Booking
I actually booked Vista four times during the cruise shutdown. All were canceled. I booked it then because I knew Vista would be one of the first ships to return to service and because it’s an easy drive for me to Galveston. That would allow me to avoid having to move flights around due to cancellations.
For December this year I had a specific week to book. I wanted a 7-day cruise that got me home before December 12th. This Vista cruise fit perfectly. I was able to get a 4J room which is an interior with a picture window. This is one of the rooms at the front of the ship with the window that overlooks the “secret” deck where I take many pictures and videos during my cruises. This will be my first time in a 4J cabin though I feel like I have already stayed in one because I booked three of them on Vista, one on Breeze, and two on Freedom. All were canceled.
Onboard Credit
I used a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) from one of my canceled cruises to book this cruise. That came with $600 onboard credit (OBC). I also received $100 OBC from my travel agent and another $100 OBC for being a Carnival stockholder. I’ll allow the $800 OBC to pay for my Cheers!, internet, and auto gratuities. That should leave a couple hundred in OBC for excursions and specialty dining.
Covid-19 Testing
I purchased home tests because I had a major problem with CVS prior to my Mardi Gras cruise in August. I had a rapid test scheduled with them but when I arrived for my appointment they told me they could only do the regular test. My cruise was on Saturday and the results came in on Sunday. Fortunately I also took a test at Walmart and got those results on Friday.
I still have the home tests. I never did use one for my Panorama cruise because I got impatient and went to Walgreens for a test. Walgreens worked out so well I decided to try it again this time and leave the home test as a backup plan.
Walgreens is easier than Walmart and CVS. Walmart and CVS have this long process you have follow. You to open everything up, swab, break off the stick put it in tube, seal the tube, put the tube in a bag, put paperwork in a bag, put the trash in the bag, and put the bag in a box. At Walgreens it’s so simple. They just they give you a swab. You use the swab. You put the swab back in the swab wrapper, and you’re done. Results in less than an hour. The test I’ve been taking says 24 hours but I’m 2 for 2 getting results in about 30 minutes. And I’ve used two different Walgreens locations in two different cities.
Hotel
I usually stay outside of Galveston. This time will be no different. Galveston hotel prices are usually pretty high on weekends. This time there are some decent hotel prices out there but I’m driving down Friday night and it’ll just be that much later when I get there if I drive all the way to Galveston. I would get in so late there actually would be no benefit to staying on the island other than being closer to the port in the morning. I typically stay in Webster which is about 25 minutes from Galveston. I’m doing that again this time.
I booked a room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. The Fairfield is almost brand new. It was actually being built the last time I stayed in Webster which was at the Comfort Suites in 2019.
I like staying in Webster because it has a lot of shopping and restaurants, it’s an easy drive to the port, and prices are typically a lot better than they are in Galveston. If you are coming in a day early and looking for something to do, it’s also close to Space Center Houston.
Parking
I waited until one week out to book parking. I ended up just going for the cheapest option with a shuttle which was Discount Cruise Parking at $67.12 for the week.
Excurisions
Roatan
In Roatan I am planning on checking out the free beach, drinking some Honduras beer and possibly swimming in the ocean.
Belize
In Belize I’m going to book use onboard credit to book one one of the two Mayan ruins tours I haven’t yet been on. I have previously done Lamanai. This time I will either book Xunantunich or Altun Ha. I am leaning towards knocking out Xunantunich this trip since it’s the longer, more expensive excursion.
Cozumel
In Cozumel I wanted to go see the San Gervasio Mayan Ruins. These are very small ruins–nothing like what I’ve seen on the mainland. The problem is Carnival doesn’t offer an excursion to these ruins and every non-Carnival excursion I could find required you to book two people
A taxi cab to the site looks to be $40 one way. That means I’m looking at $100 to see these ruins. That’s insane because I can buy I ticket to go see Tulum for $78. That trip would include ground transportation downtown, a 45-minute water shuttle to Playa Del Carmen, and an hour bus ride to Tulum. Then once you get there the ruins would be much more impressive than what I would see in Cozumel. A trip to San Gervasio will have to wait because it’s not worth it right now.
I looked into a bar hop excursion that I think is the competitor of Cozumel Barhop. It goes to a couple of east side bars I haven’t been to. That also required you to book a minimum of two people.
The last thing I could think of that I wanted to do was find the brewery Sergio, who used to work at Cozumel Bar hop, opened downtown. I found the website for Kusam. The place looks nice. Beer and tacos. I think I’ll take a cab down there and give them a try. The more I look at it the more I think I may enjoy this better. I’ll re-evaluate the San Gervasio situation when I return to Cozumel in March.
Specialty Dining
I haven’t booked any specialty dining ahead of time because of my onboard credit. I will be booking the Steakhouse for embarkation night. In Galveston they don’t sell Cheers on day 1 so I will be taking advantage of the free bottle of wine from the Steakhouse as well as the bottle of wine you can bring onboard. I also plan on booking JiJi’s at least once, maybe twice during the cruise.
