Who should Go? This cruise departed from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and stopped in St Kitts/Nevis, Martinique, Barbados and St Lucia. It is a good ship and itinerary for all ages and people. There is something for everyone at each port and on the ship. There was a mix of Americans, Canadians, British, Dominicans and Latin Americans. Royal offered a great cruise deal and a lot of passengers, myself included, took advantage and booked last minute.

Ship The Royal Caribbean Visions of the Seas is a pleasant ship with a capacity of 2500 passengers but we only had somewhere between 1400 and 1800 aboard depending on whom you asked. The ship had two pool areas, one outside and one with a glass roof that was adult's only. It has a rock climbing wall and all the typical sports and entertainment options. There were no specialty restaurants but had two large main seating restaurants and one buffet restaurant. The ship was kept clean and in good condition. The entertainment was very good and the food was good but nothing exciting. They offered the typical cruise activities during the days at sea along with the theme parties at night. We docked at every port and there were never any delays in departing the ship. I did have a few complaints. First, there was an intermittent creaking sound in my room, which I brought to the attention of my Cabin Stewart several times but nothing was done. Second, Royal did a poor job reviewing the details of the shore excursions. We only took one cruise line shore excursion, and that was for convenience on the last cruise day. Finally, they did a last minute itinerary change and stopped at St Kitts instead of Guadeloupe. Apparently there has been an ongoing dock strike in Guadeloupe. I didn't have a problem with the port change, but they should have informed us before the cruise. All in all I would say the ship was around average.

Embarkation I arrived in Santo Domingo a day before the cruise. I recommend spending some time in Santo Domingo or a beach resort area before or after the cruise. The colonial area of Santo Domingo is full of interesting history, architecture and museums, maybe the best in all the Caribbean. There are several nice chain hotels along the Malecon, but I recommend staying in the colonial town area. There is the high end Ovanto Hotel or a small B&B I stayed called Hotel Atarazana. With that said, Santo Domingo is not a par with US cities or even Old San Juan or the Virgin Islands, so experience with an open mind and be careful at night. Read more