Indytraveler83

Not to discount anyone's experiences, but I feel like this comes up a lot with various ships. A couple of thoughts: 1) How the temperature feels can be relative. If an area is 75 degrees, and you just came in front sitting in the sun, it may feel downright cold. On the other hand, if you just came back from a nap in your interior cabin with the AC on full blast, it might feel rather muggy. 2) Heat outside, doors and windows can play a huge role in things as previously mentioned. If a line of people move through a doorway, and hot air blasts in, it's going to take time before that area cools. If this happens a lot in a high traffic area, they may struggle to cool it. While Horizon's sister ships are similar, they all have their own floorplan tweaks. There may be a door that's always opening on Horizon, that isn't on Vista. 3) If there is a problem, it may not be the AC. A failing window seal, or even an automated door that's getting stuck open or leaking excessive air can cause issues. A large window that doesn't properly reduce the sun's heat can also cause part of the ship to bake. 4) Where is the Horizon when this happens? She's been running a Southern Caribbean route that can be absolutely scorching in the summer. Little things or open doors may play a much bigger factor there then on ships further north. Again, not trying to discount anyone's experiences here. But it's entirely possible that the AC is functioning perfect and other factors, possibly not fully in Carnival's control could be at play.

Hmm, a few interesting bits in this news. 1) The physical paper door hangers don't mean much (It's only the hangers that are changing, not the room service breakfast itself). I'm just surprised that they are having you call to place an order, rather than doing it on the app, as most dining interaction has shifted that way. We have noticed Carnival slowly shifting away from the free room service options, and wouldn't be surprised if that continues. However, they also quietly shifted dining room breakfast hours so that you can get a fairly early breakfast there every day. 2) While I'm not too worried about pizza not being 24 hours, it does seem extra crazy to have only a single place open late. Burdening the pizza folks with more menu items is going to make wait times worse unless they change the staffing there. This seems like the ideal time to offer grab and go options somewhere else. 3) I don't mind them narrowing the hours of some places in their least busy times. But it does seem like they are now funneling all passengers to the buffet for lunch (especially on older ships with limited dining options). Seems like these changes may not dramatically affect the extensive dining options on the newest ship classes, but it could create some crazy crowds on the older ships.

Just wanted to point out that straws weren't the only things eliminated. They also eliminated most/all of the single use food item packaging (such as foil wrapped butter squares or packets of ketchup), the drink decorations like umbrellas, and probably much more that I can't remember. Straws remain a hot button topic because it is likely the only item on the list that anyone really misses.

Our first cruise was on the Elation pre 2.0 upgrades. I remember the short water slide going directly into the pool, and I remember the weird upper aft pool that was basically just a large steel tub that no one wanted to go in. There was no Guys Burgers or Blue Iguana Tacos, and the bars were generic with no real branding. The pizza place was where Blue Iguana, and generic burgers were served where Guys is. I think the funniest thing was a Funship Freddie mascot walking around the ship accidentally scaring the snot out of unsuspecting passengers!

So a few of my favorites off the MDR menu: The grilled salmon and Caeser salad is always a good combo. Lasagna Bolognese was very good, the fried chicken is good and the shrimp cocktails are always tasty (usually order two). For desert we've liked this version of the baked Alaska far more than the last, and the key lime mousse is a very good sleeper selection as well. We've learned to stay away from the "From the grill - grilled chicken breast" as it's usually a dry, dense piece of chicken that feels like it was pulled from a TV dinner.

I wonder if this ship will also get branded "Costa by Carnival" instead of a full Carnival revamp?

I think I sort of agree. Carnival is attempting to reduce operating costs. No sense in maintaining two separate identities from top to bottom when the customer only really cares about the ship's identity. Costa could easily go on appearing exactly as it it, but all the shore side operations be moved to Carnival. On the plus side, if they fully integrate the loyalty programs from both brands, it would likely help keep Carnival cruisers from going to MSC if/when they select European cruises. (And European cruisers would have a reason to chose Carnival for their North American cruises.). Feels like a win/win for the consumer and the company if they head that direction.

Thinking about the fleet overall: By the end of this year, Carnival will have retired 6 Fantasy class ships since 2020. By the end of 2024 they will have been replaced by: 3 Excell class ships 3 Costa transfers (2 Vista class, 1 Spirit class-ish). They also completed the Carnival Radiance conversion. So if they don't scrap anymore ships, they'll find themselves with the same number of hulls in the Carnival fleet, but with a ton more berths and a lot newer as well. Not too bad of an overhaul in this financial environment.

My (totally uniformed) opinion would be no, they'll leave it and just do basic scheduled maintenance. This feels like a test run... Seeing if the ships will do well here as is, yet preserving their state in case Carnival wants to put them back into another market. Edit: Just looked at photos, these ships are GORGEOUS.

Wow... So Carnival is adding 2 Vista class ships to North America without even needing to refurb then? 1)Makes me wonder if Carnival Corp is working toward making Carnival and Costa operate under the same umbrella, instead of as two separate brands? This is 3 Costa ships pulled from Europe and now operating under Carnival. 2) Wonder if this will impact any of the other older ships in the Carnival fleet?

Prior to the craziness with COVID, I typically found the best deals in fall, sometimes Carnival's Black Friday sales are really good too. It's not unusual for us to book 2 or more cruises during the same call on those deals.