As the world was on hold for this crazy pandemic, Chris and I patiently waited to get back on board a cruise ship. What we thought would be a month or two, turned in to 28 months later. During those 28 months, we had 3 cruises cancelled, including our 15 year anniversary cruise to the Baltic in the summer of 2020. But we continued to wait patiently and once the pandemic leveled out a bit and I got the vaccine (check out that post HERE); we decided it was time to get back to doing what we love... CRUISING!
This was my 19th cruise and Chris's 18th cruise! (We actually miscounted and had our shirts customized with #17 and #18, haha). We have cruised 10 previous times with Carnival, 5 times with Royal Caribbean, 2 times with Norwegian and 1 time with Princess.
This blog will contain entries of our day-to-day life aboard the Carnival Vista as well as a "Foodie Blog" highlighting all of the food options the Carnival Vista offers. Throughout the blog posts, we will also share the major differences in cruising post-pandemic and a FAQ of cruising in 2022.
Once again, thank you for following along and support our business! I hope this will help someone planning a cruise on the Vista or planning to get back to cruising after the pandemic... Or even a first time cruiser! Feel free to reach out with any questions!
Up Next... Kellie's 40th Birthday on the Carnival Breeze!
Back in God's Country Debarkation- Galveston Saturday, July 9, 2022
Morning We woke up as the alarm went off (I hate alarms on vacations but sometimes they are needed) at 6:30AM. We got up and took showers and got ready for the day and were headed to breakfast by 7AM. Reminder- Still check in on the HUB app... AND you have to be on Carnival Wi-Fi to do so, even if back in range of other Wi-Fi or cell service.
The service in the MDR was exceptionally fast this day BUT that is to be expected as it was turn around day and the Carnival workers have to work so very hard to get 4,500 guest OFF and then welcome 4,500+ guest back on board within just a few hours.
Avocado Toast for me... Carnival REALLY knows how to do this well!
Pancakes for Chris! Only my dad can make them better than these!
After breakfast we went back to our stateroom to finalize our small suitcase of our necessity items and relax in the cabin as most of the passengers were starting to get off. The Carnival Vista cleared customs around 7:45AM and started the debarkation process shortly after that.
Debarkation Information Passengers can choose to carry their own luggage off the ship, or they can send their luggage the last night of the cruise and have a more relaxed morning getting off the ship. If you choose to do the "regular/ relaxed debarkation" you have to go to the Lido deck on the last day at NOON and get the ZONE TAGS- Zone 1-30, and that is how you will get off the ship on debarkation day. We snagged zone 16 at 12:45pm on the last day at sea. Get there earlier if you want a better zone number.
The Carnival Vista uses MUSTER STATIONS for the Debarkation process instead of the traditional DECKS. This means that if you choose to do "Self-Debarkation" and take off ALL of your own luggage, you will be called by your muster station. We realized several years ago that the "self-debark" option is not as fast anymore as so many people are using this as a means to get off the ship.(It's like that secret from Disney World, you want to share it but then EVERYONE will do it. That is "self-debark" nowadays. Approximately 75% of the passengers use this option). This means that 3K+ people are walking around the ship with EVERYTHING they brought on board and often times MUCH MORE. It is a HOT mess.
Kyndall Fire called "self Debark" zones for literally 2 hours before any other regular debarkation zones were called. We stayed in our cabin and called the kids around 8:30 but shortly after that, our stateroom steward asked us to leave the room and find somewhere else to hang out until we could get off the ship. We took all of our luggage (UP THE STAIRS since you cannot use the elevators) and then waited in the casino. It took about another hour before ANY of the regular ZONES were called. This did not bother us at all since we live just 80 miles from the terminal and were not in a real rush to get home. But keep this in mind if you are traveling far or have a flight to catch.
It's time to leave this gorgeous balcony! Bummer...
Our zone 16 finally got called right at 10AM and we began to move off the ship. However, there were still people from the "self debarkation" that were merging with US as we exited the ship. We were in the Galveston terminal on dry ground by 10:05AM.
I LOVE this sign... But hate it at the same time, because it means our cruise is OVER.
The customs process is a BREEZE now... LITERALLY. The US government has really stepped up their game and has tablets that do facial recognition for US entrance. That means no papers to fill out and literally just walk up to the tablet and SMILE... Then you're done! TIP- This is only a valid option if all guests in your party have PASSPORTS. If anyone is traveling with a birth certificate, they will need to complete the paperwork and meet with an agent. We didn't realize it at the time of boarding and check in but they created our facial recognition right then and there. It is REALLY COOL and easily one of the best changes since COVID.
Those waiting in line with Birth Certificates to speak to an agent...
Vs the line for the NEW facial recognition line. TIP- GET AND USE A PASSPORT!
After we went through customs we walked straight to our luggage waiting for us in the terminal categorized by our zone number. As we suspected, there was not a lot of luggage... meaning most people did in fact do the "self debarkation".
The walk to our car was HOT and humid, but that is to be expected! We were back in our car and loading up to go home by 10:30AM. But not too soon... We turned on the car and my dash said to air up a tire. I swear it is always something with this Buick. It is definitely keeping me on my toes these days! We were back at home and picking up our dog, Oxford by 12:15PM.
This was SUCH A GREAT cruise and it feels so very good to be back! We have a 40th Birthday Cruise planned in September on the Carnival Breeze and we cannot wait!
We woke up really early as we were now headed north and the sun was rising on our side of the ship. The sun was coming in the balcony windows around 5:40AM and beams of sunlight seemed to shine directly on our bed around 6:15AM. We snoozed as much as we could but we eventually got up and got ready for the day. TIP- On our next cruise in a cove balcony, I am going to try and bring Velcro to try and hold the curtain to the wall and avoid sunlight coming in. That is a HUGE plus of an inside cabin... pure darkness!
We made our way to the Liquid Lounge for morning trivia and got a front row seat in one of the booths near the stage. The morning trivia was so broad and only had 10 questions, of which we only answered 6 correct. After the morning trivia, we stayed for the Wave Show, which was essentially a morning show that was put on by Kyndall Fire and her FunSquad staff.
After that was the "Q & Awesome" answer session with Kyndall Fire. This is always a MUST ATTEND event on any cruise and we love getting to find out details about the cruise line or living on a cruise ship. Kyndall's version did not disappoint. Here is some great info we learned:
Kyndall Fire lives in Ft Worth, TX and a graduate of Texas A&M. She has literally only worked for Carnival and got the job straight out of college. She took as class at TAMU and got to come on 2 cruises as a project (Where was this while I was in college). Her boyfriend, Joey, is also a CD; although I cannot find him listed as a CD in Carnival information. She has one more cruise and then going home until November. She will come back to Mardi Gras for 2 contracts and then hopefully will be the first inaugural female CD and take over the Jubilee out of Galveston. #KyndallforJubilee
About 150-200 people do not get on the ship each week due to a positive Covid test or what Kyndall calls "Traffic in Houston". Honey, we live in Houston and the traffic ain't never THAT bad! But it is interesting to know about 4-5% of passengers get that positive result before boarding. I really hope the cruise industry takes this away soon... It is a WISH!
On Carnival the CD and the Entertainment Director work together to create the best experience for the guests. Some cruise lines, like Norwegian and Princess, only have ONE person doing both of these jobs. That is why Carnival CDs are so much more fun and more noticeably around than other cruise lines.
The Carnival Vista will not go into drydock until 2024. There was an azipod issue in 2019 and they "wet dock" the ship to fix that aspect of the ship but nothing else. There are lots of little issues (like the chair that broke last night on Chris) that need to be fixed. The Carnival Vista will leave Galveston in 2024 and go into drydock before relocating to Florida.
After this Q&A, Kyndall did the debarkation presentation explaining how to get off the ship the next day. Then she asked us to give around of applause to the staff and several came on stage... Including the CAPTAIN! I never imagined we would see him due to Covid!
Nice to see you Clauido... (That was a question on the Carnival 50th Triva)
After this we went to the Ocean Plaza for drinks and Guy's BBQ for lunch. As the week progressed, this lunch option became more well known and there was a line. This place is not a secret anymore. TIP- Try this place out early in the cruise to avoid lines and crowds. We ate lunch and relaxed in Ocean Plaza a bit and then went to our balcony to enjoy watching the ocean sail by.
Debarkation Information Passengers can choose to carry their own luggage off the ship, or they can send their luggage the last night of the cruise and have a more relaxed morning getting off the ship. If you choose to do the "regular/ relaxed debarkation" you have to go to the Lido deck on the last day at NOON and get the ZONE TAGS- Zone 1-30, and that is how you will get off the ship on debarkation day. We snagged zone 16 at 12:45pm. Get there earlier if you want a better zone number.
Afternoon
We spent about 2 hours on the balcony (in the shade) enjoying the blue waters of the Gulf. We saw what we thought was another cruise ship headed in the opposite direction but we could never figure out if it was a cruise ship or not. We did some very light packing before heading back out to enjoy every last bit of our last day at sea.
We argued this was a Carnival Ship but without internet I could not even check. IT WAS NOT the Breeze... she was in port as we got home on Saturday!
We went to the Ocean Plaza and checked out the last few trivia's but they were not as interesting so we went up to Deck 12 to walk the track a bit. We only walked 3 laps before getting too hot and going to Deck 11 to chill. We found an open clamshell chair on Deck 11 and sat there for over an hour enjoying the shade and a little view of the wake.
The aft wake view on the Vista... distorted by the Havana area!
That's OK... Just tilt your head and you get the view I was longing for!
We then went back inside and tried to found a place to sit and enjoy a few drinks but everywhere was PACKED. It took 7 days but we felt the other 4,500 other passengers. We finally found a place at alchemy bar...This place was AWESOME. Chris and I were both so upset we found this on the LAST day of the cruise! This will be our first stop on the Breeze! But be forewarned, these drinks are strong! Just two and we were DONE!
Seriously the best drink on the ship!
The Alchemy Bar menu... They ALL look good!
They even offer small appetizer plates! The olives... WOW, so good!
Evening We ventured across the ship to Bonsai Sushi to have an afternoon snack around 5pm. This sushi is so good, especially for a cruise ship and we try to get some on every Carnival cruise we take. We got the tempura roll, the California roll and some miso soup. It was all FABULOUS and well worth the small amount extra you will pay.
Chris's miso soup being poured by the waitress!
The tempura roll... WOW, it was AWESOME!
As we were leaving Bonsai Sushi, I saw a friend from a past cruise who I still keep up with on Facebook. She cruises ALL THE TIME and often times with her granddaughter. We recognized each other and then she says "Oh yeah, Natalie is the super star French Horn player." This cruiser does not recognize me (or Chris) from all of our cruise blogs or Cruise Facebook group but instead recognizes my teenager for being such an amazing musician! I may or may not post too much about how awesome my kids are but...when you got it, flaunt it! Way to go Natalie Grace! You win Facebook!
That's MY girl... killing it on her French Horn!
After our sushi we went back to the room to try and do more packing to get off the ship the next day. The more cruises we take, the more we like the checked luggage debarkation option. However, this means we have to pack all of our luggage and leave outside the stateroom by 10:30PM on the last night. This really makes debarkation SO MUCH EASIER... But more on that later!
I could really stare at this ALL DAY. It is so peaceful and our waters were some of the calmest EVER! Just incredible!
It's almost over... NOOOO!
After we got packed and freshened up for the evening, we went to the PG comedy show in the Limelight Lounge. Kirk Smith, the comedian, had the exact same show from a few nights ago. I really wish they would go back to "naming" their shows so we wouldn't have wasted our time.
We went to back to our room to place our luggage outside the door and then go to dinner. When we got in the room we noticed a trophy and personal note from Kyndall Fire sitting on the table. She must have gotten word we owed a trophy. It was so sweet and personable! BUT... It still didn't have VISTA on the back! We laughed but were so grateful. Then Chris went to the vanity area and there was ANOTHER trophy WITH THE VISTA ON IT and a note from Keegan! WOW... We could not believe how nice and friendly these people were! So we left with 4 Golden Ship-on-a-Sticks... 2 EARNED and 2 GIFTED! Thank you Kyndall and Keegan and Carnival Vista!
Ship-on-a-Stick #3
Kyndall's note... This was so cool because she technically had NOTHING to do with the trophy Keegan promised Chris for singing the Star Spangled Banner!
THE TROPHY we needed to complete our collection! It has VISTA on it!
Keegan's note... THANK YOU KEEGAN! We will NEVER FORGET YOU!
Chris was SO EXCITED AND PROUD!
The last view from our cove balcony! And a "sunset" view no less... This was priceless!
We placed our bags outside the stateroom and went to dinner! We were a little late (8:20pm for an 8:15PM seating) so the service was noticeably slower. TIP- Always get there on time to help with the whole process! But the food and overall service was still phenomenal! Ricky, John and Jenny will still remain one of our best wait staff teams of any cruise! Thank you all so much!
After dinner we went to Ocean Plaza to listen to music but I was not feeling 100% as the richness of pasta I ate did not agree with me. We walked around and then we ended the night at Alchemy Bar and actually shut it down shortly after 11PM. TIP- The bars and all venues close at 11PM on the last night of the cruise.Diana, the waitress, was AMAZING. She made a special drink of Sprite, strawberries and limes to help my "tummy ache" as she said. It was really sweet.
It was a great last day aboard the Carnival Vista and while it may not be our favorite ship, this was still an AMAZING cruise and just what we needed! I cannot believe it is over... But I am ready to get home!
Up Next- Our Debarkation Experience and arrival back in TEXAS!
Our bodies were tired and we woke up much later, shortly after 8AM. As we got up and got ready we heard the announcement that the ship had been all cleared from Mexico customs and we knew everyone would be heading down to the gangway to get off the ship. We checked in on the Hub App for our Port Breakfast and by the time we got to the MDR, our table was ready! This proved to be the BEST change post-pandemic in our opinion.
This is what we woke up to... The beautiful Allure of the Seas!
The Carnival Vista was parked in spot #3 from the Puerta Maya terminal.
Once again Port Breakfast did not disappoint with the variety in the menu and while the service was slower, it is still better than fighting 1K+ people at the Lido Buffet, in our opinion. After breakfast we went back to the Tides Bar and Pool in the aft to enjoy some more pool and hot tub time. There were a few more people but so much better than a day at sea.
As each day of the cruise passes, I realize I am going to lose having these amazing omelets at home and that makes me so sad!
We stayed at the Tides Bar and Pool area until about 11AM and then we decided to get off the ship earlier than we planned to explore the port, do some shopping and contact the kids via WiFi. This proved to be a good idea as we didn't need too much time in port and this allowed us to get off and back on before any of the crowds since the Vista was in port from 8AM-4PM.
Once in Cozumel, we did some shopping at the duty free shops and then found WIFI and contacted the kids as much as we could. We were also able to see the Allure of the Seas parked at the International Terminal, next door to ours. This was a sign as we love to try and guess which ship we will be on next. I am thinking we need to book the Allure for our Spring Break #1 in February 2023!
Hello Cozumel Puerta Maya terminal!
The Carnival Horizon (Vista class) parked in spot #2
We will be on her soon... Just don't know how soon! The Allure of the Seas comes to Galveston in November 2022 when the Port of Galveston opens up terminal #3 (The Royal Caribbean terminal). That will completely change the Galveston cruising scene!
There she is... Our beautiful ship and home away from home, the Carnival Vista!
We were only in port for about an hour before we got back on the ship and went and got lunch on this ship. It was SO VERY HOT and we were just dying!
Cozumel is becoming our Caribbean home away from home... This will have been our 14 or 15th trip!
I seriously LOVE the marketing the Mexico stores and government have taken here! You cannot say we didn't warn you...
Our actually balcony cabin #2349. This was the BEST location!
Afternoon
For lunch I tried the Blue Iguana burritos as they have been a favorite of mine in the past and Chris went to, wait for it... Mongolian Wok! After lunch we changed and then got back in the pool one last time as we knew the next day would be packed as we made our way back to Galveston. We stayed in the pool for about 2 more hours before it just became TOO CROWDED for us. We then went back to the room and showered and then took a brief nap before watching sail away form our balcony.
The sail away proved to be the most entertaining we have seen in a while. I mentioned in previous posts that Carnival will wait for excursions sponsored by Carnival but they will only wait a short time for passengers not with Carnival. The all-aboard time was 3:30PM and around 3PM, Kyndall Fire and her FunSquad crew came out to the pier and had a party and the hoards of people got in line to board the ship. TIP- Kyndall Fire and her crew were just incredible. They were so personable with everyone and SO MUCH FUN! I loved watching it all from our 2nd deck cove balcony!
Kyndall Fire and the FunSquad having FUN on the pier!
It's almost time for sailaway!
At 3:35PM, Kyndall yelled on her portable speaker microphone "You are late. Let's go" and then packed up her stuff and got back on the ship. There was still about 200-300 people in line to get on board. Little did we know that we will were waiting on 30-40 more passengers beyond those 200+ in line. The officers got off the ship and started to walk to the port entrance to tell the Mexican authorities about the missing passengers. All of the sudden a group of about 8 came running down the pier. We thought that was it... NOPE!
Kyndall and her crew packing up and getting on the ship at 3:30pm!
That same thing happened about 3 more times. Around 4:05PM we finally heard an officer say there were still 6 more people out there we were waiting on. The workers had already pulled up the gangway and we really wanted to see us push off the dock, when here came yet another group of pier runners. We later learned that about 16 of the 30 we were waiting on were on a CARNIVAL excursion but the rest were just drunk and stupid. Some running with kids in tow as well. C'mon parents... Get back to the ship on time! It was so aggravating but entertaining at the same time!
This was the most entertaining sail away (all aboard) we have ever experienced! I am so glad we got to see it all from our cove balcony!
The Carnival Vista finally pushed off the dock back towards Texas at 4:21PM. It was a beautiful sail away and I am so very grateful we had the cove balcony to see it all! We showered and got ready for the evening and then went to Red Frog Pub for more wings and sliders. TIP- The other guest we spoke to earlier in the cruise was right... THESE WINGS ARE AWESOME!
A view of the Puerta Maya and International cruise terminals in Cozumel as we pushed back off the pier.
The Allure of the Seas TIP- The Oasis class ships of Royal Caribbean offer the BOARDWALK which has ocean view AND boardwalk (or central park) balcony cabins. These cabins pictured above are wrap around Aqua suite cabins and run about $6K+ per person, per cruise... And that is during OFF SEASON! #GOALS
Allure of the Seas in Cozumel
The sliders from the Red Frog Pub
After our afternoon snack we went and got a coffee and then did some on board shopping for ourselves and our kiddos before meeting up in the Atrium Bar. We enjoyed the live music in the Atrium before going to the comedy show in the Liquid Lounge.
Passing by Cancun about an hour after sail away!
Evening
There was not a main show on this night but the entertainment focused on comedy and there was a large show in the Liquid Lounge. As we arrived we saw our same raised seats in front of the bar open so we sat down. In fact, we sat down right beside one of the comedians. Chris was able to talk to him for about 10 minutes before he left to get ready for his opening show. Chris left to use the restroom and as he came back, he began to sit down in the same wobbly barstool we had sat on all week... AND IT BROKE! He fell backwards and the bar stool broke. The whole auditorium turned around and Kyndall Fire and many other workers came to check on Chris. Within 2 minutes there was a safety officer there to inspect it all and check on Chris. It was WILD. Chris wasn't even embarrassed by it all until he realized every single comedian on the ship was at the bar and watched it all. We ended up moving to a booth nearby for the show but I am sure Chris was a joke (or two) on the following cruise! Like I have said many times before...Never a dull moment with Chris Davis!
After our excitement in the Liquid Lounge, we made our way to our late seating dinner in the MDR. Once again, our drinks and special requests were waiting for us and before we could even get seated, Ricky was taking our order and his staff was working hard to get us in and out of the MDR. WE LOVED THIS WAIT STAFF... perhaps one of our best ever!
After dinner we went back to the Liquid Lounge for the adult comedy show with the same 2 comedians. These shows are always hit or miss... You can have a really funny comedian but very vulgar or worse. These two were not vulgar but also just not funny. The comedy shows were definitely a "Miss" for this cruise. Maybe the next set on the Breeze will be better.
Then we went to the 80s Mega Deck party on the Lido deck with Kyndall Fire. We opted to be in the balcony section on Deck 11 overlooking all the dancing since last time it was a little too crowded for our comfort. This was a GREAT option as we were still able to see it all and sing along but not get too hot, sweaty and crowded. Kyndall Fire, the Cruise Director, and her FunSquad did a GREAT job with this party and had a GREAT time.
The 80s party view from our Deck 11 standing room.
Kyndall and her team were SO MUCH FUN!
Kyndall did the traditional Dirty Dancing production in a slightly different way but we absolutely LOVED it!
The 80s Deck Party ended with the most epic sing along ever!
We ended the evening at the Red Frog Pub. The waitstaff here was great and we loved getting to talk to them about their contracts and their families at home. Unfortunately, many of the workers on the cruise ships are having their contracts go well beyond the typical 7 months due to being short staffed. One of the waiters in RFP was in his 10th month on the ship... I do not care who you are, THAT IS TOO LONG! Thank you so much for your service! We shut the bar down around 12:30PM and went back to our room.
We love Cozumel and even though we didn't go to the beach this time, we loved getting to explore the port and enjoy more time onboard.
