Carnival Vista Review
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My second time this year on the Vista, we chose this itinerary as our first Christmas cruise and opportunity to enjoy the Havana area. Our ports included St. Maarten, San Juan, and Grand Turk.
I was so amazed that so many of the crew remembered us from our cruise this summer in the Mediterranean. Service overall was fantastic, from our amazing cabin steward Paul in the Havana area aft balcony on deck 6, Franklin our bartender in the Havana area, Gabriel our bartender at the Alchemy bar, the amazing hostess in the Fahrenheit Steakhouse where we ate twice (again), to Matt and Cookie cruise director and entertainment directors extraordinaires!
I know that common areas on the ship can be crowded at times. I do not like crowds or lines, so I planned my experience accordingly. With Your Time Dining, when I did choose to eat in the MDR, I'd eat early between 5:30 and 6:00 to check in. We never waited in line more than 5 minutes. For the must-try Pig and Anchor Sea Day barbecue, I went right when it opened or later in the afternoon to avoid the crowds. It's superb, by the way. The brisket, chicken, sausage, mac and cheese, baked beans, and cornbread are best in class. For JiJi's Asian Mongolian wok lunch, I chose embarkation day to avoid any crowds at all. Of course, with the exclusive access to the Havana Area in the day time, our hot tubs, pools, loungers and large day beds were never crowded. This was heaven! It changes the whole cruise. It is completely worth it.
Cabin Review
Havana Aft-View Extended Balcony
Our aft facing balcony was perfect with a view of the portside hot tub and the wake of the engines. Because you're low at the back of the ship, you can feel the engine rumble as well. It's not as smooth a cruise as we're used to high up on the spa decks. It didn't matter, but it was different. The room is standard like all Carnival balconies with deeper balcony, Havana toiletries (including a body wash, body wash/shampoo dual purpose wash, and but no separate conditioner, so be aware of that), and special robes and towels. There's plenty of room for two with three large closets for hanging clothes with drawers and a safe. We had nightly turn down service and towel animals. I always bring an up front cash tip with chocolates to my cabin steward team in addition to the regular tips, so maybe I get special treatment, but on this cruise our steward dropped off a bottle of sparkling wine for us as a special thank you.
After 7PM, they open the Havana area to the entire ship. Because this was holiday season there were a lot of teens on the ship vacationing. On two nights, we had loud teens right outside our room in the hot tub not 10 feet from us. This was a bit of a nuisance, so I'd avoid this same type room when school was out if I sailed on the Vista again. Or I might just put on a speedo and walk down to the hot tub and see how long they whoop it up with another adult in the pool.
Port Reviews
Miami
We were FTTF with Carnival and had early check in on the Vista. We arrived at 10:45 and were on by 11:30. Our room and bags were ready when we checked in. Because we've cruised before, we didn't even have to wait at the counter to get our Sign and Sail cards. They were at our room in the mailbox when we stepped on the ship.
Grand Turk
Go to Konky Joes in Coburn Town for the best ever conch burgers and salad! Pillory Beach is just a cab ride away from the overcrowded Governor's beach right off the ship and quieter.