L&J

We enjoyed playing shuffleboard on the Vista too.  We just got off Magic and they had one table but we didn't play it this time.

We did the Balmoral Island Dolphin and Stingray encounter in 2015.  It was a nice day.  It starts with a 15 minute boat ride to the island and the water is so turquoise!  The dolphin part was much more involved than the time with the stingrays, which you could feed, pet and kiss.  We were a group of 10 and we purchased the CD of pictures for $70 at the end.  In fairness there were at least 60 pictures on the CD of our group.  The kids played in the sand and we sat in free loungers until it was time to return to the ship. The cost was far better than other dolphin encounters out there. 

17 hours ago, i00762 said:

This cruise is also a Premier Casino cruise and all this people get priority boarding there as well.

That would make sense....but I just looked this up to see what it was.  The Premier Casino cruise is the same day (Feb 17) but on the Carnival Miracle. 

Me too, same ship....stayed up and was online the second it opened.  I had the same late choices and wondered what happened to all the early slots.  We've never had to pay final payment first but I was wondering if those who have paid in full had the choice of an earlier slot?  We've sailed out of Miami several times and had 10:30 or 11 time slots.

I went online to book the staggered entry time slot the minute it opened up (midnight EST). The earliest option was 12:30....but I used to always get 10:30am. Has it changed? If I had made final payment would it offer me an earlier slot? Thx

I agree!!! Miss the old site! Haven’t figured out how to search within specific cruise lines. 

We're considering the Zip-and-Dip tour through Victor Bodden's Monkey Business. I want to ensure there will be enough time to interact with the monkey's and sloth's (or I'd consider skipping the zip if needed). Is there a long line or crowd of people waiting to hold a sloth? Or do small groups get escorted by a guide? How many sloths are there? I just don't want to be rushed to the vans after ziplining to head to the beach without some proper time here for a cool animal interaction.

To anyone who has done this zipline -- is it worth it or pretty small? Judging by the price, it's less elaborate than others in the Caribbean and more of a small quick zipline.

Thanks.

I don't know which ports you'll have, but we just took our kids ziplining in Dominican (through the Vista). It was the extreme zipline adventure and they loved it! They're 11 &13. It was 45 mins- 1 hour travel each way but the zipline company was top notch.

I was hoping someone on this thread would be able to tell me what gluten-free options can be found on the Lido deck on the first day. My mother-in-law is gluten-free and she has never been on a cruise before. I think we understand how it will work in the dining room, but I know when we first get on the boat, we will need to eat on the Lido Deck. Are servers readily available to ask what items are gluten-free, or do you guys know of some things off the top of your head that are gluten-free so we won't have to search out a server? Maybe like something in the deli or something? Also, does the deli use the homemade gluten-free bread, or is that just in the dining room? If you eat at the punchliner brunch, do you just ask your server when you order what options are gluten-free, or is that done the night before as well?

If you are on a ship with Guys Burgers or Pig N Anchor smokehouse, those will be open on the first day. That's when we tried the smokehouse to beat the crowds. If you prefer the buffet, we were told to stick to the chicken breast, potatoes, rice, steamed veggies and fruit. Avoid the carving station because the marinades and sauces are not always safe. They sometimes have a basket of GF bread out and you can ask if you don't see it. The Vista also had an awesome salad bar on the Serenity deck. They customize your salad with a ton of different options, which you pick out similar to a Subway shop. Don't forget the pizzeria has a GF crust too. I've never tried the deli so can't comment on that. Room service had GF bread too. She didn't try to wok options because I'd bet the soy sauce is not safe and it's such a busy place that we didn't want them to have to wash pans before her order.

When you pre-order tomorrow's dinner in the dining room, you can also place your order for breakfast at that time (only if you plan on eating in the MDR for breakfast). When you check in at the desk upon arriving at the dining rooms, they'll find your order sheet and give it to your server.

Enjoy!

Sorry for the delay -- didn't see this! Our Vista trip was great fun! The Southern ports are new to us and the weather was fabulous. To the GF experience....

Breakfasts were like on past cruises - she stuck to bacon, hashbrowns, sausages, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, bananas and GF toast.

Shelby LOVED Guys burgers and fries and ate them probably most days for lunch. Guys Pig and Anchor had lots for her to choose from like pulled pork, chicken, beef, etc. I had emailed Guys earlier to inquire about her options and was told the meat was safe, but they wanted us to double check about sides once onboard. It was busy, so we just gave her a plate of meat. The ice cream machines got a work out once again.

Dinners were in the dining room 7 out of 8 nights because we feel it's safer than the buffet. She orders her dinners during the previous nights' dessert service. Meals start with 2 slices of yummy bread and her own butter dish. The starters she chose were fruit cup, ceasar salad, 4 season salad, cold soups, chicken tenders. Entrees included spring chicken breast, salmon cakes, filet mignon, lamb, tenderloin, etc. My picky little eater even wanted to try ox tongue (which tasted like roast beef!) Basically, she was given the menu and could pick almost anything from it. Her desserts were more limited than the rest of the meal was. She had ice cream, sherbet, cheese cake, chocolate melting cake, key lime mousse....she did just fine despite the limited options.

To be honest, we don't worry anymore about cruising on a Celiac diet. Sadly, it's harder to feed her here during school birthday parties and soccer team gatherings! I love that we don't have to think about it on vacation :)

I hope the rest of you have positive experiences too!

Laurel

It's for my 11 year old daughter. I'd like to get her a 'fun' drink for formal nights.

We have a GF pina colada mix here in Canada. (Canada Dry Mott's Mr&Mrs T)

I'll ask to see the ingredients to be sure.

Hi all! I LOVE seeing that this thread is alive again since I posted it almost 3 years ago.

We leave next Friday on the Vista (Jan 28) and Shelby is excited for her third cruise. We are not even concerned about her diet this time because experience tells us she will be well taken care of. She'll get to try Guys Burgers and even the Pig N Anchor smokehouse!

Her skin is healed, her Celiac is under control and her blood tests are coming back normal now. Whew. Unfortunately, her cousin was just diagnosed with it this week but at least she's not alone in this journey now.

As always, we've noted her GF diet on our file and will stick to the dining room for dinners. We like assigned seating so we always have the same waitstaff to keep things simple.

I've been unable to find out if the new whipped ice cream station on the Vista is safe for her. I'm very concerned that the toppings are out for the public to touch. She might just have to stick to the usual ice cream machines on the Lido deck.

I'll be packing her granola bars, snacks and Lays chips tubes for port days so she has a safe snack until we're back on board. I'll be sure to post about the Vista's GF experience!

Happy sailing!

I can't help on that but this link may be helpful for other gf info...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1988723

I love that you referenced that...it's MY post :)

I was only worried about the drinks because someone posted a warning about them. I suppose my safest bet is to personally check the ingredients. No drink is worth ruining the next few days over!

Thanks everyone!

My daughter is Celiac and I'd like to buy her a pina colada or some kind of fun drink. We have done this in the past without issue. Someone on CC had commented that they aren't GF. Does anyone know for sure or have any experience with this? I need to be sure so I don't gluten her.

Thanks.

HELP! What is the "wear white" dance party? Scheduled for cruise #12 this month and have no clue what this is. Please, do tell!

I've seen a video of Matt (the CD) holding a party in the Atrium and everyone is in white. I'd guess they use black lights to make the white glow. Looked fun.

Hi! There haven't been many sailings yet but I'm wondering which nights are the formal nights? When is the "wear white" dance party?

Thanks.

Hi, we are being picked up for an excursion on the the MegaPier so I just want to confirm that this is the pier that the Vista will be parked at. Can anyone help? Thanks.

I have been trying to pay the final balance on my carnival cruise since yesterday. I tried serval times but kept getting an erro messagae. Today I checked my credit card online and had 11 charges from carnival total just over $22,000 Canadian. However I'm still showing a balance owing on my cruise. This is very frustrating 😡

Yup - same here. Been on the phone with Carnival and Mastercard trying to release all of these holds. They held the amount EACH time I tried the CC even though it was saying 'not authorized'. Getting the run around...very frustrating!

Yes!! Maybe it's a Canadian thing. I tried to book an excursion yesterday and it said purchase not authorized. I tried again, same thing. When my husband got home I tried on his card and that didn't work either! The cards are fine otherwise! I'm hoping it's a glitch. I tried calling Carnival last night but the shore excursion desk was closed so I'll try again today. I sure hope I don't have to get Mastercard on a 3-way call. I don't have time for that during the day while working.

Those rooms are great. I think they only used that stairway for the Muster Drill and that was it. The balcony is awesome!

My son has celiac disease. We sailed on the Pride in September. The gluten free experience was great. On the afternoon when you board the ship go to the main dining room and see the maitre' d and let him know of your food allergies. He will show you that nights dinner menu. After that each night usually around desert time your dining staff will give you the next nights dinner menu. Pick whatever you want. If you can't make up your mind between two items order both. You will order that whole nights meal. There was only one item out of the whole cruise that the chef could not make GF. My son loved all of his food. And the warm chocolate melting cake was awesome. You know it's gluten free as it is served in different shaped dish. They served bread every night and for GF bread it was ok. If your ship has Guys burger joint the burgers are GF and you can get it on a GF bun or do what my son did and forget the bun. The fries will also have to be made separately without the seasoning. Keep in mind that the frozen special drinks are off limits as they are not GF. My son also ordered GF grilled cheese sandwich from romp my service and liked it. I hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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Do you know which frozen drinks are NOT GF? My Celiac daughter was looking forward to these :(

Thanks!

Can anyone tell me how much frozen cocktails are going for? Zydocruisers bar menu is from 2014 and I'd bet they've gone up since then.

Just trying to figure out the math and see if cheers is worth it. What about beer (Bud) price? Is Bud Apple sold onboard? Thx.

Thanks everyone! It'll be our 6th cruise and I've never had a problem with cruising...but we're heading to Universal for a week as soon as we disembark the ship. I was fine on Disney rides but now my kids are tweens and are interested in the big upside-down coasters and motion rides, which I've never done! I'm already anxious about feeling yucky after the first ride and I don't want to ruin the day.

It's hard to try it ahead of time because I'm not really doing anything that would make me queasy when I'm at home.

Do both of these exist? I've only been able to find Less Drowsy Bonine and I don't want it to make me sleepy. I suppose I could just take it at bedtime, but will likely have some alcohol in my system.

Where are you finding the NON drowsy version?

Thanks