We thought we would try Carnivals newest ship the Vista. This is not a feedback to "trash" Carnival rather to simply forewarn what to expect (we are in their Platinum level and have been dedicated until now... this was our last sailing with Carnival). The ship was "sold out" and apparently is for some time to come. The problem with that was 4,900 passengers (more than double occupancy) on a 133,500 Gross Ton ship... Sea days, forget it.. unless you camped out the night before you won't find a place to sit near any pool. All shows, shore excursions etc are all sold out long before the sailing, great for Carnival... bad for the cruising family. The itinerary stopped at Bonaire... an island with 20,000 inhabitants and 4,900 getting off... Beaches were jammed and reboarding the ship took forever. Security guy miserable when we asked about the carts full of pool towels but no one handing them out.
The attractions "Sky Ride" and "Sky Course", (run by a contractor) are closed more than they were open. The SkyRider doesn't function (pedal traction or brakes) when its anything more than humid and the Sky Course couldn't be used with more than a light breeze of wind (also closed for some paint to dry on another day). The days they were open the times are limited. Same with the water slides, "wind dependent".
We had a "Family Harbor "Suite"... not quite a "suite" compared to most standards. They put these on Deck 2, right below the restaurant kitchen area on Deck 3. Every single morning you will be woken about 4:30am with what sounds like the rebuilding of a main engine and goes into 10pm at night (we have young kids). I swear the kitchen tools are sledge hammers.
Destination far too small for this
Made our own way to Palm Beach... (get there before the crowd)