Carnival Vista Disembarkation

This morning, Matt, our Cruise Director, began making announcements for disembarkation deck-by-deck. Carnival now offers guests the option of carrying their own luggage off the ship, or, they can use the traditional method of placing luggage outside the stateroom the night before (by 11pm) and retrieving the luggage in the terminal. Since all of our pieces of luggage have wheels, we decided to try the "carry off" method. A debarkation information form was placed in our room on our last night aboard showing the approximate times for each deck to disembark. All guests are required to vacate their staterooms by 9am, and the last disembarkation takes place at 10am.

At almost exactly 9am, the announcement for our deck to disembark was made. With luggage in tow, we surprisingly were able to get an elevator to Deck 3 fairly quickly. However, when we got to Deck 3, we realized that, because we were using the aft elevators, we had to go back up to Deck 4 to get all the way forward to the lobby. We lucked out and caught another elevator back to Deck 4, then walked all the way forward to the main lobby area. Once we arrived there, the elevators were slammed, so there was no way we were going to catch one going down to Deck 3. That meant Plan B. Nobody likes Plan B. We have to carry our heavy duffle bags, and our roll aboards, down the stairs to Deck 3. Once we get them down to Deck 3, a huge crowd of disembarking guests has formed, many with luggage, trying to make their way to the exit. It was a bit chaotic. Of course, this can be common on a ship with 3,900+ guests! It seemed as if there was no exit plan in place as people were coming into the area from all directions.

In spite of the chaos, we were still able to exit the vessel, get through the terminal and past US Customs in about 40 minutes from the time we left our stateroom. Because we carried our own luggage off the ship, we breezed past hundreds of guests trying to locate their luggage at the carousels in the terminal. If you have reasonably small pieces of luggage that roll, carrying your own luggage off the ship is the way to go. Here's a tip, however: make your way to the forward elevators before you go down to Deck 3. If we had done that, it would have made the process MUCH easier.

Day 8 - Our Last Day At Sea

Our last day at sea also happens to be our last day aboard Carnival Vista. Tomorrow, we will disembark in Miami. So, with only a few hours of Caribbean sunshine left, we spend the morning back at Serenity on Deck 15 forward. Rickee soaks up the sun and I find a shady spot to relax and catch up on my Instagram duties. For lunch, I only have to walk a few steps to the Fresh Creations salad bar located at Serenity. The salad bar is massive and stocked with every imaginable salad topping. It was the best salad I have had in years! There is also full bar service from Serenity Bar nearby.

Delicious salad bar at Fresh Creations

When I returned to the stateroom to get showered, I see that our stateroom attendant has left a reminder that we will be disembarking in the morning: luggage tags! At least they were placed inside a heart.

Luggage tags

I have been using the Carnival Hub app on my cell phone all week to keep track of activities on the ship and our shipboard account. I noticed something on our account that I did not understand, so I went to Guest Relations to clear things up. There was a long line at Guest Relations, typical for the last day of a cruise. Guest Relations has to be one of the hardest jobs on a cruise ship. Think about it, guests that are "happy" go to a bar or the pool. Only when they have a problem or a complaint do they go to Guest Relations. When I finally got up to the desk, the young man helping me was able to get my issue cleared up in a matter of minutes. I also paid close attention to the other interactions going on around me and every one of the Guest Relations representatives were professional and genuinely trying to help the guests. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with the service they were receiving.

Guest Relations desk

For dinner this evening, we decided to enjoy a couple of slices of pizza from Pizzeria del Capitano on Deck 10 aft.

The pizzeria is open 24/7 and puts out some pretty good thin-crust pies available with five different topping configurations (see photo below).

After dinner, we make our way back to Deck 5 aft to Punchliner Comedy Club for the last time on this cruise. Tonight, we are entertained by Tim Walkoe, who has appeared on HBO, Showtime, Fox and Comedy Central. As always, Punchliner Comedy Club delivered the laughs, courtesy of Mr. Walkoe. We have really enjoyed our time at Punchliner this week and consider it to be one of the greatest features Carnival has to offer.

Tim Walkoe

After the show, we return to our stateroom to pack for the trip home. This was our seventh Carnival cruise and we continue to see improvement in many areas. Of course, we will be posting a full, in-depth review of the ship in the coming days. Watch CruiseReport.com for details.

Day 7 - Sky Ride on Carnival Vista

Today is the first of two "Fun Days at Sea" as Carnival Vista steams her way back to Miami from St. Maarten. We have been putting off one activity all week that we can no longer resist: the SkyRide. SkyRide is unique to Carnival Vista and it is a very popular attraction. Imagine a recumbent, open-air bicycle hanging from a track 15 stories above the ocean!

SkyRide on Carnival Vista

This is one of the most popular attractions on Carnival Vista, and that can only translate into one thing: long wait times! We waited until late in the morning to walk up to the SkyRide line, which was already quite long. There is a sign to indicate how long the wait will be based upon your place in the line. Lockers are also provided to store keys, wallets, cell phones, etc. so that they won't fall out of your pockets during the ride and smack someone on the head who happens to be walking along the deck below.

Long lines for the Skyride

Once you finally do reach the ride, attendants hand you a safety harness. So, if you have any desire to dramatically bail out of the SkyRide while over the ocean, forget it, you will have to find another way to end it all.

Safety first

Once you are seated in the SkyRide "bike", an attendant secures your harness and adjusts the seat so that your legs will have the proper reach to the pedals. Within a few seconds, you are off and freewheeling around the track. It does not take that much effort to pedal the SkyRide and the ride does not last very long, perhaps a minute or two at most. At one point, there is a dip in the track which speeds things up a bit, sort of like riding a bike down a steep hill. I was expecting the dip. What I was not expecting was, soon after, there was a slight curve in the track. At the increased speed, when you hit that curve, the SkyRide bike sort of swings out a bit, which is quite exciting.

Chris in the Skyride

If you do the SkyRide with your better half, you can have a race to see who is faster, or take an easy pace and just enjoy the view of the ocean. The SkyRide was certainly one of the coolest things I have done on a cruise ship. It was fun, and I would stand in line to do it again, but not for an hour. It is worth a 20-minute wait, no more. After the SkyRide adventure, we started looking for a semi-quiet, out-of-the-way spot for Rickee to get some sun, and me some nearby shade. We settled on Deck 11, port side (starboard is the smoking side).

We spent most of the afternoon just soaking up the sun (or in my case, the shade). Even on a huge ship with thousands of people, you can still find open deck space and lounge chairs. In the late afternoon, we started getting ready for our 7pm dinner reservation at Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse. However, a couple of hours before dinner, we decided to stop by The Taste Bar on Deck 5 midship. On sea days around 5:30 in the afternoon, they serve tapas (small plates) which make a perfect before-dinner snack. Neither of us ate lunch today, so this was just enough to keep us going until dinner.

Fried Malanga and Pepper Pot soup

We arrived at Fahrenheit 555 a little early and the hostess graciously seated us ahead of our reservation time. The restaurant is slammed tonight and filled to capacity. Even so, we were able to get the table for two that we had requested in the corner of the dining room, next to the window.

Rickee enjoys a glass of Cabernet at Fahrenheit 555

Our waitress, Mirela, was super-efficient and gave us great service. She offered to bring the "meat cart" by to show us all of the main course items on the menu, but we were familiar with the offerings. I ordered the New England Crab Cake appetizer, Caesar Salad and Broiled NY Strip. Rickee ordered the Onion Soup, Beefsteak Tomato Salad and Broiled Filet Mignon.

If you want details about our experience at Fahrenheit 555, you will need to read the full review coming soon to the Cruise Ship Dining Reviews blog. During our dinner, the Captain announced that one of the guests had a medical emergency requiring Vista to alter course so as to deliver the guest ashore for medical attention. He also said this could delay our arrival in Miami. It could be an interesting disembarkation!

Tomorrow is another Fun Day at Sea on Carnival Vista.

Day 6 - St. Maarten, Punchliner Comedy and Piano Bar 88

Carnival Vista docked in Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Instead of Curacao, our scheduled port call for today, Carnival Vista is docked in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Tropical storm Don required the Captain to alter the itinerary. Personally, I prefer St. Maarten to Curacao anyway.

It is a bright, sunny day today, but not quite as warm as the previous few days thanks to a strong breeze. We spend the morning at Serenity (Deck 15 Forward), once again, avoiding the crowds as most guests are getting off the ship for shore excursions.

The view of Philipsburg from Serenity

After a quick lunch at Guy's Burger Joint (again!), we grab our gear and disembark the ship for a walk through Philipsburg. By 1:00pm when we got off the ship, there are no more lines and we breeze through disembarkation. We make the long walk down the pier to the terminal area, which now includes quite a few shops and local vendors. Even our favorite Caribbean jeweler, Ballerina Jewelers, has a shop here.

Guests who want to visit the beach or downtown Philipsburg can make the mile walk into town, or take the water taxi. We decided to try out the water taxi on this trip. We have made the walk into town a couple of times and, when it is hot, it is not that much fun. The water taxi is only $7 per person and it drops you off right near the beach and downtown. And, the $7 includes your return trip, too.

Water taxi

When you arrive at the cruise ship terminal area (at the end of the pier), just look for the Water Taxi signs. You can't miss them. The taxis run every 5 to 10 minutes and the ride over to beach/town takes about 10 minutes. You can enjoy a beverage during the ride at cheap prices, too.

After stepping off the taxi, we make it to town in just a few minutes. Today is the first time we have been to Philipsburg when no other ships were in port. The town is eerily quiet and void of people. It's great! All the shops are open for business.

Philipsburg's Front Street is virtually empty today

We are on the hunt for a good deal on liquor, one of the reasons we were glad to hear the Captain say he was diverting to Philipsburg. You can get really good deals on liquor here. In fact, the prices here are nearly as good, if not better, than St. Thomas. US citizens can bring back five liters per person, but we are not looking for that much today. The little, off-the-beaten-path liquor store I usually buy from was out of my favorite, Crown Royal, so we began shopping at a few other shops on Front Street. The best deal I found was at Friendly Duty Free. Their price of two one-liter bottles for $25 was the best I found, and they offered to deliver to the ship so we did not have to haul the bottles around town.

I was able to get three 1-liter bottles for $37. Back in Dallas, I pay $40 for one 1.75 liter bottle. That's $22 per liter at home compared to $12.34/liter in Philipsburg. Carnival holds all liquor purchased ashore until the last night of the cruise, when they deliver it to your stateroom. I have never had a liquor store deliver to a ship before, so it will be interesting to see if I actually get my Crown! FYI: Friendly Duty Free has three shops in town, one at each end of Front Street, and one in the middle.

All guests have to be back on board Carnival Vista by 4:30pm, so we don't have a lot of time to spend in Philipsburg. We catch the water taxi for the return trip to the cruise ship pier and are back on board Vista by 3:30.

Tonight, we head back to Punchliner Comedy Club where I make my brief debut as a standup comedian.

My debut as a standup comedian

After my set (basically, a photo op on stage before the doors opened), we enjoyed the comedy of Cee Jay Jones.

Cee Jay Jones

His 6:30 show was so funny that we lined up outside and went back for the 7:30 show! After the second show, we just had to return to Piano Bar 88 for Elizabeth's sing-a-long.

Elizabeth plays at Piano Bar 88

Piano Bar 88 is becoming our favorite spot on the ship. The place has the feel of a local bar filled with friends. For the most part, that is because of Elizabeth's warm personality, greeting people when they arrive, and announcing when they leave. Everyone has a great time singing along to the classics we all listened to growing up.

Tomorrow is another Fun Day at Sea on Carnival Vista.

Day 5 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Carnival Vista docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Tropical storm Don forced the Captain to make a decision yesterday, and he made the right one. Instead of risking a port call in Aruba, then Curacao, he decided to take the safe route and alter our itinerary. Instead of Aruba, today we docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cruise staff did an admirable job of accommodating guests who had shore excursions in Aruba and Curacao by refunding all purchases and putting together alternatives available in San Juan and St. Maarten.

By 9am this morning, Carnival Vista guests were beginning to trickle off the ship en route to a multitude of shore excursions. We decided to let the crowd of disembarking guests dissipate a bit before getting off to do a little exploring on our own.

We stepped off Vista about 10:15am and, after walking through the terminal building, found ourselves on a busy sidewalk filled with tourists from two megaships: Carnival Vista and Harmony of the Seas! The sidewalks were lined with local merchants selling all kinds of souvenirs.

San Juan sidewalk vendors

We found a CVS pharmacy across the street and decided to look for a sewing repair kit (I lost a button on a pair of shorts). CVS was the busiest place in town! With sewing kit in hand, we set out to explore the area near the port. We have been here a couple of times before and are familiar with the general area. Guests who want to experience some of the local cuisine can find a few food carts near the port.

Food cart

It was nice to get off the ship for a while and get some exercise. However, it is very hot today (common for San Juan) so we headed back to Vista in time for lunch at the Lido Marketplace, Carnival's buffet. We decided to give the Carnival Deli, located aft on Deck 10 in the Marketplace, a try. The deli has a very nice selection of sandwiches, hot dogs, wraps and even salted chocolate chip cookies.

Deli menu

Rickee had a hot dog with sauerkraut and I had the Cubano. Both were very good.

Cubano sandwich with potato and egg salad

We always try to avoid crowds as much as possible and dining in The Lido Marketplace while most guests are off the ship is the perfect time to enjoy this venue. The Lido Marketplace also has several drink stations where you can enjoy complimentary coffee, ice water, tea or lemonade. And, the lemonade is very good.

Beverage Station

After lunch, we could not resist the temptation to return to Ocean Plaza to once again try to bring home the gold. By gold, we are referring to the coveted Carnival "Ship-On-A-Stick". After several attempts at a variety of trivia contests, I finally won! Now Rickee and I each have bragging rights. Another guest claimed that these "trophies" are selling on eBay for up to $20! Who'd uh thunk?

This evening, we decided to check out some of the lounge acts around the ship. Our first stop was Ocean Plaza where we enjoyed the acoustic stylings of Lennox Lust.

Lennox Lust

When Lennox Lust took their break, we had about 45 minutes before the next show started in Ocean Plaza so we decided to enjoy a light dinner at Bonsai Sushi again. This place is just so convenient and easy. And, the prices are reasonable. Rickee had a wonderful Shrimp Tempura for $7 and I had another Spicy Tuna Roll. Both were delicious.

Shrimp Tempura

By the time we arrived back at Ocean Plaza, The Shipsie Kings were well into their first set. We sat and listened to them play several popular classics. We have been very impressed with the quality of the lounge acts on Carnival Vista. Not only is the talent very good, but there is a wide variety.

The Shipsie Kings

We spent the entire evening in Ocean Plaza enjoying the musical acts.

Tomorrow, Carnival Vista will be in St. Maarten.

Day 4 - La Romana and Dinner at Cucina del Capitano

This morning, Carnival Vista docked in La Romana, Dominican Republic. We were here three years ago on Carnival Breeze where we enjoyed a pretty intense Zip Line tour. In our opinion, it is the best excursion offered here. Since we are not interested in repeating history, we saw La Romana as another opportunity to enjoy the seclusion of Serenity on Deck 15 forward. It was great! When it came time for lunch, with most people still off the ship, it was the perfect time to enjoy another burger from Guy's Burger Joint.

Guy's Burger Joint

On a typical day, the line at Guy's Burger Joint can get insanely long. So, here was a rare opportunity to walk right up and get a fresh, hot burger with no wait. After my second Guy's burger on this cruise, I can now declare this to be one of the best hamburgers anywhere. They are that good. For those of you who follow our blog, you know I have been complaining for years about the poor quality of burgers on cruise ships. Carnival appears to be the only cruise line to have mastered this relatively simple culinary achievement.

Even the French fries are excellent, and perfectly seasoned. I think I may have to have at least one more of these burgers before the end of the cruise. After lunch, we spent the afternoon competing in a series of trivia competitions. Rickee finally won the Sports Trivia and collected her coveted "Ship On A Stick" trophy. In case you are unfamiliar with the famous Carnival trophy, they are solid 24-carat gold and priceless!

Ship-on-a-Stick trophy

While we were playing trivia, the Captain made an announcement from the bridge that, due to a tropical storm, we would not be able to make our port calls in Aruba or Curacao. The ship is being diverted to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Maarten instead. The reaction from the crowd in the Ocean Plaza was overwhelmingly positive.

For dinner this evening, we had a reservation at Cucina del Capitano, Carnival's Italian-themed restaurant. We made our reservations online a few weeks before the cruise through Carnival's 'My Cruise Manager' website. The restaurant is typically fully-booked, so advance reservations are highly recommended. We arrived at 6:30pm and were instantly greeted by the restaurant manager who showed us to our table for two.

Cucina del Capitano

The decor is decidedly Italian with red-and-white checkered tablecloths. Each table is set with a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. As soon as we are seated, our waitress greets us and delivers a plank of crusty bruschetta with roasted garlic, tomatoes and mascarpone cheese.

The menu is divided in half with the left side offering appetizers, soups and salad. The right side highlights pasta dishes and entrees. The idea is for each guest to order an item from the left side plus an item from the right side. However, the waitress never suggested that more than one item from the appetizer list could be ordered. I ordered Nonna's Meatballs and Rickee ordered the Il Capitano's Signature Arancini.

Nonna's Meatballs

My meatballs arrived piping hot in a rich, flavorful tomato sauce with melted mozzarella and crispy basil leaves. They were delicious and I found myself sopping up the remainder of the sauce with a leftover chunk of bruschetta.

Il Capitano's Signature Arancini

Rickee's arancini consisted of four deep-fried risotto balls mixed with cheese and served in a tomato sauce. They were good, but we both agreed that between the two, the meatballs were the better choice.

For an entree, Rickee ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara and I ordered the Bistecca Alla Griglia. When our main courses arrived, Rickee was surprised because she thought she had ordered Spaghetti Bolognese (which is not even on the menu). The Carbonara is a cheese sauce, like an Alfredo, with Pancetta. Rickee thought she was getting a tomato sauce (she should have read the menu!). The waitress did not hesitate to offer to bring her Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and left the Carbonara for us to share in the meantime. My Bistecca (a New York Strip) was cooked perfectly to order and was good.

Bistecca Alla Griglia

The real star of the evening was the Spaghetti Carbonara. Even Rickee loved it once she gave it a taste. The portions of spaghetti were huge, easily enough for two people to share. The Spaghetti with Captain's Tomato Sauce was also very good, but the Carbonara is the best on the menu, in our opinion.

Tomorrow, we will be in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Day 2 - A Relaxing and Fun Day At Sea

I think days at sea are our favorite. Carnival refers to these as "Fun Days at Sea", and they certainly deliver on that promise. I counted more than 72 individual planned activities listed in the Carnival Fun Times today.

The Fun Times is a daily newsletter delivered to your stateroom each day. It is perhaps the most comprehensive and well laid-out newsletter we have seen on any cruise line. Carnival has gone high-tech by creating an electronic version of Fun Times with their Carnival Hub app. Carnival Hub is a free download for your smart phone or tablet and gives you a list of all activities going on around the ship each day. You can create a list of "favorites" and the app will send you a friendly reminder 15 minutes before the scheduled activity. Very cool!

As you can see, the first item on our list today is TV Tunes Trivia, at which I thoroughly sucked. Ryan, one of Vista's cruise staff, conducted the trivia and is immensely entertaining. It is worth going to trivia just to watch him perform!

Ryan conducts TV Tunes Trivia

After failing miserably at trivia, we were on our way to have lunch when we walked by Fahrenheit 555 and noticed a cooking demonstration about to begin. We decided to pop in and see what was going on. This venue is not the best for observing the chefs' cooking techniques, but a cruise staff member does a good job of narrating and explaining the process.

Cooking demo

Unlike most cruise ship cooking demos that show how to prepare a single dish, on Vista four different chefs each prepared a different item. And, we all got to try a sample of each dish: beef goulash, arugula salad, chicken cacciatore, and tiramisu.

Chicken Cacciatore served at cooking demo

In spite of the delicious samples at the cooking demo, I was still in need of something a little more substantial. Time to visit Guy's Burger Joint on Deck 10. Carnival has partnered with Food Network star, Guy Fieri, to create the best hamburger you will find on any cruise ship. Period. I remember enjoying several of them on our 2014 Carnival Breeze sailing. By the time we arrived, the line was already pretty long, but the wait is worth it.

There is always a long line at Guy's Burger Joint

After obtaining some pool towels, Rickee and I found a couple of secluded deck loungers on Deck 11 where we were able to enjoy our burger and fries. The burger and fries were as good as I remembered. Just as Rickee was starting to enjoy the Caribbean sunshine, a brief rain shower forced us back inside the ship.

For our evening entertainment, we started with a visit to the Limelight Lounge for Carnival's Punchliner Comedy Club. Our comedian tonight is "Noodles", a popular comedian who has performed on Showtime, HBO and other television shows.

Noodles performs at Punchliner

The 7:15 show just happened to be competing with the Captain's Reception, making for a very sparse crowd in Limelight Lounge. There's nothing harder for a comedian than trying to perform before a small crowd in a large room. Nevertheless, we felt Noodles delivered enough laughs to warrant another visit for us to Punchliner.

After the comedy show, we decided to get a bite to eat. Neither of us were very hungry, so we chose a light meal at Bonsai Sushi (Deck 5 midship). Bonsai has an a' la carte menu and we remembered enjoying it on Carnival Breeze. An order of edamame ($2), a chicken skewer ($2) and a Spicy Tuna Roll ($5) was all it took for a perfect light meal. And, the sushi served here is as good as I have found on any cruise ship.

Spicy Tuna Roll at Bonsai Sushi

After our light meal, we planned to go to the 9:30 show in Liquid Lounge. We had about an hour to kill before the show, so we stopped by the Red Frog Pub to hear Edd Carr play guitar and sing.

Edd Carr plays in Red Frog Pub

The pub was so crowded that we decided to go next door to Ocean Plaza where The Shipsie Kings were performing.

The Shipsie Kings

We literally only heard one song before their set ended! What a shame! They were really good, too. We will be back to listen to them again. Fortunately, on Carnival Vista you are never more than a few minutes from another form of entertainment, especially on Deck 5. We looked at the Carnival Hub app on my phone and saw that Elizabeth was performing a "Sing-A-Long" at Piano Bar 88. We still had 30 minutes before the show starts, so we thought we would drop by Piano Bar 88 and check it out.

Elizabeth performs in Piano Bar 88

What began as a way to kill some time before the show turned out to be our final stop for the evening. Elizabeth has a rare gift for making a venue on a giant cruise ship feel like a quaint neighborhood bar. She greets everyone when they come in, and encourages everyone to hop (kangaroo style) when they leave. I don't think there is a song that she does not know. Everyone was having a great time singing along to classics from the 60s and 70s. We stayed through her entire set and will be going back again.

It was a fun-filled day at sea on Carnival Vista, just like they promised. Tomorrow, the ship will be docked in Grand Turk.