Vista thoughts!

Off the Vista Sunday the 12th. A few thoughts.....

This was our 22nd cruise on Carnival and my DH and I have been on everything from Fantasy class to the biggest and newest (Vista) and everything in between. Our favorite is still the spirit class (Miracle, Pride etc.).

The GOOD! (in no particular order)

Casino on deck 4 so you do not need to walk thru unless you are going to the casino. Not a walk thru to get anywhere like on every other ship.

Cove rooms are the best!

Dining room food is good (Lido food is not good)

Taste Bar is AWESOME for breakfast. No crowds. Plus right next to Java Blue. LOVE it!

Crew is friendly.

Singing wait staff in the dining room still makes me smile. They love to sing and dance.

Comedy Club was funny....we didn't feel like having to get to the show 30 minutes early so we would show up at show time and stand in the back. It's only 20-30 minutes long. (We never made it to an evening sing/dance show, had good intentions but just didn't make it).

The INDIFFERENT!

No tablecloths (except for elegant night)

Asked if I wanted room cleaned in am or pm. (Don't care about this. My only request was for ice every day. And by the 2nd day I wish I would have asked for a robe but our room steward was stealth. Never saw him).

The BAD! (these are my bad....many people may feel these are not issues)

Movies were horrible! Horror movies or super hero movies. On deck and in IMAX.

Room steward did a great job of cleaning room but we never saw him. It was weird. This was the first cruise where I noticed this.

Alchemy Bar VERY CROWDED and opens too late (5:00). I will say the bartenders at Alchemy were amazing. Luciano made THE BEST martini's. Also everytime we ordered I added addtl. tip in cash. I don't know if it made a difference but we had great service and often it was 2 deep standing at the bar.

And speaking of bars, all bars are understaffed.

Bartenders only walk around pool area and take drink orders. No "roaming" bartenders therefore you need to get up and go to the understaffed bar and WAIT and WAIT and WAIT (with the exception of Alchemy).

The ship is too big. Many crowded areas especially open public spaces. If you want huge waterworks, skyride, mini golf etc. this ship is for you.

Not enough chairs on sea days (don't even bother with Serenity unless you get up at 7:00.)

Dining room service very hit or miss. We had YTD and some nights was an hour in and out and some nights over 2 hrs. Very annoying.

Miss the Farcas design. Vista was very boring. Very brown and cream color. Especially the dining room.

Tables for 2 a joke (that issue has been discussed a lot so I will not get into it).

I just realized my "bads" were more than my "goods" and I really didn't mean for that to happen. We really did have a great cruise. We love cruising and will continue to sail Carnival. Next May is Miracle (Tampa) and next November is Horizon. I would probably cancel Horizon and go with a smaller ship but we booked a Haven Deck Room so we want to try that. I think it may bring a completely different feel to the cruise.

Stay tuned :D

Havana is definitely a different cruise experience. I hid out there most of the time to avoid the rest of the extremely crowded ship. However, with the additional cabins they are adding to the Havana area, it won't be as exclusive and I don't see myself paying the premium price those cabins are getting for a diluted experience. Expect all the other things you didn't like to remain the same or possibly be worse. Vista was my least favorite ship of all.

Appreciate your objective feedback!

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Thanks for your interesting review.

We were on the same cruise and agree with you , will not sail on the Vista again or the Horizon.

I had friends that invited me on the Vista ,time wise it didn't work out for us. They came back with the same reports as you did.

Glad I booked a Havana cabin...lol Seriously...we too have cruised more than a dozen times on the different class ships of Carnival. I'm sure next week will be extremely crowded on the Vista (Holiday week). Wife and I are very easy to please and overlook alot of things. Never have had a bad cruise experience.... Sure we have prefered other ships....but always find a way to enjoy ourselves.

I read about the concerns about overcrowding.....Havana area should help alleviate that for us

Thanks for your comments and candid feedback!!

Thanks for the review! Breeze is our Carnival favorite and I enjoy the new decor post Farcus it's a nice change. Vista is our least favorite ship for some of the same reasons and more...especially the Theatre, Atrium, and we disliked the rest of the interior layout except for Havana area. Service and other cutbacks very noticeable on our cruise. I do miss the cabin stewards on Carnival and I wonder how much tips they are losing. I used to tip $20-40 extra per steward but now nothing as we never see them... Thanks again, great review!

I was also there and I knew the negatives going in but you dont really realize it until you experience it but I hate the new atrium. It wasn't just that there was no wow factor, honestly it just felt closed in. As far as staff cutbacks I think it is beginning to feel this way on all ships, at least to me because I felt this way last year on the Magic. I stayed in Family Harbor and honestly this was my favorite thing about the Vista, but would probably not cruise her again for this feature. Also my carpet near my closet was soaked first day. I thought at first maybe someone spilled something from the previous cruise, but it only got worse. I never said anything but apparently they are having issues as I am not the only one on this cruise that had this issue. It was fixed by Wednesday. Also there was lots of condensation in different parts of the ship. I also agree that the lido food was horrible. Luckily there are enough options to make it not matter.

Enjoyed your report.

Keith

I would like to add my opinion. We found less storage areas in our balcony cabin, compared to the Dream/ Magic. The liquid lounge - who ever thought that design would work had their head in the sand. High back seats, the glass panel walls in the balcony made it hard to see the shows. The shows - I do not like playlist production. Since Carnival has changed to this type of show the quality of the shows has gone down. IMO loud music, flashing lights and computer background singing does not overcome the lower quality of the performers

Overall I did like the ship and would sail on the Vista again

We enjoyed the Vista this past June, we did have a Havana Cabin so that was a huge plus! Hands down my favorite part of any ship we have sailed on. We only ate in the main dining room twice and it was ok, not great! I agree about the Alchemy Bar the drinks were great but yes always very busy. Our teen daughter said the ship was ok, not her favorite, her favorite so far has been the Breeze. We are booked on the Horizon in June, Havana cabin, can't wait!

Thanks for your review. We have the Vista Booked for New Years with our family.

Lido food on Vista was the worst we've ever had. Carnival must be convinced that Guys Burgers is good enough for everyone on the ship so now they serve hospital cafeteria food in the Lido. It was so bad and small, it alone will deter us from ever sailing Carnival again.

We thought breakfast at the Lido Marketplace was fine but lunch/dinner was not good at all. Lots of other options, though. We didn't like the design of the Liquid Lounge at all, too many bad seats! The comedy was great.

The Alchemy Bar was awesome! We ventured there almost daily just before dinner. Dining room food was on par with others we've been on, very good. We wanted to eat at the steak house but our reservation (which we made a month prior to the cruise) got messed up and we were unable to get another.

Lastly, I'll just share our experience with our balcony cabin. We've always booked balcony staterooms because we enjoy them during mornings and late evenings. The only thing we were able to experience this time was cigar and cigarette smoke from other staterooms. I even witnessed someone below us put his cigar out on the wooden balcony railing. We won't stop cruising but we may have booked our last balcony stateroom and that's unfortunate.

I know my thoughts are not well organized here but just wanted to give our impressions. Overall our cruise on Vista was nice but we enjoy smaller ships.

Thanks for the quickie review. I had some of the same likes and dislikes as you did, and some different ones. Overall I'd probably cruise on Vista again, but preferably in a Havana room or possibly a cove balcony. (Our several friends on our sailing had a cove and Havana balcony and liked both.)

My thoughts are in my review, here:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=595101

The BAD! (these are my bad....many people may feel these are not issues)

 

Movies were horrible! Horror movies or super hero movies. On deck and in IMAX.

How was this a bad thing? The top earning movies right now are Superhero movies, it only makes sense that that is what they have to show.

Havana is definitely a different cruise experience. I hid out there most of the time to avoid the rest of the extremely crowded ship. However, with the additional cabins they are adding to the Havana area, it won't be as exclusive and I don't see myself paying the premium price those cabins are getting for a diluted experience. Expect all the other things you didn't like to remain the same or possibly be worse. Vista was my least favorite ship of all.

Ugh, this is the first I have heard of this. We have a Havana cabin booked for 2019. Honestly, I think I may be rethinking it now. :(

Ugh, this is the first I have heard of this. We have a Havana cabin booked for 2019. Honestly, I think I may be rethinking it now. :(

The only way I would ever step foot again on a Vista class ship would be if I stayed in Havana for the second time. But I think they are insane asking the kinds of prices they want while adding I believe 18 more cabins to the area so that 's a minimum of 36 additional people back there.

I wasn't impressed with the ship as a whole mainly due to the crowds and poor layout. The Horizon is the same size as Vista yet will have a capacity of 26 more passengers over all. While it's not a lot, that means there will be more cabins cutting down on additional space. In all honesty, I would save some money by finding a different cruise, and maybe try again when she's a few years old and the prices are more reasonable. The newest is typically the most expensive. But that's just me. You do whatever you feel is right for your situation.

We, too, were on the Nov. 4 sailing, of the Vista. Hate to pile on, but it's a once and done for us.

We were in an OS. It seemed much smaller than the same category we sailed on Sunshine (Ocean Suite).

The Liquid Lounge was so poor a layout, we didn't do any of the shows there. The Plat Diam Party was so large, it was divided into two. This happens often, we were told, on Vista. I felt frustrated and claustrophobic in the LLounge. There are very few table surfaces and the chairs are packed together. Forget appys; can't hold a plate and also have a drink. Hard to move around; even wait staff were unable to navigate the Liquid Lounge.

Marketplace food was not good. Slippery, damp floors there.

The crew and officers were friendly, as always. Room steward was visible and pleasant.

The only way I would ever step foot again on a Vista class ship would be if I stayed in Havana for the second time. But I think they are insane asking the kinds of prices they want while adding I believe 18 more cabins to the area so that 's a minimum of 36 additional people back there.

 

I wasn't impressed with the ship as a whole mainly due to the crowds and poor layout. The Horizon is the same size as Vista yet will have a capacity of 26 more passengers over all. While it's not a lot, that means there will be more cabins cutting down on additional space. In all honesty, I would save some money by finding a different cruise, and maybe try again when she's a few years old and the prices are more reasonable. The newest is typically the most expensive. But that's just me. You do whatever you feel is right for your situation.

Well we've already paid our deposit and are ok with the price. And since we have the Havana and a big balcony, we will have a little escape if the crowds are too much. And at least it's only 36 or so more passengers, not 100.

We just got off the NCL Dawn which actually felt a little crowded to us, longer waits at the bar, etc., but we still had a really good time. I am going to let my husband know about this change however. I guess we have a while to decide. It's just so darn easy to sail from Galveston!

Well we've already paid our deposit and are ok with the price. And since we have the Havana and a big balcony, we will have a little escape if the crowds are too much. And at least it's only 36 or so more passengers, not 100.

 

We just got off the NCL Dawn which actually felt a little crowded to us, longer waits at the bar, etc., but we still had a really good time. I am going to let my husband know about this change however. I guess we have a while to decide. It's just so darn easy to sail from Galveston!

As far as I can tell it's 18 more cabins. That is still a pretty significant amount when you consider the area back there isn't really all that big. I thought it was a good number before and wouldn't want it to be any more crowded. But I'm picky like that.

We had a Havana Extended Aft Balcony and hardly used it at all. There's no shade and got to be quite hot. Plus the furniture was not comfortable and awkwardly angled. I did take refuge from the masses outside on the loungers in the Havana area though quite a bit. The only times I really left there were for dinner and to go to the Casino at night. We did manage to walk around one day and that was the only time I ever had pizza. On the Conquest Class, it's like at least a once a day thing for me. The ship was just way too crowded. But everyone is different and it will be good to try it out for yourself. Here is my Vista review if you are interested.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2474346

As far as I can tell it's 18 more cabins. That is still a pretty significant amount when you consider the area back there isn't really all that big. I thought it was a good number before and wouldn't want it to be any more crowded. But I'm picky like that.

 

We had a Havana Extended Aft Balcony and hardly used it at all. There's no shade and got to be quite hot. Plus the furniture was not comfortable and awkwardly angled. I did take refuge from the masses outside on the loungers in the Havana area though quite a bit. The only times I really left there were for dinner and to go to the Casino at night. We did manage to walk around one day and that was the only time I ever had pizza. On the Conquest Class, it's like at least a once a day thing for me. The ship was just way too crowded. But everyone is different and it will be good to try it out for yourself. Here is my Vista review if you are interested.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2474346

Thanks, I had read it. :) Yeah we booked one of the corner wraparound balconies and it's probably a waste. We booked this cruise kind of impulsively. But then again, how can bad can it be, it will be my 50th birthday, a short drive from home, and I like the ports. So we'll probably still give it a try.

OP thanks for sharing!

Thanks, I had read it. :) Yeah we booked one of the corner wraparound balconies and it's probably a waste. We booked this cruise kind of impulsively. But then again, how can bad can it be, it will be my 50th birthday, a short drive from home, and I like the ports. So we'll probably still give it a try.

OP thanks for sharing!

One of my friends had the port side aft wrap on 7. It was nice. We almost picked that one but it didn't have a sofa and that's something my mom really wanted. At least you'll have plenty of reviews to read and some time to think about it. I haven't had a bad cruise yet, just ones that weren't as good :).

Thanks for the review and comments.

Diamond cruiser on Carnival and thought they did a great job on Dream class and it is a shame that the things they did so well on Dream they have taken away.

Wish they would have taken a good look at the Royal Class on Princess but that is not the direction they want to go.

Royal is large ship but great layout and never feels crowded and has good size public spaces.