Simply said, BIGGER is not always BETTER!
I will not be cruising on the Vista again!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was quick and efficient. In 5 cruises it was the best embarkation ever.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Dining room service was acceptable, but not as enjoyable as the previous 4 sailings. Bigger ship, same size staff looking after more guests. Very hard to make a connection with our servers. As for the other spots around the ship, Catina, Guy Fieri burgers, Pizza all were the same size as smaller ships so lines and waits were longer. As I said, “Bigger IS NOT always better.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
More people...same pools!
More people...same hot tubs!
Seemed as if their was the same number of deck chairs as a smaller ship...impossible to find one in the sun unless you stacked it out early in the a.m.
Felt crowded most of the time for all activities. Long waits!
As I said, Bigger IS NOT always better!
Entertainment
4 out of 5
All the shows were good, however the comedians were mediocre!
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
When we arrived to our stateroom in our past cruises the steward promptly came and met us and introduced themselves, this time that did not happen and we barely ever saw our steward. On our first afternoon we had to contact housekeeping to ask them to properly clean the washroom, shelves were a mess as well as sink area etc.
Our dining staff were either overworked or not efficient and seemed to have less time to be personable with the us.
On the Lido deck a young female server named “Raman” was excellent.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship overall was clean and tidy. As for the design...underwhelming. No glass elevators, same number of other elevators as smaller ships, longer waits, same size and number of pools as smaller ships while at the same time adding 1500 new guests. The theaters had poles everywhere making 25-30% of the seats non functional for viewing.
As I said, Bigger IS NOT always better!
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Cabin had less storage space for unpacking. As mentioned previously the cabin and especially the washroom needed to be recleaned after we arrived.
Ship tip
Be prepared to wait in longer lines and to use any of the areas and items to relax and or play.
As I said, Bigger IS NOT always better!
Chaos!
Carnival did not follow their own debarkation rules.
Also our luggage was deposited on three different carousels causing us to go from end to end to locate our bags. We were tagged zone 3, yet the bags were everywhere.
We're not big fans of Vista. That said, we're on her again next month for another try. We enjoyed it, had fun the first time on it. But it is underwhelming as far as the wow factor goes. Small atrium, not enough elevators, and the liquid lounge is a huge fail. Not near enough seating, and poor sightlines. It's too bad Horizon is going to be just a Vista clone. Carnival really needs to rethink layout and design.
Went on my honeymoon on Vista. Never again on that ship. Not enough staff to accomodate guests. Guests services never had more than 3 people to give assistance. Housekeeping left a lot to be desired. My cake was missing and i had to do the legwork to find out what the problem was. It was delivered two days late. Dinningroom staff overworked. I love Carnival, been on 6 or more cruises with them. This was the worst experience. I was crying on my honeymoon and their solution was coupons for free drinks. Corporate office gave 50 dollar on board credit for next cruise. They dropped ball with this ship. It is the brightest ship i have ever been on and the layout is bad. The signage is small and a lot of dead ends. But with cruising you do what you can to make the best of it.
I heard a few comments about it seeming more crowded. I decided to upgrade to a Havana room so hopefully that helps since you have private access to a swimming and bar area?
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