Vista - secrets, tips, and tricks?

[mjonis]

I swear I had saved a post on a certain social  network site for this, but I may have imagined it and saw it here instead, but can't seem to find it via the search function (my search-fu may be old and rusty).

 

Not new to cruising, but first time on Vista, in a Havana Cabana.

 

What are any "secrets" or tips I should know about?

 

I vaguely recall something about the 2nd buffet line in the Lido deck and to not forget about JiJi's or something for lunch (?)

We'll be on the Jan 26th sailing if that helps any.

 

Thanks!

 

[Shaded Lady]

I'll be sailing on Vista in June... following so I can get the updates too!

[kruisinkris]

2 hours ago, mjonis said:

I swear I had saved a post on a certain social  network site for this, but I may have imagined it and saw it here instead, but can't seem to find it via the search function (my search-fu may be old and rusty).

 

Not new to cruising, but first time on Vista, in a Havana Cabana.

 

What are any "secrets" or tips I should know about?

 

I vaguely recall something about the 2nd buffet line in the Lido deck and to not forget about JiJi's or something for lunch (?)

We'll be on the Jan 26th sailing if that helps any.

 

Thanks!

 

 We cruised on the Vista a year ago (January), so some things may have changed, but this is what I remember (good & bad).

Good: 

I personally liked the multiplex with the IMAX screen movies on one side and "rides" on the other side. They were only about $5 each. 

I liked Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ  Smokehouse & the Red Frog Pub and Brewery both on deck 5.

 

I liked the fake palm trees in the Lido Marketplace (buffet)

 

Bad:

I did not like the "Seafood Shack" on the Lido deck. I was excited for fish & chips--even with a charge, but they were nasty.

 

I did not like the location of our cabin (6279..balcony, starboard side, by the multiplex). When I booked I was happy to see that there were only cabins above me, and only the "Fun Shops" below (no noise).  I thought I would have to deal with noise from the multiplex (and was prepared for it), but heard nothing from them. HOWEVER,  the Atrium (decks 4/5) magnified noise. It wasn't too bad on most nights, because they had a couple of violinists. BUT 2 nights had a DJ who played music with a STRONG BEAT....think BAM, BAM, BAM …. as loud as possible..... late into the night (early morning) It was so loud that I could hear it (and feel it) in my cabin down the hall up on deck 6. I got up, got dressed to investigate where in the h-ll it was coming from and there it was. Augh!

Also often when I went to use my balcony, I got a strong, nauseating smell of smoke so it was useless. They have a "bump out" on deck 5 on the starboard side that is one of the places smokers could go to. 

 

I also did not like how many people were on the cruise. With about 4k, it seemed really crowded (especially around the pools) and like there were lines everywhere.

 

Being that you are in a Havana Cabana, you shouldn't have the issues I did (different location & you have a nice pool, with a couple of hot tubs, that a limited amount of people will be using during the day).

 

So I think you will really enjoy your cruise.

 

[Sports Mama]

Going in March, so following and looking forward to everyone's comments. Thanks in advance.

[cdnmr]

Nice quiet, light breakfast can be had in Havana Bar.

Good coffee, a handful of "Cuban" quiche/egg/pastry/meat items available.

 

We ate their most mornings and maybe 2 or 3 couples in entire bar.

Havana area was great (except for incredibly loud horn player in the band warming up a couple of nights)

[mjonis]

Ah, I think I finally found it:

 

https://cruiseradio.net/35-carnival-vista-tips/?fbclid=IwAR2tVPQuU9gBAx6eIXERwX8Ds-g3T5nuNLbdG-TLBK1WX2cKHYtPsHThlt4

[IronScott]

I was just on Vista last week. First cruise. Also stayed in Havana Cabana, which we loved. So quiet and relaxing. I think the Cabanas are only on deck 5, so this doesn't apply but for 6 and 7 there is supposedly a (sort of) hidden stairway in the Havana Bar area.

 

As mentioned, there is a light buffet breakfast in the Ocean Plaza on 5 just outside the Havana area. Standard fare type stuff (eggs, bacon, sausage, cold cuts, cheeses, fruit, beans, yogurt, pastries, juices, coffee) but nice and quick, especially on port days. MDR is also quick to get to and worth choosing on port days as well as it's not very busy. The sea day brunch in MDR is really good.

 

I am an early riser. Like to get some coffee and go workout around 5/5:30am. Problem is 6:00am is the earliest official time for things to be open. I finally found that coffee is available in the Lido aft machines 24 hours. All the other coffee machines in Lido will be closed until 6. If you don't mind stairs (I never took an elevator) you can take the stairs right by the Havana Cabana entrance up to 10 and it puts you in the Lido area right by the early coffee.

 

The fitness center also doesn't officially open until 6 but if you get on deck 11 and go down one of the stateroom hallways almost all the way forward you can find a middle staircase for the spa/fitness area. Go up one flight and you'll come out right next to the fitness center, which should have the door open. I did this everyday once I figured it out and there was always a handful of people in there before it officially opened.

 

About the fitness center. The first full day was absolutely crazy with people around 7:30 or so. It was nothing like that the rest of the trip. Good intentions, I suppose. 😂

 

If you stay onboard on a port day, the activities on the top deck have very little wait. Sky ride, rope course, golf, etc., but I think most of them don't open until 1pm.

 

The hot tubs in the Havana area aren't hot but are nice and warm, which this time of year worked out well because the pool was cold.

 

There is a pretty great salad bar on 15 during lunch.

 

The pizza is way overrated, IMO, but is available all day and night. Almost everyone gets a full pizza. They have 5 to choose from but I did see people customizing them. Takes about 5 minutes to bake. I was really disappointed given the incredible praises.

 

Guy's Burger is really incredible and crazy busy but the line moves quickly. Definitely try to hit this first thing after you board if you are a burger fan.

 

As already mentioned, in the Lido buffet, the areas to the aft side are much less busy than the forward/middle.

Use the Hub app. It is really pretty dang great. If you have "your time dining" you can request a table from the app instead of waiting in line. You can also see activities and add things to your schedule so you can get alerts, etc. It's an impressive app.

 

We got the premium wifi package and it worked everywhere. It wasn't anything like being at home, obviously, but it was definitely sufficient for basic web surfing, message boards, social media, google research, etc. Even some youtube stuff worked fine. I did try to stream football video and it didn't work well, though streaming audio worked fine.

 

The casino is smokey smelling and we could smell it quite a lot on deck 4 and even on deck 5 from the atrium area. Should be noted if smoke smell bothers you.

 

If you get the "bubbles" package, it is very difficult to get sodas in the Lido buffet or any of the other free food areas besides full-service restaurants. We found the package to be very underwhelming. It's amazing how difficult it is to get a freakin' soda.

 

I am a cruise novice but these are just some of my rookie observations. We loved the ship and have already booked Havana again for next winter.

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by IronScott

[Shocker4]

We just got back from Vista Christmas cruise.  My fav tip is to eat on deck 5 aft Ocean Plaza for breakfast.  It was like it was a secret.  We never had a line and on the busiest day looked like less than 100 people showed up to eat here and had lots of indoor and outdoor seating options.   Not sure I would have bothered if staying on a higher floor or far forward on the ship but we were on deck 6 and one flight down to breakfast waiting for us. 

 

We had 2 using the bubbles package and had no problems getting soda (a lot) all the bars offer soda, you don't need a restaurant.  There is a bar at the main pool just outside Lido Marketplace and there is a bar on the far aft exit of Lido, all served us soda all week.  There is a bar at Ocean Plaza on deck 5 aft to serve soda when eating at the BBQ or enjoying a show.  All the shows had roving staff taking drink orders and soda was delivered to us all the time.

 

Agree, use the app to make dinner ressies, easy peasy and each member on the ressie gets an app notification when table is ready, so they can be split up all over the ship and descend on the restaurant for dinner, show the greeter your app and you'll get delivered to the table. 

 

If the band Hasta La Vista is on your cruise, go listen to them.  They were playing some of the smaller venues on the ship but they were the BEST entertainment on the entire ship.  Them coupled with The Horn Brothers were an awesome show.  They do different genres so pick one you like and plan to go. 

 

Just be careful how you are seated in the dining room.  If you have an odd number, they tended to stick a chair at the end of the lower even number and try and call that good. So, 5 was seated at a table for 4 and we had seven seated at a table for 6.  The worst we had was a party of ten seated at a table set for 8, they brought 2 chairs and stuck them on the ends and proceeded to squeeze in table settings.  I would have insisted another table but the rest of our party wouldn't have it (they didn't want to rock the boat, so to speak).  I thought it was uncalled for.  Only one time were we seated in the reverse, we had a party of ten seated at a table for 12. 

 

Others have complained about music noise, which was never an issue for me.  I could step out on the balcony and hear every word of a song and then step into the cabin and shut the door and hear nothing.  The problem is all the door slamming.  Seems like everyone swings the door open and lets it swing 3 ft to a slamming finish.  Our walls shook from the slamming and once it sounded like someone stood at their door and opened and slammed in rapid succession (think slam...slam...slam...slam...), what?!?  who does this??  I wish a short lesson during the safety drill on how to courteously hold a door and shut it with control would occur, its not difficult.

 

There are a few half price hours on the schedule for the arcade.  It's chaotic and busy but a lot of fun and much more affordable, if you have kids, or even if you don't.

 

There is a week long schedule for the main shows in your state room on the first night.  I didn't see it until later.  I knew we missed the Clue show the first night, but I didn't know then it was only one night during the week, so we missed it entirely. 

 

Our first walk off stop was at Roatan.  The announced exit was deck 0 forward.  After all of the stairwells and halls were clogged with everyone trying to exit, they announced there was a second exit deck 0 mid  (too late for us, you'll know ahead of time).

 

Second stop was tender port Belize.  Six of us booked excursions thru Carnival, 4 of us booked thru private vendor.  All Carnival excursions meet in large lounge and was reported as a chaotic mess.  Lots of winding line waiting, with short tempers, line cutters, and a reported delay of 90 minutes to get off the ship. (This may or may not happen on your cruise).  My group of 4 was instructed to the smaller lounge.  It was quiet and serene.  We waited about 20 minutes on cushy seats until our number was called.  We walked in a single file line and got on the tender no problem. I had no idea the issues the others encountered until that evening.

 

Last stop was walk off Cozumel.  We booked a private vendor and walked out of the shopping area to a clean and waiting taxi.  This was the only port where our bags were searched getting off the boat.

 

If you are interested in on board photos, I suggest waiting until late in the week, the lines are MUCH shorter. 

 

The burger joint is good and the best fries on the ship.  Even when we got sandwiches from Lido, we still secured fries from Guys.  It was only open late one night during the week.

 

There is an AWESOME cake bar at lunch in the Lido.  Most are picture worthy.  Don't know if its also there on port days but is certainly worth a visit on sea days.

 

On the Vista, there was NO electrical outlet in our bathroom (except for a shaver...I didn't know there was such a thing...a different plug for a shaver...).  I brought battery operated lights for nightlight in the bathroom.

 

We brought a power strip and external portable chargers so we could charge our phones on the go, out and about for the day.

 

The bikes and ropes course require closed toed shoes.  We saw many people being turned away for arriving in sandals and flip flops.  

 

If you like to use a lanyard for the sign and sail card, I recommend a "pretty" one for women to go with dressier wear.  

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Shocker4

[drgonzogoo]

I lucked out and got to go on the Vista a 2nd time last year, and mostly because if the great crew it us now my favorite ship! Although i'm going to try the Horizon soon. There are a few great open decks out front that a lot of people miss. Walk all the way out front on 5, then there are stairs going up. Also, they have a couple of later evening parties on Serenity. Be sure and do the Behind the Fun tour, it was great seeing the new ship class. People also miss the Italian and Mongolian wok are open for lunch for free!!  Have fun on the Vista!!