Older ship - great service - loved the itinerary
Vision of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern
Contributor Level:
First Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 11
Helpful Votes: 163
11 Night Southern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 26, 2022
Ship: Vision of the Seas
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 3465
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
We chose this ship because of the itinerary. It fit perfectly with our vacation time (11 nights, just after Christmas), and we had never been to 3 of the 6 ports before. We knew it was an older smaller ship, and didn't expect much of the exciting activities like water parks, thrill rides, etc. The ports were going to be our excitement! And they were! ** Great trip overall. ** We would go on this ship again if the itinerary was this good. Otherwise, we usually choose bigger, newer ships.Embarkation
Embarkation went smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I had made reservations for lunch that first day at Chops Grille, which was a GREAT choice!! We usually don't pay extra to eat at specialty restaurants, but it was my birthday the day before; and I figured it would be a nice change to sit comfortably before the rooms became available. *The delicious food was just a bonus.*
-- The Main Dining Room food was typical. Great service from our wait staff, and there were always managers walking through asking if they could get anything else for us or improve anything, which was pretty nice.
* Our favorite appetizers were the soups: baked potato, pumpkin, and poblano -- YUM!!!
Lasagne and cheese tortellini were very good main courses. There was a kids brownie, pineapple cake, and a warm cookie ala mode that were our favorite desserts.
The buffet was generally very good. I always checked the Asian section: chicken curry, butter chicken, etc... YUM!
There was a coffee shop on Deck 6 that always had good stuff to eat (included) in the case. Ham & cheese on Focaccia, chocolate croissants, *coconut cookies*, etc...
We did not care for the special-menu fancy dinner for New Year's Eve in the MDR. It was ham or turkey with potatoes and stuffing, etc... It was all very dry and tasteless.
Onboard Activities
They had a Spanish class for beginners - that was something different and interesting.
Also we enjoyed the Lecture series about the Caribbean held in the theater.
Entertainment
Entertainment: The entertainment team did a wonderful job throughout the whole cruise. There were Trivia challenges, Comedians, Welcome Aboard Show, Love & Marriage, a juggler, and my favorite show : "Oh What A Night"!! It was a singing group that did Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons songs. I went twice, it was SO good!!!!
Piano Melodies with Albert - he was very good.
Children's Programs
We did not have any kids with us.
Service and Staff
We had wonderful service all around! One of the managers in the Main Dining Room went out of his way to bring me a special dish of rice and curry after I had mentioned something about it just in passing (!). The rest of the wait staff was all very friendly. Our room steward kept our room in great shape, and he stopped to talk to us in the halls.
Ship Quality
Ship: even though it was older, it was still nice. (** Don't expect water parks or ziplines **) We loved the art work in the stairwells. There was a problem with the AC for about one whole day, but our room stayed cool enough. Others were suffering, depending on their location, but they did get it fixed after about a day and a half.
Cabin / Stateroom
We had an interior stateroom, Deck 3. It was perfect for us -- just a typical inside room. Had plenty of storage. Comfy bed, adequate bathroom. It was located right at the end of a hall, next to a "closet/store room" for the room attendants, so there was usually a cart parked outside. But they hardly made any noise. Did not disturb us.
Ship tip
A good spot to relax was on Deck 5, either side, there were sliding glass doors that went to the outside deck. Good for sun in the day, and full moon viewing at night.
Thumbs up
1
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Easiest origination port, in my opinion. We flew in 2 days prior, stayed in an AirBnB, and took an Uber to Las Olas Blvd both nights for nice dinners. Took an Uber to the port around 11am. So convenient!
Booked a local tour: Cahuita National Park, Tortuguero River, and Banana Plantation. Excellent day!!
Tried the best banana I've ever tasted at the plantation!! Our guide showed us the banana trees out in the fields.
Hiked along a trail through Cahuita National Park, just inland from a beach. We saw howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, sloths, iguanas, raccoons, etc.
In the canal, we saw tons of birds including different colored herons, and saw a caiman in the water.
** Very cool jungle surroundings, and wildlife noises everywhere. **
Booked tour through Royal Caribbean: Eco Gatun Lake
It was a good tour. Lots of jungle areas again, saw birds, looked for sloths in the trees.
The driver took us across a bridge so we could see ships coming out of the Panama Canal. Very interesting.
( You do not see the locks at the Panama Canal )
Booked tour through Royal Caribbean: Eco Gatun Lake
It was a good tour. Lots of jungle areas again, saw birds, looked for sloths in the trees.
The driver took us across a bridge so we could see ships coming out of the Panama Canal. Very interesting.
( You do not see the locks at the Panama Canal )
We got off the ship around 3:15. Walked through town to get a drink and use the Internet at Starbucks. Walked about 20 - 25 minutes down to Surfside Beach. You could see the airplanes landing at the airport. It was nice scenery and a good afternoon. Watched the sunset back in the shopping area by Starbucks, and the huge flamingos (statues).
Booked a local tour: Gone Caribe
We met up with a lovely local couple, and the wife took us in her car around the west side of the island for a private tour. Went to Hato Cave first. The tour was pretty interesting.
We asked her to pull over at Cas Abo beach so we could take pictures - it's SO beautiful! Then we snorkeled at Jeremi Beach (mostly locals there). We saw tons of cool stuff under the water. We attempted to find parking at Porto Mari beach, but it was super crowded - because it was so close to New Years. My husband and I went snorkeling while she tried to order us some lunch, but she could not get anyone to take our order - the line was way too long.
She drove us to a local food truck instead, where we sampled some fried foods there. Then back to the ship.
After we rested and changed clothes, we walked out to the floating bridge and looked around at the cute little town.
Booked a local tour: Aqua Fun Bonaire
Walked with our guide just down the street to a dock where our boat picked us up. There were about 12 people onboard for the 2-stop snorkel tour. We did a drift snorkel at each stop over at Klein Bonaire. The water is beautiful, and the sea life underneath is awesome!! We saw 2 sea turtles, parrot fish, cow fish, porcupine (puffer) fish, gars, firecracker fish, etc...
There were HUGE brain corals, lots of different colors & sizes of fan corals, and really cool tube sponges.
Bonaire is one of my favorite snorkel places, besides Tahiti (!)
Disembarkation
Disembarkation went smoothly. We always put our luggage out the night before.
Traveler Photos
