Carnival Vista Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,043 reviews

CRUISE WAS WONDERFUL...SHIP WAS JUST OK

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Vista
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tnndcruiser
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2017
Cabin: Interior
Traveled with children

There were 12 of us from 11-72 that went on this cruise, both family and friends. Six of us flew from Atlanta to Miami and the other six from Chicago to Miami. The trip did not start out very well but it was really our fault. The six of us from Atlanta to Miami had booked our flight to Miami on American Airlines back in February. However, 2 days after we booked AA cancelled that flight completely and put us on another flight. As time got closer to going (the week before we sailed) we changed our flight to an earlier flight because of bad weather. (We should have changed it to the day before the cruise, which we usually go the day before we sail but we didn't this year. Lesson learned.) We get to the Atlanta airport a little bit later then we had planned but we still had an hour and a half before our plane left. Since we already had our boarding passes we decided to check our luggage in at the curb because the line was shorter then it was inside. We waited over 20 minutes outside to check in our luggage. When we get up to the counter we were told we would have to go inside so we went inside and stood another 30 minutes, by the time we reach the counter, we only have 40 minutes to catch our flight. However, we are told by AA that we cannot catch our flight because their policy is you have to have your bags checked in 45 minutes prior to loading. Ok, so I agree we should have planned better but it wasn't our fault that we stood in line for almost an hour waiting to check in our bags. The only thing they could do was put 4 of the 6 on the next flight and the other 2 on standby. This is what we did and all ended up working out because we all made it on the same flight and in plenty of time. When we arrived at Miami we checked in and got our boarding passes for the Ship at the airport. There are not lines. You still have to drop your luggage off at the Ship but then you are able to board without any more lines. We took Infinity Transportation to the Ship. They are a top notch transportation service and although they are not the least expensive, their vehicles are extremely nice and so are the drivers plus your party is the only ones in the vehicle. When we got to the port we dropped our luggage off and got straight on board. Since it was already 1:00 we went to our cabins. We had 3 inside cabins and 3 balcony cabins on Floor 8. All were very nice but I am glad that I didn't spend the extra money for the balcony cabin because other then the balcony and the couch, it wasn't any bigger than our inside cabin and everybody hung out in our cabin anyways. The Vista is nice but being a season cruiser we found some things that they definitely need to improve on. First, the Liquid Lounge, where the main shows take place, is very small and poorly designed. If someone sets in front of you with a hat on or big hair you can't see what is going on. There is no elevation so it's hard to see around people. The shows were good, we went to most, but they should have Broadway style shows instead of just singing and dancing. We loved Chris, our Cruise Director, but we have never been on another cruise where the Cruise Director had his own one man show. We like to play BINGO and apparently so does everybody else. Instead of playing it in the Liquid Lounge where there is more sitting they played it in the Ocean Plaza, which is ok for trivia but way too small for BINGO. My other problem with BINGO is that I understand that they need to make a profit but the last 2 days they had over 500 people each day that played at a minimum of $20 a pop and the prices were terrible. The first 2 games were for $200 and the last game was $800. They should have built the last game up all week and gave away a bigger jackpot prize to give away to whomever won.

The food was great as usual. We ate in the dining room every night except for one. Our waitress was Sanja and her helpers were DWI and Bryan. Excellent service and excellent food. For breakfast we ate in the dining room some and on the Lido deck some. Both places were excellent. For lunch we tried several different venues. Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina and Lido Buffet were our favorites. We tried Guys BBQ on a Sea Day (only time it is open is on Sea Days and it's on the 5th floor) but we didn't care for it. Being from the South we are picky about our BBQ. A couple of us tried the Pasta Bar (doesn't cost anything at lunch) but they didn't like it.

A couple of times the guys went to the IMAX and watched a couple of movies. It's not anymore expensive then the IMAX at home and they have new released movies. They saw Wonder Woman and on Thursday they saw the Mummy and it didn't even come out at home until the next day. We also rode the Sky Ride and it was fun.

Cabin Review

Interior

Cabin 4F

Our cabin was fine. It was your typical inside cabin. Our cabin stewards, Suanda and Rakesh, were amazing. We also had cabins 8448 (it is a joining cabin with 8444) and 8452. These were all inside cabins. Our other cabins were 8432, 8436 and 8438, which are all balcony cabins. They are typical balcony cabins. They opened the divider between the balconies on 8436 and 8438.

Port Reviews

Miami

We didn't do an excursion in Miami but check in for your ship at the Miami airport. It's fast and easy and then you don't have to wait in line at the Port.

Grand Turk

Part of us just got off to shop and part of us did the Island Exploration by Hummer. They said it was ok

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