Cruising, Not what it used to be...
Carnival Vista Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 24, 2016
Ship: Carnival Vista
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9228
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
I am only 50, have been on a number of cruises over the past 30 years. Cruising is not what it used to be.
The Carnival Vista is a beautiful ship. Everything about the physical ship was excellent. Very well designed, good layout, smooth ride in rough seas. Excellent accommodations, and plenty of entertainment. Carnival hit the mark on the design.
Where Carnival missed the mark is on things like organization, food, and nickel and dimeing people to death.
First, the Your Time Dining thing is a joke. The brochure says show up 15 - 20 minutes before you want to eat... We signed up, were told 1 hour. At 1 1/2 hours we were told another hour. I went to see the assistant manager at the restaurant and he walked my family in immediately. The surprising thing was that most of the restaurant was empty, lots of open tables, and lots and lots of people waiting on the deck above to be called. Very disorganized.
Secondly the food in the main dining room "Horizons" was sub par at best. Selection, quality and taste were all lacking. We asked a server one night what was going on with the food, his response was great, "our customers have no class anymore, so we cater to what they want."
The lido buffet also had little variety. Gone are the gala nights, the midnight buffet's and the extravaganzas that used to be Cruising.
The cabin stewards were amazing, polite, helpful people. The drink servers were also very good, the food service staff was mostly rude and less than polite. Except at Guys...
My family of 4 walked away from this cruise saying it was good, we loved the ports, the ship was great, but the rest was just OK - we have not cruised in about 7 years, we have just been staying on various islands - I guess we are going to do that again... Will try another cruise in 8 years...
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
This is a MASSIVE ship, very crowded. If you want a seat by the pool on sea day, be out early... Plan on weighting in long lines for everything from getting embarkation, food lines, leaving for tours.
Ports of call
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras