The Great European Adventure, Day 4: Embarking on the Vision of the Seasfeatured

On days where our trip moves from hotel to cruise ship, we’re usually up with the sun. If the early bird gets the worm, the early cruiser gets no lines. In line with just about everything else about this trip, though, there wasn’t much that followed our usual cruise routine – Stephanie was the only one who woke with the alarm at 8:00, Mom didn’t wake up until 9:00 and having slept through all of that because I sleep with earplugs in on vacation, no one woke me up until 10:00. But that was okay – we were so close to the port that we could see the ship from our beds and the sun was bright and beautiful, promising a gorgeous day ahead for our first day on the Vision of the Seas.

We had breakfast out on the terrace – the chocolate croissants and cava we’d purchased the evening before – and toasted to the next phase of our big adventure.

After breakfast (and a toast), we grabbed our bags and checked out of the hotel. Everything about Hotel Miramar exceeded expectation. The room was perfect (and best of all, huge!), the staff were kind, courteous and helpful and the grounds were stunning. I said it once but I’m going to say it again because I almost never see it mentioned in hotel recommendations: I can’t recommend this hotel enough.

The door staff were helpful in helping us get a taxi big enough to fit all of our luggage (and we had *a lot*, but this was a l-o-n-g trip!) and we headed off towards our new home for the next 12 days.

Embarkation

The cab ride from the hotel to the port was around €17 (including €7.20 in luggage fees – remember, they meter differently in Spain than they do in the US and you will be charged per piece of luggage) and took less than ten minutes. As we descended through Montjuic, I almost felt like I was in Beverly Hills, where lush palm trees and dense foliage line each side of the street.

Porters were plenty and grabbed our luggage quickly, and though the line for check-in looked daunting, we passed through to security pretty quickly. We’ve been Platinum on Carnival since 2011 and save for one cruise on the Allure, every cruise we’ve been on since has been on Carnival, so we weren’t sure what embarkation would look like without our usual lounge and first-to-board perks. Thankfully, it went rather quickly. Once we passed through security, our docs were checked and we were placed in a line for Gold level cruisers (…apparently that’s a thing when you have one RCCL cruise under your belt), where we took our pictures and got our cards. And from there? We walked right onto the boat. We arrived around 11:00 and it took less than a half hour between leaving our hotel and first step onto the ship.

Since we walked straight onto the ship, we didn’t spend any time in the terminal except in passing, but we noticed that there were duty free stores, liquor shops and even a bar. If you want to bring bottled water on with you, you can buy six large liter bottles for €8, which isn’t awful.

Unlike most cruises where you board into the atrium, boarding the Vision in Barcelona meant boarding on deck zero, so our first impression of the ship wasn’t this beautiful atrium, but rather, the crew deck. On the plus, boarding on deck zero made it easy to catch an elevator up to deck 9 (the Lido deck), so we headed up start exploring.

First Impressions

Our room wouldn’t be ready until 1:00 pm, so our options to pass the hour and a half between embarking and then were limited. We could walk around the upper decks. We could have lunch. We could hang around the atrium. Since we had plenty of time, we did all three.

We weren’t entirely sure what to expect of the Vision before we boarded. We’d watched every YouTube video we could find, read every review that came up in the search results and took in any piece of information we could get our hands on, but nothing really prepares you for being there. The Vision is one of Royal Caribbean’s older ships: she was built in 1996 and launched in 1997, making this the oldest ship we’d ever been on. Being an older ship meant less bells and whistles but a more traditional, regal design. Entertainment and dining options were more limited than they are on newer ships, but the passenger to space ratio should be better. The passenger capacity on the Vision is just over 2,400 guests, which also makes it one of the smaller ships we’ve been on (a far cry away from the 6,200+ passenger max on the largest ship we’ve been on – the Allure!).

And even though the ship was a little older (I was in middle school when she was first set to sea, the Clintons ran the White House and Dawson’s Creek hadn’t even premiered yet!), we were pleased to find that the ship was in near immaculate condition. If you didn’t know that the Vision of the Seas was an older ship, you wouldn’t be able to tell otherwise. No cracked tiles. No worn carpeting. No rust spots. The Vision was pristine and she was a beaut.

We walked through the Windjammer Marketplace to check out the lunch offerings and while the Vision doesn’t have the options that Carnival ships have (no 24 hour pizzeria, no burger stand, deli, taqueria or pasta bar), the Windjammer had plenty of offerings for lunch, each broken down into it’s own section: a salad bar with plenty of fresh veggies, meats, pastas, ready-made sandwiches, a build-your-own-burger station and, of course, a section devoted solely to dessert.

I knew, though, that there was another option that many other cruisers wouldn’t be aware of (at least, not on the first day), so we headed forward to the Solarium and Park Café.

Hidden in the far end of the Solarium (Royal Caribbean’s Adults Only area), near where the Solarium meets the spa, they have a Park Café, one of our favorites from our trip on the Allure. Park Café offers pre-made and made-to-order salads and sandwiches, including our favorite, the Kummelweck: a sandwich of roast beef sliced fresh on a salted caraway roll with lots of horseradish and mustard.

AND! They have fruit punch on the Vision! Carnival did away with fruit punch years ago and I don’t remember seeing it on the Allure, either, so we were super excited to find it onboard the Vision. It was a little too strong (I found it best at a 30% fruit punch 70% water ratio), but we were glad to see it as an option.

We settled down with our Kummelwecks and fruit punches and had a nice lunch at a table that looked out onto Montjuic. While we were in the Windjammer earlier, we were handed a flier for dining packages, so we contemplated those over lunch.

We walked around the open decks for a few minutes before heading inside to see if our room was ready.

We walked through the shops (almost like a shopping mall!) and took a peek into the theater (which was incredibly regal) before heading to deck 3 to find our cabin.

Our New Home

Royal Caribbean’s cabins are significantly smaller than Carnival’s cabins – we knew this going in. We also knew that the chances of Stephanie and I feuding decreased as our cabin to passenger space ratio increased. On a seven night cruise, we could usually deal with just about any room. For a 12 night cruise, we needed the most space we could get. We were going to book a balcony room until availability opened up for a Family Oceanview room, which had two distinct sleeping areas and a separate sitting area. Enough space to sleep six, so plenty of room for three. Room 3032, a forward cabin with no noise issues but a bit of motion (which was fine for me since motion makes me sleepy and being on vacation, I needed some rest whether I wanted it or not).

The moment we walked into the room, we knew we made the right choice. The room was more spacious than any stateroom we’d been on since the last time we traveled in a suite. Tons of counter space. Tons of closet space. Tons of sitting space. Tons of…space. You get the picture. And a large window for natural light. We were more than pleased.

You see those outlets in the last picture? No need for adapters on the Vision of the Seas. You’ll need them in Barcelona and just about anywhere else you travel in Europe, but you won’t need them on the cruise ship.

As we were settling in, our cabin steward came to introduce himself and handed us his business card, letting us know to call if we ever needed anything.

Too eager to stay in the room, we headed out to explore the rest of the ship.

Getting to Know the Vision

First step on our walk was deck six, to spend our onboard credit on an internet package (getting me to turn my phone off for seven days was a feat, but getting me to do it for twelve was going to be impossible – it’s just too long for me to feel comfortable disconnecting with work and, you know, Instagram and Facebook). On our way, we found Café Latté-tudes, the coffee bar, which is also where Ben and Jerry’s is. Both the coffee drinks and ice cream are priced a la carte (unless you have a beverage package that includes specialty coffee drinks), but the treats they have out are for free – you just need to ask for them.

Just past Café Latté-tudes was the internet café. They have computers there for use but we just wanted to sign up for a wi-fi package so we could use our phones/iPads. I think ours ran us $240 for unlimited use on two devices (which wasn’t restricted to two devices per se, just two at the same time, so if I logged out, Mom and Stephanie could both be on, or I could log out of my iPhone and onto my iPad while Stephanie was on hers). I know internet prices are a bit of a hot topic, but broken down, that was roughly $11/day each for two of us and we had some onboard credit. I think we also got a small discount for being a repeat cruiser, too. No regrets on the internet package.

We headed downstairs after activating our internet plan for our first glimpse of the atrium. The atrium onboard the Vision of the Seas is understated but quite lovely. The R Bar is located on the bottom floor of the atrium (deck 4, if I remember correctly), which is a posh space to grab a drink and a prime space for people watching.

While we were down in the atrium, we decided to sign up for a dining package. We were already planning on dining at Chops and Giovanni’s, so using the package basically gave us a free meal at Izumi. After we signed up, they urged us to head up to Chops because they were going to do a galley tour of some of the specialty restaurants.

The tour was just beginning as we got there. First, we were led into the galley area for Giovanni’s. Chops and Giovanni’s share a galley that is broken down into different sections. They walked us through, explaining the different areas and doing some small demos. They offered a tasting of Chops’ Crab Cake and Giovanni’s Mushroom Risotto while we were down there. I didn’t try the crab cake (though Mom gave it rave reviews), but the mushroom risotto was so, so good.

Afterwards, we were led through Chops grilling area and their espresso stations before ending the tour at Giovanni’s.

They offered up the dining package again for anyone who hadn’t already signed up. We made a reservation to dine at Giovanni’s that evening and then headed upstairs to get some fresh air.

We could even see our hotel!

We walked around the upper decks a bit before heading back to the room to see if our luggage had arrived.

Sure enough, all of our luggage was waiting for us when we got back to the room. We unpacked as much as we could before we had to leave for muster drill. Mom had her own closet in the separate bedroom, and we designated a shelf to the snacks we’d brought with to take on our excursions. All in all, we had plenty of room.

When it came time for muster drill, Mom was insistent we leave early. After nearly 20 cruises, she still doesn’t get that the first ones in are the last ones out. The key to a least painful muster on ships where they’re still held outside on deck is to arrive late. Last in, first out. Muster drill wasn’t entirely awful, but it wasn’t comfortable. They checked everyone’s cabin numbers and made all announcements in two languages, so it went on longer than we’re used to.

Bon Voyage!

Once we were freed from Royal Caribbean’s experiment in seeing just how many passengers they could fit out onto the promenade (sorry, muster drill), we headed up to deck 10 for sailaway. The weather was just absolutely perfect – warm and a little windy. We didn’t know what kind of weather to expect, but this was almost like a Caribbean sailaway. We pulled out of port and headed off towards Cannes, and the dance team put on a flash mob performance. It was festive, it was fun and we just couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the week had in store for us!

Once we hit open sea, we went back to the room to try to unpack some more, but we were just too excited to be out to sea to really get much of anything done. And before we knew it, it was dinner time.

Mangia, Mangia!

We’ve dined at Giovanni’s before, onboard the Allure of the Seas, but only for lunch and never for dinner. The menu is more authentic than westernized (you won’t find fettuccine alfredo here), but there is a wide variety of pastas, meats and salads on the menu that should appeal to even the pickiest of eaters (which in our family is our Mom!).

We ordered a few glasses of wine as we poured over the menu and enjoyed some crusty bread with oil, vinegar and cheese.

Starters and pastas are served family style at Giovanni’s, with entrees and dessert being served as individual portions, so we ordered a bunch of things to try and share based on the recommendation of our server.

Antipasti Per Due

Mozzarella in Carrozza alla Giovanni

Insalata alla Caprese

Crespelle di Ricotta e Spinaci

Risotto ai Fungi Trifolati

Everything was delicious but erred on the heavy side, and I don’t think we actually cleared a single plate. Our mains were well-composed, but also on the heavy side with rich sauces and flavors.

Gamberoni al Forno, Patate Agliate, Asparagi e Zucchine

Fagottini di Vitella Ripieni al Funghi Porcini, Provolone e Prosciutto Cotto, Salsa al Tarfuto Nero

Filetto di Pollo Ripieno di Ricotta e Funghi, Salsa alla Salvia e Chardonnay

Dessert was where Giovanni’s really shines. They wheel out a cart with all of their options and ask you to choose off the cart.

I had a parfait of amarena cherries with fresh cream that blew my mind. It was rich and flavorful and texturally light and…perfect. Our server insisted we try the tiramisu (which is the house specialty), so he served me a small piece on my dessert plate. Mom had the chocolate cake and Stephanie had one of each of their two kinds of cannoli and we sampled everything while sipping on coffee.

The dining packaged covered everything except for our wine and we walked away beyond full. Our server was really passionate about giving us a good dining experience and we thought it was the perfect way to kick off our cruise.

It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night

After dinner, we stumbled upon Name That Beatle’s Song in the Schooner Bar, which was the hub for all trivia activities during the week (so needless to say, we spent many an evening out there). The bar was crowded and everyone was having a lot of fun with it, especially the trivia host, which made it a really fun experience.

No more pictures, Nicole!

After trivia, we headed outside to the promenade to watch the sunset. This became a nightly tradition for us to come outside and watch the sunset on either the promenade or deck 10. The promenade was never too busy and, at times, was like our own really big private balcony. The sunsets were still really late but over the course of the week, they just got prettier and prettier. I’ve never seen anything like the sunsets we saw over the Mediterranean Sea.

The seas were a little rough and the ship was rolling by the time we got back to the room. Our steward had our beds turned down and we were pleasantly surprised to see extra pillows on our beds (I sleep with five pillows at home, so the more the better!).

We tried to unpack as much as we could, but Mom and Stephanie were feeling a little green from all of the motion and I was getting really sleepy. Still, it was too early by vacation standards to go to bed. Normally, we’d watch a movie in the room but they didn’t have any movies playing in the room and all of the local channels coming in were in French or Spanish. Stephanie decided to take a shower and call it a night and Mom and I headed out to the shops.

I’m not big on shopping onboard – I can usually find better prices and better options ashore – but what I really enjoyed about the shops on the Vision was that they changed their inventory out daily based on whatever country we were in with new local souvenirs that went beyond the typical magnets, t-shirts and shot glasses.

They also had a table out with the necessities at higher than land but not as bad as the $14 Pantene situation (still glaring at you, Carnival Funshops) prices.

Mom and I wanted to get some tea so we headed across the atrium to the glass elevators. The atrium lights up really pretty at night.

As we were grabbing some tea, we noticed some activity around Park Café. We’d missed it on our Compasses, but they had late night snacks in the Solarium. The late night options aren’t entirely plentiful on the ship (your choices are limited to room service or Park Café since there is no Sorrentos or Café Promenade on the Vision), but Park Café had every base covered: burgers and hot dogs were out for self-serve (occasionally, they’d put out other offerings like chicken wings), and at the counter, they had pizza, a build-your-own nachos bar, cookies, cakes, salads, soups, build-your-own fruit salad…a selection of late night snacks that ran the gamut. Still full from our dinner at Giovanni’s, we stuck to tea and split a cookie.

Stephanie was out cold when we got back to the room and Mom all but crawled into bed, leaving me alone and wide awake (because the late sunsets were still messing up my sleep schedule and even though it was past midnight, it was less than three hours post-sunset and my body was convinced it had a few more hours in it before it was bedtime). An alpha five star was called at the jewelry shop as I was settling in to watch the Cruise Director show, so we must have just missed a medical emergency.

Every day, our Cruise Director (Mercedes) and her Assistant Cruise Director (Cici) had their own television show that ran on the stateroom TV’s and since our options for American television were non-existent and there were no movies streaming into the cabins, we watched a lot of the Mercedes and Cici show throughout the week. We’d never sailed with a female Cruise Director or Captain before, let alone a female Cruise Director, Assistant Cruise Director AND Captain, but hey – girl power! Mercedes and Cici made a really fun duo and while they may not appeal to the more serious minded, their show was like watching an episode of The View – plenty entertaining for me.

And as I finally began to relax and settle in to sleep, I just kind of reflected on how glad I was that we chose the Vision over the Allure, Quantum or another newer ship with more bells and whistles. On a trip featuring such culturally rich destinations, the ports should be the focus. We heavily contemplated voyages on the Getaway, the Quantum and the Allure and on those big mega ships, the ship is the destination and not having the time or energy to explore the ships on a port-intensive trip would have left us feeling like we didn’t get enough out of them. This ship has no distractions, making it the perfect compliment to the ports. It’s interesting thinking back on this as we contemplate a European cruise on the yet-to-hit-the-seas Carnival Vista, but for our first foray into Europe and European cruising, the Vision was the perfect home for us and I couldn’t wait to explore more of her.