Vista Nov 12-18 Review

We always gain so much great information from these boards that I wanted to share our recent experiences on the Vista.

We sailed on the Carnival Vista 6 day Caribbean cruise withstops in Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel departing Miami on Sunday,November 12, 2017. We booked this cruise20 months in advance with friends who were part of a reunion cruise group. We had cabin 5239, Havana Cabana patio. This was my 27th cruise and my husband’s12th cruise. This was our 4thCarnival cruise.

We spent 2 days pre cruise in Fort Lauderdale. We fly Southwest airlines and are comfortablespending time in the Fort Lauderdale area before heading over to Miami themorning for departure. We’ve done thejungle queen boat tour on a past trip so this time to enjoyed the hop on/hopoff Water Taxi to see all the mansions and yachts. For meals we tried to old favorites and made somenews this trip. We like Las Vegas Cuban Restaurantand it did not disappoint. We had dinnerone night at Islamorada Fish Company at Bass Pro and the food wasoutstanding. We also had a late lunch atPirate Republic Bar also stop 1A on the water taxi and had the best hamburger I’veever tasted. Also the first time we’vespent $20 per hamburger. But, that’s what happens when you don’t ask how muchthe special costs. We stayed at theQuality Inn on Stirling Road as it was over $100 a night cheaper than theHampton Inn next door. It’s anoverpriced budget hotel with dated rooms with a very nice swimming pool areaused by cruise passengers as a meeting area and breakfast overflow. We used Uber for our transportation aroundFort Lauderdale and to get from our hotel to Miami the morning of the cruise.

Embarkation was smooth… we had 11:00 – 11:30 check in time andarrived about 10:45 the lines were long but moved quickly. We had boarding group 8 and once the numberswere called we were on board and enjoying Guy’s Pig and Anchor BBQ before noon. Our room was ready at 1:30 pm so after lunchwe dropped off our carryon bags and explored the Havana area.

Due to rain the Havana area was not used as much as we wouldhave otherwise. The chair/beds were wetmost days and didn’t dry out until the end of the cruise. The area was never crowded, even when open toeveryone. We did not have noise problemsfrom the band late at night. Our friendshad a balcony cabin on deck 8 which was larger inside than our Havana cabin.

Dining… I like to eat in the restaurant while my husband would be happy at the buffet. We ate early while others from the group atelate. We had table 706 in the Horizonsrestaurant and loved the table located at the windows back of the ship. We also ate at the Steakhouse to celebrate mybirthday and the steaks were fantastic, service excellent, great meal for $35 perperson extra pay. We also enjoyed Guy’sburgers, husband’s favorite lunch spot. JiJi for lunch on the first sea day as we had BBQ the day weboarded. The BBQ was fantastic so we hadit again on the last sea day. The buffetlayout causes congestion. Lines forbreakfast would be 50+ deep every morning during peak times. We also enjoyed the “Afternoon Tea” on thefirst sea day. The chocolate cake wasoutstanding. Be sure to tell them youwill take the free tea (Lipton) because they bring around the extra pay teafirst and many folks were taking the teabags only to then discover they areextra pay.

We enjoyed the comedians. We also went to America Rocks but Flick had technical problems and they wereunable to perform the show. The singersdid fill in the timeslot but were disappointed in not seeing Flick.

Carnival Hub worked great for daily schedules, menus, etc. butthe chat system still needs some work. My husband and I have the same phone and he could not get Chat to workfrom his phone. This was a problem forover half the group we were traveling with. We also purchased the most expensive wifi package for one device andwhile it was easy to switch from device to device it was SLOW. If it’s 3X timesthan the middle priced package I’m can’t imagine it was even usable. Carnival needs to work on this!

The only shore excursion we took was in Miami as we’ve visitedthe port on previous cruises. We didshopping at the port area. In Cozumelthere were 5 or 6 ships in port that day and very crowded.

The top 10 of Miami with transportation to the airport wasfun. We had a great tour guide, unfortunately,we don’t recall his name. The bus drovethru South Beach but didn’t stop but did stopped in Little Havana and WynwoodWalls outdoor art museum. Well worth thetime and money.

We stood in line twice to ride the sky bike but the line wasalways long. So if you want to ride thesky bike do it as soon as you board on the ship the first day.

We had a great time and we would go on the Vista again.

We were on this cruise too and had a wonderful time! Glad you did too. We had a Havana Cabana and really loved it Thanks for your review!

Glad you you also had a great pre-cruise time. The $20 hamburger at Pirate Republic Bar sounds interesting!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for the review.

Glad you you also had a great pre-cruise time. The $20 hamburger at Pirate Republic Bar sounds interesting!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Seeing is believing. I have a picture which I will try to upload...

The $20 hamburger at Pirate Republic Bar

Enjoyed your review.

Keith

We were on board with you and loved the ship as well! Only managed to ride the sky ride once but it was so fun. Food was excellent, especially the steak house and we also really enjoyed Cucina Capitano! Could have done without all the rain on first two sea days :)

Thanks for the review - we have a Havana cabin booked for January. Any tips you can offer?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for the review - we have a Havana cabin booked for January. Any tips you can offer?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Try the Ocean Plaza on deck 5 for breakfast.

Watch sail away from Miami from the back of the ship. Great views.

Due to the rain we didn’t use the Havana area as much as planned.

Extra Storage under the sofa. The drawers pull out from the bottom.

Bring BBQ from Pig and Anchor, if tables are full there, to the Havana area as plenty of open tables.

Enjoyed the review.

Try the Ocean Plaza on deck 5 for breakfast.

 

Watch sail away from Miami from the back of the ship. Great views.

 

Due to the rain we didn’t use the Havana area as much as planned.

 

Extra Storage under the sofa. The drawers pull out from the bottom.

 

Bring BBQ from Pig and Anchor, if tables are full there, to the Havana area as plenty of open tables.

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You mentioned that the buffet was very busy during peak breakfast hours. Do you recall what time that was? I like the buffet, but I hate standing in lines.

Nice review, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to sailing on Vista in March.

Great review, and the same itin we did on Vista in October.

I fully agree with you about the terrible wi-fi onboard. I purchased the mid-tier "value" plan, saw it was terribly slow, and upgraded to the Premium plan...only to find that it was just as slow. I went to Guest Services and complained and they backed me down to the "value" plan with a refund of what I'd paid for the upgrade.

I've had great speed using the Value plan on other ships, so I think it must be a capacity issue They really need to work on it.

You mentioned that the buffet was very busy during peak breakfast hours. Do you recall what time that was? I like the buffet, but I hate standing in lines.

I don't recall the exact times but on sea days everyone seemed to sleep in and then go to the buffet for breakfast. On port days go as early as possible or if the lines are long try another breakfast option. The Ocean Plaza was never busy but also had very limited hours.

I don't recall the exact times but on sea days everyone seemed to sleep in and then go to the buffet for breakfast.

To avoid those lines, I always recommend the sea-day brunch in the MDR. We've never had to wait for a table and the food has been good to excellent. Steak and eggs, yumm!

On port days go as early as possible or if the lines are long try another breakfast option. The Ocean Plaza was never busy but also had very limited hours.

We found that, as usual, there was little or no line at the Blue Iguana Cantina for breakfast, and their made-to-order breakfast burritos were great.