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On the Vista now March 19-25, 2017

firemanbobswife

By firemanbobswife,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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The Vista is a beautiful ship, no doubt, but it is too big. There are a lot of things I didn't get to do or see because there simply wasn't enough time. You need like 2 weeks to be able to experience it to the fullest IMHO especially when you are in a Havana cabin. Sure I could have went to all the venues and did all the things there were to do, but then I would have missed out on spending time in the Havana area which was the whole point of booking one of those cabins. To give you an idea I never even saw the bowling alley, the human sized pool table, the gym, the IMAX or Thrill Theatres, and never went in the Red Frog Pub or the Piano Bar. I'm sure there are more that I'm not recalling right now.

 

We did go past the rooms on deck 7 in the vicinity of the IMAX theatre when walking from the front of the ship to the back to our cabin, and let me tell you - the floor was vibrating and the bass was incredible. I would have been so peeved if I booked one of those cabins. So stay away from those unless you want to feel like you're in the middle of an action movie whenever they are open!

 

The eating venues didn't feel crowded and I think they did a good job with crowd control except for in the pool areas. This is true for all the ships I have been on, but it seemed exaggerated on the Vista. We walked up and around on the last sea day when getting a Guy's Burger and all we kept saying was thank God we had Havana. There is no way I would spend any amount of time out at the Beach or Tides Pools. It was so packed and totally not my style.

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IntrepidFromDC "Live from...." Rare

IntrepidFromDC

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OK after a much needed nap, I'm back!

 

Thanks for the kind words about my sister. They called and left a message while she was on the plane that they found her suitcase. She called back, but they are closed until Monday. This is why I go with only a carry on sized suitcase and an under seat bag. I do self assist. But with 3 girls, you know they have to bring every pair shoes they have, 5 bathing suites, etc. I warned them, but there's no changing their ways. Luckily, my niece has tons more clothes at home and all their important stuff was with them.

 

Some more thoughts about Vista. The garbage cans in the rooms now are TINY which is fine because they take up less space. I don't care for the brown carpet by the stairways. It always looks dirty as it's the type that shows every fuzz, and when things are spilled on it, you can still see the outline of where it used to be. They would be better off with a pattern like on other ships. A minor thing, but something I observed. The mini fridge was empty and it did a good job keeping our big bottles of water and an occasional can of Diet Coke cold. I kept the cabinet door open when I could to help with the air circulation.

 

Cheers - first time doing it, and I don't think I will again which I was 99.99% sure of going in. It was so nice not to worry about what the final bill would be and I think we came pretty close to breaking even. The frozen drinks had little to no alcohol in them and I never got a buzz. So for those that think people will be drunk the whole cruise by trying to get their money's worth, you are mistaken. The only thing I came close to getting with all that sugar was The Diabeetus :').

 

You and I are very much like-minded, I've noticed that in many posts. However, I DID manage to convince my 16-year-old to only do the flight-attendant carry on plus personal bag, many years ago when she was 8, when we did more European trips (training around Europe with a focus on Italy usually) than cruises (how I miss those days!)... The quick self-debarkation with our own luggage has always been a super-advantage in my mind, it allows us to catch a late-morning flight from whatever airport to DC, which means we get to see the dogs sooner! We always miss our dogs on every vacation.

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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You and I are very much like-minded, I've noticed that in many posts. However, I DID manage to convince my 16-year-old to only do the flight-attendant carry on plus personal bag, many years ago when she was 8, when we did more European trips (training around Europe with a focus on Italy usually) than cruises (how I miss those days!)... The quick self-debarkation with our own luggage has always been a super-advantage in my mind, it allows us to catch a late-morning flight from whatever airport to DC, which means we get to see the dogs sooner! We always miss our dogs on every vacation.

 

I like to catch the early flights home so I like the option of being able to carry on my suitcase if I need to. Plus, if you pack right, you can get all you need for 7-8 days in a regulation carry on sized suitcase. And that's with one side filled with shoes :cool:!

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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I'm going to the Apple store tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to post more pics after that. Thanks for hanging in there!

 

Elegant evenings - Didn't see anyone in shorts or t shirts and they did have someone standing out front watching. I waited until about 4:00 on Monday to iron my dress. There was a long line on 7 so this other lady and I went down to 6 where she saw her son (I think) ironing his blazer. She told him to turn it inside out and then started to do it. She told me to go ahead since mine wouldn't take long. I started to put it on the board and she said I needed to turn mine inside out too. I told her I don't iron and that I would pay her $5 if she wanted to do it jokingly. She replied that she lost enough money in the casino the night before that she would take me up on the offer. Told her no problem, I'll be right back! Left my dress with her, ran up to my cabin, grabbed $5 and came back just as she was finishing up. She didn't want the $5 and said she told her relative that she couldn't believe I went to go get the cash! I insisted and she still refused. I was so thankful that I didn't have to deal with it and said "I am leaving the $5 here on the washing machine and thank you so much!". Off I went with my nicely pressed dress :D.

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Taylorcast

Taylorcast

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I'm going to the Apple store tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to post more pics after that. Thanks for hanging in there!

 

Try to connect your iPhone to your computer and see if you can backup pictures before you go. Even better if you can connect it as a hard disk and just manually copy and paste them onto your computer instead of relying on itunes/I cloud.

 

My stepdaughter recently had a problem with her iPhone, they backed up her stuff at the store using itunes only and then did a factory reset. When they got the phone working again and tried to load her stuff back on the phone, it said the file was corrupted and she lost everything. Contacts, pictures, everything....

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SNJCruisers

SNJCruisers

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Left my dress with her, ran up to my cabin, grabbed $5 and came back just as she was finishing up. She didn't want the $5 and said she told her relative that she couldn't believe I went to go get the cash! I insisted and she still refused. I was so thankful that I didn't have to deal with it and said "I am leaving the $5 here on the washing machine and thank you so much!". Off I went with my nicely pressed dress :D.
See....you know what they say about karma....you pay it forward on here with great information on many different threads and it comes back to you in spades when you meet an ironing goddess to make you look spiffy on elegant night.
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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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Try to connect your iPhone to your computer and see if you can backup pictures before you go. Even better if you can connect it as a hard disk and just manually copy and paste them onto your computer instead of relying on itunes/I cloud.

 

My stepdaughter recently had a problem with her iPhone, they backed up her stuff at the store using itunes only and then did a factory reset. When they got the phone working again and tried to load her stuff back on the phone, it said the file was corrupted and she lost everything. Contacts, pictures, everything....

 

I was able to get it to work long enough the next day after it started acting up to where I imported the pics directly to my iPhotos as iTunes wouldn't recognize my device. Now it does absolutely nothing except flash on and off on the white screen with black Apple. I called Apple last night, she told me to do everything I already tried such as the hard reset, and connecting to iTunes, which, again, does nothing. So they are replacing the whole phone. Luckily I did a complete back up to my computer before I left for the cruise :).

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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Alright, what else? We had Early Seating in the Reflections Dining Room and a table right by the window with lifeboats above. It was very nice and not as dark in there as I thought it would be based on some of the pics I had seen. I would call it "quaint". But let me tell you, after always being in the aft dining room and on a new class of ship, there were a few times when I had no idea how to get there. One night we ended up coming in the back way, or the front way, or I don't know which it was, but the opposite of the way we had been (normally by the Atrium). We started to turn right when we should have went left. Luckily our waiter saw us and guided us to our table. I just loved him. Did I already say that?

 

Speaking of dining rooms, there was something that I couldn't quite put my finger on that was different vs Glory besides the decor and only being one floor. Then one night at dinner it hit me. No, not flying crumbs from twirling napkins :rolleyes:. The tables. They are beautiful, varnished tables on the Glory. On Vista they are darker wood with plastic veneer on the top and they do look cheaper. Not horrible, and had you not known any better, completely acceptable. But when you have seen the gorgeous ones on other ships, the difference is noticeable. Again, not a big deal, but another observance. I do like the chairs on Vista. Very comfortable and not too heavy when you need to move them.

 

One group of 3 in our entourage got waitlisted for Early Dining (I didn't have them linked to our booking because she didn't use my PVP - you all know how I feel about that), and I didn't want a huge table for 13. So they were assigned Your Time Dining. When she got her S&S Card it said 5:30PM in Horizons Restaurant and had a table number. So a few nights later I asked and she said it was assigned dining and they had the same table on the upper floor along with the same waitstaff every night and their time was in fact at 5:30PM. So maybe because it was the start of Spring Break and many families requested Early, they opened up the top level to Traditional, or maybe that's the way it is now or always has been? I really don't know.

 

The menus were the same as Glory so I didn't take any pics. One difference I noticed was they had regular Tiramisu vs the Nutella Tiramisu on Glory which I don't care for. So that was the only night I didn't have CMC and I was a happy gal!

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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Thanks for the cruise updates from the Vista! We will be on her in a little over 2 weeks again!

 

Out of curiosity what color wrist bands are they using this week for the Havana area? I am hoping for our cruise we get the darker ones, as we dont have them yet and they will go into our scrap book.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Just saw your question. They were brown.

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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Thanks for the great pics and review!! We just booked the Vista this week

 

We use the glass elevators alot so are there other elevators close by or are they totally removed ? Did you try the Italian place for lunch ? I'm hoping for the same recipe they have on the Breeze for the lasagna it's incredible

 

interesting too that you can picture text through what's app I'll have to get us the social plan now

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

 

 

There are elevators still where the glass ones should be but they are along the internal walls just like on Conquest Class ships. Didn't try the Italian place but I did get the menus.

 

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GeekSquad4

GeekSquad4

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Thanks for the review! We've been very intrigued by the Vista since we first heard of it's coming out. I think most of it was the "OOH! SHINY!" phenomenon that always occurs with new stuff, so it's nice to get an honest review from a seemingly down to earth cruiser. :) Glad your sister's bag was found and that you were able to get a new phone (hopefully they worked with you on that!).

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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Thanks for the review! We've been very intrigued by the Vista since we first heard of it's coming out. I think most of it was the "OOH! SHINY!" phenomenon that always occurs with new stuff, so it's nice to get an honest review from a seemingly down to earth cruiser. :) Glad your sister's bag was found and that you were able to get a new phone (hopefully they worked with you on that!).

 

You're welcome! And yes, they gave me a new phone at no charge. The official diagnosis after hooking it up to their devices was "Unit will not power on". Well, duh! LOL!

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cruizinisthebest

cruizinisthebest

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The Vista is a beautiful ship, no doubt, but it is too big. There are a lot of things I didn't get to do or see because there simply wasn't enough time. You need like 2 weeks to be able to experience it to the fullest IMHO especially when you are in a Havana cabin. Sure I could have went to all the venues and did all the things there were to do, but then I would have missed out on spending time in the Havana area which was the whole point of booking one of those cabins. To give you an idea I never even saw the bowling alley, the human sized pool table, the gym, the IMAX or Thrill Theatres, and never went in the Red Frog Pub or the Piano Bar. I'm sure there are more that I'm not recalling right now.

 

We did go past the rooms on deck 7 in the vicinity of the IMAX theatre when walking from the front of the ship to the back to our cabin, and let me tell you - the floor was vibrating and the bass was incredible. I would have been so peeved if I booked one of those cabins. So stay away from those unless you want to feel like you're in the middle of an action movie whenever they are open!

 

The eating venues didn't feel crowded and I think they did a good job with crowd control except for in the pool areas. This is true for all the ships I have been on, but it seemed exaggerated on the Vista. We walked up and around on the last sea day when getting a Guy's Burger and all we kept saying was thank God we had Havana. There is no way I would spend any amount of time out at the Beach or Tides Pools. It was so packed and totally not my style.

 

 

Maybe this is why I never can seem to get any pics of the IMAX theater. Unless you're specifically interested, which we are, maybe most folks don't even make it up there. I thought the Magic was too big, although I loved the ship! Not sure why I then booked the Vista. lol. But we'll enjoy it regardless. My youngest keeps us a few years away from booking a Havana room, so we'll manage amongst the commoners on our upcoming cruise. lol. Hopefully waterworks isn't so bad. That's more our spot to hangout when it comes to water fun. We do this same itinerary this Summer. So excited. Very nice pics. Thanks for sharing!

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dlhoff0608

dlhoff0608

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Not if you don't specify their name. I'm not talking about servers, but about bar service in general. You can tell them that bar service is slow due to not enough of them and that bar waiters in general are too few and far between.

 

Oh and speaking of that, the Bartender who told me about the reduction in crew, also said that they are going to remove bar waiters from the dining room and the waitstaff will be the ones getting your drinks. That should slow service down even more :(.

I was on the Vista March 11-19 and only ate in the dining room twice because drink and food service was so slow. If they reduce the staff even more, passengers will have to get their own drinks/food. SMH

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

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