Vista March 4th - 10th review

[declansdad]

Following! We're on the Vista in 30 Days! Countdown is on!

 

 

You will have a blast. Which itinerary are you doing?

[declansdad]

Following, as we did Vista last October and generally liked it.

How much was the Lyft ride from your hotel to PortMiami? We generally stay at the Quality Inn next to your Hampton Inn for sailings out of Ft. Lauderdale (free cruise shuttle and free parking) but thought it was a bit too far away for Miami cruises.

 

When you described the KMart, the BJ's Warehouse and its bottle shop next-door I thought "Hey, I'll bet I know which Hampton they stayed at." :)

BTW, apparently all of their bottle shops are open to the public and not just club members...a handy thing to know when purchasing your bring-onboard wine. ;)

 

 

We decided to stay there because of the time we arrived and the proximity of the stores to purchase some wine. We had no problem walking into the BJ Liquor store but the wine was in the actual store. The greeter told us where to go and then to take it to the customer service desk to pay.

[declansdad]

Following, as we did Vista last October and generally liked it.

How much was the Lyft ride from your hotel to PortMiami? We generally stay at the Quality Inn next to your Hampton Inn for sailings out of Ft. Lauderdale (free cruise shuttle and free parking) but thought it was a bit too far away for Miami cruises.

 

;)

 

 

Sorry the Lyft ride from the hotel for the Port, using Lyft Plus was $65.

[Pellaz]

Sorry the Lyft ride from the hotel for the Port, using Lyft Plus was $65.

 

Thanks, I assume that was for two people? Not outrageous considering the distance.

[jimbo5544]

We used Uber in April from same area and it was $35

 

 

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[declansdad]

Thanks, I assume that was for two people? Not outrageous considering the distance.

 

4 people, 5 bags.

[declansdad]

We used Uber in April from same area and it was $35

 

 

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I didn't check the Uber price but this was for the Lyft Plus fare not the basic Lyft. We had 4 people with 5 bags total so we needed the space. Two years ago we used Go Airport Shuttle with a private car and it was around $90 from the Fort Lauderdale airport to our hotel in downtown Miami.

[jimbo5544]

Ahhh, probably would be close then. Sorry, did not see that. There is absolutely no doubt that these options are by the best way, cheapest and most comfortable.

 

 

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[declansdad]

Ahhh, probably would be close then. Sorry, did not see that. There is absolutely no doubt that these options are by the best way, cheapest and most comfortable.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

I think we did check both prices online about a month before leaving and the comparable Uber ride was around the same price, maybe a bit more.

 

I do wish I had checked on the way back though. We stayed in Miami until Sunday and used Lyft again to go back to the airport at 5:30 am. Apparently the demand was high and their were fewer drivers available so it jacked the price up considerably.

[funat55]

Wow, great review and pictures. On my bucket list is to figure out how to post pictures. I think this is the cruise my niece got engaged on. She works on the ship in the kids club and the proposal was orchestrated by Matt the cruise director and her new fiancée who also works on the ship. Did you happen to see it? They did it on the lido deck at a deck party.

[smurfm69]

Great pics! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[declansdad]

Wow, great review and pictures. On my bucket list is to figure out how to post pictures. I think this is the cruise my niece got engaged on. She works on the ship in the kids club and the proposal was orchestrated by Matt the cruise director and her new fiancée who also works on the ship. Did you happen to see it? They did it on the lido deck at a deck party.

 

Was that when they said they were recognising her as the Vista representative for employee of the month? I did see a bit of that but I was a couple of decks up and not paying a lot of attention.

 

Thanks for the nice comments.

[declansdad]

Great pics! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Thanks, hope to get some more done later today.

[funat55]

Was that when they said they were recognising her as the Vista representative for employee of the month? I did see a bit of that but I was a couple of decks up and not paying a lot of attention.

 

Thanks for the nice comments.

 

Yes, that was it. There really was no employee of the month award. It was a set up to get my niece on deck so her fiancée could propose. She had no idea it was going to happen.

[cruzkitty]

Great Review and pics!! We will be sailing on the Vista next year, trying a Havana Balcony on Deck 7. Thanks for posting your review!

[Beachiekeen]

Great Review and pics!! We will be sailing on the Vista next year, trying a Havana Balcony on Deck 7. Thanks for posting your review!

 

Us too! Looking forward to the Vista in Galveston—it can’t compare to that beautiful Miami sailaway though!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[declansdad]

Monday March 5 - Sea Day

 

I love sea days, especially at the start of a cruise. There is no better way to just start relaxing on vacation and today was no different.

 

The day started out with my wife heading up to the sports deck for a run. After thinking about how much I ate the day before, I thought it might be a good idea for me to do the same. So I headed up to get in what I thought would be the first of two or three runs on the cruise. It was about 8 am and it was relatively busy on the track with a lot of walkers and a few runners. I got in about 2 miles before I passed a guy that looked familiar, turned out to be someone from home, the manager of the soccer team our son used to play for. I stopped and walked with him for a few laps before we both decided it was time for breakfast.

 

Back at the cabin everyone was about ready for breakfast, The Boys headed for the Market Place and my wife and I decided to get a breakfast burrito. After that we all seem to go our own ways for a bit. There was an 18+ volleyball tournament scheduled so the boys, who both play volleyball, decided to see if they could play. They were both told no because they haven't hit 18 yet. I headed up a bit later to see if I could possibly get in but it had started and there didn't seem to be an opportunity to join in.

 

The Sky Ride was open and it was fairly busy. While sitting watching the volleyball I noticed a father and daughter come into sight on the ride. The daughter looked to be about 10 or 11 and was struggling. She ended up stopping right by the court and went into panic mode. Eventually one of the attendants rode out and helped her get going by giving her a small push.

 

Next up for me was trying to find a place just to chill for a bit. Tried the serenity deck but it was packed, the only thing available was a small table with no shade. I sat there for abit and read but the sun was pretty strong. Next I tried Deck 5 Port side, just below our cabin and there was no one there (maybe because there was no sun either). I eventually headed back to the pool area and found the Boys exiting the Sky Ride. They waited about an hour and enjoyed the ride. I sat with them while they grabbed one of their many Guy's burgers before we decided to head to one of the lounges for Trivial Pursuit. It had started by the time we got there so we just watched. I have to tell you some people are pretty serious about winning these games. It was fun to watch a couple of families get right into it. After that we went into the Red Frog Pub and played some Foosball and shuffleboard.

 

My wife and I had signed up for the 2:30 brewery tour so we met up for that and headed to the pub. This is a nice way to spend about 90 minutes if you like beer. Sign up when you get on board on Day 1, the cost is $25 per person. You get plenty of samples, a souvenir glass and certificate that gets you a free beer. The space is limited to about 16 and they do 3 sessions on a sea day. The brew master was entertaining and informative and as I mentioned, you will not go thirsty.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

The brew master at work:

 

 

After the tour ended we met the Boys in the lounge next door for Sports Trivia. They had an been joined by Denny from Michigan who was instrumental in helping us win the game. The prize was the much coveted 24k gold plastic ship on a stick. We all agreed to give it to Colby, our son's buddy, because this was his first cruise and we had all won them before. Unfortunately we went back to play some games in the Pub before dinner and he forgot it there.

 

Dinner tonight was in the Steakhouse.

 

 

Our reservation was for 6:30 and it wasn't very crowded. The service and the food was very good. The servers were very formal at the start but become more friendly as the meal progressed. There was a young girl seated at the table next to us and at one point the Captain came in and she wanted to know who was driving the ship.

 

For dessert we opted for Art at the Table. If you have the opportunity to try this, do it. If for no other reason for the creation of the dessert. It was very cool to watch. Here is a link to a video if you are interested. If the link doesn't work for you, let me know and I will move the video to Youtube.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lt3pnXHALmNLvsD82

 

And a couple of pictures of the evening

 

 

 

Continued in the next post

[declansdad]

After dinner we headed to the Theatre for the Studio VIP show. We were a bit late getting there so the main floor was pretty full so we opted for the balcony. We found seats on the side of the stage in the front row. They were good seats but the glass partition was a bit annoying. The show itself was entertaining but we were to realize that it wasn't the best of the shows this group of entertainers would perform in this cruise.

 

 

 

 

This video shows how the glass can be annoying (in my opinion) if you are sitting in the balcony.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uNmH0ISrXj7UXFIO2

 

As I said, we enjoyed the show and overall we found this to be a pretty good group of singers and dancers. We were looking forward to the seeing the rest of the shows throughout the week.

 

The four of us headed to the sports deck to try our hand at 4 person ping pong, mini putt and the foot pool. I have to tell you that the foot pool is a bit more challenging than you would think.

 

 

My wife and I finished up the night at the late night comedy show (in the lounge/theatre not the comedy club) and the Boys watched Wonder Woman at the Dive In movie.

 

Next up Ocho Rios.

[declansdad]

Us too! Looking forward to the Vista in Galveston—it can’t compare to that beautiful Miami sailaway though!

 

We've never been to Galveston. We have sailed out of Miami, Tampa, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. Miami is definitely the most scenic followed by Tampa in my opinion.

[declansdad]

Thanks for the review.

 

No problem, thanks for following along.

[declansdad]

Yes, that was it. There really was no employee of the month award. It was a set up to get my niece on deck so her fiancée could propose. She had no idea it was going to happen.

 

 

That is very cool. Congrats to your niece and her fiancee.

[declansdad]

Great Review and pics!! We will be sailing on the Vista next year, trying a Havana Balcony on Deck 7. Thanks for posting your review!

 

 

Thanks for following along.

 

I think something like the Havana Deck will be on tap for my wife and I in a couple of years. Our son will be off to university and we are hoping to get some travel in.

[biksgirl]

hello from a fellow Canadian! I'll be on this ship with same itinerary in July. Enjoying it and the pics! looking forward to reading more!

[declansdad]

hello from a fellow Canadian! I'll be on this ship with same itinerary in July. Enjoying it and the pics! looking forward to reading more!

 

 

Thanks for following along. What part of Canada are you from?