A Royal newbie reports on Vision Cruise (photo review)

[tahqa]

I see you were drinking Angry Orchard! Iv never seen them on any ship before. Where they available at every bar? They are my favorite!

 

 

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Bars on Enchantment received new menus sometime in the last couple of weeks and some of the bars are now carrying Angry Orchard and Redd's Apple Ale. The Schooner Bar had no cider at all, the pool bar generally only had Strongbow and the Solarium Bar had Strongbow, Redd's Apple Ale and Angry Orchard.

 

However... it was difficult getting any of those. The menus are still very new and the supply lines for those are poor. They got Redd's and Angry Orchard in Friday's shipment of alcohol but it was Sunday before I was able to reliably get either.

[desamparaditos]

Hi Sandi,

My wife, Sharon and I enjoyed meeting you and Dierdre at the meet and mingle. I am looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm not sure how you took so many pictures with so few people around.

George

[librarylady19]

Could you please tell me what nights were formal nights? Thanks

 

 

Yes, they were 2nd night (Sunday) and 5th night (Wednesday). Dress was quite formal - mostly suits and a few tuxes on the gents and cocktail dresses or pants with sparkly tops for ladies. No jeans in evidence at late seating anyways.

[librarylady19]

Hi Sandi,

 

My wife, Sharon and I enjoyed meeting you and Dierdre at the meet and mingle. I am looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm not sure how you took so many pictures with so few people around.

 

George

 

 

Hello, nice to have chatted with you also! Credit for the photos goes to DH Scott. I took some with my iPhone but the majority are via his digital Camera. He took many of them right after boarding I think.

[librarylady19]

Absolutely loving your review, and your photos are excellent! We're sailing Vision in September and I've learned such a lot from your posts and photos- looking forward to more please!

 

 

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Will work on more later when I'm home. First day back at work and all that!!

[librarylady19]

Great review! I haven't sailed on this class of ship, but I see from your signature that you're sailing Adventure of the Seas about a month before I am. Hope you do a review for that...pretty please?

 

Mary

 

 

Thanks! I wasn't going to write a review this time but was so pleased with our experience that I felt obliged to share that!!

[librarylady19]

Back to Day 1:

Muster drill was was at 3:30 p.m. so we didn't have too linger to enjoy the Solarium (just a dip in the hot tub and a nice long nap!).

This was the first time, since our first cruise on Century in 2008, that muster drill took place outside. It was fairly painless and quick and soon we were off to catch the last views of Tampa as we sailed away.

 

View from the top deck:

 

 

Here is the Brilliance, which also left Tampa that day. Want to sail her also!

 

 

 

Love Tampa Bay - great place to visit, even if you are not taking a cruise:

 

 

[librarylady19]

We had learned earlier that the Diamond Club was open from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for complimentary drinks and snacks. We received a list of the included drinks in our stateroom which we had dutifully studied in advance of our arrival.

 

 

 

I can't say enough good things about the service we received in the Diamond Club! Efrem Aguirre, the Diamond Concierge, was so helpful throughout the cruise. The waiters - Inyoman and Iketut - were lovely; after the first night, they knew our names and drink preferences. Oh how I wish one of them was asking me right now "Champagne, Miss Sandi?" as they did each evening. The only negative about the Diamond Club was the size of the room; it did fill up rather quickly. We learned to time our evening visits to not coincide with early dinner seating and were usually able to find a space for our group of 4.

 

 

 

As you can see, Rob really enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries that were often served.....other nibbles included chicken wings, spring rolls, cheese, meatballs, veggies. Quite a tasty way to tide us over until dinner.

 

Edited January 27, 2015 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

We somehow tore ourselves away from the free flowing drinks in the Diamond Club to attend the opening night show, "The Comedy of Stephen Thomas" at 7:15 p.m. It was funny enough, but all pretty PG at that time of night.

 

We had a dinner reservation for Giovanni's Table for 8:00 p.m. and it proved to me a wonderful dinner, the first of many on Vision.

 

 

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Our waiter, Rade, was marvelous, plying us with course after course of Italian delights. We were encouraged to order multiple appetizers and pastas to share and an entree each. We sampled quite a few items; the standouts were definitely the mushroom risotto and the lamb chops.

We enjoyed our meal so much that we changed a reservation at Chops to Giovanni's for our last evening (well actually Efrem the Diamond Concierge did this for us).

 

It is a bargain for $20pp and I would highly recommend it to all.

[kftw]

Looking forward to your next installment.

[iiramos]

Sleep is for the weak! You should totally keep posting! ;-)

[librarylady19]

Well ok (even though I still need to finish the book for the discussion group I'm leading tomorrow night).....

 

We returned to our cabin to one of my favorite parts of any cruise, finding our stateroom all perfectly made up and ready for a good night's sleep (no chocs on pillow like on Celebrity, but somehow I would suffer through that....had more than enough calories already that day).

We had not yet met our stateroom attendant, but he/she had certainly made a good impression already.

 

Nothing like being lulled to sleep by the wonderful sound of the ocean.

I should mention, that the seas were remarkably calm throughout our trip. Unlike several trips from Florida to St. Thomas or even San Juan to St. Thomas that I have experienced on other ships. A welcome change!

 

Day 2 - Sea Day

 

Normally, I dread a day at sea being in need of constant stimulation and having a difficult time relaxing but on this cruise I found myself quite content to putz around, sampling a few of the many activities on offer but never wondering....now what do I do all day."

 

I misplaced the Cruise Compass for Day 2 & Day 3 so will have to rely on my memory of what I did.....

 

I started each day the same way, with a trip to the Diamond Club for breakfast. The coffee machine was available for guests to choose coffee drinks of choice - cappucino, latte, caffe crema, espresso, whatever your fancy, just push the button. I enjoyed the breakfast fare - cheeses, meats, fresh fruit and lots of carbs in the form of bread, croissants and danish (which I learned later in the week on the galley tour were all made daily on board). I told Efrem the Concierge that the only thing missing to make it a true "continental" breakfast, such as we had enjoyed in Belgium, were slabs of chocolate (unfortunately, he didn't take the hint and provide some on future mornings

 

We had received our invitations for the Meet & Mingle Event on boarding day; it was in the Viking Crown Lounge on Deck 11 at 10:30 a.m. Scott didn't go, opting for exercise instead, but I headed up to see how it compared to the CC gatherings on Celebrity I had attended. The event was hosted by entertainment staff person "Marvelous Marvin" from Jamaica. There were no officers present. He simply thanked the Cruise "Critics" members for posting, etc...and conducted a raffle for a number of prizes, including bags, wine, and dinner or lunch for 2 in specialty restaurants. There was no passing of the microphone to introduce the CC members there. I didn't get the "complimentary gift" whatever that was, as I was too busy chatting with my neighbors Sharon and her husband. It was a pleasant event and worth attending, certainly RCCL was more generous than X that hasn't given anything away to my knowledge (I could be wrong about that though).

 

I had met up with Rob & Deirdre at the M&M and we found Scott and headed to the Aquarius Dining Room for lunch. I always enjoy a leisurely lunch served to me and this did not disappoint. High marks for our first meal in the MDR!

 

I was impressed by the layout and decor of the MDR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had table 102 on lower level near center for dinner (8:00 p.m. seating) and ate in this area both times we had lunch in the MDR also.

 

The upper level was for mytime dining.

 

Edited January 27, 2015 by librarylady19

[Beachammo]

Is the review over????

[SPacificbound]

Loved your review, thank you! :)

 

We will be on Vision in October.

[3JBuckeyes]

Thanks for your review! We'll be on Vision in April 2016. Trying Royal Caribbean for first time!

[4cats4me]

Thanks so much for the great review . I recall your wonderful reviews over on the X board and we too have defected from X in the last year in favor of RCCL's price structure

 

We will be on this ship in October for a Mediterranean cruise, and I have searched high and low for good pictures of the cabins on this particular ship since its remodel, and your pictorial review is exactly what I was hoping for

 

 

Thanks again

Edited April 22, 2015 by 4cats4me

[Jbluebird]

Thank you for the review and especially the pictures! We are cruising on Vision in a few months and it's just makes it so real and even more exciting.:)

[vplsh]

Thanks Sandi, for the review. I have always followed your-X- reviews and they and the cabin thread have been so helpful.

 

Hope all is well and you will be able to finish this one!!

[cruiseclues]

librarylady19, It's always great to see one of your Photo Reviews. :):):):)