Vision: Our family sees a different side of Royal

[cpshaye]

Following

 

I've only been on one RCI ship so far (Adventure), and have one scheduled (Oasis), but for some reason your review caught my eye and I'm hooked! You have a beautiful family. 

 

I've been on similar sized Carnival ships and through hurricane-reminents weather (Jose) and I'm waiting to hear about your adventures. 

[MsJersey84]

On 3/25/2019 at 11:14 PM, RCCL Fan said:

 

What wonderful news!  Look forward to sailing with you.  Even better --- my inlaws live in Dallas, GA.  We're trying to get them to join us in October as well. 

Quick question.. So in relation to the Enchantment of the Seas is this ship the same size??

Edited March 27, 2019 by MsJersey84
Misspell

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, MsJersey84 said:

Quick question.. So in relation to the Enchanment of the Seas is this ship the same size??

 

Enchantment was stretched in 2005 and is the largest of the Vision class.

[MsJersey84]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Enchantment was stretched in 2005 and is the largest of the Vision class.

Thank you

[Dulciana8]

Great review! I love reading about your adventures— your girls are adorable. Nevera sailed on Vision, like you, only the larger RCI ships. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip! 

[lola2013]

Loving your review!    I sailed Oasis about 8 years ago...Majesty this past September and will be on Jewel in 62 days (but who's counting).  Sounds like Jewel is mid-size compared to the others...and a bit larger than what you've just sailed on.  We have four Sunset Verandahs across the back of the ship, which is what I'm really looking forward to.  There is nothing like watching the ship's wake.

 

Your family is beautiful...can't wait for the next installment.

Susan

[gatour]

17 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

Windjammer on every ship is crowded.

That’s a given.

On Vision it was fine.

Crowded at times but by no means overwhelming and never a line out the door.

Always had both sides open.

The design is such that you walk in and boom. Steam table of food right in front of you.

I tended to walk past it and go to the port side line which for some reason always seemed less crowded
 

 

That was an old Walt Disney World trick, if there are two queues for a particular attraction pick the one on the left side (port side for a cruise ship).  Lines on the left side were generally shorter.  However this is not as prevalent nowadays as people know about that tendancy along with the Fast Passes etc.

 

Loving the review.  You are giving a fresh perspective.

[LBumb]

Loving your review

[RCCL Fan]

Good Morning Roatan!!!!

Oh the celebration to look off our balcony this morning and see land and above that unfamiliar land.

The ride into Roatan was tough. We learned two other ships scheduled to be there that day didn't make it due to sea conditions. We also read the headlines about the NCL ship that got blasted by strong wind from the same cold front we sailed along.

I'm glad we made it safely but lets me honest.... the rejoicing of seeing Roatan wasn't just because of rough seas the night before.




We rejoiced because THIS IS SOMEPLACE NEW!!!!!

We are huge RCI fans, and sail pretty much every year... but when you're big ship fans, and you have limited vacation and kids in school, those 11-night ultimate caribbean sailings usually aren't in the cards.

It means that we've been to Cozumel, Falmouth, St. Thomas, Nassau and Labadee so many times that we not only have our favorite places to visit, but our favorite staff there.

There's a tour operator in one port that knows us so well, that when we come she will pick us up in her car and drive us around herself so we're not on the same ole tour.

Since moving to Texas we were excited to finally get to Roatan and Belize which we had never visited.

We enjoyed the view, from the balcony and headed to shore to dive in.

I made reservations for a private tour with Victor Bodden.

This was super simple and so nice!

His booth is right off the pier, we walked up, gave them our name and they escorted us to our waiting private van.



We hopped in, and met Juan our driver for the day and took off in search of Monkeys and Sloths.

Our girls were sooooo excited to hug a sloth as I promised them we would when we got to the island.

They were being difficult about going to bed the night before we arrived, giving me a million reasons why I should let them stay up.

As soon as I said, sloths sleep all day, so we have to get there before 11am when they go to bed. That means you have to get up early, so you need to go to bed now.

The lights went right out.

So....

Off we went in search of a sloth hug.





On the drive out, my wife truly enjoyed taking in the island. She loves islands with lots of trees and Roatan delivered. The mountains and water views had her in awe.

We arrived at the facility and met monkeys, macaws, and yes the infamous sloths.... including a little baby sloth.









There were some folks there enjoying a zip line tour which was fun to watch.


We took in several other animals before walking through the gift shop back to the van.

(Side note.... I just remembered I promised the girls i'd buy them a sloth stuffed animal online when we got home, for cheaper than the gift shop! whoops!)




Back in the car and Juan drove us to check out West End. It was a beautiful area filled with many shops and restaurants and lots our tour operators. We really should have done a glass bottom boat ride, but I wanted to get to the beach where we had day passes waiting.

Off we went to Infinity Bay --- a nice hotel on West Bay Beach.

Juan suggested we might like Paradise Beach, it' had a nice shaded area,
and a play area for the kids, and my wife was down for it the second we stepped in.... trees, older but clean nice, and tropical raw feeling.




Infinity Bay was right next door, more 4-star hotel like --- with a huge infinity pool, and bar, and cushioned seats.... my Americanized kids insisted this was the spot.

So, we checked in, got our seats and let the girls enjoy the beach while my wife and I relaxed in the sea air and some drinks.




We eventually hopped in the water. She thought it was a little chilly, but it was fine for me, not warm but good.

Almost instantly i noticed fish swimming nearby just as matter of fact right there near the shore.

Now I'm going to confess something --- I love to swim ---- even was on the swim team in my youth, but for the life of me I can't snorkel.

I don't get it. I always struggle with the little breathing tube thing and wind up swallowing a big ole gulp of water, and I can't seem to relax and just take it in.

But I said I would try this time.

But my wife came back from snorkeling saying she got scared as they had drifted out pretty far and the coral was huge and she was worried about banging into it.

So i chickened out --- but did do some swimming and spent time out in the water with my youngest taking her far out while holding her.

Still we saw a ton of fish and I truly enjoyed it.




I've heard crowds can be bad here, but they weren't for us. Of course two ships didn't make it in that day.

We visited the bar, and ordered lunch which everyone enjoyed.

I will say I didn't like that there was not bar service right to your chair.

Also, the hotel guests get rights to the best seats here.

We got two nice ones front and center, as staff said it wasn't a busy day.

I'm sitting there, enjoying the view, watching my kids play, nothing past my feet but sand and ocean and a guy walks up and takes one of the empty loungers that was next to me and drags it in front of mine and lies down puts his hat on his head and goes to sleep.

I'm like um.... *****. My front row lounger just became a back row lounger.

I was a little dumbfounded as he was also blocking the walkway of people walking along the beach.

A man asked him why he was there, and he said "just enjoying the perfect view"

Well that set me off, because I was enjoying that view first.

I politely said, "I don't mean to be rude but I did pay to enjoy the view as well and was here first when you chose to lay in front of me instead of next to me."

He then looked at my wristband indicating I was a "day guest" and he proceeded to tell me with some very choice expletives what he thought of me and day visitors from cruise ships and that he was spending thousands to stay there and he was going to lay anywhere he wanted.

So.....

I got up and went to the staff who did admit hotel guests were told they had priority to those seats, but didn't excuse his behavior.

She spoke to the man's wife who then convinced him to move.

Another family who witnessed the whole thing apologized to me and offered to buy me a drink.

I thanked them but said I would treat myself, and headed up to the bar to catch up on the latest news and enjoy a frozen mojito.






After a few hours here Juan met us at the beach, said no rush --- enjoy ourselves he would be there whenever we were ready.

We eventually got ready to go --- and he carried everything back to the van for us, and took us off to see more of the island and stop for some photos along the way.




He told us all about life on the island --- and revealed he had worked many many years as a shipboard food inventory manager for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.
(i noticed he had a celeb cruises notebook)

We shared stories of different ships and meals and what not.

Which reminds me of something.....

Sorry tangent.

One complaint on our ride down to Roatan on Vision. As I mentioned earlier I'm not a big drinker but love mojitos. Day 1 on Vision I ordered one, they said they didn't have it. I thought that was odd, but said maybe it had to do with TX alcohol law.

Day 2 I ordered one Nope.

Bartender told me "We're out of mint, maybe we'll get some more tomorrow"

I was like from where?? We're out in the Ocean! We're at Sea tomorrow, and you didn't have any yesterday. How do you run out of mint on the first and second day?

Sure enough day 3, I'm by the pool and I try again and the bartender says, "
YES! I got a shipment overnight!"

I looked at him like he was crazy and laughed and said, from where?? the fridge on deck 1? or did Fed Ex drop some off? He just laughed and smiled and I did the same and enjoyed my mojito.

Oddly enough when we sailed Serenade a few years ago the exact same thing happened. No mint the first two days and magically it appears day 3.

So..... back to Roatan.

I ask Juan, who ran food supplies.... how where does the mystery mint come from.

He said supplies will often put mint in with boxes of other stuff like lettuce or basil or what not and not label everything. He says it takes a few days to dig through all the boxes they get day 1 and see what they actually have. He says mint is always hidden.

SO.... I learned something new.

Anyway ---- we thanked him headed back to the ship, and watched on the balcony for the late arrivals.




These were funnier than usual because none of them knew they were late.

One group shows up 10 minutes after all board and they're wandering around and we're like, um hello.

Staff runs and gets them.

Another group shows up at departure time, we're all waiting, announcements made and they get out of their taxi and then wander into a jewelry store!!! We're all yelling for them and they're like Oh... sorry. lol

Way too funny


Up Next...... Costa Maya Happy Birthday Me & Getting Scammed

[KmomChicago]

On 3/27/2019 at 5:25 AM, cpshaye said:

Following

 

I've only been on one RCI ship so far (Adventure), and have one scheduled (Oasis), but for some reason your review caught my eye and I'm hooked! You have a beautiful family. 

 

I've been on similar sized Carnival ships and through hurricane-reminents weather (Jose) and I'm waiting to hear about your adventures. 

 

We’re the opposite of you. Only been on one RC - Oasis- and have one booked-Adventure. Hope we love it!

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 Now I'm going to confess something --- I love to swim ---- even was on the swim team in my youth, but for the life of me I can't snorkel.

I don't get it. I always struggle with the little breathing tube thing and wind up swallowing a big ole gulp of water, and I can't seem to relax and just take it in.

Several years ago, I was at Cozumel with someone who was like you -- loved water, loved swimming, but freaked out by the snorkel concept itself.

I told her to just ignore the snorkel, and just swim with the mask on, coming up for a breath whenever she needed to.  It's like swimming with goggles, only it's a mask.  

She did that and had a blast, enjoying all the color fish sights to see.... and finally she decided that she hated pulling her head out of the water when there was good stuff to see underwater, so she put the snorkel in her mouth and just floated along, breathing and watching but not actually "swimming".

Eventually, she was comfortable enough just floating along and breathing, so she started swimming around a little, and a snorkeling addict was born.

Maybe give that a try next time... baby steps to get acclimated.

 

[paradise4me]

what an awesome family and an awesome review, would love to sail with you guys!!

 

[leaves]

Loving your review, what a gorgeous family too! We sailed Vision in the Med a few years ago- ended up going to lots of quizzes!! But we did love how much glass there was everywhere and the beautiful centrum :)

[RCCL Fan]

Loving your review!    I sailed Oasis about 8 years ago...Majesty this past September and will be on Jewel in 62 days (but who's counting).  Sounds like Jewel is mid-size compared to the others...and a bit larger than what you've just sailed on.  We have four Sunset Verandahs across the back of the ship, which is what I'm really looking forward to.  There is nothing like watching the ship's wake.
 
Your family is beautiful...can't wait for the next installment.
Susan

We love those aft facing balconies as well

We had one on Serenade (same class as jewel) and we adored watching that wake

[dwhe]

I've had that mint thing happen to me so many times on a cruise, now I know why 😀

[Sea Dog]

Loving your review and your adventure. It's too bad that guy was such a jerk. Sounds like you handled it gracefully and did not let it ruin your afternoon.

[ShillyShally]

Awww, love the sloth hug photo and your reasoning to get the girls to sleep!  Now go buy them their stuffed ones 🙂

 

And that makes sense on the mint!  Better than risk it being made with basil or the like 🙂

[ShillyShally]

1 minute ago, Swank Pad G said:

Loving your review and your adventure. It's too bad that guy was such a jerk. Sounds like you handled it gracefully and did not let it ruin your afternoon.

Agreed, meant to mention this!  

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, dwhe said:

I've had that mint thing happen to me so many times on a cruise, now I know why 😀

Same here. I certainly learned something new today.

[rncruiser]

Loving your review. 

I totally understand your excitement about having new ports to visit. I live in NYC and despite having grown children and plenty of vacation time myself, my husband’s vacation time is extremely limited. Most of our cruises are 5-7 nights, either out of Bayonne or Florida. Having done the standard Western or Eastern Caribbean itineraries multiple times and Bermuda 7 times it is ost time for something new. 

Last cruise we were on was Allure and we actually went  to Roatan and Costa Maya. We were just as excited as you were to try new ports. 

Next up is a 6 night on Adventure to Canada. 

[blueridgemama]

I can not snorkel with the traditional mask and separate snorkel. I always end up trying to breath through my nose instead of through the snorkel😊 I bought a full face mask snorkel last year when we went to Bermuda. It is wonderful! You have way better vision and you just breath naturally through your nose or mouth. The only negative is that you can not dive down with the mask on, it is just for surface snorkeling. It is the best purchase of last year and was a definite game changer for me. I bought mine on Amazon for about $80. Best purchase ever!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

42 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

I can not snorkel with the traditional mask and separate snorkel. I always end up trying to breath through my nose instead of through the snorkel😊 I bought a full face mask snorkel last year when we went to Bermuda. It is wonderful! You have way better vision and you just breath naturally through your nose or mouth. The only negative is that you can not dive down with the mask on, it is just for surface snorkeling. It is the best purchase of last year and was a definite game changer for me. I bought mine on Amazon for about $80. Best purchase ever!

we bought the same for $20 on amazon. Love them. I usually put our kiddo (he just learned to float last summer) on top of an inflatable ring, he puts his face in the water (with the full mask on) and I drag him around. He gets to see the fish, I get my exercise. 

[RCCL Fan]

I've had that mint thing happen to me so many times on a cruise, now I know why [emoji3]

I’m so shocked by this.

I thought it was a random me thing....

Literally the only alcohol I typically drink is a mojito or wait for it.....

A frozen mojito[emoji1787][emoji1787]

So I always thought it was just karma playing with me when they didn’t have mint.

Maybe next time I’ll bring my own supply and drop it off at the pool bar

Or stand shoreside with a clipboard and inspect all incoming green leafy produce [emoji1787][emoji1787]

[dwhe]

2 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

...Or stand shoreside with a clipboard and inspect all incoming green leafy produce
 

 

 Green Leafy Produce Inspector, now that's a job I could do 😎 but then again, like someone said earlier you would probably end up with Basil if it was left to me 🌿

 

All cruise ship bars should have a sign saying "No mint 'till we have sorted the boxes"

Edited March 29, 2019 by dwhe

[BrandFam4]

Anxious to hear more of your review. We have Vision booked for an October cruise over a long weekend, but still not sure we will keep it. We grabbed it with the last kids sail free promo (and paid the little extra for a refundable deposit). But it would require we miss school, dance, and baseball, etc etc etc. Still going back and forth on it. Deciding whether to cruise or not should be an easy decision! 😃