Xystence

When in Sept. 2018 on the Sunshine? We are going on a Back to Back Sept.8-21,2018 and can't wait. We will be turning Platitum.

We are going on the Bermuda bound trip leaving September 21st!

Thank you both for the responses! Our first Disney cruise so I'm sure we will find plenty of other things to do!

For some reason my wife absolutely loves playing in the arcade on every cruise we take, and looking at refurb notes it looks like they may have removed the arcade. Does anyone know for sure?

Thank you for any help!!

Hi cruiser. Just thought I would enclose 13 min clip on Oasis. click on link and go to full screen and enjoy. Bob & nancy .

 

 

OASIS MARIO TAPE

Thank you very much for this video, saw some really cool shots of the ship here!

I really liked the dark wood and carpeting in the Havana area. I don't know, it just felt "special" walking though the door to the Havana cabins.

I agree, while I only saw the outer parts of it as we did not stay in that area I think it was the best looking part of the Vista.

The ship is fine....don't sweat it. It's just different in some areas. Everyone has their own opinion, so don't take everything at face value. It's not dirty by any means, but some things (like room service trays left out) probably do need more attention. The red frog pub was awesome and loved how you could swipe your S&S card to dispense a beer! Price was about the same as back home doing it this way. Also, get a pitcher...it's cheaper. They also had really cool growlers for sale that you could get filled for $17, I think. Someone correct me if the price is wrong.

 

The atrium and casino funnels are very cool, but there is something to be said for the grand staircase and the over the top atrium decoration.

 

We were in a Havana aft balcony and, for us, that area is an excellent part of the ship. Quiet, even when the Latin band plays in the evening. Never had an issue with cleanliness, but were put off by fellow shipmates whose hygiene and eating habits were in need of attention.

 

It does have a very modern look and feel, but it didn't break our cruise. The liquid lounge (a.k.a. theater) is a bit wonky, but our issues weren't so much the layout as the rudeness of people who walk into a show 15 minutes late and then stand in front of you, while allowing their children to walk over the backs of the seats. Or the folks who, for whatever reason when seated in an area like that, crap their pants and we all get the pleasure of smelling it.

 

Hey, we're not perfect people, but some folks have absolutely no clue as to how what they do affects those around them.

 

Again, the ship is fine. You'll have a good time.

I couldn't agree more here, the ships design in a contemporary fashion is absolutely stunning. I had a wonderful trip, just noticed things that weren't up to par with previous trips. I hope a new staff fixes that because Vista herself shines.

I have a cruise booked on Vista in July. I was very excited about it. I read John Heald saying that it was a top rated ship but after he condoned cruelty to cats I refuse to believe anything he writes! The OP has made me very nervous now about going on this ship!!!!!

Don't be nervous about this ship, we had a wonderful time on this trip and the ports were great. We just noticed a significant difference in the staff and their attention to everything.

I also took note that much of the staff was reaching the end of their contract (room stewards last day was the last day of our cruise, we had a new steward on the morning we got off). So maybe the crew will change between now and then and the issues may be resolved quickly.

As clarea pointed out, use the cruise planner.

 

You will want to book all your shows/comedy/etc. ahead of time. Doesn't mean you HAVE to go at those times, but just book when you think you'll want to go. It's free to reserve. And it's really nice when you can show up and just walk in and not wait in a big line. Comedy is small, so without a reservation, you may not get in at all, FYI.

 

Like Carnival, you can do stand-by and hang out in a long line, but reservations are just so much better, and again, it's free, so why wouldn't you?

 

I think you'll find the experience on Oasis, especially in Sky Class, is superior to anything Carnival has.

Awesome thank you for that advice! There just seems to be a lot of things to do on RCI ships in general, even the non oasis class ships. Carnival does not seem to be able to keep up in the things to do area compared to this.

How many different shows or items will I need to reserve a time for on the Oasis?

Use your Cruise Planner on Royal's website to book all the shows that are available. This will ensure you can get into the show venue early for the best seat selection.

 

The Owner's Suite is a Sky Class Suite. See suite perks here:

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Suites/16049781_RSC_Trade_Flyer.pdf

Awesome thank you so much for this information! It looks like I have to wait a few months to book stuff based on this so everything is good to go for now!

This is a ridiculous response to the OP's complaints. He wasn't disappointed in the vacation, he was disappointed in the ship. I've had the same thing occur and I blame the ship's management. When the crew starts slipping, I know something is going on behind the scenes.

 

I'm not one to complain to staff (unless it's something glaring), but I'll sure come here and voice my "cruise critic" opinion.

 

OP, I had a great time on the Vista and would sail on her again given the right itinerary. I don't blame you for noticing a dirty ship. One of my biggest pet peeves is dirty tables on the Lido deck and I see it all too often. For some reason (my experience only), this seems to get worse on the last couple of sea days before pulling back into the home port. Does the lido staff take those days off? I don't get it.

I completely agree with you here, it definitely got worse towards the end of the journey, but like I said it didn't ruin my vacation in any way. It was just out of the ordinary from my previous cruises.

I would sail the Vista again given the right itinerary as well.

We have been cruising for over 20 years and 16 of them were on Carnival. We took 2 RCI cruises back in the late 90's and have decided to give RCI a run once again on the Oasis of the Seas. Is there anything we should know as far as things that might be drastically different then what we've gotten overly used to at Carnival or what things should we most look forward to that are better or different?

Is there anything we should know about show booking and such? I know this is not a thing on Carnival but I have heard it is on royal, I just want to make sure we do not miss anything spectacular.

We have booked an Owners Suite on the Oasis, is there anything that would come with this that would help with the booking of anything on board? I am not familiar with the naming conventions Royal uses vs Carnival so I am unfamiliar with what some of things it includes is really saying lol.

Thank you!

DH and I go on vista in November. It will be our 12th Carnival ship. We have cruised several 2 and 3 times. Favs are miracle, pride and conquest class.

Everyone def has different opinions from ship to ship. We just cruised sunshine last week and was one of my least favorite ships. Most crowded ship I was ever on. I will be doing a full review later this week!

 

 

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Oh I look forward to reading that review!

It looks horrid when these sit out in the passageway, especially when not picked up for some time. We left ours in our cabin and never a word wad said to us.

 

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While I know it is standard policy for these to go right outside the cabin, I completely agree with you about how horrible it looks especially when they sat there for hours upon hours and the quantity of them only seem to increase. It was better in some areas then others but it just seemed neglected as well.

I was strongly considering Vista next year. Way too many disappointed cruisers.

 

It seems like Carnival is stuffing too much into the "small" ships. They need to either go big or stick with the Conquest and Dream class. Their new offerings look very disappointing.

I have cruised on the Dream and the Magic and I absolutely loved them, zero complaints. I look forward to many cruises on those ships!

The Victory is aged like myself but she has character and all the staff bend over backwards to keep her looking in top shape. I just don't understand if you went on the Victory and did not know she was a older ship then that is on you. I found her amazing, I hope Vista is just as half as good. If not I will still have a great time.

 

The comment about the Pizza in the elevators, considering the elevators gets cleaned 4+ times in a 24 hour time frame, I find your post very questionable. The staff works non-stop.

 

If it was as bad as you said it was why did you not evoke your vacation guarantee? Did you contact anyone about this "Baked on splashed food?", did you contact house keeping about the "rust"?

 

Sounds like you need to find another cruise line and let others have your cabins in the future.

I mentioned that I realize the Victory was an older ship both before and after I went on that cruise. Which is why I paid no mind to the older state of that ship, but coming from that seeing some of the same aging issues on such a new ship is why I used the Victory to compare. In a way the Vista felt as aged as the Victory (not slamming Victory in any way here), it's a comment on the upkeep of the Vista. Outside of the noticeable aging of the Victory, I thought that the staff and quality of everything was great. I cannot say the same for Vista.

Yes these issues were reported but very few of them were addressed. I do not know the crew's cleaning schedules in regards to elevators and such but unless it was possible a similar looking half eaten piece of pizza ended up in the same elevator two days apart when I happened to be on it then I am to believe it just sat. I did not take a photo of this but I took several photos to show Guest Services the various messes around the ship from cups all over tables for hours (noticed this most on deck 3 and the lido buffet). Perhaps the ship is in the middle of a staffing transition and is severely under staffed which would lead to my experience.

We had the exact same feeling when we got back from our March Vista cruise. We've decided to not cruise newer Carnival ships (Horizon and forward) because of it.

 

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I am glad to know I am not being overly picky. In my opinion it was not the ship of course, it was the staff on this ship right now. Which is likely the majority of the staff you had on your trip.

This appears to be a housekeeping issue rather than a ship issue. Whether the problems are due to not having enough staff or whether it's an issue with the Hotel Manager - hard to say. I've worked onboard CCL ships way back when, and you'd be surprised at just how things change with management. Some Hotel Managers are extremely picky - expect only the best & would not hesitate to let someone go if he/she felt they were neglecting their jobs - others are extremely laid back & it shows.

 

In reference to tables being left dirty - again could be lack of staff or management. I was on the Breeze a couple of years ago & I actually felt sorry for the "busboys" because they had supervisors on their back constantly. Although I felt sorry for them - tables were cleaned QUICKLY.

 

I hope this experience doesn't turn you off CCL completely. You could run into the same problems on any ship.

I completely agree with you here and I overheard people discussing similar issues at Guest Services throughout the voyage so people were complaining. They were fairly quick at giving away cruise credit for the complaints. It is not turning me away from Carnival, I am booked on the Sunshine next year however I am keeping an open mind and looking outside of Carnival as well as looking at Carnival for varience.

And lots of positive ones.

 

I can't imagine a plate of food would sit in an elevator for 2 days or more. Very unusual.

It was unusual based on my previous cruises with Carnival in general.

We got off today as well and we had a good vacation but it sounds like our experience on board was a little different, glad your group had a great time!

Just off vista. We had a lido balcony. Very convenient. Rooms were cleaned twice a day without asking (but were told number of rooms will increase for each crew). Dinner in mdr was good. Wife's prime rib was dry but mine was great a few days later. Waiter knew our names and greeted us when he was also working on lido. Cussy at red frog on lido was fantastic in getting me drinks even though i basically got diet cokes. Cash tips are always appreciated by servers. Vista theater is a disaster. No visibility. Loose seats a fire hazard especially when piled up along back aisles. We we were literally 3 rows back and could not see feet of dancers. Crazy. We just stopped going to shows. Mitch is a great cd. The kindness he showed to some members of our group was very moving. I liked the atrium but missed glass elevators. Excursions wete good. Party bus in aruba beats the pants off irie tour the next day. Excursion to catalina island was good. We had lits of rain and had to go through swift water that scared everyone. No personnel to help. Carnival needs safety plans for excursion vendors. Food on island ridiculous $20 for hot dog. Get a sandwich from ship to bring like peanut butter jelly. I hate new picture system. If you are in group photos you may not have access. We missed a lot but i saved lots by not buying pictures. Ready to board plane home. Lots of great memories. Hope your cruise is as fun as ours.

Did you get off the Vista today? We just got off this morning!

There are lots of negative reviews on the Vista.

Can't say I researched before I went, just assumed Carnival's current flagship would clearly be ahead lol.

That's sad. We've had minor bumps, a couple of specific disappointments (piano bar entertainer on one cruise not to my liking), no desirable entrees in MDR at times, but I've never had major disappointments.

 

I hope your Sunshine cruise brings you the joys of your previous cruises.

Thank you for the encouragement!

Really? I was on three weeks ago and It was very very clean and so new. There were people cleaning constantly ......... I can't imagine much has changed in three weeks on a year old ship. What was neglected specifically?

Just a few things that stuck out, the one night we went to the dining room to eat dinner we noticed that the walls had splashed food or sauce on them. Normally this isn't a major issue but this was baked in and upon further look it was kind of all over and had been there awhile. It was something that could've been addressed long ago and would've not be baked in.

Another thing we noticed in our Ocean Suite the rim around the shower and tub area was complete rusted as if no one cared to simply touch this up with caulking at any point. General areas were never up kept and there was dishes lining hallways and tables around the ship even sometimes stuff was remaining over night. There was a plate of eaten pizza on one of the elevators for at least two days that never moved.

On the Lido deck at the buffet it was not hard finding tables that were technically available, but so many were dirty and still had old dishes that it made it difficult to actually be comfortable.

It just felt like the staff had given up.

We have been disappointed with NCL. I really feel it is more about the ship than the overall line. We have had very different Carnival experiences, better food on this one, better service on that one. But you would think that Vista would be the best of everything, since it is CCL top ship.

Yeah that was my thought as well!

My Wife and I just returned from an 8 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Vista this morning and while we come home saying we had a lovely vacation, we are somewhat taken back by how underwhelming everything was in comparison to past and fairly recent Carnival cruises we've taken.

One year ago we took a week long trip on the Magic and we had a phenomenal time (had been 5 years since our last cruise). Needless to say my decision to stay with Carnival for my cruising needs was good to go. We booked a short cruise on the Victory in November following that cruise and we had a good time, but we both feel the ship was extremely aged (obvious due to age) but more that it just was not kept up with well. After spending a few days on the Vista we felt the same way about the Vista as we did the Victory. The ship was overall extremely dirty, or neglected seems to be the better way to describe.

Without getting into to much of our experience I am just wondering if we are alone in this thought? After this cruise we are already looking at other cruise lines for different options more then we have before. We do have a future cruise on the Sunshine booked already for September 2018 and we are hoping not to be disappointed in the same way we were this time. We have a booked cruise on Disney this November that we booked prior to this trip and are now looking at another line for one in between these two.

The majority of my cruise history is with Carnival and it kind of sucks to be so disappointed.

Thank you for any input!