Great cruise overall
Carnival Vista Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 38
8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 21, 2018
Ship: Carnival Vista
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 11273
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
Overall a great ship with very nice destinations, definitely will book the Vista or another Vista class ship in the future. Would recommend almost all places to eat on the ship at least once. Checking in at the airport was GREAT at avoiding the huge line waiting to board the ship, grab faster to the fun if you can (and aren't platinum, diamond, or in a suite), if not checking in at the airport can save some time at embarkation. Recommend using the stairs as much as possible, as the elevators were BUSY our whole cruise. Usually had to wait for one to arrive with room as they were full regularly except later in the evening. Smile, treat the crew with respect and kindness, and they definitely return the favor. IMAX was nice, they don't have new releases as soon as they are out however (was disappointed since Infinity War came out during our cruise). They told us there's about a 3 week delay from release before they can show it. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the Thrill Theater, but we went to the horror one as it was supposed to be the most intense and it was a VERY pleasant surprise, would recommend anyone try it at least once, it was definitely worth it to us. Make sure you download the most recent Hub app for Carnival. It was very nice being able to message each other if we decided to split up, and being able to book your table for main dining room as any time dining (if you have an android device) was very nice, much better than checking in on deck 5 then going down to deck 3 to wait to be seated. You receive an estimate as to how long the wait will be and a message through the Hub app when your table is ready and what your table number is, show it to the crew when you get there and off you go to your table. (Our wait was never more than a few minutes, even when it gave an estimate of 10-15 minutes, a crew member told us they tend to prioritize reservations through the HUB for now since it's new and being tested).Embarkation
Embarkation was smooth and seamless. We checked in at airport, went to priority line when we arrived at the port, and got on board the ship pretty fast.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Variety of food available was great. Cucina del Capitano and Jiji's Asian Kitchen were good, had read reviews about how great they were and didn't feel they lived up to the hype, but was still worth eating there. The Steakhouse was phenomenal, definitely recommend it! Ordered the surf and turf despite not being a lobster fan and was not disappointed, the Lobster and Filet Minion were FANTASTIC. Guy's Burger was very good, Mongolian Wok for lunch was good, Bonsai Sushi didn't disappoint, and Lido Buffet had nice selections for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Main dining room was typical, overall fun and good experience but food wasn't the quality of the specialty restaurants, still would've been happy eating there every night though. Wasn't a fan of the 24 hour pizza, and was let down by Blue Iguana. Really was looking forward to the burritos, tacos, and breakfast burritos from Blue Iguana but it didn't come close to meeting my expectations.
Onboard Activities
Always something going on somewhere on the ship. Matt and his team were AWESOME. Honestly can't remember any of my previous cruise directors from other cruises, but Matt Mitchem and his group made a great impression starting at the sail away party on deck.
Entertainment
DJs and other performers were very talented, enjoyed what we saw. Unfortunately we didn't get to go to any of the stage shows, just not enough hours in the day to do everything we wanted. What we did get to see/experience was awesome though.
Children's Programs
Son chose to hang out with his boring parents instead of kids his age. :)
Service and Staff
Had great experiences with all the staff we were in contact with. Officers were friendly, room steward was great and friendly, waiters and restaurant personnel were great as well. Only ran across one person at Guy's Burgers that seemed he'd rather be anywhere else other than where he was, never once saw him crack a smile.
Ship Quality
Wasn't a fan of how to get to main dining room from where we were located. Most convenient path led straight through the smoke filled casino. Other than that though, no real problems. Staff were all over cleaning up everywhere we were.
Cabin / Stateroom
Ports of call
Watch the locals if you stay on the beach by the port. Agreed to a cabana with two chairs for $30.00, but got charged $40.00. Other than that, beautiful beach with clear water, perfect for snorkeling but not much sea life/shells around to see. Great beach to hang out on though.
Thumbs Up
2
We took a cab to Conckleshell beach, it was a decent beach with ok snorkeling. Lots of shells everywhere, was able to get some really nice ones snorkeling to bring home.
We went to the public beach near the port. Would definitely recommend going on an excursion or to a different beach. Literally constant locals walking by trying to get you to buy something or get a massage. Didn't go 5 minutes without being solicited. If not for that it would have been a great beach, but the water wasn't clear enough to snorkel, which is what my son and I were really wanting to do.
Disembarkation
Did self assist and everything went smooth as could be hoped for. No problems getting off in plenty of time to get to our 12:20 flight.