Carnival Vista Dec 16-22, 2023 observations

[GotMINI]

Listed in no particular order are some observations I made while on recent Carnival cruise; some being related to Carnival itself and some comparing to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity:

•  
• Terminal #6 @ 9241 Charles Rowland Dr. Just follow signs. $17/day.  Drop off luggage with porter first and then proceed to garage. Have a credit card ready as they will take payment as enter garage. Plenty for spots. Take a picture of something in area of where you parked so can easily find car upon return. 
• Don’t show up early before your booked arrival time. Will just have to wait outside in corral. Then wait again inside for boarding group. 
• Difficult to hear announcements in terminal so pay attention.  
• Print boarding pass even though it's on the Hub app. You will need to show it multiple times as you board ship. Easy just to flash the paper vs having to open app. Don’t even know if they’d even accept the app - didn't see anyone trying to use it during checkin. Also, the boarding pass can be used for any beverage purchase if you have a plan already.  
• Taxes added to bill for beverages when in starting US port 
• Need to check out/in blue pool towels from staffed towel hut. Can exchange for fresh/clean towels throughout the cruise, but make sure you return at end or they will charge you for them ($25/ea?)
• Beach towels (yellow) will be in cabin.  
• Cruise Director: Lawrence
• Cabin steward only comes 1x/day to clean room
• Cannot get into cabins until 1:30. Sometimes opens early, and hallway door will be opened when available, so just check if you want to drop your carryon bags. 
• Room keys in door pocket in embarkation Room key cards come with hole punched on corner so can easily directly to a lanyard without having to put in clear pouch
• Checkin prior to arriving for MyTime Dining Will get confirmation of wait time, then will provide table info when available. 
• No menus. Read on Hub App or QR code on the table.  There are regular, vegan & gluten free menus.
• Smoking allowed in casino. Was supposed to be only on 1 side, but noticed it on both. And no ventilation, so it's smokey even if not a lot of smokers. Could even smell during embarkation. 
• Vista going into dry dock early Jan 2024. Needs it! Ship is definitely showing wear. 
• Bring reusable water bottles.
• Awful food lines. At least people are polite 
• Portion sizes in dining room and smaller/reasonable than in past. 
• In thermal spa are, the mineral whirlpool in same room as thermal beds; so if people in there they tend to be chatty and the beds aren’t as relaxing. 
• $5 chat feature great in Hub App to communicate with people
• All ship activities listed in Hub App
• Ship felt compartmentalized. Floors seem disjointed. Not easy to walk from one side of ship to other on certain floors. Kept having to walk through casino. 
• Bring nightlight for bathroom outlet 
• Best bfast @ Blue Iguana w/ bfast burritos, huevos rancheros & arepas 
• Ship photographers all over. They’ll take your pic, ask for cabin # and then it’ll show up on the Hub App. Can purchase if want but don’t have too. 
• When getting off ship at ports, need room key and a government photo ID for anyone 16yo+ 
• Dominican Republic was 1 hr ahead. Make sure stay on ship time. 
• Amber Cove port was fenced with security. Can leave area through bus section. Only Carnival ships here. 
• Greeted by pool deck full of towel creatures morning of last port day 
• Rained everyday during this cruise (not fun!)! Cruise director called it “liquid sunshine” which didn't make it much better.  
• Spa offers massage samples, which is nice few minutes, but be forewarned that the person tries to sell you to book massage 
• 2 Elegant Nights on 6nt cruise. 1st one was 2nd or 3rd night, and 2nd one 5th nt w/ lobster and prime rib offered 
• Dance parties on pool deck: 80s Rock n Glow, & a Silent White Hot Night Dance Party, 
• When at port in Grand Turq, watched the Sea princess ship attempt to dock twice. Must have been too windy and/or rough current has it finally gave up and left. 
• Spa balcony includes: spa robe and slippers, unlimited access to the thermal suite, 2 yoga or Pilates fitness classes, 2 InBody health tests, 1 DIY self scrub kit to use in thermal suite, complimentary skin consultation w/ medi spa dr, complimentary footprint analysis with Good Feet experts. And I also got a $40 spa credit to use, but unfortunate it doesn’t apply with any other discounts you get so difficult to use. 
• “Showtime” during dinner service = servers dancing to 2 pop songs, some guests join in fun 
• One server told us he’ll stay on when ship goes into dry dock to take care of contractors working in ship. Said pay bad, only $10-15/day. Can only imagine what regular pay is...   
• The Italian restaurant complimentary lunch (upstairs from Lido) very good. But very slow. The Asian place not so good jnkesss you like their combos. They are premade. 
• Disembarkation was not well managed. Gridlock people trying to get through 1 stairwell/elevator area. Heard ship was late arriving and they needed to handle a few arrests of passengers involved in brawl overnight.  
• Use passport if you have one. Facial recognition gets you through without having to even show it. And the line was shorter than for those not using a passport.  
• Vista ship rolled side to side and tilted front to back rocked entire week - due to bad weather and what I assume was stabilizers not working well. 
• Too many lines for food!
• If have MyTime Dining, make sure you checkin on the Hub Abb to secure a table.  It'll tell you how long the wait is and when table is available, it'll tell you deck 3 or 4 and the table #.  Just show screen to person at front of dining room and they will seat you.   Expect a lot of people waiting around by the doors to get in (especially at beginning of cruise when people don't know to use the App)
• Going into dry dock Jan 7 to mid-Feb. needs it!!  Hopefully when it returns it will be a better experience for future cruisers.  

 

[Knights on the Beach]

Thank you for your comments! We'll be on Vista in April and hope the ship is in good condition when it comes out of drydock. Based on what you said about finding out whether your table is on deck 3 or 4 after getting confirmation in the Hub app, that must mean YTD is in Horizons Restaurant and not Reflections? Was coffee available at the Plaza Bar in the mornings as well as at Java Blue? I had read pre-Covid, Vista used to have a small breakfast buffet in the Ocean Plaza but don't think it has been brought back. Did you find that to be the case? Would you happen to have any screenshots from the Hub app for opening times for bars and dining?

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, Knights on the Beach said:

 used to have a small breakfast buffet in the Ocean Plaza but don't think it has been brought back

 

ocean plaza buffet has been discontinued fleetwide.

[Knights on the Beach]

Thanks, I figured as much. Not sure we'd really take advantage of it anyway, but it's nice to know our options. 🙂

[Lee Cruiser]

8 hours ago, GotMINI said:

Beach towels (yellow) will be in cabin.  

I'm guessing you were in a specialty cabin.  Unless something has changed in the last few months, beach towels in most rooms are blue.