Vision of the Seas Jan. 6th-13th Review

[louanne93]

“Vision of the Seas” January 6th-13th

 

About US-We are a group of 7. My husband and I, 4 children, ages 9, 9, 13 (our kids) and my 14 year old niece. We also brought my Mother in-law. We are easy to please people and we have a great time anywhere we go.

 

Pre-Cruise-We flew into LAX the day before and pre-arranged for Sky-Limo to pick us up at the airport (and take us back to the airport after the cruise). The price was VERY reasonable for 7 people. The cost was $64 each way. The driver on the way to the hotel was kind enough to stop at a drug store so we could stock up on sodas and waters. We arrived to our hotel, The Crowne Plaza and easily checked in. I bid at Priceline and got the rooms (we had 2) for $65 each. The hotel was beautiful and had a shuttle to take you right to the port in the morning (first shuttle goes out at 10:30am).

 

Embarking-We arrived at the port at 10:45 and were checked right in. We got in the Suite/Platinum and Diamond line (we had a Grand Suite, and we are Platinum) and waited in the private departure room. They had cookies, coffee, tea and water. We boarded the ship around 11:45. The line was smooth and we skipped the picture line and went right onboard. We went to the Windjammer for lunch. The food for lunch was great with a pretty good variety. My husband and I went down to the dining room to fix our dinning problem…they had one of our kids at another table. We spoke with Amid and he fixed the problem right away. He is an amazing person (more on him later).

 

The Ship-First impressions of the ship were…This ship is in great shape for her age. It is very clean and you always see people cleaning the carpets, shining the brass, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. Anyone who has time to inspect carpets, drapes, or any other small normal wear and tear problems is not having a good enough time. We were so busy on this ship we didn’t have time to look for small imperfections. Enough said about that;) The best place was the adult solarium pool. We relaxed in there a lot. The pool was warm (it takes a lot to get me into a pool) and the hot tubs were hot!! The food at the solarium café was good. They had burgers, hot dogs, fries (yes, the fries really are the best!) and cookies. The internet café was nice. I used it once and the speed was really good (I brought my laptop for nothing…I will never do that again). The library was cozy as well as the card room. The piano bar was great.

 

Cabins-We had two cabins. One Grand Suite, and one Inside, both on deck 8 (cabins 8515 was the inside, and 8518 was the Grand Suite).When we arrived in the GS, we had CHAMPAGNE waiting for us. We also had a bottle of Evian water and a fruit plate waiting for us. In both cabins there was plenty of space and I would recommend either of these cabins. The GS balcony was huge with 2 chairs, 2 tables, and a lounger. We enjoyed sitting on the balcony every night and every morning. The inside had more storage space than you could imagine, 2 twin beds a full size sofa, and they brought in a rollaway bed as all of the kids wanted to sleep together. It was tight for the kids but they had no problems (most of the time the boys took showers in our cabin and the girls had the other bathroom for themselves) and the Grand Suite was amazing. The bathroom was huge with double sinks and a very large soaking tub. It had a pullout sofa (that was not very comfortable) but, we had them bring a rollaway with an egg crate on it and it was perfect. We requested an egg crate for our bed the second night as I have a bad back (I am sure the beds are very comfortable and it is just me with a bad back). The rooms were right across the hall from one another so we were switching and swapping. My husband who is 6 ft. took a shower in both cabins and actually said he hit his head on the ceiling in the GS tub but not on the inside shower. Both bathrooms had clothes lines already in the showers (which was really useful in hanging up swimsuits). We had two separate cabin attendants, Bernard was for the Inside across the hall, and Lilja was for the Grand Suite. Both cabin attendants were amazing. We got some great compliments on how neat our kids kept their cabin (we made them clean up every morning before leaving the cabin).

 

Perks- During the week we had little things sent to our cabin. We had Petit Fours one day, and something else on another day and we just set it right out as no one wanted it (I don’t even remember what it was).There were robes for our use in both cabins (because the kids are also Platinum, they got the use of robes). We also got 2 pairs of slippers that were ours to keep. The C&A gift for Platinum was a nice RCI bag. The Gold was the standard bag that looks kind of like a book bag. We also had 5 platinum coupon books that we actually used a lot of coupons out of. The kids who are all platinum got adult platinum coupon books so hubby and I had a lot of stuff. We used the one free drink in each coupon book (it equaled out to a free bucket of beerJ). The kids used the $7.50 of internet use. There were 2 play $5 and the casino will match $5 in each book (more on the casino later). A free bingo strip (3 cards) with the purchase of any bingo package (more on bingo later). We used the 10% off of any RCI logo item from the gift shop. So all in all we got great use out of the coupons and we left the ones we didn’t use in the safe (if anyone wants them).

 

Dining-We ate in the dining room 4 of the 7 nights. The food was ok-great. The good news is they still have lobster on the menu for Friday nights formal dinner. They call it a Fisherman plate. It came with a lobster tail (small and not Maine lobster, but the kids loved it), 4 or 5 garlic shrimp that were tasty, rice and broccoli. We had table 23 which was upstairs close to the entrance on the upper level. I had heard that there was one waiter that was not very good and I think we got him. He only had two tables, ours and one other that had 8 adults (4 couples). We had a table to ourselves (a party of 7). I think he had the misconception that we were a family with kids and maybe didn’t tip well?!?!? I don’t know what the deal was. The other table that he had… he pulled out all of the chairs for them, placed the napkins on their laps, and had their wine on the table for them. The service for us was not quite the same as the other table. I was disappointed as the last few cruises we have taken with RCI the dining room waiter knew our names, had our drinks on the table before we arrived and really spoiled us. This time was differentL. We had late dining which was a mistake. We have always done early dining and wanted to try late as we were going to be in port late. The other days (4 of them) we were waiting around for dinner. The kids only ate with us on formal nights because they had so much going on. Oh well…you live and learn. That was the only thing disappointing about this cruise. Everything else was absolutely wonderful. We don’t cruise just for the food but the whole dining room experience is nice and the kids do enjoy it as much as we do. So from here on we will do the early seating. We ate in the Windjammer one night (that was just ok) and we had room service which was wonderful. The kids ordered room service a lot and really enjoyed it. We had a stack of ones in the safe for them to tip. The breakfast in the Windjammer was excellent. Yes, they serve the same thing everyday but I ate something different everyday so I didn’t have the same thing everyday. The pancakes were great (says my MIL). The breakfast in the main dining room was excellent! The Eggs Benedict were great, service was excellent and we were served by Amid himself. He spent a lot of time talking with us and really spoiled us, which made up for some of the service lacking at dinnertime.

 

Entertainment-We went to most of the evening shows. The Welcome Back show was great, the kids really enjoyed it. The cruise director, John Blair was fantastic. He had so much energy it was unbelievable. His wife Katrina ran bingo and she was just as great. We played bingo twice but didn’t win (but we had a great time playing). We didn’t go to the Broadway show but had heard we didn’t miss much anyways. We went and saw Darrell Joyce (late night comedy) and thought he was excellent!! We saw the magic show and loved it (especially the kids). We went and saw Boogie Wonderland and thought it was really good, the singers and dancers did a great job. We saw Kenny James…what can I say…he was amazing. He really got the audience going. Everyone was singing and dancing. We loved it so much we bought his CD and after the show he signed my sons cast (he has a cast on his foot). We didn’t make the famous Quest (too many people pre-pack stuff so that turns me off of that game) but I am sure it was fun. We did make it to the Love and marriage show and that was hilarious (as usual). We had our Meet and Mingle on the second day of the cruise (sea day) at the Viking Crown lounge and that was nice. We met some great people that I am sure we will be keeping in contact with. The Fairwell show was great and the last late night comedy show was hilarious. His name was John Blair, and he brought back a lot of memories for my husband. I don’t think I have ever seen my husband laugh so hard in my lifeJ. They had a deck party one night from 11pm-1am. They had dancing, a BBQ with ribs and chicken, a taco bar, salads, fresh fruit, and ice carvings. It was a lot of fun. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. They had dancing in the Viking Crown lounge (we didn’t go to it). They had Karaoke (we wanted to go…but just didn’t find the time). We did participate in the family scavenger hunt (we are a very competitive family) which was a blast!! One of my kids did the rock climbing and had a blast. There were people of all ages on this cruise, young college kids, families, and Seniors. Most everyone was having a blast! We only ran into one couple that said they were bored (I don’t know how they could have been bored). I think a party is what you make it and there were a lot of parties onboard!!! We went to the casino as soon as it opened and both my husband and I won $100 each. Every time (which was at least once a day) we went into the casino we won money. We won a total of about $600 (a little here, and a little there).

 

Ports-In Cabo San Lucas half of our group (my husband, one of the 9 year old boys, and my 14 year old niece) went zip lining at Wild Canyon Adventures. The people at this company are amazing, I would highly recommend them to anyone. The tour was one of the best things our kids have ever done. The rest of the group went shopping, ate at Johnny Rockets and hung out at the beach for a bit, then we took a water taxi back to the dock. In Mazatlan, we went to Stone Island (thank you to a CC member for perfect directions). We were going to go to Molokuy’s (sp?) but ended up at Elsi’s. It was just as well. We had a blast and Moses spoiled us. He waited on us hand and foot all day!! We rented a kayak for an hour for $12. We were laying in hammocks all day. We did buy some stuff from venders on the beach. Moses arranged for us to go horseback riding which was fantastic. It was only $5 per person for 30 minutes (and I know they went way over 30 minutes). In Puerto Vallarta, we went to the Krystal Hotel. Now, this is where there is some misconception. Some say… you just purchase a day pass for $25 and you get the $25 back in food and drink coupons to use the hotel facilities. That is what we did. The bill for 7 of us was $175 and the food credit back to us was $175. We really didn’t have to purchase for the kids (4 of them). That was a lot of food and drink!!!! Another option is that the beach behind Krystal’s is a public beach so you really don’t need to buy the pass. You can use the beach for free and just eat at the hotel. The same waiters walk around and serve everyone. The thing that bugged me about the $25 pass is that when we went to check out towels (because we thought we bought the day pass), they were going to charge us another $3 per person for use of towels. I told everyone to drip dry, as it was plenty hot enough. So note to self…only buy half of the food and drink coupons, and bring towels. Other than that…the day was perfect and the hotel pool was amazing. I got a massage on the beach for $15 (something on my list of things to do).

 

Kids Clubs Onboard-Our kids participated in the kids clubs everyday. They were good and the older kids 12-14 group enjoyed them very much. The 9-11 group not so much. Out of 200 kids onboard only about 40 total (20 in the teen and 20 in the younger group) participated in the activities so a lot of stuff got cancelled. Our kids were slightly disappointed but they did come back every night with tons of prizes (medals, key chains, a really good over the shoulder backpack- 4 of them to be exact). We did see a lot of kids running around unsupervised (but that is not how we do things).

Disembarking-Was a piece of cake!!! We did early check out and were off the ship by 7:30.

Overall-We had an absolute blast and would do it again in a second. The ship and its crew were fantastic. A lot of the things people were saying that were being cut out really weren’t. The only thing that did not happen was the midnight buffet. We didn’t miss it though. We got Champagne in our room, we had lobster on lobster night, and we didn’t have to check out towels. They were right at the front of the pool areas and you just take one and put it in the bin when you are done. Not too many chair hogs as you could always find somewhere to sit. The only sea day that was cold was the very last one on the way home.

 

Just to let other families know, we spent $1006 on our seapass card. That was for 6 people (MIL had her own). We got soda cards for all the kids (worth it in our opinion). We purchased a few pictures, the kids played some video games, we had some wine, my husband had a few beers everyday, the kids had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (I think my youngest kept going backJ), I bought a bracelet, we all shopped in the shops, so all in all I think we did pretty good for a family of 6. We even came home with $600 left over from the cash we brought.

 

Any questions, feel free to ask away!

[crazy 4 cruising]

great review, thanks. we wil be on vision in feb. I will definately check into the Limo service.

[louanne93]

great review, thanks. we wil be on vision in feb. I will definately check into the Limo service.

 

The limo service was great. They sent a private shuttle for us. They said it was too much luggage for a limo. It was still great though!!

[crazy 4 cruising]

The limo service was great. They sent a private shuttle for us. They said it was too much luggage for a limo. It was still great though!!

 

do they have a web-site or did you book on phone? there are only 4 of us & that price is comparable to super shuttle & prime time SHARE vans

[louanne93]

do they have a web-site or did you book on phone? there are only 4 of us & that price is comparable to super shuttle & prime time SHARE vans

 

That is what I heard about the prime time and super shuttle. Sky Limo is private and you don't have to wait for anyone. The # is 800-359-1800.

[breanth]

By any chance do you happen to know the link/post to where you got the directions to stone island? we are going Febuary 10th and are doing that one on our own. Thanks for the review...it makes me look forward to our trip!

Kelley

[louanne93]

By any chance do you happen to know the link/post to where you got the directions to stone island? we are going Febuary 10th and are doing that one on our own. Thanks for the review...it makes me look forward to our trip!

Kelley

 

Here are the ones we used:I just copied and pasted. I know you will have a blast!!! We sure did!

 

#1

November 13th, 2007, 04:07 PM

jazzlvr57 vbmenu_register("postmenu_12355489", true);

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2006

Posts: 105

 

 

Stone Island on your own.

I was on the Vision of the Seas last week and we went to Stone Island on our own. The directions we (and another couple) got from the board turned out not to be exactly accurate, so I wanted to clear it up.

 

When you get off the ship there are shuttles to take you to the little marketplace, through which you exit the pier area. Go out the gate the taxi's exit through and turn left. Follow this street for 3 - 4 blocks til the street ends. Go across and continue straight down a dirt road to a booth where you can buy your tickets. It was $1.50 per person round trip.

 

Keep in mind that these are not "water taxi's" as you might be envisioning them. These are like large row boats with motors on the back. The locals take these as well and they probably hold 10 - 12 people, and once you start out you may turn around back to the dock to pick up more passengers. :) It is a very short trip across to Stone Island.

 

Once off the taxi, go up the ramp and either head straight across to the beach, then turn left and you will see all of the restaurants.

 

Or you can turn left and follow the dirt road a block or so til you see another dirt road going to the right. This will also take you to the beach and the restaurants.

 

We were confused about the pickups with benches in the back that have been mentioned in several posts. We waited for one and when they came they told us we just needed to walk across the sand and we would be at the restaurants. So we wasted a bit of time waiting in the heat for transportation that was unnecessary.

 

It was definitely worth the wait (and we had taken a wrong turn to find the water taxi as well so had walked at least a mile extra and it was hot!). It was beautiful when we got there! And I didn't think the vendors were a problem - most of them would just ask and leave if you said "No, gracias!".

 

Have fun!

[louanne93]

We actually used the pickups with the benches in the back. Mostly cause the kids got a kick out of it. Something you can't do here in the states anymore (and such a fond memory of mine...riding in the back of a pick-up). And I was right...they loved every bit of it!!

[wolfcathorse]

Angela do you remember who your captain was? I haven't updated my Current Captains chart for Vision since the end of Sept!

[breanth]

Thank you...one more question because as I was reading I was invisioning a "water taxi" we have a 18 month old...do you think it's safe? and a small stroller? Should we book it through the cruise because of this?

Thanks for helping me out!

Kelley

[louanne93]

Angela do you remember who your captain was? I haven't updated my Current Captains chart for Vision since the end of Sept!

His name was Captain Anders and he was really good!! He stopped a few times to check out whales and told everyone where to look. He also waited for some people that were late getting back to the ship (he waited for about 10 people...they must have called these people at least 12 times).

At least I think he waited for them:confused:

[wolfcathorse]

His name was Captain Anders and he was really good!! He stopped a few times to check out whales and told everyone where to look. He also waited for some people that were late getting back to the ship (he waited for about 10 people...they must have called these people at least 12 times).

At least I think he waited for them:confused:

 

TY Angela, the earliest he would have started his rotation was 12-9, the lastest was 1-6. You don't know if he mentioned 1-6 as being his first week back from vacation do you?

[louanne93]

Thank you...one more question because as I was reading I was invisioning a "water taxi" we have a 18 month old...do you think it's safe? and a small stroller? Should we book it through the cruise because of this?

Thanks for helping me out!

Kelley

 

Hey Kelley,

Everyone is different...I saw babies on them. I would take my baby on it, but I also know people that would not take a baby on it. It is a row boat with a motor on the back. Like I said...I would do it but I do also know people that think I am crazy (I have 4 kids and by the 3rd and 4th-they are twins- kids we were dragging them everywhere!!). If you want to email me, I can send you a picture of the water taxi. The way I look at it is if something were to happen...there are so many other water taxi's around you would not be stuck out there without help and Stone Island is so authentic and neat. You really get a good feel for Mexico. The other two ports are more commercialized (sp?), with hotels and all inclusive resorts. Stone Island is different from that.

 

Anyways, my email is louanne93@yahoo.com

[louanne93]

TY Angela, the earliest he would have started his rotation was 12-9, the lastest was 1-6. You don't know if he mentioned 1-6 as being his first week back from vacation do you?

 

I am sorry:o . I didn't notice. I didn't even remember what his name was...I just ran and got a compass from my bag so I could tell you. I will read through them and see if I see anything:) .

[wolfcathorse]

no problem, thanks for confirming they switched anywhere from 12-9 to 1-6! You won't find anything in your Compasses about when he started. I'll just have to anticipate when they'll switch again.

[frogfuzz]

Thanks for the review.

Do you know what hours the Solarium cafe is open?

How was the weather

[louanne93]

Thanks for the review.

Do you know what hours the Solarium cafe is open?

How was the weather

 

The Solarium was open from 11am-6pm and 9pm-2am. They had pizza, burgers, hot dogs, and the best fries ever.

 

The weather was great. Just about 80's in every port.

[dirtgirl]

Louanne, could you please describe the zipline tour in more detail? Was it all zips, or was there an obstacle course as well?

[billylen]

We leave this Sunday and can't wait! I will probably visit Stone Island. If you think of anything else it would be appreciated!

 

Did you get or see any places for a good massage?

[klauer]

I was on the same cruise, and I thought that it was freezing on all 3 days at sea! Maybe in the 60's with the "wind chill factor". There were some hardy souls in the pool and hot tub, but no need to worry about "chair hogs"!

 

A few tips for future cruisers:

 

Cabins - You need to bring all toiletries, because all that is provided is small bars of soap and a generic shampoo dispenser in the shower. Also bring your own hair dryer unless you have short hair - there was a full-size one in the cabin, but it was only 1200 W. Hangers in the closet were the kind where the top is attached to the bar; I was glad I had many of my clothes on metal hangers in dry cleaning bags. As on most cruise ships, you need to bring your own clock. The "tropical splendor" floral arrangement we ordered was beautiful, and lasted all week.

 

Dining - If you prefer a relaxing meal, I recommend eating in the dining room for breakfast and lunch. Definitely avoid the Windjammer during peak meal times, as it is hectic and hard to find a table. We had room service for breakfast when we had early shore excursions, and the food was good and on time.

 

Fitness Center - Way too small, but the crowd thinned out around 11 am.

Bring a water bottle (there is a drinking fountain but no cups) and your iPod (no music). There were only a few fitness classes scheduled during the week.

 

Shows -- Try to get to the theater about 10 minutes before the shows, especially when there is just one show for both dinner seatings. The shows start pretty much on time, and latecomers had a hard time getting seats together. We really thought that the entertainment was good on this cruise.

 

Lounges -- I loved the Viking Crown lounge at the top of the ship for a pre-dinner drink (plus they gave you yummy trail mix to munch on!). Avoid the Schooner Bar if you dislike cigarette smoke -- you can get to the Some Enchanted Evening lounge through the Showboat lounge on the other side.

 

Shore Excursions -- We booked very late (Friday the 4th for departure on the 6th), so I didn't have time to research independent excursions. The ship excursions we picked were fine, especially the Eco-Discovery Marieta Islands snorkle trip in Puerta Vallarta -- lots of fun with a very entertaining crew!

[critterchick]

Angela, thanks for that review! We've used Sky Limo for several years for airport transportation and have always had excellent service from them, so I'm glad you did, too.

 

I thought the C&A gift was the same regardless of your level. Could it be that your kids got a kids' C&A gift & you got the adult one?

[louanne93]

Louanne, could you please describe the zipline tour in more detail? Was it all zips, or was there an obstacle course as well?

 

It was all zips! My husband said there was a lot of hiking. The name of the company was Wild Canyon Adventures, it is across the street from The Hard Rock Cafe. Some lines were singles (you had to go by yourself) and some you could click up to 3 people. My son and husband went together and video taped the whole thing...when watching it...it felt like you were on the ride yourself!! The people running the tour were fantastic! They did tricks for you (riding up side down). They said it was one of the best experiences ever and my son wants his b-day party there!! Ya right!!!

[louanne93]

Angela, thanks for that review! We've used Sky Limo for several years for airport transportation and have always had excellent service from them, so I'm glad you did, too.

 

I thought the C&A gift was the same regardless of your level. Could it be that your kids got a kids' C&A gift & you got the adult one?

 

I got the # for Sky Limo from you!!! It was great! We had a total of 7 in our party, 2 are gold and 5 were platinum, we got two of the cheaper bags and the rest the better of the two. I also think our cabin stewarts were very generous as far as handing out stuff. We had so many drink coupons because we didn't get any of the kids coupon books it was all adult books...so we had a total of 5 platinum, and 2 gold books. It was great!

[hmcgrath]

Question regarding Krystal in PV, did you just walk over from the ship or take a taxi? (How long of walk, cost on taxi?) Also, on the massage, did you pre-book or arrange it on the spot? How long of a massage does $15 get you? Thanks. We are looking forward to doing this in May.

[dirtgirl]

It was all zips! My husband said there was a lot of hiking. The name of the company was Wild Canyon Adventures, it is across the street from The Hard Rock Cafe. Some lines were singles (you had to go by yourself) and some you could click up to 3 people. My son and husband went together and video taped the whole thing...when watching it...it felt like you were on the ride yourself!! The people running the tour were fantastic! They did tricks for you (riding up side down). They said it was one of the best experiences ever and my son wants his b-day party there!! Ya right!!!

 

 

Is that the cruise ship excursion? I know another zipline excursion is in my future - either in Cabo or PV!;) I take it that it is not in a jungle type environment like PV, as Cabo is not as lush? I guess that there would be less bugs,then - a plus!