LIVE! Liberty of the Seas April 28, 2023 to Vision of the Seas May 1, 2023: A side-to-side with Dragon of the Seas

[perfect match]

On 5/10/2023 at 7:19 AM, DragonOfTheSeas said:

You will not be sorry you did. Check out their website. woodwindbonaire.com.
 

They do not advertise, because they don’t need to. 

I’ve already checked their website 🐠🐡🐟 and that’s even with absolutely no idea when I’ll be able to get back to Bonaire again! 😀 Right now it doesn’t seem likely for our next cruise, but we don’t have that booked yet so it could still change.

 

Thank you very much for an excellent review. I’ve really enjoyed cruising along with you. 🛳 I’m glad you decided to take us along with you!

[rtb]

Are you able to tell me if they had special attire, other than formal, like White Out or Tropical in the dining room for dinner?  Thank you, Pat

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement.  Cruising is my favorite way to vacation.  We have a couple of land vacations scheduled for this summer, so our next cruise is in October from Cape Liberty [Bayonne, NJ] to Canada.  We did a similar cruise in late 2019 just before the Covid break in cruising. [I now relate everything to "before Covid" and "after Covid." 😊] There is one additional port on the Canada trip.  I always look forward to new ports.  We booked this cruise while onboard the ship. I like the onboard credit and the reduced deposit you get.  Some people say why bother?  You are going to pay the same price eventually.  I say I would rather keep my money until final payment.

 

We booked another cruise on the ship.  This one is for March 2023 on the Anthem from Cape Liberty, NJ.  We have not sailed that class of ship before, and this will be our adult DD first cruise. 

 

 

Here are just a couple final thoughts.  

 

I liked the Liberty of the Seas as a ship a great deal.  It had most of the bells and whistles of the oasis class without being quite as large. I did not really like the 3-day cruise atmosphere.  I would book that ship again for a longer cruise. 

 

Doing a side to side was not difficult.  Having the Royal Caribbean shuttle was an added bonus.  However, we were prepared to just take a taxi.  I would book one of these again.  It was a good way to get two different experiences for one air fare. 

 

I look forward to sailing on the Vision while she is in Baltimore. We enjoy the quiet atmosphere of smaller ships.  Small ships generally have an excellent crew and great service.  We found the service on the Vision to be good, but, a couple of things were just fair.  They will need to up their game.  Passengers from Baltimore are generally veteran cruisers that go there because they do not fly or it is close to home.  They are used to the service on Grandeur and the Enchantment. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

42 minutes ago, rtb said:

Are you able to tell me if they had special attire, other than formal, like White Out or Tropical in the dining room for dinner?  Thank you, Pat

Yes, we had a tropical/Caribbean night.  Almost everyone had on Hawaiian shirts or tropical clothes.  There was also a white night later in the cruise.  Maybe 25 percent of passengers did that.  We had two dress your best nights.  Passengers mostly dressed up.  Women wore dresses or pants and nice tops.  Men had on dress pants and dress shirts or polo type shirts.  I did not see a single man in a tux. There were some women in long dresses with lots of bling.  There was enough of a variety that anyone would feel comfortable in whatever they wore. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by DragonOfTheSeas

[rtb]

14 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Yes, we had a tropical/Caribbean night.  Almost everyone had on Hawaiian shirts or tropical clothes.  There was also a white night later in the cruise.  Maybe 25 percent of passengers did that.  We had two dress your best nights.  Passengers mostly dressed up.  Women wore dresses or pants and nice tops.  Men had on dress pants and dress shirts or polo type shirts.  I did not see a single man in a tux. There were some women in long dresses with lots of bling.  There was enough of a variety that anyone would feel comfortable in whatever they wore. 

Thank you, last cruise we were caught off guard when they had their special nights.  Looks like I will be hearing moans from my husband as I like when he wears his tux and notice less and less participate now. 

[JK805]

On 5/3/2023 at 6:26 AM, LATTELOVE said:

How's the internet connection so far on this trip?

Thank you!

 

I happened to run a speed test when I was on board, and was actually surprise about how fast the speed was while on board. The screenshot of my test is below, and this was in a public area of the ship where speeds are fastest (rooms tend to be a little worse connection being a metal walled room not as good for signals). Connection can fluctuate since you're on a ship, but there was a pretty solid connection overall.

 

On 5/3/2023 at 4:22 AM, PGHProducer said:

Is it just the app listing? Or is there an option for an electronic pdf version of the actual cruise compass?

 

Electronic PDF version can be obtained via scanning the QR code. I've found the printed codes at the cruise compass rack or on the desk in the stateroom don't always work, but the ones on the TV channels for the CD entertainment summary broadcast (if playing) on Channel 1 or the Compass Activities on Channel 2 have worked every time for me.

[thjeepster]

We were on this same sailing as you. 
 

the Liberty April 28th!!!

 

we had a great time!

[CntPAcruiser]

On 5/12/2023 at 7:57 AM, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I look forward to sailing on the Vision while she is in Baltimore. We enjoy the quiet atmosphere of smaller ships.  Small ships generally have an excellent crew and great service.  We found the service on the Vision to be good, but, a couple of things were just fair.  They will need to up their game.  Passengers from Baltimore are generally veteran cruisers that go there because they do not fly or it is close to home.  They are used to the service on Grandeur and the Enchantment. 

 

 

We were last on Vision in 2016 out of Tampa, and I really enjoyed the small ship atmosphere. My DH not as much, but as you mention, Baltimore as a port of departure is incredibly convenient, and for us it means we do not lose an extra day or two of vacation time traveling, nor do we have to pay for a flight to Florida. We'll be on Vision in October of this year and are looking forward to a relaxing cruise, hopefully with some good service, particularly from the bar. Thanks for your cruise report!

[AtSeaAlways]

On the Grandeur in December the promenade deck was fully open all the way around which was nice for our twice a day walks.  On the Vision a while back the gate was locked for the bow section.  Was it open?  

 

On smaller ships you can get to know the crew a bit more than on larger ones.  

[DragonOfTheSeas]

3 hours ago, AtSeaAlways said:

On the Grandeur in December the promenade deck was fully open all the way around which was nice for our twice a day walks.  On the Vision a while back the gate was locked for the bow section.  Was it open?  

 

On smaller ships you can get to know the crew a bit more than on larger ones.  

We went out on the Promenade deck almost every day.  But I did not try to walk around it.  Sorry.

[rafinmd]

On 5/14/2023 at 3:55 PM, AtSeaAlways said:

On the Grandeur in December the promenade deck was fully open all the way around which was nice for our twice a day walks.  On the Vision a while back the gate was locked for the bow section.  Was it open?  

 

On smaller ships you can get to know the crew a bit more than on larger ones.  

I've seen the  bow both open and closed at times, depending I think of what the crew is doing at the bow and possibly also who the captain is.  You may find it varies from one day or one cruise to the next.

 

Roy

[sandy toes]

I am looking for someone that recently was on the Vision. I have a question and need someone that was actually on ship in the last month of so. Thanks so much. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

41 minutes ago, sandy toes said:

I am looking for someone that recently was on the Vision. I have a question and need someone that was actually on ship in the last month of so. Thanks so much. 

What is the question? We disembarked on May 11. I think that would qualify. 

[leen50]

Same here. Repo Cruise.

[sandy toes]

22 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

What is the question? We disembarked on May 11. I think that would qualify. 

Did you have a coffee card/ Did you use it at the Ben & Jerry's and Starbucks kiosk? 

I have been told we cannot use them and that we can.

When I called Royal they said not in a Starbucks shop. It is NOT a shop just a kiosk shared with Ben & Jerry's. In March I was on Enchantment and could use them. 

Don't want to waste my money. 

Thank you in advance. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

5 minutes ago, sandy toes said:

Did you have a coffee card/ Did you use it at the Ben & Jerry's and Starbucks kiosk? 

I have been told we cannot use them and that we can.

When I called Royal they said not in a Starbucks shop. It is NOT a shop just a kiosk shared with Ben & Jerry's. In March I was on Enchantment and could use them. 

Don't want to waste my money. 

Thank you in advance. 

I did not have a coffee card.  But, I will say there is not any official Starbucks kiosk onboard.  It was Cafe Latte-tude.  They were selling coffee cards.  If they are selling them in your planner, you should be able to use them. Otherwise, why sell it to you?  🙄 JMHO

[sandy toes]

4 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I did not have a coffee card.  But, I will say there is not any official Starbucks kiosk onboard.  It was Cafe Latte-tude.  They were selling coffee cards.  If they are selling them in your planner, you should be able to use them. Otherwise, why sell it to you?  🙄 JMHO

I just did not want it to be for the MDR use only because I do not want a latte at dinner, I want a frozen one in the afternoon.

I found the answer in Matts blog. He has an updated policy someone else sent me there. I can use it at any Cafe Latte-tude fleetwide. Thank you for your help. Much appreciated. 

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, sandy toes said:

I can use it at any Cafe Latte-tude fleetwide.

Until you can't. The reuse of the coffee card on another sailing/ship is far from certain.