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Serenade of the Seas

Vision of the Seas

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Jewel of the Seas

This was my first cruise on a bigger ship. I did do a Greek Island Cruise on a much smaller ship and enjoyed that too.
We stayed at The Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel and this was fine for our two night pre cruise. We got a taxi to the port and began embarkation which was fast with no hassle. The only thing I had to explain was that we each had one bottle of wine for a celebration with us. The young boy checking our hand luggage seemed unaware we were allowed one bottle each. This soon got sorted out once he checked. All was fine and we filled in our forms and had our passports checked etc. We were given our seapass cards and our wonderful Baltic cruise began with the usual Photos etc.
We had a small hand luggage with us for swim wear and change of clothes which is important as we got our cabins immediately and went for a swim and then had lunch. The Windjammer was open for lunch and I really had no problem with it. Now keep in mind I have not done any Cruises before but the food was fine. Plenty variety, nice salads, Fruit, Hot meals ie Curry, Ribs, Fish, Chicken. I found all the food nice. There was a selection of good bread, nice sweet desserts and a hot and cold drinks counter. My only tiny gripe is that I like hot tea. I did feel the Water for making the tea was not boiling just hot. However they had a great choice of herbal teas also. Everything you could want. But we tried coffee also. No big queues as there was a few buffet counters and it moved fast. Seemed very clean and they also have hand Sanitizers before you enter the Dining areas. Food was served well past 3pm most days when we came back from visiting ports. We always got a lovely late lunch. The views were amazing from the Windjammer.We pre paid our gratuities so we had anytime dining. We got a wonderful window seat in the Restaurant. We were allowed to book this table each night. We were a group of four and we went for the wine package of 10 bottles for the week. Three in the group drank wine so between three of us we paid €108 each in total over the 7 nights inc 15% service charge. It turned out to be very good wine. I was surprised at the quality (after reading other reviews) We opted for the Kendal Jackson Red. Boy was it nice. I checked here in Ireland and its €24.99 a bottle at the off Licence. So I think we did well. We enjoyed starter, Main Course and Dessert followed by Tea Coffee. The starters were small but there is a lovely huge Bread basket also. If you want another starter they will bring that too. The Fillet steak I got was small but really good. The pork another night was good. I must say the night the stuffed chicken was on we all tried it and we were blown away. It was really tasty. I do like good restaurants and let me tell you this was good. The staff were so nice. They made our cruise and they deserve a good tip. We made sure we did an extra tip as well as the pre paid one.
The shows were ok. I'm not a great one for shows but I enjoyed the ones I went to. Perhaps a little amateurish in comparison to say the West end London but they were included and we enjoyed what it was.
We never booked the ships excursions, we got off in Tallinn and just walked the 10 mins in to the lovely old town. Its Euro here and the people are lovely. The town is just out of this world. We got a private two day tour of St. Petersburg and a trip to the Ballet (Swan Lake) I had never been to The Ballet but I truly adored every minute of it. The set was amazing, such wonderful vibrant colours. The costumes were so true to the time I felt I was in the woods looking on. We booked Red October but having spoke to others who took a cheaper option with Alla and SPB tours they all do the same thing. They are all excellent Tour Operators. Never a hitch once. Easy to arrange. So keep to the one that is within your budget. You get to see so much with them.Next was Helsinki, we docked at port and we say the Red hop on hop off bus. I had read bad reviews about this but decided to give it a try as they agreed €20 pp as were were four. It turned out to be a good choice. Now commentary is a bit hit and miss but it was just about ok. We got off at the Rock Church, then back on for the Sibelius Park. This was lovely as they played classical music while we took photographs. We then walked down to the water edge and chilled out in this lovely park before catching the bus again. Then a visit to Stockmanns department store. We walked from here to the Market area which is about 3 mins walk. The market was lovely. I purchased the most amazing handmade Christmas decorations which I hope to have as a lovely memory of Helsinki. We sampled the lovely food on offer and the Well earned Coffee. Its affordable enough to eat here. The coffee was a little on the expensive side about €2.70 for a tiny cup or €3.00 but hey it was nice. We then walked the 2 mins to Senate Square and visited the most amazing Cathedral. Its free and they also have toilets. The hop on hop off bus stops in front of the Cathedral and takes you back to the ship. Don't make the mistake of taking a bus that may be going all around again as point 1 and 13 are clearly marked on the guide sheet that they give you for the ho ho bus. Lovely Helsinki. Even after the delights of St Petersburg. We were back on the ship at 3pm for lunch. Riga was last and we did not dock in the town but an industrial port. They laid on free shuttle buses because of this. They did first think of charging $20 pp but I think people kicked up and they agreed it would be free. We walked all around Riga and found it to be nice. They take Euro in the odd place but bring credit cards. They do change to Euro soon. Its a lovely old town. The people are not quiet as friendly as Tallinn but you will enjoy the café culture. We got Fantastic weather all through our 7 day cruise. So hot. Finally we enjoyed a great day at sea dipping in the pool. This is cold out door and there is another indoors but it is deep. There are two Jacuzzi s and they were lovely. Beer on the ship was around $7 inc 15% but was a large glass. Gin Tonic was around $6 but was a good measure. Schooners bar is great. Piano music each evening and full length windows. Check it out. We loved our day at sea and that evening everyone was out on deck for the White Nights experience. I will never forget it. The ship seemed to glide gently along the water. Such a Surreal experience. I did a bit of shopping on board for a Guess bag reduced to $40 felt it was ok value. Bottom Line I would Recommend this Cruise to anyone but keep in mind your own Cruise style, If you have enjoyed more luxurious Cruised this may not be for you. But all in all I LOVED every minute. Cant wait to Cruise Again.

My First Cruise

This was my first trip to Europe, and was very happy that we were flying into Stockholm a day before the cruise. Stockholm was pleasantly surprising and very warm - I would say the high was about 80. Lots of local people sunbathing and out and about. I think the funniest thing was it was "Iron maiden" day in Stockholm - a heavy metal band from the 80's was playing a concert and it seemed like everyone in Stockholm was wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts!

Sunday was cruise day and it was rather rainy and windy and gray, and the temperatures had dropped into the mid 60's. We were part of a group that took a bus to the port from the Sheraton - it look us about 35 minutes and was pretty neat as we got to see a little bit of the Stockholm area on the way. We checked into the cruise easily about 11 am, no lines, and were on the ship in about 20 mintues. We were able to go directly to the room and drop off our carry-on bags. We had a nice balcony cabin and the room had plenty of storage space. We went up to the pool bar and got a beer, but it was really windy and rainy, so we decided to go ahead and get some lunch. On the way into the Windjammer buffet, the cruise had a table setup where you could buy a drink package (water, sodas, or alcohol). Since the beers we just bought were approximately $13 for two,we decided to take the drink package. You must buy it for each person in the cabin, and it was around $55 per person, per day. For us, since we both like to drink beer, or have wine at dinner, or have nightcap, this was a good deal. 
Lunch at the Windjammer was basically the same each day..pretty standard cruise buffett food. We did eat at the pool solarium one day which had pizza and burgers, but both the pizza and burgers left a LOT to be desired.

That afternoon we explored the ship, and just got a feel for where everything was. Our luggage arrived at the cabin at approximately 4 pm, but one bag made it a little later at just before 6. We had a group cocktail party we were required to attend at 5 pm, and early dinner seating we were required to attend due to the group we were with. I did not like the early dinner seating, as some of the ports we had excursions on got back just before 6 and we did not have time to shower and get ready before the seating. 

The dinner was in the Aquarius dining room was always good, however, there was not a lobster night (to the disappointment of my SO). Each night you could pay EXTRA for the lobster and steak..I think the additional costs were form $22-$36 (?). 

The first night we spent socializing, playing a little in the casino, and getting ready for our first port, Helsinki.Note: the time moves forward 1 hour going into Helsinki.

On Monday, we docked in Helsinki, and disembarked into a madhouse of people trying to get onto a limited amount of buses for the tours. It was pretty cool int the morning, about 60 degrees, and warmed up to about 70 by midafternoon. This was the most disorganized thing I have ever seen. Peole were literally cutting into line in fromt of hundreds of people, pushing, and shoving each other. It took us almost 1 1/2 hours to get from the port onto a bus! Very frustrating. Once we got on the bus, it took us maybe 20 miinutes to get to the "tourist' section of Helsinki. (note: it is a very long wway to the downtown area from the ship - there is no way to walk there).
We purchassed a tour theough RC - a self-guided walking tour of Helsinki. This was a BIG MISTAKE. They gave us Ipods with headsets and a Google Earth map with no street names and dropped us off in front of a department store in downtown Helsinki with instructions on how often the bus would be back to pick us up.

The walking tour was completely frustrating, as you are trying to walk in a very big city with lots of traffic and people and listen to the Ipod at the same time. I felt very un-safe doing this as we were constantly warned about pickpockets. The traffic is horrendous here, and you must pay attention when crossing streets! We ended up doing about 3/4 of the tour before giving up and heading back. We met several other people that did this tour that said it was extremely frustrating! I would recommend just taking a shuttle transfer to the downtown area and walking around and exploring on your own.  They had a beautiful port and outdoor shopping area, along with beautiful churches and monuments. If that is your thing, you may want to take a guided tour, however, I prefer to explore on my own. 
That evening, we went to the 6 pm dinner, and then went to the Juggling show in the Masquerade theatre. We both thought this show was "cheesy" and it only lasted about 45 minutes. We ended up back in the casino, then off to bed.

Note: the time changed again going to St. Petersburg by going forward 1 hour. Also, this time of year, it is pretty much daylight all day, except for the sunset about 11 pm, and then the sun comes back up again about 3 am. It was really hard to sleep.

Day Three and Four St. Petersburg - we purchased a two day excursion from RC. It was worth it, but each day was extremely long and exhausting and I felt like I had been on a cattle drive each day. The first day took and hour and a half to get off the boat and through customs. There was no freedom at all to explore on your own on these tours and I could have skipped a few things and not missed them. I would highly suggest if you have the money to hire a private guide and not go with a group. I really would have enjoyed more time at some things and less time at others. The weather was a little cooler here, in the 60's each day and there was a lot of wind!! Some observations:

The Hermitage was EXTREMELY impressive, but had what seemed like thousands of people trying to get in. It was beautiful, however the crowds were out of control and we were pushed and shoved the entire time we were there. I honestly do not remeber much except the crowds and feeling the need to get OUT! 

Church of the Spilled Blood: Very cool, but CLOSED on Wednesdays!

St. Peter's Church - Nice, but total waste of time to spend as much time there as we did. Again, being in a large group was frustrating.

Food: We had two organized lunches, both had exactly the same food :shots of vodka, a glass of wine, water, rice, peas, and some chicken in sauce (gross), and tiny pieces of bread with caviar.

People: The Russian people seemed very depressed and did not speak English very well at all. They will absolutely not take dollars. The gift shops are pretty much all the same. We found the best prices to be right in the port before you get on the boat. They also bargained with us there and gave us some good deals. However, my opinion is save your money until Tallinn! haha

It was just pretty neat to be in Russia, but,with the time change, jet lag, and long 9 hour days of walking, I was exhausted.

The Vision of the Seas had a really cool party the first night in St. Petersburg- called a White Night party. We all wore White and they had a buffett set up on the pool deck, dancing, bartender contests, etc.until late night. DOn't miss this party! The crew all got on the dance floor and did group dances - it was great!

Fifth Day: Tallinn, Estonia. Our favorite port. We had cancelled our tour tickets from the day before and got a refund, and boy, are we glad we did! It was a short walk to Old Town off the boat, and this port was so fantastic I couldn't believ it. I would recommend just wondering around and shopping, eating, and enjoying yourself. Too much to see, we would come back here again in a heatbeat. Save your monry to buy lots of souveniers here. One of the fun things we did was take a motorized pedi-cab back to the port! Whee!! Beautiful weather in the 70's. After the port, it was 70's night on the boat. The staff dressed like 70's people and they played disco music and did congo lines around the inside of the ship - very funny as one group of crew guys dressed like the Village People and my blackjack dealer was one of them. Couldn't stop laughing at them.

Sixth Day: Riga, Latvia. Woke up to pouring rain, rain, and more rain. Thankfully we brought rain ponchos. We cancelled our tour here and got a refund.
We finally got a break in the downpour, and walked to Old Town ion the drizzle. I did not enjoy this destination at all..the peole were not as friendly and had very poor English. I think we were tired from the rush and go-go-go, and this port was just an Industrial City with an Old Town that could not compare to Tallinn at all. If it was up to me, I would have gone back to the boat and slept all afternoon, but my SO wanted to see the town. We ended up playing pool in a pool hall with some locals, ha! 

Saw a great show on board - Argentenian bolo dancers and drums - VERY COOL!

Entered a Texas hold 'em tournament - complete waste of money as they let people buying in as much as they wanted. Boo.

Seventh Day: Day at Sea... Ahh, time to sleep in finally. Just hung out on the boat and relaxed. Did some shopping as the last day on the boat is when the put things on sale. (hint, hint)

Easy disembarkation last day, was exhausted! The ship was in ok shape, no specialty restaurants, but that was fine. I hear the boat is going in for renovations this fall. I wuld not do another Baltic cruise, but glad I experienced it. I would go back to Tallinn anytime.

July 2013 Baltic Cruise July 14-21

Arrived in Stockholm the day before departure and enjoyed a brief look at the charming old town. Although a large city Stockholm retains a town atmosphere and is beautifully positioned on a group od islands connected by bridges and ferries. Sin taxes are high to help[ pay for a cradle to grave welfare state do drinking and eating out can be very expensive as are admission fees for most sights. The reasonably priced Arlanda Express is the beat way from the airport to town if you are staying near the Central Station.
Cab transfer to the pier from our hotel near Central Station was easy, quick and cheaper than expected. Boarding was well organized and a breeze.
Vision is an older ship but in good shape - better than I expected given some previous reviews. My bed was more comfortable that the one on my recently completed trip on the completely renewed Grandeur. On that note most of the so called "enhancements" on the Grandeur were either the conversion of public space to added cabins, a cheesy high wire act and 3 added price restaurants to help you spend your money. I liked Vision much better. Sadly it is to be "enhanced" just like Grandeur. Too bad.
The sail out from Stockholm is one of the great events of cruising. You sail though an archipelago of rocky islands for nearly four hours. Some are so close you can see the occupants of nearby cottages having dinner as the vast ship glides by. As dusk settles lights twinkle and a mist rises from the water. Pure magic. You are much closer to these islands than the Concordia was from shore. Unlike the Concordia you have an expert Swedish pilot who knows how to do it.
Helsinki is a pleasant city but one day is sufficient. The port is in the middle of nowhere so you need to use the overpriced shuttle. The huge department store Stockmans near to where the shuttle drops you provided better maps than the ship and English speaking advice. The central city is safe and walkable.
St. Petersburg is just a treat, much cleaner and in better nick than we expected. We had Visas and so spent day one and three on our own we no problems. The cruise port is new and well organized. The 158 bus takes you to the nearby subway (Metro) station for 75 cents. The station is the end of the Green (#3) line so getting lost is hard. Signs are in both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabet. The fare is 75 cents again and in three stops you are near the Hermitage on the Nevsky Prospekt. We had no trouble getting around, getting service or getting fed. At no point did we feel threatened or unwelcome.
On day two we bought a ships tour of both the Catherine Palace and the Peterhof. Both are out of town. The tour was well organized, included a good lunch and was in our opinion good value for money. This day was the highlight of the cruise. The Peterhof takes ones breath away.
Tallin was enjoyable and easily reached on foot from the ship. The nest two ports, Visby and Wallemunde were also charming in different ways and again the ship docked in the center and we just walked ashore and to town. Copenhagen has many charms but is very, very crowded and the central city is half dug up for a new subway line.
Our cabin was neat and clean and the attendant was first rate. We never wanted for anything and she was always cheerful. It is well located on deck four and we had no problems with noise from neighbors, ship activities or mechanicals. Everything worked.
Rommell, our dining room steward was efficient and gave god advise on what looked good since we were 2nd sitting and he had see all the dishes in the first. The section head waiter was more visible and active than they usually are and kept a careful eye one everything. Food was generally good to very good with maybe two misses in 10 days. The Windjammer was fine for breakfast. We usually lunched ashore.
We enjoyed another Rommell, our bartender in the Viking Crown, interesting, funny and a just good bartender. All of the staff from the Captain on down were affable and engaging.
The cruise staff were all about and events and entertainments were happening but on such a port intensive cruise we didn't pay much attention.
The weather save for two hours of rain the final day in St. Petersburg was 75F (23C)and sunny every day.
Just a terrific cruise. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

Terrific Cruise

I recently went on the Vision of the Seas for a 7 day St. Petersburg cruise.  The title that was given by Royal Caribbean.  At embarkation,  the ship was in shabby condition.  The chairs on the pool deck around the tables were scratched up and torn, besides being uncomfortable.  The rest of the ship was in similar condition from the carpets being stained and just generally rundown.  Our cabin had many issues that were reported daily and the personnel never got back to me to leave me a message, "Yes, we looked into it.  or Sorry we haven't addressed it yet."  Nothing unless I called to find out.  The steward, though adequate, I did not see him the entire cruise.  We eat at the buffet and the selection was limited and not great for the entire cruise.  Seven days of minute steak for example.

Unfortunately,  the main port of the cruise was canceled due to high winds and difficulty getting into the port.  Safety is understandable, but there was no additional port added to the cruise and I am sure that most people would have opted for changing another port to include the main port of St. Petersburg.  There were many apologies but there was not any compensation other than the port fees without even a complimentary drink offered for the guests with an extra sea day.

The overall staff was uninspired.  Not bad, just not friendly or engaging.  They did their job, ie read the trivia questions, but that was it.  Dance nights, they did their thing and walked away.

The ports were okay.  I did a ship excursion to the Ice Bar in Helsinki.  It was not very interesting or fun as expected.  I walked in Riga, which was nice and I had a tour guide hired for Gdansk, which was fantastic.

A very disappointing cruise experience.

Very disappointing

Our family of 4, two adults and two teens undertook a 7 day Baltic cruise aboard the Vision of the Seas sailing from Stockholm, Sweden July 21,2012. We had done 4 other Caribbean cruises but never before had we had so many ports in a 7 day time frame.  This was our first trip to Europe and we wanted to see as much as we could in the time we had available and this cruise more than fulfilled that desire.  We flew into Arlanda airport a day early and took a taxi to the Elite Tower Marina Hotel in Nacka.  The taxi was about 550SEK, which works out to about 75US for the 4 of us and our 5 pieces of luggage.  Nacka is across from Central Stockholm and the hotel was about 140US a night.  The hotels closer to Central Stockholm was around 230-250 and since we needed two rooms,opted for the Elite Marina.  Nice,clean hotel.  We took a taxi to Frihamnen, the port, at 11 the next morning.  Registration was very orderly and we were on board by noon.  There was food available in the Windjammer Buffet and we had our first meal aboard.  The buffet was fresh and the food tasted good.  Our cabins were made available to us at 1:30pm and we went down to the 2nd deck.  Cabins on the V of the S are on decks 2,3,4,7 an 8. Due to the cost of the cruise we opted for an outside cabin instead of our usual balcony cabin.
We also chose deck 2 because we were afraid the Baltic might be choppy and midship, deck 2 would be the most stable area.  It was.  Our cabins were comfortable enough for 2 people and the closet would accommodate quite a bit of clothing. There were only 3 medium size draws and 3 small draws in the desk.  A couple more drawers or shelves in the closet would have been nice. The V of the S was built in the early 2000's and it is a smaller ship about 2000 passengers.  Our room was clean but it did show signs of wear, on the furniture edges and in the bathroom.  The A/C in the cabin had a knob for adjusting the temperature in the room but I am not sure that it really did anything.  No matter how we turned it our room was cold and our kids inside cabin was too warm.  I called maintenance and they said they would send someone up to check it.  I don't know what they did if anything because that cabin continued to be too warm.  Thank goodness we weren't in our cabins very much due to all the port excursions.  The bed in our cabin was a bit hard to my standards and an egg crate would have been a nice option. The TV is a antique and programing is pretty limited.  They repeat the same sitcoms every night and rotate the same 6 or 7 movies. Internet access is spotty.  My husband found the best reception was in the Showboat lounge.  Our cabin steward didn't introduce himself and I had to hunt him down to get the beds in our kids cabin separated.  After finding him, he quickly took care of our request but we rarely saw him after that.  I think RCL encourages the crew to try not inconvenience the passengers.  I personally like to meet the crew. There are only two restaurants on board the V of the S.  Windjammer Buffet and the Aquarius Restaurant.  We ate breakfast most mornings in the Windjammer due to time limitations and it was the same items everyday, a fairly wide variety. Crowding in the cafe was probably the biggest problem.  The last day we had to eat out by the pool due to lack of seating in the cafe.  The waiters spent most of their time cleaning up so you had to usually fetch your own drinks.  We were hardly on board during lunch and we had dinner in the Aquarius Restaurant.  There was a good assortment of food, presented nicely and the servers went out of their way to accommodate any special diets.  I am on a plant based diet and they provided me with a special meal every night, including dessert.  Shore excursions were handled efficiently and we went on excursions in all of the ports except Stockholm and Helsinki.  Frankly if they asked me which port I would chose to leave off the itinerary I would say Helsinki, not much to see or do there.  We had one sea day and two formal nights.  I would also change that.  One formal night is enough, especially when you have so many ports of call.  Stockholm is 6 hours ahead of the US east coast and you lose two more hours over the first two days of the cruise.  Talk about major jet lag, add to that the sun not setting till 11pm and coming up at 3:30am, walking long distances on the shore excursions, two sea days would be nice just to catch up on sleep.  There is a 3rd area you can get food.  The Solarium has pizza, burgers and sandwiches, they are OK.  There is a Ben and Jerry's and a Seattle coffee on the ship.  You pay extra for that.  They also have cookies and desserts but you can's buy them.  They give them to you if you purchase ice cream or coffee?? 
Entertainment on board is limited.  There were two variety type shows, singing and dancing, two celebrity impersonators, and a Russian folk dance company.  I enjoyed The Beatles the most, the Celine Dion impersonator was good but the Beatles really brought me back.  There is a casino and on the two formal nights it is smoke free.  There is a library that doubles as a cigar store after 9pm and there is a card room.  The weather was kind of blustery and wet the first two days and only the Northern Europeans were out by the pool.  The solarium was nice because it is enclosed and both pools are heated to 86 degrees.  Nice when the temps are only in the mid 60's.  Overall we had a wonderful trip.  The ship does need some TLC but she has a wonderful captain and crew.

6 ports in 7 days, Whew

This was our second cruise to the Baltic the previous one having been 4 years ago.It really is a lovely part of the world with great ports to visit.
Had an enjoyable cruise on Vision from Stockholm in July 2012.This is the oldest ship that we have sailed on in a long time so we were prepared for her to be showing her age especially as she is due for a major overhaul sometime next year.
Embarkation at Stockholm was handled smoothly and speedily and we were on board shortly after 12 noon.The public areas of the ship were in much better condition than I thought they would be.Had lunch in the buffet and explored the ship.I was pleasantly surprised when touring the spa to be told that the relaxation area could be used anytime free of charge. I was also able to sign a waiver which allowed my 14 year old to use the gym facilities.
Cabins were released at about 1pm.We had booked an inside cabin,but a week before sailing we were e mailed by RCI to say that we had been upgraded to an outside cabin.The luggage arrived almost as soon as we went to the cabin.My husband and children went to the pool while I started to unpack.It was whilst I was doing this that I started to notice how dirty the cabin was-coffee mug rings on bedside lockers,carpet not hoovered, fingermarks on mirrors,rubbish in the bin and someones used razor in the shower cubicle.Oh well not the end of the world and I always travel with disinfectant wipes so I got to work.I thought things would be taken care of when the room was turned down for the night.After dinner I returned to the cabin and it had been set up but only for two people.We had our two children with us.I managed to pull down the two pullman berths and they both had dirty bed linen on them.I went to Guest Services and told my story.A very nice apologetic girl said she would deal with it.It took a further two hours and 3 visits from different housekeeping staff to get the cabin set up for 4 people.We have never experienced anything like this before.Housekeeping supervisor was very apologetic and arranged to have the carpet steam cleaned and assigned a fresh cabin attendant to us.
On the first sea day we were upgraded to a Junior suite by way of an apology and also offered 30% of the price that we had paid for this cruise off of a future cruise.
The Junior suite was disabled accessible and huge. It was kept very clean and I didn't need to get my wet wipes out for the rest of the cruise!
Every time we came back to the cabin something had been left for us-chocolate covered strawberries, backpacks  and baseball caps, crayola things for the children.
We took all of our evening meals in the dining room and had excellent friendly service from both of our waiters.The Head Waiter(A woman) was also very attentive.We ate breakfast at both the buffet and the main dining room.The buffet was always busy but we never had any major problems finding a table.
We went to several of the theatre shows.We have been spoiled by some of the shows on bigger ships so found some of the performances a bit basic.
There is a good size library but it also doubles as a cigar lounge.I think this should be re -thought.Despite air purifying machines the smell of smoke is very evident.Also smoking is allowed in the casino.We would have donated more money here if it was a smoke free area. 
Enjoyed the covered swimming pool area.The rock climbing wall did not open often due to high winds but my daughter loved this when she did get to try it.We also made good use of the table tennis tables and the shuffleboard.
My 9 year old loved the Adventure Ocean.All of the staff seemed friendly and engaged the children well.She did the usual colouring in of a pillowcase ,had her face painted a couple of evenings,enjoyed a pirate night,played lots of dodgeball and generally enjoyed herself.She also loved the Pets At Sea and is now the proud owner of a lion wearing a RCCI chefs suit.
My 14 year old went to the teen club a couple of times but was not very keen to go back.She thought the staff were nice and the lounge was a good hang out space, it was some of the teens that she did not feel comfortable with.As we are from Europe she has different references from US teenagers and she feels excluded.This is a very subjective thing and obviously can vary from sailing to sailing.There was a  group who were travelling together and they seemed to dominate events.This was a shame as she has really enjoyed meeting kids from all over the world on previous cruises.She came to the shows and lounges with us in the evenings and had an enjoyable and inspirational chat with the lady Captain  at the Crown & Anchor meeting.
The Captain and her officers were highly visible around the ship in the evenings.
We did our own thing in all ports except for St Petersburg  where we took a ships excursion which exceeded our expectations.
Disembarkation was very smooth.After breakfast in the main dining room we walked off the ship to find our luggage waiting for us.I had prebooked a taxi for 8am to take us to Arlanda Airport at a cost of 390SEK. There was no sign of uor taxi and my husband  asked adriver from the firm that we had booked with if he could help but he quoted 900SEK for the same journey.Fortunately for us the pre booked taxi arrived at 8.10am and we were at the airport with time to spare.
The weather was very pleasant and we enjoyed the Vision. For a ship of her age she is in good shape. There have been changes since we last cruised with RCCI -no individual  toiletries in lower grade cabins,no chocolates on pillows,decline in food quality,having to pay extra for lobster and good steak etc but I think cruising still offers good value for money and for us it's more about the ports than the ships anyway.
We do not have any brand loyalty and have cruised with RCCI,Celebrity,Disney,NCL and MSC in the past and if the itinerary and the price suited us I would consider RCCI again.
We had a problem with our initial cabin but I felt that the way Guest Services handled things made up for it and we had a good holiday.

Return to the Baltic Sea

We arrived in Stockholm 2 days prior to our cruise. We stayed in the Stockholm Sheraton which was a great location. We took the express train from the airport and walked the 2 blocks to the hotel. We visited Gamla Stan, Vasa, Skansen, Ice Bar prior to boarding. We took a taxi to the port from the Sheraton. 

Ship was in good shape. There are no good tv stations/movies. The ship is MUCH more smokey than US travels. Food quality was good. Kids were grouped in 12-17 age group which was a bit much in my opinion-truth or dare was a bit much for my 12 year old.  Service was wonderful-we had our best head waiter ever...she was involved-got to know our family and didn't just come buy on tip night!  Great waiter and stateroom attendants as well.  Assistant waiter seemed to be still learning-but very sweet none the less.  This trip was very port intensive so we seemed to have less on board time/activities-but we managed to hit lots of trivia and accumulated our fair share of luggage tags and highlighters!

Ports-In Helsinki we toured with SPB-prior reviews in cc were mixed but Maria did a great job and we enjoyed our bus tour. Rock Church was great! Food at the outdoor market was fair at best. In St Petersburg we also used SPB tours-Victoria was great and we were on a tour of 8. We loved Peterhoff gardens and Kate knew all the ins/outs for us to see our sites efficiently/best views etc...considering we only got 1 day in St. Petersburg. The Russian pies were awesome-we ate at Stolle-yummy! We went with Andrew in Gdansk to see the concentration camp. There were 10 on our tour. I thought I would cry at the camp-no tears.No food at the camp-we brought snacks which we ate on the bus...made a yummy trail mix from the granola buffet at breakfast! Day was long so snacks were a must! Andrew's tour was good-Gdansk was lovely-should have made it more clear as to souvenir desires-we only had 1/2 hour and were on a street that only sold Amber (which we already took care of in SPB)-group was looking more for t-shirts, etc. We got back to the ship at 5:30-so a bit rushed for formal night since we had early seating. We did Riga on our own...cute-cheaper Amber than in SPB. We wondered to the church and listened to an organ concert which was lovely. Found a local restaurant and ate outside with a piano player complementing the meal! Helsinki we walked around-botanical gardens, wall, ate outside...lovely-lots of hills! 

We chose to use the ship transfer to the airport which was great...off the ship at 7:20-plenty of time to make our 12:00 flight...bummer that in Munich at our stop over we had a 3 hour delay! Evening shows were terrible-no comedians...which I much prefer over the RC singers/dancers...that was my biggest disappointment. 

Most frustrating part of the ship was on the first night our party of 10 was sitting at 3 different tables.  In fact, my 12 year old was eating on a different deck!  After being told there was nothing that could be done because the ship was full, they finally came through and we all ate together!

We opted for this cruise as a trial to see if it would meet the very different holiday needs my hubby and I have. We are frequent travellers but since buying a holiday home in Spain 4 years ago, have not visited anywhere new since then. We chose this cruise as it was short and visited St Petersburg (which was in my bucket list). Hubby likes all inclusive but we don't like to be too long in one place. I worried that I would feel "trapped" on a ship. 

We LOVED it!. Did lot's of research before we went and noted that lot's of people were saying vision was tired and shabby? Well if it was, we never noticed it!

Cabin. After trying our key and it not working, the steward let us in. When we went to the desk to change the keys, he had let us into the wrong cabin. The "right" cabin was smaller and the bed was squashed up against the wall. But it was adequate for such a short journey. Noisy aircon which was fixed as soon as I mentioned it. 

Food. Loved the salads in the buffet. Plenty of choice of food. Mostly of a good quality. Sometimes very busy but rarely had to look too hard for a seat. Main restaurant was ok. Our head waiter was ok but the assistant much better. Food was nice, small portions of what is in the buffet, presented well. But you could have more if you wanted it :-)Sometimes the wait was a bit long but not overly so. 

Entertainment. I'm cheesy and loved the shows. Ok they are amateur but enjoyable. I particularly LOVED the staff flag parade. So energetic and a bit emotional (dunno why but it was soooo funny seeing an Indian chef, dancing and waving his flag, in his full whites!). Also, met a few lovely people and we had a blast at karaoke. Nobody would ever see me again so I didn't care! We sang ABBA :-). Well we were in Stockholm. Excursions. Didn't do any of the ship ones. Used SPB in St Pete's. A long day but very well organised. Used the roll call on here to meet fellow travellers who wanted the same tour. Took the price right down :-)

Walked into Tallin. Nothing special. We have medievel towns near where I live but it was a pretty place. 

Stockholm is amazing. But very expensive. We spent 2 days before the cruise here and one day after. 

Emabarkation/Disembarking. Got on like a dream. After a long walk to the check in which was not sign posted. Getting off was a nightmare. We had fantastic weather until the last day. We got off in torrential rain and howling wind. Got soaked getting driven to the luggage claim. But the weather isn't the fault of RCI. 

Not sure what I can add really? Booze wasn't too expensive (well not after Stockholm). $15 for a pint of lager and a glass of wine. $28 bottle of wine. Not much time for boozing tho as too tired!

In all, a fantastic first cruise experience. Loved the boat and would go RCI again. Planning my next cruise now :-)

First time cruise review

Booked this cruise for a shorter trip than normal but to see some ports that we would not normally visit.

Embarkation was easy and we were on-board in no time, throughout from the moment we boarded until we left the crew as always were very polite and helpful.



The smallest class of ship we had been on, but we still enjoyed all the facilities except the pool areas, due to the weather. Many did use the pool and areas though.



Helsinki was wet but we had a great day on Suomenlinna Island & Fortress, we got the shuttle to the town and then walked to the market and got the ferry across.



We did the ships two day tour package in St Petersburg, this was really good and our tour guide was excellent. On both days we had good lunches as part of the cost. They were four course meals with neat vodka, champagne and water. The second day at Catherine's palace we even had entertainment during the meal.

We visited the winter palace, hermitage, peter and pauls , the church of the split blood, catherine's palace and the peterhof gardens.



Entertainment was good, the Backbeat Beatles being the pick, they also had a unplanned appearance in the schooner bar until the early hours.



Food, throughout the food and service in the MDR and the windjammer was really good.



The condition of the ship could be described as tired in some areas, but as mentioned earlier the ship was clean. This did not stop us enjoying ourselves though.



As for what we had read in some earlier reviews, some people must live in a different world with some of the things they had complained about or cannot see beyond the peripherals of a few worn areas or they must have 6 star food all day everyday at home. (I think not)



We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and port visits. 

Enjoyable

We travelled on this cruise with 2 of our kids in a last minute decision because it was so cheap and we've always wanted to visit St Petersburg. As such I had no great aspirations having not heard great things about Royal Caribbean. How wrong we were.



The standout difference between this cruise and our last (on Celebrity Infinity around the Panama and Sth America)was the food. An Australian head chef called Craig -I think - and his team did a masterful job of serving up first class food (a superb fillet steak and a goat cheese tart stick in my mind). The crew seemed uniformly happy and helpful and the whole operation was run smoothly by a female Captain of Danish/Japanese descent who did an excellent job of making the officers and crew visible and accessible. My daughter now wants to be captain of a ship too, although it might be a pirate ship in her case. 



The ship itself is at least 10 years old but has been kept in good nick and is ageing well. As with every other ship I've been on, it reminded me a bit of of a Los Vegas hotel. Her public areas do not flow as well in terms of being able to walk end to end as Celebrity's Infinity and there were a few issues with sewerage smell in our bathroom which came and went on one or two occasions, but other than that, the ship was good.



Of the ports, more surprises, Stockholm was the standout, particularly the spectacular 4 hour cruise in and out past all the islands with their summerhouses and small villages. 

Surprisingly good

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