Carnival Vista Review/thoughts - Southern 8 day - July 1st

[jimbo5544]

Matt is a super guy but I can. See how there can be burn out when your business life travels at Mach2. I agree, I hope he signs another deal with Carnival, it would be their loss to lose him.

 

 

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[georgiafan]

Your experience with Crowne Plaza shuttle was really frustrating!

Will be following.

 

Ugh....sorry about the shuttle mess, but glad things improved after that! You have a great story telling style. Looking forward to more.

 

Yea the hotel and shuttle thing was a disaster I know they have good reviews on trip advisor so maybe it was just bad luck with the time of night it was either way I wont be staying with them next time.

[georgiafan]

Matt is a super guy but I can. See how there can be burn out when your business life travels at Mach2. I agree, I hope he signs another deal with Carnival, it would be their loss to lose him.

 

 

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He mentioned how he didn't want to do it if he was burnt out which wasn't the case now. Yea it would be a huge loss he is only 31 so I am guessing he has a few more years in him before he starts a family.

 

I know you post a lot what is the easiest way to post pics? I don't like having to use a 3rd party site that's frustrating and so Is only being able multi quote 2 messages

 

 

Looking forward to reading more of your review, as we were on the Transatlantic sailing with Matt & John Heald. Was Cookie (on the entertainment staff) on your sailing? He was so funny, and had the biggest crush on Matt!

 

There wasn't anyone like that on board the other memoarable ones I haven't talked about was Ryan (Alabama) and Alex from (Miami) alex hosted a lot of stuff and was getting off the ship when we was. Also had a guy that looked like Bernie Mac, but I don't think he ever hosted anything. Typically If I saw nono wasn't hosting the event I would leave lol

[jimbo5544]

He mentioned how he didn't want to do it if he was burnt out which wasn't the case now. Yea it would be a huge loss he is only 31 so I am guessing he has a few more years in him before he starts a family.

 

I know you post a lot what is the easiest way to post pics? I don't like having to use a 3rd party site that's frustrating and so Is only being able multi quote 2 messages

 

 

 

 

There wasn't anyone like that on board the other memoarable ones I haven't talked about was Ryan (Alabama) and Alex from (Miami) alex hosted a lot of stuff and was getting off the ship when we was. Also had a guy that looked like Bernie Mac, but I don't think he ever hosted anything. Typically If I saw nono wasn't hosting the event I would leave lol

 

 

 

Posting pics is not all that easy. I have not tried on here using the new way. I use tinypic dot com

 

 

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[georgiafan]

Allure By Strings - Vista Will Miss Them

 

I had heard good things about this and it ended up being really cool and had a real classy vibe to it with a modern twist. They would take popular songs and play them with the violin so you would catch yourself singing along and trying to guess the song. Even if you don't know the song you can still enjoy it. I found myself trying to get ready for dinner 30 minutes early so I could listen to a few songs. On the last day when there wasn't much going on we ended up just playing cards in the main lobby where they always played and listening to them in the background.

 

Sadly they are going on vacation in 3 weeks and after that will be moving to the conquest. Whoever made that decision made a horrible call as they brought something unique and different. Hopefully they will be replaced by someone that does the same thing if not the Vista will not be the same. I have included a few random youtube videos of them.

 

 

 

 

 

[georgiafan]

Ugh....sorry about the shuttle mess, but glad things improved after that! You have a great story telling style. Looking forward to more.

 

Thanks glad you like it I am not sure what I am doing really, but I am giving it my best shot. The site is being really aggravating with freezes and error messages.

[georgiafan]

Top Notch Live Music Options

 

I am very picky about my music as I am a hardcore traditional country music fan so I go to a lot of concerts. I can still appreciate talent of other genres and while the singers in the main production show was awful (more on that later) the options for music around the ship was the best I had ever seen.

 

A few quick notes the guy that played at the red frog bar was ok a typical cruise ship guy. He wasn't good enough to make you go out of your way to listen to or anything. If you wanted to just sit at the bar and listen to music he was fine. I don't remember his name, but can look it up on the fun times when I get home.

 

One or two nights they had a guy playing the steel drums at the red frog bar I would have preferred that more then the normal guy at the red frog bar.

 

This was the piano bar which is a place I never go to as I don't want to hear Elton John and Frank Sinatra music. It was after 12 one night so my options was either the dance club with rap music or the piano bar which was packed out. I decided to go in and it was actually very fun even though I think I was the only sober person in the room. Similar to the violinist she was playing modern songs that you don't typically hear. She also had a book with songs and had sheets of paper for you to give request on. Another neat thing was she gave you the option of standing beside her and signing along which lots of people did. While her vocal talent wasn't that good she was very interactive and it was a neat atmosphere that was packed all the time.

 

She does a PG show like 9-11 and a 18+ show like 11-1 so don't go to the 18+ show if you are easily offended. I made the mistake of talking my mom and step dad into going and they walked out after a song about her "cat" that ran away.

 

 

 

I don't know this guys name, but he had the best male voice on the ship which isn't saying much. He went back and forth with production shows and a few shows in the ocean plaza. The Motown show was a huge hit.

 

To me this group "lennox lust" was the best on the ship which I may like them more then most people as I am a a fan of acoustic music and that's what they play. They mostly played at the ocean plaza and a few nights in the main atrium. She has the best voice on the ship and they both seem nice and seem to be able to play anything that was requested regardless of genre

 

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[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review, especially about the entertainment.

[isaiahsnana]

Following with great interest. Three friends and I are on this sailing on July 29. Thanks for the great review!

[georgiafan]

Amazing Desserts in MDR

Eating sweets is very important to me so I wasn't sure what to expect here I knew I had the warm chocolate melting cake I could always get. The desserts was so good I ended up not having to get the warm chocolate melting cake till day 7. That was the same for the other 5 people in our group except for one person that got it on day 1. All of these are from the free MDR so none that you have to pay for. They definitely get a 10 out of 10 for the desserts for the week. Here are some of the pics let me know if you want me to post more.

 

someone was asking about menu's ours was the same as the ones in this thread except for the port choices http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2474611&highlight=vista

 

 

S'mores Parfait (my personal fav of the week)

 

 

 

I think this was the coffee cream cake i'll ask my bro to confirm

 

Caramelized phyllo with caramel cream

 

 

 

Tiramisu

 

 

Malted chocolate hazelnut cake

[georgiafan]

Real Ice Cream on the Lido Deck

 

This was another thing that I was excited to try as I love ice cream and the stale same 3 flavors get old quickly. I did end up getting one cone of the fake chocolate/ strawberry in a cone for old times sake. It just wasn't the same and will be hard to go back to it if I have to on the next cruise. I couldn't never confirm how long exactly this went for but it was 2-3 hours every day starting at 12. With the ways the ports was La Romana not taking long and Aruba not porting till 1:30 I was also able to catch the good ice cream on the port days. The great thing is the 2 flavors change out every day and they have cool options not your standard flavors. There was still lots of people getting the fake stuff not sure why as this was 10 times better. Also they had a topping bar with about 8 choices that didn't change with things like sprinkles, sauces, cookie crumbs etc. A lot of times I would have to wait a few minutes for it to finish making, but never more then a few minutes. I would usually ask for 2 scoops with 2 different bowls and they filled them up no problem and was friendly doing so.

 

I am trying to remember all the flavors as they had 10 total basically what it was is one flavors for the ladies and one for the men.

 

Coffee

Taramisu

Hazelnut

Salted Caramel

 

Mango

Coconut

Rasberry

 

 

 

[georgiafan]

Following with great interest. Three friends and I are on this sailing on July 29. Thanks for the great review!

 

 

Thanks feel free to ask questions if I don't cover anything I will prob post some more stuff on the dinning room, ship activities and imax next

 

Enjoying your review, especially about the entertainment.

 

Thanks glad your enjoying it

[CARNIVALCRUISE3]

Thanks so much for your amazing review! I sailed aboard the Vista in April and will sail on her once again next week!

[georgiafan]

Vista Activities

 

Here are the activities on the ship the pics I have don't really add anything so I doubt I will post them. With a full ship I didn't even try to do this on sea days during peak hours. They would close about 4:30 so I would just start checking about a hour before closing time and the wait wasn't a issue or early in the morning if your up.

 

Waterslides - They are 2 waterslides on the ship one that you do with a raft and another that you slide down. I preferred the one that didn't have the raft as it went faster. I would make sure you wear a shirt of some kind as I didn't and its pretty rough on your back. Also there isn't a place to keep your stuff once you get tothe top so I had to hold all kinds of stuff in my hand when I did it. At first I was going to go bare footed then the sun was so hot that wasn't a option. I had water shoes in the room, but didn't feel like getting them so I just held my sandals. It was cool seeing all the colors on the raft one just went to slowfor me.

 

Ropes Course - There was 2 courses a easy one and a hard one I ended up starting out with the easy course and then did the hard course twice. I would say 75% of people including kids was doing the hard side. The easy course wasn't much to it except for maybe one section toward the start of it. You don't have to be in great shape or young to finish the easy side. The line here was never long at odd hours also if your a guy the safety harness will not be comfortable

 

Sky Ride - I ended up doing this twice and it was very neat and something that should be added to all carnival ships since it doesn't takeup any space really. You race two at a time and each side gets a downwind at different times. If your looking to race someone get on the side that ends on the outside as you will get the down hill side toward the end when your getting tired. Every time we raced that side won so don't listen to the people when they say they are the same as the down hill slope toward the end is a huge advantage. Its more of a workout then I expected on your legs, but nothing to worry about it. The safety thing you have to put on is pretty annoying that's part of it though.

 

Golf Course - This is a 9 hole mini golf course with 6 holes down stairs and 3 upstairs. The holes were more complex and unique then any others I have seen. They also had plenty of paper and pencils for you to keep score with. I heard some of the stuff lights up at night I never tried at night to see.

 

Sky Billiards - This is the combo of soccer and pool and its one thing that I didn't get to do because every time I tried to get it kids was always using it. I am sure it would have been fun just with the kids thing beside it close to impossible to get free.



Mini Bowling - It was like 3$ and everything was small and not a full game so It wasn't worth paying for.

 

4 person ping pong - With the wind this is pretty much useless neat concept though just the ball would always go flying.

 

Twister - I didn't try this out I am sure it would have been cool the thing you spin is on the side of the wall

 

Corn hole - The wind didn't effect this as it was blocked by the building the targets was closer together then standard rules. I didn't try and move them there was space to make it longer if you wanted.

 

Billiards/ Foosball - It was a cool to see them outdoors my family did the foosball I never used them.

[georgiafan]

Brunch a Major Success

 

They serve brunch in the MDR everyday from around 9 to 1 which I ended up going 3 times to. The perfect thing about this is wither you get up early and want lunch or sleep late and want breakfast you can come here and skip the lido buffet. I didn't get a picture of the steak and eggs, but I highly recommend it who can turn down free filet mignon for lunch? Some of the things are kind of hide on the menu so look closely. The French toast with cereal is better then it looks due to the crunch of the cereal and the portions they give you of it are huge.

 

Toward the end of the ship I guess word had gotten out and they was having to pull people from the lido deck and even managers to help clean tables and wait on people. That day over 2,000 people had ate brunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fruit Loop French Toast

 

 

Chocolate Chip Pankcakes

 

 

French Toast

[cyntil8ing]

One month from today, I'll be getting ready to get my huevos rancheros fix.

[georgiafan]

Thanks so much for your amazing review! I sailed aboard the Vista in April and will sail on her once again next week!

 

 

Thanks for the kind words I am jealous I am ready to go back on the ship already

 

One month from today, I'll be getting ready to get my huevos rancheros fix.

 

I never tried that one, but I could easily have ate there once a day with all the options and not got tired of it.

[georgiafan]

So apparently you cant edit anything on this thread which makes no sense to me at all anyway the brunch is only on sea days not when your in port

[buckeyeinmd]

One month from today, I'll be getting ready to get my huevos rancheros fix.

 

I'll be right there also.

 

Doug

[buckeyeinmd]

Enjoying this review...Hope there is more to come.

 

Doug

[georgiafan]

First Class Vets Gathering

The veterans gathering they have on the last day in the liquid lounge is a new event that Matt started and its the kind of thing that's very easy to skip. The fun times doesn't say what it is and most people want to be in the sun on your last day before going home. Matt wanted everyone to post about it and get the word out so it continues to grow. He said the plan is to do this on every carnival ship soon. It ended up being incredible moving to the point that it brought tears and other emotions from a lot of the veterans. Matt started out saying a few words and then the theme songs was played for your branch you stood up. They brought a singer out for a few patriotic songs and then had a open forum where people could make comments. It was first class and everyone should take a little time out from the sun and go to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cyntil8ing]

So apparently you cant edit anything on this thread which makes no sense to me at all

 

You can edit for a short period of time, 10 minutes or so, just enough to re-read and find any typos.

[buckeyeinmd]

First Class Vets Gathering

 

Sounds like a great time.

 

Doug

[georgiafan]

Yea the military gathering was very well done

 

Thanks on the editing tip I wasn't sure how it worked that's still pretty annoying

 

 

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[Clarasgrandma]

Thanks for sharing! Would love it if they feared real ice cream on our next cruise!