Vision of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Having cruised just twice before, from Vancouver to Alaska in the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and the Yangtze River as part of a China tour, we found the Royal Caribbean considerably superior to either of the other two. It might be the happy confluence of an enthusiastic & entertaining captain, an ebullient & enterprising cruise director, an effervescent & endearing activities manager, and an effective & efficient staff on this particular voyage that made us feel about this cruise that way. There is no question that Royal Caribbean would be at the top of our list if we were ever to consider another cruise.

Very glad I went on this cruise to the Baltic Sea. Amazing experience! Would have like a few more hours on some of the ports but to get a taste of the new places it was enough will have to do again in the future!

We did back to back cruises to the Baltics and then the British Isles which is the one we were most excited about and we were not disappointed. It was a great cruise to some wonderful ports.

Very enjoyable cruise. Especially liked the port of Tallin which is a very clean city. We did a tour to a dairy farm outside the city which tuned out to be a great choice. We would definitely do this one again.

The Vision is a beautiful ship.   Love the color and particularly the Centrum.

There's all different kinds of live music happening there from mid after to nighttime.

The WJ needs improvement.  Food not half as good the Navigator.   The Vision deserves better!   We're very attached to her since it was our first ship and have been on her many times.    Tendering was poor in Edinburgh.   lost 4 hours!   

Great cruise. A little cool but dry. the stops were great, although we liked Skagen and Estonia the best.. quaint little old towns that retain old world charm. Lots of construction in Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen

Skagen and Estonia make great walking tours and easily accessible from the port. All other ports you need HoHo bus or local bus to get into town.

St.Petersburg was interesting. You need a visa to visit Russia, HOWEVER if you book a off ship tour ( SPB  tours ) or with the ship, your visa coverage is included in the price of tour.

estonia.  the ships food was very good.   the staff very friendly.  the server was not very happy, he was the wine steward. the shows in the evening were good.

My husband and I choose the cruise by the destinations...which we're amazing! We planned excursions at every stop, which felt like we never stopped while at port. Our favorite port was st Petersburg,  the 2 day tour including lunch was amazing! Our tour guides were knowagable, and patient with the group. The only downside was the ship. We understand that the ports needed a smaller ship, but on sea days there was not much to do. The weather was windy and in the 40s. 

The staff was amazing, loved the ports..... I really enjoyed the bands, how focused on customer service everyone was and the friendliness of the staff.

The support staff was great.  Very friendly, helpful and cheerful.

We enjoyed the tours except for the one to Ibiza.  The guide pointed out all the bars and discos and didn't talk about local culture, or talk about what was growing in the fields as we passed.  The tour to Niece was unfortunate because it rained so much that most of the people sat in cafes.  It would have been nice to cut the time there and spend more time in Monaco.  After spending money for the tour, we did not think that we should be charged $10 to walk into the Casino just to see it.

More time in Mallorca to shop at the pearl factory and in the shops.

The Whisper amplifiers were used on a few tours and they were great.  I think you should make it a condition of tour companies to provide them.  When there is a tour guide speaking to a bus load of tourists it is almost impossible to hear her/him  at the sites with outside noise and noise from other groups.   

The ship's entertainment was good, fun and provided for an enjoyable evening.  The acts that were brought on ship were a very poor quality with the exception of the four tenors.  Some of them could not sing, and their programs were weak. The guy on the drums was super hyped up and he would have honored Pavarotti more if he had spared us the horrible rendition of the song.

The timing for the last night's entertainment was poorly planned.  It was so early that we had to rush through dinner, and others missed it, though truth be told, they did not miss much.

The food.  The first time I had salmon it was excellent, future servings were overcooked, as was most of the fish.  The lamb was overcooked as was the steak. The desserts were a disappointment and  the pastries were dense and dry,  We ate at the buffet and My Time Dining.  The wait staff was excellent.

The couple of games that we participated in were fun because your staff was fun and made the game and evening enjoyable.

sauerkraut was provided the first day for hot dogs and then never reappeared.  Spicy mustard would have been nice with the lunch meats.  Not everyone likes yellow mustard.

The class on the camera was pretty useless.  The class on how to make animals from towels  was too hard to see, and a hand-out on some basics would have been helpful, as would a mirror over the person making the animal.

I was very happy with the dinning room service.Alejandro's service was exceptional. Also the shore excursions were very fun and organized. The shows were spectacular. The room service was very good.Thanks

I was really surprised that we had to pay for shuttles into town at our port stops.  We have never experienced that before. I think that this was probably for anyone who didn't book an excursion through the ship. 

My favorite part of the cruise was meeting and getting to know other people on the cruise.  My least favorite part of the cruise was the food in the main dining room.  We sat at a table for 6 and every one of us did not like most of the food.  For example we had a shrimp cocktail  and when it arrived we were amazed.  There were 4 shrimp in every one's dish and the shrimp were about as big as a quarter and there was no red sauce on the shrimp.  Most of the fish dishes smelled fishy and had to be sent back.

Our waiter was terrific and took back all of the food that he was asked to.

Every time we turned around there was another fee.  When we left the ship for an excursion they asked us if we would like to BUY a bottle of water.  Every cruise I have been on has given the water for free.  I have bought many cases of water at home depot at the price of 16 cents per bottle so I know that when they were charging $2..00 per bottle we likened that to highway robbery. A regular size bottle of diet coke was $3.00

Nice cruise but need more time in the short excursions in Israel, and next cruise must be program diferent dates than Holy  thursday and Friday in Israel , because all chourches were closed.

The "Vision of the Sea" Friendly, Pleasant, Medium Category Ship,

WELL maintained, highly recommended, excellent, safe and lovely Crue including

the Captain of the Ship !!!!

The ports was very good but the ship was the worst I've ever been on. Most of the staff was rude like the had no customer service experience. My daughter fell while dancing with the cruise director and staff and not one of them came to see if she was okay or anything. This young man that worked in the bar storage area came to assist us and since he could not get anyone on the phone He went down stairs to get a wheel chair to get her to the doctor. The ship is very old and was not that clean as I am accustom to with exception of our cabin linen. The food was not good and in the windjammer restaurant the menu changed very little. I was very disappointed with Royal Caribbean.

The nightly dancing entertainment at the Centrum was great.  The band was very good.  The shows were not bad either.  Dinning room and House keeping services were great.

Only complain was the lack of respect for other races on the list.  As long as the cruise ship has even one other races on board, on a special day like New Year to their customs, it should be mentioned and showed respect.  Everybody likes to be acknowledged especially on an important day like that.  The cruise director lack of knowledge on this was shameful indeed.    We Asians tend to be more  polite and keep quiet about it.  But deep down we really felt insulted.

Anyway, something for the cruise directors on all ships to learn that all the customers are important to their business.  They should mention them even when they ask where everybody comes from.  Lately I have seen more and more Chinese, Indians, Koreans and other Asians on the cruise ships, they are not invisible really.

Thanks for taking this for me to let out my steam.  Have a nice day.

Priscilla Chan

The buffet needs to be kept clean.    It was so bad sometimes.  The spoons were so dirty at the end of the buffet.  They ran out of goof near the end. And it just needed a good wipe.   The tables were dirty at sometimes.   Yes when it was busy the buffet was a mess and the tables.   People walking around but not pivling or cleaning.   I am a vegan twice I ate food that mislabeled.     That really got me so sick. I been a Vegan 42 years.  Their was chicken in the soup. And meat in the tomatoe sales  most of all I got yelled at by a hairdresser in the spa.  She was so rude to me . The other staff heard it. I was offered a free massage but would not except it because I will never step in that spa again.  When we checked into the cruise.  The guest service lady was rude to me.  I asked for an icebox every hour because of my husband medical condition.   I was told 1 pm 2 pm 3 pm 4 pm. Than after the drill I was so polite when I called.  She got upset st me.   They know all the staff that was rude but you know it is a shame.  I never got mad or raised my voice.  Why should a staff member be mad at me.  The hairdresser at the spa was just a mean human being. And believe the other staff heard her as well.   The lady at guest services just lost patience with me.  And no one cared when I told them on the cruise.  No one cared.  

favourite part of cruise was sailing through Suez canal and visiting Dubai  Unique views when sailing through Canal of desert one side and green and fertile vegetation on the other.Also the unique skyline and architecture of modern Dubai plus all the designer shops .  

We loved the ambiance!  The crew staff were wonderful,  enthusiastic and

very helpful.  The dining staff were awesome..Table 65 with Nemanja & Maribel 

and another table with Mohammed & another gentleman.  They could not have

been more accommodating and pleasant.  The food in the dining room Aquarious was delicious!  The stateroom was very nice and our housekeeper Deswin was great.    One thing  however that we feel we would have wanted more of is free time on the excursions to have a sit down Grecian meal.  Although we tasted snack foods, we wanted enough time to enjoy an authentic Greek dish.  Otherwise we  would  recommend this cruise!