Experience one Vista visit and you’ll be back for more voyages
Carnival’s newest flagship vessel boldly cruises in a dazzling new direction
Carnival. All I have to do is type that one word and, chances are, you’ve already formed an opinion of what it is to take a Carnival (cruise.center/carnival) cruise. Unless you’ve sailed with the line recently, I’d be willing to bet that your impressions are based on an old, outdated stereotype.
Nothing demonstrates how far the Carnival product has come than the line’s newest flagship, the 133,500-ton Carnival Vista. Launched just last year, Carnival Vista is more than just a new ship; the 3,934-guest megaliner takes Carnival in a bold and exciting new direction, while still providing a high-quality, enormously fun cruise vacation that’s suitable for travellers of all ages.
After spending six days on board, I’m convinced this is one of the line’s best-designed ships. Developed by Carnival’s in-house design team in conjunction with Hamburg, Germany-based Partner Ship Design, the entire vessel has a look that is decidedly Carnival, but in a more grown-up way.
Key among these new spaces is the ship’s three-storey atrium, which boasts a gigantic LED sculpture rising from Deck 3 to Deck 6 displaying digital projections that change nightly. Stairwells are brighter and feature photographic art installations highlighting cities around the world, and even the ship’s photo gallery has gone high-tech. Instead of hunting around on a board filled with photos (like the old days), guests enter their stateroom numbers into an iPad in order to view and print pictures taken by the ship’s photographers.
Carnival Vista also wows in other ways. She’s the first North American-based ship to offer its own brewery, with three unique beers brewed right on board, on tap. She has the first-ever Imax theatre at sea, and the first SkyRide at sea: a pedal-driven contraption attached to a track that takes guests around the ship’s iconic funnel, some 45 metres above the ocean below. I took a spin on it while we were arriving into Cozumel, and the views were spectacular. Just don’t look down!
Carnival Vista also has some pretty cool new accommodations, including the Family Harbor staterooms and suites on Deck 2 that can sleep up to five and include special nautical decor, along with a private lounge that serves breakfast during the mornings and snacks and light bites throughout the day.
Also new: Vista’s new Cubanthemed Havana Staterooms. With their unique, vibrant decor, rainfall showerheads and even private lanais with hammocks, it’s no surprise that these staterooms sell out first. Havana accommodations also have private access to a wonderful area at the stern of the ship with padded loungers, dual hot tubs and a swimming pool overlooking the wake. It’s a good thing I stayed in a regular balcony stateroom: I’d probably never leave the ship in these Havana staterooms.
If you’ve never sailed with Carnival before, this is the ship to test the waters on. Fair warning: you’ll be back. Carnival Vista makes her home in the Caribbean. My sixnight itinerary was your classic Western Caribbean run, with port calls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico. These are great places for any sort of beach or water activity, with crisp sand and clear waters. While Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman don’t offer much in the way of historical sights, this sailing was one of Carnival’s Cozumel Plus voyages. On these cruises, Carnival substantially increases the amount of time you’re in port so it can offer excursions to the ruins of Tulum and Chichen Itza on the Mexican mainland.
My cruise was also a Carnival Live sailing. These feature noteworthy artists who come aboard the ship in port for an exclusive performance. Tickets are available for an additional cost (either general admission or a VIP package that includes a meet-and-greet), but are a drop in the bucket compared to what you’d pay on land. Comedian Jay Leno came aboard Carnival Vista in Cozumel for an exclusive performance, and he didn’t disappoint. Past artists have included Styx, Tim McGraw and Martina McBride, among others.
Carnival Vista sails year-round to the Western, Eastern and Southern Caribbean on voyages ranging from two to nine days in length. Right now, you can hop aboard her in Miami and, from September 2018, on sailings from Galveston, Texas.
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