Christmas Victory Review

[flyingandcruising]

Carnival Victory Review December 20th-27th, 2009

 

 

 

:D Honeymoon Cruise :D

 

 

This is my very first cruise review, and I hope that it’s half as good as some of these other great Victory reviews. I will post this in several segments since I’m going to make it a long one with LOTS of pictures (that’s the plan at least). Enjoy!

 

About us:

 

I am 32 and my wife is 29, this was my 5th cruise (3 with Admiral Cruise Lines ( along time ago, and 1 with Royal Caribbean in 2007) and this was my wife’s 1st cruise. We were married in May but since my wife is a teacher we could only take our honeymoon in the summer or during the Christmas holidays. We actually brook up our honeymoon into 2 parts, we went to Panama during the summer for 1 week and this cruise was part 2. I do not remember the Admiral Cruise Line cruises very much so if I make any comparisons it will be with the Royal Caribbean cruise that I took 3 years ago to the Panama Canal.

 

 

Now on to the cruise.

 

Day 0, Dec 18:

With all of our bags packed and DW back from work we started our drive to Buffalo from Toronto. Stopping for dinner on the way we made it into buffalo at around 8pm and settled into our hotel room for the night. We stayed at the Best Western Inn at Buffalo Airport, nice hotel with what seemed a really nice breakfast, unfortunately we didn’t get to eat the breakfast since we had to be at the airport for 4am to catch a 610am flight.

 

I was frantically watching the weather reports this evening and barely got any sleep because I was worried about the huge storm that was headed towards the eastern sea board. We had a connecting flight in Newark. Even though our cruise was on the Sunday and we were flying on the Saturday, I was worried because this being the busiest travel weekend of the year. :eek:

 

 

Day 1, Dec 19:

We got up at the ungodly hour of 3:30am and checked the weather reports, again, and they were calling for even a worse storm than they had anticipated. However our flights were still scheduled on time, our connecting flight was set to depart Newark at 8:55am. We got to Buffalo airport around 4:00am and our flight left promptly at 6:10am exactly and landed on time at 7:30am exactly (they couldn't be just one minute early to ease my craziness).

 

Landing in Newark

 

 

Anyway, we took the shuttle between terminals 1 and 3 and boarded the next plane. Shortly after the captain came on that “we are trying to leave on time to be ahead of the storm”; at that point I gave a huge sigh of relief “We’re going to make it”. Well 8:55am came and gone and the captain came back on “we are waiting for a few passengers with connections to catch this flight so as not to keep them stranded”, well I was freaking a little but at the same time thought it was really nice that they waited considering this was probably the only flight that was going to make it to San Juan today (or even for the next few days as we found out from fellow cruise passengers). We finally left at around 9:30am and were on our way, set to arrive on time at 1:50pm Atlantic time in San Juan.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 1, Dec 19 Con't:

 

 

We arrived on time, got our luggage and took a taxi to the Sheraton Old San Juan ($26 including tip and 4 pieces of luggage). I got a great rate for the hotel on Hotwire and to our surprise the gentleman at the front desk gave us an upgrade to a bay view with a balcony (not bad for $125).

 

 

 

View from the room

 

The hotel itself is very nice with a small lobby; the best part is of course the convenience to the pier and Old San Juan.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 1, Dec 19 Con't

We dropped off our bags and were starving so we walked into OSJ and ate at the first fast food we found, McDonalds. By the time we were done eating it was close to 4:30 so we just walked around a little and took in the sights and sounds of OSJ. It’s a beautiful city with cobble stone streets and music all around, there are some nice shops and we of course stopped at Barrachina for their famous Pina Colada (best I’ve ever had) with no alcohol it was just under $5.00.

 

 

OSJ is great at night time, we walked around the waterfront where all the street vendors are and there is singing and music playing, locals get together for a street jam session.

 

 

We stopped at a food vendor and ate some Churro’s…..mmmmmmm…..very addictive (bet you can’t just eat one). We were going to walk around OSJ tomorrow so at this point went back and decided to have a late dinner at Senor Frogs, the ambiance is really neat and they try to get people motivated with singing and dancing. But the food is not very good; I would have rather gone somewhere else.

 

 

 

 

By the time we were done I think it was close to 10pm and we were tired from a very long day. We went back to the hotel, did some hot tubbing and off to sleep dreaming about Victory.

 

Serenade of the Seas starting her journey

[winewanderer]

Thanks for posting your review. I read them all. Will be on the Victory in April. Can't wait to read more!

[vanislandcruisers]

Great review so far.....not crazy about your Toronto Maple Leafs avatar though:mad:.....Go Habs Go;):D

[flyingandcruising]

HA, thanx for the comments.

 

Habs or Leafs, we will both cheer for the Juniors tonight.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 2, Dec 20th (VICTORY DAY):

 

I woke up in the middle of the night at 4am to go to the washroom; of course I had to check out the balcony door “Is she here yet?” nope.

 

Our alarm went off at 9am, I jolted up from bed, opened the balcony door and there the Victory was waiting patiently for the previous passengers to debark and for new passengers to arrive.

 

 

We knew we had until 11am till check-out so we went to Subway and grabbed a breakfast sub. We went back to the hotel, got all packed up and put on our luggage tags. Check-out was a breeze; we did it through the television and just left our keys in the drop box at the lobby. At 11am we were out the door and on our way walking towards the pier.

 

 

It was a very quick 5 minute walk and after showing our Fun pass and ID’s to security we were walking from the sidewalk towards the terminal, we than gave our luggage to the gentlemen just inside the terminal along with a $5 tip and a thanks. We rode up the escalator and after winding through the empty queue we were greeted by a fun ship check in staff. It was a quick check of passports and fun passes and we were given our Sign and Sail cards along with a zone 2 boarding.

 

 

It was now 1130am and they were announcing that boarding would commence at 1230pm. We walked through the small duty free shops, they try to get you to buy things by telling everyone “you can put the liquor in your carryon and security won’t take it” we took a seat in the waiting area and patiently waited for zone 2 to be called. After what seemed like forever they started escorting the VIP passengers and I knew it was a matter of time before we had our chance.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 2, Dec 21 Con't

“Zone 1, anyone for zone 1” it was announced and the anticipation grew even more, I only saw a handful of people go in for zone 1 and I thought “ok no one else for zone 1, call zone 2 already”. They then called for zone 2 and we got up and started walking towards security and the gangway. This being my wife’s first cruise she was very nervous about being sea sick, but as we started walking up the gangway she realized the size of the ship and worries started going away.

 

 

We were greeted at the ships door and were told to put our sign and sail cards in the machine, that “BING” sound was a great sound to hear. Our picture was then taken and we were finally on the Victory.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 2, Dec 21 Con't

This is a great ship, even though it's 10 years old It seemed like a new ship, not very noticeable wear and tear. I loved the ‘Ocean’ theme throughout and the greens and blues (my favorite colours). The Atrium was beautiful with the green lights and as high as you can see through a skylight. They had Christmas decorations throughout the ship and a gingerbread village on the Lido deck.

 

 

We went up to the Lido deck 9 (this is also where our home would be for the next 7 days) we were in cabin 9294, I of course had to check to see if the cabin was ready and nope it wasn’t. So we went to the buffet for lunch and to my surprise the food was quite good, I had to try a little of everything of course. We had some things from the main buffet, we shared a corned beef sandwich from the Deli and we had some soup from the Yangze Wok, we were saving the pizza for a late night snack. The sandwich was good but we didn’t like today’s soup at Yangze.

 

A side not about the buffet, neither of us came accross the "puerto rican" attitute at all throughout the whole cruise, not just at the buffet but anywhere throughout the ship. There was no excessive noise, no kids running about the halls (and according to the cruise director there were about 700 children). I think that if there was any of it, we just didnt care enough to notice and just enjoyed the cruise instead of letting it get to us.

 

We took our time eating, I thought the cabins were available at 1:30 so at that time we made our way to check out the cabin and there was a sign that they would not be ready until 2:30, so we walked around the ship and went to the Pacific dining room to see where table 577 was. It was a nice 4 person booth on the top level overlooking the bottom.

[EMTRa]

Excellent review..I can't wait for more! Such beautiful pics! :)

[happylady]

Great review...sounds like you had a great time.

[cantwait06]

awesome review! I'm also going on the Victory this summer for my honeymoon, and your review is helping pass the time! Thanks for taking the time to share your vacation with us!

 

Congrats on your recent marriage!

[ktm62]

MORE! MORE! We are on the lido deck in feb, cant wait!! do you have any cabin and balcony pics?:)

[raquel]

I took the same Christmas cruise on Victory last year...just wanted to add one footnote here...the guys at Duty Free in the San Juan Port were telling you the truth. I have cruised out of Puerto Rico many times (my mom is from this beautiful island) and for whatever reason, this port is the only port that I am aware of where you may buy your liquor right at the duty free right before boarding and bring it on the ship with you without it getting confiscated. I always put it in my carry on and have never encountered a problem. One of the many reasons I LOVE cruising out of Puerto Rico! :)

[vanislandcruisers]

HA, thanx for the comments.

 

Habs or Leafs, we will both cheer for the Juniors tonight.

 

True enough...was a great game.....

 

and again, Great Review, thanks for taking the time to do it

[flyingandcruising]

Thank you all for the comments, it means alot.

 

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Especially while its fresh in my head.

 

I will add more when i get home from work. Next up will be cabin pics.....so stay tuned.

[Haysiedaze]

How was 9294 as far as noise? We are in 9283 and 9285 in Feb. Thanks for taking the time to write the review. You are doing an excellent job at it.

[flyingandcruising]

How was 9294 as far as noise? We are in 9283 and 9285 in Feb. Thanks for taking the time to write the review. You are doing an excellent job at it.

 

9294 was great! we loved the location, and we heard no noise at all. We loved the fact that we could get some food at the buffet and come back to eat it on the balcony. Also it was great having the pool right there for a quick dip. If I could, I would try to get a similar cabin on another cruise.

[whendoweleave?]

I'm not going on the Victory any time soon, but I also love the theme of this ship and hope to cruise on her SOMETIME! And I love a good review with PICS!!! Thanks for taking the time! I head out on the Triumph in 9 DAYS!!! I plan to take lots of pics and do a review as well!

[welldone60]

I took the same Christmas cruise on Victory last year...just wanted to add one footnote here...the guys at Duty Free in the San Juan Port were telling you the truth. I have cruised out of Puerto Rico many times (my mom is from this beautiful island) and for whatever reason, this port is the only port that I am aware of where you may buy your liquor right at the duty free right before boarding and bring it on the ship with you without it getting confiscated. I always put it in my carry on and have never encountered a problem. One of the many reasons I LOVE cruising out of Puerto Rico! :)

 

 

We are sailing on this cruise in Feb and were planning on buying at the duty free store. But seems just a few weeks ago things changed and they are now removing all hard stuff from your bags and returning it to you at the end of the cruise. Check out the all things Victory thread.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 2, Dec 21 Con't

2:30 came so we again trecked over to our cabin and when we opened the door we were pleasantly surprised with bon voyage decorations and little gifts that our family had ordered for us.

 

 

This was my first balcony so I than dashed to see the view, it was magnificent and at that time I knew that we were going to have a wonderful honeymoon.

 

 

While looking out on the balcony, we got a knock at the door and one of our luggage bags was already there and about 5 minutes later the final piece was delivered. With luggage safely in the cabin we put on some sunscreen and made our way off the ship to explore OSJ some more.

[EMTRa]

Love the decorations!!! Thanks again..I know how much work it is to write such a great review!

BTW.. CONGRATULATIONS! :)

[flyingandcruising]

Day 2, Dec 20 Con't

 

 

We walked around until about 7pm seeing most of the sites, walking along the walls and through the only remaining gate. We went up to El Morro and I loved it; it has magnificent views and an interesting history.

 

 

We of course needed to get one more Pina colada and another order of Chorro’s before we slowly walked back to the pier and on to the ship to get ready for dinner.

[flyingandcruising]

Love the decorations!!! Thanks again..I know how much work it is to write such a great review!

BTW.. CONGRATULATIONS! :)

 

Thank you, it was a nice surprise to have those decorations in our cabin

[ladyj3641]

This is killing me! Please let these next 5 months go by quickly!!