Carnival Vista – memories made…part 1

I have the serious holiday blues – feels like an age since I was sipping cocktails on my balcony watching some amazing sunsets…

We had the most amazing holiday mainly due to the itinerary but also the group of people we were fortunate enough to hook up with.

We flew to Barcelona the day before the cruise and stayed on Las Ramblas, my husband and I had already been to Barcelona earlier on the in the year and really couldn’t wait to take the children.  I love the place and will definitely go back again.  It has something for everyone from relaxing on the beautiful beaches to exploring the historical sites and of course having a mooch in the Boqueria market.  We took the children to the Ice Bar that is just on the sea front which as you can tell from the photos they loved it.

The following morning we took a taxi from the hotel to the port – what usually should be a 15 minute journey took just over an hour – this was down to the fact there was 3 large cruise ships all disembarking and embarking passengers but once we were dropped off the check in went really smooth.  The Carnival Vista holds just over 4000 passengers so we expected to queue to get on – but within 20 minutes of arriving we were on board and  taking in this amazing ship.  The atrium which has a three deck LCD funnel that displays moving digital images was a real hit when we stepped on board, thinking it would be a great place to stop for a drink or two at night, but actually I didn’t like the atmosphere there at night, it seemed to open and bright.

The children wanted to go and check out the pool area so we made our way to the beach pool, which is the main pool in the middle and where you can get to the waterslides, the children were really excited and couldn’t wait to get in the water. We had a little walk round and in no time there was an announcement to say cabins were now ready – at embarkation we were told our suitcases would be delivered up until as last as 7pm – so when we arrived at the cabin we were surprised to see our suitcases had already been delivered.  Fantastic really if you think how many suitcases there are!!

This year we managed to book 2 interconnecting balcony cabins – a big improvement on the 4 berth inside cabin we had a couple of years ago.  I absolutely loved my balcony – especially in the evenings watching the sunsets.  It was great having 2 cabins and the fact that they were interconnecting was a bonus.  Next time though I don’t think I will book the children a balcony as they really didn’t use it, I would  consider a balcony for me and the hubby and then an inside cabin opposite for the children.

We were booked on open dining which means that you can dine anytime between 5.45 and 9.30.  I love the freedom this gives you as some evenings you may dine later or earlier than others.  I know that people are put off from open dining for the worry they may have to queue or wait for their tables but this really wasn’t the case for us.  Each evening we would just head to the check in desk at the restaurant and ask for a table, which either was available straight away or they would give us a buzzer for when one was free.  The longest we had to wait was half an hour, most times tables were available straight away.  The food was great in the restaurant most evenings but the biggest downfall was the extremely slow service.  It seems to me that the staff just haven’t been trained right with some having very basic waiter knowledge.  The staff were never rude but just extremely slow which at times could get a little frustrating.  The same went for the bar waiters – they seemed to be under pressure all the time – again they were always polite but just lacked experience. Maybe in a few months things may be different – personally they need to employ a few more staff!!

The sail away party was fantastic for the children and the cruise director certainly knows how to work a crowd – he really was great.  We did though avoid the beach pool area and we usually went to the pool at the aft of the ship – the Tides pool.  This was just down to personal choice but the beach pool area was just too noisy – with music pumping out most of the day or pool games going on – some people loved it and fair play they really did get the crowd in the party mood but the Tides Pool was more for us and would just play some nice back ground music with the bar not being too far away.

What was great about this ship was that it was big enough to escape the crowds and the noise which I think is important when you are travelling in peak season.

There is so much more to say about the ship and my holiday but will leave that for next time – hope you enjoyed it so far!