Why all the Vision of the Seas negativity?

I have to admit this is really getting to me. We have a cruise booked next year. Yes, I've read a few positive reviews as well. I don't plan to cancel based on the awful reviews and postings I've read, but I'd really like to see more positives about this ship and crew. I'm sure many of you had a good experience.

To that end, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread for anyone who has had a good/great/wonderful/fantastic experience on the Vision Of The Seas. In other words, have a thread compiling the Positive aspects all in one place. If you have had more than one cruise on VOS you can tell me about as many as you want.

Since we have yet to sail on her yet, I'm leaving it up to you who have already completed one or more cruises to post your thoughts and comments here on this thread.

The main thing to remember is NO negatively please.

This thread will be useful to anyone who either has a booked cruise or is contemplating one in the future.

Thanks!

Scroll down and read Vision~B2B by Max'sMom.

We spent 24 days on Vision last summer and 7 days on her in March. We'll spend another 17 days on her in the coming months. All were great and will be, I'm sure.

Before my first cruise ever on Navigator I read more bad reviews than good. After going on the ship I realized there is no real reason to worry about them. Many bad experiences are based on something else we don't know about. One's response to a less than perfect experience also affects the outcome. Some people are just uptight. Others expect the world to revolve around them. This isn't saying that someone's bad experience isn't valid. Some are. But realize it isn't going to affect your cruise.

Also, crews rotate on and off of ships so rapidly, what happens this week has nothing to do with what happens next week.

Some people have a miserable cruise experience because of the weather. :rolleyes:

Gina

We have cruised on Vision 5 times, the last time was B2B in April. Each time she was better and better. Food was good to excellent, drinks were served rapidly, staff was excellent and the service was perfect. Would not hesitate to sail on her again and again. I recommend her.

I was just on Vision about a month ago and wondered why all the negatives as well. I loved the vision and will gladly go back on. I just did a quickie cruise, would love to do a longer one on Vision some day.

A cruise is what you make it not what you read. That's my attitude :D

I'll add that everyone loves the two captains, including the crew. Capt Lis is the best. So is Capt Srecko but he's going to one of the new ships, Quantum of the Seas at some point. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. Sometimes a happy ship depends on a happy relationship with their top boss - the master of the ship. And that is going good for them right now.

Gina

I hope to provide some positivity soon. I'm real close to my first cruise on that ship. Of course, I go knowing it's Vision Class and not Oasis Class, so I'm not looking for wow. I'm just looking for a nice weekend getaway. :)

Paul,

Take care of Vision for us. We board on the 18th for a B2B, just after you get off.

Rick and Deirdra

Scroll down and read Vision~B2B by Max'sMom.

I started reading her review when she started it on August 4th, and I've been keeping up with her thread every day. She writes a very nice review.

When reviewing a cruise I wish people would state the approximate capacity of the ship or are we to always assume that a Royal cruise is greater than 90% of capacity? Lower Occupancy and a quality cruise can be related. Though high occupancy doesn't and should not lead to diminished service or quality. And passengers should demand the same service whether there are 1000 passengers or 5000.

Some people are such cruise enthusiasts that they often turn a blind eye to a less than desirable happening on board. Others are such enthusiasts that they expect bumps in the road, or waves at sea, and accept when things don't go as planned.

Some people are the princess and the pea.

Most of us are in the between:D

Agreed heyabott. I have cruised the explorer 4 times and the grandeur 1 time in last 8 years. People rag on the Explorer all the time. I love the old ship and am cruising it in 3 weeks as a farewell cruise to her! lol Im sure there are things that can happen to ruin the cruise but... Our most popular cruise we do is the 5-7 night to Bermuda. I have yet to be dissapointed. My two cents thats all

Explorer is my favorite - even more than the Oasis class. Gonna miss her being in NJ...

When reviewing a cruise I wish people would state the approximate capacity of the ship or are we to always assume that a Royal cruise is greater than 90% of capacity? Lower Occupancy and a quality cruise can be related. Though high occupancy doesn't and should not lead to diminished service or quality. And passengers should demand the same service whether there are 1000 passengers or 5000.

 

Some people are such cruise enthusiasts that they often turn a blind eye to a less than desirable happening on board. Others are such enthusiasts that they expect bumps in the road, or waves at sea, and accept when things don't go as planned.

 

Some people are the princess and the pea.

 

Most of us are in the between:D

Good points. Have you cruised on the Vision of the Seas (see #1)?

Agreed heyabott. I have cruised the explorer 4 times and the grandeur 1 time in last 8 years. People rag on the Explorer all the time. I love the old ship and am cruising it in 3 weeks as a farewell cruise to her! lol Im sure there are things that can happen to ruin the cruise but... Our most popular cruise we do is the 5-7 night to Bermuda. I have yet to be dissapointed. My two cents thats all

Have you ever sailed on Vision of the Seas (see post #1)?

We just got back from a short four night cruise on the Vision of the Seas, in a great stern Junior Suite with a wrap around deck (8088). We have cruised on many vision class ships and we really like the upgrades on the Vision, and thought RC had done an excellent job. The crew was good to excellent, and we had a great cruise. The only issue we had was leaving the ship in the first wave, too much congestion on Deck 4 where the walk-offs were gathered.

Paul,

Take care of Vision for us. We board on the 18th for a B2B, just after you get off.

Rick and Deirdra

We just got back from a short four night cruise on the Vision of the Seas, in a great stern Junior Suite with a wrap around deck (8088). We have cruised on many vision class ships and we really like the upgrades on the Vision, and thought RC had done an excellent job. The crew was good to excellent, and we had a great cruise. The only issue we had was leaving the ship in the first wave, too much congestion on Deck 4 where the walk-offs were gathered.

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. I also appreciate the tip about the JR and the congestion on Deck 4 when leaving the ship.

Happy cruising!

I hope to provide some positivity soon. I'm real close to my first cruise on that ship. Of course, I go knowing it's Vision Class and not Oasis Class, so I'm not looking for wow. I'm just looking for a nice weekend getaway. :)

I sailed on Vision twice, immediately after getting off of Oasis back in May and I had an enjoyable time on both cruises. The management on the Vision is top notch and very professional, also extremely visible around the ship. I wouldn't hesitate to book the Vision again in the near future.

Take of her for me I'll be boarding 9/1 just after you get off.

Between the three of us, Vision will be well taken care of!

R&D

I was on the Vision a few months ago and had a very enjoyable time. The ship was in excellent shape, the food was very good and service was fast and friendly. The crew, including senior staff, were all very nice.

What's not to like?

Apparently the negativity for Vision or any ship is because when something goes wrong, many people say it. When something goes right, we expect it and don't normally go out of our way to say anything at all.

Think about it. On every single cruise guests services gets to deal with some very unhappy people. At least one but usually more. The rest of the cruisers are happy campers and guest services never sees them. I would guess that's about 99 our of 100 or better who are happy.

I've heard some rants on board and the people were definitely wrong. But they often get their way. And then they come here or other places and complain.

I'm not saying all complaints are valid. Just that they are few and far between overall. We just hear about them more often.

Yes, Vision is a great ship and has a terrific team. Of course if you get the one or two duds of a stateroom attendant that may color your cruise. :eek:

Gina

Just got back from a 4 day (7/31) on the Vision. We have great service. Our cabin steward was top notch (ice everyday, even in our cooler), MDR service very good (brought our drinks plus refills without asking, free soda for kids, brought extra food for us try, no wait for table). We loved Giovanni's for lunch - well worth every penny of $15. They have movies every night by the pool deck that are great for teens (Pitch Perfect and Captain America). No problem getting drinks - on the pool deck I always used the Solarium. Love the food on seas days at the pool. One day it was stir fry and the other paella.

We had Diamond vouchers and used them with no problem throughout the ship. Officers the most visible I have ever seen - even had Officers in the WindJammer serving us for breakfast. Steve is a great cruise director, loved his singing "Mustang Sally" and although I didn't see it, I heard people really enjoyed the Thriller dance lessons and show. Guest services spent at least 30 minutes with me and made 2 ship to shore calls to resolve an issue. My safe broke (twice) and they were there within 5 minutes to fix it.

I have had bad service on cruise lines and this was not it. It was very good. I would go again in heartbeat.

Oh....what a great idea!!!! Thank you for starting this!

As someone said ....I'm currently writing a review for our recent B2B. We had a great cruise.....many positive moments....thanks to the wonderful caring crew on board. We were also on two weeks in February and seriously considered booking a third week while we were on! We just have experiences on Vision (and the other smaller ships) that we just don't get on the big ships. They make us feel like rock stars and I really appreciate that!

Now was everything perfect? Heck no! But if anything goes wrong.....that crew will do anything they possibly can to make it right.

Hope to book many more cruises on Vision in the near future.....and Gina.....maybe we can cruise together one of these days!!!!!

We just returned from the 7/26 sailing last week. We had an excellent cruise.

I liked how the officers were visible and involved. Dinner with Captain Liz at the table next to us. On 17 prior cruises, I have never seen a Captain. I saw Captain Liz at least a dozen times around the ship.

Cruise Director Steve was excellent. His staff was also very good. The entertainment was the same of stick, but they looked as if they were really having fun. This made it fun for everyone. I have been on ships where they were just going through the motions and it was obvious they were bored of their jobs.

The ship is in great condition. I don't recall seeing anything out of place.

Our service in the MDR was exceptional. Servers were very interactive and knew our norm on the second night. Drinks were waiting for us when we arrived and I never saw the bottom of a glass. Food was timely and we never took over 75 minutes for the entire dinner process.

Our cabin stewart was very good. Everything taken care of without asking. His name was Carlos from Costa Rica.

We had no delays getting on or off the ship. Customs was a little slow (30 minutes) but that is not RCL's fault. Even tendering at Grand Cayman was very smooth.

They stated the ship had 2377 guests, I think max capacity is just over 2400. There were no significant delays or lines. The main pool area was very busy but we never had an issue finding chairs. The new towel policies seem to keep people from saving seats.

I'm sure people could find negatives but we had an excellent time. If you are their to have a great cruise, you will have a great cruise.

We would book the ship again without hesitation.

I really appreciate this thread! The hubster and I are going on our first cruise ever on Vision on 9/29-10/4. It will encompass both our yearly vacation and our anniversary. I'll admit to being discouraged after we booked it in the past months reading all of the negative reviews but after reading Janes b2b review plus everything on this thread, I feel better. Tell me, do you still think we'll have a great experience with only our ocean view and not a suite or balcony?