Stopover in Las Vegas

The last time we wrote from the US we were sitting poolside at the Flamingo. We did not expect to be back in Las Vegas until 2023, but it was less expensive to fly to Vegas and stay at a hotel there than it was to stay in either Los Angeles or Fort Lauderdale. We also got to watch the first round of the NFL Draft! There were some fun crowd activities and an energetic spectacle to walk around. The Strip was closed to cars and we walked around taking in all the excitement and fanfare right up until the time to depart from the chaos and head to Florida to catch our cruise.

Getting to the ship

Flying across the United States west-to-east is brutal. We have each done this many times and with the time changes and the longer flight time, it is always exhausting. And we also booked a redeye flight. Our flight left just after midnight to Dulles. Not Dallas….we had a comical “who’s on first” conversation about where our connection was going to be and what lounges were available. In Washington (D.C., not Seattle and not Dallas) we had a short, manageable layover and then took a three hour flight to Fort Lauderdale. We arrived at the pier with bad hair, bad breath, and red eyes. I share all this to say that traveling is not glamorous and this experience gave us a lens that we were seeing through when we joined Vision of the Seas.

At one point I had told Corey while sailing on Discovery Princess that cruising was going to be ruined after that voyage. His response was “really?” And I replied “kinda”. I was half joking but I knew in the moment how special it was to sail on a new ship.

I bring this up because we knew Vision of the Seas was going to be older and smaller. And the differences were apparent immediately upon embarkation. There were a few things that gave us a mediocre first impression.

• When we boarded we were told that all rooms were clean and ready, since it was after 1 PM. But when we arrived at our room, the door was locked, and the entire hallway was filled with room service trays and laundry bags.
• Apparently the procedure on Royal Caribbean is that your Sea Pass cards (room keys) are placed by the door of the stateroom. This works except when they aren’t actually put there ::eye roll::
• We had a number of comical conversations trying to find out how to get room keys and when the room would be ready. The stock answers (at your stateroom and 1 PM) did not work when it was 3:30 PM and there were no keys and the room was still being cleaned. Eventually the ship’s controller saw the frustration on our faces (and sleepy eyes) and brought us reprinted cards.

Throughout this ordeal, I could see the grimace on Corey’s face that he was concerned about being confined for a half month here. While we waited for our cards to be printed we sat out on the deck, looked at the water, and gave ourselves a pep talk. We made a decision to have a good time and not let the hassles of the afternoon define this voyage. Everything has been great since then! What do we really have to complain about? Nothing!

Crossing the Atlantic

Sailing across the Atlantic is both exciting and interesting. This is my second crossing (the other was on Holland America’s Prinsendam, sailing from New York City across the North Atlantic). I love to spend time walking the decks or sunning in a chair and gazing out at the royal blue sea. It’s so blue!

There’s so much history of ships that have come back and forth across the Atlantic and cruising these routes feels different than sailing other itineraries. This ocean is so big and it’s amazing how ships have navigated these waters for hundreds of years and continue to do so.

There were about 1400 guests onboard, about half of the Discovery Princess, although both ships sailed at around 60% occupancy. We chose an inside cabin for both sailings. I love the depth of darkness provided by an inside cabin! Here’s a photo with the lights on.

Things we enjoyed onboard

Progressive trivia: We bombed the final day and placed around 8th overall, but it’s really about the friends you meet along the way, right Peter and Donna? They are on their second trip around the world, attempting to avoid planes entirely. They made it on their ship to Barcelona on time but their camper van got stuck at the port in Fort Lauderdale. Eventually they will reunite with their transportation and will drive all over Europe this summer. I have a feeling we will see them again. I truly hope so! Check out their blog if you want to see what they do. http://timefliesbutwedont.com

Nightly headliner entertainment: There was great entertainment on a nightly basis. We had a handful of comedians, an impressionist, a funny juggler, singers of different styles, a charismatic magician, and a unique pair of cousins with a neo-vaudeville comedy/dance act.

Dinner: Our dining room companions were some of the guest entertainers. We were so lucky to be seated with such a fun, engaging group of people! It was a small group at a large table, but truly a highlight for me.

Learning basic Portuguese and Italian: The cruise staff were multilingual and put it to good use. Why not study a language while floating toward Europe?

Free drinks in the casino (thanks to MGM Rewards for the cruise offer!): This was unexpected but certainly was fun to have a nightcap at the roulette table after dinner. It was more fun when 22 hit six times in one night and we won’t talk about the other nights….

Silent disco: They offered headphones with music and we danced silently on the floor with 50 other people. It was so much fun! I love dancing with Corey and I felt like we never had enough opportunities to dance at home.

Ports of Call

Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain

Corey debated whether this counted as his first day in Europe. Geographically the Canary Islands are off the coast of Morocco, almost to where it meets Western Sahara. But they are Spanish politically and culturally, so it counts for Europe in some ways! It was also my first visit to the Canaries.

La Palma is the steepest of the Canary Islands, and Santa Cruz is basically carved into a hillside. We walked about 15 thousand steps and climbed the equivalent of 21 floors by zigzagging through the streets of this beautiful port city.

We window shopped and peeked in at a few churches and we made a total of 3 stops throughout the afternoon/evening.

We stopped for a cool drink at a small cafe in one of the alleys. There were lots of ship folks and tourists around. We even spotted our trivia friends, Peter and Donna.

After walking for several miles and while waiting for our dinner place to open, we perched at a little square to catch up on social media and book our next hotel stay in Tarragona, Spain.

Dinner of rabbit, goat, octopus, rice, bread, and more potatoes than I’d like to admit. Potatoes are an essential element of Canary cuisine. Papas arrugadas (wrinkly potatoes) are served almost everywhere, and every dish was paired with one potato or another (except the rice dish). We also shared a bottle of red wine from the island, and also bought a white from the same producer back to the ship to enjoy later. (The expensive bottles were less than 20 euros, at restaurant prices!)

Typical Spanish dinner timing meant we had to walk swiftly down the hill and down the long cruise pier to rejoin the ship. We were not last aboard, but did take full advantage of our day at La Palma.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

We sailed overnight to Tenerife, another Canary Island. We were quite confused on our itinerary because the largest cities on the islands are Santa Cruz on La Palma, La Palma on Gran Canaria, and Santa Cruz on Tenerife. When we read “La Palma” we originally thought we were going to Gran Canaria, but we were incorrect! Be sure to know exactly where you are headed. It did not cause us any issues but could be disastrous if you book an excursion for the wrong island!

So we ended up going to Santa Cruz de La Palma then Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

In Tenerife, we walked off the ship before 9 AM to join our private wine tasting excursion. Because this blog is long and we spent much of the day learning about Canary Island wine, we will post a separate, more in-depth diary of this particular day. In summary, we visited Tajinaste Winery and a wine museum with a bodega, where we sampled wines from across Tenerife. Lunch was served at the end of the tour at a local tavern, with local food and wine. We arrived back at the ship full, tipsy, and exhausted. We had a great Spanish siesta in the room and woke up just in time for dinner at 8.

Time at Sea

We had two more sea days to get from the Canary Islands to the mainland. It was great to sleep in and not set an alarm clock on the first sea day. But the second sea day required an alarm so we could be up on deck at sunrise to watch us sail through the Strait of Gibraltar. I have visited The Rock before, but Corey was excited to see the famed piece of land. The sunrise was beautiful as we entered the Mediterranean and continued to Spain.

Valencia, Spain

Valencia is a cool city and also Spain’s third largest. It also happens to be the birthplace of paella and we were determined to find a great restaurant while visiting for the day. But first we toured the city by foot to work up our appetite. We walked about 13 miles in total. My feet were not prepared for that amount of walking! It seems like a great city for biking, so if you plan to visit Valencia, rent a bike! After a flood in 1957, the city rerouted the Turia River to the outskirts of the city, and turned the river bed into a beautiful park, nearly five miles long. We took advantage of that and strolled through grass and paved paths.

We were able to see the City of Arts and Science (a complex located in the former riverbed), the old historic part of town, and then walked through El Cabanyal (the fisherman’s quarter, now a trendy boho neighborhood) down to the beach. The highlight of the day was visiting the Central Market. So many vendors hawking juice, meats, vegetables, wine, and pastries. I could have meandered all day. We bought a vermouth and a glass of cider (3 euros total) and sat outside for a few minutes.

I love this city!

We finally made it down to the beach area and to La Pepica, the restaurant Corey picked out for paella. We had a large, somewhat underwhelming meal. The paella lacked the crisped rice at the bottom and flavors we were hoping for.

Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

We were scheduled to visit Ibiza, but Royal Caribbean emailed us before departure that the port was changed to Mallorca due to a scheduling conflect. I was bummed because Ibiza would have been a new port for me, but the day in Mallorca was just fine. And do not confuse Palma de Mallorca with Palma de Gran Canaria!

Corey mapped out a short walk through old town: mostly churches and castles, then a jaunt back down to the beach. My feet were still recovering from Valencia and five miles into the walk my dogs started barking, loudly. I thought it was going to be short? I wore flip flops…bad choice. Luckily my feet eventually hit the sand and we could relax on the beach for an hour or so before taxiing back to the port, and off to our final destination, Barcelona.

In Summary

Vision of the Seas charmed us in the end and we had a wonderful cruise experience. We enjoyed the ports and the amenities onboard. I felt like we were on there way longer than two weeks but time also feels like it goes by in an instant!

For those wondering how we afforded to take this cruise and keep to our daily budget of $100…..we didn’t. We ate out in port, hired a private wine tour, and occasionally ordered wine in the dining room onboard. PLUS we received a $400 discount through MGM. With all that in mind we averaged $198 per day for everything (food, drink, lodging/transportation, gratuities, and activities). We will write soon about our budgets and planning. Especially since we have more cruises coming up.