Carnival Vista

Carnival Vista Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

cbpfromtn

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 76

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 08, 2017

Ship: Carnival Vista

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10297

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

We enjoyed our cruise, along with cruise "buddies" we go with every time. We had a great time, even though I will say, the Vista is definitely at the top of our list of favorite Carnival ships. We sailed at capacity (4900) and this ship was just not equipped to handle the amount of people who sailed on this cruise. The lines were extremely long with no place to walk as you passed the lines. About as bad as it gets and we've been on 10 different Carnival ships.

That being said, the food was great, best we've had on any of the ships even though the desserts are pretty bad. The chocolate melting cake is good but after years of eating it, it would be nice to have some new offerings that aren't, well.......very good. Desserts is definitely an area that needs dramatic improvement.

Our room was like all Carnival ships, excellent. Our cabin steward was excellent as well, very friendly and polite and exceptionally adept at keeping our cabin in pristine condition.

Also, our server in the dining room, her name was Singsoong is the best we have ever had! She and her crew were just great and rarely made a mistake. Always called us by name, whether in the dining room or on the Lido deck. Always had a smile on her face. Best in the business!

All in all, we had a good time, but again, this ship, when at capacity is not comfortable.

The smaller ships, (Freedom, Liberty, Conquest) are our favorite ships. They were built with comfort in mind and the public areas are accommodating to the amount of people onboard. All ships we've sailed on have been sold out so the Vista just doesn't cut it when it comes to public areas.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Absolutely great, of course, the layout is the exact same as every other balcony cabin but this one (since the Vista is so new) had a very accurate thermostat which made for extremely comfortable temps in our stateroom and the decor was nice and very updated with LED spots instead of the old perimeter fluorescent bulbs. A very nice touch. Room was clean and our cabin steward, Koko was the absolute best. He kept everything in perfect order and handled our laundry for us. Just excellent.

Ship tip

Be prepared for extremely long lines on the Lido deck for breakfast. It's difficult to even walk because it's so crowded in every single area of the Lido deck at breakfast. Worst of the fleet. So be prepared to wait. Other than that, the food is very good. Try the other restaurants too!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

3 Comments

queenvaleen 7 years ago

We were on Vista Eastern Caribbean 4/8 sailing and the service was excellent. The desserts true, were left wanting. The omelette station could have been a tiny bit faster but I can't fault staff when inconsiderate cruisers place orders for 10 people. I respect that they had people check in to Java Cafe for anytime dining. We encountered 1 night with a 30 minute wait which turned out to be only 15 minutes. I personally did not love the "string trio" in the Atrium. I am used to more lively music and engagement from the musicians. As big as the ship was you didn't feel the crowds. At one in the morning is when you noticed the results of low class people who dropped their soft serves on the floor in the elevator and purposely let the soft serve flow by the machine so it would be all over the floor. People threw guys burgers red napkins all over the Lido deck and with the night shift staff they couldn't keep up with the grossness. All in all it was a wonderful cruise and the ship is very tastefully designed. Staff was great!

Thumbs Up 3

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CruiseFanatic77 7 years ago

I was just on the vista, and really did not encounter any long lines. The longest was about 25 minutes for breakfast one day. (4839 passengers on our sailing)The key is to know the best times to do certain things. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes. Piece of advice for anyone, wait an hour after the ship has been cleared on any port, and ill guarantee you that you will not encounter any lines. Of course, if you have early excursions, then you have to get to the gangway earlier. We also never had any problems finding a seat on any of the open areas, except for the serenity deck, which always gets full early, but this happens on every ship. This ship is completely different from the other carnival ships, it is very spacious.

Thumbs Up 9

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willwork4cruz 7 years ago

Great review. I can relate to the melting cake dilemma. We loved the cake our first times eating it because it is great but after a while we want to be wowed again and feel that the cake is boring. It's still the same cake of course, we have changed. Should Carnival change the cake and risk a failure? They can only add so many choices. A business model decision. Either way they will be criticized.

Thumbs Up 2

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the carnival vista cruise is great!