Vision of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great ship- great crew.  My only complaint was that we had 2 excursions cancelled- one for a broken tour ship and one because of minimal attendance. Neither was the fault of Royal Caribbean and to their credit, they offered substitutes at a discount. The only other change I would have made is a shorter stay in Aruba and a longer stay in Curacao. I am told that the length of time ashore does vary from sailing to sailing.

I have to say - this was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean - and it didn't start off well - when "they" (RC) refunded my credit card $50 for no reason and then tried to say I didn't pay the cruise off and owed them $50.  Thankfully they didn't cancel my cruise but it just seemed to be a negative start to this first time trip with them.  Then they seemed to not like to deal with TA's - so another reason to not want to try them again.  We also didn't have confidence in any of their excursions (they didn't seem to "back" their excursions) so for the first time ever - we didn't book any excursions with the cruise line itself - though we did go on some (that we did on the spur of the moment by finding tours on the "dock") and that actually turned out a lot better than expected.

the embarkation went well - better than expected - we were on the boat in no time - but RC seemed focused on "selling" something (excursion, drink programs, specialty dining) and like most cruisers - we were starving so we went to the windjammer - and lo and behold - only one line was open and the food was well.......not that great. 

We then made our way to the dining room - to talk to the wait staff about my husband's shellfish allergy and an hour later - we walked away with the feeling no one understood what a shellfish allergy was - because they wouldn't let us pre-order our menu for that night and they PROMISED no seafood was on the menu the first night - so we would have no fear of cross contamination.  Well guess what - every single entre had seafood on it - and we were so frustrated.  When we informed our waiter of the shellfish allergy - he was so dismissive and just had a bad attitude.  After 2 nights of this - we asked to be moved to another area - as far away from "Igor" that we could get!!  Now I will say once we moved - we had fabulous dining service and the new wait staff was very attentive to my husband's food allergies.

Our cabin was ok - the bathroom incredibly tiny - but we weren't surprised by that but we were surprised that no complimentary shampoo's or conditioners were made available.  And the air conditioning was not as cold as it could be so most nights I sweltered and wished I brought a battery operated fan.  No robe either.  I was missing carnival really bad by then.

The entertainment was bleh - it just seemed to be an "old" ship that catered to "old" people.  Nothing against the senior generation but I missed having a dedicated comedy club and the karaoke was "so so" -

I did however enjoy the movies on the pool deck - and the matinee's in the theater - I did catch up on several movies.  Popcorn would have been nice (again missing those touches that carnival has)

RC does have a decent drink program - which my husband signed up for - and it didn't require that I had too (thank god because I don't drink enough to make it worth it).  I also enjoyed the extra long walking track on the upper deck - though sometimes the wind made it hard to get in a good walk.....but no fault of RC if it was windy.

The ports of call were great - Key west could have been a longer stay - but I'd been there before so I didn't feel cheated.  Aruba, Curacao and Grand Cayman were all great ports - and gave me an idea if I wanted to go back in the future for a longer (hotel) stay.

Debarkation was a nightmare.  We put our luggage out the night before - and the next day - all 3 pieces of our luggage was no where to be found.  we spent an hour in the terminal frantically trying to locate.  We found one piece with the luggage tag ripped off - and the other was in the wrong "line" and the last piece - a passenger took out of the terminal with them (stupid idiot didn't bother looking at the NAME TAG???) BUT it was so frustrating........we vowed never again and will do self assist in the future.

I liked the 9 night cruise but I was not overly impressed with RC or this boat.  I am not sure if I would cruise again with RC - unless it was a destination/price I couldn't pass up - but I think I'll stick with Carnival.

The food was not good.  Breakfasts were awful in the buffet and the dining room was so slow!  The food was a little better there, though.  Same thing with lunch.  Decent salads but that's about it.  We had one good dinner in the dining room the entire week.

The drinks were okay if you were ordering beer or wine.  Mixed drinks were pretty much all mixer. 

There was not enough room to accommodate everyone who chose to lay around the pool on at-sea days.

The entertainment was sub-par.  Only 2 production shows the whole week and they weren't worth the time.

On the upside, the workers were very polite and the ship was very very clean.

The Vision of the Seas is not your mega big boat with tons of amenities but it is not always about quantity...the quality of what this ship offered was top notch.   

All the staff was super friendly and did everything possible to ensure you were having a great time.  The ship was very clean!  On my previous cruise I always felt like there were dirty dishes around the pool and ship, not on the Vision, there were constantly people cleaning up.  The service at the bars could be a little slow at times but always friendly and you ended up with strong delicious drinks so it was worth the wait.

I selected this cruise because of the Ports and they did not disappoint.  I loved all of them and would go back to any of them again!  I did not book shore excursions through the cruise line instead I used a website and got better excursions for a fraction of the price.

The Vision also did NYE and NY Day right....they gave you party favors at dinner and had tons of activities going on all NYE.  The party continued on NY Day with a huge pool party.

We were on Vision of the Seas during New Years and enjoyed all the stops.  The crew was helpful and our dinner servers were wonderful and made us feel special every night.

One disappointment was there was no sports for my husband who usually plays basketball and tennis on our cruises.  This ship was very limited only had a walking  track and climbing wall.

We also had a 17 year old and the activities were lumped with 13 thru 17 year olds.  The older kids hung out in the stair wells.

Although Vision of the Seas is not one of the grander ships, Royal Caribbean is fabulous and we were still blown away! The Western Caribbean route is great for those that love the beach - but do your research on ports ahead of time.  There is not much to do in each port but shop, so you need to already have an idea of where to travel for activities or already have excursions planned. 

The food was just okay not great.  The singers and dancers were not great at all. The orchestra was great.  The people on the ship did not go above and beyond they were actually rude.  They would just walk in front of you and not say anything. The waiter in the dining room was just okay, we seem to be the last table served and sometimes did not finish until 10PM. In the windjammer half the time the trays were empty and you would have to find someone to replace the food which was not easy.  The cabin boy could't even give us ice everyday which we had asked for, we got it twice after asking repeat times.  The Diamond Club Lounge was the best part of the trip.  All three people working in there went above and beyond to make us comfortable and happy and the food in there was great.  The person who baked the bread did an outstanding job.

This was a great trip.  The exception was that he internet service was the most expensive I have every paid for and the worst service I have ever received.  Bad enough that the featured comedian one night used it as fodder.

We booked the cabin based on representatives telling us the cabin was very quiet, last in the corridor with no access to public areas.  There was a connecting door to the bar that either slammed closed or did not close.  Crew was aware door was malfunctioning from the onset, tried unsuccessfully to repair while cruising.  Servers in main dining room and person that attended cabin looked and acted like they were doing us a favor.  Cabin smelled like old shoes and looked like a cheap motel.  Pool area and railings dirty.  Empty glasses were left on decks empty for a long time, drinks expensive and poorly prepared.  I have taken several cruises and Royal Caribbean is by far the worst (first and last time I cruise with them).  

From the moment we entered the port to the second we left, we had a great time.  The food was excellent.   The service impeccable!   We were a group of 11 and never felt like an imposition.  The staff was great.  The experience with was good. It was frustrating to find out,  once we were on board, that we didn't have the 50.00 credit we were promised.   Apparently there is small print somewhere and we were to fill out a form. However, after a call to inquire I was told we'd be refunded.   

Food was terrible, entertainment lacking. enjoyed shore excursions booked through .

This was my husband's first cruise. I sold him hard on royal Caribbean and was sadly disappointed and embarassed

This was our 13th cruise, and we've sailed with Royal Caribbean several times. It seems that their service isn't what it used to be, and that seems true on other cruise lines. The food is good, it used to be amazing. I think they now reserve the amazing for the specialty restaurants so they can make more money. The entertainment was below par, not even really high school theater/music department level in some cases. We only purchased 4 drinks during the 7 days because there were literally no wait staff to be found. Better on our pocketbook, but we would have enjoyed having at least one drink each night. We chose main dining room dining and our waiter delivered the wrong food to at least one guest every night. To hear all this, you might think we didn't enjoy our cruise. But we did. It just wasn't the same level of pampering and excellence we used to receive on Royal Caribbean cruises. It was still better than staying at hotels and searching for restaurants and activities to enjoy. And our time on the islands was great!

This was my 2nd cruise with RC. I therefore compared it to the cruise I had on the Freedom. Some things were better and some worse.  Captain Merick was Awesome, by far the best. My servers Mohamed and Menino were Awesome. My Room attendent Renald was Awesome. Where the not so good things came were the reservations in the anytime dining area. They were very disorganized. We had problems nearly every night, one of which we were unable to go to the table we asked for , even after waiting nearly an hour past our reservation time. They were very apologetic but couldn't seem to get things straightened out. Another area was the quality of food at the Windjammer was not as good as the Freedom. We also liked the entertainment on the Freedom better. The Orchestra was Awesome but the singers weren't.

I am a very experienced cruise traveler and have never experienced any cruise I would rate less than 4 stars.  This cruise is rated a 2 star because of the food, service and crew's attitude.   I wrote a 2 page letter to RCCL, but will try to keep it brief: 1) Food never hot or even warm, expect for the shrimp cocktail which was mushy and at room temperature and the cheesecake which was served room temp and had an odd texture, 2) The photo and entertainment staff were either inexperienced or not trained in customer service, 3) Music on pool deck was overwhelmingly loud (think Carnival Cruise Line on Spring Break), 4) Family of 6 placed at 3 different tables, 5) Sewage system backed up in cabin and unable to use, 6) TV consistently stopped working, 7) Wallpaper peeling in public areas, 8) very old mattress in suite and finally 9) a Junior Suite is NOTHING more than a slightly wider stateroom.  Don't waste your money on the "Jr Suite" or the ship.

1. It took them 4 days to find our reservations and give us our proper credit. 2.The Crew was not well trained. 3. The "Any Time Dining" was a complete disaster. Under staffed and very badly supervised. Never honored reservations. 4 food, just ok. 5. service slow and so, so.

There were exemptions of course, but every one we heard complain, and there were many were the same,

Over all Snip did get better over the course of the cruise, but "Any Time Dining" never improve.

cleaning material in hallway 24 hr daily, gray water leak smell for 5 days shampoo last  day dry fan on in hall at all hours. felt like walking walking into sewer.

   HAVE VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES FOR ALL KINDS OF AGE AND MORE INFORMATION SO WE KNOW EACH cruiser to choose, This cruise does not have much ENTERTAINMENT SHOULD THINK OF provide more information on promotions have traveled other cheaper cruiser and we have a good time on this occasion BUT WAS DIFFERENT.

The "My Time Dinning" not true!, since you have to make reservation, is not like you walk in "At Your Time" and get to seat down, no, you have to wait for the people with reservation first,...then the food selection is limited, as every day is much the same thing with an exception (one or two), the food tasted bland, lets face it they want you to go to the "Specialty Rest." and pay extra!,  and at the Windjammer Buffet about the same, (if you make "Paella" it should have some taste to it) !, but there is really on "Your Time", no reservation required there!. Was not very impressed with the Shows either. When you get to the Tampa Port to disembark, they fail to mention that you cannot drive your car up to pick up your luggage ( the same place you dropped the off), now you have to walk almost two blocks to load up your car.

It is always nice to cruise.  This time it was disappointing though.  Room was not as clean as it should be.  The drawers were not wiped clean after the previous guest. The carpet needed a good vacuuming.  The mirrors were dirty.  The bed could not be separated due to the large couch in the room.

We ate at the Wind Jammer for all our meals as we were given the 8:00pm seating in the dining room.  I did request the anytime dining.  The internet service was way too expensive.  I think a smaller window of time and a smaller price would have more people using it. 

We mistakenly thought we would avoid the wait for the luggage and tried rolling our own on but they would not allow us to park it outside our cabin.  But when departing rolling your own luggage was the best thing to do.   The promised credit from did  not show up due to "missing paperwork".

The food was bad.   I suppose they now cater to the private restaurants on board with high extra charges and do not do  much for the masses.   The outside entertainment was excellent, but  if you don't get there 45 min. early there is no seat, so you miss it.  The on board entertainers were very poor.  We even skipped them twice.   The service has been shaved a lot in the fifteen cruises we have done.in our fifteen years.   And even the attitude of the steward was sarcastic, so we skipped any interaction with her.

We used to brag about the food and service, but not now.