Just off Vision. A few thoughts.

[cinnamon]

We disembarked the Vision in Tampa yesterday and now have 3 weeks in Florida. Our cruise experience was influenced by several factors.

 

The Good

Food in the MDR exceeded our expectations, we had been disappointed on Adventure last year.

 

Captain Lis is very good, making tough decisions when necessary.

 

Paul Rutter is a fun, self deprecating CD and the prizes at the M&M were amazing. Although we didn't win anything others got free spa treatment, bottles of wine, Specialty dinners etc.

 

Our privately booked excursions in Roatan and Costa Maya were excellent.

 

The staff in the Diamond Lounge were very pleasant, even when not all of the guests remembered their manners.

 

Our cabin (standard balcony) was roomy with plenty of storage and the Panoramic Outside View cabin we looked at will suit us fine on the October 2015 TA.

 

The Bad

We had several days of very poor weather, including a foul day when we had to miss Cozumel due to 45 mph winds and heavy rain. Plus the final sea day was extremely rough. However the entertainment staff did their best to schedule extra events for the missed port day.

 

The Ugly

We heard a rumour in the Diamond lounge on Friday morning that there some cases of Noro type virus onboard. Sure enough, Captain Lis announced it during her noon talk on Friday.

 

An questions, feel free to ask and I will endeavour to answer.

 

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

 

The staff in the Diamond Lounge were very pleasant, even when not all of the guests remembered their manners.

 

 

 

Ouch! :eek:

 

Our CD on Allure this week did an extra "wash your hands" video/announcement: a few cases of noro. ;)

 

Heard about your Cozumel problem. Just two days later we had a sunny hot day there. :o

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[mets07]

Was on same Vision cruise and want to echo that the Meet and Mingle raffle prizes were more numerous and much better than usual. We won the basket with the RCL merchandise like cups, bag, hats, pens, keychains, luggage tags, etc. and compared to winning a single insulated cup on a previous cruise M&M, this was a lot. Not a big deal, but fun. :)

 

And other prizes as you said such as complimentary meals at fee restaurants ... that I do not recall at previous M&Ms.

[shipfriend_max]

Thanks for your impressions.

We sail on Vision otS in April 2015 in nearly the same tinerary, we look forward to it.

Nice that you liked the food and the ship all in all. :)

Only RCI ship I know is Liberty otS - would it be a "massive" step downwoards, when sailing Vision after Liberty?

I think the size of Vision is more adorable to me...

[Agutaya]

Thanks for the mini review. We got off Vision when you were getting on. The Diamond Lounge staff was great the weeks we were onboard too. We had nice M&M prizes too. Unfortunately they had the M&M on a port day on day 5 (of a 9 day cruise) so it wasn't well attended. I'm sorry you missed Cozumel. As you said Capt. Lis made the tough, but good decision. I didn't hear of any Noro cases on our cruise. I hope they got it under control quickly. Did you get to hear Kim Kinrade in the Schooner Bar? We enjoyed singing along with him on several evenings.

[cruiseatick]

We are with a group of 50 on vos dec 6 my wife is a ta,and[took a ship inspection yesterdayQUOTE] she said the ship was spotless she also said the solarium was in much better shape than the enchantment and overall better shape also,thanks for your review

[cinnamon]

Only RCI ship I know is Liberty otS - would it be a "massive" step downwoards, when sailing Vision after Liberty?

 

I think the size of Vision is more adorable to me...

 

 

We have sailed on Liberty once. For us, it is much too large. If Ice Skating, big shows and a lot more people suits you, then yes you would be disappointed. For us Vision was preferable.

 

 

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[wieslaw]

[quote name=cinnamon;44813596........

Our privately booked excursions in Roatan and Costa Maya were excellent.

 

The Ugly

We heard a rumour in the Diamond lounge on Friday morning that there some cases of Noro type virus onboard. Sure enough' date=' Captain Lis announced it during her noon talk on Friday.

 

An questions, feel free to ask and I will endeavour to answer.

Sent from my iPad using Forums[/quote]

 

Hi,

thank you for your review.

The excursions in Roatan and Costa Maya - what were they and what is the name of providers to contact ...... we are looking for something to do there on our sailing in two weeks.

 

Not a good news about the noro ...... but people bring it on the ship.

We will wash, wash and more wash the hands .....and hope for the best.

[yogimax]

We were on the repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, so...

 

1. What were the issues in the Diamond Lounge. Efren (?) seemed pretty much in control.

 

2. We thought Paul Rutter's entertainment choices (single acts) were horrendous. Were last week's any better?

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for your min-review. It's too bad about missing Cozumel. That's one of our favorites.

 

We are booked on the Vision next year. It's good to hear such positives about the captain and crew.

 

Happy cruising. It's a great way to explore the world!

[Justmekaren918]

I was on Vision in Sept and I did little French Key through LFK in Roatan. The place was great. Food was fine and 2 bars! They really make sure to get you back in time. http://www.littlefrenchkey.com/

 

I really enjoyed Vision and 8088 and the aft wrapped balcony.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Justmekaren918

[cinnamon]

Hi,

 

thank you for your review.

 

The excursions in Roatan and Costa Maya - what were they and what is the name of providers to contact ...... we are looking for something to do there on our sailing in two weeks.

 

.

 

 

I am not sure how much I am allowed to say here, I know we are not able to promote companies. If you want to email me my addy is my first name, shown below, then Wilson at hotmail dot com. All one word and lower case. Take care spelling my first name as that can fool you.

 

Corinne

 

 

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[cinnamon]

We were on the repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, so...

 

 

 

1. What were the issues in the Diamond Lounge. Efren (?) seemed pretty much in control.

 

 

 

2. We thought Paul Rutter's entertainment choices (single acts) were horrendous. Were last week's any better?

 

 

It wasn't really issues, we were just a little surprised at a few passengers who don't treat the staff with as much respect as they deserve.

 

Yes, some of the acts were poor. Only Ronn Lucas entertained us.

Does the CD have the influence? I thought it as all decided in Miami.

 

 

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[Susie51]

Thank you for the nice review. I'm glad to know she is in good shape. I've cruised on Vision twice.

 

After graduating from college with a teaching degree, my daughter worked on Vision in the kid's program. She thought it was funny to be part of the staff, since she was a passenger the first time she was on Vision.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Susie51

[wieslaw]

I am not sure how much I am allowed to say here, I know we are not able to promote companies. If you want to email me my addy is my first name, shown below, then Wilson at hotmail dot com. All one word and lower case. Take care spelling my first name as that can fool you.

Corinne

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Hi,

I do not want to ask for any information that is not allowed to be posted here, so thanks for the email opportunity.

I have seen many times posters were providing names of different tour operators so I am under the impression that it is allowed ..... as long as they are not cruise agency.

[yogimax]

Yes, some of the acts were poor. Only Ronn Lucas entertained us.

Does the CD have the influence? I thought it as all decided in Miami.

 

 

I thought the CD was in charge of booking, but I might be wrong.

 

One act was so bad that people started to walk out. This offended the performer charged up the aisle (trying to be funny) and slammed into the back of a man who was exiting. He knocked him to the floor. Not a pretty sight and totally unprofessional!

[mommabean]

I thought the CD was in charge of booking, but I might be wrong.

 

One act was so bad that people started to walk out. This offended the performer charged up the aisle (trying to be funny) and slammed into the back of a man who was exiting. He knocked him to the floor. Not a pretty sight and totally unprofessional!

 

The CD doesn't do the bookings. He or she is stuck with whoever Miami sends. Some of the acts are scheduled far in advance for the same time, same ship every year. You can see their schedules on the performer's own websites. The CD isn't even assigned to the ship that far in advance. Other performers are booked only a week or so prior to the cruise - and it's the main office that does it.

 

All the ships have mostly bad headliners. NOT all are bad. But there are the same jugglers, magicians, and comedians repeated over and over again. I find very few comedians even a little bit funny. The jugglers do basically the same thing with different props.

 

The only thing I mostly enjoy are the cast performances. And there are a couple of those shows I skip every time just because I don't like the particular type of music.

 

Don't blame the CD for the entertainers.

[mr walker]

Hi,

I do not want to ask for any information that is not allowed to be posted here, so thanks for the email opportunity.

I have seen many times posters were providing names of different tour operators so I am under the impression that it is allowed ..... as long as they are not cruise agency.

 

Disclaimer: I am not the cc police.

My understanding of cc rules is as you suggest - you can post info etc about tour operators but travel agents are not allowed to be named. Also, not that the other poster was intending to do it, but sharing email addresses etc for the purpose of circumventing the no TA rules is also against the rules :)

[wieslaw]

Disclaimer: I am not the cc police.

My understanding of cc rules is as you suggest - you can post info etc about tour operators but travel agents are not allowed to be named. Also, not that the other poster was intending to do it, but sharing email addresses etc for the purpose of circumventing the no TA rules is also against the rules :)

 

Hi,

I know we have the official guide lines :

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=guidelines

( and I did read them few times)

 

but sometimes it is hard to figure out what is allowed and what is not ......somethings might not be allowed in one section but are allowed in another.

 

some signatures lists email address of the member ..... but the email might not be allowed someplace else....

 

I guess depending on the intentions of the poster ..... is it helping the CC members .... or is it for the benefit of the poster.

[beachseeker]

We were on the same cruise as Cinnamon and agree with many of her comments. Ron Lucas was the highlight of the entertainment, we thought the food in the MDR was good to very good, and thought Paul Rutter did a good job as CD. The negatives for us were a very hard mattress and noise from the WJ starting around 5 AM (cabin 8508). We used the ship excursion to Maya Key in Roatan and highly recommend the short trip to this island. Beautiful setting with very good snorkeling. We thought the ship handled the rough seas very well and Captain Lis was very visible throughout the cruise. There was a long line for embarkation but since it was the first cruise out of Tampa it was to be expected. DH submitted an official review of our trip to CC today for more details and thoughts. For all the positives on the Vision the ridiculously hard mattress is a deal breaker for us. And yes, we reported it, asked for a egg crate topper. Concierge tried to get us a new mattress but seems we didn't asked soon enough. There were lots of complaints about the beds with many requests for different mattresses or toppers. Our steward did place two comforters under our mattress pad but it only helped slightly.

[mommabean]

Oh yes...how soon I forget. Those mattresses. Worst ever. I said the same thing on our Sept 1 Vision cruise. All of the RCI mattresses on all ships have gone downhill. I believe they are purchasing cheaper quality mattresses for revenue, just like everything they do. But these are the worst. Hard, lifeless, and not flat. Worn out in other words. I totally forgot to mention that in my post cruise comments. If they had a "sleep quality" question it would have jarred my memory.

 

I slept great last night - didn't wake up once. My back didn't hurt either.

[Agutaya]

All the ships have mostly bad headliners. NOT all are bad. But there are the same jugglers, magicians, and comedians repeated over and over again. I find very few comedians even a little bit funny. The jugglers do basically the same thing with different props.

 

I agree with you on this. We often skip these, but we did like Ron Lucas. We often like the headliner musicians though.

 

Oh yes...how soon I forget. Those mattresses. Worst ever. I said the same thing on our Sept 1 Vision cruise. All of the RCI mattresses on all ships have gone downhill. I believe they are purchasing cheaper quality mattresses for revenue, just like everything they do. But these are the worst. Hard, lifeless, and not flat. Worn out in other words. I totally forgot to mention that in my post cruise comments. If they had a "sleep quality" question it would have jarred my memory.

 

I slept great last night - didn't wake up once. My back didn't hurt either.

 

We too forgot to mention the mattresses on the post cruise survey. We've not had problems with bad beds previously but this time they were definitely harder in both cabins. (We changed cabins after the first cruise.)

[mommabean]

We missed Ron Lucas due to Chef's Table. I wish they'd have more musician headliners.

[yogimax]

The Motown Headliners were excellent. All the other single acts were poor. We don't even bother to go to hear the comedians any more. They are either not funny or offensive.

[cinnamon]

Actually, we were disappointed with the Motown band. We have heard much better and there was no light and shade in their performance.

One man's meat etc.......

 

Because I had read here that the mattresses were hard, we requested a Topper on Embarkation afternoon from our room steward. It made a difference and the firm bed much more acceptable.

 

 

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Edited November 24, 2014 by cinnamon