Carnival Vista Cruise Reviews - Reviews

As another reviewer said, the Vista has no wow factor. The lobby is boring, the Liquid Lounge is way to small and so is the Limelight Lounge. But there are still lots of positives. Chris, the CD was amazing. The food was good in the buffet, the MDR and Guy's Burgers were great. Loved the comfortable outdoor furniture on the 11th deck, above the pool. Always plenty of empty seats on our Oct. 14 cruise. Ocean suite cabin had less storage than on the Breeze and a noticeably smaller balcony but big room and great bathroom. Loved the IMAX theater. Got to see First Man on our first sea day. Not in love with the Vista but still love cruising!

This was my first cruise, not counting the one I went on when I was 7. Overall, it was a fantastic experience! Honestly, I was just thrilled to not do dishes or laundry or take care of my children (4, all 5 and under)... my requirements for a good, relaxing time were pretty low... my husband and I are low-maintenance. We mainly spent our time onboard reading on our balcony or reading somewhere else outside, usually outside the Library Bar. Food and Dining We went with the anytime dining, which worked out just fine. There was only one night that had a long line to get a table, the only night we ate before 8pm. The Horizon Dining Hall was beautiful and the staff was fantastic. I usually stuck with the chicken and steak, which was offered almost every night. The pork loin on the last night was extremely delicious and very spicy! The Lido Marketplace was okay. The layout was very awkward and confusing. I only stopped in a couple times because I found the food in the main dining hall much better. Guy’s Burgers was tasty, wish I went more than the one time! In the first 36 hours, my husband and I ate at the Pizzeria 4 times! The guy behind the counter was always the same guy... not sure if he ever sleeps! We went to the pasta bar the last day for lunch. They definitely give you a lot to eat and it was all delicious. The RedFrog Pub and Brewery was also a wonderful spot with comfortable outside table swings. Cabin/Stateroom We upgraded to a balcony, room 9456. It was two twins pushed together to make a king and also had a drop down bed if needed (we didn’t). It was very spacious. The balcony, where we spent a lot of time, had two chairs and a little side table. It also had an overhead light so you can read outside at night. My only issue was the smoking by the people on the balcony next to us, which traveled with the wind to our balcony... but that’s not Carnival Vista’s fault... they weren’t supposed to smoke on their balconies. The inside reminded me of a hotel room. It had the basics. The 3 closets were huge and had a lot of hangers, way more than we needed. The safe was big enough to hold a regular sized iPad and more. We packed more than enough stuff for a 7-day cruise and had plenty of storage space so everything was put away and not cluttering up the room. I do wish the bathroom showers had one more corner shelf though... for those of us who like to bring our own little shampoos and whatnot. Service and staff The cleaning staff was fantastic. He gave us a choice of when we wanted him to come around, morning or evening. Every evening, while we were out to dinner, he’d fix up our room and leave a towel animal. Whenever we saw him or any other staff member in the stateroom corridor, they greeted us and made sure we had everything we needed. It rained a few times and the staff was working their butts off trying to keep the outside area floors as dry as possible as soon as the rains stopped. Our captain was wonderful as well. Because of wind and choppy seas, he was unable to dock in Roatan, but he was apologetic and was given permission to bring us back to Cozumel instead. Entertainment Chris, The Flying Scotsman, was our cruise director. He is definitely outgoing and knows how to work a crowd. Everyone seemed to be having a good time during his events. Honestly, though, I stayed away from most of the entertainment because I’m not a loud or crowd person. I preferred the quieter entertainment. We didn’t go to any of the scheduled entertainment like the comedy shows. We did pass by some musicians in the ocean plaza who were amazing every passing! The Vista lobby seemed to have a ton of entertainment which could get incredibly loud... so tried to stay clear of that section when it wasn’t just musicians playing. Children’s Programs Our kids didn’t go with us this time so can’t really say much about the kids programs. The splash pad area seemed real fun though! Onboard Activities I was super excited to see that this cruise ship had a Library Bar! However, the bar was never open, as far as I could tell, and the art gallery took over the inside area every day at 3 PM! And seeing as how I wanted to spend most of the cruise in a quiet-ish place drinking and reading there, that was a HUGE disappointment. Thankfully the lounge chairs right outside the Library Bar were not blocked off. However, it would have been nice to have more quiet inside areas for inclement weather. The Serenity deck was also a great place for quiet and reading. Their bar was open until 6 and had some tasty frozen drinks, the mango swirl was especially good. If I’m ever able to take another Vista cruise, I’d also like to go to the Piano Bar, which seemed pretty relaxing and cozy inside. Ship Quality I don’t have anything to compare it to as its my first cruise. However, I thought the pools were too few and too small for the amount of guests. Also the layout was a bit awkward, especially the lido deck. However, the rooms were pretty modern with usb outlets. Everything was also kept clean and organized. Debarkation When there are so many guests on a ship that all need to get off in a few hours, I expected things to move slowly, which they did. We chose to carry our own bags off. The only issue we had was getting the baseball bat souvenirs they confiscated when we boarded in Cozumel. We were told we’d get them our last evening. Nope. We called around 11pm and were told we’d get them 7:30am. Nope. After talking to a couple people, our stateroom steward got in touch with someone and we finally got them delivered to our room at 8:30am, the moment we had to be out of our room. From there, we hung out by the elevators until our deck was called. Then came the long line to go though customs, but everything was very organized so it went as quickly as it could go with that many people. Overall, it was a great time and I’d love to sail Carnival Vista again!

October 2018 was our 2nd time on Vista. The 1st time was Nov 2016 out of NY. The first time was so much to see, i didnt get a chance to explore everything. This time we booked Havana. The Havana area was everything. The rooms were smaller, but the patios were worth it. We were hardly ever in the room. The patio was a nice touch, and it was actually funny sitting on the patio conversating and 2 patios down some one joins your conversation. I got to know people better in Havana than in my own neighboorhood back home. I loved it !!!! "What happens on the boat, stays on the boat" 🤣😂🤣😂. I love the location we had quick access to everything. At least almost all my favs are on 5 or on Aft. I love outdoor spaces all around 5 and 11. Between these spaces and Havana, i didnt even visist Serenity this trip. The Chef's Table is amazing and they really made the space awesome, the entire presentation is more entertaining than ever. The CD was everything ,man he can sing and dance. MJ night was the Best !!!! We had Matt in NY, but Lawd that Scotsman is something else. I didnt see any shows in Liquid Lounge, so cant comment there. Seafood Shack, ask for grilled shrimp...yummy !!! They will fry the oysters if you ask nicely. JIji's was amazing again, book at least 1 dinner here...so good. The fishbowls at happy hour in the Red Frog Pub, will allow for many funny stories...lol All the ports I have been to numerous times, so nothing to comment on. Honestly as long as my family is together, I feel blessed. We had another great H4 adventure on Carnival Vista.

Overall a good ship. So much to see and do on this ship it would be hard to explore the entire ship. The IMAX is a must do at least once. The food and service was great. My only takeaway from this ship is there are not nearly enough elevators for the amount of people this ship holds. By the second day I just felt like if I was lucky enough to catch an elevator that wasn't already full I would get in it, even if it stopped at every floor on the way up or down.

Had a great time. If it wasn't for BED BUGS!! NED MORE CLEANING PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT

It was a fun ship, but not as great as others I’ve been on! The staff was all great, but I was disappointed in the layout/show area. And getting off of it was the worst experience, but other than that it was okay!

My wife and I had a wonderful time on our cruise. Carnival seems to go out of their way to take care of you. Everything from the room steward to the waite staff were very friendly and very helpful to meet our needs. One thing that really stuck out to me was the way the enforced priority disembarkation. On other ships that I have been on if you showed up in the dining room they would let you cut in front of the priority passengers. Not with this crew... Not only did they not let them off they made them leave the dining area. I loved it... Great Ship Great Crew Great Time...

We had fun on our first cruise. Definitely think we'd do it again in the future. Next time I won't try and fit it all activities and will definitely Google info on ports so I'll now how to get off at the different places.

This was my 5th Carnival cruise & my least favorite. The food was okay, but cruise food is usually exceptional. We paid everything possible before the cruise, but ended up spending $150 on food at Seafood Shack & RedFrog Pub. The food in those places were exceptional. Great food used to be included in the price. 😞

I loved the food service cabin the excursion's people were great

Over-all we had a wonderful time! Can't wait to go again

Was a very fun vacation and much needed . They show movies on the Lido deck at they also have an IMAX theater with current movies that are showing in theaters but you have to pay extra for it I did not go to the steakhouse because it was too expensive if you want to steak order it from a dining room that way you don’t have to pay $35 just to eat a steak. We were not able to do the sky ride attraction I guess that was too windy because of the hurricane that was in the golf however they will let you do it when you are in Port. Very nice staff very professional and great cruise director keep up the good work

Ship is fine, I prefer the old layout however. The only complaint, the elevators on this ship are trash. We ended up taking the stairs literally everytime.

I loved cruising on the Vista! Definitely never ran out of something to do. I'm actually booked to go again since I ran out of time to do everything on my cruise "bucket list".

Cruise was enjoyable. Rented a dune buggy in Cozumel and toured the island. Was a great change of pace. Loved the zoo in Montego Bay.

Do not get room 2398 unless you do not want to sleet from 3 to 6 am, kitchen noise ridiculous, I understand they have to work but they sounded like the ceiling was going to collapse. I voice my concerns to guest services and noise was good for one night then back at it. I can’t believe a suite would have this problem.

See my comments above..............................................

Overall we had a great time but we enjoyed the Freedom more. We enjoyed the food and space on the Freedom and the activities and ports on the Vista.

Bigger is not better. Terrible service. No food options. Boring ship in design and activities.

I love Carnival. Our trip delivered all of our favorites! We had a great time but have figured we like the smaller ship feel better. There was too many people we rarely could get an elevator. Seemed like they were short staffed and a lot of staff seemed exhausted not the normal happy carnival staff I’m use to! We loved all the activities waterworks, sports area, the thrill theater was awesome and the IMAX theater. My time dining you have to check in on deck 5 which we did not mind but did not know that until we went to guest services to ask since our card said dinner was at the java cafe. Most of the time getting our food took 40-45 min in between appetizers to main course to the desert. Frequently the staff forgot our drinks at dinner. The steakhouse was amazing I highly recommend it!! The ship layout was odd however the ship was beautiful I really liked the updated colors. The casino has no ventilation and the smoke was too much most of the time. Lots of stairs and walking! I didn’t mind I lost weight on the ship! We changed off the Vista next summer to the Freedom. We might try the Vista again later not sure!