Jim Zim's Full Review: Carnival Vista 8-Day Southern Caribbean in a Havana Suite

Another thing I thought about today was a smart move that Carnival made in the design of the Casino on Carnival Vista. They built a big circular opening in the ceiling of the casino, for the "Dreamscape" vortex thingie to pop up to the next level.

 

 

 

 

Carnival made a brilliant move and enclosed the entire area around that opening in glass. This prevents smoke from the casino from rising up to the next level of the ship.

 

I wonder if Carnival figured this out after Norwegian cruise line screwed up in the design of Norwegian Breakaway/Getaway/Escape. On those ships, there's a 3-story tall atrium in the area of the casino, and the smoke from the casino rises up that atrium like a chimney.

 

Regardless of how Carnival figured it out... they figured it out! So, kudos to them for a smart design choice.

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Another thing I thought about today was a smart move that Carnival made in the design of the Casino on Carnival Vista. They built a big circular opening in the ceiling of the casino, for the "Dreamscape" vortex thingie to pop up to the next level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carnival made a brilliant move and enclosed the entire area around that opening in glass. This prevents smoke from the casino from rising up to the next level of the ship.

Wow, I didn't realize there was glass there by the casino's "vortex." I thought it was open to air-flow.

They must keep the glass pretty clean, because I was walking by on the Promenade above and spotted my cruise-friend John at the casino bar down below...and never realized there was intervening glass there! Smart move by Carnival indeed!

The first is that it is currently the only ship in the entire world that is outfitted with a genuine IMAX movie theater! They offer first-run movies, and the prices are comparable to what it would cost to see a movie in IMAX format on land. Plus, they offer a senior citizen discount for anyone 55 years old or over!

Nooooo! I'm not ready for the senior citizen discount!;p Seriously, though, this was a great review. We sailed Vista last year on a Med cruise; since it was so port-intensive, we never got to experience a lot of what Vista has to offer. Next year we're sailing Horizon on an 8-day out of NYC with lots of time at sea, so hopefully we'll get to experience more. Thanks for sharing your photos and videos.

Thank you for such a wonderful review. Enjoyed the videos as well.

 

 

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BRAVO! I am in absolute AWE of the whole review. THANK YOU for taking me on a cruise lol. We live about 20 minutes from port of Manhattan, so completely bummed CCL is not putting any ships there for "a while." Because of this, we booked and sailed Sunshine a few weeks ago. Destiny was our lst CCL ship and we sailed her a bunch of times and wanted to see what she morphed into before she went to FL. I was not disappointed! LOVE that ship! I don't think we will ever do a Vista or Horizon. "Modern" just not for us. I like the multi story atriums. We have done a bunch of spirit class aft wraps, and those cabins and balconies are amazing. Truth be told, I'd be happy in an OV now...we did the Kuku Kunooka crazy bus whatever it is in Aruba years ago. We were there until late at night so we did the "bar hopping" tour. What a crazy and fun tour and I loved seeing those buses again! THANK YOU for a WONDERFUL journal and I hope you and Kellan have an awesome 2018 and have more to come in 2019!

Awesome review and great videos!

 

Thanks for taking the time to share all this with us.

 

Can't wait to sail 8-day Vista Southern in March!

 

Susan

After reading the first post I am looking forward to reliving my awesome time on the vista as I sit here with cruise fever and don't have one booked.

What a great review. Thank you for all the work you put into it.

 

 

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Enjoyed this review!!!

 

I do have a question about the blue iguana rum bar- those drinks are included in the cheers package correct?

 

 

 

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Thank you so much for this awesome review! I’ve enjoyed reading all your reviews and watching your YouTube videos. [emoji924][emoji41]⚓️

 

 

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Awesome review and your pics are amazing! Also special thanks for the ship horn. It's my new text notification on my iphone.

as always thoroughly enjoyed your review - and now have my sights on a new ship and a new cruise - thanks so much for your time and thoughts

Love the review! Do you happen to remember the cost of the popcorn at the IMAX? So happy there's another option besides what they serve for the movies on the Lido.

Great review glad I found it. We are sailing on the Vista Sept 2018 in a Havana Cabana cabin 5239 and haven't seen such a awesome review with such good pictures and video's of the Havana area. Can't wait for Sept to get here. Thanks for taking the time to put this review together I really got a good sense of the Vista.

 

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Jim,

 

Yet another fabulous review of typical Jim Zim quality. We first found you on YouTube and have enjoyed your very thorough reviews since 2015 when we began planning our first cruise that we took in Aug 2016. We're now 109 days out from our next cruise in Feb 2018, and chose a captains suite because of your beautiful video review on that. Bitten, we are already dreaming about the next one we will take in 2019 and will definitely seek out your reviews before deciding. Your videos and review of the Vista are inspiring!

 

Thank you for all that goes into this :D!

Jim,

Thanks so much for your detailed review! Really enjoyed the room tours but you have left us with a dilemma. Family of four is scheduling a cruise on the Horizon, sister ship to the Vista. My original idea was to book our first balcony stateroom, maybe even a cove balcony. But now we hare thinking about selecting a Havana interior for the exclusivity of the pools and hot tubs. Based on your experiences, which would you choose: Havana interior or balcony for family of 4 (2 teens)? Price not a problem because differences are about $150.....

I can only see the situation through the lens of a 60 year old guy that likes peace and quiet and doesn't like crowds... so for me, the Havana area is the way to go.

 

But in your situation, I would sit all four people down at dinner one night and run through the pros and cons and see how all four feel about it.

Enjoyed this review!!!

I do have a question about the blue iguana rum bar- those drinks are included in the cheers package correct?

 

I've never actually had the cheers package, so I can't say with 100% certainty... but I'd say with about 90% certainty that the answer is yes. I bet other people here on Cruise Critic... people who have had experience with the cheers package... could give you a more definitive answer.

Thank you for doing this review! I loved it! Such great, concise details and clear pictures and videos. I’m ready to go back and read some of your other reviews.

 

My BFF and I will be sailing on the Vista December 2, 2017 in a Havana Inside! Very excited!!!

 

I have a question about drink prices. I’m looking for a list of drink prices such as wine, beer, cocktails, other mixed drinks, specialty coffees and bottled water. Do you know where I can find such a list or just some general/average prices?

 

 

 

 

 

To help you appreciate where things like the Havana pool and the cove balcony cabins are located, I've marked up this photo of the Carnival Vista that I took as we sailed past her on a shore excursion:

 

 

Hi Jim,

I noticed on your picture with the arrows here that it says those are "non-havana" cabins. I just wanted to add a little correction letting you know that those are indeed havana cabins. I was a bit worried at first looking at this picture because I recently Book a Havana Aft-Extended Balcony on deck 7 on the Vista. Just went to the deck plans PDF to make sure I wasn't mistaken and CCL wasn't ripping me off lol.

You are right! My diagram has an error on it. I didn't notice that until now! Thanks! The aft cabins on decks 6&7 are Havana cabins. The ones on 8&9 are not. My mistake! Thanks for catching it.

I've never actually had the cheers package, so I can't say with 100% certainty... but I'd say with about 90% certainty that the answer is yes. I bet other people here on Cruise Critic... people who have had experience with the cheers package... could give you a more definitive answer.

 

Yes, the two Lido-deck midship bars are treated the same as any other bar for Cheers purposes, and only the customary Cheers restrictions would apply: no multiple-portion drinks, beer buckets, drinks in special glasses, 15 drink max per day, etc.

I have a question about drink prices. I’m looking for a list of drink prices such as wine, beer, cocktails, other mixed drinks, specialty coffees and bottled water. Do you know where I can find such a list or just some general/average prices?

 

I'm afraid I don't have such a thing. Perhaps if you Google "Carnival drink prices" or "Carnival drink menus"...

I've fixed that diagram of the back of the ship... and the corrected version should be appearing now in place of the incorrectly labeled original.

Thanks to 17andacruiseaddict for spotting my mistake! It's good to have people proof-read my work for me!

Thanks, great review as always.

 

 

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