Royal Caribbean International's
Vision of the Seasis, with her sister,
Rhapsody of the Seas, one of RCI's "Project Vision" ships, also termed "Ships of Glass." This 78,491-ton Liberian-registered vessel, built in France and launched in 1998, is a 915-ft mega-vision carrying a maximum of 2,345 passengers at 22 knots.
Visionsails year-round from Los Angeles on seven-night journeys to Mexico, making stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.
The atrium, soaring through seven of the ship's 11 decks, is the focal point, and one of RCI's trademark Viking Crown Lounges tops the vessel. The bi-level Aquarius Dining Roomseats 1,200 at two sittings. Glass walls on each side allow for spectacular sea views, and a pianist entertains from a raised, revolving platform. The Windjammer Cafehas an indoor-outdoor buffet area for breakfast and lunch, and offers another dinner option. The bar doles out caviar and champagne.
The Masquerade Theater, Show Boat Lounge, and the Some Enchanted Eveningshow lounge have computer-designed seating to optimize sight lines. The trademark Schooner Baris sure to draw the sing-along set. A casino adjoins. The open-air sun deck holds the pool. The solarium, a landscaped indoor-outdoor area with a second pool, whirlpools, cafe, and sliding glass roof, provides quiet refuge for just 236 passengers (in contrast to the multitudes on deck). Other amenities include children's and teen centers, a library, card room, fitness center and full service spa, jogging track, beauty salon and barber shop, medical center, boutiques and a photo gallery. Alas, Vision has no 18-hole mini-golf course such as those on the Legend and Splendour of the Seas.
The 1,000 staterooms -593 outsides, 229 with balconies -all convert to queen configurations and provide phones, interactive TVs, radios, and individually controlled air conditioning. 14 are wheelchair accessible. One of the major complaints against RCI has been the cramped cabin size on its ships, but big strides have been made here -the size of standard cabins is 153 sq ft compared to 122 sq ft on the earlier Sovereign group of RCI ships.
Like Rhapsody, this spectacular new ship should please RCI's many action-hungry fans and draw new cruisers as well.
