FINALLY! My really long Victory review 1/17-1/24/10 with MEGA pix!!

[scraphappylady]

While the excursion was new to my DH, and we both had fun, the snorkeling didn’t seem to be quite as nice as I had remembered from before. Perhaps I had been spoiled by other snorkeling I had done in the meantime.

 

 

Stingray

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

We certainly had no shortage of the champagne or rum punch, though, once we were done in the water! Fresh fruit, cheese and crackers rounded out our meal.

 

Because our excursion left so late in the morning, we had very little time when we returned to port to do much more than head back to our ship.

 

We took a quick shower and got some sushi as we waited for sailaway. Since we love sushi, and each night’s sushi offering was different, we tried to hit the kiosk each night, and only missed it once. This night, we had salmon nigri (slow cooked salmon lacquer), mackerel and portobello with glaze, and japanese omelet/spinach/cured scallions (maki roll). Yum! Each plate held three pieces, and I’m afraid we pigged out and each got a second plate. It was just so good, though, and remember our minimal lunch!

 

After watching sailaway,

 

 

 

 

we headed up to the Triton Bar on Deck 9 to do our Meet and Greet. We sat relaxing with drinks for awhile, but never did see anyone who looked like they were gathering. Sorry, guys! Maybe we took too long watching sailaway!

 

We ended up watching a bit of “Witch Mountain” on the big movie screen, but I got a chill being more exposed up on deck, so we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. Sitting out on our deck, wrapped in one of the robes, though, it didn’t take long for me to drift off. Next thing I know, Jon was prodding me awake, saying we had to get going.

[sunseeker09]

Thanks for posting the great review and photos. I can appreciate that it's a lot of work to do! We did the Victory Jan. 3 but then went a week to BVI, so we left SJ the day you started your cruise. You did just miss some awful weather! It was great for our cruise and most of BVI, but on the 14th it started to turn and we had some torrential rains and heavy winds. But of course it was clearing when we left ;)

Anyway... looking forward to more :)

[CruiseLover824]

Love the review so far....I am looking forward to the rest!! I sail on the Victory in just over a month!! :D

[cruiseman111111]

Wow, Carnival is like you went to the land of OZ. Colorful, but I like a little more subdued.

 

GREAT PICTURES...

[scraphappylady]

Tonight, we had our assigned dining room seating and got to meet our tablemates for the next six nights. I must say – Carnival seems to do a wonderful job of pairing people for dinner. Turns out, the couple we sat with (hi, Steve and Diana!!) :D live not an hour away from us back home, and we had wonderful conversation each night, often chatting right up until we reached the elevators outside of the dining room.

 

We also met our servers tonight: our main waiter, Orlando, who came from St. Vincent, in the Grenadines, and (hopefully I spelled this correctly) Amorknot, from (if I remember right) the Phillipines. They quickly got to know our preferences and treated us very well.

 

Again, the menu was not a surprise for us, but for the most part proved very enjoyable, as we picked out our favorites. We both started with chilled cream of peaches, then Jon opted for the black tiger shrimp cocktail while I tried the fried mozzarella. My son had tried this on our July cruise and seemed to like it so much, I knew I had to see if it was good. It was! Next, I got the Seafood Newburg, a personal favorite, and was not disappointed. Jon, however, opted for the beef stroganoff and did not like the way it was fixed this time. He was pacified with dessert, though, (tiramisu) while I thoroughly enjoyed the bitter and blanc (dark and white chocolate bread pudding with vanilla sauce.) We rounded out the meal with coffee.

 

As much as we had vowed we would take in every show this cruise, by the time we finished dinner, we didn’t feel like rushing over to catch the 10:15 show. It was called “Showtime,” and was listed as featuring our cruise director Karl, the Victory dancers and a comedian. So, we slowly wandered back to our cabin, donating $5 to the 2 cent slots as we passed through the casino (big spenders, I know!) and were met with our first towel animal of the cruise, a bunny, back in the cabin.

 

 

A few minutes out on our balcony and we turned in. Next up - Dominica!

[fpslim]

Victory is so nice I sailed her twice! :D:D

Great photos, they bring back a lot of memories!!

[scraphappylady]

Day 3 – Dominica

We again awoke early this morning, and straightaway headed for our balcony, coming out onto a beautiful view with the sun just risen, and a few outlying islands in the distance. The ship’s wake seemed especially nice this morning, and I’m not usually one to appreciate such a sight.

 

 

 

Land ho!

 

By the time we had showered and eaten a leisurely breakfast on the Lido (fresh made to order omelets, yum!), we were coming close to the island. It was harder to see the full island, as we were heading into the sun, but as we got progressively closer, we could tell why they say it’s not a beach island.

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

More island pictures

 

 

 

 

We passed a ship anchored off shore, called “Ocean Village,” one that we had never heard of before, on our way in. It’s passengers were being tendered in, since apparently, Dominica only has two docks. The Caribbean Princess was already taking one slot and we were heading for the other one.

 

[scraphappylady]

The port area itself was very picturesque and nowhere near as built up as some others we have seen in the past. With very few souvenir shops, most of the vendors set up under tarps alongside the waterway.

 

 

 

 

We docked right on time, 10 am, and decided to get off and explore a little among the vendors, before meeting for our excursion. The pier was longer than any of the others we encountered on this trip, but not unmanageable by any means.

 

 

We got a nice picture of our balcony as we made our way along the shore.

 

As we meandered and shopped, each vendor persistently tried to get us to shop their booth, but cheerfully backed off when we said we weren’t interested. I knew I didn’t have to buy souvenirs in every port, but the only things my daughter had asked for were flags from each of the different countries we went to. As soon as I found one here in Dominica, for a very reasonable $2, I was content just to browse. We had looked for one in St. Thomas, for about five minutes, and then it struck my DH and I both at the same time how silly we were! I thought about trying to find the equivalent of a state flag, but never did see anything like that. By the time we were back in San Juan, it took us only a minute to realize the same thing. We learn, albeit slowly sometimes!

[gypsyrose]

Awesome review!! And love, love, love all the pictures. You are a great story teller. Can not imagine all the snow you have received. I would book another cruise;)

[OrdieJ]

I love reviews with pix. Please tell me theres more.

[LRGidget]

Carnival was our first cruise 10 years ago and this year is our first time back and we are looking forward to it but also hope we didn't make a mistake changing cruiselines! Did you do any excursions through the ship and if so which ones? Thanks and like I said can't wait for more info. We sail in 3 weeks

[scraphappylady]

Awesome review!! And love, love, love all the pictures. You are a great story teller. Can not imagine all the snow you have received. I would book another cruise;)

 

Thanks - photography is my passion (and the degree in journalism helps with the writing!) :p

 

Yeah, my sister lives outside of Raleigh, and she's really laughing at us this time! Mind you, both of us grew up in the northern part of PA, where the winters were naturally snowy, but neither of us remembers anything like this winter from when we were young.

 

And today into tomorrow, we are in the 6-12" band for more snow. :eek: I'm really getting tired of shoveling!!

 

I love reviews with pix. Please tell me theres more.

No worries - much, much more! I'm only on the third port, if you consider San Juan as one. Still plenty more Dominica to come, plus three more ports! Just trying to find the right words to match the pix!:D

[scraphappylady]

Carnival was our first cruise 10 years ago and this year is our first time back and we are looking forward to it but also hope we didn't make a mistake changing cruiselines! Did you do any excursions through the ship and if so which ones? Thanks and like I said can't wait for more info. We sail in 3 weeks

 

This was only our second cruise with Carnival (last time with the kids and this time just the two of us) and we had awesome experiences both times. The more I hear from other cruisers, the more I think that many of these cruise lines are very similar.

 

I think if you start with a "go-with-the-flow" relaxed attitude, you'll do just fine. We are not big bar/casino/drinking/party type people and we had a really good time. If that's your thing, though, there are plenty of opportunities for such onboard.

 

We did two excursions this time thru Carnival: the catamaran champagne snorkel to St. John when we were in St. Thomas, and the Carib Indian village tour in Dominica, which I will try to get to in my review later today.

 

We used CC member recommendations, then booked on our own, for most of our other island excursions. We did Silver Moon turtle snorkeling in Barbados, the Cosol island tour in St. Lucia, and Thenford Grey tours in St. Kitts. I'll try to include as much detail about each of these in my review. Our day on St. Thomas was a beach day on our own, at Orient Beach.

[LRGidget]

Hanging on every word and picture with great anticipation. We have done a champagne catameran from RCL every year in Barbados and LOVE LOVE LOVE it ... through RCL we had a beach break excursion to Orient Beach (wearing our swim suits THANK YOU) and loved it but couldn't find one on Carnival list other than "French Beach" so I guess we will chance a taxi. As for St. Thomas we have to visit our most favorite jewelry store but really want a few hours at Megan's Bay and once again are chancing local transportation there. We don't like the "wait while 52 people decide how to get off a tour bus" route either .... and after seeing one "island tour" it doesn't much matter what island you are on ... have to get back to your pics!

[mara93]

I am reliving our Victory cruise with your review! Keep up the great work!

[crusing48/51]

for such a great review. It makes the waiting easier. We have a long time until our turn, but I feel as though I will know the ship really well from your pictures and impresssions.

 

Can hardly wait to learn about your excursions. I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip!

 

Thanks again, and keep the review coming!

[winewanderer]

Thanks for the great review.

 

Looks like you did excursions on each island. Looking back was that just enough or too much?

 

We are on Victory in April and so far are doing an all day tour on Dominica, day sail/snorkel on Barbados and 1/2 day zipline on St. Lucia.

 

That leaves the first port, St. Thomas, free and the last 2 days on St. Kitts and St. Martin free. Still thinking of maybe a 1/2 day sail/snorkel on St. Kitts.

 

Thanks, Diana

[LRGidget]

We would do a catameran, day at the beach on every island if we could. Like I said we aren't much into waiting for 40 people to get on and off of a tour bus to stand on a hilltop and take a picture. Orient Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in St. Marteen (clothing at one end is optional but that doesn't mean that the nudists don't get lost and stray to the clothed ends ... it's not like they can put a map in their pocket) and as far as downtown St. Marteen it is mostly casinos and jewelry shops and we only buy jewelry in St. Thomas.

 

Anyway we like to take an early excursion of no more than 4 hours (EXCEPT Barbados 5 hr one) and then go back to the ship for lunch and then shop the markets. We've never been to St. Kitts so are looking forward to it and our son and daughter-in-law have never been to Dominica or St. Kitts so looking forward to those

[lulu13]

I want to thank you for the great review and the excellent pictures. I have just booked this cruise for Dec. 5, 2010, and was looking for research on the islands. I can't wait for your island reviews and pictures. I live in PA as well as you, and today we are also waiting for the unknown 6 to 12 inches of snow or more. I live in Lebanon County, so we may be just on the fringe. Your pictures take me back to some of my prior island cruises, and with this snowy weather, those are welcome thoughts indeed. Please keep your messages coming. Thanks.

[scraphappylady]

through RCL we had a beach break excursion to Orient Beach (wearing our swim suits THANK YOU) and loved it but couldn't find one on Carnival list other than "French Beach" so I guess we will chance a taxi.

 

Oh, yes! DH and I were definitely not going to be part of the unclothed group here! :D It was so easy to get a taxi, though. The stand was right outside the port area and very well marked as to where they go. For us, to Orient, it was $6 one way, because we had a full taxi. The posted rates were $18 each for one or two people, $7 for 3-5 and $6 for 6 or more; the officials at the taxi stand really try to fill the taxis, too, so unless it's very slow when you are there, you should end up with a full taxi and low rate.

 

Looks like you did excursions on each island. Looking back was that just enough or too much?

 

Our tours were paced pretty well. We were very relaxed when snorkeling St. John, and it began later in the morning. Then we had a long driving day in Dominica, a little more tiring. Next was snorkeling with the turtles, and we were pretty much lumps on the boat for much of the tour, plus it ended pretty early in the afternoon. St. Lucia and St. Kitts were tiring, (more driving) especially when our excursions ran longer than we had planned but we took naps when we got back on board on those days, and it seemed to work well. Finally, we spent the last day just vegging on the beach in St. Martin.

[Wags67]

Excellent Review and Amazing Pictures!

We were on the Victory two years ago and Loved the intense week of a port a day...it's great to see your pictures and say...'I remember that' or to see a picture of something we missed...

We are getting ready to book the Victory Again for October...I have to say it is my favorite itinerary!

Looking forward to the rest of your review AND pictures:)

[scraphappylady]

By 10:30 am, we were back at the dock and quickly met up with our tour group. I had opted to use a Carnival excursion again today, since my online research had turned up many people complaining about the poor state of Dominica’s roads. (Boy, did that turn out to be true!)

 

I didn’t want to get stuck somewhere in a ditch and watch the ship sailing off without us! At least if we missed the ship here, it would be Carnival’s responsibility to get us back on. And since this was one port where I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be getting wet, I took a chance and brought along our passports, just in case.

 

We had booked the Pre Columbus/Carib Indian tour, and were quickly ushered to the taxi van that would be our “home” for the next six hours or so. The entire tour left me with a mixed bag of feelings, both for the tour itself and for the island. Much of those 6+ hours were spent in the van, jouncing over very poorly paved roads, stopping only briefly for occasional photos, at the Carib village itself, and for lunch.

 

There are no speed limits on the island – we found out that drivers are allowed to set their speeds based on how well they feel they can handle the terrain - and the ride was very scary at times. I’m not one to get overly hysterical at bad driving, but when you are on the equivalent of a one-lane road, driving on mountainous roads with almost no guardrails, and the car coming toward you from the other direction wants to play chicken, you start to shake! The scenery was spectacular, though, and I took as many photos of it as I could.

 

Now this is my idea of the "tropics!"

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

While I was happy to see a lot of the interior of the island (especially the area that had been designated as a natural park) and not just one tourist spot, I felt we spent too much time driving. It took over 1½ hours just to get to the Indian village and the site itself didn’t really live up to the description. We learned a bit about the native Indians, but our tour guide didn’t seem very sure of himself in describing things that we saw – we just ended up asking a lot of questions as we went along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I was expecting more of a "living history" type of place, like some we have back here at home (ie- Colonial Williamsburg), but there were only a few displays set up. I learned more from researching the village on the internet when I got home. Here's some of what one website said:

 

"The Kalinago Barana Auté, which translates to “Carib Cultural Village by the Sea’, is located on a 4,000-acre reservation, on the island’s northeast coast. Over 3,000 indigenous people, simply called Caribs, were granted the reserve just over 100 years ago by government after occupying the whole island for centuries. . . . the 4.2-acre model village, which consists of 14 structures made of concrete, wood, straw and thatch. . . . features the indigenous Karbet (the home of the Carib Chief and his wives), the Mwina (the native home of a Carib), the Ajoupa (the area where indigenous Caribs cooked) and displays the canoe in which the Caribs migrated to the islands. The site also has a river leading to a waterfall with the Atlantic Ocean on its border."