Vision of the Seas

[EmmaN]

My husband and I are going on our first cruise on the 23rd June (not long now :D)

 

We are only on board for 5 days :( and I was looking for any top tips and things not to miss from those of you how know the ship well.

 

Also I think I need a UK to European travel adaptor like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/UK-Europe-EU-Travel-Adaptor/dp/B0006OFKNM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276177828&sr=8-1 :confused:

 

Thanks in advance!! :D

[Twaincruisers]

Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question about the electric plugs.

However, one of my favorite things to do on RCI ships is to spend time in the Viking Crown Lounge, being able to look out over the deck and the sea.

 

We took a 10-night cruise to this area last Sept. that included stops at the three ports on your itinerary. If you like old ships, you would probably be interested in seeing the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. The Vasa ship was rediscovered and restored after 330 yrs under the harbor floor. We spent two full days in St Pete and felt rushed so you will have a very busy time there. We also enjoyed Tallin by just walking around on our own. We entered through Fat Margaret tower and made our way eventually up to the top; found a place for a beer and then went out the gate near the sweater wall. Near the town hall there are restaurants with tables in the square where you can eat or drink.

 

In the '60's I had the pleasure visiting Warwick Castle and have thought about it since. I hope someday to get back there. I hope you have a very enjoyable cruise.

[RedRover101]

We just returned home from the VISION OF THE SEAS. Here's a short run-down:

 

ITINERARY: very good. 1. We loved Copenhagen, which is easily done on one's own-go to Nyhavn, take a canal boat tour, visit the Danish Resistance Museum and shop in either Illums on the Stroyget with its lovely terrace patio for lunch or Magazin on Kongens Nytorv.

 

Tallinn -. was also great- a lovely small medieval town with narrow winding lanes and lots of personality; friendly people, cute shops for reasonably prices purchases. We ate in a wonderful genuine Italian restaurant in the Katariina Passage. Good price, excellent food, convenient to bus back to ship, good atmosphere. No need for ship's tour.Town is very scenic.You can guide yourself with Rick Steves Scandinavia tour (also good for Copenhagen).

 

St. Petersburg- what can I say? Glad my great-grandparents left Russia in 1890! It is glum, depressing (even during White Nights) dirty air, dirty streets, potholes, unhappy, suspicious looking people, high crimes rate-yuck. However, the indiviual sights are magnificent-we took a private tour with SPB Traval and saw all the monuments and outdoor sights, spent 2 hrs., in the Hermitage, which is architecturally stunning, went into two cathedral, saw the famous Cathedral of Spilled Blood, went into the SS Peter/Paul Fortress to see the tombs of all the famous Czars,ate a great restaurant - could not begin to tell you where. Saw the Aurora, etc. We were going to take the Canal Boat tour, but we were too exhausted and went back to the ship Our tour guide was energetic, spoke good English, was knowledgeable, and one helll of a gutsy driver. Much better and more things to see than on ship excursion.

 

We found the ship, VISION OF THE SEAS to be a major disappointment-the food was horrible tasting and tiny portions _several waiters said they do this on tours with mostly Europeans since they won't complain. We were not even able to buy junk food to stave off hunger in the so-called shops, which were small, poorly stocked (except for cheap watches booze and trashy jewelry), over-priced. The entertainment was amateurish except for the Beatle impersonators. While everyone was friendly and helpful, and the ship was kept very clean, it is old - looks like the 'Golden Girls" from the 1980's designed the place.

 

Be prepared: bring your own additional food and snacks; don't use their internet -old and slow and expensive!

[Love Boat Dream]

We just returned home from the VISION OF THE SEAS. Here's a short run-down:

 

Be prepared: bring your own additional food and snacks; don't use their internet -old and slow and expensive!

 

Hi Red Rover

My friend and I will be on the Vision of the Seas for the 7 day Baltic on July 18. I'd appreciate hearing any details of the ship and cruise that you can share.

 

Was your trip mostly Europeans?

 

We are seeing St Petersburg with SPB best guides. Is that the same company you used?

 

Thanks!

[EmmaN]

Twaincruisers thanks for your reply we will check out the Viking Crown Lounge, thanks! Thank you as well for the feedback on our destinations as well :D We are 'doing it ourselves in Stockholm and Talin and taking a Denrus trip in St. P. If you do ever get to come back and visit Warwick Castle let me know and I will return the favour with any tips I can.

 

RedRover 101, thanks for your reply and the feedback on Tallin and St. P :D I think we will be seeing all the main sights you described in St. P. It will be good to get a 'taste' of all 3 to decide if we want to go back under our own steam.

 

It will be our first cruise so we won't have anything to compare the ship too but the feedback is useful and I will make sure I take some 'snacks' for my other half so he does not 'waste' away.... ;)

[Albert Ross]

I find it hard to believe that any one will go hungry on a cruise ship and have to take their own food on board:rolleyes:. Perhaps we have different expectations. The food and menus are the same across the whole RCI fleet. Trust me - you won't starve!

 

Go to Tesco and get one of their all country plug adaptors-as there are both European round 2-pin plugs and USA thin 2-pin plugs in the rooms. Then you can use all the sockets!

 

Tallinn is just beautiful. Easy 10 min stroll into town.

Glad to hear that you are doing a private tour in StP as this really is the only way to get the best out of this city on such a short trip. And yes, the people are miserable and the roads are terrible and the buildings look like they need a trip to Homebase for some polyfilla and a coat of paint!!!

[RedRover101]

As I said previously, the ports were excellent. You can easily get around Oslo, Copenhagen, and Tallin on your own. I would buy the shuttle bus tickets that RCCI sells in order to get into Copenhagen(goes to Kongen Nytorv) and Tallin. While not a long walk, it saves time and the amount of time in those two cities is short enough. I would purchase Rick Steve's 'Scandinavia" book for Oslo, Copenhagen, and Tallin for maps, food guides, places to see. Skip Tivoli -not so good during the day, consider the bus tour up to Elsinore and Fredericksborg Slot by RCCI if you want some Danish history.

 

St.Petersburg is a different. You MUST be with some kind of group, either the RCCI tour or a private tour to enter Russia, OR have arranged for your own Russian Visa months ago. We went with SPB (St. Petersburg Tours) and were very happy. Our guide, Helena was also the driver, which brought the cost down a bit, and we drove in her Toyota instead of a Mercedes, which also brought down the price, and frankly, I felt made us less of a target.

 

She spoke good English and was very knowledgeable about Russian history, art, architecture, etc. I had started off with an extensive itinerary, from 8:00AM until 5:00PM, and frankly, we were exhausted by 4:00 PM and asked to go back to the ship and then slept for 16 hrs. straight. For the first hour, she drove us around the city pointing out various historic and scenic sites, monuments, photo spots, etc. She was very aware of safety, locking things up out of site, etc - she had street smarts as well as tourist info. Very complete - we saw it all!

 

We went into the Hermitage for about 2 hrs as soon as it opened., and it was crowded.Iwas disappointed because while the building must have been magnificent, it is obvious that the Russian gov't does not have the money for the upkeep on the building: chipped paint and gilding, a lack of conservatorship, dirt, lack of security. people touching the paintings! The UNESCO people really need to invest in it to preserve it and its magnificent contents.

 

Then we went to a quick, yummy lunch place the guide knew and we had a delicious snack of some kind of apple/cinnamon strudel kind of thing and some kind of cheese strudel kind of thing, which I would have liked to bring back as a snack. Be sure to take along a bottle of water and some kind of snack - an apple, crackers, something, as you will be tired and hungry both from the air pollution, wind, and running around.

 

We saw the Church of the Spilled Blood from all around, went into the little park and saw many brides. We went into the Fortress of SS Peter and Paul, into the Romanov family chapel and saw the tombs of the Czar/Czarina superstars, including a very poignant room with the remains of Nicholas, Alexandra, & family; we drove along the Neva and saw the bridges and palaces that resembling Venice, the battleship Aurora, the Alexander Column, the Rostrum, the Horseman statue of Peter the Great, St Isaacs, and on and on. She always found a place to stop so we could take photos, and of course gave us the historic background. We were supposed to see Prince Yusopov's Palace and take a Canal Boat trip, but my daughter was feeling tired and dizzy; I was exhausted, so by 4:00 PM we headed back to the ship. 8:30AM to 5:00 PM was enough. In addition to the bad roads, there is a tremendous amount of traffic, lots of buses, trucks, and nutty drivers. No concept of staying in lanes, being polite to other drivers.

 

St. Petersburg is stressful, even with a guide as the roads are bumpy, full of potholes, no traffic lights so you'd best close your eyes when making turns or changing lanes. The people are not happy campers as life there is very stressful for them-they are not rude- most don't speak English- they don't smile but look pretty grim, glum and dour. Life is a daily struggle. The average life expectancy for a male in SPB, we were told is 52 y.o. and about 60 y.o for a woman! Still, you MUST go see it.

 

We felt we received our money;s worth from SPB. She really tried to cater to our wants and needs. Oh, I asked to be taken by the guide to a gift shop as I didn't want to be shopping in the open market near Spilled blood or at the fortress for pickpocket reasons. She took us to a nice shop. I think the prices were comparable....they certainly were no higher than the 'Russian Bazaar Night" on the ship, with many more choices, and probably $5.00 lower than the ship per item. If they took me for some $$, well, it was OK with me as they certainly need the money more than me!

 

As far as the ship, VISION OF THE SEAS, well, see next post..........

[RedRover101]

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - VISION OF THE SEAS - Baltic Cruise -June 2010

 

Warning: this was my first cruise; my MIL and SIL have been on 30 cruises. These are my PERSONAL experiences, expectations, and observations. I am 65 y.o; my DD is 25 y.o; we have both traveled independently and extensively all over Europe.

 

POSITIVE: Both boarding the ship and disembarkation were very well organized and went quickly and easily. No problems, no delays. Everyone was polite, helpful, eager to please. This was particularly important on disembarkation as it was cold and raining in Oslo, but they had a system to keep everyone moving to the right place

 

The ship was kept very clean in regards to avoiding the tummy troubles. Apparently the Vision had had 2 bouts of the Norvovirus recently prior to our cruise, and it was obvious they were trying to avoid it. Purell was available everywhere, and you were encouraged/ordered to use it every time you went in to eat. Surfaces were constantly being sprayed down with disinfectant. Also, I loved their bedding; the bed linens were lovely and very silky. We had a jr. suite, with a large balcony, and on sunny days, it was a pleasure to sit out there.

 

The various bars, discos, etc. were clean, attractive, service was good.

 

 

Americans were definitely in the minority on this cruise (it left from Oslo, right). But this was not a problem since almost everyone in Europe also speaks English. Our dinner mates including two people from Ireland, one from Scotland, and one from Norway and us two Americans. They were charming people. And the staff, of course, came from all over.

 

The entire staff were friendly, helpful, anxious to please - no complaints

 

One night the seas were quite rough, with lots of wind- we experienced no sea sickness - they did a good job of, pardon the pun, keeping the ship on an even keel.

 

CONS: FOOD. It was awful!!! I am not a foodie, not a gourment cook, but this stuff looked and tasted like pre-prepared mass produced cheap food. Visually unappealing, poor quality, poor preparation, poor presentation, and tiny portions (it didn't matter since it tasted awful). I lost 3 lbs. on this trip! The buffet in the Windjammer was, perhaps minimally better, but not really. No lobster; the formal dinner(s) were pathetic. Several of the waiters told me that because Europeans won't complain the way Americans will, they use poorer quality food. On one plate, in addition to my piece of mystery meat (masquerading as prime rib) the side dish included one floret of cauliflower, three carrots and one tablespoon of green peas, and a baked potatoe the size of a golf ball.

 

In the AM, we would ask Room Service to bring us coffee, tea, mild and some pastries. The pastries looked and tasted as tho' someone had bought a big flat of day-old danish at Sam's Club and served it!

 

We did finally discover they made a decent turkey/cheese pannini.

 

SHOPPING on BOARD - bad: this ship has almost no shops to shop in, if that is your thing. There is a liquor store with a couple of shelves of OTC things (bring your own personal care items - you can't get them); there is a shop selling cosmetics, a shop with Swarkowski jewelry and handbags and some tops, and then the ship's souvenir shop. To build up interest they don't always sell everything, so you have to come back over and over again at different times to see if they have what you might want.Various color amber was a big item, as well as cheap watches, and imitation cubic zirconia by "Charles Winston" which was calculated to make one thing of the 5th Ave jeweler, Harry Winston..... perhaps they were fourth cousins by marriage.

 

RCCI is so blatant in their attempt to separate you from your money, from the spa treatments, to the art auction, etc.It is very unattractive and annoying. Some of their information borders on untrue, and is certainly meant to be manipulative.

 

The Park West art auction was a form of entertainment in itself. This guy was such a shyster, it was fascinating to watch him interact and manipulate the audience.

 

The imitation Beatles group was good, the rest of the entertainers made the kids on Glee look like Academy Award winners. The juggler kept dropping things and the unicycle rider had balance problems.

 

SUMMARY: Cruising is a great way to get around Europe: get on, unpack once, sit back and move from place to place; you don't have to decide where to eat or be on time for a train or plane. But, you are paying a huge price for bad food, boring experiences, and badgering. IS this only on RCCI? Is this only on Vision of the Seas? I doubt I'll every find out, as I can't see ever taking any cruise ever again!

[Love Boat Dream]

Red Rover

Thanks so much for your personal review! This is my 32nd cruise (only 5th on RCI) What did your experienced MIL and SIL think of it?

 

We have a different itinerary. We start in Stockholm and go to Helsinki, SPB, Riga, Gdansk and Visby.

 

Our day in SPB is packed. I'll be sure to take my energy drink with me to make sure we can do it all! We are also going to the ballet in the evening.

 

Did you or your family use the spa at all?

 

Thanks!

LBD

[wolfcathorse]

The Solarium Grill serves hot dogs, hamburgers and fries. Sometimes you can find fresh apples and/or cookies on the condiments bar.

[wolfcathorse]

We just returned home from the VISION OF THE SEAS. Here's a short run-down:

 

Redrover101...who was the captain? It'll be listed on your Behind the Name Tags sheet or mention on the Cruise Compass for the first formal night.

[livetotan]

Thanks so much redrover101 for your review and your honesty, we leave soon on a similar vision cruise. Do you still have your cruise compasses? can you scan and e mail to me? I'd love to see them before we leave. Many thanks

[DEL67]

RedRover101

 

What time did disembarkation start?

[RedRover101]

Sorry, I don't have the captain's name, and I didn't save or bring home the daily newsletter - didn't want a souvenir of the ship or trip!

 

In all fairness to RCCI, both the embarkation and disembarkation were well organized and stress free. Boarding was no problem and went quickly. It was a piece of cake; our suitcases showed up in our rooms about 7:00PM. Lunch in the Windjammer - buffet style - was adequate, although finding a table was a bit hard, because of the sheer numbers of people, but the cruise line handled it quite well.

 

Disembarkation was also well organized. We received a color coded tag to put on our big suitcases which had to be outside the door by 11:00PM. Different colored tags correspond to different assembly areas on the ship which are timed to your appointed disembarkation slot. In other words, there is NOT a mad disorderly dash to get off the ship. Since we had purchased an airport transport, we assembled at the Masquerade Theatre at 7:15AM, and then, as a group, we followed one of the crew down to the gangway, walked off the ship onto the pier, into a big tent, and looked for our suitcases which had been grouped by color tags. It only took us a few minutes to find them, and then we walked out to the bus to transport us to the Oslo Airport.

 

The weather was cold, rainy, and dismal that day, which was NOT RCCI's fault, and I thought they did a good job of the entire process. No complaints.

[wolfcathorse]

Sorry, I don't have the captain's name, and I didn't save or bring home the daily newsletter - didn't want a souvenir of the ship or trip!

 

If I gave you some names would one ring a bell? Like Capt Anders Ingebrigsten, or Capt Magne Johansen, or Capt Ingar Neerland?????

[RedRover101]

Yes, the Captain was Anders Ingebrigsten.

 

But what difference should that make?

[wolfcathorse]

Yes, the Captain was Anders Ingebrigsten.

 

But what difference should that make?

 

I maintain the thread "Current Captains" and since Vision is overseas, I hardly find reviews that can confirm for me who the current master is.

 

Everyone will be glad to know that RCI has not renewed their contract with Park West for the very reasons noted here...they were scam artists.

 

Food is the responsibility of the Executive Chef and I've come across some bad ones with RCI. The same dish prepared on 3 different ships should be the same, but its not.

 

All the Vision class ships have the same shops: liquor/cigarettes, logo/ souvenir, camera shop, jewelry store, perfume/cosmetics, everything $15 (used to be everything $10, I think in the airports its Bijou Tioux (sp?)), and the Swarvoski Crystal (sp?) store. Just the basic duty free stuff; jewelry, perfume, and liquor makes them money. If you want shopping you head into the ports.

[RedRover101]

You have described the the Vision situation exactly.

 

The Bijoux stuff is schlock! Poor quality, over priced, until the last day, when it all drops to $10.00 (which is way overpriced for what it is even at that price). They also had some very trashy, cheap watches, supposedly on sale for $20.00, but not worth that. I have seen better in the Big Box and discount stores in the US. Altho' I am not a shopper, boredom had set in, and I would have window-shopped and possibly bought something had I found it

 

I was surprised by how small the shops were and the lack of merchandise as I had thought that would be a good money-maker on the ship. As stated before, there was no snack food available to purchase (chips, nuts, cookies, etc) at any price. There were some outdated GUESS handbags, plenty of cubic zirconia jewelry, and various kinds of amber, or at least it was supposed to be amber (this was a Baltic cruise). Oh, and the ever popular Tanzanite was also available.

 

There were absolutely no paperback books for sale if you had forgotten your own novel, very few OTC/personal care items had you forgotten something.

 

One of the crew members told me they all liked this captain as he did not wake them up for too many drills. I did not find that reassuring, but at least he wasn't Capt. Bligh or Capt Queeg or Capt. Ahab.