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Back from 8 days on Vista and wondering if I am the only one disappointed?


Xystence
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My Wife and I just returned from an 8 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Vista this morning and while we come home saying we had a lovely vacation, we are somewhat taken back by how underwhelming everything was in comparison to past and fairly recent Carnival cruises we've taken.

 

One year ago we took a week long trip on the Magic and we had a phenomenal time (had been 5 years since our last cruise). Needless to say my decision to stay with Carnival for my cruising needs was good to go. We booked a short cruise on the Victory in November following that cruise and we had a good time, but we both feel the ship was extremely aged (obvious due to age) but more that it just was not kept up with well. After spending a few days on the Vista we felt the same way about the Vista as we did the Victory. The ship was overall extremely dirty, or neglected seems to be the better way to describe.

 

Without getting into to much of our experience I am just wondering if we are alone in this thought? After this cruise we are already looking at other cruise lines for different options more then we have before. We do have a future cruise on the Sunshine booked already for September 2018 and we are hoping not to be disappointed in the same way we were this time. We have a booked cruise on Disney this November that we booked prior to this trip and are now looking at another line for one in between these two.

 

The majority of my cruise history is with Carnival and it kind of sucks to be so disappointed.

 

Thank you for any input!

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We have been disappointed with NCL. I really feel it is more about the ship than the overall line. We have had very different Carnival experiences, better food on this one, better service on that one. But you would think that Vista would be the best of everything, since it is CCL top ship.

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We have been disappointed with NCL. I really feel it is more about the ship than the overall line. We have had very different Carnival experiences, better food on this one, better service on that one. But you would think that Vista would be the best of everything, since it is CCL top ship.

 

Yeah that was my thought as well!

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My Wife and I just returned from an 8 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Vista this morning and while we come home saying we had a lovely vacation, we are somewhat taken back by how underwhelming everything was in comparison to past and fairly recent Carnival cruises we've taken.

 

One year ago we took a week long trip on the Magic and we had a phenomenal time (had been 5 years since our last cruise). Needless to say my decision to stay with Carnival for my cruising needs was good to go. We booked a short cruise on the Victory in November following that cruise and we had a good time, but we both feel the ship was extremely aged (obvious due to age) but more that it just was not kept up with well. After spending a few days on the Vista we felt the same way about the Vista as we did the Victory. The ship was overall extremely dirty, or neglected seems to be the better way to describe.

 

Without getting into to much of our experience I am just wondering if we are alone in this thought? After this cruise we are already looking at other cruise lines for different options more then we have before. We do have a future cruise on the Sunshine booked already for September 2018 and we are hoping not to be disappointed in the same way we were this time. We have a booked cruise on Disney this November that we booked prior to this trip and are now looking at another line for one in between these two.

 

The majority of my cruise history is with Carnival and it kind of sucks to be so disappointed.

 

Thank you for any input!

Really? I was on three weeks ago and It was very very clean and so new. There were people cleaning constantly ......... I can't imagine much has changed in three weeks on a year old ship. What was neglected specifically?
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That's sad. We've had minor bumps, a couple of specific disappointments (piano bar entertainer on one cruise not to my liking), no desirable entrees in MDR at times, but I've never had major disappointments.

 

I hope your Sunshine cruise brings you the joys of your previous cruises.

Edited by bury me at sea
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Really? I was on three weeks ago and It was very very clean and so new. There were people cleaning constantly ......... I can't imagine much has changed in three weeks on a year old ship. What was neglected specifically?

 

Just a few things that stuck out, the one night we went to the dining room to eat dinner we noticed that the walls had splashed food or sauce on them. Normally this isn't a major issue but this was baked in and upon further look it was kind of all over and had been there awhile. It was something that could've been addressed long ago and would've not be baked in.

 

Another thing we noticed in our Ocean Suite the rim around the shower and tub area was complete rusted as if no one cared to simply touch this up with caulking at any point. General areas were never up kept and there was dishes lining hallways and tables around the ship even sometimes stuff was remaining over night. There was a plate of eaten pizza on one of the elevators for at least two days that never moved.

 

On the Lido deck at the buffet it was not hard finding tables that were technically available, but so many were dirty and still had old dishes that it made it difficult to actually be comfortable.

 

It just felt like the staff had given up.

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That's sad. We've had minor bumps, a couple of specific disappointments (piano bar entertainer on one cruise not to my liking), no desirable entrees in MDR at times, but I've never had major disappointments.

 

I hope your Sunshine cruise brings you the joys of your previous cruises.

 

Thank you for the encouragement!

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My Wife and I just returned from an 8 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Vista this morning and while we come home saying we had a lovely vacation, we are somewhat taken back by how underwhelming everything was in comparison to past and fairly recent Carnival cruises we've taken.

 

One year ago we took a week long trip on the Magic and we had a phenomenal time (had been 5 years since our last cruise). Needless to say my decision to stay with Carnival for my cruising needs was good to go. We booked a short cruise on the Victory in November following that cruise and we had a good time, but we both feel the ship was extremely aged (obvious due to age) but more that it just was not kept up with well. After spending a few days on the Vista we felt the same way about the Vista as we did the Victory. The ship was overall extremely dirty, or neglected seems to be the better way to describe.

 

Without getting into to much of our experience I am just wondering if we are alone in this thought? After this cruise we are already looking at other cruise lines for different options more then we have before. We do have a future cruise on the Sunshine booked already for September 2018 and we are hoping not to be disappointed in the same way we were this time. We have a booked cruise on Disney this November that we booked prior to this trip and are now looking at another line for one in between these two.

 

The majority of my cruise history is with Carnival and it kind of sucks to be so disappointed.

 

Thank you for any input!

 

We loved our April 22 - Apr 30 Vista Southern Caribbean cruise. The ship was o.k., the staff great as always. Really enjoyed our aft balcony Havana cabin. Lots to do on the ship. Not sure how I feel about the whitewashed lobby atrium area. The placement of the elevators reminds me of a hotel. There's a novelty you get with the audaciously decorated atrium and the glass elevators you don't get with Vista. The promenade layout was great, as anything that allows me to walk bow to stern without having to succumb to the horrid casino smell is a huge plus.

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This appears to be a housekeeping issue rather than a ship issue. Whether the problems are due to not having enough staff or whether it's an issue with the Hotel Manager - hard to say. I've worked onboard CCL ships way back when, and you'd be surprised at just how things change with management. Some Hotel Managers are extremely picky - expect only the best & would not hesitate to let someone go if he/she felt they were neglecting their jobs - others are extremely laid back & it shows.

 

In reference to tables being left dirty - again could be lack of staff or management. I was on the Breeze a couple of years ago & I actually felt sorry for the "busboys" because they had supervisors on their back constantly. Although I felt sorry for them - tables were cleaned QUICKLY.

 

I hope this experience doesn't turn you off CCL completely. You could run into the same problems on any ship.

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interesting, I've read some negative reviews about the Vista, but cleanliness is not one of the complaints that I've noticed so far. That is pretty concerning.

 

Vista was very clean. Someone was constantly cleaning the Havana area. However, there were very inconsiderate people who left THEIR room service trays right in front of our door. I don't understand why people just don't leave that in their room! One thing I hate is walking down a passageway looking at all the leftover crap that someone shoved in their mouth.

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Not sure if all ships/lines are the same, but on Royal, we were told to leave any RS trays outside the door for pickup. These were picked up by RS staff, not room stewards during routine cleanings.

 

Well, maybe that's it. But I know some trays sat out in the passageways for a long time. Just gross to look at.

 

What gets me are the people who can't leave the tray out in front of the right cabin. Are they that embarrassed by what they were eating, that they need to leave it in front of someone else's cabin?

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Not sure if all ships/lines are the same, but on Royal, we were told to leave any RS trays outside the door for pickup. These were picked up by RS staff, not room stewards during routine cleanings.

Same way on Carnival. There are crew designated to pick up the trays, which is why they ask you to leave them outside your door. Sounds like the ship was short staffed. Or at least that floor was.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

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. I don't understand why people just don't leave that in their room! .

 

Because they tell you to leave it outside the door, just like most high end hotels do. It is not the cabin attendants job to deal with room service trays. This question is brought up several times a year on John Healds page and the answer is the same every time. Now whether or not room service picks the trays up in a timely manner is a whole different story.

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