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Royal Caribbean International

MV Vision of the Seas

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Reviewed by: S. Staton
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: March 23, 2001
Itinerary: Caribbean

Generally, this was a very pleasant cruise experience for us. Yes, this was my first cruise, but I know what pleases me and I know what doesn't please me. And this cruise pleased me pretty well. We met people from all different backgrounds and age groups and the activities kept everyone involved with everyone else. I would definitely cruise this ship and this line again.

The public areas were spacious, well decorated, and very comfortable. Wherever there was a public area for the most part, there was also music to relax by. The main centrum area, which extends up for several decks, was very relaxing (nice piano music). There was the "Some Enchanted Evening" lounge which played oldies and other music to partner-dance with. The "Schooner Bar" had a pianist as well, and he was quite good. The Viking Crown Lounge played disco music at night and covered a wide variety of tastes. We went there just about every night. The Internet Cafe area was very quiet and you could get as much or as little done as you cared to. The Card Room was generally a good place to "escape" to for a card game, or a round of checkers, chess, or scrabble. If you wanted a place to relax, you could find it. If you wanted a place to let your hair down and go a little wild, you could find it. The outdoor pool was almost always packed, so we tended to shy away from this area. The indoor pool was considerably less crowded (generally, there weren't more than 4 couples there at any one time). Hence we stayed around this area a lot. You could still get a lot of sun here due to the all glass ceiling. You could walk around deck at almost any time of day watch the waves or relax in the sun and not feel crowded. All in all, there was truly a place for everyone.

I had read a lot of reviews that spoke of how bad the food was and how the standard had dipped considerably. In our home area we dine and fine restaurants, middle-of-the-road restaurants, and fast-food restaurants. We have experienced it all. But I felt that the food on this ship was excellent - with the exception of the food in the Solarium Cafe (next to the indoor pool). These burgers were way overcooked, the hotdogs were just ok, and the pizza was mediocre (although my husband felt that the pizza was quite good and subsequently ate it almost every night after the disco). But the food in the Windjammer Cafe (the buffet style dining area) was varied, interesting, and very tasty! I don't recall eating one thing here that I wish I hadn't. We ate here everyday except for one for lunch or mid-afternoon munching.

Everything was good from the bread on up. Some of the deserts were a little rich for my taste, but others were right on the nose. The food in the dining room was excellent. I have yet to experience a lobster tail prepared as finely as the one (actually, make that two - smile) that I had on this vessel. The filet mignon was top notch, the prime rib was to die for, even the ceaser salad was great! If you wanted to tweak you meal a little with a change here, a splash of this, or more or less of that, they were happy to oblige. My husband and I even ordered a desert that we love to get back home, but were disappointed to find out that they didn't have it (had barely heard of it even and it is a rather common dish). My husband mentioned our plight to the Head Waiter and two dinners later, he managed to get us our deserts! We were the envy of the entire dining room that night. We were serenaded by a lovely guitar, violin, and cello group. No matter what you requested, they played it. We truly looked forward to dinner every night in the main dining room.

We had a regular, indoor cabin. On first entering, it did appear quite small. However, once we got settled and put everything away, there was more than enough space for everything. (Besides, we didn't plan on spending much time in the cabin anyway - smile.) The bathroom appeared almost too small at first, but again, there was more than ample room for what you needed it for. The shower was an appropriate size for an average size person, but a heavy person may have reason for complaint. The toilet flushes quite violently and took some getting used to, but it did it's job! Our cabin was on the 7th floor, all the way at the rear of the ship and we felt notable vibration anytime the ship was moving. But rather than being disturbing, it was actually quite soothing and often times rocked us to sleep in a way. Other than that, the cabin was generally very sound proof.

We attended every show during the cruise (although I missed one and my husband went without me anyway). We thoroughly enjoyed each one (even the ones that we were a little iffy about.) The "broadway" type shows were exceptionally well done and the acts were very entertaining. The theatre had very comfortable seating and you could see very well from almost every seat.

I know nothing of childcare/babysitting, as we left our precious infant at home. I know nothing of the health club, since we figured we could always exercise at home right? But the organized activities were wonderful fun. We attended quite a few of the games that we weren't really sure about, and came out laughing our heads off. One game called the "Quest" we are still talking about (and that's all you're going to get out of me about that one). As for ports of call, we visited Cozumel Mexico, Aruba, Montego Bay Jamaica, Curacao, Playa del Carmen Mexico, Grand Cayman. We explored on our own on each island and didn't use the ship excursions. Basically, we walked around a bit and shopped. Some of the ports had very small beach areas right at the pier, but these weren't nearly as nice as the ones that required a taxi ride to reach. We did not care for Cozumel too much; everyone was trying to pressure you into buying something from their establishment. It was usually the same stuff and they don't take "no" or "we're just looking around" for an answer. After one or two shops of the high pressure, we just wanted to go back to the ship. Montego Bay was not all that impressive either. Beautiful place, but kind of boring unless you are on a specific tour which we decided not to do. But all the other ports were wonderful. We had a great time just looking around and strolling the streets.

I must say that all the people that told me that the crowd would be predominantly older were right. There were a lot of people over 45. There were also some people in their 30's and some families traveling with their children ranging from newborn to the late teens. Very few minorities. But everyone seemed to be there for the same reason - to have a good time, and that's all that really matters. Our table mates were 2 English women in their late 60's and early 70's and we had too much fun with these two. We seemed to wind up doing many activities with them even though we're in our mid 20's. And our other table mates were French-Canadian who were grandparents as well. They were a lot of fun as well. We wound up meeting up with them as well for other activities. In the end, age didn't really matter, it was truly the attitude towards fun.