Hilton on the Diagonal near the cruise ship dock. Very easy to get around town with public transportation. Good food & wines at very reasonable prices.

One tip- some "attractions" require a ticket to get inside & only a limited number are available/day. Best to pre-order online.

Nassau

Very small tourist trap type town. Some interesting sights if you're willing to walk out of downtown.

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