CRUISE #19... HERE we COME!
IYKYK... It's a TRADITION!
We then traveled 79 miles south towards Galveston with a short pit-stop at Buc-ees. I love seeing Buc-ee's on a Cruise day. There are so many cruisers in this store. There are groups with matching embarkation shirts and hoards of people with "Destination" shirts as well. Many have the face of pure joy as they are less than 20 miles from FUN and then others look exhausted and hung over due to getting off the ship that morning. It is GREAT people watching.
Hello Galveston... It's been too long!
We were at the EZ Cruise Parking lot by 9:30AM and ready to make our way to our home-away-from-home. TIP- EZ Cruise Parking is our go-to parking for cruises departing Galveston. This business is one block from the main terminal road that leads to both Terminal 1 (Vista/Dream) and Terminal 2 (Liberty of the Seas, Breeze and others). Plus they offer a shuttle and non-shuttle option. If you are a nurse, police/firefighter or teacher you get an additional 15% off as well. Sign up for their loyalty program and you can get $5 off your first parking.
Once we got up to Terminal 1, we gave our bags to a porter and then made our way to the "Check-In line" where we were able to walk right in. TIP- Be sure to have your BOARDING PASS, PASSPORTS and paperwork WITH you and not give to these porters! ALWAYS carry a backpack with this information or you will have a hot-mess!
We had a 10:30-11AM arrival appointment and it was before 10AM. The workers did not even look at the time but just our boarding pass. Once inside the actual terminal, Step 1 was to be checked by a healthcare worker. This was the step to check for vaccination but they never even looked at our actual vaccination cards but rather just our Verifly App that gave the "Ready to Sail" signal. They did not ask questions but just checked the Verifly App and were on to step 2.
At Step 2 we went through security and had our carry-on luggage inspected. We always carry a very small carry-on with our wine, fan, swimsuits and a change of clothes. TIP- Each adult 21 and over can carry 1 (750 ml) wine bottle on board... just remember a corkscrew if needed. Also, as of July 1st Carnival is no longer offering fans for the staterooms but you can bring your own, which is ALWAYS a good idea. You never know if your room with be hot or comfortable! And trust me... Bring the swimsuits!
Step 3 was the actual check-in for the ship on floor 2 of Terminal 1. We were able to get checked in to the Carnival Vista by 10:10AM. During this check in, they signed our printed boarding pass and explained the lunch options as well as the new muster drill (MORE LATER... BEST CHANGE EVER). Once actually checked in, we went to to Step 4, my least favorite... WAITING!
Announcements were made around 10:55AM to begin boarding the ship and we heard the first DING at 11:05AM and were on board at 11:09AM. TIP- The new check-in system gives you a boarding group number A1-7, B-17 and etc. The first group to board any ship are the suite quests and the highest loyalty members followed by normal groups. Even with our B4 group, we only had to wait about 10 minutes from the first announcement to be making our way on to the ship!
Our Embarkation Picture
(I forgot to purchase it before getting off the ship... Epic Fail)
Muster Station GLORY
Once we got on board we went straight to our Muster Station area in Bonsai Sushi on Deck 5 to complete our Muster Drill. TIP- This is the BEST CHANGE since the Pandemic. Instead of packing in like cattle in the TEXAS HEAT to watch workers show us how to put on a life jacket, now you can watch a 6 minute video on your phone while you wait to check in and then go to your Muster Station on YOUR OWN TIME to watch the demo live and THAT'S IT! The worker checks your cabin off and you are on your way! WHERE HAS THIS BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE???
We had to wait about 2 minutes for another group to arrive to demo the lifejacket!
They even used a lifejacket on a teddy bear as an example!
The menu at Guy's Pig and Anchor BBQ
My Embarkation Lunch... WOW, it was Good!
A view of the Vista Atrium from Deck 4
The social area leading up to the Havana Bar area.
The Havana Bar
The Havana Cabana area
The Havana Pool and lounge areas
These chairs LINED this area and were SO NICE!
This area of the ship is VERY nice. It offers a medium sized cruise ship pool and two hot tubs. As well as countless loungers and clamshells. We were also able to see the Havana Cabanas. This is a "balcony" style stateroom but instead of overlooking the ocean, it overlooks a walkway in the Havana area. The balcony itself is HUGE and at least double the size of a regular balcony and offers unique seating arrangements, like a swing, but there is ZERO privacy. It is definitely a trade off. The Havana also offers inside cabins as well as suites that have AFT view balconies. As the week progressed, we realized how valuable the Havana pool, spas and lounge area really was, especially if you like this part of cruising.
This video gives you an idea of the Havana area on the Vista:
A view of the Havana Pool area and the Havana Aft Balconies from the Lido Deck!
However, the building of this area on the ship meant the average cruiser could NOT walk all the way around the ship NOR see the aft wake view without seeing the Havana pool area as well. I was NOT a fan of this at all! It felt as if Carnival took a great passenger area and then closed it off by adding more cabins, which means more people, and then make it exclusive to only those people. I actually think it is a GREAT marketing tool but gave the ship a weird feel. The inside Havana Bar and lounge area was available to the "average Joe" and we spent time in there daily but the outside pool area was off limits as soon as we left embarkation day.
After we explored the Havana area we grabbed our first drink "The Fun Ship". This is also a tradition when cruising Carnival and our cruise has now officially begun. We then made our way up to the Lido deck area. It was still early on Embarkation Day so there were not a LOT of people, which was great. This gave us an opportunity to really see this deck before the crowds hit. The main pool area seemed as if there was a lot of wasted space. The Main pool was very small, even for a cruise ship and it did not offer hot tubs but had the cabana seating area. The main deck area around the main pool was MASSIVE. At least double in size from other Carnival ships. It just seemed as if the pool could have been bigger as 80-90% of the time when we saw this area, they didn't even have chairs but just wasted deck space.
The Fun Ship... It's time to start cruising!
The Main Pool area on the Lido Deck. Lots of Deck space for deck parties but seemed like a HUGE wasted space.
The buffet area of the Lido deck was standard Carnival set up but the seating area seemed to be bigger or at least set up to offer more seating. The Tides Pool (Aft pool) area was well laid out as well and offered a HUGE bar area. This pool was average size as were the hot tubs but it was no longer "adults only" area as we had experienced on other Carnival cruise ships in the past (Well before Covid).
Here is the Aft (Wake) view on the Carnival Vista... tainted by the Havana Pool area!
This was my least favorite thing about this ship!
The Tides Pool, spas and Tides Bar.
It's TRADITION!
As more and more people were boarding the ship, it started to get more and more crowded so we went back down to Ocean Plaza on Deck 5 in the AC. This area of the Vista was HUGE and much bigger than that of the Dream or Breeze. We spent a lot of time here during the week. I was able to talk to the Maitre'D and get a table ALONE for our Main Dining Room (MDR) experience.
The Ocean Plaza was much larger than that on the Breeze or Dream with lots of seating areas!
Our cabins were ready at 1:30PM so we made our way to our Cove Balcony on deck 2. Due to luggage being delivered throughout the ship, only 1 elevator PER POD was available. I was very grateful that we only had 3 flights of stairs to get to our cabin.
After I unpacked some of luggage, we went back up to Deck 12 to check out the Sports Square area and play our traditional game of mini-golf. Despite me having a re-do 2nd game, Chris still won. One of these days I will win again. Maybe on the Breeze!
The mini-golf area was very well kept for a ship carrying over 1K kids!
Our mini-golf traditional game!
Hello Carnival Vista... You like nice!
TIP- This Sports Square area was AWESOME and one of the best we have seen. It offered mini-golf, shuffle board, 2 pool tables, ping pong and so much more. Towards the aft of this deck was the enclosed basketball and soccer areas as well as exercise equipment. Plus this is where the Ropes Course and SkyRide were housed. This Ropes Course was much bigger than the Dream Class ships and offered an easy and hard course. The SkyRide was AWESOME and only available on Vista class ship! MORE ON THAT LATER. If you are cruising with kids 8-18, this is the place they will spend the majority of their time. It was incredible! TIP- The SkyRide at 2PM on Embarkation Day had ZERO people in line! Bring TENNIS SHOES!
Sports Square on the Vista
The indoor area of the Sports Square offered large "kick pool table", ping-pong and more! Plus it's in the AC!
After our mini-golf game we wanted to try and explore as much as we could before sail away so we went to Deck 4. This deck housed Horizons Dining Room, Limelight Lounge (night club and comedy club), the Casino, The Sports Bar as well as FunShops and the Liquid Lounge (the main theater). This theater felt so small. TINY in fact. The seating area was set up really weird and many options had viewing hazards in the way. Not to mention some of the seats were not even facing the actual stage but sideways rather. It was weird and with a ship that carries 4,700 each week, it didn't just feel crowded... IT WAS CROWDED! We learned later in the cruise that when they built Vista class ships, the main theater was also the dance club. They need to rethink that architectural design flaw in the future.
The Limelight Lounge on Deck 4 (The Comedy club and night club area)
The Sports Bar on Deck 4
(Very large from our experience)
A view of the Liquid Lounge on Deck 5
(Notice how weird the seating is)
A panoramic view of the Theater from the stage.
We then went to our cabin to call our kids one last time and then watch sail away from our cove balcony. The kids were in Lubbock with Chris's parents and already having a GREAT time, although they were jealous they were not on this cruise with us. Sail away was amazing and we saw lots of dolphins as we left the Galveston channel. We turned our phones onto airplane mode and the cruise mindset had officially begun. The rest of our luggage was delivered to our room around 4:30 so I got it all unpacked and then we got ready for dinner.
Goodbye Texas... We will see you in 7 days!
We love sailing from Galveston
Blue water... BLUE WATER!
MY HEART IS SO HAPPY!
The Steakhouse was HUGE!
Specialty Merlot FREE from the Steakhouse!
The canape- compliments of the chef!
Mushroom risotto... WOW! My mouth is watering as I type this!
Lobster Bisque
Surf and Turf was worth it's weight (or my weight) in GOLD!
Cheers to 16 years! Happy Anniversary from Carnival!
That was an experience I will never forget!
As soon as dinner was over we walked around Deck 5 a bit before going back to our Cove Balcony to try and watch the sunset. The clouds made it a little difficult but there is NOTHING better than a sunset at sea!
It doesn't get much better than this!
After the sunset we went to the Welcome Aboard Show in the Liquid Lounge on Deck 4-5. I am so very glad I had read to get there early as there was only 1 show and all 4,500 people wanted to see this show. And remember what I mentioned above about the layout of the theater... it was awful and most people who were late chose to just stand and not sit due to the poles being in the line of sight! This show was good and gave a taste of the shows to come. This was also our first experience with Kyndall Fire- Cruise Director. She turned out to be a PHENOMENAL CD and one of the best we have ever had!
After the show we took our 2 bottles of wine to the Ocean Plaza and listened to the Vista Band for a while before heading back to the comedy show. This comedian, Bob Biggerstaff, was funny and not too appalling for an adults' only show.... but this was his best showing of the cruising. He was not our favorite. It was a great night of food and entertainment but it was after midnight and we were tired. We went back to our room and were asleep before 1AM.
What a way to come back. This day was INCREDIBLE and we could not wait for the next 6 days! Welcome back on board... It has been TOO LONG!
God is Good... ALL THE TIME!
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Carnival Legend- ALASKA- 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment