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Brilliance of the Seas

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Vision of the Seas

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Adventure of the Seas

Melbourne

This was our first cruise, now we know why people who have taken cruises continue to cruise.

The Vision of the Seas is a well maintained beautiful ship.  The crew is dedicated to meeting your every need, so much so, that we did not always want to leave the ship for our shore excursions.  Royal Caribbean has done an excellent job in hiring good people and creating a culture in which the crew has a genuine desire to serve. 

The Vision of the Seas is a medium sized boat for Royal Caribbean, so it does not get the marque shows that the larger boats have.  But, what they do have, is well planned and well done.  Unlike the larger boats, you really have an opportunity to get to know your crew and officers. You will run into the cast during your daily activities and have opportunities to talk with them about how they put on the show and they are always interested in asking for feedback as to how to make them better.     

The shore excursions are well planned, disembarkment and re-boarding are very efficient.  The tour ratings are very close to our actual experience.  The extreme zip-line in Roatan is by far one of the highlights of the cruise.  

The only drawback for me was the food.  It was so wonderfully plentiful that in seven days I packed on 14 lbs.  

We so enjoyed the cruise, we booked the same cruise this coming January and are taking our oldest two children with us.  

I am positive that we will continue to cruise the rest of our lives on Royal Caribbean.  I wish we had discovered this relaxing fantastic way to vacation years ago.

Our First Cruise; WOW

Fantastic cruise, As a solo cruiser it was the best ever, I met lots of solo women my age group, someone to dine with every night.

There was more than enough activities to keep me occupied even the eight days at sea

there was plenty to do, lots of fantastic people from all over.

The food and crew were also terrific, I think it was great value for money.

The smaller ship was also an advantage being solo the bigger ships can be very lonely.

I loved Tampa, great city to cruise out of, I spent two days there after a long flight from Australia.

Combining the western Caribbean and the Transatlantic cruises together was also a plus

giving me twenty one nights sailing and two different passenger groups, the younger and party mode on the first seven nights to the older more reserved on the Transatlantic.

overall a fantastic trip can't wait to do it again

Great for Solos

I spend several months each year at sea - frequently on RCI taking advantage of their "perks" for high cruisers, as well as their single friendly cruise fares. I must admit that lately, with all the cutbacks, constant appeals to spend money and many other aggregations that my happiness aboard RCI has been diminishing. It was nice to be aboard Vision, one of their oldest ships, for this western Caribbean run and to see how things can and do run right. Vision, the lead ship of the Vision class was "revitalized" in 2013

Instead of a Captain that begrudges making announcements, is never seen in public etc., here we have one that loves to be seen out and about, talks to everyone, supervises by his presence, and creates an atmosphere where everyone - passengers and crew alike-  knows that they are important As a result crew morale is sky high and crew members go out of their way to be welcoming and friendly to all. Kudos to Captain Merik Slaby.

We also have a Hotel Director and an Executive Chef who ensure that food and service are better here than I have seen on RCI for years. Keep in mind that menus, food costs, etc. are the same on all RCI ships, and yet here food is much tastier, better presented, and "seems" costlier, than on other ships. Again it is the attitude and direction shown by senior staff which is the difference.

Unfortunately this trip in mid April is the last cruise from the US for Vision for the foreseeable future as she is now off to Europe for a season out of Venice, then in the fall to Dubai for a season, and then back to Europe again with currently available calendars not showing here returning to the US market for the foreseeable future.

RCI as it SHOULD be

My trip was a triple back to back to back 28 day. Did cruise at same time as popcorn52 and totally agree with her comments. Best Capt. (Merak) ever. Food was so-so but that's the standard with Royal Caribbean now. But plenty of it. Too bad you have to go to a specialty restaurant to get a decent steak. Probably on purpose. Prefer Princess overall however RCL's dining rooms are laid out better. Now that I've reached Diamond level I'm told RCL is playing games. Seems the Pinnacle's don't want to associate with us commoners.  Putting a rope between us. Give me a break!!!  We will be Elite with Princess after our next cruise so most of our future cruises will probably be with them. Princess will also stack on-board credits, Military, Shareholder, etc. Where RCL will just give you the best credit.  Just my observation. Hope this helps you.

Good but not great

We had a great time. Cruise ship was clean, service was exceptional, food was very good. Somehow I wish a cruiseline would ban smoking in the casino. I lost $20 in the slot machines and I had to get out of there..the smoke was so thick. Even after you leave, your hair and clothes reak of smoke. Not good when you're living out of a suitcase and re-wearing some items of clothing. In my opinion, keep all smokers outside on the back of the ship, or in special ventilated smoking areas, but don't make us share common areas. Disney does it right by eliminating the casino and making the rooms bigger. 

I slipped in the bathroom due to sunscreen on the bottom of my slippers and suffered an unsightly bruise from my shoulder to the backside of my elbow..nice when you plan on wearing bathing suits, tank tops and sundresses (this was my fault..not NCL) The ships medical staff did treat my husband very well when he came down with either Norovirus or food poisoning. After a VERY long night in the restroom, we saw the ships nurse who gave him an injection for the nausea and vomiting, pills for diarrhea, a bottle of Powerade and instructions on diet ( all free of charge) ...he was then quarantined to the room for the remainder of the cruise. Thank goodness it was only our last day at sea! They called every 2 hours to check on him (or to make sure he was in his room?). When you're quarantined to the room, you realize how awful the tv selections really are. A news channel, one old movie channel and reruns of ship infomercials, one commercial about the importance of "wash your hands...wash your hands!" ( ironic with a sick man in the room who washed his hands fastidiously)..and 5 very good channels with American tv shows, but were in Spanish..we don't speak Spanish. Princess Cruises at least had great reruns of "The Love Boat!" 

Our room steward was amazing..wait staff at dinner were efficient and entertaining. I love how they remember your name and your drink preferences every night!  We had some bad luck on this cruise but we wouldn't hesitate to cruise with RC again!

Overall very good..but some bad luck for us!

My Wife and I booked this cruise during one of RCI's BOGO 50% off sales, and it was only about $1400 for both of us. This was our 2nd cruise, with our first being on Allure of the Seas, and we knew going in that this ship was going to be a lot smaller. Everything leading up to boarding, as well as boarding the ship was very smooth, and was only running about 5-10 minutes behind the advertised boarding time. Everyone at the pier in Tampa was friendly and it all seemed very organized.

The ship itself being 18 years old is in great condition. It was recently updated in 2014, adding several restaurants, touch screen monitors, flat screen TV's in state rooms, among other things. It does appear quite dated in some areas that were not updated. The state room furniture was very 1990's style, as was much of the décor around the ship. All of the railings (stainless steel and wood) were in very good condition, and maintained regularly. Most of the wood railings on the pool deck were all refinished while in Port on those days. The ship itself is very clean.

State rooms were available just shortly after 1:00 PM, and we found our stateroom to be neat, clean, and had everything that we needed to get started inside of it. Our luggage arrived somewhere between 3:00-4:00 PM, and was delivered straight into our room. Our room attendant, Cheryl was very welcoming and very sweet. She was always asking if we needed something or she could help us out with anything.

With our previous cruise on Allure of the Seas, we went to the Main Dining Room on the first night and experienced very slow service - approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours for the entire meal. With this in mind, we went to the Windjammer for all 3 meals every day with the exception of Chops Grille one night, and the Main Dining Room the last night of the cruise. Everything in Windjammer was pretty good. The food seemed to be a little less quality than we experienced on Allure in the Windjammer, but still good none the less. The desserts were the only thing that we felt was not up to par. All the mousse's were lacking flavor, and they featured them on too many occasions. My wife really enjoyed the bread pudding and the vanilla sauce.

Chops Grille was very good. My wife had Branzino, and I had the strip steak. The wait staff there was all very nice, and explained the menu to us very well as far as ingredients and the ways the items were being prepared.

The Main Dining Room on Vision was nothing like what we experienced on Allure as far as total time. The entire meal took approximately 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes from start to finish. Wait staff was very nice, food was good, and the atmosphere was enjoyable.

The on board entertainment was good as well. I personally enjoyed the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers (especially Jamie, the Dance Team Captain), as well as the Vision of the Seas Orchestra. The Boogie Wonderland show was very enjoyable. The Vision of the Seas Orchestra had a show that showcased each player, and they did a little introduction about themselves - where they were from, how long they had been with RCI, and then why they picked the song. Very nice to still see a live band/orchestra on a ship instead of pre-recorded music. We also enjoyed The Love & Marriage Game Show. We had seen it before on Allure and enjoyed it there as well. We feel like most, if not all of the questions were the same as that were asked on Allure on our other cruise, almost 4 years ago and hope they can change things up a bit in the future. We also enjoyed the International Men's Belly Flop Competition, as well as the Captain vs. Guests pool volleyball games. 

Being a smaller ship, Vision doesn't have any sort of sporting courts like Allure does, so we did miss the events that normally take place there. The Parade of Flags that the Staff does on the last night was also a great addition to the entertainment lineup.  We saw all of the production shows, and most of the entertainment shows, with the exception of Earl Turner, who we had already seen on Allure. The Comedians were both very good. Ritch Shydner was very funny, and very clean entertainment. We wish his set could have been much longer. I don't recall the name of the first comedian.

The Ports were all pretty good as well. It was our first time to Honduras, and Belize. In Honduras, we did the BOSS Underwater Adventure, and enjoyed it. In Belize, we did the Jaguar Paw Cave Tubing Adventure with lunch, which was a great experience. The tour guides, Omar and Herman were both great and had great personalities. In Costa Maya, we went to the Maya Lost Mayan Kingdom Water Park. This was a great water park, probably the best that either my Wife or I had ever been to. The park is still only 6 months old, and there was not many people there. Waiting was almost non-existent for the water slides, and just a few minutes for the zip lines. In Cozumel, we did the Atlantis Submarine adventure. Very enjoyable experience and saw a lot of marine life, as well as the shipwreck that was sunk in 2000 to create an artificial reef for the marine life in the area.

Overall the cruise was good. A very relaxing time. This ship definitely tends to have an older crowd on board, and we found it a little difficult to find people around our age range (30). Very few kids on board as well, which was great. The ones that were there were mostly well behaved. The only negative I have to say overall about the wait staff and bar staff is that they seem very annoyed to have to keep refilling the soda package cups. It seems like they avoid it at times.

Vision of the Seas Western Caribbean

This is a smaller, older but well maintained ship and by far, my favorite. The smaller ship eliminated most of the things I don't use on a larger ship and allowed guests who participated in the same type of activities to get to know one another more intimately to the point of becoming friends. I participated in my first "flash mob" and all the dance classes and opportunities to dance without a partner as my husband has a bad back that prevents him from participating. I loved the shops where I got to become friendly with the staff and got very personalized attention. I found enough to do on the ship during the days at sea or when I returned early from excursions and enjoyed the night time entertainment.

If you're an adrenaline junkie or 3 Red Bulls a day kind of person, this is not your ship though the itinerary may still be to your liking. If you want to engage with other passengers, read, relax or just maintain your regular exercise routine of running/walking, gym, swimming, Zumba and dance this ship could be an economical choice. The Centruim area allowed for most everyone to enjoy presentations there whether participating on deck 4 or spectating from decks 5-9. This was especially nice for older passengers or those with limited mobility who couldn't fully participate but wanted to be included.

The staff were especially good on this ship from the Captain on down. He was the most accessible and friendly Captain to date. The dining room staff is always good but I was equally impressed with the staff at the Windjammer. One of the best parts of travel is getting to know other cultures and people we might not otherwise meet and the intimacy of the ship allowed several staff members to share their culture with us while maintaining a high level of service.

We enjoyed all the ports of call and excursions. The Mayan culture was prominent in most of the excursions in which we participated including our visit to Channuknab Park to swim with the sea lions. We had a later flight home and took a tour of Tampa before we left which we enjoyed so much so that we will return to the city on vacation during hockey season to see our local team play the Lightening

Mayan Delight

For our first time cruise, my adult children and I were impressed by everything, lol!

I know the ship is considered small, but for the first time, it was perfect! The cabins were great...I had an oceanview while my kids shared an inside cabin. Plenty of space in both! I had no idea what to expect however from boarding to disembarking, the experience was great. Yes there were tons of people however the lines seemed to move very quickly. We went ashore at each port of call (there were 4) and every excursion was amazing!

The food on the ship was as good as it was told to me. The waiters in the main dining room and the Windjammer Cafe were attentive, helpful, fun and overall, terrific. We were lucky enough to have a captain that sang and the shows with the crew were wonderful! The entertainment on board was also wonderful...from the trivia contests to the climbing wall, to the evening shows (two great comedians, a Broadway Review, Love & Marriage and more) it was a great way to end the day...we were pleasantly exhausted each night.

I can't begin to say how great the service was. Any crewman you talked to or asked questions of were friendly, helpful and always had a smile! Our stateroom attendant was wonderful...although we met him on the first day and didn't actually see him again till the 5th day - we were always out and about - his mark was all over the cabin. The cabin was always clean, the soap always fresh, the towel-animals always cute! 

The dining staff...bent over backwards to make sure we had whatever we wanted! Two appetizers...no problem; two entrees...no problem; another roll...no problem! They always made sure our food was to our liking - which it always was!!! We didn't eat at any of the specialty restaurants so I can only assume it was the same.

The Ports...Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel...all beautiful and interesting! 

Our excursions were incredible!! We did an underwater scooter in Roatan, went on a river boat trip up the river to a fantastic zoo in Belize (our guide was the funniest!!), went sightseeing to Mayan ruins in Costa Maya and did the Dolphin thing in Cozumel.  All of the tour guides were great - all spoke English very well. 

I'm sorry that this ship will be sold (or is sold) after their next voyage...I would take it again anywhere! And hopefully, we will return to the western Caribbean soon!

Incredible Time on Vision of the Seas

New at this so please be kind.  I will go day by day according to my journal. Again, just what I experienced. 

Sat, April 2 - We began the boarding process around 12:30-ish and it went very smoothly. No issues and loved the whole "welcome on board" feel of it all. Staff was great, eating lunch upon arrival was great, bought a drink package - more on that later... Room was "ready" but not really. We had to wait for someone to come in and repair our drawers that were open and broken when we arrived. They were quick about it and very nice but would have preferred to stay out of the room until it was complete. I had ordered two of the Beach Bag with Sarong and Sandals package to be delivered prior to arrival. When we arrived, both sandals were there with nothing else. 1st call to guest services resulted in 1 beach bag and 1 sarong. 2nd call to guest services resulted in a 2nd sarong. 3rd call to guest services resulted in someone getting on the phone (the head of customer relations for the ship) and telling me, "What I did not seem to realize was that what I was referring to was a $70 purchase and maybe I should recheck what I ordered." My reply was quick along with a production of my $70 receipt. She then came to my room and told me that "In her defense..." which only frustrated me more but she did fix the issue by throwing in the 2nd bag (which we had ordered) and two of the deluxe beach towels. Happy with the fix, I moved on. 

Dinner that night in Chops for our Anniversary - LOVED it and LOVED our waiter. I had NY Strip and Hubs had the Filet. Both very happy.

Day 2 - All day cruising so perfect time to visit all areas of the ship. We went to the M&M and hubs won the lunch at Giovanni's. Amazing food. Strange atmosphere. Waiter was great and kept us entertained, which I don't think is his job but he was great at it... the South African crew members were there and we felt like we were imposing on their lunch. Prob just us but strange nonetheless.

Day 3 - Roatan - Beautiful location, great initial stop for beginner cruisers to get our feet wet. We shopped and had a great lunch at the little restaurant just outside of the port shopping area. 

Day 4 - We were in Belize. Weather seemed iffy and I was coming off of a leg injury so did not want to deal with tenders. We stayed on ship and enjoyed a nice quiet day. We took a few naps, including one in the solarium, walked around the jogging path for a while and really relaxed the day away. Perfect time for cruising and loved it all. 

Day 5 - We were in Costa Maya - we went on an excursion to visit the Mayan ruins and LOVED it. We booked through our agent and it was less expensive than the one offered on the ship - additionally, it was only 12 people plus the tour staff - we really enjoyed the small, personal service of it all. The 15 minute walk to the location outside of the port was fine and directions were perfect. Erick was the tour guide and he was amazing. Anastacio was our driver and he was super friendly and kept us hydrated. I highly recommend it. The company we booked with was The Native Choice but booked through our agent.

Day 6 - We were in Cozumel and with many recommendations, chose to visit Nachi Cocum. LOVED it, highly recommend it and will do that with every visit. You can book directly on their site and if you like, can add massages, and more. Drinks were flowing and not watered down, food was delicious and the bar-side pool was a welcome quiet time after all of the kids in the pool on the ship.

Day 7 - We cruised all day and enjoyed just being together, reflecting on our 5 years of marriage, etc. 

Highlights:

The Centrum had the best entertainment. We loved watching all of the action, the dancing, the fun and games... The staff really shined during their time here, even when the Captain was singing. He was fantastic and approachable as were all of the staff. We saw Elvis (the event planner?, not the real on) and his staff most of the time and they were all just AMAZING

Bingo was fun - but expensive, especially for the prizes being given away

Karaoke was a blast and I wish we had gone every night before turning in

Casino - always a good time if you can risk it

Chops - Loved it and would go again

Giovanni's - Loved it and would go again

Windjammer - Perfect for down time with no schedule to follow - food was good, desserts were yummy.

Maybe could improve:

Shopping was not great but we were on a smaller ship so not much more was expected. 

Ship cleanliness/status:  This ship was supposed to be in tip top shape as it had been redone recently.  However, most of the public bathrooms had peeling wallpaper, the door handles or area to flush toilets were kind of icky and rickety, just seemed kind of old and forgotten area to look over and fix.

Drink package - probably something you just have to get used to on a ship - we could not find a balance on package vs. pay as you go. Wish the ships had different levels of packages that fit our needs of less drinking.

Disembarkation was horrible.  We did the self carry where we took our own luggage down to the Masquerade Theater and were told we could get off at 7:30.  We arrived in time and got in line which went out of the theater and around the entire ship.  At 7:30, they had us exit the theater and GET IN THE BACK OF THE LINE!!  I was fuming the whole time and could not understand the nonsense of it all.  

All in all - we had such a great time we have booked our next cruise and are looking forward to visiting the Freedom of the Seas in January.

Newbie Experience on Vision of the Seas

I booked five cabins for a family reunion cruise - three small suites and two oceanview.  I've cruised several times on other Royal Caribbean ships and on other cruise lines - Vision was limited in types of entertainment and onboard amenities (music venues, no cooking demos, limited bars, no educational port lectures, etc).  The suites and their bathrooms were small, and I was shocked that the oceanview cabins did not even have shampoo and conditioner in the bathrooms - passengers had to request them.  Chairs in the dining room were stained - no excuse for that!

The worst was that my sister and I and our husbands had suites 8568 and 8572 - every night we were awakened several times (midnight, 2am, 4am, etc) by large carts rolling overhead and chairs being scraped across the deck on the Solarium deck above us.  We complained to Guest Services three times (we were not permitted access to the Hotel Manager, although I asked to meet with him/her), and the Guest Services manager said he'd address the problem by cordoning off the area above our cabins, but nothing changed and the noise continued.  It was clear when we talked with him that this was not the first time he'd heard the noise complaints - I think it's unconscionable that Royal Caribbean continues to book those suites.

The only thing that saved this experience was that the food and staff were excellent - but we'll never book another cruise on Vision.

Food and Staff Excellent, but Ship is Old and Amenities are Limited

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