Vision Review ... May 22, 2014

[ksawyercruiser]

Let's try this again. My original review got deleted from the forum. I checked the rules, and I definitely violated one by using curse words with *** to describe offensive language by some passengers. I'm a rule follower ... so I'm a bit embarrassed I broke a rule. I apologize!! I deleted those sections.

 

I hope this thread will stay because I love sharing information on the boards. But just in case, read quickly. :)

 

First of all -- LIMES AND ESCARGOT ON THIS SAILING!

 

Now that we have the important stuff out of the way ...

 

Rather than doing a full review this time, I thought I'd give you my overall ratings for various aspects of the cruise. A little background, we are PLATINUM cruisers with RCI. Just reached that level after this cruise. WOOHOO!

 

This is our fifth RCI cruise and our ninth overall. We've also cruised Disney (3x) and Celebrity once.

 

We booked this Memorial weekend cruise during the Kids Sail Free promo. As a bonus, we were able to secure an aft Junior Suite.

 

Sailing were me, my husband, our 16yo DS Tommy and our 10yo DD Marissa.

 

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves on this cruise. But there is definitely room for improvement.

 

EMBARKATION: A

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at 2 p.m. after working a half day. Kids also went to school for a half day. There were hardly any lines, and we were able to check in and get on the ship in about 30 minutes. We had a slight hiccup because my husband and son have the same name. So there was some confusion around that. But other than that, no issues. We were in the suite line but all the other lines were also minimal.

 

(Funny story -- the guy at the counter told us the Liberty terminal is considered "the red-headed step child" at the port. Interesting after our recent embarkation debacle. He said it just isn't set up well for that many passengers. Don't we know it!!)

 

STATEROOM: B+

Our Junior Suite #8090 was lovely. The balcony is soooooo huge!! So nice with a table, two chairs AND two loungers. We really enjoyed looking at the wake of the ship. It was a great room for the four of us. Plenty of storage. And the bathtub was heavenly.

 

Room overall was in good condition. Cabinet to the cool box was coming off the hinges. Needed repair.

 

The balcony got VERY hot during the day. Very little breeze. And you definitely heard the rumble of the engine. Sounded kind of like being on an airplane. Fortunately, we got used to it very quickly. But something you should be aware of if you book this cabin. Also, you look down on balconies that jut out further than yours ... so many times, you were looking down at other passengers when enjoying the views.

 

We had zero problems with soot or ash on the balcony.

 

This was not Royal's fault at all. But the JS next to us was booked by a bachelorette party. On day one, we are all resting on the balcony, when suddenly, the balcony door next to us opens and we hear someone shriek [iNSERT OFFENSIVE PROFANITY HERE]. Followed by girls screaming, "SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!" We ushered our kids inside. Sigh.

 

STATEROOM ATTENDANT: C

Our attendant was friendly but several things were missed. One night we didn't get a Compass. One night we were only left with two towels for the four of us. One night we didn't get a room service door hanger. One morning, the couch bed was freshly made but the bed was left out.

 

We were constantly having to ask for things.

 

Just a sidenote: We got one towel animal on this sailing. Towel animals aren't a big deal for us but I know some folks are interested in this.

 

SHIPS APPEARANCE: A

The Vision is a beautiful ship. I thought the common areas looked new. The Solarium is very pretty. And the Centrum sparkles.

 

MUSTER:

Can't grade this one. Muster is muster. But this cruise definitely had its share of hard partiers ... our first experience being the bachelorette party next door.

 

But muster was a nightmare for us because of one particular passenger who came to the drill already intoxicated.

 

He staggered up to the line, and said to his buddies, "Why the [OFFENSIVE 4-LETTER WORD] are we here?” Of course, my daughter was standing right there. I asked him to watch his language. His friends were also trying to calm him down ... to no avail.

 

Each time they translated the announcement into Spanish, he would shout, "Aren't we still in [OFFENSIVE 4-LETTER WORD] America?" Followed by other racial insensitive comments.

 

His behavior was deplorable. I kept asking him to lower his voice, and his friends tried to intervene but he was just too drunk to listen. The RCI staff didn't do anything. I'm not sure they noticed because our muster group was so large.

 

I was so surprised to find this kind of behavior on the ship. Maybe my fault because we booked a holiday weekend cruise. But we've been fortunate on previous cruises to not encounter this type of drunken stupidity before.

 

I did hear later in the cruise that a couple passengers were confined to their stateroom for drunken fighting. They had guards outside and could only order room service. Not sure if it was this gentleman or not.

 

WINDJAMMER: B

As is expected, the WJ was very busy on embarkation. I thought the food selections were very limited. And many chafing dishes were emptied as soon as the staff refilled them. It was hard to get the more popular items.

 

No honeystung as has been previously reported.

 

We ate in the WJ the last night. And it was much better. More variety and the staff was very helpful and friendly. Of course, it was much less hectic.

 

MDR SERVICE: F

 

Our first night in the MDR was horrible. Not a great start to the cruise. This has nothing to do with our service, but here is how our dinner began ...

 

We were seated at a table for four in the front of the dining room. Very nice location, nice table.

 

As we're looking over the menu, I had draped my arm over the back of my chair. I had pushed my chair in as far as possible because of all the servers walking around.

 

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my arm. It's being pinched -- HARD -- by something. I looked over my shoulder to try to figure out what's happening, and I see a waiter in a scooter who has pinned my arm against the chair. A passenger had driven the scooter to his table, and the server was trying to drive it out to the MDR entrance so it wouldn't block the aisles. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to drive it.

 

I was in pain; he was mortified. He tried moving forward which only made it worse. I tried to push my chair in further but couldn't. Finally, he got it in reverse and -- scraping my arm along the way -- got us free.

 

He was extremely apologetic. And I accepted his apology immediately. My arm was hurt ... and I ended up getting a nice bruise ... but it was an accident.

 

Then he tried to reverse the scooter and accidently put it in "drive." It rammed right into me and shook our table. Again, more apologies. And no, I'm not making this up.

 

With a start like that, it had to get better, right?

 

Well ... not really. Our server team had no communication whatsoever. We placed our order. My husband and I each ordered a glass of wine and my daughter asked for her one-allotted coke per day. We received our wine but no coke. We asked again. No coke. When her dinner finally arrived, we asked for the coke a third time and finally received it.

 

When the assistant waiter brought out the bread selection, I asked for the delicious cheese bread I enjoyed on the Liberty. The assistant waiter didn't have any but said he would be right back with it. Never got it.

 

Our entrees came out staggered. My daughter received hers, I got mine 20 minutes later, and my husband and son got theirs 20 minutes after that.

 

I asked for fresh pepper for my salad. Never got it.

 

My husband and I ordered coffees after dinner. We didn't receive them. We had to ask a second time when we finally got our desserts after a 30-minute wait.

 

This service was the worst I've ever received on any cruise. May be due to understaffing but absolutely no excuse.

 

We were one of the first tables in the MDR and one of the last to leave. We were there for more than two hours.

 

That was our last dinner in the MDR this cruise. Looking back, I probably should have simply asked to move to a different section. But it was such a negative experience, we decided to explore other dinner options.

 

MDR FOOD: B

 

Even with the scooter and service fiasco, food was decent. My husband had the escargot which he said was good, except for the fact it was lukewarm. He had the mojo pork which he said was good, not great

 

My son had the Caesar salad which was just okay. He also ordered the pork which he thought was good.

 

I had the spinach salad appetizer which was awesome. One of the best apps I've had on RCI. Just perfect. My daughter had the watermelon/raspberry chilled soup. She loved it.

 

She and I both ordered the roasted chicken breast with mashed potatoes. Very good. No complaints.

 

We did have lunch in the MDR on our first sea day. Service was a little slow but not too bad.

 

Lunch was absolutely delicious. The tutti salad bar was sooo good. You choose your ingredients and they chop them for you with the dressing. I loved it. Now I see what all the fuss is about. The other dishes we had were also very good. I highly recommend the MDR for lunch.

 

BAR SERVICE: C

 

I'm being a little harsh here. I feel like the actual service should be graded higher because those bartenders were working their tales off. We never did get a sailaway drink even after going to three different bars. The lines were three people deep. But the wait for a drink at sailaway -- and at the pool bar in general -- was way too long.

 

We had slightly better luck later in the cruise. But getting a cocktail consistently seemed like a chore on this sailing.

 

We heard complaints throughout the cruise. Not the bartenders' fault. But the drinking establishments were inadequate for this particular cruise IMHO.

 

PORT ACTIVITY: A

I got a great tip from the Cozumel boards. We took a taxi to the Money Bar. Very close to the pier. It was a $10 cab ride for the four of us.

 

This is a beachfront restaurant with snorkeling equipment for rent. No pool.

 

We got there and were greeted immediately. We were seated at a nice table overlooking the water. We all ordered drinks and some chips/salsa/guac to start our day. Very good and reasonably priced.

 

We then rented snorkel equipment ($15pp) and three lockers ($5/each). We then headed into the water for some AWESOME snorkeling.

 

The reason we chose this place was because the poster said it was some of the best snorkeling in Cozumel. And they were right. Interestingly, we saw several snorkeling boats right offshore. So it was obviously a good spot.

 

We followed the recommended snorkeling "trail." And it was great. Easy enough for my 10yo with enough stuff to see for my 16 yo. We saw tons of fish ... some cool coral ... and even two eels. Water was crystal clear.

 

After snorkeling, we dried off and used the complimentary changing rooms. We then went back to the restaurant for lunch. My daughter and I split the chicken fajitas, my son had the chicken&bean nachos and my husband opted for the shrimp tacos. All delicious. Service was top-notch.

 

We then took a cab back and did a little shopping. Perfect day!

[FluffsMom]

Glad to see your review come back! I was in the middle of reading it when it was deleted! We're going on the Vision in January so I'm always happy to learn more about her. Thanks for the review!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[advancetec]

Great mini review!

 

We were on this sailing and experienced the same! Horrible service in the dining room. Second night took 90 minutes from ordering to receive dinner. We previously requested a larger table to sit with. We were forced to switch from a table of 10 with table mates who we had a great time with to a 4 top of just us and another couple we brought along to make room for a large group that apparently did not link there reservations. Bar service in the dining room was practically non existent. The drinks we did receive on 2 of the 4 nights took over 45 minutes and were messed up.

 

Other nights I left the dining room to order my own drinks and experienced shortages of common liquor.

 

It was very time consuming to get a drink at any of the bars. We actually went from bar to bar trying to get a drink.

 

And they ruined the honey stung.... Not the same!!!!

[Keensurfer]

Great job on this review. How awful to be pinned by that scooter. You are lovely to be so gracious. So sad that you ran into such obnoxiousness in fellow passengers.

 

I was on this sailing. I have a feeling that the MDR staff was not as experienced as most, and way overburdened. I saw consistent hustle and some confusion. One night we sat all the way in the back next to a serving station and quite a few members of the staff seemed to need instruction.

We did have some serving stars, however. Jorge of Portugal was one of them. Cares about service and it shows.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[mpoole3]

Thanks for posting!

 

Do you have a link to any pictures from your cruise? I'm sailing on the Vision for the first time this Fall.

 

Thanks again!

 

Michael

[Fla Mike]

Glad this was reposted, there is another thread going around, and I posted my experiences on that one, but this cruise was off. I fianlly gave up waiting for a beer one day, and just went and made a drink from our "stash".

 

Service was horible across the board, but in our case on steward was fabulous, also in a jr suite, but forward.

 

Morale was bad on this ship, which I find odd as the captian was so approchable, but it was bad.

 

As I metioned elsewhere, our waiter even aplogized the last night for the food. We could not get into any of the specialty rests, and now I see why.

Edited May 27, 2014 by Fla Mike

[maxs mom]

Wow!! Sorry to hear this. Vision is one of our favorites. We spent two weeks on her in February (Spanish Immersion out of Colon) and had a fabulous time. Great service and very high crew morale. I was afraid some things might change when they moved to Florida.

 

I hope you addressed all of your concerns on your "comment card". We are looking for something to book on her before too long.

[Fla Mike]

I received my comment card this morning and gave them an honest assessment of what I thought was bad... and good.

 

Still it was a cruise, and we LOVE to cruise.

[akcruz]

Thanks all for the feedback and info on the cruise. We are sailing in August, hopefully all of your comments will be taken to heart and things will be straightened out by then. Just in case they have not we will be prepared and know what to expect!!

Edited May 27, 2014 by akcruz

[aquajon]

Glad you were able to get your review back up.

There was plenty of cheese bread rolls on the 6th floor [emoji2]

All of our meals came out at once and we were never at dinner more then 1 1/2 hrs.

 

 

Sent from outerspace

[Susie51]

Sorry about your bad experiences in the MDR. I've been told that the tables the farthest from the galley are given to the servers who do not do their job as well as others. It is a privilege for the server to be close to the galley. In that way they don't have to carry the heavy trays as far.

[ShawninFL]

We were on Vision for 10 nights (Spanish Immersion and Reposition to Fort Lauderdale). We found the service on the ship to be excellent with the exception being the dining room. It wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't smooth. It was very slow and the courses would come out at different times for different individuals. We also had to ask a few times for a bar server. Overall the cruise was excellent and we'd do it again in an instant.

[Darkwolfe]

Good recovery on the review. :)

 

On Vision in under two weeks so hopefully things will improve. If it's not, it'll show up in comments and in the review. Last time I was on board Vision, it was quite literally the best cruise I'd been on to date. Hoping this doesn't go the other way.

[preschool teacher]

Wow....I sure hope Things improve before our Christmas cruise....we have first time cruisers going with us......nice to hear honest reviews with out any bashing...

[Nola12]

I was also on this cruise. I've been on several RC cruises and agree that this one was off. The poor bartenders at the pool bars were working their tails off and the woman at the Solarium bar was often working alone with long lines. If you wanted anything but beer, on day 1, you were out of luck because other drinks 'take too long!' I felt sorry for her since she was trying to help as many people as possible. (Forget the alcohol package; you'll never see it.) The last day the same bar ran out of glasses.

 

Look for a waiter and order your drink from him/her (although I never saw any the first day and they are few and far between after that).

 

We did MTD and the first night was so terribly busy that we finally just got up and left after sitting there with our dirty dishes from the main course for quite a while. I like a cup of coffee after dinner, not necessarily the dessert, so we went to the Windjammer and enjoyed it there. (And yes, I did have dessert and it was delicious!)

 

There were other little hiccups along the way and I'm sorry to say that at times I felt like I was back on a Carnival Cruise.

 

But - All in all, I was on vacation, having fun in the sun and enjoying myself!! Can't beat that!

[kingsgirl]

I thought your previous thread was hilarious, btw. Well, the bleeped out parts I mean. :p

[cruisinck]

We were on this sailing also. I have to say our experience is totally different. We had a great cruise. We had dinner in the Chops the first night-excellent, on the second night we were invited to the Captain's table-have no idea how that happened,third night Giovanni's-excellent, and the last night MDR which was good. The first sea day we got our chairs by the pool and found a server when they first came on at noon and didn't have an issue the rest of the day. On the second sea day we went to the solarium and most of the day there was not a line at the bar.

 

We had a great trip my only complaint is I had to get off on Monday. :eek:

[poflcruzr]

We were on this sailing as well. Three couples, all have sailed with Royal Caribbean before as well as Carnival and Norwegian. This was by far the worst cruise we've been on.

Morale is horrible and I'm sure it is due to cut-backs (as a matter of fact one our group's stateroom attendants confirmed this). Many of the staff were downright rude.

Staterooms don't even have shampoo bottles or dispensers. Yes, only 1 towel animal. No turn-down service. No cute little chocolates. You have to ask for ice bucket and ice. No refrigerator. Saw our attendant once.

Dining room seemed totally unorganized. No real introduction to who your dining team would be. Bartenders seemed to be running back and forth and noone seemed to know who was assigned to which table. Food was good for the most part until the last night where the seafood was cooked to death. No lobster (unless you pay for it). Didn't appreciate the "upgrades" posted on the menu for additional pcharge. If I pay extra, I'll go to one of the specialty restaurants. Bright spot was a server from Albania. He went above and beyond.

Pool area - very crowded and certainly NOT PG rated.

Solarium/spa pool area - beautiful!

Centrum aerial show - amazing!

Masquerade Theater: Only saw 2 shows, one was a comedian/dancer/singer who was probably the best entertainer I have ever seen on a ship. The other was the late night comedy and he wasn't bad, but not that great either.

Bar/Drink Service/Beverage package: Where to start? NOT ENOUGH STAFF! Waiting for 30-45 minutes for a drink is unacceptable. Like someone else posted, you had to roam from bar to bar to try and get your drinks. Bartenders are being worked to death - I felt bad for them. Not until one time on the last day, did someone come around and take our drink order on the pool deck. You have to get your own! Terrible service.

Windjammer - good food and service was also good. I miss the cut up, peeled oranges and grapefruit. Look forward to that little healthy luxury on every cruise. Asked for it and the chef in charge of that buffet area pointed me to cut-up peaches. I asked for cut-up citrus and he pointed to half a grapefruit. Ok.......? Guess they cut that off the menu too.

All in all, I don't think I would go on this ship again. It's a cruise, and we still had a great time, but if you are used to a certain level of service, friendliness and amenities, it makes you think hard about coming back.

[Flamingo33]

We were also just on this sailing and wow....what a disappointment. Drink service was a joke, the staff seemed miserable, and the deck was constantly cluttered with empty glasses (apparently someone was able to get a drink from a bar).

 

All in all, we still had fun being away for the weekend, however we are sailing on this ship again in October with some much pickier cruisers. If the service is this bad again in October, I am going to find it very difficult to continue cruising with Royal.

[ksawyercruiser]

Well, my review is still here. I guess I corrected the issue. Hooray! No fun being on the CC "naughty list." :D

 

So here's a bit more of my review. I probably have final thoughts after this and then I'll post a few pics. I didn't take many but I do have a few good ones worth sharing.

 

CHEF'S TABLE: A

This was our first time doing the Chef's Table five-course dinner with wine pairings. And WOW! What a treat. After a welcome glass of champagne, we moved into a private dining room with four or five other couples.

 

The chef came out and described each dish, and the sommelier explained each wine pairing. It was so much fun! The wine was flowing, the food was delicious and the conversation was delightful. We were fortunate to be with a great group of passengers who really made this event fun.

 

Definitely the highlight of my cruise. It was $65/pp and worth every penny. Each couple got a RCI cookbook autographed by the chef -- as well as an invite to a mini galley tour the following day.

 

Chef's table will be a new cruise tradition for me and Tom. We thoroughly enjoyed.

 

IZUMI: B+

Yum. We did this one night instead of the MDR. Complimentary edamame and miso soup. Both very good. Then ala carte pricing for everything else. We had sushi rolls and then cooked our own meat on the hot rocks. Kind of fun and definitely worth doing once. But I found the rock to be more of a gimmick. I will go back to Izumi but skip the hot rock this time and instead have more sushi and some of their other dishes … like dumplings perhaps.

 

Service was excellent. And the restaurant is very pretty. Interestingly, it's above the Viking Lounge.

 

It’s nice that they have specialty restaurant pricing for kids under the age of 12. It was only $8 for Marissa, and she could order whatever she wanted off the kids' menu (NOT adult). She ordered an appetizer and chicken teriyaki. She really enjoyed it.

 

The only reason this isn't an A is because it was $70 for the three of us -- not including alcohol. A little pricey. I wasn't keen on the ala carte pricing structure.

 

PARK CAFE: B

Good food here. Tom and I ended each evening here for a slice of pizza. Some of the slices were pretty good. Others were meh.

 

We ate here for lunch one day and had the famous roast beef sandwiches. As good as I remember. But when I asked for mine to be a little more on the well-done side, the crewmember said to me, "We only make them one way." And then I got medium rare. Much different than our experiences in Park Café on the Allure.

 

In addition to the pizza and roast beef, we also had the three-cheese Panini and mini ham-and-cheese croissants. All good.

Edited May 28, 2014 by ksawyercruiser

[ksawyercruiser]

We were also just on this sailing and wow....what a disappointment. Drink service was a joke, the staff seemed miserable, and the deck was constantly cluttered with empty glasses (apparently someone was able to get a drink from a bar).

 

All in all, we still had fun being away for the weekend, however we are sailing on this ship again in October with some much pickier cruisers. If the service is this bad again in October, I am going to find it very difficult to continue cruising with Royal.

 

I agree. We have two more cruises booked on Royal Caribbean. I'm hopeful they will be better. I will NEVER, EVER book a short cruise over a holiday weekend again.

 

Thanks for your comments! I'm glad you guys managed to have fun. We did, too. But this cruise definitely fell short of expectations.

[PathfinderEss]

Interesting report.

[mike&lorrie]

We were on the previous sailing and our experience was similar. We are sailing again on this ship in November and I hope the personnel issues are addressed. Not all servers were bad but, overall, much worse than our previous Royal cruises. Bartenders could not keep up with crowds and MDR service was horrible. Ours was not a Holiday weekend but it certainly had a higher ratio of crazies. It reminded us of a 3 day Carnival weekend cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ksawyercruiser]

Interesting report.

 

Thanks! :)

 

We were on the previous sailing and our experience was similar. We are sailing again on this ship in November and I hope the personnel issues are addressed. Not all servers were bad but, overall, much worse than our previous Royal cruises. Bartenders could not keep up with crowds and MDR service was horrible. Ours was not a Holiday weekend but it certainly had a higher ratio of crazies. It reminded us of a 3 day Carnival weekend cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Yes, there were several times I thought I must have gotten on the wrong ship. The crowds and lack of service (or time needed to get service) were nothing like any of our previous RCI cruises.

 

Sorry you also had a challenging cruise. Better luck to us both next time! :D

[ksawyercruiser]

We were on this sailing as well. Three couples, all have sailed with Royal Caribbean before as well as Carnival and Norwegian. This was by far the worst cruise we've been on.

Morale is horrible and I'm sure it is due to cut-backs (as a matter of fact one our group's stateroom attendants confirmed this). Many of the staff were downright rude.

Staterooms don't even have shampoo bottles or dispensers. Yes, only 1 towel animal. No turn-down service. No cute little chocolates. You have to ask for ice bucket and ice. No refrigerator. Saw our attendant once.

Dining room seemed totally unorganized. No real introduction to who your dining team would be. Bartenders seemed to be running back and forth and noone seemed to know who was assigned to which table. Food was good for the most part until the last night where the seafood was cooked to death. No lobster (unless you pay for it). Didn't appreciate the "upgrades" posted on the menu for additional pcharge. If I pay extra, I'll go to one of the specialty restaurants. Bright spot was a server from Albania. He went above and beyond.

Pool area - very crowded and certainly NOT PG rated.

Solarium/spa pool area - beautiful!

Centrum aerial show - amazing!

Masquerade Theater: Only saw 2 shows, one was a comedian/dancer/singer who was probably the best entertainer I have ever seen on a ship. The other was the late night comedy and he wasn't bad, but not that great either.

Bar/Drink Service/Beverage package: Where to start? NOT ENOUGH STAFF! Waiting for 30-45 minutes for a drink is unacceptable. Like someone else posted, you had to roam from bar to bar to try and get your drinks. Bartenders are being worked to death - I felt bad for them. Not until one time on the last day, did someone come around and take our drink order on the pool deck. You have to get your own! Terrible service.

Windjammer - good food and service was also good. I miss the cut up, peeled oranges and grapefruit. Look forward to that little healthy luxury on every cruise. Asked for it and the chef in charge of that buffet area pointed me to cut-up peaches. I asked for cut-up citrus and he pointed to half a grapefruit. Ok.......? Guess they cut that off the menu too.

All in all, I don't think I would go on this ship again. It's a cruise, and we still had a great time, but if you are used to a certain level of service, friendliness and amenities, it makes you think hard about coming back.

 

I agree. I felt bad for the staff but also came across a few pretty rude crewmembers. Many of the crew looked exhausted like they just wanted to get this cruise over with.

 

We got a good deal on this cruise but we still paid for it with our hard-earned money. We had a good time. But if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have booked this cruise.