Just back - Carnival Vista 6 Day 7/9-7/15

Good morning everyone. Just got back yesterday from a great cruise aboard the Vista. For a little background, there were 13 of us spread from toddlers to older RCL loyalists. Originally planned to cruise out of Galveston or New Orleans for spring break but pushed it to summer and Miami so our South Florida family could go.

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Embarkation - I thought this went very smooth for us but we had an 11am boarding time. We got there right at 11am and there already a ton of people there. We received a #14 boarding card. While there was a long line for security, it went fast and we were in the waiting area by 11:10. They started calling boarding numbers by 11:15 and were calling them quickly and our wait was about 20 minutes.

Boarding - We were lead up to the gangway and were on board the Vista. I agree with a lot on here that the new atrium does not give you the wow factor that you usually get. It actually felt smaller than the pictures I have seen. The dreamscape is beautiful though.

Staterooms -I had two connecting oceanview rooms in the Family Harbor section. The rooms were 2495 & 2497 which are the oversized corner obstructed view rooms. 2497 was big for a regular cabin. We did not get any noise from the Horizon restaurant above but did hear the crew some when we were docking. The main issue is you will feel the vibration from the propellers. It was a slight rumble all the time while moving so if that is a issue for you I would look elsewhere. My sisters family had an inside FH room with two bunks which I felt was bigger than other cruise lines I have been on.

The Family Harbor Lounge was great. They served breakfast that you would see at the buffet on 10. Eggs, bacon, sausage, waffle, hash browns, etc. They also had a coffee machine that made espresso/cappuccinos but you had to figure out how you like it because it took multiple pours to get enough out of it. For lunch, they had PB&J plus deli sandwiches. They also had soft serve 24 hours which my kids took advantage of a lot. The automatic door on our side was broken the whole trip though. They kept trying to fix it but made it worse each time.

Day 1 - Our room was not going to be ready until 1pm so we headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. A warning first, if you do not like crowds, this first day is going to be a problem. They let everyone know that lunch can be found at the Pig & Anchor on 5 or on deck 10. It felt like everyone was at the Lido marketplace. It was hard to find a table. We finally found a couple of tables. They also do not tell anyone that JJ Asian and the Cucino is open so no one was up there. We already had a table so they let us order from the pasta bar to go. Thought the pasta was good.

Next was the Muster Drill. Ours was D3 which was the lower level of the Horizons restaurant. The drill is at 4 but they shut down everything by about 3:15. I mean everything. They even took the handles off the soft serve machines. By 3:45 they were sounding the alarm and calling a couple of passengers names that did not show up. We were done by 4:10 and then everyone was heading upstairs and barely moving. We decided to go down to the lounge and let the crowds calm down before going up to sail away.

The Beach Pool area was packed for sail away so we headed to the Tides Pool so the kids can swim and we can hang at the bar and watch Miami fall off the horizon. My wife and I and my sister and her husband pre-paid for the Cheers package. I knew we had to pay sales tax while in Miami so it was not a surprise. I was surprised that we almost always got a receipt to sign which was different than on NCL. I always tipped an extra $1 per drink even though the gratuity was added to the package. Everyone from the bartenders to the waiter were amazing all week and deserved it. Bars were never crowded and we rarely had to wait long for a drink. Also, there were plenty of waiters walking around the pool areas to grab if you want one. We became friends with Jade from St Lucia. He is a great guy.

We had YTD and I was worried about getting a table with a party of 13. For those worried, you can ease those worries. The only night we were given a buzzer was on the first elegant night and it was about a 20 minute wait. Every other night I just walked up, gave them all our room numbers, and was handed a slip to go right to the Horizon. We usually went to dinner between 7 and 8 so it was prime dinner time. The first night they sat us all at a long table on deck 4 with a booth on one side. Service was great and so was the food. For all the bad talk about the MDR food I read on here, there were very few misses and a lot of really great dishes. I felt like the food was better than the food on NCL. There were a lot of dishes on that cruise that were not great and dessert was almost always a disaster. The melting cake alone makes it all worth it. Also felt the Horizon dining room to be beautiful and huge.

After dinner, we walked around with the family some and then sent the kids off with grandma for the night. We first went to the Havana Bar which is the best place on the ship. The atmosphere is a lot of fun and the band is great. They even include a full brass section on some of the nights. The dancing from some of the guests was great. There was one couple that stood out and were a lot of fun. Being out of Miami, there were a lot of latin guests on board so I wonder how it will be when it moves to Texas.

Next we stopped by the Red Frog Pub. There were not a lot of people in here on just about every night. They are really missing out because Ed Carr is great. He will play just about anything you call out. He is really interactive with the guests. He is only a solo guitar so he does this really cool thing where he records the background cords and then loops it and plays lead guitar. Check him out.

It was on to Piano Bar 88. It was late at this point and they were closing up soon. Elizabeth played a couple more songs and then we moved on. I didn't see many people in here on other nights and they used it as a private venue on some of the nights.

We checked out the Alchemy Bar before heading off to bed. My sister and BIL were already here. This was his favorite bar on the ship. He had a great relationship with one of the bartenders and she made him an old fashion every time he walked up. They made great drinks. They made me a Moscow Mule one night with fresh ginger which was amazing. Another night we walked up right after last call. Because of the relationship they had, the bartender said she was would make us something from what they still had out. She made some whiskey drink with a peach puree that was amazing.

First day was over and we headed to bed. Like I said earlier, crowds were an issue today but was the only day we had a problem. Between lunch, the muster drill, and sail away, everyone was being courted to the same places. I know people have said that the ship does not disperse crowds well but I did not see that. After sail away, we did not ever hit big crowds. There is so much to do on the ship that people are all over the place.

To be continued later.

Enjoying your report.

Keith

Glad to hear YTD wasn't an issue! We'll have a larger group as well

Thanks, I'll follow this

Oh. Forgot to mention with the stateroom that our steward, Ashkin, did give us the much talked about service request card. It had an option for Morning, Evening, or Both. I did morning because we really do not use the room much other than to shower before dinner. My sister did both because with the little girls they used the cabin more. Not sure what the other two cabins that other family had did.

Great review so far! I can't wait to read the rest. I will be sailing aboard the Vista next weekend for the 2nd time. I sailed on the 8 day itinerary in April, and am sailing on the 6 day this time.

Great info so far. We are considering a family harbor cabin next fall. May I ask, besides coffee in the FH lounge, what other beverages are available?

Great review so far, thanks.

Can't wait for our turn! Glad you're reviewing your trip

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Enjoying your review. Following.

Great info so far. We are considering a family harbor cabin next fall. May I ask, besides coffee in the FH lounge, what other beverages are available?

They had a water/ice dispenser and a ice tea/lemonade pitchers. In the fridge there were milk and chocolate milk along with yogurts.

Its a great area to be in if you have kids.

Great review so far! I can't wait to read the rest. I will be sailing aboard the Vista next weekend for the 2nd time. I sailed on the 8 day itinerary in April, and am sailing on the 6 day this time.

Thanks. We were so not ready to get off the ship. We all said we should have done the 8 day.

Day 2 (Sea Day) - We woke up and you could feel the boat rocking. It was less of a rock and more of a jog back and forth. It took a while to get everyone get going and we probably spent more time in the room than we should have. I was at the start of feeling sea sick but my wife had already passed that point. We moved her to a room higher up since the movement and vibration was making it worse. She ended up sleeping it off for a few hours. Once I got out I was better.

We went to the Sea Day Brunch which was really good. I had the steak and eggs which tasted great. Everyone else had good things to say about their plates also.

After brunch, we walked around the Promenade some stopping off at Cherry on Top to let the kids pick out candy. They have so many types of the bulk candy. Even some I have never seen before. I think it was $3 for a 1/4 lb but I may be wrong.

We got everyone in their bathing suits to enjoy the day and then headed up to the Lido deck. My kids were excited to try to the slides and Skyride but sadly everything was closed. The winds were really bad that day and they felt it was unsafe to operate. This also included the Skycourse. A lot of people included my kids were disappointed being that it was the first chance to ride(its not open during sail away).

We decided to grab lunch before hitting the pool and splashpark. Most of us grabbed a burger at Guy's. Let me say it did not disappoint. Everyone that had one raved about it and tried to figure out what made it different. One word of advice, the line will look long but they churn out burgers quickly. Ok two words, they are just going to give you a cheeseburger and fries to speed the process unless you ask. With the lines, I felt bad asking for something special but everything is right there for them. After getting up the courage later in the week, I asked for a pig patty which they made with no problem.

Just a little aside. We all felt that the Carnival staff was amazing. Not one person was anything less than happy to help. We even accidentally placed a drink order with a bus boy in the marketplace and he happily took it and went to the bar to give the order to a waiter. Can't say enough good things about the staff. Now the guests are another topic. There were a lot of rude guests we ran into. A lot of pushing people aside to get what they want. Even had my sons sandals grabbed at the splash park and then women refused to say they were not hers even though there was no way her son could fit in them. I know some say that is just Carnival but I think its more of a Miami issue. Cruises out of New Orleans have not been like this and I am originally from So Fla so I have seen this behavior on land.

Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. Back to the day. We went down to get ready for elegant night. I went to check in our 13 and this was the only day we had to wait. I will say that most people were dressed up including a high amount of men in suits. The table next to us were just in shorts and t-shirts and were allowed in so dress code is not fully enforced though. The food was great but today's service was terrible. It took so long and someone from the front even came to apologize. Most of us just skipped dessert because we had lost the kids attention at that point. The one thing I will say is I know the waiter show is a Carnival staple but I don't think it works for YTD. Trad dining you pretty much have everyone at the same point in the meal but YTD they are pulling people away during different points.

We didn't let dinner ruin the night and dropped the kids off in Camp Ocean to bar hop again. We stopped by Havana Bar and Red Frog before someone in our group wanted to go to the Dare to be Scared show in the Thrill Theater. While I think the 4D concept is fun, the actual movie was a little disappointing. The first two movies are CGI and then the third was showing different Friday the 13th deaths. My kids went to the cartoon show another day and loved it though. I would say don't miss this but stay away from the one show. The show room is not that big so get there a little early if you want to enjoy it. They sell out.

That pretty much finished our day because we had an early morning tomorrow for Ocho Rios.

Great review so far, thank you

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Great Review! Taking this same trip on the 6th of August so I'll be asking away! How was Camp Ocean? I have a 9 year old and did anyone keep an Itinerary? Thanks!

We are going on an 8 day cruise in January with 3 kids and also staying in a Family Harbor room. Thank you for sharing your review!!!

Great Review! Taking this same trip on the 6th of August so I'll be asking away! How was Camp Ocean? I have a 9 year old and did anyone keep an Itinerary? Thanks!

Sorry I did not keep an Itinerary. I have a 8 and 10 year old and while they had no problem going in there, they felt it was not as structured as NCL. It was a lot of do what you want time. They like to do arts and crafts or play group games.

Sorry for the delay for those interested. I actually wrote Day 3 on airport wifi and found out my plane did not have it and lost what I wrote. So back to it.

Day 3 (Ocho Rios) - We woke up and got the kids up to go to the FH Lounge for breakfast. It was about 8am and we were still maneuvering into the pier. Matt made an announcement that we were a little bit behind schedule but we did not have anything scheduled so it was not a big deal. Everybody in our group wanted to do different excursions so we decided to wing it today. We got off the boat about 9am. I have read on here that most people do not like porting in Jamaica and I found out why right off the bat. Walking towards the taxi area, there was a barbed wire fence with 5-6 guys on the outside trying to call you over to buy something from them. Very pushy. I already knew my part of the group wanted to do Mystic Mountain so we let the taxi guide know. They tried to tell me multiple times that it was $150 per person just to go up the mountain which I knew was not true. They were trying to get me to do a tour of the city tour with them for $30 pp instead of the $10 pp RT trip to MM. Then they wanted us to have our 8 and 10 year olds sit on our laps so that they could get more people on the taxi even though we paid for them. Very annoying start to the day.

MM was the first stop and was only a 10 minute ride. We got there and of course it was not $150 pp. We had 6 of us with 3 doing the bobsleds and 3 just doing the ski lift and it came to $300. Very surprised because it was more on the website. I thought it might be $300 Jamaican $ but the exchange rate was $1 US to $126 Jamaican $. I will say that if you plan on Zip Lining, purchase ahead of time because they said it was sold out. We got on the ski lift and it was an amazing ride up. The view over the bay is beautiful and there are a couple of parts where the Vista is sitting right in the middle of the shot. Its about a 15 minute ride up. At the top of the mountain there is a museum that explains the history of Jamaica and the history of the country in the Olympics. I tried to tell my kids the history of the bobsled team but I think I only told the Cool Running story which I am sure is not true. There is also a drum band and dancers that were fun to watch. On the backside, there is a infinity pool and waterslide plus a hummingbird garden. They pool looks over the bay and is so beautiful. If you are looking for a perfect picture, climb the stairs for the waterslide and stop at the first landing.

We got in line for the bobsled coaster and waiting maybe 15 minutes. If you want to do this I suggest going early because most of the excursions go to other stops first and MM last. When we were leaving it was packed and probably closer to the 45 minute line some people have mentioned. The ride was so much fun. It works by you having to push on the brake in order to go faster and if you let go it slows down. You can go in sleds of 1 or 2 and my kids went ahead of me together. Of course I was going full open and they were not so I caught up to them towards the end. There is a lift hill that brings you back to the top and really shows you how far down the mountain you went. It was a long ride back up. If you want to ride again, you can purchase additional rides of 2, 3, or 5. I know 2 rides was $22 but can't remember the rest.

After we finished, we hung out in the pool and slide which was fun. We could see that the Skyride and waterslides on the ship were open so we planned on heading back to the ship early to ride before everyone came back on. After about a half hour hanging around the pool, we headed back down the ski lift which is not as nice a ride as going up. You are below the lifts going up so you mostly see rainforest. When we got down they called our taxi driver and we were picked up in about 15 minutes to head back to the ship.

We got back on and headed up to the Lido for lunch. Everything was open so we had plenty of choices. All lunch places close at 2:30 except Guy's, Pizza, and the sandwich shop in the back of the buffet. The sandwich part is very slow and gets backed up very easily so I would avoid after 2:30. Everyone grabbed something different and I tried the pizza which I thought was good. I was great to see real pizza ovens instead of the conveyor belt systems that places like Dominos and Pizza Hut have.

After lunch, my kids and I headed up to the Skyride. The sign said that it would take 45 minutes from our point but in 5 minutes we were already at the 15 minute point in line. First off, people have to leave the line ahead of you because they are not wearing closed toe shoes. Plus, the guys working it seemed to have a pretty good system going so it was going pretty quick. Total wait was about 20 minutes. My son went first. He was right at the 52" height requirement so it was a little tough for him to get a good pedal. I was worried he was not going to make it around but the guy working was so supportive. They have video cameras around the track that they can watch and he was cheering him on the whole time. I asked what would happen if he got stuck and he said he would just jump on and push him from behind like it was no big deal. Next was my daughter and I. I wanted to stay next to her as support in case she got scared but each side has a fun dip that makes you speed off. The blue side that I was on dips before the back of the ship so I flew right past her. I slowed up to let her catch up then she flew right past me on the other side of the ship. She was laughing the whole time so no need for me to worry. The ride is a lot of fun and the views overlooking the water a great. I tried to gopro it attached to my head but turns out it was pointing too high up.

Next we went over to try the Kaleido-slide. The tubes are going to be mostly in line so you have to wait at the slide exit for someone to come down. The line was not long and went pretty quick. Because of the tube, the ride is not fast but its still fun. The kaleidoscope affect is pretty good as you go down. We did not try Twister slide though.

We met up with the rest of our group and they all had a busted day. My sister and mother took their group to the falls and they said the hike to the falls was crazy. They had my two small nieces with them and had to carry them most of the way. My BIL and my cousin's husband said they went on what was billed a white water tubing adventure. It turned out to be a slow moving creek what the tubes dragged on the bottom of. We had fun at MM though so it was not all bad.

We went back to get ready for Elegant Night in the MDR. As I said earlier, this was the only night that I was handed a pager. This was also the only night that they needed to split our party into two table. We waited about 20 minutes in the Ocean Plaza which was not too bad. We went down to the Horizon to be seated and it seemed like most people were following the dress code. A lot of guys had suits on and women were wearing cocktail dresses. The table next to us had shorts and shirts on so the dress code was not being enforced. Tonight the food was great but the service was terrible. Only bad service in the MDR all week(remember I said MDR for later). It took over two and a half hours to eat and most of us skipped dessert. One of the hostesses actually came over to apologize because it took so long. I had the Prime Rib and Lobster Tail which they did give me a full tail which I read that they only give half on the surf & turf. It was very good. Also another reason it took so long was tonights show. I know this has always been a Carnival thing but I don't think it works with YTD. With traditional dining every one is pretty much done with the main course and waiting for dessert. With YTD, there are people that are at all different parts of the night and makes it very disjointed. If I am waiting long for my main dish and they start dancing and singing, I am going to be more annoyed than if I am waiting on dessert.

After dinner we went to check out White Party in the atrium. It had already started and was packed on all levels. We tried to fit in where we could but could not get a good spot. We also had the kids with us and there was a lot of twerking going on. It was billed as 18+ so I kinda expected it. I don't expect it pool side but it happens there also as a warning. I love Matt. Best and most high energy CD I have ever had but he encourages twerking constantly. The Lip Sync Battle tryout poolside on day 2 turned into who can twerk the dirtiest.

We moved on to the Ocean Plaza to listen to the Shipsie Kings play 90s to today music. They are a pretty good band and got the kids dancing. The Ocean Plaza is a great space on the ship. Deck 5 Aft. During the day they have trivia and bingo in there and later they have music. You also have the back entrance to the Red Frog if you want to jump in and play some game or listen to other music.

After spending a little time here we decided to call it a night. We had an 8:15 meeting time for our excursion in Grand Cayman the next day which is earlier than most of us want on vacation.

Following! On the Vista in 10 short days! Thanks!

Following along!

I just realized that I put Elegant Night into day 2 and 3. It was day 2. Sorry for the confusion. Ocho Rios night for dinner went well and the food was great.

Hey liljo22, thanks for taking the time to do a review. We were on the Vista in March and are going on her again in 2018. Your review is getting me excited for next year!

Question for you. We have a port stop in Ocho Rios also and were considering MM, but somewhere I read that you can only go if you are part of an excursion group. It seems like you just took a cab there on your own, correct? I hope so because that would be my preferred way of doing it.

Also, what about those of your group that did the falls, did they do an excursion or just get a cab on their own (if you recall)?

Thanks and looking forward to the rest of the review!

Day 4 (Grand Cayman) - Like I said in the last post, we had a 8:15 meeting time for the Turtle Farm excursion. Getting 13 people to move at the same time is not easy so of course we don't get there until 8:30. Our excursion tender had left so we had to wait until all other excursion tenders were gone and then they put everyone that missed theirs onto one tender. The boat was full so a lot of people missed theirs. The trip was a quick on to shore and then we found our excursion group that had not left yet. We boarded a bus with our driver, Jack from State Farm(his words not mine). He was funny and helped point out things from the island. He dropped us off and let us know pickup was at 12:45. He also let us know that our wristbands allowed entrance to the dolphin excursion across the street. We could watch but would have to pay to swim.

Our tour guide took our group inside and the first area we went to was the breeding area. The turtles in this tank were huge. Biggest turtles I have every seen in person. You could buy turtle feed for $5. He gave us a talk on what they do on the farm and this is where I know some people get upset. He was upfront that a portion of the turtles are sold to marketplaces for food but also claims a portion is released into the wild. Didn't specify what % of each but did say they have released over 30,000 turtles into the wild. If this might upset you, I would skip this excursion. From there we went to see younger turtles in several tanks as well as a cayman they have onsite. The next stop was tanks that you could enter and hold the turtles. You got as much time as you wanted in this area but if someone was waiting you had 5 minutes in the tank.

Next we hit the lagoon which is a pool area with a water slide and waterfall. After probably an hour there, we moved on to the snorkeling area. This area is a very long man made saltwater lagoon with turtles and fish in it. You pick up your mask, snorkel, and vest at the beach and swim out to where the turtles are. The water is surprising warm and has a little bit of algae floating at the top so it may turn off some people. The turtles all hang out at the end where the bridge is because they get fed there and their are a lot of time. Turtles all over the place. It was a fun experience. Our best excursion of the week. We washed off in the showers by the beach and headed back on the bus to the ship.

Back at the ship we were able to eat lunch and hang by the pool before dinner. Its a nice relaxing time if you come back early on a port day. Its not empty like if you stayed on the ship but still pretty easy going. We wanted to make the 9:30 Flick showing so we wanted to do a 7pm dinner in order to make it on time. We headed down to shower and change for dinner.

Turns out that day 4 was the second Elegant Night. I was under the impression that day 5 was so I scheduled our Steakhouse dinner that night so that we only had to bring two sets of dress clothes. It was weird though. The Carnival App said tonight was Elegant dress but then listed the dress code for the Cruise Casual nights. Some people were dressed up but most were just dressed nicely. We dressed nice but not in slacks and cocktail dresses. Those were for the next night. Our waiter Valentin was great. Probably the best all week but I have to put Day 6 Romano up there also. He was very attentive. They also sat us at the long table in front of the bar which was very convenient for ordering drinks. Sorry I do not have more info on food but we ate so much this week that it all blends together.

After dinner we headed to the Liquid Lounge. It was about 9:10 for the 9:30 show and it was pretty empty. I heard about the theater setup so I figured we could sit upstairs. The complaints about the setup are valid. I could see the main stage and second stage but anything happening on the screen or right in front of it we could not see because of the column. I thought the show was pretty good but there was not the WOW factor with it. The action movie sequence with the lasers was really cool though. I really wanted to see the America Rocks show because I think it would work great in that space but did not have time.

After the show, Matt invited everyone there up onto the Lido deck for the Mega Deck Party. This was Matt at his best. He was super high energy and was teaching new dances for every song. It also started to rain in the middle of the party. He just laughed and said its going to be fun tonight. Told everyone he is not leaving. We stuck around dancing for a little bit and were pretty soaked. It was a blast.

We finished up here and decided to head to bed for Cozumel in the am.

Hey liljo22, thanks for taking the time to do a review. We were on the Vista in March and are going on her again in 2018. Your review is getting me excited for next year!

 

Question for you. We have a port stop in Ocho Rios also and were considering MM, but somewhere I read that you can only go if you are part of an excursion group. It seems like you just took a cab there on your own, correct? I hope so because that would be my preferred way of doing it.

 

Also, what about those of your group that did the falls, did they do an excursion or just get a cab on their own (if you recall)?

 

Thanks and looking forward to the rest of the review!

Hey Keith. You can 100% go on your own to both places. Our groups were on the same bus going to MM and DFR. When you get to MM, they don't care where you came from. Just be aware like I said in the review, the taxi guides are going to try to turn you away MM because its so close. They want you on the $30pp Falls/Beach/Shopping tour of the island.