Our Victory Vacation 1/9/10 - 1/16/10: It rocked! (Literally and figuratively)

jjamiestar · January 21, 2011

Continuing to enjoy your review since we will be on Victory Feb 27!

Us too!!

gapearl · January 22, 2011

Great review so far!

ricew001 · January 22, 2011

Do you recall how much you paid for the St Lucia resort? It looks beautiful!

I pre-arranged the St Lucia time resort on the info I found from another CC member here. I contacted (and then met when we were there):

Angus Sexius | Front Desk Manager

His email was Angus at the romantic holiday dot com.

This was his response:

In regards to your request for information on day passes at the hotel the following applies.

Half day pass (Morning) Includes only, Drinks and use of resort facilities from 8:00am to 12 noon. Cost US$40.00

Half day pass (afternoon) Includes Lunch, Afternoon tea, Drinks and use of resort facilities from 12 noon to 6:00pm. Cost US$50.00

Passes Excludes use of scuba facilities and motorized water sports.

I will detail the resort and everything hopefully later today. It was absolutely wonderful! I highly recommend doing a day pass at the resort!

ricew001 · January 22, 2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011 – St Lucia

I woke up at 6:50 a.m. and we arrived in St Lucia at 8 a.m. It was windy and rainy but I decided that we would still visit the resort as planned.

St Lucia is the port I was probably most excited about because several people at work have honeymooned there and said it was heaven on earth. Then in reading the reviews of Victory I discovered from buffettfan 225 I knew we had to do the Rendezvous resort there. Prior to our departure, I arranged with the resort’s front desk manager (see earlier post) to secure a half day pass to the resort.

We left the ship and secured us a taxi for $10 and arrived at the resort rather quickly. I handed our driver a $20 and he said he didn’t have any change. I asked if he would come back and get us and he said yes. DH was skeptical as he pulled away.

The Rendezvous was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous, lush landscape and glistening pools welcomed us. The staff was so kind and helpful. When I reached for my email confirmation, the lady who worked there said “you don’t need that”. She prepared me a receipt and introduced me to Mr. Sexius as he came into the office. I asked about the taxi driver and they assured me on the island people were true to their word.

They showed us the property and it was just 9 a.m. so we decided to quickly get down to relaxing! We walked the beach and found two chairs and an umbrella but realized they were taken. So we went to the area with sofas and chairs under a large circular tent. DH stretched out on one of the sofas in the shade and I took one in the sun. Very nice furniture for beach relaxing! Quickly someone asked if we wanted drinks – DH went with Singapore slings and I went with – what else – rum punch. I think he had 2 and I had 4. Remember drinks were included in our resort fee. With most drinks being around $10 with tip on the ship, my resort fee had covered my drinks already. We walked the beach and saw some signs of the hurricane. The beach is private, but there were two local men who were screaming at each other. The staff told us that one was concerned that the other was taking over his territory. They weren’t selling anything and didn’t bother us, so I’m not sure what the whole story was there.

Two of the women who worked there brought their massage table and chair out to the area where we are. I don’t remember the exact prices of the massages but they were very reasonable. I considered doing one because I’ve always wanted an outdoor massage on the beach, but decided to refrain given it was Thursday and we were rapidly going through our cash and I usually get massages at home for stress relief. There was absolutely no stress there on the beaches of St Lucia! Of course, sitting here now in 32 degree weather by the fireplace if I could hit “rewind” and I would definitely get that massage!

DH decided to recreate the Corona commercials. I’ll post some of those.

DH and the girls seemed to entertain each other. He’d ask questions, they give answers, and he would make a funny remark and they would laugh. While they were entertaining and being entertained, I walked out into the ocean. I am very outgoing and social, but I let them do all the talking and just enjoyed being in the ocean. It was a nice time to just chill out. The water was refreshing and I couldn’t believe I was standing there in the ocean on January 13! I collected a few seashells and came back to DH. We ate a delicious buffet lunch with some interesting food. I feed a very pregnant yet undernourished black and white cat that was walking around the tables. I fed her a seafood cake. She was very grateful. Take me 2000 miles away from home and I will still be feeding strays!

By now it was 2 p.m. so it was time for us to go. I wanted to get in the pool. I wanted to take a shower in their luxurious spa. I wanted to peruse the gift shop. I really think with their relaxed attitude we could have done all that, but I thought I should go see if our taxi driver was waiting. He wasn’t, but he had sent someone in his place. The new driver explained our driver couldn’t make it but sent him in his place. He drove us back to the terminal where I tipped him and we shopped a bit.

I found the shopping nice here. There were $5 rum cakes here when I was finding them in a lot of areas for $20. There were cute little $5 dolls for all the doll lovers at home. DH wanted a t shirt and was looking for one. By mistake he left one across his shoulder and later found an angry shop owner tapping him on the shoulder and jerking it off him at a nearby shop! But we bought a t shirt and some other items from the same shop owner later!

We went back to the ship and took a nap before elegant night! Yes we were on vacation so we could take a nap!

ricew001 · January 22, 2011

a few more St Lucia resort photos. It's really beautiful and very relaxing!

seashinesunshine · January 22, 2011

Where is the shopping area at the port of St Lucia? Last time we were there, I didn't see any shops, but we didn't explore since we took a long excursion that day.

ricew001 · January 23, 2011

Seashine,

The shopping area is right there at the ship. Perhaps it's a new terminal? Everything did look new.

I see you are from NC too!

Have fun on the Victory next month! I know you will. Wish I was going again too!!!!

Julitta · January 23, 2011

We were on the Victory at the same time as you. Too bad our paths didn't cross, I don't recognize you from the photos. I'm very interested to read about our cruise from another perspective. I agree the motion on the ship was a lot more than I expected! Especially the sea day, it was really rockin'.

I remember the sea day and St. Lucia being fairly rainy but hot, no?

ricew001 · January 23, 2011

Hi Julitta! It was interesting how you did seem to see the same people over and over but didn't see everyone! I do remember you from the Roll Call board. We made some friends on the cruise and are on Facebook together, and it's been interesting seeing the cruise out there from there perspective. We did very different excursions!

Sea Day was VERY rocky! We never went outside on Sea Day, but had plenty of fun. We did notice the rain on the windows. When we first arrived at St Lucia it was cloudy and I thought it would rain, but knew how the islands are with raining in one place and not the other, or rainy for a while and then really sunny later so we went ahead with the resort and I'm so glad we did!

I'm so glad I had the patch and that it worked because there was a lot of movement on that ship, and we did so many things on the excursion that I needed the patch for too.

Hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as we did!

TrishLoves2Cruise · January 23, 2011

How much is the half day pass at the Rendezvous resort?

Dirkgun · January 23, 2011

Where is the shopping area at the port of St Lucia? Last time we were there, I didn't see any shops, but we didn't explore since we took a long excursion that day.

There is the little shopping area right where the ship docks. There are just a few shops in kind of an outdoor mall/kiosk kind of a configuration. There is more just across the bay (you can walk but it takes around 15 min. This shopping is the more trinket/touristy stuff then across the street is an open market...food, locals stuff (worth a look unless you are doing other things)

ricew001 · January 23, 2011

The half day pass was $40. I copied his email and put it in an earlier post. Let me know if you need it again and I'll be glad to send it to you.

The $40 included use of the resort and drinks. It was well worth it and really a good value!

DjAr4 · January 24, 2011

We will be on with you. 3 couples from Chicago.

triptaker17 · January 25, 2011

im loving your review. we are going on the victory for the second time Feb 20th cant wait. .....

Hey Alspals.. we are on the same trip and we have had 3 snow days as well. Looking forward to staying warm without standing next to the heater.:D

seashinesunshine · January 25, 2011

Can you or anyone who has just been on this cruise tell me when the past guest party is? Two years ago it was in the evening, but I have been hearing some say it is afternoon.

SassyCheryl · January 25, 2011

Thank you for the wonderful review. My best friend and I will be on the Victory in August. :D

CupKayke · January 26, 2011

Great Review! Your positive attitude is wonderful.

Anyone know the chances of this itinerary being around in May 2012??

ricew001 · January 26, 2011

The past guest party ...can't believe I didn't put that in my diary!

I believe it was Friday..not positive. But it was like 5:15 to 6 pm. It was brief and they let you pick your drinks from a choice of 4 or 5. I enjoyed the video about Carnival. I was late getting there but I still got a drink and isn't that all that matters? ;-)

ricew001 · January 26, 2011

Elegant night - Thursday, January 13, 2011 – St Lucia

So we were more prepared for Thursday’s elegant night then the first one!

LOL! I have to say it was the best dinner I had on the cruise – Chateaubriand and Baked Alaska. YUM!!

Mike had his first escargot (see picture) and really liked it. He also had Tiger Shrimp and Strawberry ice cream. As usual, he was very pleased with all his food.

Now remember we were in the anytime dining with the wonderful Rodel and Nadia. Tonight we had just a table for two. I watched a couple walk in – she in shorts and I think he was too. They sat down beside us. She had a copy of Fun Times so I asked her if I could borrow hers since mine was in the room. She sheepishly replied that they didn’t get one in their room so she picked one up in the lobby and discovered it was elegant night and they weren’t dressed for it! We laughed it off and talked with them. They were from Rhode Island so they were enjoying the warm weather. As we talked our new friends Ken and Ashley came over – they had done an excursion with the couple from Rhode Island! We said we’d all meet up at karaoke later.

We went to our room and DH fixed a drink. Then we went to the Vroom show in the Caribbean lounge! We LOVED it! It was a salute to music and had tributes to Elvis, the Beatles, Queen, Madonna, Culture Club, and others. I really liked the various methods they used.

After the show, we went – where else – to the piano bar! And then on to live karaoke. DH sang “You may be right” from Billy Joel. Then we went back to the piano bar where I looked at the Fun Times again and realized the photo gallery closed at 11 or 12. Our digital camera’s batteries were dying so we ran to the photo gallery to buy a disposable camera. The next day was our train excursion – the original reason for the cruise – and we didn’t have a working camera!! The camera was probably our biggest “rip off” of the cruise - $17 and the next day I found them in port for like $6. Oh well, you pay a price for convenience and for not being prepared for possibly EVERYTHING that could go wrong. (A recent post was talking about being OCD over preparation and details – I weighed in that you have to have a fine balance. For us it was worth buying a disposal camera instead of bringing one more charger, when our batteries have never died on us before! Of course according to Murphy's Law they would *this* time - but it was alright!)

I was adamant that I wanted a picture with my Glamour magazine so I could send it to them to feature in the “Where has your Glamour been?” So DH obliged – check out the photo below.

We decided we were hungry and needed burgers and fries from the Mediterranean – again! While we were there we were shocked by the water splashing in the pool! It was crazy waves! From the rocking of the ship perhaps? We saw this a few more times and often there was a Carnival employee there with a giant squeegee taking care of the water.

We went to bed at 1:00 a.m. Our train excursion was at 8:30 a.m.!

Before we turned in I completed the breakfast request – in Spanish since that was the only form we had. Stay tuned to see how *that* turned out! LOL!

seashinesunshine · January 26, 2011

The past guest party ...can't believe I didn't put that in my diary!
I believe it was Friday..not positive. But it was like 5:15 to 6 pm. It was brief and they let you pick your drinks from a choice of 4 or 5. I enjoyed the video about Carnival. I was late getting there but I still got a drink and isn't that all that matters? ;-)

Thanks!

ricew001 · January 26, 2011

Friday, January 14, 2011 – St Kitts

Part I

I promised to cover how we got here…

Back in July, I think July 6, DH called me into the office to show me something. It was an online video. I was mesmerized by the blue water off the edge of the cliff. He was in awe of the train - being the train nut he is. He said “This is something we have to do one day.”

Oh yeah! I have him now! For many years I wanted the two of us to do a Caribbean cruise together but he thought the Caribbean would be boring. Now I had my ammunition. I jumped online and saw a cruise out of Florida, but it had 2 sea days to get there and 2 sea days to get back. Um, not when I have sea sickness issues. Then I saw the option out of San Juan – with no sea days. We had cruised on Princess to Alaska so I looked at Princess first but only Carnival sailed out of San Juan. I continued to look at prices and they started creeping up a bit each day so on July 8. I booked the cruise!! And I would have to wait a long six months to the day before we left. In that 6 months I found cruise critic and made a million plans and they all paid off! And I was especially glad that I gave in and tried the patch and thus no seasickness!

sand_and_sun · January 27, 2011

RiceW001... First, thank you for your review and pictures. I know they take a lot of time and for those of us who are counting down the days it only makes us more excited. My question is are the cabin doors metal? I want to decorate our door - metal or should I bring tape? Thank you for your answer.

ricew001 · January 27, 2011

Lucky you Sand and Sun! I am so excited for you! You are going to have a fantastic time!

I didn't really noticed any decorated doors and I think the doors are metal, but not sure. Just throw you a roll of tape in just in case you need it.

I ordered a big quilt like zippered bag online that I used as a purse. And my hubby carried a bag pack. We were both amazed at how much stuff we could cram it there - including duct tape! Hubby said next time we should just carry a few back packs!

Speaking of the purse - I am a bag snob; I only carry Coach. ;-) But I decided I didn't want to advertise an expensive purse, worry about it being stolen, or worry about it getting ruined, so I found this large, cheap one that worked perfectly. I really liked the full zipper so I didn't have to worry about losing anything. The purse was great for the flight there and back and we used the back pack for our excursions and only included necessities in it!

ricew001 · January 27, 2011

Part II St Kitts

So our room service breakfast arrived. I did okay with filling out the request in Spanish -given it had been so many years since my classes. I just forgot the fresh-squeezed juices and I don’t know the jelly I ordered. We ate our breakfast and we headed out to ride the train in St Kitts! This was my hubby’s dream excursion but I was excited too!

I highly recommend this as an excursion because you get to see so much at your own pace. You also get rum punch if you’d like and a sample of the sweet cake. One important tip – ride on the right side of the train for the best views!!

We arrived at the train site and climbed to the top of the car so we could sit outside and have a fantastic view, and feel the weather that everybody at home wanted so bad right now! Then when I went down stairs to the bathroom I went to the inside part of the car where the air condition was cranking. I forgot how good air conditioning felt when it was hot! And I found the stash of rum punch and sweet cakes while I was down there....

The view from the train was incredible. The digital camera’s batteries held up long enough to get some great shots that I will post. I highly recommend this excursion because you get to see so much. The school kids came out and waved at us, we saw the rain forest, and we oh’d and ah’d over the gorgeous views.

The train ride was everything we expected and more. Just know that it ROCKS too!! It rocks back and forth and it’s almost impossible to walk without ending up in somebody’s lap. But that just added to the fun and camaraderie as we tried to help each other keep standing. If you are prone to motion sickness, do take something to prevent it for this ride. It will be greatly worth it!

When we left the train excursion, we did a little shopping right outside the ship. Not long after starting our shopping, a guy appeared with a monkey. I read enough reviews to know that he would be asking for money after the photo. I think that’s the part that got me. If he’d ask for money up front, that would be fine, but it’s after you do it when he hounds you for money. Well DH had been talking monkeys ever since we started this trip so he was all about the photos. Then he walked into the store and left me to dig up cash for monkey man. I only had a little cash, which didn’t make monkey man happy. He kept telling me this was a business. I gave him a few dollars and he eventually moved on. Later on that night we found out some of our friends had actually paid $40 for the pictures, taken with their own camera!

Next up: Night time on the ship 1/14/11