Gypsywych

Thanks so much! Your pictures are wonderful! Did you take them when you first boarded or early in the morning since you were lucky not having any strangers in them. Thanks!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Most of them were taken during the day, the bars either weren't open yet, or just quiet. 99% of those pictures are from locations on Deck 5. The photo of the Atrium was taken on a port day, the people in life jackets were crew preparing for an emergency drill.

The rest I think we just got lucky. I can show you photos of the Lido to show you where all the people are.

Hi. I don't know what happened to my post LOL

 

 

Like I said above, I'll be sailing with my mom on the Vista in February. She said she would never try Carnival but my dd and I asked her to try the Breeze last year and we all had a fabulous time and sailed in a spa balcony! She usually sails suites so I figured the Havana Cabana was the best option for us to book and were very lucky that there was a Havana Cabana Suite available for our upcoming cruise, which I think is cabin number 5234.

 

If you have any pictures or more information about the Havana area I would love to hear it and wasn't aware that there were so many other options for things to do on Deck 5. I thought that there may be other cabins since my only concern was booking a Havana Cabana and not the location, whereas I usually make sure there are cabins above/below my actual cabin.

 

We also have spa weekly pass and I have seen pictures and read that the spa isn't as nice as the Breeze, which we adored.

 

I find on any line that we can never get our drinks when I want them. I have found I'm less stressed if I stop for a drink on the way to the restaurant and bring it in with me and the first thing I do before I order any food is order a second drink. If I am waiting for a drink and have had my meal in front of me, I want to wait for my drink. If this means I have to get up and leave the restaurant and get one I will do it but hope it doesn't come down to doing this in February. I am by no means a big drinker but when we go out and want to sit and relax with a nice meal, I want my drink LOL

 

Thanks again for taking the time for your review.

I'm not sure if this link will work, but here's a few photos from our trip.

http://s236.photobucket.com/user/Narfell_AV/slideshow/Carnival%20Vista%20Funtimes/Carnival%20Vista%20Photos

Thank you for your review. I have a few questions. Hoping you can help. Do you know what the cost of the chat is on the Hub app? Can we use our pop card at the movies? Do they still have the dive movies at night on Lido? Do they sell a picture package to get all your photos on a USB or CD? I feel like this would be a great way to make some money on their part and save some on ours 😁. Thank you!

 

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Forums mobile app

The Hub chat function was listed @ $5 per person.

Yes, they had a Dive In Movie several nights.

Yes, I think they had a photo package on CD. Or possibly download able to your device.

I don't know the answer to the rest of your questions, sorry. :) Hope you have a great cruise!!!

We chose the Miracle for the Panama Canal repo cruise. We love the Spirit class!

I just logged in to Verizon and only see royal Caribbean gift cards, are they the same company?

Also I'd read the description and the terms and conditions on the Royal Caribbean Gift Certificates. They are not as easy to use as Carnival Gift Cards and are only useable for very specific things.

Scratch off the little silver section on the right side of the back of the card. Your PIN is there.

And yes, you can use them as payments for cruises already booked.

I don't know about it being secret, but you can walk all the way up front on Deck 5, and there are stairs to get up to Decks 6, 7, & 8.

Question: The last time I used Carnival gift cards, we received a check in the mail for unused monies that were left on our S & S account. I hadn't even realized we had money left. It was less than $20. This time we had about $50 left, but I didn't worry about it because they'd send us a check. We've been back almost a month now, and no check. Do they not refund the unused portion any longer?

:(

Havana area has coffee,pastries and other Cuban food for breakfast starting at 7am

They also have Cuban food and sandwiches available for lunch

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Forums mobile app

They have stopped the food service in the Havana bar. They do still have pots of coffee, creamers, sugars on one end.

There is a smaller breakfast buffet at the Ocean Plaza Taste Bar in the mornings. Bread, pastries, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, grits and potatoes. A couple of mornings they had grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. Much quieter and only a few steps from the Havana Bar.

It was also open for lunch, but we didn't eat there so I can not tell you what the usual fare was.

I agree completely with your opinion of the dining room. It was the low part of the entire cruise. I lay part of the blame on American Table, but most of it on Carnival cutting back on personnel so deeply. There appeared to be about half of the dining staff there should have been.

Hubby and I booked a cruise for my 50th birthday in 2019 on the Vista when it comes to Galveston. We were just looking for an easy spring break cruise for that year as we will have a big land vacation that fall for our 10-year anniversary. We wanted to sail out of Galveston and since we've been on the RCL ship already, Vista was the only choice.

 

It seemed like a good choice at the time--big, new, lots of food choices, etc. And we booked a Havana premium balcony so we would have access to the extra pool. I had read that people don't like the theater, but since we hardly see shows on a cruise (we might see one the whole week), I didn't think it would be an issue.

 

But now I am reading that there are lots of bad reviews and no one likes it. Are there other things about it people don't like and if so, what are they?

 

Our only other Carnival cruise was on the Magic before the upgrades. It was on spring break, crowded, and we did not like the food choices that much but on this ship, we will have more of them, which was our main issue. Plus this cruise will be late April which I would think would be better as far as crowds?

 

Will we be ok or should we cancel and look for something else? I mainly just want to lay by the pool, swim, relax, enjoy the balcony and the ports. Thanks for any advice.

What ever else people do or do not like about the Vista....... the Havana pool area combined with the Ocean Plaza make it all wonderful. The Havana pool area is almost never crowded, there is always a seat in the sun or in the shade. Two hot tubs and an infinity pool that we never saw more than 3 people at a time in, a bar that is always manned (or woman-ned), coffee in the morning, 15 steps to a small breakfast buffet if you don't feel up to fighting the Lido crowds, quick access to the elevators if you do. Deck 4 & 5 house most of the night life, so it's an easy stroll from your room. We spent very little time on the Lido Deck.

There were things we didn't like about the Vista. For one thing she's too big for us, but the Havana quiet made it all better for me.

I hate it. I hate the American Table experience completely. Bare table, louder sounds in the dining room, water condensation on the table, crowded from the bread basket, the water carafe, plates, silverware. It's annoying and feels like a cafeteria, which is what the Lido also feels like.

Carnival might not be "fine dining", but it used to be relaxing and enjoyable. Now it's feels cheap and frustrating. We enjoy Carnival. We enjoy a relaxed vacation. The MDR just doesn't add to that any longer.

For those of you who are contacting corporate, good for you! The more people who express their disappointment, the more they will hear us.

For those of you who don't mind, no need to stoop to ugly insults over it.

The question has been answered, but I'm going to add this:

When we were on the Vista last month, we called and ordered a sandwich, french fries which are on the extra menu and two Cokes, also a pay item. The lady taking my order was very precise in making sure I understood that there was an extra charge for the fries and the Cokes, and exactly how much it was total. Then she repeated it all again at the end.

The laundry room on Deck 7 is aft of the atrium elevators, right across from Cabin 7267. If I remember correctly, it has been changed over to sign and sail cards instead of coin operated.

I can't swear to complimentary bottles of water, but I'm going to assume that you get one per gold member per cruise. I'm on the same cruise, and we'll be ordering two 12 packs of water. We will drink all that, and more. :)

:d please tell my husband i was actually right today? It reduces my quota of needing to be right all the time by one for today!

:d:d:d:d:d:d;)

Hate the Spirit class.

Why?

We love the Spirit class best and have often wondered if Carnival would add more of their size to the fleet. Not too small, not too large. Very comfortable ships to sail on.

That being said, we love the Fascination and would be heartbroken if they got rid of her.

Deleted.

Shaded Lady has the correct information. :D

We got off of the Carnival Vista two weeks ago, and it was the first time I've come home without a cold.

This time I took antibacterial wipes and wiped the entire room down. Handles, faucets, knobs, remote, table surfaces. Then we took advantage of the new hand washing machines in the buffet, every time. Even if we'd just come from our room where we'd just washed our hands.

I swear my husband took me to the Lido deck just so he could play with the machines a couple of times. He couldn't have possibly been hungry! :D

If my dinner doesn't arrive warm I tell the waiter and if it keeps arriving cold I escalate it to the maitre'd. I doubt very seriously that CCL is telling ships "serve the dishes cold". Same goes with the baked potato. You miss the tablecloths as do others, but from all that I've read you are in the minority but it's the only thing that you mention that would be worth elevating to CCL.

After you've discussed it with the waiter, and the Maitre D' the following evening, and then it happens again on a separate ship, there begins a pattern. Patterns you escalate past the ship. Because no, I don't think CCL is telling the ships to serve food cold. I think they are asking the ships to make do with less personnel and they are being run ragged. I don't lay blame on the staff for that.

You remind me of the couple that was seated next to us on our first cruise, Magic, back in 2014. They went on and on, through dinner, complaining that Carnival food just wasn't that good, other cruise lines are better. On and on and on. Then they ordered 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts EACH. After telling me how bad the quality was, I watched this lady eat chicken nuggets and french fries from the kids menu. Then she had ordered 2 creme brulee desserts, ate the topping off each one, left the rest. Her husband ordered two plates of roast beef, ate it then complained it was tough and that they would never pay money for that crap. He only ate one bite of each dessert he ordered. Such a waste of food. They also told us that formal night they both ordered 2-3 lobster tails each so they got their "money" worth.

I'm not at all sure how my comment turned me into a glutton...... but whatever.

I'm miss the tablecloths in the MDR, so I'm going to tell Carnival I miss them. I miss having my dinner arrive warm at the table, so I'm going to tell Carnival that I miss it. I want my baked potato to be cooked, so I'm going to tell Carnival that they need to do better.

Carnival guests told Carnival that they wanted their shrimp cocktail back. They got it. Carnival guests told Carnival that they missed live music on the ship. There is now loads of live music everywhere nightly. When enough people speak, companies listen eventually.

:)

No. We can't. Because once we accept lower quality, then we have given up.

Once we accept lower quality, Carnival will lower the quality yet again.

Once we accept lower quality, then the standards will never rise.

Do not accept. Complain about the food. Complain about the lack of tablecloths. Complain about cold entrees Complain about the lack of service. Be heard.

I will not be complacent with my money. :)

Do you have copies of the fun times? We are going November 2017 to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ochio Rios and I always like to check those out ahead of time if possible.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I posted the Funtimes for that itinerary starting at #32 here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2463685

When did they stop serving Shrimp Cocktail just had it on our last cruise Fascination November 2016??

They took it completely off the menu a couple of years ago, but so many people complained, they put it back on and now have it available every night. That's what I meant about if enough people speak up, things can change.

Thank you so much for your review! I have to agree with you about the tablecloths. Take the chocolates, make the room up once a day- these things don't bother me. But the lack of tablecloths really bothers me. For one thing, you would think the plates would be sliding all over in rough weather. Oh well, nothing we can do about it. :(

We got told there was nothing we could do about it when they did away with shrimp cocktail on the menu. We got told there was nothing we could do about the lack of live music on the ship. :) If enough people complain long enough, something will change.