Vista (01/13/19 Sailing) Review: The good, the bad and the 'drunk' room steward?!

[NovCruisin]

Disclaimer: This is MY EXPERIENCE; YMMV.

 

The last time we took a Carnival cruise was on the Magic out of Galveston to Key West and the Bahamas. We have been on Royal, Celebrity, Holland and Carnival. Carnival was our least favorite but that was in 2014(?) and with the new Vista coming to Galveston, with the addition of the Havana it was too tempting to pass up!! We got (IMO) a steal of a deal! We booked in June 2017 for a January 2019 cruise in Havana aft balcony 7467 for....$2,300!! I was more excited that DH, but as the time drew nearer we were both excited to get away from the "cold" of Dallas 😉 This was our first cruise out of Galveston in January and I was very nervous about the infamous fog, but we had no issues whatsoever!

 

The GOOD:

 

* Check in was actually not too bad. We selected our check in time, arrived ON TIME, and got to "cut the line" for people checking in on time. There was a ridiculously long line for people arriving early and/or late and you could tell they were eyeballing our quick line 🙂

- SIDE NOTE: The bad within the check in process was the ancient woman checking us in who had no idea how to handle the electronic scanners for our passports. She kept swiping and swiping and ended up bending one of our passports. She was ready to send us "upstairs" to check in and initially refused to let us try a different person for check in (because she was claiming it was her machine that had "been acting up all day"...it seemed like user error to us). Eventually we basically forced her to let us check in at the neighboring kiosk and BEHOLD it worked! I am not counting this against Carnival because I don't know if it is the City of Galveston Port or Carnival that employs dinosaurs.

* The ship was designed nicely. I know some don't like the design but we did!

* The food!! This was the biggest shock to us, honestly! Of all the preconceived notions we had going into this cruise, the food being good was not one of them! Places we loved: Sea Day Brunch (those croissants are ridiculously good!); Guy's Burger; Bonsai; Cucina del Capitano; the Steakhouse. Places that were pretty good: Guy's Pig and Anchor, Blue Iguana. Places that were our least favorite: Main Dining for breakfast and dinner.

 

The BAD:

 

* The ship is TIRED. Basically the only reason I could convince DH to go on this cruise (he is more of a land vacationer) is because it was a NEWish ship. Man oh man! That ship is ready for dry dock. 

* That leads into not only being worn down but the ship was DIRTY. I am sorry but there was a lot of Carnival employees standing around looking busy but not actually cleaning and you could tell. The first thing we noticed when we entered our cabin was it did not feel clean. There was dust everywhere. The balcony looked like it had never been cleaned and not once did they hose it down. Every cruise we have ever been on the crew cleaned the balconies by hosing them; not this one. Also, the Havana area was not clean either; especially the pool! The first day when we went out on the balcony we both looked at the pool, looked at each other and thought...WELP that was a waste of money for the "Havana" because there is no way I am swimming in that! 🤮

- SIDE NOTE: The Havana (inside) was always freezing! It had to have been in like the 50's every single day. 

- SIDE NOTE: The staff at the Havana area were by far the least friendly of the ship. We went there 1 time during our 6 night cruise and ordered a drink and they seemed put out by having to serve us. Same goes for the towel area. The chick seemed angry that she had to come over there to see if we wanted to check out towels.

 

The UGLY:

 

* While we did our best to enjoy this vacation and remember that anything was better than working, there was a "situation" that got us out to a VERY bad start and I am not sure the vacation feeling ever fully recovered. When we first got on board we immediately wanted to get down to business in relaxation mode, we cracked open a bottle of wine and stood on the balcony watching the birds at port before getting the muster drill notice. The muster drill said not to bring any drinks with you (which when we got to our station, some did not listen). So we left our bottle of wine (opened - it was a screw top) and headed off to muster. Don't ask me why we thought of it but we marked our wine line on the bottle and left. When we came back, our luggage had arrived outside our room and our two welcome bottles of water had been delivered....but we were SHOCKED....SOMEONE SERIOUSLY DRANK OUT OF OUR WINE BOTTLE (see photo)!!! We immediately grabbed the bottle and went to guest services. Sadly the line was so long. As we stood there, two employees asked if they could help us (before we got to the front desk) and after explaining to each of them we got the same response - no way, our employees would never do that, they know that is very serious...basically they were insinuating we were lying! When we reached the front desk and explained again, we got the same responses and that the room service manager would come to our room to speak with us. We told them what happened, when it happened...it would be simple enough to figure out who went in our room during this narrow window of time. When the room service manager came to our room, she was even more dismissive. They did not apologize, they did not offer to replace the bottle (obviously we weren't going to drink it now...it looked like someone took a swig out of it), she simply said they will let us know. Two or three days later we got a message telling us that they would be giving us two free drink coupons. It was a fine trade of value, it was an $11 bottle of wine, it was the principal of the matter that NO ONE ever checked the cameras, NO ONE even believed us....why would I spend my vacation standing in line, talking to multiple people, and messing around with this stupid thing if it wasn't true. We were both so disgusted with the WAY Carnival handled it. Later (on either the last or second to last day) we spoke with some other manager and told her if they weren't going to investigate for their customer, they should at least investigate for their own liability. An employee who steals a guests alcohol...we could be talking about a one off or we could be talking about an employee who has an alcohol problem. Either way, it was disturbing that Carnival NEVER bothered to check the cameras...there was literally a camera right outside our room.

 

* The one and only time we ate in the Main Dining for dinner was the first formal night. After dealing with the headache I described above, we thought we were done dealing with an incompetent customer service desk...we were wrong. We tried to order a bottle of San Pellegrino with dinner...NOPE, our room card was declined and we had to go to guest services...AGAIN. After going there we were told that it was because our credit card wasn't linked to the account, which is a lie; I personally did the check in and I know I linked it to mine and my DH name. Plus we had been on board, charging for the last two days with no problem. So back up to the room to grab our credit card and then back to guest services to "link it".

 

I am sure there are things I left out, all in all it was an OKAY vacation, but when I am spending my hard earned money and vacation days....OKAY isn't good enough. I will never sail on Carnival again. All the good was far outweighed by the bad.

 

 

We ended up leaving the bottle of wine upon our disembarkation...I so wanted to leave a snarky note but we never found out who committed the act. Hope Carnival appreciates losing a customer over an $11 bottle of wine. 😔

Edited January 31, 2019 by NovCruisin

[bury me at sea]

I'm glad you enjoyed parts of your cruise, and sorry you left on such a sour note.

 

Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences.

[mexicobob]

Someone stealing from a $11 bottle of Cabernet?????  That is great.  Thank you as you made my day.  Sorry it ruined your cruise though.  

[fuddrules]

You marked the wine, you got what you wanted.    Not all cruise lines are far all people.   As you know, you’ll enjoy other cruise lines better and Carnival is too full as it is (my opinion), so its a win win. 

[Mommawo]

It would have never occurred to me to mark my wine bottle. Why would you do that in the first place? Just curious as to why one may think to do that.  Sorry it was such a bad experience.   The way you explain it seems you all may have had your minds made up before time you were not gonna like it? Idk hate that you all didn’t enjoy your vacation.  Thanks for then review!  It’s good to see a review that someone doesn’t hold back on 

[Mommawo]

Also I’m a bit disappointed that there was not a wild story of a drunk room steward from the title.  😆  that certainly got my attention fast.  I’m like heck yeah this is gonna be a great story    Sadly no room steward wearing a pink thong shows up.   Totally kidding btw let’s all play nice here.  

[jimbo5544]

6 minutes ago, Mommawo said:

Also I’m a bit disappointed that there was not a wild story of a drunk room steward from the title.  😆  that certainly got my attention fast.  I’m like heck yeah this is gonna be a great story    Sadly no room steward wearing a pink thong shows up.   Totally kidding btw let’s all play nice here.  

The mental image of that will not leave me today....

[robertlanajean]

1 minute ago, Mommawo said:

Also I’m a bit disappointed that there was not a wild story of a drunk room steward from the title.  😆  that certainly got my attention fast.  I’m like heck yeah this is gonna be a great story    Sadly no room steward wearing a pink thong shows up.   Totally kidding btw let’s all play nice here.  

 

I totally agree with this. I was hoping to hear about some racy towel creatures or something.. a thong'd up steward would have definitely ruined my cruise. Some things can't be unseen.

 

OP - I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. I understand how frustrating that is when you invest not only money, but your precious time off work and don't have a great experience. If I felt violated in any way (cost doesn't matter) it would have definitely tarnished my experience. I am curious though -- I've never thought of marking a bottle (except when i leave the kids home alone hahah) .. have you had an experience/suspicion with that previously(anywhere, not necessarily CCL)? 

[Mommawo]

5 minutes ago, robertlanajean said:

 

I totally agree with this. I was hoping to hear about some racy towel creatures or something.. a thong'd up steward would have definitely ruined my cruise. Some things can't be unseen.

 

OP - I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. I understand how frustrating that is when you invest not only money, but your precious time off work and don't have a great experience. If I felt violated in any way (cost doesn't matter) it would have definitely tarnished my experience. I am curious though -- I've never thought of marking a bottle (except when i leave the kids home alone hahah) .. have you had an experience/suspicion with that previously(anywhere, not necessarily CCL)? 

Oh man ruined your entire cruise? It would have made for a heck of a story though.  Life is an adventure well it is with me  if you ask my kids anyways. Lol 😂 they are like it’s always an adventure mom always an adventure 😝 heck I’m on vacation I can only hope my room steward is a drunken thong wearing crazy lol. Again I’m kidding here.  It’s Friday and I am counting down the days until March for my spring break cruise 

[robertlanajean]

2 minutes ago, Mommawo said:

Oh man ruined your entire cruise? It would have made for a heck of a story though.  Life is an adventure well it is with me  if you ask my kids anyways. Lol 😂 they are like it’s always an adventure mom always an adventure 😝 heck I’m on vacation I can only hope my room steward is a drunken thong wearing crazy lol. Again I’m kidding here.  It’s Friday and I am counting down the days until March for my spring break cruise 

Ruined may be a bit dramatic -- problem is some of us are visual thinkers .. every day would be like "Hmm.. wonder what color the thong is today -- is it one of those Borat man-thongs? maybe I should pick him up a couple while in port?" 

I've only been on one cruise and had a male steward -- so I instantly pictured him in a bright-pink thong. 

I hear ya about trying to survive today.. We're driving down to Nashville tomorrow (from Knox) to see the grandson and I'm deep in over-researching our May cruise. Work is definitely suffering today and I appreciate the laughs!

 

[buzzard05]

I, too, am kind of curious why you marked your wine bottle.  Did you have a problem on a previous cruise with staff drinking your alcohol in your cabin?

 

I also had an issue with a linked credit card on our Carnival cruise over NYE.  It was definitely linked, and worked for four days, then one night just wouldn't work anymore.  I went to Guest Services and they said it wasn't linked.  It was a quick fix...but annoying.

 

Sorry you had a bad cruise....it sucks to spend that  much money and not enjoy yourself.

[dreadpirate3]

Thank you for your review.

 

I had placed a reduced deposit on a Carnival sailing, but from all of the experiences of close friends on that line, I don't think it's for me. Any issues are met with ridiculous excuses, and an attitude that you get what you pay for.

 

Cruise reservation canceled, would give up my $98 deposit to avoid a $1000 mistake and a ruined vacation.

[NovCruisin]

To everyone who has a flare for the dramatic - it didn't RUIN my vacation 🤦‍♀️ no where did I say I didn't have an ounce of enjoyment because of it. It most certainly put a hamper on an aspect of it though. Not only did that delicious bottle of wine go to waste for me, which is sad in and of itself, but I got to spend my vacation time at guest services, standing in line, speaking with multiple reps at the desk and in my room...doesn't exactly scream relaxation. Further, having been told the only persons that would have access to my room were my room stewards, I got to spend the next 6 days paranoid about something else being stolen or my room steward enacting petty justice for me reporting the issue (like scrubbing my toilet with my toothbrush or something). I had to lock EVERYTHING up, every day. Not exactly my idea of fun. Did it ruin my entire vacation, obviously not (see "the good" portion of my review) but it was an unnecessary hindrance.   

 

With regards to why I marked it; I would say for the same reason I have security cameras outside my house and why I cover my PIN at the ATM or lock my wallet in the safe in my cabin. We all would like a rainbow world where people do right by each other, but the truth is you can't always expect the best behavior from everyone. A millisecond of my time, by marking my wine bottle, ensured that I wasn't spending my next glass of wine drinking someone else's backwash. For some people, ignorance is bliss...but that's not the case for me.

 

I appreciate everyone who could see the pros and cons and didn't immediately read it through rose colored glasses as though my mission in life was to "bash" Carnival. I really tried to make the best of the situation and not let it mess with my cruise too much. At the same time, I thought surely the people of Cruise Critic may be interested in a review....critiquing....a cruise....I guess not 😏

Edited February 1, 2019 by NovCruisin

[robertlanajean]

10 minutes ago, NovCruisin said:

To everyone who has a flare for the dramatic - it didn't RUIN my vacation 🤦‍♀️ 

 

Sorry, we went off on a bit of a tangent about the drunk steward and his (imagined) choice in undergarments. I don't think that was aimed at you. 

I do appreciate your review and honest input. I would rather have than than a rose-colored love-fest or an "I knew I would hate it before getting on board. Here's why I was right!" review. The world is full of different perspectives and ideas and there are folks that do things I wouldn't even think to do (like marking the bottle) just as there are things I do that I'm sure others wouldn't consider. Not that I wouldn't  -- just never dawned on me to do that. I'm sure your experience made parts of your trip unpleasant and I applaud you for being able to make the best of it all things considered. By the way, everything I asked was out of sincere curiosity. 🙂

 

[NovCruisin]

7 minutes ago, robertlanajean said:

 

Sorry, we went off on a bit of a tangent about the drunk steward and his (imagined) choice in undergarments. I don't think that was aimed at you. 

I do appreciate your review and honest input. I would rather have than than a rose-colored love-fest or an "I knew I would hate it before getting on board. Here's why I was right!" review. The world is full of different perspectives and ideas and there are folks that do things I wouldn't even think to do (like marking the bottle) just as there are things I do that I'm sure others wouldn't consider. Not that I wouldn't  -- just never dawned on me to do that. I'm sure your experience made parts of your trip unpleasant and I applaud you for being able to make the best of it all things considered. By the way, everything I asked was out of sincere curiosity. 🙂

 

My response was not actually directed at you, there were just too many responses to quote everyone 🙂 

I appreciate your fair, balanced response and did not take your questions as anything other than sincere curiosity. Some of the other commenters I cannot say the same for.

[deedle7544]

I see this as a "he said she said". Even if they interrogated the lock to see if the cabin had been entered while you were out, that wouldn't prove that the person who entered took a drink.  Also, no way for them to know that the bottle wasn't marked after the fact. 

[PhillyFan33579]

14 minutes ago, deedle7544 said:

I see this as a "he said she said". Even if they interrogated the lock to see if the cabin had been entered while you were out, that wouldn't prove that the person who entered took a drink.  Also, no way for them to know that the bottle wasn't marked after the fact. 

 

Good points. I question a person who would mark a bottle of wine on a cruise.  It sounds like the OP was looking for trouble or looking to get something for free. 

[NovCruisin]

46 minutes ago, deedle7544 said:

I see this as a "he said she said". Even if they interrogated the lock to see if the cabin had been entered while you were out, that wouldn't prove that the person who entered took a drink.  Also, no way for them to know that the bottle wasn't marked after the fact. 

I completely understand this argument and would agree there is no way for Carnival to truly know if whomever entered my cabin did it. However, that being said, I was disappointed with the way it was handled in that they did not even ATTEMPT to try and investigate. We gave them the date and time (narrowed to less than a 45 min window while we were at the muster drill). We in fact know someone was in our room since our complimentary water bottles were delivered while we were at muster also. So again, while the act is unpalatable in and of itself, it was Carnivals lack of due diligence upon complaint that was the most disappointing.

[NovCruisin]

41 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Good points. I question a person who would mark a bottle of wine on a cruise.  It sounds like the OP was looking for trouble or looking to get something for free. 

Nope and nope. Of course you and I don't know each other, so you cannot speak to my character. It is all too easy for you to brush off a legitimate complaint with accusations of nefarious intent but it was most certainly not my intention. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by NovCruisin

[PhillyFan33579]

17 minutes ago, NovCruisin said:

I completely understand this argument and would agree there is no way for Carnival to truly know if whomever entered my cabin did it. However, that being said, I was disappointed with the way it was handled in that they did not even ATTEMPT to try and investigate. We gave them the date and time (narrowed to less than a 45 min window while we were at the muster drill). We in fact know someone was in our room since our complimentary water bottles were delivered while we were at muster also. So again, while the act is unpalatable in and of itself, it was Carnivals lack of due diligence upon complaint that was the most disappointing.

 

I think the difference here is people like me see this as a non-issue that I wouldn’t think twice about, while it appears you believe a felony took place that should have been investigated like a murder took place (I am exaggerating here, but not by much). 

[aknguyen]

Could they have knocked it over and spilled it?

[mpdog42]

NovCruisin,

I wanted to first thank you for your honest review, Too often on CC and in this world, many persons do not have common sense or have training that prepares people to be aware of their surrounding like you did with marking your bottle... Much too often they go on cruises or vacations with...

"Rose Covered Glasses" as mentioned before...They never think that accidents and crime can happen on vacation or on a ship...because it always happens to the "Other Guy"..Most Employees of Carnival are good hardworking honest people..but some are not.....and a lot of corporations sometimes do not want to investigate situations because of what they... may find!

not saying that was indeed the case with your situation but it might....last there is a "element" on CC made up of "Cheerleaders" and "travel agent's" who will defend to the death "Their" line of choice no madder what the evidence shows...

Hope you will give Carnival or another cruise line another chance, as i have done the past!!

 

Mike 

 

Edited February 2, 2019 by mpdog42
correct

[quickrate]

I guess I look at life thru "rose colored glasses" as I have never been stolen from or violated in any way on any of my 33 cruises.But, I don't go looking for issues and expecting that everyone is out to get me first of all, I wouldn't even have thought to mark a wine bottle but if I did, I would have gone to the source and questioned the room steward who was going to have access to my room for the whole week. If I suspected he was the guilty party, I would have asked for a different room steward giving the reason why. 

Pat

[StrangeBrew]

On 1/31/2019 at 4:25 PM, NovCruisin said:

 

 

They did not apologize, they did not offer to replace the bottle (obviously we weren't going to drink it now...it looked like someone took a swig out of it), she simply said they will let us know. Two or three days later we got a message telling us that they would be giving us two free drink coupons. It was a fine trade of value, it was an $11 bottle of wine, it was the principal of the matter that NO ONE ever checked the cameras, NO ONE even believed us....why would I spend my vacation standing in line, talking to multiple people, and messing around with this stupid thing if it wasn't true.

 

While Carnival not being sympathetic to you could lead you to believe they did not care I could see.

But to say that NO ONE ever reviewed cameras (if able) or even believed you I find doubtful. They did give you the coupons, which in a way says they found some credibility to your complaint.

The company I work for and any other would never disclose the process or goings on regarding an internal review regarding any employee to you or anyone else, what occurs to any employee being a written note to file or termination, We would apologize for the inconvenience and assure it would be taken care of, the results are not of anyone else's concern.

 

But on a more positive note was the ship awesome? Any Pics?

[Dgshooter]

Sorry you had such bad experiences.

 

I was on the same cruise. As you said YMMV, my experience was quite different. 

 

My DW and I loved the main dining room for dinner and breakfast. As we had purchaced CHEERS the wait staff made sure our wine glasses were never empty and they would bring two bottles of Pelligrino at a time! And the food, the steaks arrived to the table rare and medium rare as we ordered (the first time that has ever happened on a cruise for me) the lobster was cooked perfectly, juicy and tender not the dry rubber I've experienced in the past.

 

Our room steward was great. Asked us when we wanted to have our room serviced (10 am) and without fail when we came back to the room it was made up with the towel animal of the day on the bed (or hanging from the vent in the instance it was a bat).

 

The only down side for me was the port operation. After parking in the port parking lot, the shuttle driver dropped us off and told us the wrong place to take our luggage. We ended up dragging our luggage through the terminal to the ship. Arrgh!

 

Aside from the rough start we had a great time and I would recommend the Vista.