Short Review Vision

I'm finally making time for the review....here goes, our cruise to Mex. Riv. with four young adult kids,all in a nutshell:

1 - Ship: The ship was very pretty, we had a window on the third deck and it was great, bedding was very nice, comfy! The cabin stus were good, the kids stu was wonderful! Clean and well kept ship!

2 - Food: We were VERY impressed! Not only was the survice top notch, the food was great...I try to be somewhat good on cruises because we cruise a couple times a year so I tried all of the sugar free or low fat disserts - all I can say is YUMMY! I always choose fish, the lighter menus, again Yummy! The boys and daughters and DH all had a variest and we had absolutely no problems with anything! Again, the service was top, you had water, coffee, empty dishes all taken care of before you could even think of it! We loved it!

3 - Buffet and windjammer: Good, the food was ok, dining room was better over all! Fresh and clean room!

4 - Gym - I ran around the outdoor track, there was wind going back though up the coast, so badly I couldn't actually run on two days, there were plenty of tread mills though and there always seemed to be space available.

5 - Activities: I didn't go in but always wanted to, the adults only in door pool, love that idea and it is clean and well kept! Go in the morning, no one is ever in there! Peaceful!

6 - Ports:

Puerto V. - Our favorite, but it is old mexico so be prepared, it's crowded and not as clean as I'd like. We walked along the beach edge with lots of shopping. Tip: Go to the silver places that actually weigh the pieces and charge by the weight, it's silver then!:) We also did the ATV tour up the mountains....prepare to get DIRTY! They give you are mouth cover, we bought some, but bring a hat if you can! Bring wipes to clean up after with so you can walk around town. I threw in a clean shirt and shorts and was glad I did! These ATV's aren't automatic, be prepared to learn to shift. I paid for two and my 19 yr. old DD wasn't coomfortable so she rode with me, no refund on that. Trip was fine, rode through some small houses....very poor it seems but friendly and happy locals! The company with the ATV's wasn't that organized.....very late, which made us late, and their "office" is in the middle of.....well....I wouldn't want to be there after dark! Rode up to a rest stop, out of the way and ate fresh food, it was fine. DH DS's went on a zip line tour, he is over 250lbs so he had to find one that took bigger ppl. but they didn't do anything special...hum....anyway, they had a good time but thought it was a bit tame. Thrillseekers :D they are!

Mazatlan - Well, I have traveled a lot in my life and was disappointed, it's run down simply put. But.....our horseback riding guide was great! I was disappointed in the horses though, didn't seemed as well cared for as I'd like, took a local boat across the water way, scary....rode in a local "van" back of a truck, again, a little scary and dirty, arrived at the home where the horses were, no real place to clean up and restroom was scary! Anyway, that's some parts of mexico and we know that, we roll with it, but remember this when you go! Bring wipes to clean up with and bring a hat, the ride was hot hot hot! Rode to a coconut grove, beach! We loved the beach and were allowed to ride where every, we ran the horses way ahead and that seemed fine! We had to, one lady was there with he young daughter, who she ignored and who'd never been riding before, she kept screaming and we were guiding her and teaching her but soon decided this was the mom's job so rode ahead! Anyway, riding on the beach was very fun. Arrived at a beach side cafe, the boiled local shrimp was cheap, good and plentiful! Had El Sols, all good and the beach, while some trash scattered about, was beautiful! Our DH and DS's arrived from the "bird watching" tour, don't bother wiht this one. They said it was sad, just plain sad! They loved the beach though!

Cabos - Beautiful, just beautiful! Took a water taxi, for six, $12 to The Office beach side cafe! Get there early, it's crowded by noon! Wonderful margarita's, chips, food, beach was beautiful.....unfortunately, young adults didn't handle their drink well, and the sun....you get the idea....we went back early.....walked back, threw them on the ship then came back to shop! You can choose beach side activities if you like, right there on the beach! I've been to Cabo before, we didn't go to lover's beach!

7. Deals: No real deal's in any of the ports! The best deal was my daughter and I bought our men rings in the fine jewelry section of the ship board store. The alcohol didn't seems like as good of a deal either.

8. Alcohol: We didn't see many ppl drinking that were under age, so I guess that was good.

9. Art Auction: Ok....not as good as others we've seen, not a good location for it. We never buy!

10. Embarking: It was fine, HOWEVER, one half hour before sailing we realized we'd left all of our fine clothes and DH new suit in a handing bag in t he lobby of our hotel!!!!! While I was panicing making calls to see if someone from the hotel would put it in a taxi (they wouldn't, nor would they deliver it to us and not cabs would go....) DH jumped ship, handed the first taxi driver $100 to get him to and back to the ship in time, he hit the gas, sped at 100mph and DH was back in time to make the ship by NO KIDDING 5 mins. Great story huh! He's my hero!

11. Entertainment: I was impressed actually, comedy was good, music was good, game shows fun, movies available, all seemed fairly good.

12. Spa: I had a facial, very nice, DD's had pedicures, very nice, my ped. was rushed so not worth it, no massage :( with mine, all were pricy!

13. Overall: We loved the ship, food, activities. I don't think I'll do this route again, I'd go to Cabo again, but not PV or Maz. However, everyone should go their once! People are great!

Any questions, fire away!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this review. It was honest, both good and bad, and information. We are planning a trip on the Vision to the Mexican Riviera in Jan 2008 and it was nice to hear about the excursions you took. Good to know that if we take the ATV tour expect to get very dirty.

Thanks again for your review.

No problem Mary, let me know if you have any other questions! You can't go wrong on the vision even if the ports weren't quite that luxurious! It's old time mexico with it's on kind of charm! Enjoy!!!