This was the 3rd RCI cruise of the year for my wife and I, the others were on the Allure and the Explorer. We were concerned that this Vision class ship might be too small in comparison to the others and we were a bit concerned as to how stable it would be crossing the Atlantic to Brazil as my wife suffers if the seas are rough. It was actually fine. The worst bit turned out to be between Barcelona and Madeira (we were due to land in Madeira by tender but the wind/seas were too strong) and then on to Gran Canaria. A little rocky for a day or two but no real problems. Once we sailed South from Gran Canaria the seas settled and as we crossed the Equator the seas were like glass!

It took a while to grow into this ship, it does suffer from engine vibrations on the upper pool decks, but our inside cabin on deck 3 was fine and we slept well. Comparisons are inevitable and this ship does not compare with the might of the Allure and other more modern RCI ships, however, it does have a charm of its own. The Solarium is a great area on cloudy sea days as it is totally indoors and warm, and serves great salads and soups from its Park Cafe. The entertainment team worked their socks off to keep everyone entertained during the 16 day cruise, catering for the English speaking and Portuguese speaking 50/50 split. There was a great fiesta culture on board with lots of pool side dancing by the Brazilians and others on board and lots of quizzes, etc indoors, we enjoyed it thoroughly.

The evening entertainment was overall the best we've seen on this our 6th RCI cruise. No, it doesn't have big production shows like the newer ships but we enjoyed what was on offer just as much. This is the first RCI ship we've sailed without a central Promenade and we wondered how this Centrum idea on the Vision class might compare. In the end we loved it as it was the hub of the ship and full of music most of the day and evening and the entertainment staff worked the area a treat with game shows and competitions. Overall a very enjoyable cruise and our two visits to Chops Grill were a delight as ever.