Just off Vista today - some thoughts

[jimbo5544]

We did the same itinerary as you did last September. Vista was the newest and biggest ship we had ever been on (16 total cruises all Carnival).

 

Loved the staff. Loved the outsdoor seating at red Frog and the self serve beer stations. Loved the food and service at Bonsai.

 

Did NOT love:

 

Steakhouse

MDR

Liquid Lounge

Comedy Club

Cabin size

 

The running theme for us was that it seemed like everything was SMALLER on the BIGGEST ship.

 

We had a great time, and I wouldn't say "never again" to the Vista, but it was far, FAR from being a ship we liked. Give me a Spirit Class any day of the week!!!

 

 

 

Cabin size? Really?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

I just sailed the Vista 8-day cruise to La Romana, Grand Turk, Curacao and Aruba. I went with my daughter and my 14-yr-old granddaughter. We had a great time thanks in large part to the fantastic entertainment team headed up by Matt Mitcham and his cohorts Richie Rich and Cheeky Charlie (Charlotte). I have no idea what Carnival pays these people, but whatever it is should be doubled - they absolutely make this ship a "fun" ship! All of the music venues were good - the New Age Strings in the Atrium were wonderful - I wish they had a CD.

As for the ship, I have to say it is very underwhelming and disappointing overall. I sailed the Breeze in 2015 and thought the decor just so-so, but it was stunning compared to the Vista. I feel Carnival has really dumbed down their ships. There is absolutely nothing impressive about the Vista - it felt congested everywhere, the cabins were noticeably smaller ( we had a balcony on deck 8), the public areas are WAY too small for this size ship, the main theater (Liquid Lounge) is a joke. The only good sight lines are in the very front seats. There is no graduated incline, the floor is flat so all you see is heads in front of you. Don't even think about seeing anything from the tiny balcony - there's nothing but fat poles and those plastic panels that you have to keep trying to look over or under. There is a large circular sofa in the center balcony from which you can only see the top of the stage curtain!!!The chairs on the lower floor are straight-back, removal ones that are very uncomfortable. This area might work for bingo, but it is a miserable fail as a theater.

Our cabin would have been OK for 2 but was very tight for 3 people. There are only 3 drawers so our room always looked like a bomb had gone off, lol. There are no outlets in the bathroom. The sofa serves as a bed but is as hard as a piece of granite. We asked our room steward if he could put an eggcrate on it but he said everyone was requesting one and they'd run out. He did put a cushioned mattress pad on it which helped. There just wasn't any room to walk though if you use the sofa as a bed, as the back bolsters are then placed against the wall at the foot of the "real" beds which makes it nearly impossible to get to the balcony. We never had this problem on the Breeze, same category cabin.

I miss the hot tubs on deck 5 - they were replaced by circular bed-loungers. Boo-hoo.

 

As for the dining room, we had anytime dining and it really seems strange to check in on deck 5 and then walk down to deck 3 to be seated. The dining room was one of my biggest disappointments - it's downright ugly, the tables (with the exception of the round ones in the center) are so close, maybe 6 - 12" apart, that the waiters' rear ends are practically in your face when they're trying to serve the adjacent table. They must hate it. It's noisy, there are servers scraping off dirty plates everywhere you look, there's just nothing that makes you want to be there. The food was OK, prime rib was good, many meats were dried out though. I'm sure it's difficult to prepare meals for this number of people and I can say I never left hungry. We all felt the meal felt very rushed, there was no personal interaction with the servers like there has been in past years. I really missed that.

 

The lido buffet area was best to be avoided. The aisles are so narrow and there are so many "blind" spots where crew come around the corner carrying trays of dirty dishes that I always felt one second away from a disaster. Who in the world designed this ship?!!!

 

And the atrium. What can I say that hasn't been said already. It would have looked and worked fine 20 - 25 years ago on a much smaller ship, but not on this one.

 

I REALLY wanted to love this ship but it's blah decor, cramped public spaces and total lack of any wow factor prevented it. Did it stop us from having a fun cruise - absolutely not, we had a blast! The ship has a great energy about it thanks to the cruise director and his talented staff. I love that there's music everywhere, dance parties nearly every night, wonderful clubs for kids of all ages, lots of shady spots on deck 5 promenade. Our cabin steward serviced our room twice a day and kept our ice bucket filled. He also knew our names!

 

I'm just disappointed in the ship, not the cruise. The people made it special and unforgettable. I'm sure I'll think of more positives in the next few days and I'm sorry my observations sound negative. I just wish the powers that be were putting more thought into the design of future ships - bigger and more congested doesn't make it better.

 

I completely agree with you! I got married on the Vista last June and hated the ship.