Vision of the Seas - 4 Night Amsterdam Cruise

Vision of the Seas - 4 Night Amsterdam Cruise

Morning was AIDAsol sailing at 7am so I got up to get her leave. Fay was wise to stay in the warm! The crew were hosing the deck and seemed never ending. Each time I thought I could go to the stern, they'd turn it on again! A few people were milling about in the cold even though the deck itself was like wading in several puddles!

It was too cold and wet to go forward and watch her disappear behind the buildings so I went back to the cabin to defrost then back to bed for a few hours. I woke up about 11am after Fay slammed the cabin door by accident. She'd been up a while by all accounts and forgot her sunglasses. She found me on deck 10 waiting for the arrival of Queen Elizabeth, which was supposed to dock for 1pm. Lunch beckoned as soon as the Windjammer opened at noon then we went back to lounge and wait. Passenger Terminal Amsterdam tweeted she would now arrive 1.30pm then 2.30pm so we were delighted it wasn't raining! An elderly couple my dad knows and Sue Bryant from Cruise Critic were aboard the Cunarder, delay caused by lock traffic which isn't so bad when you're on an overnighter. About 1.40pm, Fay spotted a moving building in the distance and whereas it had been just us for over an hour, the deck began to fill.

Bar time so we hit the Schooner. We discovered the Blue Lagoon is called Blue Wave on Royal Caribbean and the lady bartender made it for us. We got chatting to a couple of blokes sat at the bar, one called Matt worked originally for First Choice but now Thomson after Tui swallowed them up. He's in the complaints departments and we had a very interesting chat about Thomson Dream and the disaster she's been since the accident at Sharm el-Sheikh in her last weeks as Costa Europa. He also recommended not threatening your travel agent with ABTA, as I had a few months ago when Thomas Cook hadn't cancelled a booking after two months, but ATOL because that makes them jump. It was his first cruise and he was also on the following one. We were due to sail at 5pm so Fay and I went up top to wait and wait and wait and wait. Just like in Southampton, there would be a little burst of activity then it all went quiet. I had a message from my friend David Greenwood (who I'd been supposed to meet but he had flu) saying he was watching the webcam and had seen a couple of paramedics with a stretcher board. Ooh er, missus! We left half an hour late, one blast on the horn AGAIN.

It was the Crown & Anchor Society booze up - I mean, party. This was the first time I'd been to one on a short trip. In fact, it was only my second ever out of six cruises (though Jewel of the Seas doesn't count because it was on the Friends and Family scheme) and that had been on Vision in 2008! Celebrity, on the other hand, have their Captain's Club ones no matter how long the cruise. So while I went to that, Fay went to watch us go back through the locks then we met for dinner. One thing I like about these is the food, although having it between sittings is a little daft, as I noted after my first trip on this ship. The blue conconction is blue curaçao and champagne so my third with the blue stuff in since the Schooner. I saved Fay a couple of biccies which were yummy.

Dinner and the bar waiter pounced as soon as I'd sat down! So Fay and I had more drinks. Well why not? We were on holiday! We waited and waited for water and bread. In the end Mario had to ask Nelson who did it then told Miacol off!

After dinner I headed to the cabin to rest my weary feet while Fay went shopping and for a wander. When she returned she said it so really windy on deck 10 you had to force your way around. Watched a bit of telly, such as it was. Most channels had vanished in port and were back but there was still sod on to watch that wasn't news.

A lie in on Monday since it was a sea day. Up at 10.30am and put the telly on to news Osama bin Laden had apparently been killed by the Americans in Pakistan. It was one of those, 'Where were you when you heard...?' moments. In Fay's case, brushing her teeth in the bathroom when I yelled out the news! We went for a wander and it was STILL windy despite more glorious sunshine and virtually clear, blue sky. It was quite funny seeing sick bags put out because, despite the slightly bumpy sea, this is a SHIP rather than a box with balconies so handles it very well. It was also the day she became a stroppy teenager - yay! Annoyingly they always say her maiden was the 27th April 1998 when it was the 2nd May. Even Royal Caribbean state the May date. She shares her birthday with Indy, who turned three, and Lizzie stuck in Dubai, who turned forty two. Her soul has gone now, burnt away by the heat! Well I had to give Vision a birthday snog since I love that ship sooooooooooo much!

We decided to go to Brasserie 30 in the Aquarius for lunch. I'd forgotten about it but soon remembered when I got there what it was. I told Fay that last time the meal didn't come within the supposed thirty minutes. Didn't this time either! Silly bar waitress didn't understand the order, came back and said they had no Blue Waves. It's a bloody cocktail, dear, not lager! Back to the cabin to find tips envelopes so I went to Guest Services to find out what the hell was going on since I'd opted for pre-paid when I booked but THEY removed it. When I finally got to see someone, I was told that, unlike Celebrity, they don't automatically add it to the bill and you can choose it, so I pointed out yet again I had. Not happy with that farce. They have an online system so should leave whatever you've chosen alone! I added it there but they really need to discover their arse from their elbow. To recover from the tips frustration it was to the Schooner! Matt was in the same chair at the bar he had been the day before so we wondered if he'd been there all night but assured by the bar lady he hadn't been. After one drink, Fay left us and we continued having a laugh, getting some disapproving looks from stuck up passengers, especially when their precious quiz started. Some were so pathetic they mocked the pronunciation of Lenny Godber by the entertainment girl. These were smartly dressed too rather than chavs, who you would expect that sort of childishness from. She isn't bloody English, you pillocks, and has probably never even heard of Porridge! That was my cue to leave so I went back to the cabin to wash my hair and ordered another turkey panini from room service. This time is came with a packet of crisps! Yummy! The news was still on about Bin Laden and BBC World News kept up "Breaking News" despite it being over seven hours since I'd seen it! Shopping at 8pm to pick up the DVD and a few other things and I noticed some crew preparing for the International Parade of Flags, which had been about 1.30pm on my previous two trips, so I dashed to the Centrum after failing to find Fay to tell her. She found me though and we moved to another spot to watch it. There was a slight technical hitch which delayed the parade but after about ten minutes all ran smoothly.

Afterwards, I FINALLY got a land signal so checked the Southampton result - we won and with our goal difference over Huddersfield, looked like we were promoted to the Championship! Fay had been impatient for a few hours but the ship's internet connection was down. Then we noticed many people on the Promenade deck taking photos of the sun setting. Sadly not as low as it would be during dinner but it was glorious anyway with the general weather condition, despite there still being a bit of wind. Back to the cabin to dump the stuff and put the luggage out then dinner! No water or bread again and we waited forever for our NY strip steaks. In fact, it was so long, Miacol went over to Mario and said, "Where's Nelson?" I told them I bet they'd blame the steak, as they had during my last two cruises on Vision and they did! It was revolting, full of fat, and the worst I've ever had on a ship. It was the usual O Solé Mio from the waiters, but by the time they got around to it, most people had left. We said our goodbyes then headed back to the cabin for an early night since we'd be docking in Copenhagen at 7am.

So our final morning was an early one. I went to Guest Services between wandering to get a copy of the bill, since ours hadn't been delivered and it was gone 6am, then to breakfast after docking. Miacol was in the Windjammer, so we got to say goodbye to him. No idea where Nelson was, and no one else knew either. This was my first visit to Copenhagen since calling on Jewel of the Seas but while that was the transit terminal, this was the turnaround so an interesting contrast. The weather was nice again, but a little chilly. We'd been lucky with it this trip.

Being a Platinum Crown & Anchor member, I now had a disembarkation lounge with drinks and pastries, which was in the Showboat Lounge. Our colour was listed to get off at 8am and it was pretty much that as well. No real time to relax. The terminal was like Oslo, just collect luggage and go with no immigration checks. We decided to take photos of our gorgeous girl before queuing for a taxi and were stopped briefly, told to take our luggage to a bloke then take as many pictures as we liked! She looked as gorgeous and Ducky as always, glistening in the sunshine.

So that was that and time to leave exactly two years since I'd last boarded that wonderful ship. We were staying overnight and catching an early flight the next day so waited for a taxi to take us to the Star hotel (which apparently has had many name changes). Unfortunately our plans to watch her sail (and see many tourist areas) came to zilch because we were at the other end of the city, near the train station, so we got as far as Tivoli Gardens, turned round and went back to the hotel! They were very good though. I'd forgotten to email telling them we were arriving by sea and ask if we could drop the luggage until check in. Despite arriving at 8.30am, they had the room so we went up. Fay enjoyed her first cruise and became a member of the Vision fan club! The cruise wasn't perfect but what one is? I hope they bring Vision 'home' again soon (2012 she bypasses the UK again) and this time add a round trip before a repositioning. It's nice to dream!

To see photos of Vision sailing with the other ships, click here and more photos of the other ships, go to the Other Stalking index.

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