Vista crowded?

I am excited to finally sail on the VISTA this April. I appreciate the reviews and feedback from those that have sailed on her so far. One thing missing from many of the comments are opinions about the higher passenger capacity and how the ship handles all the extra bodies.

I have seen a few comments saying that it is tough to get into the shows or comedy clubs, but other than that does the ship generally FEEL crowded?

On SUNSHINE for example, I think they did a terrible job of accommodating the extra passengers just because the layout of most of the public spaces didn't change. It just felt crowded.

Can I take it from the lack of specific comments about this that the Vista is laid out in a way that easily accommodates all these people?

The only time it felt crowded was when they had competitions at the pool. Otherwise, you would never know there were thousands of people onboard.

I'll see how crowded it is in 3 weeks. But from the reviews I've seen, it was less crowded in the Med and on the TA and seemed more crowded that expected on the first few cruises. Probably going to depend on time of year you're cruising. And for events on board, depending upon when they are scheduled.

Any Carnival ship I've ever been on with a comedy club , the club has always been SRO at any show you went to, family or adult. That's a venue space problem for Carnival. Move it to a larger room and you tend to lose the "small club" flavor Carnival wants to push. Add a third set of shows and they start too early. Add a third comedian and you triple the problem. Many of the production shows do get crowded for the first shows as these tend to attract the end of early seated dining and the preferred dining times of a lot of your-time-diners. The latter gets crowded on elegant nights and during that 6-7P hour when a lot of people want to eat dinner.

It did not seem too crowded except for the two venues you've mentioned. Whoever planned those rooms must use a different type of math!

We felt it was really crowded during boarding, on the Serenity/Pool Decks & in the show rooms. We eat at off peak times to avoid the larger crowds then. Whatever you wish to do, just get there early & have a great cruise.

I am excited to finally sail on the VISTA this April. I appreciate the reviews and feedback from those that have sailed on her so far. One thing missing from many of the comments are opinions about the higher passenger capacity and how the ship handles all the extra bodies.

 

 

 

I have seen a few comments saying that it is tough to get into the shows or comedy clubs, but other than that does the ship generally FEEL crowded?

 

 

 

On SUNSHINE for example, I think they did a terrible job of accommodating the extra passengers just because the layout of most of the public spaces didn't change. It just felt crowded.

 

 

 

Can I take it from the lack of specific comments about this that the Vista is laid out in a way that easily accommodates all these people?

Which sailing are you on?

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I am excited to finally sail on the VISTA this April. I appreciate the reviews and feedback from those that have sailed on her so far. One thing missing from many of the comments are opinions about the higher passenger capacity and how the ship handles all the extra bodies.

 

I have seen a few comments saying that it is tough to get into the shows or comedy clubs, but other than that does the ship generally FEEL crowded?

 

On SUNSHINE for example, I think they did a terrible job of accommodating the extra passengers just because the layout of most of the public spaces didn't change. It just felt crowded.

 

Can I take it from the lack of specific comments about this that the Vista is laid out in a way that easily accommodates all these people?

We sailed Vista Transatlantic in October. I felt like we were always waiting in lines.

The Punchliner lines often started more than half an hour before each show time. Though the venue did hold a lot of people, there were many seats with huge support poles in front of them that blocked the stage.

Liquid Lounge was designed so poorly, In order to save space, or make space for other venues, it was the main show lounge by day and the night club at night. The seats were all chairs that were moved to make a dance floor. Many had low backs and were not very comfortable. Hence, there were rows where people moved their chairs back against the row of chairs behind them, making them inaccessible.

Serenity was always so crowded. It was difficult to find seating after 8:00 am. The salad bar was a wonderful addition. But there was often only one crew member working so it took me more than half an hour to get a salad.

The Piano Bar was one of the smallest we've ever seen. Again, a giant support pole sat right in front of the piano, making for a lot of seats with no view.

We chose to eat at the buffet every morning and afternoon and went at off times. No matter, there were always lines.

Though we enjoyed our cruise very much, Vista would have to have a phenomenal itinerary for us to ever book her again.

Just off the Vista (December 17-24) and we were at full capacity, which included 900+ kids. The day we embarked, walking around the ship that first evening the ship felt super crowded to me, but by the second day it did appear that the people had spread out more. The Anytime dining was a disaster for those wishing to eat between 6:30-7:30 (and with all the kids I feel most families were trying to eat around then). Other areas were hit or miss. JiJi's is where they had the Mongolian Wok each day, and people would start lining up at 11:30 (It opened at 12:00). By 12:15 it would be a 45-minute to an hour wait (It closed at 2:30) and by 1:00 they were not even giving out pagers for those willing to wait!

Just off today and we felt it was crowded. My kids commented that it was just like the breeze but with more people. This was our 7th carnival cruise in 6 years and probably among our least favorite. My boys like to get pizza and the wait was ridiculous most of the time. For pizza...really? And don't get me started on the skyride. Not well planned and horribly executed. We went with an extended family group of 28 and I think only maybe 7-8 people actually did it due to the extreme wait and limited open times. The whole ship seemed understaffed to me. The only bright spot was Matt and he always makes the cruise a good one. We love Matt but it was the first time and last time on the vista for us.

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To me, it didn't seem overly crowded while just walking around the ship or hanging at most venues...but the elevators were a mess. I didn't attempt to do the skyride...but my friend waited & waited and then gave up.

We did the med and TA in October. In the med we were ashore every day and crowding didn't seem to be a problem but that's probably because everyone was wore out and in bed early.

The TA was a different matter. the weather got cool and everyone was pretty much inside. There is very little seating inside compared to what we're used to on most Carnival ships and everything got and stayed crowded. Long lines for the comedy club (never made it in), theater was always full, trying to go to dinner in the 6:30 - 7:15 slot was always delayed.

The lido buffet was the exception, you could always find a table.

Overall we were totally underwhelmed with Carnival's latest addition. I had talked to the PVP about booking the Horizon but I think we're going to pass. There are much better designed ships sailing.

Which sailing are you on?

 

 

 

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April 8

April 8

Come on over to the roll call!

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The only time it felt crowded was when they had competitions at the pool. Otherwise, you would never know there were thousands of people onboard.

This is how I felt about the Allure of the Seas. With 6,000+ on board, the only time I experienced crowds were embarkation and the promenade parade. Lots of quiet places in all the ships I've been on.

Just off today and we felt it was crowded. My kids commented that it was just like the breeze but with more people. This was our 7th carnival cruise in 6 years and probably among our least favorite. My boys like to get pizza and the wait was ridiculous most of the time. For pizza...really? And don't get me started on the skyride. Not well planned and horribly executed. We went with an extended family group of 28 and I think only maybe 7-8 people actually did it due to the extreme wait and limited open times. The whole ship seemed understaffed to me. The only bright spot was Matt and he always makes the cruise a good one. We love Matt but it was the first time and last time on the vista for us.

 

 

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I honestly don't want to get you going, but what about Skyride is horribly executed... (There are two tracks....not sure what else they could do). What time did you go for Pizza that had a horrible wait? I guess the second question is what would have been acceptable. Everybody has favs and dislikes, which is fine, just had to ask.

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June in the med wasn't crowded at all but unfortunately it's not in Europe anymore! I can definitely see the shows and comedy club being super crowded. As far as the pool decks, honestly always find them pretty full regardless of ship. I really liked the vista!!

I am excited to finally sail on the VISTA this April. I appreciate the reviews and feedback from those that have sailed on her so far. One thing missing from many of the comments are opinions about the higher passenger capacity and how the ship handles all the extra bodies.

 

I have seen a few comments saying that it is tough to get into the shows or comedy clubs, but other than that does the ship generally FEEL crowded?

 

On SUNSHINE for example, I think they did a terrible job of accommodating the extra passengers just because the layout of most of the public spaces didn't change. It just felt crowded.

 

Can I take it from the lack of specific comments about this that the Vista is laid out in a way that easily accommodates all these people?

Plenty of comments on this .

I honestly don't want to get you going, but what about Skyride is horribly executed... (There are two tracks....not sure what else they could do). What time did you go for Pizza that had a horrible wait? I guess the second question is what would have been acceptable. Everybody has favs and dislikes, which is fine, just had to ask.

 

 

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Specifically they should have had at least 3 people running the skyride. 1 to get people harnessed in, and 2 to load/unload. They only had 2 total so they would hand the harnesses down to people in line to put on themselves. As a result when people get up on the platform the tech loading people in has to check and adjust the harnesses. I estimate it took him an extra 30-60 seconds per person to do this. When the average number of people in line is 50 that could save 30-45 mins. Several times while I was in line all 4 cars were in the loading station which should never happen. They should either properly staff it or go to a time slot reservation system.

My other issue with the skyride is the limited hours. For instance it closed at 2 the day we were in Grand Turk from 12-7. A couple people in my group got back on the ship to do it only to find it was closed. They also regularly closed the line an hour+ before posted hours. On the last day a few people who didn't ride it all cruise due to the long lines tried to ride. Posted hours were until 430 and so they went at 330 only to find they had shut down the line. If the line is going to be consistently 1.5-2 hours, they should post an "in line by" deadline. Otherwise how are people supposed to guess when they will shut it down?

In my opinion a ride with such limited capacity wasn't the best choice to put on a ship of 4800 people. If it was executed better then it might have been ok. Waiting 30-40 mins seems like it should be the goal. I was really looking forward to riding it several times with my kids, but only rode it once since I wasn't willing to spend another 2 hours of my vacation in line.

As for the pizza I never got any. However it's one of my boys favorite meals since we don't eat much pizza at home and they look forward to it. As I said this was our 7th carnival cruise in 6 years and they both said the line for pizza was consistently way too long. Much longer than any other ship we have been on. It seems like the pizza oven making capacity was the same as other smaller ships and that just seems odd to me.

I guess we just had higher hopes for a brand new ship and all 5 in my family said they would rather go on a different ship next time.

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Just off Vista. I did not notice a difference from other cruises in regards to crowding. I was worried about that after other reviews. We had 6 adults so there were times a few would grab seats a few minutes before others in comedy club or show rooms but always managed to find a spot. We are not big into saving seats like others are. We just made sure we were all ready to attend when first of our group entered the venue.

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We were on the 12/24 sailing, and I actually just commented to my DH that it did not feel crowded at all, especially for a high holiday/school vacation travel time period.

Specifically they should have had at least 3 people running the skyride. 1 to get people harnessed in, and 2 to load/unload. They only had 2 total so they would hand the harnesses down to people in line to put on themselves. As a result when people get up on the platform the tech loading people in has to check and adjust the harnesses. I estimate it took him an extra 30-60 seconds per person to do this. When the average number of people in line is 50 that could save 30-45 mins. Several times while I was in line all 4 cars were in the loading station which should never happen. They should either properly staff it or go to a time slot reservation system.

 

My other issue with the skyride is the limited hours. For instance it closed at 2 the day we were in Grand Turk from 12-7. A couple people in my group got back on the ship to do it only to find it was closed. They also regularly closed the line an hour+ before posted hours. On the last day a few people who didn't ride it all cruise due to the long lines tried to ride. Posted hours were until 430 and so they went at 330 only to find they had shut down the line. If the line is going to be consistently 1.5-2 hours, they should post an "in line by" deadline. Otherwise how are people supposed to guess when they will shut it down?

 

In my opinion a ride with such limited capacity wasn't the best choice to put on a ship of 4800 people. If it was executed better then it might have been ok. Waiting 30-40 mins seems like it should be the goal. I was really looking forward to riding it several times with my kids, but only rode it once since I wasn't willing to spend another 2 hours of my vacation in line.

 

As for the pizza I never got any. However it's one of my boys favorite meals since we don't eat much pizza at home and they look forward to it. As I said this was our 7th carnival cruise in 6 years and they both said the line for pizza was consistently way too long. Much longer than any other ship we have been on. It seems like the pizza oven making capacity was the same as other smaller ships and that just seems odd to me.

 

I guess we just had higher hopes for a brand new ship and all 5 in my family said they would rather go on a different ship next time.

 

 

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Fair enough, asked and answered.

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We were on the 12/24 sailing, and I actually just commented to my DH that it did not feel crowded at all, especially for a high holiday/school vacation travel time period.

We were also on the 24th sailing, at times yes it was very crowded in certain locations.

We were on the 12/17-12/24 sailing, and it did not feel crowded in most places to us. We were always able to find a spot to sit near a pool, we didn't have any issues with Anytime Dining for our family of 4, and only had to wait in minimal lines for the buffet and pizza. Lunch at Mongolian Wok and Kids Club pickup were the longest waits by far.

In terms of SkyRide and the ropes course, we did both while in port. During our St. Martin stop, we stayed on board until 11 am, and then rode the SkyRide multiple times when it first opened. We then hit the island for a few hours. We did the ropes course after we got back from San Juan but before sailaway.

Just off 12/24 sailing. The only time I felt crowded was the mess for tender tickets. Other than that, we noticed a real improvement in use of public spaces.

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Just off 12/24 sailing. The only time I felt crowded was the mess for tender tickets. Other than that, we noticed a real improvement in use of public spaces.

 

 

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Agree, it did not feel crowded to us at all.

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