Great trip to Cozumel

Vision of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 17

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5
Vision of the Seas

4 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 30, 2017

Ship: Vision of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 4036

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

The cruise was a great first cruise. For someone hesitant about cruising, the 4 day cruise was great. Vision of the Seas is still a great ship even with its age. This cruise has given us the want to continue cruising, and will be finding a larger ship with a longer itinerary in the near future.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Embarkment was extremely smooth. The security checkpoint, check-in and boarding was super simple, and was completed without any hiccups. Once on the ship, we were able to explore the ship. The muster drill was quick and easy, and then once the ship pushed away from the dock, it was smooth sailing.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
The ships main dining room had great food, though our waiter was super slow. He made up for this by bringing extra entrees to our table every night. The Windjammers buffet was acceptable at both breakfast and lunch, with only a few minor issues such as scrambled eggs that were still liquid. The bar services were about equal throughout, and somewhat slow.

Viking Crown Lounge

5 out of 5

The bar staff was extremely good. They were prompt, and provided great customer service.

Main Dining Room

4 out of 5

The food was extremely good, and I thought the quality was great. The menu selection was limited, but there was at least one item each night that I wanted to try. Our specific waiter was a tad on the slow side, where the first couple nights it took us 2 hours to each dinner. Our waiter made up for this on the following nights by provided our table with an extra entree. Our assistant waiter was only seen a few times throughout the 4 day cruise. She did not provide our table with much assistance. It took forever every night to receive our drinks as well.

Windjammer Marketplace

3 out of 5

For the most part, the food was very good for a buffet, but on a few occasions the food was cold or not properly cooked. I skipped scrambled eggs as they were still liquid.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
We enjoyed the pools, hot tubs, vitality spa and multiple shows in the theater.

Solarium

4 out of 5

The solarium pool is on the small side, but it was very clean. The hot tubs were warm, but not to a temperature I expect. The facility was also very clean, and the bar service was prompt.

Casino Royale

3 out of 5

The casino was very small, and was mostly just slot machines. There was no defined split between the smoking and non-smoking section, so the whole casino smelled like smoke. I should also add that you can smell the smoke smell from the staircase outside the casino on the bow(front end) of the ship. The bar service was great inside however, and it brought us back a few times.

Photo Gallery and Shop

4 out of 5

They display all photos taken at embarkment, and dinners. Even though we did not plan on purchasing any of these photos, it was nice to be able to take a look at all of them.

Day Spa and Fitness Center

2 out of 5

The facility is nice looking, and set up nicely, but it is right above the propulsion unit in the rear of the boat. While waiting in the "relaxation room", all we could notice was the violent shaking of that room. Once we made it too our room, the massage therapists asked us if we wanted a hot stone massage, and said it was already included, but when we received the bill, it was not. Both massage therapists were very hard to understand due to a strong language barrier, as they did not speak english very well. They added multiple extra charges onto our account that we did not understand.

Jogging Track

3 out of 5

The jogging track was clean, but is in need of repair. It is losing its running surface causing it to lose traction.

Swimming Pools

3 out of 5

Pool is very small, and it is about 5 feet deep. It is not zero depth like you would expect for a children's pool. The pool was clean, but cluttered. The Pool Bar was extremely slow, and a few of the bartenders were unfriendly.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
We attended a few shows including the comedian Steve, Love and Marriage Game Show, and a few others. We were extremely pleased with the performances and the shows. The only disappointment we had, was during the comedian, they continued to allow a heckler cause disruption and delay the show.

Observation Deck

4 out of 5

Great view

Masquerade Theater

4 out of 5

The venue has seen better days, but it was still inviting. We saw a total of 4 shows in 4 nights, and were very pleased with it.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Our room steward was very nice, and assisted in keeping our room very clean and well stocked. We had fresh towels everyday when we were ready to shower, and never had to call and ask. The toilets are very uncomfortable, and the showers are very small, but were manageable.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
The ship is very small, and things appear to be packed in to allow for as much as possible. The ships individual floors flow and there seems to be easy access to most areas of the ship with ease. The ship has not been refurbished in almost 10 years, so the ship is starting to see some noticeable disrepair including varnish on wood railings in the pool deck. There is also some minor rust areas throughout the ship, but nothing more than cosmetic.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
It was very small, and cramped. The cabin had the queen bed instead of twins, and this only allowed for about a foot on either side of the bed. The cabin was clean, but showed signs of wear and tear. The lighting in the cabin is poor, as most are fluorescent.

Ship tip

Make sure to read the cruise compass that is provided to you in your room daily. There will be a cruise compass on your bed upon arrival the first day, and the room steward will leave one for the next day on your bed nightly while they are cleaning. Make sure to read this, as it lists all events on the whole ship for the day. If you don't read it, you may miss something that you may have wanted to attend.

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

3 out of 5
Though we did not spend much time in Galveston, the quick taxi ride was very rough as the streets we traveled were in disrepair. Not many restaurants are open on Monday mornings, so we had to settle with IHOP.

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5
The port area was clean, but it wasn't very inviting. The shop owners were very pushy, and slightly on the rude side. We excited the International Pier and did some more shopping nearby, and thought it was very clean as well. These shops were not as pushy. We completed the 3 Reef Snorkeling trip that is approved by Royal Caribbean. The excursion was great, fun and very informative. We enjoyed spending time in the water. The snorkeling gear was beginning to get worn out, but was still acceptable.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
The disembarkment was just as smooth as embarkment. We were still asleep when the ship arrived back in Galveston, and began their clearance checks with Customs. We had the ability to eat a small breakfast in Windjammers prior to coming down to our room and grabbing our final items. Based on our luggage tags we were given, we were expecting a 9:30 AM departure, but our number was called at about 8:45 AM, which was very nice. Stepping off the ship was easy, as all you had to do was have them scan your seapass, and then you were able to enter the luggage room. Once we had our luggage, we got into the US Customs line, and within about 5-10 minutes we were cleared. The big thing to remember here is, if you purchased tobacco or alcohol on the ship or in a port of call, you must announce this, as Texas Alcohol Bureau will be on-site to charge taxes on this.
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