I am writing this review on Cruise Critic because Carnival has chosen to block the review in the Carnival site for some unknown reason. Most likely because its bad for business or they have some major interest in the excursion provider they seem to want to protect. First let me get all the typical criteria out of the way. The Vista is a great ship and we had a lot of fun on this cruise with the exception of the one Carnival excursion we purchased.

The cabins were nice but slightly smaller with storage space. They have many more restaurant options than any other ship we have sailed on. Especially the add of Guy's BBQ. The dining hall has been stripped of its white table clothes and is much more informal. Staff seemed like they lacked the experience we see on other ships. The theater seating is really broken up and very impractical for the shows they had. The IMAX and Thrill theaters are great. The entertainment was not bad either. Overall we had a great time on the ship.

The one Excursion we purchased from Carnival was the BEAUTIFUL 3 ISLANDS ADVENTURE, SNORKEL & BEACH. This excursion is only offered by Carnival but they did not provide the beach access or time that they provided in the description. They anchored more than 150-200 feet off shore and expected you to swim to the beach with your bag and towels over your head. The captain was aggressive and extremely irritated when questioning his decision to anchor where he did. When we stopped to eat lunch he attempted to back his boat up to the beach and got in a confrontation with French tourist yelling obscenities at them to move. The twin out boards with large props where fully engaged as he backed right up on them endangering their lives and forcing them to move. When we got out of the boat he got in a physical altercation with them pushing the man away and basically body slamming his wife who tried to help. The police were called and he ultimately he was arrested for assault and led away. As were were now stranded another captain was called in to get us back to port. The General manager for the company Eddy showed up much later and got us back to port but was an hour later than the scheduled so we were denied the opportunity to shop before boarding and had to run all the way back to the ship. When I complained to Carnival about the unprofessional conduct of the excursion provider and the lack of activity promised in the tour description they said they would look into it. In the end they gave me a 20% credit but basically swept the whole ordeal under the carpet. I suspect the excursion company has some ties to Carnival as they didnt want this on their website review. I just want others to beware as there are no real Guarantees for the excursions they sell.