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

[Tropical Traveler]

Kudos for another top notch presentation Grady.

 

The photos from Dominica brought to mind some pleasant memories. We did a similar excursion with a different tour guide in April of this year and had a fantastic time.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review. The 10 & 11 night Caribbean itineraries from FLL are very enticing.

[SCGamecock80]

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!

 

Hope its ok to chime in... i highly recommend pepper. I was on this tour w darthgrady. Pepper actually let us customize this excursion he has different tours and i requested combining some of the stops. He added at least 2 stops for us. One being trafalgar. He was also willing to drop people at the pier early if they prefered. He was awesome. He also called us to get our requests straight. Check his website. As dg said would have loved staying at some places longer and would love staying a week. We fell in luv w Dominica.

[SCGamecock80]

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.

 

Me again i highly recommend Bernards tours in st martin what a great time and we went to maho beach what a blast loved it want to go back and spend hours there we had no prob w traffic or time got back to ship w no prob also there were tons of taxis there to take cruisers back

 

Could have had more time in marigot but still excellent tour and hard to do it all but DJ gave us a new appreciation for st m

[skyedoggie]

Thanks, really glad you did chime in. We got together with a few CC friends on our last cruise this past May and did a Bernard's Tour on St. Maarten ourselves. Like you, we had a wonderful tour and really felt like we got to see so much more than the casual tourist. Thanks for explaining about Pepper's Tour. Being the last back on the ship would make my DH very anxious. We are usually the first to arrive not the last everywhere we go.:D DH is usually on our balcony watching for "runners" ... so you see the problem....;)

[PH8]

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

Thanks.........I'll check it out.........hope to see you around town:)

[Bargeo]

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.

 

Thanks Grady, that's what we're hoping for. In the meantime......your review is awesome, and the photos are outstanding. Enjoying every minute of it. DH just purchased a Nikon D600 to use on our cruise. Told him I can't imagine never cruising again. Maybe next year.:) Glad you enjoyed your cruise!!!!!!

[Sassy Chassis]

Awwww! My first ever cruise was on Vision. It is wonderful to see your photos of her. She is looking pretty good for her age :)

[erickg2004]

I really like THE BEER OF THE DAY pics and moments....lol

 

Always nice to to be polite and taste the local stuff.. As i said earlier, what a great review..

 

Keep it up..

[DarthGrady]

Thanks.........I'll check it out.........hope to see you around town:)

 

I'm always around. ;):D

 

Thanks Grady, that's what we're hoping for. In the meantime......your review is awesome, and the photos are outstanding. Enjoying every minute of it. DH just purchased a Nikon D600 to use on our cruise. Told him I can't imagine never cruising again. Maybe next year.:) Glad you enjoyed your cruise!!!!!!

 

Your DH got a very nice camera, the D600 is an awesome camera!

[DarthGrady]

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.

 

The walk into town was very easy. It takes about twenty minutes, the total distance is about a mile. Keep to the right as you walk through the shopping area at the pier. There is an area where the taxis and shuttles pull up, walk out through that gate. You'll stay on the sidewalk that runs along the road that leads into town.

 

Once you're in town, just walk down the waterfront. You'll eventually come to where the water taxis pull up.

[DarthGrady]

Day 7: Antigua

 

Like most other Caribbean ports, there isn't much to do in Antigua if you don't have an excursion planned or wish to hire a taxi to a beach. We briefly walked around the shopping area and then went back onboard the ship. There is something to be said for enjoying the ship while it's (mostly) empty in port. The weather was beautiful. The hot tubs were free of the hordes of children. There was no obnoxiously loud live band keeping me away from the main pool area. Although they still managed to pipe in the incessant tropical rhythms. Would mixing in some Top 40 be so much to ask for?

Of course the kids and annoying music wouldn't be an issue if they would just open the Solarium roof when the weather is nice. That area would be much better if it wasn't so stuffy. I can’t figure out why they put retractable roofs over them. I've never once seen them open it on any of my cruises on Radiance or Vision Class ships.

After dinner we stopped into the photo gallery to see our pictures. This is another area that could be improved. In fact, Royal Caribbean already has a better system for the photo gallery in place on their Oasis Class ships. Instead of walls covered in random photos, each guest (or cabin) has an assigned folder located in big revolving racks in the gallery. The photographer swipes the Seapass prior to taking a picture, and the finished products are then placed into the guest’s folder for easy location. It’s so much simpler than the hunt-and-shuffle crapshoot currently on most ships.

I finished out the night in the cigar bar, then went up on deck for a few night time photographs since the weather was nice.

[DarthGrady]

Antigua:

 

 

Looks like she got a boo-boo

 

 

 

Everywhere else is OK

 

A water jetpack. If you've got the time and money you can fly it. I didn't ask the cost.

Edited December 29, 2012 by DarthGrady

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

It looked as if Costa was really going out of its way to polish up a tarnished reputation. The ship was spotless on the exterior, and they had some really fancy gangway landings.

 

 

Proof that life can exist nearly anywhere

[DarthGrady]

 

 

An old fortification overlooking the harbor

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Some night shots:

 

 

 

 

Another ship far off in the distance, I couldn't figure out what it was. It appears to be a smaller, older ship.

[Rocknsoul]

Absolutely gorgeous photos.

[salboz]

Just found this review today and have enjoyed it very much. Going on her next June and was a bit apprehensive since she is so old. Much more at ease. She looks great.

 

I a few mention going next June. Anyone going on the June 19th Russia and the Baltics? We are looking for a couple more to join us for some tours.

[stretchcruz]

Thank you so much!! We are on Vision on Friday, our very favorite ship. We've been on her 8 times, but not since she left the states. We are very excited and your pictures and review are wonderful so that we can see what we can expect.

 

Did the ship adopt local time? I've booked local tours in each port, RCI said we would not be on local time, but previous reviewers have said that we will. Our tour guides have all told us not to worry....

 

Do you know if Captain Lis will still be aboard on Friday?

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review and pictures!!!

[will773]

LOVE YOUR REVIEWS!!!!!!!! Can't wait for the rest!

[DarthGrady]

Thank you so much!! We are on Vision on Friday, our very favorite ship. We've been on her 8 times, but not since she left the states. We are very excited and your pictures and review are wonderful so that we can see what we can expect.

 

Did the ship adopt local time? I've booked local tours in each port, RCI said we would not be on local time, but previous reviewers have said that we will. Our tour guides have all told us not to worry....

 

Do you know if Captain Lis will still be aboard on Friday?

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review and pictures!!!

 

We moved the clocks ahead one hour on the second night, and back one hour on the last night. I think that matches the local time in the islands.

 

I'm not sure when Captain Lis will rotate out, sorry.

[inco]

Nice to be able to see what this old girl looks like and put things in perspective. We are going to board in June for a Baltic adventure for 11 days. Thanks DG.

Somewhere along the pathway of learning here I read that it is going to be refurbished and I think this will happen after our cruise. Does anybody have any knowledge as to when? :confused:

[ARCruisinNana]

I believe it's scheduled for Oct. 23,2013.

[pabi]

I believe it's scheduled for Oct. 23,2013.

 

It is scheduled to be refurbished in October then does the " inaugural" transatlantic cruise from Lisbon to Miami ( maybe it s Fort Lauderdale ) ...13 days cruise . We are booked on it.

[erbunny]

Just found this review today and have enjoyed it very much. Going on her next June and was a bit apprehensive since she is so old. Much more at ease. She looks great.

 

I a few mention going next June. Anyone going on the June 19th Russia and the Baltics? We are looking for a couple more to join us for some tours.

 

Have you checked out the Roll Call for your cruise? There may be some like-minded folks there.

[AngelKappie]

Awesome review!!! Love the pictures! My favorite is the moon shot over the water at night!

 

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