The Royal Flush

Item: Vision of the Seas
Rating: 2
Author: MRoberts143

Vision of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

MRoberts143

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 19, 2015

Ship: Vision of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7529

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I've taken 5 Carnival Cruises ranging from 4 nights to 7 nights and Norwegian. The Vision of the Seas was my first Royal Caribbean cruise and it will be my last. The ship smelled like urine the entire time, hence "The Royal Flush". Our room was border-line unbearable with the odor. Most of the staff was extremely rude. No one went above and beyond unless you called them out on their rudeness. I was later told that this ship is a training ship, however, I never saw trainers and most of the staff said they had been on the ship two or more years. It was obvious they were not happy to be there. I found them to be slow and argumentative. Don't participate in the drink packages because you will find it difficult to get a drink. Ordered wine with dinner 3 out of 7 nights and never received it. The bar service was slow and the servers that worked the pools and decks were extremely scarce. The food was just not good. the buffet was horrible (poor quality) and dinner was very disappointing because the "free" menu was mainly weird foods like escargot and duck. However, you could purchase better, more familiar food like filet or lobster. I was shocked that there were separate menus and up-charges for better food. There was nothing fun about the ship, at all, especially for kids. The entertainment was very poor quality, not what I'm used to on Carnival experiences...hence one of our coined phrases during our trip became, "Well, it's not Carnival". I felt hustled on the one excursion I did in Honduras which was a Royal Caribbean excursion that I purchased on the ship. If I had to say something good about the experience, it would be that the embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Food was not good and you had to pay extra for the good food

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Boring

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Boring

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

very few that were worth participating in

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Slow and rude

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

old and no frills

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Room smelled like urine the entire time. It was small and so was the balcony. Service as nothing special....didn't even make towel creatures until last two nights. Had to beg for ice in our ice bucket...sometimes waiting two hours or more.