The Inaugural Vista's Official Trippingpara Mayhem in the Mediterranean Review

[trippingpara]

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[trippingpara]

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Saturday, May 7th – Crete, Greece

 

We were fortunate enough to have a late start to our morning. We weren’t docking until 9 am and were scheduled to meet our tour group by 9 am in the Reflections Dining Room. We really struggled with trying to find an excursion here. Nothing seemed to feel right. But then I stumbled across a group that takes high powered off road vehicles and hits the inner mountains of the island. As soon as I saw photos of everyone wearing overalls, helmets and face masks because of all the dust from off-roading combined with the amazing vistas (pun intended) from the mountain tops, I knew our search had ended!

 

That was until I found out in Athens that we were an hour behind local time. Awww crap! I had asked a while back about that and was informed that the ship would change to stay with local time. I then promptly forgot all about it until we docked in Athens. Apparently, I had scheduled our tour based on ship time not local time. So I called the tour company while we were in Athens with the new times and unfortunately by the time we docked at 10:00 am local time, the tour would actually be starting. So we had to cancel the tour (luckily we hadn’t paid anything yet and they didn’t charge us either). We were now back to square one. Awww crap part deux!

 

When we had returned from our tour in Athens, we hit Guest Services and ended up grabbing the Best of Crete excursion from Carnival. We normally never book any excursions from Carnival since we hate being herded around like cattle. There are usually too many people on those tours and there are always people that never listen to the instructions, are always late returning which ends up cutting into the tour times and they always seem like they could care less. It’s the “I’m on vacation and can do whatever the heck I like” rationale. As if no one else on that tour bus is on vacation too! I absolutely hate people with that mentality. And if you’re one of them then yes, I’m talking about you! Our parents raised us both with the concept of consideration and respect for others. A concept that is unfortunately starting to fade away with the times of “me-ism”. You know, where “me” is always more important than you. Unfortunately, this excursion ended up just cementing our hatred for large cruise tours.

 

Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox now. We arrived at the MDR early (as usual) and had our tour number called quickly. We exited the ship and strolled over to our bus. It didn’t take long to confirm why we don’t like big ship excursions. As we were boarding the bus, a woman quickly ran up to our guide Dmitria, yelling about how she gets car sick and cannot sit in the back of the bus. Then why did she sit down there in the first place?! Well, her story quickly changed to how there were sick people in the back and she could not sit there. Well Dmitria went out of her way and found her another seat. Thankfully, it was on another bus!! Of course, this lady then started screaming about how she needed a seat for her husband too (of course he was smart and was hiding in the back until she pointed him out). Dmitria just smiled and said that the other bus will happily take both of them. The woman just huffed her way off the bus strutting like a proud peacock that just won a vital battle. Her husband on the other hand did the death march off the bus. He looked embarrassed and browbeaten.

 

It was obvious that we were not the only ones annoyed with this lady’s antics. The bus erupted into cheers when she lefted. Even Dmitria seemed extremely happy when she finally left the bus. With the wicked witch gone, we were finally able to head out to the Palace of Knossos. Like the Acropolis in Athens, this was the “do not miss” place and was mobbed.

 

 

 

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The covered entrance into the Palace of Knossos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming up...the Palace of Knossos

 

 

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[Shih-tzu]

Loving the photos. I remember our bus did not stop at the stadium for us to get out, but did stop so we could take photos from the window. I suspect it was because of the army tank guarding it. (November '73 during the uprising). We thought the excitement was great - I suspect our parents were at home watching the news and having a stroke at the thought of us being there.

[trippingpara]

Loving the photos. I remember our bus did not stop at the stadium for us to get out, but did stop so we could take photos from the window. I suspect it was because of the army tank guarding it. (November '73 during the uprising). We thought the excitement was great - I suspect our parents were at home watching the news and having a stroke at the thought of us being there.

 

 

A tank?? Yikes! That would motivate me to stay on the bus! Photos-smotos! Buy a postcard!

 

I had a similar experience when I was living in Moscow in the mid-80s during the Chechnya war. I came around the corner inside the Kremlin and came face to face with a tank. Needless to say, I did a very abrupt about face and headed back the way I came.

Edited June 27, 2016 by trippingpara

[trippingpara]

Now here is part two of my annoyance with these large cattle tours. You are chained to 46 other people. I wanted to walk around, explore and take photos. I like a little bit of background on what we’re looking at but for the most part, I’ve already done my research and have a pretty good understanding of the history and background of the particular place that we’re visiting. Of course, I am by far not an expert on that area but I really don’t need a dissertation on it either. Dmitria would go on and on and even had a book with photos to back up her story. By the time she was done with her first chapter of her dissertation, I had already explored well over half of the palace. By her second chapter, I was already done and was now just tapping my toes waiting for everyone else to follow her around the area. I, unfortunately, am not well built or mentality designed for guided tours. On the other hand, I was able to get a ton of photos since I strolled around while everyone listened to her explanations of the palace.

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

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[trippingpara]

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This is claimed to be the first paved road in the world, well before the Romans built theirs

 

 

 

Lady Trip loves photos of flowers

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

As I mentioned my other annoyance with these tours were the people that refused to be on time. Dmitria repeated over and over AND OVER the time that we needed to be back to the bus. Once everyone followed Dmitria to the end of the tour she gave us a few minutes to use the restrooms and shop. It was a small area. There was nowhere to wonder off to. Needless to say, a group of people still managed to disappear and had to be hunted down. What is so flipping hard about being back to a certain location at a set time that you’ve agreed to!!?? Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!!

 

I'm sorry, but I find that behavior to be ignorant and inconsiderate. Anyways, our next stop was the village of Agios Nikolaos. It was a rather photogenic little seaside village. We also got to eat a delicious lunch here too. Speaking of lunch, our guide trekked us to a couple different restaurants trying to figure out where we were going to eat. Shouldn’t this have been taken care of beforehand? There were 48 people on that bus. Not exactly a group that you just show up at a restaurant and expect to get a table! And there I go off on another tangent. Mea culpa!

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

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[cinegrad]

Hi, Trip! I know people are probably trying to be tactful about the latecomers on the tours, but I agree with you 1000%!!! My husband is very much like you and often wanders off with his camera as well, but he always makes it a point to be back on time (not that hard when you actually care about other people and their experience too). Quick question - who was the provider of the tour that you had originally planned to attend? We've been looking for something interesting to do in Crete too and although we have a few Carnival excursions picked out, your Best of Crete review didn't exactly inspire confidence in that one. I have to echo what everyone else has been saying - incredible photos and entertaining reviews! I know people like to give back to the CC community, but this is above and beyond. Thank you!

[Shih-tzu]

Looks like we'll be heading up your way next August on the Sunshine. We'll be making a port call in Saint John, NB

 

Uh-oh. I thought I read on here somewhere last evening that they were changing Saint John to Bermuda....but darned if I can find it now.... Bermuda is wonderful but a little far for me to do a tour ;-)

 

I wanted to go back to that thread to see if I read it right......

[littysmom]

I sure am enjoying your review.. found myself laughing out loud a few times so far

[Parejaespañola]

Thank you for your reviews and your photos, they are great!:)

[Shih-tzu]

Thank you for your reviews and your photos, they are great!:)

 

He does wonderful reviews - easy reading, humour and absolutely beautiful photos...

[trippingpara]

Hi, Trip! I know people are probably trying to be tactful about the latecomers on the tours, but I agree with you 1000%!!! My husband is very much like you and often wanders off with his camera as well, but he always makes it a point to be back on time (not that hard when you actually care about other people and their experience too). Quick question - who was the provider of the tour that you had originally planned to attend? We've been looking for something interesting to do in Crete too and although we have a few Carnival excursions picked out, your Best of Crete review didn't exactly inspire confidence in that one. I have to echo what everyone else has been saying - incredible photos and entertaining reviews! I know people like to give back to the CC community, but this is above and beyond. Thank you!

 

Thank you so much for such kind words. We were going to take the full day buggy tour with Motoexperience Safari. They will pick you up and drop you off right from the dock. If you book with them, just be sure to remember the time difference between ship time and local time (it may differ depending on what port you embark from - Athens or Barcelona). Its a bit different from the majority of tours that you see in the Med. Right up our alley! Best of luck to you and happy cruising!!

[trippingpara]

Uh-oh. I thought I read on here somewhere last evening that they were changing Saint John to Bermuda....but darned if I can find it now.... Bermuda is wonderful but a little far for me to do a tour ;-)

 

I wanted to go back to that thread to see if I read it right......

 

I know that there were several peeps discussing whether or not Carnival would sail to Bermuda when they port a ship in Boston in 2018. I haven't heard them changing our itinerary for 2017. I would be absolutely bent if they did. We booked the course because we wanted to go to Canada not Bermuda! But if we did go to Bermuda, you wouldn't want to take a little trip to give us a tour??:eek::D

[trippingpara]

Originally Posted by Parejaespañola

Thank you for your reviews and your photos, they are great!:)

 

 

mil gracias!!

[trippingpara]

He does wonderful reviews - easy reading, humour and absolutely beautiful photos...

 

 

You are far too kind to me sir!

[Shih-tzu]

I know that there were several peeps discussing whether or not Carnival would sail to Bermuda when they port a ship in Boston in 2018. I haven't heard them changing our itinerary for 2017. I would be absolutely bent if they did. We booked the course because we wanted to go to Canada not Bermuda! But if we did go to Bermuda, you wouldn't want to take a little trip to give us a tour??:eek::D

 

I'd go do a tour in a heartbeat if it was more than one day....:D I couldn't even think of the "one thing to do" in a day as there are a couple of "must do's" and I wouldn't be able to decide.... (the advantage to my cruise to Bermuda was that we arrived on a Monday at noon and didn't leave until Thursday at noon - and we were docked right in downtown Hamilton close to the central hub of the bus system and ferries...not at King's Wharf). We had beach time, tour time, relax time, shopping time.... the ship was the floating hotel.

[trippingpara]

I'd go do a tour in a heartbeat if it was more than one day....:D I couldn't even think of the "one thing to do" in a day as there are a couple of "must do's" and I wouldn't be able to decide.... (the advantage to my cruise to Bermuda was that we arrived on a Monday at noon and didn't leave until Thursday at noon - and we were docked right in downtown Hamilton close to the central hub of the bus system and ferries...not at King's Wharf). We had beach time, tour time, relax time, shopping time.... the ship was the floating hotel.

 

We've looked at that itinerary before. The Norwegian Dawn sails that same cruise out of Boston. It turns out I was able to book our southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan including airfare for less than that cruise.

[trippingpara]

Some more views of Agios Nikolaos...

 

 

 

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The restaurant that we ate at. Delicious!!

 

 

 

Lady Trip approved!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

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Natural sea sponges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

Once everyone finished off their enormous lunch, we all walked back to the bus together. Of course there were two women that somehow managed to wander off on their own and we had to wait for them. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!! Since we had to wait quite some time for them, our next stop in Elounda Village just got shortened. Thanks a lot ladies!!! And they didn’t look like they could care less. Here are a couple shots from our quick stop in Elounda Village.

 

 

 

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Courtesy of 2 "Triple Ls" (the Lousy Late Ladies), we only had 15 minutes to run around the small harbor and see as much as we could. So after quickly snapping a few photos we rushed back to the bus to ensure that we weren’t late (Dmitria told everyone that she was going to start charging anyone 10 Euros for every minute that they were late). Wait for it….wait for it…..

 

Yep! Those same two ladies had disappeared again! Dmitria clearly told everyone that there was not enough time to shop so don’t even bother going into the stores. Take a wild guess what these two ladies did…The entire bus was livid. Everyone was yelling at Dmitria and the driver to leave without them. They were warned multiple times and they chose to ignore it. The driver looked like he was all ready to take off. He closed the door and stared at Dmitria who looked very troubled over the thought of leaving someone behind. They eventually made their way back over 15 minutes late (which was double the amount of time we were originally allowed to visit). The two ladies boarded the bus and just smiled at everyone. Quite a few people exchanged words with them and shouted out a few obscenities their way. Things were turning ugly fast. They were actually a part of a larger group and some of their members even seemed a bit miffed at them. Luckily everyone calmed down as we started to head down the road.

 

Well, at least we made it back to the ship on time. After our experience in Crete, we made the decision to not book anymore excursions through the cruise ship. Unfortunately, we had already purchased one more for our stop in Palermo. You’ll have to stay turned to see that tour faired any better, the same or even worse…:eek:

 

Once we were back on the ship, we grabbed a quick meal on the Lido Deck. I had a splitting headache and generally did not feel well. Meanwhile, Lady Trip tossed some of our clothes into the laundry. We then watched some tv before heading back up to the Lido where Lady Trip watched Mama Mia at the Dive In and I went back to our room and watched Jurassic World (after I grabbed some ice cream of course!). I know, what a crazy wild pair we are!! And that’s it for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for…Sea Day part three!

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

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Sunday, May 8th – Sea of Crete – Sea Day

 

Since we had an early start to our day, we requested room service for breakfast. They were pretty prompt. Really wish they had more items you could order instead of just continental breakfast items. Oh well. After breakfast, we headed up to the Spa Deck for our 100 minute couples Thai massage. Once again Simona and Elma were our spa therapists. This time they switched. I had Simona and Lady Trip had Elma. Like I was going to argue! Both were beautiful, friendly and incredibly skilled at their job. They both put me at ease which is still not an easy task for a massage. Our spa session ended with a facial. That was absolutely a first for me! Of course the sales pitch came next and Lady Trip selected a couple more items. Oh vey!!

 

Afterwards, we went to the thermal suites for several hours on a day pass we purchased. They are so relaxing!! Considering I’ve never stepped foot into a Carnival spa, I had never experienced their thermal suites before. We went into every sauna, whirlpool (no T pool), heated chair, scented shower, etc. We wanted to experience it all! And it was awesome!! We liked it so much we booked a spa balcony for our Canadian cruise (it helped that we got a great rate on it too).

 

We eventually left and headed up to the Lido Deck and laid out in the sun by the Beach Pool for a couple hours. We followed that up with some play time on the two slides. The kaleidoscope one is very cool but the yellow Twister is wicked fast!!! (imagine that being said with a heavy Boston accent to get the full effect).

 

We had dinner in the MDR and chatted it up with a couple from Texas. Their daughter was getting married 5 days after they returned from the cruise. That in and of itself is not too surprising but the fact that they were hosting the wedding and reception at THEIR house was!! Yooza! Five days to prepare your house for your daughter's wedding. Let that sink in for a minute! God bless them. After dinner, we generally took it easy and capped off the night back in the thermal suites. So relaxing!! Lady Trip spent most of the time on the warming chair while I spent mine soaking in their ionized whirlpool as well as the aroma therapy sauna. Man, I need to get some of those for our house!

 

Any ways, here are a wide variety of photos of the Vista. Please note that many of these were not actually taken on this particular day. Some were taken in Kotor and Palermo as well as the other sea days. I also apologize in advance if any of these are duplicates (yes, I'm too lazy to go back and see what photos of the ship I've already uploaded.) Sorry!

 

 

 

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The menu from the Alchemy Bar - my favorite drink was The Remedy. So friggin' good!!!

 

 

 

The Alchemy Bar

 

 

 

Warning...the Alchemy Bar is known to cause severe bouts of depression when their elixirs run out!

 

 

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

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The Sports Square - my favorite place to hangout, especially after hanging out at the Alchemy Bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved these chairs. They were great for the Dive in Movies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[YOUTUBE]/TOOY_8AIE6o[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

Next up: Valletta, Malta...

 

 

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Edited July 1, 2016 by trippingpara