Booked Carnival Vista 8-day Southern Cruise 6/2-10

Long-time RC cruiser, here. My wife & I are taking our nephews (14 & 16) on the June 2 (8-day trip to Grand Turk, La Romana, Curaçao, and Aruba). These stops will be a first for all of us. And a first cruise for the nephews altogether. We chose the Vista because it appears like a ship the boys will enjoy.

I’m asking for comments, suggestions, personal reviews, advice on activities, excursions, etc.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I will be on that ship and itinerary in March. I was on Vista last year. For advice on the ship I would say don't wait till the end if you want to experience the sky ride. I waited till the last sea day, but it was closed all day due to wind. You'll have a great time!

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We are on that sailing as well. We cruised Vista in 2016 and enjoyed it. My kids are 13 & 15 and really liked the ropes course and skyride. The slides were fun too. They aren't into the clubs so I can't comment on them.

We prefer to DIY.

Grand Turk - We love it and have been twice. The beach is right there at the pier or you can go to Margaritaville and use the giant pool. No fees and you do not have to purchase anything if you don't want to.

La Romana - My research on this port left a bitter taste. We ended up booking a Carnival excursion which I never do.

Curacao - We are doing a self-guided walking tour and visiting the Jewish Museum and Synagogue.

Aruba - Grabbing a taxi to Eagle Beach to hang out for a few hours.

I will be on that ship and itinerary in March. I was on Vista last year. For advice on the ship I would say don't wait till the end if you want to experience the sky ride. I waited till the last sea day, but it was closed all day due to wind. You'll have a great time!

 

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Thank you for your response. Do you know what their broadway style show will be? I.e., Mama Mia, Grease, etc.

We are on that sailing as well. We cruised Vista in 2016 and enjoyed it. My kids are 13 & 15 and really liked the ropes course and skyride. The slides were fun too. They aren't into the clubs so I can't comment on them.

 

We prefer to DIY.

 

Grand Turk - We love it and have been twice. The beach is right there at the pier or you can go to Margaritaville and use the giant pool. No fees and you do not have to purchase anything if you don't want to.

 

La Romana - My research on this port left a bitter taste. We ended up booking a Carnival excursion which I never do.

 

Curacao - We are doing a self-guided walking tour and visiting the Jewish Museum and Synagogue.

 

Aruba - Grabbing a taxi to Eagle Beach to hang out for a few hours.

Thanks for the response. Will look into the places you mentioned.

Thank you for your response. Do you know what their broadway style show will be? I.e., Mama Mia, Grease, etc.

No Broadway style shows. They are more like musical reviews and the talent leaves a lot to be desired. The family comedy is fun. They also lean heavily towards audience participation type events such as Hasbro The Game Show.

The theater the shows are in has some line of sight issues, so if good seats are important to you, go early. We like to check them out but are content with standing in the balcony.

Same with the comedy shows, if it's important to you, show up 15-25 minutes before the show starts.

We always try to plan our time so that we are not trying to do things at peak times. For example, if the ship docks at 8, 2/3rds of the ship will be at the lido buffet at 7:30. That = long lines. Hit the buffet at 7, and You'll walk right up

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We dont travel with kids so our agendas may be different but for GT it's simply a beach day. when you get through the duty free shop, the action is to the left, but we go right for a quieter experience.

We've never been to La Romana so we are going with a carnival excursion (For the first time).

In Aruba and Curacao, we found island tours on the pier then when they were over, did some shopping. This time around, we'll do a beach in Aruba and walk and shop in Curacao.

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We are doing this same itinerary for our Horizon cruise in 2019. Only port we have been to is Grand Turk and we love it! Nice large pool at Margaritaville and the beach is really nice too. Best of all is everything is close to the ship so no need to spend money on a taxi. Not sure what we are doing in the other ports yet as I am just starting to do research on here. Have fun!