Vision of the Seas ~ Transatlantic, October 30, 2015

[KenC]

Early days yet ..... but anyone else considering booking for this transatlantic, Barcelona to Tampa? Travelling with partner Phill and looking for cocktail company :D

[boco]

Already booked, with the back to back from Tampa.

 

greetz

 

Bob en Cor

[KenC]

Hi Bob and Cor

 

look forward to seeing you onboard!!!

 

Cheers

 

Ken & Phill

[KenC]

Just booked our return transatlantic on QM2 - so no flying for us this visit!!!

[KenC]

Huge roll call on RCI side - where is everyone???

[KenC]

Only 10 months 19 days to go .... yayyyyyy :D

[KenC]

Merry Christmas!!! :D

[boco]

Merry Christmas!

[KenC]

Merry Christmas!

 

.... and a Happy New Year !!

[KenC]

October transatlantic on RCI from Barcelona - got to be a fun cruise!!

[KenC]

Sun is shining in Mijas and it's 20 deg C - can't wait to have some sea beneath my feet as well!!

[tnt10]

Tim and Terry here, doing the B2B with the prior cruise r/t out of Barcelona. Haven't been on this class of ship since our first Royal cruise on the Splendour in 2004.

Should prove to be a wonderful cruise!

tnt

[KenC]

Tim and Terry here, doing the B2B with the prior cruise r/t out of Barcelona. Haven't been on this class of ship since our first Royal cruise on the Splendour in 2004.

Should prove to be a wonderful cruise!

tnt

 

Hi Tim and Terry

 

Good to hear from you. We are also sailing to Venice on Vision out of Barcelona in May - which itinerary are you guys doing? Where are you guys from?

 

Look forward to chatting

 

Cheers

 

Ken & Phill

[tnt10]

We are doing the 11 night r/t out of Barcelona, with stops in Italy and Montenegro, to Venice and back, then this TA. Have been to Barcelona several times, so not spending much time there this time, just one night pre-cruise. We will be spending several days in England prior to these cruises. Just talked my brother into coming along, so we should have a great time-he is gay as well and will be travelling solo so....

We currently live in California.

See you soon!

TnT

[KenC]

We are doing the 11 night r/t out of Barcelona, with stops in Italy and Montenegro, to Venice and back, then this TA. Have been to Barcelona several times, so not spending much time there this time, just one night pre-cruise. We will be spending several days in England prior to these cruises. Just talked my brother into coming along, so we should have a great time-he is gay as well and will be travelling solo so....

We currently live in California.

See you soon!

TnT

 

Hi TnT

 

that's the same itinerary we are doing on May (with elderly sister and cousin!!) - will let you have any tips after we have done it if that helps. Really looking forward to the transatlantic, though we are unsure whether to sail from Barcelona as we live very near Malaga which is the first port of call!! We look forward to meeting you guys for drinks???

 

Cheers

 

Ken & Phill

[KenC]

Can't believe it's 7 months to go ... well, Vision is still sailing the Caribbean I suppose!!

[hotdog647]

Hi Guys-Doug from Florida here. I live near Tampa and have cruised on Vision before. The ship is small, but the staff is amazing. They are about the happiest and friendliest in the fleet in my opinion. With a full ship the bars and other venues can get crowded, and there is always something going on. The are supposed to have a decent gym, and I know the sauna and steamroom are nice to relax in ;). My plans aren't made yet for a fall TA, but it will be either Vision or Allure. I will be aboard Vision for a b2b Apr 4-26 including the TA to Barcelona. You should really enjoy the westbound fall TA.

[KenC]

Hi Guys-Doug from Florida here. I live near Tampa and have cruised on Vision before. The ship is small, but the staff is amazing. They are about the happiest and friendliest in the fleet in my opinion. With a full ship the bars and other venues can get crowded, and there is always something going on. The are supposed to have a decent gym, and I know the sauna and steamroom are nice to relax in ;). My plans aren't made yet for a fall TA, but it will be either Vision or Allure. I will be aboard Vision for a b2b Apr 4-26 including the TA to Barcelona. You should really enjoy the westbound fall TA.

 

Hi hotdog

 

we have also been on Vision before and are looking forward to a Med cruise in June and the TA in November.

[KenC]

5 months and a few days now

[KenC]

Just back from the Venice itinerary on Vision - great trip, ship still looking remarkably good and food better than we remembered!!! Looking forward to the transatlantic now.

[tnt10]

Glad you had a good time Ken. Any tips you can share?

 

Thanks,

tnt

[KenC]

Glad you had a good time Ken. Any tips you can share?

 

Thanks,

tnt

 

Hi Guys

 

The nickel and diming has got quite bad these days. They don't give any port info in the hope that pax will book shore excursions!!

 

Tips for things to do onshore -

 

VilleFranche - a tender port, quite small with not much to do. The excursions along the coast are not bad value - we went to Monaco/Monte Carlo as we'd never been before.

Livorno - an industrial area and a long way from Pisa or Florence so not much alternative to excursions. We went to Florence.

Civitavecchia - maybe you've been before? We wanted to jump on a train to Rome but the Cruise Director put us and a lot of pax off with horror stories about missing the ship - if you want to go on the train do it but don't leave it to the last minute to get back to the ship. Trains run about every 20 minutes!!

Salerno - this is another industrial port so excursions are about the only option. There are some that allow you to do somewhere on your own - we went to Capri and had about 4 hours to wander.

Venice - the highlight is the sail in. Again we were misinformed about getting from the terminal to St Mark's Square as the ship was trying to sell an expensive shuttle service. We were spun a story about how difficult it was but found a very convenient water bus at the terminal just as you get off the ship and saved about 50% on the RCI shuttle.

Ravenna - another industrial port with expensive shuttle service into the city if you don't want to buy an uninspiring excursion. However in spite of being advised that it was dirty and polluted, we went to the beach next to the terminal and had a brilliant day, great beach, bath water sea bathing, comfortable facilities - just watch out for the arrogant Italian beach staff!!!

Kotor - another highlight at this tender port. We took the walking guided tour and had an amazing informative guide who made the visit much more memorable.

 

The itinerary is brilliant and the ship in amazing condition for her age. One drawback is that only balconies and suites have fridges - we had an outside!!! But we reached an accommodation with our stateroom attendant and there was a constant supply of ice anyway!!

 

We went for my time dining which was a bit of a pain some nights so we are sticking with second sitting for the transatlantic.

 

Shows were a bit 'naff' but the cocktails were cool and plentiful - we are diamond members and couldn't get through our 3 free drinks during happy hour because of our company ... that won't be the case on the transatlantic!!

 

If you want any more info just shout!!

 

Cheers

 

Ken

[Disneyk]

Anyone on this sailing looking to share a tour with us in Gibraltar on

November 2 2015 in Gibraltar.?

Tour is for 8 ,right now we have 6.Looking to get the better rate with 8.

Tour is 1 and a half hour by van making 4 stops

The rock

St michaels cave

Interaction with the apes

Great siege tunnels

Return trip will pass the moorish castle...

Thanks

Disneyk

[KenC]

Anyone on this sailing looking to share a tour with us in Gibraltar on

November 2 2015 in Gibraltar.?

Tour is for 8 ,right now we have 6.Looking to get the better rate with 8.

Tour is 1 and a half hour by van making 4 stops

The rock

St michaels cave

Interaction with the apes

Great siege tunnels

Return trip will pass the moorish castle...

Thanks

Disneyk

 

Sorry - we live just up the road from Gib, so won't be doing any tours. I'm sure you will find another couple to join you, sounds like a good trip.

 

Cheers

 

Ken

[tnt10]

KenC,

Thanks for the tips on the port stops. Truly appreciated!

tnt