Vision of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Background: Here I am writing another review on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Why? Well, because that means, I am not a “newbie” cruiser anymore. My husband and I have now been on two cruises together, the experience so far has been wonderful. We live in Central Florida, so getting to a port is not an issue. It just takes a bit of planning as far as travel time, but aside from that cruising as a Florida resident is a big perk. As we did in 2013, when we decided to book our cruise for 2014, we did it through an online travel agent and stuck with Royal Caribbean because of our previous experience. After confirming a tentative cruise date, we set out to find an itinerary that worked best for us. We knew we wanted to book for more than four nights, but less than seven. That left us with a five night possible itinerary. Once we confirmed that, we found that Vision of the Seas and a Western Caribbean Itinerary would work best for us.
Ship Information: I had done a lot of research on Vision of the Seas and the ports (Port Review link below), so I was comfortable booking. I will say that the ship, while a bit smaller than Enchantment of the Seas offered so much. We couldn’t be happier with the decision. The ship had been “updated” recently, and we had seen some of the before/after pictures on Cruise Critic (veteran cruisers are the best!!). The ship was kept clean and we would also catch a lobby, bar, or bathroom attendant hard at work to ensure that everything was up to standards, and then some. Again, we chose a ship that was manageable and maneuverable. Although we have cruised previously, we like to think of ourselves as still relatively new to cruising. This ship, like Enchantment is great for someone new to cruising. The new renovations show wonderfully. Everything from the Centrum to the Windjammer got a makeover a year ago in the fall during a dry dock. My favorite area is the Solarium. It is my favorite reading spot, sunbathing spot, and snacking/drinking spot. I absolutely love it and so does my husband. Don’t forget to bring a good book or your tablet/eReader.
Service: As with our previous experience with Royal Caribbean, we found that the high level of customer service onboard was one of the highlights of our vacation. It made for such a pleasant experience. You get what you pay for and it shows. During this sailing, we witnessed an incident onboard with a passenger who became rowdy and within seconds it was taken care of with minimal interruption to our vacation. We also found that sanitation and cleanliness was made a top priority. The cruise line is not taking any changes to ensure the safety of the passengers and I highly appreciate that.
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
For this cruise we, once again, chose a cabin that was mid-ship and near an elevator. We chose an interior cabin because we found that it worked best for us. Cabins should be selected based on how you plan to use the cabin and of course, your comfort level. My husband and I are heavy sleepers who have blackout custom drapery throughout our home. While we enjoy sunlight during the day, in order to sleep well at night, we appreciate some darkness. So, an interior cabin is perfect for us.This cabin was much less noisy than the cabin in our previous cruise. It was a little smaller as well, which didn’t matter to us much. We have found a system for storing our suit cases, toiletries, and clothing items which allows us plenty of space to move around the cabin. What struck me as odd is that the cabin did not a have a separating drape (or curtain) to pull to cover the bed. This was a little bit annoying as we like to pull that when we order room service. I should have done a little bit of more research because I have found that not all interior cabins have drapes. Aside from this our room was wonderful.