Which Itinerary Did You Choose and WHY?

[divers2]

Us too, trvlgirlmq - We booked Barcelona to Athens and then switched to Athens to Barcelona to see both Sicily and Malta. Taking our niece and nephew on a special graduation trip, and nephew wanted to see Sicily and Malta hands down over only Crete. He is a history buff. When he heard he could go to another country on this cruise, he was ecstatic. We will get hotels for a few days on both ends to spend more time (my husband and I know our way around Athens using public transportation; nephew is in charge of Barcelona!). Cheers! I agree an extra night on a ship docked quite a way from Athens that you need to depart at 7 or 8am the next morning is a waste when you can see another country in that same timeframe and an interesting one at that! That said, I do understand that schedules rule many options.

[BaseballMomof4]

Us too, trvlgirlmq - We booked Barcelona to Athens and then switched to Athens to Barcelona to see both Sicily and Malta. Taking our niece and nephew on a special graduation trip, and nephew wanted to see Sicily and Malta hands down over only Crete. He is a history buff. When he heard he could go to another country on this cruise, he was ecstatic. We will get hotels for a few days on both ends to spend more time (my husband and I know our way around Athens using public transportation; nephew is in charge of Barcelona!). Cheers! I agree an extra night on a ship docked quite a way from Athens that you need to depart at 7 or 8am the next morning is a waste when you can see another country in that same timeframe and an interesting one at that! That said, I do understand that schedules rule many options.

 

You will love Barcelona! Athens is new to me, so I am excited about that! Any suggestions about hotels in Athens?

[Cinders411]

Just booked the repositioning cruse from New York to Miami in Nov 2016. Haven't sailed on Carnival in a few years. Looking forward to seeing what they have done with the Vista.

[Keys2Heaven]

Booked for a southern Caribbean on April 22, 2017 out of Miami. Love this route...just enough ports and sea days to even everything out. Can always stand a stop in Aruba, but this has a couple of new ports...La Romana, DR and Curacao that we haven't been to yet.

 

Didn't know too much about the ship, but loved the concept of the Havana-themed rooms. Found out that they reclassified two of the aft deck rooms to Havana style (HE to HI class), so we grabbed on of those. We're sailing on Valor next week with our first aft-extended balcony room and think we'll enjoy being aft "snobs." :)

[hencoll]

We chose the June 11, 2016 Barcelona to Athens. It fits best with our schedule and we wanted to end in Athens because we are planning a couple of weeks Greek Island hopping after the cruise. That's much easier to do from Pireaus/Athens than Barcelona. ;) We've done most of the ports before on other cruises when our 3 daughters were younger so this will give us a chance to try some new things. Very excited about the itinerary. :)

[trvlgirlmq]

We chose the June 11, 2016 Barcelona to Athens. It fits best with our schedule and we wanted to end in Athens because we are planning a couple of weeks Greek Island hopping after the cruise. That's much easier to do from Pireaus/Athens than Barcelona. ;) We've done most of the ports before on other cruises when our 3 daughters were younger so this will give us a chance to try some new things. Very excited about the itinerary. :)

 

We really want to return to France as well since we will be so close. That was another consideration for ending in Barcelona; only 3 hours on the train to Toulouse or a short flight to Bordeaux where we can go to the Dordogne again.

[BaseballMomof4]

Booked for a southern Caribbean on April 22, 2017 out of Miami. Love this route...just enough ports and sea days to even everything out. Can always stand a stop in Aruba, but this has a couple of new ports...La Romana, DR and Curacao that we haven't been to yet.

 

Didn't know too much about the ship, but loved the concept of the Havana-themed rooms. Found out that they reclassified two of the aft deck rooms to Havana style (HE to HI class), so we grabbed on of those. We're sailing on Valor next week with our first aft-extended balcony room and think we'll enjoy being aft "snobs." :)

 

I am thinking of booking a Southern for 2017 while we are on board in 2016! We have done Eastern and Western to death, so looking forward to a new itinerary!

[LightHammer]

We chose the inaugural sailing. We like to travel before the nice weather starts at home since we do lots of camping through the summer. I'm hoping everything goes well with the construction and everything is ready for Vistas' first guests! We've never been to Europe either so that will be interesting too.

[hencoll]

We really want to return to France as well since we will be so close. That was another consideration for ending in Barcelona; only 3 hours on the train to Toulouse or a short flight to Bordeaux where we can go to the Dordogne again.

 

That sounds wonderful too. We always try to add post cruise time on land after our European cruises. International airfare is not cheap so we try to maximize our time in Europe. Short term apartment rentals, trains and/or inter-European airlines makes it more cost effective to spend a couple of weeks after the cruise in Europe, if you have the time.

[mrsfuzzmo]

I am thinking of booking a Southern for 2017 while we are on board in 2016! We have done Eastern and Western to death, so looking forward to a new itinerary!

 

Jump on board the Jan 28th, 2017 - 8 night Southern. You can come and play in my Havana Cabana yard anytime!! (They are currently sold out).

[BaseballMomof4]

Jump on board the Jan 28th, 2017 - 8 night Southern. You can come and play in my Havana Cabana yard anytime!! (They are currently sold out).

 

Would love to, but the kids (college age) will be in school then and I want this to be a family vacation :( Still might if my oldest and his family can come instead....I haven't been able to cruise with him since 2006! :eek: And the family harbor staterooms would be perfect for them with 2 little ones.

[rich5258]

We just booked Grand suite for 4,we really wanted Havana suite they are all sold out we like spring break,as we can take our grandson and his mom as they love cruising.

[hfick]

We're on the same cruise and heading to Paris from Barcelona on the train. We're super excited!

[lovecarnivalcruises]

Chose Sept. 23, 2016 for the ports (1st time in Europe), hoping for cooler weather, to hot in the summer, hoping also for smaller crowds.

[trvlgirlmq]

We had to change dates so are now on June 11 2016 and will end with 4 days in London.

[lovecarnivalcruises]

We had to change dates so are now on June 11 2016 and will end with 4 days in London.

 

 

We might be flying in early to London, before our cruise.:)

[trvlgirlmq]

We might be flying in early to London, before our cruise.:)

 

We thought about doing it before but with the cruise ending on Tuesday it seemed like a better fit to just take the rest of that week. Also, my mom's birthday is the 23rd and she didn't want to have to come home and then go right back to work!

[AngMo44]

We had some future cruise certificates to burn by Mar '15. When I began looking at itineraries, I saw the Vista in the Med and that was all we needed!!

 

I originally booked us the 10 day June 11 since it was the first one after school would be out.

 

Next year's school schedule has kids getting out earlier than we thought.

 

The 10 day May 24 sailing became possible. We liked the idea of cooler temps, slightly less crowded, $400 less fare (even after change fee) - and to top it off it's gone down another $200 since!

 

We haven't been to Sicily, Malta, Turkey or Greece, so that was the reason for 10 day choice.

[trvlgirlmq]

We had some future cruise certificates to burn by Mar '15. When I began looking at itineraries, I saw the Vista in the Med and that was all we needed!!

 

I originally booked us the 10 day June 11 since it was the first one after school would be out.

 

Next year's school schedule has kids getting out earlier than we thought.

 

The 10 day May 24 sailing became possible. We liked the idea of cooler temps, slightly less crowded, $400 less fare (even after change fee) - and to top it off it's gone down another $200 since!

 

We haven't been to Sicily, Malta, Turkey or Greece, so that was the reason for 10 day choice.

 

What county do you live in that you get out so early? We are in Sumner and ALWAYS get out the Thursday before Memorial Day. We are just missing the May 24th sailing which would be our choice too for all the reasons you listed. Oh, well.

[AngMo44]

Williamson, but private school. Every year has been Friday before Memorial Day (hence our original booking), but when we got the calendar they have us out on the 20th for 2016.

[trvlgirlmq]

Williamson, but private school. Every year has been Friday before Memorial Day (hence our original booking), but when we got the calendar they have us out on the 20th for 2016. ��������

 

Lucky ducky! Can't wait to start reading trip reports/ship reports!

[AngMo44]

Lucky ducky! Can't wait to start reading trip reports/ship reports!

 

Definitely lucked out! Me, too!

 

Hope y'all weather these storms OK this weekend!

[trvlgirlmq]

Definitely lucked out! Me, too!

 

Hope y'all weather these storms OK this weekend!

 

Thanks. You too!

[k9_Cop]

We are doing the 11 day repo from NYC-MIA on 11/16/16. Chose it becuase of the ports, its a brand new ship and that its the second sailing from the US.

[RumpunchGirl]

We chose the 6 day out of Miami for several reasons. 1st, we just wanted to experience a big new ship since we have never really been on anything like this before. Since we booked for the ship, we wanted to experience the Havana area so we got an extended aft balcony in the Havana area. We pick the Jan 8th sail because of the time of year and the price was reasonable. An added perk was Miami. We'll add a few days before and after to explore as we haven't see much of this city before.