Gumbo4Life

Not sure I'm going to help you with your decision, we have been on both shlps and enjoyed both but our favorite ship so far is the Breeze.  As a matter of fact our first cruise ever was on the Breeze and the itinerary that the Vista is going on in your case!  In 2021 we are heading to Ft. Lauderdale (from Texas) to sail on the Breeze and go to 4 ports we have never been to (St Martin, and a few others...).  We did like the Vista though and while we read several reviews that didn't like the theater setup, etc. that didn't keep us from enjoying the shows and having a great time on the cruse.  Short answer is I think you will enjoy either ship, but would recommend looking at the ports, what you will do and experience at each, travel to and from the port, etc. and determine what will work best overall for your family.  Any cruise with the family can be a great time and I'm a firm believer that the ship won't be the most important choice when it comes to a family vacation!  Let us know what you decide!  🙂

Hey there, welcome back.  We used Victor Bodden for a private tour in Roatan and got to see everything we wanted as well as hired a private boat/snorkeling tour for the 2 of us, great time.  They also do many different tours, certainly something your DW will enjoy.  We enjoyed it very much.  We've also parked at the Galveston Port parking however there is a mini bus that takes you to the ship.  I don't think walking would be that pleasant, but your boots are probably more comfortable than mine!  We sailed on the Vista last year and enjoyed it as well, liked the Breeze better but no real complaints with the Vista.  We just booked a cruise on the Freedom for early January 2020.  Y'all are going to have a great time, sailing in February is very nice. You will go to sleep on night and it will be chilly and wake up with it much warmer, good times!!  Looking forward to hearing how you enjoy your cruise. 
🙂

When we were there we hired a guide right there at the tender area for the day, I'm thinking $80 for the day.  So basically had a private car and driver for the day.  We hit all of the local tourist spots on our own schedule and didn't have to wait for a gaggle of others waiting to get on the bus.  We also got to see a few local beaches that are typically not on the tourist route, stayed as long as we wanted in Hell (sounds funny doesn't it) and the driver gave us a tour of some new areas they were building as well as some information on local news and culture we wouldn't have received on a normal tour bus.  We didn't arrange in advance, just hired on arrival.  I don't think I would put my trust in hoping to get local buses (not sure they even have them) but taxi's would probably be ok.  You could just ask the taxi driver how much to drive you around for a few hours.  I've done that in many areas, not just Grand Cayman, with good results.  

Thanks everyone!

We are looking at a Dec 1 cruise this year and are wondering if the ships will be decorated for Christmas by then?  When are the ships decorated for Christmas typically?

Thanks!

:)

5 hours ago, five. said:

I am surprised the drone is allowed on the ship. Would you risk flying it with the ship underway? Off of a balcony or lido? I am not condoning it or saying it's a good idea. Just curious how well drones work these days, if it would be super risky to do so.

No, flying on the ship is not permitted.  I was many, many miles away from the ship when we flew and in an area where is it permissible to fly safely.  I have been flying R/C aircraft as well as drones for a long time and wouldn't risk my drone or the safety of other people just to get a picture.  Thanks for your comment as I'm sure others may be thinking the same thing - and hopefully won't try to fly off of the ship.  I have noticed most of the ports have "no drone" signs.  🙂

We were pleasantly surprised by the Vista.  We have sailed on the Breeze twice and the Valor once and absolutely loved the Breeze and reviews we had read before the cruise had us expecting a ship that was crowded, long lines for everything, smoke coming out of the casino all the time and not so great food, etc.  You get the idea.  I am happy to report sailing on the Vista was a very nice experience and we would definitely sail on her again in the future.

The good:

+ A big shout out to Matt M. who was born to be a Cruise Director, he really is a natural and contributed to our cruise experience. Funny, funny, funny...

+ Music - I finally have been on a cruise that I liked (most of) the music.  From the band Farmer to the Piano player (Josh) and the other musicians, "the horns" etc, we really enjoyed the music.

+ Music #2 – The Vista actually had live music for one of the shows, not too many cruise ships are doing that nowadays and it was a pleasant surprise!

+ The food - we did not have one single bad experience related to food.  From the MDR, Steakhouse, Iguana burritos, Guys burgers as well as the buffet, salad on the Serenity deck, etc. the food exceeded our expectations (this is one area we were really concerned about, again, based on some of those reviews).  There were several areas that we did not eat though, will have to try them out on the next cruise.  😊  

+ Big TV - we had an Ocean suite and while we didn't watch TV that often it was nice to have a full size TV in the room! (I’m not a fan of the TV remote though).

+ Embarkation.  Getting on the ship was great, I don’t think we ever stopped walking (well, maybe a time or two) but never had to sit down, just walked onto the ship!

++ A big "thank you" to the medical crew that took care of my better half, very professional, friendly, understanding and efficient - really exceeded my expectations!  I understand that there were quite a few folks that came down with some type of 24 hour bug.  When we got to the medical center we were the only patient but when we left there were 3-4 waiting.

Opportunities:

- If you have read any review on the Vista you will no doubt have read about the theater.  The design of the Liquid Theater is OK but could have been better.  At two floors it seems smaller than the theater in the Breeze, I could be wrong though, it may have the same number of seats.  The floors are flat so back rows don't have a good view, additionally, the posts block many views as well. 

- When we first walked into our cabin (7333) it had a pretty strong what seemed like a mildew smell but thankfully keeping the bathroom door closed kept the smell isolated and it was completely gone in a few days.  Never figured out what it was... 

- Balcony had 3 chairs and one table, would have preferred one chair, table and lounger.  It was not that big of a deal and I didn’t ask if any loungers were available. 

- Disembarkation - They parked us in the Reflections restaurant while we waited but we couldn't hear any announcements and subsequently were delayed getting off the ship.  This can be improved on, someone should be in these areas making announcements (I heard that other areas had the same problem). 

- We did miss being able to walk completely around the ship on deck 5 like you can on the Breeze as on the Vista you run into the “Havana” area which by the looks of it is very nice.

- Overall the crew were ok, they were polite, professional and did their jobs.  Our cabin steward was efficient, we barely saw her, but she did keep the room clean and the ice bucket full!

Other:

When we were boarding in Galveston we definitely could smell smoke in the stairways near the casino but interestingly it was not an issue again for the rest of the cruise (did not smell smoke).  Probably something about the ventilation when docked.

This was our 3^rd Superbowl cruise in a row and the New England Patriots have been in everyone.  While the game proved only so interesting, I was looking forward to the commercials but alas, the commercials are not shown on the boat (I should have known that) but we did hang in for the whole game this time. 

It is amazing that looking back on it, we spent an entire week on this ship and there are so many things we didn’t see or do.  We never got to a comedy show for example.  How does that happen?

In Cozumel we did what we always do, rented a car, drove around the island and flew my drone in a quite but scenic location.  We ate at the highest restaurant on the island “Coconuts” and rented the car from Alamo.  Easy and not very expensive.  Always a good day in Cozumel.

In Belize we just took the tender to the port area and did some shopping, went back to the ship and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.

In Roatan in Honduras we did the “Best of Roatan” tour with Bodden tours.   http://www.boddentours.com/bestofroatan.htm   With this tour you get a private driver for the day and basically set your own schedule.  They will suggest things to do or see but it is up to you.  Your driver is a local and knowledgeable about the area and will tell you as much or as little as you want to hear.  We ended up seeing the Monkeys and Sloths and took a boat for 1 hour or so for snorkeling.  Also had lunch on the water, a very nice day overall and I would do it again if back in Roatan.

Now that we are back I stopped by the cafeteria at work and came home and said I ate at “the buffet” which got a good laugh. 

Thanks for reading… Any questions?

Now, to select the next ports!
🙂

If you know Galveston, we had the typical fog on the first day but it didn't delay departure.

The Vista!

The atrium

Salad bar on Serenity deck

Cozumel as seen from the drone

One of many very nice sunsets!

Great, thanks for the informative and concise review!

Not sure if you have done your trip yet but we just got back (today actually) and did the "Best of Roatan" tour w/the Bodden group.  http://www.boddentours.com/bestofroatan.htm

We liked that we had a driver all to ourselves and were on our own time schedule, could go where ever we wanted.  For what it is worth, we didn't get off our boat until 9:30 or so and took our time getting the tour started.  Then we drove over to the local area opposite of the Monkeys and didn't get there until after 11:00, it was probably 11:30 or so when we finally got to the sloths and we did get to hold them.  If you end up doing this tour just let them know this is a priority and you can save quite a bit of time going straight there.  Additionally, to save 10 minutes or so it might be worth the $2 pp to get a ride over the hill to the place where you will meet your driver.  We also arranged through our driver on the day of our tour to rent a boat for an hour to snorkel and that was probably the highlight of the day.  You certainly can arrange the boat trip in advance but we weren't sure we wanted to do that until that day.

Just curious what you liked best about the Havana cabins?  Location, size, etc?  We will be on the Vista in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing the area but am curious about what you like about them.

How about this one in Corsicana, TX, just a little over half way for you.  I have not stayed in this exact hotel but many, many Hampton Inns across the country and they are all ok for a good nights rest (they are consistent!).  Not sure if you will be driving from here to the cruise port?  Hopefully you will spend the night someplace closer to Galveston the night before.  

https://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/texas/hampton-inn-and-suites-corsicana-CRSTXHX/index.html

10 hours ago, firstcruiseoct11 said:

Thanks for the info but we aren’t going to progresso on this trip

OOPS!!!!  I saw Progresso mentioned above and proceeded to answer, my bad!

In Progresso, we booked an excursion with the folks at https://www.yucatancenote.com/ and had a fantastic time.  There were 4 of us, we got a private tour, saw the ruins and had lunch and private use of a Cenote for the afternoon.  If you are not toured out by then this would be a nice addition to your cruise. 

4 hours ago, Mysticalbama said:

is it worth it? We love a good steak. This is our first 7 day cruise

We think it is worth it.  Excellent food, atmosphere, etc.  Really nice addition to the cruise.  

That is fantastic news, a very nice way to start the new year!  Thank you for posting the update, will help others and gives kuddos to Carnival for doing their part.  🙂

We have been on the last 2 and will be on the Vista for the upcoming SB, really looking forward to it.  They have the game on throughout the ship and it was really cool to watch the game in the main theater.  I don't recall any snack food though, will have to look closer this time!

What ship will you be on?

OP - we are in a similar situation and we get one internet package and share it.  I do the same thing, get up early, grab a big cup of coffee and enjoy the quiet of the day before everyone gets up.  In that case I think his internet surfing will be ok, probably the best it will be during the day overall as fewer people will be using it.  We have had both extremes - so slow it was worthless just like the above poster mentioned, to actually pretty good and have successfully done FaceTime video chat - and everything in-between!  We were on the Valor in '17 and the internet was worthless.  On the Breeze last year it was ok.  We will be on the Vista in a month and we are going to get the "premium" plan and share, hoping it will be better than in the past.  We had the "value" plan on the Breeze and it provided acceptable service during certain times of the day.  

As always YMMV, but you have the right idea and I hope you all have a fantastic cruise!

Enjoying the review as always, looking forward to the rest of it. Like the anticipation of waiting on the next season of a great show coming to Netflix!

🙂

I had the same question, but if I read above it is possible to just use taxi's for the day, correct?  Any recommendation to just hire taxi's point to point or to hire a taxi for a few hours.  Thoughts?

:)

Hey, looking forward to your review, both pre and post! We will be on the Vista in February so are very interested in what you share with us. We really enjoyed the Breeze so here's to the Vista being a great addition to Galveston!

Questions:

1. Would like to know how the wifi is. It was fair at best on the Breeze the last time we sailed, I've read it is better on the Vista.

2. Can you walk around the ship on deck 5? With the Havana area in the aft section didn't know if it was blocked. We like to walk laps.

3. I'll think of others and ask here ~ Thanks!

Not sure about the Conquest, but on the Breeze, but other than what you mention above, a few of the differences are:

a) a larger room

b) a larger balcony

c) larger shower (with door)

d) some complimentary stuff (I think random, like water, cookies, etc.)

e) the occasional towel animal :)

Yeah, its true, they do dance. Not as bad as you may think though, actually kinda fun. I was like you at first thinking what are they doing, I want to eat. But I chilled out and went along with it, after all it is vacation, and just have fun with it.

:)

I’m thinking that his fees were from roaming charges while in range of the cell service at the ports and/or connected to the cellular at sea service. If he is connected to the ships wifi he will use that data without carrier fees however if data roaming is not turned off then watch out while in port!

If deck 5 starboard is a smoking area, would the smoke make it the balconies on deck 7?

Thank your for sharing your experience in your review. Like a few others noted, we have been on the Valor and had a different experience but do recognize that not every cruise is the same and things that are important to one person may not be that important to someone else. That said, we all can learn from each other's experiences and hopefully help others get the most out of their cruise experience!