A week aboard Vista
A brief review of a typical 7 day cruise aboard Carnival Vista. A short intro, we are veteran cruisers, starting in 1988, this was our 35th cruise, and little surprised us. This isn't to brag about how fortunate we've been, this is to lay the groundwork of this review, illustrating hopefully some possibly jaded views of what Carnival has to offer, along with tips that we've picked up from over 30 years of cruising that may prove helpful for either 1st timers or those for whom cruising is relatively new.
This trip was sort of last minute, sort of not. We normally don't cruise Carnival, as their offerings don't usually coincide with what we expect when we cruise. We're past the age (or the desire) for constant partying, prefering things a bit quieter, less emphasis on action, dancing, etc, preferring quieter music venues, less raucus crowds, and while we take in the occasional Vegas-type show, we prefer comedy and music, and in this respect Carnival delivered as expected.
Boarding or Embakation day was as expected, though we were surprised at not getting our key cards until our room was accessible. A result of facial recognition software? No idea, though we were onboard a couple of hours before our rooms were available to stash our carry-on stuff. Maybe this expedites the process? We had purchased the Cheers drink package, but on Carnival out of Texas it doesn't include boarding day, so we expected that. This is also the day we experienced the biggest shock of our trip, one that continually caused exasperation for us, and from talking to some fellow passengers, it was much the same with them. To explain, we're in our 60s, we didn't grow up with our faces in cell phones and computer monitors, and while cruising, prefer to "unplug", leaving our phones in our room safe, expecting to peruse our daily shipboard activies paper for show times, activity locations, etc. Not on Carnival, you are expected and encouraged to have your phone with you CONSTANTLY, repeatedly reminded to "check your app" to which we replied just as often "we don't do apps!". Photocopies of the daily schedule were available at certain locations, so at least we were able to indulge that part of our love for cruising, but the current trend is disturbing for those who don't wish to try and keep track of their phones while sailing. Hopefully this is the final mention of this new phenomenon, though it irritated us for the entire cruise.
After changing our dining reservations (how do we know you've instituted the change? Just check your app...) with the maitre'd, we started exploring. We had been told by friends who were predominantly Carnival cruisers that they didn't care for Vista, while overall we found the ship to our liking, more so than Carnival Magic, though we heard opposing opinions. Shows how difficult it is the cruise lines to appeal to everyone I guess. A nice adult area forward, though it was hot in port or at sea, though the last day it was actually a bit cool up there, what with weather changing with the season. Buffet was different but not insurmountable once you learned your way around. Plenty of beverage stations, ice cream machines (YES!) and sometimes not even a line at the omelet station, though there usually were lines everywhere else. We were surprised to learn that pizza was no longer open 24/7, though we were told this was a result of covid.
Food was acceptable, and this to someone with a less-than-sophisticated palette. Good in the dining room, nothing to brag about (though unlike some competitors, they did serve lobster one night), and while we've seen dining room items served the next day on the dinner and lunch buffets, this was the first time we've seen the exact same choices offered the same day in the buffet. If they were serving Lasagna in the dining room, you could bet it would be available in the buffet as well. Guys Burgers were awesome, no other word describes it. Blue Iguana was superlative with breakfast burritos (we're from Texas, so we're kind of picky when it comes to Mexican food) but not so much for the tacos, a little spicy for our tastes, but much of this is subjective depending on who's consuming it. Bacon was only available a few days of the cruise, not every day, though in all fairness, it was actually FRIED instead of boiled, deep fried, or however some competing cruise lines have screwed it up before served it. You could ask for crispy bacon and be assured that it was delicious, at least on the days it was offered. With supply chain issues being what they are, I'll give them a pass on this. Let's say in summarizing, we didn't go hungry, nor have we ever on a cruise. It's difficult to please everyone, and we undertand this.
Entertainment: I've spoken of this before, but why Carnival insists on assaulting one's ear drums with excessive volume is beyond me. Let's be fair, I'm in my 60s, a quasi-musician, full time over-the-road trucker, subjected to intense volume for most of my working life, but I prefer to enjoy what I listen to, not be attacked by it. With few exceptions, this seems to be the norm on Carnival ships, though we haven't been subjected to it on competing lines. Explain it by the lower age demographic on Carnival, perhaps, but we counted plenty of gray heads besides ours while onboard, and though modern electronics permit this, it's something that, in my opinion, should be questioned in the vein of, while we can provide devastating volume, should we, given our audience? Comedians were consistently good, both PG and R rated shows. We never made the late night shows (we don't normally stay up late) so we can't address them, but were regulars in the Punchliner Comedy club. The Piano Bar was usually crowded, and wasn't overwhelmingly volumed, and we both enjoyed it.
Staff was routinely pleasant, helpful, courteous, enough positive things can't be said. Sometimes you seemed to wait an inordinate amount of time for a drink, but for the most part, the bar staff kept track of who was next, and you received service when it was your turn. Plenty of differnt cocktails available, and if heavy drinkers, I'd recommend the Cheers package, though we didn't feel it was worth it, given our consumption level.
Boarding and disembarking were fairly seamless, though not apparently very organized on leaving the ship. Listening to the staff announcements waiting to disembark, they started calling luggage tag numbers for people who turned in their baggage before all the "self assist walk-off" passengers were off, and we ended up leaving before our group was actually called, and nobody questioned us. Perhaps a bit more organiztion would expedite this process somewhat.
I'd like to add a short mention of the cruise director, Savannah. She was a hoot, nothing else describes her. It's almost as if she was having fun, and you were welcome to join in, but she was going to enjoy herself regardless. An extremely outgoing personality, and though we interacted with her only briefly (a huge smile. a friendly and sincere greeting), I couldn't help but be impressed by her. Her dancing on the dock in some outrageous outfits waiting to prevent possible pier runners, her overall attitude, she's a keeper Carnival, in the sense of a John Heald. Don't let this one get away!
In closing, we had a good time, ate too much, drank too much, which is normal for us on a 7 day cruise (our consumption of both tends to taper off somewhat on longer cruises) and would recommend it to others, with reservations. We encountered several couples our age who cruise nothing else, and have let one bad experience on another line define their overall impression of that line. As well those who've cruised one line exclusively and won't consider an alternative (Princess passenger loyalty comes to mind here). I offer opinions based on experience with numerous cruise lines, and feeling that I gave each of them their "best shot" at meeting and/or exceeding my expectations. That being said, Carnival met expectations of being a bit too "brassy" for my tastes (my 1st cruise was on Carnival in 1988, so I credit them for my cruise addiction) though younger people may find it right up their alley. We enjoyed another peregrination across the sea, visiting ports we've seen numerous times before, my reason for excluding them from this review, as we noticed nothing different at our 3 ports of call. My favorite of the 3 stops didn't include an excursion, though we did exsursions at the other two. In Cozumel (having been many many times) we found a bar with free wifi, checked our email, and socialized with one lady from our ship, and others from other ships in port at the same time, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Cruznuts
