Vista Vacation: Expedition Etna

Messina is the third largest city on the island of Sicily. It is located on the tip of Italy's boot, which gave us a hazy view of the Strait of Messina. We chose our excursion without knowing much about Messina. There are two main attractions: Taormina and Mt. Etna. We would have loved to see both, but we were on a budget. We ended up choosing to see Mt. Etna, Italy's most active volcano, which is also o a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was multiple Carnival tours for Mt. Etna, with the most expensive one being Mt. Etna at 10, 000 ft ($200). We viewed Mt. Etna's Silvestri Craters at 6, 500 ft ($60). Mt. Etna was an hour and half away from the port. Unfortunately, we woke up late for the excursion and barely made it to our meeting point. We slept through the entire bus ride, and missed all of Sicily's beautiful landscape. I guess I just partied too hard on my birthday the night before (I'm just kidding, we didn't).

 

Our tour guide, Val, was very knowledgable about Messina, and she liked to talk a lot - a little too much. Once we arrived at the crater, we separated from the group and explored on our own. It was a pretty awesome experience. We got to walk around one of the craters (top right), and the views of the mountainous landscape from the crater were stunning (bottom left). It was a very larger than life feeling.

We didn't have much free time and with the crowds up at Mt. Etna, it was even harder to enjoy our free time. Bathrooms had long lineups, cafes were full, and gift shops were packed. There were over 20 tour buses up on the volcano. We had seen the Celebrity Equinox with us at the port, so the crowds was expected. By noon, the buses started to leave, as did we. The roads down the mountainous regions back to the ship were very windy (bottom left).

When we reached the port, we decided to head back to the ship for a quick lunch before coming back for a stroll. Hawkers were lined up along the terminal, trying to sell passengers souvenirs through the fence. Souvenirs at Messina were some of the most inexpensive ones during our entire cruise.

After lunch, we left the ship again to explore the port. We were there on a Sunday, so a lot of stores were closed. We stumbled upon the Cathedral of Messina by accident. We were trying to find a souvenir shop that was opened, and just around the corner, we saw a large square with a bunch of hawkers. As we turned the corner, we saw the cathedral. It was accompanied by a bell tower with the largest mechanical and astronomical clock in the world. It was opened so we walked through quickly, admiring the Gothic architecture. We walked back to the port shortly after, stopping for a croissant and cappuccino at a cafe along the way. There were only two cafes opened by the port, and they were busy. When we got back on the ship, we went straight to the deck to take some pictures of the golden Madonnina. Val had told us that the port of Messina is protected by a golden statue of the Madonnina.  It was a seven metre high gold statue, and it is indeed very magnificent.

The entertainment that night was Flick. We caught part of the show before dinner, but we had to leave to for dinner, and we came back afterwards, to watch part of the end. I wish we could have seen the entire production from beginning to end, but that darn dinner seating just didn't work for us. The Carnival Playlist Productions cast of singers and dancers brought the silver screen to life on this cinematic adventure. The singers performed soundtrack favourites such as Take My Breath Away, My Heart Will Go On and Skyfall. It was a high energy show, and it shouldn't be missed.

I had two soups to start (I know! I'm a soup addict!), one was a squash soup and the other a hearty vegetable soup. The boyfriend tried a quiche, and a plate of cured meat. I also had two entrees (tee hee), I had fish again and a macaroni carbonara. I had asked for a side, but apparently, since they are pre-plated, I had to have the entree size. The boyfriend had a country fried steak. I was very pleased with the food. I was a huge fan of the carbonara, but dessert - not so much.

That night, after Flick, we went to the Limelight Lounge for the Comedy Club again. We'd learned that we weren't a fan of Tony Vino, so we ended up leaving early after Anthony Scott's show. I went back to our cabin, while the boyfriend went to the casino to try his luck.

Naples is our next port of call. We had a long, but exciting Carnival excursion booked. It was by far my favourite excursion on the entire cruise, so I'm very excited to write about it. Stay tuned!

Vista Vacation: Malta Minute

Happy Canada Day & Happy 4th of July!

Our stop in Malta coincided with my birthday, so naturally, I got to pick the excursion. I wanted to see as much as Malta as I could in one day. The one place on my "must-see" list was the Blue Grotto, and that narrowed it down to Top 10 Best of Malta. This long 7.5 hour Carnival tour costed us $100 per person, and it did not include lunch. (The other option was the shorter Hagar Qim, Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk excursion, which I wish I had chosen in hindsight.)

We had a slightly rough start in the morning. Room service did not take our order sheet, so we did not have breakfast that morning. We had thought they were just late, so we waited and waited - until about 15 minutes before our excursion meeting time, when I had this feeling they weren't coming at all. I opened our door to see if our order sheet had been taken. There it was, sitting on our door handle. I was furious, but seeing that it was my birthday, I didn't feel like starting my day with an angry complaint. The boyfriend called Room Service, but they said it would take half an hour to bring us breakfast - which was a couple of croissants and other baked goods. They were pretty unapologetic about the whole ordeal. I had no time for that, so we just ate our tartinis from Turkey. Thank God for the tartinis.

We had a lovely tour guide in Malta. She was a single mother, who worked as a tour guide during the weekends. I can't remember her name, but it was similar to mine, I think it was Florentine, or Florentia? She spoke great English, and even cracked a few jokes. There is a lot of history in Malta. She told us just enough about Malta's history, and allowed us to ask questions.

We were taken by motor coach from the port into the city. Our coach dropped us off by the entrance to the city of Valletta. Our first stop was the Upper Barrakka Gardens, a public garden (with wifi). Here, we were given ten minutes to use the washrooms, and walk around the garden.

The terrace at the Gardens offered an amazing panoramic view of the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities.

From the Gardens, we walked back to the city of Valletta for a short walking tour. Behind the walls, it was hot. The main highlight was our walk was St. John's Co-Cathedral. We didn't know we had to line up to enter the cathedral, but we did. The queue took about twenty minutes. The boyfriend stayed in line with the tour group as I wandered around looking at the souvenir shops. When we got to the entrance, I was offered a shawl to cover my shoulders and knees (I had my own, so I didn't use theirs). The interior of the cathedral was extremely ornate. The gold carvings on the arches are amazing - you would not expect it from the outside.

The busy streets of Valletta...

The image above on the right is the Auberge de Castille. Its original purpose was to accommodate the knights of St. John. It is now the office of the Prime Minister of Malta. I wasn't sure what an auberge was, I had to look it up. It's actually French for inn or sometimes, restaurant, so I'm thinking it was a bed and breakfast. I wish we could see the inside of the building, as it is known as the "finest building in Malta." I also noticed there were a lot of cannons around Valletta.

We got back on our motor coach and headed to Vittoriosa (left) for a quick photo op. I learned something during this excursion: I'm not a huge fan of short stops. They're just too rushed, and I don't know what I'm looking at. But really, what was I expecting with such a packed tour! We boarded the motor coach, and headed to Marsaxlokk (right), a traditional fishing village. Unfortunately, this became a washroom stop for the women on the tour. I didn't have a chance to walk around the marketplace, but I snapped a few pictures of the harbour. In Marsaxlokk, they have brightly painted traditional fishing boats, that look like gondolas, called luzzus.

Our next stop was the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto is actually a number of sea caverns. The water is crystal blue, and at the right times of the day (from sunrise to 1 pm - according to the time stamp on our pictures, we were there just before 1), you can see gorgeous light reflections in the water and white frothy waves splashing against the walls of the cave.

After our short twenty minute stop at the Blue Grotto, we all hopped back onto the motor coach. We drove through Buskett, the only woodland area in Malta, which was planted by the Knights of St. John. We arrived in Rabat for our quick snack. By this time, it was 2 pm, and we were starving! I was ready to eat my own arm. We went to a kazin (a band club or bar), where we were served sandwiches, and drinks. Maltese bread is really hard. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be, but I had a really hard time eating my sandwich. The boyfriend didn't even get past two bites. We also tried Maltese soda. We had seen Kinnie everywhere, so we decided to try it out. The bottle said "bitter orange soda," and bitter it was. Needless to say, snack time wasn't very enjoyable for us. We also had some free time so we walked around the area when we were finished. It was a weird feeling. It was siesta time so the streets were completely empty. It was a ghost town.

When everyone was finished their snack, we followed our tour guide to our last attraction of the day, Mdina. Mdina is a fortified medieval city with high defensive walls and narrow, cobbled street. Without a map, it would be easy to get lost in its maze. It was also very hot inside the walls. In Bastion Square, a parapet above the walls gave a breathtaking view of the island of Malta.

However, I have to admit I was a little disappointed with Mdina. There wasn't much to see or do. There were only a few cathedrals (which required entrance fees), a few museums, and a medieval show of the Knights of St. John. We didn't quite have enough time to sit down and eat, and there were no cafes or quick service restaurants. We were only able to buy an ice cream cone. Maybe we were just too tired, hot and hungry, but either way, we were completely out of energy. So we left the city, and went to our meeting spot for the motor coach, twenty minutes early. Funnily enough, almost everyone from our tour group was already there waiting.


When we got back to the ship, it was past 4 pm. Our first priority was to find food. We didn't feel like having Guy's Burgers, so we waited for Bonsai Sushi to open at 5 pm. We shared a wagyu short ribs appetizer with a spicy tuna roll, and we each had a bowl of miso soup. It hit the spot for us! As you may know, we're from the West Coast (in Canada), where we have some pretty amazing Japanese chefs, and plenty of fresh fish,  so we're a little bit snobby with our sushi. Let me tell you, this sushi was good and I don't even think the chef was Japanese! 

And now, our actual dinner, which was at 8:15 pm... (I know, we eat a lot.)

Dinner was great. I had my soup (minestrone) as usual and a beet salad, while the boyfriend had proscuitto and another appetizer (sorry, we can't remember what it was). I enjoyed basa fillet of my main course, while the boyfriend had fried chicken. Then, I had a birthday cake! I'm not even gonna try to be surprised about this, I knew it was ordered. It was delicious, moist chocolate cake, which I've had it before on the Lido Deck, but I loved it. We still ordered dessert, and we both had bread pudding. I was a happy girl.

As for onboard entertainment... The Vista also welcomed two new comedians in Malta, Tony Vino and Anthony Scott. We loved Anthony Scott, he was hilarious. He was a Scottish man, but he talked a lot about home, Tenerife, and that planted a seed in our head for our next cruise adventure.

Now as for why I wished I had chosen the shorter, but more concentrated Blue Grotto excursion... we were glad we were able to see so much of Malta in a day, but truly, the quick stops for photos took away the feeling of being in Malta. We didn't get to soak in what we were looking at, and we didn't have a lot of chances to eat (I'm sure by now, you can tell that we love food). I think a shorter, less packed tour would have given us a better experience of what we wanted to see. It would have also allowed us to either have breakfast before the excursion, or time to find a place to eat in Malta, or return to the ship and eat.

Well, that concludes day five on and off the Carnival Vista. I hope you enjoyed reading about Malta! Up next is Messina (Sicily), Italy.

Vista Vacation: The One Sea Day

Our one and only sea day was on Friday, day four of our cruise. We had a couples' massage booked first thing in the morning, and if y'all hadn't noticed, the boyfriend and I are not early risers. But it was the only time available, so that's how we ended up with the early appointment. As to how we came to the decision on a couples' massage (usually, I get one myself, and the boyfriend sits out)... Well, the couples' massage ended up being the same price as two single's Swedish massage so we thought, why not?

The spa was clean, and well air conditioned with a gorgeous vista of the ocean (see what I did there?). The staff were friendly, and prompt. We were greeted by our masseuses upon entering the waiting area right after I filled out our health questionnaire. We were booked in a serene couples' room with a jacuzzi, which I wish we could have used. Our massage was short, only fifty minutes, but very relaxing. The total cost? $286 USD with gratuities. It was expected, but if you are willing to wait for a better price (better price may mean less time or less services), the price does go down on port days. Just watch out for the spa staff handing out flyers when you board the ship at the end of your port day!

After the massage, it is customary for the masseuse to encourage you to purchase the products they used during the treatment. It's easy to get caught up in the moment and buy the products. I'm always tempted to, because they do seem to work quite well, but the products are quite expensive. Our masseuses were quite aggressive this time around, but I stood my ground, and we were able to leave without making a purchase. Thanks but no thanks!

We grabbed breakfast at the Lido Deck. This was the only time we had a real breakfast on the ship. There was a good variety of breakfast foods - french toast, pastries, eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, cereal and yogurt. We took our breakfast back to our room to eat. The massage had tired us out, so we decided to take a quick nap at 1 pm. Terrible idea! When we woke up, it was almost 3 pm. We'd slept for two hours! Lunch service was over already.

There was only one restaurant opened at 3 pm - Guy's Burgers Joint, so we headed up to grab a burger. No lines! It was not bad... but I wish we had other options. We walked outside to the deck, but all the chairs were taken at that hour. Up higher on Deck 11, it was very windy and chilly, so we headed back indoors to walk around the ship.

It was formal night, also known as lobster night! The tablecloths were back in the dining room. I love soup, so I order soup every night. I had the mushroom soup, and the chicken noodle soup, while the boyfriend had some kind of duck confit pastry, and oyster fritters (not pictured, he ate too fast) to start. We both had lobsters for our main entree. For dessert, I had a chocolate mousse dessert, and he had the creme brûlée. 

During our dinner throughout the week, we were serenaded by one of the staff members. We never got his name (he wasn't the maitre d', but he was a member of senior staff because he was in a suit). He had a great voice, and he often sang old love songs. Many couples slow-danced as he sang during dinner. Afterwards, the waiting staff sang and danced for us as well. Every night was a show in the dining room. We had a great time!

We caught part of the performance by Playlist Productions after our late dinner. (Apologies for the poor quality of these photos, they were taken from my iPhone.) On formal night, the show was inspired by Studio 54, the NYC nightlife in the 70's and the funky fashion of "Soul Train."

The cast was very energetic and interactive with the audience. Their costumes were eye-catching, and the choreography was well-arranged. If you get a chance, be sure to catch at least one performance. Personally, it was difficult for us because of our late seating dinner time at 8:15 pm. The early show at 7:30 pm would cause us to be late for dinner, so we always left early; and because we finished dinner between 9:45 - 10 pm, we would miss the beginning of the 9:30 pm showing. We never did watch a show from beginning to end.

We weren't quite ready to turn in yet, so we caught the last two comedy shows of the night. It was the last night for the two comedians (Tom Foss and J.R. McCollum) from the night before. During the break between shows, we watched Essencia (the violinist trio) play in the Atrium. I decided to crash after the last comedy show, and the boyfriend headed to the casino. We'd be in Valletta, Malta the next day (for my birthday!) and we had a 10 hour excursion, so I was ready to get some rest.

That concludes our one sea day on the Carnival Vista. Next up: Malta!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask in the Comments section below!

Want to start from the beginning? Navigate through our trip here: 

Pre-Cruise (I) - Pre-Cruise (II) - Embarkation (1) - Kusadasi (2) - Rhodes (3)