This was my 8th Royal Caribbean cruise and my 13th cruise overall. For this cruise I went with my wife, daughter and father-in-law for our long vacation of the year. This was my second Vision Class ship experience, however, my first experience was back in 2009 so it has been a little while. Embarkation in Baltimore was extremely easy. We drove to the port and parking was a two minute walk from the car to the terminal. Since we arrived at our scheduled time we were able to get in the “short” line being used by suite guests while others who arrived early were in the “long” line. There was no real delay other than the typical time it took to get through security.
We had two standard interior cabins, one for my father-in-law for just himself and one that could sleep up to 4 people both on Deck 3. The beds for the 3rd and 4th passengers are bunk beds with railings that pull down from the ceiling (which my daughter loved). Unlike the Jewel of the Seas bunk beds, however, this bunk bed’s railing system was not the majority of the bed, only a small portion. Keep that in mind if you are concerned with a small child falling out of the bed. That said, where the child would fall is on top of you that sleeps below the child. Also, unlike the Jewel which had the ladder attached to the bunk bed, this bed needed to use ladders that were stored in the closet. In the end we just decided to lift her into bed instead of having her use the not really secure ladder. If your child is a young 4 yr old or younger, the bunk bed might not be ideal. In that scenario I would recommend when booking a room verify the room has a sofa bed instead of the pull down bunk beds. Also, regarding the bunk bed, the first night we had a noise issue as the back wall of the bunk bed was loose so it made noise all night long. The crew fixed the issue by putting a towel behind the bunk bed wall to stop it from moving and it did fix the issue for the rest of the cruise. This issue was probably due to the age of the ship but the crew did fix the issue!
The room also had the standard two twins, or when combined, one king size bed and the room had what I would describe as a 1/2 couch, bigger than a regular seat but smaller than a standard couch. Surprisingly, the room didn’t feel as cramped with three people as I would have typically thought probably due to the fact we didn’t have a sofa bed taking up so much space. The room was big enough for three of us on this nine night cruise and there was just enough storage space. I will say, the storage space was not as well designed as the newer ships like the Freedom Class ships so the room definitely did feel significantly smaller as compared to the newer ships. Also included are the safe, phone and tv which were all functionally easy to navigate. This room did not have a refrigerator or cooler. The bathroom was a small bathroom with a circular shower that had a shower curtain enclosure instead of the newer glass/plastic enclosure. Sadly this does make a difference. There was barely enough storage space in the bathroom for three of us, however, our 3rd person is only 4 years old so with a 3rd adult it probably wouldn’t be enough space. Royal has done a good job in the newer ships being more efficient and creative with the storage space. In the shower there was a combination soap/shampoo dispenser and they provided a small bar of soap at the sink. I would advise bringing your own soaps and shampoo products if you do not like Royal’s standard offerings.
We brought with us onto the ship three bottles of wine and a 12 pack of sparkling water. We didn’t have a drink package but we did purchase an additional 12 pack of bottled water as well as a coffee card which gives you 15 coffees. They do have multiple specialty dining venues including, Chops, Giovanni’s, and Izumi (not hibachi). Complimentary venues include the Windjammer, MDR, Park Cafe in the Solarium and Café Latte-tudes. We did purchase lunch on embarkation day at Chops Grille as well as one dinner at Giovanni’s Table.
Complimentary venues we tried were the Buffet for breakfast and lunch, MDR for breakfast and dinner, and Park Cafe which had pizza for lunch. My reviews of those are as follows:
Windjammer Buffet - Windjammer was so-so on this trip. There was just enough selections and in general good (not great) food quality. There were not many rotating food options (usually about 5 items rotated per day/meal). The service though was, as always, outstanding and we didn’t find it hard to find a table which we have had problems during peak times on other ships.
Main Dining Room - We did early dining and ate here every night with the exception of the day we ate at Giovanni’s Table. We thought the quality of the MDR food this time around was significantly better than when we were on the Jewel of the Seas a few months ago. I’m not sure if it was due to the “new” menus just being rolled out in April on Jewel or due to the fact Vision’s chef’s were better but I was extremely happy with the quality of our food in the MDR this time around. The food was obviously not as good as in the Specialty Dining but last time we primarily ate at the MDR I considered the food Mediocre to Good. This time I definitely would not use the word “Mediocre”. As for service, this might be the best servers we had on any of the mass market cruise lines. It started off with our waiter, Adina, providing the menus in Portuguese to my father-in-law who does not speak English. We’ve been on numerous cruises before both on Royal and other lines and this was never offered. Adina explained to us the menus should be available in 6 different languages on every Royal Caribbean ship so if the waiter doesn’t offer the menu you should be able to ask for one. Our head waiter Sachin also made sure our 4 year old was treated like a princess, always getting her food first and even getting pizza from Deck 9 at the Park Cafe for her if that was what she wanted for dinner. Our Assistant waiter, Nanda, also brought us our espressos after dinner from Cafe Latte-tudes. Seriously, this was one of the best teams we had on any cruise.
Park Cafe - This was located in the Solarium and gave another place you could get some food including small bites, a carving station and, most importantly, pizza. The pizza was about the same quality as Sorrento’s and it was nice to have this option on a Vision Class ship. The only drawback to having Park Cafe is this permitted children to enter the solarium area to eat. Children were still not allowed in the Solarium pool, however, children being permitted in the area did at times take away from the Solarium area atmosphere.
As for specialty dining my reviews are as follows:
Chops Grille - We tried Chops for lunch on embarkation day. I actually enjoyed the change of menu offerings on the lunch menu. As always, Chops is not my favorite steakhouse at sea but it is a solid experience with phenomenal servers and service.
Giovanni’s Table - We ate at Giovanni’s for dinner. Great service and good food. Like Chops, it is not my favorite Italian Restaurant at sea nor is it even my favorite Royal Caribbean Italian restaurant. I much prefer Jamie’s Italian and I haven’t had the opportunity to try Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen. This isn’t to say Giovanni’s Table or Chops are bad as we otherwise wouldn’t regularly purchase Specialty Dining. It’s just, in my opinion, the quality is a noticeable step down from other competitor cruise lines specialty dining compared to these two options.
Entertainment and Activities: Production Shows – We did not have an opportunity to attend the main production show. However, we were able to attend the comedic juggler show as well as the magician with our daughter. Both were only 45 minutes long and worth attending.
Other Entertainment - Pool Deck on the Vision Class ships is more of the classic cruise experience with one main pool opened to everyone and one pool in the Solarium opened to those 16 and older. Both pools did get crowded at times, but that didn’t bother me or my daughter at all. The one drawback on this pool deck is there were almost no loungers set up in shaded areas. Typically there are rows of loungers placed along the windows of the pool deck that are located beneath the sun deck. On this ship there were only 5 loungers (not exaggerating with the number 5) located by the windows under the sun deck and they are located between the towel station and the solarium. There are no splash parks, water slides, kids pools, etc., on this ship so keep that in mind if those things are important to you when booking this ship.
Adventure Ocean is a complimentary venue for children and for my 4 year old it was fantastic. They divide the children by age group. Just sign your child up on the first day when you first get on the ship. Afterwards you can drop your child off whenever they are open. My advice is to make sure you drop your child off the first day after dinner (opens at 7 PM) so they can make friends when everyone is new to the area. They do some sort of craft every day. I can’t say enough good things about Adventure Ocean.
Ports:
Bermuda - If you want to go to Horseshoe Bay, there is no need to book the excursion through Royal Caribbean. Just walk off the ship and there are numerous vans/busses and cabs willing to take you to Horseshoe Bay. With the cove and beach both available to you, this is an ideal beach day. They do have chair and umbrella rentals which are very convenient but also very pricey at $20 per item for the day. We enjoyed our day at Horseshoe Bay.
Nassau - We booked the Dolphin encounter and beach day at Blue Lagoon through Royal Caribbean. The ferry picks you and your hundreds of friends going to Blue Lagoon right at the pier which is convenient. The experience with the Dolphin takes about 30 minutes - 45 minutes and was definitely worth it for my 4 year old to hug and dance with a Dolphin. That said, in my opinion Blue Lagoon itself is a commercialized nightmare. Food is outrageously priced and terrible so I would advise eating before you go and bringing your own snacks. Overall though my daughter did enjoy both the beach and the time with the Dolphin so it was a good day.
Coco Cay - We did splash away bay, the pool and lunch. Royal Caribbean does it right with those three things that are all complimentary. My wife and I one time did the Coco Beach Club once which you pay for and is amazing, however, you do not need to spend money to enjoy your time at Coco Cay. The complimentary food provided at Coco Cay is better than any private island food I have experienced anywhere both in variety and quality. Also, the pool and splash away bay are fantastic areas. We didn’t do the many beach areas offered at Coco Cay, but you can find your nook and enjoy what you want to enjoy complimentary at Coco Cay.
Heath Center:
This is the first time we experienced the medical facility on Royal Caribbean. Without giving details on what happened, I will say since we weren’t an emergency we did have to wait to be seen by the doctor for about an hour or a little more for our initial visit. That said, the doctor and staff were professional and attentive once it was our turn. They have the real deal of a medical facility even on their smallest class of ship. You must remember, even if you have travel insurance you are going to have to pay out of pocket to be seen at the medical facility and then file a claim for reimbursement. Our initial visit cost us about $150 with a follow up visit costing under $100. Medication will also cost extra.
Overall, this was a very good cruise on a more “classic” cruise ship. If you do not mind not having all the bells and whistles and enjoy the more classic experience, do not be afraid of this ship. I also enjoyed sailing out of a small port like Baltimore.
