new member question

[dakref]

I am thinking of booking for a cruise through the Panama Canal with Royal Car on the Vision of the Seas can anyone give me any info on this. Hopefully going in Oct.

Cheers

dakref UK

[bbrad8]

dakref: Welcome to CC first of all!!! Did a very quick search for you on the RCI website. It appears that Vision is the ship doing the Panama Canal transits this year. So I am using the assumption you are looking at 2012 to take this cruise The 2013 cruises, one is on a different ship as well as only being available in only in either March or November while the 2014 cruise that is so far available is in March / April again on the Legend.

 

The dates for 2012 are Oct 5 from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego or Oct 19 San Diego to Ft Lauderdale. HTH!!!

 

Bruce

[BillOh]

I will also add a welcome. Once you book, let us know the date and we will point you to the "roll call group" of people taking the same cruise. There are a lot of unique things about that ship and that route and I'm sure you would enjoy chatting with people also on the same cruise.

[dakref]

Thanks for the quick reply Gents.

A couple more questions. As it is going to be our 1st cruise and do not know what to expect, has the Vision had a refurb, I am told it is better to get a outside or balcony stateroom rather than inside, one of you mentioned March 2013 on a different ship is there much between them, also next year may be the best due to OH holidays.

Cheers Dave

[bbrad8]

Hi Dave: The RCI ships that do the "full transit" of the Panama Canal are the Vision or the Legend. These are sister ships both being "Vision Class" ships. According to the RCI website, there are currently 8 cruises open for bookings: The Vision does this cruise on 10/5/12 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 3/18/13 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 10/19/12 departing from San Diego; 4/2/13 departing from San Diego. The Legend does this cruise 11/12/12 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 11/27/13 departing from San Diego; 3/17/14 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 4/1/14 departing from San Diego. For all the details, suggest you go the RCI website. The US website is at:

 

www.royalcaribbean.com/

 

The Vision is scheduled for a refurb on 10/23/13 from what I can find. To anticipate your next question :D Legend is currently in Asia, thus info on this site appears to be somewhat diminished. I did do a search for you and found 1 post that states Legend may be set for a refurb later this year in Singapore??? HTH!!!

 

Bruce

[Priusprof]

Hi Dave: The RCI ships that do the "full transit" of the Panama Canal are the Vision or the Legend. These are sister ships both being "Vision Class" ships. According to the RCI website, there are currently 8 cruises open for bookings: The Vision does this cruise on 10/5/12 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 3/18/13 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 10/19/12 departing from San Diego; 4/2/13 departing from San Diego. The Legend does this cruise 11/12/12 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 11/27/13 departing from San Diego; 3/17/14 departing from Ft Lauderdale; 4/1/14 departing from San Diego. For all the details, suggest you go the RCI website. The US website is at:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/

 

The Vision is scheduled for a refurb on 10/23/13 from what I can find. To anticipate your next question :D Legend is currently in Asia, thus info on this site appears to be somewhat diminished. I did do a search for you and found 1 post that states Legend may be set for a refurb later this year in Singapore??? HTH!!!

 

Bruce

There are some big differences in Vision and Legend even though they are the same general class of ship. I've always found it interesting that this class is named for the last ship built in the class and not the first. Legend was first and is 70,000 tons while Vision was the last and is 78,000 tons. Decks 4-5-6 are different between the two ships. Go to the RCCL web site and have a look at the two deck plans. Both are very nice and we have sailed both over the years.

[NorbertsNiece]

Hi Dave and welcome to CC.

 

The thing about the Panama Canal is that you get loads of time to see everything. Moving around the ship to catch the view from high up and low down is a very exciting and awesome experience. It is not compulsory to have a balcony so I would go with your budget constraints. You will have a blast :D

[bbrad8]

There are some big differences in Vision and Legend even though they are the same general class of ship. I've always found it interesting that this class is named for the last ship built in the class and not the first. Legend was first and is 70,000 tons while Vision was the last and is 78,000 tons. Decks 4-5-6 are different between the two ships. Go to the RCCL web site and have a look at the two deck plans. Both are very nice and we have sailed both over the years.

 

Thank You!!! We have been on Enchantment pre and post "stretch" but none of the other Vision Class ships.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Our Panama Canal cruise is our favorite so far. (out of 16) I had a business trip that took me to San Diego from Virginia. (So they paid my airfare one way)

 

We found a good deal on an inside cabin on a Celebrity ship. I liked the pace of the cruise. We had 2 days at sea; a day at Cabo, another day at sea, etc. The itinerary is similar on Royal Caribbean. It gave us a day at sea between each port day to rest and get ready for the next. We loved it.

 

On sea days after breakfast we went out on the open deck (by the lifeboats) and read. In the afternoon we spent time by the pool, casino, or in the Viking Crown Lounge. We spent very little time in the cabin.

 

While we cruised through the canal most people we out on deck. (They opened the helipad).

 

A balcony would have been nice. I have had balconies and 1 junior suite. (we have another of those booked) But, I always look at the cost and what I am getting for the money.

 

Do what your budget allows and you will have a blast no matter what you do.