Vision OTS - March 4, 2016 - Quick REVIEW!

[CTNYER]

Hi all - thanks for reading this review. I've lost track of the amount of cruises I've been on, but I am a Diamond RCCL member. I have been on almost every ship, small to large. A group of us decided to take this cruise out of Tampa because we liked the itinerary offered: Belize, Roatan Honduras, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

We arrived in Tampa the morning of March 3 and stayed at the Stadium Hotel in Tampa (AVOID!). Hotel was gross, reeked like smoke and must, and they had no towels available the next morning. I can't stress enough, don't stay here!

 

Anyway, we arrived at the port on March 4 around 11:30 am. Check-in was a breeze and we were on the ship by noon.

 

SHIP - The ship was easy to navigate. The crew kept her looking clean, but she is very tired and worn. RCCL desperately needs to replace carpeting and paint. Our room, oceanview forward on deck 4, was tiny and also worn. There was very little storage. The safe in our room broke on a daily basis - we had to call maintenance every day (sometimes twice per day!). They always fixed it as soon as they arrived, but it was frustrating.

 

WIFI - Purchased it for the week due to issues at home, and was able to easily text, load webpages and send/receive emails throughout the week. It was slow, but it served it's purpose. I posted a thread about wifi prior to the trip, and many people said it simply didn't work. Although allow, it worked fine for me.

 

SERVICE - Excellent, as always! The crew members are nothing short of amazing.

 

FOOD - Mediocre in comparison to the Allure.

 

The Windjammer had the same food daily and fruit was very limited. No berries, and pineapple was difficult to come by. Plenty of cantaloupe though, which I don't like, of course! The burgers were cold, fatty and tasteless. Windjammer gets a C for food quality and taste.

 

The Park Cafe in the solarium was a bit better, so I'd grade that a B.

 

The dining room food was standard dining room fare. Not amazing, but not terrible. B+.

 

PORTS - Unfortunately, Costa Maya was canceled due to bad weather, so we had an additional sea day. In the past, RCCL has given a $25 OBC to passengers due to this, but they didn't offer that this time, which is fine. It was an above and beyond gesture last time.

 

Roatan, Honduras - Very nice. We took a cab to a private, off the path beach. I can't remember the name. It had a nice bar, clean bathrooms and a nice, sandy beach. Cost was $10 pp for the cab, and $10 pp to get into the beach.

 

Belize City - Unimpressive, but I'm going to assume it's because we didn't do our homework. It was our first time there, and we figured we could cheaply take a cab to the beach. They wanted $50 pp for a 6 mile roundtrip to the beach! I couldn't fathom spending that. We shopped at the port and went back and hung out by an empty pool, which was nice.

 

Cozumel - I've always loved Cozumel. We went to a resort about 10 minutes from the port and relaxed on the beach. We shopped at the port after and then stopped at the "spring break" style bar on the pier post shopping. We had a margarita and once it got a bit too rowdy, we left. Lots of spring breakers on board!

 

Overall - I think my time cruising is done. Don't get me wrong - I love being on a ship - but there are other things I want to see and experience before I cruise again. I found myself a bit annoyed with the singing/dancing waiters, because you know they absolutely hate doing that. I don't want to dance the Macarena while I'm trying to eat. When I'm laying down by the pool, I don't want to hear awful karaoke or listen to people scream during a belly flop contest. Maybe I'm just getting old! Overall, I think I can get better food/experiences by going places for the same price.

 

If you have any vision questions, feel free to ask!

[Clarea]

Thank-you for the report.

 

I only have one question - wasn't that the March 5th cruise?;)

[Keith1010]

Sorry to hear your cruising is done. But like all things maybe you will do it again some time in the future.

 

Keith

[hugger]

Wondering if you noticed the 10 drink cards for sale on the Vision.

I don't drink enough to make the unlimited drink package worth it.

 

Some folks are saying they are seeing a 10 drink card available - all different pricing on it. But it is better than full price for sure.

 

Or, did you see any BOGO deals on drinks or happy hour pricing in any of the venue's?

 

We want to take on 12 paks of diet soda and as well a case of water. Wondering IF you did this or saw anyone being able to do it currently?

[Clarea]

Wondering if you noticed the 10 drink cards for sale on the Vision.

I don't drink enough to make the unlimited drink package worth it.

 

Some folks are saying they are seeing a 10 drink card available - all different pricing on it. But it is better than full price for sure.

 

Or, did you see any BOGO deals on drinks or happy hour pricing in any of the venue's?

 

We want to take on 12 paks of diet soda and as well a case of water. Wondering IF you did this or saw anyone being able to do it currently?

Yes, they offered 10 drinks for $84 on the last 2 or 3 days of the cruise.

[CTNYER]

Thank-you for the report.

 

I only have one question - wasn't that the March 5th cruise?;)

 

Yes, thank you! Whoops!

[Clarea]

Yes, thank you! Whoops!

I only say that because we were on the same cruise.:)

 

By the way, we found the Solarium a peaceful retreat from the noisy main pool area. However, as we all know, there is no tanning in there.

Edited March 25, 2016 by clarea

[CTNYER]

Wondering if you noticed the 10 drink cards for sale on the Vision.

I don't drink enough to make the unlimited drink package worth it.

 

Some folks are saying they are seeing a 10 drink card available - all different pricing on it. But it is better than full price for sure.

 

Or, did you see any BOGO deals on drinks or happy hour pricing in any of the venue's?

 

We want to take on 12 paks of diet soda and as well a case of water. Wondering IF you did this or saw anyone being able to do it currently?

 

We purchased the Ultimate drink package but would not do it again. I didn't drink nearly what I thought I would. Although, I did notice the price of drinks was a bit high. Maybe RCCL raised the prices so people would find the packages more appealing.

 

I did not see any BOGO or happy hour prices. Sorry.

 

I'm also not sure whether or not they allowed diet soda but, in the past, we were able to carry on a case of water without any problems.

[Clarea]

We purchased the Ultimate drink package but would not do it again. I didn't drink nearly what I thought I would. Although, I did notice the price of drinks was a bit high. Maybe RCCL raised the prices so people would find the packages more appealing.....

Undoubtedly.

[capsoncc]

We were on the week after you and for us the internet just wasn't usable. I couldn't even load basic web pages half the time. I tried at different times of day also thinking that might help.

[Clarea]

We were on the week after you and for us the internet just wasn't usable. I couldn't even load basic web pages half the time. I tried at different times of day also thinking that might help.

That sounds like our experience on the first part of the Vision TA last October. The first week the internet was horrible, hardly able to check email, constantly getting disconnected and having to log in again. The second week was a bit better, no more disconnections, but still very slow.

[hugger]

FOR answering the questions regarding the case of water and drink cards. That will help with planning.

We will be sailing next week at this time.

[riclop]

Thanks for the quickie.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.