I have lost track of how many cruises I have taken. Must be approaching 20. The CV2 cruise, on the Carnival Vista, is in the running for the worst. Certainly bottom 3. But there were some good things about the cruise. Let’s get those out of the way first.
Highlights:
- We got to spend an entire week with Marlene’s son and daughter-in-law.
- The Vista Rockband was quite good.
- The few shows in the theater that we saw – the comedians and the 80s rock show – were quite good.
- My meal at the Cucina del Capitano was very good.
- Some of the staff were very helpful.
Lowlights:
- The wholesale change of itinerary – replacing Aruba and Curacao with Nassau and Freeport – was beyond disappointing. And the manner in which Carnival handled it – waiting until everyone was on board before breaking the news and then offering a paltry $400 per stateroom compensation – was unforgiveable. My opinion of Carnival took a big dive with this cruise. We didn’t even leave the ship at two of the four ports – Princess Cay and Half Moon Cay – and both Nassau and Freeport were uninspiring. The loss of Aruba and Curacao ruined the cruise.
- The food in the buffet and the dining room was mediocre. Even the “fancy” meals – Beef Wellington, prime rib, filet mignon – were not as good as we have experienced on previous Carnival cruises.
The casino wasn’t kind to me but was very kind to Marlene. The improvements to the Vista since our last cruise on that ship were mostly positive. Embarking and debarking were smoother and the lines at the buffet disappeared. The IMAX theater was added too but I found it to be not much different than a standard small theater with stadium seating