Vision Review -- Mediterranean and GS 8506

[lawgirl]

Recently off a 12 night Vision Med. cruise leaving from Barcelona. Ports were Cannes, La Spezia, Rome, Athens, Santorini, Ephesus, Salerno.

 

First, let me say we were VERY concerned about the Vision given the numerous negative reviews, especially under CC review section. If you, like us, are worried, let me tell you that you should fear not. I tend to be a blunt person, and have posted good and bad reviews of ships on CC in the past. I.e., although I love cruising, I am not always a cheerleader, but try to give me personal fair assessment.

 

We really liked the Vision! The smaller ship size was nice and frankly, I felt like the staff were perhaps the best we ever encountered. The crew seemed to go out of their way with friendliness and fun activities, perhaps to make up for the fact this isn't the newest, shiniest ship in the fleet. There was always some fun nightly event in the centrum and by the pool they had constant live music, a Dj, videos, games etc.

 

As an example of great service, we were in a suite and on the first day the manager of our floor of cabins knocked, greeted us and asked if everything was good in the suite. He then routinely was seen in the hall and every time, with no notes, he called me by my name and if I was alone, asked how my husband was by name. I know that doesn't seem like much, but I thought it was impressive. Similarly our cabin steward was incredibly nice, always checking in on us. I was sick on the cruise with a cold and he was so sweet checking if I needed anything.

 

Everywhere we went, crew greeted us with smiles. The batenders at R bar were fun and engaging and more than happy to serve us with a huge smile, even if we were using our free Diamond drinks.

 

Kudos especially to the concierge, Patricia Dcosta. Get this..... She checked every day to make sure "her guests" made it back onboard in each port on time. She sat with various people in the lounge every night, constantly checking in on our days, asking if we needed anything, etc. she and the lounge bartender kept our drinks filled, remembered our favorites, and were warm and welcoming. Patricia was a gem... Best concierge we have had and we routinely sail in suites, so we have had several to compare her to. She commented she is not a morning person, but each day hops out of bed because she loves her guests so much!

 

The ship itself is in great shape. I particularly liked the pool for some reason, with one deeper pool and one shallower lounging pool. I loved that there were lots of areas to kind of sit or lay in a few inches of water. Chairs were only an issue one day, when, due to high winds, they closed the upper deck, so loungers were only available on the actual pool deck. The solarium pool was nice too.

 

There were a few glitches. First, I would say food in windjammer was repetitive and average. Maybe the ship size? MDR food was average at best. Mind you, we always found something to eat, but a few times (prime rib, way overdone shrimp) I didn't eat my meal because it simply wasn't good.

 

We therefore ate at Chops twice, GT once, and Chefs Table once. I liked Chops a lot, even the new menu. I thought some of the apps were better than the old menu, especially the crab cake and scallops. The filet was awesome. GT was very good as well and empty so we felt like we had private dining! Chefs Table, honestly, was a let down. We have done it and loved it on other ships. On Vision, while the host/sommelier was nice, he didn't offer much info. And they served kind of lame wine (Kendell Jackson) compared to other prior experiences. On other ships we had unique, high end wines and lots of info on the wines, etc. further, the meal was just ok. As an example, the duck consumme was the same as in MDR.

 

The main issue we had was our cabin, GS 8506. The cabin is lovely with newer furniture and carpet. It was in excellent shape (other than the makeup mirror which seems to have melted and doesn't light up and outlets which are weirdly worn out/loose and won't hold the prongs of hair dryer, etc). It is likely a bit smaller than GS in other classes, but the balcony was super with 2 chairs and table and 2 loungers! Awesome. The problem:NOISE! You can't hear your neighbors at all, but my gosh the noise from the windjammer was awful! Around 1 am they seem to clean and repair stuff. One night it was so bad, DH went to see what was up .... Fixing ice and drink machines. Then at almost exactly 3:15 am, the carts started rolling. Constant thumps and noises all day until midnight....awful. It sounded like riding a clinking, old wooden roller coaster. Some executive from RCI should try to sleep in that cabin just one night!

 

Unfortunately, our flights over were severely delayed, so we were up about 30 hours, which led me to get a bad cold. It was likely worsened due to no sleep because of the noise in cabin. I tried earplugs and even brought a white noise machine, but the noise trumped those efforts. I stayed in the cabin a lot during sea days trying to rest and missed Athens because of my cold. :(.

 

As to the rest of the ports, we had private guides in Cannes, Cinque Terre, Rome, Ephesus, and Salerno. Rented a car in Santorini. Our guides in Ephesus, Cinque Terre and Almafi coast were particularly awesome. If you are in the area, do try to do Cinque Terre. It was magical. The Almalfi coast is breathtaking. as a Catholic, Ephesus was really great and even better, we attended the papal audience and were blessed by Pope Francis before he came to the U.S. I would say Cannes was my least favorite stop, but still nice! Our weather was picture perfect!!!

 

In sum, great ports, great weather, terrific ship and stellar service. Really great cruise! :D

[cincicruisers]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review.

[QuattroRomeo]

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience! We prefer smaller ships, and the service you describe sounds like a great cruise! Sorry you weren't feeling the best, but sounds like you still enjoyed it very much.

 

We haven't sailed Royal yet, so am just getting familar with its amenities. Did the specialty dining venues charge separately, or were there any combination offers for a certain number of nights?

And would you remember which company you used for your Cinque Terre tour?

Enjoyed your review, and thanks for any info.

[txcowboy10]

Thank you for posting your review...it is a great older ship, but I too have stayed in that GS 8506 and those 1-4a rolling carts from WJ above were a nightmare for me too...as well as a crew party they had in adventure ocean one night right above the WJ around 2a with repetitive music pounding down thru the cabin walls into my bed...impossible to sleep!! Thank god for ambien last few nights lol. AVOID THIS CABIN fellow cruise critters ...

 

Hope your feeling better though and glad enjoyed most of your Med cruise.

[lawgirl]

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience! We prefer smaller ships, and the service you describe sounds like a great cruise! Sorry you weren't feeling the best, but sounds like you still enjoyed it very much.

 

We haven't sailed Royal yet, so am just getting familar with its amenities. Did the specialty dining venues charge separately, or were there any combination offers for a certain number of nights?

And would you remember which company you used for your Cinque Terre tour?

Enjoyed your review, and thanks for any info.

 

Our tour in Cinque Terre was with https://loredanapantano.wordpress.com. Awesome! Highly recommend.

 

I booked specialty restaurants online pre-cruise as I wanted certain nights at certain times given this port intensive trip. Got a 25% OBC of the cost of the restaurants for doing so. I believe they did offer restaurant package deals onboard, but I didn't study the prices.

 

Thanks for reading! Have fun if you sail Royal!

[vplsh]

We sailed the same itinerary on Vision in July and agree about the staff. They're wonderful!! And the ports couldn't be beat!

[genealogygail]

We must agree with Lawgirl, we just came off the Vision on 9/25 and had an incredible time. Balcony cabin 7116, perfect location, fantastic room steward, knew our name by the second day. Our MDR staff Roland, Catalin and Sudhir were the best.

We did all our trips through the cruise and when we had to change the excursions to a lesser intensive one, they were most helpful.

Really read close on the excursions, and remember the weather, some of them are a lot of walking at age 70+ it does get to be a little tough.

But great time, ship looks great, entertainment great

[QuattroRomeo]

Our tour in Cinque Terre was with https://loredanapantano.wordpress.com. Awesome! Highly recommend.

 

I booked specialty restaurants online pre-cruise as I wanted certain nights at certain times given this port intensive trip. Got a 25% OBC of the cost of the restaurants for doing so. I believe they did offer restaurant package deals onboard, but I didn't study the prices.

 

Thanks for reading! Have fun if you sail Royal!

 

Much appreciate the info- and the tour does look pretty great!

[mj]

Thanks for your review on the Vision and glad you had a great time. Did 13 nights in May with different itinerary and would love to do one similar to yours.

 

Agree with you about the Amalfi Coast. That was my favorite tour.