For RCCL & Disney, will Carnival Vista be Game Changing??

[DEIx15x8]

I really wonder how the specialty dining is, I never got to try it, because the Carnival Victory did not offer it: yet this ship seems to have MANY different options. Best of all, I am surprised how many are included in the base fare.

When doing all the prep work for Quantum last summer the number of fee venues made me look at some other lines, and I too was surprised by how much Carnival seems to include and some of the quality venues like Guy's Burgers that are free. I think they do fudge some of their lists though and have stations of the buffet listed like an actual venue, but would still end up with more complimentary venues that Royal. The cool thing they do though is that a lot of their list is duplicates of dinner items. They seems to have for fee dinner venues and then open them up with a much smaller menu for free at lunch. It's a great way to sample and venue and entice someone to come back for dinner as well as to get some more use out of them. The Vista does nothing for me though; the activities don't seem appealing, I hate the idea of private off limits areas of any ship (Royal is one of the few to not do it with an entire pool yet), and the entertainment hasn't been announced yet that I'm aware of but Carnival has never been big on shows. So I would not consider this to be a threat to Royal (I do see MSC to be a major threat though due to their recent global push, 2nd largest ships in the world, and innovate designs which are all characteristics of the old Royal). As someone that sailed Carnival once and considered the food to be the only highlight of the sailing (and still the best I've had on a cruise), with the way that Royal has been raising prices and treating it's loyalty customers I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I've looked at the Vista simply for the price so that I can find out what Carnival now offers, and more importantly check out all these great dinning options they talk about.

Edited March 30, 2015 by DEIx15x8

[orville99]

In and of itself, I doubt Vista will change the game much, if at all. The bigger story, IMO, is that Carnival announced this morning that it will be building nine more new ships between now and 2022 (along with the nine they currently have under contract/construction, that brings their new build total to 18). That will be a game changer.

[Dave85]

One word of warning about the Vista: I, too, was really impressed until I noticed the number of passengers that would be on board. Those of us who sail RCI are accustomed to much larger ships so at first blush the passenger count for Vista isn't eye-popping, but consider that Vista will be smaller than the Voyager Class ships, THEN look at the number of passengers that will be on board. :eek: It will be Carnival's most crowded ship to date... and I said during a prime family week on the Breeze and it was already out of control crowded.

 

For that reason, this Carnival Platinum says no thanks.

[Yurita]

Vista looks great; HOWEVER, I ONLY SEE 1 POOL!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

Except for the Havana pool (solarium look-like), which is for Havana room guests... so that's a big STOP for me.... one pool for an entire ship???:confused:

[Dave85]

Vista looks great; HOWEVER, I ONLY SEE 1 POOL!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

 

Except for the Havana pool (solarium look-like), which is for Havana room guests... so that's a big STOP for me.... one pool for an entire ship???:confused:

 

 

There are 2 available for everyone, which wasn't enough on the Dream Class which carried fewer people... Definitely won't be enough on Vista.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Dave85

[Donna_In_India]

I gave Carnival another chance with the (then) brand new Breeze. There is no way I'd give them another try no matter how appealing the ship may look. And I'm pretty sure that you'd be really hard pressed to find any hard core Disney cruisers to go on a Carnival ship! Disney and Carnival are about as far away from each other as you can get (and I'm NOT hard core Disney).

[Aquahound]

I'll admit the ship has some features that are inticing to me, but game changing? I'm not sure I'd go that far. It just looks like another Dream Class ship with some extra features. Maybe I'm missing something. :confused:

[lovewine]

We love RCCL and NCL and thought we would try Carnival last December and our list of complaints was so long that we will never give Carnival another chance. They missed on major safety issues, had the worst entertainment choices, the employees had terrible attitudes and when we tried to talk to guest services during our cruise and after they did not care to listen to any of our constructive criticism!! The good news is there are many other choices!

[Carguylee]

I think the Vista looks nice. I've been on 3 carnival and about to be my 3rd Royal. All carnivals have been short cruises that were a good deal, all 3 royal have been 7 days. I just like Royal ships better, the décor and look, the openness on the newer ships.

 

I'm glad carnival is moving in a different direction for decorating. The Vista looks to be really nice, and some nice features, however it still seems to be a bit closed off...I might be reading to much into the pictures. I would give it a try for sure.

 

One thing, I don't know if I noticed a buffet area on Vista....maybe I just missed it....

[DreamingBig1]

It looks very similar to the Breeze, with a few room enhancements. So nothing looks exactly ground breaking or game changing in my opinion.

 

Game changing is something like the Oasis class ships with its various neighborhoods.

 

I am willing to try Carnival. I have nothing against it.

[DutchCruiseFan]

I'd love to sail Vista!!!

She has so much great features !!

[American Bear]

In and of itself, I doubt Vista will change the game much, if at all. The bigger story, IMO, is that Carnival announced this morning that it will be building nine more new ships between now and 2022 (along with the nine they currently have under contract/construction, that brings their new build total to 18). That will be a game changer.

 

 

 

From what we've read, from 2016-2019 Carnival Corp. has 9 ships ordered over 5 brands, and news released this week is Carnival announced they are ordering 9 more ships starting in 2019, again spread over 5 brands.

Considering the age/size of many of Carnival Corp. ships, it'll definitely benefit the Corporation.

The majority of the ships announced so far seem to be smaller ships for brands under the Carnival umbrella,

Seaborn, getting 2 small ships in the next 3 years

HAL receiving 2 medium sized ships over the next 3 years.

Carnival only has 2 large ships coming in the next 3 years, the Vista in 2016, and an unnamed ship in 2018.

No info yet on the 2019-2022 order.

So 'a game changer' is left to debate.:)

[ehfl]

If they can step up their live entertainment, I would definitely give it a try. In the past, I have not been excited about the shows and live music, but if they can get closer to RCL in the entertainment, it would definitely be worth a try. Nice looking ship, and the dining options look great.

[gkbiiii]

Based on their pricing, I really think that Carnival has a good chance to get some of Disney/Royals business. Now whether or not, they can keep it, is another story.

[krisko]

I was about to suggest you post this on the carnival board but that ship looks amazing! I get pretty good perks on Royal but if I got a deal on that ship I'd absolutely go.

[nacdcruiser]

Booked a Havana cabin today because of this thread! Didn't even know the Vista existed. We've enjoyed every cruise so far and like the idea of some carved out space on a crowded ship (crowded ship is not a problem for us) with what we feel are reasonable prices.

 

Enjoyed a spa balcony on the Dream a few years ago and loved the amenities that were included - now looking forward to the Havana balcony/porch concept with the potential social aspect and the guaranteed chairs by the pool during the day.

 

We find our non RC cruises give us new and fantastic experiences with the added benefit of helping us appreciate how much RC offers us as loyal cruisers.

 

Now to go check out that new MSC ship . . . and to find a countdown clock that even has the Vista as an option . . .

[ScottR714]

Diamond RC member here with 2 more booked next year. Sailed the Breeze last year and loved it. Booked Vista for 17 in a Havana Suite and looking forward to it. We enjoyed the food and entertainment on the Breeze which had a great 8 night itinerary last year.

[ivanrocko]

Yes, I agree. Carnival is finally moving in the right direction. We are planning to sail on Carnival Vista, but....

What about entertainment??? Any new shows?

 

Royal Caribbean is my favorite, it has great ships and excellent entertainment.

The only complaint about Royal is that RC ships don't have a Water Park with slides. I know about the water slides for the 2016 RC Harmony of the Seas.

Are any other RC ships getting this "enhancements"? The water parks are perfect for Caribbean vacations.

 

P.S.

Royal is getting too expensive, and looks like they are going Disney on prices.

The new Norwegian Escape looks great.

;)

[laurenpie]

I'm booked on the Vista TA, and hopefully the Med cruise before that.

 

I think both Carnival and Royal both have good things about them. Its good that we are lucky enough that potentially its possible to get the best out of both :)

 

its just unfortunate that Royal are so much more in $$.. We haven't cruised Royal since our honeymoon in 2009, we have only booked the Oasis in May because we just couldn't pass the price up.

Looking at more cruises for January, Royal cost that bit more again.. but who knows what will happen, there is always a sale that we can't pass up.

Edited March 31, 2015 by laurenpie

[Cruzaholic41]

When I saw the words "game changing" in the thread title, I thought there was something I hadn't yet learned about Vista. :confused:

 

This ship isn't game changing at all. It isn't even game changing for Carnival because it's yet another ship in a looooong line of an overcrowded ship design that started with Destiny and Conquest.

 

I will hand it to Carnival though - I'm glad they got away from that awful Joe Farcus interior design.

[American Bear]

When I saw the words "game changing" in the thread title, I thought there was something I hadn't yet learned about Vista. :confused:

 

This ship isn't game changing at all. It isn't even game changing for Carnival because it's yet another ship in a looooong line of an overcrowded ship design that started with Destiny and Conquest.

 

I will hand it to Carnival though - I'm glad they got away from that awful Joe Farcus interior design.

 

 

We rather like the Destiny and Conquest class Carnival ships especially with the 2.0 upgrades, they remind us of the Radiance Class of RCL with a little less class(interior design).

Besides, passenger space ratio on Conquest class ships is 37, while Oasis class is 40.74 at 5400 passengers, but a thread in the current RCL forum brags about the Oasis sailing this week with more then 8000 passengers meaning the passenger space ratio would be much less then a Carnival Destiny/Conquest classes.:eek:

[CRUISEFAN0001]

While it is good for those who like Carnival cruises, there is little seen in the video to say "WOW" or jump ship from RCCL.

 

While there is no doubt Carnival has always had the reputation of being a 20's and 30's party boat, and even with the new themes and decor, that appears to continue as a high priority, even on the Vista. There will be a market for it, but I suspect there will also be a premium price jump on Vista for the new tier of partying.

 

The revamped cabins appear to be a big improvement, and the biggest "change". The current fleet has the appearance of being poorly maintained, boring decor, and nothing "special". Being neutral...there is no doubt that Vista is clearly a major step up.

 

The 3rd leg of the change stool is the obvious "get on the bandwagon" of having some amusement park feel onboard. That will likely attract more families.

 

All the moves are commendable, and long overdue for Carnival. Vista is only one of a series of new ships planned...so that bodes well for their desire to grow and improve in the future.

 

Perhaps they've seen the flurry of their main competition (RCCL) with new ships, new ideas, new technology, and new itineraries...and awakened to smell the roses - they had to so something major with their fleet to survive going forward. Vista is a serious upgrade to the Carnival line.

 

But to the original post - nope - not enough to abandon ship on RCCL - as there are still plenty of issues remaining about the quality of their personnel/service on Carnival cruises as well as substandard maintenance practices.

 

Time will tell if they are ramping up across the board with all those elements, or just introducing some new shiny things (ships) and hoping people will flock to them for that alone.

[CaribSailor]

I think the vista looks great. After sailing on oasis and allure a handful of times RCs mega ships are not all that great. I think my wife summed it up best as she said "if I wanted to go to the mall I would, don't want to spend my vacation in one though" last time on oasis. I like the feeling of a traditional cruise ship. After our 2nd cruise on both allure and oasis there really wasn't any WOW. At this point we prefer the freedom class but the new suite lounge and coastal kitchen are great on oasis. The biggest deterrent for us at this point from RC is their pricing and BS sales. A week on oasis is no longer worth 6-15k (suites) to us. Carnival is in a great spot in this cruising market.

Edited March 31, 2015 by CaribSailor

[Aquahound]

...but a thread in the current RCL forum brags about the Oasis sailing this week with more then 8000 passengers meaning the passenger space ratio would be much less then a Carnival Destiny/Conquest classes.:eek:

 

The thread does not say 8000 passengers.

[Big_G]

We rather like the Destiny and Conquest class Carnival ships especially with the 2.0 upgrades, they remind us of the Radiance Class of RCL with a little less class(interior design).

Besides, passenger space ratio on Conquest class ships is 37, while Oasis class is 40.74 at 5400 passengers, but a thread in the current RCL forum brags about the Oasis sailing this week with more then 8000 passengers meaning the passenger space ratio would be much less then a Carnival Destiny/Conquest classes.:eek:

 

We sailed Destiny before they added all those cabins and it was the most crowded ship of any line we've sailed to date. I can't imagine what it's like now. 8000 passengers on Oasis? Exaggerate much? I was looking forward to Vista but now that Dave pointed out size and capacity, I'm not so sure. We'll have to wait for some reviews.