Maksim

I am glad I came across this post. We are in Dubai April 1 for a few days before the cruise. From all I read, it's easy to do on your own, however, I would consider a private guide. Do you know how much she charges and is it per day / hour? Also, does she provide transportation? Any additional information is helpful. Thank you.

I can't specifically comment on Vision's staff but having been on her sister ship Grandeur, I can comment that Izumi & Chops are just fantastic. We had some of our best service at Izumi on Grandeur. We've had really good experiences at Chops on Independence and Explorer (not so much on Allure!). Giovanni's is a lovely restaurant but we've always been underwhelmed with the food -- the desserts don't tickle our fancy and we've had a more 'misses' than 'hits', but honestly, the food is lovely and most people seem to find it really enjoyable, some going so regularly the staff seem to know their names (to be fair, that is us with Izumi -- on Allure we ate at Izumi so much they were 'worried' when we didn't turn up some nights! haha).

 

The specialty dining on the ships in general is just really fantastic. The MDR is wonderful too, but they do a really nice job in the specialty restaurants as well! We're on Vision next July (such a long ways away now!) so we're really excited to be going to these restaurants again :)

Wonderful. Thank you.

I have certainly had some of my favorite specialty experiences on Vision.

 

The Izumi has been very well managed on Vision and they have done a great lunchtime sushi class with meal included. I really like the position of Izumi on Vision up on what used to be the upper deck of the Viking Crown. They were the first in the fleet to have sushi take-away and offered at the Park Cafe as well.

 

Vision used to have Chops open for lunch on sea days, unlike many other ships where this was an evening only venue. Again the venue is very well designed in an intimate setting with windows and tables for 2 or four along the windows.

 

The Giovanni's is often where you will find the Captain and other officers entertaining at tables in the evenings and the food here was outstanding. Vision had opted to have Giovanni's closed for lunch and open in the evenings only. I am not sure if they have continued with this.

 

I had an excellent Chef's Table experience on 2 sailings on Vision with very knowledgeable and competent Sommelier along with a Chef Table manager and Chef presentation. The dining area in the aft of the main dining room was very well placed an gave one the feeling of a VIP experience within the main dining room.

Thank you so much for your great description. It sounds like it's worth trying all three of them. Do you know if there is a package deal for that, or it's purchased individually?

Thank you. Any other ones worth trying?

Can anyone please comment on Vision Spaecialty restaurants? Any recommendations ? Is it worth to get a package for several? We usually go to at least 2, but on 16 days upcoming cruise, we might do more. Please advise. Thank you. Helen.

I would be interested too. Booked it for our next cruise.

Do they punch your card when you get just a brewed coffee? On Princess you can have brewed coffee for free any time if you hold the coffee card. They only punch it when you get specialty coffees like latte, etc.

I had looked this information up a year or two ago when some friends were also going on a cruise that was in Athens on the Orthodox Easter Sunday. (Why, cruiselines, why???)

 

The news wasn't good. Every significant tourist site and museum will be closed. The Acropolis, Agora, Acropolis Museum, Archaeological Museum -- all closed. Nearly all private museums are also closed.

 

The only thing I could find with certainty that would be open were some of the shops (souvenirs) in the Plaka and also many restaurants. One regular on TripAdvisor has suggested that a few things that one can see by simply walking are your best bets (such as the Panathenaic Stadium); also the changing of the guard at Syntagma should still take place.

 

Good luck with your visit.

Thank you, Cruisemom. I agree. Don't understand why cruiselines don't plan it better if they know what day is it on a calendar. What I don't understand is, since most of the sights are outside, how can they be closed? Why can't tourists just walk around to sightsee as there is no "formal" entrance, like a museum for example. Anyhow, we'll see what happens. Do you think that there will be taxi or some kind of transport?

Appreciate your good question on this challenging situation. If it were me, here is what I would do. I would check out TripAdvisor and/or Google options for private tours and/or guides in Athens. The, I would e-mail them and ask about their options/suggestions and what they could do for that specific day, etc. Maybe also Google and contact the local tourism office there for what attractions are open that day, etc. Per http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/content/hours-and-ticketing

it does show the Acropolis Museum being closed on Easter Sunday. Some on the Acropolis being closed. Good luck!!

 

Clearly the Greek and Athens economies have been challenged in recent years. Many good guides are flexible to help "customers" and do business when it is moving into the peak of the tourism season. See who is available, what would be open and possible for that day, gain their suggestions, etc.

 

Does this help a little?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 40,694 views for these postings.

Thank you so much, Terry. It helps. I will follow your suggestions and investigate. Perhaps something will come up. We have been to Athens in the past and saw all the important sights, but still, it would be good to refresh our memories and at least do a walking tour. If taxis are working, we can just go to town and browse around.

The Papadopoli has an elevator. I haven't been inside but its a lovely hotel from the outside. Beautiful grounds; we always enjoy walking past the rose gardens.

Great. Thank you so much. I feel good about it now as I was stressing out about this whole situation of the bridges and walking with luggage, etc.

Can someone please comment on what can we do if our cruise ship docks in Athens on Easter Sunday. There are some discussions on our Roll Call, but no conclusion yet as to the solution. Some folks contacted RCCL trying to make them change the day to the next one. Don't really know what happened or what kind of replies they got, I doubt they will agree to it. Any suggestions? Thank you.

I ended up booking Papadopoli (Sofitel). One short bridge to Piazza le Roma and had great reviews, 4 stars. Not sure about the elevator though. The main thing is that I was able to use my BA points (quite a lot, but hopefully it's worth it).

Use uber. It's the best. Cheap and efficient. We have second home in the area and use it all the time.

I used it several times. Locker room, bathroom, showers, steam room and sauna. Plenty of towels too.

Thank you, Linda. Is there a thermal suite and perhaps whirlpool, kind of like on Celebrity? I wouldn't expect much from the o,Dee ship, but some of them are pretty nice in those areas.

From my experience, I usually search the web and compare prices along with coverages. If not sure, give them a call and discuss with the representative. Usually they are very helpful. This time around I picked Roam Right as they had better coverage for reasonable price and covers pre-existing if purchased within 21 days of initial deposit. For some folks pre-existing might not be so important, but for us it is, so I always try to include it if possible.

Can anyone that cruised Vision recently please comment on the spa area. Not services, such as massage, etc, but mostly about sauna, steam room, etc. thank you so much.

Sorry it' viator.com. Typo.

I can only comment on transfer from cruise ship terminal to the airport. Once you get off the ship, there are plenty of taxis and private cars. It should be around 35 euros. Don't do ship' s transfer. Way overpriced. You can also pre book thru victor.com for a private transfer ahead of time. Our flight was at 11 am last year out of Venice and we disembarked around 8. Plenty of time to get there with time to spare. It was easy. As to the first part from airport to hotel, can't tell from experience. You probably better of using suggestions above.. From the research I have done (since we are staying post cruise in Venice next year), unless you are on or close to Piazza le Roma, you can only get to your hotelt by water. Private taxi or Alilaguna, which means rolling your luggage. Suggestions I read for Venice: pack light. Hope this helps.

Can anyone please comment on Vision spa / sauna / steam area?

Are these prices for specialty dining per person, or for 2b it doesn't say anything. Do you know how far in advance it can be ordered? We are 9 months out at this point and none of the packages are available.

Thanks for all the replies and photos. Really looking forward to it now, particularly Kotor as it has been on our wish list for a while. It's a pity we don't arrive until 2pm and then we will have to tender ashore.

Have my eye on a Celebrity cruise next year which also calls at Kotor so may return.

We did Med last year on HAL and Kotor was one of our favorite ports. It shouldn't be a problem arriving this late as you only need a few hours to explore it. Just walk through the old town and climb the wall if you wish. We did it, but not to the very top. The view is magnificent and we were lucky with the weather. Enjoy!

Thank you so much. Most complaints were about the noise from above when they move chairs on the pool deck or roll carts for the buffet, etc. Any problems with that?

Has anyone stayed in 8540 JS on Vision? I recently upgraded from balcony, which had very reasonable pricing. Now read reviews and saw some complaints about this cabin being noisy. Some of these reviews are pretty old and I know better to take it with the grain of salt, yet, would like to hear what the recent passengers have to say. Thank you.

Just checked the web. Sure enough, this is Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday.

Which Easter?

Remember Greek Orthodox Easter is different to RC Easter, check the dates.

Good point. Thank you. We are there on April 16, 2017. I am not very familiar with different religious holidays but that's what folks on our roll call have indicated.