Review from Vision OTS 10-night repo cruise Barcelona to Amsterdam, 30 APR to 10 MAY

[aviator1945]

This is an attempt at a review of our currently on-going re-positioning cruise from Barcelona to Amsterdam. It's part of a longer journey that Vision started in Dubai, where she was homeported over the past winter. Vision will be spending this summer in northern Europe, homeported in Amsterdam, cruising mainly to locations in the Baltic and the British Isles. Our 10-night cruise is unfortunately a one-off event; it won't be repeated next year. However, another ship, I believe it's the Brilliance, will be homeported in Amsterdam during the summer of 2018, but she will find her way there directly from her TA cruise. She'll also be doing essentially similar itineraries as Vision is doing this summer.

Our trip started yesterday by flying late in the evening to Barcelona on Norwegian, a low cost carrier, arriving here just before midnight. Overnight we have stayed in one of the Ibis hotels here, as we normally do in Barcelona. A comfortable room with good wifi, at a decent price.

More on our cruise will follow.

[CruisinMama2003]

Following! Really thinking about cruising on her when she comes to Galveston :D

[5inead]

Following! We are joining her in Amsterdam on the 10th!

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[aviator1945]

DAY 1: 30 APR 2017 - Sail-away from Barcelona

At 10:30 am we checked out of the hotel and stepped into a taxi for a short ride to the port. Checked our bags with the porters and entered the terminal building at 10:55. Not many other guests had shown up at this relatively early hour. Security procedures were quick and efficient, and we soon found ourselves filling in the usual health forms before lining up for check-in. After a five minute wait we were taken care of by a member of the terminal staff. Signed our setsail forms and were given our seapass cards. On our way to board the ship we passed by a couple of shops with all kinds of souvenirs and other stuff, as well as a bank which offered currency exchange, If needed. After a quick photo session we went upstairs to the boarding level and entered the ship at Deck 4. By now it was 11:20, and we briefly met with the MTD staff to check our reservation and get a nice table for two. Took the elevator up to Deck 9 and entered the WJ at precisely 11:30, the usual opening time.

Shortly after 1 pm our stateroom, a category F oceanview cabin on Deck 4, was available for occupancy. Took the opportunity to catch up on some badly needed sleep, until our suitcases arrived around 4 pm. At that time we also met our stateroom attendant Ruel, from the Philippines. This was our first yoyage as D+ members of C&A, which gave us a few more perks compared to our previous D level, most notably access to both the Diamond as well as the Concierge lounges and twice as much free internet time, between DW and myself four days, which we plan to use during the three sea days and during our call in St. Peter Port in the Channel Islands. On the remaining six days we will be able to avail ourselves of free roaming when in or near EU ports, offered as part of the subscription with our internet service provider.

At 4.30 pm the traditional muster drill was held. Some guests were apparently no-shows, so there was some delay until the rest of us could be dismissed. It was a busy day for the cruise industry in Barcelona, with five ships of various sizes docked: besides our Vision OTS, we saw Norwegian Epic, Mein Schiff 2 (ex-Celebrity Mercury, on which DW and I did an Alaska cruise a few years ago), Mein Schiff 3, and Costa Favolosa (sister ship of the Concordia). There was a bit of a delay beyond the 5 pm scheduled departure time before we finally were underway.

We had opted for early MTD at 5.30 pm for most of the cruise. We were assigned a table for two, with Estrella as server and Ace as assistant server, both of them from the Philippines. I ordered spinach salad as a starter, followed by mojo pork chop as main dish, ending with New York cheese cake (one of my absolute favorites). It was all very tasty. After dinner it was time for the Welcome Aboard showtime, hosted by CD Bill Brunkhorst (one of the most experienced CDs in the fleet, almost 30 years since he first became CD) and featuring the Vision OTS Orchestra, the RC Singers and Dancers, and Circle of 2, a couple of very talented acrobatic artists.

This is our third cruise with Vision: first one was four nights in the Baltic in 2011 with Captain Liz as master, second one was seven nights to Greece and Turkey with Captain Marek (the singing captain) in 2016 and finally this cruise with Captain Michael (from Sweden).

 

(Sent on 1 MAY 2017 from the port of Cartagena while roaming.)

[aviator1945]

Just spoke with GS about room service. The $ 7.95 charge has not yet been implemented on the Vision OTS. First cruise to levy this charge will be the next sailing, from Amsterdam on 10 MAY 2017.

[lr657]

Following. We'll be sailing the Vision for the TA this August and again on a Mediterranean itinerary next September. Thank you for taking the time for this review.

[aviator1945]

A few days ago I checked the Confirmed Party listing on CC; for this cruise it was stated that the M&M would be on the first sea day.

 

However, please note that this date has now been revised; in a message received in my stateroom it has now been amended to Day 3 (Gibraltar, 2 MAY 2017) at 7.45 pm. Venue: Some Enchanted Evening Lounge, Deck 6.

[2ferfun]

Following! We will be on Vision in June! Great review so far!

 

Hey, 5inead! Have you thought about doing a review of your May 10th? We will be doing the same itinerary in June and would love to read about it! ;p

[aviator1945]

DAY 2: 1 MAY 2017 - Cartagena, Spain

We arrived in Cartagena at mid-morning as the only cruise ship of the day. It's a nice and clean port; I was surprised that there was so little activity, with only a handful of tour buses waiting for guests. Anyway, this resulted in that there were no crowds competing for access to the city. Today was May Day, a public holiday in Spain, similar to Labor Day in North America, so a number of shops were closed.

I'm somewhat physically challenged (mainly knees and hips), so I sat down on a bench near the pier, while DW ventured further into town on her own, in search of a souvenir magnet to add to the collection on our fridge at home. After about an hour she returned, after a successful shopping expedition.

We returned to the ship and had our lunch in the WJ, followed by a nap. As the recommendation for evening attire was formal, we dressed up in somewhat more dressy clothing than otherwise. We have noted a clear and steady relaxation in dress code over the course of the nine years since we did our first real cruise. As long as most folks are happy, we're all for it. To each of us, his and her own.......

As one of our D+ perks we decided to have dinner in Chops Grille, availing ourselves of the offer of the second cover charge being waived, since this was only the second night of the cruise; so, we paid only half as much as would be normal. I chose three of my favorites: French onion soup, filet mignon and chocolate ice cream. It was all really delicious. I highly recommend Chops for at least one meal during your cruise.

After dinner we went to the Centrum to watch Captain Michael introduce a number of the senior officers and staff. This is normally an event that draws quite a few spectators, but for some unknown reason attendance was far below normal, even though free wine was offered. Normally one would need to arrive at least a half hour prior to the start of proceedings in order to get a seat; on this occasion there were empty seats until almost the beginning of the captain's introductions.

 

The main evening headliner showtime entertainment in the theatre on Day 2 was a group of four young men called the Revolvers, performing 1960's style nostalgic pop music. The first performance, which DW and I saw, was attended by an almost full house.

[clochette]

thank you for taking the time to review the cruise, looking forward to it.

[easyboy]

Following.

[aviator1945]

DAY 3: Gibraltar, 2 MAY 2017

At daybreak we approached Gibraltar, where we found the Rock to be shrouded in mist and low clouds. A few days earlier there had been a rainstorm, one of the last ones expected before the advent of the dry season from May to September. The Rock, consisting mainly of limestone, acts as a sponge, so even after a prolonged drought its surroundings remain green, as opposed to the scorched earth in nearby areas. Within a couple of hours the clouds and mist had lifted, exposing the Rock in all its grandeur.

After breakfast it was time to join the Panoramic Gibraltar shore excursion. We first spent about an hour, viewing a number of historic monuments and briefly alighting from our van to stand at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, within sight of Morocco on the other side of the strait. Our driver/guide gave us lots of information about the history of Gibraltar, particularly regarding the relations with Spain over the most recent centuries. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 ceded Gibraltar to Great Britain "in perpetuity". The meaning of "in perpetuity" has been a matter of dispute ever since; Gibraltar's current status is as a British Overseas Territory. Once in a while there are minor occasions when Spain increases border controls, resulting in lengthy delays for many of the workers who live on the Spanish side but work in Gibraltar. There is an airport, considered to be one of the most dangerous in the world during certain wind conditions, when many airline crews opt to divert to Malaga. The runway crosses the entire peninsula, so road traffic has to be stopped during take-offs and landing. Just before we were to cross, we had to wait for a few minutes to allow the arrival of an EasyJet flight. Near the end of our tour we stopped at the Rock Hotel for English Tea with sandwiches and scones. Coming back to our van we made friends with some of Gibraltar's colony of Barbary macaques, the only wild monkeys on the European continent. Tradition has it that were these to disappear from Gibraltar, so would the British. Winston Churchill thus took a keen interest in these monkeys, and promoted an increase in their population.

The cruise terminal in Gibraltar can only rarely accommodate more than two ships. The other ship during our visit was brand new, in fact so new that it hadn't yet had any cruise guests. It was NCL's Norwegian Joy, of their Breakaway Plus class, similar in size to RCI's Quantum class, thus more than twice the size of our Vision. The Joy had been delivered less than a week earlier from a shipyard in Germany, and as she is the first NCL ship to be designed and built exclusively for the Chinese market, she was on her way to the Far East without passengers, crew only. She was in Gibraltar for the purpose of bunkering.

After dinner we attended the M&M, together with around 30 other CC members. It was hosted by CD Bill as Master of Ceremonies. I normally don't win anything in raffles, but strangely enough I seem to be lucky in M&M raffles, and sure enough, my ticket was called first of all. An RCI bag plus some other items were the prize.

The evening entertainment was a show by the RCI Singers and Dancers, supported by the orchestra, entitled Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme. DW and I enjoyed it.

Before retiring for the night we set our watches and iPhpnes back an hour, as we were on our way into the GMT time zone

 

(Sent on 3 MAY 2017 from Lisbon.)

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for the time you take from your vacation to do this review.

Very informative and enjoyable.

Following, since we'll board it in 4 months time :D

[5inead]

Following! We will be on Vision in June! Great review so far!

 

Hey, 5inead! Have you thought about doing a review of your May 10th? We will be doing the same itinerary in June and would love to read about it! ;p

I was thinking of doing one actually as I think the itinerary is quite a fun one! We haven't yet decided if we are going to buy WiFi outside of that offered with our Diamond perks (I do love the chance to switch off for a few days!) but, if I do, I will for sure do a review!

 

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[aviator1945]

DAY 4: Thursday 3 MAY 2017, Lisbon, Portugal

Just a short while after breakfast we arrived at the pier in beautiful Lisbon. The surroundings of the pier area were a bit messy due to ongoing construction of an expansion of capacity, so next year there should be new facilities to welcome cruise guests.

DW and I had each of us been to Lisbon once before on separate visits; DW together with some friends and I on a business trip (discussing aircraft accident investigation). For this visit we had decided to take a shore excursion, entitled Lisbon City Sights. Among the most notable sights were:

King Eduardo VII park, named in commemoration of a visit to Portugal in 1902 of the British King Edward VII. In one end of the park is a flagpole on which normally flies the largest Portuguese flag in the world;

Belém Tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, also named the Tower of St. Vincent, built on the banks of the Tagus river in the early 16th century;

Jerónimos Monastery, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a typical example of Portuguese architecture from the late Middle Ages;

Christ the King monument in Almada, a suburb of Lisbon. It stands on top of an 82 meter pedestal; the monument itself is an additional 28 meters tall. It's comparable to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro; and

the 25 de Abril Bridge, the 27th largest suspension bridge in the world, connecting Lisbon with Almada. It reminded us of the Golden Gate Bridge, although it was built by another company, the same firm that constructed the San Francisco to Oakland Bay Bridge. The 25th of April (in 1974) is the date of the Carnation Revolution, which ended dictatorship and colonial warfare in Portugal.

After this excursion it was time for lunch in the WJ, followed by a nap. The main entertainment activity was a Song Set in the Centrum, named Jazz in the Night, performed by the RC Singers and the Vision OTS Orchestra.

 

(Sent on 4 MAY via ship's wifi.)

[aviator1945]

DAY 5: First sea-day between Lisbon and St. Peter Port

At breakfast I made a successful attempt at connecting to the ship's VOOM Surf & Stream Wifi. With regard to the D+ electronic voucher, it could only be used on one occasion for each C&A member; we had expected that it could have been used on two separate days, but that was not possible. DW and I ended up each of us using our own electronic voucher for one device for the remainder of the cruise. That was cheaper than using only one voucher for two devices. The performance of VOOM Surf & Stream was acceptable, except when we tried to use VPN, when speed slowed down to a crawl. But for our purposes VPN really wasn't necessary, so we were satisfied with the Surf & Stream performance.

After breakfast we joined the free Bridge tour which the ship put on for D+ and Pinnacle members of C&A. Bridge officer Joel (from Sweden) showed us around everything worth noting. It wasn't exactly my first bridge tour, my Dad having been a marine engineer during most of his life. But it was interesting to note the technical evolution between my first visit in 1953 and today's high tech systems. Incidentally, bridge security was at a very high level. Prior to being issued invitations, background checks were made of us, and before entering the bridge area each of us was searched, similar to the procedure before boarding an aircraft. In addition, two security guards were present during our entire visit.

After the bridge tour I attended Captain's Corner, hosted by CD Bill and featuring Captain Michael, Chief Engineer Robert (from Croatia) and Hotel Director Fernando (originally from Portugal, now living in Canada). The audience posed a number of interesting questions to the trio, one of them dealing with the division of responsibility between the Pilot and the Captain. Captain Michael explained that the role of the Pilot was more like a consultant, and that the Captain would virtually always bear full responsibility for the actions of the ship. He did mention one exception: the Panama Canal, where the Pilot could in some cases be held liable.

During Captain Michael's noontime information he mentioned that over the course of the afternoon the weather would deteriorate with increasing wind and gradually rougher seas as we entered the Bay of Biscay. By nightfall his forecast turned out to be correct, with the ship pitching and rolling to the tune of the motion of the ocean. Some guests, myself included, clearly had difficulty moving around in a balanced manner.

DW and myself attended the evening Top Tier Event (for C&A Platinum members and above), hosted by CD Bill, during which a good number of senior officers and staff were introduced. Some recent news regarding Vision's future sailings was announced: after home-porting in Amsterdam, she would in August be sailing to North America via Norway and Iceland. She would eventually find her way up to Quebec, before heading south all the way to Galveston, where she would be home-ported for the Winter of 2017/18. Come Spring she would again move to Europe, this time to be home-ported in the Mediterranean for the summer of 2018. In the autumn she would head back to North America, Miami more precisely, from where she would make one voyage to the US West Coast via the Panama Canal. From there she would immediately return to the Gulf of Mexico, being home-ported in New Orleans for the Winter of 2018/19. This marked a return of RCI to NOLa after three years of absence. To me this kind of varying itineraries seemed to offer much more excitement to the officers, crew and guests than the standard mega ship cruises in the Caribbean.

As for me, I called it a night at this point in time, not wanting to take any chances while moving about in the ship. As for DW, she attended the Headliner Showtime in the theatre with the Comedy String Quartet Grafitty Classics, followed by one of her favorites, the Love and Marriage Show. All the while the ships movement in the water became more pronounced at times. It was a really rough night.

 

(Sent via ship's VOOM Surf & Stream wifi on 5 MAY 2017.)

[5inead]

We have been through the Bay of Biscay a few times now and it is consistently rough no matter the time of year. Even on a big ship like the Independence, it was noticeably pitching and rolling (incidentally there was also some interesting creaking from all of the windows with each pitch and roll which made for an interesting soundtrack!).

 

I hope today is calmer for you!

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[aviator1945]

DAY 6: Second sea-day after Lisbon

The rough state of the sea continued well into the morning of Day 6. DW and I decided not to have breakfast in the WJ as we would normally have done, but rather to order via room service (still free for the remainder of this sailing; starting on the next cruise, the $7.95 charge will be levied for each room service delivery except for continental breakfast). Although our stateroom isn't very far from the galley, the breakfast items items arrived lukewarm and in some cases cold. But we at least avoided any personal risk of falling due due to the ship's rocking and rolling.

After breakfast I decided to check out the website of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office, in order to get an idea of what to expect weather-wise in St. Peter Port. The forecast for Day 7 called for strong winds and heavy showers, not exactly ideal conditions for tendering. Around an hour later Captain Michael announced some bad and some good news: the bad part was that tendering to St. Peter Port was out of the question due to the forecast weather conditions, so our call there was to be cancelled. The good news was that those of us who had purchased ship's shore excursions would be reimbursed. Further good news was that during the afternoon, as we entered the English Channel, the state of the sea would begin calming down (even though the wind was expected to remain fairly strong). The best news of all for some of us was that RCI had managed to arrange an overnight port call in Le Havre, France. We would be arriving there in the morning of Day 7 and departing during the late evening of Day 8, thus enabling an overnight stay in Paris for those guests who might wish to skip a night on the ship.

Just before lunch on Day 6 we enjoyed another D+ perk, which was a free Galley Tour with Executive Chef Donna (from the United Kingdom).

During the afternoon, just as Captain Michael had promised us, the ship's motion in the ocean gradually subsided, even though the wind didn't immediately calm down, so the outside decks were still off limits to us for a while.

 

The Quest Adult Game Show, hosted by CD Bill, was held during the latter part of the evening.

(Sent on 7 MAY 2017 while roaming from Le Havre via SFR France)

[aviator1945]

DAY 7: First day in Le Havre, France

After breakfast DW and I decided to go ashore and look for a rental car agency. In the cruise terminal we found one, a company named Rent A Car. There were no major international rental car agencies like Avis, Budget or Hertz represented in the terminal. Since this was on a Saturday morning, with our ship not originally expected to dock until 24 hours later, there was only one agent available to serve customers. When we joined the queue we came as # 6, and as none of the other customers had reservations nor had they previously dealt with this company, the processing of each party took on average 10 minutes. After waiting in line for nearly an hour it was our turn. The agent was very friendly and apologized for us having little choice as to what vehicle we would be getting. We got a Lancia Ypsilon Diesel with manual transmission, perhaps not my favorite, but at least we got a set of wheels by which we could explore Normandy. The car had a special environmental feature: whenever we stopped for a red light, the engine would automatically shut off. When the trafficll light turned green and I stepped on the clutch pedal, the engine would restart without my doing anything further.

We decided to drive in a westerly direction from Le Havre, and within about half an hour we were in a town by the name of Deauville, located on the sea; a nice little town, which during summertime is very popular among visitors from all over France. After another half hour we continued westwards on the autoroute (freeway), which was a toll road, like most similar highways in France. Every now and then we would need to stop and pay a few Euros, which was easy to do even for us foreigners, since Visa and Mastercards were accepted. In my view, France has the best kept autoroutes in the world; driving there is to me a joy. On most stretches of the autoroutes the speed limit is 130 kph (80 mph), although on rainy days, like during our visit, speed limits on most autoroutes are reduced to 110 kph (68 mph).

We stopped at a service station on the autoroute which had one of our favorite French fast food restaurants: Paul. As this was midday on a Saturday with the restaurant full of patrons, there were no seats available inside Paul's, so we instead enjoyed the food in our car: baguette with tuna salad, a quiche lorraine and a chocolate-filled croissant. Scrumptious!

Eventually we arrived at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, better known as Omaha Beach. We looked around on the beach and in the nearby museum; unfortunately time did not allow us to visit any other of the Allied bridgeheads. Some 20 years ago we were able to visit all these beaches, plus Mont-Saint-Michel, a castle in the very westernmost part of Normandy.

As we needed to return the car early, we had to commence our return trip to the ship relatively soon. After dinner, Production Showtime featured two performances of Boogie Wonderland by the RC Singers and Dancers, with music of Donna Summer, ABBA, and others from the disco era. DW liked the show so much that she stayed on for the second performance!

 

(Sent on 8 MAY 2017 via Ship's Wifi VOOM Surf & Stream)

[mcca2]

Been following and enjoying your review very much.

 

Sorry you didn't get into St Peter's Port, but I'd say you had a good alternative.

I will be on Vision on May 22 for our trip round the British Isles, we hope we don't have the same luck on tendering into Edinburgh, as we have already purchased tickets for the Castle and for the Royal Yacht Britannia!

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Edited May 8, 2017 by mcca2

[aviator1945]

DAY 8: Second Day in Le Havre, France

The WJ opened well before 6 am, in order to allow an early breakfast for guests taking shore excursions to Paris. DW had chosen a sightseeing tour by bus. There are train connections between Le Havre and Paris, but not very many during weekends, so an RCI tour was a more secure option to ensure that she wouldn't miss the ship, come evening. As for me, I decided to remain onboard and get some rest. After all, DW and I had lived in a Paris suburb (Levallois) for seven years, with me working in another Paris suburb (Neuilly-sur-Seine), so I had already seen just about everything worth seeing.

DW got to see the Eiffel Tower and most of the other famous sights of the city. She also had time for a brief river cruise on the Seine. Incidentally, this was the day of the second round of the presidential election in France, but there wasn't much noticeable extra action because of this.

After around ten hours in all the tour was back at shipside in Le Havre. Among the entertainment options for the evening was the movie Sully, a true story which took place on Jan. 15, 2009, when Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) made an emergency landing in New York's Hudson River after US Airways Flight 1549 had struck a flock of geese. Miraculously, all of the 155 passengers and crew survived the ordeal, and Sullenberger became a national hero in the eyes of the public and the media.

(Sent on Tuesday 9 MAY 2017 via ship's wifi VOOM Surf & Stream.)

 

[anandaindonesia]

Thank you for your review. Looking forward for more.

 

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