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


pirate4me2
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We decided to go check out the water toys after we had filled our bellies.

 

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Now, let me give a word of advice here. If you purchase the aquatic park pass, you may want to play on the toys BEFORE indulging in too many drinks. DH and I were both feeling pretty good, and it was HARD to climb up on those toys in our slightly buzzed state. We both managed to get onto a trampoline, and then I gave up. Chris managed to climb on the trampoline and a few other small toys, but neither one of us really used the toys enough to warrant purchasing the pass.

 

The water was pretty nice, although a little bit green.

 

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All that playing in the water made me thirsty, so I ordered a Miami Vice, which turned out to be my favorite drink and what I stayed with for the rest of the day.

 

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I also wanted some of the Caribbean fries, which were advertised as being spicy but they were not.

 

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Chris ordered some kind of quesadilla.

 

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We stayed until about 5, which is when the beach club closes I believe. There was a line of taxis waiting to take people back to the port, and the return fare was $17. We were back onboard by 5:45, and I decided to go hit the gym first thing. I changed and went up, and it was empty! Since we had missed Ocho Rios on Tuesday, they were extending our stay in Cozumel until 8, and I think a lot of people stayed out as late as possible. I did a 30 minute workout in the empty gym, then went back to the cabin to shower and change for dinner.

 

We met up at the Alchemy Bar with our friends at 7:30, and we all went to dinner in the MDR together. I failed to take pictures of all my dinner except for dessert, sorry guys. I do know I had the vegetable spring rolls, which I LOVE and are always delicious, and also a Caesar salad which was good. For my main I ordered the steak tacos, and I was really disappointed with them. The steak was super chewy, and they just were not that good. I get better tacos from here at home. My dessert was also a let down, the chocolate de leche cake. It was really gross.

 

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The round thing on top was HARD, and then it was just chocolate cake in milk basically. I wasn't impressed.

 

After dinner our group all went to the Punchliner to see Manny. He was HILARIOUS! If you go to see him, don't think that if you sit in the back of the room you are safe. Nobody in the audience is safe from Manny, he will find you! Also, I just want to say that I have heard negative reviews on the Punchliner onboard Vista, but Chris and I both agreed that we saw no problem with the venue. There was lots of seating, and it seemed like most of the seats had a decent view of the stage. I'm not sure what all the ruckus is about. Now the Liquid Lounge on the other hand....

 

After Manny's show a few of us decided to head to the Liquid Lounge for Quest. I had seen this on one other ship (Splendor) and I was really looking forward to seeing it on Vista. However....we walked into the Liquid Lounge and I was immediately overwhelmed. It was SO CROWDED, and they had blocked off a huge section of chairs with a curtain. There was nowhere to sit, and it was insanely crowded in there. We all immediately turned around and walked out.

 

It was a little after 11, so Chris and I decided to call it a day since Quest was a bust. All in all Cozumel had been a great day!

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Chris and I had big plans for today. Since it was the last sea day of the cruise, it was the day our Behind the Fun tour took place! We met the group in the steakhouse at 8:30. There were 16 of us, and after a short set of instructions from our leader (no cameras or phones allowed, we all had to have on close toed shoes, and a few other things) we were sent through security and given a "Behind the Fun" pass to wear around our necks. We were given a tour of the steakhouse, the galley (where we got to try fresh, warm from the oven cookies, as well a chocolate covered strawberries and a few other goodies), the laundry area, the crew dining area, the crew training area, the engine control room, the "I-95" area (including the wine/beer storage area, the meat freezer and meat unthawing area), backstage in the Liquid Lounge area, and the bridge. On the bridge we also got a complimentary photo with the Captain, which we picked up from Pixels that evening. The tour finished off in the Red Frog Pub, where the brewmaster explained about the brewery and we all got a sample of beer (either IPA or wheat). I tried the wheat, and it was allright, the IPA I thought was downright nasty. But I am not a big beer drinker.

 

The tour lasted until a little after 12, and at the end we were given a few goodies: a backpack, lanyard, and a baseball hat. We both felt that the tour was fun and informative, and well worth the $95 per person. Would we do this on every ship we sail? No. But once in a while it might be a fun way to pass some time on a sea day.

 

After collecting our goodies Chris and I went to the MDR for lunch, as we were HUNGRY!

 

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I used my free drink coupon for a Mocha Chocolate Getaway. It was fantastic, I love that drink.

 

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I ordered the Tex Mex burger for my lunch. It was yummy!

 

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I also decided to be bad and get dessert, so I ordered the Vacation Sundae. It was Ok. I should have went to Lido and gotten the fresh churned ice cream...

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We went back to the cabin and found the instructions on what to do tomorrow since we were B2B guests, as well as a treat for doing the Behind the Fun Tour.

 

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I decided to go to the gym to get my workout done, and on my way back from the gym I swung by the Future Cruise desk (it's on deck 10). I had decided to make a change to one of next year's scheduled cruises, I was canceling our partial Canal transit on the Miracle to book the 14 day Journeys cruise on the Breeze from Port Canaveral. I figured I should book the Breeze onboard this cruise to get that $200 OBC! I had to wait in line for about an hour, but I figured my time was worth that OBC and I did my research to figure out what room I wanted on the Breeze while I waited.

 

Once that was all booked, I went back to the room to shower and change for the Past Guest party. It was being held in the Limelight Lounge at 5. Andy was in there playing his guitar, the drinks were free flowing, and Matt made his rounds talking to guests. It was really nice, and there were a few games played and Matt did some talking. The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes, and it was a nice gathering.

 

After the party we all went to the Alchemy Bar before dinner to get some drinks. I ordered the Deal Closer, and oh my, it is decadent!

 

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We then headed to the MDR about 7:30 for our final dinner together. I started off with the Caesar salad, which was....you guessed it...really good.

 

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Chris ordered some BBQ chicken flatbread thing, which he said was good.

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For my main I ordered the cornmeal crusted chicken, which was delicious.

 

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For dessert I ordered my very first, and can you believe it, LAST chocolate melting cake of the cruise. It was cooked perfectly.

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We all migrated to the Havana Bar after dinner to finish out the night there. Everyone in the group did a shot of Fireball to say good-bye to our friends who were disembarking the next day. I had never had Fireball, and I have to say...I LOVE IT!!!! Haha. I also ordered a Havana Especial, which was Ok. I forgot to take a picture of it, sorry.

 

Our friends had to go finish packing, and all the drinks were catching up with me, so about 10:30 we all turned in. Tomorrow was the start of a new cruise!

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Enjoying your review so far. Thank you so much for taking the time to do it

 

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Thank you!! It is time consuming, but it really helps me with the post cruise blues. :)

Enjoying your review and the nice photos.

Thank you for reading!

Can't wait to read the rest! We are doing a b2b on the Vista this summer! Also booked a Havana room and looking forward to that more than anything!

 

 

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Oh my, you're going to love the Havana room and deck!! That was one of my favorite parts of the Vista!

 

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Chris and I got up around 7 I believe it was to see one of our sets of friends off since they were not doing a B2B. We all sat in the Havana pool area while they waited for their zone to be called. When they left, we went back to the room to chill out for a little bit before heading to the Piano Bar for the B2B process.

 

Our instructions said to meet in the Piano Bar at 10 to get our new cards and go thru the Customs process. We walked in, handed over our old S&S cards (which we got back a few minutes later), grabbed a Mimosa (complimentary) and took a seat.

 

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At about 11 they walked us off the ship, down the gangway, and thru Customs. All we did was hand over our declarations forms, and then they walked us right back up the gangway and onto the ship. We were free to do whatever, the ship was all ours for a little bit! Since we had skipped breakfast, DH and I were hungry. He went to the Pig & Anchor, I opted for a taco salad from Blue Iguana.

 

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I also went and got some yummy fresh churned ice cream for dessert.

 

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I wanted to go to the gym and workout, but they were not going to be open until about 5, so I went and sat on the balcony to read until the Muster Drill. Back in our cabin we had a present for doing a B2B:

 

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We were in the Horizons dining room for Muster again, and after it ended we went to the Havana pool deck to watch sailaway. Glory sailed out first.

 

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We met up with our friends that were also doing a B2B at the Alchemy Bar around 6, and we all headed down to the MDR for dinner. Tonight was the first night that we were given a pager and had to wait to be seated for dinner. We took the pager and went to the Havana Bar to wait, and it was maybe just a 5 minute wait. When it went off we went back down to the MDR and were seated at a table for 4.

 

I decided to start off with the chicken quesadilla, which was great.

 

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For my main I ordered the fried chicken BLT. It was ok, but I am confused...it had no bacon on it, so what was the B?

 

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I ended the meal with the tiramisu, which was delicious!

 

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Dinner ended about 8:45, and I was feeling a little down and out so I headed back to the room to just chill out on the balcony for a bit. I went to bed shortly afterward.

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I slept in a little bit today, until about 9. It was wonderful! I had every intention of going to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle party, the invitation had been left in our cabin last night.

 

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However, I really wanted to go to the Liquid Lounge for Matt's Morning Show, so I skipped the meet & mingle. Sorry guys. :( The morning show was funny, Matt and Cookie cracked me up. Immediately after that was Matt's Fun Aboard, Fun Ashore presentation, and we stayed for that. There were lots of giveaways, but unfortunately we didn't win anything.

 

We headed to the MDR for lunch, and I did the Build Your Own Burger and a Mocha Chocolate Getaway.

 

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I went back to the balcony for a little bit to read as I wasn't feeling so hot. I read a chapter in my book, and then I must have fell asleep on the lounger because the next thing I know Chris came and told me it was almost time to get ready for dinner. :eek: Tonight was elegant night, and I needed to shower, do my hair...yikes!

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We decided to go to dinner at 6, and our service tonight was VERY SLOW. I'm not sure what was up, but the waitstaff team we had just didn't seem to be with it. I ordered the spinach salad as my starter, and it was OK, but not great. I had the spaghetti carbonara as my main, and it was good.

 

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I skipped dessert, nothing on the menu was really that appealing to me. I think Chris did as well, and we managed to make it out just in time to go to the 7:30 showing of Studio VIP. That was an excellent show, we both really enjoyed it. We went down to the Limelight Lounge for the 8:30 PG comedy show with Manny, and he was hilarious. He really works the crowd well, and I think he is one of the better comedians I have seen on the ships.

 

I headed back to the cabin about 9:30 to call it a day. Tomorrow was our first port day for this leg of the cruise, and it happens to be one of my favorite ports: Grand Turk! I was determined to enjoy it since the last time I was there I was so sick.

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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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we are with you on 2/25/17 in aft wrap 6461 which is also Havana - cannot wait!!!

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we are also on the vista 2/25! Not in havana though...3 forward. :)

Have an awesome cruise!

Thanks so much for the amazing pictures and well written review! I'm loving it! I will be sailing aboard the Vista in April and July!

Thank you for reading along! I will post more this evening. :)

 

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I was up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7:30 for our 8:00 arrival at my absolute favorite port, Grand Turk! There is just something special about this place, I don't know what it is, but DH and I both adore it. Maybe it's the laid back vibe of the island, maybe it's that amazingly clear, beautiful water...who knows. I love it though, and I am so sad that as of right now, none of our cruises we have booked have GT as a stop on them. I have got to rectify that problem.

 

Anyway...we headed up to Lido to grab some breakfast while the mad masses made their exit from the ship as soon as the announcement was made that we could begin to head ashore. DH and I have it down to a science now, we go get breakfast and after about 30 or so minutes, we will head down to the gangway and we can just walk right off the ship, no lines. I enjoyed my breakfast burrito, then went to the room and made sure our beach bag had everything we needed in it. We walked off the ship at 9 and began to make our way down to Jack's Shack.

 

Vista in GT

 

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We got to Jack's Shack and snagged a table with an umbrella. We both ordered sodas, a Sprite for Chris and a Ginger Ale for me. I am a weirdo and love Ginger Ale, sick or not. The drinks were $2 each. We went and played in the water for a little bit, but it was a tad chilly for me so I went back to the table and wrapped up in my towel. Chris decided around 10:30 that he was getting hungry, so he put in an order for jerk chicken. It's $10, and that is his go-to meal when we are in Grand Turk. It came out quickly, and he was a happy, happy boy.

 

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I went ahead and put in an order for my favorite Grand Turk treat, conch fritters. When we were in GT in November on the Magic I was so sick that I ate maybe 2 of my fritters before my stomach let me know it was NOT a good idea, and I was so happy to be feeling good today so that I could enjoy them! The fritters are $8, and Chris and I decided to split an order of fries, which I believe were $6.

 

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The food was all delicious, as always. We hung out and played in the water until about 1, then decided to make our way back to the ship. I stopped in the Craft Market to get a Christmas ornament as I realized when we put up the tree this year that we didn't have a Grand Turk ornament! How did that happen??!! I found one that we both liked and bought it, it was $9. With that mission complete, we got back onboard.

 

I went to the gym to workout while Chris showered, and it was awesome to do my 30 minutes on the elliptical and look out at that beautiful view of the beach. The gym was almost completely empty, which was also nice. Once I was done, I headed back to the room to shower, then I took a nap until 5. We had made plans to meet up at the Alchemy with our friends at 5:30 to have dinner, and somehow Chris managed to sweet talk the steakhouse hostess into letting us dine there that night to celebrate one of our friend's birthdays. We had been trying since the week before to get a reservation for tonight, but they were always booked up and couldn't accommodate us. I do not know what Chris said or how he managed it, but good going honey!!

 

I ordered the same exact thing as last time, so I didn't take any pictures other than of my steak since it was a little different. The chef's compliments this time were a lobster BLT, which was delicious! My grilled Portobello mushroom was excellent, and the spinach salad was good as well. My filet mignon was not butterflied this week, and it seemed better than last week's steak...much more tender!

 

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My side of whipped potatoes were yummy, and the chocolate sampler was delicious as well, EXCEPT for the black pepper and fig ice cream that was in one of the dishes. That combination of flavors was just weird.

 

Since it was our friend's birthday, she also got a special birthday dessert, and everyone at the table got a complimentary glass of champagne to celebrate. That was a nice touch.

 

When dinner was over (about 8:15) we decided to head back to the room and enjoy some quiet time on the balcony. I really should have walked around to work off some of that dinner, but I think I was in a food coma. I ended up calling it a day shortly after, with a promise to myself to work out extra hard in the gym tomorrow.

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I slept in a little bit today, until about 9, since we were not due in port until 1. When I got up, Chris and I headed to the MDR for breakfast. I ordered my usual, the eggs benedict (great), pork sausage (good) and hashbrowns (they were crispy and JUST PERFECT!).

 

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I headed to the gym after breakfast to do my workout, and it was BUSY today! I think everyone had the same idea, to work out this morning before we got into port. I found myself an elliptical and did my thing, the headed to the room to shower, change into clothes for our day in port, and pack our beach bag.

 

We decided to go ahead and have lunch before we docked, so at about 12 we ordered room service. Our excursion included a meal, but I had a feeling it would be later in the afternoon. I ordered a BLT (which was excellent) and a Caesar salad (which was REALLY fishy).

 

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Vista docked at 1, and we were off the ship about 1:30. Our excursion was a day at Vivo Beach Club, which I had booked thru Carnival. We had a short bus ride to the club, and when we arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The facilities were very clean and nice, and we were greeted with a free cup of their beer that the brew there at the club.

 

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I told y'all that I am not a big beer fan, but I really liked this one! I forget what kind she said it was.

 

There was a red flag for the ocean (dangerous conditions) so Chris and I decided to set up camp by the pool. It was disappointing to not swim in the ocean, but the pool was pretty nice.

 

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Edited by pirate4me2
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Chris and I made ourselves comfy in some of these chairs they had in the shallow part of the pool.

 

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We hung out in the chairs just relaxing and enjoying ourselves until about 3:30, when they began serving lunch (more like dinner for us!). It consisted of rice and beans with chicken and sausage (it was really, really, really good!!), salad, a pasta salad (it was OK), a potato salad (that was great!), a roll and a drink (either soft drink or water). It was a very good meal, and if you wanted more of anything you were welcome to have more.

 

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I made 2 friends there, and I may or may not have given them my chicken and sausage from my meal...

 

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After we ate we decided to walk down the beach. It was a really nice beach, and if the water had been less hostile I probably would have swam!

 

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I slept in a little bit today, until about 9, since we were not due in port until 1. When I got up, Chris and I headed to the MDR for breakfast. I ordered my usual, the eggs benedict (great), pork sausage (good) and hashbrowns (they were crispy and JUST PERFECT!).

 

 

 

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I headed to the gym after breakfast to do my workout, and it was BUSY today! I think everyone had the same idea, to work out this morning before we got into port. I found myself an elliptical and did my thing, the headed to the room to shower, change into clothes for our day in port, and pack our beach bag.

 

 

 

We decided to go ahead and have lunch before we docked, so at about 12 we ordered room service. Our excursion included a meal, but I had a feeling it would be later in the afternoon. I ordered a BLT (which was excellent) and a Caesar salad (which was REALLY fishy).

 

 

 

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Vista docked at 1, and we were off the ship about 1:30. Our excursion was a day at Vivo Beach Club, which I had booked thru Carnival. We had a short bus ride to the club, and when we arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The facilities were very clean and nice, and we were greeted with a free cup of their beer that the brew there at the club.

 

 

 

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I told y'all that I am not a big beer fan, but I really liked this one! I forget what kind she said it was.

 

 

 

There was a red flag for the ocean (dangerous conditions) so Chris and I decided to set up camp by the pool. It was disappointing to not swim in the ocean, but the pool was pretty nice.

 

 

 

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Enjoying your review & writing very much. Question what Port is your excursion? The beach & pool looks great.

 

 

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Our bus took us back to the ship at 6, and we went to the room to clean up from our adventure. Chris decided about 7:30 he was hungry, but neither of us was THAT hungry, so we skipped the MDR and just went to Lido for dinner. I have always been one of those "Who the heck eats dinner on Lido when you can go the the MDR??" people, but I get it now! Sorry for being so quick to judge everyone, haha. I got a salad, and I do want to make one complaint here: at lunch Carnival does an AWESOME salad bar selection in Lido, but at dinner it was PITIFUL! There was a pre-made Caesar salad (it was gross), some cheese cubes, lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, garbanzo beans, dressings, and a few other veggies but not much. My salad was still decent, but I liked my lunchtime ones better.

 

Don't judge my ranch dressing overload, lol.

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Chris spied the fried shrimp next to the salad bar and asked me to grab him some while he went and got pizza. He said they were really, really good and crispy.

 

The Pizza Pirate surprised us with NO LINE at all and several pizzas already made and ready to go. I decided to try the cheese pizza, and I was disappointed. The sauce and cheese (plus my crazy amount of seasoning, haha) had great flavor, but the crust was just blah. It still filled my tummy though, and I was happy.

 

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After dinner we walked around the ship, and we ended up on the Havana deck for our sailaway from San Juan at about 8:30. It was awesome sailing out after dark, and we sat there and just enjoyed the sound of the wake and the peacefulness of it for a while. We ended up turning in for the day at about 10.

 

Tomorrow was a new port for us...St. Kitts!

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Enjoying your review & writing very much. Question what Port is your excursion? The beach & pool looks great.

 

 

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Thanks for following along! That was in San Juan, and it was Vivo Beach Club. They had a regular pass (no meal) and a delux pass (included meal). The service was great, the staff was friendly, and the facilities were clean. It never felt overly crowded either.

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I am really enjoying reading your review. I will be on the same cruise in less than a month now, so excited! Will be in Grand Turk for my birthday, and we have reservations for the steakhouse on the second-to-last sea day (Friday). I'm already fretting about having to come back home on that Sunday (5 March) :eek:

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I am really enjoying reading your review. I will be on the same cruise in less than a month now, so excited! Will be in Grand Turk for my birthday, and we have reservations for the steakhouse on the second-to-last sea day (Friday). I'm already fretting about having to come back home on that Sunday (5 March) :eek:

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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I was up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7:30 for our 8:00 arrival at my absolute favorite port, Grand Turk! There is just something special about this place, I don't know what it is, but DH and I both adore it. Maybe it's the laid back vibe of the island, maybe it's that amazingly clear, beautiful water...who knows. I love it though, and I am so sad that as of right now, none of our cruises we have booked have GT as a stop on them. I have got to rectify that problem.

 

Anyway...we headed up to Lido to grab some breakfast while the mad masses made their exit from the ship as soon as the announcement was made that we could begin to head ashore. DH and I have it down to a science now, we go get breakfast and after about 30 or so minutes, we will head down to the gangway and we can just walk right off the ship, no lines. I enjoyed my breakfast burrito, then went to the room and made sure our beach bag had everything we needed in it. We walked off the ship at 9 and began to make our way down to Jack's Shack.

 

Vista in GT

 

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We got to Jack's Shack and snagged a table with an umbrella. We both ordered sodas, a Sprite for Chris and a Ginger Ale for me. I am a weirdo and love Ginger Ale, sick or not. The drinks were $2 each. We went and played in the water for a little bit, but it was a tad chilly for me so I went back to the table and wrapped up in my towel. Chris decided around 10:30 that he was getting hungry, so he put in an order for jerk chicken. It's $10, and that is his go-to meal when we are in Grand Turk. It came out quickly, and he was a happy, happy boy.

 

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I went ahead and put in an order for my favorite Grand Turk treat, conch fritters. When we were in GT in November on the Magic I was so sick that I ate maybe 2 of my fritters before my stomach let me know it was NOT a good idea, and I was so happy to be feeling good today so that I could enjoy them! The fritters are $8, and Chris and I decided to split an order of fries, which I believe were $6.

 

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The food was all delicious, as always. We hung out and played in the water until about 1, then decided to make our way back to the ship. I stopped in the Craft Market to get a Christmas ornament as I realized when we put up the tree this year that we didn't have a Grand Turk ornament! How did that happen??!! I found one that we both liked and bought it, it was $9. With that mission complete, we got back onboard.

 

I went to the gym to workout while Chris showered, and it was awesome to do my 30 minutes on the elliptical and look out at that beautiful view of the beach. The gym was almost completely empty, which was also nice. Once I was done, I headed back to the room to shower, then I took a nap until 5. We had made plans to meet up at the Alchemy with our friends at 5:30 to have dinner, and somehow Chris managed to sweet talk the steakhouse hostess into letting us dine there that night to celebrate one of our friend's birthdays. We had been trying since the week before to get a reservation for tonight, but they were always booked up and couldn't accommodate us. I do not know what Chris said or how he managed it, but good going honey!!

 

I ordered the same exact thing as last time, so I didn't take any pictures other than of my steak since it was a little different. The chef's compliments this time were a lobster BLT, which was delicious! My grilled Portobello mushroom was excellent, and the spinach salad was good as well. My filet mignon was not butterflied this week, and it seemed better than last week's steak...much more tender!

 

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My side of whipped potatoes were yummy, and the chocolate sampler was delicious as well, EXCEPT for the black pepper and fig ice cream that was in one of the dishes. That combination of flavors was just weird.

 

Since it was our friend's birthday, she also got a special birthday dessert, and everyone at the table got a complimentary glass of champagne to celebrate. That was a nice touch.

 

When dinner was over (about 8:15) we decided to head back to the room and enjoy some quiet time on the balcony. I really should have walked around to work off some of that dinner, but I think I was in a food coma. I ended up calling it a day shortly after, with a promise to myself to work out extra hard in the gym tomorrow.

 

How far down the beach is Jack's Shack? If we can be guaranteed an umbrella we might try it.

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