Vista Reviews Are Scaring Me

I was one the last half of pirate4me2's B2B. Only time I went to the Liquid Lounge was for the mob scene called the Platinum/Diamond Party and 45 seconds outside the door for the rock show one evening. We had a spa inside. Cabin was fine but spa is small. We'd been better with a regular balcony (more closet space) and just using the gym (no T pool and you get more steam out of cabin shower than the steam rooms. There were lines at the coffee bar before 7AM (missed a Serneity clamshell by 30 seconds because the guy was late opening one morning but didn't spoil the day). But we loved the Alchemy, the Serenity deck, the covered deck above the Lido, Steak House, Cucina, JiJis, Bonsai Sushi, seated dining after night #1, sky ride-knowing there would be a wait, so just wait, etc.

The way to handle dealing with negative review (see above;p) is to be forewarned and avoid or be prepared to expect the worst and experience something better.

We were on Vista last week and have to say that Bigger is not always better. The ship does have some nice features, but overall I enjoyed Valor more last November. We did have a good cruise, but I would think twice before booking this class of ship again.

Good:

• Food quality (really liked Guy's Burgers and Pig & Anchor)
  
• Imax Theater & Pool Deck theater
  
• Staff was very friendly,
  
• Room was very modern and nice,
  
• The slides (couldn't use them as I had knee surgery 3 weeks prior to sailing),
  
• Havana area (we did not stay there, but saw quite a bit of it during the CC cabin crawl),
  
• The Family Harbor,
  
• Youth activities,
  
• The adult sun deck.
  

OK:

• Plenty of places to sit in the buffet and Lido deck (although very few close to the pools),
  
• Skyride (although it was closed quite a bit)
  

Not so Good:

• Lines at Guy's Burgers and Pig and Anchor (20-30 minutes),
  
• My Time dining- sign in was on deck 5, you then had to go down to level 3 to eat (and a couple of nights we waited on deck 5 for quite a while to be sent down to our table),
  
• Liquid Lounge- horrible sight lines and as a group the singers were not good,
  
• Buffet area- more lines (one of us would hold a table and it would take 10-15 minutes for the others to get back with their food),
  
• Level 3 dining area- the large tables were all stationary (I think all of them were) and our group of 19 could not be sat close enough together
  
• Inconsistent service in the MDR. I ordered Prime Rib and a Lobster Tail and never got the Lobster Tail. Others in the group got the extra Lobster(s). They also tried to charge us a corkage fee one night for opening the wine we had taken on board with us. No mention of this for the first 4 nights.
  
• The interior public walk areas seemed narrow and had no flow (up & down, over & back)
  
• Connecting balconies- We had connecting rooms and our connector opened up towards the ocean (good). We had four cabins in a row and the other 2 opened towards the rooms and one of them blocked the balcony door (not good).
  

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think I am just being paranoid. I have been on 30+ cruises but for some reason I am taking this one too seriously???? We always enjoy ourselves. After all, we are not at work! Havana's are all booked up so I will just have to slum. lol.

Bad parenting is Carnival's fault.....now that is a new one.

 

 

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You tripped over the bad parenting comment and missed the follow on explanation. " (yes, that *is* Carnival's fault, since they target that demographic) "

Loved the Vista but hated the Liquid Lounge concept. Not only was there no place to put your drinks but so few seats for the shows. Unless you show up an hour early, you can't get a seat.

An excellent positive: On the first night I asked my head waiter if we'd have Creme Brûlée that week. He brought me one every night!

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think I am just being paranoid. I have been on 30+ cruises but for some reason I am taking this one too seriously???? We always enjoy ourselves. After all, we are not at work! Havana's are all booked up so I will just have to slum. lol.

I don't know why. I'm sure you will enjoy yourself. I wouldn't let a bunch of strangers dampen my excitement. If the worst to fear is the stuff I've seen, you'll be just fine. The ship isn't dirty or unreliable or staffed with a bunch of rude employees. Take a deep breath and stop reading reviews and have a blast!

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Since you have been on over 30 cruises, you surely had a few that fell a little short of the mark for some reason. I think it is human nature (or mine anyway) to want to vent when you feel you did not get what you paid for or were treated poorly. Look at how often someone has created a new account on this site to make a complaint but you don't see the same trend for people who had a good experience. It sounds like this new ship will be almost like being on a different cruise line. Glad you are going to go with an open mind and hope you are able to post about your wonderful time when you return.

You tripped over the bad parenting comment and missed the follow on explanation. " (yes, that *is* Carnival's fault, since they target that demographic) "

Oh I read it, but my comment still stands. I could have questioned that part as well....

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Sailed Vista in February. Probably wont sail her again. Not much positive, I did enjoy the skyride and the Kelidescope slide ... but other than that ... most was subpar.

Atrium was cramped and felt closed in. Main show theater was horrible. Removable chairs. . . no place to set a drink so peoples drink were spilling drinks left and right. Also it's just too small anyway, not enough seats and there are these pillars that block off sight lines. Comedy club also too small, as usual. Bad bathroom placement, sometimes you had to go up a deck. Lido felt cramped. Basically the whole ship felt cramped ... and several times when I remarked to people about it, I was told, "Oh, that's cause they had to put the IMAX in the center of the ship." ....I mean, really. Who decided to even INSTALL a movie theater on a cruise ship, anyway. Did I spend all that money on a Caribbean cruise to spend 2 hours watching a movie INSIDE? I'll go to the movies at home, thank you very much.

I think they only way I would ever do Vista again would be a Havana Cabana ... however they cost more than suites on other ships ... so no thank you.

I too was concerned about the reviews prior to sailing the Vista in Feb, but my experience was very positive. I loved the Vista.

Yes the Liquid Lounge seating is designed poorly, but we found that the stools at the very back of the theater had some pretty good site lines and those spots did not fill up very fast. I will say that the entertainment was the best I have experienced with Carnival.

We had ATD and did not experience long waits to get a table or receive our food, although we did not go every night.

Most on here have probably figured this out already but I have found that with a little preplanning a lot of the "long lines" issues can be greatly reduced.

Enjoy your cruise!