Not bad but I've had better

Item: Carnival Vista
Rating: 3.7
Author: jejoly

Carnival Vista Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

jejoly

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 32

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 23, 2018

Ship: Carnival Vista

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11250

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

I think it's a shame that Carnival is now trying to charge for all kinds of little extras on a cruise. That was the allure of going on a cruise. Most everything was included. Charging for popcorn for the movies is ridiculous! We were bored a lot of times because there are not enough different things to do. Lots of repeats. We will go back to Royal Caribbean next time!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The food was not bad, but it could have been better. The food spots were open at such odd times and were never the same each day. We never knew when things were open or not.

Guy's Burger Joint

4 out of 5

Food was very good, but they weren't open enough. You had to catch them at just the right time.

Reflections Restaurant

3 out of 5

Very disappointed. Looked like we were in Lubys! We expect the dining room to be very elegant and more formal. Who wants to dress up for elegant night when you're going to Lubys?

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Comedians were good. There were not enough trivia, games, etc. to get involved in. We seemed to get bored most days, and that has never happened on a cruise before.

Cloud 9 Spa

4 out of 5

Chloe did the Ionithermie treatments for me, and I'm not sure they really worked all that well. But she was fantastic! She is a great girl to deal with in the spa!

Vista Casino

1 out of 5

Terrible!!!! Casino was so small, and people were smoking so badly, you couldn't even walk through there, much less stay in there, without choking on cigarette smoke. We were horrified! You need a separate room or separate casino for non-smokers!!!!

Photo Gallery

5 out of 5

Love the way you look at photos now. So much better than trying to find yourself in a sea of pics!

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Comedians were good. Stage shows were lacking, and there were too many repeats. We love magicians, and there were none. Music was fair. Not a lot of talent.

Dance Floor

1 out of 5

What dance floor? There were very few clubs for dancing. You used to have theme nights with different types of music for dancing. There were none. Piano bar was closed every night for a private party.

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The layout was different than any other Carnival ship we've been on. Things were not flowing. Several things you had to really hunt and find because they were in odd places....such as the Pig & Anchor being outside on the deck. Always before, you could walk through the ship and see everything and know where everything was. It was a bigger ship so more things could be added, BUT when more things were added, everything was a lot smaller. Not good.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Go on another ship. This one was lacking. Somewhat of a disappointment.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Montego Bay, Jamaica

2 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

There must be some way to make sure people follow your rules. When you say don't head down until you are called, EVERYONE was doing it anyway, and it was causing a major blockage. You need more people checking to make sure it's the right people trying to disembark. It's also ridiculous that you only put luggage tags in the rooms of diamond or platinum members. Red, blue or gold members should NOT have to go to guest services to get luggage tags or customs forms! They are just as important and these items are pretty necessary! It makes them feel less appreciated and want to go on another cruise line where they are taken care of.

15 Comments

rhassell 6 years ago

The popcorn is FREE!

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

trishdock1 6 years ago

Not everyone has to fill out customs form anymore, only if you are declaring items you will owe taxes on. So they dont leave them in every cabin now. Luggage tags are suppose to be picked up now. They are hanging on a board in Ocean plaza somewhere. They announce it in the funtimes.. Didn't bother us picking ours up as we walked by, but we weren't in a hurry to get off. If you are, better take your luggage and self debark.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

jejoly 6 years ago

We just went on the Vista last week. We didn’t go to the imax because it was $12 per person. They were charging over $3 for popcorn at the dive in. Yes the sky ride was working. And yes they did make red blue and gold members go to guest services to get luggage tags and customs forms.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

JoyMK 6 years ago

We cruised RC a few months ago, paid for popcorn there too.....

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

jenn2831 6 years ago

Popcorn continues to b free at the dive in movies......we were there in July. As for extra charges......im still happy with what all is included and what optional additions r my choice to indulge in for a price. We r devoted carnival cruisers and always feel we get an awesome vacation with amazing service and activities for a great price

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

CruiseShipLuver 6 years ago

Roayl caribbean is WAY worse when it comes to nickel and diming.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

KofiNaija 6 years ago

Royal does nickel and dime and sell more...by a lot. Prime example is burger joint which is 12 bucks on Royal .. free on Carnival. Vista is ok. But design is inferior to Royals biggest ships. I agree, Vistas layout does not flow it all. Feels like old country house with a lot of rooms added over time. Embarkation and disembarkation are a disaster on Vista mainly because it doesn't have service elevators to handle luggage, so many elevators are closed

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

LMG1988 6 years ago

Oh... & what food was available and when.... the is an app you could download that they constantly tell everyone about. There you will find what food is available: when, where and what. Do they not still deliver the fun times paper?? They did for us on other ships.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

LMG1988 6 years ago

Yeah, IMAX or dive in for popcorn?? Also, we are gold and no matter what our color, we always got our luggage tags & customs forms. As far as folks coming down before being called, that has always been something that ticks me off. I watched one cruise director enforce it and people had to get out of line! Yes!!!! Made them get out of line after they made it down close to leaving!! 😂it was great!

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

belfy 6 years ago

Totally agree with heavens2betsey. Rc is worse. Just got off the allure and all they did was charge for extras. Ridiculous when you have to keep asking if it's included or not. Already paying alot for the cruise.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Jcook4601 6 years ago

Are you talking about imax or dive in?

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

missjodieelizabeth 6 years ago

Try a different carnival ship it might be the Vista is not your favourite ship due to size? There are add ons but I don't think Carnival are the only cruise line to add these options as fee applied activities .. for me the ship layout was inconvienant for me when I last went on the Vista but I LOVED the cruise because of the ports and experiences I had on board

Thumbs Up 4

Flag

heavens2betsey 6 years ago

Oh, RC is worse!! They now add service charges to everything on top of tips. So now you get a service charge AND a tip. MDR, I ordered a steak from Chops. Menu price was 16.99. When he brought my ticket, the total was 20.00 WITHOUT tip. Then 18% tip was charged. This wasn’t the only time. It was constantly. Also in spa... service charge and tip in top of the advertised treatment special. 🤦🏼‍♀️.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

tpoupart 6 years ago

Was the Sky ride working?

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

keivanb 6 years ago

When did they start doing this I was just on the Vista 3 weeks ago and they didn't charge

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Amazing

Vista has great service

Fantastic Caribbean Cruise from Galveston on Vista!