Vision of the Seas~B2B~Spanish Immersion~Feb. 8th & 15th~My Diary

[vavasmom]

I wanted to thank you for your review. We are on the Vision on Nov (the repo from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa). It is interesting to see how each ship in the Vision Class has been updated. The diamond lounge seems to move.

 

To the person who asked the aerial show - I know on the Grandeur, they are not permitted to perform if the pre-show sway test fails. This measures how much the ship is swaying. When this happens dancers performed for us.

Edited March 3, 2014 by vavasmom

[bigjeter312]

Jane - Great review so far. It is always a pleasure cruising with you and John.

You guys have become our beach buddies when we are on the same cruise.

 

I am glad you and John had such a good cruise. Hope to see you guys soon.

[maxs mom]

Here's the view of the catamaran from our snorkeling spot:

 

 

Once back on the boat....they brought us anything we wanted to drink. by this time I was in need of some wine!!

 

 

We just relaxed on the boat while waiting for everyone to finish up their snorkeling. It was nice.

 

 

 

 

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I agree that the snorkeling in Bonaire is the best we have ever done anywhere - including Hawaii! We are doing a Southern Caribbean cruise in 60 days, but sadly we will not be visiting Bonaire this time. We will visit Aruba and Curacao, with a snorkel trip planned in Aruba.

[smeck]

At the dining room entrance we met the other diners......Manuel (famous Pinnacle Member....this was his 6th week on board) and Rheinhold from Germany' date=' Frank.....who just became Pinnacle on this sailing, Jennifer and Gary from Toronto (who just that afternoon booked a new cruise...but somehow it got charged to our account!....The LA straightened that out....I hope), and three lovely ladies from New York.

 

Here we are:

 

 

We got started with our dinner before the first seating crowd came in at 7:00. Dinner was very good. Two sampler soups, a scallop or salmon appetizer, a filet, fish, or crepes for the entrée, and a fabulous dessert.....vanilla ice cream with berries presented in an edible almond bowl.....quite good! That is the only picture of food that I got at the dinner. This dessert was fabulous!!

 

 

The wine kept coming, Capt. Lis was a great hostess, and we enjoyed the dinner immensely. She remembered the other cruise that we were on with her....the Radiance out of Tampa. She had to take over for the Captain who had a medical emergency. This was right before she got her own ship. We had great conversation all through dinner, however passengers on three occaisions came to the table and interrupted so that they could get pictures or a signature for a game they had going. Sheesh!

 

 

One of the ladies had a birthday, so they brought a birthday cake to the table and sang "Happy Bursday".

 

 

It is such an honor to be invited to the Captain's Table and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

The only way we'll get invited to the Captains table is if we steal it.

[maxs mom]

After they gathered all the snorkelers back on board we sailed over to a place near the shore and were served more beer, wine, drinks and a local type of meal consisting of pasta, chicken, beef, pork, veggies, a cabbage roll, and plaintains. It was delicious and I cleaned my plate!

 

 

We had a nice leisurely sail back to the hotel after that and were treated to some beautiful views along the shore.

 

 

 

 

When we got back to the dock.....we sat there for a little while using the Wi-Fi again before walking back to the ship.

 

 

Before going out today....I caught Ashton doing some cleaning on the balcony next door!

 

[maxs mom]

Jane,

Thank you so much for all you have done. The photos are great. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'm sure it will help others to "see" VOS! :)

 

Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for all of your help before the trip!! Hope you will have as much fun as we did. Your turn is coming up fast!!

[maxs mom]

[quote=max'smom

 

Then we watched the Captain's Welcome Aboard festivities from Deck 6.

 

 

That finished up with a small aerial show. These guys were fantastic.

 

 

QUOTE]

 

I am so glad to hear that they now did an actual aerial show! This was not the case in November.

 

I had my family all situated and seated and then all they did was have 2 dancers come down to stage level and then take photos with 16 'lucky' guests on each side that got a glass of sparkling wine. Then they did a photo shoot with the Captain for about a half hour on the stage. We were all expecting there would be some sort of show due to the venue and were very disappointed.

 

I think they've got it all together now. The aerial shows were wonderful. But they do have to be sure the ship is pretty stable before they will do one. Hope you will get to see one before too long.

[maxs mom]

I wanted to thank you for your review. We are on the Vision on Nov (the repo from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa). It is interesting to see how each ship in the Vision Class has been updated. The diamond lounge seems to move.

 

To the person who asked the aerial show - I know on the Grandeur, they are not permitted to perform if the pre-show sway test fails. This measures how much the ship is swaying. When this happens dancers performed for us.

 

Wish we could go on that repo!! It looks nice!

[maxs mom]

Jane - Great review so far. It is always a pleasure cruising with you and John.

You guys have become our beach buddies when we are on the same cruise.

 

I am glad you and John had such a good cruise. Hope to see you guys soon.

 

Hey Al!! Glad you found this! We have got to get together SOON!! More Mud Pie and beach trips are needed!!Let's find something.....quick! I'm already having withdrawals!

[maxs mom]

I agree that the snorkeling in Bonaire is the best we have ever done anywhere - including Hawaii! We are doing a Southern Caribbean cruise in 60 days, but sadly we will not be visiting Bonaire this time. We will visit Aruba and Curacao, with a snorkel trip planned in Aruba.

 

I was going to say the same thing.....better than Hawaii!!! Love going to all these Southern Caribbean islands. They are the best. So glad that Bonaire was on this itinerary!

[Darkwolfe]

A great review Jane! We were on Vision Feb '13 for one of the 11-night runs from FLL. Absolutely had a blast.

 

We're going on the same cruise Big Booper is on in June. Looking forward to seeing the changes since last time and picking on our favorite MDR waitress, Lenuta.

 

Incidentally, for anyone not familiar with Capt. Srecko Ban, he's around the ship almost as much as Capt Lis. I took a picture of him out line dancing with a group last time. Vision has a fun crew all the time!

[maxs mom]

A great review Jane! We were on Vision Feb '13 for one of the 11-night runs from FLL. Absolutely had a blast.

 

We're going on the same cruise Big Booper is on in June. Looking forward to seeing the changes since last time and picking on our favorite MDR waitress, Lenuta.

 

Incidentally, for anyone not familiar with Capt. Srecko Ban, he's around the ship almost as much as Capt Lis. I took a picture of him out line dancing with a group last time. Vision has a fun crew all the time!

 

Thanks!! I love your reviews and pictures. Hope you enjoy your cruise in June!

[maxs mom]

So back on the ship after our snorkeling adventure. We were totally wiped out and crashed as soon as we got some ice cream! (First things first!) It was fairly late in the afternoon, so we didn't have a lot of rest time before it was time to get ready for the evening.

 

We were moving slowly this evening. We went to the empty CL and were joined by Julie and Joel for just a little bit. They ate dinner early and stopped by after they had finished.

 

We had dinner tonight on the balcony overlooking the bottom floor of the dining room. Angelito.....one of our waiters from breakfast, was our waiter tonight. This was a nice spot above the piano guy.

 

 

Tonight we both had chicken that was very good, but it had a lot of garlic on it.

 

 

Oh.....I forgot to mention that at breakfast and at dinner.....they bring a basket of bread and LEAVE it on the table. Haven't seen that in a while. Although we don't eat much bread....me hardly at all.....that was nice.

 

 

I ordered a butternut tart for dessert that turned out to be a good ole piece of pecan pie. Yum!! RCI rarely makes a good pie, but I liked this one.

 

 

We stopped in the casino after walking through the lively Centrum area. The Centrum is hoppin' almost every night. Always lots of dancing going on, so if that's your thing.....you will love this!

 

 

So in the casino there are only three machines that I like. The one I played on the first night and won on was broken and shut down, so tonight I put $20 into the one next to it. I won on that one last night. As soon as I put the $20 in.....it shut down. The attendant had to come over and get it started again. This machine was not nice to me tonight. John was losing, too.....so we drug ourselves out of there and went to bed.......pouting!!

 

These things are evil!!

 

[SherriZ366]

So glad to find your review -- was waiting for another one of your excellent reports. We sail on EX out of Port C for the ABC islands so I am taking tips from you on the ports.

[JimAOk1945]

It is such an honor to be invited to the Captain's Table and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

I am really enjoying your review. We will be on the Vision next year so reading your experiences is great.

 

I am curious about the people who were invited to eat dinner with the Captain. Do you know what their C&A status was?

 

Thanks in advance for your answer.

Edited March 4, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[JimAOk1945]

The other poster was referring to the BOGO specialty restaurant coupon that comes with the Diamond Plus or Pinnancle level in Crown & Anchor. That's at least 175 cruise points.

 

Oh! We still have a long way to go! We're Emerald.

Edited March 4, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[EzSte]

Great review. We go on the Vision end of May. This helps a lot. Thanks for the great pics!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Edited March 4, 2014 by sfrankart

[MADflyer]

 

I think they've got it all together now. The aerial shows were wonderful. But they do have to be sure the ship is pretty stable before they will do one. Hope you will get to see one before too long.

 

No, the aerial show was used, but just to do a very commercial photo opportunity and is hard to understand what I am talking about if you were not there. They literally just had 2 dancers in elegant gowns sit on them and lowered them down to take pictures with the photographers. No show, just revenue generating gimmick.......

 

 

So, to put it short, I am so glad they are now using the aerial show mechanism on Vision how it was intended.

 

I have seen them on many sailings and really enjoy them, that is why I was so disappointed on Vision and for my family.

[micmacmissy]

Love your reviews, Jane! It is nice to see you both enjoying retirement.

 

Question for you: have you ever considered giving Celebrity a try? Your C&A status would transfer over, and I think you'd LOVE their homemade ice cream each afternoon...not to mention the food and service is wonderful. Wonder if you guys would consider trying it?

[maxs mom]

So glad to find your review -- was waiting for another one of your excellent reports. We sail on EX out of Port C for the ABC islands so I am taking tips from you on the ports.

 

Hey Sherri! You will love the ABC islands.......we loved visiting them two weeks in a row!

[maxs mom]

I am really enjoying your review. We will be on the Vision next year so reading your experiences is great.

 

I am curious about the people who were invited to eat dinner with the Captain. Do you know what their C&A status was?

 

Thanks in advance for your answer.

 

Jim.....we've eaten at the Captain's Table a number of times over the years......all for different reasons.....sometimes just random. But on these sailings...they went by C & A status. I think we were the third highest on this sailing and we were the second highest on the next sailing. Capt. Lis does not speak Spanish, so she always has English speaking folks at her table.

[maxs mom]

Great review. We go on the Vision end of May. This helps a lot. Thanks for the great pics!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

Keep following along......lots more to come!

[maxs mom]

Love your reviews, Jane! It is nice to see you both enjoying retirement.

 

Question for you: have you ever considered giving Celebrity a try? Your C&A status would transfer over, and I think you'd LOVE their homemade ice cream each afternoon...not to mention the food and service is wonderful. Wonder if you guys would consider trying it?

 

Hey!! Yes we have been on Celebrity and it is wonderful!! We love Aqua Class. Very relaxing.....that's right up our alley!

[maxs mom]

Wednesday ~ Feb. 12, 2014 ~ Aruba

 

I was up a little earlier today. It's a beach day and I like to get out to the beach early!

 

The coffee machine wasn't working in the CL this morning, so I ended up getting some coffee outside of the WJ.

 

Breakfast.....again......was delightful......no one there but us!!

 

Here we are pulling into Aruba:

 

 

 

We arranged to meet Julie and Joel at 9:15 to head out to a new beach that I found out about here on CC......The Nikky Beach Club. Every time we're in Aruba....for years now....we have gone out to Eagle Beach to the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort and have loved it....but we wanted to try a new place today. Love Eagle beach, though. I am NOT fond of Palm Beach here......too crowded.....too many gas fumes.

 

OK .....so off we go to the Nikky Beach Club. It is in the opposite direction from Eagle and Palm and really quite close to the ship. You can see the ship from the beach. The taxi fare will be anywhere from $7 to $12 depending on the honesty of your cab driver. That makes me so angry!! It should only be $7. It's a short taxi ride.

 

Anyway.....we got there before the crowd and got some very good chairs and an umbrella. We started a tab. You don't need to pay anything here until you are ready to leave. This beach is a very small beach with a nice beach club. I was very happy here!