Enticing Itinerary, Questionable Ship

[jewopaho]

We're looking to book the 9/6/13 Norwegian Fjords voyage out of Copenhagen. The airafare is surprisingly reasonable, and the cost of the cruise is outstanding. It's the Vision of the Seas that has me concerned.

 

Built in 1998 with no makeover, I have some reservations about its condition, especially after reading some reviews. I do understand that it lacks many of the amenities found on the newer builds ... but the itinerary is one I've wanted to sail for quite a while.

 

Any input from those recently aboard the Vision will be appreciated.

 

Al

[didicruiser]

That itinerary requires a smaller ship. Therefor, it will be an older ship. I was on the Vision to Alaska but it was years ago. If you on the cruise expectiong wear and tear, I am sure that you will have a great time. :)

[Clarea]

Vision's revitalization was planned for Oct 2013, so it seems you will just miss that.

[pspercy]

There was a post a few days ago saying the remodelling has been changed to spring 2013. Who knows !

 

This trip report should give you an idea of the ship's condition etc, the reporter just spent 28days on her.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1717252

[wieslaw]

Hi,

 

I am a lot older than Vision ....... and still runing 'ok' ( imho) ....... so maybe I got some wrinkles and some problems but nothing major.

 

I / we booked cruise on Vision in the first part of Dec. - because we like where the ship will take us. Maybe there will be some things that are little older ...... that is ok with me ..... I do not need flat screen TV, or CL for the D, or specialty restaurant......

 

Some people like a ship as the destination and that is fine because they will enjoy what the ship offers.

 

I think I will enjoy the cruise on Vision.

 

BTW ..... I read some of the reviews as well.

 

I hope you will have fun on the ship of your choice ....... for me Vision is not questionable

[Paulxyz2004]

Questionable ship? Really????:eek::eek::eek:

[Beth C]

Trainman just did a Live From thread for 28 days aboard the Vision and managed to hang in there and not jump ship at any time during the month so it couldn't have been ~too~ bad ;)... His ships of choice for the last few years have been Freedom/Oasis/Allure so he had pretty big standards :D

[beachnative]

We were on the Vision for a 28-day B2B Panama Canal cruise in October.

I have also read the recent negative reviews posted by people on that cruise and I can honestly say that I question their assessment.

 

We found the Vision to be in very good shape and spotlessly clean. The crew was fantastic and the division heads were accessible and out among the guests.

 

The food in the MDR and the WJ were OK, just OK...but that seems to be the way that Royal Caribbean is heading with food on most ships.

 

We were without the internet for several days but that was being rectified for the current cruise.

 

I was told by several passengers that they were unhappy because their favorite football games were not available on TV. I don't take a cruise to watch TV therefore I was not sympathetic. Some complained that their cabins had the old fashioned tube TV...gain, that does not matter to me. Our deck 7 aft cabin had a flat screen TV. TVs are currently being replaced by flat screens...we witnessed that taking place.

 

I was very interested in the path of Hurricane Sandy and was able to gather adequate information from both the TV and guest services. The Front Desk, by the way, is one of the best in the fleet. The Hotel Director is fantastic and the Maitre 'd is me most impressive that we have meet.

 

We never encountered any unhappy looking crew members. We were very impressed by the attitude of the security staff and the crew and officers in "Facilities".

 

We were pleased enough with the Vision that we are now scheduled to sail out of Copenhagen on a 10-day cruise to the British Isles in August and are considering adding an adjoining itinerary to make it a B2B.

[BillB48]

Well I was on the Vision for half of beachnative's B2B and I would echo their comments, with the exception I actually found the food quite good. Perhaps it was because I had not been on a RCI ship in over a year... who knows?? Now if you are looking for the specialty restaurants, ice rink, promenade or a CL... then those can't be found on this ship, but what they did have they did very well.

[sotong]

From what I have heard and experienced of this sort of intinery there are not many sea days and when ashore there is lots of activity meaning you really do only use the ship for food and sleep. Therefore the older ship should be fine or even great! As someone has said this intinery benefits from a small ship as you will get closer to the fjords and into smaller ports.

Have a great cruise. Gillian

[bfree32]

Paulyxyz---I think you misunderstood Wieslaw's comment....He said that The Vision is NOT questionable.....and he is looking forward to his upcoming cruise.

 

 

I think I have met Wieslaw before and the only thing he commented on that I disagree with is that "He is running OK". IMHO he is definitely showing some 'wear and tear'.....:DHaHa

 

 

Go on the Vision. If your dream was to go to Hawaii, would you stay at a nice 4-Star Hotel if there werent any 5 start hotels available? Of course you would. Have Fun!!!!

[jewopaho]

That does it ... thanks to all. We'll be booking the cruise when we sail on the Mariner in a couple of weeks ... gotta love the onboard credit. Looking forward to a memorable experience.

 

Al

[celle]

We're looking to book the 9/6/13 Norwegian Fjords voyage out of Copenhagen. The airafare is surprisingly reasonable, and the cost of the cruise is outstanding. It's the Vision of the Seas that has me concerned.

 

Built in 1998 with no makeover, I have some reservations about its condition, especially after reading some reviews. I do understand that it lacks many of the amenities found on the newer builds ... but the itinerary is one I've wanted to sail for quite a while.

 

Any input from those recently aboard the Vision will be appreciated.

 

Al

 

We did this cruise 2 years ago and really enjoyed it.

 

Yes, Vision is not one of the shiny-new ships, but she was still in good condition. The crew were outstanding.

 

We had some really rough seas up at North Cape, and Vision handled them beautifully. She is certainly still seaworthy and I would not hesitate to sail on her again.

[wieslaw]

.........

 

I think I have met Wieslaw before and the only thing he commented on that I disagree with is that "He is running OK". IMHO he is definitely showing some 'wear and tear'.....:DHaHa

............

 

Ok, I have to agree that bfree32 is very well qualified to evaluate the "wear and tear" ...... so perhaps he is correct about his evaluation of the appearance ...... but the "running" part is OK for the amount of the "wear and tear" that is shown.

 

So the Vision in some similar way even that is it has some wear and tear ....... is runnung Ok.