I am an experienced cruiser. I have Platinum Carnival status with 12 cruises on Carnival, 10 cruises on Royal Caribbean, and 3 cruises on Norwegian. There are some good things and some bad things on the new flagship Vista, but the bad far outweigh the good and the ship just misses the mark. It is my least favorite Carnival ship by far.

Basically what they have done is taken the same amenities on ships like the Conquest, Dream, and Magic, and added a 1000 passengers without increasing the accessibility nor services. Obviously this is to increase the profit ratio per passenger. Some examples, the Tides pool bar and area are the same size, the number of pools and hot tubs are the same, the Serenity area is the same, Guy’s burgers, the pizza kitchen, the stations and seating in the Lido deck buffet are the same, etc, etc, are all the exact same layout, but the number of passengers is a lot more. So expect lines, expect constantly being out of things, etc.

For instance, we went to the Serenity area and there was not one free chair. The hot tubs are packed with kids. Plan to wait in line for 30 minutes to get a pizza. The number of bars and bartenders is the same as well. They really push the Cheers package, but you will wait a long time to get a drink. If you order mimosa or bloody Mary at breakfast, you will be lucky to get it before you finish your meal. They only have one or two bar attendants at breakfast and lunch in the dining rooms. We are used to bar attendants walking around with drinks, offering to get drinks at the pool or seating areas, and there was very little of that. Carnival sold a lot of Cheers packages, but cut way back on the ability to get a drink. Read more