I used this site a lot before we went on our cruise. I found it to be extremely helpful. I felt like I knew the ship before we ever boarded. It was our first cruise and an incredible experience. To start I would highly recommend if you are traveling from any far distance to spend the night in Seattle after a day of traveling. Get a good night sleep. We stayed at the Westin Seattle. Wow, what a treat. They are famous for their Heavenly Beds and linens and I have to say we enjoyed it very much. On Friday we arrived at the pier around noon and was on board with in about 30 minutes. Royal Caribbean made everything so easy. We were in awe of the ship. Beautiful. We went to the Windjammer for lunch. I was pleased with the choices and happy that they had good Iced Tea since I am a big tea drinker. We learned that the water purification system on the ship is top notch. The iced tea and wonderful coffee proved that. The stateroom was an eye opener, even though we knew about the square footage and had seen pictures, it really is small. But a place for everything. As the week went on, it actually became very comfortable. The beds and linens were very nice. I loved the service, our room was made up twice a day and it was wonderful coming in at night with the lamps on, bed turned down, chocolates on the bed next to our cruise compass and towel animal. The cruise compass it the next days events (very helpful.) We found the ship to be just beautiful. Music playing everywhere! We loved the schooner lounge for relaxing and watching out the windows. Deck 9 is pretty awesome. We used the Windjammer up there for all breakfast and lunches. It is so festive on that deck with the food, pools, and music. We loved the solarium pool. It was more beautiful than we could have imagined. We used it early in the morning and were usually the only ones there. I didn't learn until the last day about the sauna and steam rooms. They are located in the spa and there was no one else in there when I used them. The service on this ship is unreal. Everyone was friendly and wanted to please their guests. Our dining room waiter, asst. waiter and headwaiter were fabulous. I loved them and will always remember their kindness. The dining experience was great, but I do have to say I actually hated the food. I only had one great meal and that was the salmon cooked on the wood plank. Other than that I was disappointed every evening. I didn't think I was hard to please, but I am a very good cook and love good food, this food left me flat. We never missed a show in the magnificent Masquerade Theater. We loved the entertainment each night. You have to go to the adult Quest game. What a blast to watch. Alaska is beautiful. We loved Juneau did a little hiking and lots of shopping. But watch out for the jewelry shops. High pressure. Unless you are really shopping for high dollar jewelry stay clear of them. Skagway was our favorite. Quaint town with nicer shops than Juneau. We went to the fire station there and bought our son a hat and shirt as he just became a fireman here in Michigan. I got this tip from someone here on this site. We did the White Pass trail excursion and loved it. The Tracy Arm was a real highlight. We couldn't believe the beauty. Our weather was mild all week, but this day you do need gloves and a hat. It gets chilly on deck and you want to be on deck for a few hours going into the arm. There were a lot of ice burgees the day we were there. So blue, and beautiful. Prince Rupert is just a good way to get off the ship and walk around a bit. A real downer after the previous 3 days. We did the museum tour with the tribal experience. They did a nice job, but pretty boring. The day at sea in the inside passage was pure delight. A really fun day on the ship and just an awesome viewing at sea. The last night was kind of sad; it is hard to think about going back to reality. I actually welled up in tears saying good-bye to our wait staff. And we met the most wonderful couple (our dinner partners) they live in Washington and us in Michigan so I doubt we will see them again, but will be e-mail friends for sure. Getting off the ship wasn't as bad as we had read. But it is crazy getting a bus to the airport and Seattle airport is not the nicest. We had 4 hours to kill while we were there because of delays due to bad weather in the Midwest. Then another several hours in Denver. Welcome back to the real world. L To wrap things up here, I rate the ship very high and the service top notch. They take lots of pictures of you and it was fun buying the ones of us on formal nights. My biggest complaint was going to the Savvy shopper seminar held in the theater the day before Juneau and getting roped into buying a $25.00 savings book that wasn't worth it. It was a big rip off and I am still angry that I bought it. I also wish the dining room food would have been higher quality. For an example on the last night they offered Turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and apple stuffing with pan gravy. Now a good turkey dinner sounded wonderful...Nope...terrible, out of potatoes so they gave me rice, about 1 tablespoon of what they called stuffing, maybe 2 tablespoon of gravy, and the turkey was like a frozen entrEe. I really didn't want to complain about the food, but I have to. We never tried dinner in the Windjammer because we were enjoying our new friends and wait staff so much, but I bet we would have had better food there. I hope I have touched on a few good pointers. I hope you enjoy the Vision of the Seas as much as my husband and I did. We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on board. Bon Voyage