Nervous about vision! I need some help!

[iiramos]

Just booked a 7 day on vision of the seas yesterday (mainly for itinerary- belize, roatan, etc. and a great price) and now I am looking up reviews and seeing horrible experiences that people have had with rude staff, not so good food, limited activities and sewage smell on the ship. I am going with my sister, her husband and toddler, my husband, and my parents. This will be my parents first cruise and I really want them to experience a smaller ship since my dad has people anxiety...but after reading reviews I am kind of nervous that this might not be as great of an experience. Please give me a glimmer of hope and put my fears at ease! [emoji15]

Edited January 16, 2015 by iiramos

[papaflamingo]

Just booked a 7 day on vision of the seas yesterday (mainly for itinerary- belize, roatan, etc. and a great price) and now I am looking up reviews and seeing horrible experiences that people have had with rude staff, not so good food, limited activities and sewage smell on the ship. I am going with my sister, her husband and toddler, my husband, and my parents. This will be my parents first cruise and I really want them to experience a smaller ship since my dad has people anxiety...but after reading reviews I am kind of nervous that this might not be as great of an experience. Please give me a glimmer of hope and put my fears at ease! [emoji15]

 

I haven't been on Vision since 2012, but it was a wonderful cruise. I have sailed Legend and Rhapsody last year and they were fantastic cruises too. Vision class is the smallest at RCCL. However prior to Voyager they were the newest, largest class. They are beautiful ships. They don't have all the "bells and whistles" that the larger ships have, but they are well maintained and a fun experience. More like the "old days" of cruising where you went to bingo, pool games, art auctions, or just relaxed around the pool or some quiet deck. The ship is small enough that you see fellow passengers frequently and see crew members frequently. I found them much more "intimate."

So, "sewage smell." Yeah. I've smelled it. Seems to be very slight, in the hallway at a specific spot on a certain deck (can't remember which). But I figure it's where the sewage is treated. Never had a problem in my cabin, nor have I heard of others with problems in their cabins. But it's there, just not a big deal, especially if your cabin isn't in that stretch of hallway.

I liked the food. It's pretty much "Royal Caribbean Main Dining Room" food. I've never gone hungry, and never not enjoyed every meal. But I may be easier to please than others. It's a "gourmet banquet." They fix over 1000 meals per sitting, so even though it's gourmet it's not "cooked to order." So just know that and you'll be fine. Some dishes are great, some not so much. But not much different than any other cruise ship.

As I said, less "bells and whistles." That works for me. I don't need zip lines, carousels, flow riders, bumper cars, parachute simulators, etc. I love just "vegging out" in a comfortable lounge reading and enjoying the warmth of the Caribbean. When I want something to do I'll watch the pool games, or play bingo, or attend the art auction. But I find that the days pass quickly.

Night life is also less limited. No Pub, Bolero's, etc. There is the Centrum Bar and the Schooner Bar and Some Enchanted Evening Lounge for entertainment. The shows in the theater can not even come close to Oasis or Allure. But I don't care much about them anyway. I like the Schooner Bar for the Piano sing a long. There is usually music for dancing in the Centrum at night. They'll do Quest, Marriage Game, and Karaoke, as well as some other special nights. And there is the aerial show. But it is more sedate than the bigger ships. Still things to do though.

My final comment is that, IMHO, service is a reflection of the Captain and Staff Captain. I have found that service on the small ships is better than the large ships. But it is so "crew dependent," that it may not be always true. I can't speak to the current crew on Vision, but my experience has been superb.

I apologize for this long comment. I take all reviews with a massive "grain of salt." There is always a basis for a bad review, but I've read how the entire cruise was completely ruined, worse cruise in history, because the internet was slow, or there was dust on the baseboard in the cabin. For every bad review you'll find many more good reviews. If a number of reviews talk about mediocre service, then you'll likely experience that. But if you know that going in, then you can overlook it and enjoy the cruise. If it's a cruise you want at a price you like, go for it. Have reasonable expectations and keep an open mind and I think you'll find you'll love the cruise.

[cb at sea]

The "sewage smell" can (and does) happen on every ship, new or old, big or small, at some point. It's generally fleeting....but it's just something that happens with a ship's plumbing at times.

 

Never, ever flush anything but the supplied toilet paper....no kleenex, no tampons, no wipes, no diapers.....it will clog things up!

 

You really have nothing to worry about. Stop reading reviews! Those who are unhappy are MUCH more vocal than those who are satisfied!

 

So, go on your vacation, have a great time and discover the wonders of cruising!

[TheInnocentAge]

Just booked a 7 day on vision of the seas yesterday (mainly for itinerary- belize, roatan, etc. and a great price) and now I am looking up reviews and seeing horrible experiences that people have had with rude staff, not so good food, limited activities and sewage smell on the ship. I am going with my sister, her husband and toddler, my husband, and my parents. This will be my parents first cruise and I really want them to experience a smaller ship since my dad has people anxiety...but after reading reviews I am kind of nervous that this might not be as great of an experience. Please give me a glimmer of hope and put my fears at ease! [emoji15]

 

I was on Vision a few months ago and went through the same thing, reading some negative reviews and not knowing what to expect. It turned out that I worried for no reason, as we had a great time. I posted a short review here on CC, so I've pasted the link below. It was a five-day cruise with a different itinerary, but you may find a few things in the review that ease your mind.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2108202

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Bill

[sjb317]

The "sewage smell" can (and does) happen on every ship, new or old, big or small, at some point. It's generally fleeting....but it's just something that happens with a ship's plumbing at times.

 

Never, ever flush anything but the supplied toilet paper....no kleenex, no tampons, no wipes, no diapers.....it will clog things up!

 

You really have nothing to worry about. Stop reading reviews! Those who are unhappy are MUCH more vocal than those who are satisfied!

 

So, go on your vacation, have a great time and discover the wonders of cruising!

 

I agree, I think we have had moments of sewer smell on every ship we've sailed on, it's never been a big deal. And CB is right, stop reading reviews, in my experience, people tend to exaggerate when describing something they were unhappy with. And unhappy people are more likely to write a review than happy people. There were people on our last cruise on Liberty who complained about the food, the service, etc. and we thought the food was great, the service was wonderful, etc. I wondered when I read comments on CC if we were all on the same cruise!:D

 

We just booked a week in February on Vision and I am super excited!

 

Sherri:)

[iiramos]

Man I love cruise critic! Thank you guys, yall are definitely right about people being more apt to complain. This will be my fourth cruise with royal and I am a little sad that there will not be a boleros! I love to "try" and salsa dance :-) I am excited for more ocean views, and will not miss the royal promenade very much. I appreciate all of your advice!

[palofmine]

Man I love cruise critic! Thank you guys, yall are definitely right about people being more apt to complain. This will be my fourth cruise with royal and I am a little sad that there will not be a boleros! I love to "try" and salsa dance :-) I am excited for more ocean views, and will not miss the royal promenade very much. I appreciate all of your advice!

 

 

every cruise has someone or something's that don't go right. Don't expect perfection but don't depend on the negative reviews for your ship. We did smell some sewage stuff, but it was in the hall, not ship wide... it didn't ruin our trip. Think positive.

[bestestboss]

we were on the vision 5 day cruise in sept 14 and it was a perfect cruise for the six of us. we did have some cabin door lock issues but that was it. the food was fine the ports were good and no issues or problems were observed.

we even re booked the vision for jan 15 in 2 weeks- its a great small ship.

[Brit-Cruiser]

We were on the Vision last month & like you I was concerned. I needn't have worried. Yes we did have some minor issues & the CD was awful, but left the ship the same day as we did so that's no longer a problem. We had been on the Freedom 2 weeks before the Vision & smelled sewage at some point on both cruises, so it's not limited to the Vision. I would do this cruise again tomorrow.

[2catfamily]

We were on the Vision last month & like you I was concerned. I needn't have worried. Yes we did have some minor issues & the CD was awful, but left the ship the same day as we did so that's no longer a problem. We had been on the Freedom 2 weeks before the Vision & smelled sewage at some point on both cruises, so it's not limited to the Vision. I would do this cruise again tomorrow.

 

 

We were just on the Vision for the holidays and yes it's a smaller ship but easy to get around. We did have a problem smelling sewage at times but the Vision is now one of the oldest ships in the fleet.

The CD was AWESOME Steve Davis! He is very personal and he is so dedicated to having the passengers to have a good time. He had A Lot of activities, I'm not sure what people are talking about when I read that there was no activities. Really?? I guess they don't read the compass or watch the morning show. The staff was very personal for being the holiday cruise. I'm sure the staff also miss seeing their families during the holidays. My family of five had a great time. We didn't eat in the dining room every night and we also ate at Chops and wasn't impressed but didn't changed that we had a wonderful time. The things not to miss are, Love and Marriage show, 70's dance night, Quest, belly flop, dance lessons, Thriller Dance, ariel shows, and the flag production on the last night. I've never seen this on any other ship. You will probably have some things that you won't be happy about but you are on vacation so don't sweat the small stuff!

[matandbri]

I did the same thing (reading reviews and worrying) before our cruise in December. We had a wonderful time. The ship is smaller, but it was amazing to me how we saw the same people over and over and over. We LOVED the cruise director! I never understood people's interest in who the cruise director was, until this trip. We had fantastic service everywhere. I was sailing with a broken foot and first day on board I had crew offer to help me with carrying food and drinks! After all of the negative I think it made the positive even better. We didn't even mind the beds! :) Have fun on your trip!!

[CruisinNole]

We were on the Vision over Christmas and like you, had some concerns. Our experience was very positive. We found the food in the main dining room to be excellent. Our servers were terrific and the cabin attendant was one of the best of our 40+ cruises. If we had any complaint, it would be about the entertainment. The production shows weren't the greatest and the aerial act in the atrium could have been more exciting. We thought that the ship was in very good shape. The theater is one of the prettiest we've seen. Cabins are tiny but in good shape. All in all, we'd cruise on her again.

[Justmekaren918]

I was on Vision a few months ago and went through the same thing, reading some negative reviews and not knowing what to expect. It turned out that I worried for no reason, as we had a great time. I posted a short review here on CC, so I've pasted the link below. It was a five-day cruise with a different itinerary, but you may find a few things in the review that ease your mind.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2108202

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Bill

Bill was on Vision right after me and in the same room in September. We went through the same scares.

 

I might say that some of it is Vision has only been over in Tampa for a month. Who knows if it was between breaking in new employees because of the move and contracts ending and starting is when most of the not so good reports came out but recently I have been following things, and they are sounding just the way my trip went beyond fabulous.

 

Here is my report: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2105573

 

I hope you find some good stuff. I thought ship in fine shape. There was an awesome 70's party, white party, love marriage, quest and many other activities. They had a different triva at 5pm which was a hoot in the schooner bar. They had a very cool aerial show. Steve Davis is a hoot as CD.

 

I must say the food is fine. It is all cooked in masses it is not fresh to order cooking unless you spend the money at specialty resturants. Which everyone on my trip were raving about. I almost tried chops for my birthday, but it was fisherman's platter nifht and I convinced Room Service to let me order from MDR menu and this was the result.

 

The bars fastness was fine. I usually just walked up and order and the White Party a 4 min wait Crown Viking Lounge. Sea day walk to Solarium bar usually no wait.

 

Have fun and enjoy.

 

 

I am so looking forward to Liberty in 71 days! Middle Hump balcony this time. How am I going to live with such a small balcony[emoji6]! Kidding!

 

Bill you are leaving next month? for my favorite ship Ms. Brilliance! I am hoping you will be sending pix's of the cabin and balcony. Have an awesome trip.

[Brit-Cruiser]

Looks like we should have sailed a week later. Paul Rutter, the CD that left the ship on the day we did was bad on so many levels.

[wieslaw]

...... now I am looking up reviews and seeing horrible experiences that people have had with rude staff, not so good food, limited activities and sewage smell on the ship. ....... Please give me a glimmer of hope and put my fears at ease! [emoji15]

 

The "sewage smell" can (and does) happen on every ship, new or old, big or small, at some point. It's generally fleeting....but it's just something that happens with a ship's plumbing at times.

 

 

Never, ever flush anything but the supplied toilet paper....no kleenex, no tampons, no wipes, no diapers.....it will clog things up!

 

You really have nothing to worry about. Stop reading reviews! Those who are unhappy are MUCH more vocal than those who are satisfied!

 

So, go on your vacation, have a great time and discover the wonders of cruising!

 

Hi,

I think that cb at sea posted very realistic observations .... and my comments would be very similar.

 

I just want to add what I observed or experienced with the "sewage smell" during our dec 6th, 2014 sailing on the Vision.

 

Our cabin was on deck 4 very close to the centrum ( maybe 6 cabins away).

On the day when we boarded the ship there was no 'sewage smell' in the hallway ...... about day 3 or 4 I could smell the sewage when passing a cabin 2 or 3 cabins from the centrum.

 

There were few families with kids ( some very small / young - wearing diapers) in the cabins next to ours towards the centrum.

 

I am guessing that some things ( maybe a diaper) got flushed and the crew had to take apart some of the plumbing to fix what 'we - the guests' ruined.

 

It can happen on any ship.

Edited January 16, 2015 by wieslaw

[FluffsMom]

Just got off Vision yesterday and had a wonderful time. From the captain down the crew was friendly and helpful. The MDR food was very good and the Windjammer food OK. Marvin was our CD and I liked both his energy and the activities he held. There was plenty to do along with plenty of quiet places and times to just chill. This was only our second cruise and before we left I was wondering if we would enjoy a smaller ship - our first cruise was Freedom. Personally, I liked the smaller ship every bit as well as the bigger one. It felt more friendly and accessible than the big one. DH had a little more fun on Freedom because of the Flowrider, but he still enjoyed this cruise. Really, the only 'complaint' I have is how cold it was leaving and approaching Tampa. We had to wrap up warm to watch the on-deck movie on the last night. No worries, the crew was there with bins of towels they were freely handing out for us to keep warm. Add a cup of hot cocoa from the Park Cafe and movie night was a success. Even so, I still heard people complaining, especially while we were waiting to debark. To each their own.

[Paulette3028]

Just booked a 7 day on vision of the seas yesterday (mainly for itinerary- belize, roatan, etc. and a great price) and now I am looking up reviews and seeing horrible experiences that people have had with rude staff, not so good food, limited activities and sewage smell on the ship. I am going with my sister, her husband and toddler, my husband, and my parents. This will be my parents first cruise and I really want them to experience a smaller ship since my dad has people anxiety...but after reading reviews I am kind of nervous that this might not be as great of an experience. Please give me a glimmer of hope and put my fears at ease! [emoji15]

 

I so dislike reading things that mention rude staff.....when I read reviews of rude staff -- here is what I often wonder -- how rude was the cruiser to the staff member or would the cruiser recognize someone if they 'were not rude'.

 

By the way, I am not meaning to imply you the OP is rude in anyway -- just that some of the posts you read were from rude people themselves who only recognize other seemingly rude people.

 

In all of my time cruising on Royal, I have found overworked staff and employees but none that were blatantly rude.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Paulette3028

[iiramos]

No offense taken Paulette.... at least, I dont think I am a rude person ;-) I appreciate all of the feedback. I think the main thing that I am worried about will be cruising with a toddler now :-P

[Paulette3028]

No offense taken Paulette.... at least, I dont think I am a rude person ;-) I appreciate all of the feedback. I think the main thing that I am worried about will be cruising with a toddler now :-P

 

Glad you did not take ANY offense, because NONE was intented. I have seen many people give off rude or terse language to staff and then 'even if the staff isn't rude' interpret it as rude. It just amazes me. NO, NO....staff if you have a toddler will help you way more than us 'regular couples' and that is just fine to me! With a toddler, you need a little extra!!

 

Enjoy.

[cruiseatick]

Don't worry we were on the12/06/14 sailing and had a wonderful time !!! As we were getting on the ship I asked a passenger how their cruise was and they said the food sucked the service sucked the ship sucked and I was worried but everything was great .some people are just miserable and you can't make them happy .We went to chops and Izumi and the food was awesome the only complaint I had was the noise from the chairs in the solarium could be heard in our cabin on deck 8 it's funny all the suites are on deck 8 right under the pool deck bad idea you can hear the chairs being drug across the floor loudly and carts sounded like a friegt train ,but there wasn't anything that could be done about it so we didn't let it ruin our cruise,I just won't book another cabin on beck 8 ,other than that all was fine and for a small shipp they did an awesome job .Word to the wise don't let a bad review ruin your cruise

[iiramos]

Is there a splash area or kiddie pool for the little ones on this ship?

[Hoopster95]

Is there a splash area or kiddie pool for the little ones on this ship?

 

Note where the little kids are standing on the other side of the steel separator railing... you can tell the depth

(fyi that's Capt Srecko, now Capt. of Quantum, during staff vs. passenger volleyball)

 

[Trainman-2]

I did a Live Post from the Vision last August.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2095089

 

The Vision is a great ship with a fantastic crew.