The ship’s officers – under the direction of Captain Paolo Severini – altered the ship’s course after Carnival’s Fleet Operations Centre in Miami received an emergency alert from the cargo ship.
The officers spotted six men on a life raft and rescued them and brought them on board.
A search and rescue mission to find the remaining six crew near the Dominican Republic is now being coordinated by the Coast Guard authorities.
Carnival Vista has since returned to its route and arrived in Amber Cove on Wednesday as scheduled.
The 3,934-passenger ship, which is homeported in Port Canaveral, is currently sailing a six-day itinerary that departed on Sunday.
