RCI Vision Class ship to Alaska from Seattle - opinions please!

[LadyBerard]

Now I know that Princess and HAL are tops for Alaska. However, we are joining our friends to celebrate a 50th birthday on an Alaska cruise, round trip out of Seattle, on the Rhapsody of the Seas. I also know that going the end of May or first couple weeks of June are preferable. However, my youngest daughter is due for her first child the end of May and my friends have a fairly expensive trip planned for April already, so we are going the end of August (the 28th) to Alaska (prices are lower than summer, and there should be less children on board, since they will be back in school, or getting ready to go back to school.) (Last year, I made the mistake of doing an 11-nighter out of NY on the Dawn, thinking there wouldn't be many children, as it was such a long cruise......I was wrong. Over 600 on board, and they really ruined our time by the pool throwing beer buckets of water from the jacuzzis at each other, etc. etc. etc. Never again!!!!) Anyway......

 

 

For those of you who have sailed on RCI, round trip out of Seattle, to Alaska, my question is, would you choose RCI again to sail to Alaska? If not, why not.

 

Personally, out of all RCIs ships, I love the Vision class......it's not too big, but it is big enough for my friends, as they really enjoyed their cruise on the Grandeur a few years ago, and they don't care for small ships, as I do. To me, with all the glass, the Rhapsody (or any Vision class ship) seems like the perfect ship to see Alaska. Plus, there is enough activity on board in the evening to please our friends.

 

I guess I'm just looking for some support. I've read the reviews, and the ones I've read all seemed quite positive. I'm just trying to see if anybody has any particular negatives on this trip and what they were. Oh by the way, we have two aft-facing D1s for the trip.

 

Thanks to all who share their opinions.......good and not so good.

 

Sue

[clemcr]

We went in June 07, had ten couples and sailed on Visions of the Sea. It was great. We chose RCI because our friends could not go for longer than a week. We are planning a south bound cruise with a land tour in 2010. This time we will chose Princess. However, we would go again on RCI if we could only do a week. No one in our party had any complaints.

[wrp96]

I really loved my trip to Alaska on the Rhapsody. Great ship, fantastic crew.

 

The one thing with Alaska is itinerary. Tracy Arm is fantastic scenery but glacier wise Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier are more spectacular.

 

I would tell you though that if you like the Vision class you would probably also like the Radiance class which has even more glass and views out to sea than the Vision class.

[LadyBerard]

We all have sailed on the Jewel of the Seas. Very pretty ship. But to be honest, I much prefer the layout of the Enchantment and Grandeur. I love the champagne bar area. Plus, it is a little smaller. As I said, I prefer smaller ships. I love 40k-50k ton ships. However, my girlfriend loves the big ships. The bigger the better for her. We're compromising.

[GMoney]

We all have sailed on the Jewel of the Seas. Very pretty ship. But to be honest, I much prefer the layout of the Enchantment and Grandeur. I love the champagne bar area.

 

Sorry to question you, but are you sure you aren't confusing ships? Radiance class has an amazing Champagne Bar, but Vision class one is boxed in down on deck 4, is kind of small and (IMO) is nothing to write home about.

 

Given that, and the "glass" reference in your OP, I just thought you might mixing up ships.

[LadyBerard]

No. I'm not confusing ships. We went to the champagne bar every evening before dinner.....perfect location for gathering together for a pre-dinner cocktail and perhaps a quickie appetizer. The bartenders always have some treats for us. We always had terrific service.........above and beyond........very personable. We hardly spent any time in the champagnge bar on the Jewel of the Seas. The Congo bar (deck 6, all the way aft) was our favorite bar on the Jewel of the Seas.

[NancyIL]

My first Royal Caribbean cruise was on Splendour of the Seas, Rhapsody's sister, and I loved the ship. I'm sailing on Grandeur in April, and I'm looking forward to getting back to one of RCI's smaller ships.

 

Rhapsody wouldn't be my first choice for an Alaska cruise based on its itinerary, but it has improved since 2006 when RCI dropped Tracy Arm Fjord and didn't visit any glaciers. It goes to Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm, and Victoria from 9-6 - which is a longer port time than most Seattle-based ships that stop there. As a first-time Alaska cruiser, I'm sure you'll have a great cruise. Hopefully you'll want to return to see other ports and glaciers, as well as tour interior Alaska.

[NancyIL]

Sorry to question you, but are you sure you aren't confusing ships? Radiance class has an amazing Champagne Bar, but Vision class one is boxed in down on deck 4, is kind of small and (IMO) is nothing to write home about.

 

Given that, and the "glass" reference in your OP, I just thought you might mixing up ships.

 

The Champagne Bar on Radiance-class ships is also on deck 4. Our inside cat. N cabin on Jewel was just down the hall from the Champagne Bar and Centrum, and I loved that location.

[wrp96]

The Champagne Bar on Radiance-class ships is also on deck 4. Our inside cat. N cabin on Jewel was just down the hall from the Champagne Bar and Centrum, and I loved that location.

 

 

Nancy, the Champagne Bar is on deck 6 on the Radiance class, not deck 4. The bar on deck 4 is the Centrum Bar.

[Budget Queen]

I do think the Rhapsody is a very nice ship. I'll be on it for a 4th time in a couple weeks.

 

But RCI does not do a great job in Alaska, in my opinion. Hopefully you'll get lucky and have a ship lecturer like Murray on board, but likely not. Tracy Arm is very scenic sailing, just not a sure thing of getting within glacier views. IF you want to see glaciers, then be sure to pick and book some type of glacier tour.

[NancyIL]

Nancy, the Champagne Bar is on deck 6 on the Radiance class, not deck 4. The bar on deck 4 is the Centrum Bar.

 

Oops, you're right - it isn't the Champagne Bar! The bar on deck 4 of Jewel is the Lobby Bar. I still loved the location of my inside cabin on deck 4 of the Jewel. :D

[cacky]

Now I know that Princess and HAL are tops for Alaska. However, we are joining our friends to celebrate a 50th birthday on an Alaska cruise, round trip out of Seattle, on the Rhapsody of the Seas. I also know that going the end of May or first couple weeks of June are preferable. However, my youngest daughter is due for her first child the end of May and my friends have a fairly expensive trip planned for April already, so we are going the end of August (the 28th) to Alaska (prices are lower than summer, and there should be less children on board, since they will be back in school, or getting ready to go back to school.) (Last year, I made the mistake of doing an 11-nighter out of NY on the Dawn, thinking there wouldn't be many children, as it was such a long cruise......I was wrong. Over 600 on board, and they really ruined our time by the pool throwing beer buckets of water from the jacuzzis at each other, etc. etc. etc. Never again!!!!) Anyway......

 

 

For those of you who have sailed on RCI, round trip out of Seattle, to Alaska, my question is, would you choose RCI again to sail to Alaska? If not, why not.

 

Personally, out of all RCIs ships, I love the Vision class......it's not too big, but it is big enough for my friends, as they really enjoyed their cruise on the Grandeur a few years ago, and they don't care for small ships, as I do. To me, with all the glass, the Rhapsody (or any Vision class ship) seems like the perfect ship to see Alaska. Plus, there is enough activity on board in the evening to please our friends.

 

I guess I'm just looking for some support. I've read the reviews, and the ones I've read all seemed quite positive. I'm just trying to see if anybody has any particular negatives on this trip and what they were. Oh by the way, we have two aft-facing D1s for the trip.

 

Thanks to all who share their opinions.......good and not so good.

 

Sue

 

 

Our first trip to Alaska was on the Vision. It was the first time we had a room with a balcony. We had a fabulous time and like the Vision so much we took it again down the western coast of Mexico. This May we are going to Alaska again, this time on the Radiance. It will be our third time on the Radiance, possibly my favorite RCCL ship out of 14 cruises.

[craykclan]

It was our first cruise ever and we couldn't have pick a better ship to sail. She is not too big and she has the best crew I can imagin, so friendly and helpfull. If you sail on her make sure to check out the Schooner Bar and listen to the night show Derek Lewis, he calls it Adult Day Care at Night. It was a Hoot!!:D

[cacky]

It was our first cruise ever and we couldn't have pick a better ship to sail. She is not too big and she has the best crew I can imagin, so friendly and helpfull. If you sail on her make sure to check out the Schooner Bar and listen to the night show Derek Lewis, he calls it Adult Day Care at Night. It was a Hoot!!:D

 

I'm on Facebook and keep up with KirK Detwiler. He will be the Cruise Director for this Radiance cruise. I'll have to ask him if he knows who the captain will be. The last two Radiance cruises we were on it was Trym Selvag.

[captjaneway]

Sue,

 

I will be sailing my first Alaska cruise on the very same day on the Radiance. We too have an aft D1. I had only been on the Mariner prior to this so I can not answer any of your questions but I wanted to say happy sailing and if we pass by you we will give you a wave.

[LadyBerard]

Princess came out with a sale a couple weeks ago, so we "jumped ship" so to speak and will now be sailing on the Golden Princess one day later (8/29). Besides the money we will save (over $1k per couple), we will now also be going to Ketchikan. I think we're going to go ziplining there, and I was able to book Harv and Marv. They were not available for the time we would have been in Juneau had we sailed on RCI.

[Assateague Island Princes]

Excellent!!! Now you get to experience Harv and Marvs - they are awesome! You will LOVE your whale watch with them! Book for as many hours as you can afford, its addicting and you won't want the tour to be over! Have a great time!