bandjwayne

Thanks for sharing! It was fun seeing all the free things available. Good luck on your job hunt!

6 Night Western Caribbean on the Vista Jan. 22nd 2017 sailing

Booked ~Jan./Feb. 2016 (so about a year in advance) I think

Room 2429 Family Harbor Cove Balcony (only 4 rooms of this type and we got the last one for our sailing when we reserved)

4 people - 2 adults, 2 kids (10 & 7)

Costs:

Cruise $1906 ($774 each guests 1&2, $179 each guests 3&4)

Taxes, fees, ports $471.12

Total = $2377.12

Optional fee of vacation insurance $288

Grand total (w/out excursions, drinks, etc.) $2665.12

We are category red in Carnival's loyalty program

Thanks for the post. Could you confirm the time you posted...4:30am till about 1:00am...meaning almost ALL the time???

We are in 2429 in 2 week and are very much looking forward the trip. We've never brought a fan before, but now I'm bringing that plus have downloaded a sound machine app to help with the potential noise issues.

Thanks for sharing! Makes me super excited to go in a few weeks!

I'm going on the Jan 22, 2017 6 day Western Caribbean cruise on Vista. I'd like to book a dinner in the steakhouse, but don't want it to be on the first night or a formal night. Does anyone know when the formal nights are? Our sea days are days 2 & 6.

Thanks!

My family (2 adults in 30s & 2 boys ages 7&10) is cruising in January out of Miami with flights through Fort Lauderdale airport. My question is what should we do to kill time before our 6pm flight back? I know that FLL airport is small & crazy busy so they don't let you into the airport very early. Carnival does have a few excursions that might work, but they leave around 8am & only last ~4 hours so we'll be done pretty early. Does anyone have experience with these? I'd love other suggestions as well please!

Thx!

Thanks so much for the fantastic review and AMAZING photos! I'm looking forward to setting sail in the Caribbean on the Vista in January. My goal this fall is to learn how to use my camera better so I can get a few beautiful pictures too!

I just got off that ship this morning. High winds caused us to not dock at Costa Maya so we headed back & arrived early. I'm not aware of any medical emergency.

Thanks for the pics. We are leaving our house to fly out in 3 hours or so. I can't sleep, so I am getting ready for the trip. Last time we stayed in Ft. Lauderdale, we spent one night at The Pier 66 hotel also. We are so looking fwd to going, it has been 2 or 3 years since we were on the Independence and seeing your pics are bringing back memories. thanks again.

My family (2 adults, 2 kids (7 & 10) and another family (2 adults, 3 kids (8, 10, & 12) will be traveling on a 6 day Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Vista in Jan 2017. My husband and I have gone on many cruises, but mostly just adults. We took our older son when he was 5 on a short 4 day Bahama cruise...this worked out great as he was so well behaved with all our attention given to just him and it was a short cruise.

What I'm needed your help with is tips for traveling with more kids & kids of different ages...esp. since the oldest child is out the young kids club (it only goes until age 11).

Thanks in advance for all your help!

What I have found works best for me is I wear the polyester underwear with a suit that doesn't have the lining in. It is uncomfortable to walk with a normal suit on, plus the polyester dries out kinda fast. Then I throw a shirt on and I am good.

Does anyone know if a good restaurant within walking distance to the Galleryone -Ft Lauderdale hotel? Looking for a quick breakfast place & sit down lunch/dinner.

Thanks!

Thanks, I tried to search, but could not find it. That's a bummer that they will not have it! Oh well, will not ruin my cruise one bit, just wanted some beer while I watched some sporting.

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We will be sailing during the Winter Olympics this year on the Independence of the Seas. Will they show the Olympics on the ship?

Thanks guys, Great info. I like the idea of just booking one person. Any added benifet of having all 4 of us done on ship. Or would I not gain anything by doing that over just me( minus $400 of course :) )

Hello all, we will be heading out on our cruise in 21 days!! We are going with another couple and have discussed going again with our children for the next one. So our thoughts are going in the winter of 2016. We need the time to save up for some airfare for the 4 in my family (they have 5). I have heard of some advantages to booking while on your current cruise. The problem that I have is that RCI is only out to May 2015 now, maybe June 2015 at time of our current sailing. I have checked out the RCI site, and have found nothing. Anyone have any info how this works and if it is worth it? Thank you all.

Bryan

Thanks all. We will have to look into it more. We really like having one waiter and an assigned time/table. We did try anytime on our last carnival cruise. Nothing really wrong with it, and yea no waiting, just missed out on the personal experience of one waiter. We will be having our 2 kids (8 & 5) with on our next one and just do not want to have to wait with them to eat. Not ruling it out just yet, just wanted to make sure we know what the options are before I dig to deep into picking out our next voyage!

Question for you all. Does NCL offer a dining option with an assigned time and table or is it all my time dining? Never been one NCL before and I am in the early stages of planning a family cruise for 2015 and we are not fans of NOT having a table wait for us at our assigned time. Thanks, Bryan

Because of work schedules, some can only cruise on one cruise a year and rather do it on a cruise line they know they like.

 

While I'm a "give other cruise lines a try so you'll know for yourself & may like better" sort of person, I can certainly understand the logic of some who do not want to take a chance on the only cruise they'll be able to take for the year.

 

Any of the rest of you have thoughts on this?

 

LuLu

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That is our situation. I am lucky to get a cruise a year, most times it is every two years. We really do like RCL, but may not be able to afford, and that is really the case if I have to fly four of us. I am thinking about making the trip from Minnesota in the car next time to save on travel cost. If I do that, then the departure port is my fist factor, as NOLA and Galveston are less of a drive and saves a couple hundred on fuel cost. That way I can pick a better cruise to go on!

Thanks to everyone! My wife does have a specific time she would like to go (kids spring break- it is later than most) I guess I will have to look at the calendar to see what we have for options. Now the hard part, getting my wife on board with me !

I am just wondering how many people "jump ship" and cruise on multiple cruise lines? I know the benefit of staying with one line. We have done RCL and Carnival. While we prefer RCL over carnival, we do not dislike carnival at all. I am trying to plan a family cruise in April of 2015. With 4 of us going, CCL and NCL have less expensive options. I am also kinda curious of other lines. I know that if we never try, we will never know if we like that line or not. I know that I will be happy on RCL, we always have been. So do you sometimes choose a cruise by price over cruise line, with itinerary being the same, or as close as it can be? Or do you just stick with your preferred line? Thanks for listening to my rambling, but I am curious!

I love the rice pudding