Review: Vision of the Seas - Eastern Med Oct 29-Nov 5

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Introduction

 

First time for a few things- first solo cruise (after three cruises together with my husband), first time in an inside cabin and first visits to three countries (Croatia, Greece and Turkey).

I have done many trips by myself before and when I saw this cruise pop up on my radar at the beginning of the year, I just had to commit. The itinerary included some cities I had wanting to visit for a while now. Even though I grew up in Europe and visited quiet a few countries there, south-eastern Europe was just never on the radar. So it was time to change that.

 

The itinerary will be on the Vision of the Seas and will go to the following places:

 

Venice, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Rhodes, Greece

Kusadasi, Turkey

 

I always enjoy reading reviews so I thought I might as well write one.

 

 

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Day 0 - Thursday, Oct 27

Washington, DC - Copenhagen, Denmark

 

After an easy day at work, it was time to get going. My routing would take me through Copenhagen to Venice on Scandinavian Airlines. Nice and easy.

 

 

 

In my eyes, every seat in front of the engines is a good seat on a long haul flight and for this overnight flight, this was as true as ever since my friends from SAS made sure I could start my vacation in SAS Plus, which gives you more legroom, a bigger seat and better food than in regular economy class.

My headphone plug for the inflight entertainment unfortunately did not work but my iPad kept me entertained until I fell asleep. And before I knew it, we arrived in Denmark where the weather was ... rainy... . I guess that's to be expected for a Northern European city at the end of October but hopefully it wasn't a sign for things to come.

 

 

 

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Day 1 - Friday, Oct 28

Copenhagen, Denmark - Venice, Italy

 

A layover in Copenhagen, long or short, just needs to involve a quick drink from Joe & the Juice. Typical Scandinavian prices here- $7 for a kiwi, apple, strawberry juice but it serves as a great breakfast as well.

 

Even though I transited many times though Copenhagen before, I don't think my layover was ever that long- two hours scheduled but it was really 2.5 hours since we landed early. Passport control was quick with no questions asked. Thankfully there are nice shops to look around and getting my juice took a while as well since the departure area was crowded for the first bank of morning flights.

When it was time to board, it was obvious that every seat would be taken on the two-hour flight to Italy.

SAS doesn't serve any meals on European flights, just coffee and tea if I remember correctly but I was dozing off during the flight but thankfully was awake when we crossed the Alps- clouds cleared up and sunny weather was expected

Edited November 2, 2016 by endtried

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Luckily, I only had hand luggage so when we arrived in Venice, I could go straight to the exit. I had purchased the bus ticket to Piazzale Roma online in advance so could make a beeline to the next bus, which was departing just a few minutes after my arrival. Quick 15-20 minute into town and everybody was released into the magical city that Venice is.

I had done my research and was planning on walking to my hotel that was located near San Marco but decided otherwise when I realized the convenience of the water bus. And it felt true to style to arrive by that mode of transportation.

Bought my ticket at a newsstand for 7.50 Euro and after a brief moment of disorientation on how to access the station (no- I cannot use the "Priority Line"), I was boarding the vaporetto to San Marco. Wow- what an experience. I love all different kinds of public transportation but those water-busses are in a league of their own. Definitely a must do.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited November 2, 2016 by endtried

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Looking forward to more! :)

[easyboy]

Great start. Nice pics. Will be following along.

[bearette]

Sailing soon! thanks for the info

[endtried]

Originally, I had booked a hotel in the Piazzale Roma area due to the proximity to the ship. A few days before I left though, I had seen a good deal on a hotel close to San Marco. I changed and it was definitely the right decision. The room was small but very clean. When I decided to book this hotel, a lot of reviews mentioned how difficult it is to find. It is literally only a three minute walk from the San Marco vaporetto stop but the entrance is easy to miss. It's just a little sign on the floor that will lead the way to a courtyard where the reception area is.

 

I reached the hotel at 12.55pm, official check-in time at 1pm but the room was ready. I dropped my bags off, took a quick 30min nap and off I went.

 

Before the trip, I had done my research and knew what I wanted to do and had to see. All of my plans were thrown out the window right away since there was just so much to see behind every corner and every turn. So I just got lost and enjoy every second of it. I discovered most of the things on my list by accident, which of course also worked.

 

Around 5pm I was getting hungry and even though I know Venice is not famous for pizza, I really wanted to eat pizza and found a nice spot somewhere in the alleys between San Marco and Rialto.

 

I went back to the hotel to rest a little bit after that. Originally, I wanted to go back out to see the sunset but was too tired at that point. I had some regrets later but little did I know that tomorrow's sunset would be just perfect so I wouldn't miss out. The hotel had a fantastic rooftop terrace so I enjoyed the rest of the evening there

 

 

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Day 2 - Saturday, Oct 29

Venice, Italy

 

Setting the alarm during a vacation should not be allowed but I did it anyways. I had recently seen some great pictures of a Venice sunrise and knew that those were pictures I had to get as well. And it was worth it.

It wasn't really an early morning since the sun wasn't supposed to rise until about 7.45am. I still left the hotel a few minutes past 7 so I could explore good locations around St Mark's Basilica. Just a handful of photographers in sight in these early morning hours. Beautiful.

 

While the sun slowly rose, I took the pictures I have been wanting to take and wandered slowly from San Marco towards the Rialto market.

It got a limitless busier around 9am when I made my way back to the hotel for a quick breakfast.

 

My last stop was a recently opened department store right next to the Rialto Bridge that had a superb rooftop terrace. It's free but you have to get a timed ticket. The next opening wasn't until 12.30pm but I passed the time just walking around and trying to avoid the masses of people that were now crowding the streets.

A few minutes before my allocated time, I made my way back to the store and it's definitely worthwhile- perfect view over the Canale Grande.

 

Walking back to my hotel to retrieve my luggage made me regret not getting lunch in town because I smelled pizza and pasta at every corner. But I didn't want to get to the ship too late so took the Alilaguna to the cruise terminal from the San Marco stop a little after 1pm. Seems they enhance the schedule when ships are in port since the published timetable showed only departure at 12.58pm and 1.28pm. However, my boat left around 1.15pm and off we went to the cruise terminal.

After about a 25minute boat ride, we passed in between three cruise ships, one off them Vision of the Seas, my home for the next week.

 

It was only a few steps to the check-in area and lucky I am a Platinum member of the Crown and Anchor society, which reduced my waiting time tremendously. There must have been at least 50 people in line at the regular check-in, whereas I was the only one in the platinum line.

It took me about ten minutes from leaving the small Venetian ferry to board the massive Royal Caribbean ship.

 

My room was ready at the time and I quickly dropped my bag before getting some lunch. After walking around the ship, it was finally time for the sail away. It was beautiful and timing was perfect as the sun was setting by the time we made our way out of the city, which made for great pictures.

 

 

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[librarylady19]

What beautiful photos! Hope to read more of your review soon. We leave for our cruise on Vision next week and this makes me even more excited. Thanks for sharing.

[ozscot01]

Stunning! Can't wait for more, thank you.

 

 

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[Erwin Family @ Sea]

Lovely photos!

[dani negreanu]

Amazing photos. Bring back fond memories. Thank you !

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review and photos.:)

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Day 3 - Sunday, Oct 30

Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

Beautiful weather and even more beautiful town awaited. I had purchased the transfer to the old town for $12 round-trip and made my way to the gangway around noon. People with no excursion had to wait a bit to let people that had purchased an excursion through RCL pass through first but I was able to board the bus to the Pile Gate in old town Dubrovnik a few minutes after 12. It was only a ten minute ride and we were dropped of right outside the hustle and bustle of Dubrovnik's main sights.

 

I quickly went to exchange some money (50 Euro in total, which should last until we reach Split, our second Croatian stop). The shop charged about 5 Euro transaction fee, which seems fair. In the beginning, I thought it might not be necessary to exchange money since various travel guides and websites mentioned that Euro's are widely accepted but the only "shop" I saw that also had its prices in Euro was a street vendor who sold postcards, magnets, etc.

 

First stop on my itinerary today was to walk the city walls. You can only pay with a credit card or Croatian Kuna.

120 Kuna (or $17.50) later I had my ticket in hand and started my walk. It's one way so you are forced to walk in that direction, unless of course you are ignorant (like about ten people I saw during my time on the wall) and simply think that instructions are not for you. Overall I did not find it very crowded, maybe because it was the middle of the day and a lot of people had lunch at that time or I was just lucky. I had no problems taking the pictures I wanted to take and overall taking my time, which was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

 

From the city walls, I already had discovered my next stop- the Buza Bar. It's a nice, hidden spot, just outside the city walls to enjoy a cold drink with views of the sea. I found the entrance more by accident and sat down for a while enjoying the sunshine.

 

Afterwards, it was time to explore some alleys off the main street before making my way back to Pile Gate to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship. Overall, it was a nice day with a lot of walking but it was definitely worth it.

 

I spent the rest of the day on one of the upper decks reading before going to the Windjammer for some dinner.

 

 

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[bonsai3s]

Nice pictures!

 

Did the Vision of the Seas provide a free shuttle to the old town?

Or was there a shuttle for fee...how much?

Are there local buses that you can take to the old town?

Thank you.:)

[librarylady19]

More great photos! We are taking a Game of Thrones tour in Dubrovnik that meets at the Pile gate. When/how did you book your shuttle ?

[endtried]

Nice pictures!

 

Did the Vision of the Seas provide a free shuttle to the old town?

Or was there a shuttle for fee...how much?

Are there local buses that you can take to the old town?

Thank you.:)

 

 

The shuttle wasn't free, it was $12 round trip.

Right outside the port gate is a local bus stop and those buses will drop you basically at the same pace where the shuttle bus dropped us off. You do need Croatian Kuna for it but I'm not sure how much the was- definitely not $12 ;-)

 

 

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