My Super Sized Family Friendly Victory Review- September 5-12! With Pics

[ehough]

This was our first vacation as a family of four- it was me (26), DH (29), DD (2.5), and DS (11 months). We were a little nervous going into it- would the kids behave? Would it be a nightmare? Would we end up more exhausted coming out than we were going in? I’m happy to report that it was FABULOUS and we’re already planning our next vacation! Sure, there were bumps in the road, but overall it was an amazing vacation and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

Saturday, September 4th

 

We flew American from Chicago’s O’Hare, leaving the house at 5:30am. Surprisingly, the flight was on time (kind of rare for O’Hare), and I want to apologize to everyone who sat near us- it was DS’s first flight and well, it was hard. He was tired and flailing and crying- my muscles were sore for days afterwards, from trying to calm and rock and shush him. Can’t say I didn’t try, but I wasn’t super successful!

 

We landed around 1pm and got our bags with no problem. However, at the San Juan airport, they were asking for the checked baggage claim tags at the door. You couldn’t leave until they verified that you were leaving with your own luggage. I’ve flown many many times and have never seen this before! We were lucky I knew where I put those tags! It wasn’t a big deal, but just as an FYI to anyone who flies into San Juan- keep track of those tags, you will need them.

 

We took a cab to the Radisson Ambassador, which I won on Priceline for $90 a night. The hotel had upgraded us to a junior suite! Score!

 

 

There was a Burger King right next to the Radisson and a Walgreens about a block away. We walked to Walgreens for diapers, baby wipes, and a case of pop (Walgreens does NOT sell wine, as we had hoped- I know CVS near the pier does, but sadly that’s not the case for Walgreens). Then we went to the Ambassador Grill inside the Radisson for dinner...were not too impressed with this place. The service was slow and unenthusiastic (it’s a sports bar- there was a TV behind our table, and our server would come to our table and instead of making eye contact, he’d be staring at the TV!). The food was just okay. We spent the rest of the night just relaxing in our room.

 

Sunday, September 5th

 

DH walked next door to Burger King for breakfast (as a side note, I know I’ve seen several people say that “Everyone in San Juan speaks English and Spanish”....we did not find that to be exactly true. We encountered two people- both working at fast food restaurants- who did not speak English! Not a big deal and I do realize it’s Puerto Rico, but I wish we had brushed up on our Spanish beforehand).

 

We stayed at the hotel until check-out time and then grabbed a cab to the port. It was insane, as expected, but the lines moved pretty fast. DH rolled our suitcases all the way up to the conveyor belt, and THEN a porter took them from him and expected a tip for lifting them onto the belt. But, we had expected this, so it is what it is. We took the elevator upstairs to check-in. The line was quite long, but this was about 12:30 or so and they had just started calling people to board the ship. By the time we got through the line, we could walk right on. DH went to buy two bottles of wine from the duty free shop and on we went through security. At some point here, someone decided he was carrying liquor instead of wine. They tried to confiscate it from us right before we got on the ship, at which point we had to explain that it was wine. Several people had checked his bag and I was distracted with herding the kids, so I’m not entirely sure at what point they got confused.

 

We got on the ship, wine in hand, and headed for the Lido. It was insanely busy, of course, but it was never that busy again until the last morning on the ship. After lunch we walked around and explored the ship! The kids were particularly taken with the octopus outside the arcade. Neptune’s Way was more or less deserted so it was a good place to let the kids explore.

 

 

 

 

We went up to our room at 2:30 (like good little boys and girls!) and it was ready! We were in balcony room 6412. We had originally booked an outside room; by the time we switched to a balcony, we had slim pickings left. We ended up with a room riiiight above the Black and Red Seas Lounge. NEVER AGAIN! I know it’s our own fault but I had just crossed my fingers and hoped it would be ok. It wasn’t. Our room shook and vibrated from about 9pm-2am every night and we could clearly hear what songs they were playing. Doesn’t seem like they made any effort whatsoever to soundproof! Luckily the kids didn’t seem to notice the racket, but it was a nightmare for a light sleeper like myself.

 

 

We had dinner in the Lido (as a side note, we ate 99% of our meals in the Lido. It was just easier and less stressful for everyone. We did tire of the food after awhile but that’s to be expected!). We went to the Camp Carnival orientation- you’d think a kid oriented program would have a kid oriented orientation, but no! Quite boring. You do need to go in order to get the kids’ muster station bracelets, but we split not long after that. Then we had to wait around for muster drill. Muster drill was....kind of a....cluster muck, shall we say? It was listed on the Fun Times at 9:30pm- we were thinking that was so late for the kids! We showed up at our Muster Station at 9:30. Very few people were there. It finally started at 10pm and by that time we were squished behind four rows of people, and drinks were not allowed. They’re honestly lucky nobody has passed out from heat stroke! It gets HOT waiting around for everyone. Note to self: Don’t show up until the last possible second! Nobody else does! We finally got back to our room and the kids passed out.

 

[ehough]

Sunday, September 6th- St. Thomas

 

This was our view of St. Thomas from our balcony:

 

 

We decided to take the Carnival excursion called Magen’s Bay Beach Getaway. We generally don’t go for ship excursions, but the kids were free, and that made it the cheapest option for us. The excursion left at 12:30; around 11:15 we tried to get some early lunch from the Lido, but the buffet wasn’t open yet! (Try to remember to keep a Fun Times with you so you don’t forget these things!). We went back to the room and tried room service but after being on hold for 10 minutes, we checked the Fun Times and noticed the deli was open, so DH ran upstairs for some sandwiches and we got off the boat. We were taken in an open air safari bus to beautiful Magen’s Bay!

 

 

 

The beach was very nice and the water was quite calm. On the way back, we stopped at an overlook to take pictures and a local was there with his goat. Just an FYI- the goat is not there for the pleasure of your company! You ARE expected to pay! I was amazed to see some of our fellow cruisers be surprised by this information.

 

We had dinner in the Lido and then wandered the ship. We discovered that the night club was open, with the lights and music on, but no one was in there! Every night we ended up in the night club so the kids could walk around and dance, and other people with kids had the same idea.

 

[ehough]

Tuesday September 7th- Dominica

 

After much hemming and hawing, we ultimately decided not to do anything in Dominica. There just were not many kid-friendly excursion options.

 

Dominica from the balcony:

 

 

We sent DD to Camp today- DS was too young to go, so it was the only time we used it. I sent her for watercolors and Dora the Explorer, and she seemed to enjoy it- she came back with a still wet painting as well as a Dora backpack. We had lunch and then wandered off the ship. I’d heard bad things about the local vendors, but they were not pushy at all. They did approach us but left us alone when we said “No thanks”. There were some nice crafts set up, but it was very hot so we soon ended up back on the boat for pool time. DS was too young for the pool so we took the advice of those on the family board and brought his own:

 

 

Dominica was the first formal night, and we partook in this one! DH has a self proclaimed reputation for being the worst dress zipper upper ever, and this was no exception. He broke my dress zipper and ended up having to sew it back together- it was NOT pretty.

 

 

 

We went to the dining room for the first (and only!) time. DH had the lobster and shrimp, I had the chile relleno, DS had the chicken nuggets and fries, and DD had a cheese pizza. We finished with warm chocolate melting cake. It was all VERY good and we were very impressed with how quickly the kids got their food!

 

After dinner we went to the show. DS made it about 90 seconds before he wanted to get down and walk, so I took him back to the room while DH and DD watched the show.

[ehough]

Wednesday, September 8th- Barbados

 

We booked the 3 hour catamaran cruise with Shasa. We were very nervous that we’d be stuck on a boat with child haters, so we were thrilled to discover the other guests were a mother and her 4 year old! Jason was great with everyone and just very relaxed. It was a great day. We saw several turtles and Jason made sure everyone had plenty of time with them, then we also stopped at a reef where the kids saw a bunch of fish. We ended up out on the water while a big storm formed, so Jason arranged for a cab to pick us up so that we could go through the storm by land and not by boat.

 

 

 

 

Oh, and we can’t forget the towel animals!

 

[ehough]

Thursday, September 9th- St. Lucia

 

We booked the Fun at the Beach tour with Serenity. We were very nervous about this because the website description says it’s 6-7 hours and there was NO WAY we’d make it that long at the beach with the kids, but we decided to just hope for the best. I’m glad we did! Sherma met us at the pier and she was wonderful, very easy to talk to. She took us to the van, where John met us, and off we went. First we went on a quick tour of some new super expensive housing on St. Lucia and then they dropped us off at Pigeon Island. It was gorgeous, and perfect for the kids!

 

 

 

They gave us a cooler of drinks as well as a picnic basket with snacks.

 

 

 

We stayed about 3.5 hours and then had Sherma pick us back up. All in all it was a fabulous time! It was only $35 per adult, so for $70 we got a private excursion to a beach, two beach chairs, and drinks and snacks!

[ehough]

Friday, September 10th- St. Kitts

 

We got off the boat and grabbed a cab from the pier. Our driver was Calvin Joseph and he was great- he took us to Cockleshell and arranged to pick us up in a few hours.

 

The beach(that's Nevis in the background):

 

 

The quintessential monkey picture:

 

 

Wilbur:

 

 

Honestly, we were not suuuper thrilled with this beach. It was a lovely beach, but not as nice as some of the others we visited. The water was rougher and the beach was dirtier/less kid friendly.

 

 

Again, it was still quite nice, but we were spoiled by some of our other experiences! Calvin picked us up and we returned to the ship.

[yogimax]

Great review! Great photos! Thank you!

[ehough]

Saturday, September 11th- St. Martin

 

DH and I honeymooned on St. Martin 5.5 years ago, so we were excited to go back. Our favorite beach was Orient, so that’s where we headed. We got a cab at the pier (we shared with a solo cruiser) and were dropped off by Bikini Beach. We arranged with the cab driver Dominic to be picked up at 12:30.

 

Orient didn’t disappoint! It is a lovely beach, although the water is a little bit rougher than the kids liked (makes it more exciting for the adults, though!). I think this is our favorite beach in the whole world!

 

 

 

Sadly, it started to rain, so we took cover at Bikini Beach and decided to have lunch while we waited for the cab driver. Lunch was very good. 12:30 rolled around and our cab driver never returned for us. We were pretty disappointed with that- we could have left when the rain started but we decided to wait around for him, and then he stood us up! There were not many cabs around, probably due to the rain, but eventually we found another and headed back to the ship.

 

From the balcony:

 

[ehough]

Sunday, September 12th- San Juan

 

DH decided we would just carry our own bags off the ship- a decision I questioned since we were travelling with two kids, but it turned out ok. We were debarkation zone 18. Our room steward said we needed to be out of our cabin by 9:30....by 9am we realized we would not be off the ship by 9:30, so we headed downstairs to the Red and Black Seas Lounge (Black and Red?). At around 10:15 they finally called our number and we went down to Deck Zero. Now, they had probably announced at least 15 times that everyone needed to have their passports open to the picture page and have their customs form filled out. We got down to Deck Zero and guess what? Very few people had their passports open/forms filled out. The line would have gone much faster if people had followed directions, but I digress. You know it’s bad when the customs officer is downright delighted to see that you have properly filled out your form!

 

We walked over to our post-cruise hotel, the Sheraton Old San Juan. We left our bags and found the free trolley and headed to El Morro.

 

Sheraton from the ship:

 

El Morro:

 

 

It was beautiful and I would have loved to explore some more, but it was HOT and, go figure, not all that stroller friendly. We headed back to San Juan and stopped at a little place called Maria’s for lunch.

 

From there we walked back to the Sheraton, where our room was still not ready. They said it would be ready by about 2:30. We wandered to the second floor of the hotel and found a hospitality room with tables and chairs and water, so we sat there for probably a couple of hours! Our room was ready at 2:30 so we went upstairs for naptime.

 

 

After nap, we walked next door to Senor Frog’s- quite a hit with DD!

 

 

[ehough]

Monday, September 13th

 

We stayed at the Sheraton until the very last minute- checkout was at 11, so that’s when we left. Our flight back was at 3:15, so we decided to just head to the airport. We didn’t have any issues- USDA was fine and security was slow but the line was short. Our flight was on time so we had lunch and then checked our flight again. Surprise! Delayed 2+ hours. It eventually kept being pushed back and we had an eventual delay of 5.5 hours! We ended up at that darn airport for 9 hours!

 

 

 

Our flight got in at about 1am this morning and guess who got to go to work today? Me! But I’m not going to let that tarnish our trip! All in all it was FABULOUS and exceeded our expectations. It CAN be done with two small children, and we’re already planning our next trip!

 

If anyone has any questions about this itinerary or traveling with kids, please ask away!

[Name Of The Game]

No questions but the kids are cute!

[TortieGal]

Just did this itinerary in April so always enjoy hearing other cruisers' reviews! Thanks for sharing.

 

I feel your pain about the airport delay. We were delayed out of San Juan by 2 hours. Still would have been enough time to catch our connection...if not for having to sit in the airplane "parking lot" for almost an hour in Miami. As luck would have it, I think every plane out of that airport left late except ours! Got stuck overnight and that just completely blew my extra PTO day that I took to catch up on things. :rolleyes:

 

Have to say Cockleshell wasn't that dirty (fortunately) when we were there. Maybe a recent storm turned things up?

 

Thanks again for posting! :)

[StrangeBrew]

Great to hear you had a good time ,, you have beautiful children , I wish mine were that little again , I hope to have the same wonderful time in 17 days . Great pics

[lillian marie]

It sounds like you had a great trip.

[dolfndreams]

Great review and pics, beautiful family with adorable kids.

 

Love to read Victory reviews, ready for next year myself.

 

Thanks for sharing

[spideyfam]

Loved the review! Pictures were outstanding!

[sassy_mrsjay]

Great Review!

[maplo]

Really enjoyed your review with pictures. I was on the cruise with you. Our room was also on the 6th floor port side between mid and aft. We had a great time as well. I think the weather was beautiful other than the normal tropical quick passing of rain.

We flew in day of the cruise but no one made us show proof for our luggage at the airport. Maybe it is like any security check point, randomally checking.

Your little ones are adorable.

Thanks for doing this review.

[lucyjlou]

I see that you did a catamaran and snorkel tour in barbados. I was wondering how this went with the children? We are doing this cruise in Feb and our DD will be a little over 2. She loves to swim, but wasn't sure this type of tour would be good for her. Did your DD get in the water, did they have lifejackets for her? Was it enjoyable with the children still, or more of a pain?

 

DH and i love to snorkel, but kinda figured we wouldn't be able too this time with DD with us. Would you mind giving me some details on the tour, the price, the company and the experience with a 2 yr old?

 

Was the boat ride rough? Did you bring a life jacket?

 

Thanks, I would appreciate it!!!

[kenrod]

ehough

Thank you for your Victory review. You look like you all had a wonderful time!

[cyntil8ing]

She loves to swim, but wasn't sure this type of tour would be good for her.

 

I'm not the OP, but I will admit to being uncomfortable seeing pics of the kids on the catamaran and in the water without life jackets. I would have been a nervous wreck the whole time!

 

We bought our kids their own life jackets for less than $25. We wanted something USCG certified and to be sure they were in good condition and comfortable for them to wear for a few hours at a time. We also practiced swimming with them a few weeks pre-cruise at the YMCA.

 

We also brought along, but did not use, a snorkel raft. This may be a good option to consider. See http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Window-Explorer-snorkeling-raft/dp/B000TVTLT6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1284569816&sr=8-1

[ehough]

I see that you did a catamaran and snorkel tour in barbados. I was wondering how this went with the children? We are doing this cruise in Feb and our DD will be a little over 2. She loves to swim, but wasn't sure this type of tour would be good for her. Did your DD get in the water, did they have lifejackets for her? Was it enjoyable with the children still, or more of a pain?

 

DH and i love to snorkel, but kinda figured we wouldn't be able too this time with DD with us. Would you mind giving me some details on the tour, the price, the company and the experience with a 2 yr old?

 

Was the boat ride rough? Did you bring a life jacket?

 

Thanks, I would appreciate it!!!

 

Well, I was naive enough to assume they'd have life jackets. I guess I was thinking of the US, where boats have to have suitable life jackets on board for the people on the boat! I would definitely bring a life jacket if I had to do it all over. At the very least it would have been easier and of course it's much safer. She did wear her water wings and that was helpful, but not comparable to a life jacket.

 

The boat ride wasn't rough at all. It actually was enjoyable with the kids (Well, not so much with DS. He was too young and wanted to just wander around, and obviously he couldn't. He was too young to reason with or distract. I think it's fine for a 2 year old who understands directions/rules).

 

We used Shasa http://www.shasacatamarancruises.com/

 

It was $60 per adult and $30 for the kids. Jason was great, he has kids of his own so he was great with them!

[bmama]

Thanks for the review. Great photos and Beautiful kids.

[lvx3]

Hi Ehough, Great review my family and I will be on the Victory on Oct. 17. I have also won the Radisson Ambassador on priceline but I am concerned because priceline guarantee double occupancy and we are a family of 5. Did you ask for double beds upon arrival? Or was it offered to you? Are they very accomadating since you purchased through priceline?

 

I am sorry for all the questions. It's just that I when I phoned Raddison they informed me that they would not accomadated my third child, so I am very nervous. Mind you I have not spoken to the manager of the hotel himself.

[ehough]

Hi Ehough, Great review my family and I will be on the Victory on Oct. 17. I have also won the Radisson Ambassador on priceline but I am concerned because priceline guarantee double occupancy and we are a family of 5. Did you ask for double beds upon arrival? Or was it offered to you? Are they very accomadating since you purchased through priceline?

 

I am sorry for all the questions. It's just that I when I phoned Raddison they informed me that they would not accomadated my third child, so I am very nervous. Mind you I have not spoken to the manager of the hotel himself.

 

Sorry, I won't be much help! Since the kids are still fairly little we just hoped for double beds and figured we'd make do if we ended up in a king, as we did. For one night it wasn't a huge deal for us, but definitely if there were 5 of us, I'd have asked. They did not ask at check in if we wanted a double but then again we also never asked for one. I hope it works out for you!