Began with 4 days in Amsterdam, which was just right for a thorough visit and to get over jet leg. Vision of the Seas is very dated and needs a complete overhaul. Agent said that it had been refurbished a few years ago but I have no idea what part was redone because the ship looks tired. Based on the leaflet that RCCL distributed on their future cruises, this ship will be replaced by Serenade next year. Hope it's in better shape than this one. As for the cruise, there are signs of cutbacks everywhere, e.g. staff, their training [not as friendly, not as competent), food variety and availability. Despite all this, RCCL will remain our go-to cruiseline because it continues to meet our top 3 needs: entertainment, food and onboard activities. Entertainment on this cruise cleans out Celebrity (which we have saled with twice) and based on what our friends told us of their Baltic cruise with Princess cruise lines, which was at the same time as ours, theirs as well. Although not as elaborate as on the Oasis, the shows were varied and good. There is music for every taste (except classical) throughout the evening. The food, while not as readily available as in the past or as varied, is overall very good and inspired in the dining room. Activities on sea days were plentiful and FREE (A big bone of contention with me where Celebrity is concerned). The problem with this cruise is that with the exception of Helsinki and Tallinn, all the other ports require more time. It seems RCCL will offer this cruise with 2 nights in Saint Petersburg as of next year, which makes infinitely more sense. We went to Moscow on one of the days, and I highly recommend that despite the extremely long day. It was the highlight of the cruise for us. Even though there are two days at sea before reaching Copenhagen, we were very tired by the end. We spent 3 days in Copenhagen and in hindsight, two would have been enough. Did private shore excursions. RCCL did not allow people with independent excursions off the ship until passengers who booked with them got off, which is illegal according to what someone told me. This was stressful because we had a train to catch to Moscow. They looked me in the eye and said it was Russian customs who insisted that they proceed this way, but in hindsight I don't believe them at all. Customs moved fairly quickly though and we got to the train On time. In principle though, they need to stop doing this. Loved everything I saw but will be looking more carefully at future cruises that involve so many ports with so much history. I am 58, hubby 69.