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A Royal newbie reports on Vision Cruise (photo review)


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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 by librarylady19
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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:

 

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Deirdre on left; me on right

Edited by librarylady19
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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!!

 

8a605edb75f093b1b0d4e656301ec82b.jpg

(Rob on left; Scott on right)

 

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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!

 

0ba0dd7c096b5c129bc26ab45c40c806.jpg

Edited by librarylady19
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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!

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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!!

 

8a605edb75f093b1b0d4e656301ec82b.jpg

(Rob on left; Scott on right)

 

ba16172685cd9fb2ca4a8875c2d6ebe8.jpg

 

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!

 

0ba0dd7c096b5c129bc26ab45c40c806.jpg

 

Those bags are great! Do you know if you can get one with the drink package?

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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.

 

P1090970.jpg

 

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.

 

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P1090971.jpg

Edited by librarylady19
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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.

 

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There was a lot of comfortable seating on each level of the Centrum.

 

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R Bar is in top right corner..

 

P1100075.jpg

Edited by librarylady19
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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.

 

P1100070.jpg[/url]

 

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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).

 

P1100068.jpg

 

P1100067.jpg

Edited by librarylady19
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Inside the Masquerade Theater:

 

P1100066.jpg

 

Upper Level (Deck 5):

 

P1100065.jpg

 

P1100059.jpg

 

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).

 

P1100064.jpg

Edited by librarylady19
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