Vista 7/1/16 8 day Med Review - a Vista like no other

[jimbo5544]

Jimbo5544, just wanted to say that your beautiful photos are bringing back a lot of memories of years gone by. I used to spend most summers in Europe from childhood and up to 40 years thereafter. Most of my time was in Germany, Holland and France, but also spent some time in Italy and what is now Croatia and Slovenia. While I may not have been to the exact places you visited on this cruise, the European "ness" is so familiar, and makes me nostalgic and I just want to go back!

 

Thanks again for this wonderful review, and photos. I know it has taken a lot of work to do.:)

 

 

Thanks for those really kind words. I envy you having spent all that time there, Europe is a wonderful place and everything was great for us. It has taken a lot of time and effort, but it is an effort of love. Doing it keeps it fresh....and makes me want to do it again, and in a way is doing just that. Thanks again...

[jimbo5544]

One of the things that was a little interesting for this excursion was the lack of bathroom accessibility. Being it such an old town, there simply were not a lot of facilities. While the common practice in Italy was having to pay (typically a Euro) to use the facility, here it was usually a bar or restaurant and you have to purchase something. Our guide was upfront with this at the beginning of the excursion, but somebody with a weak bladder might want to take it into consideration.

[trippingpara]

Great review Jimbo! I just finished writing about Arles on my review too! It was neat reading your perspective on Arles. Great photos too! Thanks for taking the time to write this review. I know from experience that these things aren't easy to do!

[jimbo5544]

Great review Jimbo! I just finished writing about Arles on my review too! It was neat reading your perspective on Arles. Great photos too! Thanks for taking the time to write this review. I know from experience that these things aren't easy to do!

 

Thanks! I have been following yours along the way as well. Quite a review! Very, very impressive and that ranks up there with the best of them! Will jump over and see what you had to say about it. Check out my next section, on Aix-en Provence for something that had me in great angst during our visit there. Coming up either later today but def by tomorrow.

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by jimbo5544

[Parejaespañola]

Thank you Jimbo for you review i am really enjoying it!

[jimbo5544]

Thank you Jimbo for you review i am really enjoying it!

 

Thank you for saying that. I am enjoying doing it, although I can see the end in sight.....

Edited August 2, 2016 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Marseilles Part two Aix-en Provence

 

After getting back on the bus and moving on to the next town, the first hing we noticed was how much bigger Aix-en Provence was (more like a city). We were dropped off in a down town area where the bus could go. At that time, the guide said that we would be picked up at 4:30. The location for the pickup was behind where we were dropped off. She mentioned that once the tour was complete she would give us time to shop and explore but that it was all in a area that would lead us back to the pickup point. This was a main avenue and that we could easily find our way back by the large fountain located in the rotary. Once there, there was a tourist office and two streets over (like spokes on a wheel) was the pickup point next to a park. I am mentioning these as they will come into play in a bit.

[jimbo5544]

So the main theme of this stop was the history of the buildings in the city and time span they surround. To be honest, from my perspective, I enjoyed the people as much as most anything else. I always had a view of the people from France as Parisians. Not to insult anybody, but that was not all that positive from my view. What we found here was something totally different (and better). Here are some pictures we took along the way....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and some more....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

...and some more....while the second pic is very fuzzy, it is here for a reason. There was a choir practicing while we there. They were excellent and the acoustics of the church made them sound absolutely wonderful)

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and some more.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and some more from the next neighborhood along the way....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and some more.... it was fascinating that the old buildings were reclaimed and people are living and working in them now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and some more.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

...and some more....notice how the upper windows (and floors) are smaller...they were for the servants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and a few more....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

We then had a huddle up in which our guide said that they were more concerned with the traffic situation due to the upcoming soccer game and after group discussion (we were still all together) we decided to leave 45 minutes early for our trek back to the ship. She had one more stop on the tour, but also wanted to give some time to explore so some followed her and the rest split up and meandered around.

 

She was explicit in where we would meet up and the time 3:45. The directions were pretty clear, there was a main avenue that led to a rotary with a large fountain and avenues split off of that (like spokes on a wheel). At that intersection was a tourist office (we saw those in a lot of cities along the way...) and we would meet two streets over from that at a bus stop and a small park.

[jimbo5544]

We were pretty much done in, so we did not follow her on her last stop. Instead, we found an outside bar, had a drink (or two). We were supposed to meet up at 3:45 for the bus ride back to the port. We could see where we needed to go and started going down there and arrived at 3:30.

Edited August 4, 2016 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Now this was a Carnival excursion mind you and just not our group. We had about 9 out of the 29 on the excursion. By 3:40 everyone except the two older sisters ages 73 and 78 (part of our group). At 3:50 the group leader is asking where are they we have to leave....

 

At 3:55 she is saying it again and talking with the bus driver on what should they do. My wife is going off the deep end, these two older women don't have a cell phone and no money to speak of. I tell my wife that I can't leave without them, there is no way they would be able to get to the boat. I tell our group leader I am walking back up to the fountain and look for them up there.

 

She says hurry back we have to go...:eek: I walk up to the corner and am looking back up the avenue from where we came and cannot see them. I am looking all over and while seeing lots of people, not them. I begin praying for divine intervention.

 

A light bulb goes off in my head and I remember the group leaders comments when we got dropped off to use the fountain and the tourist board office as guidance points in our return. I walk over to the tourist board off and on the far side of that building around the corner I find them sitting in a bench looking around.....

 

I approach them saying we have to go and to follow me. The older asks where is everybody, and I could tell she is upset. I tell he it is 3 streets over and to follow me an say its all right. The group leader comes down from in the bus, asks them where they were and they reply at the pick up point. She then calms down and says its OK and we all get on the bus and begin our trip back. I sit down next to my wife and tell her what happened and we both take a big sigh of relief.

 

The bus is making its way back and the leader asks if there are any questions about the day and I see this small arm raise up. She asks what the question is and the older woman says that they were were at the right place, and that the leader said to meet there. I groan as I hear the reply from the leader: Well mam, then perhaps you can explain why everyone else was where the bus picked us up.

 

This was the only time we have been in that type of situation and it was stressful to say the least. I could hardly wait to get back the ship....I needed a drink.

 

[pghsteelerfan]

I know you're not quite finished yet, but I just wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying your review and the beautiful pictures you got. After seen your pictures and a few others (Trippingpara, Wrigley80), I think I'd really enjoy seeing Europe this way.

 

I am so glad that you thought to help the two sisters on your tour get back to the bus, hating to think of what would have happened if you didn't. Thank you for taking the time to share your Vista cruise with us and I'm looking forward to the rest.

[jimbo5544]

I know you're not quite finished yet, but I just wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying your review and the beautiful pictures you got. After seen your pictures and a few others (Trippingpara, Wrigley80), I think I'd really enjoy seeing Europe this way.

 

I am so glad that you thought to help the two sisters on your tour get back to the bus, hating to think of what would have happened if you didn't. Thank you for taking the time to share your Vista cruise with us and I'm looking forward to the rest.

 

 

Thank you very much!!! I am approaching the end, but have so enjoyed bringing to you. The pictures I selected are a fraction of what I took to hold us over till our next Med cruise. You included me with a couple of the elite cruise reviewers, in fact, I almost decided not to do a review because they had started theirs and they do such a wonderful job at it.

 

I just could not leave those two ladies behind. Partially because they were traveling with us, but I think I would have done the same for someone else in similar circumstances. They actually were mad at me for a day or so.....:o She thought I was harsh when I went over to them.... but it all ended well.

[jimbo5544]

Getting back on the ship was easy and painless. There was not any trouble with the traffic as they thought might happen....go figure. Other than Naples, we found getting back on the Vista to be very easy and not take a lot of time. I think Naples was worse because it seemed the entire ship got back a the same time.

 

After boarding, we headed up to the room, changed and up to the aft pool. We caught up with the rest of the group. around a couple of drinks, we talked about the day. This was to be last night in the MDR for us. We had originally booked the Steakhouse for earlier in the cruise, but when, unexpectantly I might add, we asked everyone if they wanted to go, they said yes. Changing the number was just not going to work for that night. In the end we changed it to the day we were in Marseilles.

[jimbo5544]

This also happened t be the platinum Diamond return guest party. This was held in the Liquid Lounge. My guess is that there was about 80 people there. The alcohol was flowing and they were coming around pretty frequently. Because I had been drinking a the pool, I switched to red wine.

 

For those who don't get to go to these anymore, they have some guessing games, guess the old ships, guess the rank of the eppilets, and a couple of others. They were doubling up on my wines and as they started the activities, my sister in law knocked over my very full glass of wine into my wife's lap. This is a feat I have done several times in the past.... Immediately after doing this they call up on the stage the winners of the contest and as luck would have it, my wife won. She went up with a double of red wine on her pants and lap. They were handed plaques (kind of cute) and then posed for a picture. Matt mad a couple of jokes about the pants and the nicely got down on his knee in front of her to cover the pants for the picture. Even nicer was we got a call and visit a little while later where he sent someone down to have the pants cleaned.

 

Here is the pic.

 

 

[jimbo5544]

At the end of dinner we all said our goodbyes to the wait staff team. In our 35+ cruises, this is the first time we would do this on a night other than the last night of the cruise. Wait staffs work exceptionally hard and have the added variable of time to their job.

 

Having done both late seating and early seating many times, one interesting point is that late seating seems to be less restrictive on the wait staff. Not having to worry about getting them in, served, and out knowing you only have a limited time to get ready for the next group is significant. Our group was two round tables of eight, next to a table of 16. It happened that the table of 16 worked the staff, more than a few of the cruisers often getting multiple apps and dinner options and frequently being one of the last to exit the dining room each night that we were there.

 

Also having our friend Ken Byrnes, Carnival's Senior Maitre'D stop by each night to joke and talk with us I am sure did not make it easier to handle us. The point is they did a wonderful job and we made sure that thy knew our thoughts (and Ken knew as well).

[jimbo5544]

We spent the night out and about on the ship. This included the second of two really good shows in the main lounge. I know much has been said about the reduced size of the showroom on the Carnival main page. While I admit I like the bigger lounges, the two shows we saw here did have open seats. They are excellent and among the best we have ever seen on a Carnival ship. After the show we went to the late comedy show, then to the Havana Bar area and then back to Oceans Plaza. This was the latest we stayed up on the cruise and had a blast. Finally we could sleep in a bit as we did not dock the next day until around 11.