Vision Thanksgiving Review-Nov 19-26, 2006

[ElvisandTracey]

So I just got off the Vision Sunday morning after a wonderful cruise over Thanksgiving. I was with my husband, our 2 kids (2 & 10), and my mom-we had 2 JS's, right next to each other on deck 8. Here's how it all went down.

 

First, for those who don't like sailing with kids, let me say that this sailing of the Vision set many records-672 kids on board, where they ususally average about 200-250. There were kids everywhere, but it was a holiday, so it was no surprise. They were pretty good, as far as I saw. They also set records for the most meals ever served in one day on this route on this ship-maybe because teenagers eat about 6 times per day.:D

 

Getting On Board-11/19-

Well, I got to Pedro at 12:30, and the ship was not yet open for boarding, which is quite unusual, I usually walk right on at that time. It turns out that 60 people from the last cruise were not following directions, and caused a 2-3 hour delay. But it was fine with me, as I am a Platinum member, so I had Priority boarding anyway. We maybe sat in the lounge for 10 minutes, then walked on in front of everyone else. There was about a 30 minute wait to get thru security, but it wasn't too bad.

 

The Muster drill (or Mustard, for those who get it), was quick and easy, we actually got to leave early as we had a 2 year old with us, and he was squirming about, so the crew took pity on us and let us go. Then we sailed off into the sunset towards Mexico.

 

The Bad News:

We missed our first port, Cabo on Tuesday. Had 6-8 foot swells, so it was too dangerous to tender-the tender kept floating away from the ship, leaving a 6 foot gap, so no way. That day was rough, people feeling sick from the swells, and lots of kids looking really BORED, and my poor DS who is 10 missed his swimming with the dolphins. Instead we sailed in a circle until nighttime, seeing Cabo, but unable to get to it. Some were upset, saying they deserved compensation for the missed port, but there are always those people on any cruise. I didn't really care, as I have a timeshare in Cabo and can pretty much go when I want. I did feel bad for DS though, he wanted those dolphins.

 

The Good News:

The weather was great the rest of the time, Mazatlan and PV both went smoothly, with no tendering, thank goodness. In Mazatlan I went to the El Cid hotel, and in PV we did the pirate ship dinner cruise. Both were great.

 

After that, we had 2 more days at sea, with horseracing, ice carving, and a spectacular belly flop contest. My party of 5 won bingo 4 times on this trip (though not the last game, that was worth $9,000.):mad: And DM took the casino for about $750 total, including hitting 4 dueces TWICE on the same machine!! DH won the slot raffle as well, and made about $55.00, so we were pretty lucky in the gamblng department.

 

GETTING HOME:

The seas were a little rough getting back to LA as they usually are, but the weather was sunny and 85 pretty much the entire time, except a cold snap the last day as we got into California. Getting off the ship was fast, easy, and painless. I was at home doing laundry by 10:15am!!

 

OBSERVATIONS:

The ship and the crew are fantastic. While I missed some of the activities on the Voyager ships (JR, golf, and DH was crushed that there was no basketball court, as he always brings home the gold medals from the 3 on 3 and free throw contests), I didn't miss the 5 hour flight to Miami!!

 

The crew was wonderful, with a special award to Francisco from Portugal, who is the manager of Windjammer. We ate there most nights since we have a baby, and Francisco was great, took the baby to see the cook, gave him a pumpkin, he said he liked our son because he looked like him when he was little. The guy was great, and when we tried to tip him the last day, he said he would rather split the money amongst his crew-great guy.

 

Also, great in-room babysitting for those of you who use it-ask for Jennifer, she stayed with our 2 year old 3 nights, and he loved her. She was a lifesaver, as 2 year olds can't go to AO, so without her we never would have seen the casino at all!!

 

I was not impressed with the DR, and actually liked the WJ better-the service in the DR was slow for my taste. The gala buffet was amazing. The bingo crew is great, as is the poolside band, a bunch of guys from Trinadad. I really liked the flag parade that the crew had, and I also liked the poolside party/BBQ, where there was lots of dancing and a great number by the bar staff where they did limbo while throwing bottles and balancing their spinning trays on their heads!!

 

The coolest thing I saw was during the belly flop contest when a passenger offered to donate $250 to the ship charity (an orphanage in Mexico) if the CD would do a belly flop IN HIS CLOTHES!! He did it without any pause, it was great. All the poolside activities were really good, even though I lost with my #6 horse in the race ( I was the jockey).

 

All in all, a great trip. I have been on many different ships in the fleet, and I think this was my second favorite crew, the first being on NOS in 2003.

 

If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them.:D

 

-Tracey

[RCCLCARIB]

Will you please elaborate on the Junior Suites...(ie: Condition of the rooms, new bedding, the bathroom, was there a walk in closet?, basically everything you can comment on the room would be most appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

[Enchantment 04]

How was the meet and mingle.. that is if there was enough people to have one? Did you meet anyone from cruise critic?

[Family Man]

Nice review Tracey. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Did your 10 year old participate in AO, and if so, enjoy it? How was the AO staff?

 

We are taking this cruise Thanksgiving Week 2007. It will be my DDs' (now 13 and 10) second cruise. Last week, we returned from the Carnival Spirit, which was their first cruise. Ironically, we ended up doing the same itinerary plus Ensenada because of Hurricane Sergio. We were suppose to go to Acapulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, and Manzanillo. Therefore, next year will mark 3 years in a row DW and I would sail this itinerary, but it will be on 3 different ships, providing totally different experiences.

[clr0806]

We will be sailing her for New Years. Have the completed all the change out on the new bedding? Overall how did you find the public areas of the ship? Thanks for your review. Glad to hear you had a great time.

[ElvisandTracey]

Will you please elaborate on the Junior Suites...(ie: Condition of the rooms, new bedding, the bathroom, was there a walk in closet?, basically everything you can comment on the room would be most appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

 

The new bedding was FABULOUS!! I have spent countless cruises in the dreaded black hole between the 2 beds when they push them together-no more. The bedding was replaced just 2 weeks ago, and I slept better on this cruise then on any other. Nice fluffy white duvee cover, brought my own feather pillow, it was heaven!!:D

 

The suite was in great shape, big, roomy for me, DH and baby with a crib set up, still tons of room to move around. Nice bathroom with tub, the closet is not a walk in, but way bigger than the regular tiny ones, with more than enough room for ALL of my clothes, plus DH and DS. Fridge with sodas and water, plus enough room for my stuff too.

 

The balcony was way bigger than the D1's, spent most of my time out there. It had 2 chairs and a table, great for cards or domino games. The room had great soundproofing, we never heard anything, and DM next door never heard the baby when he cried!! Some ships have terrible thin walls, not this one.

 

Let me know if you need to know anything else. We were in 8552 and 8554 (mid ship, close to elevators) and had a great room stewart named Gusti-you'll love him if you get him.

[ElvisandTracey]

How was the meet and mingle.. that is if there was enough people to have one? Did you meet anyone from cruise critic?

 

Didn't go....too busy!:D

[ElvisandTracey]

Nice review Tracey. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Did your 10 year old participate in AO, and if so, enjoy it? How was the AO staff?

 

We are taking this cruise Thanksgiving Week 2007. It will be my DDs' (now 13 and 10) second cruise. Last week, we returned from the Carnival Spirit, which was their first cruise. Ironically, we ended up doing the same itinerary plus Ensenada because of Hurricane Sergio. We were suppose to go to Acapulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, and Manzanillo. Therefore, next year will mark 3 years in a row DW and I would sail this itinerary, but it will be on 3 different ships, providing totally different experiences.

 

Yes, DS (10) went to AO several times, both in the regular night session and the after 10pm sessions. Staff was ok, but they were way overwhelmed by the 672 kids when they are used to 200. Many kids got "written up" for being too wild, I guess that was the only way they could deal with so many. But my son was ok, I don't know about the others.

 

He always likes AO (his 4th cruise) but he's almost getting too old-he liked the arcade with friends better.

[ElvisandTracey]

We will be sailing her for New Years. Have the completed all the change out on the new bedding? Overall how did you find the public areas of the ship? Thanks for your review. Glad to hear you had a great time.

 

I know the entire 8th floor has all new bedding, don't know past that. The ship is in great shape, nothing worn or old. I didn't catch any bad smells, bathroom problems, or any other common ship stuff-our JS, and pretty much the whole ship, seemed pretty flawless. And the crew is wonderful.

[woof22]

We're going on the same cruise in Feb with a 9 year old. Did you happen to keep copies of the AO schedules? I'd love to see them.

[beatriz22]

We re going on the 17th, all adults, wondering: how was the bedding?? overall food in main dining room, whens the pool bbq, after the muster thing? and when and how many formal nights?? thnx so much, Beatrice

[ElvisandTracey]

We're going on the same cruise in Feb with a 9 year old. Did you happen to keep copies of the AO schedules? I'd love to see them.

 

Sorry, didn't keep any. The activities were various games, one day they did Egyptology and mummies, another was sports day (Gagaball is the on-board game), all kinds of things.

[ElvisandTracey]

We re going on the 17th, all adults, wondering: how was the bedding?? overall food in main dining room, whens the pool bbq, after the muster thing? and when and how many formal nights?? thnx so much, Beatrice

 

We had brand new bedding, as I said above, I never slept so well before on a ship. The food in the DR was so-so, I spent more time in the WJ cause of my kids. The pool BBQ was Thursday night after we left PV at 11:00pm. There were 2 formals, Mon and Fri.

[ElvisandTracey]

I promised before I left to post what movies were showing on board:

 

The Break up

Failure to Launch

Pirates of the Caribbean 2

Talladega Nights

Superman

You Me & Dupree

Click

[ElvisandTracey]

Duh!! I forgot the best movie of all that was playing:

 

Da Vinci Code.:D

[wrp96]

Tracey, thanks for the great review!! I think next year you should take a Halloween cruise on the Vision with the NUTZ.;) :D

[lishka]

Wow...I'm getting goosebumps! I can't wait to go! This will be our first time on RC and we have booked 8588 as well as an inside (for 3 girls 18,18 & 12)

You did the evening pirate ship? How was that for kids? We are thinking either that or the daytime pirate ship but we cannot decide.

Thanks for the great review...I can almost feel that comfy bed and see myself relaxing on the balcony! :) (Did you save any cruise compasses?)

[parrotthead]

Nice review, Tracey....(and nice pics too) ;)

Did you get Lobster...or was it "jumbo Prawns"?

I wish you would have taken me with you.... ;):p

[ElvisandTracey]

Tracey, thanks for the great review!! I think next year you should take a Halloween cruise on the Vision with the NUTZ.;) :D

 

Halloween is probably the only day of the year that I would pass up a cruise-it's my favorite day of the year, and I go to a bunch of events-any other day, I'm there!!;) :D

[ElvisandTracey]

Wow...I'm getting goosebumps! I can't wait to go! This will be our first time on RC and we have booked 8588 as well as an inside (for 3 girls 18,18 & 12)

You did the evening pirate ship? How was that for kids? We are thinking either that or the daytime pirate ship but we cannot decide.

Thanks for the great review...I can almost feel that comfy bed and see myself relaxing on the balcony! :) (Did you save any cruise compasses?)

 

We did the nightime pirate ship so we could see the fireworks-it was fun, the kids loved it. There were a ton of kids. Sorry, I didn't save any compasses-but will answer any specific questions you might have. Have fun on the Vision, you'll love her!!:D

[ElvisandTracey]

Nice review, Tracey....(and nice pics too) ;)

Did you get Lobster...or was it "jumbo Prawns"?

I wish you would have taken me with you.... ;):p

 

I had lobster-yum!! They also had the best clam chowder, and really good baked alaska-my stomach is growling just thinking about it. And I saw your old funky watermelon soup (peach soup too!!) I skippeed them both for the chowder!!!:D :p