Vista Trip Report with photos and videos!

[KmomChicago]

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 7:48 PM, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Oh whatever, lighten up it was a joke! Enjoy the review ✌

 

I too would like to lodge a complaint; your signature does not mention this cruise! Completely unacceptable.

 

And you thought it was a tough crowd in the Punchliner!

[JaniceB]

Jiji's food looks very good, I have made a reservation to eat here.

[ABQrobin]

7 minutes ago, JaniceB said:

Jiji's food looks very good, I have made a reservation to eat here.

 

It is really fantastic.  We almost booked for a second dinner there, but we still hadn't hit the Bonsai Sushi yet, and we love that place too.  JiJi's is definitely something special, and $15pp is like the price of McD's practically....  you can't beat it.  

[JaniceB]

I know the cost is not much and it looks like it is worth it.

 

[ABQrobin]

Next up ----   Costa Maya!

 

This is a port we haven't been to and wanted to visit!  It looks so rustic and similar to what Cozumel was 20-30 yrs ago.  

We decided, after much research, to just take a taxi over to Mahahual for a few hours, enjoy a beach club and lunch, shop, then return to port.  

 

 

After breakfast on the Lido, we went out on deck to watch us dock.  

 

Luckily we were the only ship in port today.

 

The trolley was running...

 

 

 

I didn't shoot a lot of video here, mostly just still photos, so I did a little slideshow:

 

NOTE ---  If you are on a laptop or desktop computer, click on the little out arrows next to the word vimeo to show video full screen.  Its high res HD.

 

more to come....

Edited May 2, 2019 by ABQrobin

[ABQrobin]

Once we returned to port, we shopped for awhile, found a new mask for our collection, then headed to the ship.  It was around 1:30pm and although we had lunch at Tropicante, we were ready for a snack, like cake!

 

We went to the room first to drop off our stuff, then up to Lido.  There were quite a few people onboard, more than we expected, mostly hitting Guy's Burgers it seemed.  We headed straight back to the Sweet Spot for our daily cake fix.  After endulging, we went outside and immediately thought - the SkyRide!  The line had always been more than an hour long when we visited, so we hadn't gotten to try it yet.  Today it had to be shorter!

 

We went up to the platform..... and holy moly there was a line of maybe 15 people!  DH was dying to do it, so he jumped in line.  I was going to film, so he was solo.  About that time the clerk yelled, "any singles here - we need one".  He raised his hand and they pulled him right up front to next in line so that he could go with another gentleman riding solo.  That worked out perfect, except DH had handed me his camera and I had no idea where the video button was located!  My GoPro was back in the room....  so off he went, on his first ride and I was still trying to figure out his camera.  LOL  He finished up, said it was fun...and I told him Oops, I didn't get any video.  We sat down for a few minutes to figure it out, turns out he had never used the video feature either.  Once we had it figured out, he hopped back in line.  The same guy was solo again so once he got near the front they called DH up to ride with him.  This was awesome.

 

Video:  The first part is mostly Sailaway day, some footage just walking around sports deck, then his ride is at the end

 

 

 

HIT OR MISS?

We both think the Sky Ride is a BIG HIT.  The line can be long, so try to do it early in afternoon on Port days like we did, or when they first open on Sea Days.  

 

...more....

[JaniceB]

Can't wait to try to the sky ride!  Thanks for sharing.

[ABQrobin]

52 minutes ago, JaniceB said:

Can't wait to try to the sky ride!  Thanks for sharing.

 

My hubby can't wait to do it again.  I think he liked it even more than the Ropes course.  Both are great activities.  Enjoy!

[ABQrobin]

Next Port:  BELIZE !!!

 

This time to Belize (our 4th time there) we decided to try out one of the private island excursions offered by Carnival.  We went back and forth on which excursion, but finally decided on the Snorkeling at Rendezvous Island with lunch.  We wanted to snorkel from shore instead of a boat and this would be the best option for that.  

Excursion was 10am-2pm and left directly from the ship at anchor, returned directly there.  

 

my video:

 

Feel free to ask any questions...

 

lunch was served at a little hut in middle of island, after snorkeling was done.

chicken, rice and beans, veggies, and rum punch (kids got fruit punch, no rum)

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

On 4/29/2019 at 8:15 PM, ABQrobin said:

Time for another HIT or MISS for the cruise...   Topic = Comedy Club

 

 

We saw an R-rated show by this guy and let me say it was the dirtiest show by anyone I have ever seen.  Holy cow.  He is funny as heck, but man...  the towel animal trick has to do with something you never thought you'd see done by a comedian on a ship.  

 

 

 

 

I just found your review and remembered seeing another of yours (last year?) from the Magic.  I am really enjoying it but I just had to comment here.  We saw Jason Blanchard on Carnival Liberty in April 2014 and he used that towel animal to close the show.  That towel animal was a "naughty" one and definitely had something to do with a topic he touched on during his show.  Definitely raunchy but hilarious.  I haven't laughed like that during a comedy show before or since, although Carnival does have some good comedians.  I actually just finished your section on the "Bar Hop" you did in Cozumel and that's what I want to do next time we get there.  Friends of ours did it and highly recommend it.  Thank you for taking the time to do another review. 

[ABQrobin]

2 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

I just found your review and remembered seeing another of yours (last year?) from the Magic.  I am really enjoying it but I just had to comment here.  We saw Jason Blanchard on Carnival Liberty in April 2014 and he used that towel animal to close the show.  That towel animal was a "naughty" one and definitely had something to do with a topic he touched on during his show.  Definitely raunchy but hilarious.  I haven't laughed like that during a comedy show before or since, although Carnival does have some good comedians.  I actually just finished your section on the "Bar Hop" you did in Cozumel and that's what I want to do next time we get there.  Friends of ours did it and highly recommend it.  Thank you for taking the time to do another review. 

 

Thanks!

yup, same towel animal trick.  I was laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair.  

[ABQrobin]

Our Last port was supposed to be Roatan ---   but it was very very very WINDY.  The captain made an attempt to back the ship into Mahogany Bay but the wind was blowing across the ship so made us drift as he was backing.  We would have crashed into the coral reef there, so he stopped and pulled out to stop.  We sat there, off the coast of Roatan for a half hour before the dreaded announcement "Roatan cancelled due to high winds - will be Sea Day instead".

 

 

These were some HUGE white caps... we were on Deck 10 when I took this photo.

 

 

We actually were not surprised at this because we had watched the weather reports the week before the cruise and saw that Roatan had predicted high winds for every day that week.  Unusual for this time of year, for sure, but the Mahogany Bay dock is set back into a cove and all ships back in.  We have been to Roatan 3 times before and never had windy days, so it was an easy docking for those.  This time, I can see why the captain decided to abort.  It was WINDY and blowing at an angle across the ship.  The Vista just couldn't get into that narrow opening safely.

 

So....... we were going to do a Sea Day instead...... which meant 3 sea days on way back to Galveston.

BUT....  not long after leaving Roatan, the Captain came on the intercom and said something amazing....  We would be stopping at Cozumel tomorrow!  What?  Yes, he arranged us a spot at Puerta Maya for the day, so since we had rainy weather at Cozumel on Monday, it would be a sunny day at Cozumel on Friday.  I think all the disappointed people onboard were a little happier to hear this, as were we.  

 

So, Sea Day Thursday instead of Roatan !

 

more to come....

[ABQrobin]

On the way back to Cozumel for round 2...

 

 

This itinerary change put the whole ship's crew into warp speed.  They had to completely redo activities for the day for on the ship, as well as the Excursion desk had to refund everyone for Roatan excursions and then also set up excursions for Cozumel for Friday.  It was a hectic mess.  Several times they announced to PLEASE DON'T CALL the SHORE EXCURSION DESK!  They are working as hard as they can to get everything refunded and new excursions up online.

 

We checked on the hub app every half hour or so, and saw the Cozumel port day show up, with an excursion or two at a time.  Most sold out almost immediately.  We weren't sure what we wanted to do, but decided to just take a tourist day, taxi to town and shop, lunch, etc.  We haven't done that in Cozumel in years.  

 

For the Sea Day.... the Fun Crew was busy trying to get set up Bingo, and Trivia games, and everything originally set for Friday's sea day moved over.  Bravo for how fast they got things going!

 

 

 

 

More --  HIT or MISS!

The big Lobby LED display

 

 

Honestly, I have read so many reports from people who didn't like it, I really didn't know what to expect.  We actually DID like it.  We call it a HIT.

It changed several times a day.  It was always cool to see it move and designs change, quite interesting. 

 

So here are some of the patterns to enjoy.

 

 

more...

[ABQrobin]

 

 

 

 

more...

[ABQrobin]

 

All of the designs move in some way... this one had plants growing, opening up and withering... very cool.

 

 

My favorite one... had grass and blooms growing

 

 

 

 

loved this one so much, I sat and watched it several times, go through all the stages.

[ABQrobin]

this one was a world map, with clouds and all... kinda cool.

 

There is also a smaller one of these in the casino with a view point, all inclosed in glass one  deck 5, thank you, cough cough.

 

 

It had completely different patterns, from what we could tell, with the exception of the world map.

 

 

more...

[jbethel11]

4 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

Honestly, I have read so many reports from people who didn't like it, I really didn't know what to expect.

The funny thing is that I have been hearing from many people that they liked the Dreamscape on the Horizon better than the Vista...interesting!

[Beachiekeen]

What a fun review!  We got on the Vista the day you got off.  I am enjoying your take on it.

 

We ate at JiJi on a whim and loved it so much we went back a second time, mainly so I could get the creme brulee that my friend got the first night.  It was phenomenal, I am still dreaming about it!  We loved both our meals at JiJi.

 

I am sad we never tried the cakes--we never eat at the buffet but I had wanted to try them and then forgot.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Beachiekeen

[ABQrobin]

58 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

The funny thing is that I have been hearing from many people that they liked the Dreamscape on the Horizon better than the Vista...interesting!

 

I wonder what is the difference?

[rascaldog]

Ji Ji's is the best, try the Green Beans I would order them for desert.   You can also go there for lunch at no extra charge, it is very good as well.

 

[miss tea]

Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

[dollbanks]

I love your review, pictures and videos. Thanks for sharing!

[christyran1228]

On 5/8/2019 at 7:50 AM, ABQrobin said:

Our Last port was supposed to be Roatan ---   but it was very very very WINDY.  The captain made an attempt to back the ship into Mahogany Bay but the wind was blowing across the ship so made us drift as he was backing.  We would have crashed into the coral reef there, so he stopped and pulled out to stop.  We sat there, off the coast of Roatan for a half hour before the dreaded announcement "Roatan cancelled due to high winds - will be Sea Day instead".

 

 

These were some HUGE white caps... we were on Deck 10 when I took this photo.

 

 

We actually were not surprised at this because we had watched the weather reports the week before the cruise and saw that Roatan had predicted high winds for every day that week.  Unusual for this time of year, for sure, but the Mahogany Bay dock is set back into a cove and all ships back in.  We have been to Roatan 3 times before and never had windy days, so it was an easy docking for those.  This time, I can see why the captain decided to abort.  It was WINDY and blowing at an angle across the ship.  The Vista just couldn't get into that narrow opening safely.

 

So....... we were going to do a Sea Day instead...... which meant 3 sea days on way back to Galveston.

BUT....  not long after leaving Roatan, the Captain came on the intercom and said something amazing....  We would be stopping at Cozumel tomorrow!  What?  Yes, he arranged us a spot at Puerta Maya for the day, so since we had rainy weather at Cozumel on Monday, it would be a sunny day at Cozumel on Friday.  I think all the disappointed people onboard were a little happier to hear this, as were we.  

 

So, Sea Day Thursday instead of Roatan !

 

more to come....

 

 

This happened to us ... we ended up in Cozumel twice, too, when we were on the Vista last October.  Wasn't complaining!

[ABQrobin]

Back to my 

 

VISTA -   HIT or MISS?

 

The Liquid Lounge is the big theater on the ship.  Report after report we read this past year, complaint after complaint about seating and shows made us anxious to try it out.  We loved all the Playlist Shows we have seen in past 5 years on other ships (all except Country Roads which we think is very high school musical).  So...  we went to 4 shows during the week.

#1...The Welcome Aboard Show on embarkation night

#2....Flick the following night

#3...America Rocks!

#4...Lipsync Battles the last night

 

We sat in different areas most nights.  Most nights there was a very good turnout of crowds and very few empty seats, which meant people were coming in and out the entire show crawling back and forth over you or walking in front of you.  There is also a huge bar taking up a large section in the back on lower level, taking away a lot of seats.  I get how they have the moveable seats in the lower level center section - some of the shows lend themselves to audience participation and interaction.  

HOWEVER, it just doesn't work.  Unless you get there as soon as doors open, and run down front to get in the first 3-4 rows, you won't enjoy the shows.  We even tried the front row of balcony 1 show and half the show I had people walking in front of me back and forth.  Yuck.

 

 

 

Total MISS !!!!

 

Here is the show list for the cruise:

 

 

 

We think Carnival really missed the mark with this venue.  It is smaller, and just awkward in so many ways.  If we ever do the Vista again, which is likely, we won't attend any shows in the Liquid Lounge.

 

...more...

 

Edited May 9, 2019 by ABQrobin

[dmdiver]

Love the review.  We saw Cowboy Bill Martin on a past cruise & really liked him.  I follow him on Facebook, too.  Looking forward to seeing him again, as he is going to be on our sailing as well.  Did y'all enjoy Rendezvous in Belize?  This is what we have booked for our family in Belize.  Well, except DH & his buddy will be scuba diving.  

 

Did you by any chance use Skype onboard the ship?  Our daughter has a 13 month old & wants to be able to video call her, so we're wondering how reliable it is.