karman16 Cruise Review on Carnival Vista on Sep 08, 2018

Carnival Vista Cruise Review

karman16

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 62

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Sail date: September 08, 2018

Ship: Carnival Vista

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We loved our cruise on the Vista! She is a beautiful ship and the layout really isn't that hard to get used to. When we first arrived for check in there was a bit of confusion for us because they handed us a number, no one told us what it was for so I had to ask, and then we had no idea where to get our Sail and Sign cards from as there are no longer agents at the desks. We then overheard another couple asking as we walked onto the ship. Definitely room for improvement as far as communication goes. Our room steward introduced himself almost immediately and informed us of his working hours. He gave us a letter with different add-on's to choose from. This was great bc I didn't have to seek him out to ask for an extra pillow. Our itinerary was reversed as I had expected bc of the tropics. Carnival did great bc we still got to go to the same ports. Both of our shore excursions were cancelled and we were quickly credited the amount and able to book another. We were able to do the Skyride which was awesome! We did the ropes course, which was scary in my opinion bc of the winds at sea. The other passengers were great and cheering everyone on. There's a hard and an easy side, but the easy is no walk in the park either. I did the hard side first. Probably wouldn't have made it there if I did easy first. Lol Thrill theater was fun, but super cheesy. We didn't end up doing the Imax bc we didn't care for the movies showing. CD Chris was great at keeping a crowd going. I would definitely take another cruise with him onboard. The entertainment onboard was wonderful. We had anytime dining which I had a love-hate relationship with. It was great to eat at the time that suited you, however, the wait staff was then hit or miss and sometimes your meal took over an hour. We often opted out of dessert bc of timing. On a ship this large with so many things to do in the evening - multiple comedy shows, the main show, movies on the lido, dance parties, etc. Time was definitely not something we were willing to sacrifice when we could grab a similar, quick bite on the lido. The dining options were also very similar in the MDR. It felt as though they were trying to force you to want one of their other (pay for) dining venues. Usually on the ships I eat vegetarian meals in the MDR bc they are just SOO good, but this time around they had basmati rice everyday.. everyday. Not for me. There were always lounge chairs and areas to relax somewhere on the ship which was great. Smoking areas were less bothersome than on many of the smaller ships. The decor has been my favorite of any ship in their fleet so far. More of a modern beachy feel. Disembarkation was another struggle. For the first time ever we decided to utilize checked luggage. We had #11 which was between 9-945am.. After our announcement we weren't off the ship until around 1045am. There were plenty of numbers after us so something was definitely wrong. They said it was customs, but I have my doubts. There was a #30 in front of us in customs so it must not be controlled that great. Overall: excellent cruise with room for improvement in embark/debark

9 Comments

karman16 6 years ago

The Sail and Sign cards are now left in the cubby next to your cabin door. It was strange bc you used the barcode on your printed boarding pass to make any purchases prior to the completion of your room. You would complete your online check-in with a credit/debit card in order to have your onboard account set up. From my understanding if you were using cash you would head to guest services once onboard. Account access is soo much easier with the Carnival Hub app and there are multiple kiosks on the ship to check as well =)

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kmax67 6 years ago

I haven't been on too many cruises but the disembark off Vista wasn't organized very well and also took some time even with the walk off option we chose. Good thing we had an afternoon flight!

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carolcruise47 6 years ago

That's an awesome review!!! I will be cruising on her September 14th 2019.

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DFromATX 6 years ago

Good detailed review. I’m glad overall you had a good cruise.

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Gheemaster38 6 years ago

Our sign and sail was in the mailbox on the door.

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joyfulcruiser 6 years ago

When and where do you get your sail and sign cards from with the new process?

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chomperman 6 years ago

Nice review. We will be sailing on her in December so it’s good to know about embarkation process thank you

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Jcook4601 6 years ago

With agents gone where did you add money to your sail and sign?

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relaxncruise 6 years ago

Totally agree with this post. Vista was a good cruise for me as well, but the disembarking lowered its stock a bit.

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