vision 4 day review, 5-22-14

[aquajon]

my 2nd cruise on RCL.. arrived around 11 to board and had no problem at all. made our way to deck 9 found a table very easily in the shade and spent the afternoon there. rooms were ready early, we all had another drink before heading to the elevator to unload our carry on's.

 

* vibration problem..

not sure what it was but could be felt all over the ship. from our cabin up to deck 9 the ship has some weird vibration was annoying at times. you could even see the chandelier shacking in the dining room. sitting in the schooner bar it was noticeable and also up on the pool deck at the tables.

 

* the drinking

major issues at sailaway. the bar lines were huge, not enough help.

the pool bar, solarium bar, schooner all were way to busy. but it was ok

we knew this cruise was sold out so some wait time is to be expected.

the seeday saw long waits again, but found if you flag down a waiter around the pool and tip him and say keep my card and keep the drinks coming that was the way to stay well hydrated. later that evening the crowds were not as bad.. in Cozumel the pool was like a ghost town so no problems getting a drink. 2nd sea day,,, almost repeat of day 1 but found a waiter quick so had no problems. did wait at the bar a few times but never more then 10 mins.

 

we enjoyed the schooner bar as a meeting place and the live music at R bar was great. never any problems there getting drinks after the 1st nite. there were always enough waiters to take your order. we did the ultimate drink package and we definitely got our moneys worth..

 

* the room

we had a 2nd floor outside cabin, the cabin was clean and provided a good place to sleep and shower. we did not spend much time in our room our steward always kept up with clean towels and such.

 

*the food

we had MTD which worked out great, made reservations for 7pm for our party of 6 and never had to wait. food was brought to the table hot and on time. enjoyed the variety and being able to order as much as you want. the strip steak drenched in butter was much better if you asked to hold the butter. it was a tad confusing trying to remember which was the wine waiter or the drink waiter but by the 3rd night we had it under control.

breakfast was ok, if you timed it right you did not have to wait long for a omelet but the line did grown long.. food was ok, being a buffet that was expected. and lunch I enjoyed the food from park café or just some burgers from windjammer.

 

overall we had a great cruise. we knew what to expect with a full ship and had fun, the pool volleyball was great on the last sea day. as was watching the bellyflop completion from the edge of the pool. the high flying act the last nite was also good.

[dvcmember]

Doing the same voyage in Sept. Did you try any speciality restaurants? Is there a formal night orany special deck parties at night? Anticipating a fun 4-night cruise on the Vision.

[aquajon]

formal night was the 2nd nite. all I can say is the dress code is very relaxed.

 

we wore nice casual shorts 2 nites and did dress up for the formal.

 

we did not try any of the specialty restaurants.

[GatorGirl]

Thanks for your review. I will be on Vision in July. What did you do in Cozumel?

[kingsgirl]

 

... found if you flag down a waiter around the pool and tip him and say keep my card and keep the drinks coming that was the way to stay well hydrated.

 

Are you serious or are you being facetious? Did he literally keep your card until you wanted it back?

[aquajon]

we went scuba diving in Cozumel with Dive with Martin.

every time the waiter came back I said keep the card and

bring another round. sometimes you would get a drink then they

would come back a few mins later to sign for a drink. forgot about that part

at some bars you had to sign for drinks others bars they just ran your card.

 

added some of the pics we took while underwater.

Edited May 26, 2014 by aquajon

[Scotty G]

During our recent Vision cruise (5 Night) I noted the increased amount of drinkers as I sat at the R Bar. I only saw a few getting receipts so the "All You Can Drink" packages were in high use. Saw quite a few showing up with 2 to 4 cards to get drinks for friends/family. It seemed like only a few were ordering from the Centrum floor bar folks.

 

Relative to vibration we only felt is as the ship was leaving a dock and then it was severe particularly the new wall on the forward end of the Concierge Lounge. We could see it move a couple of inches above the Emergency Exit.

 

Other than that, Vision seemed like a new ship as she doesn't show her age. Going again in August to Bermuda :)

[Fla Mike]

Hi Jon...sorry we missed you at sail-away, but with that crowd at the pool bar, it was maddening.

 

We had a Jr suite on deck 8 and did not notice the vibration, but the chair shuffling from deck 9 made us use our earplugs every night.

 

My opinion of this cruise was, there was good and bad, but no ugly, but still a lot of bad.

 

On Friday, the first sea day, I literally tried to get a beer at every bar, started at the casino, R Bar, Schooner, pool, Solarium, lines were way too thick, I gave up and made a hard drink from my bootlegged stash.

 

I really wanted a beer. :(

 

The pool area were nuts at sea days, we hid in the Solarium.

 

MDR food just plain sucked.

Windjammer was better, but we ate in the MDR 3 nights. We had early seating and were at a 6 top and it was just the 2 of us so the service was good, just the food was bad.

Our waiter even apologized on the last night.

 

We did notice the chandelier in the MDR shaking pretty good.

 

As Jon said, very relaxed dress code, but I wore a white dinner jacket on formal night. Saw about 3 tuxes, including me.

 

Our room, other than the noise, which we expected, was great, our steward was the best.

 

I will say that the entertainment was the best of any short cruise we ever took.

 

In the gift shop during the infamous 10 dollar tee shirt sale and we started talking to the shoppie working the register, and she asked us if this was our first RCI cruise, we said no.

She asked what line was our favorite and we said Celebrity, and then asked if we had ever cruised Carnival, I said yes, and said they were not that bad.

This was her first contract with RCI after three with Carnival and she was wondering if she made a mistake, she came on after the ship repo'd to FLL...

 

Something was off on this cruise and I just can't pin point it.

 

We have sailed RCI many times, this one just was not the best.

[ksawyercruiser]

Hi Jon...sorry we missed you at sail-away, but with that crowd at the pool bar, it was maddening.

 

We had a Jr suite on deck 8 and did not notice the vibration, but the chair shuffling from deck 9 made us use our earplugs every night.

 

My opinion of this cruise was, there was good and bad, but no ugly, but still a lot of bad.

 

On Friday, the first sea day, I literally tried to get a beer at every bar, started at the casino, R Bar, Schooner, pool, Solarium, lines were way too thick, I gave up and made a hard drink from my bootlegged stash.

 

I really wanted a beer. :(

 

The pool area were nuts at sea days, we hid in the Solarium.

 

MDR food just plain sucked.

Windjammer was better, but we ate in the MDR 3 nights. We had early seating and were at a 6 top and it was just the 2 of us so the service was good, just the food was bad.

Our waiter even apologized on the last night.

 

We did notice the chandelier in the MDR shaking pretty good.

 

As Jon said, very relaxed dress code, but I wore a white dinner jacket on formal night. Saw about 3 tuxes, including me.

 

Our room, other than the noise, which we expected, was great, our steward was the best.

 

I will say that the entertainment was the best of any short cruise we ever took.

 

In the gift shop during the infamous 10 dollar tee shirt sale and we started talking to the shoppie working the register, and she asked us if this was our first RCI cruise, we said no.

She asked what line was our favorite and we said Celebrity, and then asked if we had ever cruised Carnival, I said yes, and said they were not that bad.

This was her first contract with RCI after three with Carnival and she was wondering if she made a mistake, she came on after the ship repo'd to FLL...

 

Something was off on this cruise and I just can't pin point it.

 

We have sailed RCI many times, this one just was not the best.

 

 

Agree wholeheartedly. Sorry we missed meeting up with you guys! Next time hopefully. :)

 

 

 

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[aquajon]

I was on the lookout for some mardi gras beads and a few guys with Phillies

hats on.. guess I was hiding in the monstrous line waiting on a few drinks at sail away..

 

I am 50/50 about booking on vision. I think next time it would not be over a holiday weekend. although last yr we went over labor day to the Bahamas and did not have long bar lines at all.

[Darkwolfe]

Ok weird.. The other review poofed. Makes no sense.

 

Sounds like you got the major hard-party crowd.

[saved4ever1]

We are taking our first cruise in the Vision, leaving June 19th. I was wondering what the entertainment was like, what was the show? Did they have any outdoor movies and what were they?

 

Thanks, for your review, We are getting very excited, counting down the days!

[ksawyercruiser]

Ok weird.. The other review poofed. Makes no sense.

 

Sounds like you got the major hard-party crowd.

 

My review disappeared. It appears the moderators weren't happy with something. Not sure what I did to violate the rules. Sorry I can't finish sharing my experiences.

[aquajon]

I will try to add the compasses tomorrow.. we did not go to any of the shows except the acrobat one in the centrum on the last nite.

[saved4ever1]

Where can we find the compasses?

[Justmekaren918]

Scotty G; wrote:

Relative to vibration we only felt is as the ship was leaving a dock and then it was severe particularly the new wall on the forward end of the Concierge Lounge. We could see it move a couple of inches above the Emergency Exit.

 

Scotty can you please elaborate or for that matter anyone else on this vibration or wall moving? This makes me a tad worried and sailing Vision in Sept. Didn't notice any of that on Brilliance. Isn't Grandeur a Sister has anyone noticed this as well? I forget the names of I think the other 2 in this Cat.

 

Anymore insight on the trip would be appreciated.

[xmasteach]

My review disappeared. It appears the moderators weren't happy with something. Not sure what I did to violate the rules. Sorry I can't finish sharing my experiences.

 

Would not let me go to page two.

 

Thought what I read was informative and interesting.:p

[akcruz]

My review disappeared. It appears the moderators weren't happy with something. Not sure what I did to violate the rules. Sorry I can't finish sharing my experiences.

 

Hoping it was some response you got and not your review, I did not see anything in your review that was off. I am sailing in August and looking for all the reviews I can find. If you have any other thoughts please add them here.

[Keensurfer]

I was on that cruise too and agree with much of what's said here. Jon, Mike, KSawyer - sorry we missed you. That pool bar was a mob scene. To others, If you're planning a meetup, try Solarium Cafe (a bar) or R Bar - seemed to be a little easier to see people - or Schooner.

 

In Cozumel, my husband and son did the 3 site snorkel through RCL. Good deal at $49, not a fancy boat but great crew and guides and cold beer.

 

I've been on holiday weekend cruises before and never saw anything like the challenge of trying to get a drink from those bars, especially the first day. My husband spoke to someone in the beverage department who said they were overwhelmed by how many people took the unlimited packages, since the cruise was a sellout and Monday was a holiday so folks got their money's worth on Sunday. Poor planning not to have more bartenders or a beer and soda cart or something on the busy spots.

 

We didnt feel too many vibrations on deck 2 forward except leaving and docking. We had a last minute reserve and got an inside cabin so all we did was sleep and shower there.

 

No Sorrentos or Promenade Cafe on this ship, but Park Cafe in Solarium was open till 2 am for late night snacking, cookies, sandwiches and pizza.

 

Overall, good far outweighed the bad - but saying something was off on this cruise is absolutely correct.

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

I am noticing from this thread and from Kim's re-posting of her review................

 

Were there only Floridians on this cruise?!?!??!?

 

;)

[Fla Mike]

We went to see the Singer Tony Tillman, and he was very good, high energy, packed house.

 

We went to the 3rd night production show and it was also very good, no one there.

 

The acrobats are also very good.

 

For Merion_Mom, we booked about 6 months out and the prices were blow out, if you look at our roll call thread we commented on how this was not selling, as the prices went up, then the prices dumped again, lot of last minute, so I can see all us locals on here.

 

I keep telling myself this cruise was not that bad :rolleyes:

[berylde]

Why are certain posts pulled? And without an explanation from any of the Moderators. (Host Mike, Host Jacquelyn, or Host Kewlguy)?

 

Yesterday, a report on the Vision disappeared. It was well written with alot of responses (no fighting). After about 20 responses it just disappeared.

 

The poster made note of the disappearence and started it up again. She had about 4 nice responses and ---gone again

 

This also happened last week with a different poster but it was about the Vision again

 

So, why don't any of the Hosts give an explanation for the disappearance. If, the posters made a mistake, would learn from it. (altho, it was a friendly thread)

[berylde]

FLAMIKE:

Sorry Mike, Didn't mean to post this on your thread. I meant for it to have its own posting

[Fla Mike]

FLAMIKE:

Sorry Mike, Didn't mean to post this on your thread. I meant for it to have its own posting

 

OK, this is really aquajon's thread, we were on the same cruise though.

 

Was aquajon's the post that originally got the boot?

[aquajon]

No it was ksawyer's post. She wrote a good review using a gradeing system

 

 

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