Vision: Our family sees a different side of Royal

[kandj05]

Love your writing style. You are on my 2nd favorite ship

[Coralc]

I always enjoy your reviews.  We were on Vision in February, had some glitches, but it was a fun cruise. The crew members are fabulous, and I agree with you about Orlando. He is great and entertaining at any activity that he is in charge of, and will make a great Cruise Director. Your waiter in the MDR was our waiter in Chops, nice lady in spite of the gruff exterior, she is very efficient. 

[RCCL Fan]

On 3/24/2019 at 2:14 PM, ShillyShally said:

Also wanted to say your family is beautiful! Love the first steps on the Splendor and would love to know what reaction the teacher gave to your oldest's bar drawing 🙂

 

I'll have to find the note she sent home.   It went something like,  "I asked your daughter if she meant a bar, like a balance beam, and she corrected me quickly and said, no, a bar where you get daiquiris, on a cruise!"

[RCCL Fan]

On 3/24/2019 at 7:08 PM, MsJersey84 said:

I was super excited to see that you are writing this review. I was thinking to myself this is the only other person on my roll call for the Enchantment of the Seas in Oct and sure enough it was you.. I was like Oh Yeah i am definitely reading this!!! So far its been great!

 

Happy Sailing!!!

 

What wonderful news!  Look forward to sailing with you.  Even better --- my inlaws live in Dallas, GA.  We're trying to get them to join us in October as well. 

[RCCL Fan]

On 3/24/2019 at 8:01 PM, BecciBoo said:

And then you found out it has 2 pools not just one....yay.  We love Vision too and have sailed all classes. Vision is small and intimate.  And you can do cheap Grand Suites.  We are booked for a B2B April 10 and 15.

 I think I said one main pool.  One usable for families 🙂     We can't hit up the solarium as we have little ones.

[CRUISEFOUR]

Hey RCCL Fan! Enjoying your review so far. What is with you guys and precruise issues! Glad to read that everything got ironed out. The kids are getting so big and cute as ever. Say hi to wifey.  

[notladjr]

I am really enjoying your review. You are an excellent writer! You also have a lovely family. I didn't take any of our kids on a cruise until they were teenagers. I wish I could have taken them when they were younger like you are doing. My kids traveled quite a bit but just not on ships.

[ShillyShally]

9 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

I'll have to find the note she sent home.   It went something like,  "I asked your daughter if she meant a bar, like a balance beam, and she corrected me quickly and said, no, a bar where you get daiquiris, on a cruise!"

HAHAHA, from the mouths of babes 🙂 

[Sea Dog]

Enjoying your review! Interesting to hear a perspective of a smaller ship after you have traveled on the larger class. Couldn't help notice your shirt. Do you work for KXAS? As a TV news person myself working for KMBC-TV, nice to see other media types on CC. Have a great trip and I will be following along.

[lifes-a-beach]

My wife and I are on Vision now and, at the top tier event, the Captain told us about the storm and rough seas your trip encountered.  I think she doesn’t have the modern stabilizers newer vessels have.  We were on her last year with some friends who were first timers and were freaked out by every pitch and roll.  It wasn’t even bad enough to close the outside decks but man were they freaked out.  

 

So far I 100% agree with your perception of the staff.  And last year when Captain Merik was aboard he was the best.  I suspect some of the good vibes are a result of his tenure and leadership.  

Edited March 26, 2019 by lifes-a-beach

[FPP777]

Enjoying the review... Thanks Neighbor.

 

Frank from Keller

[LBumb]

Enjoying your review

[BrandFam4]

On 3/24/2019 at 12:13 PM, RCCL Fan said:

 

 

Really enjoying your review. We have children similar ages, so we can relate to many of your concerns and events. Anxious to 'hear' the rest. 

[RCCL Fan]

g

As I age I learn there are a lot of things I can’t do like I used to...

I grew up in New Orleans.... there was a time when there was no such thing as food that was too spicy.

There was a time I could swim laps and not remotely be out of breath

and my volleyball game was so solid my friends and I beat were the first ever to beat crew on mariner in the passenger vs. crew pool volleyball.


We also cracked a hole in the bottom of the pool that game and flooded a ton of suites.... but that’s another story.




So when I was seriously losing my balance and feeling wobbly a lot as I walked on Vision. I thought it was another sign of old age.

Then I saw the “sickness” bags hanging on the staircases... and one of the guys from the pinnacle club struggling to make it to the elevator and I was like ok. It’s not just me.

This ship rocks.

Not the worst I’ve ever been on.... Carnival and Celeb both hold that distinction. But this and maybe Nordic empress tied for the worst RCI ships.

Now it’s hard to say if it’s the ship or the weather

As one who routinely sails larger ships I’m confident in saying she rocks more than the voyager class even the radiance class ship I was on...even when we were in smooth water near port and not in open ocean

But the weather certainly didn’t help.

The same night that NCL ship listed as it was hit by winds from a cold front we were hit by winds from that same front.

I grew up in New Orleans and lived in coastal Virginia for 7 years.... I don’t throw this term around lightly but it sounded like a tropical storm outside that night.





Water was crashing against the ship. The wind was rough.

I didn’t sleep one bit.

Comic talked about it the next night. Everyone was talking about the weather the swaying and the motion.

One night in the dining room the servers were even looking concerned as we all looked out the window and watched sea out the left side of the ship and sky out of the right... then the reverse

We were rocking

Somehow I never once felt like I was going to be sick. But I was super aware of the rocking and still more than a week later feel the rocking

This was my negative for my first vision class sailing.

The ship just felt like it needed better stabilizers.


All that being said..... that’s about my only complaint. (Adventure ocean other)




This size ship really was amazing. Our cabin was right off the Centrum on deck 8

It was an amazing location.

Up one deck to the pool.

Down two decks to everything else practically.

I was worried about sea days by the pool with so many families on board.

Not once did we have an issue finding chairs. And the pool never seemed to crowded for the kids



Hot tubs were busy and packed

But the main pool was great

Never ventured into solarium because we have kids.



Our youngest got her diamond member welcome.... you know the one that caused our cruise to get cancelled lol

But she was all smiles



And the oldest cleaned up at the meet & mingle door prize game.

Up Next.... Roatan: Monkeys, Beaches & Victor Bodden

[Ashland]

How's the WJ ? After many years of cruising, dinner there has now became our preference.  

We'll be on Vision mid May out of Barcelona...great (sold out) itinerary (Med/Greece) and looking forward (backward) to our true aft cabin on deck #8.

Thanks so much...really enjoying your posts.

[RCCL Fan]

My wife and I are on Vision now and, at the top tier event, the Captain told us about the storm and rough seas your trip encountered.  I think she doesn’t have the modern stabilizers newer vessels have.  We were on her last year with some friends who were first timers and were freaked out by every pitch and roll.  It wasn’t even bad enough to close the outside decks but man were they freaked out.  
 
So far I 100% agree with your perception of the staff.  And last year when Captain Merik was aboard he was the best.  I suspect some of the good vibes are a result of his tenure and leadership.  

Yep. Like your friends I’ve never sailed with outdoor decks closed.

I’ve also never sailed with so much pitch and roll on the bigger ships.

As much as I disliked that, those crew members made this cruise so memorable

[RCCL Fan]

Enjoying your review! Interesting to hear a perspective of a smaller ship after you have traveled on the larger class. Couldn't help notice your shirt. Do you work for KXAS? As a TV news person myself working for KMBC-TV, nice to see other media types on CC. Have a great trip and I will be following along.

It’s a small business for sure. I worked from Hearst earlier in my career.

[RCCL Fan]

HAHAHA, from the mouths of babes [emoji846] 

Found it for you...

[ShillyShally]

12 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

Found it for you...
 

LOL, that's a keeper!!  Thank you for sharing!!

[RickinStl]

I love this trip report.. My wife and I were on Empress a year ago and had the best time ever.. Leaving Miami at Dinner we encountered some waves.. I exclaimed "I love this S...." she said you're not right Im sick.. Gave her some Green apples and handed them out to our tablemates and all was good.. 🙂

 

[Coralc]

RCCL Fan, you weren't in 8544 by any chance, were you? Your mention of new carpeting and refreshed bathroom, made me think that you might be. 

[Crism]

Loving the review.  We were on the Rhapsody Brazil to Barcelona TA back in 2016, and it was the smoothest cruise we've ever had!  We DID get beat up last year on Jewel the first few days from San Juan to Rome, but the rest was great!

[RCCL Fan]

RCCL Fan, you weren't in 8544 by any chance, were you? Your mention of new carpeting and refreshed bathroom, made me think that you might be. 

Nope. Other side of the ship. 8048

[Coralc]

Oh good to know. We had a couple of glitches that involved sewage and bathroom flooding, and they had wanted to replace the carpet on our side. They probably did some replacements on the trip to Galveston. 

[RCCL Fan]

How's the WJ ? After many years of cruising, dinner there has now became our preference.  
We'll be on Vision mid May out of Barcelona...great (sold out) itinerary (Med/Greece) and looking forward (backward) to our true aft cabin on deck #8.
Thanks so much...really enjoying your posts.

Windjammer on every ship is crowded.

That’s a given.

On Vision it was fine.

Crowded at times but by no means overwhelming and never a line out the door.

Always had both sides open.

The design is such that you walk in and boom. Steam table of food right in front of you.

I tended to walk past it and go to the port side line which for some reason always seemed less crowded

Food was typical windjammer fare.

Some days were good

Other says not so good

Never bad

Never great

Breakfast was nice and consistent

One thing I didn’t like was quality of hamburger meat.

It was thin and not tasty. They put it on a bun with grilled cheese to mask it

But if you’re like me and like to eat the patty without the bread you’ll be disappointed in that.

The motion was extra tough in wj because it’s in the front and high up.

My daughters also insisted on sitting at the very front by the window overlooking the bow

It made for some rocky meals

Every day I attempted to get us in the dining room for breakfast.

I failed everyday.

My girls were wj fans