VISTA - 28JAN, 8 nights - What worked, what didn't work.

[mrsfuzzmo]

As many of you do, I researched and planned and read and read and read every review, every photo, every deck plan, etc. in preparation for our Carnival Vista Cruise which I had booked back in Feb. 2015!! That's a long wait for a cruise, but fortunately we've had a number of other vacations in between...including a different cruise! I booked this ship as soon as the Havana Cabana Cabins went up for sale. I also really liked the itinerary being a Southern Caribbean and an 8 night cruise. Nice to have something different.

 

I work in the travel industry and do a lot of traveling due to that. I am an avid cruiser (this was my 18th cruise) as is my husband who was on his 12th cruise. I do not stick to one cruise line, as I book for the itinerary, the prices and in this case, the amazing cabins. I have traveled in inside cabins, ocean views, balconies, aft balconies and now the Havana Cabana cabin! We picked-up a couple of girlfriends who had never cruised before in Sept. and it was fun showing them the ropes.

 

I've got a ton of photos that I'll add at a later date, but wanted to give you all a rundown on things that I obsessed about before cruising and what I experienced.

 

Pre-Night: Stayed at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay. We flew into FLL and planned to use Uber XL for our transport, as most shuttle companies do not pick up after 7 pm and we arrived at 7:45 pm. Upon arrival and retrieval of our luggage, we tried getting and Uber XL and there were none in the area. We decided to do a taxi, which turned out to be perfectly fine and the exact same price as the Uber XL, without the wait! $78 from FLL to Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay ($100 total with tip). Nice driver, very funny and took us directly to the hotel without any issues. Room was nice, plenty of room and view of the water/port. We ate at the waterfront bar/lounge as it was late by the time we got there and checked in. Food was good, and Miami expensive (which we knew).

 

WORKED: Taxi instead of Uber - Marriott Biscayne Bay as pre-night hotel.

DID NOT WORK: Uber plans - pre-booking a shuttle due to late arrival time.

 

Departure Day: Again requested a taxi van for the four of us with luggage to the port. We had port arrival time of 11:00 am. Arrived at port at about 10:40 am and literally breezed through security and check-in. Hardly anyone there. Once we were checked in, we grabbed our seats and waited for the ship to open. We had boarding zone 2 and by noon we were on board with our first "CHEERS" drink of the day.

 

WORKED: Check-in was easy, room keys/cards at room.

DID NOT WORK: All the people who did "Airport Check-In" being confused and assuming they boarded with the Suite passengers. Poor staff trying to stop them all until it was their time to board.

 

Ship Impressions (style/decor): Not my favorite. While I like modern, the starkness of it really was unappealing to me. The narrow staircases in the main centrum/lobby made of frosted glass were just not "grand" like most ships. The shiny white walls, while a great backdrop for the funnel, were just that.....white walls. And the atrium/lobby was oval shaped making it feel like you were inside of an egg shell. It lacked warmth and color, but for those who like super modern/swedish modern may like it. The funnel was definitely the highlight.

 

WORKED: Plenty of elevators, loved the funnels

DID NOT WORK: Stark white decor - Cold and very "shopping mall" feel to it.

 

Havana Cabana: Like I said, we had a Havana Cabana Cabin and absolutely loved it. The lanai area was so social and friendly, the views were amazing, the rooms were just like most other balcony cabins, with updated decor. TV was large, beds comfy. Our A/C worked great. Our cabin attendant was always around and a really funny guy. No complaints about the cabin or service at all. One of my favorite aspects was that we were in cabin 5240, the closest to the pool area so we could walk right around the corner from our lanai to the bar, or from the inside, go through one door and about 15 steps to the coffee in the morning. I'm sure they were tired of seeing me in my bathrobe getting coffee in the morning, but I didn't care. It was glorious! One word of warning for anyone in that cabin......the horn section of the Cuban band warms us in a room right next door, so every night for about 30 minute you will hear scales on the trumpet right at your head if you are in bed. We usually were just winding down for the night when that happened and it stopped before we went to sleep.

 

WORKED: Loved spending time on the lanai - close to coffee/bar. Very social, but no public traffic.

DID NOT WORK: Lanai furniture was VERY low to the ground and hard to get out of. We grabbed two spare chairs from the pool deck and used them on the lanai.

 

Havana Area: It was fine. We didn't use it much other than appreciating the quiet solitude in the very early mornings and the coffee in my bathrobe as mentioned above. The Havana Bar staff was amazing....no complaints there! For the facilities, we used the pool twice for a short time after shore excursions to cool down and that's about it. Didn't use the hot tubs, but there is a FANTASTIC view aft from the Hot tub platforms. We had our other friends who were not in a Havana cabin so we didn't spend much time there.

 

WORKED: Squishy chairs, great bartenders

DID NOT WORK: No music, a bit quiet and boring for our taste.

 

CHEERS: We all purchased the cheers package and in the end it was about break even, although we did try a lot more drinks than we would have if we did not have it. Worked fine for us, other than we got the feeling that the bar staff would often overlook us after our first one, in order to serve others who were "paying" customers I'd imaging. More on that later in the .....did not work. We tipped $1 with almost every drink order, so spent extra that way.

 

WORKED: Tried quite a bit of new drinks (and found some favorites) that we would not have otherwise had. Worth the money for us. We did the math after we received our printout at the end of the week.

 

DID NOT WORK: We were told by two different bartenders that if we are sitting at his bar, with empty drinks, and we are tipping him, it's their policy to wait on anyone that walks up without a drink first. In a way I understand that they want to service everyone, but we literally sat with four empty glasses for over 20 minutes while people were walking up next to us and getting served. We asked the bartender and that's what they told us. Doesn't matter how long our drinks are empty, if someone new walks up, they get served first. So we made it our policy to get a drink and walk away. It was kind of a slap in the face to those of us who were tipping on every drink in addition to the cheers. It was frustrating.

 

POOL DECKS: We are early risers and usually hit the pools early and stay all day so never had to worry about chair hogs. This trip, our traveling companions weren't "pool sitters" so we were only in the Tides pool on two days. Didn't even go to the Lido Pool except for walking through, but it was crazy busy. Lots of people out and about. Definitely not enough pool chairs for the amount of people on the ship. Even at the Tides pool, people took to stacking their towel and bags and shoes on the pool seating because there was no where to go.

 

WORKED: Tides Pool Atmosphere. I liked it. Good music, good people.

DIDNT WORK: Not nearly enough chairs for everyone who wanted to swim.

 

ACTIVITIES: I went into this trip planning on doing everything I could. I didn't do half of what I wanted to do, but did a ton of other things I never expected. Here are the things I thought I would do, but did not: SkyRide (not open, long line, etc.), Ropes Course (looked like only little kids were using it so I opted out), Thrill Theater (Just didn't get there), Waterslides (just didn't go there). What we did do, though, was Trivia, Games, dance classes in the Ocean Plaza lounge, Karaoke in the Red Frog Pub, a lot of people watching, a lot of bar hopping.

 

WORKED: Trivial Pursuit & Trivia in Ocean Plaza was fun!!

DIDNT WORK: Karaoke had the same people singing the same songs every day. There were some really terrible songs (ok singers, but I don't expect the best, but when you cannot even distinguish the song being sung.....ugggh), and the same 4 or 5 people kept singing over and over and over. If I never hear "Smooth" by Santana again it will be too soon. There were a few that got up there, and may not have been the best singers, but they got the crowd going and singing along.... and there there were a few others.....yikes.

 

FOOD/DINING: Zero Complaints! We had late traditional dining and had an awesome, fun waitstaff. We enjoyed everything we had and some of it was absolutely amazing!! Plenty to go around including extra lobster on Elegant night. We were stuffed every night. Day dining we went to the Horizons breakfast a few times including Sea Day Brunch, had Lido breakfast a few times and at on land a few times. I've got to say that I've had much more variety in the buffets on other ships. Really not much to choose from, and definitley not anything "different" which I like to try. Very plain jane breakfast. Tasted good, just not much variety. Pig & Anchor was good, not outstanding, but fine. We make way better BBQ at home. Didn't eat at Guy's, Pizza or Blue Iguana.

 

WORKED: Seafood Shack - Loved the french fried that came with the Lobster roll. Loved our traditional dining - Loved the Ports of Call section on the menu!!

 

DID NOT WORK: Never made it to Guy's for a burger, to JiJi for lunch or to Cucina for pasta. Just ran out of time

 

DEPARTURE: Smooth and we made it off the ship and were checked into our flight - thought TSA and sitting at our departure gate in FLL by 8:15 AM!!!! For those of you who are concerned about flying before noon, we had no issues whatsoever.

 

THINGS THAT REALLY WORKED - (we loved): Matt Michum, Alchemy Bar, People Watching, Cabana Lanai, Dining waitstaff, room steward, Havana Bartenders, Ocean Plaza events and music. Embarkation and Disembarkation were smooth, Port of Call were a Blast!!! Loved the two young guys that played a duo of guitars and sang, they were awesome.

 

THINGS THAT DIDNT WORK: Decor, Piano Bar (really played some slow, draggy non-sing along songs so we left and never went back), Bartenders letting us know we would not get a second drink for a while.

 

So there you go. Would we go back on the Vista again, maybe if the stars align, but it's not at the top of our list. We like to try all different new things and now that we've been there and done that, we will move on. No complaints, the ship itself just didn't WOW us like I'd hoped.

 

Any questions, please ask!!

[FlamingJune1967]

Thanks for the review!

Vista was on my short list for family cruise this year. I love these types of reviews with pros and cons. Very easy read!

c

[Micahs Grandad]

Thanks for a very honest review

[jewliana]

Thank you SO much for your review! We have a Havana Aft Balcony on the Vista coming up in a few weeks so I am avidly reading every word! We bought the cheers package and love to tip our bartenders but that being said we also would like to think we will enjoy good service. Thanks for the word of warning about that. Is it that way in the Havana pool bar too? Does it work if you leave with your drink and come back for another? Did they serve any breaksfast in the Havana area or just coffee? Thanks again for the fantastic review!

[riclop]

Thanks for the well balanced review.

[ABQrobin]

Thanks! Very nice review of the ship. My DH is dying to do the Vista, but I just can't see paying $$$ more for same Itinerary as another ship. He is very interested in the Microbrew onboard, guessing you never checked it out.

 

Did you have any photos to post of the ship? I am interested to see those rooms. This ship is moving to Galveston next year, so I might get talked into trying it.

 

robin

[pcvtmom]

Thanks for the great review. LOVE the format with "what worked" and "what didn't"!

[AdGuyMG]

We bought the cheers package and love to tip our bartenders but that being said we also would like to think we will enjoy good service. Thanks for the word of warning about that. Is it that way in the Havana pool bar too? Does it work if you leave with your drink and come back for another?

 

We were on the 6 day Vista in early January and also had the Cheers Package. We ordered drinks and many times sat with friends at the Red Frog Rum bar, the Casino Bar, the Tides Pool Bar, the Havana Bar, the Sports Bar, the Alchemy Bar and the Liquid Lounge Nightclub Bar and never once felt we were ignored or overlooked in favor of anyone else when it came to reordering. Often times we would be asked if we were "...ready for another?" Always had great service.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thank you SO much for your review! We have a Havana Aft Balcony on the Vista coming up in a few weeks so I am avidly reading every word! We bought the cheers package and love to tip our bartenders but that being said we also would like to think we will enjoy good service. Thanks for the word of warning about that. Is it that way in the Havana pool bar too? Does it work if you leave with your drink and come back for another? Did they serve any breaksfast in the Havana area or just coffee? Thanks again for the fantastic review!

 

We did do the brew pub! The beer was decent. I liked the Caribbean Wheat, but they ran out the last two days. It was a fun place. Saw the tour as well and they looked like they were having a blast! Watched Karaoke there, also liked the outdoor swing/glider tables as well. Great staff there.

 

We did not experience the bar issue in the Havana Bar. They were awesome, but it was rarely busy back there. Best place to get a fantastic, quick drink. Lots of seating during the day and rarely anyone there.

[mrsfuzzmo]

We were on the 6 day Vista in early January and also had the Cheers Package. We ordered drinks and many times sat with friends at the Red Frog Rum bar, the Casino Bar, the Tides Pool Bar, the Havana Bar, the Sports Bar, the Alchemy Bar and the Liquid Lounge Nightclub Bar and never once felt we were ignored or overlooked in favor of anyone else when it came to reordering. Often times we would be asked if we were "...ready for another?" Always had great service.

 

Awesome. Wish we would have had the same experience. The two worst were the Alchemy Bar and the main center lobby (Atrium) bar. Red Frog we always used a waiter while sitting at the table so that was no problem. They were awesome. It was only when we were sitting AT the bar that we had issues. Havana Bar was the exception, they were wonderful. We loved the Alchemy Bar the first night, then when we got the "sorry I need to take care of the new customers" message from them, we never went back.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thanks! Very nice review of the ship. My DH is dying to do the Vista, but I just can't see paying $$$ more for same Itinerary as another ship. He is very interested in the Microbrew onboard, guessing you never checked it out.

 

Did you have any photos to post of the ship? I am interested to see those rooms. This ship is moving to Galveston next year, so I might get talked into trying it.

 

robin

 

Robin, I have a ton of photos, just trying to sort and download. I'll get some up on here soon. I have a lot of video as well.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thank you SO much for your review! We have a Havana Aft Balcony on the Vista coming up in a few weeks so I am avidly reading every word! We bought the cheers package and love to tip our bartenders but that being said we also would like to think we will enjoy good service. Thanks for the word of warning about that. Is it that way in the Havana pool bar too? Does it work if you leave with your drink and come back for another? Did they serve any breaksfast in the Havana area or just coffee? Thanks again for the fantastic review!

 

Havana Pool bar service was excellent! Inside bar and outside bar. Worst two were Alchemy (which was a shame because we loved the drinks there) and the center lobby bar.....they were the worst.

 

We never saw any food/breakfast/snacks of any kind in the Havana Bar. I had hear they did have it, but we didn't see anything all week on our cruise. They do serve a nice smaller breakfast and lunch buffet at the Ocean Plaza (or whatever it's called) lounge just next door to the Havana area. That was nice!!

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[crewsweeper]

Thanks! Very nice review of the ship. My DH is dying to do the Vista, but I just can't see paying $$$ more for same Itinerary as another ship. He is very interested in the Microbrew onboard, guessing you never checked it out.

 

Did you have any photos to post of the ship? I am interested to see those rooms. This ship is moving to Galveston next year, so I might get talked into trying it.

 

robin

 

First, Mrsfuzzmo. Great review. I was thinking about doing a Like/Dislike format but haven't had time to get around to a review. How were your ports? I know you were asking about things for some of them. Did that work out? Nice to hear taxis are matching Uber/Lyft. completion always helps--both service and price.

 

Now to AQR : I had all the taps in the microbrew, plus Angel City's 2 brews (IPA and Pils) and Saltwater Brewing's Milk Stout in bottles at other bars. Your DH should look to try those. I liked the RFP's pale ale and wheat. IPA was hoppy but something was missing versus Stones or Founders. Stout was okay, but Saltwater's was better, IMO. In short though, he can avoid even having to drink the macro-micros like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada and still have a really nice craft beer cruise.

[crewsweeper]

Havana Pool bar service was excellent! Inside bar and outside bar. Worst two were Alchemy (which was a shame because we loved the drinks there) and the center lobby bar.....they were the worst.

 

We never saw any food/breakfast/snacks of any kind in the Havana Bar. I had hear they did have it, but we didn't see anything all week on our cruise. They do serve a nice smaller breakfast and lunch buffet at the Ocean Plaza (or whatever it's called) lounge just next door to the Havana area. That was nice!!

 

Surprised about Alchemy. Gab, Annamaria and Teodora took good care of the "regulars" on my cruise. I was told by the bartender that the Havana bar served its morning pastries around 10AM. Never made it down there. Ocean Plaza-Tastes Bar set up for breakfast was pretty decent. I stopped by a couple of times while at the Java Café.

[mrsfuzzmo]

First, Mrsfuzzmo. Great review. I was thinking about doing a Like/Dislike format but haven't had time to get around to a review. How were your ports? I know you were asking about things for some of them. Did that work out? Nice to hear taxis are matching Uber/Lyft. completion always helps--both service and price.

.

 

Crew - Ports were wonderful.

 

Grand Turk - had planned to go to town, but the crazy port time just kind of squashed that. I was VERY surprised at how busy the beach was in front of M'ville and on down. Last time we were there it was nice and open and calm, now it was a madhouse....so we walked over through the cruise center all the way to the Beached Whale! What a jewel in the rough!! Excellent crack conch, cold beer and beautiful views. Loved the beach there and the lack of crowds. Wished I would have found it earlier in the day. Great music and excellent atmosphere. Would recommend to anyone looking to get out of the craziness and crowds.

 

La Romana - didn't pre-book anything but decided the night before that we would do the countryside safari/experience. It was nice, but not fantastic. A LOT of sales opportunities. Worst part of the day was being stung by a Tarantula Wasp, best part of the day was driving through La Romana proper. Loved that little city. Next time we will taxi to town and wander. Saw a lot of cool little restaurants and a great center park market.

 

Curacao - again, not great port times with arriving at 1:30 pm and departing at 10:00pm. We opted for a pre-booked sunset sail through shoretrips and it was good, but not fantastic. Open air bus ride about 40 minutes to the marina gave us a ride over the high bridge over town, that was cool. Sailed around Spanish Bay a couple of times then out to open water for the sunset. Good crew, not terribly exciting, but something to do. In hindsite we should have just gone into town and will do that next time. I've been there before but my husband has not. Would have liked to see the floating bridge, market and Plaza Bieux.

 

Aruba - TRIKES! Amazing tour. So much fun. Not only did we get to tool all over the island on these cool, funky bikes, we stopped at many of the major attractions like Casibiri Rocks, Alto Vista Chapel, Lighthouse, etc. Great views, excellent guide that took a ton of photos along the way for free!! We would do this trip again in a heartbeat. After tour, we walked around Oranjestad, but it was hot, so we stopped for cold beer and some appys. Really had a good day!!