VISTA, just off, hot topics

[Chief93]

On 11/1/2018 at 5:53 PM, zippyjet said:

 

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

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

 

This was NOT my experience.  Agree there was no network TV but there was a map channel that showed where you were, temo, wind and sea depth.

 

The deli was much improved.  The sandwiches were large and delicious.  They were not premade.  I would say partially assembled.  For instance, the cuban had the meat already on the bread but it wasnt heated until you ordered it and then veggies were added.  And you could request any change you wanted and they would make it from scratch.  

[mredandchis]

On 10/25/2018 at 10:55 AM, 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.

I was on the Vista last november and you pretty much summed it up nicely.  My experience was the same.  

Edited November 3, 2018 by mredandchis

[latitude918]

On 10/25/2018 at 10:55 AM, Chief93 said:

 

 

"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."

 

This made me laugh.  Why would you get upset about something if you've never experienced it.  🤨

 

 

 

[R'man]

Vista was the most disappointing ship on which we've ever sailed, from embarkation to the chaotic disembarkation.  (I've put the details in my review awaiting publication.)  Sadly, several first-timers with us were questioning ever cruising again.  (BTW: We sailed just last week.) 

[karawoof77]

@R'man Awaiting your review!! Did you happen to get the fun times to post??

[LHARTWICK]

Wow.  I was SO excited about sailing on Vista...…...until this thread.  Nothing but negatives.  I'm just going to focus on the positives, like the fact that we are blessed to even be cruising at all.  I know many people who would love to take such a vacation, but can not. On even our worst cruises we've managed to have a good time.  I'll be unsubscribing from this one - too much of a downer.

 

We've always had good experiences with embarkation/disembarkation in Galveston, with the exception of our 2 cruises that had stopped in Honduras (disembarkation usually takes longer if that's the case). I wonder if the bad experiences at the Vista terminal are because she's larger and new to Galveston. Maybe the kinks will be worked out soon.

[Chief93]

On ‎11‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 7:57 AM, latitude918 said:

 

 

It's human nature.

 

I really enjoyed the old sandwiches and lent an ear to all the negative reviews.  I was very happy I was mistaken.

[Chief93]

6 hours ago, LHARTWICK said:

Wow.  I was SO excited about sailing on Vista...…...until this thread.  Nothing but negatives. 

 

I thought I was pretty positive.  Only real negatives were tendering and debarkation. 

[CruiseMomTX]

On 10/25/2018 at 5:45 PM, ilovethesparkles said:

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.

 

What did you think of the spa room and deck 14 other than the elevators?  Were looking at booking a spa cabin on deck 11 or 14 on the Vista.  We have never booked a spa cabin on any ship and usually sail the Breeze in a balcony.

[ilovethesparkles]

On 11/26/2018 at 8:43 PM, CruiseMomTX said:

 

What did you think of the spa room and deck 14 other than the elevators?  Were looking at booking a spa cabin on deck 11 or 14 on the Vista.  We have never booked a spa cabin on any ship and usually sail the Breeze in a balcony.

 

It was nice. We only went to the spa once, so we found it was not worth it for us. If you like to go to the spa, then go for it! The room was nice and the toiletries they gave us were nice. The room was the same size and had all the same things regular balconies have, it just has different color schemes. If you are on deck 14 you will not have a roof for your balcony. It was very quiet on our deck, we never heard anyone and there were no kids in sight. 

[rstunger]

On 10/25/2018 at 7:55 AM, 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.

 

 

Question.... you mentioned that you arrived at 10:30 and boarded by 11.15.  We are fairly new to Platinum, but were assigned a 1:00-1:30 arrival/check in time.  If we show up at 10:30, will they let us check in, or make us wait until 1:00.  Our last cruise as platinum, we were assigned an earlier arrival/check in. 

Edited January 13, 2019 by rstunger

[Shaded Lady]

So Vista has a restaurant listing called Jiji's Asian Kitchen (Lunch)… is this a replacement for Mongolian Grill? Is it the same or similar or completely different menu?

Edited January 13, 2019 by Shaded Lady

[jimbo5544]

On 11/1/2018 at 7:07 PM, 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 have seen people pan every new ship since LIberty when they came out.  We loved both the Vista and Horizon and would sail either again in a heartbeat, but to each their own.  That said, to think the Mardi Gras or it’s sister will be very different from a Vista class ship would be a stretch.  

[jimbo5544]

On 11/1/2018 at 6:53 PM, zippyjet said:

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 $$$

I have not seen any changes to portions or changes in desert policy in any premium restaurant.  The change in TV coverage has nothing to do with any ship, it happened due to charge changes from the satetelite providers and most all main stream cruise lines made changes.  I also had entertainment on our Vista class ships.  Carnival has way more entertainment throughout their ships then their competitors.  I doubt the company is making money off lanyard sales.....  to each their own tho....

[Pellaz]

2 hours ago, Shaded Lady said:

So Vista has a restaurant listing called Jiji's Asian Kitchen (Lunch)… is this a replacement for Mongolian Grill? Is it the same or similar or completely different menu?

Jiji's Asian Kitchen is similar to Mongolian Wok for lunch, and it is free/included at lunchtime also.  The REALLY NICE thing about it on the Vista is that you don't have to wait in line:  you are given a checksheet and a pencil, indicate what you want, and they grill it for you and bring it to you at your table.  

 

Go there for lunch on embark day, like we did.  You'll see a lot of people on Deck 10 mobbing the buffet, but if it's like our cruise on the Vista, you'll walk up the stairs to Jiji's and find it to be almost empty.  We felt a little guilty about it, and sorry for the folks fighting for tables just one deck below.    

 

Cucina del Capitano, right across the entry foyer from Jiji's, is similar on the Vista for lunch, but with a pasta bar instead.  Both were excellent and both were a nice change from the usual madness at the Lido buffet.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Pellaz

[zippyjet]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 5:25 PM, jimbo5544 said:

I have not seen any changes to portions or changes in desert policy in any premium restaurant.  The change in TV coverage has nothing to do with any ship, it happened due to charge changes from the satetelite providers and most all main stream cruise lines made changes.  I also had entertainment on our Vista class ships.  Carnival has way more entertainment throughout their ships then their competitors.  I doubt the company is making money off lanyard sales.....  to each their own tho....

My sailing buddy CFF on impulse took a 2 week Norwegian Cruise on the Pearl a few weeks after we returned off the Horizon. TV wise she had all the major networks and first run movies. I'm not on a cruise to watch  TV but, wanted to watch the Raven's game and quickly touch base with current news and events on the mainland. Especially with it being at the peak of hurricane season. Regarding the premium restaurants we ate at the Asian one and it seemed very regimented. Food was good but, I have been very satisfied in the MDR and really enjoyed Captain Cantina (Italian Premium Restaurant) on my Vista and Breeze cruises. Lanyard wise, I told some first timers I met while waiting to embark that you could get a lanyard gratis. I ran into them later and apologized. No big deal. I just felt broad sided with all the cutbacks here and there. Still really had a great time and seriously repeating my same itinerary on the Horizon this coming September. So much to see and do on Curacel and Aruba! And, I'll budget my time so, I don't have to rely on the so called Carnival Deli for food. Otherwise ship board food was Very Good to Excellent as usual. My friend reiterated that Carnival across the board had much better food quality than the Pearl. Curious to hear from others if they too noticed these changes and if on other main lines experienced the drastic reduction and choice of TV fare. The Always Be Booked podcast also mentioned many of these things. Worth checking out if into cruising.