A Beautiful Work in Progress
Carnival Vista Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 76
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 25, 2019
Ship: Carnival Vista
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 2419
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Way too many unsupervised young children on this vessel. Myself & other passengers expressed constant concerns about their safety. Some kids were rude & played pranks, especially with the elevators. Carnival should have a curfew in place & kids under a certain age must be with a guardian at all times unless they are enrolled in Camp Carnival. If a young child is alone on the ship, a staff member should be able to ask where their guardian is, call the stateroom, etc. There are security cameras & personnel so I wonder how things got so out of control. So sad.Embarkation
Quick & organized.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was good! There were so many options; I wasn’t able to try them all. The Brunch menu had the healthiest selections w/ options like fresh pressed juices for $5, Chia Seed Pudding & Salmon Superfood Salad (both free). I didn’t get to try the spa salad bar on the serenity deck but it looked amazing. Bonsai sushi was impressive & prices were cheap. JiJi Asian Cuisine was delicious & more food than I could handle for $15. There is an ice cream shop in the Cherry on Top Candy store & I think every menu item was well under $5. The omelette station was my favorite buffet selection. Fresh-Mex Blue Cantina & Guy’s Burgers are always good. I didn’t get a chance to try Guy’s BBQ Shack, The Steakhouse or The Italian Restaurant.
Onboard Activities
The Sky Ride was out of order & we were looking forward to that. The IMAX theatre was great; we saw 3 movies (no previews but you are allowed to bring your own snacks). The Cloud9 Spa was great but will put a dent in your spending money. Rizza was my massage therapist & did an AMAZING job. I took personal training sessions with Dewald “Big D” & he did not disappoint. The sessions were TOUGH but good & you will get your money’s worth.
Entertainment
We enjoyed the American Rock Show, 80’s Party & the awesome Trio playing music in the lobby. We were disappointed with the Piano Bar singer (voice wasn’t as strong as others on previous Carnival vessels).
Children's Programs
No kids for me.
Service and Staff
Hard working & kind. Overworked due to large vessel (so much to do) & totally abused by the rudest passengers I’ve ever encountered. I gave extra gratuities for this reason. Our stateroom stewards David & Ronaldo did a great job & were so sweet. Our dining room waitstaff Yan, Danu & Made were so much fun. They gave excellent service. The dining room hostess, Aphinya, was the best we ever had. She aimed to please, was caring, thoughtful & attentive. The staff gets 2 thumbs way up! We expressed our gratitude with handwritten thank you cards, tips & hugs. We were courteous & respectful passengers that saw them as people and not hired help. We made an effort to get to know as many of them as possible & aimed to make their jobs easier in whatever ways we could.
Ship Quality
Absolutely gorgeous! Best aesthetics of any Carnival Vessel I have been on this far.
Cabin / Stateroom
We did not use the balcony. The cove style greatly limited the breeze & view. This made it too hot & humid to go out there. The Family Harbor Lounge is a great concept but poorly executed. Parents used this as a camp carnival. Kids were unsupervised & running amok. We saw them touching the food & making a mess. The ice cream machine was empty all but one time that I went in there. I don’t eat it but that was a big draw for some of my cabin mates. It closed at 9pm. We were only able to get ice water a few times. Other than that, it was closed or a total disaster zone. The Family Harbor staff seemed the most miserable of any crew members & rightfully so. They are not babysitters nor slaves. Either do it right Carnival or shut it down. Kids should not be allowed without a guardian, put a curfew into effect & we needed longer hours so we could read, relax, etc when kids are in bed. All I can say is NEVER AGAIN! Family Harbor was a total waste of our time & money. We should have gotten a traditional stateroom. It was also Aft, so we had a LONG walk to almost all activities & dining options. I couldn’t wear my heels.
Ship tip
Get a traditional stateroom midship & don’t go when school is out. There were 1500 kids on our cruise. It was very overwhelming.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We drove to the port. Parking, shuttles, porters, etc was a bit chaotic. The port of Galveston staff were trying to make the embarkation process smooth & quick but a few were quite rude in the way they spoke to passengers. I got snappy right back. I did not like the way it made me feel rushed & frantic. We could see that they were trying new methods to improve this process from our last visits. We applaud the effort. It just needs fine tuning.
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
It was quite the walk to get to our taxi (very steep). They have greatly improved & increased security at & around this port. Huge thumbs up! We took pictures with a baby monkey named Pee Wee. It was $5 but sooooo worth it. We went to Little French Key resort. It was over crowded & understaffed. Big disappointment from our previous visit. Food was ok. Drinks were good. Beach was gorgeous & there are plenty of activities. Very hard to find a spot to sit. DJ was annoying (a handful of songs repeating constantly even back to back. I would have preferred the sound of the ocean to that racket.) I may try another island resort next time. Our taxi driver recommended a few others to us.
Tender port so you have to take a boat ride to shore. Lack of variety in excursions so we didn’t do one. We did some souvenir shopping & ate at the fruit stand. The mango was delicious.
Cozumel is always beautiful. We went to Passion Island for our excursion. Had to wait for your group to be called to take the catamaran. It was a 45 min boat ride to the island. 3 block trek in soft sand to the beach. Bathrooms were good but not well maintained & toilets did not flush. Food was good. Drinks were very weak. Beach was breathtaking. Very hot. We tanned in minutes even with sunscreen. My phone said 99 degrees. You spend an hour each getting to & from the excursion but only 3 hours on the island. Miguel was an awesome tour guide. Glad I experienced it, but I probably wouldn’t go back.
Disembarkation
Took longer than expected on Carnival’s part. Organized chaos in Port of Galveston. Steep tax on liquor in Texas. My friend bought some & didn’t find out she had to pay tax until the last day of our trip. She didn’t know the amount until we were in the Port of Galveston customs area. It was around $25.
11 Comments
MelaninQueen84 5 years ago
Thanks for the feedback. I have cruised during peak seasons before. It wasn’t an issue in the past. This was different. Unsupervised small children should not be the norm on cruise ships or anywhere else. You can’t trust that no harm will come to them & that all crew members & passengers have good intentions or your child’s best interest at heart. The lesson has been learned & I won’t be sailing in the summertime again. I am already planning to try other cruise lines in the future. I started with Carnival & enjoy the perks of being a return guest, so I wanted to try the Vista for the first time. My vacation was in no way spoiled, but I gave an honest and detailed review. On a larger vessel like the Vista, the layout is important to some guests. Having a stateroom that is forward, midship or aft makes a big difference. I worked out in the gym & took personal training classes onboard. The walking isn’t an issue for me, but could be for some. I wore my stilettos once, but chose not to do so again. I was able to on other vessels, but this was my largest thus far. I thought those details might be helpful to someone.
sfcvan 5 years ago
It's not Carnival's fault because kids are rude and disrespectful. It's the parents fault, it's easy to be respectful and follow the rules when you are with your parents. It's when they are not around when it shows how they are raised and discipline. We today always want others to raise and discipline our kids.
CruzeFan 5 years ago
Unsupervised children is the norm everywhere now, not just on cruise ships. I’m not sure why so many who don’t want to be around children cruise when school is out on a cruise line aimed at families, then complain about children on board. 🤷🏻♂️ If you want less children on board, cruise during the school year, take cruises of longer than 7 days or try an upscale cruise line such as Oceania, Regent, Crystal, Symphony or Viking.