Some thoughs on Vista Cruise 03 June to 11 June

[MATHA531]

I have done several Mediteranean cruises; one on the Epic. And have also done cruises on the Breakmway so I'm used to Mega ships. I'll give you some thoughts and gladly answer questions and may get around to doing a full review in the near future.

 

The itinerary was the standard trip around the West Mediteranean with only one sea day (day2, Saturday). Ports of call every other day were Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, Marseilles and Palma. Having done almost all of them before, I sat out Sicily and Florence (there are only so many times one can see David or the Leaning Tower). I will tell you, what I think were the good the bad and the ugly.

 

Start with the embarcation which was poorly handled. But let me start by saying I made what could have been a tragic mistake at the part. I wanted to visit Paris for a few days and was stuck between taking the train to Barcelona either on Thursday afternoon or Friday (embrocation Day). I chose Friday morning because the SNCF has always been reliable. There were a series of rolling strikes by French railway workers going on but each had been on Wednesday and Thursday. Little did I know that the strike for the week I was in Paris would be Wednesday to Sunday and they canfcelled the Friday morning train. Luckily I had wifi in my hotel room on Thursday egening and was able to book an Air France flight to Barcelona Friday morning in time to make the cruise. I know, I know. Don't depend on travelling the day of a cruise. Learned my lesson.

 

Anyway upon arrival, unlike Norwegian with the Epic and Breakaway, there were hardly any porters. I had to wait on a queue for 45 minutes to check my luggage. Bad. Then two other queues to check in.. Close to 2 hours. Unacceptable.

 

The ship itself is beautiful. My interior cabin was more than adequate. One thing missing in the atrium are the glass lifts. Also none of the mdr's were open for lunch on Embarc

 

The buffet in the Lido was okay but nowhere near the variety I see on other ships. Breakfast was a tad disappointing up there. The omelette stations were okay but the bacon police were out the whole cruise. Also missing were some things I get on other cruise lines for breakfast such as smoked salmon, corned beef hash; at least I couldn't find them. Lunch also lacked the variety I'm used to but I will say for the most part, the food that was servied was more than okay. Of course, there was Guy's Burgers, the Mexican stuff, the Mongolian Wok, the Pizza place.

 

Dinner every night, for me, was at 1900 in one of the mdr's. Food was good. They use the same menu other Carnival ships use, the American Table menu. At least I could get a shrimp cocktail every night unlike the folks at Norwegian. Also they had lobster night (included) on the first formal night (of course, as I am sure you've read elsewhere, you can order many of the entrees from the steakhouse for $20 if you want). Good experiences there.

 

Shows? A couple were good. Most were not my style. Motown? Not for me. Cuban music? Not for me. Game shows? Not for me. The juggler/comedian was good. I also took in a couple of the comedy shows after the main shows.

 

A word about a terrible mistake they made. There is no real large show area. The liquid lounge is simply too small. Now I never completely checked but it seems the cruise was not completely full. Understandable as many of the cruisers were American and thank goodness we did not have hordes of little kids running through the ship as American schools are still in session (one of the reasons I like the early June cruises). The cruise director, Matt, was good and entertaining. But I don't understand why such a small main theatre with almost completely movable furniture downstairs. We'll have to see how that works out.

 

Debarcation was handled well; no complainsxthere.

 

Overall, a pleasant experience but if this is to be the pride of the fleet, they do need some work.

[cruizinisthebest]

Perhaps you've done this type of itinerary too much as your lack of enthusiasm or excitement for the trip is glaringly obvious.

 

Thanks for the thoughts anyway. I guess.

[Club Disney Chandler]

I have done several Mediteranean cruises; one on the Epic. And have also done cruises on the Breakmway so I'm used to Mega ships. I'll give you some thoughts and gladly answer questions and may get around to doing a full review in the near future.

 

The itinerary was the standard trip around the West Mediteranean with only one sea day (day2, Saturday). Ports of call every other day were Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, Marseilles and Palma. Having done almost all of them before, I sat out Sicily and Florence (there are only so many times one can see David or the Leaning Tower). I will tell you, what I think were the good the bad and the ugly.

 

Start with the embarcation which was poorly handled. But let me start by saying I made what could have been a tragic mistake at the part. I wanted to visit Paris for a few days and was stuck between taking the train to Barcelona either on Thursday afternoon or Friday (embrocation Day). I chose Friday morning because the SNCF has always been reliable. There were a series of rolling strikes by French railway workers going on but each had been on Wednesday and Thursday. Little did I know that the strike for the week I was in Paris would be Wednesday to Sunday and they canfcelled the Friday morning train. Luckily I had wifi in my hotel room on Thursday egening and was able to book an Air France flight to Barcelona Friday morning in time to make the cruise. I know, I know. Don't depend on travelling the day of a cruise. Learned my lesson.

 

Anyway upon arrival, unlike Norwegian with the Epic and Breakaway, there were hardly any porters. I had to wait on a queue for 45 minutes to check my luggage. Bad. Then two other queues to check in.. Close to 2 hours. Unacceptable.

 

The ship itself is beautiful. My interior cabin was more than adequate. One thing missing in the atrium are the glass lifts. Also none of the mdr's were open for lunch on Embarc

 

The buffet in the Lido was okay but nowhere near the variety I see on other ships. Breakfast was a tad disappointing up there. The omelette stations were okay but the bacon police were out the whole cruise. Also missing were some things I get on other cruise lines for breakfast such as smoked salmon, corned beef hash; at least I couldn't find them. Lunch also lacked the variety I'm used to but I will say for the most part, the food that was servied was more than okay. Of course, there was Guy's Burgers, the Mexican stuff, the Mongolian Wok, the Pizza place.

 

Dinner every night, for me, was at 1900 in one of the mdr's. Food was good. They use the same menu other Carnival ships use, the American Table menu. At least I could get a shrimp cocktail every night unlike the folks at Norwegian. Also they had lobster night (included) on the first formal night (of course, as I am sure you've read elsewhere, you can order many of the entrees from the steakhouse for $20 if you want). Good experiences there.

 

Shows? A couple were good. Most were not my style. Motown? Not for me. Cuban music? Not for me. Game shows? Not for me. The juggler/comedian was good. I also took in a couple of the comedy shows after the main shows.

 

A word about a terrible mistake they made. There is no real large show area. The liquid lounge is simply too small. Now I never completely checked but it seems the cruise was not completely full. Understandable as many of the cruisers were American and thank goodness we did not have hordes of little kids running through the ship as American schools are still in session (one of the reasons I like the early June cruises). The cruise director, Matt, was good and entertaining. But I don't understand why such a small main theatre with almost completely movable furniture downstairs. We'll have to see how that works out.

 

Debarcation was handled well; no complainsxthere.

 

Overall, a pleasant experience but if this is to be the pride of the fleet, they do need some work.

 

 

What time did you show up for embarkation? We arrived at 11:30, unloaded our stuff, checked in and were in our cabins at 12:30. Also, there were 4511 passengers on the ship, the most on Vista at that point.

 

I agree with your thoughts on the buffet though, I thought choices were lacking but I did enjoy the fresh ice cream they were making everyday, not the soft serve stuff, the hand dipped stuff.

 

It's a shame you missed the show, "Flick," it was simply amazing.

 

 

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[Karnyval]

I have seen bacon police on NCL, and soft serve ice cream police - something I haven't seen on Carnival.

[MATHA531]

What time did you show up for embarkation? We arrived at 11:30, unloaded our stuff, checked in and were in our cabins at 12:30. Also, there were 4511 passengers on the ship, the most on Vista at that point.

 

I agree with your thoughts on the buffet though, I thought choices were lacking but I did enjoy the fresh ice cream they were making everyday, not the soft serve stuff, the hand dipped stuff.

 

It's a shame you missed the show, "Flick," it was simply amazing.

 

 

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I saw Flick and it was great. I didn't think the cruise was bad at all and I will tell you there were hardly any problems with having to queue for anything. I never felt crowded. I tried to be as straight forward with my report; I didn't think it was meant or came across negative. On the whole, the shows were not my cup of tea but a couple were great. And in a port intensive cruise like this one, you're bound to have to need more time to unwind.

[lizardhowson]

I saw Flick and it was great. I didn't think the cruise was bad at all and I will tell you there were hardly any problems with having to queue for anything. I never felt crowded. I tried to be as straight forward with my report; I didn't think it was meant or came across negative. On the whole, the shows were not my cup of tea but a couple were great. And in a port intensive cruise like this one, you're bound to have to need more time to unwind.

 

Thanks for the mini-review. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. As you noticed, if you don't give Carnival an overall 5 star review, you will hear from the fan-boys.

 

My wife and I just completed a short cruise where we introduced our grandson to cruising. Overall, it was the worst Carnival cruise I have taken (food, facilities, cabin, etc). Service was good, as it always is !

I don't ever bother to review as getting attacked for your own opinion is commonplace here.

[BaseballMomof4]

As stated above, everyone will have their own experience. I found Carnival to have far more included food choices than NCL. We particularly enjoy the deli on Carnival and had 3 nights at the buffet that we felt were outstanding.

 

As far as entertainment goes, since we are not huge "show" fans we take advantage of the many other entertainment opportunities like movies under the stars, the IMAX, the comedy shows, the piano bar - once again, we found far more to do on Carnival than on NCL.

 

We also found the cabins to be more spacious on Carnival and the bathroom layout much better than on the Epic.

 

As to the ports, Carnival gave us far more time in port than NCL - which for those of us who haven't seen the ports before was excellent!

[Club Disney Chandler]

I saw Flick and it was great. I didn't think the cruise was bad at all and I will tell you there were hardly any problems with having to queue for anything. I never felt crowded. I tried to be as straight forward with my report; I didn't think it was meant or came across negative. On the whole, the shows were not my cup of tea but a couple were great. And in a port intensive cruise like this one, you're bound to have to need more time to unwind.

 

 

I was shocked at how empty the ship felt most of the time. I think there are so many public spaces it really spreads people out.

 

I really missed having sea days on this cruise, but I guess is the nature of doing Mediterranean cruises. I'm looking forward to the Vista in the Caribbean next year when we'll get 3 sea days.

 

 

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[heliwoman]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm particularly interested in the embarkation portion. We've done cruises before but with RC (of which we're upper level members). So if I'm reading this correctly no food was available the day of embarkation?

[MATHA531]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm particularly interested in the embarkation portion. We've done cruises before but with RC (of which we're upper level members). So if I'm reading this correctly no food was available the day of embarkation?

.

 

No, I didn't mean to imply that. The lido buffet was open and many of what for a lack of a better term I will call its satelites such as Guy's Burgers, Mongolian Work, Mexican fast food joint, the deli. However, none of the sit down mdr's was open. (It is interesting to note Carnival does have a lunch menu at mdr's posted). I prefer after all the hassles, to have a sit down lunch but to be fair, plenty of food was available; just under hectic coditions.

[vwrestler171]

The MDR's are not usually opened on embarkation day.

[MATHA531]

The MDR's are not usually opened on embarkation day.

Not questioning this. Then why does Carnival have mdr lunch menus? And in this case, they weren't opened on the only sea day either. This is clearly their right but different from my experience with other lines. And one of them was opened daily for breakfast. Just an observation; not a complaint.

[lizardhowson]

Not questioning this. Then why does Carnival have mdr lunch menus? And in this case, they weren't opened on the only sea day either. This is clearly their right but different from my experience with other lines. And one of them was opened daily for breakfast. Just an observation; not a complaint.

 

On sea days, Carnival offers a sea day brunch in at least one of the dining rooms.

[cruizinisthebest]

Not questioning this. Then why does Carnival have mdr lunch menus? And in this case, they weren't opened on the only sea day either. This is clearly their right but different from my experience with other lines. And one of them was opened daily for breakfast. Just an observation; not a complaint.

On other lines are all of the eating venues open including the dining rooms on the day of embarkation? If so then I can understand why you would expect the same if that's what your used to. I know the MDR is open on Sea days for brunch and everyday for breakfast.

 

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[firemanbobswife]

You know, I kept looking at pictures and videos of the main atrium and could never put my finger on what was missing until now - the glass elevators! You don't realize how much they add to the whole expansive "wow" factor of the lobby until they're gone.

 

A very odd design they chose for the focal part of the ship. It seems very underwhelming to me. I'll have to sail it for myself but as of right now I have to admit I'm not too impressed.

[Club Disney Chandler]

On other lines are all of the eating venues open including the dining rooms on the day of embarkation? If so then I can understand why you would expect the same if that's what your used to. I know the MDR is open on Sea days for brunch and everyday for breakfast.

 

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On Disney all venues are open including one of the MDR's on embarkation day, I did miss going to an MDR for lunch on the Vista, I enjoy the slow relaxed pace. But I just spent more days at the Captain's Pasta Bar, I became a huge fan of that place!

 

 

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[Club Disney Chandler]

You know, I kept looking at pictures and videos of the main atrium and could never put my finger on what was missing until now - the glass elevators! You don't realize how much they add to the whole expansive "wow" factor of the lobby until they're gone.

 

A very odd design they chose for the focal part of the ship. It seems very underwhelming to me. I'll have to sail it for myself but as of right now I have to admit I'm not too impressed.

 

 

I expected the Atrium to be much larger than it was, it was a little underwhelming, but the rest of the Vista certainly made up for it. She really is a great ship with a fantastic staff.

 

 

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[bjstenman]

What are bacon police and soft serve ice cream police?

[MATHA531]

What are bacon police and soft serve ice cream police?

 

At a buffet, when they put out a whole supply say of bacon, one would think you just help yourself. Instead, they have a member of staff doling out the bacon a couple of strips at a time. In fairness, for the most part, if you ask for more, they give you more. Same thing with the soft ice cream machines. In many cases, you help yourself. But sometimes, they have soebody there operating the machine. Just a figure of speech.

[Jgoodall08]

Wait so is the mdr closed for lunch and dinner on embarkation day? That sucks.

Buffets suck for me because I have too many kids

[bluwes]

Wait so is the mdr closed for lunch and dinner on embarkation day? That sucks.

Buffets suck for me because I have too many kids

 

There are plenty of other dining options available, Lido buffet Guys Burger, Pizza, Blue Iguana, Tandoori

 

We sailed Celebrity Equinox last year. They only had a Lido buffet open and it was rammed. Long lines and no tables to sit at. There is a pay dining area available which we will use next time

[quickrate]

Wait so is the mdr closed for lunch and dinner on embarkation day? That sucks.

Buffets suck for me because I have too many kids

MDR is closed at lunch on embarkation day but not for dinner. Makes sense as people are boarding all day long. plenty of places on Lido to eat.

Pat

[Jgoodall08]

Exactly! being closed for lunch makes sense, not dinner.

[Liljo22]

MDR is closed at lunch on embarkation day but not for dinner. Makes sense as people are boarding all day long. plenty of places on Lido to eat.

Pat

 

I thought that is how it is on most lines. We never even try the MDR when we get on because we assume its closed. Always go to the buffet and then explore.

[MATHA531]

I thought that is how it is on most lines. We never even try the MDR when we get on because we assume its closed. Always go to the buffet and then explore.

 

I only have comparison with NCL. On almost every NCL cruise I have taken, they try to push you into the buffet as you enter but on every ship, one of the mdr's has been open on embarcation day which is why I sort of expected it on this particular cruise. Interestingly enough, I have found lunch menus listed on some web sites for carnival so on some ship somewhere, a mdr is open for lunch. On this particular cruise, however, there was only one sea day (day 2) so it is understandable there were no opportunities to do a lunch in a mdr.