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Carnival Vista Revew 01/28/2017 - 02/05/2017. Feel free to ask questions.

Sensenigr

By Sensenigr,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Sensenigr

Sensenigr

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Just got off of our 8 night Carnival Vista vacation yesterday. We departed Miami on 01/28/2017 and arrived back on 02/05/2017. This likely ranks overall as my 2nd favorite Carnival ship to date. I have been on a total of six cruises, four of them with Carnival. This review will be very detailed, for all of those who enjoy details; however, it will not include any pictures.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions! My cruise history is as follows:

2007 - Carnival Triumph

2008 - Ruby Princess

2010 - Caribbean Princess

2011 - Carnival Miracle

2015 - Carnival Breeze

2017 - Carnival Vista

 

BACKGROUND:

 

My name is Ryan, and I am currently 36 years old. I was traveling with my boyfriend, AndyMike who is 31 years old. We reside in Southern California. This is my sixth cruise and his second cruise.

 

OUTGOING FLIGHT:

 

My outgoing flight was a red-eye on 01/25/2017 from LAX to MIA on American Airlines, which arrived early in the morning on 01/26/2017. AndyMike flew on Southwest from LAX to FLL via LAS on 01/27/2017 (the day after me)

 

THE DAYS BEFORE THE CRUISE:

 

I arrived in MIA early in the morning on 01/26/2017. I rented a car from Alamo, which it is quite easy to get to the car rental center from the terminals at MIA. Renting with Alamo was painless and very quick. The Car Rental Center at MIA is very organized and you shouldn't have a very difficult experience.

 

I drove from Miami up to Orlando, which took about 4.5 hours with a stop or two on this particular morning. Lots and lots of toll roads in Florida and not every toll plaza takes cash; therefore, please take advantage of your car rental companies toll passes. With Alamo, it automatically activates when you drive through a toll road/plaza and it charges you the flat rate with a possible per day activation fee on the days you use toll roads only.

 

I arrived in Orlando about 1pm to visit a friend who lives here, who I have not seen in quite some time. After a few hours visit with the friend, I drove over to Disney and arrived with about 1 hour to spare before sunset.

 

This impromptu trip wasn't about visiting the parks, as I really didn't have time; however, it was about seeing a magical place that I have not been in since 1996. I really want to come back here for a full vacation sometime in the near future. However, since I had just a few hours, I thought I would park at one of the Magic Kingdom area resorts and walk around the Disney Resorts of the Seven Seas Lagoon. I decided to park at the Contemporary Resort. I informed the guard agent that I was going to be dining at the Contemporary Resort and he allowed me to park for free for a few hours. (I did buy a snack). :-)

 

I took a nice leisurely walk of about two hours around the Seven Seas Lagoon including the Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian and outside of the Magic Kingdom and then back to the contemporary. After that, I headed to Disney Springs (Formerly Downtown Disney) and walked around here for about an hour. If you don't feel comfortable parking at a resort, then you can just park at Disney Springs (where there is absolutely free parking) and then just take the free Disney transportation system to where you want to go.

 

At about 9pm, I headed to my one night accommodations, which was a AirBnB property about 10 minutes away from the Disney resort area. It was fantastic.

 

The next morning I woke up and after having breakfast, I started to drive back down to the Southern Florida area. In fact, I was heading to Pembroke Pines, FL where our 1 night pre-cruise stay was taking place. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Pembroke Pines. We did stay here previously during our least cruise. This hotel still has the brand new hotel look, not too far from shopping and dining. I checked in at about 4:00PM and was paying for a one night stay complimentary with Marriott Rewards Points. The room was nice, looked brand new, and I was amazed with the decor and the design considering the rather small room. The staff member who assisted me was Jesse, and he was so wonderful, kind and customer oriented. During a previous stay, I had a sewage smell throughout the hotel and my room; however, that was not a problem during this visit. The breakfast in the morning was very nice for a free continental breakfast. It had several hot dishes, waffles, fruit, eggs, cereal, and everything else you would expect to find.

 

During this cruise trip, we were traveling with friends we met on the Carnival Breeze about 15 months earlier. They are a couple who lives in the Pensacola area of Florida. They drove down and also stayed at the Fairfield Inn the night before. Although we had planned to take this trip together, we certainly did not do all of our activities together -- although we had planned a few.

 

AndyMike arrived at FLL at about 7:15PM and I picked him up, before all four of us enjoyed a nice dinner at "Village Tavern", which is just about a 5 minute drive from the hotel.

 

TRANSPORTATION TO THE PORT:

 

Since the couple that we were traveling with drove and were parking at the port, we rode with them and did not need to find transportation to the port.

 

EMBARKATION:

 

I have never had a problem at Embarkation; however, it was even more organized this year. Carnival now has you select a check-in time on your reservation online. I believe we selected ours about 4 months prior. We selected the earliest available check-in time, which was between 11:00am and 11:30am. By the time we parked at the port, we arrived at the check-in area at 10:50AM. We were able to immediately pass through security and let into the waiting area. They were turning people away who had later check-in times. There is no second additional line to obtain your room keys. Now, you simply do a brief check-in with an agent right after the security screening and then you get a paper boarding pass. You use this boarding pass to get on board and for room charges prior to obtaining your room keys, which are available in your mailbox outside your room by 1:30PM when the rooms are available. We sat in the waiting area, and by 11:50AM they were boarding. They were very organized and we were in group 7 and were on board by 12:25PM.

 

OVERALL IMPRESSION/DECOR

 

This was a sold out cruise! Overall, it did not seem that crowded to us. Yes, there were some crowded areas, which I will go into detail with later on in the review; however, overall it did not seem that crowded. I credit the excellent design of the ship.

 

The ship is beautiful. The ship has only been in service since the second quarter of 2016. The ship is in GREAT CONDITION, as all of our cruises have been.

 

STAFF OVERALL

 

The staff of this ship is simply amazing. Remember, treat people the way you want to be treated. That was our motto and is always our motto. The staff overall was very friendly. I will talk about some individual staff members in other parts of my review; however, I will talk about the Cruise Director, Matt here. Matt is by far the best cruise director that I have ever experienced. This is fortunately our second cruise with this guy, and he comes everything running smoothly to the best of his ability all of the time. He is funny, energetic, always available, part of your cruise every single day, and just has a great personality. I must take the time to point out that we did notice a significant staff cutback in bar servers roaming the open decks and common areas. It was very difficult to order a drink if you didn't want to walk to a bar. Prior to this cruise, we always had people coming up to us. On this ship, we noticed an evident cutback in this service. I am not sure whether it was fleet wide of just something with the Vista; however, it was very difficult to find a server in the Liquid Lounge, Limelight Lounge or on the Lido Deck to order a drink.

 

TIPPING:

 

Tipping is a personal thing; however, let me take time to remind you that this wonderful hard working staff on these ships work very hard and many of the staff members do not get paid a lot. I encourage you to celebrate and applaud the hard work that they do by tipping appropriately. My personal way of tipping is that I leave the suggested gratuities of Carnival on my Sail and Sign Account (which I believe is currently about $13.00 per person per day), and I give additional cash gratuities to individual staff members during the middle of my cruise, if I feel that there service is excellent (which this time it was with everyone I gave additional gratuity to). The additional gratuities that I give are as follows: $20.00 to restaurant hostess; $35 to head server, $25 to team server, $20 to assistant server, $30 to lead stateroom steward, $20 to assistant stateroom steward, $25 to our favorite bartender, $10 to onboard restaurant magician.

 

STATEROOM:

 

Our room was available by 1:30PM which was the promised time and the time that we decided to check on our room. We went down to our room and our keys were in the mailbox. We were also pleasantly surprised that our luggage was delivered by 4pm. We had room 2314 which was a Cove Balcony in between the forward and mid-ship area on the Port Side. This particular room appears to be underneath a corner of the Reflections Dining Room. We never once heard any noise above us at all. This was our first time in a Cove Balcony and we absolutely loved it. It may be our favorite room location to date. The Cove Balconies are all on the second deck and is a standard size Carnival cabin with a standard size balcony. There were 2 upright chairs with a small table on the balcony.

 

Our stateroom steward and assistant steward were very nice and kept everything very tidy throughout the stay. Our main stateroom steward was Dee Dee and he was so kind and always pleasant. The typical daytime housekeeping and nighttime turndown was standard. There are no longer chocolates on the pillows; however, that certainly didn't deter any experience. There were always fresh towels and beach towels available on the days that we did not hang our towels up to be reused. There is talk on some Carnival ships that they ask you if you want once or twice a day service; however, we were never asked this question and had both services every day.

 

The room is so well designed for space and efficiently considering the somewhat small size of cruise cabins. Just remember, slide your empty luggage under the bed after putting everything away! There is plenty of storage drawers and closet space. I think there are a few less storage drawers on the Vista cabins; however, we had no issues. In fact, we had plenty of hangers which was so nice! The safe in the room was put to good use. We had a sofa beside the two twins that were pushed together. The bathroom was small but efficient. The shower did have both body wash and shampoo in the dispenser with plenty of shelf space in the bathroom as well. As is common in ship cabins, there is only one normal outlet which is by the vanity/desk area, so do bring a power strip if you need additional outlets. There is also a double USB outlet available. There is a relatively large flat panel TV on the wall in front of the bed area. On this TV, besides several channel options available to you, there is also ship cameras, your sail and sign account and other features.

 

PORTS:

 

We did excursions in each of the ports. On this trip, we booked three out of the four excursions directly through Carnival. This is the very first time I have booked excursions through Carnival, as previously I have always booked them with independent operators. However, Carnival now has a 110% price protection guarantee, which I did take advantage of on one of the excursions I noticed was less expensive with an independent operator. I was able to make a easy claim and you receive 110% of the difference back in the form of onboard credit.

 

Grand Turk - We were in Grand Turk on a Monday from 7:30AM - 2:00PM. Here we had a snorkeling tour. This port was very organized and we were walked a short 5 minute walk to a boat and then taken on a 2.5 hour boat adventure which included 2 really great snorkeling stops. There were about 25 people on our boat and the three staff members were just awesome. The snorkeling was great here and all the equipment was provided. Water and punch were also provided by the tour operator. Once we were back, we walked around the port for a bit before getting back on the ship.

 

La Romana, Dominican Republic - We were at this port on a Tuesday between 9am - 4pm. For this port we booked a Ziplining excursion. This Ziplining company is about a 1 hour and 10 minute bus ride from the port, and they have the single longest line in the Caribbean. They have a total of 12 lines and you get to ride on every single one of them. There were a lot of people on this excursion -- about 190 to be exact. We were shuttled in multiple tour buses and we had an excellent guide who provided us with great facts and history on the drive up. Once we were there, they had many many many staff members on hand. They first made sure that you were fitted with the right equipment and then you did a brief training session. The first line was really the only one you had to wait for. After that, the employees kept all the other lines moving, as they were incredibly efficient at making sure everyone got through the course timely. From Line #1 to Line #12 you were out on the course about a total of 1 hour. I have heard a lot of people say that the DR is a dangerous island and you should stay on the ship. I strongly advise against that advice. Of course, we were on a tour; however, even if you want to roam around and explore on your own -- go for it! I would advise you to do what makes you happy and unless there is a specific State Department travel warning, then heed that advice as appropriate. We found the DR to be beautiful; however, driving can be a bit treacherous :-)

 

Curacao - We were at this port on a Wednesday from 1:30PM - 10:30PM. This was our first ever nighttime port. Upon arriving, we went outside the security gate to meet our guide Alonso. We booked a 3 hour ATV tour with a company called "ATV and Buggy Tours". This was not booked through Carnival. They were waiting for us and there were about 15 people from the ship. We were transported about 10 minutes away by buggy and then transferred to our individual buggies and ATV's. This tour was great! It was a full three hour tour of several different areas around the island including an Aloe plantation, Ostrich Farm, and many different beach and natural areas. The ATV's were all in great condition and the tour guide was fun, fun, fun! The price was $90.00 for a three hour tour per person. We were back by about 5:30PM. Although we did go back on the ship to shower and change, we came back off the ship to walk around the port area. There is a great shopping and dining area just a 10 minute walk from the port with lots of dining and drinking options. There was also another restaurant/bar just a 15-20 minute walk away, which we decided to grab some drinks at. It was called Motown Bar; however, it was within a restaurant I believe was called Gouvernour's Restaurant.

 

Aruba - Our last port was on a Thursday and we were here from about 8am - 4pm. For this port, we booked a 3.5 hour tour through Carnival called the North Coast Jeep Safari. This was another tour, for which a lot of people were booked. We were placed in buggies with about 6-8 people and were taken to various stops throughout the day to show the diversity and beauty of the island. Some stops included the natural bridge and the Donkey Sanctuary. This is a tour that is VERY BUMPY at times and you need to make sure that you read the description carefully to make sure it is for you. However, we loved it!! There was not a lot of dialogue/commentary during the drive; however, at each stop we were given a lot of history and dialogue about the stop and or the island/area. We definitely enjoyed the tour and the last stop was a beautiful beach where we spent about 45 minutes in the water.

 

FOOD:

 

I'm going to rate each venue that we ate it, and give my comments. I feel that everyone can find something good to eat on this ship. There are so many great options.

 

MAIN DINING ROOM:

 

Food 9/10 and Service 10/10.

 

We ate in the main dining room for dinner 5 of our 8 nights plus two mornings at breakfast and one day for brunch.

 

We are in the Horizons Dining Room, lower level, with anytime dining. There are two dining rooms on the ship and we found that we enjoyed Horizons better. At the time of our cruise, the other dining room (Reflections) only seated set time dining. It is only one level and feels a bit closed in and not as exciting or beautiful. We select anytime dining because we do enjoy varying our dining times based on what other activities we want to attend in the evening. We usually request to sit with others, and we were seated with others most nights in the dining room. We found a group of servers we loved after our second night, and we requested them each and every night. The servers were Eric, Nihad, and Jerald. What a great group of guys, and I would be honored to cruise with them again in the future. They were attentive, friendly, funny, personable, and a great servers. The American Feast menus were great. There were 2 elegant nights and 6 casual nights. There are no tablecloths on casual nights and there are tablecloths on elegant nights. Fresh bread was delivered with every meal. There are so many options on each night on the menu. There are five or six mainstays each night and then approximately somewhere around 8 appetizers, 6 entrees, and about 4 desserts that were different each night. We thought the food was very good to excellent. We usually ordered about 2 appetizers each, 1 entree, and 3 shared desserts each night. If there is something you do not like, they will happily replace it; however, there was nothing we didn't enjoy that we ordered. A change on the Vista is that for anytime dining you check-in at a hostess stand not in or near the dining room. The check-in is on Deck 5, next to the Java/Coffee Bar. We found this to be a very efficient process. If there is no wait, they will give you a ticket and you immediately head downstairs to the dining room for immediate seating (they already know where to seat you, as it is on the ticket) or if there is a wait, they will give you a buzzer and as soon as it sounds, you take it immediately to the dining room for seating. On only one night did we have to wait, and the wait was less than 20 minutes.

 

LIDO BUFFET

 

Food 9/10

 

We found the food at the Lido Buffet to generally be very fresh and flavorful and just all around excellent. We ate at the Lido Buffet for breakfast a couple of days and lunch some days. The options and the presentation of the foods were fabulous. There are two or three lines with similar options, so it is spread out so that there is never too much of a line in one area. There is also a separate dessert area. There is definitely something for everyone. I also love the layout of the area, with plenty of seating for everyone. Juices are available during breakfast, coffee and hot chocolate anytime, and iced tea and lemonade during non-breakfast hours. Also, there is now homemade ice cream available during lunch hours with rotating daily flavors.

 

FAHRENHEIT 555 STEAKHOUSE

 

Food 10/10 Service 10/10

 

We had dinner on our first night at the Steakhouse. The Steakhouse is a $35 upcharge and is most certainly worth it. On the first night, they do still give you a free bottle of wine which is wonderful! The menu is great, and you will not leave hungry by any stretch of the imagination. There was not just one server; however, the entire team of servers worked well together and you had a taste of the team effort at each and every table. The overall experience was awesome. There are so many amazing choices, that we left very happy.

 

CHEF'S TABLE

 

Overall experience: 10/10

 

I highly recommend trying out the Chef's Table on at least one cruise. This was our second time trying it, and definitely will not be our last. They usually only do it on select nights. On the Vista, it is limited to 16 people two or three times per cruise. We previously did it on the Breeze where it was at a table in the middle of the galley. On the Vista, they have a separate and private room right next to the galley. It was a gorgeous room with glass that you can still see directly into the galley. (Now, it is easier to hear each other talk) You still get a tour of the galley, a presentation on how they make Chocolate Melting Cake and so much more. The Chef's Table is a $75 - $95 upcharge per person, but worth every penny. It is approximately 15 courses or so, and we really couldn't finish everything by the end. It also includes unlimited wine! You begin with some appetizers in a prep area of the kitchen. We had six different appetizers that night with Champagne. After that you are seated and are served some delicious bread with multiple courses of various dishes. Each one is discussed by one of the head sous chefs. All of the dishes served at Chef's Table are unique and cannot be found anywhere else on the ship. The presentation is amazing, the gastronomy is amazing, and the service is amazing. You also get to take a home a photograph of the experience. DO THIS!

 

GUY'S BURGERS

 

Food: 8/10

 

There are lots of good burgers in the World today. This is one of them. However, although we agreed it was good, it is by far our favorite. I got to say the fries are even more amazing than the burger. Yum! You can order it several different ways, and there is a toppings bar with lots more options to customize it just the way you want. This area can get particularly busy at times; however, be patient as the lines moves fairly quickly.

 

BLUE IGUANA CANTINA

 

Food: 8/10

 

We did not eat here for lunch; however, we did eat here once for Breakfast. We had burritos. There are a few options. You select your tortilla, toppings, protein, ect and then there is also a toppings/salsa bar for you to further customize your burrito.

 

PIZZA PIRATE

 

Food: 9/10

 

We enjoyed the Pizza. We ate here twice late at night. They certainly pump out a lot of pizza in that kitchen. We had the Pepperoni and the White Pizza. We found the pizza to be great and the crust to be average. The lines can sometimes get long, and the staff is working so hard.

 

JIJI'S ASIAN KITCHEN

 

Food: 10/10

 

This restaurant is a $15 upcharge per person, and it was also well worth it. For our party of four, we were told to order 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and four desserts. You then share your dishes family style. We greatly enjoyed everything we had from this restaurant.

 

GUYS PIG & ANCHOR BBQ

 

Food: 9/10

 

This restaurant is usually open on sea days, as well as Day #1. We ate here twice for lunch, and loved it. There is a menu with about 10 or 11 different options and you simply tell them what you want and they will plate it up for you! All the food we had at this restaurant was really good and the sauce bar is something you will not want to forget. We noticed that some things did some a little bit charred/burnt; however, most things were awesome. The lines also move fast at this location and you can usually approach from both sides.

 

I think I covered everything that we had. Unfortunately, we did not get to do Bonsai Sushi, Deli, RedFrog Pub, Tea Time, Taste Bar or Cucina. Gosh --- so many food options!

 

ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES

 

Seriously...if you cannot find something to do on this ship, it is your own dam fault! Read your FunTimes...there is so much to do each day. There is an awesome activities staff onboard this ship, that is always present everywhere you go. Wow! Get involved people!

 

LIDO AREA:

 

The two pool areas are great. The Main pool area can definitely get crowded, especially during sea days; however, if your goal is just to find a chair and relax then trust me, they are easily found. If you can't find one right in front of the pool there are plenty more on the decks right above, and down on Deck 5 (Promenade). The pools themselves, including the aft pool are great. There are several jacuzzi's including two on the aft and two in the Serenity area, which is only for adults. There is also ample seating in that area. There is also an aft pool and two jacuzzis on Deck 5 in the Havana Area. The outdoor Havana area is closed to only those staying in Havana rooms until 7pm and then anyone from the ship can come after that time including to use the pool or hot tubs.

 

WATERWORKS:

 

You certainly don't need to be a child to enjoy this area. However, I am a child at heart. I spent two days doing the slides multiple times. There is plenty of areas for children and than two slides for anyone. You have the option of two slides, once of which is more traditional but still exciting. The other one is called the Kaleido-Slide. They are both fun, and I believe they were open until about 6pm each day.

 

SPORTS SQUARE

 

We did not utilize anything in this area; however, they had a mini-golf course, ropes course, a basketball court, some exercise machines, and a running track; however, we did not have time to use this at all.

 

SKYRIDE

 

Wow!! Skyride is a dual track pedaled power machines that will glide you along a track above the outside of an upper deck; however, it looks like you are out above the water. You can race besides someone else or you can just pedal slowly and at your leisure. It is free; however, the lines can be long and the wait can be lengthy. Please note that they will also close this if the weather conditions (especially wind) warrant. Please do this at least once. I'm sure you won't regret it.

 

SPA AND GYM

 

Sorry folks, I didn't even use this area -- with the exception of taking a tour the first day. The decor of the Cloud 9 spa is very intriguing and inviting. I noticed some group classes for a fee in the FunTimes. There were some complimentary seminars and a gym. I have used Carnival gyms in the past and found them to be very sufficient; however, I did not experience it this time. I'm sure it is fine; however, cannot comment.

 

CASINO

 

The casino is lovely and large on this ship. This ship is set up with the bar in the center and yes, it is still smoky (however, I have come to expect that in any casino). The Casino was very crowded on most evenings. I personally spent about $300 in the casino. I had a lot of fun; however, did not win anything major on this cruise.

 

MAIN PRODUCTION SHOWS:

 

On this cruise, there were four main production shows. I attended the shows called El Amor Cuba and American Rocks. We found both of the ones we saw to be excellent. The singing, choreography, dancing and lighting were excellent.

 

OTHER LIQUID LOUNGE EVENTS:

 

The Liquid Lounge took place of the main showroom/theatre; however, is still in the same location on Deck 4 & 5. This is one of two constructive criticisms of my cruise. Liquid Lounge is now also the nightclub. However, in order to achieve this, they had to make several changes, which I find to be detrimental to the overall experience. Liquid Lounge lower level middle seats are now moveable. That in and of itself is not a big problem; however, we did notice that they have removed drink tables, with the exception of a few locations in the center and then on locations on the back walls. They really need to bring the drink tables back. It is very hard to clap and cheer for the performers if you have a drink in your hand. We also noticed that sometimes Bingo was held in the Liquid Lounge. This causes a significant problem, playing bingo without tables. ..

 

We did some other things in the Ovation Theater including the Welcome Aboard Show, which was great and hosted by the best cruise director ever! We also watched the Love and Marriage show, which was non-stop laughs.

 

LIMELIGHT LOUNGE:

 

It is here that we tried to enjoy some of the comedians. During our cruise, there were four comedians on board. We watched one of them. We wanted to see others; however, the schedule just never worked out in our favor. Yes, the limelight lounge can get crowded, especially the earlier shows. Get there early. I recommend about 30 minutes before show time, if you can. They do clear out the lounge after each show, in order to first accommodate the people standing outside. Definitely the comedians are great and each of them do both family friendly and 18+ only shows.

 

LIVE MUSIC:

 

The excellent job with live music continues throughout this ship. There are top quality options almost all day long. During the day, the music is primarily centered on the Lido area; however, by late afternoon and late into the night you got live music in the main atrium, Red Frog Pub, Ocean Plaza, Piano Bar and Havana Bar. One of our absolute favorite musical trios aboard this ship was called Essencia. They typically played in the Vista Atrium during the evening hours.

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

 

There are so many other activities on board. There is the nightclub which we did not get to try. There is also the Thrill Theater and Imax Theater which we did not try. There is the Dive-In Movies by the main pool, which we did not try. There are daily activities including Trivia, sports activities, pool activities, spa seminars, shopping, art auctions, Q&A sessions, special interest group meetings, photo ops, and much much more!

 

PIANO BAR:

 

We only spent the first evening after dinner in the Piano Bar. The Piano Bar is our other constructive criticism of this ship. We recommended that they work on building the next piano bar like the one on the Carnival Breeze, which we loved. This one was not as intimate and friendly. Not too many people were able to sit around the actual piano itself. We hope they will consider future builds with a Piano bar more like the one on the Breeze.

 

 

I'm sure I missed some things; however, I hope this gives you a starting point about some of the options available on this great ship.

 

PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS if you would like to know anything else.

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maxydu

maxydu

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We always cruise with another couple. In the steakhouse on the first night, does each couple receive a bottle of wine or is there just one for the table?

How far is the anytime check in desk from the actual anytime dining room?

 

Thanks!

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Sensenigr

Sensenigr

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We always cruise with another couple. In the steakhouse on the first night, does each couple receive a bottle of wine or is there just one for the table?

How far is the anytime check in desk from the actual anytime dining room?

 

Thanks!

 

That is an excellent question about the wine. We went to the steakhouse as a couple; therefore, I'm not sure if you have two couples if that means two bottles or not. Sorry, I can't help with that.

 

The anytime check in desk is about a 1.5 minute walk to the elevator or stairs on Deck 5 and then two flights down. Not far at all.

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Sensenigr

Sensenigr

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Do you renenber when the first elegant night was. I was told it was on Sunday, but someone who just came back from the vista said it was on Monday. can you confirm what night it is on?

 

If it is an eight night cruise, then it is likely going to be your first full sea day. Remember, the itineraries are not the same every week, that is why you may be hearing different reports. For our eight night cruise, it was the first full sea day.

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realjd

realjd

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We were on the same cruise as you! We were traveling with a 2 year old and my parents so our port days were very different, but your take on the Vista is similar to ours. We loved it. I think the Breeze is still my favorite, but the Vista is a close second. I don't get the bad reviews.

 

We felt that the food was the best we've had on Carnival. It's normally excellent, but it just seemed a step above this time.

 

My one and only complaint was the smoke in the casino. Moving it to Deck 4 instead of the promenade deck was a great idea, but holy crap was it smoky. It is not ventilated well. I smoky the occasional cigar myself and can easily tolerate the smell of cigarette smoke, but it was more than the smell this time. It was the worst we've seen at sea.

 

Our favorite hangout was the Red Frog Pub. The guitar guy Andy was awesome, and the beer was really good. We took the brewery tour - easily the best we've been on anywhere since the brewmaster Ron went in depth into the process and didn't just point and say "here are some tanks". The beer is served right from the tanks to the taps so it's really, really fresh beer.

 

Agree completely on Matt the cruise director. We had him on the Breeze before. Not only does he seem to have the magic ability to be everywhere at once, he'll be bouncing off the walls with groups well past midnight then we'll see him out and chipper and greeting folks at the coffee shop early in the morning.

 

I also agree on bar staff. Not only the waiters out on deck but the bartenders themselves. This was the first cruise where we regularly had waits to order drinks from the bar when we walked up. They just need one extra bartender at peak times at each bar to handle the extra passenger load.

 

We had a great trip, and it sounds like you guys did to. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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Sensenigr

Sensenigr

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We were on the same cruise as you! We were traveling with a 2 year old and my parents so our port days were very different, but your take on the Vista is similar to ours. We loved it. I think the Breeze is still my favorite, but the Vista is a close second. I don't get the bad reviews.

 

We felt that the food was the best we've had on Carnival. It's normally excellent, but it just seemed a step above this time.

 

My one and only complaint was the smoke in the casino. Moving it to Deck 4 instead of the promenade deck was a great idea, but holy crap was it smoky. It is not ventilated well. I smoky the occasional cigar myself and can easily tolerate the smell of cigarette smoke, but it was more than the smell this time. It was the worst we've seen at sea.

 

Our favorite hangout was the Red Frog Pub. The guitar guy Andy was awesome, and the beer was really good. We took the brewery tour - easily the best we've been on anywhere since the brewmaster Ron went in depth into the process and didn't just point and say "here are some tanks". The beer is served right from the tanks to the taps so it's really, really fresh beer.

 

Agree completely on Matt the cruise director. We had him on the Breeze before. Not only does he seem to have the magic ability to be everywhere at once, he'll be bouncing off the walls with groups well past midnight then we'll see him out and chipper and greeting folks at the coffee shop early in the morning.

 

I also agree on bar staff. Not only the waiters out on deck but the bartenders themselves. This was the first cruise where we regularly had waits to order drinks from the bar when we walked up. They just need one extra bartender at peak times at each bar to handle the extra passenger load.

 

We had a great trip, and it sounds like you guys did to. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

I'm glad you also had a great cruise. Yeah, essentially the minor inconveniences weren't really that bad -- although I do agree the ventilation in the casino needs to improve!

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rs45thompson

rs45thompson

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If it is an eight night cruise, then it is likely going to be your first full sea day. Remember, the itineraries are not the same every week, that is why you may be hearing different reports. For our eight night cruise, it was the first full sea day.[/quote

 

That is what I thought. Thank you.

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