Jenny in TX

4 minutes ago, steadyone said:

 

Maybe am wrong but I thought Havana cabins had exclusive use of the pool until 7:00pm not 5:00pm.

You are correct.  At 7pm the area opens up to everyone although there was never anyone back there in the evenings.  There were people inside the Havana area listening to music but it was never packed and there was never anyone outside at night.

We just got off the Vista also and I agree with most of your list.  We had a Havana Cabana balcony and we will never cruise on this class of ships without being in the Havana area....we loved it!!

We were on board by 11:20 and thought all of the check in went very quickly.  The atrium is beautiful but it is very different then Carnivals other ships.

Loved not having to walk through the casino but I agree that you feel like you are walking in hallways.  My husband said he felt like he was in a mall.  We like being able to see the water and you don't get very many water views when you are in the common areas on the Vista.

I only take the stairs so I can't comment on the elevators although we had some in our group of 12 use them and they never complained.

Our rooms were very cold which was nice but the rest of the ship was very warm and humid.  This is the first cruise I have ever been on that I wasn't constantly wearing a jacket when I was in the common areas.  They are usually freezing, but not on this ship.

I didn't feel like the lines for food were long at all.  I get an omelet every morning and I never had to wait more than 5 minutes.  I also had a Guys burger a couple of days and there was never a line.  I waited in line no more than 5 minutes when I went to the deli to get my husband a hot dog on two occasions.

We had priority board on the tender to Belize so we got on right away but had to wait about 15 minutes for it to fill up and leave.  We sat at a bar in port until there was no line and then got right on the tender headed back to the boat at the end of the day.  We were on the last tender back and it was quick and easy.  We had no issues with the tenders.

Our cabin steward was awesome.  We had twice daily service and anytime he saw me coming to my room he would open my door for me.  We had 6 rooms in our group and he would always tell us where everyone had gone or if they were still in their room.

The main lounge is set up very different and it wasn't my favorite but we always found a good seat and enjoyed the shows.

We took our bags off ourselves when we got back to Galveston.  We were off the boat in about 30 minutes once we headed down.  It seemed to be running very smoothly.

We had a great time and would definitely sail the Vista again as long as we can have a Havana balcony.

We just got off the Vista Sunday and had a Havana balcony and we loved it!!  We had 6 rooms total so we all hung out on our patios quite a bit.  You have exclusive use of the Havana pool until 7pm everyday.  We very rarely saw people on the walkway in front of our patios.  Most people came and went through their main balcony door unlike our group who mainly used our patio door.  If you like hanging out by the pool I would definitely recommend the Havana area as there was never more than 20 people out there during the day.  We loved it and will never cruise that class of ships unless we are in a Havana balcony.  If you don't mind having an interior I would definitely try it....it really is an awesome area!

We just got off the Vista on Sunday also.  We weren't supposed to cruise again until April but my husband has always wanted to do a cruise over New Years so we are about to book the Freedom leaving 12/29/18.

We also live 30 minutes from Galveston.  We have cruised out of Florida a few times, but it is very nice to just jump in the car and be at the port in 30 minutes.

We stopped in Belize last Wednesday (10/17/18) on the Carnival Vista.  We had 12 people in our group and booked the Shark/Ray Alley tour with Coral Breeze.  Because we had a bigger group our price was discounted to $67.50/person.  We got to the dock and found Coral Breeze and were told that our group would have its own boat!  We boarded and made the 45 minute ride out to Caye Caulker.  When we were riding to Caye Caulker we saw a huge spotted eagle ray jump out of the water.  It was pretty amazing!  We also saw a dolphin.  Once we got to the island they docked right in front of Island Magic Resort/Restaurant.  We placed our lunch orders and then we left to go snorkeling and they told us when we came back they would have our food ready.  We first went to the coral gardens to snorkel.  Two guides got in the water with us and we snorkeled for about 45 minutes.  One of the guides went down and got an eel to come up so we could see it, he also brought up a conch shell and a huge hermit crab for us to see.  We saw several barracudas (one was about 4-1/2' long).  He was constantly pointing out fish and urchins and making sure we all saw them.  I have never seen so much coral in one place....it was beautiful.  After that we loaded up and went to the area where the stingrays and nurse sharks were.  I am 5'2" and even I could stand where the stingrays and sharks were.  There was a large group of both sharks and stingrays.  We stayed there for about 20 minutes and afterwards they handed out fresh pineapple, rum punch & water.  Then we headed back to the island and had about 1-1/2 hours to eat lunch and hang out until we had to leave to head back to Belize City.

My mother in law does not like to snorkel and she stayed on the boat and sat in the shade while we were in the water.  There was a 3rd guide who stayed on the boat the whole time and she said that he was so nice and spent the entire time telling her about life in Belize and different marine life in the water.  She said she really enjoyed talking to him.

The cruise ship had cancelled all of their excursions to Caye Caulker that day because it was supposed to rain.  It was an absolutely beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and there only 2 other boats out when we were snorkeling and we were the only people at the restaurant we went to.  It was a perfect day and we are already planning a trip back to Caye Caulker.

I can not recommend Coral Breeze enough.  I emailed Coral Breeze several times before our trip to ask questions and Mark always replied within 30 minutes.  We will not hesitate to book with them again!  We tipped them very well at the end of the excursion.

Glad your trip worked out!  We loved our visit to Caye Caulker.

We were on Caye Caulker last Wednesday (10/17) and had grilled lobster that was fresh from the ocean.  We had 11 people booked and had our own boat with Coral Breeze.  All of the cruise ship excursions were cancelled that day because it was supposed to rain, but it was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky.  The island was very quiet so I can see how there might not be any people grilling on the roadside.  Our boat pulled up to a Island Magic Restaurant and we placed our orders and then left to go snorkel and when we got back they had our lunch waiting for us.

We are on the October 14th sailing on the Vista next month. I saw on our group FB page yesterday morning that it had changed. I went to my booking on Carnival's site and it was changed on there also. I got an email from Carnival today that the order of the ports had changed. We booked outside excursions and when I emailed them yesterday they were already aware of it and had changed our dates for us.

The change does not bother me at all. Having 2 sea days at the end is actually really nice!!

I am enjoying your review! Congratulations on the weight loss....that is awesome! I agree with the others that you look don't look anywhere close to 43.

Thank you for the info! I'm looking at booking it through Coral Breeze instead of doing the water taxi. Just wondering how long the boat ride is as we will have my in laws with us. Thinking of just riding over and having lunch on the beach at Chef Kareem's and then finding somewhere to have a few drinks while enjoying the view and then heading back.

We will be on the Carnival Vista in October and are looking at doing the trip to Caye Caulker with Coral Breeze tours. How long is the boat road over to the island from the port? Just trying to figure out how much time we will actually have on Caye Caulker.

Thank you!

We have never gone in to the water at the cruise terminal in Grand Turk. We always go to The Sandbar and use the beach there. There is usually no one there and the beach has been pristine.

We live about 30 minutes from Galveston and will be on the Vista in exactly a month. I read some negative reviews, but I also read some great reviews. We are very excited and can't wait to be on the ship.

I would suggest booking a hotel on the seawall in Galveston and then taking a taxi or uber to the strand if you want to go there also. The San Luis and The Galvez are both really nice and you will be right across from the beach and within walking distance of many restaurants. The DoubleTree Hilton on the Beach is nice also and has a nice bar that is by the pool. We often stay there and hang out at the bar in the evening.

Can't wait to board the Vista in about 58 days!!

We have a Havana cabana balcony booked on the Vista in October. For us, we will always choose a balcony.

Bushwacker - preferably made by KT at the pool bar on the Liberty of the Seas!!

We just cruised on RC Liberty of the Seas last month. We booked it because we went with a large group of close to 900 people and that is the cruise line they booked.

We thought the ship was very nice. All of the staff we encountered were so friendly.

The pizza on RC was much better than Carnival and we never encountered a line or a wait like we always have on Carnival. We love Guys Burgers and missed having one of those. Overall I thought the food on RC was a little better.

We did not care for the Royal Promenade. We could not see the water at all when we were down there and we felt like we were in a mall. All of the late night deck parties were held on the Royal Promenade and we just didn't feel like we were at sea when we are down below partying without any view of the water. We much prefer Carnival's deck parties on the open deck by the pool.

We hang out by the pool quite a bit. On RC they never had music playing until about 1 or 2 each day. Any events that were held by the pool were never shown on the big screen so you really couldn't see what was going on since people are standing all around. On the big screen they had videos from a website called the Chive being shown all day, but there was no sound. I like that Carnival shows all the activity on the big screen so no matter where you are sitting by the pool you can look up and see what is going on. They also have music on the screen when there isn't a live band playing. We went out by the pool each day by about 10 and it was just quiet.....weird!

The rooms on RC were smaller but the balcony was bigger which was nice. There was only once closet to store all of our clothes and shoes in as opposed to 3 closets on Carnival. The bathroom seemed like the same size as Carnival but the shower seemed tiny. There is a shower door instead of a curtain which was nice. My husband and I are both pretty small people and the shower was a very tight fit.

The shows were good on RC but we thought Carnivals were better.

We had zero complaints and had a wonderful time but for the price we will still book Carnival.

I am loving your review and cracking up at your nightly prayers!! I can't wait to read the rest. Thank you so much for your review!

Thanks for sharing! I just downloaded it. Mine said you have to buy $100 Carnival gift card to get the $10 off.

The smallest denomination they come in at Kroger's is $100. We just bought one last week and they come in $100-$500 denomination.

I will download the coupon and go buy another one.

Looking forward to the rest of your review as we sail on her in October in a Havana balcony!

We just got off of the Liberty of the Seas on Sunday. We have always cruised Carnival before. These are opinions after sailing Carnival many times. We will definitely sail RCCL again, but will still sail Carnival also. We are hoping to do one of Royal's mega ships in the next couple of years.

We thought Carnival's rooms were bigger and had much more storage. The shower on Royal is tiny and my husband and I are both small people. We did like that they had an actual shower door instead of the shower curtain that Carnival has. The balcony on Royal is bigger and we liked that.

My husband loves going to the shows at night and we both thought Carnival's shows were better. The shows we say on Liberty of the Seas were good, but nothing blew us away like several of the last shows we have seen on Carnival like Flick and Epic Rock.

We are easy to please as far as food goes and we have never had a problem with Carnival's food. I would give the edge to RCCL on this one. We missed Guy's burgers though. RCCL has Johnny Rockets but you pay for it and we still thought Guy's burgers were better.

We never get the drink package on Carnival because I am not a big drinker. RCCL had a sail on Cyber Monday that made the deluxe drink package $600 so we bought it. I loved that I could walk up and grab bottles of water anytime I wanted. We had mimosa's for breakfast and spent lots of time at the bar having drinks which we enjoyed. When we cruise RCCL again we will probably buy it.

We like all the sail away deck parties that Carnival has by the pool. RCCL does their parties on the Royal Promenade which we did not care for. We felt like we were in a mall. There are no windows to sea the water and the vibe is just different.

If you have small kids RCCL wins with the kids water area. It is huge and there are plenty of chairs around for parents to relax while their kids play.

The casino was so smoky on RCCL and you have to walk straight through the casino to get to one of the venues unless you go down a floor and then come back up. Carnival has a walkway beside the casino that although you can still smell the smoke you aren't walking right beside people blowing smoke in your face which happened to me twice. I don't think they did it on purpose. I think I just happened to walk by as they were turning their head to blow out their smoke.

Liberty of the Seas was very clean and well taken care of and there were always people cleaning anywhere we went.

We had anytime dining and were in a group of 10. We loved our waiters on the first night and had a table right by a huge window so on the first night after we ate we went out and made reservations for that same table each night. Our waiters took such good care of us and we really enjoyed getting to know them.

There were obviously differences between the two, but a cruise is all about what you make of it and we had a great time despite missing Roatan because the MSC ran over the dock the day before. We only stopped in Costa Maya and Cozumel and had 4 days at sea. Any day on vacation is better than a day at work!!

We will definitely be back on RCCL!

So if you have already checked in and check-in time was not available to choose yet, where exactly will you find that option once it is available? Thanks!

Go back to "manage your cruises". Click on "online check in" and you will see "arrival appointment time" on the left side.

I just did ours since we are booked on the Vista and it wasn't available when I first checked in.

We have 6 Havana cabanas booked for Vista sailing this October. We are very excited about the patios and hanging out at the Havana pool all day. We are excited to try the new class of rooms.

I'm not here to Carnival bash, but literally every person we met off the Carnival Breeze in Galveston panned it, before I even asked! They said food was meh, not much in the buffet except burgers and pizza, and entertainment was not interesting.

 

On your Royal cruise, you have lots of "free" options. The Main Dining room, either pick a "seating" with a set time (early or late) or My Time Dining and go when you like or make a reservation for a time before you sail. Windjammer Cafe, which I described under dining and offered lots of options every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Jade is a section of the WJ cafe, also free. Sorrentos, which is pizza and some salads, Promenade Cafe which is sandwiches and pastry. The specialty restaurants for extra fee are Chops (steak) Giovanni's (Italian) and Sabor (Mexican) Johnny Rockets (burgers and soda fountain) and cupcake cupboard (cupcakes)

 

I mentioned shows in the earlier section, all are included in your fare, and I think are well worth seeing! No reservations needed! Turn up 10-15 minutes prior to get 2 seats together in a good area, 15-20 minutes prior to get a big group of seats in a good area. If you aren't fussy where you sit, show up ten minutes in advance and you'll find a seat somewhere!

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

 

Not a whole lot that I noticed, it was all out on a buffet in the JADE section, no one was actively rolling sushi, but there were a few trays every day. One night they have a raw bar in the WJ, that was very popular! Crab legs, shrimp cocktails, clams and oysters etc!

Thank you for the info....I appreciate it!

Thanks for the review! We are sailing on Liberty of the Seas next month. This is our first time on RCCL...we have always sailed Carnival, so I have been looking for reviews to see how to go about seeing shows (do we need reservations) and what options there are for breakfast/lunch and dinner. Enjoying getting to see what the ship looks like before we get onboard.

Half Moon Cay and then Grand Turk!