familycruise41

Our family of 5 (kids ages 15, 12, 6) were on Vista last week in room 2467 which was an exterior room with a window (no balcony). We were pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out, as we'd been debating the extra cost of two adjoining rooms instead. The lounge was great as extended living space for the kids to hang out while we were getting ready or just needed more elbow room. It was never crowded, and that was NYE week. When the 6 year old got hungry at random times it was so nice to have that food there rather than having to go all the way to Lido. If I could change one thing, I really wish they could have a toilet in the second bathroom, but otherwise it worked great.

We chose to not pay more for a balcony, since the balconies are so small we figured it best to go hang out at some deck space rather than stack kids on top of each other. When my husband and I cruise again later this year (on another line) we are splurging on a balcony. But with kids, we didn't miss it.

Also -- no noise issues whatsoever from the galley above. We did have a good bit of engine vibration from down below, but nothing that kept anyone from sleeping. It wasn't even really noise -- just the feeling of vibration at times.

I was on Vista last week and had the Value plan. It was totally sufficient for my needs. Was it as fast as when I'm at home? No, but I was able to surf the web and visit social media sites like FB with no problem. I uploaded 10 pics at a time quickly as well. I was unable to watch any videos, whether on FB or elsewhere, but for regular reading/browsing/uploading it was fine. I was able to upload a few short videos as well to our iPhone sharing thing that family gets to see. They viewed the videos just fine; I just couldn't watch any of theirs at sea. Email and texting -- no problem either. Basically if you are ok with no video, value level is sufficient in my opinion.

Thanks, I will go to the ports board. We are just meeting the friends for dinner -- doing most of the Houston touristy stuff on our own. They are a childless couple and I don't think can fit all 5 of us and our luggage in their vehicle, so no rides from them.

Our family of 5 will be flying into Houston 2 nights before boarding the Vista in Galveston. We will be spending the day before in downtown Houston with friends and at NASA. What is the best bet (economically, but also practically) for getting from Houston to the ship and then back for our return flight? We would normally Uber but that seems to add up for 5 ppl, especially adding in trips within Houston prior to the cruise. My husband is telling me it's cheaper to rent a car for the duration, pay to park it at the port for the cruise, and have it to drive back than it is to deal with one-way rentals or some combo of Uber. Any thoughts?

We will be on the Vista the week of New Years (2018-2019). What can we expect the night of NYE? Is it an elegant night? What do we need to pack for clothes -- how fancy? First time cruising in 19 years...

Thanks in advance for all your input on this. I've asked a couple related questions already and am very appreciative of the help of this message board!

We recently booked the Carnival Vista for our family of 5. I am somewhat overwhelmed with the selection of excursions at each port, and even more so when I briefly was googling some options outside of the Carnival system. I've read mixed reviews of the Carnival-supported excursions, in both price and quality. So what's our best bet here? Where is the best place to book these excursions? One possible limiting factor is our youngest child is 6 so he can't participate on all of them. My husband did book a Scuba excursion (through Carnival) but we do want to do a couple others as a family. If you book outside of Carnival, what are the best websites I should be looking at?

Just the info I was looking for; thank you all!

Very helpful. Thank you both!

We just booked a cruise for the family at the end of December on Carnival. I noticed that online check-in and youth program registration are not open until Oct 1. Is this like Southwest Airlines where it's to your advantage to check in at the earliest possible time when they open it? Or should I just log on and take care of it any time beginning on that date?

We tried to buy FTTF but it says it is sold out... not sure where that leaves us regarding the urgency of checking in at a certain time (or not). How does the staggered embarkment time work? Do we pick our slot?

Also, if someone can give me an idea of what info/documents I need to have handy for that check in (passports?) that would be great.

Last time we cruised, it was sans kids on honeymoon in 1999 so things seem very different now :)

Our family of 5 will be sailing on the Western Carribbean route of the Carnival Vista this December. Which port has the best family-friendly beach to spend time off ship for a good beach day? (Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, or Cozumel)? Nice beach amenities, kid friendly, clean sand, and proximity to port would be our criteria.