This was a nice cruise, nothing fancy, but nothing bad, nice crew, clean ship…Carnival charges for everything! I spent $1000 more than I budgeted…The destinations were overly hot therefore the ship had trouble staying cool in some areas like Oceans Plaza during our 2-3 days close to South America..to make up for it, when we got closer back to Miami, the ship was like a meat locker so dress accordingly..A small fan and extra plugins for your cabin is a good idea…Don’t stay in the pool all day, the sun is brutal, I burned my face pretty badly even though I always had on SPF 30 sun cream…Casino gets tight halfway through the cruise..Enjoy the ship on port days..Tip the crew extra!! No one is standing there telling you to washy! Washy! Like on other ships, so don’t forget to wash up before each meal…on a Facebook post around 75 ppl reported getting ill on the ship( some Covid, others didn’t specify exact illness). No one in our group got sick!! Not sure why my review is 2.7. It was 3.8 but kept dropping even though I didn’t rate anything new???
Embarkation
3 out of 5
People were still disembarking at 10:30. Causing all embarkation to be delayed a half hour which caused a backup in the seating areas
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Most of the food was pretty good, waffle and French toast in the MDR for breakfast were hard and cold….but the dinners were good! 555 Fahrenheit Steakhouse and Bonsai Teppanyaki were excellent…Seafood shack, food was good but wait was long. Guys burger, no wait, good burger and fries( nice and hot) People I cruised with enjoyed Blue Iguana tacos and the free pizza onboard. Breakfast options in the buffet were good. TrashCan nachos in Pig and Anchor are a must! And the pulled pork dinner is the best I have ever had!!
Ocean Plaza
5 out of 5
This is where we went every nite to enjoy the Horizon Rock Band Big Daddy..However they decided to have Karaoke in there and for whatever reason..Hundreds of people showed up and we were jam packed in there..it was also extremely hot!! Maybe next time they should hold Karaoke in a larger venue!
Pizza Delivery
1 out of 5
We ordered pizza to be delivered to the Havana pool area..even clicked on the chairs we were sitting in right in front of the door!! No way in or out of the Havana pool except for that door..45 minutes later they cancelled our order and said they couldn’t find us!! They also did not refund our bill and we had to scramble to find lunch open at that time and then later go to guest services to get the charge taken off..
Guy's Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que
5 out of 5
Food is excellent..I loved the TrashCan nachos and pulled pork dinner!! I wish I could go back just to eat there! However they are severely understaffed! They held a beer trivia right before dinner and EVERYONE stayed for dinner, so the entire place filled up at once! It is worth it to eat there so just be patient!
Seafood Shack
3 out of 5
The food was pretty good, nice and hot..but the wait was very long because there were only 2 guys there taking orders and making the food and then giving out orders once made…couldn’t spring for someone to work the register??
Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Food and service in the steakhouse are excellent!!
Bonsai Teppanyaki
5 out of 5
This was a wonderful dinner hosted by Christian our fake Japanese Chef!! Lots of fun , lots of food, tasted great!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
We enjoyed the Havana pool area..except for the first day at sea, it was never overcrowded..we just played Bingo that day instead
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We mostly enjoyed listening to the Horizon Rock band Big Daddy…We didn’t go to any shows but overheard people talking about the Piano Bar entertainer RockSteady…sorry we missed that
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our cabin on Havana deck 5 was kept spotless by our steward Ronel…he was always on time, quick, efficient, and friendly..we could always find him unlike our steward on our last cruise..so that was a pleasant surprise…Nita and Yoga in the Havana pool area were both wonderful. Nita, how is 70 lbs soaking wet, kept anyone who was not wearing a wristband out of the pool area, and that was very much appreciated!!!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
This is a very clean ship..I have been on the Vista before so I knew my way around..but the ship was very crowded, so the fact that it was always so clean, showed how hard the crew was working!!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Havana balcony Spacious, clean and convenient location. Twin beds were comfortable but very narrow One of the our 2 outlets was broken, so it’s a good thing we brought extra plugins…and the back door sticks and is extremely hard to open from inside the cabin…we never locked our door and went to the pool area from our patio
Ship tip
Learn what time to avoid the crowds..breakfast in the buffet before 8:30, lunch at Guys burgers on port days or after 1:30…MDR as early as possible…use the Hub app to check in to the MDR!
This port is very crowded and complicated to drive in..Florida drivers are the worst and I live in Florida!!! GPS is a must to get around!! Our hotel was packed with cruisers and then the elevators broke the morning of embarkation..that was a mess!!
Beautiful port, but very hot…make sure you do an excursion where you can get some shade!! We went to the Renaissance hotel private island Flamingo beach!!
This was my favorite port..very beautiful..we just went to the taxi stand and got a tour of the South side of the island for $25..could have also done the North side for an additional $25…but we went to lunch at Karel’s instead…I had fresh caught tuna tataki ( delicious) Service was very good! Great view of the ship!
Not very scenic….we didn’t leave the port area due to reports that it isn’t exactly safe in town..we also didn’t want to eat in the Dominican because family and friends reported getting a stomach bug while vacationing there…really wanted to go to Curaçao instead…we were back on the ship and in the pool early
This is a port just like La Romana, but it’s a bit more scenic and the pool area and shopping areas are nicer..we took a bicycle cart ride down the long pier to get to the port…Since we’ve already been here, I can skip this port in the future
We had faster to the fun and we’re told to meet in the Limelight lounge where we sat for half an hour before they took us through Meridian dining room and to the Atrium to disembark.. they called general boarding before we even made it to the Atrium, so we were merging with general boarding , so FTTF got us nothing..They said their passport scanners were broken so that caused the delay..seems that’s common excuse…getting our bags was crazy, because they were in 2 separate areas!! Then another huge triple line to get through customs!
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