The Vista is the latest edition to the Carnival fleet. She takes around 3700 passengers and from October will be based out of the Carribean, we joined her in Barcelona as she tours Europe before she leaves.
On entering the ship the first thing you spot is the contemporary decor, the atrium sporting a fascinating Funnel shaped centrepiece with an ever changing digital image.
We made our way to our cabin, we were very lucky to have one of the ‘Havana Cabanas’ which meant we had a rather unusual patio area, complete with swing and sun beds, leading to a private deck with 2 large hot tubs, a pool and bar, undercover seating around a shallow pool area to read and dangle your feet in, large round cabana style sun beds and a bar. We had wristbands and entry cards to enable us to use this exclusive area which was beautifully quiet and peaceful, unlike the rest of the ship…!
The ship itself is built for fun, and fun is what it does best, from a vast range of organised activities, water slides, pools, the new sky ride-which is an aerial recumbent bicycle track taking you high up over the ocean, to an imax theatre, comedy club, show lounges and bars. So much to do, but not so much time, as out of a ten day cruise we had just two sea days.
Restaurant wise, we had open dining, so we could eat when it suited us, which was ideal, meaning we could plan around the various shows or events onboard or stay in port later. There are many alternative dining options onboard, and I would highly recommend in particular the chefs galley, an incredible culinary experience for only 16 people, also the steak house was well worth a visit, and don’t miss the sushi bar! We also visited the Italian and Asian alternative dining venues for dinner, which were enjoyable and reasonable value. Carnival make it easy to have fun with a free app for your phone including a message facility- so useful, and on port days disembarkation was easy with shuttle buses to town or to major attractions readily available. Staff are friendly and helpful, without being smarmy, and the cruise director was a star in his own right, working flat out to ensure fun was had by all. We laughed, we drank, we ate, we relaxed, we felt spoilt. I’m a seasoned cruiser, having notched up around 35 cruises, mostly with Cunard and I wasn’t sure what to expect from an American dominated ship, but I’m now a Carnival convert. And not one passenger told me how many cruises they’d been on or if it was their first time. Quite simply no one cared, we were all there to have a great time, and oh boy, we did!
