Ten Awesome Days on Vision OTS! ~A Pictorial Review~

[DarthGrady]

Pepper shows off the strength of the vines

 

 

 

 

The Emerald Pool

 

[DarthGrady]

 

 

Pepper prepares to jump in

 

 

Swim time in the pool

[DarthGrady]

From one of the scenic overlooks

 

At the Mr. Nice Fruit Stand

 

Mr. Nice

 

Banana, cocoa and roasted coconut candy, delicious!

 

Freshly ground cocoa

 

Edited December 28, 2012 by DarthGrady

[DarthGrady]

Some fresh roasted coconut

 

Fresh sugar cane

 

Mr Nice opens a coconut

 

 

The Beer of the Day, Pepper kept us well stocked!

 

[DarthGrady]

 

At the volcanic black sand beach

 

 

[DarthGrady]

At Champagne Beach

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

The twin Trafalgar Falls

 

 

You can just barely make out the rainbow at the bottom

 

 

Our tour group

[DarthGrady]

A hot sulphur spring

 

Pepper poses in the school bus at the Botanical Gardens

 

[DarthGrady]

Thats all I have for tonight, I'll be back on either tomorrow or over the weekend with more.

[erbunny]

I am SO enjoying your review. The ship looks wonderful. We are going to toally different ports, all new to us, but now I am planning on looking for these ports for a future cruise. Love, love , love Trafalgar Falls. Thank you so much for doing this.

 

Vision does look small next to the other ships, but I am a true believer in " Nice things come in small packages."

Edited December 28, 2012 by erbunny
typo

[Bargeo]

You will never know how much your wonderful review has brightened my day. We were scheduled to be on Vision for a B2B Jan 14 and 25. It was not to be. In Oct my best friend, and one of our traveling companions was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. All six friends, of over 40 years, cancelled immediately. It has been heartbreaking and devastating watching the decline of our wonderful friend. Crusing will never be the same, after sharing over twenty years of fantastic trips with her and her hubby. But, oh, the memories we have!!

 

Thanks so much for taking me along on your beautiful cruise. Just what I needed.

 

Sincerely, Barbara

[skyedoggie]

Did you enjoy your tour with Pepper enough to recommend him and did you pre-book before arriving there? Did you have the option of getting back to the ship earlier or did the tour make you late? That must of been a bit stressful! Your review and photos are fabulous! Thanks for sharing!

[BillOh]

I snapped a few ship shots before we left St. Croix

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't realize Adventure had the same type of balcony as Voyager. Great photos of St Croix, definitely on my list of places to go.

[BillOh]

Day 5: St. Maarten

Six ships in any port is far too many. When those six ships carry a combined 17,000+ people it's a recipe for misery. Apparently St. Maarten is trying to compete with Nassau for the title of most overcrowded Caribbean port-of-call. We had originally planned to catch a taxi to Maho Beach. We scrapped those plans when we saw the throngs of tourists vying for the same facilities and places in the sun. We had already heard horror stories of traffic jams and nearly-missed cruise ships from other travelers who had ventured to Maho or Orient beaches. We decided to try Maho in May 2013 when we return to St. Maarten on the Jewel OTS.

 

Have you looked ahead to see what ships are in port then? May seems like a great time to go. On May 3rd 2011 we were the only ship in Port (Allure) and it was a great day, we got back from Maho with plenty of time to shop. I'm looking forward to being back there on 5/2.

[Cruising89143]

Day 5: St. Maarten

Six ships in any port is far too many. When those six ships carry a combined 17,000+ people it's a recipe for misery. Apparently St. Maarten is trying to compete with Nassau for the title of most overcrowded Caribbean port-of-call. We had originally planned to catch a taxi to Maho Beach. We scrapped those plans when we saw the throngs of tourists vying for the same facilities and places in the sun. We had already heard horror stories of traffic jams and nearly-missed cruise ships from other travelers who had ventured to Maho or Orient beaches. We decided to try Maho in May 2013 when we return to St. Maarten on the Jewel OTS.

Instead we skipped the water taxi (the line for which was about 5280’ long at the time) and walked into town. It wasn't a bad walk, and we wondered why we hadn't done so on our previous visits. We did a bit of shopping and I imbibed some $1 Red Stripes. We eventually walked back to the pier area and bought a bucket of beer from Sharkey's. $12 for a bucket of six Amstels wasn't too bad a deal. It was mid-afternoon at the point, so there were literally thousands of people making their way back to their respective ships. We got a bit sideways there and then ambled back down the pier.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Solarium and later the gym. Dinner was good, as usual. We had another nice conversation with some folks we met in the Diamond Lounge. I then retired to the Cigar Lounge to work on this review and dose myself with sweet nicotine.

 

First of all, great review and photos as usual. I feel your pain about St. Maarten and six ships being in port. We have had that happen when there on the Oasis and Allure. It was a zoo. We will have the same issue in March.

[PH8]

I've spent the night on the MSC Poesia before, shes a nice ship. They really make an effort to stand out, I've never seen a ship plant flags on the pier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always getting emails for cheap cruises on Poesia......what did you think of it? Nice to see a real picture!

[ksuds]

Always getting emails for cheap cruises on Poesia......what did you think of it? Nice to see a real picture!

 

Kathy, we were in port the other day with the MSC Poesia. It is one of there newer ships. It was docked next to the Carnival Legend which is about the same size as the Jewel. The MSC looked quite a bit wider than the Legend. Our friends parents were on the MSC and really enjoyed it.

[PH8]

Kathy, we were in port the other day with the MSC Poesia. It is one of there newer ships. It was docked next to the Carnival Legend which is about the same size as the Jewel. The MSC looked quite a bit wider than the Legend. Our friends parents were on the MSC and really enjoyed it.

 

Thanks Karen..

[DarthGrady]

You will never know how much your wonderful review has brightened my day. We were scheduled to be on Vision for a B2B Jan 14 and 25. It was not to be. In Oct my best friend, and one of our traveling companions was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. All six friends, of over 40 years, cancelled immediately. It has been heartbreaking and devastating watching the decline of our wonderful friend. Crusing will never be the same, after sharing over twenty years of fantastic trips with her and her hubby. But, oh, the memories we have!!

 

Thanks so much for taking me along on your beautiful cruise. Just what I needed.

 

Sincerely, Barbara

 

I'm sorry to hear about your friend's illness, but I'm glad to hear the this review has made it a bit easier on you. I'm hoping things turn around for your friend and you get to make more memories.

[sunset785]

Day 5: St. Maarten

 

Six ships in any port is far too many. When those six ships carry a combined 17,000+ people it's a recipe for misery. Apparently St. Maarten is trying to compete with Nassau for the title of most overcrowded Caribbean port-of-call. We had originally planned to catch a taxi to Maho Beach. We scrapped those plans when we saw the throngs of tourists vying for the same facilities and places in the sun. We had already heard horror stories of traffic jams and nearly-missed cruise ships from other travelers who had ventured to Maho or Orient beaches. We decided to try Maho in May 2013 when we return to St. Maarten on the Jewel OTS.

 

Instead we skipped the water taxi (the line for which was about 5280’ long at the time) and walked into town. It wasn't a bad walk, and we wondered why we hadn't done so on our previous visits. We did a bit of shopping and I imbibed some $1 Red Stripes. We eventually walked back to the pier area and bought a bucket of beer from Sharkey's. $12 for a bucket of six Amstels wasn't too bad a deal. It was mid-afternoon at the point, so there were literally thousands of people making their way back to their respective ships. We got a bit sideways there and then ambled back down the pier.

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Solarium and later the gym. Dinner was good, as usual. We had another nice conversation with some folks we met in the Diamond Lounge. I then retired to the Cigar Lounge to work on this review and dose myself with sweet nicotine.

 

First and foremost, love your review! Great pictures and I'm living vicarously through your review as we await our trip on the Oasis eastern route.

 

How long was the walk into town in St. Marteen? Did you go to the same place that the ferry would have taken you? The pictures look great. I want to go to Maho when we arrive there but like you, I'm a little leery of making sure we get back on time.

[DarthGrady]

Always getting emails for cheap cruises on Poesia......what did you think of it? Nice to see a real picture!

 

We only spent the one night on board, but it was enjoyable. The Italian design of the interior is a lot different than RCI, but I thought it was a very nice ship. It's on the short list of cruises we want to try after we make D+ on Royal.

 

Lots of pics from that gala here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1117660

[DarthGrady]

Did you enjoy your tour with Pepper enough to recommend him and did you pre-book before arriving there? Did you have the option of getting back to the ship earlier or did the tour make you late? That must of been a bit stressful! Your review and photos are fabulous! Thanks for sharing!

 

I would definitely recommend Pepper's tour, we was a great guide. We pre-booked, along with other CC members from our roll call. We did not go back by the ship until the end of the tour, so it did come down to the wire. Pepper seemed totally confident that we'd get back on time, and he did get us back right at 4:30.

[DarthGrady]

First of all, great review and photos as usual. I feel your pain about St. Maarten and six ships being in port. We have had that happen when there on the Oasis and Allure. It was a zoo. We will have the same issue in March.

 

Have you looked ahead to see what ships are in port then? May seems like a great time to go. On May 3rd 2011 we were the only ship in Port (Allure) and it was a great day, we got back from Maho with plenty of time to shop. I'm looking forward to being back there on 5/2.

 

I checked CruiseTT before we went, but it was a few weeks prior to the cruise. I think they must have updated their schedules after I checked, because it definitely didn't show that many ships there that day.

 

I need to get into the habit of checking it and printing off the schedule right before a cruise.

[DarthGrady]

I didn't realize Adventure had the same type of balcony as Voyager. Great photos of St Croix, definitely on my list of places to go.

 

Yes, the first three had the "cove" balconies".

 

Navigator and Mariner were the last two built, getting the newer style glass enclosed balconies. I also read somewhere that the WJ set up is slightly different on those two.

[Southampton Cruiser]

Love your pictures! Vision is my fave RCI ship and I have two cruises booked next year (one before refurb, the other after).