Vision of Seas So. Carribean Info

[minimartha]

We are getting ready to book our annual March Anniversary cruise and we are considering the Vision of Seas to Aruba etc. has anyone done this since the refurb? Would love info on ship? Experience and ports.

 

We are mid 40s spend a lot of time in our room when traveling just the two of us. Usually in suites. Love the beautiful southern carribean Virgin Islands but know nothing about these places.

 

We like to work out and we love nice pools and dining but don't really care about the mega ships.

Thanks!!

[LMaxwell]

I was on the ship just after refurbishment. Here is a photo thread. It was only a 2 night cruise, and I haven't been to southern caribbean in years, but feel free to ask questions and I will answer if I can.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034&highlight=vision+of+seas+post+revitalization

[Tropicalgal2]

We are getting ready to book our annual March Anniversary cruise and we are considering the Vision of Seas to Aruba etc. has anyone done this since the refurb? Would love info on ship? Experience and ports.

 

We are mid 40s spend a lot of time in our room when traveling just the two of us. Usually in suites. Love the beautiful southern carribean Virgin Islands but know nothing about these places.

 

We like to work out and we love nice pools and dining but don't really care about the mega ships.

Thanks!!

 

22 March 2014 will be our second time on this Southern Caribbean cruise. We did Grandeur last year and loved it. The ABC islands are beautiful! Cartagena, Colombia is very historic. We did ship sponsored excursions in Colombia and Aruba. We did our own thing on the other stops.

 

We love this class ship as it is smaller. We have cruised on bigger ships and really didn't like it as well. This class you get to meet people more than once and can visit with them again and again if you choose. We met several different groups and were able to visit throughout the cruise.

 

This is an immersion cruise. Most announcements are made in Spanish first and then in English. We are bilingual so it wasn't a problem. We found that most English only people could communicate in English with someone when they needed help. The only exception we saw was in the stateroom area there were a very few room stewards that spoke Spanish only.

 

Would love to have you on this cruise with us. :) There are only a few rooms left as this cruise itinerary does tend to sail full. :rolleyes:

 

If you copy this link it will take you to photos of the reverberation of Vision.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1922402&highlight=vision+photos

 

This link will also show you photos of state room 2580.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034&highlight=vision+photos

 

Hope this will help you.

[Hoopster95]

We are getting ready to book our annual March Anniversary cruise and we are considering the Vision of Seas to Aruba etc. has anyone done this since the refurb? Would love info on ship? Experience and ports.

quote]

 

Hi there:) Here's a thread you should read through:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1953730

 

From that post:

I sailed Nov 16th so I have full details of this cruise so fire away any questions.

 

• Everything you want and need will also be in English
  
• Slots machines in US$
  
• Yes, MDR menu pretty much the same as everywhere else on the fleet. Giovanni's is outstanding and should not be missed
  
• The ports are fabulous... Cartagena Old Town is beautiful, Bonaire snorkelling with "The Woodwind" is in my top 5 excursions ever, Aruba fabulous to self-drive the island with an open air rental jeep and extremely easy to get around, Curacao is just georgeous.
  

Other things to mention:

• The ship re-furb is great
  
• RCL entertainers singers/dancers/shows all English
  
• 1 of the Headliner (he had 2 shows on my cruise anyways) spoke mostly Spanish
  
• CD (Rico) speaks in Spanish first and then repeats in English
  
• The entire crew and staff make it a point to walk around around the ship and say hello to everybody all the time. I have never seen such a visual and active crew interacting with passengers. Best staff ever on any ship.
  
• I met a ton of English speaking guests, have already been emailing 3 couples in particular that we hung out with.
  
• The other two couples I primarily spoke and hung out with also had a fabulous cruise.
  

I listened to a gentleman in the Diamond Club vocally complaining that RCL had done him wrong, that RCL sold him something that he wasn't used to. I say B.S. to that... the ship/food/90% of everything RCL has and delivers on any other ship is still here. Like any other cruise and itinerary, a vacation is what YOU make it and there may always be a hiccup somewhere along the way. Just as an fyi, I am Canadian... I can understand little bits of Spanish, my travel partner cannot understand a single word.... we had an absolute great time!

 

If you keep an open mind, have a ton of fun, absolutely enjoy the Latino atmosphere (the dancing and music), you will meet many others you can talk to and share with... you will have a superb cruise that is different! The ports are great too.

 

Some thiings to consider:

If you do not want to be a minority, then re-consider this trip

If you do not like Latin music, or one of your favorite things to do is dance to Waltz instead of Salsa or Merengue, then this ship isn't for you either.

Pianist in Schooner Bar plays classical and other more popoular music every evening.

Viking Crown was jam packed most every night as a night-club.

Weather was mostly sunny and upwards to 90-95 degrees on a couple of days, is this too hot for you?

 

 

Have a great cruise :D

[minimartha]

Thanks so much for the info. Both are parents are Spanish teachers and our daughter will be with us who is a Spanish major so we should be ok w the language. We live in a migrant apple farm town where it's 30% Hispanic anyway. We definitely aren't bilingual but enjoy the immersion in other cultures. We have an adopted child from Jamaica, one from Puerto Rico and one from Mexico :)

 

Years ago I heard that cruises in near the canal have nothing to do in ports. So that's not true? What does the land look like? Mountainous like Virgin Islands or more like Mexico.

 

Thank you guys

[Tropicalgal2]

Years ago I heard that cruises in near the canal have nothing to do in ports. So that's not true? What does the land look like? Mountainous like Virgin Islands or more like Mexico.

 

There is a lot to do in Panama. You should fly into Panama City and the transit to the Colon side for departure. There is the Panama Canal, Puerto Bello, Panama la Vieja and a lot of other things to see in and around Panama City. Panama has tropical jungles to deserts. Beautiful sand beaches to mountains. It depends on where you are in the country! :p I would recommend that anyone planning on taking a cruise out of Colon plan on a few days before or after the cruise or both!! :D

Are you planning on going this year, 2014? You NEED to do the Colon route this year. I would also recommend that you make your reservations ASAP! RCI is not coming back to Panama next year! :mad:

[str6]

Have a great cruise :D

Do you know what the concierge club hours are on the Vision of the Seas spanish immersion cruise? Since the dinner time is later, I was wondering if the concierge club hours might be later than the other ships.

Thanks!

Edited February 3, 2014 by str6
didn't need the quote