Vista 12 day August review - The new, the food and the missing :D

Hey!

I know there are a few Vista reviews floating around but I will try and make my review as ship based as possible. Main reason for that is we have done the ports/countries many times before (Apart from Croatia) so we didn't take a lot of photos and lets face it....she isn't going to be in the Med for at least another decade or 2 if at all.

Our cruise went to 5 Italian ports (Sardinia, Sicily, Rome, Livorno and Naples), Marseilles in France, Dubrovnik in Croatia and Corfu in Greece and has 3 SEA DAYS! So we got to know the ship pretty well. Round trip from Barcelona.

I basically ate an drank everywhere onboard except the steakhouse so will be reviewing the consumables a lot and also did most of the main activities and attended most of the events and shows with the exception of Hasbro and the singing guest acts. I can't say for sure if Photos will appear or not but I will try to have them.

Lots of firsts for us from Carnival on this trip but also some bits missing. It was the first time we have ever sailed for the ship.

Sailed with myself (30) and Husband (29) and we are both teachers with no kids. Carnival fans but generally not loyal to any line. We have done 2 long Carnival cruises and adored them, 1 X long cruise (with a very similar itinerary) and wasn't keen and a short 7 day Royal cruise which we liked a lot.

Onwards.... :D

Looking forward to reading your review. Thanks for posting!!

Looking forward to this review! Sailing on the Vista in less than three months -- can't believe it - thought it would never get here since we booked the trip more than a year out from the sailing....

Hi Velvetwater! I have a review going of our Athens-Barcelona cruise, but it's pretty port-intensive so I'm looking forward to what you think of Vista.

Looking forward to it.

Day 1-2 (Getting to Barcelona)

I will keep this short as we travelled in an unconventional way to Barcelona. We love love European trains as they are roomy, high speed and reliable overall. Any cruisers who are this side should consider them for seeing the sights pre or post cruise.

Set off from Coventry at 1, got to London at 3 and Boarded a Eurostar at 4 to get to France around 6ish. TOP TIP! Anyone who tries to taxi grab you in France is a plank and will charge you 2/3 x what you should pay so always head to a taxi rank. After being mobbed we got to our night hotel, ate amazing duck marinaded in butter (not a joke) and craft french beers we slept.

On a random note we spotted some Costa cruisers (already labelled baggage) heading to the station that evening...who knows where.

Day 2

This is where I will talk about my massive case. Its the very size limit for most airlines without a charge and it was rammed full of dresses. I had no problems pulling it about and loading it into taxis but it often beat all the other cases in the rack if they were to have a brawl. European trains have many large luggage racks but get there early to shove it in....also booked upstairs seats for best views. Paris to Barcelona was 6 hours and we left at 10 to arrive after 4.

We booked a hotel on La Rambla called Hotel Fornos. Cheaper hotel near the action and we had a European balcony, bath and free self serve breakfast. It only cost us £80 ($100). We caught sight of a MSC ship leaving as we viewed the port....knowing the Vista would be in her parking spot. :)

After wrestling with the air con only to find there was a remote we headed out for Paella and 2 litres of Sangria and other things then for some Ice cream. Now this is where I have a small regret which I will get to later.

We get back to room and Husband completely cream crackered and dipped in drink sleeps immediately. I decide that even though I am up early I would like to watch the Olympics opening ceremony. Before it starts I start to feel ill and I mean REALLY ill. Stomach cramps, pain, fever....EVERYTHING. In my head I am like 'I am too ill to board and I am infectious'. I wake up husband and after many trips to the bathroom fall asleep from sheer lack of energy.

...to be continued.