Our (almost completely DIY) 12-night Med Cruise on Vision of the Seas - Aug 2015

[markoCR]

Entertainment

 

Unfortunately we weren't able to see all of the evening entertainment, most nights because we were so tired that the only thing we could do was collapse on our bed in the cabin!

 

On Day 2 we went to see Lost Locos Ole, who were actually quite entertaining. They spoke both English and Spanish, and so they were able to keep the audience entertained, at one point making people come up on stage and having fun (ie humiliating hehe) with them.

 

We also enjoyed the various game shows they had during the cruise, our favourite being the Love and Marriage Game Show, where they got couples to go up on stage, and they had to answer questions about each other. Luckily we weren't chosen to go up!

 

 

The aerial shows were also very impressive, we enjoyed watching those, although at times it was hard to get a decent spot to see them properly as they were very popular!

 

 

 

 

 

[markoCR]

Other Bits 'n' Bobs

 

Something else we enjoyed was the Schooner Bar, especially the trivia competitions they had every day. We spent quite a few of our days at sea there, and even managed to win some prizes!

 

On Day 6 they also organised a honeymooners get-together, where they gave us a glass of champagne and some cake, and we had another 'first dance'. It was a little uncomfortable all dancing together but we enjoyed meeting other couples on their honeymoons.

 

The rock climbing wall was good fun, and Frankie enjoyed the Zumba classes that they had by the pool in the mornings on the days at sea.

 

Frankie managed to win quite a few free paintings in the raffles they held during the art auctions, so it's always worth popping along to those in case you get lucky!

 

The two 'complaints' I had about the cruise were connected with the pool. I thought it was disappointing that they didn't enforce the towels on deckchairs rule, as most days when we went for breakfast at 7am, 50% of the deckchairs had towels on them already with nobody sitting on them. As I said previously we aren't big on sunbathing, but at times it was very difficult to find somewhere to sit on Deck 9.

 

The other thing was that they only had 4 films for the screen by the pool, which they just rotated. I think they put Despicable Me 2 on four times in twelve days. It's a great film, but you would think that Royal Caribbean would manage to find 12 different films, one for each day. I quite enjoyed watching a film by the pool the first few evenings, but once they started repeating them I obviously stopped.

 

 

[markoCR]

Royal Caribbean - Med Cruise - Vision of the Seas - Yay or Nay?

 

 

So... let's wrap things up. As you've probably guessed, we had an amazing time. This was our first cruise, and it certainly won't be our last. We loved practically everything about it.

 

 

Royal Caribbean - I chose the cruise because of the ports, not the company, but we were very impressed with all aspects of Royal Caribbean. The staterooms were great, the food was great, and the service was great. We would definitely cruise with them again.

 

 

The Ports - Florence, Rome, and Santorini were in my top 10 of places I wanted to visit. If you enjoy culture and history, this type of cruise is for you. We absolutely loved every place we went to.

 

 

Vision of the Seas - Vision seems to get quite a few bad reviews as well as good ones. Obviously I have nothing to compare it with, but these are my views.

 

 

- If you are going on your first cruise, and are not sure if you are going to like cruising, Vision is a great ship to go on. To us it seemed huge when we first got on, even though compared to other Royal Caribbean ships it's quite small, but after a few days we were comfortable moving around the ship. I can imagine that some of the other bigger ships could be quite overwhelming for first-time cruisers.

 

 

- If you want a quiet, relaxing holiday, Vision is a great ship. It doesn't offer as many activities as others from what I've seen, but you accept that when you make the booking. Personally, now that I've experienced cruising, I would probably go for a bigger ship next time (in fact the new ones look amazing). All we wanted for our honeymoon though was a place to put our feet up, relax, and spend two quality weeks together, and the Vision provided us with that.

[markoCR]

I think that's pretty much everything. If I have missed something out, or you have any questions, please let me know and I will quite happily add some more.

 

 

I apologise for the months and months without posting, I've had a really hectic year at work, and I never found time to properly sit down and finish the review. I'm now on holiday as you can probably imagine, and the first thing I decided to do was this.

 

There are some other fantastic reviews of the Vision (I loved reading the ones by Nicole721 and Hailzmick which are currently on the 2nd page of the Vision section of the forum), so I recommend reading those, they will give you more information than you will ever need about the ship. This review has hopefully helped those of you who are going on a Med cruise soon and are thinking of DIYing it. It is easily doable, even for those who have never cruised before.

 

 

Finally, thank you all for reading and your lovely comments. I hope to be able to write another review of my own sometime in the future, but for now I'll keep dreaming of another cruise and lurking around on the forum. :D

[Bailey & Sophie]

Thank you so much for your review.

We've always been so fearful of striking out on our own. You make it seem so easy!!

[tidygirl]

Could you tell me if the Vision has a mini gold course and how about a flow rider? I'm having trouble getting specific information on Royals website.:(

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Could you tell me if the Vision has a mini gold course and how about a flow rider? I'm having trouble getting specific information on Royals website.:(

No mini golf or Flowrider on Vision. Check out the deck plans on RCI website.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?shipCode=VI&shipProfile=1667&sailDate=1161001

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

Edited September 29, 2016 by suzyluvs2cruise

[outoftowner]

Thanks for a great review!

Really appreciate your DIY experiences.

[dancernl]

Thanks for the terrific review! I am also cruising for the very first time on the Mediterranean from Venice to Barcelona on the Rhapsody, which is a sister ship to Vision. I am so excited after reading your review! We overlap on a couple ports and it was great reading your DIY perspective - super helpful tips! Another thank you for the menu and food pictures. I can't seem to find much information about the Main Dining Room fare but there's tons about the specialty restaurants so this was very helpful to read. Our itinerary is also port intensive with only 2 of 8 days at sea so we're also deciding against the alcohol package. How much were beers and glasses of wine a la carte? What was the currency used on the ship if not charging purchases to the room or using on board credit? Say, if we wanted to tip extra?

 

We disembark in Barcelona but aren't traveling home until the next day. If we have 8-10 hours in the city, what would you recommend seeing?

 

Thanks again!

[drumtech77]

WOW amazing pics of the places you visited.

So much history and amazing landmarks.

Great thread. really enjoying it.

 

Thank you.

[Sailor_Sally]

Great review ! I really felt like I was there . Congratulations on your wedding !

[tidygirl]

@dancernl- I did a review on here Oct 2014 of our DIY trip under our families viewpoint of our Mediterranean cruise.

It has pictures and tips on things to do in Barcelona.

Sagrada Familia was one of our favorites, my husband was more impressed with that than the Vatican !

You have to purchase your tickets in advance if you actually want to go in! The lines were extremely long and the people weren't even getting in that day!

Even if you don't go in its worth checking out the outside it is very detailed with the engravings!

You can also check out I think it was Gaudi (sp?) You can just check out the area and get a nice view of the city or go on into the museum if that's of interest to you (we didnt)

[Ine]

Thanks for the wonderful report and photos.

We will sail Vision soon (first time RCCL after HAL and Celebrity). Although we have some different ports I was glad to read good reviews about Vision.

As we bring our grandkids we might have dinner at Windjammer a few times, glad to read that meals there are also very good.

Thanks again.