Loyal Princess girl thinking of RCCL's Vision of the Seas-Mistake?

[Scrapchick]

We're Elite on Princess and also very partial to HAL and Celebrity. Hubby is working on plans for next summer and has found an itinerary on Vision of the Seas that works with our plans and is now getting very excited about it, convinced the ship is great, the kids club is great etc etc...

 

I have a lot more reservations about this. I've read good reviews and very poor reviews. I posted about this on the RCCL board and can't say the feedback was terribly positive. We're especially interested in the gym, the kids club and the restaurant options, all of which we're generally very happy with on Princess/HAL/Celebrity.

 

I'm trying to be open minded, but am having a hard time thinking we won't be disappointed.

 

Have you sailed on RCCL and can compare the two for me?? I understand the class of ship makes a big difference and apparently Vision of the Seas is 11 years old at the moment has one small pool for use by families, a small gym and a pretty uninspired kids club, plus no specialty restaurant and an average casual dining area...

 

Please either reassure me or help me convince Hubby that this would not be a good idea...

[WendyVF]

We are just getting ready to take our first Princess cruise so I can't compare but I can tell you about our experience on a smaller older RCL ship. We were on the Grandeur last year after sailing the Mariner the year before. I had the same reservations but gave in since it was leaving from Norfolk and I loved the itinerary. While it's hard to have a "bad" time on any cruise, it just wasn't what we were used to. We felt there were very few options for evening entertainment other than the main shows. We liked the piano bar but it was one of the few that allowed smoking and you could barely see through the smoke. I do like the Viking lounge at the top of the RCl ships.

As for the kids program, our kids (13 & 17 at the time) really liked it. I think that is more a function of the group of kids onboard sometimes as opposed to the structed activities (at least for the older age groups).

 

Wendy

[kooljamming]

Go expecting something different and you will have a good time. Overall I prefer the liveliness and vibe of RCCL to Princess. I had reservations before trying Princess for the first time. Though there were things I loved and preferred about RCCL and even Carnival, Princess turned out to be a great vacation. If you take seriously what others say about their own vacation (good or bad) then you probably will be disappointed. Use what others say about their vacation to adjust your expectation, not to determine if yours will be the same. If price was close I would always choose RCCl over Princess. I like being active or watch people being active on vacation and disliked MUTS durning the day time hours on Princess There is also a possibility that I was overly disappointed with the food on Princess from believing others rave about it. Their good dining experience was not mine.

[ISABELLA]

I would not do it. It is a nice ship - old, but charming. Unless she sails to a great itinerary and the great price, I woul not go on the Vision - too old for me.

[DonnaK]

In our experience, Princess and RCI are comparable, and provide an equivalent cruising experience. There are some things we like better on Princess and other things we like better on RCI. But, it all balances out.

 

Vision of the Seas is an older and smaller RCI ship. That doesn't necessarily mean inferior, however it really cannot be compared to their larger ships as far as amenities are concerned. Likewise, it wouldn't be fair to compare it to larger and newer Princess ships. Just like there are differences amongst the Princess ships, the older RCI ships simply aren't up to par with the newer ones.

 

If your kids are older (tweens or teens), RCI definitely addresses this age group better than Princess does. Lots more for older kids on RCI.

[Toto2Kansas]

Two of the main things we missed on our last RCI cruise was the dining venues Princess offers.

Also the self service laundry area, which RCI does not offer on their ships. If you plan your wardrobe accordingly, or realize that you will have to send everything into the ship laundry, it won't come as a surprise. ;) Enjoy!

[karatemom2]

I am not trying to discourage you, but I will give you my honest perspective because I do have an actual basis for comparison. We cruised on the Vision of the Seas when it was doing the Mexican Riviera itinerary out of LA about a year and a half ago and we were not terribly impressed. The ship itself is older and lacks the amenities of many of the newer ships and we felt this particularly in the areas that our kids enjoy which include the pool area, arcade and kids club.

 

The teen program was awful, they rarely followed through on the scheduled activities and it was basically just a hang out. Since it was over a school vacation period, there were a lot of kids and teens onboard and they really had very little to do. The arcade was tiny and many of the games didn't work. The kids club area for my daughter was FAR too small too accommodate the number of kids onboard. It was so loud, crowded and chaotic that she hated it. I will honestly say it was the one of only two instances on cruises where I felt uncomfortable leaving her at the club because I felt their was a lack of adequate supervision for the number of kids and it seemed unsafe. The other instance happened on NCL. The one family pool is small and gets extremely crowded and noisy.

 

We actually found the food to be good and didn't mind the lack of a specialty restaurant. We actually liked the buffet and preferred the way it is set up to Princess so that was a positive. At the time Anytime Dining wasn't an option, which we prefer, but we had nice tablemates for the traditional dining so it was fine. The crew was nice, the service was good and the beds were heavenly! So there were some good things.

 

I would probably cruise with RCI again on one of the newer ships, but I don't think I would choose Vision of the Seas again unless the price and itinerary were really outstanding and I went with the idea that my kids would not be spending any time at the clubs. It is definitely not up to the standards of any of our Princess cruises, so if you go just be prepared to adjust your expectations or I'm afraid you will be disappointed. If you go with realistic expectations, you might be more apt to have a good time.

 

Scrapchick, I just realized after I posted this we are on the Golden together this Christmas. I recognized your screen name from our roll call. I have to warn you the Hawaii cruise on the Golden will spoil you for all other cruises! We still love them all, but its our favorite. You have been on so many cruises though, so you might have a different favorite, but there is just something about the roundtrip to Hawaii that is really special.

[Id rather be diving]

I have to agree with KarateMom2. I was on the Vision of the Seas last year. It was a graduation present for my nephew. He was allowed to bring a friend along and they had their own cabin. My nephew had previously cruised on the Golden and the Caribbean Princess, and he felt really let down by the Vision of the Seas. He was 17 at the time and said that there was a lot more to do on Princess. He said a lot of the games were broken as well. It seemed that all they really did was sit in the hot tub because there wasn't anything for them to do. I kicked myself for not spending the extra money and at least going with a newer RCI (like Freedom of the Seas) ship so they would have more to do.

 

the other big difference are the cabins. We've had both inside and balcony cabins on Princess. Since we were getting separate cabins for the boys we went with inside cabins. I really don't like the set up of RCI - I missed the closet area to get dressed in. The bathrooms on RCI were a bit bigger, but I don't usually do my hair and makeup in the bathroom anyhow, so I'd prefer to have the closet space. I didn't like the love seat in the cabin either because I'm not just sitting in my cabin.

 

Well, that's my 2 cents worth. I know that I wouldn't do the Vision again over Princess - any Princess ship. I may be willing to try a new/bigger RCI ship, but I'm pretty loyal to the seawitch! Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

Kari

[Scrapchick]

Thanks for the opinions... My TA does not think this ship is a good fit for our family at all and there are other RCCL ships that would be much better for us.

 

Karatemom2! Yes, we are on the Golden together at Christmas... Looking forward to getting to know you better on the roll call board. If necessary, I might have you talk to Hubby at the roll call about the Vision... he thinks its a great idea right now and the reviews are all good, and I'm wondering what he's smoking...

 

There's a right ship and a wrong ship and I don't think this is the one for us at all. I'm not opposed to trying RCCL, but the mix needs to be right.

[Stacey779]

I would probably cruise with RCI again on one of the newer ships

 

I have to agree with this. I haven't been on the Vision but have been on one of the smaller RCI ships. It wasn't a bad cruise - we always have a good time cruising - but I don't think I'd book one of their smaller ships again. For me, the main draw of RCI is their newer ships - they offer things that other ships don't. We had an awesome time on Mariner a few years ago. However, the older and/or smaller ships don't have the same amenities as the newer ones. I think you should listen to your gut on this one. Whatever you decide, have a great cruise! :)

[goldenrod]

We also cruised the Vision about 2 years ago on the Mexico run the ship is older I believe it's in the 70,000 ton range the food was quite good and so was the service and Yockcoff Smirnoff was the comedian so that was good. We do like the newer bigger ships but would certainly do the Vision again if it were a great itinerary.