Vision June 03 Baltic Quick Review

High everyone I have lurked on these forms for a long time so time to pay back a little. Background my wife and I are in our late fifties and have cruised a lot first with Disney when the kids were little then mostly Royal and occasionally with Celebrity.

We flew from Toronto to Amsterdam on KLM because we used choice air we flew the same day(overnight) and used Royals airport transfer. Embarkation was smooth, we arrived at the port about 2 and were on the ship by 2:30

The ship- We have read several reviews that said the ship is in poor condition. We really did not see this at all, its an older ship but well maintained we though it was just fine. The crew was great the captain was very outgoing we ran into him several times around the ship, he even did the bridge tour personally.

The Room- We chose an inside cabin 8027. Over the years we have been in everything from a suite to an inside on deck2 we have no problem switching back and forth depending on price itinerary etc. Inside cabin was great on this port intensive cruise with sunset at 10:30 and sunrise at 3:30am. Also cooler weather near the end of the cruise. Room was a good size with lots of storage, no noise issues.

The Crew- No problem, everyone very friendly and willing to please. Bernard our room attendant was great and Nicole our waiter was the best we have had in the last few cruises. On thing I do not understand is why Royal changed the system in the dining with the assistant waiter and waiter working from different work stations, seems to make communication between them difficult

The Food- we did late seating table for two, ate in the dining room except for one night. I agree that the quality of the food has slipped over the last few years but we found something good on the menu every night. Did chops second night (half off) found it very good but do not think I would pay full price. We rarely eat in the Windjammer but the couple of times we did we found it to be ok. We also really like the Parkside Café and lunch in the Dining room on sea days.

The Ports

Skagen Denmark- small town of about 8000 people, we walked into town and looked around, that's about it. In retrospect this would have been a great port to rent a bike. No traffic and they were available just off the ship.

Tallinn Estonia- Easy 20 min walk to the medieval old town, spent the day there, very nice

St Petersburg- This is the port most people take this cruise for. We were there for two full days. We booked a private tour with SPB tours, did not have our own group we were put together by the company we had 14 people in our group. You must have a visa for Russia, if you book a tour the company takes care of this. Some cruise lines will lead you to believe that you have to book with them. Not true, any tour company will handle the visa, the private tours are mostly cheaper and with less people on the bus much quicker moving. Which is important as there six ships in port the first day lots of tours and lines. We had a very good two day tour, very happy with our group and guide. I will not go over everything on the tour, just say its a very busy two days and we were happy to get back to the ship the second day.

Helsinki - we walked into town about 45 min. Very nice city, had reindeer soup for lunch at the city market and just explored on our own

Stockhom- We booked a city tour with SPB that included the Vasa museum. The museum was great, the Vasa was a ship that sank in the 1600s and recovered in the 1960s. Also included a walking tour downtown. It was our guides first tour and she struggled a bit but overall good

Copenhagen- We took the shuttle buss into the city and walked around. Did a one hour boat cruise for 12 Euros it was a real highlight.

Most ports (except Russia) had a shuttle buss into town for a nominal fee , also the Hop on Hop off buss

We disembarked in Amsterdam and took the train to Paris for 3 nights before home. The train station is an easy walk from the ship, even dragging luggage.

Overall- Good ship Great Cruise. I can try and answer questions, I do not have copies of the daily planner. The formal days were day 3 and 9

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We also used SPB Tours in our Baltics cruise and had no regrets. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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Thanks for the review of the Vision; there has been very little written about the ship. I am very pleased to hear that she looks in good shape as we will be sailing on her along the Eastern Seaboard in October.

Thank you for the very nice review! :D

Thanks for the review. We are looking forward to doing the same itinerary for July 9th.

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Thanks for your review.

Do you know the name of the Cruise Director on your sailing?

I posted on the cruise director thread. Keith Williams was the CD, he left the ship in St P with a medical emergency. Thoughts are with him. Chris Hopkins, the activity director became acting CD, not sure what will happen in the long run

I posted on the cruise director thread. Keith Williams was the CD, he left the ship in St P with a medical emergency. Thoughts are with him. Chris Hopkins, the activity director became acting CD, not sure what will happen in the long run

Sorry, I forgot you posted there. Thanks for the confirmation!

No problem ,I just wanted people to know that there maybe more info there

No problem ,I just wanted people to know that there maybe more info there

Hi

Was the weather nice, As I am going on this trip on 9th July

:):)

The weather in this part of the world can be unpredictable, the two sea days at the beginning of the cruise were nice low 70s. The two at the end were cold windy with the occasional shower. The first day in Russia was beautiful the second rained hard all day. Our guide said it is not unusual to get 5 rain days in a row in SP. We found a light jacket was fine, also umbrellas, our tour company had rain ponchos available. I would assume it may be warmer in July

Great review...thanks for posting. We are on the July 9 sailing. Getting excited!:D