Carnival Vista January 18 - 25, 2020

[cc-riderslc]

Here are a few thoughts on the Carnival Vista out of Galveston, TX.  First you should know we traveled as a family group.  2 seniors, 2 adults with 2 kids (6, 9) and 2 adults with one child (2). And good for you to know is we are seasoned cruisers.  That is a nice way to say we are old!  We left SLC a day early with a flight on Delta Airlines at 2 pm.  Glad it was an afternoon flight because in the morning we had a quick moving but powerful storm drop about 3 - 4 inches of snow in the valley.  The airport did a good job handling it and our flight left on time without any trouble.  You can see the mountains were coated in a fresh layer of snow.  I like leaving on a warm weather cruise in a snow storm.  Texas here we come.  We landed at Houston, Bush International (IAH) on time at 7 pm and stayed at the LaQuinta Inn and Suites East in Humble, TX.  We didn't wait for long curbside for the complimentary shuttle van to arrive and all 9 of us loaded in for the 10 minute ride to the hotel.  The reception was quick pulling up the reservations and professional.  They did have an incentive though. 3 kids who have been pent-up on an airplane for 3 hours were letting loose in the lobby running and laughing all over the place.  The hotel is fine.  Nothing much around it.  The only place to eat that we could walk to was a Burger King next door, and even then it was a part of a service station so it wasn't big.  But the kids liked the chicken nuggets and the adults did ok with hamburgers, etc.  The hotel was quiet and clean and only $64.00 per room plus tax.  I think the total was $72.00.  Quite economical I think.  The next morning we ate at the hotel.  A breakfast was included in the cost and it was good.  Hot eggs, sausage and waffles plus a number of other items.  Certainly it was adequate for a bunch of people who would be eating way too much food over the next 7 days.  We made arrangements for Galveston Limousine and Transfer to pick us up and take us to the terminal.  It was a private transfer since there was 9 of us.  It was schedule for pickup at 10 am and about 9:45 the driver called me and let me know he was there anytime we were ready.  I liked that the transfer company also texted a 24 hour reminder that our transfer was coming up.  At least I knew they hadn't forgotten about me.  We all gathered our luggage and by 10 am we were loaded up ready to go.  It was a comfortable sprinter van and the driver was helpful and friendly.  I had some apprehension about the drive from IAH to Galveston because there had been some fog issues over the past few weeks not to mention reports of road construction and lane closures.  But it was all good news on those issues.  We received a message from Carnival about 9 am letting us know the ship had made it in port and we would be loading on time.  The fog wasn't bad and the traffic was light.  We arrived in 1 hour 15 minutes.  The driver was able to let us off right next to the terminal but a bit of a walk from the entry.  Porters were right there to take the luggage right from the van so we only had carry-ons to take with us.  My next concern was our boarding time.  It was 12:00 to 12:30 so we were about 45 minutes early.  Nothing to worry about.  We walked right on to the ship.  Really, no wait anywhere in the process.  Carnival has streamlined the check-in quite a bit.  No key cards, no showing a credit card.  Just the boarding pass and ID and off we went.  A good start for our family cruise.

[cc-riderslc]

It was a cloudy overcast kind of day when we boarded, but hey, we beat the fog and were on the ship. Getting on early presents a a carry on luggage problem.  The staterooms are not ready until 1:30 pm and we are onboard at 11:30 am.  Fortunately for us we are Platinum members and our room is ready anytime so all of us went to our cabin to deposit our luggage so we could be hands free as we went to eat.  One of the things I like about this ship is the variety of places to eat lunch.  You have the regular buffet on the Lido, which on the Vista is a little underwhelming in choices, but you can add to that choice the dining room, Guys Burgers, Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ, Cucina del Capitano for pasta bar, Blue Iguana for tacos, burritos, and taco salads, JiJI Asian for Mongolian wok and Pizzaria del Capitano.  Those venues are all included in  the cost of the cruise.  Add to that the Seafood Shack (additional cost) and you have a nice variety of places to eat.  And our group went every which way and then gathered together in the Lido Marketplace to eat together.  It has been my tradition to eat a hamburger the day of embarkation so I had my first Guys Burger.  For me, and I know food is subjective, it was very good.  And the choice of topping just made it better.  After lunch we were able to go to the cabins.  We all were booked in the Family Harbor section, aft on deck 2.  Since we had kids with us I thought they might like that area.  After staying there I would say there are pros and cons.  The Family Harbor Lounge was a good thing.  You could have breakfast there without going to the more crowded Lido, they had afternoon snacks that include sandwiches, potatoe chips, chips and salsa and smaller pieces of cakes and pastry.  There was also drinks available like milk, chocolate milk, juice and water.  The soft serve ice cream machine was a big hit with everyone too.  We used some of the area to play games with the family and that was fun and a good use of the area for us.  The not so good....well we were not the only ones with kids in that area so you find kids running all over.  Cleanliness in lounge and halls was an issue as kids were always dropping cookies, etc along the way, then they got stepped on and it just seemed like the cleaning crew didn't get to it very fast.  It wasn't really noisy though and we slept good there.  There is some engine vibration in the back, and some noise below when we are getting ready to dock at a port but we were up by then so it didn't matter much.  Our cabin was 2495, an outside cabin with a big window.  The kids especially liked sitting in the window and looking at the ocean.  The kids were all in inside cabins.  Carnival now has the room stewards ask if you want morning or evening cleaning.  I always thought cleaning twice a day was a little over the top but found once a day wasn't quite enough.  We had morning cleaning but asked that our ice bucket be filled in the morning and again in the evening.  Our steward Danaag did that for us.  It was a little different finding our towel animal on the bed in the mornings and not in the afternoon but in the end it worked.  Plus the stewards are in the hallways until 9 pm at night so if we needed something we could always find them.  

[ejnsb]

Great start.  This is the first I have heard of the choice of am or pm service.   I wonder if it is fleetwide.

[CarolSW]

Enjoying your review so far.....thanks for sharing!
 

I think the cabin stewards fleetwide are now asking if you want AM or PM servicing of your cabin.  
But I also think it is OK to ask for both if you so desire.  We did on Vista in December.  And we tipped accordingly. 

[cc-riderslc]

As Carol said I had heard you could ask for both.  The steward didn't say that was a possibility when he came to introduce himself that first afternoon.  He just said morning or evening.  Another downside to that; my daughter had a quad cabin and asked for morning cleaning.  Doing that meant the steward pulled both bunk beds out of the sealing in the morning and they had the beds in their way all day.  They quickly changed to evening cleaning so they didn't have the beds down until bedtime.

[cc-riderslc]

Since we  boarded early and didn't have much of a crowd for lunch we had about 2 hour to explore the ship before muster drill.  We started off on the Sports Square and didn't get any where else.  The kids immedianlty started playing mini-golf.  Those 9 holes kept there interest for quite a while.  Then they wanted to try the ropes course.  Our 9 year old grandson fancies himself an American Ninja Warrior and he mastered the easy course with no trouble at all and then tried the hard course without much trouble either.  My 6 year old granddaughter didn't want to be outdone by her brother so she gave the easy course a try.  She barley made the height requirement but she gave it a good go.  She made it all the way around until she got to the last 2 obstacles and then she froze.  One of the staff had to come get her and carry her over the final two wires.  She said to me "she was scared to her death".  The staff then did something beyond the call of duty.  They gave her a medal to wear around the ship.  That was a nice touch.  It made her feel good and she wasn't afraid to try other things on the ship.  While they were on the ropes course my wife and I tried the Skyride.  That is the bicycle ride suspended above the decks.  There was only about a 15 minute wait at that time so we thought it was a good time to go.  It was fun.  Not hard at all.  There is one section where you go down a slope and don't have to pedal.  But what goes down must come up so there is also a place where the peddling becomes a little harder.  By the time we finished at the Sports Square it was almost time to go to the 3:15 pm Muster Drill so we returned to our cabin to freshen up.  This safety briefing was a breeze.  We only had to go up one floor from our cabin to the dining room above and sit comfortably while the presentation was made.  They scan your keycard at each of the entrances so they know if you have attended or not.  It only took 20 minutes and then we were on our way again.  The sail away party was spoiled by a rain storm but my family went out on the deck with umbrellas and watched us sail out of Galveston.  Then it was time for dinner.  We had YTD and I was concerned how easy it would be to get a table for 8 plus a high chair without a long wait so I asked the Carnival Ambassador online, John Heald what the thought the prospects were.  He answered he would see what he could do about it and when we got our key cards we had all been assigned to a table in the Horizons Restaurant, which is the YTD restaurant.  It was towards the back of the dining room, right next to a large window with lots of space to roam around for kids that have a hard time sitting through an hour and half of eating.  It worked out perfectly for us as we had this table reserved every night at 5:30 pm with a 15 minute grace period.  Incidentally people who came in at 5:30, which is the standard opening time for this restaurant, were offered the table they were sitting at for the remainder of the cruise if they wanted it.  They had to stop by the dining room reception area and set it up.  That might be a little early for some people to dine but for our family with kids it was very good.  I did have some concern after the first night about returning to that table.  The service was slow and spotty, somewhat disorganized and we didn't really get to know the 2 waiters very well that first night.  I know the first night can be that way sometimes so we thought we would stick with it.  Well it turned out that the two waiters, Rowel and Roberto were superb waiters who took such good loving care of our family and especially our kids. We would be happy if we had them for every cruise.  After the first night everything went well and they tried to get food to the kids as early as possible so they could have something to occupy them while the rest of the adults waited for all of the dishes to be served.  They also brought extra food every night for us to try.  We didn't need to ask, they seemed to know.  Just the first day on the ship and it felt like we had already accomplished so much.  I might mention here if you have not been on Carnival you will find the keycard is not given to you at check-in.  It is in the mailbox of your cabin, right next to the door.  When you hear the announcement that the cabins are ready you will find it in an envelope.  I can see how that has saved some time during the check-in process.  

[Sensenigr]

3 hours ago, cc-riderslc said:

 

 Awesome review so far.  I cruised the Vista in January 2017, and I have my second Vista cruise booked for this October.  Looking forward to more of your great review!

[SLCfirsttimer]

Fellow Utahan here, sailing on the Vista in April. Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

[bolt]

Love the review. Will be on the Vista in February!

 

[LuckyStar]

Enjoying your review.  Sailed Vista with my sisters in Apr 19 and it quickly became one of our favorite ships.  Have a cruise planned with my husband in Nov 20.

[cc-riderslc]

Sunday and our first day at sea.  It was time to explore and see more of the ship and participate in the various events going on.  I like to do a little exercise in the mornings so I took to the walking track and a few minutes in the gym.  The pool picture is the Tides Pool at the back of the ship.  It seems less crowded than the main Beach Pool, unless you are in the hot tubs.  These are the only 2 hot tubs open to everyone on the ship and frankly it was wall to wall kids most of the time we went.  We added to the problem because my grandkids loved being in the hot tubs.  The plus here is you are right next to the pizza place and there are plenty of tables around to sit and eat.  Serenity is the adults only area on the ship.  18 and older are allowed in here and they do have an additional 2 hot tubs so you can find a more leisure environment here that down at the Tides Pool.  Good to know is they also have a salad bar here for lunch.  Lunch time was a little like yesterday.  We started off by wanting to eat all together at JiJi's Mongolian wok.  It is open for lunch with no charge.  It is actually right next door to the Cucina del Capitano which offers a complimentary pasta bar.  Both these restaurants have a fee if you go for dinner.  However on this day the wait at JiJi's was 40 minutes for a party of 9 so we all went or separate ways.  Interesting to note in the Marketplace buffet the desserts area is very different.  Instead of lots of small plates of cakes and other pastries, puddings, etc. they have a cake bar.  6 or 7 different kinds of cakes with a server who cuts you a slice from one or more of the cakes.  I thought they were good.  Probably better than the variety of desserts that used to be offered.  I thought sometimes those were not as good as they looked.  After dinner there was a Latin Dance class that a few people wanted to go to so we ended up tending the kids during that time.  We went to the family harbor lounge and played games, had an ice cream and let the kids run around for 45 minutes.  That worked out good for us.  Maybe now is a good time to make a comment of the family harbor area on deck 2 aft.  They have this private lounge that offers breakfast in the morning.  It has most of what you want for breakfast and it is a quick way to get the kids breakfast.  In the afternoon they have snacks.  Small sandwiches, potato chips and chips and salsa.  They have a small variety of cakes and desserts as well as cookies. There are also drinks (lemonade, iced tea, milk, chocolate milk) available along with a soft serve ice cream machine.  The lounge is locked and can only be accessed by those staying the family harbor section.  You must insert the key card to enter.  We actually used the lounge a number of times to play board games, eat breakfast, eat snacks and play video games.  Tonight is formal night.  A large majority of people dressed up as did we.  I like to get out of the rut and do something different when cruising and dressing up, eating lobster or steak, going to a Broadway style show and listening to a variety of music is a nice way to spend an evening.  Tomorrow is our first port day, Cozumel.

[cc-riderslc]

Cozumel, Mexico.  Our first port of call.  Notice how blue the water is.  I can look at it forever in this area of the world.  Just beautiful.  We decided to make this a family beach day.  I read all the reviews of beach clubs and decided to go to Paradise Beach.  Two reasons mostly; cost and water toys.  We don't drink so the all inclusive options make it very hard to get your money's worth.  At Paradise you can just walk in without a reservation, which on this day was no trouble at all.  We each had to pay a $3 entrance fee and each person was required to purchase $10 worth of food.  We were planning on eating lunch away from the ship anyway so that was no problem.  With the walk in cost you could enjoy the very large heated pool, have a beach chair and be waited on.  If you wanted to use the inflatables in the ocean, kayaks or paddle boards or snorkeling equipment you paid an additional $18.  Some of our family wanted to use the water toys, some didn't so this was also a economical part of the choice.  You only pay for what you want.  The kids, and adults had a blast playing on the toys and going ocean kayaking.  The food was good and not overly expensive.  We bought a Mexican platter for 2, a volcano nachos dish and a couple of soft drinks for $30 total plus tip.  Service was good for the most part.  The staff came around often to see if you needed anything to eat or drink.  They just kept a tab open and you paid at the end.  The taxi ride back and forth, for 9 of us, was $33 plus tip, each way.  We did leave ourselves a little time to shop in the port.  They have lots of good shops.  We got back on just in time for dinner and then followed that with the Broadway show.  More on dinners and shows later on in the review.

[Joe817]

Loving your review! Well done! And thanks! 

[cc-riderslc]

Today is our second port of call in Belize.  I usually like doing private tours with local vendors but in this case, needing  a tender for 9 people, it seemed just easier to do the tour through Carnival.  The cost was only slightly higher than that of the local vendor I checked with.  It allowed us to go straight to the Liquid Lounge without standing in line to get a tender ticket.  Those not on a Carnival tour reported to the Red Frog Pub at 7 am to pick up their individual tender tickets.  We reported to the lounge at 8:45 as requested planning on a 9:00 departure.  They had a staff member there and people were getting up out of the audience to share jokes which kept things from getting boring.  However due to strong winds we were late getting going, like 45 minutes late so that wasn't much fun, even with the jokes.  Once ashore we quickly found our leader and followed them over to terminal number 2 to go outside the port area and onto our bus.  Frankly it wasn't very well organized, we wasted a lot of time and we had a full bus of people.  I am guessing 40 to 44.  We opted to do the Altun Ha with lunch trip.  Having younger kids the hour and 15 minute ride was enough, let alone some of the longer drives on the other tours.  My favorite place in Belize for ruins in the Lamanai trip but they wouldn't take kids under 3 so we couldn't do it this time.  Altun Ha was a fun trip and I am glad we went.  I have always been curious about the jade mask they found there.  Our guide was very informative during the ride out to the archeological site and we learned about Belize, the wildlife, government and general knowledge of the area.  Once at the site another guide took over and explained to us what the city was like in its day and some of the customs of the people living there.  We were given free time to climb the ruins and look around on our own.  That we did and the views were amazing from the top of the temples.  If you go there ask about the Allspice tree growing on one of the unexcavated mounds.  I love to gather up a few leaves and crush them as I walk.  It is the most amazing aroma.  There is a museum there and I recommend stopping by, even for just a few minutes.  They have a display showing how the jade mask was found in a tomb of a ruler along with all kinds of other artifacts.  There are also a few vendors selling handicrafts there and some people selling pineapple, nuts and other edibles just outside the shopping area.  I bought some pineapple, 2 sliced rings for $2.  We left for a short ride to a resort like place for lunch.  We ate in a building with a thatched roof.  The meal was typical Belizean,  chicken, rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, and slaw.  No dessert and drinks were not included.  I have had this same meal many times in Belize and this wasn't up to the standards I am used to.  But the people were nice and of course we were hungry.  On a cruise you can't go more than a couple of hours without eating, right?!  The tour took about 5 hours and we were expecting a couple of hours to shop in and around the port area when we got back but because of the late start we only had about a half an hour.  Then off to catch the next to last shuttle back to the ship.  Dinner and a show is how we ended the day.

[tandemcruzr]

Thanks for your review. Enjoying it. Side note: Serenity age is 21 and over. 🙂

 

[cc-riderslc]

Our final port of call is Roatan, Honduras.  This is our 3rd port in a row.  It is a bit overcast but warm and we are looking forward to our outing.  We are using Daniel Johnson to visit the Monkey and Sloth Hangout followed by the Iguana Farm.  We booked directly with Daniel Johnson's company.  It was $30 per person plus $10 to visit the Iguana Farm.  We were to meet them an hour after the ship arrived so that would be 9 am for us.  We left the ship at 8:30 and walked outside the port security area.  That is the only thing I dislike about using independent vendors in Roatan.   They won't let them inside the port to pickup passengers, you must walk out.  It is a bit of a walk to as you have to transit the shopping area in the port then go up a hill and down the other side to meet the vendors.  There are always many vendors there holding signs and looking for their guests.  We found the Daniel Johnson sign right away and a representative led us to the parking area to find our transportation.  This part of the tour was very unorganized.  We arrived right on time, and a few other people were there too.  We waited 20 minutes for a taxi to come take us.  It was actually a minibus that about 20 us loaded into.  The transit time to the hangout is only 20 minutes depending on traffic.  We checked in at the desk, made the payments and then were seated outside on a long bench.  Actually there are 2 long benches and you progress along until your time to go in to the sanctuary.  It was crowded, both benches being full and even a few people standing.  Once it was our turn it was an outstanding experience.  We gathered together in a group, maybe 20 of us.  The first thing we did is hug a sloth.  They are cute and cuddly, soft and lightweight.  Everyone enjoyed holding them including our kids.  Following that we entered into the monkey cage.  Our guide separated us  into 2 groups.  Kids along with parents were first followed by couples.  The guide has corn on the cob to entice the monkeys to visit.  Mostly they put the kernel on your head and the monkey stands on your shoulder to get it.  They can be very fast and inquisitive too.  The person next to me had his pockets turned inside out as the monkey looked for anything of interest.  After that we entered another cage with Scarlet Macaws.  They would sit on your arm and that provided a nice camera shot.  That concluded the Hangout portion of the trip.  There seemed to be some confusion on how we were supposed to get to the Iguana Farm and we waited and waited for our ride to show up.  At least 20 minutes again.  In view of all the waiting we did for the transportation that Daniel Johnson was supposed to be providing I wonder if it wouldn't be better to hire a private company for the transportation.  This part of their service was very disappointing.  The Iguana Farm is just down the road a few minutes.  We were greeted at the entrance with a guide who was holding a midsized Iguana and a baby Iguana.  We could hold them and pet them if we wanted to.  Then down a ramp to see the horde of Iguanas.  There were 40 or 50 of them about.  We were given a branch with leaves to feed the Iguanas.  They seemed to like it as they would gather in groups and walk all over each other to get to the food.  There is also a very old and large Iguana they let you hold in this area.  In the middle of this it started to rain.  Just a small nuisance at first but by the time we left it was raining quite hard.  The only thing left to see here is the fish in the ocean.  They have an area penned off for some Tarpon fish and they would feed them so you could see how large they were.  Since the rain is getting harder and we have seen everything we loaded into the waiting minibus and headed back to the port.  At least on the return private vendors are allowed to drive into the port to drop you off.  Certainly saved a few steps. The rain had stopped now and the sun was coming out.   We shopped for a while and then boarded the ship to eat lunch.  At 2 pm we met together to head to the private beach in the port of Mahogany Bay or go shopping in the port area. You can walk on a paved path to the beach through a very pretty manicured area or you can pay to ride on a skyride.  We walked.  15 minutes tops to the beach.  And it is a very nice beach.  There are stores, restaurants, changing rooms and showers available at the beach.  Also lots of beach chairs.  Everyone had a good time in the water taking advantage of our last opportunity to swim in the ocean.  This was a fun day with a little bit everything.

[ejnsb]

In Cozumel, how did you get to Paradise Beach?  Cost?

[jimbo5544]

Great start to your review, thanks for posting.  

[tandemcruzr]

32 minutes ago, ejnsb said:

In Cozumel, how did you get to Paradise Beach?  Cost?

We were just there. Cab is $15 up to 4 people. Trip is about 20 minutes. Entrance fee to Paradise is $3 per person and they ask that you spend at least $10 per person on food and drinks. There are 2 bars -- one by the large pool and one down at the beach. There are "toys" in the ocean and there is a charge for the use of them. We didn't do them, so not sure what the price was.

 

We enjoyed sitting by the pool in the shade and having drinks and lunch. Food was very good and not expensive.

 

Return to port was easy. Lots of cabs standing by. Same price for the return trip.

[cc-riderslc]

We had 9 people in our group. We paid $35 plus a small tip. The water toys cost $18.

[cc-riderslc]

Our last 2 days were at sea so let me just highlight a few of the things we did.  We started the day off with the Seuss-A-Palooza Parade and Story TIme.  Our grandkids enjoyed this.  They started off by playing games in the Ocean Plaza.  Singing and dancing.  Then the parade started with kids and family members carrying banners and chanting "Dr Suess is on the Loose" as they marched to the Liquid Lounge.  The stage was set up for the reading of Horton Hears a Who.  The only thing lacking was the cast and those, they chose from the kids in the audience.  Everyone got to do something from being the main characters to being cast member of Whoville and they all were on the stage.  The cruise director Schwarz read the story and the kids acted out the reading.  It was very funny on occasion.  I can put in a good word for the Carnival Hub app now.  It does have a weather forecast included and it was very reliable on our cruise.  It predicted the weather to be warm, up to 83 degrees on the first sea day and the second sea day to only be in the upper 60's.  With that in mind we did all the water parks, pools and outside things we could think of.  The water park is lots of fun, although the water is cold.  We did it all, slides, soaker, water bucket, showers, everything.  Then off to the pools and hot tubs.  Before lunch the girls all enjoyed the Thriller dance class.  Those of us that just watched came away with the Thriller song stuck in our heads the rest of the day.  After lunch we played golf again, billiards, shuffle board, ping pong and the soccer billiards inside the Clubhouse.  The Skyride and Ropes Course were closed all day because it was so windy.  It was our last formal night so we enjoyed dressing up for dinner and going to the show.   

[cc-riderslc]

Final summary of our trip.  Carnival is a good cruise line.  You know what to expect and they deliver a solid product on most occasions. To me it has always been a good value for our money.   Our cruise director Schwartz was outstanding.  Great low key humor.  The hub app was worth it for us.  We added, for the $5 fee, the texting part of the app which was very good.  We could never have kept track of 3 families, 9 people without it.  The food was good, especially the dining room.  The lunch buffet was ok but seemed limited in choice.  The optional dining areas make up for it.  A good secret to know is in Ocean Plaza they serve a breakfast buffet.  If we wanted to get away from the kids in the Family Harbor Lounge we went there.  Uncrowded and lots of tables.  You could even go outside to eat right there next to the serving area.  We ate breakfast here the day we disembarked.  And stayed in the that area with our luggage before they called us.  That was a good decision because the kids could go outside and play or go into the Red Frog Pub which is next door to play the shuffle board games. This was especially important on our disembarkation day as the port was closed by the coast guard for a salvage operation and we were not allowed to our berth for an extra 2 hours.  We liked the production shows.  The America Rocks show flowed over into the atrium with more singing and dancing.  They handed out glow sticks to our kids so they could participate and have fun.  The final night was the Lip Sync Battle.  I wasn't really interested until I found out our grandkids would be participating as Camp Ocean groups so I had to go and I did enjoy seeing them on stage dancing and singing in their respective groups.  The Seaside Theater was fun.  Sometimes they played kids movies at 7:30 pm.  Free popcorn at the Red Frog Pub bar and blankets, if you need them, can be checked out at the towel hut.  All of the ports were fun with something different for us each time we got off the ship.  This was mostly a trip to make memoires for our family and we came away with some awesome ones.  I hope the same for you.  Happy Sailing.