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

[19cruiser59]

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.

 

 

Loving your review, but i have what is probably a dumb question.

If its an all-inclusive, why are there prices on the menu?

are the items on the menu included or not?

[pirate4me2]

Ah, to be in Grand Turk on your birthday...That's awesome!! You'll have a great time, enjoy the Vista...It's a great ship with sooooo much to do!

 

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It's maybe a 10 minute walk down the beach. You can pay $10 for an umbrella if all the free ones at the tables are taken.

Your BLT from room service looked amazing.

I have always been lucky to get one pc of bacon cut into 4 pcs.

DId you order extra bacon to have it look like that?

Chris always orders for me and tells them extra bacon. :) I've had some come LOADED with bacon!

Loving your review, but i have what is probably a dumb question.

If its an all-inclusive, why are there prices on the menu?

are the items on the menu included or not?

They use to have a pay as you go side, which they recently did away with, so I think that's why there are prices on the menu. Everything on there was free with the $55 per person package we booked.

 

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[13cheermom]

 

They use to have a pay as you go side, which they recently did away with, so I think that's why there are prices on the menu. Everything on there was free with the $55 per person package we booked.

 

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So curious is the entire place just open to all inclusive now? The last time we went they definitely had separate sides for each. We love Mr. Sanchos and the unlimited food and drink is great! Can't wait to go back this November for a Cozumel Plus day.

Also, thanks for the tip about the extra bacon, we always order those from room service.

Enjoying your review!

[lagienomai]

Glad you didn't get sick this cruise like the Magic. Jealous since I have to wait till November for our next cruise. Anyway since we are also going on the Vista I am still planning out where to stay and your hotel and parking you did is interesting to me. I am curious on what transportation you used getting back to the hotel after the cruise? There are 5 of us and will have to pay extra for the shuttle there but the cost of not having to pay for port parking sounds great. If the cost difference doesn't seem like a huge difference and if it was a hassle to get transportation back to the hotel we may just park at the port. Thanks for any input.

[pirate4me2]

So curious is the entire place just open to all inclusive now? The last time we went they definitely had separate sides for each. We love Mr. Sanchos and the unlimited food and drink is great! Can't wait to go back this November for a Cozumel Plus day.

Also, thanks for the tip about the extra bacon, we always order those from room service.

Enjoying your review!

 

Thank you for reading along! Yes, the whole place at Mr Sanchos is all inclusive now. :) This was our first time there, and we will be returning on future cruises!

 

Glad you didn't get sick this cruise like the Magic. Jealous since I have to wait till November for our next cruise. Anyway since we are also going on the Vista I am still planning out where to stay and your hotel and parking you did is interesting to me. I am curious on what transportation you used getting back to the hotel after the cruise? There are 5 of us and will have to pay extra for the shuttle there but the cost of not having to pay for port parking sounds great. If the cost difference doesn't seem like a huge difference and if it was a hassle to get transportation back to the hotel we may just park at the port. Thanks for any input.

 

When you exit the cruise terminal, there are lines and lines of taxis waiting to take cruisers wherever they need to go. That was our original plan to get back to the hotel, and it would have been about $35 to $40. However, a man came up, asked us where we were going and when we told him he pointed us to a shuttle bus for $10 per person to take us back. I forget the exact name of the company, but it was a white bus that ran primarily to the airports but since our hotel was so close to the airport they didn't mind stopping there. Also, someone else mentioned Uber to us. So there are lots of options to get back to the hotel!

[Froufie]

Thank you for reading along! Yes, the whole place at Mr Sanchos is all inclusive now. :) This was our first time there, and we will be returning on future cruises!

 

 

 

 

Website needs to be corrected? Sounds like they still have 'all inclusive vs a la carte':

 

http://www.mrsanchos.com/about.html

You can relax and enjoy our extraordinary cuisine and our delicious and exotic cocktails. Regardless of how you decide to enjoy our club: All Inclusive package or A la carte.

[pirate4me2]

Hmmm Froufie, I believe it does need to be corrected! I know several people were wanting to do the pay as you go route, but they were all told when they got to Mr Sancho's that day they only had the all inclusive now.

 

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[foxcent]

Good Review so far

[pirate4me2]

I was super excited for today's port, St Kitts, as this was a brand new port for us to visit and the whole reason we booked this leg of the B2B! We were due to arrive in port at 10, so I was up at 8 to get ready. Chris and I went to the MDR for a sit down breakfast, and I got my usual, and it was very good. Breakfast took us about an hour, so when we were done we went back to the room so that I could pack our bag and then watch us sail into St Kitts.

 

For today, I had booked an independent excursion thru Thenford Gray. I had read great things about them on here, so I felt confident booking something not thru the cruise line. We booked "The Grand Tour of St Kitts" for $55 per person. The excursion met in the port area at 11, and when we got there we got to meet Mr. Gray himself. He was a very, very nice gentleman, which made me glad that I had booked with a smaller company. He had 2 buses going for the tour, and we lucked out and were put on the smaller bus with just 4 other people and a driver named Calvin Brooks. Calvin was very nice, and he shared so much information about the island with us. Over the course of the tour we visited the Batik, the fortress, some scenic areas, and then we spent 2 hours at a beach.

 

Pictures from the Batik:

 

 

 

I forget the name of this tree, but it was a beautiful, amazing tree. The branches touched the ground!

 

 

 

 

Pretty plant:

 

[pirate4me2]

And finally, some of the material from the Batik:

 

 

Now on to the fortress:

 

 

The view from all the way up there was amazing and so worth the climb:

 

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

 

After that climb (and since it was like, 3:00 and our excursion didn't include lunch) we were hungry! Chris and I each got a bag of chips from the gift shop, total was $3. I went with Cheetos, and they were not like the Cheetos from here...anyone seen spider shaped ones before?? :eek:

 

 

Next, we were taken to the viewpoint where you can see the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. It was gorgeous!

 

[pirate4me2]

Our final stop before going back to the ship was at a beach for 2 hours. The beach had a small bar/restaurant, so Chris and I ordered some drinks and light food to tide us over until dinner time. Chris got a drink called Funky Monkey, which he ADORED. I think it ranked up there with the La Buena Vida for him.

 

 

I ordered a drink called De Wreck, and it was pretty good.

 

 

Chris got some chicken tenders, which were actually pretty good!

 

 

I ordered cheese fries, and they sucked. They were soggy and basically just microwaved fries with cheese thrown over the top.

 

 

The total cost for the food and drinks was $25. After we had satisfied our tummies, we went and walked down the beach a little. It wasn't the nicest beach, and we didn't swim, but we waded in up to our knees. We enjoyed the scenery, St Kitts is a gorgeous place.

 

[pirate4me2]

When were about ready to go back to the ship we went back to the parking area and we were treated to a bunch (and I do mean a BUNCH) of monkeys playing. There had to be 15 or more monkeys!

 

 

 

We were back to the Vista at about 5:45. I give Thenford Gray tours an A+, Mr. Gray and Calvin were both so kind and knowledgeable. I felt safe, and Chris and I both agree that this is one of the best island tours we have done. It was well worth the money!

 

Once onboard we cleaned up and went to dinner. Tonight for my starter I ordered the flatbread with zucchini, mushrooms and feta cheese. It was delicious!

 

 

Chris and I were both curious about the Caribbean Pepper Steak, so we ordered it plus a regular main dish each so we could try it. It was pretty good, and had a kick to it!

 

 

For my main I ordered a vegetarian dish, the baked Phyllo Pouches with beans. They were OK, nothing great.

 

 

Chris got the Beef Wellington, and he said it was good.

 

[pirate4me2]

I forgot to take pictures of our desserts, sorry y'all. Chris and the other 2 people at our table got the Boston Cream Cake, and all 3 of them raved about how great it was. I went with trusty old WCMC, and it was perfectly ooey and gooey tonight.

 

After dinner we decided to walk deck 5 to the atrium. Chris was somehow STILL craving sweets and he wanted to try the cake batter ice cream creation from Cherry on Top. He got a small one (I think it was $2.50?) and he said it was not good at all, that it had a weird flavor to it. I was stuffed and didn't try it. We listened to the string players for a while, they were wonderful.

 

We decided to call it a day at about 10. Tomorrow was our last port day, beautiful St. Maarten!

[pirate4me2]

The cruise curse struck again.

 

I woke up at 6:00 this morning SICK as could be. My stomach couldn't decide if I should throw up or...well, the other option. I laid in bed between trips to the bathroom and wished death would come for me. I was freezing cold, and just as I would get comfortable in bed and not feel like I was going to throw up my tummy would tell me to make a mad dash. I figured there was no way I would be going far from the stateroom today.

 

Chris went to Lido at 7:45 to get himself some breakfast, and I asked him to bring me back a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I thought maybe a few pieces of dry cereal would help soak up whatever was in my stomach causing such a fuss. I also downed an entire 1/2 a bottle of Pepto in hopes to stop the constant bathroom trips.

 

Our excursion for today was the All Inclusive Tiki Hut, and the tickets said to meet in the Liquid Lounge at 8:45. After much careful consideration, I figured I would give it a go. There were bathroom facilities at the Tiki Hut, and you had the option to return to the ship at your leisure, so I figured if I got there and just couldn't do it I would come back to the ship. I was a little worried about making it to and from the Tiki Hut, but I really, REALLY didn't want to waste a day in St Maarten on the ship! If it was Nassau or Ocho Rios or Freeport, sure, but St Maarten? NO WAY!

 

We got to the Liquid Lounge right at 8:45...and there was no tour there! We went to the Shore Excursions desk and the guy there radioed the tour, and they had already left but were still on the pier, so we ran down there. We got on a water taxi that took us right to the Tiki Hut. It was a really nice, relaxing place with super friendly staff.

 

Seating Area/Diving Board

 

 

The "swimming pool" where kids could swim and see fish

 

 

Scenery

 

 

 

The water was beautiful, and there were SO MANY FISH! The Tiki Hut provided snorkel equipment, as well as pool noodles, and it was just a super relaxing day. I swam for a few minutes, then decided to lounge on a chair as I was still freezing cold. I wrapped myself up in my towel and just enjoyed the sun. I also threw my dry cereal in the water and admired the fishies. :D

 

Lunch was included in the excursion, and Chris got a cheeseburger. I ordered a veggie burger and nibbled it, and it tasted good. I was scared my stomach would revolt, so I took it easy on it. So far I had been lucky, but I could tell at about 12 my time was running out so we headed back to the ship on the next water taxi. We quickly did some shopping in the port area (Christmas ornament, coffee for my dad, turmeric for my mom, and guavaberry steak sauce on the recommendation of our friend that had sailed with us last week) and then got back onboard.

 

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. I took a nap from 2 to 6, and then I was really, really hungry so we went to Lido for dinner. I was a Dum-Dum and got myself a salad....haha, that did NOT go over well on my stomach. Hello, veggies are hard to digest! I went back to the room and decided to order the on-demand movie, Boo!: A Madea Halloween. It was really funny. I fell asleep around 9, hoping that tomorrow my tummy would feel better.

[pirate4me2]

I woke up at about 9:30, and my tummy was still gurgling some but I decided to be brave. I wanted to go to Sea Day Brunch! DH and I went, and I ordered the steak and eggs. The steak was absolutely fantastic, the eggs were Ok.

 

 

Chris ordered the pork chop, and it was very dry.

 

 

After chowing down, I decided I better stay close to the stateroom in case my belly got mad. I went and claimed my spot in the Havana area and stayed there all afternoon. It was heaven!

 

We met up at the Alchemy Bar at 5 with our friends, and Chris ordered an orange flavored drink that he said was not very good...it was missing something. We all went to the MDR dressed in our finest (this was our second elegant night of the cruise) and the food tonight was good and served HOT! The rest of the cruise we had noticed that the food wasn't cold, but it wasn't super warm either. I don't know if it was because we got to the MDR right at 5:30 or what, but the food temperature tonight was right on!

 

For my starter I got the stuffed mushrooms, one of my favorites, and they were delicious. For my main I got the same dish as last week, the mushroom pasta, and it was fantastic again. DH ordered the Caesar salad for his starter (good) and the filet mignon for his main (also good).

 

I skipped dessert and ordered a hot chocolate. Has anyone else noticed how AWESOME the hot chocolate is on the ships?

 

 

I do not know what it is, but I love their hot cocoa!

 

Sully was playing on the Lido Dive In Movies at 7:30, so we all changed from our nice elegant clothes and went up there. We got there at about 7:15 and were able to grab loungers in a good location, and it was an excellent movie. When it ended, we all decided to go to the Liquid Lounge and catch the 9:30 showing of America Rocks. Since we got there right before the show we couldn't get good seats, we mostly were staring at the heads of the people in front of us. :mad: I really, really do not like the way they did that lounge.

 

I decided to call it a day after the show (about 10:15). Tomorrow was our final day aboard the beautiful Vista. :(

[easyboy]

Pictures from the Batik:

 

Very nice landscape backdrop!

[moran4carnival]

Nice review so far. Do you have any of the Fun Times that you could post?

[pirate4me2]

I should have enjoyed my last day of sleeping in, but I got up today at 7:45. I wanted to make sure I scored a clamshell in the Havana area, so while I stumbled my way out there Chris ran to JavaBlue Café and got us coffees. As always, it was delicious.

 

 

I wish that I could tell you stories of all the fun stuff we did on our last day aboard the Vista, but sadly we were quite lazy. LOL. We stayed in the Havana area in our clamshell until 3, only getting out to take the occasional dip in the pool or to run and grab something to eat. It was quite a lovely, low key day!

 

We did vacate our clamshell to go get cleaned up for the Platinum and Diamond past guest party. For this cruise it was held at 4:00 in the Liquid Lounge, and it was PACKED. I have to say, last week's gathering in the Limelight Lounge was MUCH nicer. I missed having a table to put my drink on, and it was just way too crowded. The dinks were good though, and easily accessible, and STRONG!

 

After the gathering we decided to go do our packing before dinner. We met our friends for one last drink at Alchemy, and we went to the MDR at 5:30. I ordered the same thing as last week, the Caprese salad (delicious), cornmeal crusted chicken (good) and a side of whipped potatoes (yum!). I opted to not get dessert and just ordered a hot chocolate, which was perfect.

 

We sadly said goodnight to our friends after dinner, I couldn't believe this cruise was wrapping up already. Part of me was ready to go home (I missed my furry "kids!") but another part wanted to stay on for the next cruise. We had enjoyed our 2 weeks aboard Vista very much, and making new friends had made it even better. We went back to our room to finish packing, then sat out on the balcony for a few minutes. I love listening to the waves at night.

 

We called it an early night since we had to meet for the Priority disembarking at 6:45 in the morning. :eek: We had a long road trip ahead of us in the a.m.!

[pirate4me2]

Platinum and Diamond guests who wanted to utilize the self-assist option were to meet in the Reflections dining room at 6:45. Chris and I got up at 6:15 (I don't do mornings well!) and we wrangled our bags down there right at 6:45. They were having everyone line their bags up along the outer edge of the dining room, and when it was time to disembark everyone went to their bags and filed off the ship. I have to say, it was a much more organized process than I have seen in the past! We were off the ship by 7:15, and we breezed thru Customs.

 

Once outside the Miami terminal, we were going to hail a taxi to take us back to the hotel, but we were approached by a guy who asked us where we were going. We told him, and he pointed to a white shuttle bus that took people to the airport and he told us since our hotel was right near the airport they would take us for $10 per person. I remember when we sailed on the Breeze from Miami the taxi fare to get back to our hotel near the airport was right around $40, so I figured this was a great deal!

 

The shuttle delivered us safely to the hotel, and we were back in my truck by 8:00. We hit the interstate and drove home thru some awful storms, but luckily we had no issues and arrived safely home about 9:00 that night. Another great vacation had come to an end, and it was back to reality (aka work) tomorrow. :(

 

 

 

I have to say, I read so many negatives about the Vista before our cruise that I was a little worried. However, after sailing on her I can't say that I encountered some of those problems. Yes, there were lines for some things, but we always managed to get into the comedy club and get a seat. I didn't see how the layout was anymore chopped up than the Conquest class ships. The only real negative thing I have to say about the ship is that the Liquid Lounge is a terrible venue. Even that I have cast aside, and I am re-booked to sail on Vista later this year! The good outweighs the bad.

 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! Sorry that I didn't have as many pictures as usual this time, and sorry I didn't save any FunTimes. I will do better next time!

[easyboy]

Thanks again for your review. Glad that despite some problems, you still enjoyed your Vista cruise. Looking forward to the review of your next Vista sailing.

[nae418]

Hi:

 

I absolutely loved your review! I'm booked on Vista for October 21, 2017. Can't wait! Thank you so much.

 

 

Nae418

[cruisingbajan]

Enjoying your review and photos.

 

Did you have to book Mr. Sanchos in advance or can you just show up on the day and pay?

[pirate4me2]

Very nice landscape backdrop!

Thank you! It was a beautiful place.

Nice review so far. Do you have any of the Fun Times that you could post?

I did not keep any of the FunTimes, sorry.

Thanks again for your review. Glad that despite some problems, you still enjoyed your Vista cruise. Looking forward to the review of your next Vista sailing.

Thanks for reading!! I am excited to cruise on her again and maybe do some of the things I didn't get to last time.

Hi:

 

I absolutely loved your review! I'm booked on Vista for October 21, 2017. Can't wait! Thank you so much.

 

 

Nae418

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your cruise on her later this year!

Enjoying your review and photos.

 

Did you have to book Mr. Sanchos in advance or can you just show up on the day and pay?

I booked it in advance and paid a deposit, but I know some people just showed up without reservations and paid.

 

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[lindy sails]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. It's been a number of years since we have cruised on Carnival. I'm sure we've taken 15 Carnival cruises before moving to Princess & Celebrity. But the Havana area on the Vista has peaked my interest and we may just have to book a cruise on the Vista. Can you suggest an interior cabin and a balcony cabin that we should try to book? I liked the fact you could access the Havana pool deck directly from your balcony. How do you access it from an Interior cabin? I would want to have cabins on the Havana deck. No stairs if possible. Looking forward to hearing your recommendation. In between I will look at a deck plan. Welcome home!

 

 

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