While I am a Diamond Plus member with Royal Caribbean, I wanted to give Carnival a chance -- however, the motto still stands: "Carnival is all Flash" and "Royal Caribbean is all Class"! Definitely will not do Carnival again until they get their act together and I see some good reviews.

I chose this cruise simply because it was the newer ship, was departing out of Miami, and worked with my vacation schedule. Plus, last time I was on the Breeze and was quite impressed with the staff. While I knew it would be busy because of Spring Break, I thought they had built these larger ships so they would be able to manage maximum occupancy -- but obviously this isn't the case on the Vista.

PROS: adult comedy shows were on par when compared to other ships and great comedians. Easy embarkation and debarkation -- the entire process was very well organized, and staff was very friendly and courteous to the first time cruisers. Musicians in the atrium (specifically the three female violinists) were excellent. While the lounge chairs are always "reserved" even though this is frowned upon, staff now puts notes marked with a specific time that the chair is up for grabs again (love this)!!! Read more