trogmd

Hi Mark

Have you ever used the coach from North Wales to Southampton?

We have always driven down but, are thinking of using Eavesway on our August cruise.

 

Leesam

Hi Leesam, no I am a first time P&O cruiser. I am going on the transatlantic cruise and from the comments on here the coach transfer for this is different to the usual ones P&O do.

When I spoke to my travel agent I asked about going from Llandudno and they said I had to go to Manchester Airport to get the coach to Southampton for my cruise.

I have read on here though that you can get a coach transfer from Llandudno on normal cruises with P&O.

Hope this helps, and enjoy your cruise, :D

Mark

we've got the coach from Manchester airport when we were on a repositioning cruise, think it was approx. 8am, but it was a few years ago. Don't worry P&O will let you know

Thanks Sue, I was unsure of how long the journey was to Southampton from Manchester Airport :)

I assume that this is for the transatlantic repositioning cruise where P&O operate a free coach just for this from the airport.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Yes this is the transatlantic cruise. I am still waiting on the details from my travel agent about times etc. :)

Hi, first time with P&O. I am getting the coach from Manchester Airport to Southampton on 27th Oct. Does anyone who has done this before know what time the pick up usually is?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

Do you remember what dinner room you got the popcorn pot de crème in ? One of the regular non paying meals?

Hi georgiafan, I had the popcorn pot de creme in the Horizons main dining room. This is a free restaurant. I think they only put this on the menu when the cruise is more than 7 days long.

Hope this helps, :D

Great review, thank you!!

Thanks heffy2, glad you liked it. :)

I am soo sorry to hear of the passing of your love! </3 You are definitely in my prayers! Definitely loved your review, you did an amazing job! I am going on The Vista (MY FIRST CRUISE!!) in May, so this helped me to be more excited!

Hi mindyiswonderful, Thanks for your kind words. I had a fantastic cruise on the Vista, I am sure you will too. Your first cruise is very special and I bet this cruise on the Vista will be special for you. :D

Hi Geoff and Stephen, thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts and experiences on this cruise.

I am looking forward to going on Britannia in October.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise,

Mark.

I really liked the Vista, however there were bad points as well as good points about the ship. I think that people will either love it or hate it, like Marmite.

The bigger the ships get the more problems there will be, but if you know what you can expect before you go on a particular ship then there should be less disappointment. I always research the ship I am going on thoroughly, looking at photos and reviews, but don`t take too much from other peoples opinions to heart as I find that I usually am more forgiving than a lot of people. I did know about the small theater before going on the ship for example, and I agree it is not the best one at sea, but that still did not put me off going on the ship. So what I am trying to say is that future cruisers on the Vista need to go with an open mind and experience the ship for themselves. :)

While I don`t think that the Vista is perfect I did still enjoy my time on her.

I think that the bigger the ship and the more passengers, there are bound to be problems with queues and sometimes poor service. For those of you traveling on her or thinking of traveling on her you can make up your own opinions I am sure, I have a full review of my cruise you can read, the link is in my signature. :)

I enjoyed your review.

It almost feels like we are friends after all the time we spent together. :)

 

The photos were great and you did look much more relaxed in the later photos.

Also, what a view from your home.

We live far far from the sea, but trees are nice too, I guess.

Hi mzloolue, glad you liked my review. I have to realize how lucky I am with my view from my home in Llandudno, and I am sure your trees are great too. :D

I really am enjoying your review and beautiful photos. What a brave person you are to venture out on this cruise that was planned with your partner. Have just stared reading. Only on the third page but looking forward to reading it all!

Hi Frogdogpal, glad you are enjoying the review, it was scary going on my own but I am glad I did it. :)

Mark, first let me say I am so sorry for your loss but admire your courage and devotion to your partner by still going on this cruise in his memory.

 

You did yourself and your partner pound, your review was packed with information and wonderful photos. I so agree with your comments about the Vista and the ports. I was also on the October 1st sailing and totally enjoyed all that the Vista has to offer. Hope you enjoy many more cruises.

Hi BJs mom, thanks for your kind words and I remember you from the roll call before the cruise, sorry we did not meet on the ship. :)

Thank you Mark for your great review, i can honestly say it is the best, most complete and in depth review of a cruise ship i have ever seen! Great pictures and comments of all that Vista has to offer. I will be taking my family on a well deserved vacation on the Vista in Feb. 2017, following you throughout your journey was a pleasure and really got us all excited for our turn, we can't wait to be onboard. Your touching story has made us realize how important it is to spend quality time with loved ones, which is exactly what we plan to do. With only three cruises under my belt, i consider myself a rookie in the cruising world but plan to change that with every passing year. You can be proud of your review and your partner is looking down with a smile. Take care and cruise on...!

Hi marc_b2001, thank you for your lovely words about my review, you really are too kind and have brightened up my day.

I am sure you will have a wonderful cruise on Vista in Feb, it is a great ship. :)

Thank you for the very detailed review!

 

We are headed out on the Vista next year in earl December (Caribbean cruise). I liked getting a sneak peek of the ship. I also enjoyed seeing the ports you went to as I have yet to visit the Med on a cruise.

 

I have a question about the complimentary drinks. You said they only had lemonade and water? Did they not offer Iced tea? Every cruise I've ever been on has offered Iced Tea as a complimentary option.

Hi Sunkissed Mommy, Glad you liked the review.

Sorry I forgot the free Iced Tea, probably because I don`t like it myself. :D

Hi, thanks for doing another fun review, looking forward to seeing the ship as I hope to go on her in the future.

Have a great cruise,

Mark. :)

Going on Vista Mar 5th. How was the JiJi Asian? What is the upcharge for eating there and how hard to get reservations? Thank you in advance for your reply.

Hi, just thought you would like to see the pics of my meal at JiJi that are in my review. It was $15 and was easy to get reservations. The pics start at post 122. :)

Hi Mark thank you so much for your review, Kieron would be so very proud of you for doing this in his honour.

 

Thank you for your insight on the Vista, your pictures of your journey was awesome. I have something to look forward to when I sail on the her next year.

 

Keep doing what you love all the best to you and again thank you.

Thanks for your kind words hockeyguru32. I am sure you will have a great time on her next year. :)

Well done Mark on an excellent review, it must have been tough reliving it without your Kieron.

 

I think I mentioned in an earlier post, we did the same itinerary but in reverse, and it was great to look at the wonderful photos.

 

I also like your summing up at the end which more or less is what we would have said.

 

Best wishes for the future

Hi bluwes, Glad you liked my review and my summing up. :)

I see you have done a lot of Carnival cruises, when is your next one?

Thank you again, it's been a great ride along , cheers, Buzz.

Thanks Buzz. :)

Mark' date=' great review! Very much enjoyed reading through it and I am very sorry for your loss. Thank you for taking time to share it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hi thanks and I am glad you liked the review. :)

Mark, thank you for your review and the chance to relive our July Med cruise on Vista. I'm so sorry about Kieron. DH is my anchor, and I've thought about what one of us would do if the other wasn't there to cruise - and my answer is, we'd still go. The other would want us to go.

Thank you for your kind words, you are right Kieron would have wanted me to go. I am still wishing he was there with me in person on the Vista. I know he was there with me in spirit instead. :)

Mark, I have to say, your review has been a pleasure to read and I really loved all your pictures and funny comments along the way.

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Forums mobile app

Thanks mishka422, I`m really glad you liked the review. :)

Firstly I would like to say a big THANK YOU for all your kind words and messages of support in what has been a very hard time for me. Writing this review has helped bring back some great memories, like the time in Barcelona we went to the Chinese restaurant, of which there is a video in the review.

I know Kieron would have enjoyed this cruise as I did.

So with the fact that Kieron was not there, obviously this was not my favorite cruise of all time, however I am glad I did it and that my brother was there for me as well.

I will now tell you about the things I liked and did not like as much about the Vista.

The Ship -

I really liked the look of the Vista from the outside, from the shore side. Also I thought the outside decks and amenities were great. I loved the Havana pool bar and outside area. One really good thing that the Vista has, more than any ship I have been on so far, is fantastic seating areas on the outside decks. Lots of comfortable chairs which meant we never had a problem finding somewhere to sit outside on deck.

There are a couple of things I did not like about the ship though. Firstly I thought the Atrium was too small and that the decor of the walls was just too plain and boring. I really like the grand atrium's of their other ships. This is obviously my personal preference and no doubt there are people out there who did not like the "over the top" decor of their other ships.

Secondly I did not think that the Theater/Liquid Lounge was big enough or that the obstructed views were something that you should have to put up with on a modern ship. I made sure I got there on time to get a good view but there were a lot of people who were unhappy about the obstructed views and the set up of the Theater.

The Cabin -

I really liked my cabin and thought that it was larger than cabins on other cruise lines. Although the balcony was smaller than on some previous cruises. Also I was surprised to find a shower curtain on a new ship. I easily filled up the small amount of drawer space in the room, so I think that this would be a problem for 2 people. My bed was comfy and the fridge did a good job of cooling drinks down. The room had a good aircon unit and it was easy to adjust the room temp if needed.

My cabin steward Michael was really nice and did a great job looking after the room.

Dining -

Food is very important I think on a cruise and is very subjective to different people.

I personally thought that the food was ok to very good. I did not have a bad meal on the ship and I did not go hungry.

As I said in the review, I was not impressed with the system of "Your time Dining". Why you could not go to deck 3 to book in for the restaurant I will never know. Having to go to deck 5 then deck 3 made no sense at all.

When booking, you were told that you would have to wait for more than an hour sometimes. This is a big problem on the newer, larger ships, that have 5000 plus people onboard. I understand that you all cannot book the same time, so I don`t know the answer to this one. It is just something you have to prepare yourself for when going on the mega ships.

As I said, I am not a fan of "no Tablecloths" and the service style of the American Table restaurants. I am British and call me old fashioned, and do not like to be served my dessert when others are still eating their main courses. One other thing that happened when we were in the restaurant was my brother asked for mustard with his steak, they brought out a jar that still had a cellophane wrapping on and just placed it next to his meal. Why was this not served in a small bowl instead of a greasy workman`s cafe style way of serving sauces. I am sure even a greasy spoon cafe would take off the wrapper on the jar.

Overall the service in the restaurant was ok but not great.

We did not eat in the buffet so I cannot comment on the food served here. Because this was a port intensive cruise I would have eaten in the buffet when we got back in the afternoon from our trips ashore, however nearly every time we got back on the ship the buffet was closed at 4pm. Guys was open but that was the only choice for people arriving back on ship, burgers or nothing. As nearly every night we had to wait till gone 9pm to eat dinner it would have been nice to get a small meal or salad from the buffet at teatime.

My only other complaint about the dining was that there was only a very sweet lemonade or coffee available to drink that was free. No sugar free alternative.

The food in the for a fee restaurants was excellent however and would highly recommend Ji Ji Chinese restaurant. This was the best food I have had at sea ever.

I did like the burgers from Guys as well. :)

Entertainment -

The shows in the Theater were brilliant, I really enjoyed these. Sorry I did not go to the smaller shows, like the juggler or singer that was on our sailing, as I did not have time for them.

The piano bar was also really good and the music in the Atrium I liked as well.

The band in the Havana bar were great as well.

I found the music in the red frog pub was also really good.

In fact I thought the entertainment throughout the whole ship was above average when compared to other cruises I have been on.

The Cruise Director never stopped and she was great at getting the enthusiasm levels up on the ship.

In fact I found that there was always something going on at all times of the day and thought that it would be a sad person indeed who was bored on the Vista.

Outside decks -

I loved the outside decks and also always found something to do. The best thing I liked was the Skyride, the slides and the seating areas. I did like the ropes course but was terrified while doing it. :)

The pools were average and I think needed to be bigger on a ship with 5000 plus people onboard. The hot tubs were not very hot and also there was only 4 of them.

Staff and service -

Overall the staff were excellent as was the service.

Compared to most of the cruises I have been on, I think this was one of the better ones. Staff were very friendly and went out of there way to look after you.

The only place I found this not to be the case was in the Horizons restaurant. The service here was only average to poor. It was far from great. This was probably due to the time we were able to dine in there.

I like to go to a show before dinner which meant we not able to check in till around 8pm most nights. Because of the wait times we were rarely in the restaurant before 9pm. This meant that the waiting staff were far from their best by this time.

I have to say my cabin steward was fantastic and did a great job.

The bar staff were also really friendly and efficient and did a great job too.

So that`s it for this cruise. I will definitely go on the Vista again and look forward to traveling on a Carnival ship again in the future. I am not loyal to any brand and have never had a bad cruise. :)

My next cruise should be next year on P&O, on the ship Britannia. I know it will be hard going on a cruise on my own but have read lots of reviews on here by other people who do it all the time.

So till next time, and if anyone wants to ask questions about Vista feel free to ask me anything you want to know.

Thanks for reading,

Mark. :)

Thank you for taking your time to share your experience with us. I'm sure Kieron would have been proud and know that he is with you in spirit. Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for your lovely words of support, I really appreciate them. :)