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Traveling: 2 women in early 50's. Old friends. One coming from NY area, other from FL.
This was my 33 cruise. My buddy had only been on one other, and that was RCI.
Although, I am Elite on Princess, I am just Gold on RCI. I missed my elite perks, but I tried not to let it color my cruise.
I think there is no such thing as a BAD cruise. Although we had an enjoyable time, this cruise rates near the bottom of all of the cruises I have been on. Not, bad but bland and lackluster.
The ship was not so much a Vision of the Seas, but a Vision of the past! From the moment I stepped aboard, it shouted "OLD" to me. The ship was clean and not shabby but the decor was very outdated. It is slated for a much needed refurb soon.
It is a small ship, and that was in it's favor for getting around. But, the public rooms were very small. Especially the boutique area.
The food and menus were uninspired. Formal dinners were certainly not special. (No lobster!) and RCI has discontinued the baked Alaska's awhile ago because of a law suit. Food was ok to eat, but not irresistible. Best part of the meals was the bread!
We had late seating and we really enjoyed our table mates. That was great because the service was so slow each night and we had a lot of time to talk! We did enjoy our waiter Luis from Peru and our assistant waiter, Eder, from Brazil was adorable with his huge smile!
The buffet got good reviews but I didn't go there for dinner. For breakfast and lunch, I thought the set up was too spread out. I didn't like to be at the main part of the buffet as soon as I entered the Windjammer. I prefer to find a seat and put my belongings down. I know the Princess buffets have had a lot of complaints on the boards but I prefer their set up.
Activities: I've never seen a ship with so few. Even on the one sea day, there was little to do. No wine tasting, culinary tour, champagne waterfall, only one midnight buffet. Lectures about the Baltics would have been great. There was a little trivia and an evening game show.
Entertainment: OK, but not spectacular. Of course, the dancers and singers work so hard to entertain but the material was just bland.
I did like the CD, Marc. He worked very hard to keep everyone happy.
Out of 2,000 passengers, there were 500 passengers from the US, 250 from Mexico, about 100 each from the UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the rest were from 40 something other countries. The shows were sparsely attended, maybe because of language? It was nice not to have to get there extra early to get a seat!
Formal nights: this was the most casual formal night set I've ever seen. And, with this itinerary, I think one formal night would have been better than 2.
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