It appears to be a trend in the cruise industry today. Build bigger ships to increase passenger capacity, However, there has been an often overlooked design flaw with the ships main auditoriums. They haven't grown in size to meet the demands of the larger ships. I don't know what Carnival advertises as the seating capacity of the Vista, but it doesn't matter. It's WAY too small. They decided to divert from the traditional long bench type seating for individual chairs in the center of the auditorium. Unfortunately, they placed too many chairs in the space creating poor viewing and uncomfortable seating. My knees were literally resting against the back of the chair in front of me. Once seated, you were stuck because you couldn't get passed the people beside you. The bar service was limited because the wait staff was unable to get to the customers.

Anyone in an individual seat was forced to hold their drink in their lap during the entire performance as there were no place to put your drink. Some of the tiered seats had a small area that was possibly a place to hold a drink, but was positioned next to your shoulder so it wasn't functional. To make matters worse, they built a huge bar in the back of the first level, further reducing the capacity of the auditorium. To add to the frustration, they emptied out the center portion of the auditorium one night for a show that had the performers dancing out on the floor. There was a lot of grumbling about the auditorium.

There were a couple of minor flaws that will probably work themselves out. Read more