Vision ~ B2B ~ 5 Nights ~ July 21st & 26th: My Diary

[SherriZ366]

This was a lovely street and I was able to stay in the shade for most of my walk. (It was HOT) I passed by this lovely timeshare place appropriately named The Banyan.

 

 

 

I thought this was cute.

 

 

I finally made to the Hemmingway House at the corner of Whitehead and Truman.

 

 

The entrance fee was $13 and I was immediately able to join in on a tour. We met in the living room of the house.

 

 

This was our very knowledgeable tour guide.

 

Loved the pictures of the Hemingway House -- my nephew just got engaged there. He had a photographer and had arranged to stay after the House closed. Very cool.!!

[MrBanana1240]

Really loving your reviews. Hopefully I can cruise on the Vision someday! I love running into people on cruise critic who like to make friends and get close with the other passengers. So nice knowing someone before the cruise.

 

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

 

Future cruises:

 

•Carnival Glory- 11/22/14- Eastern Caribbean

•Enchantment of the Seas- 08/10/15- Bahamas

 

Past Cruises:

 

•Carnival Pride- 11/20/10- Bahamas

•Carnival Pride- 11/21/11- Bahamas

•Enchantment of the Seas- 11/17/12- Bahamas

•Carnival Glory- 08/10/13- Canada

•Carnival Glory- 11/24/14- Western Caribbean

•Carnival Freedom- 04/13/14- Western Caribbean

[maxs mom]

Thanks for the review of the Vision. I am sailing on her in Sep. Interesting that FLL loads on Deck 4 for this class. Enchantment loads on Deck 5 on PC. Can't wait till I go to Key West since I have not been there since I was a teenager, (more than 20 years ago), I am thinking of taking the ship tour to Hemming but also thinking of getting there on my own. What do you suggest?

 

Oh......definitely get there on your own!! I hardly ever recommend going on ship's tours......think of cattle being herded. It is VERY doable on your own and you can go at your own pace and not have to bump into 50 other people. If you don't have issues with walking....you can walk all over. You could also rent a bicycle. When I go out again by myself....I think that's what I'll do. I got there fairly early and walked right in. When I left.....there was a long line to get in. You can make sure you're not in that line! Have a good time!!

[maxs mom]

Sherri...that is so cool about your nephew!

 

MrBanana.......My husband says that I can make friends with a brick wall! He is the complete opposite. I talk to everybody! It's a good way to be......I guess. A lot of people just like to stay to themselves....and that's OK.....but we have met some wonderful people on cruises and some have become lifelong friends....and very good ones at that!

[mommabean]

Thanks!

 

LOL! No it's not rude! Super Mario is Royal Caribbean's top cruiser. He has well over 4' date='000 nights at sea with RCI. He basically lives on the ships. So he is pretty famous in the RCI community. He told me he has booked 48 weeks of 2015 all on the Independence.....all in the same cabin. Amazing. Hope to see him again soon either on the Vision or the Independence for sure. He is taking the Oasis over on the TA. He said that was going to be a zoo!! So many D+ and Pinnacle folks on board![/size']

 

What day does he leave Vision? I've actually never been on a cruise with him yet.

 

Did he say if he's booked on Quantum at all?

 

I couldn't do what he's doing. Not a chance. I would definitely get cabin fever. What kind of room does he book for all those cruises or didn't he say? I'd need room to spread out for that long. But I'd still never do it. ;)

 

Gina

[kayehall]

MrBanana & friends, Look at the Vision sailing Nov 6th, repositioning to Tampa. Not sure what the rates are now but there are a bunch of ustalking on another "chat page" and we are meeting alot of them for the first time on this sailing. Come join us!!!

[kayehall]

The pool and the urinal do have a cute story behind them. I just looked it up. Well I now have Key West on my bucket list. Your review has aroused my travel appetite again!!!!

[prekteacher]

Jane- loving your review as always! It's a great way to spend my time waiting for my Allure cruise. Now I want to visit all of these ports. Looks like I'll have to book another cruise onboard. :). Thanks for all your time!

 

Barb

[island284]

Great review! Do you happen to know what time the shops/stores open on Sundays in Key West?

 

Thanks for any insight on this.

[LBumb]

ive really enjoyed reading your review

[maxs mom]

What day does he leave Vision? I've actually never been on a cruise with him yet.

 

Did he say if he's booked on Quantum at all?

 

I couldn't do what he's doing. Not a chance. I would definitely get cabin fever. What kind of room does he book for all those cruises or didn't he say? I'd need room to spread out for that long. But I'd still never do it. ;)

 

Gina

 

Gina....I'm not exactly sure of the answers to any of these questions. I think he leaves Vision at the end of August. I know he is doing the Oasis TA whenever that is, and come right back. He said he would make a cameo appearance on the Quantum....felt like he had to.....but had no interest in spending a lot of time on it. I don't think he gets anything more than a D1 or something like that.....but I'm not exactly sure about that.

 

KayeHall.......That's great! I'm always looking for new places to go.

 

Barb.....oh ....definitely book something else before you get off the ship. That's the only way to avoid post cruise depression!

 

island284......not sure about that, but I got off the ship at 9:30 and they were open then. We docked at 8, so I am assuming the shops are open by 8:30 or so.

 

LBumb.....thanks for hanging in there!

[maxs mom]

Back on the ship.....we actually went to the Windjammer for lunch. This was the only day that we ate here for lunch. It was not too crowded, but there were a good many people there today. I love making my own salad here and include a little of the "carving of the day", but today, the carving was some kind of meatloaf! Not so great. There was a small variety of food offered here. I can always find something.

 

 

Got some ice cream for dessert and took a stroll back to our cabin after that.

 

 

To give you an idea about how far the Hemmingway House is from the pier....look at these pictures. It is across the street from that light house in the distance.

 

 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our cabin. I sat on the balcony for a while before and during sail away. It was just beautiful.

 

These jet skiers were getting ready for an afternoon ride. They were patiently waiting for us to leave, but something was holding us up. We didn't leave and didn't leave...so eventually they headed out before we left.

 

 

[TheInnocentAge]

Jane, this is a superb review. We will be on Vision in September in a similar aft corner cabin (8088), so seeing your pictures of 8588 as well as the rest of the ship builds the anticipation even more.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this!

[maxs mom]

Here they go!

 

 

All aboard was 4:30. At about 4:45 these two women come strolling up to the ship like they had all day. They were met by Luis.....who was pointing at his watch. Once they got on board.....they pulled the gangway in and we were able to get under way.

 

 

 

 

 

Wheeeeeee!!

 

[maxs mom]

Jane, this is a superb review. We will be on Vision in September in a similar aft corner cabin (8088), so seeing your pictures of 8588 as well as the rest of the ship builds the anticipation even more.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this!

 

You are going to love that cabin and balcony! Definitely the way to go! And thanks for the compliment.

[maxs mom]

Here we go!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

This island always intrigues me:

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice evening in the CL tonight.

 

 

I saw one of the cart guys rolling that famous cart around. This is the same guy that I jokingly confronted in February about the noise!! LOL!

 

Edited August 7, 2014 by max'smom

[mommabean]

 

I saw one of the cart guys rolling that famous cart around. This is the same guy that I jokingly confronted in February about the noise!! LOL!

 

 

Bam bam bam bam bam....so this is the guy? I've been under him. Now I know who to confront. ;)

 

Gina

Edited August 7, 2014 by mommabean

[relaxatsea]

Thank you so much for your great review and wonderful pictures!

 

We will be going on the Vision TA in April from Tampa to Barcelona, so this is a great preview for us!

 

We also loved your review of Vision BTB from Colon.

[maxs mom]

We went to My Time Dining tonight. We got seated promptly, but not with our requested waiter and asst. waiter. The service was a bit slow tonight, so dinner took longer than expected. The food was fine. I had a salad and then a beef short rib entrée.....something different for me. It was OK. John got the chicken cordon bleu and I had the rum baba for dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

John got his favorite sugar free chocolate ice cream.

 

 

While we were having dinner, another crew member came over to say hello. She recognized us from being on before. We really appreciated that!

 

 

We took a stroll through the casino then back to the cabin after that.

[maxs mom]

Thank you so much for your great review and wonderful pictures!

 

We will be going on the Vision TA in April from Tampa to Barcelona, so this is a great preview for us!

 

We also loved your review of Vision BTB from Colon.

 

Thanks for stopping by! Ooooo......a TA on Vision sounds lovely....and to Barcelona, too! Hmmmmmmm!!!

[mommabean]

While we were having dinner' date=' another crew member came over to say hello. She recognized us from being on before. We really appreciated that!

 

 

We took a stroll through the casino then back to the cabin after that.

 

The beautiful, inside and out, MTD hostess, Heidee. She is a pleasure. Thanks for posting this. I'm happy to see her. Will you post pictures of your regular waiters? I'm wondering if your Rolland is our same Roland. Also from the Philippines of course.

 

Gina

Edited August 7, 2014 by mommabean

[maxs mom]

Ooops! Somehow or another I forgot about going to the Love and Marriage Game Show tonight!! Again.....Steve did a nice and quick job with this! Good fun.

 

 

 

 

 

THEN.....it was back to the cabin!

 

[maxs mom]

The beautiful, inside and out, MTD hostess, Heidee. She is a pleasure. Thanks for posting this. I'm happy to see her. Will you post pictures of your regular waiters? I'm wondering if your Rolland is our same Roland. Also from the Philippines of course.

 

Gina

 

YES!! Heidee! That was her name! Thanks for helping me remember! I have a picture of Roland.....I will post it later.....stay tuned!

 

This is what I love about the smaller ships!!!!!

Edited August 7, 2014 by max'smom

[SenatorsFan]

I'm really enjoying your review and pictures! We were disembarking Carnival Freedom on July 21st and I saw your ship waiting for you when I went out on our balcony that morning! :)

Heather

Edited August 7, 2014 by SenatorsFan