Willdra's Visual Carnival Vista Oct. 15-22 Review

[willdra]

While we were walking back to the cabin, W was behind me in the hall, and I was talking to him. All of a sudden, the cabin numbers were too low, and I didn’t hear him anymore. I turned around, and I had passed the cabin entirely. W was standing outside of our cabin watching me walking and talking to him, but he said nothing. At that moment, I was no longer concerned about his health, cuz maybe it's his time to go. Who am I to interrupt God's work? He knows best. Anybody who lets me keep walking down the hall talking to myself like a whole clown, deserves whatever they got coming to them. Suffer.

 

When I got back in the cabin, I packed up my backpack to go out, while W went into the restroom. Let’s just say he was there a long time and when he came out, he was 20 pounds lighter, and the color had returned to his face. He said that was what he needed. Say less. I didn’t need details.

 

We went to Serenity next. We knew it was peak time, but we tried our luck. We didn’t get anything on the first pass thru, so we sat on one of the couches in the semi shade. That way we could see when someone left their clamshell. We had our eyes on 2 couples and a single guy. We can tell how long they're staying by the amount of stuff they have with them. Just a book and a drink, or if they don’t have a bag or towel, usually means they aren’t staying long. Also, if the person is alone with no supplies, typically it indicates that they just got lucky and found the seat while walking by, but they don’t plan on living there for the day.

 

Not long after we sat down, one of the 3 clamshells that we were watching opened up. W went and secured it, while I packed up and moved over. It was in a good spot where we could turn it to keep the shade, and we had a breeze, since it was in the back closer to the water slides. The clamshells in the front of Serenity have those glass partitions around, so there’s hardly any breeze. Not the move. We actually could’ve gotten one of those while walking thru but we passed.

 

We settled into our nest for the day and enjoyed the peace, except when people were walking by yelling at each other. #Notserene

[willdra]

At around 1:42ish I started to get hungry. W said he was going to the cabin for something, but he was gone awhile. When he got back, I asked him what he was going to eat. He said, “oh I already ate”. Kinfolk. He could’ve at least mentioned food when he left. I should’ve known tho. I wasn’t too cross at him cuz he did ask me if I wanted anything before he left. I thought he meant from the cabin. Silly me. I assumed. Welp, you know what they say about assuming.

 

I didn’t know what I wanted so I perused the app. A lobster roll from Seafood Shack sounded good so that’s where I went. I had a backup plan of getting deli if plan A didn’t work out. Y’all know my luck with Seafood Shack is always iffy. I went down and stood there. There was no one in line, but the cooks were busy, and they told me they would be right with me. I waited a few more minutes then held my breath when I asked for the lobster roll. The server said "ok it will be a few minutes" and gave me a buzzer.  I took care of one bodily function while I waited. It took less than 15 minutes to get my order. The lobster roll gods had smiled upon me and blessed me. I might need to play a slot machine or something, cuz lady luck was most definitely my bff right then. 

 

 

[willdra]

When I went back to Serenity I walked down to Deck 9, then forward. The elevators were extra slow on that ship. There is one forward elevator that goes to deck 15. One. I waited so long that I abandoned that plan and pushed the button for the elevator that goes to 14. I could walk up one if it came down to it. Turns out that’s exactly what I had to do. I rode up to 14 then walked back up to Serenity. When I got back W was napping. I sat on the ottoman and ate. That lobster roll was very tasty and I was glad that I got it.

 

After I ate, I read some of my book then took a short nap. We were in a good spot to get a light breeze, but it wasn’t a constant breeze. It was excellent when peeps opened the door. This made the breeze air conditioned. When I woke up, there were whole new groups of people around us. For the rest of our time out, I passed the time talking to W and messing around on my iPad. I wanted a drink from the Serenity Bar, and I thought I might like the Thirsty Frog Pina Colada Hard Seltzer. W went and got it for me on one of his soda runs. When I popped the top, I was so hopeful. It smelled really good. I tasted it, and it tasted like bubbly lies. When they made this, somebody must've been in another room whispering "pina colada", cuz it did not have one drop of pina colada flavor. This was more like pina colada goals and ambitions. I was glad that I didn’t have my mouth ready to taste pina colada. Cuz I sure as heck didn't. 

 

At about 5:10 there were only 2 people in the hot tub, so W got in. I stayed out. I was comfy where I was and wasn’t ready to move yet.

 

 

[willdra]

At 6 we went back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. This was elegant evening number 1. I got a head start on W. He had to go change out towels and some other random stuff before going back to the cabin. I showered, moisturized (don’t skip this step), then fixed my face. It didn’t take that long this time. I was ready at my goal time of 7:30. Yippee Skippy.

 

When I was almost done, W checked us in, and our table was ready in less than 10 minutes. He read the room this time and didn't do it too soon. Good job W.

 

We both finished what we were doing and went to the dining room. We had a table in the back. We sat down and soon we got some bread. Shortly afterwards our orders were taken. The servers never asked us if we wanted drinks. There was a table of 4 next to us and I swear the one guy ordered everything on the menu. Where they do that at? They also ordered a bunch of drinks. But who am I to judge? They might’ve been super hungry and thirsty. During dinner I noted that one of the guys at "that table" dropped at least 2 f-bombs with every sentence that he uttered. Loudly. Who did they sit us next to? Some people are just strange. And ghetto. Needless to say, they were our dinner entertainment. We were not bored sitting back there. 

[willdra]

While we were waiting for our food W realized that he never ordered his drink. He kept waving his arms like he was landing a plane but none of the servers paid him any attention. So he got up and asked for assistance. The issue was that our servers were behind him. The servers that he was waving at weren’t serving our table.  I told him earlier that I didn’t think that was our server, but he “thought”’ it was. Since we all know that W is gonna W regardless of what I say or how I feel, I left him to it. After speaking with our "real" servers, he was able to order his beer and suddenly things were looking brighter. For him.

 

I had the Sicilian Meatball Soup, Lobster, and WCMC with butter pecan ice cream. Don’t forget you can order your favorite ice cream (if they have it), you don’t have to get vanilla.  W got Caesar Salad, Crème Brûlée, and Lobster x2. I ate almost everything since we didn’t pre-game.  Once we were done, we left. No pomp. No circumstance. We just got up and left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We went out to the lobby and took a few pictures, while we waited for the show "Flick" to open up. When they opened the doors to the Liquid Lounge we filed in. Since we were early I went to get my wine that I forgot to take to dinner while W held our seats.

 

 

 

This show is phenomenal. I loved going down memory lane singing all of the movie songs. They chose really good ones. It also makes you want to go back and watch some of your faves again for the soundtrack. When that was over W and I went to run our errands. I got water for my tea, and he got ice for his bucket. I also washed my face cuz I didn’t want to have to do it later. #planahead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After that brief intermission, we got down to Deck 4 early to get into the Adult game show, which started at 11:30pm. Fam. It was wild! They were strict about no phones taking pictures or recording (they actually stopped one time to tell someone that they wouldn't continue until she stopped recording), so I have no photo evidence for y’all. Please take my word for it tho. If you are not easily offended by bad language, lewd gestures, adult situations, and partial nudity you will love it. W and I sat on Deck 5 so we could see errythang. And errythang we did see. There was a part where they needed 5 pairs of underpants from the audience. The girl next to me threw hers on the stage, and her bf/husband was mortified. He had a look that said she might be sleeping in the hall that night. When they were done and started trying to get the underwear back to their owners, she didn’t claim hers. I leaned over and asked if she was gonna go get them, and she said "Absolutely not" which was so funny cuz I knew getting them back would've driven her dude over the edge. He was already teetering in disbelief. Side note: I wonder what they did with the "unclaimed" drawers? 

 

Anywho, it was crazy in there. There were girls throwing their shirts in, then going topless, and other assorted lasciviousness. It was a bacchanal. We laughed way harder than necessary so many times. Sitting on Deck 5 was the move. We had a front row seat to all of the foolishness. Loved it!

 

We went back to the cabin after it was over. I started reading, and I swear I blinked 2 times, and it was 1am.

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for Adele. I sometimes forget how much I love her songs and her voice. I was reminded when they sang “Sky fall” in the "Flick" show. It gave warm fuzzy feels. I’m also sure that nowadays she is responsible for tons of babies being conceived, relationships lasting, and situationships ending. Her vocal cords were delivered to her via FedEx from heaven. She is a powerhouse of sound and emotion. We don’t appreciate her enough.

[RockinRobin]

1 hour ago, willdra said:

While we were walking back to the cabin, W was behind me in the hall, and I was talking to him. All of a sudden, the cabin numbers were too low, and I didn’t hear him anymore. I turned around, and I had passed the cabin entirely. W was standing outside of our cabin watching me walking and talking to him, but he said nothing. At that moment, I was no longer concerned about his health, cuz maybe it's his time to go. Who am I to interrupt God's work? He knows best. Anybody who lets me keep walking down the hall talking to myself like a whole clown, deserves whatever they got coming to them. Suffer.

OMG!  Wildra,  I think you must be mixed up...….you just described my husband and me so accurately.  I was laughing so hard when I read this and called my daughter and read it to her.  She asked if you were talking about us!!  I LOVE your writing style and sense of humor.  Please continue!

Edited December 6, 2022 by RockinRobin
mispelled

[willdra]

39 minutes ago, RockinRobin said:

OMG!  Wildra,  I think you must be mixed up...….you just described my husband and me so accurately.  I was laughing so hard when I read this and called my daughter and read it to her.  She asked if you were talking about us!!  I LOVE your writing style and sense of humor.  Please continue!

 

LOL!! 🤣 Thank you so much for chiming in! Glad to know that we aren't alone! I really think that I need to join (and/or start) a support group for women with "special" spouses. 😉

[pinto18]

1 hour ago, willdra said:

had the Sicilian Meatball Soup, Lobster, and WCMC with butter pecan ice cream. Don’t forget you can order your favorite ice cream (if they have it),

I never thought to order it with a different flavor of ice cream.Game changer!

[RockinRobin]

Too funny!   Does W do that to you in stores while your shopping?  MIne will walk off down another aisle or stop and look at canned oysters or shoes or something.  I'll be talking away and turn around and he is GONE. More than once I started talking to someone, NOT my spouse,  and tried to put things in someone's basket, thinking surely he's right behind me with the buggy.  We are taking our first B2B to celebrate our anniversary and my retirement.  14 days with him on the Horizon.  Is it big enough?? Can't wait!!🙄

[natefish95]

Your reviews always put a smile on my face!! You should have put a trigger warning when you mentioned using Concur to book your hotel. I haaaaaate that system so much. I try to be a good employee and book things myself, but something always goes wrong and I have to call the travel agency because Concur is only showing flights with layovers in Somalia and Sudan when I'm trying to go to Buffalo. No ma'am. 

 

I'm considering doing the Vista next year, so can't wait to read the rest! 

[Megan_Strick]

On 12/2/2022 at 11:32 PM, willdra said:

After we ate, we went to my uncle’s house and chopped it up with them for a few hours. At around 5 they declared that it was time to go to dinner (senior behavior) so we all got in our vehicles and went to Cadillacs Bar and Grill. It’s a Mexican spot that’s kinda popular in the neighborhood. W and I got there first cuz we’re not 70 years old and he doesn't drive slower than cold molasses.

 

 

Yay. Glad you're back! I've missed y'all!

[Megan_Strick]

On 12/3/2022 at 6:50 AM, dmet0225 said:

If I thought my work productivity would suffer while reading reviews by Greg, Sid and Megan simultaneously, the level of inactivity at work would plummet to new lows with Wildra’s addition.  Always great stuff.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm reading, Megans, Sids, and Gregs, and now I have Wildra added in to the mix. I'm sure I will get nothing done for at least a week!

[Sadebud]

I'm finally caught up! YAY, another Willdra cruise!!  Love your style and your humor! I will chime in with those who are following Sid, Greg, Megan and now you!!  Glad it's a slow week here at work!

[willdra]

19 hours ago, RockinRobin said:

Too funny!   Does W do that to you in stores while your shopping?  MIne will walk off down another aisle or stop and look at canned oysters or shoes or something.  I'll be talking away and turn around and he is GONE. More than once I started talking to someone, NOT my spouse,  and tried to put things in someone's basket, thinking surely he's right behind me with the buggy.  We are taking our first B2B to celebrate our anniversary and my retirement.  14 days with him on the Horizon.  Is it big enough?? Can't wait!!🙄

Yesssss 🙌🏾🙌🏾! W does it even at home! I don’t know how many times I’ve been in the closet or kitchen talking to him, then look up cuz he didn’t reply, and he’s nowhere to be found! Then I get so caught up looking for him, I forget what I was saying. It’s an entire mess. 😵😵😵

[willdra]

18 hours ago, natefish95 said:

Your reviews always put a smile on my face!! You should have put a trigger warning when you mentioned using Concur to book your hotel. I haaaaaate that system so much. I try to be a good employee and book things myself, but something always goes wrong and I have to call the travel agency because Concur is only showing flights with layovers in Somalia and Sudan when I'm trying to go to Buffalo. No ma'am. 

 

I'm considering doing the Vista next year, so can't wait to read the rest! 

LOL😂😂 I only use Concur when I absolutely have to. I leave all of the important stuff to the professionals. 😉

 

We loved Vista and we would go again if given the opportunity. ♥️🛳🛳♥️

[willdra]

6 hours ago, Megan_Strick said:

Yay. Glad you're back! I've missed y'all!

😂😂 Thank you 🙏🏾! It feels strange writing my review during Christmas, but it’s helping me with cruise withdrawals and the “shakes” that cause me to click that button to book 2 more cruises. 🥹🥹🥹 Help. 

[willdra]

3 hours ago, Sadebud said:

I'm finally caught up! YAY, another Willdra cruise!!  Love your style and your humor! I will chime in with those who are following Sid, Greg, Megan and now you!!  Glad it's a slow week here at work!

Thanks for adding me to the lineup! 😍😍😍

[willdra]

2nd Sea Day

 

I didn’t wake up early on this day. Nature said sleep in, and I complied. W must’ve gotten the same message, cuz he didn’t even stir when I got up. When we were both up, we did some tidying of ourselves and the cabin. It was nice not to have to be anywhere. Side note: the water in the sink gets boiling lava hot. Once it gets that way, no matter which way you turn the handle, the cold never comes back. It’s just different degrees of heat.

 

At around 10:30 I checked into the app. It didn’t give an estimated time, which typically means it was about 15 minutes or more. I did my waiting on the balcony editing pictures. Working thru pictures makes time fly by for me. I received the table notification around 10:43. I collected W who was sitting on the couch watching the ship position map on the TV. When he stepped out on the balcony he could see land in the distance, and he guessed that it was Cancun. He was looking at that map to confirm, and he was right.

 

There weren’t as many people waiting outside of the Dining Room when we got there this time. I guess they learned the day before.

 

Our hostess took us right to the table this time. She had her iPad with the floor plan, so she didn’t have to go from memory. Smart. I’m not sure if there’s a way to request a larger table in the app but if y’all figure that one out, holler at ya girl. W and I need a 4-person table. We can do the 2, especially if it’s one of the ones with the bench seat, but 4 is preferable. Mostly cuz we have the camera and some of its accessories with us.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We sat down and looked to see what we wanted. Coffee was first. While we perused the menu, a server came by and gave me a blueberry rock. Not a muffin. A rock. Don’t let them put it on your plate under any circumstances, unless you have some extra teeth that you no longer want. It looks so small and innocent, but trust and believe, there is nothing nice about it. 

 

 

W ordered Lox as his starter. Then he ordered Steak (rare) Over Easy Eggs with cheese on top, Toast, and Bacon. I ordered French Toast, Cheese Grits, Scrambled Eggs with extra cheese, and Bacon. He ordered a Blue Moon beer this time cuz he said he didn’t want to have to go thru the confusion that the other beer caused on the Sunshine.

 

When the food came out, W got well done Steak, Over Hard Eggs (no cheese), some kind of Potato “mixture”, French Fries, Bacon, no Toast, and a Fruit Cup. He was just gonna deal with it, but none of it was the way that he ordered it, except the bacon. He called our server over and asked to at least get another Steak and the Toast. W says the steak is so thin, when he asks for medium rare, it is usually medium. He theorized that if he orders it rare, that it would actually be medium rare. He was right. When the server brought it back, it was indeed medium rare.

 

Now on to my food. I was brought French Toast, something that looked like Scrambled Eggs with 1/4 tsp of cheese thrown on top, and Bacon. Never got my grits. I didn’t bother to ask for them again. I should’ve known something was up when Putu took my order. He wrote down Ham and Cheese Omelet and Bacon at first. When he read it back to me, I kept thinking “Did he say Omelet?” then I really didn’t hear the rest. I said I’m sorry “Did you say Omelet? I don’t think I asked for the Omelet”. He apologized and said he had Omelet stuck in his head from the last order. It was the couple behind W. The lady ordered 2 different types of Omelets, and he was still trying to process that mentally. Fair. He corrected my order. I said it twice to make sure he had it. And it was still not quite right. I even asked W if I said Omelet after Putu left, cuz y’all know my brain don’t always connect with my mouth. Especially early in the morning before coffee has been inserted into my body. W told me that I didn’t say Omelet, which made me feel slightly better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We ate the edibles (food that is) then we kinda sat around planning our lunch. When you are on a cruise, it’s so hard sometimes to remember to get stuff that you really love. It has to be planned. I got that from W. He plays no games when it comes to food. I wanted Guy’s Pig and Anchor since it had been awhile since we had that. I also wanted the lasagna from Cucina for lunch. The lunch lasagna is my fave. I hadn’t had deli yet either so I gotta work that in somewhere. We thought about going before the Adult Game Show Sunday night but it was a zoo down there! It seems more people had that same idea since the deli closes at 11, and it was the only restaurant open besides the pizzeria.

 

At noon we left the restaurant and went to collect our things from 6393. Our Steward was cleaning our cabin cuz W (snuck behind my back) told him he could come any time after 12. See this is why it never rains in Southern California. Dat ain’t your job W.  Stay in your lane.

 

Anywho now that we found a little more free time, we went up to Serenity to see the sitch. We stopped by the gym on the way to get some of the white towels. We don’t like sitting on the cushions or the pillows directly. 1. Because ewww, not loving the possibility of parking it in somebody else’s body fluids, and B. the cushions and pillows in Serenity induce sweating. Cringe. So we stop by the gym to get a few extra towels before plopping down somewhere.

 

[willdra]

Deck 15 was peopley as anticipated. We walked around the loop then sat in the chairs that we were in on Sunday. W is very restless, so he went back down to the cabin when he thought the steward would be done. I stayed put. There was a clamshell in my view with only a book, some headphones, and one of the blue Lido napkins on it. These items were living the life with primo accommodations. About 6 minutes after W left the couple who left their things there, came back. They sat in the lounger for 4 minutes. Then left. Skrrrt. Let me get this straight. You left some random items “holding” your lounger that you didn’t even want? K. I walked over asked them if they were leaving then scooped it up. In the end the fact that they left their stuff there worked for me. Someone else would’ve gotten it if they hadn’t. I take back my eye roll. Thanks for saving the clamshell for us guys!

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

W was happy when he came back, and I had a better seat. Once he got situated it was my turn to go back to the cabin. Y’all know I had an agenda. There was stuff that I needed to do. I took my time in there to make sure I had and did everything. We are usually out of the cabin until dinner time, and that takes planning and supplies.

 

 I got back up to Serenity, started talking to y’all, and I swear it felt like 5 minutes later W’s 2 o’clock food alarm was going off. Whoa. That was too fast. I wasn’t even hungry again yet. As he was walking down, he saw the coveted clamshell in the end was empty. I told him I already knew that it had been empty, and I thought he would’ve seen it too. He didn’t. He wanted to move to that one, so we did that before he went to Pig and Anchor. While he was gone I attempted to get my life together. Didn’t work. I did catch up on my notes tho, which is always huge. I take so many notes on our cruise. Only about half actually ends up in the review tho. The other stuff is irrelevant, inappropriate, and/or redundant. I really try to spare y’all. Sometimes I’m successful. Sometimes not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We stayed out in Serenity until around 6:30. We had nowhere to rush to. It was cool out and Serenity as a whole was kinda empty all day. There were clamshells available all afternoon after we got the one that we were in.

 

W and I went separate ways to get to the cabin. I returned the towels to the gym, and he changed out our blue towels for clean ones. Getting an elevator down was even fast which almost never happens on this cruise. In the bank of 6 or 8 elevators, pushing one of the buttons doesn’t light the other elevators up. You have to press all of the down buttons on all of the elevators. Cuckoo.

 

I got in the shower first since W was lallygagging. We were both ready around 7:17. Our table was ready almost immediately after checking in.  When I finally decided not to bring the big camera to dinner, we got a 4 top table. Figures. Shortly after we sat down, they sat 2 ladies next to us. We had a big area for 4 people, and it was nice. The server brought them paper menus. He also told them that they had Fried Chicken and Beef Tenderloin that night. Que? We were like "Really? Cuz that ain’t on our menu". He confirmed. The lady next to us really wanted the Fried Chicken, and it was on her printed menu. After we all compared menus, we determined that she had the menu for Tuesday.

 

When the server came back around, I ordered, then W asked him about the Beef Tenderloin. He said "Yes we have it". Then he looked on his pad and didn’t see it. He went to go check with somebody again. This time he came back and apologized and said that he had gotten the menus mixed up. Our neighbor said “Does this mean that I can’t have the Fried Chicken?”. The server said "I can take the order today, and we will have it ready for you tomorrow". We all laughed, and even tho her mouth was disappointed, she was able to pick up the broken pieces of her shattered life and choose some other stuff.

 

When her order came out, she tasted it then immediately asked for something else. The server said “You don’t like it?”. She said "No cuz it tastes fishy". It’s Salmon ma'am. Salmon is fish, or is there a salmon cow that I’m unaware of? 

 

The servers didn't even bat an eye, they got her new order right away, and did everything in their power to make it right. They may have even apologized. How dare that fish have the unmitigated gall to taste like fish? The nerve.