Port maps on Vista?

[Cruise lady 321]

Can anyone who's been on Vista recently advise if free port maps are available from guest services ? When on other lines , it's always been really useful to have these offered , esp if we planned to venture ashore independently .

Thanks .

[SF Cfan]

There were no assists for self guided other than a pitch for the Carnival sponsored shuttle, which with the exception of Marseille was typically not a good value relative to the local shuttles or taxis available at the port.

 

In Athens for $17.00 per person Carnival offered a bus to the Plaka round trip. The city bus the X80 departed directly across the street from the cruise ship terminal and was 4.50 Euros (about U.S. $5.00) round trip to the Acropolis (and museum) or Plaka and included unlimited bus and metro rides for 24 hours, plus the flexibility of being able to come and go at various hours.

 

I'm not complaining because Carnival is a good 30 to 50% less than a similar cruise on its sister line HAL. I've cruised HAL and know that their self guided information is pretty helpful.

 

On the Baltic Cruise the HAL CD stood at the base of the gangway to make sure that everyone knew where they were going or needed help getting to town.

 

It is annoying that one needs to figure it out on their own on Carnival and that the CD is hawking shuttles that are not necessarily more convenient and certainly not the best deal. However, for the incredible value I am willing to do my own research and not hold it against the Carnival CD for being misleading.

[Springdale]

We sailed Vista in May. We did not see port maps available at Guest Services or elsewhere. We had purchased Rick Steves' paperback book, "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" via Amazon and used it in every port, taking only the port-appropriate section of the book to port with us each day. Very helpful as we did most of our port days on our own. Great maps and detailed information.

[Cruise lady 321]

There were no assists for self guided other than a pitch for the Carnival sponsored shuttle, which with the exception of Marseille was typically not a good value relative to the local shuttles or taxis available at the port.

 

In Athens for $17.00 per person Carnival offered a bus to the Plaka round trip. The city bus the X80 departed directly across the street from the cruise ship terminal and was 4.50 Euros (about U.S. $5.00) round trip to the Acropolis (and museum) or Plaka and included unlimited bus and metro rides for 24 hours, plus the flexibility of being able to come and go at various hours.

 

I'm not complaining because Carnival is a good 30 to 50% less than a similar cruise on its sister line HAL. I've cruised HAL and know that their self guided information is pretty helpful.

 

On the Baltic Cruise the HAL CD stood at the base of the gangway to make sure that everyone knew where they were going or needed help getting to town.

 

It is annoying that one needs to figure it out on their own on Carnival and that the CD is hawking shuttles that are not necessarily more convenient and certainly not the best deal. However, for the incredible value I am willing to do my own research and not hold it against the Carnival CD for being misleading.

 

Thanks for your reply - we cruised with Celebrity last year and they provided a sheet for each port detailing main sites and also a map of the port/town. It was really useful to have it as well as our own researched details . I guess I'm going to have to make sure we takes maps for each stop!

Cheers .

[bluwes]

I am surprised to hear this, as every other Carnival ship we have sailed on has had free port maps available.

[scowat]

Only just come off the Vista yesterday in Barcelona and thought it was very poor form that not one port did Carnival provide a map of the local area or how to get to and from the port (unless you wanted to use Carnival's own services supplied).

 

First time we've ever had this where you're given little to no info on where you are disembarking.

[bluwes]

Only just come off the Vista yesterday in Barcelona and thought it was very poor form that not one port did Carnival provide a map of the local area or how to get to and from the port (unless you wanted to use Carnival's own services supplied).

 

First time we've ever had this where you're given little to no info on where you are disembarking.

 

 

Other than that how was it ?, we are sailing the same itinerary in September.

[CatlinSTJ]

No maps, and often we were stuck paying for the hired shuttle to town just to get out of the commercial port.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Vista - July 2016

[SF Cfan]

We sailed Vista in May. We did not see port maps available at Guest Services or elsewhere. We had purchased Rick Steves' paperback book, "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" via Amazon and used it in every port, taking only the port-appropriate section of the book to port with us each day. Very helpful as we did most of our port days on our own. Great maps and detailed information.

 

We had Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Port book. It was very helpful.

[scowat]

Other than that how was it ?, we are sailing the same itinerary in September.

 

I've still to do a proper review but here's a summary of thoughts :D

 

Itinerary

we missed Kusadasi due to the coup and had an extra day at sea. Sad to have missed it but understand the need to exclude. That aside we loved Rhodes Town, Valletta (Malta) and Messina (Sicily) but beware nothing is open if you're hitting the port on a Sunday. Naples aside, the remaining ports you were docked very far away from town with the need for a shuttle that Carnival were charging what we thought were exorbitant prices so we stayed on the ship.

 

Embarkation/Disembarking

Constantly moving flow of guests at the port in Athens. Felt very slick and we were through it and on the ship within 30mins. Very well managed. Same story for Barcelona (although that may be as we were some of the first off the ship)

 

Stateroom

We were in room 7218, just below the bridge on deck 7 forward. Category 8B. Lovely stateroom, functional more than anything but perfectly serviceable. Strange having a door to the balcony as opposed to a sliding door like most but it was no problem. Some issues with the TV not switching off and a smell of sewage from the A/C in the first night but these were rectified very quickly by Carnival. Our steward, Predrag, was excellent and always helpful

 

Food

We switched any time on the first night to an 8.15 sitting and were very glad of it after hearing and reading of all the issues with waiting. We were in the Reflections dining room and had absolutely no issues with staff, waiting times or food with the exception of the first formal night where the lobster was terrible. That being said, it was very quickly replaced for something else so top marks to our waiting team who all were lovely (Nedka, Arnel and Jestoni were stars).

 

Dinner aside, Lido is limited but OK for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cucino del Capitano we only made lunch and it was great. Mongolian Wok was very disappointing and made us glad we didn't do JiJi. Bonsai Sushi was always busy and looked great. the 555 Steakhouse always looked empty. Top hits for us were the Pizzeria del Capitano that did amazing pizza and for me the Blue Iguana taco/burrito bar where I got hooked on huevos rancheros for breakfast :D ...the less said about Guy Fieri's burger joint the better, I've never tasted anything so disgusting and filled full of grease, salt and no taste as that place. Looked at the seafood shack but wouldn't give them the money for what they were selling... $12 for a lobster roll I thought was ridiculous.

 

General Thoughts

The ship is nice but there was no real wow factor to it. The atriums and their digital pillars were cool to see change each day but it feels really enclosed. Same with the main pool area. It feels really enclosed when it's busy. The pools themselves are far too small given the size of the ship, but the water park is a lot of fun, especially both slides and were a big hit for me and my boy of 8. Sky Ride and Sky Walk were cool but be prepared to queue for a long time to use them. Carnival photographers are everywhere taking your photos which means a lot of choice come the end of the holiday for those perfect pics, but again be prepared to pay. Very little staff around the ship taking drinks orders. Was always faster to go to the bars and order in person.

 

PHEW! ...and that was just a summary :D