Vision of The Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Empress of the Seas.....do you recommend?

[Cam044 9]

On 1/10/2020 at 1:15 PM, ChessE4 said:

At Royal's site for Vision, there is a video that explains a little about the ship. You might want to check it out or explore the deck plans.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/vision-of-the-seas

Whatever you choose, have a great cruise.

Will definitely do that, thank you!

[Cam044 9]

On 1/10/2020 at 2:12 PM, steverk said:

I'm on Rhapsody of the seas, which is Vision class, right now. I really enjoy the more personal service and slower pace of this class ship. However, if you're looking for a more active vacation, I'd stick with the bigger ships. There's just more for the kids to do. 

Thank you!

[Cam044 9]

2 hours ago, emory2001 said:

I've sailed Enchantment probably 5 times, because I live in Florida and for a long time she was going out of Port Canaveral, so it was an easy, value-for-the-money vacation to do frequently. So I definitely have a soft spot for her, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable cruise. That being said, I have found that the quality of the live entertainment shows *generally* corresponds to ship size. However, most of the shows are entertaining and worth watching.

The only shows on Enchantment that I can't enjoy are the headliner juggling acts, which at one point they started cleverly referring to as "Action Comedy." I won't even go to those shows anymore, because (personal preference) they are utterly boring to me, and we had one performer who acted completely disgruntled with the audience and part of his show was quite vulgar, during the early show when kids are present. 

Chances are, you would enjoy an Enchantment cruise, unless you have very particular goals that would be better met by a larger ship.

The Enchantment I’m looking at is a 7nt out of San Juan, and it only has one at sea day. I definitely think we would have no problem on this and would enjoy ourselves. Juggling would not appeal to me either....lol.

[Cam044 9]

2 hours ago, Dan Curtis said:

I enjoy all of them except the empress, just to much motion on empress for me. I do think you get awesome service on the smaller ships. Personally the Freedom is our favorite. 

 

 

Really?? Yikes, that’s not a good thing. I had to bust out the gravol twice on the Explorer and that’s a bigger boat. I guess it depends on the weather and waves. There is actually two on Freedom we have on our short list now, both out of San Juan. Only wish they were longer than 7 nights.

[Cam044 9]

2 hours ago, Va4fam said:

We have sailed on Enchantment and will be trying Empress for the first time next month.   Looking forward to our first Oasis class vacation next January on Symphony.  All the ships are great, just some are more suited for what type of cruise you are seeking.   

Let me know how the Empress goes. I hope you enjoy it!

[Cam044 9]

16 minutes ago, twangster said:

Columbia is a port that I was really blown away by.  It's not a common port of call for Royal.  As you bring the kids into the process do inform them it's not a destination you may be able to reach often and they can add South America to their resume of destinations.  Costa Rica is pretty nice too and you should seriously look at an excursion that includes the Panama Canal while in Panama.  That's a huge history lesson and a man made wonder with a scope that will likely will never be repeated again.  Bucket list destinations.  

Those are all great points; I think I’m going to look into these ports a little more. I’m hoping that I’d be able to do some sort of rainforest excursion if I go with this cruise. I love that their is an overnight in Aruba too. 

[Cam044 9]

On 1/10/2020 at 7:04 AM, princevaliantus said:

I just did a B2B on Vision of the Seas  over Christmas and New Years and I can tell you that it was AWESOME !!! I had the Aft Balcony 7652 which wraps around the side of ship and was extremely happy with that cabin.

@Prince Valiant Quick but important question.... Is there a self-serve ice cream station on the Vision? What about the Coke machine as well?

[princevaliantus 1,285]

1 hour ago, Cam044 said:

@Prince Valiant Quick but important question.... Is there a self-serve ice cream station on the Vision? What about the Coke machine as well?

Yes to ice cream ... No to Coke machine. 

[JG1209 90]

I was on the Enchantment last March... and I HATED IT! I can only speak for my experience... Staff was nice, yes.. but that was about it. It is definitely an older ship- and it showed.

We were in a grand suite- and it was not worth it. Seas were a little rough- so everything squeaked, rattled, opened, etc. I got so little sleep. Doors and drawers kept opening, you could hear the wind through the sliding door. There was a constant knocking noise... exhaust smell in the room for 2 nights.. it was rough.

Lots of stuff really "used" looking or broken.. Soda machines constantly out, ice cream machine constantly inop.,  equipment outside was very worn, such as ping pong tables and trampoline jump, etc.

Was extremely disappointment when I let my kid go to the Kid Adventure thing- that he asked to call to me to pick him up and they told him no... so he was sitting in a corner completely bored for almost 2 hours because they would not let him call me..

So, for me--- I would NEVER use Enchantment again...  It was not worth the money that we spent.

Sorry for the rant.. makes me mad every time LOL It was supposed to be a great trip for my sons 9th bday- and it wasnt.

Going on the Harmony this March-- hoping for a better experience 

[spursfreak21 63]

I sailed on Enchantment out of Galveston last summer and had a great time.  Yes, the ship does show some wear from her age, but I had expected this so it didn't bother me.  The staff and service was excellent.  It was great seeing the same faces all over the ship, same bartenders and wait staff (we did MTD).   We would even see our assistant waiter working in the Windjammer in the mornings and he would make it a point to offer to bring us our favorite drinks we would order at dinner(he remembered) ...that blew me away.  The pools and venues were full, but didn't feel crowded at all.  After the cruise I thought I wanted to go on a larger ship next, but I found a Bahamas and CocoCay sailing on Enchantment from Galveston this summer and booked it.  Can't wait to be back on Enchantment.  I'll probably want to move to a larger ship after this trip, but it's nothing against Enchantment.  Just want to try something different.

[CrimsonCruiser 55]

Went on Enchantment in 2017 after having done Freedom in 2015. We didn't know at the time of booking that the ship was SO much smaller and different than Freedom class so it was a bit of a shock to not have a glowing purple promenade. 

TLDR: From what I remember, it's not a bad ship. It was well suited to us doing a very chill cruise where nothing felt hurried or urgent. Not the most fun but not bad.

I would say the thing I disliked the most was that some entertainment took place in the base of the centrum. Pro: we could see something fun happening as we walked to our rooms. Cons: we were so far removed from the entertainment, often looking down only at people's heads, and there were no seats around the upper floors to really take a pause and enjoy what was happening. The Suite service was much less than on Freedom with our concierge often not leaving any voicemails about the next day's port or reminders to come by and partake of the lounge. In fact, on our first visit there, it felt like we were in her way even though it was open and serving snacks....

[Cam044 9]

On 1/13/2020 at 10:21 AM, JG1209 said:

I was on the Enchantment last March... and I HATED IT! I can only speak for my experience... Staff was nice, yes.. but that was about it. It is definitely an older ship- and it showed.

We were in a grand suite- and it was not worth it. Seas were a little rough- so everything squeaked, rattled, opened, etc. I got so little sleep. Doors and drawers kept opening, you could hear the wind through the sliding door. There was a constant knocking noise... exhaust smell in the room for 2 nights.. it was rough.

Lots of stuff really "used" looking or broken.. Soda machines constantly out, ice cream machine constantly inop.,  equipment outside was very worn, such as ping pong tables and trampoline jump, etc.

Was extremely disappointment when I let my kid go to the Kid Adventure thing- that he asked to call to me to pick him up and they told him no... so he was sitting in a corner completely bored for almost 2 hours because they would not let him call me..

So, for me--- I would NEVER use Enchantment again...  It was not worth the money that we spent.

Sorry for the rant.. makes me mad every time LOL It was supposed to be a great trip for my sons 9th bday- and it wasnt.

Going on the Harmony this March-- hoping for a better experience 

Wow, I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. The ice cream machines were constantly broken or out of ice cream on the Explorer we just went on too. Pretty annoying that I didn’t actually get to have ice cream until the last night. I just picked the wrong times to go have some I guess. Thanks for your input, it helps a lot! Enjoy your sailing on Harmony.

[Cam044 9]

On 1/13/2020 at 1:06 PM, spursfreak21 said:

I sailed on Enchantment out of Galveston last summer and had a great time.  Yes, the ship does show some wear from her age, but I had expected this so it didn't bother me.  The staff and service was excellent.  It was great seeing the same faces all over the ship, same bartenders and wait staff (we did MTD).   We would even see our assistant waiter working in the Windjammer in the mornings and he would make it a point to offer to bring us our favorite drinks we would order at dinner(he remembered) ...that blew me away.  The pools and venues were full, but didn't feel crowded at all.  After the cruise I thought I wanted to go on a larger ship next, but I found a Bahamas and CocoCay sailing on Enchantment from Galveston this summer and booked it.  Can't wait to be back on Enchantment.  I'll probably want to move to a larger ship after this trip, but it's nothing against Enchantment.  Just want to try something different.

The more personal experience definitely holds its appeal. Thanks, for your input!

[Cam044 9]

On 1/15/2020 at 12:14 PM, CrimsonCruiser said:

Went on Enchantment in 2017 after having done Freedom in 2015. We didn't know at the time of booking that the ship was SO much smaller and different than Freedom class so it was a bit of a shock to not have a glowing purple promenade. 

TLDR: From what I remember, it's not a bad ship. It was well suited to us doing a very chill cruise where nothing felt hurried or urgent. Not the most fun but not bad.

I would say the thing I disliked the most was that some entertainment took place in the base of the centrum. Pro: we could see something fun happening as we walked to our rooms. Cons: we were so far removed from the entertainment, often looking down only at people's heads, and there were no seats around the upper floors to really take a pause and enjoy what was happening. The Suite service was much less than on Freedom with our concierge often not leaving any voicemails about the next day's port or reminders to come by and partake of the lounge. In fact, on our first visit there, it felt like we were in her way even though it was open and serving snacks....

I think my daughter would be devastated if we didn’t have the promenade. That was one of her favourite things about our last cruise. I may try the smaller ships on a shorter sailing and see how things go before booking a 7+ cruise. Thanks for your input!