Carnival Vista Vs. Norwegian Escape Review

[melnemac32]

This year was an exciting year for us, because we went on two cruises this year! At the end February we went on Carnival Vista (CV) and now at the end of May we've gone on the Norwegian Escape (NE). Both of these ships are the newest/best ships on both Carnival and Norwegian so I thought that it might be interesting to compare the two ships since we've gone on both. Now, please remember that these are just my experiences and thoughts of the cruise lines and I'm only rating things that my husband and I find important on ships. With that said... let the comparison begin!!

Embarkation Process

 





As far the embarkation process goes... I'd have to say that Carnival Vista wins. We got through security very quickly with Carnival Vista, and it was very clearly marked as to where we would be going to get on the ship. As you can see above, the Norwegian Escape did not have any signs or indications on where to line up. It made us feel pretty stressed out since we felt rushed to get on the ship for Vibe passes. CV 1 vs. NE 0



Room Availability









When we travel, we only pack what will go in our carry on bags, and we keep those carry on bags with us when we enter into the cruise ship so that we have our stuff right away. So, we have a vested interest in our rooms being ready quickly so that we can drop our stuff off. On Vista our room was ready right when we got on the ship, whereas we saw a note on a locked door on the Escape telling us that our room wasn't ready (and it wasn't for a few hours). So... CV 2 vs. NE 0



Exclusive Area: Havana Vs. Vibe

 





Again, Carnival Vista wins! In my opinion, I preferred the Havana area on Vista vs. the Vibe on the Escape. First of all, the Havana area was a bigger area. It had a pool, two hot tubs, and the shaded seats in the water were wonderful. I think that the Havana area is my FAVORITE area on any cruise ship that we've been on. Even better, access to the Havana area is tied to buying a Havana room, so if you want access to that area you just book a cruise during a time when a Havana room is available.

 







I don't want to take away from the Vibe area though on the Escape. The service in the Vibe area is unlike service that I have ever experienced on a cruise ship. The waiting staff is so good at getting to know you and making sure that you are taken care of that it's great. However, if you are not a VIP on Norwegian or have a way of getting onto the ship before the general public... good luck at getting one of 70 limited passes for this area. Obviously my husband and I proved that it is possible to get these passes if you really hustle, but waking up at 7am, rushing to the port, and then running like crazy to get the passes is not a good way to start your vacation. Even worse, is doing all of that but still missing out because the passes to sell out in two minutes. There were a lot of disappointed/angry people that weren't able to get the Vibe passes during our cruise. I am predicting that someone is going to get hurt on a Norwegian cruise because people are running to get these passes. I think the Vibe area would be better if rooms were sold as a "Vibe room category" just like the Havana area is sold on Vista. Now I know some nay-sayers might say, "Well Norwegian does have an exclusive area that you can buy a room type for... the Haven." And to that I say... Yes you are correct. However, for a week in the Vibe area it only costs $200 extra per couple. Haven rooms start between $3,500 up to $7,500 per person, so I'm not going to call that comparable to the Havana area on Carnival Vista which is around that $200 extra price point. CV 3 vs. NE 0



Drinking Package

 

I would say that an area that Norwegian definitely stands out from other lines is that they include the all you can drink package with your cruise (if you pick that promotion). This really gives cruising a different feel because you don't have to worry about money as much. Also, Norwegian has a really good variety of bars that have different types of drinks at them. We found the drinks to be much more tasty and convenient to get on Norwegian than Carnival. We did end up spending around $900 on the drinking package on Carnival so that we "wouldn't have to worry about spending money on drinks." Well, that actually had the opposite effect, because my worry shifted to worrying about drinking enough to get my money's worth. And I would say that in the end, we felt like we did not get our money's worth for what we ended up drinking. We drank way more on Norwegian than we did on Carnival. NE 1 vs. CV 3

Lunch Options

I feel compelled to break up the food category into multiple categories, because in some areas I felt Carnival was stronger in and others I liked Norwegian better. So for lunch... Vista wins! Carnival has teamed up with Guy Fieri and his two lunch areas on the ship are the BOMB! We loved the Burger Joint and Pig and Anchor. Vista also had a chinese and Italian restaurant that served lunch portions for free too. We often didn't eat lunch on Norwegian because there weren't any exciting lunch venue places like there were on Vista. CV 4 vs. NE1

Edited June 10, 2017 by melnemac32

[melnemac32]

Dinner Options

However, for dinner options... I have to say that the Escape wins, and I think this is another area where Norwegian stands out. You can eat at any type of restaurant you could want on the Escape for dinner... hibachi, italian, french, brazilian, steak house, seafood and etc... The range of dinner options on the Escape is outstanding and they all have high quality food in them too. There were so many options that we weren't able to go to all the places that we wanted during the 7 day cruise. I also like that their specialty dining options are reasonably priced. Another big difference between the Escape and Vista is that on the Escape you can walk right up the restaurant and get your seating assignment. On the Vista you have to go up to the floor above the dining room to get your seating assignment, which seems like a really bizarre set up to me. I have no idea why Carnival decided to do that. NE2 vs. CV 4



Dessert









The dessert options have to go to Carnival Vista! Carnival's signature dessert, the chocolate melt cake, is legendary! Not only that but Vista also has a whole buffet section dedicated to desserts in their buffet area, and they have a really good ice cream place called Cherry on Top where you can make ice combinations kind of like Cold Stone. They also had a milkshake spot where you could order regular and alcoholic milkshakes. Sorry Norwegian... you're just not competing on the dessert level. CV 5 vs. NE 2



Cruise ship Apps





 

It's the digital age, so obviously both cruise lines have an app that you can hook up on your phone and use for free on the ship. Both apps show you your onboard balance and activities that were upcoming on the ship. I would that Carnival's app was a little better than Norwegian's because it also showed you pictures that were taken of you by their photographers, and it also had a feature that allowed you to mark upcoming activities as a favorite, and then you could sort your day by your favorite activities. This made it very easy to see when the activities you were interested in were coming up on Vista. Norwegian's app did not have this feature, and I found myself wishing for it while we were on the cruise. CV 6 vs. NE 2



Appearance of the ship











I honestly usually think that most cruise ships look pretty similar to each other... but I have to say I absolutely loved the Escape's chandelier. It caught my attention from the moment that we walked onto the ship. It was truly the centerpiece of the ship and it was beautiful... especially at night when it changed colors. Vista's had a digital column that just didn't compare to this at all. NE 3 vs. CV 5



Theater Seating on the ship













You might think that it's odd that I'm rating the theater seating on a ship, but I feel compelled to do this, because the Carnival Vista has the WORST theater setup I've ever seen. You walk in and all of the chairs are right on top of each other. There were chairs that were fixed in their position, and then there were ones that could move. It's almost like they decided "Oh we have quite a bit of room in-between these aisles, let's bring in some extra chairs and set them down to get an extra row of seating." which caused there to be no room in-between the rows of seats. The theater also didn't have stadium (or raised platform) seating, so if someone tall was in front of you... forget about being able to see. You can't tell in this picture, but they also have large/gigantic support beams that block your view in the theater. No matter where we sat in the Vista theater, I had a hard time viewing the show we were watching because people or support beams were blocking my view (it was very frustrating). The chairs also have these awkward little tables on them, presumably to put a drink on (but I feel like any drink could easily fall off that little table). The Norwegian's Escape theater was like a breath of fresh air after having been on Vista, because it was set up like a large movie theater which was absolutely refreshing after being on Vista. All I have to say about the construction of the Vista theater is why?!?!? I'm thinking that they must have wanted it to not feel like a theater... but... that's what it is... so I don't know what they were going for. NE 4 vs. CV 5





Theater Show Entertainment











I think that the Escape wins in the theater entertainment department as well. They have very high quality productions almost every night. And not only do they have one large theater venue (that actually works as a theater) they have another smaller area called the Supper Club that puts on very good shows as well. I also think that the Escape's entertainment was more consistently good than Vista's. We went to a juggler on Vista who I honestly think would have been X'd on American's Got Talent. And the juggler that we saw on the Escape had won the gold medal in the world juggling competition (Yes apparently there is a competition for everything in Vegas haha). NE 5 vs. CV 5

Edited June 10, 2017 by melnemac32

[melnemac32]

Comedy Club

 

I have to say that Vista wins in the comedian department. Carnival changes comedians every 3 days on their ship, so literally almost every night you can go to a different comedy show if you'd like to. Norwegian keeps the same comedians on their ship the whole cruise, and you can only go to their shows one time during the cruise. CV 7 vs. NE 5

 

Photography

 



 

Welcome to the future of cruise photography!! Instead of printing out every picture they take of you and putting it into a binder for you to review (yes I'm calling you out Norwegian Escape) the Carnival Vista has huge digital screens that you can type your room number on and pull up all of your pictures. You can also view all of our pictures on their Carnival Hub app. I thought that this was brilliant, and I bet that this is a style that all cruise ships will adopt in the future. CV 8 vs. NE 5

 

Piano Bar





 

Norwegian Escape wins the Piano Bar competition hands down. Howl at the Moon is outstanding and is so much fun to be at, and it has a very different atmosphere than the piano bar on Vista. Howl at the Moon has two pianos and 3 different performers. In addition to the piano's they have a drum set and two guitars. They have a light production and a video taping them while they perform (displayed on TVs throughout the room so that everyone can see). Every hour the performers rotate out and get a 30 minute break. Also they interact with each so well. They back each other up, joke around, and if one person doesn't know a song they can throw it over to have the other person sing the song. Whereas, on Vista there was one girl on a piano that sang 6 days a week for 6 hours straight. I don't care how entertaining that one person is on Carnival... they can't compete with Howl at the Moon. NE 6 vs. CV8

 

The Crew

 

 

Now I don't have anything negative to say about Carnival's crew... but I just don't have anything to say that really stands out to me either. However, on the Escape there were several crew members that knew our name and even bartenders that knew our drinks. The crew on the Escape also seemed to have a lot of energy and seemed to have a lot of pride in their work. I also liked that at the finale show that Norwegian called up the room stewards, bartenders, waiters, and etc... to be recognized for their hard work throughout the cruise. NE 7 vs. CV 8

 

Loyalty Program

 

These cruises were our 3rd and 4th cruises that we've been on and they were our second cruises on each cruise line. I didn't feel that we got any recognition on Vista for being a repeat guest. Whereas, on the Escape we got a bottle of champagne, strawberries, and promotions for future cruises. And after talking with different people in the Vibe, I believe that Norwegian has the best loyalty program out of any of the cruise lines, and I think that Norwegian takes care of it's loyal customers really well. NE 8 vs. CV 8

 

Exiting from the Ship

One thing that annoyed me on Carnival Vista is that their ports are not convenient for their passengers. They specifically herded us through gift shops and made the walks off of the ship more congested and slower (and sometimes even longer). Norwegian did not drop us off at one port where we had to walk through a gift shop to enter through the port. They also had carts that were shuttling passengers to and from ports that had longer piers. NE 9 vs. CV 8

 

Returning onto the Ship

 



 

Norwegian knows how to treat their guests! When you come back onto their ships they always have drinks and cold wash clothes to help refresh you. At one port they were also passing out popsicles to everyone. Another time, they had balloons set up and the crew was dancing to songs and welcoming you back onto the ship. I can't remember Vista ever doing anything like that. NE 10 vs. CV 8

[melnemac32]

Carnival Vista won 8/18 of my categories:

Embarkation Process, Room Availability, Exclusive Areas, Lunch Options, Dessert Options, Cruise ship App, Comedy Club, and Photography.

 

 

 

 

The Norwegian Escape won 10/18 of my categories:

Drinking Package, Dinner Options, Theater Seating, Theater shows, Piano Bar, The Crew, Loyalty Program, Exiting from the ship, and Returning onto the ship.

 

I do feel that some of the categories that Norwegian won like the drinking package, dinner, and entertainment options were really big hitters. After having been on both ships, I think that we enjoyed our time on the Escape more than on Vista. **With one exception, the Havana area on Carnival Vista was the best area that we've ever had access to on a cruise ship.** The Escape had high quality entertainment that changed frequently enough that we never got bored at night on the ship (like did towards the end of the cruise on Vista). Similarly with the food options, we got to try a bunch of different places to eat on the Escape and it never felt like we were going to the same place over and over again (like it did on Vista). In the future I think that we will be sailing with Norwegian over Carnival.

 

If anyone has any other questions about the two ships please let me know!

[Kealy]

What a fun review and comparison. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[easyboy]

Thank you for your comparison in your review. Very useful information.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[Two Wheels Only]

One of the biggest weaknesses of the BA/BA+ ships is the limited pool area. How does Vista compare?

 

One of the biggest weaknesses of....Carnival is the behavior of the guests. What was your experience?

 

Having the option of the Haven (at a cost, obviously) is difficult to compare to anything other than MSC's Yacht Club if staying within roughly the same price range. How did the 2 staterooms compare on cost? (no need for exact numbers, just which felt like the better value)

[Two Wheels Only]

We often didn't eat lunch on Norwegian because there weren't any exciting lunch venue places like there were on Vista. CV 4 vs. NE1

Did you skip Pinchos and Food Republic?

[tallnthensome]

Great reviews! I've sailed both and thought the Escape was a bit better overall . The pool area on the Vista was better. The food was way way better on the Escape in the MDR and buffet. As someone else mentioned, the passengers on the Escape were better without the behavior of some we had on the Vista.

[toothfary7]

That was a great review. We have been on both lines (though not on the Vista, but a couple times on the Carnival Breeze). You hit the nail on the head! Carnival truly has to do something about their entertainment. Thank you for taking the time to write this!!

[shof515]

 

You might think that it's odd that I'm rating the theater seating on a ship, but I feel compelled to do this, because the Carnival Vista has the WORST theater setup I've ever seen. You walk in and all of the chairs are right on top of each other. There were chairs that were fixed in their position, and then there were ones that could move. It's almost like they decided "Oh we have quite a bit of room in-between these aisles, let's bring in some extra chairs and set them down to get an extra row of seating." which caused there to be no room in-between the rows of seats. The theater also didn't have stadium (or raised platform) seating, so if someone tall was in front of you... forget about being able to see. You can't tell in this picture, but they also have large/gigantic support beams that block your view in the theater. No matter where we sat in the Vista theater, I had a hard time viewing the show we were watching because people or support beams were blocking my view (it was very frustrating). The chairs also have these awkward little tables on them, presumably to put a drink on (but I feel like any drink could easily fall off that little table). The Norwegian's Escape theater was like a breath of fresh air after having been on Vista, because it was set up like a large movie theater which was absolutely refreshing after being on Vista. All I have to say about the construction of the Vista theater is why?!?!? I'm thinking that they must have wanted it to not feel like a theater... but... that's what it is... so I don't know what they were going for. NE 4 vs. CV 5

 

when i was on the carnival vista last year, i hated the horrible theater venue. I also saw the crew taking out and pulling in the chairs, it is a lot of additional work for the crew which is bad i think. In a few weeks, i am sailing on the Carnival Sunshine that has the same theater setup. Next year, Carnival Vista sister ship the Carnival Horizon will have the same theater venue too. Its sad this is the direction that Carnival is heading. Carnival used to have an amazing 3 floor high theater venue with bench type stadium seating, a big table in the middle and plenty of legroom, lucky all of the older Carnival ships still have this.

[taylortime05]

Hi, Can you give me any tips on trying to get 2 vibe passes? Do we both need to be present to purchase the 2 vibe passes? Thanks for the great review. We are sailing on our 3rd cruise, 1st with NCL on Escape Nov 25.

[melnemac32]

One of the biggest weaknesses of the BA/BA+ ships is the limited pool area. How does Vista compare?

 

One of the biggest weaknesses of....Carnival is the behavior of the guests. What was your experience?

 

Having the option of the Haven (at a cost, obviously) is difficult to compare to anything other than MSC's Yacht Club if staying within roughly the same price range. How did the 2 staterooms compare on cost? (no need for exact numbers, just which felt like the better value)

 

You are spot on with the Escape having worse pools than Vista. I almost gave Vista a point for this, but we never spent any time at the public pool areas on either ship (because we were either in the Havana or Vibe) so I didn't feel that I could say how crowded one was vs the other. However, I will say that including the pool in the Havana, Vista had at least 3 (maybe even 4 pools) to the Escape's 1 pool. I can't comment on how crowded the public pool areas were, but I will say that the hot tubs and pool in the Havana area were almost always empty. There was more than one night when my husband and I sat in the hot tub alone with each other and watched the sunset in the Havana area. Even in the Vibe area it seemed like the hot tub was always crowded.

 

We did witness some rude people on Carnival. We heard people saying that Carnival's 15 drink maximum wasn't a limit but a challenge. We also saw those same people talking really nasty/dirty to the poor girl performing at the Piano Bar too. But I'm not sure that I can blame those people's attitude on Vista. They might have just been rude people?? They certainly had money because they were tipping her $100 bills at a time, so I feel like we could have experienced those people on any ship.

 

It's hard to compare our rooms on Vista vs. the Escape, because on the Vista we were in a interior Havana room (only Havana room they had left on the sailing) and then we were in a mini-suite on the Escape. I feel like our mini-suite on the Escape wasn't all that much more than our interior Havana room on Vista (however, the extra that we paid to have access to the Havana area was worth every penny we spent. I can't imagine going on Vista and not having access to this area). If you take into consideration the $900 we spent on the drinking package on the Vista... I would say that we felt that we got a better value for our money on the Escape.

Edited June 10, 2017 by melnemac32

[melnemac32]

Did you skip Pinchos and Food Republic?

 

 

We didn't realize that they did lunch! I thought that they only served dinner... so maybe we just missed out then!

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

I wouldn't think the behavior of the passengers on the Vista would be much different than the behavior of the passengers on any NCL ship. I wouldn't be surprised if the OP spent more for her Vista cruise in off peak season than her Escape cruise in peak season. Especially if you throw in the cost of Cheers. I think the behavior reputation on Carnival comes from those ships that are about ten years overdue for the scrapyard. Carnival keeps running them for short cruises that you could almost pay for by vacuuming the loose change out of your car. It doesn't attract the best crowd.

[melnemac32]

when i was on the carnival vista last year, i hated the horrible theater venue. I also saw the crew taking out and pulling in the chairs, it is a lot of additional work for the crew which is bad i think. In a few weeks, i am sailing on the Carnival Sunshine that has the same theater setup. Next year, Carnival Vista sister ship the Carnival Horizon will have the same theater venue too. Its sad this is the direction that Carnival is heading. Carnival used to have an amazing 3 floor high theater venue with bench type stadium seating, a big table in the middle and plenty of legroom, lucky all of the older Carnival ships still have this.

 

Ugh!! No! Say it isn't so! I agree with older ships being better, because we went on the Carnival Legend about 4 years ago, and I remember thinking that the theater and shows were great. The theater and quality of the entertainment was disappointing on Vista. Vista is really onto something with the Havana area that they created, but their lack of a proper theater (and consistently good quality performers in it) will keep us from going back to Carnival in the future I think.

[melnemac32]

Hi, Can you give me any tips on trying to get 2 vibe passes? Do we both need to be present to purchase the 2 vibe passes? Thanks for the great review. We are sailing on our 3rd cruise, 1st with NCL on Escape Nov 25.

 

RUN!!!! And yes you both have to be present to get the Vibe passes. It is very hard to get them, because they only sell 70 of them. You have to position yourself to be the first general public on the ship. So that means you have to have boarding group 1 or 2, and line up quickly to where they let you on the ship. Then you will literally have to run to Headliners to buy the passes (you enter on the 8th floor, headliners is on the 6th floor). After the Haven, Platinum guests, and Casino guests got onto the ship first, there were only around 10-15 passes left for non-VIP guests on our cruise. We got up at 7am and made our way to the port and we BARELY got Vibe passes. There were many ticked off people that got there within 5 minutes of people boarding the ship to find the area sold out. It honestly was a terrible/stressful way to start our vacation, but the Vibe area is wonderful if you can get the passes. I wish that Norwegian would change their policy of first come first serve and make the Vibe area a room type to relieve the stress of trying to get the passes.

[melnemac32]

I wouldn't think the behavior of the passengers on the Vista would be much different than the behavior of the passengers on any NCL ship. I wouldn't be surprised if the OP spent more for her Vista cruise in off peak season than her Escape cruise in peak season. Especially if you throw in the cost of Cheers. I think the behavior reputation on Carnival comes from those ships that are about ten years overdue for the scrapyard. Carnival keeps running them for short cruises that you could almost pay for by vacuuming the loose change out of your car. It doesn't attract the best crowd.

 

 

I completely agree with you!! With the Cheers package and Havana room, I do feel like we paid more for our cruise on Vista (even in a mini-suite on the Escape). I would say that for the most part the crowd felt pretty much the same on Vista as the Escape. The only exception was those people that were trying to hit the 15 drink maximum per day "challenge" set up by Carnival.

[Two Wheels Only]

Vista had at least 3 (maybe even 4 pools) to the Escape's 1 pool.

Escape has 2 pools for the general public. The forward pool is adult-only during the day.

The other pools are in the Spa and in the Haven.

 

 

Do we both need to be present to purchase the 2 vibe passes?

Yes.

 

 

I wouldn't think the behavior of the passengers on the Vista would be much different than the behavior of the passengers on any NCL ship.

I disagree. Been there, done that with Carnival. Every cruise is different, however.

 

 

I think the behavior reputation on Carnival comes from those ships that are about ten years overdue for the scrapyard.

I've seen it on old, renovated, and new (maybe 3 years-old) Carnival ships. That's how I ended up with NCL in the Haven.

[Pat.D]

Great review! I also cruised the Vista and Escape last winter and agree with almost everything, and will second the fact that the theatre seating on the Vista is absolutely AWFUL! I took the "behind the fun" tour on the Vista and when we visited performers backstage at the theatre even they agreed they thought the seating was horrible.

 

Pat