Vision of the Seas

MARCH

We always enjoy RCL’s small ships which are easier for older people to get around. They are clean and well kept up. The dining room and staff are wonderful.

OCTOBER

The music entertainment was great The staff was attentive and great Limited time at each port Food was average Imposed $16 gratuity per day Automatic 20% gratuity on drinks

SEPTEMBER

For an older, less mobile passenger, a smaller ship makes more sense. I didn’t want to be so exhausted just walking from my stateroom to the dining room that I couldn’t enjoy my dinner. A smaller ship has access to smaller ports, expanding your options. A smaller ship may not have all the newest bells and whistles, but I wouldn’t have taken advantage of them anyway.

OCTOBER

Staff greets you by name and makes you feel very welcome. The Windjammer buffet was excellent, a great variety of food to choose from. I will book on Royal Caribbean again. We did a back to back 25 day cruise and also crossed the Atlantic.

JUNE

Great experience with dedicated, energetic staff - from activities, to food, to room attendants. Lots of activities and great excursions.

MARCH

Our first cruise; we've been to all inclusive resorts in the same area of Mexico as we cruised to, so were familiar with the beaches, ocean, etc. I think the quality of the food and the food servers was our favorite part of the trip. The least favorite was the unexpected costs, and the somewhat sneaky way they were applied. 2 examples; the gratuity added at the end of the trip - I'm sure we were warned in the fine print, but we tipped our servers generously all along, then asked to have the gratuity removed (which was done with minimal trouble). the drink packages were quoted as a daily price, but were later told we couldn't buy one day at a time, but instead it was an all or none situation. It's also a little surprising that you have to pay extra for wifi in this day & age. We did not take advantage of that, therefore were "unplugged" for the entire trip (that's a good thing!)

MARCH

We could not stop at coco cay because of the tender and the rough seas. Understand the reason, however, it was disappointing. Received credit for cabana rented immediately. Was really looking forward to this port.

AUGUST

<div>I had a great cruise. Loved the ship, itinerary, and crew. Only negative was that the food was mediocre at best.</div>

APRIL

First time cruiser. It was Amazing! The staff was so friendly and always on top of everything. the food exceeded my expectations by far. Our waiter Remy and his assistant in the main dining room were the best! they always took such good care of us! Our room was always clean and the gal (i don't remember her name) always did such a good job of taking care of us. there was always so much to do! I would definitely return and recommend.

JANUARY

Not for people with Indian Vegetarian diet. Lunch is ok but dinning is very limited in options. Repetitive menu gets boring specially if you are spending 5 days.

NOVEMBER

The crew indeed makes the difference on this ship. The singing Captain and the lively, energetic and entertaining staff made this a great cruise experience.

MARCH

Our stateroom was the best ever...The room was so spacious and beautiful.

FEBRUARY

Food was just OK. Out of 7 meals at night, only 2 GREAT, 5 were just average. Also, if you see Royal Caribbean’s advertising, you would think there are TONS of things to do on the ships. Wave riding, huge slides into the pool, gravity free air rooms, and rock climbing. On Vision, only Rock climbing. Sure they all have name that tune, dancing and other low key activities. BUT not as MUCH FUN STUFF as I was expecting………………….

JANUARY

We appreciate your help with the vacation on airfare, cruise sales that helped us save on our costs, transportation, hotels and your writeup on each cities tourist info. Looking forward to your help with our summer and December vacations. Thank you.

DECEMBER

Good cruise.

NOVEMBER

Capt Marek (first cruise as Captain) was great ... he and crew were pleasant and upbeat all the way. Too much trivia to "fill the time" crossing the ocean. Recommend Royal Caribbean ... do NOT recommend crossing the Atlantic (7 consecutive days as sea).

OCTOBER

Overall cruise was great. Food was just okay. Got tired of staff hawking the pay dining options. Even had staff come to our table at breakfast trying to sell dining upgrades. Entertainment for me was dull. Cruise was smooth, ship was nice, and ports were very nice (except Cannes, France). Ocean view room was port holes. Bad views. Also, loud obnoxious noises when making port. Always awoke us prior to alarm.

MAY

While I understand that the Captain of the ship makes decisions regarding the safety of the crew & passengers & that is the reason why she bypassed Nice on this cruise. What I don't understand is why there was no compensation offered on board, & so far, none from Royal Caribbean to offset this deficiency. The other issue is the price of a beer. 7Euros! Are you kidding me....

APRIL

<div>The Costa Maya excursion (Mayan Experience) was definitely the best of the four we took. Our guide, David, was exceptional. The lunch we were served was very good.</div>

APRIL

The staff was extremely friendly, and helpful. They seemed to really want to please you and after the second day, they even knew our names. I would do this cruise again!

APRIL

<div>Thanks to my travel agent, everything was taken care of for our trip. All we had to do was reserve our on shore excursions online. We have booked again on another TR cruise ship for the fall and know that our agent will take care of all our plans again.&nbsp;</div>

APRIL

The Vision is an older ship that doesn't have any teen spaces. The teen club is more a tween club as it is for 13-18. The older highschool kids just roam the ship bored at night hanging out. There is no other area despite the multiple bars and clubs available. On spring break there were 100 kids hanging around public areas and constantly asked to move on by security.

MARCH

Will be looking for a vegan cruise next time. Carrying own bags off ship was great!

MARCH

We wanted our kids to see Mexico and we had never been to Central America. We also love Grand Cayman. We had wonderful weather and smooth sailing. We like smaller ships but Vision is a bit older. Our room was a nice size (balcony), but it was the least comfortable bed I've ever had on a ship . My Time Dining was kind of a fiasco as we were given 3 terrible tables (by the kitchen, the front door, heavy vibration over some motor). Finally after complaining the head waiter put us at a decent window table on nights 4 - 7 so we could enjoy dinner. RCCL needs to come up with something less chaotic for their dining option. Easy on and off at ports due to smaller size ship so that is a pro. Pools were nice...enjoyed the adults only solarium. The ship also had movies at sea. The gym was very small. The spa was wonderful. Entertainment was good.

MARCH

Overall it was a good cruise and reasonably priced.

FEBRUARY

The ship was well cleaned. Every time of the day staff was disinfecting hand rails and other high used areas. Dinner service in the main dining area took forever. The food was good, but it took forever. If it wasn't for the steak and desserts, I would have gone to the buffet every night. The state room was kept up by an excellent and friendly cleaning staff. The bartenders were very skilled and were able to keep calm when under pressure of twenty people trying to get a drink. I wish there was more of a variety of onboard activities. It felt like this cruise was more geared toward the retirement community. All in all I enjoyed the warm weather.

FEBRUARY

Smoke in the casino made it next to impossible to enjoy the casino. The supper bowl party on the deck served cold food and food that was not acceptable (chips no salsa or guacamole), when we asked about it they had no response. Fitness center machines are old and in need of repairs, they also need to push cleaning the machines and hand sanitizer there.

JANUARY

This is a fun ship for a cruise but if you want lots of activities and a "party" atmosphere, this is not the ship for you.

OCTOBER

Overall for a 4 night 5 day cruise it was good. Catered to a specific group of people with Latin Music, unless you request a song. Concierge room small and person in charge was not interested in helping and speaking in Spanish most of the time. Went to the movie with 100+ people at 2:30 p.m. At 3:00 pm the movie had never been turned on. I made the call and it still took them over 1/2 to correct the problem and start the movie. Kids running around ship with no shoes and unsupervised. Young children at bar areas. Called Guest Service and they said it was okay! We made our own fun and enjoyed the people we were with and those we met on board. We did like the new Diamond Plus Crown and Anchor allowing us drinks at most bar locations on the ship. We don't drink any alcohol, but a glass of ginger ale or non-alcoholic beer was good, while being with friends.

OCTOBER

Great vacation

OCTOBER

Cruised on RC many times from the Magesty to the Oasis. This Vision of the seas is a wonderful getaway at a great price. Our Balcony was in the center of the ship. Thanks you Terri. Many activities, enjoyed the shows and the spa. We will go on the vision again.

SEPTEMBER

We had a group of 12 people all together including us of new and previous cruisers. I noticed immedialty things were "different" than our previoud cruise. We are "Gold" Crown and Anchor members and we were told at the port we could onnly gold through the gold line if we didn't allow the two couples that were new cruisers to come with us and that they must wait in the longer line. I tried explaining that it wasn't how it worked and we were all made to stand in the general boarding line instead. There also were never staff walking around the pool to offer drinks and the lines at the bar at worst were up to 45 minutes. The dinners and food were top notch and were similar to the offerings of the Oasis Class Ships. Our interior room was small as expected, but the shower had a curtain that seemed to cling to you every time. This is the first time Royal Caribbean has ever not wowed us.

AUGUST

Overall a very nice experience. Not quite as "high end" feeling as prior Royal Caribbean cruises.

AUGUST

I've cruised with RCL twice before. This was the liveliest, most fun. cruise I've ever been on. Thought I would be a little board on the ship for 2 full days and 2 half days since we were only in port for 1 day but in fact, had so much to do and even left some activities out.Food was good (a little better in the past). Dining staff was excellent as was cabinet attendant. Don't understand complaints from others I had read before. I'm looking forward to my next cruise with NCL before.

MAY

<div>We had a very fun filled 5 night cruise with Royal Caribbean in the Western Caribbean, Roatan &amp; Cozumel. We did basically 4 shore excursions. In Roatan there were two combined with one supplier. They call it the South Shore Zip &amp; Dip. The Zip line part was a Blast. They have 16 stations of Zips and you start off at one of Roatan&#39;s highest peaks then Zip-Line your way down. You go over the tops of trees and sometimes right down into them. Then the same guide that picked us up at the ship took us down to a South Shore Beach Club that was awesome. Did some snorkeling and relaxing there for 2-1/2 hours. At Cozumel we did two more excursions. First was feeding the Manatees at the Chankanaab Park. Wish we had more time there but we headed to our 2nd excursion which was a two dive snorkel trip about a powered catamaran. Both days ashore were fun filled and we even had time to do some serious shopping using the tips we received from the Ship&#39;s buyer&#39;s guide, Hayne and his sweet wife Anna. The shore maps and details they gave us ahead of time on-board the ship were invaluable and save us a LOT of time finding just the items we wanted.</div>

MAY

The new refurbishment of the ship left nothing to be desired especially the way these ships have all pretty much now been "Oasisized"!!!!

JANUARY

<div> VISION OF THE SEAS, 7NT BALTIC/RUSSIA CRUISE, JUNE 30,2012 We chose this cruise because of the itinerary, and because it fit perfectly with our vacation plans. It was really a last minute decision, as we booked on Monday and cruised on Saturday! I don&rsquo;t recommend that for everyone, but in our case we were happy just to get onboard. First, cruising out of Stockholm is wonderful, and you should stay an extra night or two to really experience this beautiful capital city. Since we were already here in Sweden, we took the train and subway to one of the cruise ports in Stockholm-Frihamnen&hellip;From there, Royal Caribbean had a bus waiting to take guests directly to the check-in terminal at the port. We weren&rsquo;t aware that RCCL was offering these, and had just purchased bus tickets to the cruise terminal. We decided to take the Royal Caribbean bus anyway, which turned out to be a better choice because it took us all the way down to the terminal for check-in, instead of dropping us at the busstop at the entrance of the port. Embarkation was smooth, and we were boarding the ship before we knew it. The crew was friendly and helpful, the ship sparkling and clean. We headed up to the Windjammer for a drink and a snack and enjoyed the view of Stockholm on a summer&rsquo;s day&hellip;It&rsquo;s a hard view to beat. Sailing through Stockholm&rsquo;s archipelago is also a highlight of this cruise. Our room was an ocean view, category H, aft on deck 3. We had booked an inside guarantee and had been given an upgrade to a room with a window. I was very glad and realized I would really have regretted being in an inside room. The room, although small, was adequate for two people, and comfortable. Throughout the cruise, our room steward kept it spotless, and changed towels every day. There were some signs of normal wear and tear, and we knew the ship was older, but it really didn&rsquo;t bother us. Vision of the Seas is a mid-size ship with a good feel to it, with large amounts of glass windows in her design, which brings in lots of light into the ship, and the 7-story glass atrium is stunning. I agree with others that VISION does need some upgrading to bring her up to the standards of the newer ships, but Vision is still a beautiful ship, and well-kept. There are plans for dry dock and refurbishing in late 2013 or early 2014. Ports of call for this cruise were Helsinki, Finland, St. Petersburg, Russia, Riga, Latvia, Gdansk, Poland, and Visby, Sweden. The only port we took a shore excursion in was St. Petersburg. We explored the others on our own, which is our preference, but tours are available in all ports, and allow you to see more than if you do decide to go it alone. Anyway, Helsinki, Finland was surprisingly beautiful, with statuesque buildings, lush parks, nice shopping-(Marimekko) and cozy cafes. Swedes LOVE coffee, and so when our Swedish shore excursion representative recommended we try the Finnish coffee because it was so good, we were intrigued and had to try some in Helsinki. Yes, it is as good or better than Swedish coffee! The harbor market was bustling with local craft vendors, and is a perfect place for souvenir shopping and lunch. There are several grill tents, where they stir-fry up local fresh seafood and meat, such as salmon, moose, reindeer and bear with vegetables and rice. Try a sample platter to taste them all! The Church in the Rock is a hike from the port, but you can do if you don&rsquo;t mind the walk. St. Petersburg-Mystery, excitement and wonder&hellip;Never thought I would get to Russia, and I started checking the different excursion options-(You need to have your own Russian visa to leave the ship on your own), or else go on a shore excursion with an authorized tour if you do not have a visa, and we didn&rsquo;t have one. As I said before, we prefer to go off on our own, rather than with an organized group, but in this case we had to take an excursion&hellip;Luckily, I noticed there was an excursion that takes you into St.Petersberg with a Russian guide who provides some commentary on the city during the 30 minute trip. Once your bus arrives, you are given a map and a general advisement on what you can do, should not do, etc, and reminded to be back at your bus location in 6 hours. So, we were basically on our own-in Russia! What a great day-We could have taken a day tour out to the Summer Palaces, or a short tour of the Hermitage, but we had read up a bit on some of the places we could see without a tour, and went off on our own&hellip;We went to the Church on Spilled Blood-(amazing) , the Winter Palace, we ate perogies from a great Russian deli, went into any store we wanted, people watched, even dared walk down into the subway! In general, we soaked up 6 hours of life in the city and will come back again another time to visit the Hermitage and other sites. We were back onboard by 6pm, and after dinner we enjoyed a very entertaining show with local Russian singers and dancers. The long summer daylight lasted well into the evening, and we sailed away from St. Petersburg at 11:59pm. After two busy days, we had a sea day before heading to Riga, Latvia, which was great to just relax and explore the ship. Vision of the Seas has both an indoor and outdoor pool, gym and a nice walking track around the ship. There is even a rock-climbing wall. There is a kids play area onboard as well, and several quiet seating areas around the ship to just sit and read. The one complaint I did have was that the internet service was both expensive and very slow. Hopefully, this will be an area that RCCL will upgrade in the future. Riga, Latvia: I had no idea what to expect about Latvia, except that I had read it was former communist and that it was inexpensive, at least compared to Sweden! When we arrived, the view from the ship was promising. The city looked exciting, and when we arrived in town, we were not disappointed. The city is full of beautiful art deco buildings, many restaurants and cafes, and beautiful parks. It&rsquo;s a great city to visit, and seemed lively and thriving after throwing off its&rsquo; communist past. To experience some of the local culture, make sure to take a detour to the old city markets, which are in several huge hangars that look like they were made to hold airplanes-maybe they were! Hundreds of vendors selling everything from raw meat to shoes are packed side by side in this enormous shopping area. There are almost no tourists here-We really felt like we were seeing the real country. You need to convert money to Latvia Lats, as they are called. We brought some with us, but you can easily take some out from an ATM in the city. Next port-Gdynia, Poland. Gdynia is a port city, with not much to see, but ships dock here for visits to the city of Gdansk, Poland. You can take an excursion to Gdansk from the cruise line by bus, or you can buy train tickets at the station in town to Gdansk. It is about a 45 minute trip, either way. You need to have local currency- the Polish Zloty, to buy the train tickets, which are very cheap, about $3.50p/p, r/t. Buying them is a little tricky, as there may only be one window open that sells those particular tickets, and you have to be in the right line&hellip;Not many speak English, and there&rsquo;s no explanation where to go, once you get your ticket&hellip;Follow the signs towards the trains, and look for a machine on the wall where people put their tickets in&hellip;You put your tickets in there to validated them with the date&hellip;.Wait for your train, and hop on. There&rsquo;s no seat assignments, no a/c, your window may not open, and you may need to keep a look out the window to see if you have arrived at your stop, as there are no announcements&hellip;It was a little bit like a trip back in time, but very pleasant, and you will know when you get to Gdansk. This city was completed destroyed in WW2 and reconstructed in the same style&hellip;It is amazing how beautiful this city is. The building facades are very intricate, and the history is all around you with towers, churches, museums, etc&hellip;There is no shortage of restaurants and shops, all with very reasonable prices. One very common item that is for sale throughout this cruise in all the ports is amber. You may find some of the best prices for amber jewelry here in Poland. Gdansk is a great town to explore, but you will do a lot of walking. Last port: Visby, on the island of Gotland. Gotland is Sweden&rsquo;s largest island, located in the Baltic. It is a popular summer destination for vacationers, with its charming medieval capital, Visby. There are numerous Viking ruins and spectacular beaches around the island. Most visitors spend the day walking the hilly cobbled streets inside the medieval walls of this city. Make sure to try the island specialty, a saffron pancake. There are many artists on Gotland and you can find some excellent handicrafts, sweaters and artwork. We had been to Visby before, but enjoyed a short port visit and our pancake before we headed back to the ship for one last evening before back to Stockholm! Dining onboard VISION of the SEAS-We dined every evening in the Main Restaurant and enjoyed it consistently throughout the cruise. I particularly liked the Black Angus top sirloin steak, which I had almost every evening! That was a surprise, as I have found that the steak is usually not that good,(unless in a specialty restaurant, which Vision does not yet have) but this was!!! NOTE* When we booked last-minute we had to take Early Seating for dinner-6pm. Immediately upon boarding, we went to the dining room and spoke to the maitre d, Chandra, from Denmark. We asked if there was any way we could switch to MyTime Dining, as we had already prepaid our gratuities. Not only did she confirm us right away, she was a complete pleasure the entire cruise, seating us easily whenever we arrived. Our waiters and wine stewards were also very attentive, friendly and pleasant. We looked forward to every dinner on this cruise. Food selections were plentiful and delicious for breakfasts and lunches in the Windjammer Cafe. The made-to-order omlettes and the french toast were very good. Entertainment-The musical entertainment was very good-Tribute to Motown, and to Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Singers and dancers worked very hard and were very talented. The Russian dancers and singers in St. Petersburg were also excellent. The casino was a little boring, but we didn&rsquo;t spend too much time there, so maybe that was a good thing. Overall, this was a very enjoyable 7nt cruise with many interesting ports of call. Service and food were excellent, and I&rsquo;m sure the experience will be even better once she undergoes a refurbishment late 2013 or early 2014!</div>