librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 #1 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) We just returned from an absolutely fantastic 7 nights on Vision! I plan to write a full review with photos in the coming days. Let me give you a quick preview - this will definitely be the first of many RCCL cruises for us!! Outstanding service, staff, food and entertainment, and some very enjoyable ports of call. I have lots of photos of ship (thanks to DH) and will start uploading them tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohcruiserguy Posted January 25, 2015 #2 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Cant wait to see your review. We sailed on the Vision in Sept for 5 night which was to short. Was the best service I've ever had on a cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kftw Posted January 25, 2015 #3 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Looking forward to your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justmekaren918 Posted January 25, 2015 #4 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I am so glad that you enjoyed Vision. I so enjoyed her for my birthday cruise. I look forward to your long review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare skivoodoo Posted January 25, 2015 #5 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Looking forward to your review. We are sailing on her in March.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan-P Posted January 25, 2015 #6 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Glad you had a good sailing. We board Vision in Feb, so looking forward to your review. Dan. Sent from my SM-P600 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckgirl7777 Posted January 25, 2015 #7 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Sailing her in March! Looking forward to your review. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea 4Ever Posted January 25, 2015 #8 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Looking forward to your review! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FluffsMom Posted January 25, 2015 #9 Share Posted January 25, 2015 We sailed on the Vision on Jan 10. It was a great trip and the ship was wonderful. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #10 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) Cruise Itinerary: Jan. 17 - Jan. 24, 2015 Ports of call: Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize Background: Much of the credit for this great cruise goes to my great friend Deirdre (dln929) who urged me to try RCCL. Once the smoking policy was tightened up, I was ready to give it a go. As any of you who also read the X Forum know, I'm a huge fan of the S Class ships, but was getting bored with the 7 night itineraries and X prices and was willing to branch out. We booked this cruise more than a year ago, in the midst of the polar vortex that gripped Chicago last winter, and were able to snag a coveted corner aft on Deck 7 (7652) for a great price. Deirdre and her DH Rob booked the other corner aft, 7152. Our group of four consisted of myself and DH Scott (both Library Directors) and our friends Deirdre & Rob who we actually met on CC prior to a Summit Bermuda cruise in 2012 and have visited/traveled with many times since. Rob & I are both English and we all share an interest in beer (esp. Scott an avid homebrewer) and travel! Deirdre and I also enjoy a bit of shopping and cruise planning. Deirdre is the tenacious researcher of the group who finds great deals on cruises for us all! Here we are about to board the ship: Deirdre on left; me on right Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #11 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) My son lives in St. Petersburg, so we flew in 2 days early to spend some time with him and visiting our favorite places in the Tampa/St. Pete area. We fly SW from Midway airport to Tampa which is a well organized, compact airport and definitely one of the better airports we have used. While it was not beach weather (60s) it was a welcome improvement over Chicago area weather. Nice to see blue skies and greenery after looking at snow and gray skies for the last month for sure. We ate some great seafood, visited the Dali Museum (highly recommended) and tried some of the local breweries/pubs. On sailaway day, we returned our rental car to the Tampa airport and took the Super Shuttle ($12 pp) to the port (Cabs are $25 I believe but we had far too much luggage to fit into one taxi). We arrived at the port around 10:45 a.m., anxious to get on the ship. This was by far the easiest embarkation I have experienced (also sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale & Miami). The staff (both port and cruiseline personnel) were so friendly and efficient. There were no lines to check in and we were among the first to board as we are all Diamond members. Within 15 minutes, we were aboard the Vision, enjoying our first of many drinks!! (Rob on left; Scott on right) We had headed up to Deck 9 in search of sunshine, and discovered the bag of beers deal!! For $30, you purchase a cool RCCL bag (complete with bottle opener) that is filled with your choice of 5 bottled beers/cider on ice. Each refill thereafter is only $25. We made good use of those bags and they are a great souvenir too! Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachammo Posted January 25, 2015 #12 Share Posted January 25, 2015 We'll be in cabin 7152 on the February 21st cruise. Love the aft wraps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #13 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Fantastic cabins. I'll be posting lots of pics as soon as DH uploads them from his camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie51 Posted January 25, 2015 #14 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I enjoyed being on Vision twice. I am looking forward to more of your review. Unfortunately your photos are not posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachammo Posted January 25, 2015 #15 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I enjoyed being on Vision twice. I am looking forward to more of your review. Unfortunately your photos are not posting. I see the pictures..... No problem on my side. We also have cabin 7652 on our TA in October. Hope you guys left them looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfTheSeasCruiser Posted January 25, 2015 #16 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I see the pictures..... No problem on my side. I can also see the pictures perfectly fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #17 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Correction: reviewed our statement and the beer refills are $23 (incl gratuity) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eineeuq2002 Posted January 25, 2015 #18 Share Posted January 25, 2015 My son lives in St. Petersburg, so we flew in 2 days early to spend some time with him and visiting our favorite places in the Tampa/St. Pete area. We fly SW from Midway airport to Tampa which is a well organized, compact airport and definitely one of the better airports we have used. While it was not beach weather (60s) it was a welcome improvement over Chicago area weather. Nice to see blue skies and greenery after looking at snow and gray skies for the last month for sure. We ate some great seafood, visited the Dali Museum (highly recommended) and tried some of the local breweries/pubs. On sailaway day, we returned our rental car to the Tampa airport and took the Super Shuttle ($12 pp) to the port (Cabs are $25 I believe but we had far too much luggage to fit into one taxi). We arrived at the port around 10:45 a.m., anxious to get on the ship. This was by far the easiest embarkation I have experienced (also sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale & Miami). The staff (both port and cruiseline personnel) were so friendly and efficient. There were no lines to check in and we were among the first to board as we are all Diamond members. Within 15 minutes, we were aboard the Vision, enjoying our first of many drinks!! (Rob on left; Scott on right) We had headed up to Deck 9 in search of sunshine, and discovered the bag of beers deal!! For $30, you purchase a cool RCCL bag (complete with bottle opener) that is filled with your choice of 5 bottled beers/cider on ice. Each refill thereafter is only $25. We made good use of those bags and they are a great souvenir too! Those bags are great! Do you know if you can get one with the drink package? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexCruise371 Posted January 25, 2015 #19 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Looking forward too the rest of your review. We will be on starting Feb 21! Thanks for the review!:D:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimkatmom Posted January 25, 2015 #20 Share Posted January 25, 2015 The cooler bag is great! We got one a previous cruise! We sail on Vision in April and am looking forward to reading the rest of your review and the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #21 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) We are not buffet fans at all but we did get a bite to eat from Windjammer as we were pretty hungry. We didn't go back there after that, much preferring lunch in the dining room on sea days (more on our great dining experiences later....). The buffet is "old style" without the separate islands you find on newer ships; didn't find much of a selection but again, I'm not a buffet fan anyways. We did enjoy the soft serve icecream, (2 stations near the entrances to Windjammer) a few times and that was tasty. We walked around the ship exploring and taking pictures until our cabins were ready at 1:00 p.m. Our first impressions of the ship were very favorable. We love the decor on S class ships and this was obviously very different but we really found it comfortable. We had tried Azamara last year and didn't care for the "country club" decor and the small size of the ship. This ship, although not new by any means, had been refurbished and I found few signs of wear and tear (and I did look believe me!!); the ship was well cared for and had new furniture and soft furnishings throughout. Another similar size ship we had sailed, the Celebrity Summit, was much more dated in comparison (even after its refurb) and I liked this ship much, much more. First up, the outside areas on Decks 9 and 10. The pools (indoor and outdoor) were saltwater. Hot tubs were pleasant, although I only went in them once. I really liked that there was a promenade on deck 10, enabling one to walk all the way around (or jog in the case of some people). There were plenty of chairs in both sunny and shady spots too. Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #22 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) We took advantage of the fact that there were not many people on board yet, to walk around and take some photos around the ship also. The ship has 2 elevator banks, center and forward. Due to its small size (2,000 passengers) it was never a long walk and the ship was very easy to navigate. I learned my way around quickly. The Centrum, the venue for many activities throughout the week, starts on Deck 4. There was a lot of comfortable seating on each level of the Centrum. R Bar is in top right corner.. Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #23 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) Also on Deck 4 are the Casino and Masquerade Theater. We only walked through the Casino as this is the one indoor venue onboard where smoking is allowed and we didn't enjoy that. [/url] This is the entrance to the Masquerade Theater. We really liked the decor and found the theater to be have very comfortable seating and line of sight to the stage (more on the entertainment later). Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #24 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) Inside the Masquerade Theater: Upper Level (Deck 5): We never had any trouble getting seats, even a few minutes before a show. (We never ate dinner before 8:00 p.m. so may have avoided the crowds that way, not sure). Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted January 25, 2015 Author #25 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) I liked the ship's decor and artwork which was maintained throughout the ship, including the stairwells: Edited January 25, 2015 by librarylady19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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