themendes Posted February 23, 2015 #1 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We (family of 8 including grandparents, mom (me) dad and 4 kids 9, 6, 3 and 2 sailed out of Tampa in a Royal Family Suite. I know that some feel that the suite perks are not worth it, but for us, the Suite life is a sweet life. Embarkation: My parents live in Kissimmee, FL so we drove out early Saturday morning and were at the port by 10 AM, we valet parked and went into the port line. We used the "Suites" line and had our pictures taken and were on the ship by 10:30 AM. It was a chili day in Tampa, so we grabbed a royal beer bag and sat out by the pool. Pics of port and pool side to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxatsea Posted February 23, 2015 #2 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Looking forward to your review! We'll be on Vision in April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Welcome gift in our suite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Napping baby and grandpa in our room just before sail away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #5 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Sail away view from our balcony. We could hear the live band on deck 9 poolside during sail away, but for those of you concerned about pool noise in suite 8520, the noise was blocked when balcony doors are closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #6 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We had first seating at dinner, but walked out to capture these pictures of the sunset as we were going under the bridge. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We were on the Explorer in October 2014 in an AFT RFS and were aware that the vision class ship RFS is smaller. Having said that, the size of the Vision ship was a better fit for our needs as my mother has mobility issues. The difference was mainly in the size of the balcony and the living room area. The Explorer RFS has a bigger living room area with a table with 3 chairs. The Vision RFS has smaller square footage overall, however really met our needs for this particular cruise as we had 4 port days. As you enter the room there is a huge walk in closet to the left with a full dresser with more drawers than 8 of us could use. This was also a great area for getting dressed. Across the hall is the bathroom for the second room with a shower (typical size as other rooms). Next to the walk in closet is the 2nd room which we kept as 2 twin beds and had the two drop down beds for our two older children. Down the hallway is the living room space which has a large couch witch converts into a bed (we never used it as such), 3 chairs and a table. There is also a desk area in the hallway with a chair, coffee maker and extra storage. There is a flat screen TV, video game and more storage than we could use in the living room area. The living room space also has floor to ceiling windows and a door out to the balcony. There is a glass door leading to the master bedroom. The master bedroom was big enough for us to have pack and play for our youngest. We had a second pack and play in the living room area for our 3 year old. The master bedroom also had 2 closet areas, a desk area with a flat screen TV, and a bathroom with a bathtub. There was a separate door to the balcony which we used as our main access. We received an email from our concierge, Mangesh, about a week prior to embarkation and I had requested 2 pack and plays and foam pads on our bed. All were there for us when our room was ready right at 1 PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #8 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We went to dinner at 5:30 at the MDR and had a table for 8. We went to dinner to feed my parents and the kids as my husband and I had reservations at Giovanni's at 8:30 PM for our Valentine's Day Dinner. Our servers were attentive and the MDR food was fine. We don't cruise for food, but rather for the opportunity to create memories with our family (including the grands) and to disconnect from work. My husband is a physician and I'm a homeschooling mother and manage his practice, thus we enjoy our vacations and have realistic expectations. Having said that, we find that a smile goes a long way as we felt that the customer service on this cruise was exceptional and the staff knew us by name. I did not eat anything at dinner that night and we did not stick around for dessert. The kids wanted to go to the kids club and the hubby and I wanted to get ready for dinner. We did not dine in the MDR every night because we had 3 specialty restaurant reservations and the kids often wanted to take advantage of the suite perk of ordering MDR dinner for room service. After dinner, my parents dropped off the 3 older kids at the kids club and the hubby and I stopped by the Concierge Lounge. Mangesh was extremely attentive and kept apologizing for how crowded the lounge was. We were sitting in the outside area of the lounge as there were many Diamond Plus and Pinnacle guest on our cruise. We are not big status folks and cruise in suites due to our family size and service. Unlike other ships, the bar staff in the CL did not mind us taking out a glass of wine and a drink for my dad (as a thank you for babysitting). We had 1 drink and left with a glass of wine as we headed to Giovanni's for dinner. Giovanni's was probably my least favorite specialty restaurant experience and not due to the food. The food was great, however our server was really pushy in terms of wanting us to purchase a bottle of wine. This was a huge turn off for me, as we had 2 pre dinner drinks in the Concierge lounge and had beers during sail away. I am a light weight and thus don't drink much. This was the only time that we felt overly "sold" to and I was not pleased that it happened on our first evening and on valentine's day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #9 Share Posted February 23, 2015 A chill day in Tampa did not stop our children. Kid 2 jumped in the pool with clothes and all. Centrum Valentine's Day balloons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #10 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Suites cocktail reception invitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #11 Share Posted February 23, 2015 My husband and I attended the suite guest cocktail reception and enjoyed a beautiful view, champagne, sushi and other appetizers. Several officers attended and we enjoyed a window side table for two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #12 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Valentine's dinner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #13 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Appetizer at Giovanni's (huge portion). Course 2. The risotto was delicious. My dinner ossebuco and polenta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #14 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Our suite door! I brought Valentine's Day magnets and our kids had a blast arranging and rearranging them all week long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #15 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Centrum view from our deck... Just steps from our suite. Show from our deck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #16 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We order room service for coffee and fruit every morning. Here is a pic of our eldest (bed hair and all) wearing the robes and having breakfast on day 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #17 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Day 2: after coffee in our room, the hubby and I headed to chops for breakfast while the grands watched the kids. This is also a suite perk and we took fool advantage of it on most mornings. The menu included a self service continental offering as well as cooked to order steak and eggs, pancakes, poached eggs, omelet etc. After breakfast, we hung out poolside and even had an inflatable tub for the littles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #18 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Suite services welcome letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #19 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I edited our names out and it messed with the quality :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #20 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #21 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Drinks at suite guest reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #22 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Welcome back party invitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themendes Posted February 23, 2015 Author #23 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Pool deck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseclues Posted July 9, 2015 #24 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Thank you for your photo review...Nice. :):):):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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