Vista 6 Day Review- Cove Balcony

I always like to get my information before I board a cruise. Some people like to be surprised, I like to be prepared ;) So I will give you how I did it and my opinions and choices of the 6 day Western Caribbean - Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel.

Cabin Selection:

We reserved and paid for a a 1st floor window cabin back in May. I watched the prices drop and was able to upgrade to a Cove Balcony on the 2nd floor Fwd near the elevator for no additional cost! Excellent choice.The balcony feels wider than a standard and very private. The sound of the waves and view at that level is amazing!! We were very centrally located, one floor above the lobby and never heard a sound. Some salt spray but nothing major.

Packing:

I've been on numerous cruises; Gold Member on the Carnival, so this is easy for me. My suggestion is to consider your daily activity and if it is a dress up night or not. Mix and match pants, shorts for men and summer dresses for ladies are soo easy and light to pack. So many pairs of shoes are not necessary; although I still take ;p. Something about a lady and her shoes! There is a hair dryer in the drawer. Shampoo and body wash, no conditioner. Bring an extension cord. They do have a USB outlet. Plenty of space on bathroom shelves, drawers/shelves in closet. Backpack is always handy, lanyards, waterproof boxes you can hang around your neck. These are great to store your cash, boarding cards and ID when you go on water excursions and don't want to leave valuables behind. Foldable laundry basket and if you don't have time to wash clothes before you leave..a duffle bag you can put dirty clothes in.

After online booking we decided to purchase the internet package before boarding -15% cheaper. As well as the Cheers package (about $10+cheaper pp). Call in any dietary needs, family celebrations, wheelchair accommodations for embarkation/ Muster Drill etc.. ahead of time! As far as the tours..for Ocho Rios, I contacted Marvyn at Paradise Tours and they tailored my tour and budget before boarding.

Embarkation:

Arrived at the designated time slot and headed right in, otherwise you are sent to another line. Loads of people at that time (11:30-12:00) But let's say it's "organized chaos". Have everything in your hand..passports, boarding papers and any prior reserved papers.

There were workers guiding you by elevators but you were blocked from going to the rooms unless you're platinum or above. So you will be dragging whatever you bring aboard around with you for at least till 1pm :o. Check it all in at the port if possible.

To be honest I didn't have a chance to enjoy the grand entrance but maybe it was because that wow factor wasn't there to distract me :(. It wasn't that bad though, just different.

Carnival Hub: Yes download it, it is really great for the things happening onboard and you can also mark them as favorites and it will alert you 15 minutes prior to the activity! Pretty cool. Now the chat was a hit or miss for us. Kinda frustrating, especially when you have kids and need them to meet you somewhere and the connection fails :rolleyes: The premium internet was a nightmare for my husband who had to keep in touch with work matters. It took 3 days and a call to land technical assistance to get it working. So just a heads up. May have been our case.

Food/Service:

I personally found our experience at the MDR rather quick. We had our time dining and went EARLY like 7pm. After that it was a lot busier and took longer. We only ate there for dinner and 3 nights. We did Lido for breakfast, it was good, had all the basics. Didn't want to waste to much time at sit downs. Lots of seating areas. Clean up was timely so others could sit. Lunch has plenty of options..Guy's Burgers (delish), Cucina Capitano, JiJi Asian, Deli sandwiches, Iguana's..what I liked is that they were all in the same vicinity so it makes it easy. All are complimentary for lunch. Pig and Anchor was only open on the 2 sea days for 2 hours; that was a shame!

Mostly good news so far. Be on Vista 09/23

Hi. We are considering this ship and itinerary. I'm scouring reviews to try and see what kind of atmosphere it is. I haven't sailed with Carnival and do not want a rowdy drunk crowd. I hear that's more prevalent on the shorter cruises. We're looking for more of a family atmosphere. I don't care about people having fun and such, I just don't want to be around a drunk college frat party on deck. Thanks!

We are just off the Glory and dining room was very slow!! Looking at the same every thing with you!! Yours had one bathroom right? Thinking about the ocean view with two bathrooms do you have any pictures? Thanks

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Hi. We are considering this ship and itinerary. I'm scouring reviews to try and see what kind of atmosphere it is. I haven't sailed with Carnival and do not want a rowdy drunk crowd. I hear that's more prevalent on the shorter cruises. We're looking for more of a family atmosphere. I don't care about people having fun and such, I just don't want to be around a drunk college frat party on deck. Thanks!

I wouldn't say its a drunk college frat party on deck. Avoid the Lip Sync Battle tryouts on the pool deck and the White Party in the atrium if you want to avoid the craziness. Its pretty much a bunch of twerking. Everything else is just everyone having a good time.

Thanks for your review ! Just wondering how quick you were able to catch the tender while at Grand Cayman? Was there a massive line?

I wouldn't say its a drunk college frat party on deck. Avoid the Lip Sync Battle tryouts on the pool deck and the White Party in the atrium if you want to avoid the craziness. Its pretty much a bunch of twerking. Everything else is just everyone having a good time.

I hear ya. We went to the white hot party on NCL twice and stayed for a bit then left. Now that we're getting older our tolerance for loud is dwindling [emoji5]we usually do avoid those hairy chest/sexy legs contests and such, no problem. Even NCL Getaway had those. But we would like to enjoy the pool deck somewhat.

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Thanks for your thoughts.

That was a nice upgrade!

Were you able to upgrade to a Cove Balcony on the 2nd floor Fwd near the elevator for no additional cost when the price dropped while monitoring it?

Doing this same itinerary on the new Horizon. What did you do in the ports?

Hi. We are considering this ship and itinerary. I'm scouring reviews to try and see what kind of atmosphere it is. I haven't sailed with Carnival and do not want a rowdy drunk crowd. I hear that's more prevalent on the shorter cruises. We're looking for more of a family atmosphere. I don't care about people having fun and such, I just don't want to be around a drunk college frat party on deck. Thanks!

Carnival is known for the "fun" so you will have all kinds of activities catering to that. I did not encounter a drunk crowd at all nor frat type crazies. For us, things were fun to watch from the upper pool deck and those activities were only on Sea Days (2 days of trip). There was the Quest game on the last night in the Liquid Lounge that was a bit much, but honestly there were so many things going on at the same time that you have other choices.

We are just off the Glory and dining room was very slow!! Looking at the same every thing with you!! Yours had one bathroom right? Thinking about the ocean view with two bathrooms do you have any pictures? Thanks

 

 

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I think you're speaking of the Family Harbour rooms that have 2 bathrooms? I peeked in one of them and they are huge! The snack/lounge is very convenient too.These were on the 2nd floor just down from us. I just had 1 bath with the Cove

Thanks for your review ! Just wondering how quick you were able to catch the tender while at Grand Cayman? Was there a massive line?

Nope, it was very quick! We had 3 tenders going at the same time. Just don't gather in the gangway until they tell you, there's no need. That's my opinion

That was a nice upgrade!

Were you able to upgrade to a Cove Balcony on the 2nd floor Fwd near the elevator for no additional cost when the price dropped while monitoring it?

I watched the prices and when they ran a deal, I had a feeling they had dropped and since I was paid in full, I requested the upgrade. I also got a $140 obc!:D;p

Port Days/ Tours etc:

Carnival has a ton of tours, but some/maybe most can be done directly with locals on the islands and cheaper. You may even have it tailored to your liking. We've been to Ocho Rios ton of times but the kids had not. So we wanted to do something fun and have enough time to enjoy the ship which is usually fairly empty port days. I checked around online and narrowed it down to Marvyn Paradise Tours. We went White River tubing and had a very fun time. You can add Dunn's River Falls, Beach, Shopping Etc. There is nothing to do off the port unless you go on a tour. You just have a market with locals fighting for your attention. I noticed from the boat there is a beach on the right hand side of the market you can access through there.

In the Cayman Islands we were going to do the Stingray City/snorkel with a private 2 1/2 tour, but there was a tropical storm lingering and we didn't want to take a chance of cancellation. So we hailed a taxi and went to the gorgeous beach there..and I mean GORGEOUS! :cool:you can even take a dip right near the pier a brief walk to the left. Not a lot of shopping out of the port, so buy what you need right there..it's the same prices, trust me, I checked.

Cozumel was Mr. Sanchos. You can take numerous tours/taxis right out of the market area and have them tailor it to your liking. My husband went Scuba Diving with the ship. It was the same cost and I felt happier knowing he would come back in time.

Got back each time way early and the kids enjoyed the pool, slides, Skyride (way cool) and I could lay out on the 11th floor lounge chair deck with my Bahama Mama (with extra mama);p

As far as the Entertainment I can tell you the musical part of it had a great variety. You had an awesome Latin Band playing music each night at the Havana Club which got everyone dancing to their own Cha Cha Cha, you had beautiful Violinists playing in the atrium/lobby area before and after dinner. You had Steel Drums and Jimmy Buffet vibe in the Red Frog Pub. This was a nice hangout. Had the best Conch Fritters! The Ocean Plaza had nightly decades music and dancing. And you also had a late night Piano Bar where a fellow passenger took the piano and played his own song for us!

Plenty of sitting areas for chatting, gathering, playing dominos, throughout. Inside and on deck. Chairs were not an issue. Now I read the complaint about the Liquid Lounge's sight lines or lack there of...absolutely true! Terrible. Unless you get there early and select your seats you will be standing and moving around to get a view. I think if you get 2nd level (5th floor) front row, you'll be good. I saw 2 of the 3 shows, they were okay.

I was only able to see 1 of the comedy shows because they were sooo early. I've been on other ships where the 18+ was at 10 or 11pm. Here is was at 8:30 :rolleyes: between dinner and getting the kids settled at camp or somewhere there is no way you can catch it unless you coordinate. It was also located in an area less traveled so not many people bothered. They probably could have packed the place later at night..the one guy we saw was quite funny.

Thanks for the port information.

Do you think you would liked the outside with 2 bathrooms instead? I am torn between the two thanks

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Do you think you would liked the outside with 2 bathrooms instead? I am torn between the two thanks

 

 

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They are both good..but the bathroom wasn't a big deal for us. If you are basing it on the bathroom only, think about the time you are spending in the room. It's a nice feature but not a deal maker for me. That room is bigger than the Cove, has a nice sitting area. The main benefit with those rooms is the Harbour Family Lounge amenities. Food, drinks, video games etc.. if you have children then go that route. I personally loved the ocean breeze and view from my balcony :hearteyes: in the Cove.

This ship itself is very nice. She's big but didn't feel that way. What is great are the amount of elevators in the fwd, mid and aft! I've been on large Ships where you had to walk to the far front or far back to grab an elevator and then come back to the center to the place you wanted to be. I would spend the whole time walking. Not a bad thing but this worked nicely. Never crowded to get one nor a long wait. Lots of mobility scooters and they did fine in the elevators as well. Pools are good enough too, i thought. The main pool was mainly used by the kids as well as the waterworks area not too far away. The slides were fun and best on Port days, no lines. Tides pool in the Lido Aft was where we spent time. It has 2 jacuzzi's and great pool bar, the Seafood Shack is there and the Pizza place. The seating area is nice on 2 levels and the view is beautiful!

There is the Serenity (Adult only) area on the 15th floor fwd that has two large jacuzzi's. Very nice area with a Bar and Salad Bar on Port days. Seating is nice and loungy type. One night they had an Adult Dance Party there with DJ and Dancing. We left late and it was still ongoing.

The Sports area on the 11th &12th floors is a good size. It has a walking track, outdoor fitness machines, full-size basketball court, mini golf, pool tables, foosball, and they have a small bowling alley for a $3 per game fee. The SkyRide and Ropes course is fun! Closed sneakers required and kids must be 52"for SkyRide.

My 9 year old spend 2 days at Camp Ocean. She liked it but didn't love it. Lots of kids and teens walking around behaving nicely and making friends.

I did not use the Spa but they had plenty of daily specials. Gym wasn't very big and was usually crowded. The IMAX was a very nice touch and The Thriller was too. The nighttime poolside movies were great! Some of the latest big screen movies and it would get full on all three levels if the movie was good. We saw Sing!, Fate of the Furious, Beauty and the Beast..there were many others.

Debarkation: If you need or want to leave early..walk your bags off. I saw people as early as 7am leaving from my balcony. They will call you from either sections (if you left bags outside) or floors (if you're walking off) and you need to wait around the ship anywhere really. You have to leave the room at 8-8:30am.

We left the ship at 10am and outside passengers were lining up to come in!

They are both good..but the bathroom wasn't a big deal for us. If you are basing it on the bathroom only, think about the time you are spending in the room. It's a nice feature but not a deal maker for me. That room is bigger than the Cove, has a nice sitting area. The main benefit with those rooms is the Harbour Family Lounge amenities. Food, drinks, video games etc.. if you have children then go that route. I personally loved the ocean breeze and view from my balcony :hearteyes: in the Cove.

Thanks so much we are just back from the Glory and had 2 rooms as our kids are 18 and 21 and surprisingly still want to be with us! Thinking we might have to do 1 room as it is so much more expensive! We did all of us in a cove on the Dream it was just cramped getting ready for dinner

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Thanks for the review and information. We decided to book a kind of last minute Vista cruise this spring as a recovery cruise from our Family and Friends Cruise on the Magic next week. There was limited options for balconies, so we decided to go with an inside room in a perfect location. This will be our Platinum cruise, and we're looking forward to revisiting the ports that we haven't been to since our first cruise ten years ago. Thanks again!!!

Thanks for the review and information. We decided to book a kind of last minute Vista cruise this spring as a recovery cruise from our Family and Friends Cruise on the Magic next week. There was limited options for balconies, so we decided to go with an inside room in a perfect location. This will be our Platinum cruise, and we're looking forward to revisiting the ports that we haven't been to since our first cruise ten years ago. Thanks again!!!

You'll enjoy it! I think I need a recovery cruise too now that you mentioned it :confused:!