The Inaugural Vista's Official Trippingpara Mayhem in the Mediterranean Review

Breaking in the Vista on her Inaugural Cruise with extra days in Venice, Trieste, Slovenia and Barcelona.

What’s crack-a-lackin’ everyone?! Trippingpara here, but you can just call me Trip. My DW and I have just returned from an incredible 3 weeks in the Mediterranean on the inaugural cruise of Carnival’s newest ship, the Carnival Vista. For those of you that don’t like to read but love to look at pictures, there will be a buttload of photos as I am a complete camera geek. (For the record, I really have no idea how many pictures constitute a “buttload” but I believe it is slightly more than a “plethora of photos” but a bit less than a “flippin’ crapload of photos”). This review will be long and detailed (as my reviews generally are) and will be broken up into two distinct areas: the first part will be a Cliff Notes version highlighting some of the main topics and areas of the Vista followed by a day by day diary style format discussing the port and events of the day in detail. Most of the pictures will be located in the diary area so please feel free to skip right to that area if you’re not much of a reader. As always, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I write these reviews to try and give back just a fraction of all the help and assistance that I have received from others’ reviews and comments here on Cruise Critic.

DISCLAIMER: This review is a compilation of opinions from my DW and me. Mostly me, but occasionally I listen to my DW too. The statements made in this review are simply our opinions and views of what took place during our vacation and should carry absolutely no weight or value on how you may or may not feel about these things. If you do not like my opinions or take offense to them, feel free to bugger off and go pound sand. If you feel that strongly about it, please write your own review and tell us all about your opinions there! Sound good? Cool! Please note that I am not a professional writer and I tend to write like I talk. What does that mean? It means to expect poor grammar, improper use of commas and a couple misuses of words such as “affect” and “effect”. Although I do my best to try and edit what I type, my fingers and brain do tend to occasionally argue and ignore each other. Okay, enough with my blathering…let’s get this thing started!

.

So happy! Love your reviews. Can't wait to read it.

Great, looking forward to the review!

No Tripette this time around? :D

Great, looking forward to the review!

 

No Tripette this time around? :D

No, unfortunately Trippette was not able to join us on this adventure. I know I'm going to lose about half of my readers because of it! But look for her upcoming review of her latest trip on the Splendor coming soon.

Looking forward to reading more!

:) subscribing:)

Following

Looking forward to this!!!!!

Can't wait to read!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Looking forward to your review and photos. We will be sailing on the Vista in February 2018 in a Havana Cabana.

Following! Can't wait to see the pictures of the Vista!

Can't Wait

Please bear with me as I write this. I just downloaded 7,648 photos off of my camera's memory cards so this is going to take me a bit to prepare...

following

The Official Trippingpara Review - Cliff Notes Style

Before I get too far into the specifics and day to day life of the cruise, for those that don’t like to read long reviews, here’s the down and dirty Cliff Notes version (don’t worry, there will be globs of photos and videos later on). Since this was Vista’s inaugural run, I’ll break down the ship’s areas in a lot more detail:

SHIP - Overall: Ah yes, the inaugural cruise of the majestic Carnival Vista. There is so much to say about her. Mainly because no one else has been able to say anything about her before so that means everyone will be anxious to listen (or read in this case) all of my drivel! There’s nothing like a captive audience!! Beautiful is the one word that sums her up nicely. I know it’s not very original but it fits here. Many parts of her were similar to other Carnival ships while other parts were very different and almost foreign looking. Even with 3 sea days, there was just so much to explore that it almost became a challenge to find the time to seek out new areas each day. With such a port extensive itinerary, this was really a challenge! As many of you know, the Vista has all of the bells and whistles and several bells that are not found on any other Carnival ship. I will discuss most of those bells and whistles below. One thing I was concerned about was space. With 4,000 passengers and close to 2,000 crew, overcrowding had me a bit worried. I can definitively say, that it was unwarranted. I never once found a crowded area of the ship. All of the open public areas were roomy with more than enough sitting areas. I also loved the sitting areas and counter tops that overlooked the atrium on decks 4 and 5. They were a great place to people watch and to listen to the entertainment that played on a small stage overlooking the edge of the atrium on deck 4. Let me tell you one thing, it was neat to be on a brand new ship. Things weren’t perfect but you have to expect that on an inaugural run. It just adds to the excitement! Taking all of this into consideration, my clearly scientific overall grade for the Vista…”A+”.

CABINS: This was our first time with a cove balcony. It was Cabin 2293. We were located on the starboard side on Deck 2, just aft of the main elevators bank and well forward of the Family Harbor area. It was an awesome location and surprisingly quiet. Yes, we were a ways away from the main Lido area but on the other hand we were very close to the dining rooms and atrium. With the elevators so close by, this was really not a problem with the exception of how they set up the elevators (I will talk more about this in a bit). On our first cruise on the Victory, our cabin was on Deck 2 as well, so we were familiar with this location. On our last cruise, we stayed right at the doors to the Lido area on the Liberty on the Panorama Deck. One bonus to being so low is we were always one of the first off the ship in the morning! It was also a great location to watch for pier runners as we were right above the new fancy automated gangway on the starboard side. The automated gangway was very cool by the way.

The cabin itself was very comfortable and well appointed. It had the traditional layout and design that we’ve seen on the other Carnival ships that we’ve been on. We really liked the new décor. It was subtle yet pleasing to the eyes. We also loved the new large flat screen tvs, especially with the ability to view your photos on it. It was a bit different having the cove balcony versus a regular one. I missed the wide open expanse that a regular balcony has but I did enjoy the shade provided from the life boats above us and being so close to the water was very cool. It was also really cool to watch the waves and spray when the captain had the pedal to the metal (which was often on our cruise). Which did I enjoy better (cove vs. balcony)? That’s a tough call…. Overall grade…” A+”

ELEVATORS: This is my only real compliant of the Vista. With the addition of the IMAX theater, the Vista no longer has the completely open atrium that spans 8 decks or so (it now only spans 3 decks). Because of this, there is no longer the additional 3 elevators that look over the atrium. So you’ve lost 3 elevators and the remaining 6 elevators in the forward area are split by decks. There is one elevator that goes up to deck 15 and there is another elevator that does not go any lower than deck 3. The remaining 4 elevators go from deck 0 to deck 12. This means that you have to hit individual buttons for the 3 different groups of elevators. This causes everyone to hit all of the elevator buttons in order to call all elevators to that floor. So when you enter the elevator on deck 2 and are going to the Lido on deck 10, the elevator ends up stopping on every floor and there is no one there (since they already jumped on another elevator). I don’t claim to have a solution to this dilemma as I am not an architect or elevator engineer but the design created a substantial amount of complaints from people on the elevators every day. People on the elevator just ended up automatically hitting the close (>|<) button on each floor, often shutting the door on people before they could get to the elevator. This also caused the elevators to be very slow since they were stopping on almost every deck. Which just aggravated the problem since this caused more people to hit all of the buttons trying to grab any elevator. Many people started getting on elevators that were going in the opposite direct just to be on an elevator. Grade…”F”.

Coming up...Food venues

.

WooHoo!

More pics and reviews of the Vista between you and Cap Carn.

Bring It On!!:D:cool:

I guess I'm one of the few who didn't really think she was "beautiful." Pretty, yes. But from the outside, she looks very much like all of Carnivals larger ships. Inside, I did like the decor (overheard someone the first night saying it was "too modern").

Also agree that it didn't feel crowded at all. I rarely eat at the "regular" buffet, but the omelette lines were short and moved quickly (never more than one or two people ahead of me).

I've also started a review but haven't yet uploaded any of my pics to a hosting site. Been sick since Day 2 of the cruise, back at work, have to finish laundry, need to get groceries.

It's a very time-consuming process to write reviews.

I intentionally did NOT take a lot of photos of the ship because I knew most others would and I was short on phone and camera storage.

Looking forward to seeing your photos and reading your thoughts on the sailing.

Subscribing!

very nice indeed!!! suscribed!

FOOD: Of course with all of the foodies on Cruise Critic, I had to address this one. Since Vista has almost all of the eating venues possible on Carnival, I’ll break the food down by some of the main restaurants/eateries aboard: Horizons Restaurant (MDR), the Lido Marketplace Buffet, Guy’s Burgers/Blue Iguana, Seafood Shack, Ji Ji Asian Kitchen, Bonsai Sushi, Cucina del Capitano and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. (I’ll discuss the Chef’s Table separately).

Horizons Restaurant (MDR): This is one of the two main dining rooms. This is the larger of the two (about double the size) and is located on Decks 3 and 4 and is all the way aft of the ship. Horizons’ has both of the set dining times as well as handles all of the Your Time Dining guests. This is the MDR that we were assigned to since we had selected the YTD option. From what I understand, since Europe is predominately a YTD crowd, the larger MDR was selected for YTD dining. It will switch back to the smaller Reflections MDR when the Vista arrives in the U.S. All I can say about this restaurant is “Wow”! What a difference from the traditional MDRs that we’ve grown accustomed to on the other Carnival ships. Very pretty and reminded us a lot of an upscale restaurant not a gaudy eatery. There is even a bar inside the MDR. All of the lights are LEDs that can change color (reminded me of the Liberty). Please note that there is no direct access to the Horizons Restaurant from forward of the ship on Deck 3. It can only be accessed from Deck 4 or Deck 2 via stairs/elevator. The Vista MDRs serve the American Table menu and do not have table cloths (with the exception of the Elegant Night). The one thing that I did not care for with YTD is that we had to check in on Deck 5 at the Java Café. Yep, we had to go to midship on Deck 5, get a slip of paper and then head aft and then down to deck 3 to enter the Horizons. I’m not a designer but that doesn’t seem like a smart way to control the flow of traffic. Just seems like they’re creating more traffic and a further burden on the elevators by forcing people up and down needlessly. This wasn’t a huge problem, just an annoyance. The service and food, however was excellent. I also found the service to be faster here than on previous ships. Not sure why, but I didn’t argue with it. It was funny to watch all of the servers walking around with table maps since they still haven’t memorized them all yet. Grade…”B” (mainly because of having to check in on Deck 5).

Reflections Restaurant (MDR): This is the smaller of the 2 MDRs and is located on Decks 3 and is the forward dining room. Reflections only serves the 2 fixed dinner sittings as well as open seating breakfast and lunch in addition to the “Seuss at Sea” breakfasts ($5 pp additional fee for this special kid’s breakfast). The Reflections Restaurant is roughly half the size of the Horizons Restaurant and only sits on 1 level, unlike the traditional 2 story MDR. Since this was the main dining room for the fixed dinner sittings, this was where Ken Byrne was the maître ‘d. We never ate here since we were assigned to the Horizons dining room, but this was our muster station and also where we met for our two Carnival excursions. The decor was similar to the Horizons and more 'restaurant' like. No giant sea horses, or gargantuan grapes or dazzling pearls or gold medallions hanging from the ceiling.

Buffet: The Lido Marketplace is located on the Lido Deck (Deck 10) and is your traditional buffet style eatery. Inside the buffet is the NYC Deli (sandwiches), Taste of Nations Bar (International cuisine and varies every day), Tandoor (Indian food), Burrito Bar, and the traditional Grill. The Marketplace is quite large and we ate here often. Although there would be tons of people here during meal service, there was always plenty of places to sit (although the window tables fill up the quickest), it never felt crowded. The lines were never long and always moved quickly. I also really liked the décor in here as well. Grade…”A”.

Next up...secondary food venues

.

FOOD: Of course with all of the foodies on Cruise Critic, I had to address this one. Since Vista has almost all of the eating venues possible on Carnival, I’ll break the food down by some of the main restaurants/eateries aboard: Horizons Restaurant (MDR), the Lido Marketplace Buffet, Guy’s Burgers/Blue Iguana, Seafood Shack, Ji Ji Asian Kitchen, Bonsai Sushi, Cucina del Capitano and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. (I’ll discuss the Chef’s Table separately).

 

Horizons Restaurant (MDR): This is one of the two main dining rooms. This is the larger of the two (about double the size) and is located on Decks 3 and 4 and is all the way aft of the ship. Horizons’ has both of the set dining times as well as handles all of the Your Time Dining guests. This is the MDR that we were assigned to since we had selected the YTD option. From what I understand, since Europe is predominately a YTD crowd, the larger MDR was selected for YTD dining. It will switch back to the smaller Reflections MDR when the Vista arrives in the U.S. All I can say about this restaurant is “Wow”! What a difference from the traditional MDRs that we’ve grown accustomed to on the other Carnival ships. Very pretty and reminded us a lot of an upscale restaurant not a gaudy eatery. There is even a bar inside the MDR. All of the lights are LEDs that can change color (reminded me of the Liberty). Please note that there is no direct access to the Horizons Restaurant from forward of the ship on Deck 3. It can only be accessed from Deck 4 or Deck 2 via stairs/elevator. The Vista MDRs serve the American Table menu and do not have table cloths (with the exception of the Elegant Night). The one thing that I did not care for with YTD is that we had to check in on Deck 5 at the Java Café. Yep, we had to go to midship on Deck 5, get a slip of paper and then head aft and then down to deck 3 to enter the Horizons. I’m not a designer but that doesn’t seem like a smart way to control the flow of traffic. Just seems like they’re creating more traffic and a further burden on the elevators by forcing people up and down needlessly. This wasn’t a huge problem, just an annoyance. The service and food, however was excellent. I also found the service to be faster here than on previous ships. Not sure why, but I didn’t argue with it. It was funny to watch all of the servers walking around with table maps since they still haven’t memorized them all yet. Grade…”B” (mainly because of having to check in on Deck 5).

 

Reflections Restaurant (MDR): This is the smaller of the 2 MDRs and is located on Decks 3 and is the forward dining room. Reflections only serves the 2 fixed dinner sittings as well as open seating breakfast and lunch in addition to the “Seuss at Sea” breakfasts ($5 pp additional fee for this special kid’s breakfast). The Reflections Restaurant is roughly half the size of the Horizons Restaurant and only sits on 1 level, unlike the traditional 2 story MDR. Since this was the main dining room for the fixed dinner sittings, this was where Ken Byrne was the maître ‘d. We never ate here since we were assigned to the Horizons dining room, but this was our muster station and also where we met for our two Carnival excursions. The decor was similar to the Horizons and more 'restaurant' like. No giant sea horses, or gargantuan grapes or dazzling pearls or gold medallions hanging from the ceiling.

 

Buffet: The Lido Marketplace is located on the Lido Deck (Deck 10) and is your traditional buffet style eatery. Inside the buffet is the NYC Deli (sandwiches), Taste of Nations Bar (International cuisine and varies every day), Tandoor (Indian food), Burrito Bar, and the traditional Grill. The Marketplace is quite large and we ate here often. Although there would be tons of people here during meal service, there was always plenty of places to sit (although the window tables fill up the quickest), it never felt crowded. The lines were never long and always moved quickly. I also really liked the décor in here as well. Grade…”A”.

 

Next up...secondary food venues

 

.

So happy to hear they have Tandoor, I did not read that anywhere except for this. :) We loved it on the Breeze

I just stumbled back into the Carnival forum hoping someone would post a Vista review... I'm so glad I did because now I get to read your review!! After your fantastic Liberty review, I know we're all in for a treat :D You are off to a great start so far, and I can't wait to read the rest!!! Thanks for taking the time to post this :)

looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to more.

Thanks for the review! Can't wait for more! [emoji4]