Willdra's Vivacious Carnival Vista May 14-20 Cruise

Willdra's Vivacious Carnival Vista May 14-20 Cruise

Travel Day

Hey ya'll! It's been far too long since we hung out, so pull up a comfy chair, and pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink, (which will make this review great) so that we can get reacquainted! First and foremost, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

On this cruise, it was just me and my husband who I refer to as W, cuz it's easy, and I may be slightly lazy. Slightly. W and I are the"sometimes proud" parents of 2 adults so we get to cruise by ourselves a couple of times per year. We live in GA, and most ports are easily accessible for us, so typically we are able to drive down. This time, I found some "you'd be totally deranged to pass this up" ticket prices on flights to Miami, cuz it's just too far to drive.Especially since riding with W is like riding on "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". 10+ hours of that = No Thanks and No Bueno!

We woke up early Saturday morning and drove to the airport. It was an easy ride down with no drama. 85 North was open but not 85 South so we went around on 285, which surprisingly, wasn't a disaster. If you have ever driven thru Atlanta, you already know that it has the potential to ruin your day, your life, and your teeth Not this time tho, all was well.

Here I am taking selfies to keep my mind off of W's swerving, I mean "driving".

We parked in the indoor lot of Peachy Airport Parking. When we fly, we usually park here cuz the indoor is nice, and Groupon always has deals for them. They are very organized,and their shuttles run every few minutes. The shuttle driver now comes to your car, loads your luggage, and gives you a return ticket with your parking location on it which is a nice change.

The Inside Lot

The shuttle's first stop was Delta, and it's about a 6 minute ride over. When we got there, W wanted to weigh the bags to see where we were before checking them in. Mine was 54 pounds and his was 45. The over packing struggle is real y'all! There has to be some kind of support group for this right? Not yet? Maybe I will start one! Right after I start the one for professional procrastinators. Since we prolly couldn't convince the Agents at Delta that everything in my bag was medically necessary, and I shouldn't be charged the overweight baggage fee because by going on this cruise, I was doing God's work, we moved stuff around until we were good. It was faster to curb check since we already had our boarding passes, so we handed them over outside.

W and I on the shuttle

Next we proceeded to Security to see if we would be randomly chosen for public humiliation. Much to my surprise, I was chosen as tribute! Yay!! My favorite!! Well, it is what it is, but let's see if I can get out of here with an ounce of dignity. Of course not. Today is not the day for that! Shame was definitely going to be my name! After my barefoot pat down and suitcase check,I was glad that I moved all of my "unmentionables" to the bottom of my suitcase before leaving home. I was allowed to put my clothes and self-esteem back on, then we hit the trains to our gate. This is the point where I started to regret not going to the ladies room when W asked me if I had to go before we went thru Security. 🙄 We get on the train and I'm holding it in while holding on! Thank goodness we were going to Concourse A which was the first stop! As luck would have it, our gate is all the way at the end which may as well have been the outskirts of Alabama! The way my bladder is setup, I wasn't gonna make it! When I couldn't hold it anymore I threw my bag at W and sprinted to the restroom silently praying that there wasn't a line! I made it just in time too! That was soooo close! Why must I be a kid and not go until the very last second??? This is why we can't have nice things and you can't take me anywhere! Please don't tell W that I admitted it! What happens in this review,stays in this review! Fortunately tho, that was the most excitement that occurred during our stay at Hotel Hartsfield Jackson International Airport! We tucked in with our books and soon it was boarding time.

We were Zone 3, so yeah last. Right before we got to the counter the Agent said that the remaining baggage had to be gate checked for free. This was a good thing because with a full flight I didn't want to have to fight with that thing on the plane. I'll admit I was a little concerned about how long it would take, because the Agent was alone checking everyone in, and he looked like he was about 120 years old. My fears were soon quelled, because Methuselah checked us and our bags in quick and before we knew it we were on our way. Darn it, I didn't even get a chance to ask him if he and Moses went to school together. #Fail!

Once we landed in Miami we made it down to baggage claim and I had to go again. Ok so flying must make my bladder weak!Yes, that's it! It's not me, or my physical maturity, it's planes. I get to the restroom in no hurry this time, but I immediately smell…..hair. Burning hair. Hmmmm in an airport restroom the smell of burning hair is definitely not good.Burning hair is not really ideal anywhere, but I digress. I go over to wash my hands because ewww, but before I could, I noticed that there were two ladies with a curling iron plugged in doing their hair and makeup at the sink. In the airport restroom. The heck???? Ummmm, excuse me but you do realize this is an airport restroom and not a salon, or your house, right???? I guess this is how they do it in Miami! Alas, as I am an expert at minding my own beeswax, I washed quickly and went! I tried not to make any eye contact because sometimes it's really just better not to. Ya know?

Next we set out to the car rental section. Which is far. Very far. Like, I think we changed Time Zones far. It's also like "Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No!" far. When I felt like I would surely perish from all of this walking and train riding while pulling suitcases full of cement, and what seemed like the next day, we arrived at the rental facility. We had prepaid to skip the counter at Alamo, so we chose a car and were on our merry little way in no time. The price to rent a full size car (Nissan Altima) for a day was$56. Not bad.

I got WAZE set for the hotel, and we were on our way. We stayed at Residence Inn Miami Airport. It was just a few miles away so we were there quick. It was less than 10 minutes.The hotel is in a Marriott Complex with a Courtyard, Fairfield, Marriott and what looks like it will be a Springhill Suites pretty soon. The hotel and room was nice and it had everything that we needed for one night. I really enjoyed the TV's with Hulu and Netflix.

Here are some pics of our room.

More Room Pictures

Travel Day Part 2

Being the chic, posh couple that we are, no trip of ours is ever complete without going to Walmart for God knows what, so that's where we went next! As luck would have it, W found a Walmart close to our hotel. This is one of the many reasons that I keep him around! We get there, then step out of the car and whoa! It.Is.Hot.In.Miami!! It's that kind of heat that takes your breath away! It's so hot, I kinda low key think the devil lives here. I am never ready for this heat. I must have thin skin or something cuz I swear I started melting like The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz! We walked very quickly into the store to get out of that inferno as fast as possible! For the record, we only needed wine and W's Diet Coke. However, we (by we, I mean "I") bought 53 additional things.Because. Walmart. There's something about going to Walmart on vacation that makes me need and love everything. Everything! W dragged me out of there kicking and screaming, because he was hungry. Which is always Fake News!

This time we wanted something quick and easy.We found a Pieology close by, which was basically a Chipotle but with Pizza,and we decided to try it out. I hadn't consumed anything cheesy all day so I was itching, and going thru withdrawals! We each ordered a different pie and when they brought them out we were delighted with our choices. The pizzas were really good, plus our bill was only $22 for everything. #Bargain!

Pieology is Pizza Magic!

W Waiting very patiently for me to take the picture.

I loved these quotes on the wall

Travel Day Part 3

We went back to the hotel to drop off our bags then drove to Marlins Park to watch the Braves play the Marlins. I'm sad to say it was easier to get to see the Braves in Miami than Atlanta, now that they are at their new stadium! We watched the game, took lots of pictures then left at the top of the 9th. Oh the Braves won 3-1. Whoop whoop!

On the way back I felt like I couldn't come all the way to Miami and not have a mojito. I didn't really want to go too far and wait at a bar, so W drove us back to the Residence Inn. After we dropped by our room, we walked over to the Courtyard next door, because it has a sports bar downstairs. #Score! The cool thing about the Marriott Complex is that your room key gives you access to all of the hotels in the circle. I got my mojito and a Cuban sandwich. W had some kind of crazy beer and chicken fingers.

The drinks were really good, food was ok. I really wasn't hungry, I just wanted to try their version of the sandwich so I only ate a few bites.

My Marriott Mojito!

After that we walked back to the Residence Inn and prepared for embarkation day!

Before I fell asleep,I said a prayer thanking God that up until this point at least, I have never had a need to curl my hair in an airport restroom! #Goals

Yes!!! Another Willdra review is underway. Looking forward to reading the rest. :cool:

Another entertaining Wildra review! Great start, can't wait for more.

Loving your fun review!

Loving your review, can't wait to hear your take on the Vista.

Nice to be reading again another interesting review from you!

Will be following along as usual.

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Following ❤️

Can't wait to read the rest, and yes, I will say a prayer also that I have never had to do my hair in an airport bathroom, KNOCK WOOD! :eek:

Looking forward to this! You're one of my favs!!

following :)

Enjoying your review and style.

Following! Very cool that you took in a game before the cruise. We would love to do that sometime!!!

good job looks like this will be a good review nice braves shirt

Following - enjoying the review!

So excited to see this! I love your reviews!

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Haha, already laughing. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

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Awesome start! Definitely following this one....between it being a Vista review AND a review of the same itinerary we are doing in November on the Vista AND flat-out entertaining to boot, can't go wrong for sure!

THANK YOU!

Enjoying the excellent photos and review, thanks!

Travel Day Part 2

 

For the record, we only needed wine and W's Diet Coke. However, we (by we, I mean "I") bought 53 additional things.Because. Walmart. There's something about going to Walmart on vacation that makes me need and love everything. Everything!

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We do the same thing every cruise, my wife needs to stop at Target. It's pretty much a tradition. I love your review!!

Yes!!! Another Willdra review is underway. Looking forward to reading the rest. :cool:

Thank you Jamman54!!! ❤️[emoji7]❤️

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Another entertaining Wildra review! Great start, can't wait for more.

Thank you Aztekpm, it's coming! [emoji16]

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Loving your fun review!

Thanks elainmir!!! [emoji2]

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