Vision of the Seas Reviews

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We boarded Royal Caribbean Vision of The Seas in Lisbon for an 8 day cruise up the western coast of Europe on April 29, 2012. We had arrived in Lisbon several days early and really enjoyed the city. Our ports were Vigo and Gijon in Spain; Portland, UK; Zeebrugge, Belgium; Amsterdam; then ending in Oslo. We enjoyed all the ports and recommend them. Our suite was 8538. The furniture was worn and nicked. Actually, the whole ship needs new furniture. It is tired. The staff and people were all very nice that we came in contact with. Our cabin attendant was excellent. The food in the buffet upstairs was not good, unless you are a fan of powdered eggs. The line for a real egg omelet was usually pretty long. Lunch at the buffet was just OK. There wasn't much variety. Dinner and lunch in the formal dining room was much better. I loved the salad bar option in the formal dining room. Actually, we did love all the ports. But Oslo was a mixed bag. We stayed there 2 nights after we got off the ship. Oslo is beautiful, but EXPENSIVE. We had a bowl of fish soup at the cheapest restaurant we could find that cost $20.00 each. A beer at a moderate place costs $15.00 to $17.00. If you are going to Oslo, take out a second mortgage on your house before you go so you can afford a good meal.

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First off we would like to say overall we enjoyed this cruise even though there were a few problems. The worst issues were the embarkment and disembarkment. As stated previously, this is a transportation mode for Brazilians. Many of the cabins were purchased for storage for the Brazilians. Our cabin attendant told us one cabin held 27 pieces of luggage. When we arrived at the port a filled large semi trailer was backed in the area where you hand over your luggage, unloading everything from flat screened TVs to large cargo type containers. After waiting for someone to take our luggage we headed to boarding. The 2 RCCL employees we first encountered had no clue where priority boarding was or other questions we had. We climbed the stairs, asked 2 more people before we found one that could answer our questions. The general boarding line moved more quickly than the priority line did. What a mess, the worst boarding experience we have ever had. Once on the ship things went a lot better. Food in the Windjammer was adequate at the beginning but soon turned toward the majority of peoples tastes which were not ours. We knew we would be the minority so that the way it should be. We did not go hungry. Surprisingly the ship was fairly quiet. We heard horror stories of parties all night and smoking in unapproved areas but, did not find any of that at all.

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We booked this cruise because it was amazingly good value, and also gave us the opportunity to visit Israel. We arrived not sure what to expect - and after reading such negative reviews of Vision we were apprehensive to say the least. We thought we would probably "get what you paid for" but it completed surpassed anything we could imagine. It was wonderful. Our rooms were much bigger than we expected and not cramped at all. We loved the light all around the ship - decor is lovely and well kept. We were very glad of the solarium as the weather was a bit cool at times. The kids loved the teen programme and made some great friends, that by the last two days we hardly saw them at all. We thought the food was exceptional with oceans to chose from. We only ate breakfast in Aquarius once, but found the service incredibly slow. The windjammer was our favourite. In the evenings we went to Aquarius because our waiters were fantastic (Joachim and Anil) They made it for us. The food in windjammer was better than the dining room. We loved having my time dining. It gave us a lot more freedom. Entertainment on-board was overall pretty good. We caught the headliner shows. After port visits though we skipped the shows and relaxed in one of the lounges instead. Staff were friendly, although we were a little disappointed in our steward. Not entirely switched on - we found someone else's sea pass card in our room, and also he left his empty soda can in there too. There were other irritations - but he did make up some lovely swan towels:) Our port stops were great. Much, much cheaper to visit Israel with GTI, but even then it is still an expensive place to visit. We all loved Ephesus - a must see place. Kusadasi Taxi's (CAN taxi) picked us up at port and took us to Ephesus and back again for only 50 euro. Very efficient and friendly. Highly recommended. Athens was a lot dirtier than we expected, but we loved the changing of the guard in front of parliament at 12md. All in all we have some fantastic memory's and great photographs. Loved Vision of the Seas - a lovely ship and a great introduction to cruising.

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This cruise turned out to be a bargain and so was the airfare to and from Istanbul. I spent a few days before the cruise in Istanbul since hotels were ridiculously cheap. Unfortunately the weather was miserable for the entire stay. Transfer to cruise ship was very easy and boarding took no time at all. I was on the Vision about 12 years ago and it was nice to see that it has held up very well. I love the Centrum with all of that daylight. Much better than the Royal Promenade design which to me is like a shopping mall. The Vision, being one of the older ships in the fleet now, doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles but it has an honest to goodness solarium with a glass roof which came in handy the first few days when the outdoors was too cold. If only the pool temperature was as warm as the tv report claimed it was. The spa area was also nice with decent sized sauna and steam rooms (separate for ladies and gents). The "secret" relaxation room nearby is wonderful but was already full on the 2nd day. How did everyone find out? My cabin was a standard ocean view cabin located on Deck 4 a stones throw from the Centrum. There was a door to keep out the noise but when there was a big music event in the Centrum you would hear the music each time the door was opened. But it really wasn't a problem because the music did not go on for all hours. The cabin was smallish but comfortable. One thing that was annoying is that you had to request ice. It wasn't automatically placed in the cabin by the steward. But in my steward's case, it probably would have been forgotten anyway. He was the worst in 74 cruises. He operated in a very passive aggressive manner and seemed to ignore whatever I asked. I found that most of the staff were friendly but incompetent on this ship. Same was true of the dining room staff. On a port intensive tour breakfast needs to be served quickly and this team just wasn't capable of it and kept making excuses about the galley being slow. But that doesn't explain waiting 10 minutes for a waiter to take your order. Due to the schedule I actually chose sleep over dinner and skipped a number of meals. But I ate well in port where you could sample some wonderful Middle Eastern cuisine. The food on board was nothing to write home about anyway. Oddly enough, I had been on another RCCL cruise (Explorer) a month earlier and the food was much better and service was exceptional. The ports of call were all excellent. Once we left Istanbul the weather improved dramatically. I did most of my tours with independent tour companies and saved a bundle compared to the RCCL tour prices. This was especially true in Israel where I booked all my tours with GTI. Ephesus in Turkey is another must see site and my tour arranged through Kusadasi.biz was excellent. I had extra time left over in Kusadasi after the tour and enjoyed a seaside lunch accompanied by some cute kittie cats (glad I didn't eat the bread on the table as the kitties liked to sniff around it). The entertainment on board is something I really can't comment. Again, being exhausted after touring, I skipped the shows. I only saw one on the last night of the cruise which was a juggler who was okay. Kind of on the sloppy side. I did, however, enjoy the music played by various bands in the Centrum. It was nice to sit around before or after dinner and hear the music. Everything from classical, to big band, to land, to rock and roll. Activites and shopping on board were also things I didn't show an interest. The activities on shore were more important and the solarium and spa was all I needed. By the way, the spa cafe had a pretty decent selection. They even served up humus, pita bread, stuffed grape leaves and olives on the salad bar. In my opinion, it was nicer than the Promenade Cafe on the Voyager class ships. This was a very international crowd of passengers and everyone seemed to enjoy each other's company. I met some wonderful people from the UK, Denmark and Germany. Of course, the announcements in several languages got to be a pain but it kept everyone happy and was kept to a minimum. The cd, Simeon and his sidekick Urkey, worked their tails off and were always seen walking around and socializing with the passengers. Considering the reason to take this cruise was for the itinerary the cruise itself wasn't so bad either. I ended the cruise by taking the ship's sponsored tour of Istanbul which ended at the airport. It was the best way to spend the day and not have to be concerned about the luggage. The weather made up for the pre-cruise weather and I got to see most of the sites I had on my list. The price of this tour was reasonable considering it includes your transfer to the airport. It was the perfect way to end a most memorable cruise.

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Due to a lack of proper sanitation/hygienic conditions on the ship, there was an outbreak (publicly announced throughout the ship) of a gastrointestinal virus which I contracted. My immune system was not up to battling the bug, I could not function nor eat for one full day and thereafter medically quaranteed for 24 hours. Unfortunately, the virus struck at a very critical time so I missed what I traveled half way around for, a visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in Israel. As soon as the crew took corrective actions via sanitizing most areas, the virus abated, but it was too late for me as I had already suffered 2 real bad days and two more functioning at half speed. I was furnished superior medical care by the medical clinic doctor and the nurses. Although I was furnished no info by ship personnel, I was able to take care of the medical bill and the $380 I had paid for the Jerusalem/Bethlehem shore excursion was refunded without great hassle. When I arrived back in LA, I contacted the post cruise guest relations section in Miami re issues dealing with the norovirus. Unfortunately, an indifferent disinterested advocate answered my call and e-mailed back in two days telling basically that he could not or would not help me. My responsive e-mail was never answered. Since I have spent my adult life as trial atty, I could not let this slide, and after two weeks, a very friendly lady from the executive staff called me, apologized and offered me a very-very small voucher (what I consider a bone) off a future cruise. A written apology would have been preferred. RCI is headed for a class action lawsuit re the Norovirus caused by its lack of proper maintenance. Remember, the bug abated when the crew took corrective action, so it mi9ght have been preventible.

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