trippingpara

Time Log: Thursday, 02 March Puerto Limon, Costa Rica Once again, the Evil Rooster from Hell started rocking and rolling too friggin’ early in the morning. This is supposed to be a friggin’ vacation for crying out loud!! Oh wait…this is us we’re talking about here. Thankfully, I changed the rooster from Neil Diamond to the Dead Kennedys. Specifically, their rendition of Rawhide which believe it or not, was just the perfect amount of “ummpph” to get one out of bed without giving one a cardiac arrest or immediately forming a mosh pit in the bed. Who would have thunk that a punk band from San Francisco would make an excellent alarm clock?! Anyways, after the usual morning tasks, we met up the Carnies and enjoyed a pretty decent breakfast in the Windjammers. They had all the traditional breakfast fares available and the options were all pretty good. Not too shabby for a buffet! After chow and once we got the all clear to depart, we headed down to Deck 1 to hit the port. I had booked a tour for the four of us that I had found online for an excursion to the Cahuita National Park and boat tour of the Tortuguero Canal. Since the tour was not booked through the cruise ship, the tour guide could not meet us inside the terminal, so we made our way through the terminal and met our guide immediately outside the gate. They had a sign with our name on it along with their logo and were exactly where they said they would be. Turns out, we were somehow the last ones to arrive for that group. Not sure how, since we departed as soon as they announced that we could depart. We later found out, that you could depart quite a bit before they would announce it over the loudspeaker. Not sure why they would wait to announce it, but that is what they would do. Anywho, we hopped into the large van and started to make our way through the streets of Limon out towards the Cahuita National Park. As we headed out of the city, we stopped at a roadside store called the Mangrove Souvenir and Fruit Shop. Apparently, this was a popular stop since just about every tour van and bus stopped here. It was a quaint little shop that sold a variety of fruit and had a nice little souvenir shop and restrooms. Our tour guide walked us around the backside of the shop where a lot of the fruit grew and showed us the various plants, fruits and the food and juices made from them. It was actually a neat stop. We never once felt pressured to buy anything there and our guide gave us a few fruits such as the mini banana which was surprising sweet, with an almost honey-like taste. We spent about 30 minutes there before we hopped back into the van and headed out for the national park. It was about another 30 minutes before we reached the national park (we did make a quick stop alongside the road when the driver spotted a bunch of howler monkeys in trees). They parked the van right outside the entrance to the park (which was a pretty unassuming entrance), but wowwee, was the park beautiful!! It is a jungle that runs right alongside a beautiful beach. And in that jungle are howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, sloths, iguanas, turtles, raccoons and a bevy of different birds. Yes, that furry lump on the tree branch is a sloth... We all went as a group into the jungle and walked for about a mile or so before we were able to enjoy some beach time for about an hour. We walked around the beach taking photos and just enjoying the beautiful vistas before we started our trek back to the van. The funniest part of the whole day was when we stopped because a capuchin monkey grabbed a guy’s bag from him and while we were watching that rather humorous spectacle, another capuchin monkey jumped over to a picnic table where a couple were facing the beach and another guy was sitting there with his face buried into his phone and completely unaware that a monkey was standing next to him checking out his phone. People were yelling at him to look but he was very intent on whatever he was scrolling through. I guess that is what you get if you live with your face buried into a phone. Not the greatest photo since I quickly shot this to capture the moment. The next stop was the Tortuga Canal where we boarded a covered boat for a nice little sail down the canal. We saw more sloths, monkeys, iguanas, crabs, herons, egrets, hawks, vultures, sandpipers and even some alligators. It was a very nice and relaxing little cruise that lasted about an hour. But all good things must come to an end so we eventually had to climb back into the van and make our way back to Limon and our cruise ship. The Vision of the Seas was dwarfed by the MSC Divina We made it back onboard with about an hour to spare and started to get ready for White Night at the MDR. We hopped in line hoping that the new servers would have started to get into the groove of things and have a better service for the evening. Nope, service was still not getting any better in the MDR. It was getting obvious too that people were starting to take matters into their own hands. Certain waiters were coming out into the line outside the MDR and grabbing the people that normally sat at their table while other people were just walking right past the maître ‘d and sitting themselves down. I have never seen such a dysfunctional system before. The maître ‘d didn’t seem to know if he was coming or going and dozens of waiters and servers were just standing around waiting to be told what to do, while other waiters were running around like mad trying to keep everything together. Since this was our first time on Royal, I was gobsmacked by it all, but our friend is a seasoned RCCL sailor and kept reassuring me that this was not normal, at least not on any of his previous trips with Royal. That may be so, but by this time, we were pretty fed up with it and it proved to be our last time eating in the MDR.

Thank you so much Merion_Mom, I'm glad you are enjoying it!!

Time Log: Wednesday, 01 March Somewhere in the southwestern Caribbean Sea The Evil Rooster from Hell (aka, my alarm clock, aka, my phone) thankfully had the day off since today was another sea day. We woke up to the ship rocking and rolling pretty good. Not sure why but the ship was really wallowing around. We were taking some pretty decent swells abeam. I went out onto the balcony expecting to see some large swells but the seas appeared to be fairly calm. A few white caps, but no more than 2 to 3 foot seas, nothing that would normally bother a ship of this size. One of the many things I do to keep myself busy, is being an active member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary where we get to play in some pretty interesting weather off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. So, I was surprised at how much we were wallowing around. Since it was a sea day, we decided to all meet up and head down to the MDR for a proper sit-down breakfast. While standing in line, we were asked if we would be willing to have another couple join us. Sure, why not we declared. A wonderful young couple from New York City sat down with us. Mr. NYC was a computer engineer and Lady NYC was a professional dancer. It was her first cruise so it was great to see the excitement and wonder in her eyes. They were such a cute couple and we saw them repeatedly throughout the cruise and we had a lot of fun bantering back and forth with them at all of the BINGO games. After breakfast, we headed up to the stores to look at some watches. I have a horrible condition called “collectivewatchitus”. It requires me to buy watches regularly. Thankfully, I am well aware of my condition so I was properly prepared and had brought additional funds just to support this condition. My illness forced me to acquire another Citizens satellite watch and a Bulova watch. They were quite beautiful though! Sigh…once again, bless Lady Trip for putting up with me! We then went up to the Viking Lounge for the Mixing Through the Decades mixology class. I was really looking forward to this. Many, many moons ago when I was knee high to a grasshopper, I used to tend bar (for several years actually) and I really enjoyed it. I love to learn new drinks and to refresh my skills since it has been quite some time since I stood on that side of the bar. Maybe my thinking or belief was a bit skewed, but when I hear mixology class, I’m thinking that I will be taught how to make drinks, and actually make those drinks myself! Not the case here. A pair of bartenders make the drinks for everyone and then we drink them. They did briefly describe what goes in the drink but not the ratios used. They talked more about the concept of the drink and why it was popular during the certain eras (hence the “through the decades” part of the title). Now don’t get me wrong, it was a very cool event and for the costs ($35) it was worth it since we got 5 full drinks – which comes out to be about half the costs you would normally pay for these drinks. There was the Manhattan, a Tequila Sunrise, Sex on the Beach, a Cosmopolitan and a Mojito. They were all quite delicious. The only other real problem was the fact that there were only 5 stools at the bar (which was a little confusing since they required 6 people to run the event). So that meant that yours truly got the short chair! Literally. Unfortunately, the wallowing of the ship continued throughout the day and this finally got to Lady Carnie and forced her to go lay down for a while. A couple hours later, she began to feel better and the four of us headed back out to the MDR for dinner. The food was pretty good again, but the service was still lacking. Our head waiter was very good and he was trying his best but he had absolutely no support system in place. The other waiter assigned to assist him just seemed to walk around in circles unsure of what to do next. The maître ‘d also looked like his head was going to explode again and was constantly running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Again, we didn’t get out of the MDR until close to 10 pm which meant that we would have already missed part of the evening shows. Thankfully, this wasn’t really a problem since we never found any of the shows to be completely packed. Some were busier than others but we were always able to find a seat if we wanted. I previously messed up my days, but now coming up is Puerto Limon, Costa Rica!!

Time Log: Tuesday, 28 February Somewhere in the western Caribbean Sea I can officially confirm that Neil Diamond does NOT work as an alarm clock either. For the exact opposite reason! Alarm clocks are only effective if they actually wake you UP. Hmm…maybe I should change it to his big hit and Boston Red Sox fan favorite, “Sweet Caroline”. Of course, then I’d jump out of bed chanting “Go Red Sox”, singing at the top of my lungs and swilling beer all over the place. Okay, maybe that’s not such a good idea either! Great for Fenway Park but not over a bouncy bed with your wife still trying to sleep next to you. That’s a one-way ticket to a serious butt whooping if you know what I mean! Anywho, today was a sea day so I was quite confused as to why the bloody hell I had set my alarm clock. Looks like a pretty convincing reason as to why I needed a vacation! Since I was up waaaay too early for a sea day, I headed up to the Windjammer by myself to grab some go-go juice (aka coffee) to proper awaken the senses. While I was there, I found myself automatically grabbing some breakfast too. Thankfully, Lady Trip was planning on attending some sushi making class this morning so breakfast was not in her immediate future and was quite happy that I let her sleep in. Whew, dodged that bullet! Here's a couple pics she had grabbed during her sushi making event: The day itself was pretty uneventful. CarnieAddict and I hung out for a while and basically did nothing. You know, what a sea day is for! However, all four of us did have tickets to the Chef’s Table that evening and before we knew it, it was time to start getting ready and then meet up with everyone in the R Bar on Deck 4 in the Centrum. This is one event that we do on just about every cruise that we go in. I don’t consider myself a “foodie” since I pretty much eat like a 5-year old, but every now and then I like to get in touch with my inner food critic and enjoy a high end culinary delight. The Crazy Ones Man, this did not disappoint! Mario came down and offered everyone some pink champagne and then escorted us to a private room in the back of the MDR. It was a very elegantly appointed room with some very cool silverware lights above a giant dinner table that sat 16 guests. The dinner was to be a 6-course meal with wine pairings ending with an expresso martini. The chef came out to introduce himself and to explain the process for the evening. Lady Carnie has some food allergies and had reached out and informed the maître ‘d before hand about them. The chef just confirmed those allergies with her and then he disappeared to start preparing our dishes. The first course was scallop carpaccio with yuzu vinaigrette and crispy quinoa and served with Attems pinot grigio from Italy. The second course was smoked tomato soup with garlic focaccia croutons and parmesan cheese. It was served with a glass of Wagner Conundrum. It’s a white blended wine that pretty much every single lady at the table immediately asked for a second glass. Yeah, take a wild guess what Sir Trip and to run out and get as soon as we got home!! The third course was a Maine lobster salad with hearts of palm, pineapple, cilantro and vanilla dressing served with Peter Yarlands’ Marbourgh Sauvignon Blanc. Personally, I don’t like pineapples one bit, but I pulled up my big boy pants and gave the dish a try. Wowwee! You could definitely taste the pineapple but it actually added to the dish with it’s bright pop of sweetness. The fourth course was roasted branzino (aka European sea bass), grilled zucchini, peppers, lemon confit and pesto. It was served with Mer soleil chardonnay from California. Since Lady Carnie cannot eat seafood, the chef instead prepared a mushroom risotto for her. The plate was huge and Lady Carnie ate a little bit and declared that she could not eat any more of it. Since I’m a huge risotto fan, she asked if I would like some. Of course, I didn’t want to be rude so I graciously offered to take it away from her. Holy Hana that was delicious! The fifth course was a grilled filet mignon with truffle potato purée, asparagus and a bordelaise sauce. The wine was Oberon Cabernet from Napa Valley. Right after I stuffed the last remnants of my filet mignon down, Mario walked back into the room with a big smile on his face. He walked over to me and very ceremoniously, placed a large plate of the mushroom risotto in front of me. “Bon appetite” he said with a smile. Apparently he had noticed that I was rather pleased with Lady Carnie's mushroom risotto dish! Now I had already popped the button to my pants at least once from the sheer ton of food I had already eaten. But there was this delicious plate of risotto calling my name. Of course, I couldn’t insult the chef and Mario by not eating what they had taken the time to make and serve me. I finally did break down about half way through and started passing it around the table for others to enjoy. The sixth and final course was called “The World”. It was a peanut butter ganache, Valrhona chocolate mousse and salted caramel gelato which was served with a salted caramel expresso martini. 20230228_215144.mp4 The word “delicious” just does not do that dinner justice. The food, the wine, the service, the company, it was all outstanding and beyond all accolades. If you have a chance, please do yourself a favor and book the Chef’s Table! Between all of the food we had just eaten plus all of the glasses of wine (we had a refill or three of some of the offerings), plus the expresso martini at the end pretty much put us out of commission for the rest of the evening. Here's a little sunset photo to cap off the day... Next up: Puerto Limon, Costa Rica!

Time Log: Monday, 27 February Fort Lauderdale, Florida The screeching alarm clock that is my phone started blasting the soothing sounds of the Butcher Babies at an ungodly hour. And by soothing sounds I mean nails on a chalkboard. Personally, I love the metal band, Butcher Babies. But they make a horrible alarm clock! I’m sure there is some medical study out there that warns of waking up in cardiac arrest and attempting to create a mosh pit in your bed whilst half asleep is not a healthy option for one’s life. Especially if your better half is still trying to sleep next to you! Maybe I’ll change that alarm to something like Neil Diamond or Engelbart Humperdinck. That’s gotta be a healthier way to wake up! Anyways, I threw open the curtains in our room and was blasted back by this amazing light. It was so bright! And warm! I later learned that light is called the Sun. Pretty amazing thing, really. We don’t get to see it in New England. At least not like this one. Maybe it’s the Sun’s second cousin or some distant relative but it’s clearly not the same one that is now scorching its way into our bedroom! Thankfully, Lady Trip handed me these things called sunglasses. They really helped with that bright light in the sky. Today was the day to board the Vision of the Seas our first cruise in 4 years! We often alternate between big land vacations and cruises so we were due for a cruise when that bloody bug called Covid suddenly appeared. Being the early birds, we finished packing up our things and headed down to the lobby to grab a table for the Carnies for breakfast. They eventually made their way down and we enjoyed each other’s company while eating breakfast. It wasn’t too long afterwards that it was our time to head down to the port. We had an earlier boarding time than the Carnies, so we grabbed an Uber and headed towards the Cruise Terminal. Checking into the terminal was super easy. It took about 40 minutes before we had a drink in hand with 35 of those minutes waiting for the captain to give us the all clear to begin boarding. Once we boarded, we finalized the muster drill process (it’s an eMuster where you watch a couple videos on the Royal app and then you check in at your actual muster area to confirm you know where the bloody hell it is). Super-fast and super easy. Such an improved process than the old style of jamming several thousand people into a small area, usually in the midday sun, make a couple dozen announcements to people hiding out in their cabin thinking that they are special and the muster doesn’t apply to them, and then deliver instructions on how to put on a life jacket that absolutely no one can hear at all. Here are a couple photos I snapped of the ship. I didn't take too many since it's been some time since it was last in drydock for a rehab and a ton of reviews have published some pretty darn good photos, so for the sake of brevity (something I often lack!), here are just a couple quick shots taken during the cruise: We eventually met up with the Carnies and watched the Sailaway Party on the pool deck and then the four of us went to the Main Dining Room for dinner. We quickly learned that something was amiss with the crew and service levels. It was just a glimpse of what was to come. At some point in time, we did get our food and drinks – (the same bloody waiter came by our table four flippin’ times asking us for our drink orders!!!). The food was good, but it was very clear that a large portion of the waitstaff was brand new. The gentleman that escorted us to our table had to stop at every table to look at the number plaque to see if it was our table or not. For crying out loud, we could have done that instead of waiting 15 minutes for this guy to show up! (You could tell the maitre 'd was experienced and getting frustrated by his coworkers. When the guy finally showed up to escort us to our table, the maitre 'd patted him on the butt and told him "go, go, go, go!") Even though we went to the earliest sitting that one can get with My Time Dining (6:45 pm), we did not get out of the MDR until well after 9 pm. So, we ended the evening by walking around the ship to get a lay of the land. It took us about 15 minutes. This is one small ship!! Okay, maybe not that small but it was seriously dwarfed by the other ships in port that day. In fact, the casino was one of the smallest that we have seen. It seemed to have everything that one would want in a casino, except for room. It was pretty tight in there. Luckily, I never saw a big crowd in there so it wasn't too bad. Primarily, it was a handful of people enjoying a cigarette while dropping a coin or two into the slot machines. BINGO seemed to be the more popular gambling option onboard and of course, Lady Trip and Lady Carnie dragged us to every. single. game! That's about it for our first sea day. Next up: Sushi making, Mixing Through the Decades and Chef's Table!

Time Log: Sunday, 26 February Fort Lauderdale, Florida We got up early, met up with CarnieAddict and Lady Carnie, grabbed breakfast and headed outside to wait for our ride. The evening before, I had made reservations for the 4 of us to get a morning airboat tour of the Everglades with transportation. Right on time, our van showed up and whisked us off to Everglades Holiday Park (for all of you Animal Planet fans, that is where the Gator Boys are at). Our guide was able to get us into their small zoo before the crowds got in there and then whisked us into the front corner row to watch the alligator show. For you Gator Boys fans, Chris Gillette came out and performed the show. Right after the show, we headed out first, got our photo with a baby gator (we were shocked to feel how soft their belly is. The top, not so much!) Chris Gillette from Gator Boys show on Animal Planet shows how an alligator's jaw and muscles work. Our guide was then able to finagle us onto their only topless airboat (usually reserved for VIP tours) which gives you a much better view. The airboat tour was an hour long with a few speed runs (man is that thing loud!!!) and we got to see a bunch of alligators, vultures, egrets and a whole host of other birds. Our airboat captain. She was really funny. An airboat starting their speed run After the tour, our guide/driver met back up with us and headed back over to Ft. Lauderdale and our respective hotels. When the van dropped us back off at the Embassy Suites, we grabbed an Uber over to the Bahia Mar Marina to grab a bowrider from the local Freedom Boat Club. We’re members back up in Rhode Island and one of the benefits is the use of their boats at any of their locations across the country (they’re now in Canada and France as well). We quickly found our boat (which just so happened to have my wife’s first and middle name – which is why I reserved it!), settled in, threw our lines and headed out onto the Intercoastal Waterway. I immediately set course for the cruise ship piers to get an up close and personal look at the five cruise ships in port. After cruising around the cruise ships, we headed up New River into downtown Fort Lauderdale. I always enjoy slowly cruising up a river through a major downtown checking out the sites and people watching. There were some seriously nice yachts anchored around the IWC! We finally went into Sunrise Bay for our final jaunt of the day as the sun was starting to set. We closed out the night with a nice dinner at Duffy’s Sports Pub and grabbed a couple bottles of wine at the nearby Wine and More store. Coming up: Boarding the Vision of the Seas and starting our adventure!

Time Log: Saturday, 25 February Boston, Massachusetts We happen to live in the sprawling state of Rhode Island. Yes, it is an actual state and no it’s not really an island. But due to its small size, we have our choice of airports (Boston, Providence and Hartford). We often find flights from Boston’s Logan Airport offer the best deals. Since it was a quick 3 hour jump directly to Fort Lauderdale, we had our choice of flights to choose from during the day. Not trusting the airlines, I opted for the first flight in the morning. This meant that I had to spend Friday finalizing our packing and securing the house. Which was a good thing because securing the house for me can be an all-day affair. After I triple checked all the doors, windows, chimneys, vent pipes, keyholes, cracks and any other possible sources of entry into our house, I then moved onto structural integrity. I checked all walls, roofs, foundations, driveways, sidewalks, garage and sheds to ensure that they were square, plumb and solid. They were. So, I had to double check the local pub too just in case. I have a strange fear that place will far apart without me. Glad I did, turns out the owners were pretty concerned about all of that revenue they were going to lose with me being gone for so long. Since I am such a caring person, I settled into my favorite stool and tried my best to put them on a solid financial ground before I left. It was half way through my first keg that I realized our house / dog sitter was coming over before we left to go over any last-minute instructions. Since I clearly had too much blood in my alcohol system earlier during my inspection, I grabbed a napkin and jotted down instructions to reinspect everything that I had already inspected. Just in case. My papa always told me to be prepared! Pleased with myself that I had that all taken care of, I turned my attention back to my drinks, but I just couldn’t shake this feeling that I was missing something…oh yeah…vacation! We got up at the butt-ass-crack of dawn, loaded up the SUV and headed out. We eventually made our way through the crazy Boston traffic, parked our SUV and took the shuttle over to the airport. (Be sure you read that last line with a heavy Boston accent. It’s much more fun that way!) It turns out that just about everyone in the New England area has decided that today was a great day to fly out of Logan International Airport. I mean it was friggin’ mobbed! The whole ‘let’s avoid travel due to Covid thing’ is clearly over with! I was recently in Heathrow Airport in London a couple weeks ago and it was mobbed there too. Insane! Anywho, we eventually made our way through the insanely large crowd, checked in for our flight and before we knew it, it was time to board our plane. We made our way to our seats and settled in for the short flight down to Florida. The flight itself was very uneventful (thankfully!). After we landed, we finally made our way to baggage claim, collected our luggage and headed out to Embassy Suites near the cruise terminal to meet up with our crazy Canadian friends, CarnieAddict and Lady Carnie. By the way, we would not really recommend this hotel. Or at least be aware of it's shortfalls for the cost of what the hotel charges. Although it is conveniently close to the cruise terminal (still have to take an Uber or hotel shuttle to the cruise port), it is seriously outdated (like 1970s era), we had to call maintenance to fix our toilet, they provided no information at all in the room (what is in the hotel, pool times, room service menu, etc.). They give you 2 free drink tickets for their happy hour and you would have thought that they were giving away houses, the line was so friggin’ long! The staff however, were exceptionally friendly and always willing to assist, the lobby is very nice (see picture below) and the free breakfast was pretty good. But for over $400 a night, it was waaaaay below expectations! Although I do hear that hotels in Ft. Lauderdale are expensive, so take my thoughts for what they are, just my thoughts! After meeting up with our friends, we just sat around and got all caught up with each other. We eventually walked down the street for dinner, had a couple drinks and just had a great time hanging out enjoying some great company.

The Official Trippingpara Review – Diary Style Okay, enough with the Cliff Notes. Now it’s time for the meat and potatoes of my review. Hmmm…, all this talk of meat and potatoes is making me hungry! But that will have to wait for later. Let me give you a little background about us. As I mentioned earlier, I’m Trippingpara but you can just call me Trip. I’m in my early, err mid, ALRIGHT! extremely late forties and…aww crap that’s right...in my fifties now and work in senior management for a large international software company based in Boston when I’m not gallivanting around being a photographer or pounding the skins on stage as a drummer. I’m a pretty laid-back guy that loves to travel and goes a little crazy with planning trips. I’ve been told by many that I should have become a travel agent and tour guide. I unfortunately missed that calling. Joining me on this adventure was my lovely wife who we’ll call Lady Trip. She is in her mid, oops, early (not quite!), let’s try slightly late-not quite early-heading past mid-forties and works as a senior paralegal specializing in international biotech patents. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a lot of sciencey mediciney kind of stuff. With law mixed in. She’s wicked smaht. Itinerary: This was our first time this far south in the Caribbean and the ABC Islands have been on our bucket list for quite some time. We opted to add in some days pre-cruise to see some areas that we always wanted to see nearby. Here’s our whole itinerary: Pre-Cruise Day 1 – arrive in Fort Lauderdale, FL Pre-Cruise Day 2 – Fort Lauderdale, FL Cruise Day 1 – Fort Lauderdale, FL Cruise Day 2 – Sea Day Cruise Day 3 – Sea Day Cruise Day 4 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica Cruise Day 5 – Colon, Panama Cruise Day 6 – Cartagena, Colombia Cruise Day 7 – Oranjestad, Aruba Cruise Day 8 – Kralendijk, Bonaire Cruise Day 9 – Willemstad, Curacao Cruise Day 10 – Sea Day Cruise Day 11 – Sea Day Cruise Day 12 – Fort Lauderdale, FL We booked this cruise after our Baltic cruise on the NCL’s Escape with our friends from Prince Edward Island, Canada was cancelled due to COVID. That was supposed to be a 9-day cruise with several days in Amsterdam, Bruges and Copenhagen pre-trip with several days driving around Iceland post-trip. That would have been such a great trip, but we were hellbent on making up for it on the next one! ...and that got cancelled the following year! That was supposed to be a 15-day cruise from Dubai to Singapore on the Spice Route. Sigh… So, Lady Trip and I traveled to Iceland instead and spent a couple weeks driving a motorhome all over the island. Holy Hana, eh? That place is beautiful!! If you ever get the chance to visit Iceland, stop thinking about it and just DO IT!!!!!! Anyways, our crazy friends from the Great White North reached out and asked us again to join them on this cruise and here we are!! Okay, the time has come for the main attraction. So, fill your drinks up, kick back, relax and throw on some good tunes while I take you on a mentally crippling, nausea inducing and slightly psychotic roller coaster ride that is a vacation with the Trips.

Hey MD_Dan, That's coming up next! Please stay tuned as I work my way through my photos and writing this review.

FOOD: Of course, with all the foodies on Cruise Critic, I had to address this one. However, since the Vision has had so many reviews over the years that have discussed the various food venues extensively, I will only give our brief thoughts on the various eateries. For those that are curious or don't recall/know the venues available on the Vision, here is a listing of the main restaurants/eateries aboard: (Complimentary Dining): Main Dining Room, The Windjammer and Park Café; (Specialty Dining): Giovanni’s Table, Chef’s Table, Chop’s Grill, Izumi, and Café Latte-Tudes. I found the food to be pretty good. Not great but not bad either. We mostly ate in the Main Dining Room and Windjammers but did stop by Park Cafe and a couple of their specialty restaurants. We did spend our second night at the Chef’s Table and hot-diggity-dog that was good! More about that later in the review. My biggest complaint was the inconsistency of the service in the MDR. It was easy to see that there had just been a large turnover of crew members so a lot of them were brand new and very confused. However, overall, I would rate the food to be a solid “B”. ENTERTAINMENT: Even though we boarded the Vision with no real plans on what to do while sailing on her, we did end up taking part in several different entertainment options. I must say that we thoroughly enjoyed all the various forms of entertainment that we took advantage of. Here's a quick snippet of the options we did. Boogie Wonderland Show - My wife occasionally gets me to take her to a play or musical. Although personally, I'd much rather watch a pair of sloths have a battle royale over a sleeping spot than to watch a bunch of people suddenly break out into a song and dance for absolutely no reason, but that's me. I’m an old school kind of guy. I’m like Frank the Tank (You’re my boy Blue!) from the movie, Old School combined with a little bit of Rodney Dangerfield from Caddyshack. And yes, I get no respect either! So, what does all of that have to do with the show, Boogie Broadway Show? Well, nothing actually. But it does go to show that even a Neanderthal like myself can enjoy a very well put together show. And this show was very good. The dancers and musicians were excellent. My wife and I found ourselves dancing and singing along the whole show (of course, the countless Irish Car Bombs and Manhattans couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with that!). Overall, the entertainment on board was very good. There was nothing that was going to win an Academy Award or Oscar or MTV award, but everything we saw and heard was enjoyable. I'd give the entertainment crew an "A". SPA: Ever since we grabbed a spa pass on the inaugural cruise of Carnival’s Vista, we have become a bit of spa snobs. I don’t do well with the actual spa treatments (not a big fan of having my back tenderized like a slab of beef or being convinced that I need to purchase $5,000 dollars’ worth of rubbish that will never erase the ugliness that is my face!), but I sure do love the Thermal Suites. Unfortunately, the Vision is lacking in the spa department. It has just the standard spa services (couple massages, hair treatments and teeth whitening to name a few) along with a sauna. If you are looking for straight-forward massages or need your hair cut, then the Vitality Spa will work well for you. If you’re like me and want a little more from the ship’s spa, then you will find this one lacking. Taking all of the above factors into consideration, my overall grade for the spa…”C-”. Before I dive deeper into the day-to-day diary stuff, I want to cover a couple more things quickly. STAFF: It was truly rare to run into a foul tempered staff member. Most of them are all smiles and very outgoing. I'm not sure if I would be able to smile while I work as hard as they do. They put in very long hours, day after day and they do it all with a huge smile. In fact, I am utterly convinced that I could not do what they do. The second some obnoxious idiot starts yelling at me about the stain on the carpet, they would get a very hard lesson in Krav Maga for free. And I’m quite positive that the ship’s HR director would probably not approve of that! As I mentioned with the food, we found the service in the MDR to be very inconsistent and the maître ’d to be quite overwhelmed most nights. This eventually led us to stop going to the MDR and eat at the Windjammer instead. The enforcement of chair hogs was also very inconsistent. They talked a lot about it, but rarely did I see them actually enforce it and the chair hogs were out of control most days. Overall grade "B+" CAMERAS: Okay, this one doesn’t deal with the ship at all. But the most common question I get asked on Cruise Critic, is what camera am I using. Well, I'm glad you asked. There is so much to photograph on this itinerary that it was hard to narrow down what gear to bring. Do I bring a wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens, a prime lens? Yes, all the above! There, that was easy. I really, really wanted to pack light for this trip since we would be moving around so much. So, I made the command decision to dump all my clothes and just pack camera gear! I’m sure they sell underwear on the ship, right? Now that you see where my priorities lie, let me get back to answering the original question…I carried my Sony a7R IV full frame mirrorless camera. We also brought our GoPro 5 and Olympus TG5 just in case we needed some cameras that could take a beating and water submersion. For lenses, I brought my Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master and Sony 24-105 f/4 G for the Sony a7R IV. Don’t worry if you didn’t understand any of that. My wife shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders at me all the time, free feel to do the same, I’m immune to it now. Now, let’s get to the real deal here…coming up: Day to Day Itinerary Review

The Official Trippingpara Review - Cliff Notes Style Before I get too far into the specifics and day to day life of the cruise, for those that don’t like to read long reviews, here’s the down and dirty Cliff Notes version (don’t worry, there will be globs of photos and maybe even a video or two later on). I'll try not to delve too much into the finer details as the Vision has been around since the dawn of time and has been well documented before. However, I will provide a brief overview of the ship and a brief grading for that area. SHIP: The Vision is the last of the Vision-class ships and was launched back in 1998 and currently flies the flag of the Bahamas. She has a gross tonnage of 78,340 tons, runs a little over 915 feet long and carries a max pax load of 2,514 peeps. Yes, I am full of useless information! She is definitely one of the smaller ships of the major cruise lines afloat nowadays and may look a bit outdated. At least when compared to the giant megaships with all of the bells and whistles. If you enjoy a smaller, more intimate and less blinged-out ship, then the Vision may be just what the doctor ordered. The majority of the reviews are fairly positive as long as you like smaller, older ships. If you’re looking for all of the newest and greatest restaurants/rides/shows/etc., then this is probably not the ship for you. Overall, there were a lot of good things and some not so good things that you just had to roll with on the Vision. Although I like new and big, I’m also down with small and old so I’m pretty happy with the Vision as a ship. But it was hard to get away from the fact that things did look a bit outdated. Not worn out or in need of repairs, just…well old. Sorta like me I guess, as I wear my 1986 Metallica concert shirt back when they opened for Ozzy. Taking all of the above factors into consideration, my clearly scientific overall grade for the Vision…”B+”. CABINS: We were in a 2B category balcony stateroom which they call a “Spacious Oceanview Balcony”. I think they’re pushing it a little bit calling it “spacious” but there was a balcony and we did have a view of the ocean so I can’t fault them for that! It was your very typical balcony room which comes in at 195 sq ft so it’s not very big (I’ve seen bathrooms bigger than that!) and the actual balcony comes in at 41 sq ft. It’s small but pretty common size as other standard balcony staterooms that I’ve had before. Basically, we got exactly what we expected, no more, no less. The balcony was a bit tight, mainly because of the table that seemed a bit oversized for it. We always had to move chairs and/or table in order to get in and out of the balcony. The dividers separating our balcony from our neighbor was a bit small and very easy to see your neighbor (and sometimes wish to hell you didn’t!). Also, the lower front wall was steel not glass so it severely limited your view when you sat down. We were on Deck 7 and a couple stairs up or down led us to everywhere we wanted to go. This suited us just fine since we like to take the stairs a lot when we travel to work off the 800 lbs. of food that I shovel down my gullet along with the metric ton of alcoholic beverages that are used to wash it all down. The stateroom itself was very comfortable and well appointed. I did notice that it had quite a bit less closet space than on Carnival ships. This was a bit surprising but I did not find it to be a problem. Mainly because I do the final packing for us and throw out anything that has the term “might” or “what if” attached to it. As in, “well, I MIGHT want to wear this…” or “WHAT IF Brad Pitt is onboard, then I just HAVE to have this…” Yeah, all that goobly-gook gets hidden away at home. Wife: “where in the bloody hell is my *gloobly-gook*? I swear I just saw Brad Pitt!” Me in a shocked tone: “Wow, I don’t know what happened honey. I would have sworn all of that was packed!! Are you sure you left that out for me to pack??” It’s an absolute mystery why my wife hasn’t chucked me overboard yet! Overall, I’ll give our cabin an “B-“. LAYOUT: Coming over from so many cruises on Carnival, I was surprised with the size of Vision. I’ve always known RCCL to be the king of the mega ships so I assumed that the Vision, being an older ship, would compare with some of the older Carnival ships that we have sailed on. At first, I thought the Vision was the same size in terms of decks compared to Carnival’s Legend but in reality, she is quite a bit smaller. I was also a bit dumbfounded with the lack of balcony decks, just on Decks 7 and 8. But then again, I’m an old crusty Marine that thrashes around a drum kit and actively practices Krav Maga which means that gnats are generally smarter than me. You have to admit that any one dumb enough to grab a rifle and happily run towards people trying to kill you, and makes a living beating little wooden sticks on plastic skins while viciously headbanging and enjoys willingly entering a cage for an all-out, no holds barred MMA fight cannot have too many functioning brain cells!! Looking at the layout as a whole, she is still laid out one million times better than some of the Navy ships that I have been on (where I have been lost for hours – again please note I’m a dumb, knuckle dragging Jarhead Marine), so her certified grade is…”B”. Coming up: Food, Entertainment, Spa, Staff and more!

Hey, what’s crack-a-lackin’ everyone?! Trippingpara here, but you can just call me Trip. My wife and I have just returned from our cruise way down south to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. We had the pleasure of spending 11 days sailing on RCI’s Vision of the Seas round trip from Fort Lauderdale. I believe this will now be my sixth review here on CC. Man, am I getting salty or what?! Oh wait…nope, never mind, that’s just my margarita glass! Any ways, hopefully you’ll enjoy this review and be able to dredge some useful tidbits from it. Since this is my first time writing here in the RCI forum, I should probably apologize in advance for any emotional scarring, mental breakdowns and drunken buffoonery that I may invoke. Personally, I suggest having a gallon of your favorite alcoholic beverage handy while reading my reviews. It tends to help ward off any ill effects from my gibberish. It also has the added benefit of making my rants easier to understand. Sooo, drink up! Now that we have established that most of you probably don’t know me and the few that do, probably wish they didn’t! But any who, to give you a head’s up on my reviews…it will be long and will have an absolute buttload of pictures because…well, I’m a camera freak and nothing gets me hotter than a June bug in heat than the sound of a camera shutter clicking away! Seriously though, I am a photographer so I don’t go anywhere without a camera in each hand and a backup strapped to my ankle. You never know when you might need to shoot some sucker! Oh yeah, I must warn you that I tend to write as I talk. Literally. I’m talking out loud right now as I type. And this bloke next to me keeps giving me side-eyes. Maybe the commuter rail into Boston isn’t the best place to try and type this. People may think I’m a bottle or two short of a six pack! Wait…hold one please…huh?....Okay, yep. He just confirmed it. Apparently the two ladies in the seat in front of me agree with him too. They’re calling me the Crazy Mumbler. Eh, I’ve been called worse! So why am I telling you this? Glad you asked. It means there will be spelling errors and most definitely some punctuation and grammatical errors. Hell, I still have to sing Conjunction Junction whenever I write in order to figure this English language thing out. Hee-hee. I now have my seatmates singing that song! I bet everyone that grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons has that song stuck in their head too! You’re welcome! Disclaimer: This review is a compilation of opinions from my wife and I. Mostly just me but I do occasionally listen to my wife too. The statements made in this review are simply our opinions and views of what took place during our vacation and should carry absolutely no weight or value on how you may or may not feel about these things. In other words, you are free to have a different opinion. Now, if you really don’t like what I write or how I feel on a certain topic or event that transpired, please feel free to stop reading and go elsewhere. If you feel that strongly about it, please write your own review and pontificate to your little heart’s desire. Sound good? Out-freakin-standing! Now let’s get it on! P.S. Please bear with me as I write this review and work my way through a couple thousand photos!

I'm looking to get a lower half sleeve to complete my full sleeve while on our TA cruise. Most of the work I'm seeing on Instagram seem to be smaller pieces. I see a few larger ones but it's hard to tell what was done on ship vs shop pieces of the upcoming artists onboard. Just curious if they limit the size or time spent on a tattoo in order to increase the number of bookings.

Sheraton Old San Juan and Casablanca are my two favorite hotels in Old San Juan. There are other really good options as well. I really like those two because you can just walk over to the cruise pier from there on embarkation day. Sheraton is the closest (right across the street) but sells out super quick because of that. There is also a CVS right next door to the Sheraton for those "Oops, I forgot to pack items" before you board.

Are they using Pier 4 (the yellow cruise terminal)? I'll sailed out of there twice with Carnival, very fast and easy boarding from there. I know that VV uses Pier 3 for port stops. Glad to see that they are using Carnival's terminal for home porting. So much better than the Pan American terminal! I'm on the TA leaving from San Juan in April 2024, can't wait!

Well I'll be (bleep), that worked! Makes absolutely no sense at all, but hey who am I to argue! Sir Branson and his team seem to be pretty smart cats, so I'm sure they had their reasoning to omit that incredibly useful piece of information from our voyage details.

I apologize if this turns out to be a stupid question, but this will be our first cruise on Virgin (after a plethora of cruises on the Big 3) and I'm a bit stupefied on finding when the ship (Brilliant Lady) will leave port each day. I can see when we depart the home port (San Juan) and can see when we arrive at each port, just not when we leave. Is this normal for Virgin or am I just being daffy and missing that info somewhere? I'm trying to gather how much time we'll have in our ports and that is a rather tasty tidbit of info! Thanks, cheers!