Seven days on the MS Vision of the Seas....

(Well... Uh... 8 months later...)

So... For my birthday, back in February, I wanted to do something fun.... so uh, Deka and I decided to go on another cruise. We went with Royal Caribbean as both of us had previously been on a RCCL cruise together and were satisfied with the results.
Most people seem to go on cruises to relax and spend time on a boat or whatever.. For me (us) its more of a... where is the boat gonna take us! The 'being on a boat' part has almost the least amount of interest to me other than a mode of transportation to our next destination. That being said, I did much enjoy being on Freedom of The Seas a few years ago since it had so much to do while you were out of the ports and it was nice to not have to be somewhere or be doing something. Well... now that we knew we wanted to cruise again, it came down to where... Probably the hardest part. In the end we picked an awfully tempting seven day itinerary that featured two days at sea, two stops in Mexico, and a stop in both Belize and Honduras leaving from Tampa. It would also be on Royal Caribbeans Vision of the Seas... a much smaller ship than Freedom... And one of their older ones, that also seems to attracts an older crowd but also one that seemed to get good reviews online and had been recently refurbished. Part of me was almost excited to see the major differences of being on what was the largest ship in the world to one that isn't even in the top 65 (or even over 100,000 Gross tonnage) Well, the day finally came and Deka and I drove out to Tampa from my place in Orlando. Inadvertently we booked ourselves onto a cruise that would happen to overlap with Valentine's Day (oops) but outside of not being able to get seats for any of the premium dinning that one night, it didn't really affect us.... Although it was very couple-ly, outside of maybe 10 families we saw... and us. Outside of the very few kids we saw with parents... We were pretty much the youngest people on-board.... And it was about to get extremely hilarious yet uncomfortable at the same time. So... it turns out... We accidentally booked onto an ELVIS tribute fan club cruise. When we had first gone inside the ship, I saw an older man dressed very... Disco like.. it was strange but I didn't really think anything of it...(I mean, I had a bleached blond faux·hawk) As the day went on.. I saw more and more.... And lots of  'Elvis Hair' and women with shirts on that had either the name Elvis... or a picture of Elvis... WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!? Well, we later found out it was indeed an Elvis cruise and that we, and a few other families had just inadvertently booked into it. Well, this should be interesting.
Over the course of the trip we saw several Elvis impersonators making their rounds and even performing around the ship... While I didn't really care.. and found it extremely funny. It also meant that some of the scheduled shows or events had been either replaced with Elvis things or just removed altogether.
And it meant that some areas of the already smaller ship, were restricted to those participating in the Elvis convention / dealers room and convention type..stuff.
But whatever... Old people and Elvis's aside.. I was ready for my trip to Honduras, Belize, and Mexico.
(Also, as a heads up... there are gonna be a lot of comparisons to Freedom of the Seas, since its my only other experience with cursing, sorry)

Hey look! Tampa, Florida.

But more excitingly, Port Tampa Bay!

Yup... Port Tampa Bay

Port Tampa's Harassment Village.

Brilliance of the Seas, another one of RCCL's ships was also in port while we were boarding, going on a different itinerary. Being in the "Radiance-Class" it was two families larger than our Vision-Class ship.

The main area of the ship, The Centrum, far less grand than the Royal Promenade of Freedom, but nice in its own, smaller way. (it grew on me as time went) Although I'm not sure what was up with the red and green 'Christmas' light theme it had nearly the entire time.... ha

Once checked into our room... We started our first grand tour of the ship.. Trying to track down every last spot on the ship and just exploring around.

It was cool-ish, as far as I was concerned but that didn't stop some people from getting into the pool right away.
(I did eventually, later in the week)

Looking across The Centrum, and its giant snow flakes.. that were removed later during our voyage.

Inside of the Main Dining Room.
I ate exactly one meal in here.... I don't know.. not really my thing, plus we got grouped at a table of a husband and wife much older than us and it was pretty awkward.
Also, when I'm on vacation.. I don't wanna have to dress up.. I wanna have flip flops on the entire time.

Another view of the pool deck area... in passing to something I had been waiting months and months for....

Windjammer Cafe, AKA
<3 FAT ASS BUFFET! <3
(As it was proclaimed during our last cruse by some lady in Jamaica)

Mmm... all I can eat food for the next seven days....

Unlike on Freedom, Windjammer on Vision is at the front of the ship, not the back. It took a bit for me to get used to it.. but I might actually prefer it up front on the ship. better views coming into ports while eating.

The Boutiques of Centrum, the shopping promenade and probably the only dreary part of the ship. So uninteresting and uninviting.

Casino Royale

Full of slot machines but also some card games and roulette, something I spent like an hour watching... but not playing haha.
Although Deka did play a around.. And she even won!

Random Plasma Ball inside the Casino... Not sure why it was here, but we touched it.

The planned itinerary, with time guide.
Starting in Tampa, Florida to Roatan, Honduras to Belize City, Belize to Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico to Cozumel, Mexico and back to Tampa.
(*** All itineraries are subject to change without notice)
Also, RCCL seems to no longer offer this itinerary, at least in this order/the reverse.
(It's also no-longer offered on Vision but on Rhapsody of the Seas, another 'Vision Class' ship)

Inside one of the few stores at The Boutiques of Centrum.

Ah, the muster drill... once completed, ..you're officially cruising!

A view down our hallway on Deck 7

Gotta rock the Fun Spot / Roller Coaster magnet for our door!
I wanted to bring alphabet letters.. but forgot.
(Because door decorating is coooool. Don't worry, there will be an entire montage of door photos soon enough!)

The inside of our super fancy interior room, 7111.
It was smaller than what we had on Freedom.
(We had a pull out Couch Bed in that room...)
But for the amount of time we actually spent in the room... it was fine. There were plenty of places on the ship to go outside and even find quit spots away from everyone else and if you didn't wanna go outside, you could view a live feed from the the front of the ship, on the TV.

Woo, gift shop stuff.. I think I made it away with only buying 3 things in this shop.

A live band playing some music in The Centrum.

Bye Brilliance! We're outta here!

Woo! Off we go! First with a full day at sea, and then onward to Honduras!
((I loved the live map on the ship, freedom had it too))

Leaving Tampa, most everyone was on one of the top deck areas, watching as we slowly made our way out of the port and into the Tampa Bay itself, its actually a good while before you hit open ocean.

Woo, off we go!
Although I was bummed this was as close to the front you could get. Where all the machinery is here, on freedom was covered and guest-accessible.
(IE: I was able to recreate Titanic along with every other first timer)  

The Solarium.
The 'Adult Only' pool and dinning area.
(Also, fully enclosed. It has a retractable roof but it looked like it hasn't been used in years)

"Draw me like one of your French girls"
(hey look, another Titanic reference!)
((A group of older women seemed amused by me as they walked by))

Main Dining Room hadn't opened yet for the night... So it was back to the Windjammer for some num-nums before heading out to watch Florida fade away into the darkness.

Because... the #1 reason to go on a cruise... Is to pretty much eat, nonstop, and return weighing some 100lbs more than when you left. <3

Yeeessssss.... Soooo much cheeeese

Tampa, slowly fading away into the haze.

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, at Sunset.
Once the ship passed the bridge, the few of us the remained outside gave a cheer and headed inside to the warmth. From here on out, we're on an adventure.

Back inside.. we were back to exploring the ship.
(Also, people kept telling us so they liked our style... whatever the hell that means!)

Another live band, this time playing in the main theater.

Once we hit International Waters, the Casino opened. Much to the gamers delight.

Being return cruisers, we got a special coin to use on one of the slot machines

I won a ticket....

That was exchanged for this fancy VIP key chain that I lost somewhere in my house.
Oh well

Cooler nights, and a continuous wind makes the pool area pretty much a ghost town at night. Its actually pretty relaxing late at night... Just be sure to take your hoodie.
Back inside... its time for the fantastic Decorated Cabin Door Montage!
:The DCDM
Here we go!
Since it was a Valentine's Day cruise and an Elvis Tribute cruise... Most of the doors ran with that theme.

Although I enjoyed this Universal Studios / Simpsons one!
(seeing is how I live across the street)
Bonus points for the Pen/Pad

Lots of hearts.. cause like... Loves is in the air?

We saw a few Dry Erase Boards. Something Deka and I also contemplated doing
Also, shout out to whoever was from Massachusetts! :D

Ah... and here we go.. With the Elvisisisis..... and hearts.
(It only goes downhill from here...)

Mmmhm.

Oh.. yes. yes, wonderful.

Runner up goes to this room!

And 7115 for the win... I... I don't know.
(After showing Jeff all these he got all "Yeah, I don't get why people do that..." I said "Its fun?")

And just for good-measure. Here is a Chimp... dressed like Elvis, kinda, flippin' the bird!
Back to other cruise like activities....

lololol.... Just, no.

Y'all can do your Zumba... I'ma have my waffles.

Ah... our first full day, was a full day at sea. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, or be....

So we just hung out on the top deck and watched the ocean pass us by.
(how poetic)

Also, unlimited ice cream is a thing

But so were snow peas and broccoli

Looking toward the back of the ship from one of the highest public areas.

The Carnival Glory, seen in passing.
Its based in Miami currently.

Open water.. and stuff, miles and miles from any land.

The Centrum midday, its still no Royal Promenade but manages to be the hub of activity while at sea.

Oh look, I'm having a plate of cheese.

The Giant Map! Showing us en route to Roatan, Honduras. An island about 40 miles off of mainland Honduras and what should be our first port.

As the day progressed we ran into some rougher seas making the boat move a lot.
Freedom was such a big ship and with its big stabilizers you barely felt it move. Vision on the other head was rock'n and rollin... Not to an uncomfortable level... but it made going up and down stairs an adventure and they eventually closed the indoor pool and even drained it since it was splashing water out so much!

They even had to postpone the evenings aerial presentation...but once we found calmer waters, it resumed.
I named it "the chandelier ladies"
It was rather bizarre.

Pretty much.. These two women were sitting inside these fake chandeliers... and as music played.... they lowered to the ground level and served adult beverages and did photos with guests....
We didn't partake in either... but it was incredibly strange to me. 

The Masquerade Theatre
We only visited in here 2 or 3 times during the entire week, and once was because it was our excursion meeting point.

The pool area at night again, in the morning.. We should be in Roatan, should be.
Once again the seas were getting kinda rough and water was spilling out of the pool pretty crazily, like a mini wave pool or something.

Story Time! (1)
So... I tend to be a light sleeper..... maybe around 230/3am we're in the room, sleeping, and I hear an all-call over the public announcement system that just says "Alpha, Alpha!" (a term used in my job to notate a medical situation) and that's it. I didn't think much of it and fell back asleep... We wake up the next day around 7 and since we have an interior room, turn on the TV to view the Map... where we were both shocked to see our ship had made a 300 degree turn and showed us as being near to Cozumel. I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of "what the ʞɔnɟ?!" followed by Deka saying something like "oh hell no" both of us being extremely confused. I picked up the phone and called the information desk and asked what was going on and if we were really in Mexico, not Honduras. She said yes, someone had gotten hurt overnight and that the captain would be making an announcement shortly, as she was clearly being overwhelmed with other calls. A few minutes later an announcement was made explaining that the ship had to divert since the hospital in Cozumel was more able to handle whatever had occurred (we were never informed, but word around the ship was either someone had fallen down the stairs in the rough seas... or a heart attack // preexisting medical issue. Eh) We headed out to the FABuffet to get something to eat while trying to plan out our day. The mood in the morning was pretty uncomfortable, people seemed quite or disappointed... just kinda feeling in limbo. In the Jammer people were mumbling about missing the port or how they've been on X-Number of cruises and never had to divert before.... Some people even went as far to say nasty things about whoever got hurt (kinda extreme to me.. what if it had been you or your friends or family... I don't know, bitching about it wasn't gonna get us to the right port... roll with the punches) Once we made it back to our room, a sheet had been slipped under the door explaining what was gonna happen next. Basically the boat would make port in Cozumel, Mexico as soon as it could and that once cleared by customs we'd be on our own in the city for the day
(The ship had actually made it into the Gulf of Honduras before making its extreme turn back north)

Well... Crap.
But I'm sure whoever got hurt probably feels like the worst... Not only did they get hurt or whatever... But they 'ruined' everyone elses trip too, making an entire ship reroute and such...  

Deka took it much harder than I did. While I was still annoyed.. I did my best to not let it ruin the rest of the trip... Deka just had a harder time letting it go.
I just wished we could have reversed the trip, since we were now already in Cozumel... Why not just go to Roatan on the last day... rather than coming back to Cozumel.
And to top it off.. Since we were not expected in port that day... There were zero excursions or tours available and to Deka and I, it was a basically a wasted day since we couldn't really take advantage of it... But I did end up walking past a closed fair with a kiddie coaster setup haha. And... Deka did some shopping.
((and since we had booked our excursion in Honduras from the ship, we got a full refund (unlike those who used a third-party)))
Oh well, it wasn't meant to be.
(But more on that later, when I do the port-day blog posts)

Oh look, a big boat! One of like.. 8 or 9 we saw in Cozumel (day 1)

The MSC Opera coming into Cozumel. The island has 2 different ports to accommodate the large number of ships that dock here almost daily.

The ship parked alongside us turned out to be the Celebrity Reflection, currently the largest ship owned by Celebrity.
(And part of the RCCL family)

Its pretty cool walking between the ships like this.. Makes it feel almost like you're in a city walking between skyscrapers.

The MSC Opera now docked in the port, with a Norwegian Cruise Line ship behind it.

Our little boat, Vision of the Seas

Oh hey, that guy...

This 'rainbow' look was far more applying to me than the 'Christmas' look earlier in the week.
And later on it was just like.. orange and blue before returning to the Christmas look?

Just... make it stop.

Norwegian Jade (based out of Houston, TX) tendering off of Belize City, Belize.

Another night.. Another truly bizarre aerial show.

Ending with this odd power ballad and.. uh, flag show??
If there was any sort of story line to it, I completely missed it.

But the next morning.. I had donuts :D

Going for a stroll on the walking trail.

And just kinda.. doing mah thing.
I don't know.

And shockingly... More cheese.

Sunset leaving from Costa Maya, we were the only ship in port so I don't have any photos of other ships from this day.
Oh well

Sunrise? Sunset? Sun.. Something, I don't know.

Hey look, its the Carnival Glory again.

Docked alongside three other Carnival ships in Cozumel.

Getting back to the port in Cozumel (for the second time.....) we were shocked.. and amazed to see Royal Caribbeans Oasis of the Seas parked right alongside Vision. This photo does no justice to show the scale of these two next to each other... Vision would fit inside Oasis....

Its truly a beast... And was the largest cruise ship in the world when built
(It's #3 now I believe)

Looking over to Oasis from the top of our ship! We had a fun time spotting people who had put hammocks up on their balconies... or ones that had private hot tubs and such on them... We also saw something I never wished to see.. and hope I never have to see again.

Story Time! (2)
 While it might be nice to have a balcony room and big open windows.... You probably shouldn't walk around your room butt-ass-naked... Especially when you're in port and parked right next to another ship! As I was just looking across to the ship.. I suddenly saw this older women just kinda... walking around completely naked. Totally unintentional on my part.... But by the time I realized what I was seeing and told Deka about it.. The women had walked back behind a wall in her room.. Not wanting Deka to think I was joking or making it up... we waited a bit.. and maybe 30 seconds later she comes back out... still naked. And as we laugh, other people around us on our ship look across and also see it! Good lord, at least 20 people must have seen her from our boat... And she likely had no idea.
(although Deka made a comment that maybe she knew what she was doing and it was some sort of voyeuristic fantasy she was pulling off, either way.. it was gross and unforgettable)
Annddd, back to photos and stuff.

Everything about this photo makes me uncomfortable.

<3 Cheese, cheese, cheese. <3
I ate so much GD cheese!

Because... because... it isn't a cruise if they don't play 'group dance song' songs!!!
(watch me, watch me! ooh ooh oohhh)

Trying to be more... domesticated, we watched the Cake Decorating presentation.
I was just hoping we'd get to eat some cake.... :\ 

Royal Caribbeans Brilliance of the Seas out at sea

Deka ended up buying this massive bottle of Grey Goose.... nearly two feet tall and 4.5 Liter from the Duty Free Shop.

I on the other hand... settled for this Knock-Off Lego set of the ship :)
(that was an absolute pain in the ass to build)

Partaking in other activities on the ship.. I conquered my second 'At Sea' Rock Wall... pretty much deserted here since grandma wasn't about to climb the 40ish foot wall.

We also saw the aftermath of Towel Animal Making...

Back to the US we go... With another full day at sea day.

For those to lazy to actually walk to the front of the ship, you could watch it live on the jumbo screen, poolside.

We watched the Ship vs Vacationers water volleyball match again... But Deka was mad the officers weren't in their uniforms (Like they were on Freedom, haha)

Mmm grilled cheese flatbread... And one of like... 50 salads I had during the week. <3

Meh
(Man, I miss my Taco Cat in outer space phone case :( )

Our final sunset at sea...
But not the last of our vacation. We've still got a few more days before we both had to go back to work.

Since we were doing our premium meal later in the night, we had a small snack in FABuffet early on... But it was make-your-own pasta night and I couldn't help myself :(
((also, cheese plate!))

And again, sun goes down... Pool area is a ghost town.
Even when its hot out, the nonstop breeze from the ship moving... even if its only going 30 mph (25 Knots, technically) its still enough to make it feel cool/cold. But my cruise experience is limited to both January and February.

This is about as dressed-up as you're gonna get me...
(also, this could have so been an album cover for any given Pop-Punk CD 10 years ago... All that's missing would have been a sleeve tattoo)

Izumi, one of the ships up-charge restaurants, since it was kinda my Birthday trip we deiced to try it out. My first cruise I didn't try any of the premium dining and Deka hadn't on either of her two. So it was new for us both. We picked it as our last dinner on the final day of the trip.

I got fried Tofu and Avocado Rolls, it was very yummy.. Although since this version of Izumi was a recent addition from the last refurbishment the ship got... It lacked the Teppanyaki the ships built with Izumi have to offer.
While I was fine with that, we were both under the impression this would also be Teppanyaki style dinning and I think it left Deka somewhat disappointed.
(Good thing I live a block from Kobé and can get it whenever I want!)

When you in the club... but everyone is just... so old...
And so they played a lot of 70's and early 80's stuff... And absolutely no Dance/Electronic... Even on the "Top 40's" night.. It was still extremely dated...
But I guess fitting for the overall age demographics. But still misleading, a far cry from the awesomeness that was the silent disco from Freedom... And almost a sour way of ending the cruise for us. ZzZzz

The sun was just coming up as the ship returned to Port Tampa. We headed over to FABuffet for one last meal before packing our stuff and slowly making our way off the ship and back to a semi-reality, at least an Elvis free one?

This Carnival ship was coming into port right behind us. I think its the Paradise, as its based in Tampa.

Yay... but also Boo.

Uh.... But I totally approve!
I wanna rent a Ferris Wheel......
(Hey SMAC....)

Bah... Vacation over... Now to drive back to Orlando byway of the Mall and a few hours at Disney World.
Oh... and Deka and I also booked another cruise while on this one! Oops. On the all new Harmony of the Seas, the worlds largest passenger ship! She'll be less than a year old when we set-sail in January for a seven day trip to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten!

So despite missing Honduras I still managed to have a fun time and it was neat to see the differences between a smaller boat with limited space vs the huge ones that offer pretty much everything. My fear of being bored were also unfounded and I really wouldn't have any issue going on another week long trip on a ship of similar size... But that being said, I did much prefer the massive Freedom over Vision and I'm super excited for Harmony... it has a water park, zip line, and even a carousel on-board! I just hope that trip is, uh, Elvis free?

And... for anyone keeping track, I'm up to 19 countries
(Planning on getting #20 in December!)
(((Haiti, Jamaica, Belize, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Cayman Islands!), Canada, Mexico, and uh... the United States....)))
Not that I'm keeping track or anything.
<3