Carnival Vista Inaugural Voyage - Brief Review

[cynalan]

Since CC has not created a thread for the Vista on their review page yet, I thought that I would give a few quick thoughts about my experience on her maiden voyage.

 

Our first impression of the ship, after a horrendous 2.5 hour embarkation process, was quite favourable. She has attractive lines, a soothing colour scheme and has some unique features, e.g. the LED "champagne glass" in the deck 3,4,5 atrium created some interesting effects. I also like the use of the mini-stage in the Atrium for some of the performers. Our cabin was a good size and well laid out, however other than bath robes, there were no amenities. Nada in the bathroom other than wall mounted shampoo and bath gel in the shower. Minibar was empty through the whole voyage.

 

Our bags arrived quickly as expected given we were the first passengers. We met our cabin steward, Frank from St. Vincent, who was an amazingly cheerful individual who liked to chat with us and kept our cabin in an impeccable state. I have not seen towel animals for awhile so it was interesting to see what type of beast would greet us each night.

 

Main Dining Room - We did Free Time Dining and found the MDR to be bright and attractive. I think fixed seating for dinner was in the Reflections Dining Room which was somewhat dark and claustrophobic, definitely not as nice a venue. Food quality and selection were pretty good, service, not so much. There was considerable inconsistency. We had dinners that lasted anywhere from 1 hour to 2.5 hours depending upon your servers. Sommeliers were nowhere in sight. Wine delivery was very inconsistent usually arriving after appetizers and/or during the main course. Overall though, we enjoyed the room and had the good fortune to meet fellow cruisers and share our experience.

 

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse - I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. At only at $35 surcharge, it was a steal compared to other ships. Service was exemplary. Food quality and presentation were exceptional. We enjoyed it so much we dined there several times. I would say this was the best value for any steakhouse on cruise line we've sailed.

 

Chef's Table - This was a very interesting experience in the belly of the beast, i.e. a table in the heart of the galley. We were hosted by the Executive Chef who explained each course in detail. (I will post some pics in another thread.) We were given a tour of the galley and even had a sleight of hand crew member entertain us with a few card tricks. The meal was fantastic, though would have been perfect if wines were matched. Only a relatively cheap red or white was available which took away from the gourmet experience.

 

Entertainers - This ship, arguably, had the best musical entertainment I've experienced. Velvet Vibe provided pop music in the Ocean Lounge most nights.. man can Mickey sing a tune! Magic and Mike, an Irish duo, offered soft rock and ballads, usually in the Atrium. Essencia was an eclectic string trio that proved to be quite popular with their electric violins. Ben was great in the piano bar. (For those who have sailed Celebrity and know Perry Grant - think of him as a young Perry.) He was big on talent and raunched it up after 11:00 for some adult fun. Punchliners Comedy Club also provided 6 comedians over the course of our cruise, most of whom were quite entertaining.

 

Liquid Lounge - I've posted elsewhere that I hate the room. It is designed to be multi-purpose and it shows. When set up as a theatre, the room is cramped. Very uncomfortable chairs seem to be piled up in any free space with no rhyme nor reason. Sight lines are poor. Unless you are in a booth there is nowhere to put your drink. All in all, a terrible venue. On the plus side, however, the singers and dancers were great. We saw two of three shows, concerts really (Amor Cubana and America Rocks) that were high energy and proudly presented by a talented cast. Great lighting and sound were to be had.

 

Carnival Hub App - Absolutely loved it. Everyone should do this. It was great to access a calendar of ship activities through my smart phone.

 

Ship activities - There is a lot of trivia, and I mean a lot. An energetic cruise staff offer a broad variety of trivia competitions to taunt and challenge you. However, if you are not into trivia you will find sea day activities somewhat lacking. By the third sea day the ship's activities had become somewhat repetitive.

 

Conclusion - She's a really nice ship with lots of bells and whistles. Would I cruise on her again... NO! There was one big problem. The casino opens into the atrium for decks 4,5,6. Smoke was pervasive throughout the entire ship, even into our 6 FWD stateroom. Ventilation was nonexistent. This one issue would keep me away from her in the future. However, if smoke does not matter to you, I think you will find an enjoyable cruise experience on the Carnival Vista.

[tinuviel]

Oh no. I hate smoke :(. Sailing next week. DH won't enjoy himself if everything is smokey either.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[Cruisenouvelle]

Thanks for the first look!

[trippingpara]

I really struggle with the smell of smoke ever since I quit and I never smelled smoke outside of the casino. In fact, this was the first casino that I was able to actually sit in and play. Yes, there was heavy smoking in the casino but the new ventilation system that they installed in the casino kept it down quite a bit.

 

P.S., thanks for the review! We loved the steakhouse too.

Edited May 18, 2016 by trippingpara

[Micahs Grandad]

Thanks for your review.

 

What did you think of the size of the comedy club, heard it was extremely small compared to either the Conquest or Dream class.

 

Also seems like seating around the piano bar was very limited.

 

Would like to experience the ship but concerned about our two favorite forms of entertainment.

[cynalan]

Thanks for your review.

 

What did you think of the size of the comedy club' date=' heard it was extremely small compared to either the Conquest or Dream class.

 

Also seems like seating around the piano bar was very limited.

 

Would like to experience the ship but concerned about our two favorite forms of entertainment.[/quote']

 

I cannot speak for the other comedy clubs as this was only my second Carnival cruise. However, the Vista club seats 400. The only issue is that the way the room is configured, a good number of seats have obstructed views due to pillars. Between shows they clear the room but getting a seat was never a problem. We very much enjoyed the comedians.

 

As for the piano bar... seating directly around it holds maybe 10 people or so. I could not give a count for the total seating in the room but after 11:00 it was standing room only on a couple of nights.

[Micahs Grandad]

I cannot speak for the other comedy clubs as this was only my second Carnival cruise. However, the Vista club seats 400. The only issue is that the way the room is configured, a good number of seats have obstructed views due to pillars. Between shows they clear the room but getting a seat was never a problem. We very much enjoyed the comedians.

 

As for the piano bar... seating directly around it holds maybe 10 people or so. I could not give a count for the total seating in the room but after 11:00 it was standing room only on a couple of nights.

 

the piano bar on the Dream sat about 30 people.

 

If there are 4000 guests on the ship only 10% can see the comedy show at one time. And quite a few seats are obstructed so this makes me think the ship is not for us.

 

Just back from the Dream and would think their comedy club sat twice as many with good viewing.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[cynalan]

the piano bar on the Dream sat about 30 people.

 

If there are 4000 guests on the ship only 10% can see the comedy show at one time. And quite a few seats are obstructed so this makes me think the ship is not for us.

 

Just back from the Dream and would think their comedy club sat twice as many with good viewing.

 

On the Vista, each show was repeated, i.e. each comedian did 2 sets of their G rated and 2 sets of their R rated comedy.

[NCTribeFan]

I thought the smoke in the casino was horrible, too. Yes, there were isolated spots that seemed "fresh" (and very cold), but trying to play Roulette when surrounded by smokers both at the table and standing behind watching was agonizing. Certainly didn't help with the allergy symptoms I was already having thanks to all the new materials (carpet/glue/everything). I suspect that when she moves to the states, they'll make some tables non-smoking. I would hope so, at least!

 

Haven't had any amenities in the bathrooms for a couple of cruises now, so wasn't expecting any. Must say that I really liked the bathrobes in the Family Harbor room. They were fleece (one red, one blue) instead of the usual waffle weave. Suppose we could've asked for 2 more but didn't have any space to hang them anyway.

 

Embarkation wasn't quick, but I didn't think it was that horrible. There were a lot of people to get on the ship. There's only so much they can do when most of the 4,000 people show up with a 2-hour window. I joked that it was like a nightmare where you're in a room full of chairs where you sit until you're told to move on, you turn the corner to find a room full of chairs where you sit until you're told to move on, you turn the corner to find a room full of chairs... :p

 

As I've said in other threads, there are lot of venues on Sunshine that are similar to Vista, so if you've sailed her, you won't be too surprised by the layout and the rooms (mainly the theatre and the comedy club). I only went to see Marcus Anthony in the theatre. My main complaint with the seating is there's nowhere to put your drink! But it's not like you're sitting in there for hours.

 

I really did so little in the evenings and the few sea days that I can't comment much on music, entertainment, most dining venues. I can say that after 25 Carnival cruises, I'm rather bored with the offerings. Same games, trivia, contests, etc. One more to get my Milestone OBC and I'm off to get some more variety on other lines. Nothing against Carnival - obviously I like Carnival - but I'm bored.

 

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to sail Vista again for the right itinerary at the right price, though.

[Micahs Grandad]

On the Vista, each show was repeated, i.e. each comedian did 2 sets of their G rated and 2 sets of their R rated comedy.

 

They do that on all ships. The better comedians dont repeat their R rated shows as they have a lot of material and do spend time bantering with the audience.

[quickrate]

The lack of beverages in the mini bar was due to a change fleet wide some weeks ago. Most of the time, people remove the items in the mini bar to use it for personal items. I, for one, am happy with this change as we never, in 25 cruises, used anything in the mini bar.

Pat

[Micahs Grandad]

The lack of beverages in the mini bar was due to a change fleet wide some weeks ago. Most of the time, people remove the items in the mini bar to use it for personal items. I, for one, am happy with this change as we never, in 25 cruises, used anything in the mini bar.

Pat

 

That was a very good change. We also took the stuff out and put it on shelves reserving space for water, wine and fruit.