Pirate's B2B on the VISTA! Jan. 8-22 Review

[pirate4me2]

if your card is not there-- report it right away

 

Can you elaborate more on the Havana area.

Only people who book there are allowed there?

Yes, only guests booked in Havana cabins can be in the Havana pool area during the day. After 7:30 it was open to anyone.

Hi all!

 

pirate ~ WTG girl starting your review already!:D Loving it so far! Glad you found the ice cream & liked it. I was just thinking wonder where there's a review I can read & there yours was!!

 

Wow, the hotel treated you well, very decent of them!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

Haha I'm glad my review came along in your time of need Jo! I'll add more to it tonight when I get home from work.

 

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[pirate4me2]

Great start!

Thanks Beth! It was great sailing with you and Tommy again!

We will be on the Vista sailing Feb 25th in a Havana room as well. Is there a chance you have the fun times? Seems as though nobody who has been on the Vista recently has them or took any pictures of them.

 

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I didn't save the FunTimes, sorry. :(

 

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[pirate4me2]

I am loving your review so far! We just booked a Havana Cabana balcony for the October 14, 2018, sailing out of Galveston. As soon as my husband saw the Havana rooms he had to have one and he usually never cares where I book our room. Seeing your pictures has me even more excited....if only our sailing wasn't so far away.

 

Looking forward to the rest!

Oh, you're gonna love the Havana area!! Have fun planning your cruise, that's half the excitement!!

Pirates!!!!

 

Missed you on board!:(

 

But our "recon" of the Havana deck, thoroughly convinced DW that our next Carnival booking will be for one of those cabins.:)

 

Gotta wait til I get home to view the pix but waiting to hear all about your adventures.

 

Crew

Hey, I'm sorry we didn't get to meet! I spent most of my time in the Havana area, and I was especially lazy on the second leg of the B2B.

 

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[pirate4me2]

Following along too. We will be doing our first ever B2B, on the Vista, in August.

 

We will be in a Cove Balcony, also a first for us.

Thanks for following along!

 

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[SJNB]

Did you get menu pictures [emoji846]

 

 

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[LisaH]

Finally, the day is here! After 565 days of planning, I get to cruise on the Vista!!

 

Since we had checked into our hotel so early, we had first dibs to sign up for the shuttle to the cruise port. Chris and I decided on the 10:00 shuttle, and we got to the Miami port by 10:20. We waited outside for a few minutes until they began letting people into the terminal, and once they began letting people in the check in process was quick and painless. Boarding began around 11, and we were some of the first people onboard...thank you platinum status! Upon stepping onboard, I was immediately drawn to the dreamscape thing in the atrium.

 

 

 

Now, let me just say...Vista is a gorgeous ship, and although the atrium and dreamscape grew on me over the course of our 2 weeks onboard, I found myself missing the grand atriums of all the other Carnival ships. I love the tall ceilings, the glass elevators, and the "crazy" décor. To me it is part of the fun of the ships, it gives them each their own unique personality. Vista is pretty in her own way, but the atrium just underwhelmed me.

 

Upon boarding we went straight to the Shore Excursions desk to book the Behind the Fun Tour. Thanks to our Carnival MasterCard points as well as booking the first leg of our B2B onboard the Sunshine in 2015, we had some onboard credit to use. We have always talked about doing this tour, and we decided to go ahead and do it this time around. The price was $95 per person, and it was held the morning of the last sea day. More on that tour coming up later in the review. :)

 

Once that was booked, we headed to our stateroom, #5231, to drop off my carry-on. When we booked this cruise, we had originally booked a Havana interior cabin. However, when I decided to book the January 14 leg and turn this into a B2B, our original stateroom was not available for both legs. I really didn't want to have to pack up our bags and move mid-cruise, so I decided to just pay the extra and book a Havana balcony. The balcony was nice, but honestly, with the access to the Havana deck area we didn't need it. Most of our outside time was spent on that awesome aft area! We loved the room, and the location (deck 5 aft) was excellent...down 2 levels to our dining area, down 1 level to the Punchliner, and we were right there next to Ocean Plaza and Alchemy.

 

I failed to get a pic of the room looking straight in....sorry. Here's the desk area:

 

Hallway

 

Our 1 complaint was that storeage space seemed to be somewhat lacking on the Vista...we only had 2 closets, then the other closet had the safe, 2 shelves, and 3 drawers.

 

Bathroom sink area. The Havana toiletries (lotion, body wash, shampoo, and soap) were replaced as we used them.

 

This is great! We would have been your neighbor. We have 5233 next month!

[jh2360]

Saw it awhile ago but wanted to see if you can confirm. Havana area is private until 7pm?

 

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[pirate4me2]

Did you get menu pictures [emoji846]

 

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I tried, but they all came out blurry! :(

 

This is great! We would have been your neighbor. We have 5233 next month!

 

Haha you have a great looking balcony!! The people that were there on our sailings enjoyed it. :)

[pirate4me2]

Saw it awhile ago but wanted to see if you can confirm. Havana area is private until 7pm?

 

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Yes it is! I can't remember if it was 7 or 7:30, but before then, nobody else was allowed in. They did have people walking around monitoring too, to make sure that anyone in there had a wristband on. If they didn't see a wristband they would make you leave.

[EBONI325]

Great start,I'll be on her in May. Can't wait for more of your review.

Loving the photos.

[abcsteward]

Enjoying your review so far. Can't wait to read more. I'm excited to sail the Vista when she gets to Galveston!

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[pirate4me2]

Great start,I'll be on her in May. Can't wait for more of your review.

Loving the photos.

 

Thank you for following along!

 

Enjoying your review so far. Can't wait to read more. I'm excited to sail the Vista when she gets to Galveston!

 

 

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Thanks for reading!

[pirate4me2]

Thanks for the review.

 

You're welcome! More to come!

[bizeemom4]

I have this room on the Horizon. I'm dying to know what is in the area across from the cabin. It's white space on the deck plan which makes me nervous. I'm hoping it's not a door that the stewards use at 4 am. That's usually my luck with most of my cruises.

 

Did you hear any noise from the Havana area or the bars on the Promenade?

[pirate4me2]

I wanted to sleep in today, since it was my first real day of vacation, but I woke up wide awake at 8:30. I decided to go ahead and get my workout for the day out of the way, so I got dressed and headed for the gym. When I got there, it was busy! I managed to find an elliptical and did my 30 minute workout, and I have to say, I love the equipment on the Vista! This is the first time I have used any ship gym, but I loved the ellipticals. You can watch TV on them and plug your headphones in, and it just made the workout go by quicker.

 

After my workout I went back to the cabin to shower and change. DH was watching The Proposal on TV, so I sat down and watched it with him. I love that movie. When it ended, it was about 11 so we decided to go to the Sea Day brunch. This was held in the Horizons dining room on deck 3, so we literally just had to go down 2 flights of stairs. We were beginning to realize just how awesome a location our stateroom was in!

 

To start off with, I got the fruit plate. It was good.

 

My main was the huervos rancheros, and they were yummy!! The side of hashbrowns I ordered were also perfectly crispy.

 

DH got the chicken Caesar salad, which he said was really good.

 

When we finished brunch it was about time for the Lip Sync Battle auditions to be held on the Lido deck, so we headed up that way. It was PACKED, and I was so glad we had chosen to stay in a Havana cabin. There were no open lounge chairs. We stood to the side and watched the auditions, and it was hilarious! I don't know a time when I have laughed so hard, it was great. If you are on a ship with Lip Sync Battle, make it a point to go watch the auditions, I don't think you will regret it.

 

After watching that, we headed down to the Red Frog Pub to check it out. For any of you that like the beer, here is a PYOB station with the price and info.

 

They had some game tables in there.

 

Outside seating area

 

We played a game of shuffleboard, and then I decided to go back to the Havana area and read some of my book. I may or may not have taken a nap on my patio as well...

 

Tonight was the first elegant night, and I had made us reservations at Cucina for 6:30. I apologize, but for some reason I did not take any pictures of dinner. I can tell you that the food and the service was outstanding. I ordered the Caprese for my starter, and it was delicious. Chris ordered the meatballs and he raved about how awesome they were. We both got the chicken parm for our main, with rosemary potatoes for the side. The chicken was good, not as great as some of the other ships we have been on, and the potatoes were fantastic. For dessert I ordered the tiramisu, and it was heavenly.

 

The ship was rocking pretty good tonight due to rough seas, and the Playlist show that was scheduled was Amor Cubano. Due to the sea conditions, they decided to do a concert version of the show. The performers came out on stage and sang the songs, but there was no dancing. While it was enjoyable, I think the dancing adds a lot to the show. Most of the songs were in a different language, and although the singers were fantastic, I think my A.D.D. kicked in some and I found myself not paying as much attention as I would have with the dancing. I totally understand why they canceled the dancing though, it would be dangerous for the dancers to be doing their performance with the ship rocking like it was. Kudos to Carnival for looking out for the safety of the employees.

 

After the show ended I was pretty tired, so we headed back to the cabin to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was our first port day, we were going to go river tubing and to visit the Blue Hole in Ocho Rios. I had heard a lot of good things about the Blue Hole, so I was excited!

[pirate4me2]

I know I promised 2 segments tonight, but I had a crazy evening catching up on things. I have to get up early tomorrow, so I am calling it a day. Forgive me, but I will post more tomorrow!!

[pirate4me2]

I have this room on the Horizon. I'm dying to know what is in the area across from the cabin. It's white space on the deck plan which makes me nervous. I'm hoping it's not a door that the stewards use at 4 am. That's usually my luck with most of my cruises.

 

Did you hear any noise from the Havana area or the bars on the Promenade?

 

We had another stateroom across the hall from us, and then the hallway kind of turned a corner a bit, so if the Horizon is like the Vista you shouldn't have any worries about that blank area. :)

As far as noise, yes we did hear some music, but nothing that kept us up at night. If you are a light sleeper then it may bother you, but we both slept fine. They have doors at the beginning of the hallway that they keep closed most of the time to help with noise from the Ocean Plaza/Havana bar area. I think the noise we heard was a mixture of from the Havana bar and then during the dinner "showtimes" if you are in your stateroom you will hear the music as you're right above the 2nd level of the Horizons dining room. However, the noise really wasn't that bad. It was a concern for me, and I packed earplugs in case it was bad, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[LisaH]

We had another stateroom across the hall from us, and then the hallway kind of turned a corner a bit, so if the Horizon is like the Vista you shouldn't have any worries about that blank area. :)

As far as noise, yes we did hear some music, but nothing that kept us up at night. If you are a light sleeper then it may bother you, but we both slept fine. They have doors at the beginning of the hallway that they keep closed most of the time to help with noise from the Ocean Plaza/Havana bar area. I think the noise we heard was a mixture of from the Havana bar and then during the dinner "showtimes" if you are in your stateroom you will hear the music as you're right above the 2nd level of the Horizons dining room. However, the noise really wasn't that bad. It was a concern for me, and I packed earplugs in case it was bad, but I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The good news about any loud music from the dining room is that it is very temporary and shouldn't be hear past 10:00. I never even really thought about that noise but I did think about the Havana Bar band noise at night but others that have posted say they were not bothered at all.

 

A few people did say that if you have a Havana interior that shares a wall with the Havana Bar then you might feel the bass or hear the bass but even that was minimal.

[pirate4me2]

I woke up at 7 to hit the gym for a workout before we docked in Ocho Rios. Chris decided to join me this morning, and we got to the gym about 7:15. I had just settled into my elliptical routine and was jamming out to my music when Chris reached over from the machine next to me and smacked my arm and motioned to me to take my ear buds out. When I had removed one of them, I heard the Captain making an announcement. Due to the high winds and rough seas, we would not be able to safely dock at the pier, so we would be having an additional sea day. :( I was disappointed, but since DH and I had been to Ocho Rios before and hadn't really been impressed with it, I wasn't upset. Of all the ports on our itinerary this week I was glad that this was the one we were missing!

 

After I finished my workout I went back to the cabin to shower and changed for breakfast. Chris prefers the MDR breakfast to the Lido offerings, so we went down to the Horizons restaurant. I ordered my usual, the eggs benedict. They were delicious!

 

After filling our bellies Chris and I decided to go hang out in the Havana area. There were no clamshells available, so I settled for a lounger, which was fine by me...my white legs needed a tan! As I was settling in, I noticed that they had attendants that monitored the area to make sure that only Havana guests were there. One of the attendants walked over to some ladies and asked them if they had their wristbands, and the ladies didn't have any bands. The attendant informed them that the area was only for those guests in the Havana statetrooms and that they would need to leave. The ladies got up and left, and I have to say that they attendant was very polite about the whole thing. I was happy to see that Carnival was enforcing the rule about Havana being private during the day!

 

I hung out there reading my book and just dozing until 12:30, when Chris came and said he was hungry for lunch. How he manages to eat so much on a cruise I don't understand, but I left the lounger and we decided to go check out the lunch that they were offering in the MDR. It was being held in the Horizons dining room, so we just went down 2 floors and were right there. We were seated at a table for 2 and given a menu (sorry for the water drops I got on it).

 

I decided to start off with the California Roll, which was just Ok. Honestly, I think Fresh Market has better sushi.

 

Chris and I were both curious about the steak salad, so we ordered it to split. It was delicious!! The steak was tender, and the salad was great.

 

Chris and I both did the Build Your Own Burger, and let me just say that the burgers they served in the MDR were WAY better than Guy's. You could get chili, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, and a few other things on it.

[pirate4me2]

We decided to skip dessert and go check out what fresh ice cream flavors they were offering up on Lido today. Here is the toppings for you to add to your sundae:

 

I failed to write down what the flavors were today, but I am thinking maybe it was coconut? It was delicious!

 

We took our ice cream and went to Ocean Plaza to check out Carnival Challenge. It was a game where you had to decide of something was true or false and move to the correct side of the dance floor, and if you were wrong you were out. It was Ok to watch, nothing great. We decided to go get a coffee from Java Blue since we were right there. It totally hit the spot, but I did not take a picture of it...sorry. :(

 

With our coffees in hand, we went to check out the action in the Red Frog Pub. That place was PACKED! We managed to snag a shuffleboard table and played a few games.

 

After we had enough shuffleboard, we headed back to the Havana area. We met up with some friends and sat around in the shady seating in the pool area getting our feet wet. I got curious and decided to check out what kind of drinks the Havana Bar offered. They had a drink called La Buena Vida as the special for the day ($7.95 I believe) and it sounded tasty, so I ordered one.

 

It was fantastic! I sipped on it, then decided to bring it back to the cabin as we changed for dinner. We had reservations for Jiji's Asian Kitchen at 6:30. I had been wanting to try it ever since I heard about it on the Sunshine, but Chris was always hesitant as he isn't a big fan of Asian food. However, I had FINALLY convinced him to give it a try, and I was super excited about it. We were ready a bit earlier than our reservation, so we headed to Alchemy Bar to kill some time, and we saw our friends there. I went ahead and ordered myself my favorite Alchemy Bar drink, The Remedy. It was awesome, as always.

[pirate4me2]

It was finally time to head up to Jiji's for dinner, and we were sat at a table for 2. Our waitress came and explained the menu to us, and after we made our selections we ended up talking to the couple sitting at the table next to us. Our starters arrived very quickly, and they looked delicious.

 

I decided to start off with the shrimp dumplings, which were FANTASTIC!

 

DH started off with the pork belly, and he raved on and on about how good it was.

 

The waitress also brought us these appetizer things...they were fried tapioca chips I believe she said? They were just ok, I don't really know how to describe them.

 

Our main courses came out, along with our sides. DH had decided to start off with the Sweet & Sour Shrimp, which was really good. I tried the pineapple and veggies and they were yummy!

 

I had opted for the Kung Pao Chicken. I love spicy stuff. However, this wasn't spicy....it was KILLER. My mouth was on fire.

[pirate4me2]

Chris had ordered the fried rice as his side, he said it was good.

 

I ordered the spicy potatoes, and they were pretty good.

 

Dessert time! Chris went with the crepes, which he said were Ok.

 

I opted for the wonton, which was in a tapioca pudding thing. It was Ok.

 

Overall, the food was good, and the service was great, but I was disappointed with Jiji's and I do not think I will go back. I am glad that we tried it, but I think for our specialty dining we will be sticking with Cucina and the Steakhouse.

 

With full bellies, we headed to the Red Frog Pub to listen to Andy, the guitar soloist, for a bit. We love Andy! He has such a nice voice, and he seems like a really nice guy. We sat in there until about 9, and then headed to the Liquid Lounge for the Love and Marriage show. As always, it was hilarious. When that ended, I decided to head back to the cabin to get ready for bed. I am NOT a morning person, and we were due in Grand Cayman at 8 in the morning. I was super excited about our excursion we had booked, and I wanted to be ready for that.

[pirate4me2]

I woke up before dawn, at 6:00, and headed to the gym for my workout. It was not crowded at all, and it was actually kind of nice! When it began to get light out a spa worker went around and opened the shades over the windows, and we got to see the sunrise.

 

Once we were done with our workouts we walked down to Lido to grab a quick breakfast before heading back to the cabin to shower and change for our day in port. I wanted something filling, so I went for a breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana and some of that jicama salsa. It was fantastic!

 

Since I had turned Platinum this cruise (hooray!!) we had priority tendering. This was great since we had booked a non-Carnival excursion. We had been given a letter that priority tendering would meet in the Red Frog Pub, so we headed there to meet our friends who were also going on the excursion with us. They had told us about Captain Marvin's, where they take you to Stingray City as well as 2 snorkel stops, and we had all decided to go together. I had been looking forward to this for months, and although I was a little (OK, fine, a LOT) scared of the stingrays, I knew we were in for an awesome day. We waited just a few minutes at the Pub before a worker led us down to a tender, and off we went to Grand Cayman!

 

The tender ride was only about 5 minutes, and once we got off the boat we made the short trek over to Captain Marvin's office. However, when we got there they told us that they were not sure if the tour would still be going on due to the sea conditions. We waited for 15-20 minutes, and then we were told that the sea conditions were not going to allow us to go out to Stingray City. Disappointed, Chris and I decided to walk around downtown and at least get our Christmas ornament that we collect from all the ports we visit. We had a nice little walk around the shopping area, found our ornament, and headed back to the tender at 9:45. We went to the Havana area for a bit, and I drank quite a bit of one of my bottles of wine I had brought onboard. That led to my next decision.

 

Since we were in our swimming gear for our excursion that didn't happen (we had not changed after getting back onboard), we decided to go check out the water slides. I figured this was the best time to do them and since most of the passengers were off the ship there would not be lines. We headed up to the Sports deck along with our friends who were interested in doing the Skyride. I am too chicken when it comes to heights to try things like that, so I was glad Chris would have someone else to do it with! The Skyride was not going to be open until noon, so Chris and I headed off to the slides first. We climbed the stairs (it was a little challenging in my semi-drunk state climbing the stairs while carrying the raft for the one slide) and when we got to the top Chris went down the Kalid-O-Slide first. The attendant talked with me while we waited for Chris to finish, and he told me that this wasn't his favorite slide as it was not very fast. When he gave me the Ok to go, he pushed me off and the fun began.

 

The slide is pretty slow, and I think on a normal day I would say it was boring, but in my drunken state this slide was the best thing since sliced bread. The color changes had me giggling like a toddler, and I think I may even have let out a few squeals of glee as I slid down the slide on my raft. I hit the end of the slide and I was giggling and laughing like an idiot, I am sure the people walking by wondered what was wrong with me. I put my raft in the holder and told DH I wanted to go down the Twister slide next.

 

After climbing not very gracefully up the stairs, Chris went down the slide first. Why the heck does he always get ahead of me in line?? Hasn't he heard of the saying, "Ladies first?" Oh well. He went down, and the attendant told me "This slide is much better!" He gave me the OK to go, and I slung myself down the slide.

 

Twister may not have the color changing effects the other slide had, but it was just as fun, if not more so!! It was so fast that it had my head spinning, and I don't think that was from my 3/4 a bottle of wine buzz that I had going on. I squealed and hollered "whoo hoo!" the whole way down. When I hit the end of the slide I got a facefull of water, and I was laughing hysterically. It was so much fun.

 

I thought about going down the slides more, but it was about time for Skyride to open so we met back up with our friends and went over to that area. 4 of them wanted to go on the Skyride, so myself and another lady held onto cameras and phones while they went to wait in line. It took a bit, maybe about an hour, before Chris got his turn on the ride. He said that it was fun to do one time, but he didn't think he would be going on it again. He did say that the views from up there were great.

 

We went in search of lunch, and I opted for a chicken taco salad from the Blue Iguana to take back to the Havana area with me.

 

The salad was delicious, and I managed to snag myself a clamshell! With it being a port day, the clamshells were mostly available, and I had the pool all to myself! I hung out there until about 4, it was so peaceful and relaxing. I may or may not have taken a nap.

 

Tonight was the second elegant night, and we were having dinner with our friends. We all met up at the Alchemy Bar for a pre-dinner drink, and this was the only time during the cruise where I met an employee I didn't like. I went to the bar to ask for a drink, and the male bartender helped me. He informed me that he "does not make anything off the menu. I don't like them." I was shocked by the attitude and asked him if he could make me something flavored with pineapple, and I told him that I did not like the spicy chipotle drink I had on other ships. He said, "I told you, I don't make anything off the menu." Ok then...he went on to make me a drink, and I tried it. It was good, lots of pineapple flavor and a little sour. I told him I liked it, and I asked him what it was called so I could ask for it again. He just shrugged and walked off. I wasn't impressed with the service. Anyway...here's the drink, the picture is awful but oh well.

 

We all enjoyed our drinks and headed to the MDR about 7. I ordered a Twilight Zone to go with my dinner, and it was good but tasted a little different than the ones I have had in the past.

 

I failed to take pictures of most of our dinner, sorry guys. I know I started off with the Caesar salad, which was great, and for my main I had the mushroom pasta, which I LOVED. I wasn't wanting anything sweet for dessert, so I ordered the cheese plate, which was Ok.

 

We finished with dinner in time to go catch the 9:30 showing of Flick. We managed to snag halfway decent seats in the Liquid Lounge, and I am so glad that we did as the show was awesome. I still don't understand some of it, but it was great. If you are on a ship that shows it, go watch!

 

When the show ended, we headed back to the room. It was 10:15, and for some reason I was hungry! Chris ordered me my favorite room service meal, a BLT and chocolate cake, and we watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

 

The late night snack and movie were both good, and with a full belly I called it a night. Tomorrow we would be in Cozumel!

[pirate4me2]

Today we are in one of my favorite ports: Cozumel! I was excited to return here as we had decided, thanks to these boards, to try out the extremely popular Mr. Sanchos. I was wide awake at 8:45 and went up to Blue Iguana to grab a breakfast burrito. As was the case yesterday, the burrito hit the spot and was delicious.

 

We docked at 10, and I quickly threw together our beach bag for the day. We had arranged to share a cab ride to the beach club with another couple, and we met on the pier once we got off the ship. We walked to the taxi pick up area, and the fare was $17. Each couple paid $10 when we arrived at there, and then we were off to play!

 

The cost for the all-inclusive was $55 per person, and they also have an aquatic pass that includes some water toys that is $12 per person. I had went ahead and booked that for me and Chris as well as Chris isn't too much of a "sit on the beach and relax" kind of person. I didn't want him to get bored. I had made our reservations online ahead of time, and we paid the balance due upon arrival. They gave us our wristbands and showed us to a table area where we made ourselves comfy, Here's the menu:

 

 

 

I started my day off with a Pina Colada (no picture, sorry) which was good, and then I decided to try a Blue Lagoon, which was good.

 

 

I also ordered the nachos with beans, and guacamole. They were all pretty good.

 

 

I followed my Blue Lagoon drink up with a Green Monster, which was really good.