Never a dull moment with this one...
What better view than a WAKE view!
This is literally one of the best spots for this view on the Vista class ships!
The French toast from the PORT breakfast menu!
Belize has such a shallow reef area around it's shore, parking at a pier is impossible so all cruise ships must drop anchor 10 miles off the shore of Belize City and use tender boats to get to the island. Tender boats are somewhat of a pain as you have to get tickets to board the boat and with the new "timed" tickets, it was even more of a hassle. If you have an excursion through Carnival (or any cruise line you are taking), you will get a numbered ticket with that excursion. However, if you are using a third party to book your excursion or you just want to "see the island on your own" then you now must wait until the VERY END of the tender boat process to get on a boat. In fact, the numbered tickets were being used all the way until 10:30AM so if you were going to see Belize on your own, the earliest you could get on a tender boat was 10:30AM.
We opted to not even go into Belize with this new change as we have been to Belize 5-6 other times and while we love its gorgeous turquoise waters, the hassle was just not worth it to us this time. That, and we wanted to be able to explore and experience as much of the Vista as we could while the ship was rather empty.
After breakfast we went straight to the Tides Bar and Aft Pool where we spent the rest of the morning enjoying the aft pool to ourselves and the surprisingly HOT spa at the back of the ship. By mid-to-late morning, there were more people in the pool area but for at least an hour we had it all to ourselves. TIP- If you have seen the destination before, staying on the ship at a tender port is such a great idea. Especially if the ship is large with lots to do and a sold out ship. Now that we have cruised so much, we almost always plan a "ship day" on these tender ports.
Hello Belize... We love you but we will view you from HERE for today!
The Funderstruck burger... Debut on June 28, 2022 fleetwide!
TRY THIS... Trust me! It is EPIC!
And this thing is seriously MASSIVE!
After lunch we went to the Atrium Bar to listen to music and play cards while we enjoyed our drink package. There were not many activities planned so we ventured to the IMAX theater on Deck 6-7 to see if there were a lot of kids for the afternoon showing of Jurassic Park. At the time we arrived there were only 16 tickets sold so we decided to see the new Jurassic Park movie. I was really upset as Top Gun: Maverick was supposed to be playing but we missed it by one week. The Jurassic Park movie was REALLY good and we both enjoyed it.
This was the IMAX theater about 10 minutes prior to the movie starting!
TIP- I would recommend seeing an IMAX movie on a port day!
Time for some dinosaurs!
Once the movie was over we went to the Red Frog Pub to say hello to our favorite waiter as we waited for sail away. The last tender boat was supposed to leave Belize at 5:30PM and we were supposed to set sail for Cozumel at 6PM but as 6PM rolled around we realized we were waiting on a Carnival excursion. TIP- Carnival will hold the ship for passengers who are with a Carnival sponsored excursion but if you are with a third party or on your own, the cruise lines will usually only wait 10-15 minutes as each minute they wait, the cruise line loses $10K+ (info we got at a Question and Answer session in 2018).
Goodbye Belize... Until Next time!
Sail away from the balcony is MY FAVORITE!
Formal Night for us... This is about as formal as it gets these days!
The America Rocks show was FABULOUS and once again, we got the BEST seats in the house at the raised seats just in front of the bar, despite the wobbly chairs. We were able to talk to Steff, the production manager about life as a cast member. These performers are cast as dancers then promote to dancer-singer and then to singer-dancer. Beyond that, they can become a production manager or work stateside in Miami. This was fascinating to me as some people can dance but not sing and visa-versa. The America Rocks show was the first show with the new Playlist cast and it was neat to see the old cast sit and actually watch the show. If you love Rock and Roll... DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW! I could have sat and listened to another hour of two of singing and dancing!
A view from our perched seats at the back of the bottom floor in the Liquid Lounge.
Kyndall Fire, our Cruise Director, was PHENOMENAL!
#KyndallforJubilee
Go to this show... You will LOVE IT!
After the show we went to our late seating dinner in the Reflections Dining Room and once again Ricky and his staff took great care of us and even had our wine and other special requests waiting when we arrived. Mario and Mariana, the maitre'd duo, stopped by and checked on us again and were the best hosts ever. We were in and out of the MDR within an hour and the food was phenomenal.
And in case you were wondering... YES, Carnival still does the singing and dancing at dinner. BUT they have improved the efficiency SO MUCH! We almost always had our desserts when they are started dancing!
Way to go Carnival!
Do you Love or Hate it?
After dinner we made our way to Deck 4 for the adult comedy show. This new comedian was a lot better than before and not too vulgar for an adults' show. We caught a few more of his shows throughout the cruise. We ended the night at the Piano Bar with some GREAT music and entertainment. We called it a night shortly after midnight.
And our clean laundry was waiting for us when we got back to our cabin.
TIP- Fill the bags to the brim... We only paid for 1 bag ($15).
It was a great relaxing day aboard the Carnival Vista and we were even able to see an IMAX at sea!
Up Next... Cozumel, Mexico!
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
