It’s our last sea day. On our way for our pre-breakfast snacking, we came upon the towel animal invasion. So many towel animals all over the Lido deck!!!! Of course I MUST take some pictures.
Then is was on to grab some pastries for myself. I decided on banana nut bread, apple strudel, and a cinnamon roll with coffee to wash it down. Jim had a Blue Iguana breakfast burrito which had eggs, ham, chicken sausage, hash browns, grilled onions, guacamole, creme fraiche, and salsa rojo.
After we finished our pre-breakfast snack, we decided to go to the morning show held in the Ovation theater. I have never had such a good time at a show. So much fun!!!! Cookie is so entertaining!!!
We briefly returned to our stateroom to find our last sea animal. I wonder if our towel animal will miss us as much as we will miss them…
We sent down to the Blush dining room for our last sea day brunch. Jim ordered his usual eggs Benedict, hash browns, bacon, orange juice, coffee and a Bloody Mary. Ordered steak and eggs, hash browns, honey butter biscuit, orange juice, coffee, and a Mimosa. The food was great, the service was great, and since we were seated with others, the conversations were great.
We did not feel like packing up all of our stuff, so we went to watch the Family Face Off at Ocean Plaza. But first, I had to make myself a mimosa.
We have not gone to the Pasta bar and today would be our last chance. So for lunch, Jim had a Caesar salad, bread, and lasagna. I had a Caesar salad, bread, and linguini with meat sauce. For some reason, I did not take any pictures of the lasagna or linguini. We must have been real hungry.
After we finished our lunch, we went to think about packing. The weather had cancelled my plans of hanging out on the Serenity deck the entire day. So, we went to the Q and Awesome with Cookie in the Ovation theater. Cookie is still the best!!!! Unfortunately, the BINGO people started coming in and talking. They were talking so loudly that we could not hear what Cookie was saying. Definitely a rude bunch but they didn’t spoil my fun.
We have a tradition on the last day of each cruise. We must take a picture with Jim emptying his pockets to show he’s broke and I’m trying to convince him that we need to book another cruise. The photographers always manage to get the perfect shot for us.
For dinner, we decided to go to the Lido Marketplace buffet again. Luckily, Guy’s Burger Joint was still open so I had a patty with cheese, no bun, fries, and a Mango Magic while Jim had a pig patty, fries and a beachcomber. Since it was cold outside, we decided to eat our dinner in our room.
And now, the last day is over. We spent the rest of the night/evening packing then we had some cookies and other sweet goodies from the Lido Marketplace. Sorry. No pictures.
This is our fifth time to Progreso. Our first time was in 2009. It felt like a small fishing village. We went to the beach area and found a place to sit and eat. Then we were approached by a lot of people wanting to sell their stuff. Usually, a simple no thank you works. But it is really hard to say no to a child that should actually be in school. Our next time to Progreso was in We have heard that a lot has changed in the area so our plan for today is to go to town and walk around. Nothing special at all. Just walk around and see how things have changed and improved. Our next time to visit Progreso was in 2011 on the Magic inaugural cruise from Galveston. Due to some mechanical difficulties on the Magic, we had an overnight stay in Progreso. Something we learned of once we boarded the ship. No big deal. We were on a cruise. On this particular cruise, we had our son with us. So, we took him to town and we decided to do the double decker bus city tour that is offered once you arrive to town. It was very inexpensive and was interesting to see the town away from the tourist area. After that tour was over, we started walking to the beach, but Dawson was not comfortable with the amount of people coming up to us to sell their items so we went back to the ship and basically stayed there the remainder of the time. Next time to Progreso was in 2014 and Dawson was with us. We booked an excursion with Carnival to go to some Mayan ruins so we did not go to town at all. When Jim and I were on the Carnival Dream in 2019, we stayed on the ship only getting off to shop at the vendors at the pier. So, on this cruise, we were really looking forward to see how things have changed.
We started out day in the Blush dining room to have a leisure port day breakfast.
While we waiting on our food, we talked with the couple sitting next to us. She had found several ducks on their way to the dining room. I have yet to find any.
Shortly after our food arrived, something strange happened. All of a sudden, the ship was shaking and making very loud rumbling noise. It was not anything I was concerned about but someone sitting next to use was a little nervous about it. If my guess is correct, we were turning around so we could back into the port. It was definitely a very strange sound and something that I have never experienced before.
Time for food porn!!! Jim ordered the Eggs Benedict, bacon, hash browns, coffee, and orange juice.
I ordered the port day express breakfast which consists of orange juice, eggs, sausage, toast, and coffee. In full disclosure, I added a LOT of sugar and a LOT of cream to my coffee. The coffee on the Carnival ships I have been on is strong. Too strong for me! And yet, I still order it and I still drink it.
After breakfast, we went to our stateroom to make sure we had what we needed to get off the ship. We also took some time to admire our port neighbor. I have never heard of this cruise line or ship but I am looking forward to do some research on it once we return home from the cruise.
Time to get off the ship! But first I must have a port photo for my scrapbook. I’m sure everyone feels bad for my hubby. Being forced to take a picture all the time!!!!
We did not have to wait long for the next bus to arrive and before we knew it, we were getting off the bus and walking toward the Malecon. The beach looks amazing but we did not come here to get into the water. We came here to just walk around and take it all in.
The walking was rather short lived as it was not as easy breathing in Progreso as it was in Cozumel. So, we found a place to sit in the shade and order a Margarita and some guacamole. Hands down the saltiest Margarita I have ever tasted. I had no idea so much salt could be put into a frozen Margarita. The guacamole was nothing to write home about. To me, it was more like the refrigerated guacamole you get at the store. You know the ones I’m talking about. They come in a plastic bag. And the homemade chips were stale. Not exactly a great experience taste wise, but the view was fantastic. Luckily the entertainment made up for the salty beverage and subpar guacamole.
After we finished our salty Margaritas and most of the guacamole, we made our way back to the bus terminal to go back to the bus. While we were waiting for the bus, we found the perfect hat for Dawson and quickly purchased it!
Once we were back at the pier, we walked through some shops but didn’t buy anything. We were ready to get back on the ship. I took some more pictures of our port neighbor before we boarded.
After we dropped off our stuff in our stateroom we were greeted by todays towel animal. Then we immediately made our way to Guys Burgers. I needed a double order of fries to get the excessive salt from the Margarita out of my system. That seemed to have made my taste buds happy!
As sail away neared, I stepped out onto our balcony to take a couple more pictures of our port neighbor. Then a picture of actually sailing away.
Is there anything better than a sunset at sea?
Jim and I decided to skip going to the main dining room for dinner. Instead, we decided on going to the Lido Marketplace. They had the same offerings as the main dining room but we did not have to check in thru the HUB app to be seated. We actually enjoyed having dinner here. The only thing missing was the singing and dancing wait staff but for the first time, I didn’t really miss it.
My dinner selections consisted of roast beef, baked potato, salad, and some bread with butter.
Jim started his dinner selections with a Reuben sandwich from the deli followed by BarBQue pork spare rigs and salad with blue cheese dressing,
We shared our desserts with the selections I returned to the table with. We had a mocha and white chocolate mousse, carrot cake, marble chocolate cheese cake, and chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were the best things we had!!!!
After dinner, we walked around the fun shops, went to see 88 Keys in the Ovation Lounge, and attending the 80’s Rock N Glow party. I must admit, the 80’s Rock N Glow party was the best thing we have done on the ship so far!!! The Lip Sync battle was a hoot!!!! Cookie knows how to work the crowd and is really involved with every aspect of the Lip Sync battle. The winner ended his performance by jumping in the pool!!!! But then again, there was also a full moon to admire.
I’m pretty sure we ended our evening with more cookies from the Lido Marketplace.
My least favorite part of every cruise, when our cruise comes to an end. We had decided to do self-assist on this cruise so we can leave the ship relatively early.
Since we woke up early for no apparent reason, we had breakfast at the Lido Marketplace Buffet. We were not necessarily hungry, but we wanted something to go with our coffee!
Once we finished eating, we returned to our stateroom to watch us sail into Galveston. I was so happy to actually see some dolphins playing is the water.
Before we knew it, it was time to leave the ship. The debarkation process was easy with the exception of the people that do not think the rules and announcements apply to them. We made it thru the immigration process quickly as we had nothing to claim and the use of facial recognition.
After we were on the road for a while, we decided we were hungry so we stopped at a Jack In The Box for something we could eat while driving.
Next stop, Buc-ee’s in Waller, Texas for some gasoline, then we were on our way home with no additional stops.
We definitely enjoyed this cruise even thought we both had summer colds. I blame Jim for it. There were things on our to-do list that we did not do but we did go to the Punchliner club once. The remainder of the time we were just bums doing whatever we decided we wanted to do when we wanted to do it.
I do hope to go one the Carnival Vista one more time before she moves to her new home port sometime in 2023. Although we would probably pick a different itinerary. I guess the COVID restrictions will be a factor in selecting our next 7 day cruise.
So until next time, I hope you have enjoyed this series of our cruise blogs. Hopefully another one will happen in the next year or 2. Only time will tell.
Stay healthy, be safe, and thank you for reading our blogs.
It’s our last day on the Carnival Vista. Tomorrow they will be forcing us to leave! But that’s ok. We are going to make the best of today.
First, we will start the day with Sea Day Brunch. What’s brunch without a Bloody Mary and a Mimosa? Definitely our brunch starter of choice!
I was shocked when Jim didn’t order his normal Eggs Benedict. Today, we decided on the Voyage Burger. He said it was very good. I had my typical Steak and Eggs.
Before long, we had finished our meal and wondered around the ship for a while. We came upon the class that teaches how to make the towel animals. We didn’t stay but we took some pictures!
When we arrived to our stateroom, we found this towel animal, or should I say towel heart.
We spent some time packing then we went to Lido Marketplace for lunch.
One of the VIFP Gold perks is a free drink on the last night of the cruise to be used after 5pm I think. We decided we would get our drink from the Alchemy bar. This is the first time we have ever ordered a drink from any Alchemy bar. We have high hopes for our beverage! I’m not positive, but I think Jim ordered the Quick Fix and I may have had the Pain Relief. I do not remember so it is quiet possible I’m wrong.
The last dinner on the ship is sad. Sad because we know this cruise is coming to an end. So we will enjoy our dinner and maybe shed a tear or two when they sing that song…
Tonight we made sure to get pictures of our wait team before things got crazy. They were a fantastic team and I am so glad we were seated with them.
Our last meal of the cruise consisted of Rustic French Bread and Ciabatta with Whipped Butter, Olive Oil & Balsamic, and tomato & olive Tapemade, Steak Ale and Cheddar Soup, Braised Short Ribs, Broiled Strip Loin Steak, Baked Alaska, and one last Carnival Melting chocolate Cake.
After dinner and saying our goodbyes, we walked around determined to find the perfect backdrop for my required last photo of the cruise. I could not wait to take it when I found exactly what I wanted!!!!
We also did some shopping as we still had a lot of on board credit to use!
And then we returned to our room to finish any packing and to sleep.
our life reality 