Carnival Vista Honest opinions needed

[never_cruised]

I'm interested to know people's opinions on this ship , we are a family of two children aged between 11 and 16 and a group of 40-70 year olds.

 

I'm specifically interested in the following

 

Dining - The Good and the Bad Points

 

What you really liked about the ship ?

 

What you really disliked about the ship ?

 

Help would be appreciated in the following thread for anyone who has experienced these ships.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2539943

[mikel24m]

I have never cruised the Vista but will be in just under 2 months. I will try to be some help though :)

 

The food part of the question is for sure you will find something everyone likes. Food is very subjective but they have a large variety especially during lunch from sit down Asian food to Italian to guys BBQ. They have fresh made daily ice cream :) The food will be fine!

 

Reviews are also subjective. I have never been on a bad vacation! We make it fun, some people can't regardless.

 

As far as the different ships I would look at what they offer and what the kids like and everyone else likes. The Vista has IMAX and you can ride a bike ride above the ship and many other cool things. My advice YouTube! ! I am forever watching videos of ships

 

Things people really hate is the theater is poorly designed and has many blind spots but if you know before you go you get there 15 minutes early and pick good seats :)

 

Good luck

 

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Forums mobile app

[Keys2Heaven]

We cruised Vista back in April.

 

Dining - The Good and the Bad Points

We had early dining and never had an issue. The meals were good, but I wouldn't order an upcharge steak in the dining room. Probably the worst New York strip I ever had. They are NOT the same as what is served in the steakhouse, no matter what anyone tells you. The "your time dining" crowd lined up on deck 5 I believe, just down from Pixels and Red Frog pub (loved that place). There was always a huge line, but folks that we knew you used this dining venue thought it was fine.

 

JiJi's was nice for lunch then, but get there early! Always packed and you have somewhat of a wait for food.

 

Loved Bonsai Sushi...the chairs not so much. Never got around to trying Guy's BBQ. It's outside, starboard side, deck 5, across from Java Blue.

 

 

What you really liked about the ship ?

Well, this is biased since we stayed in this area, but really loved the Havana area. We had an aft Havana cabin and that whole area was nice and quiet. There were a couple of not so nice things, but that was passenger-related and not ship-related.

 

There was plenty to do onboard, especially those with families. I thought the Circle C was better than on other ships (just from appearances). The IMAX is very nice and, of course, SkyRide.

 

We did appreciate (we are non-smokers) that the casino area from decks above is surrounded by glass (there is a led funnel back there are well) to keep the smoke in. I read that Vista was supposed to have the most advanced smoke filtration system out of all the Carnival ships, but we found it to be the worst smelling out of any we have been one, so we avoided that area like the plague.

 

The lip sync battle was awesome. Had two really great performers who brought the house down the last night. I was in a "Legends" show on Valor a couple of years back and, while a neat experience, the crowd wasn't really into it. I've read a lot of posts where people want to see karaoke shows gone, and I tend to agree. This allows more folks the opportunity to "perform" if you will.

 

What you really disliked about the ship ?

o.k. the atrium funnel is cool to look at....once, but then you find yourself wanting the atrium with glass elevators back. The way this is laid out, it's more like a modern hotel than a ship and looks sterile. One more reason we liked the Havana area.

 

This isn't specifically a ship thing, but it is onboard.....the shows. OMG, some of the worst I think we've ever seen. I know the performers tried their best, but the concept for a couple of them was just weird.

[dmdiver]

Thank you! Our family cruise is having to be rescheduled to 2019, which means we will cruise on Freedom or Vista.

[nybumpkin]

We sailed on Vista last year and are booked on Horizon next July.

 

Food: There are lots of choices. Since we were on a port-intensive cruise, we missed a lot. However, we did get to the steakhouse and the Seafood Shack, and both were very good. We had early dining in the forward dining room; the time matches the time we eat at home and we like having the same servers every nght.

 

Really liked: The outdoor seating areas on deck 5. It became our go-to place for morning coffee and afternoon drinks. Some of the lounges, like Red Frog, have doors right onto the deck, and the steakhouse has outdoor seating - although no one was using it when we were there.

 

Really disliked: The show lounge and comedy lounge. Just too small. We managed to see one comedy show but had to line up a half hour early to get decent seats. Contrast that with our July cruise this year on Carnival Pride, where the comedy shows are in the much-nicer Butterflies Lounge and there are no lines to get in. However - there was plenty of entertainment on Vista, so we really didn't miss the lounges that much.

[goofy gopher]

I cruised on the Vista on the first trip out of New York last November . I really liked a lot of the new things the ship had. The dining I thought was very good. The elevators were not very good lots of waiting time for them. I did not like the new style main theater. It is very small and the chairs on the floor are not good at all now where to place your drinks and waiters have a hard time getting around there. I did like the ship but as have I said the main theater is so bad that I don't know if I would sail on her again. I guess that is because I always look forward to the shows and it is a big disappointment for me. If your don't care about that then the ship is nice. Hope this helps.

[never_cruised]

Wow thanks for all the responses , we've never cruised Carnival so far we've done a few Royal Carribean cruises and a Disney Cruise.

 

On our last cruise (Navigator of the Seas) I really hated the fact that if you were near the pool there was no free snack options except for going to the Windjammer something you don't want when you've been in wet pool gear.

 

Another gripe was that nearly all the restaurants and bars were difficult to find seating in.

 

How is the Vista in these situations ?

[evandbob]

I'm interested to know people's opinions on this ship , we are a family of two children aged between 11 and 16 and a group of 40-70 year olds.

 

I'm specifically interested in the following

 

Dining - The Good and the Bad Points We didn't like the 20 top table we were assigned to the 1st night. I asked for a switch to a smaller table and got it. The wagyu beef at the Diamonds Captain Party was excellent.

What you really liked about the ship ? The outside exercise court, the ropes course, the skyride, the gym. The new atriums. Digital photos.

 

What you really disliked about the ship ? Very small comedy club and sports bar.

Help would be appreciated in the following thread for anyone who has experienced these ships.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2539943

 

Overall, a great new ship. We liked it so much we booked the Horizon 15 months in advance.

[Cafedumonde]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2535829

 

I wrote this review on the carnival vista about a week ago.

[Gypsywych]

Dining - The Good and the Bad Points

We sailed on the Vista this past February, and it is possible that the issues have been corrected. (I hope they have been) We were disappointed in the lack of service in the Main Dining Room. Too few waiters and assistants for the number of people being served in the evenings. We consistently received our food lukewarm or cooler all three nights we ate there. Drinks never appeared, we were never asked if we wanted after dinner coffee, etc. The food wasn't bad. It really was a service issue. We ate at the Lido buffet after that and the food temperature there was much better. We had perfectly done medium rare steaks in the buffet one evening.

We enjoyed the MDR for brunch and found that the Taste Bar on Deck 5 had a smaller breakfast buffet that was perfect for our needs and no crowding.

We enjoyed the Italian restaurant, Guy's burgers, and the BBQ. I heard people rave about the fish and chips from the Seafood Shak, but mine tasted like old grease. Go earlier in the cruise if that's your thing.

 

 

What you really liked about the ship ?

 

We don't have small kids, but we watched the Dr. Seuss parade and it was a blast. Make it a point to take them to the breakfast and the parade after.

We enjoyed the Havana area in the evenings. Always quiet, and the Latin music was great. We really enjoyed Deck 5. The Red Frog pub, the Taste Bar, the shops and a good view of the Atrium for people watching. You could also walk all the way around the ship on the outside. A nice stroll, with loads of chairs and comfy places to eat, read or nap.

 

Go see the show called Flick. It's amazing.

We really like the new check in and boarding procedures. So much quicker. We walked up with paperwork in hand and never stopped walking until we were on the ship. Very organized. Very quick.

 

What you really disliked about the ship ?

 

I really hated (and I mean hated) the fact that there are no longer tablecloths on the tables in the MDR. Spoiled the whole ambiance of dinner in my opinion. I dislike the lack of a tall multi - storied atrium with the glass elevator. The LED funnel makes the Atrium look so much smaller. It is pretty and fun to watch, but not as impressive as the old Atriums.

The lay out of the main theater is really wonky. Poor sight lines, big columns in the way, the chairs are moveable so people shuffle them to their convenience which makes it impossible to walk in places. Very clumsy.

We did not hang out on the Lido very often. Very crowded. Some people like that. We didn't.

The Vista is a gorgeous ship and she has something for everyone. You just have to find your something. :D

[lizzyplague]

We never have a problem with the food or service in the MDR. Never took us more than an hour - hour and 15 minutes to get our entire meals. The handmade ice cream on Lido is VERY good! Super creamy and the flavors change daily.

 

Positives

- Sky Ride! Just make sure you have closed-toe shoes, otherwise they won't let you on.. and they do check every time someone enters the line

- Boarding was the quickest we ever had.

- Trivia

- Matt Mitcham (current cruise director)

- Ship never felt crowded

- The Dreamscapes are pretty neat

 

Negatives:

- The main theater's sight lines are horrible in the balcony, unless you're about 4 or 5 rows back. The plexi-glass is really annoying, and smaller panels than on other ships... didn't care for that too much.

 

- Bingo - (We didn't play this cruise) They may have changed it since then, but Bingo was held in Ocean Plaza and there are far too many people playing than the venue can hold. :( People would literally come up to us and ask for our table beforehand and if we could hold it while they bought their bingo cards... wish they held it in the main theater or comedy club.

[stargate fan]

I'm interested to know people's opinions on this ship , we are a family of two children aged between 11 and 16 and a group of 40-70 year olds.

We sailed the 13 day Vista Transatlantic last October. This was our 20th Carnival cruise.

 

I'm specifically interested in the following

 

Dining - The Good and the Bad Points

We chose Your Time Dining. We never had a wait of more than a few minutes and we were eight people.

We did have one minor situation: we were sitting under the stairs that went to the upper level of the dining room. All of a sudden one of the sprinkler heads started leaking on our friend's head. We were quickly moved to another table.

Our servers were mediocre at best. They were efficient but we did not build a relationship as we had on other cruises.

 

Food was delicious. Chef's Table was amazing. JiJi's was the best Asian food I've ever had. Steak house was really, really good.

 

What you really liked about the ship ?

I loved the hand washing stations on Lido. They were so convenient.

Serenity had a salad bar.

Photos were all digital. It was very convenient to look at our photos and purchase what we wanted.

Sky Ride was so much fun.

 

What you really disliked about the ship ?

Oh, where to start...

Liquid Lounge was designed very poorly. Seating was comprised of individual chairs. People pushed their chairs back, making rows behind them inaccessible. There were no tables so we either had to hold our drinks or place them on the floor, which was glass tiles. We heard glasses break every time we were there.

The floor did not incline toward the back like on other ships so the view of the stage from the back of the room was bad.

 

The Punchliner had large support poles in front of the stage, making many seats unusable.

The Piano Bar was samller than on other ships and also had a large support pole right in front of the piano.

Serenity, though large, was broken up by glass wall and fake palm trees. There was nowhere for a large group to sit together.

The Grand Atrium was very small. The stairs to the upper lever were glass. I found them dizzying becuase they were hard to see.

 

Red Frog Pub was designed differently than on other ships. It was shaped like a giany "L" and had very few tables.

The ship always felt crowded.

Help would be appreciated in the following thread for anyone who has experienced these ships.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2539943

 

We really enjoyed our Transatlantic cruise. We went to Europe for the first time and fell in love with Barcelona. We cruised with friends that we met on Legend Panama Canal cruise in August 2014. It was so wonderful seeing them as one couple was from Australia, two were from Oregon (We live near Boston.) and two other couples were from the DC area.

Vista herself...meh. We had booked Horizon Transatlantic but cancelled it since it was similar to Vista.

Go and judge for yourself.

[Keys2Heaven]

Go see the show called Flick. It's amazing.

 

Ahhh, yes, that was the name. Didn't get it and ended up walking out. Just weird.

[Gypsywych]

Ahhh, yes, that was the name. Didn't get it and ended up walking out. Just weird.

 

Not a movie fan then? :) No worries. There was plenty to keep everyone entertained.