Stewart Cohen

Age: 41 to 50
Occupation: legal assistant
Number of Cruises: 6 to 10 Cruises
Ship: Vision of the Seas
Sailing Date: June 4th, 2000
Itinerary: Alaska Inside Passage

After 2 Princess cruises which were both spectacular, I wondered if Royal Caribbean would be anywhere near as good. Especially since the ratings for its dining have been low of late. So why book in the first place? I was offered an excellent rate and the destination, Alaska, was more important to me than cuisine, for once. All I can say is that all of my reservations were needless. This is one gorgeous ship and even surpassed the Dawn Princess and Grand Princess in decor. The Centrum is a design marvel that is as functional as it is beautiful. The same goes for the lounges, dining room, buffet, spa, and solarium. Only the main theatre did not come up to Princess' standard. I prefer the stadium seating as opposed to having 2 levels. The cabin was an outside on deck 3 towards the front of the ship. We experienced very little rocking from the sea and know pitch (up and down movement) at all. True, we were in the Inside Passage which most of the time was like sailing up the Hudson River (in other words, land in sight on both sides). The cabin seemed large for its 155 square feet. Since we were forward, the window was not as large as the midship ones, but more than ample. The beds were very comfortable and there was room underneath for the luggage. There was also plenty of storage space. The closet had a full length clothes rod on top and another half rod below. My only complaint is that they use those horrible hangers with the ring that remains on the rod. Princess, on the other hand, trusts its passengers with real hangers. The vanity/bureau had drawers as well as cupboard with shelves and a safe which was controlled by a combination you select, tiny shelves behind the side mirrors by the vanity, and 2 side tables by the bed The bathroom had plenty of shelf space behind the mirror, underneath the sink and also a corner shelf above the toilet. There was a retractable clothes line in the shower (which didn't retract). Unfortunately the water pressure in the shower wasn't strong, although the sink water pressure was fine. Our cabin steward, Alester, was perfect, like all stewards I have had before. He was very obliging and entertaining as he made very amusing "dummies" out of the bed pillows, sofa cushions and whatever hats, shoes, Walkman headphones lying around the cabin. He even slipped a life jacket over a pillow one evening. It was truly funny in spite of the fact that I landed up having to put everything back before going to bed. I returned the compliment on the last night by creating my own dummy and used my gloves to hold his tip envelope.

The dining room staff was excellent as well. We had a table for 4. The other 2 people were a honeymoon couple, and decided to go for main seating, so we had the table to ourselves, which couldn't be better. We felt spoiled, especially when we went to open seating lunches and breakfasts and had to share our waiter with 6 other people. Not only was the service excellent, but the food quality in the dining room exceeded my expectations, especially during lunch which turned out to be almost as extensive as dinner. The other dining facilities were not up to the same standards, though. We only ate lunch in the Windjammer Cafe on the first day when the dining room is not open. That was not impressive. I didn't eat breakfast in the Windjammer and the people in the dining room who did, said the dining room breakfast was superior. The Shipshape activities were excellent. We enjoyed morning stretch classes, walk-a-thons, and tai chi classes . Adam, the Shipshape Director is Chinese and studied tai-chi in school. A nicer guy you couldn't meet. His commentary during our rest breaks were very low-key and funny. Example: "Today we will be in Juneau. You will see the same kind of shops you saw yesterday in Skagway, only more). He was also the Indian in the Village People on 70's Night in the Disco. The gymnasium in the spa is very nice. I used the treadmills in the gym a few times, but why walk on a treadmill when the deck was wonderful? The other equipment in the gym looked and included weight machines and bicylcles with animated videos. My only complaint is that the aerobics section is not in a separate, glass-enclosed area. Instead it is in the middle of the gym and the exercise equipment is on either side and behind, so you hear the loud exercise music wherever you are. It makes the use of a Walkman impossible.

Entertainment on board was plenty. I did not particularly care for the headline entertainment. However, the lounge entertainers were excellent, especially Marilyn Wood, who held court at the piano in the Schooner Bar every night. A very cordial entertainer who plays beautifully and was happy to make up lists of requests. Her "Under the Boardwalk" parody is hysterical and was requested a few times during the cruise. The dining room had live music every night.

Ports of call were the standard Inside Passage towns: Skagway, Haines, Juneau & Ketchikan. Hubbard Glacier was visited (most cruises go to Glacier Bay). Hubbard is situated inside Yakutat Bay. It is 1 mile across. Right next to it is Turner Glacier, smaller, but more active when we visited. Seals and bear were spotted in addition to the calving glacier. In spite of all of the ice in the bay, the Captain managed to navigate the ship fairly close. It was an amazing experience. The ship also visited Misty Fjord which wasn't misty at all the day we were cruised her. It was bright and sunny. We spotted bears in the grass, which were an extra. Now, this is by no means a close encounter and even with binoculars, they still looked like specks, but it 's a lot better than a face to face encounter. And believe me, when you go to use a restroom in a park and there is a sign posted "Warning: Bear Spotted Recently." you get concerned (fortunately, when we got back on the road there was a sign "Bear Left" so I was relieved!). We were scheduled to take a flightseeing tour in Skagway but the weather wasn't good and we weren't guaranteed to get to the glaciers. So we cruised to Haines instead on the ship and took a boat ride on Chilkoot Lake. We saw a bull moose (which made the trip worthwhile), lots of bald eagles, including a family in a nest (that was a real plus). In Skagway, we took a walking tour offered by the National Parks Service for free. They also present slide shows in their theatre. The one we attended involved a disastrous trip over the glaciers in the late 1890's. The ranger's delivery was fun. And all for free. So if you don't feel like spending money on a tour, just head over to the Visitor's Center. 

In Juneau, I took the Mt. Roberts tramway to the top and hike for a few hours. I loved it up there and the weather was beautiful. Saw lots of bald eagles fly by and also a red tailed Hawk. Only had time to get to the State Museum. Would have loved to get to Mendenhall Glacier but time was limited and the Hubbard Glacier was so wonderful. Ketchikan was the least interesting stop, in spite of all the hoopla about Creek Street. It's a bunch of shops on a boardwalk. But the fishing out of Ketchikan was wonderful. People were returning to the ship with 40 pound salmon. 

For shopping, make certain you pick up the Visit Alaska packets distributed in the cruise terminal in Vancouver. They include a book of coupons which had some real bargains. I picked up a 1 1/4 lb. package of smoked salmon for $14.99. This normally goes for about $22. 

In addition to the shore visits, you will see plenty of sea life on board the ship. Whales were sited a few times and the captain announced this. I also spotted dolphins during the first day at sea. 

This was truly an amazing cruise. The combination of a beautiful ship, excellent facilities, good food, and a destination like Alaska put this one on the top of my list.

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