VISTA, just off, hot topics

[Chief93]

Returned from the Vista on Oct 21^st and want to comment on some of the hot and controversial topics I’ve seen on the boards.  Please remember that this is my own personal experience and yours may vary.  Feel free to ask any questions.

 

Priority Boarding.  We arrived at 10:30 and being Platinum went through the priority line.  I’d estimate there were about 100 Diamond and Platinum.  Upon checking in the agent stated that our cabins would be ready at 1:30.  I said “Thank you” and waited.  Boarding was quick and we were on board by 11:15.  I had a balcony forward on deck 8 and went straight there.  The doors were closed with the standard sign that says “your cabins will be ready after 1:30.”  I opened said door, walked to my cabin, found it ready with my cards in the mailbox.  Note that one of the TV channels is called “Things to Know” and one of the graphics stated:

STATEROOM ACCESS TIMES:

GENERAL                    1:30PM

PRIORITY                    11:45AM

DIAMOND AND PLATINUM/FASTER TO THE FUN

 

I took a picture but don’t know how to upload it.

 

Atrium.  I did not like the atrium.  I like walking on the Lido deck and being able to look down into the atrium to see if anything interesting is going on.  It does make the ship feel more closed in. 

 

Décor.  I liked the décor.  The MDR had a nice restaurant feel to it.  And I loved the décor and layout on the Lido deck.

 

The Layout.  On the good side, you don’t have to walk through the casino to get anywhere.  On the bad side, you’re always walking down what feels like a hallway.  I miss the open ocean views.

 

The elevators.  OMG.  They are slow, and not every elevator goes to every floor.  There are fewer elevators for more people.  The removal of the glass elevators from the atrium means there are three fewer elvators in that area.  One other area, maybe midship, only had 4 four elevators instead of six.  Note that only ONE elevator goes to deck 14, so if you have a cabin there you only get one elevator, and it also services ALL of the other decks. 

 

Food.  The food in the MDR was decent.  The food at the buffet was very good I thought.  Someone here complained that the food no longer has a theme….chinese dishes being on the buffet with pasta etc.  I liked it.  There was more variety.  Also, I noticed that smaller pan of food were on the buffet, and changed more ofted.  One day they had braised oxtails and it was delicious.  There is also a self serve beer station on the Lido that is very convenient.

 

Premade Sandwiches.  I was very unhappy about this change until I actually went there.  The sandwiches are awesome.  They are not entirely premade, I’d call it partially assembled.  And they are huge and very, very good.

 

Cakes.  They had the new cakes.  Simply amazing.  Beautiful and delicious.

 

Lines.   I did not think the lines were longer at any venue.  The ship did always feel crowded though.

 

Temperature.  I was able to keep my cabin ice cold even on a sunny day, which made me very happy.  However, public spaces were often uncomfortably warm.

 

One more thing, re-boarding the ship from the water shuttle in Belize and debarkation morning (priority debarkation) were both so chaotic, mismanaged and riddled with incompetence that had this been my first Carnival cruise I would never have gone back.  I certainly hope this was an aberrancy.

 

My wife loved the ship, said it was her favorite.  I would sail on it again, but given a choice would choose another.

[The7Harrisons]

Thanks for the info!!! We get on the boat in less than 3 weeks, I have heard a lot of different things both good and bad about Vista, I know its almost dumb but how would you rate over all 1 thru 10?

[Chief93]

6 minutes ago, The7Harrisons said:

Thanks for the info!!! We get on the boat in less than 3 weeks, I have heard a lot of different things both good and bad about Vista, I know its almost dumb but how would you rate over all 1 thru 10?

 

Cabin:          10

MDR:              7

Lido buffet:   10  (excellent food, loved the new layout)

Venues:         9   (restaurants, bars, pixels, etc)

Ship:              6  (public spaces, elevators)

Ship décor:     8

 

Overall I'd say an 8, and I'm omitting the nightmare that was debarkation and tendering.

 

I would not hesitate to cruise on the Vista again.  However, if the price and itinerary were identical I'd choose a Conquest or Dream class.

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by Chief93

[The7Harrisons]

Thank you and its very good info!!

[trvlgirlmq]

After recently going on a ship with an open atrium after 2 Vista cruises I can say I missed the Vista!  I hated how all the noise from the bar and music would filter up to the passenger decks.  You could hear it in the hallways.  

[LuckyStar]

4 hours ago, Chief93 said:

Returned from the Vista on Oct 21^st and want to comment on some of the hot and controversial topics I’ve seen on the boards.  Please remember that this is my own personal experience and yours may vary.  Feel free to ask any questions.

 

Priority Boarding.  We arrived at 10:30 and being Platinum went through the priority line.  I’d estimate there were about 100 Diamond and Platinum.  Upon checking in the agent stated that our cabins would be ready at 1:30.  I said “Thank you” and waited.  Boarding was quick and we were on board by 11:15.  I had a balcony forward on deck 8 and went straight there.  The doors were closed with the standard sign that says “your cabins will be ready after 1:30.”  I opened said door, walked to my cabin, found it ready with my cards in the mailbox.  Note that one of the TV channels is called “Things to Know” and one of the graphics stated:

STATEROOM ACCESS TIMES:

GENERAL                    1:30PM

PRIORITY                    11:45AM

DIAMOND AND PLATINUM/FASTER TO THE FUN

 

I took a picture but don’t know how to upload it.

 

Atrium.  I did not like the atrium.  I like walking on the Lido deck and being able to look down into the atrium to see if anything interesting is going on.  It does make the ship feel more closed in. 

 

Décor.  I liked the décor.  The MDR had a nice restaurant feel to it.  And I loved the décor and layout on the Lido deck.

 

The Layout.  On the good side, you don’t have to walk through the casino to get anywhere.  On the bad side, you’re always walking down what feels like a hallway.  I miss the open ocean views.

 

The elevators.  OMG.  They are slow, and not every elevator goes to every floor.  There are fewer elevators for more people.  The removal of the glass elevators from the atrium means there are three fewer elvators in that area.  One other area, maybe midship, only had 4 four elevators instead of six.  Note that only ONE elevator goes to deck 14, so if you have a cabin there you only get one elevator, and it also services ALL of the other decks. 

 

Food.  The food in the MDR was decent.  The food at the buffet was very good I thought.  Someone here complained that the food no longer has a theme….chinese dishes being on the buffet with pasta etc.  I liked it.  There was more variety.  Also, I noticed that smaller pan of food were on the buffet, and changed more ofted.  One day they had braised oxtails and it was delicious.  There is also a self serve beer station on the Lido that is very convenient.

 

Premade Sandwiches.  I was very unhappy about this change until I actually went there.  The sandwiches are awesome.  They are not entirely premade, I’d call it partially assembled.  And they are huge and very, very good.

 

Cakes.  They had the new cakes.  Simply amazing.  Beautiful and delicious.

 

Lines.   I did not think the lines were longer at any venue.  The ship did always feel crowded though.

 

Temperature.  I was able to keep my cabin ice cold even on a sunny day, which made me very happy.  However, public spaces were often uncomfortably warm.

 

One more thing, re-boarding the ship from the water shuttle in Belize and debarkation morning (priority debarkation) were both so chaotic, mismanaged and riddled with incompetence that had this been my first Carnival cruise I would never have gone back.  I certainly hope this was an aberrancy.

 

My wife loved the ship, said it was her favorite.  I would sail on it again, but given a choice would choose another.

Thank you for this.  We have 177 days until the Vista. 

[laumicmah]

4 hours ago, Chief93 said:

 

Cabin:          10

MDR:              7

Lido buffet:   10  (excellent food, loved the new layout)

Venues:         9   (restaurants, bars, pixels, etc)

Ship:              6  (public spaces, elevators)

Ship décor:     8

 

Overall I'd say an 8, and I'm omitting the nightmare that was debarkation and tendering.

 

I would not hesitate to cruise on the Vista again.  However, if the price and itinerary were identical I'd choose a Conquest or Dream class.

 

Thanks for sharing. Recently went on Horizon. I too give it an 8 and have somewhat similar ratings (though was not thrilled with actual buffet food, but did enjoy the many other options like Guy's and wok and seafood counter and pizza...also had some cabin issues with my Havana inside on deck 6). And our disembark was horrible chaos too. Though I know others who had a smooth disembark on the same cruise...so go figure. I'd go back on her or Vista...just for the Havana section (which was AWESOME). But DH says he'd prefer not to (wants to stick with Conquest or Fantasy class, smaller ship). 

[ilovethesparkles]

I was on the same sailing! We were in a spa room on deck 14 forward, and there were 2 elevators that went all the way up to us and only 1 that went to serenity. The elevators were horrible everywhere, IMO. We always had to walk down a level to try to get an elevator. Getting one to 14 was impossible! If you need an elevator and cant take the stairs, do not even think about booking a spa room.

[PhillyFan33579]

8 hours ago, Chief93 said:

 

Cabin:          10

MDR:              7

Lido buffet:   10  (excellent food, loved the new layout)

Venues:         9   (restaurants, bars, pixels, etc)

Ship:              6  (public spaces, elevators)

Ship décor:     8

 

Overall I'd say an 8, and I'm omitting the nightmare that was debarkation and tendering.

 

I would not hesitate to cruise on the Vista again.  However, if the price and itinerary were identical I'd choose a Conquest or Dream class.

 

 

I agree with you 100% that Conquest and Dream class ships are superior to Vista class ships.  At one time I had 2 cruises booked on Vista, but after our first cruise on Vista, I cancelled our second Vista cruise and booked a cruise on Magic instead.  I had fun on Vista, but there were too many changes that I wasn’t crazy about. I live in Florida and love that both Magic and Breeze are now based in Florida. Now I just need Carnival to swap Horizon and Freedom’s home ports.  Plus I wish Sunshine wasn’t moving to Charleston. 

[Lottacruises]

Oh No, freedom cannot leave Galveston...

[riclop]

THANKS FOR THE REPORT.

[Jenny in TX]

We just got off the Vista also and I agree with most of your list.  We had a Havana Cabana balcony and we will never cruise on this class of ships without being in the Havana area....we loved it!!

 

We were on board by 11:20 and thought all of the check in went very quickly.  The atrium is beautiful but it is very different then Carnivals other ships.

 

Loved not having to walk through the casino but I agree that you feel like you are walking in hallways.  My husband said he felt like he was in a mall.  We like being able to see the water and you don't get very many water views when you are in the common areas on the Vista.

 

I only take the stairs so I can't comment on the elevators although we had some in our group of 12 use them and they never complained.

 

Our rooms were very cold which was nice but the rest of the ship was very warm and humid.  This is the first cruise I have ever been on that I wasn't constantly wearing a jacket when I was in the common areas.  They are usually freezing, but not on this ship.

 

I didn't feel like the lines for food were long at all.  I get an omelet every morning and I never had to wait more than 5 minutes.  I also had a Guys burger a couple of days and there was never a line.  I waited in line no more than 5 minutes when I went to the deli to get my husband a hot dog on two occasions.

 

We had priority board on the tender to Belize so we got on right away but had to wait about 15 minutes for it to fill up and leave.  We sat at a bar in port until there was no line and then got right on the tender headed back to the boat at the end of the day.  We were on the last tender back and it was quick and easy.  We had no issues with the tenders.

 

Our cabin steward was awesome.  We had twice daily service and anytime he saw me coming to my room he would open my door for me.  We had 6 rooms in our group and he would always tell us where everyone had gone or if they were still in their room.

 

The main lounge is set up very different and it wasn't my favorite but we always found a good seat and enjoyed the shows.

 

We took our bags off ourselves when we got back to Galveston.  We were off the boat in about 30 minutes once we headed down.  It seemed to be running very smoothly.

 

We had a great time and would definitely sail the Vista again as long as we can have a Havana balcony.

[zippyjet]

On 10/25/2018 at 11:36 AM, Chief93 said:

 

Cabin:          10

MDR:              7

Lido buffet:   10  (excellent food, loved the new layout)

Venues:         9   (restaurants, bars, pixels, etc)

Ship:              6  (public spaces, elevators)

Ship décor:     8

 

Overall I'd say an 8, and I'm omitting the nightmare that was debarkation and tendering.

 

I would not hesitate to cruise on the Vista again.  However, if the price and itinerary were identical I'd choose a Conquest or Dream class.

 

An excellent review. I'm getting the feeling you like me enjoy a chilly/meat locker cabin. The Vista class ships seem to have the better cabin AC. The Conquest has had feedback akout hot cabins. I sailed her several years ago and my OV cabin tended to be stuffy. If you want laughable tacky then its the Conquest. The MDRs are into that French artist thing. The MDRs on them reminded me of the villian hangouts from the 1960's campy Batman. Loud red colors with inverted horseshoe thingies that add to the funhouse of the seas vibe. Sailed Vista last year liked her and just came off the Horizon Sep. 30. New Lido deck food layout cool. And on the Horizo  they had Gelato at lunch ! IMHO, calling the Carnival Deli is a misnomer. Im used to Jewish and Italian deli fare. The offerings at the CD reminded me of what you'd get at an I-95 rest stop or old fare at your local 7/11 a must avoid. Also, did you experience a lot of kids and babies? Though it was late September it felt like schools out forever. Unsupervised kids and noisy cranky babies galore not CCL's fault. Just a sign of the new morality. Keep up the great reviews!

[laumicmah]

My Horizon cabin 6470 was hot (woke up sweating every night). Our friends suites in Family Harbor deck 2 were cold.

[zippyjet]

56 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

My Horizon cabin 6470 was hot (woke up sweating every night). Our friends suites in Family Harbor deck 2 were cold.

Sorry to hear your cabin was too hot. You got me off my duff and I'm going to start a thread regarding CCL cabin A/C. BOLO for it.

[Chief93]

On 10/26/2018 at 7:43 PM, zippyjet said:

Also, did you experience a lot of kids and babies? 

 

It was fall break for a lot of folks so there were a lot of families with teen and kids.  I didn't see anyone behaving badly.  Kids seemed to be having a great time at the waterworks.  The date makes the difference.  I've cruised from Miami in November and EVERYONE was over 70, and I've cruised from Galveston in the summer and almost everyone was under 50.  And I've never been dumb enough to cruise over spring break.

[LHARTWICK]

Can you give us details re: entertainment?  How were the production shows?  Comedians in Punchliner? Other entertainment?  We board December 9.  Thanks!

[zippyjet]

Just came off the Horizon. Vista last year. Did they economize on the Vista like Horizon? For ex:

1. No more network TV or navigation locator on TV where your ship was, mileage etc.

2. Comfort food station gone.

3. Spa: No more glass punch bowl affair with ice water and citrus fruit, now just a tepid water tap.

4. Spa, no carpeting or spray disinfectant  with towels now, just those wipes like at the grocery store

5. Blue Iguana, no beef (no big deal)

6. Premium restaurants, strict portions only one choice you can't order multiple deserts.

7. Carnival Deli, awful food quality not a deli to me. Most stuff pre-made. Other food fine.

8. No live entertainment on Lido

9. No more lanyards. You want one you have to pony up $$$

[PhillyFan33579]

I hope Carnival does a better job with their new ships coming out in 2020 and 2022.  It’s not a good thing when a lot of people I know personally and a lot more people online prefer older classes of ship over Vista class ships. I was worried before I sailed on Vista that it was going to ruui sailing on other class ship for me. Instead it made me never want to cruise on Vista again. I have a cruise booked on Horizon, because I like to try every ship at least once.  But the rest of the cruises I have booked over the upcoming 1.5 years do not include any on a Vista class ship. 

[TNcruising02]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I hope Carnival does a better job with their new ships coming out in 2020 and 2022.  It’s not a good thing when a lot of people I know personally and a lot more people online prefer older classes of ship over Vista class ships. I was worried before I sailed on Vista that it was going to ruui sailing on other class ship for me. Instead it made me never want to cruise on Vista again. I have a cruise booked on Horizon, because I like to try every ship at least once.  But the rest of the cruises I have booked over the upcoming 1.5 years do not include any on a Vista class ship. 

I feel the same way.  My husband and I like comedy shows and theater shows, but were very disappointed with the layout of those places on the Vista.  Their theater area was like something that would have been built on one of the first cruise ships. The comedy area felt too small.  When had to show up extremely early and wait in a very long line for every show (especially the adult shows). There were many things we enjoyed, but the negatives outweighed the positives.  We did not travel with children.  I think kids and teens would love the ship. 

We will stick to the other Carnival ships.  My favorite is the Dream class.  I would cruise on any other class before I would choose the Vista.  I do get why some people really like it because there are a lot of nice things on the ship, it's just not for me.

[zippyjet]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I hope Carnival does a better job with their new ships coming out in 2020 and 2022.  It’s not a good thing when a lot of people I know personally and a lot more people online prefer older classes of ship over Vista class ships. I was worried before I sailed on Vista that it was going to ruui sailing on other class ship for me. Instead it made me never want to cruise on Vista again. I have a cruise booked on Horizon, because I like to try every ship at least once.  But the rest of the cruises I have booked over the upcoming 1.5 years do not include any on a Vista class ship. 

The two saving graces regarding Vista Class ships and the Breeze: Muster drills are indoors and, generally the cabin A/C blows colder. The ships are new.

[TNcruising02]

29 minutes ago, zippyjet said:

The two saving graces regarding Vista Class ships and the Breeze: Muster drills are indoors and, generally the cabin A/C blows colder. The ships are new.

Absolutely. I LOVE indoor muster drills.  That's definitely a plus.

[laumicmah]

33 minutes ago, zippyjet said:

The two saving graces regarding Vista Class ships and the Breeze: Muster drills are indoors and, generally the cabin A/C blows colder. The ships are new.

And the Havana section. And multiple specialty dining. Loved the Pride but it only has the steakhouse.

[Chervil]

Great write-up! Thanks!

We sail the end of January, so I am starting to gather all the info I can.

Our last cruise was on the Breeze and we loved her!
Very disappointed that Vista doesn't have Tandoor, but hopefully the micro-brewery balances that out.

 

[Chief93]

On 10/30/2018 at 4:41 PM, LHARTWICK said:

Can you give us details re: entertainment?  How were the production shows?  Comedians in Punchliner? Other entertainment?  We board December 9.  Thanks!

Our service in the MDR was so slow that we missed all but one of the shows.  The one we saw was decent.  There was live entertainment every night in the atrium and it was very good.  I'm not the best source of info on many topics as I spend most of my time on my balcony and avoid the Lido pool areas.