Vista March 4th - 10th review

Hello All,

we've been home for a couple of days and have started to return to normal. Leading up to this cruise I didn't see a lot of reviews/reports for the Vista so I thought I would add something and maybe help some people out.

This was the 6th cruise for my wife and I, 5th for our son and 1st for our son's friend. This was the 4th with Carnival. The cruise was originally booked on the NCL Escape but after they failed to honour something they told us they would when we booked. We ended up cancelling that cruise and booking with the Vista the next day.

As I mentioned earlier this was the 6th cruise for my wife and I, 4 with Carnival, 1 on the Disney Dream and 1 on the NCL Dawn. Our son has been on the same cruises except the Dawn and this will be the first cruise for his friend and his first time in the south.

The itinerary is the Western Caribbean with stops in Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We also included an extra night in Miami to take in a Heat game.

Overall, we had a great time. The service was great, the entertainment was plentiful and some of the best on a cruise ship that we've seen and the ship itself was fantastic.

I hope to get this report started for real later today or tomorrow but if there are any questions I would be happy to try to answer them.

Look forward to your report. Glad you had a great time. We cruised on Vista this past November and also loved the ship and especially the friendly service!!

So a little of our pre-trip to get things started.

July 2014 my wife and I cruised on the NCL Dawn out of Boston to Bermuda. We really enjoyed Bermuda but did not really like NCL. We didn't say we would never cruise with them but they wouldn't be our first choice.

December 2015 we were on the Carnival Glory with our son and while in St Thomas we saw the NCL Escape. Our son said he thought the ship looked pretty fun and would like to try it. So late last summer we started to look for a March Break cruise and came across some pretty good deals with NCL on the Escape. We called our TA and said we were interested in this cruise and would select the 3rd and 4th passenger free + the ultimate beverage package for the adults. The only problem was we weren't sure on the 4th passenger yet. Our TA asked NCL if this was a problem and they said no, the name could be added later so we booked. Around the first of October we had everything settled and gave the info to the TA. She messaged us back and told us NCL said we had to pay for the 4th passenger. She said they had the option to remove the offer even though we had booked, paid our deposit and they had told us it wasn't a problem to add him later. After a few calls they still refused so we cancelled and booked the Vista the next day.

Fast forward to March and were eager to get to Miami and board this ship! Winter being what it is decided the throw us a scare and create some bad weather on the eastern seaboard just before we left but we were watching closely. Our big advantage was that we were flying on Saturday March 3rd and managed to miss a lot of the problems on the Friday.

So Saturday come along and I am awake and up around 4:30 am. I check the flights in Portland, Maine and Baltimore and all is good. Finally time to get everyone up and we are on our way for the 5 hours or so drive a little past 9 am. Uneventful drive to Portland and we are at the Southwest gate with enough time for the first cold beverage of the vacation. on both legs of the trip to FLL we managed to get emergency row seats for all four of us and we landed around 9:30 pm. Found the hotel shuttle pick up area and called the Hampton Inn for the shuttle. The hotel was just off the airport property but it took over 90 minutes to get picked up and get to the hotel. The pick up area and the exit at the airport is nuts!!

Sunday morning brought us the typical Hampton Inn breakfast and then a walk to a store that doesn't exist in Canada anymore...KMart. We were looking for wine and soda. Soda wasn't a problem..wine not so much, they don't sell wine before Noon on Sundays. Luckily there was a BJs next door and they let in tourists without a membership. Score!

Back to the hotel, grabbed the bags and downstairs to wait for the Lyft driver. Waited about 5 minutes, we were at the port about 30 minutes later (10:45). Off to the Priority Boarding Line thanks to FTTF, straight through security and into the FTTF seating area. Boarding started soon after and we were on board and in our cabin by 11:30.

One observation about boarding. We had a huge bottleneck at the top of the escalator. They check boarding passes here again and their paper system was holding things up a bit.

Rest of the day and pictures in the next post.

Thanks for sharing! Look forward to more.

What did you think of the boarding process and experience at Port Miami?

Thanks for sharing! Look forward to more.

What did you think of the boarding process and experience at Port Miami?

On embarkation day everything was pretty painless with FTTF except for that one bottleneck I mentioned. This was our second time in Miami and I like the new system much better. We've had FTTF both times so that does make it easier, not sure what waiting in the big line outside was like this time.

Debarkation was a different story but I will get into that later.

On embarkation day everything was pretty painless with FTTF except for that one bottleneck I mentioned. This was our second time in Miami and I like the new system much better. We've had FTTF both times so that does make it easier, not sure what waiting in the big line outside was like this time.

 

Debarkation was a different story but I will get into that later.

Yes the process is usually very smooth and quick for everyone now.

Did you board on the left-most boarding area (I think it's Boarding West)? I have seen many issues with that area crowding and guests on the escalator heading up. Some accidents too. The other side was expanded so it's a large hallway to avoid this issue.

Debark is always chaotic, especially because there only a few CBP officers working the terminal. I think there were only three day you got off.

So we are on board.

Entry to the ship is a bit different in an atrium without glass elevators but the centre pillar/screen thing is pretty cool.

IMG_0151 by declansdadca, on Flickr

There was a bottleneck for the elevators but we made the climb (the first of many) from deck 3 to deck 9. We had a quick look at the view, unpacked our carryons and headed for food.

The view from our balcony.

There were plenty of people just outside the closed doors complaining about not being able to get to their cabins. One woman was saying her boarding pass said 11:30 so that's when she was allowed to go to her cabin. It was funny to listen to but I feel for those employees.

For lunch the boys decided to get a Guy's burger while my wife and I went to Ji Ji Asian Kitchen. It's free for lunch but apparently not many people know, now it was still early but we were the only people there. I highly recommend this for embarkation day.

We spent the next couple of hours wandering around, buying the wine package and relaxing on the Serenity Deck while the boys did their own thing.

Yes the process is usually very smooth and quick for everyone now.

 

Did you board on the left-most boarding area (I think it's Boarding West)? I have seen many issues with that area crowding and guests on the escalator heading up. Some accidents too. The other side was expanded so it's a large hallway to avoid this issue.

 

Debark is always chaotic, especially because there only a few CBP officers working the terminal. I think there were only three day you got off.

We boarded on the East side. They had weddings go east, diamond and platinum to the west and they we went east.

Next up was the muster drill which was quick and easy. So nice to not have to line up outside on the deck all pushed together. After that we were the first ship to leave right at 4. We tend to watch sail away from our balcony and in Miami this is a great view when you are port side.

Apparently Sunday is party time.

This guy is rich

but not as rich as this guy

Love these views

We had requested early dining but were waitlisted so we checked again in the afternoon before sailing. They told us they would get it changed for the next day but they could do nothing for us on the first day. Apparently they could but we didn't find our card in our mailbox until we were about to leave for dinner at 6:30. They had changed it to 5:30 but we didn't know.

We ended up on the main floor of Horizons Sunday night and had a great meal and great service. Our son Declan is on the right and his buddy Colby is on the left.

After dinner, my wife and I went to the comedy club for Tim Young's R rated show. He was very funny and totally killed an old guy who tried to heckle him. The boys were on their own again.

We started to watch some of the Dive-in movie but my wife was tired from a long couple of days so she went to the cabin while I wandered around a bit. I ended up catching the end of the party in the Atrium and I totally understand why people enjoy Matt Mitcham the cruise director. He had total command of the crowd and was very fun to watch.

After that it was time for me to turn in.

Next up our first sea day.

Thanks for doing this review! I’ve got so long to wait for my Vista cruise that I really enjoy hearing about others’ trips...

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Great review and love all the photos.

Keith

Thanks for doing this review! I’ve got so long to wait for my Vista cruise that I really enjoy hearing about others’ trips...

 

 

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No problem, happy to share. We need more reviews from the Vista.

Great review and love all the photos.

 

Keith

Thanks. Photos are my souvenirs from any trip we take.

Enjoying your review. Thanks!

Enjoying your review. Thanks!

Great to hear, thanks for following along.

Love reading your review - thank you.

Which Hampton Inn did you stay at pre cruise?

Love reading your review - thank you.

Which Hampton Inn did you stay at pre cruise?

Thanks for following along.

It was the Hampton Inn & Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport, 2500 Stirling Rd, Hollywood, FL.

It seemed pretty much a cruise hotel. There was a Quality Inn & Suites that shared their property as well as a few other hotels across the street.

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Loving the review so far! I'd like to try this or the Horizon someday!

Following [emoji16]

 

 

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Welcome!

Loving the review so far! I'd like to try this or the Horizon someday!

Glad you are enjoying it. This was the newest ship we've been on, it was very nice. I think the Horizon is taking over the Vista's itineraries when it comes online while the Vista moves to Galveston.

Following! We're on the Vista in 30 Days! Countdown is on!

Following, as we did Vista last October and generally liked it.

How much was the Lyft ride from your hotel to PortMiami? We generally stay at the Quality Inn next to your Hampton Inn for sailings out of Ft. Lauderdale (free cruise shuttle and free parking) but thought it was a bit too far away for Miami cruises.

When you described the KMart, the BJ's Warehouse and its bottle shop next-door I thought "Hey, I'll bet I know which Hampton they stayed at." :)

BTW, apparently all of their bottle shops are open to the public and not just club members...a handy thing to know when purchasing your bring-onboard wine. ;)

Thanks for following along.

 

It was the Hampton Inn & Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport, 2500 Stirling Rd, Hollywood, FL.

It seemed pretty much a cruise hotel. There was a Quality Inn & Suites that shared their property as well as a few other hotels across the street.

Thank you :)so much!