Happiness Is/Was: Havana Cabana Suite

[LisaH]

Also submitted to CC

 

Carnival Vista (RTMiami)

2/25/17 – 3/5/17

Havana CabanaSuite: 5233

Ports visited: Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts, St. Maarten

One day at seabefore Grand Turk and 2 sea days after St. Maarten back to Miami

Myhusband and I took our 4th Carnival cruise, lucky 13th overall onthe wonderful new Carnival Vista. We arelate 50s and mid 60s. We became Gold onthis cruise and the perks included a free bag of laundry so we took advantageof that.

One Night Pre Cruise

We spentone night at the Marriott Biscayne Bay before the cruise. I would definitely recommend this hotel as itwas very nice, we had a great room with a balcony and views of downtown AND theocean. We could also see a few of thecruise ships docked. The room was veryclean and large. The only negative wasthere was not enough help in the restaurant and bar which made for not so greatservice. But the food and drinks werevery good

Embarkation

Embarkationwas the least smooth of our 3 previous Carnival cruises. It was a little chaotic, signage not good forPriority embarkation especially. But,nothing to really bother us but it was noticeable. Thank goodness for Priority…

Havana Cabana Suite 5233

We mostdefinitely would book this cabin again. The patio was amazing and the location of the cabin was perfect. The chair swing was soooo comfy. You are just steps away from Ocean Plaza, andJava Blue which came in handy. I wasexcited to try the Cuban coffee in the morning but guess what? The Havana bar does not open until11:00. And the bartender told us theCuban coffee was not as good as Java Blue’s due to the coffee machine not beingas good. Needless to say, I don’t wantcoffee at 11:00 a.m. when I get up at 6:30-7:00. We waited until 7:00 each morning to seeMartin at Java Blue. Talk about someonewho works really hard. He was there7:00-7:00 (at least) and NEVER stopped. There was always a line but it moved very quickly. I think Carnival purposely makes theirregular coffee horrible just so we buy the other. I did kind of miss a straight out view of thewater from a balcony. The patios on theHC cabins has plexiglass all the way up (probably 8-10 feet high).

Anyway,the cabin layout was great other than the closet placement. It was just a clumsy location right next tothe bed and the closet was very small. The other closet next to the “long” closet is a two compartment closetwhich is useless to hang shirts from because the space was too short to letsomething hang. There was ample drawerand shelf space for both of us and plenty of hangers.

Wristband wearing was enforced other than the first day.

Weparticipated in a cabin crawl and hosted our cabin. It was very popular. The bathroom and shower were everyone’s favorite. There are two sinks and a big walk-inshower. For those that care, there is NObathtub. I was pleasantly surprised bythis as it allowed for a bigger shower.

The roomwas very quiet but you can hear flushing from cabins on either side. I am very noise sensitive but this as youknow didn’t happen too often and was very brief. Our cabin steward and assistant (Donna/Alina)were great. A few nights we noticed aloud burst of music for about 15 minutes (8:15ish) and then it stopped. We never figured out where it came from butwe know it was NOT the Havana Bar. I amhappy to report you cannot hear any noise from the HB.

Havana Cabana Area

This wasthe best part of having a HC cabin. The areais really laid out nicely. We did notget in the pool as the water was too cold for us. But plenty of others braved it. The hot tubs were never crowded. The only negative is bar service. We noticed this throughout the ship aswell. There was never anyone to takeyour order. You had to physically walkto the bar and order a drink. Barservice was slow all over the ship. There was an obvious bar service staff shortage. I believe the only place they still havepeople walking around to take your drink order is the main pool but I could bewrong. The Havana Bar service was good,not great. The bartenders (only one at atime mostly) had to go back and forth between the inside bar and the outsideprivate bar. There was not a way for themto know if someone was waiting for a drink on the other side. Not a huge problem but kind of annoying toalways have to wait. But not a hugeproblem in the scheme of things but it was noticeable all over.

It wasnice to walk the short distance from or patio over to the HC area for a drinkor to just sit and relax…or do both!

Lido Marketplace – 24 hours

Standardas on other Carnival ships. It wasadequate

Gym

Ivisited the gym several times and it was never so crowded that I had to waitfor a treadmill. The only time it wasmoderately crowded was around 9:00 a.m. The other times I went in the afternoon and pretty much had a privategym.

Ports of Call

We onlygot off the ship (other than shop at the port) in St. Kitts. We took a Carnival excursion called St. KittsHighlights and Brimstone Hill Fort…etc. We thoroughly enjoyed it and the views are amazing. It was a great opportunity for photo ops.

Entertainment

We wentto Matt’s Morning Show twice. We lovedhim. And he is amazing with kids. The Hasbro Game Show was fun to watch. America Rocks was great fun and the entertainerswere terrific. It was a very physicallydemanding performance.

LiquidLounge is a terrible venue however. Thesight lines are terrible and the seats on the first floor are not tiered. Also some views are blocked by speakers andcolumns depending on where you sit. I amnot sure who designed this venue, but someone dropped the ball. It is also very small (or seemed to be). Hopefully they will redesign it for theHorizon.

Dining

We hadearly seating and without going into too much detail, we really enjoyed ourfood. Of course I had Chocolate MeltingCake every night I was there.

I highlyrecommend the Chef’s Table. It isdefinitely worth the $95 per person. Theroom they designed within the kitchen is so much more enjoyable than actuallyeating in the kitchen without walls. Wecould actually hear the Chef explain things and you could not hear the kitchennoise at all. The service was impeccableand the food delicious.

Thesushi was great as usual. We wenttwice. We tried the noodle bowl for thefirst time and they were excellent also.

The BlueIguana has the best margaritas!

Miscellaneous

TheCarnival Hub App is genius. It workedgreat but we did not use the Chat feature. I used the social media package and it was great also. I was very happy with the speed of ituploading to Facebook.

The lasttime we cruised with Carnival was out of Galveston so we drove. I asked at the guest services desk regardingthe Luggage Direct program. Carnival nolonger offers it. Not sure what happenedbut I am guessing it was too expensive to have to employ people to run theprogram.

One ofmy general observations was how casual the dinner attire has gotten. That’s all I will say about the subject.

I am sure there areareas I did not cover so please feel free to email me at atticus0216@gmail.com if you havespecific questions on an area I may not have covered or did not mention in anarea I did cover.

[Schoifmom]

We became Gold on this cruise and the perks included a free bag of laundry so we took advantage of that.

 

 

Seriously?

[LisaH]

Seriously?

 

Yes, why?

[lizardhowson]

Yes, why?

 

Because free bag of Laundry is a Platinum perk, not a Gold perk.

 

https://www.carnival.com/loyalty/benefits.aspx

 

 

Interesting :confused:

[cruizinisthebest]

Yes, why?

 

 

Platinum perk. Perhaps you got the free bag of laundry because you had a suite.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cabin. Maybe one day when we don't have the kids!

[LisaH]

Because free bag of Laundry is a Platinum perk, not a Gold perk.

 

https://www.carnival.com/loyalty/benefits.aspx

 

 

Interesting :confused:

 

Interesting indeed. Do you think it was because of the Suite?

[cruizinisthebest]

Interesting indeed. Do you think it was because of the Suite?

 

I just said that.;p

[Schoifmom]

Interesting indeed. Do you think it was because of the Suite?

 

That's what I thought, although I'll admit I was hoping that someone was going to pipe up and say that it was a new Gold perk and it just hadn't been updated on Carnival's website yet :D

[LisaH]

Platinum perk. Perhaps you got the free bag of laundry because you had a suite.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cabin. Maybe one day when we don't have the kids!

 

I will admit it was awesome. The suite next to us 5231 had 4 people. Mom, Dad, two teenagers. We never heard a peep out of them. Yay!

[joyful34]

Wr were on the same cruise the week prior to yours. I didnt know there was another pool in the back I guess. What deck?

The Havana bar, which is indoors on deck 9 (where the pool used to be) and where the Italian restaurant is located, is the only bar open before 10am. We were there every morning for bloody Mary's between 8-9am.

[LisaLisa87]

Thank you for posting this review. We'll be in 5235 next April! I'm especially glad to learn that you didn't hear any noise from the Havana Bar. Did you have many people not staying in the Havana area walking by your patio in the evening?

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[tandemcruzr]

Wr were on the same cruise the week prior to yours. I didnt know there was another pool in the back I guess. What deck?

The Havana bar, which is indoors on deck 9 (where the pool used to be) and where the Italian restaurant is located, is the only bar open before 10am. We were there every morning for bloody Mary's between 8-9am.

 

Sounds like you are talking about the Sunshine -- not the Vista.

[LisaH]

Thank you for posting this review. We'll be in 5235 next April! I'm especially glad to learn that you didn't hear any noise from the Havana Bar. Did you have many people not staying in the Havana area walking by your patio in the evening?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Hi, no we didn't have many people at all walk by that we know of. We had the curtains closed once we were in the cabin. Privacy was not a concern for us as when we needed to close the curtains, we did. And it is hard to see directly into the cabins during the day depending on the glare/sun.

 

You will love 5235...

[LisaH]

Wr were on the same cruise the week prior to yours. I didnt know there was another pool in the back I guess. What deck?

The Havana bar, which is indoors on deck 9 (where the pool used to be) and where the Italian restaurant is located, is the only bar open before 10am. We were there every morning for bloody Mary's between 8-9am.

 

The Havana Cabana area is on Deck 5 in the back. It is restricted access until 7:00 p.m. for the outside part of the bar area and the pool.

[LisaH]

Thanks for the review.

 

You are welcome. :)

[nikkibaby1801]

I am posting way late to the party, but I am interested in the Havana suites but wanted to see if you were able to get any direct sunlight on the balcony from these cabins? I prefer to lay in the sun and typically, balconies don't allow for much sun however, pictures of these cabins seem to indicate that you may be getting more sun on these balconies...can you offer your experience with this??

 

thanks in advance!

[bakersdozen12]

I am posting way late to the party, but I am interested in the Havana suites but wanted to see if you were able to get any direct sunlight on the balcony from these cabins? I prefer to lay in the sun and typically, balconies don't allow for much sun however, pictures of these cabins seem to indicate that you may be getting more sun on these balconies...can you offer your experience with this??

 

thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Only half of the patio is covered, so yes, when the sun is on your side of the ship, you can get direct sunlight.

 

 

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[ricew001]

I saw someone mention deck 5. Can you confirm what deck and how bad is the motion? I do take motion sickness meds but I'm always cautious. thanks!