Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Review of Vista Cruise from Miami - June 17 - More Pico Please!

SpaceCowboy9

By SpaceCowboy9,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

SpaceCowboy9

SpaceCowboy9

Posted
Posted

Miami

Sea Day

Grand Turk

La Romana, DR

Curacao (rained out -- thanks, but no thanks Tropical Storm Bret -- Sea day)

Aruba

Sea Day

Sea Day

Miami (with South Beach Tour and airport transfer)

 

Flew into Fort Lauderdale & took a Taxi to Miami Cruise port ($74+tip)

 

First time cruising out of Miami - it was a mad house, but good thing my mother-in-law has mobility issues, we sailed through rather quickly.

 

We had a balcony cabin on the lido deck - which was nice -- less waiting for the elevator, because we were already on the lido.

 

We got the Carnival Hub and paid for the chat feature -- it was a little wonky to start using it, but once we figured it out -- loved it! There are a number of dead spots on the ship, but I'm sure this offering will only get better in the future.

 

Sea Day - hit the gym (I went every day but two). The fitness room seemed like an afterthought -- it was much smaller than other ships I've been on and the changing room only had two showers - though I only had to wait for a shower once. We ate breakfast in the dining room (did that every day but two) - I love eating in the dining room. The rest of the sea day comprised of relaxing and reading my book on the lanai deck (deck 5) - the lanai is a secret oasis, it's decorated nicely and underutilized. My wife and wife's mom did the Red Frog Brewery Tour -- enjoyed it and found it informative and each got a nice beer glass (and they made it home). Dinner in the main dining room (MDR each night) - we had the Your Time Dining. It, too, was a little wonky checking in at the desk on deck 5, but as the cruise went on, it worked more smoothly. Went to a show in the Liquid Lounge (Flying Scotsman -- it was fun). My wife and I went to the Havana Bar & pool -- I went for a swim - had the pool to myself, it was great.

 

Grand Turk - (third time to GT) my wife and I did ATVs using Zoom-Zoom Tours ($79.50 per person) -- had a blast and would do that again. Went back onboard and got wife's mom and took her to the cruise port for a little walking around and check out the NASA exhibit. Then I rented some fins at the equipment shack (have snorkel & goggles) and walked out to Jack's Shack -- note to self, when the US Coast Guard is parked at the pier, there will be no fun snorkeling. My wife walked out and met me for a walk back to the ship. It took forever to get back on the ship -- I would have thought the Vista would have been equipped to handle a lot of embarking people? Dinner in MDR and went to a show in the Liquid Lounge (some 70's music show -- it was fun). Havana Bar and pool again.

 

La Romana - (first time to LR) Were looking for the shuttles to Downtown/Altos de Chavon, but turned left instead of right outside the cruise port, and went to the taxi stand instead - though we hit the jackpot. past the taxi stand, there are a couple of baseball fields and there were some mid-teens practicing. One of the taxi drivers was also watching and my wife got to talking to him - his son used to play for the team and he recently got picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays - he's playing in their farm system. It was great, proud papa with his phone, showing us pictures. Found the shuttles, took the one downtown ($5 round trip per person). They have some of the most aggressive vendors I have ever seen, so we got out of the main square as quickly as we could. Went to the church just off the square. Met a nice lady (Mercedes). She ended up walking with us to Jumbo (grocery and home stuff - like Target) -- had to buy some stuff (change your money into Domincan Pesos- Mercedes helped us with that, there was a commercial place to change currency on the way (Casa de Cambio). Caught the shuttle back to the cruise port. Did the SkyRide on the ship -- it was fun, and worth doing once. Went to the comedy show - not that good.

 

Curacao -- rained out -- due to Tropical Storm Bret -- we'd never been to Curacao, so quite disappointed. -- Sea day -- more relaxing, reading and did the water slides!

 

Aruba -- caught the Arubus just outside the cruise port (got a day pass $10 per person). rode up to the Hilton, to pick up some fins at Aruba WaterSports Center ($10 plus $10 deposit per person), then off to Arashi Beach - thanks to Tropical Storm Bret the water was very murky, so snorkeling was a bust, but had fun anyway -- I tried out one of those waterproof bags for your phone (tested at home). Kept my phone dry and was able to take some great pictures while in the water. It was weird, the bag would stick to the screen after I would take a picture and my phone would continue to take pictures - i think I took 300-400 pictures. I had read that there were no facilities at Arashi Beach, but that was not true, there is a bar and you can rent beach equipment and mask, fins, & snorkel. They had Wifi, so we were able to get a couple quick messages out. My wife tried a Balashi beer (brewed in Aruba) and she liked it. Arubus back to the Hilton to drop our fins, and Arubus back to the cruise port. Then walked around the open markets. That night Havana Bar and pool again.

 

2 Sea Days - more reading, relaxing, water slides. Found the Piano Bar with Elizabeth the 2nd to last night - probably a good thing, we would have spent the entire cruise there -- loved Elizabeth's show - went the last two nights.

 

Back to Miami & South Beach Tour and airport transfer -- $50 per person, was a good tour, the only part we didn't like was after the tour, we were dropped at South Beach for two hours, which wouldn't have been too bad, but it happened to be real hot that day and my wife's mom has mobility issues, so our exploring was limited to the TGI Friday's -- I ended up going on a walk by myself and got some pizza. Would probably do the tour again if not the middle of summer and if wife and I were on our own.

__ __ __ __

 

I'm sure there's more I could add:

 

--loved the MDR - the service was great

--liked the new decor on the whole ship and there are more spaces to get-away -- sometimes it didn't feel like a large ship.

--disappointed with the Serenity deck, there was not overhang shade - I like to sit and read in the shade - though we did partake in the Serenity salad bar three times - we took our salads to-go.

--Havana bar & pool - wow!

--Blue Iguana tacos -had lunch there just about every day -- just give me a bowl of pico please!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SpaceCowboy9

SpaceCowboy9

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks for the review. Did you try any other restaurants on the ship?

 

Doug

 

Other than mentioned above, went to Guy's Burger Joint a couple times, I like their burgers. Went a couple times to the Pizza place. I like like the pizza as a late night snack...

Did not try any of the specialty restaurants. Checked out the steakhouse, but it was booked for the rest of the cruise.

Ate at Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ once, when we first boarded the ship, the line was short. Good, tasty pig parts!

We also went to the cooking demonstration, it was in the Limelight Lounge on one of the sea days -- good stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruisecraze96

cruisecraze96

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the review. Did you try any other restaurants on the ship?

 

 

 

Doug

 

 

 

We were on the same cruise and did all the specialty restaurants

 

Steak house - amazing food and service, still the best food and a great value. Plan for a long night though.

 

Italian - Very good, not as good as on the breeze but it still was a good value for what you paid

 

Asian - EXCELLENT! The appetizers were amazing but we were not a fan of the deserts. Again we had great service.

 

Sushi - we did a boat and it was extremely good, they did forget about us since we were the first ones to order and it was over an hour to get the food. Shut they were very apologetic about it and we were outside so not in the main area.

 

Seafood - did the basket and it was prepared very well and tons of food it could have fed to people. My sister did the lobster roll and she also really enjoyed it.

 

I will say that this is the first ship everything seems to sell out on. You have to book early to get a table, especially if you have a larger party. We did the steak house in Thursday and heard them telling many people that they were fully booked the entire cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sunshower9

sunshower9

Posted
Posted
We were on the same cruise and did all the specialty restaurants

 

Steak house - amazing food and service, still the best food and a great value. Plan for a long night though.

 

Italian - Very good, not as good as on the breeze but it still was a good value for what you paid

 

Asian - EXCELLENT! The appetizers were amazing but we were not a fan of the deserts. Again we had great service.

 

Sushi - we did a boat and it was extremely good, they did forget about us since we were the first ones to order and it was over an hour to get the food. Shut they were very apologetic about it and we were outside so not in the main area.

 

Seafood - did the basket and it was prepared very well and tons of food it could have fed to people. My sister did the lobster roll and she also really enjoyed it.

 

I will say that this is the first ship everything seems to sell out on. You have to book early to get a table, especially if you have a larger party. We did the steak house in Thursday and heard them telling many people that they were fully booked the entire cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Was Ji Ji's really busy when you went? I made a reservation for one night just in case they get busy and there's a long wait.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...