Adventure or Carnival Vista

[happy cruiser1234]

Hello, I have two Cruises booked for March spring break and i need to make a decision on which one to keep. In my head I keep going back and forth between the two and i can't decide. Please tell me what you would do.

 

 

Adventure goes to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados with one sea day.

We have two Junior Suites Booked for our family of 4. Which we booked at an amazing price! This cruise will bring us to 3 points away from becoming Dimond.

 

 

Carnival Vista is an 8 day cruise and goes to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao and Aruba with 3 Sea days.

We have two Cabins booked in the Havana area. One cabin is an Extended Aft Balcony, and the kids have an inside Cabin. We would have Exclusive use of the private pool and lounge area.

We have never sailed Carnival before but this Itinerary and new ship looks very enticing. We booked this before the ship was even built, and now the Havana Cabins sell for much more then what we paid.

 

 

The price of flights are about the same, with San Juan coming in just a bit cheeper then flying to Miami. But with San Juan we would have to fly in the day of the cruise. Also Both cruises are about the same cost on a per day basis.

 

 

Please Help! Which one would you choose?

[Clarea]

I'd go for the longer cruise not only because it's longer, but I like the itinerary to Aruba and Curacao better.

[kateg]

That Vista itinerary looks very tempting. Mike writes wonderful reviews who sailed that ship/itinerary last year. You might want to check out his review http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2442022&highlight=vista+b2b

[caribsun]

Carnival Vista :)

[Cruisegirl6]

Thankfully you wrote on this RC board because what I am going to write if it were on Carnival I get bashed, but I only speaking the truth, my opinion.

 

I would choose RC over Carnival anyway, although never had a bad Carnival cruise, I think you need to click on the Carnival side on Vista and read the renews, I been reading more negative and disappointing ones than positive so consider doing this to enhance your decision.

 

They both provide very good ports although take note, your not docked at the best area of the island.....St. Maarten water sports, great food, great beaches never a disappointment, St. Kitts more laid back more of a beach place....Antigua great beaches, beautiful, great food, water sports......Barbados sightseeing, beaches, beautiful, water sports...St Lucia beautiful sightseeing, lots to choose from, good food, water sports etc.

Grand Turk just beach not much to do but pretty beach, Curacao water sports, Aruba water sports, wonderful excellent places to eat, beautiful eagle beach.

 

Adventure Junior Suite 264 sq ft, 75 sq ft balcony, true Oceanview balcony, bathtub

 

Vista 185 sq feet, 100 sq ft balcony, remember part of your Havana balcony actually is open so you see your neighbors on both sides on the outer half of it, to see the sea is further and there is a wall and windows, to me blocking the actual view.... The patio areas will not be as private has having a regular balcony. This is because people walking the Lanai or other Havana Stateroom guests could easily look onto a balcony and see you sitting on it. With all rooms, you may get noise from passengers walking by or from a public area so make sure you are prepared for a little bit of noise

Food, yes subjective, but Carnivals lunch buffets are really down hill, there is an ongoing post about this, when we cruise Carnival, its not for the food we will have dinner at the steakhouse each evening.

Carnival offers the brunch on sea days

We prefer Carnival casino as we get the drinks on us card (we still purchase the drink package) and get goodies each and every night

After 10:30-11pm, you will only find pizza to eat with the exception of room service

Cucina del Capitano is complimentary in the daytime and a fee for dinner

Seafood Shack, Blue Iguana Cantina, Guys Burgers (to us discussing), Asian Kitchen, Redfrog Pub

Steakhouse excellent

 

 

Adventure always offers much better quality food in the lunch buffet and more variety, there is no comparison (my opinion)

Cafe Promenade is also open for breakfast and lunch and has a salad bar too for lunch, another place to eat complimentary

Shows are much more superior on RC and the ice show is not to be missed!

Giovanni's Table specialty restaurant my favorite specialty restaurant

Johnny Rockets (we don't eat here) and Chops Steakhouse

Cafe Promenade open 24 hours and late at night you can get mini sandwiches, salads, cookies, brownies, there are plenty of choices of different types of food to choose from

Offer the self service soda machines

Ships: Vista came out in 2016, Adventure was refurbished in 2016 but will also go into a dry dock to get additional Oceanview staterooms and Suite Lounge, Izumi, water park, surf simulator...this dry dock will take place 1/13/2018-2/10/18

If I were you this would be a difficult decision....Carnival 8 days vs Adventure 7 days, flying the same day vs flying the night before.

 

I would have a difficult time myself in choosing....8 days vs RC ship.....also if you go on the Adventure your next cruise your diamond!

[Cruisegirl6]

Remember, your only in port for a handful of hours so you truly don't get the whole feel of the island

[Cruisegirl6]

One more thing, if your going to get any drink packages, RC allows each person to choose which one they want, where Carnival you both have to have the Cheers package, etc. Carnival has a limit of 15 alcoholic drinks daily (if your a beer drinker consider this) where RC is unlimited.....RC has the self service soda machines. If your not going to purchase the drink package, and you drink alcoholic drinks, Carnivals drinks are cheaper.

 

If you are doing. specialty dining, RC offers discounted dining packages and also discounted beverage packages at times.

[happy cruiser1234]

Thank you all for your opinion. I'm usually very good at making decisions, this one really has me stumped.

[Clarea]

Thank you all for your opinion. I'm usually very good at making decisions, this one really has me stumped.

Then the obvious solution is to do both.:)

[WendyVF]

Given that it's Spring Break, you're going to have way more kids on Carnival. Most families aren't willing to pay the airfare to fly to San Juan. I cruise mostly Carnival but do RC on occasion. We were on the Adventure last Fall and it was mostly an older crowd but I really attribute that to the Southern itinerary more than the cruise line. I found the main dining room food to be about equal. I really didn't like the constant pressure from the servers to give them all 5's on the comment card. I don't care for the lunch buffet on either ship. I love Carnival's options of Guy's burgers, the BBQ, Blue Iquana and such. You're not going to go hungry on either!

 

Given the choice, I'd definitely go with the newer Carnival ship. Miami will have way more flight options, you'll be away from the crowds in the Havana section and I find the ports to be more family friendly when it comes to excursions.

[crzndeb]

I was on the Carnival Vista for 33 nights (last 2 Meds and TA). I'm assuming since you booked the Havana area that your kids are 12 or older. This will definitely be a plus for the pool area, since you are traveling over Spring Break. The Ocean Plaza is just steps outside the Havana area and does serve a small breakfast in the morning, so you don't have to go to Lido. The Havana area gets rave reviews. You mentioned you have an extended aft balcony, so you need not worry about people walking by.

 

There have been negative reviews, but there has also been positive. People tend to look at negative things and write about it. And a lot of complaints don't bother others.

 

I enjoyed the ship. The only negative is the theater setup, and that seems to be the biggest complaints. I would pick the Vista for the itinerary and longer cruise.

[happy cruiser1234]

Then the obvious solution is to do both.:)

I wish I could! I just have to figure out how to be in two places at the same time!;p.....Unfortunately I will never get the deal again that we got for a junior suite on the Adventure. That's what makes it so difficult. Also you're on this sailing, and I would have finally got the opportunity to meet you!

Serena

[happy cruiser1234]

Thanks WendyVF and crznDeb you are making the decision much easier. Yes my daughters are 14 and 17 so we're lucky to be able to book in the Havana area. I never really considered that the crowd on Adventure would be an older crowd and my kids might not be too happy about that. So that is a very important point.

Thanks

Serena

[kay1864]

I favor ships with more amenities.

 

Vista has Guy's Burgers (excellent, free), Cucina (excellent Italian, $15 adults, $5 kids), Sushi (great lunch on sea days, reasonably priced), Guy's BBQ (free), Hasbro Night (fun), Waterworks, ropes course, SkyRide, 455 ft water slide, Thrill Theater, IMAX.

 

Adventure has Johnny Rockets ($4.95), Izumi (sushi, overpriced)

 

You need never eat in the buffet on Vista with all the free breakfast and lunch choices. Adventure, you pretty much have to eat in the buffet.

 

I know which one I would pick.

[printingchick]

Definitely Adventure, and not because of any loyalty to the line. I just don't like that many sea days. One to two seas days is the MAX I want to do. I've done itineraries with three and found myself bored. I like getting off the ship to explore new places. I would definitely opt for one fewer days and one more port of call!

[skid10]

Although we have not been to as many ports as others have been, our absolute favorite Caribbean beach is Harbor Lights in Barbados. Plus, our past experience with Carnival was bad enough to to keep us from ever sailing with any Carnival line again. I would definitely steer you to RC Adventure.

[beccawes7471]

We were on the AOS itinerary you are considering this spring break. We had our 7 and 17 year old with us. We all loved it. We picked it specifically for the southern Caribbean itinerary and minimum sea days, like a prev poster mentioned, we also don't care for excess sea days. We LOVED exploring San Juan as well beforehand as we flew the day before. There were plenty of kiddos on our cruise but never overwhelming if that make sense, but again we were only on the boat in the evenings after full, amazing days in port. We too are considering Vista in the future, so whatever you end up deciding, please let us know how it all turns out, I bet it will be great no matter what!

[time4u2go]

OP, have you posted your question on the Carnival board also? If not, you should probably do that so you can have as many informed decisions as possible.

[happy cruiser1234]

Yes I'm still trying to make a decision, and I probably should ask on the Carnival Boards to get more input. I wish I could take both cruises because we got such a great deal on both.

 

Thanks for your opinions.

Serena