Vision ~ B2B ~ 5 Nights ~ July 21st & 26th: My Diary

[maxs mom]

We were on the first leg of your B2B and saw you most nights in the Concierge Lounge. While we weren't on the corner, we loved our cabin on the aft, 8090. Can't beat those aft cabins! We really enjoyed our time on the Vision and are booked on her again in January. Thanks for the review! It is like going on the cruise all over again! Hope to run into you again on another cruise.

 

Yes!! I remember seeing you! You would usually leave for dinner, I think, not long after we got in there. We will most certainly have to meet up on another cruise one day. Glad you enjoyed the cruise, too.

[Ardie12]

Yes....it was hard giving up that balcony for the second cruise! We had to move three cabins away. It wasn't too bad' date=' but I sure missed that balcony.[/size']

 

Love your review. We're going on the Vision in Nov and it sounds like our cup of tea. We are experts at relaxing also. And we have the cabin just beneath yours, not a suite, but it has the nice balcony.

[LBumb]

great job

excellent pics

[Hozhoni]

Thank you for the lovely review and ship photos! Trying decide on my annual anniversary cruise this Oct. We are almost D+ we were in the CL then booted out when they changed the tier system :mad: But we still attend our evening get togethers and free drinks at the Diamond event. This looks like a great ship staff and itinerary :) may just book it in two weeks. The prices are great!!! Maybe I will see you one day on board...

[dln929]

Love your review. We're going on the Vision in Nov and it sounds like our cup of tea. We are experts at relaxing also. And we have the cabin just beneath yours, not a suite, but it has the nice balcony.

 

I will echo your thoughts exactly, right down to the lovely wrap-around corner aft we have on Deck 7. Jane, thanks for whetting our appetite for the Vision. We've never been on this class of ships and your wonderful report makes us look forward to it very much.

[maxs mom]

Ardie.....that balcony on Deck 7 is just as nice. Enjoy!

 

LBumb.....always appreciate you stopping by!!

 

Hozhoni.....well....we have always had good experiences. I think others have not been so lucky, but that can happen on any ship. If you book the Vision....I hope you will have as good experiences as we have.

 

Dierdre.....I hope you will enjoy this ship. If you go not expecting all the bells and whistles.....I think you will enjoy it. I hope so. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow!

Edited August 6, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Friday ~ July 25, 2014 ~ At Sea

 

Same morning routine. I always enjoy visiting with Betsy in the mornings!

 

 

Just about the same group at breakfast. The waiters know exactly what we want now.....so they just start bringing us stuff. The same wait staff will be here next cruise, so that's a plus.

 

We spent the rest of the morning in the very quiet Concierge Lounge with some of the Pinnacle folks.....coffee.....cookies......conversation. Very nice.

 

 

While we were up there, the Make-A-Wish walk began. It was impressive watching that from up there. Capt. Lis and other officers head it up. They even got Mario to participate this time. They did four laps.

 

 

 

 

[mommabean]

Jane, Do you happen to know how long Betsy will be on board in the CL?

 

Gina

[maxs mom]

We went down to get our pictures before lunch. We only had two made all cruise, so that's what we got. I forgot to post this one that we had made when we got off in Cozumel.

 

 

Lunch was at Park café. I got a salad and a turkey Panini......both good. The waiter there was our waiter at Chops at the first of the cruise. He waited on me here and called me by name!

 

 

 

As we were going for ice cream, we found that Mario was in his "office" up on Deck 9. You will find him here many days with his laptop. Always good to see him!

 

 

After lunch I ran down to the Loyalty Ambassador. Actually his assistant was there and she wasn't busy at all. I booked an extra 5 night cruise on to our already booked 8 night New Year's cruise on the Explorer.

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading, relaxing and simply enjoying that balcony for one last time!!

 

 

[maxs mom]

Jane, Do you happen to know how long Betsy will be on board in the CL?

 

Gina

 

Gina....she was supposed to work straight through to November some time so she could be home with her kids for the holidays. But I'm not sure that has been approved yet. It's still up for discussion, I think. She may leave sooner. But as of right now, I don't know anything and I don't think she does either. I'm hoping she will let me know because we want to book some more cruises on the Vision, but we want to make sure she is there. Or go wherever she goes. I told her we would be stalking her!!

[maxs mom]

The sun was looking good this afternoon.

 

 

On the way to the Concierge Lounge:

 

 

The CL was very quiet again this evening. Nice sunset from there:

 

 

We had a nice visit with our Pinnacle friends, Jeffrey and Charlotte, whose picture I posted earlier. That was taken on this night. Too bad they won't be on the next cruise.

 

 

Since this was the last night of the cruise we usually say goodbye to the Concierge and the bar staff, etc. etc.....but this was so cool that we could just say...."See you tomorrow!"

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Julio was a great bar server. We were glad that he would be in the CL again next cruise!

 

 

These two were a great pair this week!

 

 

On the way to dinner we saw some of the flag ceremony that is so neat on the Vision Class ships. Be sure to see this if you can. It is impressive.

 

 

We ran into these girls on the way to dinner. They are so sweet!

 

 

We sat in the same place in the dining room that we did the other night.....just not out in the middle of the road. We had the same great waiter and asst. waiter......Rolston and Rolland. They were so good as a team. We asked for them again next cruise.

 

We chatted with a very nice couple from Florida and this was their first cruise. They had had a ball. They were looking forward to booking another cruise.

 

 

The service tonight was fast and excellent. I ordered the seafood mash and John got the turkey. It was good. We both got the Key Lime Pie for dessert.

 

[maxs mom]

After dinner we just hung out for a while. We wanted to see the Thriller performance at 10:15. Some of the guests had been practicing real hard all cruise for this. It was really cool. Be sure to see this when you are on board.

 

Everyone was ready.....

 

 

 

 

Here they come!

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

A few more:

 

 

 

 

After that....it was time for bed. It was so fun to see the suitcases in the hallway and know they aren't yours!!

 

Edited August 6, 2014 by max'smom

[Cshgrand]

Delighted to see your review! I love your style of writing and the effort you put in researching those beautiful beach locations for us all.

We are on Vision from Tampa in February, a seven night trip but deck 8 aft also so this is just perfect especially as I had no idea what to do in Roatan.

[kayehall]

It is such a pleasure to read your reviews. They are very informative and upbeat with a positive vibe. Many times you encounter too much negativity on these boards. How you deliver your experience makes one think they were on the cruise with you!!! I am looking forward to the second chapter of your B2B!!! I will be on the Vision for her repostioning to Tampa in November. I am getting too excited!!!!

[maxs mom]

Thanks, cshgrand and kayehall! I am jealous of both of your cruises. Looking forward to doing B2B out of Tampa at some point. Wish we could do that repositioning, but it is too close to another cruise we are doing out of San Juan.

 

Just about ready for part two!!

[maxs mom]

Saturday ~ July 26, 2014 ~ Ft. Lauderdale

 

We had to get up very early this morning......6 AM!

 

I rode up to the CL this morning with Mario. He grabbed a coffee to go. He was getting off with the walk offs this morning. He always drives in to Miami on turnaround days to go to his condo. He keeps his car parked at Park n Go. So he left the ship early and came back at around 2:30. Interesting!

 

Beautiful sail in to FLL!

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, we pulled into a different dock from the one we left on the 21st. it was right next door, though.

 

More early morning beauty:

 

 

[maxs mom]

Breakfast was a little slow this morning and they ran out of orange juice!! What!?

 

I had to run to Guest Services real quick because we didn't get a copy of our seapass account. They were very quick to print out a copy for me. For some reason...our OBC was doubled so we had a -0- balance! Not going to argue with that!

 

We got back to the cabin and finished packing up. We basically just threw all the loose stuff in to the suitcases. It wasn't so bad. We only had to move from 88 to 82. Sure gonna miss that balcony and view!

 

Ashton had our new cabin ready in no time and we got everything moved in about 10 minutes. We didn't want to bother Ashton with any of this so we did it all ourselves. We were able to unpack and get settled in before we had to meet for immigration.

 

We met in the R-Bar at 9:50. Everyone had just about cleared off the ship by that time. They had to call a few names. Betsy was there to give us our new cards.

 

 

 

 

Those of you who have sailed on the Adventure years ago may remember DeDe, who used to be the fabulous Concierge there for a number of years. She is now the Guest Services Manager on Vision. She just came on board on the 21st from vacation and we didn't see much of her this cruise because she was in training and meetings most of the time. But she emerged this morning and it was great to see her again. DeDe led us off and through immigration.

 

 

Oh.....while we were waiting in the R Bar, we were treated to another rehearsal from the aerialists.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Turns out it was a long walk! There was a little waiting involved, but we quickly showed our passports to the immigration officer and we got right back on.

 

 

 

 

On the way back to the ship, we heard some VERY loud thunder! It was very hot out and soon a terrible thunderstorm came up!

 

When we got back on board, we went up to the CL with Bill and Nancy for coffee and .....cookies!!! All the new folks started getting on board.

 

 

 

[mommabean]

My goodness. DeDe lost weight, didn't she? She looks terrific.

 

Gina

[vplsh]

Jane,

We were in Cozumel with you while we were on the Caribbean Princess. Took this picture of the Oasis and Vision to show the difference in size between the two!

 

[maxs mom]

My goodness. DeDe lost weight, didn't she? She looks terrific.

 

Gina

 

Oh yes! I noticed right away and since February, too! When I first saw her....she came out from behind the GS desk to give me a hug and I was floored. She looks great.

[maxs mom]

Jane,

We were in Cozumel with you while we were on the Caribbean Princess. Took this picture of the Oasis and Vision to show the difference in size between the two!

 

 

Lisa.....that's so cool! Thanks!

[maxs mom]

Eventually the four of us went down to the Park Café for lunch and then ice cream afterwards.

 

 

 

Now here is one disappointment about the Vision that I must share. On every other B2B that we have done, we have been treated to a special lunch some where on the ship.....mostly the MDR. In the past we have been the only two B2B'ers and we still had the special lunch all by ourselves in that big MDR. We did not have this when we were on in February and not this time either. That is something that I really missed.

 

After lunch we went back to our cabin for some R & R. This is cabin 8582 and balcony.

 

 

 

Lots of boat traffic going on around us.