Just off Vista, as good as a Carnival Cruise can be

We have been on 30 cruises over 4 different lines and are now Platinum on Carnival. We booked this in spite of the shaky reviews as we got a great deal on our annual kids free cruise.

Embarkation took 15 minutes, as easy as it can get.

We stayed in an inside cabin on 10th, it was a great location, easy to get to and from everywhere. Not loud, AC worked great. Our room steward was solid, only saw him twice but had no complaints.

We never ate lunch in the Lido but has the BBQ, Mexican and Burgers each once on the sea days. All were good, and no complaints. Had a few breakfast in the lido and it is the same thing as every ship, something to get you through to lunch. Since it was a new ship the marketplace was nice and we never waited in a line for than 10 minutes.

Dinner was the same as it was on every Carnival ship, pretty good to good, we had my time dining, went around 6:45-7 every night and never waited to be seated. once at dinner they did a great job getting us in and out within an hour almost every night. Dino and Mario were great.

The pool areas are very crowded and kids jumping and running amok continues to be my biggest issue with Carnival, they do not get security around anymore. So on the sea days we did find chairs pretty easy around 10am but rarely went into the pool.

The entertainment was the best we have had on A carnival ship. It all started with the CD Matt Mitchum, so much fin, great energy and exceptionally friendly. He made every event better than it usually is, the Lip Sync, the sing alongs, deck events, and shows, just tremdous.

We never had an issue in the Liquid Lounge, it is not a great setup but got there 15 mins early for anything, found good seats upstairs for most shows and downstairs for the Rock show. Flick was pretty good, somewhat odd choice of songs but not bad. We did not do the Cuban show as it is not our thing but America Rock was great, they let the band play real music and not piped in, best Carnival show we have seen in 17 cruises.

The band Shipsie Kings were very good, played everything but had great talent and a great room to play in.

We spent a ton of time in the Piano Bar with Ben, he was not the typical piano player, young, up to date, play anything and not just the normal ones u usually hear. Great experience.

The comedy was good, got there about 15 mins early for all shows and had no issues getting a seat, its a big enough room. The times were a little odd at times due to that place becoming a night club at 11 but it all worked out.

The young violinists were a nice change at the Atrium, played along to popular songs.

We did the sky ride the 1st day and it was fun, waited about 20 minutes. We did no other sports activities. We did not go to IMax or Dine in Movies as we had other things to do.

Went to Bamboo Blue in Jamiaca and it was fine, nothing special. Calico jacks at grand Caymen, affordable and wonderful water, Paradise beach in Cozumel, great place for the price, pool was wonderful but water was brown and full of seaweed, went in once for 5 mins and never went back.

Only small issues were the middle of the ship was always warm, the platinum reception was 4pm on the last day(awful timing), and finally the free drink tickets were only good for dining room for lunch which we never went to.

The ship did not seem that big, not that crowded and would sail on the Vista again for the right ports and price.

Debarkation took 20 minutes, very easy and organized, we left our room at 8:50 and was outside by 9:10

Glad the small issues didn't spoil your cruise! Thank you for your feedback!

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Great review! Thanks for taking the time to write it.

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Very well written review! Thanks for sharing your experiences on Vista! We will certainly be looking to do a future cruise on her!

Thanks for your review . Your comments on the CD were interesting . Many here believe they have little effect on a cruise . This may be mostly true but at the extremes they can make a difference . It sounds like your CD made a positive difference .

Thanks for the review. :)

Thanks for your review . Your comments on the CD were interesting . Many here believe they have little effect on a cruise . This may be mostly true but at the extremes they can make a difference . It sounds like your CD made a positive difference .

Thank you everyone and yes while one who is rarely around makes a cruise worse, one like Matt makes it much better, makes you want to go to activities as he makes it so much fun, then u meet him and just a great guy

Thank you everyone and yes while one who is rarely around makes a cruise worse, one like Matt makes it much better, makes you want to go to activities as he makes it so much fun, then u meet him and just a great guy

Agree. I LOVE Matt! Glad you had a great cruise. I enjoyed Vista but mainly because of Havana. You should try that section next time.

Agree. I LOVE Matt! Glad you had a great cruise. I enjoyed Vista but mainly because of Havana. You should try that section next time.

We do 3-4 cruises a year, if we did that it would only be 1-2 :)

Agree. I LOVE Matt! Glad you had a great cruise. I enjoyed Vista but mainly because of Havana. You should try that section next time.

You never know..you might look up from the Havana hot tub or pool and see a 39 year old hottie sunning the girls.

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We do 3-4 cruises a year, if we did that it would only be 1-2 :)

There are inside Havana cabins available and the price difference over your regular deck 10 inside would be the same as a couple of excursions, so you stay on board and enjoy the ship.

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There are inside Havana cabins available and the price difference over your regular deck 10 inside would be the same as a couple of excursions, so you stay on board and enjoy the ship.

 

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Agree. Actually a Havana Inside would be my first choice as we didn't use the balcony that much. No need for it when you have the whole Havana area.

There are inside Havana cabins available and the price difference over your regular deck 10 inside would be the same as a couple of excursions, so you stay on board and enjoy the ship.

 

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We actually have never paid for an excursion, we find nicest beach and cab it there, the only port we may stay on for is Freeport or Nassau as we pick our cruises with ports being near top of the list, appreciate the insight though as it looked nice from up top

Thanks for the review.

We actually have never paid for an excursion, we find nicest beach and cab it there, the only port we may stay on for is Freeport or Nassau as we pick our cruises with ports being near top of the list, appreciate the insight though as it looked nice from up top

After having done 25 cruises in the Caribbean, I cruise for the ship these days and a new port is just a bonus. Will be hitting Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, Amber Cove and La Romana for the first time over our next four cruises though booked over the next two years.

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Agree. Actually a Havana Inside would be my first choice as we didn't use the balcony that much. No need for it when you have the whole Havana area.

Then I guess I made a value decision when I booked 5108 for our two Horizon cruises out of NYC and Miami.

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After having done 25 cruises in the Caribbean, I cruise for the ship these days and a new port is just a bonus. Will be hitting Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, Amber Cove and La Romana for the first time over our next four cruises though booked over the next two years.

 

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Yep and I love the sideways rooms. My friend had 5205. No noise from the Havana Bar. Only weird thing about those cabins is the TV is on the side wall instead of in front of you when laying in bed.

After having done 25 cruises in the Caribbean, I cruise for the ship these days and a new port is just a bonus. Will be hitting Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, Amber Cove and La Romana for the first time over our next four cruises though booked over the next two years.

 

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Our August cruise is Princess and is for the ports of Alaska

Our November cruise is the newest RCL and is more for the ship and some ports

Next May is Pride and for the ports as we love HMC and Grand Turk for the ease and awesome water

All changes for us cruise to cruise

Thank you dvond for your review. We are sailing Vista in February. We have sailed on Carnival Liberty, RC GRANDEUR, and Carnival Splendor. We always found things we really liked on all of them.

Thanks for the review.

The free drink tickets are also good to use at the sea day brunch, which is one of Carnivals best kept secrets that many newbies don't know about.

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The free drink tickets are also good to use at the sea day brunch, which is one of Carnivals best kept secrets that many newbies don't know about.

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Which free drink tickets?

Which free drink tickets?

Just re-read post #1. The OP mentioned it in the third paragraph from the end. It's the free drink voucher that is good for an espresso based coffee or certain alcoholic drinks and it can only be redeemed in the MDR at lunchtime. We used ours for cappuccinos at the sea day brunch since we had the Cheers program and this was in 2015 before the espresso drinks were included. Since the OP mentioned them, I have to assume they are still given out. Don't know if it's gold and above or red and above that get them.

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Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

Just re-read post #1. The OP mentioned it in the third paragraph from the end. It's the free drink voucher that is good for an espresso based coffee or certain alcoholic drinks and it can only be redeemed in the MDR at lunchtime. We used ours for cappuccinos at the sea day brunch since we had the Cheers program and this was in 2015 before the espresso drinks were included. Since the OP mentioned them, I have to assume they are still given out. Don't know if it's gold and above or red and above that get them.

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Oh I see now. Platinums and Diamonds get the drink coupon for use at Sea Day Brunch or if they don't have that, then either at breakfast or lunch in the MDR for a free drink including alcohol. OP is Platinum. Golds get their coupon which is good only on the last day after 5PM at any bar. Reds and Blues don't get a coupon. It says where/when you can use it right on the paper.