Vision of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We made a late reservation on the Vision of the Sea for its January 8th cruise. It was a short four day cruise out of Galveston to Cozumel and back. We drove from DFW down to Galveston the day before and spent the night at the Hilton Homewood Suites. Very nice, very new, just off the beach hotel.
For embarkation, we left the hotel at 11 AM, dropped the car at a local indoor parking facility, took the shuttle to the terminal, dropped the bags. At security there were only five people lined up to get through screening, and at check-in, there were no lines at all. We actually had a Junior Suite which would have given us priority embarkation, but it was not needed as there wasn't anybody in line.
(I even asked if we were early or late, or if there was nobody else on the ship!) It turned out that the ship was completely filled and we were just a little bit earlier than most. Check-in was smooth and efficient, and we walked directly to the ship and were on board the ship by noon. So, all in all, it was a very quick and efficient check-in.
Cabin Review
Junior Suite
The Junior Suites on RCL get you embarkation priority and a larger balcony room. The room was, in fact, about 30% larger than typical veranda room and was quite comfortable, if a tad dated. We asked for additional pillows, and a softer egg crate mattress pad, and although we learned that did not have any egg crate mattress pads left, both my wife and myself found our bed quite comfortable (although we have a Tempurpedic mattress at home and nothing ever feels as comfortable as that). Our cabin steward was attentive and courteous, and always brought us ice twice daily as we requested upon embarkation. All in all, he did his job quickly, efficiently and quietly, I can ask no more than that.
We were in Cabin 8552, which is just aft of the Centrum and beneath the end of the Solarium pool on Deck 9, and several times we could hear scraping as tables and chairs were moved about - never loud enough to wake us, but we will make another cabin selection in the future.
Port Reviews
Cozumel
We did minimal port activities, walked down the pier, browsed through some shops selling Mexican/Cozumel trinkets. Stopped in at a local bar right at the pier and had a margarita. The place was loud, with gregarious staff, and fun, but...expensive. But the margarita was quite good - and did it's intended job very well.