Recently Posted Vista Review

[djanderson]

This was my 10th cruise, so I do have a little experience to base this review on. There were five of us (my wife, our 18 and 12 year old sons and 14 year old daughter). Embarkation was the smoothest we have ever experienced, with Carnival changing to a key at the cabin system, which means you get to the port at designated time, go through security and walk right onto the ship. No more of the long andweaving lines to get your sign and sail card activated!! Debarkation was just as simple for us, with clearly designated waiting areas and a very smooth and orderly process.

 

We booked this cruise last year and were most excited about the Vista as we had been following the ship through construction and all the hype leading up to it, so our expectations were pretty high. Unfortunately, we had read a number of (bad) recent reviews prior to our cruise, so we did have some concerns about our trip. Many of the reviews talked about how crowded the ship was, and we did feel that way a couple times for specific venues, but generally, just moving around the ship, not nearly as bad as expected. Pool areas had plenty of seating available,lines on Lido moved relatively quickly, the BBQ place had relatively short lines, and even the bar service seemed to move ok. That said, do be prepared to wait for your anytime dining (more on that nightmare later), and to get into the shows, both in the Limelight Lounge and Liquid Lounge (and whoever named the two most significant performance venues on the ship to start with the same letter must have been hoping for confusion. I mean Limelight and Liquid. Really?). And speaking of the Limelight Lounge, this place seems much smaller than the comedy clubs we have experienced on many other ships, and so seating is difficult to get and the lines to get in are long.

 

The ship really could use a second coffee shop (the one they have always had a line) and the lines are also really long waiting for the SkyRide. 4000+ passengers and they have a ride on the ship that only holds 2 people at a time. Super cool, and 60 seconds of very exhilarating fun, but why in the world would you have a ride that has such limitations on capacity? You also cannot actually count on the ride being open when they say it will be because several times we showed up and were told the ‘winds are too high’(although they seemed no stronger than the day prior when the ride was open). And by the way, when it says the ride opens at 9:00, that apparently means they show up and start preparing the ride at 9,which means about 20 mins of standing in a non-moving line watching the workers test all of the equipment and get everything in order. (Hint to Carnival: Open means open and running.)

 

We had read the complaints about the lack of glass elevators and the reduced atrium area, and were kind of split on whether that really mattered to us. Apparently the ‘missing’ atrium airspace is now consumed by the IMAX theater (we did go and see a movie there, and it was a good time), which has a screen that is 3 decks high. The atrium did seem a little closed in, but after a couple visits, it was fine. What I really felt was more significant was the way that the ship has been laid out generally. It seemed kind of boxy to me and did not feel like it moved very smoothly from one area to another. Maybe that is an intentional part of the design (making it feel less crowded maybe?) but it feels choppy nonetheless.

 

We had adjoining rooms on deck 9 (first time with an adjoining room and loved that). Deck 9aft placed us right below the Lido deck, so it was a quick walk up one flight to get to food and activities up there. Also, the Tides Pool and hot tubs are located on Lido aft (as well as the 24hr pizza) and so really good proximity. The rooms felt a little small tome, and it only had one closet for hanging clothes, which cramped things. The beds were comfy though and the steward did a great job keeping up with the place (and really, was almost kind of mystical, because I hardly ever saw him. He just seemed to know when we were out and when we would get back, the place was ready to go again). We had originally booked on Deck 2 because we wanted to try out the Family Harbor section, but changed to deck 9 for proximity issues, and I am really glad we did. Not that there was anything wrong with Family Harbor, but I prefer to be a little close rto the Lido and did not want to spend my time riding up and down the elevator.

 

The sports square area is really nice and quite active, with lots of things for kids (and adults) of all ages. They have shuffleboard, ping pong, mini-golf,billiards, basketball, some workout equipment, and even an indoor “bowling”lane and mini-soccer style billiards court, and of course the sky ride and skycourse. But the bar/soda spot up there does not appear to ever be open. At least we did not see it open, which means a trip down a couple flights if you want to get something to drink.

 

The kids spent some time at the water park, and really enjoyed the slides and such, but finding a place to sit and watch them play was a challenge. And to those other guests who collect up multiple chairs/benches/seats and then plop towels and shoes on them and then spend hours splashing in the water, only to return, dry off and leave without ever actually using the seats: I realize you think it is all about you, but really, it isn’t. Have some common courtesy for others…

 

MIKE PACK = BEST CRUISE DIRECTOR EVER! I cannot overstate how impressed we were with this guy, his energy, and his insistence that we (all guests) get out of our comfort zone and have a good time. He was interactive, approachable and absolutely, positively was the highlight of our week. Carnival take note: All of your cruise directors should have to spend a week training with Mike Pack, because he is that good!! Promote this guy, give him a raise, do whatever you need to do, but don’t let him get away…

 

The Red Frog Pub and Brewery is a great place to hang out,and the bartenders there are AWESOME. Located on the starboard side of the otherwise very busy promenade deck,it is a great place to get away from the crowded port side of the deck.

 

I went to the casino a number of times. Didn’t gamble this time (hint to Carnival: raising the table minimum to $10 for roulette was a stupid idea) but did enjoy people watching. The casino had a bit of an odd layout to me,but the bar in the center worked well. I would think though that the table games (especially the roulette table) would have been busier if they would have been easier to get to for passerby spectators.

 

Had lunch at the Mongolian Wok one day. Really good rice noodles, but not a lot of beef in the bowl, and the wait once our order was placed was pretty long.

 

Activities on the ship during port visits are almost non-existent. Carnival should cater a wee bit more to people who choose to stay on the ship. Activities otherwise (when not in port) are ok, but there is soooooo much geared towards getting you to buy stuff (watches, jewelry, t-shirts, tanzanite [ad nauseam], bingo cards, footwear, candy,casino, you name it) that when you look at the FunTimes it feels like you are on a shopping trip instead of a cruise vacation. And I do realize that they need to make their money, but this was the most expensive (per person) cruise we have ever been on,and yet it seemed like there was so much more emphasis on buying their stuff than in any of our past trips.

 

The Liquid Lounge shows with the ship performers were really good. What an energetic cast of young performers they have assembled and all of their performances were worthy of attending. My personal favorite? The 70’s show which was performed on the second night of the cruise. Easily the best show I have seen in all the cruises I have taken. They did a great job!

 

Not so good? EDGE. Been there and done that, and it hasn’t changed since the first or second time that we saw him going back a number of years. Same act, same jokes, same tricks. Not sure why Carnival keeps bringing this tired act back again and again, but really, this guy needs to at least try something new….anything….

 

About the ports:

Grand Turk – We live near the beach so this giant beach stop really did not appeal to us. We have been here before and there really is not a whole lot to do unless you want to splash in the water. We got off the ship long enough to stretch our legs, then got right back on.

 

LARomana - We decided to just head to the downtown area for a quick visit. Had read about the Jumbo Market online and decided to give it a try. Took a busf rom the port for $5pp for the round trip in lieu of walking (which did not appear anywhere near safe and which would have likely been very dangerous). The bus takes you to a center square area where there are a bunch of pesky vendors all peddling essentially the same crap souvenirs. The Jumbo was a short walkaway. It ended up basically being a Dominican Republic discount store (think Walmart).Definitely not worth the visit.

 

Bonaire- Bonaire port and nearby shopping was a pleasant experience. We walked from the ship and strolled leisurely through the area. Cute shops, an easy walk and reasonable prices.

 

Aruba– We were really looking forward to Aruba and were not disappointed. I am not much into guided tours, so we went with a Viking on/off-road rental from Road Runner ATV. First a shout out to Rachell and Luis at RoadRunner. They did an excellent job getting us set up and on our way and in getting the vehicle picked backup. Good communication, good service,will definitely recommend them! Anyway…if you visit Aruba and do not head over to the East (non-beach) side of the island, then you are really missing out on this port! Accessible only by off-road vehicle, the beauty of this side of the island cannot be overstated. And while there are ‘guided’ tours of this side, believe me, you really can do it yourself. Download the maps.me app (it worked beautifully for us) to complement the map that Rachell (or Luis) gives you and head out to explore. We traversed the west side oft he island from the port area up to the California Lighthouse, and then back down the west side to the Arikok National Park and then back around to the porta nd ‘downtown’ area again. Really easy drive and you really do have incredible views from that side of the island. And once back at the port area,we did manage a little shopping and found the vendors to be mostly easygoing,and far less pesky and insistent than we have seen at other ports.

 

And then there was the dining room… This one is a total bomb for Carnival, and if they do not do something to fix this issue, we will never sail on this ship again, because it was that bad. I remember when ‘your time’ dining first came out, and I thought it was an awesome concept. Have not used any other dining option ever since. And in the past, we would just show up at the dining room and were seated in relatively short order. Well now, you have to go to deck five, standi n a line (which at times was a pretty long line) just to put your name in the system. They give you a pager and an approximate wait time (a couple nights we went right down, a couple nights it was 30 minutes, a couple nights it was 40 minutes) and then when the pager goes off (or in the case of waiting nearly 45 minutes for an estimated 30 minute wait and close to an hour for a 40 minute wait and marching in and insisting to be seated) you go down a couple decks and stand in another line and wait to get seated. And waiting in line, and waiting for the pager to go off, and then waiting in line again is just warming you up for the wait that takes place once you are actually seated. You wait for the bread, you wait for the butter for the bread, you wait to give a drink order, you wait to place your meal order, you wait, and wait and wait. And I am not talking about a reasonable ‘hey things are kind of busy and we are moving a bit slow’ wait. This was night after night after night and it did not matter if we were early, at the peak of rush or the last ones in the dining room, we waited….and waited….and waited. And complaining only gets words of consolation, and maybe a maitre d' stopping by to ask how things are going. But still you wait. The food was really good….but still you wait…and wait…and wait. And if you don’t mind a cumulative 3 hours for dinner (between the wait to get in and the time you are finishing desert and coffee) then you will probably enjoy yourself. But several nights we had to skip desert or change our evening plans because the wait was so incredibly long that it disrupted the rest of the evening for us. My family really enjoys the dining room experience, and so this really threw a wet-towel over our trip. And by the way, why does Carnival even publish a dress code for the dining room if they are not going to insist that patrons follow it? Judging from the number of people we saw wearing whatever they wanted, and still being allowed in, it appears you can get away with anything short of a speedo and pasties. Hint to Carnival: Either enforce the code or don't have one.

 

 

In the end, I am rating the Vista as ‘average’. Not that we did not have a great time, but this ship was billed as latest and greatest from Carnival and while it was definitely a hit on a number of things, the misses unfortunately overshadowed them. And while it has been several years since I sailed on either of them, I really thought the Breeze and the Valor offered a better overall experience.

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by djanderson

[Gypsywych]

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.

[JillL]

Thanks for your review and insight on the Any Time Dining. We are booked on the Vista (a long time from now). We'd asked our TA for Any Time Dining but were mistakenly given Early Dining. I was going to change it, but I think I will not based on your review. We rarely eat in the main dining room any way, but I certainly do not want to participate in the wait-fest you described!

[jnodrog]

I think I have to agree with most everything you said. We were on the March 11th cruise. Getting on and off the ship was so easy. Lines for anytime dining were longgggggggg, we never went to the dining room. We were in the havana area deck 6 aft room 6468, the ship seemed to have quite a bit of rocky ness compared to others we have been on. Yes you could hear some of the engine noise and the noise from the havana bar but not to bad. Lines in all the food areas seemed to move rather quickly, wish they had a little bit more food options later at night though.

Skyride line was crazy we actually got out of line and never went, only 4 total cycles, kids that could not pedal and get moving on the track and took forever. We went to every show in the Liquid Lounge and waited for about 1/2 hour every night. We only did the comedy show one night because of long lines at the Limelight Lounge but we did go 1/2 hour early or so and were in the front row, so yes we were picked on some lol, but being from Vermont made it good as we never met anyone on ship from Vt.

Have to agree MIKE PACK was just fricken awsome. He shook my hand the first night on board, and he was just that good, never seen anyone go like he did. My wife shook his hand the last night and we thanked him for all he did, and he gave my wife a big hug. Food wise we did Pig & Anchor very good, Guys Burgers twice and good, Seafood Shack was good, Deli twice, breakfast at the Taste Bar like 3 times, Lido Buffet for some dinner and breakfast, was all pretty good. Food areas are spread out to try and have people in different areas seemed to keep lines down. We had a great time but would have to say the evenings before the shows, after the shows in the Atrium with MIKE we just awsome.

 

 

 

This was my 10th cruise, so I do have a little experience to base this review on. There were five of us (my wife, our 18 and 12 year old sons and 14 year old daughter). Embarkation was the smoothest we have ever experienced, with Carnival changing to a key at the cabin system, which means you get to the port at designated time, go through security and walk right onto the ship. No more of the long andweaving lines to get your sign and sail card activated!! Debarkation was just as simple for us, with clearly designated waiting areas and a very smooth and orderly process.

 

We booked this cruise last year and were most excited about the Vista as we had been following the ship through construction and all the hype leading up to it, so our expectations were pretty high. Unfortunately, we had read a number of (bad) recent reviews prior to our cruise, so we did have some concerns about our trip. Many of the reviews talked about how crowded the ship was, and we did feel that way a couple times for specific venues, but generally, just moving around the ship, not nearly as bad as expected. Pool areas had plenty of seating available,lines on Lido moved relatively quickly, the BBQ place had relatively short lines, and even the bar service seemed to move ok. That said, do be prepared to wait for your anytime dining (more on that nightmare later), and to get into the shows, both in the Limelight Lounge and Liquid Lounge (and whoever named the two most significant performance venues on the ship to start with the same letter must have been hoping for confusion. I mean Limelight and Liquid. Really?). And speaking of the Limelight Lounge, this place seems much smaller than the comedy clubs we have experienced on many other ships, and so seating is difficult to get and the lines to get in are long.

 

The ship really could use a second coffee shop (the one they have always had a line) and the lines are also really long waiting for the SkyRide. 4000+ passengers and they have a ride on the ship that only holds 2 people at a time. Super cool, and 60 seconds of very exhilarating fun, but why in the world would you have a ride that has such limitations on capacity? You also cannot actually count on the ride being open when they say it will be because several times we showed up and were told the ‘winds are too high’(although they seemed no stronger than the day prior when the ride was open). And by the way, when it says the ride opens at 9:00, that apparently means they show up and start preparing the ride at 9,which means about 20 mins of standing in a non-moving line watching the workers test all of the equipment and get everything in order. (Hint to Carnival: Open means open and running.)

 

We had read the complaints about the lack of glass elevators and the reduced atrium area, and were kind of split on whether that really mattered to us. Apparently the ‘missing’ atrium airspace is now consumed by the IMAX theater (we did go and see a movie there, and it was a good time), which has a screen that is 3 decks high. The atrium did seem a little closed in, but after a couple visits, it was fine. What I really felt was more significant was the way that the ship has been laid out generally. It seemed kind of boxy to me and did not feel like it moved very smoothly from one area to another. Maybe that is an intentional part of the design (making it feel less crowded maybe?) but it feels choppy nonetheless.

 

We had adjoining rooms on deck 9 (first time with an adjoining room and loved that). Deck 9aft placed us right below the Lido deck, so it was a quick walk up one flight to get to food and activities up there. Also, the Tides Pool and hot tubs are located on Lido aft (as well as the 24hr pizza) and so really good proximity. The rooms felt a little small tome, and it only had one closet for hanging clothes, which cramped things. The beds were comfy though and the steward did a great job keeping up with the place (and really, was almost kind of mystical, because I hardly ever saw him. He just seemed to know when we were out and when we would get back, the place was ready to go again). We had originally booked on Deck 2 because we wanted to try out the Family Harbor section, but changed to deck 9 for proximity issues, and I am really glad we did. Not that there was anything wrong with Family Harbor, but I prefer to be a little close rto the Lido and did not want to spend my time riding up and down the elevator.

 

The sports square area is really nice and quite active, with lots of things for kids (and adults) of all ages. They have shuffleboard, ping pong, mini-golf,billiards, basketball, some workout equipment, and even an indoor “bowling”lane and mini-soccer style billiards court, and of course the sky ride and skycourse. But the bar/soda spot up there does not appear to ever be open. At least we did not see it open, which means a trip down a couple flights if you want to get something to drink.

 

The kids spent some time at the water park, and really enjoyed the slides and such, but finding a place to sit and watch them play was a challenge. And to those other guests who collect up multiple chairs/benches/seats and then plop towels and shoes on them and then spend hours splashing in the water, only to return, dry off and leave without ever actually using the seats: I realize you think it is all about you, but really, it isn’t. Have some common courtesy for others…

 

MIKE PACK = BEST CRUISE DIRECTOR EVER! I cannot overstate how impressed we were with this guy, his energy, and his insistence that we (all guests) get out of our comfort zone and have a good time. He was interactive, approachable and absolutely, positively was the highlight of our week. Carnival take note: All of your cruise directors should have to spend a week training with Mike Pack, because he is that good!! Promote this guy, give him a raise, do whatever you need to do, but don’t let him get away…

 

The Red Frog Pub and Brewery is a great place to hang out,and the bartenders there are AWESOME. Located on the starboard side of the otherwise very busy promenade deck,it is a great place to get away from the crowded port side of the deck.

 

I went to the casino a number of times. Didn’t gamble this time (hint to Carnival: raising the table minimum to $10 for roulette was a stupid idea) but did enjoy people watching. The casino had a bit of an odd layout to me,but the bar in the center worked well. I would think though that the table games (especially the roulette table) would have been busier if they would have been easier to get to for passerby spectators.

 

Had lunch at the Mongolian Wok one day. Really good rice noodles, but not a lot of beef in the bowl, and the wait once our order was placed was pretty long.

 

Activities on the ship during port visits are almost non-existent. Carnival should cater a wee bit more to people who choose to stay on the ship. Activities otherwise (when not in port) are ok, but there is soooooo much geared towards getting you to buy stuff (watches, jewelry, t-shirts, tanzanite [ad nauseam], bingo cards, footwear, candy,casino, you name it) that when you look at the FunTimes it feels like you are on a shopping trip instead of a cruise vacation. And I do realize that they need to make their money, but this was the most expensive (per person) cruise we have ever been on,and yet it seemed like there was so much more emphasis on buying their stuff than in any of our past trips.

 

The Liquid Lounge shows with the ship performers were really good. What an energetic cast of young performers they have assembled and all of their performances were worthy of attending. My personal favorite? The 70’s show which was performed on the second night of the cruise. Easily the best show I have seen in all the cruises I have taken. They did a great job!

 

Not so good? EDGE. Been there and done that, and it hasn’t changed since the first or second time that we saw him going back a number of years. Same act, same jokes, same tricks. Not sure why Carnival keeps bringing this tired act back again and again, but really, this guy needs to at least try something new….anything….

 

About the ports:

Grand Turk – We live near the beach so this giant beach stop really did not appeal to us. We have been here before and there really is not a whole lot to do unless you want to splash in the water. We got off the ship long enough to stretch our legs, then got right back on.

 

LARomana - We decided to just head to the downtown area for a quick visit. Had read about the Jumbo Market online and decided to give it a try. Took a busf rom the port for $5pp for the round trip in lieu of walking (which did not appear anywhere near safe and which would have likely been very dangerous). The bus takes you to a center square area where there are a bunch of pesky vendors all peddling essentially the same crap souvenirs. The Jumbo was a short walkaway. It ended up basically being a Dominican Republic discount store (think Walmart).Definitely not worth the visit.

 

Bonaire- Bonaire port and nearby shopping was a pleasant experience. We walked from the ship and strolled leisurely through the area. Cute shops, an easy walk and reasonable prices.

 

Aruba– We were really looking forward to Aruba and were not disappointed. I am not much into guided tours, so we went with a Viking on/off-road rental from Road Runner ATV. First a shout out to Rachell and Luis at RoadRunner. They did an excellent job getting us set up and on our way and in getting the vehicle picked backup. Good communication, good service,will definitely recommend them! Anyway…if you visit Aruba and do not head over to the East (non-beach) side of the island, then you are really missing out on this port! Accessible only by off-road vehicle, the beauty of this side of the island cannot be overstated. And while there are ‘guided’ tours of this side, believe me, you really can do it yourself. Download the maps.me app (it worked beautifully for us) to complement the map that Rachell (or Luis) gives you and head out to explore. We traversed the west side oft he island from the port area up to the California Lighthouse, and then back down the west side to the Arikok National Park and then back around to the porta nd ‘downtown’ area again. Really easy drive and you really do have incredible views from that side of the island. And once back at the port area,we did manage a little shopping and found the vendors to be mostly easygoing,and far less pesky and insistent than we have seen at other ports.

 

And then there was the dining room… This one is a total bomb for Carnival, and if they do not do something to fix this issue, we will never sail on this ship again, because it was that bad. I remember when ‘your time’ dining first came out, and I thought it was an awesome concept. Have not used any other dining option ever since. And in the past, we would just show up at the dining room and were seated in relatively short order. Well now, you have to go to deck five, standi n a line (which at times was a pretty long line) just to put your name in the system. They give you a pager and an approximate wait time (a couple nights we went right down, a couple nights it was 30 minutes, a couple nights it was 40 minutes) and then when the pager goes off (or in the case of waiting nearly 45 minutes for an estimated 30 minute wait and close to an hour for a 40 minute wait and marching in and insisting to be seated) you go down a couple decks and stand in another line and wait to get seated. And waiting in line, and waiting for the pager to go off, and then waiting in line again is just warming you up for the wait that takes place once you are actually seated. You wait for the bread, you wait for the butter for the bread, you wait to give a drink order, you wait to place your meal order, you wait, and wait and wait. And I am not talking about a reasonable ‘hey things are kind of busy and we are moving a bit slow’ wait. This was night after night after night and it did not matter if we were early, at the peak of rush or the last ones in the dining room, we waited….and waited….and waited. And complaining only gets words of consolation, and maybe a maitre d' stopping by to ask how things are going. But still you wait. The food was really good….but still you wait…and wait…and wait. And if you don’t mind a cumulative 3 hours for dinner (between the wait to get in and the time you are finishing desert and coffee) then you will probably enjoy yourself. But several nights we had to skip desert or change our evening plans because the wait was so incredibly long that it disrupted the rest of the evening for us. My family really enjoys the dining room experience, and so this really threw a wet-towel over our trip. And by the way, why does Carnival even publish a dress code for the dining room if they are not going to insist that patrons follow it? Judging from the number of people we saw wearing whatever they wanted, and still being allowed in, it appears you can get away with anything short of a speedo and pasties. Hint to Carnival: Either enforce the code or don't have one.

 

 

In the end, I am rating the Vista as ‘average’. Not that we did not have a great time, but this ship was billed as latest and greatest from Carnival and while it was definitely a hit on a number of things, the misses unfortunately overshadowed them. And while it has been several years since I sailed on either of them, I really thought the Breeze and the Valor offered a better overall experience.

 

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback

[js]

Thank you so much for your review.

 

I have ATD for two people that like to eat between 7 pm - 8 pm. Do you think

I should change to assigned late dining (what time would that be)?

 

If we show up for the comedy show 30-45 minutes early to get in line, will this work in our getting a seat?

 

Did you do any specialty restaurants?

 

What other lines do you sail? I'm not loyal to any one cruiseline, enjoy sailing suites on NCL (Platinum), three days to Diamond on RCCL, five cruises on DCL and three on CCL with Vista being our fourth (Sensation, Dream, Breeze). How would you compare your Vista experience to the other lines that you sail?

 

We are sailing the ship for the ship this cruise, not the ports (I'm leaving my family at home and sailing with my mom-71). We have a Havana Cabana Suite booked on Deck 5 and a couples spa pass so during the day, we don't plan on leaving either space too much. Will get off 2-3 ports but will stay on the ship the rest of the time.

 

Did you use the gym? Treadmills? Rowing machine? If so, what time in the mornings did you arrive.

 

Thank you again for sharing your review, I very much appreciate reading them so I can figure out what I need to do.

[djanderson]

Late dining is at 8:15, and not having experienced it, I am unsure what, if any, issues you may encounter there. The problem with us certainly extended beyond the wait to get into the dining room, it also included really long waits for the food to be served, which leads me to believe there are timeliness issues in the kitchen as well. Would be interested in hearing from others who had fixed time dining on whether they had similar problems.

 

As for specialty restaurants, we did not do any of the pay ones, but did eat at the BBQ, Guys Burgers, the Blue Iguana, the Taste Bar and the Pizzeria, all with no major wait issues.

 

Our sailings have been (thus far) exclusive to Carnival,mostly due to our kids and the opportunities available for them. We have been on the Valor (twice), the Breeze(twice), the Imagination (many times – a smaller ship but we loved it) and the Paradise.And really, the Vista is indeed a magnificent ship (don’t get me wrong, we did have a very enjoyable trip and hated getting off) but for the money we spent,and the money I suspect you will be spending, we thought they could do better. I am hopeful that Carnival looks to the comments folks post here and do take steps to improve the experience.

 

We did not spend a lot of time in the gym (just a couple quick visits) and do not use the spa. We did visit the Havana bar a number of times and found it to be very, very nice. We also heard a lot of good things about the Havana suites and your proximity to the rest of the Promenade deck should work well for you (do visit the red frog pub and brewery, those bartenders there are awesome).

 

 

Also, regarding the earlier comment about the ship rocking: We felt the same way, that is,that this ship seemed to rock quite a bit more than ones we have had in the past. Not to the point that it made anyone of us sick, but just did not seem to have the same quality of stabilization. Now, this was also the earliest point in the year that we have cruised (most of our others are in the summer) and I am not sure if that had something to do with it or not.

[crewsweeper]

Thanks for your review.

 

We experienced some of the same issues and waits. I'd hit the coffee bar at 5 til 7 after coming out of the gym, and It'd be 7:20 before I was walking back tot he room. One day the barista didn't show up until 7:15 and then had to set up every thing. We had seated dining and while we had an issue the first night (we went to Bonsai Sushi instead--great sushi boat!) when they reassigned us to the Upper Horizon dining room we had great service. But we could see the poor folks in ATD on the lower deck waiting and slow service. There were people who were seated there before we sat down and were still there when we left.

 

Lack of the second closet in inside cabins wasn't too welcomed.

 

Agree the Sky Ride wait was very long. But as I had nothing better to do I hung out and gabbed with others. and people watched those doing the ride. I left one show in the Liquid Lounge early because the sound from the back reverberated and it was way too loud for me and my hearing aids. Diamond/Platinum party was a zoo. The entire lounge was full. And people were scarfing up the hors d' oeuvres faster than the waiters could pass them out. Maybe they were ATD-ers and hadn't eaten yet.:D

[js]

Late dining is at 8:15, and not having experienced it, I am unsure what, if any, issues you may encounter there. The problem with us certainly extended beyond the wait to get into the dining room, it also included really long waits for the food to be served, which leads me to believe there are timeliness issues in the kitchen as well. Would be interested in hearing from others who had fixed time dining on whether they had similar problems.

 

As for specialty restaurants, we did not do any of the pay ones, but did eat at the BBQ, Guys Burgers, the Blue Iguana, the Taste Bar and the Pizzeria, all with no major wait issues.

 

Our sailings have been (thus far) exclusive to Carnival,mostly due to our kids and the opportunities available for them. We have been on the Valor (twice), the Breeze(twice), the Imagination (many times – a smaller ship but we loved it) and the Paradise.And really, the Vista is indeed a magnificent ship (don’t get me wrong, we did have a very enjoyable trip and hated getting off) but for the money we spent,and the money I suspect you will be spending, we thought they could do better. I am hopeful that Carnival looks to the comments folks post here and do take steps to improve the experience.

 

We did not spend a lot of time in the gym (just a couple quick visits) and do not use the spa. We did visit the Havana bar a number of times and found it to be very, very nice. We also heard a lot of good things about the Havana suites and your proximity to the rest of the Promenade deck should work well for you (do visit the red frog pub and brewery, those bartenders there are awesome).

 

 

Also, regarding the earlier comment about the ship rocking: We felt the same way, that is,that this ship seemed to rock quite a bit more than ones we have had in the past. Not to the point that it made anyone of us sick, but just did not seem to have the same quality of stabilization. Now, this was also the earliest point in the year that we have cruised (most of our others are in the summer) and I am not sure if that had something to do with it or not.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time for your review and answering my questions. I really appreciate it. I'll have to decide if I want to move to late dining. Maybe I'll do some research these next two weeks and make a decision.

 

Thanks.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thanks for the review! You're issues were some of the same that we had, although we had late dining and had ZERO timing or wait complaints. We were seated when the doors opened and had perfect service from our waitstaff. We've done NCL with Freestyle dining and it just isn't the same as having the scheduled dining times. It's one of the things that I like about a cruise. Just wanted to let those that are questioning their Anytime Dining choices, do not think twice about the set dining times. It was perfect. We had late seating, which we prefer, and dinner only took about an hour total. We got to see all the "shows" by our waitstaff, and linger longer after we were done with a cocktail if we wanted!

[MNKEITH]

Hi and thanks for your review. I always like comparing others experiences. We sailed on the 2/25 eastern 8 day.

 

We had anytime dining and our experience was very good. We do not go to the MDR every night. We went on the first formal night. Checked in on deck 5 at about 5:55, no line. They said we could head on down to the dining room and we were seated immediately. The next time we went it was the last or 2nd to last night. We checked in at about 8 and again no line and were seated immediately. Both times we were out within 1:15 minutes.

 

We are a party of 2 so maybe that impacted our experience. I too had read the reviews of the dining experience and was concerned. For us, it could not have been smoother, but I can understand the frustration others felt.