What do you think of Vision of the Seas?

[mizLORInj]

Have not sailed on a Royal Caribbean ship that is that small yet . . not that I mind smaller ships.  

 

It's old though. . .so I'm wondering if it's worth it? 

 

[xyzcruiser]

I love it but I prefer smaller ships. My favorite Carnival ship is the Pride. I see you've sailed the Legend. If you liked that you would like the Vision. Vision has a better set up for the atrium, in my opinion.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, mizLORInj said:

It's old though. . .so I'm wondering if it's worth it? 

Only you can determine that - she sails quite full every time. Most of those customers think it’s worth it. 

[alfaeric]

We were just on her for 20 days, and would not hesitate to book again.

 

That being said, you REALLY have to adjust your expectations.  First thing we noticed was that our JS was smaller than the modern ships.  Got used to that really quickly.

 

And you have to really be able to create your own vacation, as there are less things to do.  Maybe this would be the time to participate in events that you would not normally do.  That's how we approach it.

 

One other thing we had to kind of get used of were huge groups of friends cruising together.  Which meant the Schooner Bar was super crowded at times.  And when you are trying to listen to the piano, it can be a problem when you have a large group of older people who are speaking loudly both to talk over the entertainment and they have lost some hearing ability- it can get a little hard to like that.  But you can find the times where they mostly leave.

 

Given that pretty much all of these groups of friends are within a short drive to Baltimore- that's really why this ship is so highly rated internally.  IMHO, the people want to maintain a ship in Baltimore as much as they can- so they will rate it as high as they possibly can.  

 

A thing we really like about this and other small ships is that it's easier to meet the entertainment cast and the rest of the public facing crew.

 

Didn't really notice her being old- some rust here and there- just like every other ship.  But she's pretty updated and nice.  The upcoming dry dock next month isn't going to be much of an update inside- unless things are broken.

Edited March 15 by alfaeric

[locksley10]

The thing I like about the older smaller ships like the Vision is you feel like your on a cruise not at the mall LOL.

[bavrail18]

57 minutes ago, locksley10 said:

The thing I like about the older smaller ships like the Vision is you feel like your on a cruise not at the mall LOL.

Agree

[gottagoacruzn]

Have been on that ship twice, an really like the smaller ships.

[Rubyfisch]

I loved Vision, but it is smaller ship with fewer bells and whistles. I'm totally fine with that, but I understand others may not be.

 

I did a live review of my cruise on her, which as pictures commentary throughout:

 

 

 

 

[shipgeeks]

Vision was RC's Ship of the Year, 2023.  She had the highest passenger reviews in the fleet.

One of the things we like is the views of the sea from all over the ship, including a real Promenade Deck (as opposed to a Royal Promenade, aka inward-facing shopping mall).

[Airbear232]

18 hours ago, mizLORInj said:

Have not sailed on a Royal Caribbean ship that is that small yet . . not that I mind smaller ships.  

 

It's old though. . .so I'm wondering if it's worth it? 

 

We previously enjoyed Vision for itineraries Royal’s big ships don’t do such as Arabian Gulf.  It was great to be off all day exploring and then to come back in the evening for dinner and entertainment.  The smaller size made it easier to get about.  We really don’t mind smaller ships with great itineraries.  I don’t know if we’d choose for transatlantic or Caribbean/Bahamas where you might spend more time on ship.  

[Another_Critic]

Sailed Vision on an Arctic Crossing in Aug/Sept 2017.

 

16 days - Copenhagen (Denmark) to Skagen (Denmark), Kristiansand (Norway) (tendered), Stavanger (Norway), Invergordon (Scotland) [replaced Lerwick, Shetland Islands], Reykjavik (Iceland) (overnight), Akureyri (Iceland) (overnight), St. John's (Newfoundland)  to Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) 

 

One of my top 5 favorite cruises.

[pcur]

I was on the Vision for 21 days in January 2024, and I won't be sailing on her again.  

 

BUT, she has fabulous itineraries.

 

• I found areas where no maintenance has been done in quite a while.  The elevators especially have faulty response to the buttons.  In particular the 2 going up to the Viking Crown.
• My cabin looked EXACTLY like the one I had in 1998, so that is telling, also.
• This may not affect you, but the crowd management in the Crowne and Suite Lounges was crazy.  One was waaaaay overcrowded, while the other was empty most of the time.
• Food in the dining room has improved since the menu changes in 1/2023, but still not up to the standards on other ships. They are still cutting food costs more so than other ships sailing from East Coast ports.
• I get the impression (and, have been told) the Vision is a "training" ship.  The crew are wonderful, but lots of newbies.

[BND]

We love the Vision class.  We've been on EN 7 times and GR 7 times and Vision once.  We're on Vision again for a 16 night b2b on 4 Apr.  We love the smaller ships and the intimacy.  You see the same crew and cruisers more often.   We also love going out of Baltimore as we live in No VA so a easy drive up morning of.

 

She is going into Dry Dock in a few weeks.  

[gottagoacruzn]

11 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

I loved Vision, but it is smaller ship with fewer bells and whistles. I'm totally fine with that, but I understand others may not be.

 

I did a live review of my cruise on her, which as pictures commentary throughout:

 

 

The fewer bells & whistles are fine with me!!!

 

 

[mizLORInj]

5 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Sailed Vision on an Arctic Crossing in Aug/Sept 2017.

 

16 days - Copenhagen (Denmark) to Skagen (Denmark), Kristiansand (Norway) (tendered), Stavanger (Norway), Invergordon (Scotland) [replaced Lerwick, Shetland Islands], Reykjavik (Iceland) (overnight), Akureyri (Iceland) (overnight), St. John's (Newfoundland)  to Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) 

 

One of my top 5 favorite cruises.

Great itinerary too. 

[mizLORInj]

3 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

 

Reading it now.  Thanks. 

 

[Norwich Cruiser]

We’ve been lucky enough to sail on Vision on three occasions always had a great cruise.

 

Having said that our preference is for the bigger ships in particular “ o “ class primarily for the extra entertainment.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Love the Vision; preferable to the mega ships.  On here 28 days last year from Galveston through Panama Canal and Alaska.  Best cruise ever!

[HERDFAN]

10 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Sailed Vision on an Arctic Crossing in Aug/Sept 2017.

 

16 days - Copenhagen (Denmark) to Skagen (Denmark), Kristiansand (Norway) (tendered), Stavanger (Norway), Invergordon (Scotland) [replaced Lerwick, Shetland Islands], Reykjavik (Iceland) (overnight), Akureyri (Iceland) (overnight), St. John's (Newfoundland)  to Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) 

 

One of my top 5 favorite cruises.

That is an awesome itinerary! We loved Iceland. We were there last summer on the Celebrity Summit.

[Another_Critic]

6 hours ago, mizLORInj said:

Great itinerary too. 

 

15 minutes ago, HERDFAN said:

That is an awesome itinerary! We loved Iceland. We were there last summer on the Celebrity Summit.

 

Did another Arctic Crossing in September 2022.  Cruising Prins Christians Sund was spectacular.  👍    

 

Voyager of the Seas - 14 days - Copenhagen (Denmark) to Kristiansand (Norway), Akureyri (Iceland), Reykjavik (Iceland) (overnight),  Qaqortoq (Greenland)(tender), Nuuk (Greenland) - changed to Nanortalik (Greenland)[skipped port], Prins Christians Sund (Greenland) (cruising) to Boston (Massachusetts)

[LB_NJ]

So how bad is the food on Vision in the MDR?

 

The last Royal ship I sailed was a TA on Enchantment and was pleasantly surprised by the food quality in the MDR.

 

Prior to that I sailed on Anthem just after the restart (not happy with food) and Adventure of the Seas (also not too happy).  

 

Recently I have been doing Celebrity and I am OK with the food in the MDR.

 

Personally, I like smaller ships. Before it was sold, I loved Empress.

 

Also, Baltimore is a drive to the port on departure day so a big benefit (no flying).

[Biker19]

51 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

The last Royal ship I sailed was a TA on Enchantment and was pleasantly surprised by the food quality in the MDR.

About the same on Vision though food is very subjective and could change between sailings.

[Rubyfisch]

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

So how bad is the food on Vision in the MDR?

 

The last Royal ship I sailed was a TA on Enchantment and was pleasantly surprised by the food quality in the MDR.

 

Prior to that I sailed on Anthem just after the restart (not happy with food) and Adventure of the Seas (also not too happy).  

 

Recently I have been doing Celebrity and I am OK with the food in the MDR.

 

Personally, I like smaller ships. Before it was sold, I loved Empress.

 

Also, Baltimore is a drive to the port on departure day so a big benefit (no flying).

I was quite happy with the food in general - a few things I didn't love (would not recommend the Chicken Marsala), but otherwise very good. I thought it was better than Enchantment (which I also found to be fine), particularly Windjammer. Although the flow around the buffet stations is a bit odd (and when both sides are open, there is some overlap but some different stuff).

[SRF]

One in EN, 5 on GR and 2 on VI.

 

Prefer GR and VI, but overall love this class of ship.  I want to be on a ship, not a floating mall/amusement park.

 

The WJ on Vision is a bit weird layout.  I prefer the one on Grandeur.

 

But had great cruises on all of them.

 

The only food complaint has been that the dish is not what they called it.  Spicy tomato soup with some crushed corn chips is NOT tortilla soup. 😄