Vista review

[kona_wahine]

We were on the Vista for the April 13th cruise to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan. We flew down a couple days early and stayed at the Harbor House for 2 nights. It was ok, good location, The Strand has the usual tourist trap spots. We went to the oil rig museum next door which is very interesting. Did a $10 dolphin boat excursion and saw lots of dolphins and a nice view of the harbor. Got up Saturday morning and walked over to the ship, which was VERY convenient. The line was LONG, LONG, LONG getting in. Stupid me didn’t even think about having FTTF ( I would have figured it out eventually) and so we got in line. Luckily, a worker there saw our ticket right away and showed us the way to the VIP line. As we walked and walked past the LONG line, we both said that $100 we spend on FTTF was worth it just for that. We sailed (haha) thru check in and were seated in the FTTF area within 15 minutes. 

 

We started boarding probably an hour or so later. Had a slight delay getting on the ship as there was a problem with the walkway between the building and the ship. After that, right on and to our room. We had a Havana Cabana. We only booked this cruise because of the Havana area. The room was the same size as a usual room (different decor) but the patio area was really nice. The swing is a great addition and I used it quite a bit. The lounge chair I didn’t try and my hubby did use the little chair, which really looked uncomfortable. LOL People have said the balconies above can see right down. This is NOT true, as there is a cover over where the swing is hooked to. The rest of the patio area is kind of a pergola. We occasionally saw neighbors, but it was mostly private. I would DEFINITELY stay in one of these rooms again. The pool area was never crowded, and because it was a small pool of people you were able to see the same and chat. I really liked the area and room. 

 

FOOD. This was the WORST cruise for food. This was the one area I was SO disappointed in. The buffet was HORRIBLE. I was always the person who never understood people complaining about food on a cruise, saying you could always find something. Well, I can now say I get it. The MDR was ok, we ate there about 4 or 5 nights. Lobster night was the usual, but we both order 2 lobster dinners and they now put them on the same plate. They finally got that right! Prime rib night (last night) was terrible. Mine was dried out and just bad. I did have a filet mignon one night that was one of the best steaks I have ever had. Tasty and perfectly cooked. The other dinners were blah. Buffet for dinner was the same blah every night. One guy walked by us saying he couldn’’t eat the “slop” and went on about RC and how great they are for about 1/2 hour. Was glad when he finally left.... the lunch buffet wasn’t good either. The desserts are so disappointing. For dinner I had a chocolate Kahlua thing and smore thing. They tasted the same....like pretty much nothing. I took a couple bites of each and was done. Lunch cakes were better but still not as good as the cakes used to be that you could buy. I’d much rather pay $2 for a slice and have something good. Guys was the same, ok, but nothing spectacular. The seafood shack we tried the lobster rolls and definitely NOT worth the extra $$$. Tried the bbq place on deck 5 once, it was ok. Went to Jiji’s and it was ok. Couple things were really good but not as good as I was hoping. One night I had a grilled ham and cheese at the deli because nothing else sounded any good. It’s funny, it was so bad I couldn’t wait to come home and cook something NORMAL. Why can’t the buffet have mashed potatoes and gravy and some normal meat? 

 

We’ve cruised before so didn’t really care to see the shows. Matt was great, his voice is like British honey over they intercom. He is funny, handsome, and Carnival definitely has something with him. We saw a couple comedy shows, and always enjoy that. The lounges on the ship, as I read over and over, stink. Who ever designed them should never, ever design anything again. 

 

Cozumel was good, we got it twice as we missed Roatan because of wind. We did Nachi Cocum and then the twister boat to Isle de Pasion. LOVED THAT! the beach was gorgeous! Lots of seaweed at Nachi, which we had never seen before. I would go back to Passion isle in a heartbeat! Did the ruins in Costa Maya, first time, and loved it. Even got to see a few monkeys in the trees above us. I know there are better ruins, but we were good with what we saw. Did Goff’s Caye in Belize. Had a notice that not many people were signed up so we had to tender in and meet up at 12:00. at first I was disappointed and thought about cancelling, but went. So glad we did. Had a few hours and a beautiful beach. We didn’t snorkel so we could have more beach time, and the boat was very crowded. We had snorkeled in Belize before so was ok with that. For whatever reason, the excursion was only for sale a short amount of time on the carnival website and I had read you had to book online. Not sure what is up with that, but it’s a nice little Caye, but there are rocks so my tender feet hurt a bit, not that bad. I’d definitely go back. There were very few chairs, and you had to rent them. Not that big a deal, I’m old so $15 for a couple chairs was fine by me. And they gave us discounts on food and drink for renting. 

 

TV on the ship was terrible. I’m old and tired by the end of the day, so like to relax. A couple channels, HGTV, Foodnetwork, travel channel, a cbs news station, a couple others, and that’s it. They did have a large on demand section of movies so that was good. Went to the imax and saw the national parks and underwater movie. Liked that. Did the scary movie on the thrill theater, same as we saw on the breeze a couple years ago. 

 

Debarkation was a nightmare, apparently because of the large amount of Mexican citizens on the ship for vacation (school holiday) took a long time to get off, but we had a 7:30 flight so we were in no rush. Used Galveston Express to and from port, and would highly recommend. That’s about it, but if I think of anything else I can come back and report.  Overall, I like the ports, the ship was nice, but the food would be a failing grade.  Back to my babysitting gig.... LOL

[JaniceB]

Thank you for your review.  Sorry to hear about the food.  I don't know what the guy was talking about, I recently went on RC and didn't find their buffet to be good either.  Actually it is the only time in my cruise history that I got sick to my stomach and it was after a lunch at the buffet.  

[kona_wahine]

7 minutes ago, JaniceB said:

Thank you for your review.  Sorry to hear about the food.  I don't know what the guy was talking about, I recently went on RC and didn't find their buffet to be good either.  Actually it is the only time in my cruise history that I got sick to my stomach and it was after a lunch at the buffet.  

Thank you! Sometimes CC feels a lot like high school and don’t know why I bother.  The RC guy totally gushed about RC and how they will make you anything you want! I was just glad when he left.