Carnival Cruising
Kishambrea Bowens
I’ve always heard cruises were fun, but I really never thought about going on one. I recently had the chance to experience this by an invite from my family. Dues were due in August and the trip took place from 11/4/23 – 11/10/23. The anticipation was just way too much for me to handle. Making sure you have everything you need for the trip was hectic. I wanted to be as comfortable as I am at home even while away. I felt this is the only way I would truly enjoy myself. This is the second trip I’ve been on with my family and I knew we’d have just as much fun as we did in Colorado. I did overpack a tad bit! But I was definitely comfortable on the trip.
Day 1, 2, & Day 7 Events (Many of them I did on both days because we were heading to the first destination on days one and two. On day six we were heading back to Galveston, so these were fun on the ship days! Day 7 we arrived back in Galveston at 8am, so the whole day just consisted of getting off the ship to head back home. Not really much excitement on the last day, lol. We were really drained from all the fun from the overall trip.)
We had to arrive at Galveston at 1:30 PM. This is the time we put on our check-in reservation. Apparently, Carnival has a lot of ships. We were on the Carnival Vista. This was its last time porting from Galveston so in a way I made history. The ship pulled off at 4 PM. The trip to Galveston was cool. It’s always good to take a quick trip to Houston and you can’t forget about Buckee’s. I always have to stop for some dried meat! Once we arrived to the port, carrying the two suitcases around was a lot of work. I decided to carry on my luggage because I did not want to wait for it or risk things getting lost. I’ve heard stories, lol. For how many people it was checking in, we were able to make it to the cabin fairly quickly. Day one was really chill once we actually made it on the ship. It gave me time to explore the decks. Although you could buy drinks on the first day, we were allowed to bring one bottle of wine so this is what I drank on.
The cabins were cool for us to have a basic one. It was really just enough room. I shared rooms with my brother. I They have events going on every single day on the ship. This way you can keep up with what’s going on and you’ll never be bored. Some of my favorite events were the movie shown on deck 10 and when we’ll have the party gatherings on the deck. The clubs were legit too. The DJ and host TJ definitely know how to get a party started.
The food was the best part! An unlimited buffet! Not even just that! We also had a fancy dinner every night at 8:15 PM at he Reflections Restaurant. We were assigned the same table every night. You were allowed to get two of course on the menu. I always took my second meal to eat in the cabin. The last days of the trip we received a pretty cool dance and farewell from the crew. The staff on the ship were very friendly and always willing to help. I also found out they’re usually away from family between 6-8 months at a time while working on the ship.
I spent most of my time on the ship going to the events, eating, getting drunk and playing dominos. The water is so calming and even on the windy days it was not really that cold. The pools and hot tubs use the ocean water so it was really salty. They had things like family Feud and Bingo. The casino always reeked of smoke. You could smoke on on the casino floor and deck 11. My Nana met a guy and he invited us to an event with complimentary drinks. I got super drunk off rum. I got to beat my dad in dominos and I even got to play other guys on the ship. I also got stung by a bee for the first time. It swelled up, but it healed quickly. The sting was pretty itchy for many days afterwards.
You can only use your room card to buy things while on the ship. They did not accept cards or cash. There were kiosks and a service desk where you could add funds to the card. When off the ship you can use cash and card. I did not buy the drink package because 15 alcoholic drinks a day just feels forced. Plus it was like $400. I ended up spending $200 on alcohol, so I did save some money. I did buy the Wifi package so I could talk to my family at home. I missed my kids and husband while on the trip, but I was bale to Facetime them daily. The hub app had a nice feature for $5 where you could chat with your family on the ship. It was 11 of us so this helped keep us on track and know where to meet up for events and when we got off the ship or heading back. We were able to bring a 12 pack of a canned drink so I brought sparkling water. I was bale to use my onboard credit to have water bottles delivered to the cabin.
Day 3 – Costa Maya
Costa Maya was beautiful. It was rainy and windy, so I did not do any of the excursions. Upon arrival at the port, there were many stores. My sisters even got to experience the thing where the fish eat the dead skin from your feet. I was way too scared to try it. We had to catch a taxi to the beach. It was only $4 per person each way. The beach was beautiful. I’ve never seen water so clear and blue and had the chance to play with my toes in the sand. It was the perfect temperature and everyone was so nice. I wish I could have explored Costa Maya more, but we were a little pressed on time because we had to make sure we caught the taxi back to the port to catch the ship at departure time. The crew that worked on the beach played song from Kodak Black and Sexy Redd. I was a little surprised because it kind of caught me off guard. You could have unlimited alcoholic drinks for $40. There were individuals selling plants, bracelets, and even doing henna. When picking up a souvenir I decided to go with a pick coffee mug. We were an hour ahead of Texas while in Mexico, so we had to keep track of that.
Day 4 -Belize
We had to take another boat from the ship to reach Belize because they are still building their ship. On the way we got to see dolphins on the trip there. The boat was really nice to turn off the propellers to not hurt the fish. Belize was so beautiful and colorful from the approaching view. When we arrived ta the port in Belize the first thing we did was stop at the liquor store to buy the pre-mixed margarita drinks. This helped us save so much money and helped us vibe on the trip. I also was able to try another cigar. This one was way better than the one I bought on the ship. We looked in the stores for souvenirs. I was able to get a really cool dragon pipe that I gave to my husband. We stopped to eat at a restaurant that was right next to the water. they were super busy and we kind of had to keep reminding them about the food. I tried a chicken skewer with rice. Nothing too fancy, but it was decent and helped soak up the alcohol. We ended up becoming friends with the waiter because he came to sit next to us and tell us about his life. He also gave us some pointers on how to navigate the country. We were able to walk around the neighborhood. We came across a lot of cool people selling food and handmade items. It was also rainy this day so no excursions, but we still had a vibing experience.
Day 5- Cozumel
Cozumel was the last stop on the trip. Upon arrival, we came across another liquor store. I drunk so much alcohol on this trip it’s ridiculous. They had an offer for 3 big bottles of 1800 for $67! We could not pass that up so we all put in on it. we took one bottle with us and was able to put the other two in a locker until we head back to the ship. We were taking shots the entire time while touring Cozumel Saving as much money as we could on this trip was really a good goal that I think we accomplished. Drinks were between $10 – $20 at the bars. There was a mini party going on at the strip. Many individuals were dancing and playing instruments and having a great time. We got to explore more in Cozumel by being able to walk the streets to see more of the city. We went into a great deal of shops. I was able to pick up some gifts for my kids. We also met a cool girl named Stacy who hung with us the entire day.
Overall I really enjoyed my first cruise. I did not want to spend too much and plus it was windy and rainy so I did not get to experience the excursions. I will definitely take another and be able to experience more next time. I wish I had a passport, but I was able to cruise with my birth certificate and ID because we left and returned at the same port. It’s still pretty cool to say I’ve been to Costa Maya, Belize, and Cozumel.
