Vision of the Seas = Carnival ??

Wife and I have taken all of our cruises on Carnival and love it but she’s a teacher so we’ve only ever cruised during the summer. Now our twin girls are of the age we want to start taking family vacations (but not a cruise, that’s our time to cut loose [emoji3]) so the summer is reserved for that and we’re looking at her spring break for our cruise. The prices are obviously high but having only cruised Summer, we’re used to that.

That being said, I decided to check out Royal Caribbean and they had a cruise on the Vision of the Seas that was considerably less than Carnival. Any feedback on this boat? I can see it’s an older boat, what class of Carnival ship is comparable?

Also, as we’ve only cruised on Carnival, I’d take any comparison feedback on the two lines in general but since I know there are more threads on that elsewhere I can search that out if this needs to stay on the narrower topic of what Carnival ships compare to RC’s Vision

Thanks in advance.

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Did you start with basic reviews of the VOS? https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=83

I would be more curious with simple reviews of what she is since that's the one you may be sailing vesus what ship on Carnival she is not. You may want to try the Royal Board as well ......

Did you start with basic reviews of the VOS? https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=83

 

I would be more curious with simple reviews of what she is since that's the one you may be sailing vesus what ship on Carival she is not. You may want to try the Royal Board as well ......

Yes, I did but as I am familiar with the various classes of Carnival ships, I was curious what Carnival class of ships this RC boat was comparable to.

Age wise, same year as Carnival Elation. Size: closest to Fantasy class @78,340 tons, 1000 cabns. EM

I can't attest to all of the children's activities on the boat, but I have sailed on 3 of the Carnival Fantasy class ships (Elation, Ecstasy, and Fantasy). The size of the ships seemed pretty similar to me. There are fewer dining options on the Vision, but I felt the quality of food in the buffet may been better on the Vision. I really liked the small size of the ship, and the crew was really friendly, but it doesn't have many of the bells and whistles that some of the newer RCI ships have. I wouldn't hesitate to sail the VOS again, but take my opinion with a grain of salt because I am 42 with no children...except for one adorable pup.

Age wise, same year as Carnival Elation. Size: closest to Fantasy class @78,340 tons, 1000 cabns. EM

Pretty much, although the ships are different.

Royal should probably scrap the Vision class ships - much like Carnival haters suggest of Fantasy class - but the reality is that both are fine.

We took our kids on the Vision in 2008. They had a blast! From what I have seen she has been refurbished and updated. The kids clubs were great.

On that note, we still love Carnival for "FUN"!

We have cruised on 7 of the 8 Carnival Fantasy class and we took the Vision of the Seas on a 12 day Greek islands cruise. Because it was the Greek islands the itinerary made the cruise memorable. The ship is older and shows that, but I don't have any terrible memories of that trip, don't really remember much about the ship.

We have cruised on several different cruise lines, but certainly prefer RCL the most. Not saying we don't like Carnival, we just feel RCL has a lot more to offer, especially for the kids. I also think their food may be a notch better, certainly their room service is. Carnival's Guy burgers are better than RCLs regular buffet burgers though, but not better than Johnny Rockets.

We have never been on Vision of the Seas, but it is older so not the same experience as the newer ships. I imagine the food will be the same as the older ships though.

The Vision came out in 1998, just like the Elation and the Paradise. It was refurbished in 2013. It's about 10% bigger then the Fantasy class ships 78K versus 70K and it holds 2435 passengers.

Carnival's Guy burgers are better than RCLs regular buffet burgers though, but not better than Johnny Rockets.

We cruised VOS in February. Here is the review I wrote:

This is a review of Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas but manly a comparison between RCCL & CCL.

We cruised VOS 2/14/18. It was our first (and last) RC cruise. Previously we have cruised 8 times on CCL and also on Princess and Celebrity.

Embarkation-this was a quick, fairly painless process. We went through security quickly and waited about 30 minutes to meet with a rep to get our cards, take pictures and check in. Our previous experience with CCL out of Galveston was faster with the new method of leaving room keys in the mailbox by the door. But embarkation was pretty painless. Score-tie

First drink-We went to the 4th floor bar for our first drink. There was a limited first day menu and with the Deluxe Drink Package, we were able to drink as part of the package as soon as we boarded. The drinks were fine. Alcohol is not name brand and they did not have everything that was posted on their limited menu. Score-RCL because we can drink on the package first day. We prefer the CCL beverages. See that section.

First meal-We went to the Windjammer buffet for lunch because it was the only thing open. As a rule, we do not generally love buffets and this was no exception. The food was mostly lukewarm or cold. Score-CCL (more options like Guy's Burgers or Blue Iguana for the first meal make it the clear winner)

Room-RCCL makes an announcements when rooms are ready. They were done at 1 p.m. There was no wait for an elevator and no crowds When we got to the room, we found it clean and a decent floor plan (we had an ocean view. We generally do balcony, but decided since this was a group trip, we'd save the money), but the decor is outdated. (Ultrasuede on the walls around the bed with visible stains.) There was plenty of storage. The room steward was very nice and helpful. We found our own luggage on the way to the room so we brought it down ourselves. (It was in a hallway waiting to be moved) One nice feature of RCCL is they have little cards you put into the key slot when you want your room cleaned or not to be disturbed. Whenever we put the card in, the room was cleaned immediately. One detraction from RCCL is their shower. The shower head is handheld and no matter how hard we tried, it would fall off and attack you. Also, the shower curtain kept coming in and attacking us. I HATE when a hotel shower curtain touches me. We tried putting clips at the bottom and finding ways to keep it away to no avail. Score-CCL because we feel their rooms are more updated and their showers are better. Even on the older ships. But this was very close.

Dinner in the Main Dining Room-We had your time dining, but were able to make reservations for our group of 12. We ate at the same time each night and at the same table. The food was generally decent, but frequently lukewarm. Desserts were a real disappointment. Being on the drink plan, I like a glass of wine with dinner. Because your waiter also takes and brings your drink order, this takes longer than it should. I found that by bringing a glass to dinner with me, and then ordering a second at the beginning of the meal, it helped. The wait staff was excellent. 5 out of 5 nights, there was no dinner entertainment. 2 nights they did introduce some of the more special people (chefs, matre'd etc.) Score-CCL

Shows-There were 2 production type shows on this cruise. Both were introduced by the cruise director who went through a play by play of the next day on the ship before the show. Then they played an outdated intro video, then the show. The singers and dancers were very good, but the costuming was seriously outdated. Think 1990s. Score-CCL hands down

Other Entertainment-We love to listen to live music and/or dance. On our last CCL cruise, we had a difficult time deciding which musicians we wanted to go to each night because they were all so good. On this RC cruise, there was an Asian cover band that played music from the 70s (and not the good stuff, either), a Latin trio and strings. While I enjoy strings during dinner or maybe pre dinner, I wanted to be entertained at night, and the music was seriously lacking. A couple of nights they had a comedian as the main show in the theatre. While one was good, the other did a lot of improv with the crowd (especially a young kid) and he wasn't really funny. While I appreciate the space in the theater over the comedy venues on the CCL ships, I would prefer to have more options for the comedy shows like CCL has. Score-CCL hands down

Beverages-We purchased the Deluxe Drink package for $53 plus 18% gratuity. It began on the first day with a limited drink menu because of Texas liquor laws. After that, I had to ask for a drink menu at all the bars. They are not out for you to look over and choose a drink. Also, there were few times when servers were walking around taking drink orders. The majority of the time, I went to the bar to order my beverage. I found the beverage menu to be not inventive and boring. Also, there was not an option to go to a bar where you could tell them what you like and they make you something. Even when there was no one at the bar waiting, bar tenders handed me a menu and told me to pick what I liked. All the bars have the same menu. One plus, you never sign for a drink on the drink package. This was nice, but I felt the bartenders lost out on tips that way. I frequently add $1 when I sign for good service on CCL. Score-CCL

Pools/Adult Area-The adult area was enclosed and frequently too warm for my liking. Pluses in that area-a less busy bar, the deli and decent restrooms. The pool was always empty. While I liked that it had a pool and food, I would have really enjoyed it if they had opened the roof. I prefer getting as much sunshine as possible when I cruise in the winter. The other pool was always crowded, but if you wanted a chair further away, they were easy to get. Towel check in/out is easy. Music was usually videos played on the big screen and not too noisy, which was a plus. Score-CCL only because I prefer Serenity. But this is by a small margin.

Specialty Restaurants-We didn't eat at any specialty restaurants, and don't usually eat them on CCL either. I will say that RC pushes them hard. Every. Single. Night at dinner they came to our table pushing a restaurant or sushi making class. They didn't have the shots guys pushing shots, so I guess it's a tie.

Photographers-There was one at embarkation, and maybe a couple each night, kind of hidden on the ship. I've come to enjoy taking lots of pictures, even though we don't generally buy them. And I had hoped to get a fun group picture since we were a group of 12, but there really was never an opportunity. I will say, they didn't do the big dinner pics push. There were a couple of nights they did dinner pics, but no awkward pirate or anything. We did appreciate that. Score-CCL

Debarkation-We did self assist and we were off the ship by 7:30 a.m. and through customs by 8. The process was pretty painless. The elevators were not crowded like they are on debarkation on CCL. Score-RC

Misc.- I really missed the Carnival HUB app. I had no idea how much I used it. The only way on this ship to check my account was by standing in line and getting a print out. I like to check my account each day to see where we are and make sure there are no strange charges. I also enjoy having the option of getting a text when an activity I wanted to do was coming up, or being able to text others in my group and looking at my photos easily. Prior to the cruise, I had issues with my payment and had to talk to customer service. I will say that the RC customer service is good on the phone, but their website stinks! Also, the frequently had what I ended up calling RC math. I'd see one price online, call them to discuss and they'd say, "we found you a lower price, how does XYZ sound? But it wouldn't add up when I figured what I had put down and what they said I was saving. In the end, we did save some money from the first quoted rate, and they did make all the payment issues right, but their website and customer service were lacking in comparison to CCLs.

Overall comments-This was a nice vacation because any day on a cruise is better than a day at work. We did discover that we are just not RC people. We had heard so often that it was a higher class of cruise line and that the passengers were better, but we did not find that to be the case at all. Every CCL ship we have been on has been better than the VOS, We just felt that everything is better on CCL, especially for the money. The RC crew was fabulous, but we always feel the CCL crew is fabulous too and we show our appreciation to them both in saying please and thank you, tips and compliments.

I agree with Angela715. We just got off the Vision last week. The only thing about the MDR is that the menu varied very little from night to night. The food was good but we got tired of the same thing every evening. They really need more variety. Carnival has it all over RCI in that department. They also pushed making reservations for my time dining each night. Didn't really care for that too much but that could have been because of a more European influence (they typically eat later than Americans). The entertainment was mediocre at best. Embarkation and debarkation were really smooth (we left out of Barcelona so it might have been the terminal). Overall we enjoyed the cruise but not sure we will ever cruise with them again.