First time cruiser- Carnival Victory March 27- April 3

[agc291]

Both first time cruisers, my boyfriend (23) & I (21) took this cruise March 27- April 3. We flew into San Juan via United Airlines out of Dulles International. We flew in and out same day, no issues there. We went from the airport to Senor Frogs right across from the pier since we landed around noon and had a little bit of waiting to do. The service was SLOW to say the least, I am assuming they mostly get tourists so they don't care, the food was good, average for that type of restaurant. Afterward we walked across the street to the cruise terminal around 2 and checked in within 30 minutes. I was quite disappointed with the embark picture they took. They had two different backgrounds, we were given the picture of the ship with a stormy looking back ground... that didn't exactly scream CARIBBEAN CRUISE:eek: so we opted out of buying that. Our rooms were ready at 3:30, until then we hung out in the lounge and had drinks. After we checked out our stateroom, 1040, we headed back out to the CVS which is across the street of the terminal and to the left, just past Senor Frogs. We grabbed the usual sunscreen, shampoo, & conditioner etc and headed back on board. We didn't do the organized activities during the week, for the most part we just hung out and relaxed which was great.

 

99% of the staff were VERY friendly and always answered any questions you had, or directed you to someone who could. Our room steward was Marlon, he calls himself Marlon Brando:cool:, was GREAT!!! I can't say enough good things about him and his assistants. They were very accommodating to us ( we napped alot, like I said we RELAXED). They had certain hours in the morning and early evening that they cleaned but always came back last if we were in the room. I'm sure we drove them nuts but they always had a smile. Even in the halls when we saw anyone they always greeted us warmly. There was one particular bartender who seemed to sincerely hate her job. She was never rude but wasn't enthusiastic. She did however make very strong drinks, so we kept coming back.

 

We read a lot regarding the food not being the same or as good as it used to be. As a first time cruiser I cant comment on changes however we found the food to be quite good, depending where you ate. We had anytime dining but we only ate in the main dining room 2 of the 7 nights. One of the nights we sat with an older couple from Scotland which was great, they were very enjoyable and the other night we sat at a private table. Neither night had too long of a weight, Id say about 5-10 minutes. The food was delicious! We tried out the buffet a couple of nights, which had some different themes for different nights but that was just okay. They had sushi open a couple hours a night which my boyfriend had a couple of times, they also had a sushi appetizer in the main dining room one of the nights. We tried the 24 hour pizza place which was pretty good, but it was just pizza, they did offer quite a few varieties. I had margherita, but they did have pan pizza, anchovy, calzones, etc. They had the Mississippi BBQ open from 12-6 daily, which I thought would be pulled pork and the likes but was burgers, hot dogs, & fries. The BBQ was good and offered mushrooms, lettuce tomato onion, chili, etc. The lido deck also offered breakfast if you didn't want to sit in the pacific dining room. This was pretty good. They offered cereals, croissants, toast, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs (kinda runny for my taste), omelet stations, sausage, bacon ( the bacon is unlimited, contrary to what I have read on here). My absolute favorite was the 24 hr ice cream:D. They have chocolate, vanilla, choc-vanilla swirl, strawberry, & strawberry vanilla swirl! It was delicious!!! The East River Deli offered a variety of customizable sandwiches which was good. They also offer a stir fry type place, Yangtze Wok, which we didn't try.

 

They also offer room service. The menu was basically sandwiches( rueben, grilled cheese, turkey, ham, BLT), some deserts, and juices/ tea/coffee. You could order soda but it was extra. We found the room service to take atleast 30 minutes and often got our order wrong. I was given a ham sandwich instead of turkey twice, was given double of a lot of things even when they asked you how many you wanted, and when asked to bring sugar up they did not.

 

I drank the iced tea most of the time, which comes unsweetened but there were plenty of sugar stations available. The only 24 hr drinks were water, the iced tea, lemonade, and coffee. There is apple juice & orange juice available in the mornings. The stations with the juice are still out through out the day but the lever that you push to get it from the container are removed after breakfast until the next morning which I found odd.

 

Some people complain regarding the drink prices but I found them to be about average for what I would pay at home. Mixed drinks were about 6-8 depending on the kind of liquor you wanted. DOD were $7.25 with the special glass and the other fruity type drinks were also about $6-$8. We had a bucket of beer, 4 miller lites for $23. Beer was extremely cheap on the islands. Carib beer was often offered 2 beers for $3. Mixed drinks were about $5 on the islands depending on what beach bar you were at.

 

Now onto the actual cruise:D

[cespo]

Great start..can't wait for the rest.

[agc291]

Day 1- Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

 

We arrived in St. Thomas at 7 am, back on board by 4:30, sailed away at 5.

 

We booked the Discover Scuba Excursion through Carnival for St. Thomas for $95 pp. This was definitely the most exciting part of the trip. We met at 8:15 on the dock with our driver and were transported through town to Coki Beach via an open safari type bus to Coki Beach. We arrived at Coki Beach Dive Club and immediately got started with our "classroom" type session. Derek, our instructor, went through a picture book for different signals for about 40 minutes. He showed us all off the equipment and how it works and then got us in our gear. There is a locker type area behind the desk where they store your belongings which seemed pretty secure to me. We got into our equipment and walked down the beach to the shallow tide area. Here we practiced some exercises underwater to make sure we were all prepared in case our mask filled with water or our oxygen tube fell or was accidentally bumped out of our mouths. Once you are past the initial panic ( at least for me) of how forced the oxygen tube is above water it is easy as pie. Under water it is completely effortless to breathe using the tank and swim. You don't get tired like you would when swimming on top of the water. It is an absolutely beautiful reef and the fish come right up to you. We went down about 40 ft at the deepest and saw so many types of fish, eels, sea urchins and other critters! The certified divers go down further to about 70 ft and reported seeing lobsters, sea fish and sea turtles! The actual dive was only about 30-40 minutes but it was absolutely amazing. After the dive your instructor fills out a card that you completed the discover scuba course and that can go towards your certification. You can show the employees at Coral World (right next door) your wristband and they will let you use their bathroom for free. If you have just come to Coki Beach to hang out at the beach then you will need to pay $1 to use their bathrooms. Also, you can snorkel at Coki Dive club and they rent equipment. If you book their discover scuba through them directly it is $70, they have a site if you are interested in other rental rates.

 

After getting back to the ship we stopped to ate then went out to shop. We only stopped at a couple of souvenir places because mostly the area was jewelry shops. They also had a lot of places to buy liquor & cigarettes in this area which were of course very cheap. After shopping a little we got back on board and hung out for the sail away. Like I mentioned we didn't do many planned activities, but they offered a lot of options at night. Monday was their Welcome Aboard Show with their comedians. The comedians on the first leg of the trip are different than after Barbados so if you are interested in catching them make sure you do early on in the week! They also offered bingo, the casino was open after we set sail, fun for all bar crawl, legends show auditions, etc. The seemed to have a lot of different events planned for all of the kids on camp carnival as well. We didn't experience any kids being a bother, other than a couple running down the hall here & there. The photo area was open 4-11, fun shops 5:30-12, shore excursions were open 4:30-7. They played Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2, & a Earth, Wind, & Fire Concert that night and offered a "Spanish" themed buffet on the lido deck.

 

 

Day 2 was a "fun day at sea"

 

Day 2 was supposed to be Dominica, but was replaced with a fun day at sea. We booked in early November so Dominica was already gone, so we didn't miss it but a lot of people were not happy. I found this day to be completely boring and just hung out most of the day, as usual on the lido deck or napping in my room. We were on deck 10 so we enjoyed the secret deck. These were quite secluded but very windy when you weren't in port. Tuesdays show was City Lights as well as offering the comedy shows. They also offered the destination shopping talk which had some freebies, including 200 vouchers for a free pendant on Barbados. They had a scavenger hunt, hairy chest contest, disco dance class, trivia, as well as the love & marriage show. Tonight was also one of two formal nights, both of which we skipped. The buffets theme today was "south west" on the lido. The seaside theatre offered The Last Airbender, Jonah Hex, & a James Brown concert. Shore Excursions Desk was open 10-2 & 5-8 but the photo area and fun shops were open all day.

[raylene5]

EEEKS! My sister and I are really hoping to do this cruise in October (have to wait till the end of this month to see if she can work it out with work...hoping the prices stay the same!) and I'm so excited. It sounds perfect. I could personally handle another sea day but the ports sound great. Scuba diving sounds awesome.

 

Great review so far...can't wait to read more! :)

[agc291]

Day 3- Bridgetown, Barbados

 

We arrived at 8 am, were asked to be back by 4:30 and sailed at 5.

 

This was least pushy island as far as vendors go and the friendliest of all the locals we met. We took a shuttle to Harbour Lights for $4 pp and got drinks at the bar. These drinks were $6-$8 each and werent that great. They also offered a variety of food, like flying fish and bugers & hot dogs. I am warning everyone now that the sun in Barbados is no joke. The sand was soft, cool, and speckled with pink however the sun was fierce. My bf is dark complected and burned after just 2 hrs with sunscreen. I tanned for 2 months, every other day if not daily and also burned but I have pretty fair skin. The water here is beautiful and clear. They also offered scuba excursions and snorkling on the beach and different areas. We only stayed at the beach for 2 hours because it was so hot and we walked back to the port. This was incredibly easy since we paid attention to the drive to the beach. You can also see the ship from the beach so you will have a general idea of the direction you need to be going. The walk back only took about 30 minutes, and we got back around 3. The shopping area was so heavily congested it was hard to even get in to the shops. I grabbed a shot glass ( I collect them) and we headed back to the ship. We ate at the BBQ area and relaxed as we sailed away.

 

Tonight was the variety show, no comedy tonight but there was a deck party on the lido to welcome the guests who joined the cruise in Barbados. Tonight also had a Michael Jackson tribute during the "after party" and they did a course on the thriller dance. They offered a scrapbooking intro which I am disappointed I missed, as well as superstar live. The superstar live is karaoke with the ships live band. It was pretty fun to sing along but the slots filled quickly so if you're interested get there early. The themed buffet was "caribbean" tonight, again the usual offerings of pizza, ice cream, sushi from 5-8. The Karate Kid and Michael Jackson were available at the seaside theatre and there are also different daily movies in your stateroom.

 

Just a special note Barbados does not allow smoking in any public areas as well as it is illegal to wear any camoflauge clothing, including backpacks! We were told it is strictly enforced.

[agc291]

Day 4 - Castries, St. Lucia

 

Arrive at 8 am, back on board by 4:30, Sail away at 5.

 

In St. Lucia we were originally booked to go to the Rendezvous All Inclusive Adults Only Resort for $50 pp. This included beach loungers, an umbrella, as well as complete use of their facilities and unlimited food and drink( this included alcohol). This seemed perfect however, after being burned in Barbados we didn't want to spend that amount for only an hour or so time. We took a shuttle to Rodney Bay at $7 pp. This was a long ride, about 20 minutes and there wasn't much to see. The driver was very informative and answered any questions about the town or island. Gas was over $6 a gallon there!!! We stayed on the beach for about 2 hrs , we arranged for him to come back to get us at 2:30. When we arrived they gave us a ticket stub with the driver and time on it and needed this for reference when we were headed back. They offered loungers and umbrellas at this area for a range of $15- $25 for two. There were a couple of bars along the beach as well as many people offering water sports activities. The sand here was very hot and seemed to have a lot of tiny pieces of shells. It was easy to find an area to lay out on the sand and we weren't bothered with constant offers like I worried about. The water here was beautiful as well as quite clear to see through. After meeting back up with the driver and waiting for the rest of the group we went along the shopping area. Here was more open and had a more souvenirs shops then jewelry stores. They also had sun block for $10 here, compared to $15 on the ship but you have to look around because we saw it as high as $23 in some stores! We sat at a little bar cafe area which had the usual beer and food. We tried the Pitons beer here which was okay, but I'm not a big beer drinker. I believe her it was offered 2 for $3. They had rest rooms in this area as well.

 

Back on board they offered the Vroom show this evening, no comedians this evening, salsa dance class, speed sodoku, '70s party, and into the '90s in the arctic lounge. I briefly attended the scrapbook hour this evening however it was completely un organized. The girl running it was late, nothing was set up for the event and the location had to be changed because they were having chefs table in the library that evening. After a bit of delay she moved us down to the lounge bar on deck 3 and brought out a bag with some blank pages and glitter glue and told us we could make some pages, adding our own stuff if we wanted to buy the scrapbook kits and photos in the photo gallery. The buffet theme was Mexican this evening, they offered Iron Man 2, Grown Ups, and a Barry Manilow concert at the theatre.

 

Photo Gallery opened 3- 10:30, fun shops 4-12 and the shore excursions was open 4:30-7.

 

We checked out the Serenity area this evening and we were very disappointed. It is open 8 am- 11 pm. There are two separate decks, 11 & 12, each with loungers, beds, and hammocks. You can not smoke on deck 11, even next to the bar area which is completely out doors. The hot tubs were wayyyyyy to hot to be comfortable so we only stayed in them for 10 minutes before leaving. Deck 12 also has the stairs the water slide so there were a lot of kids in that area through out the day.

[agc291]

Day 5- Basseterre, St. Kitts

 

Arrive at 8 am, Board by 5:30, Sail Away at 6

 

In St. Kitts we got off the boat around 12:30 to walk around the port and possibly head to Cockleshell Beach. Well we ran into a guy from Island Safari tours and he offered us a tour of the island for $20 pp. This was a great deal! We drove through the capital and drove past some historical areas. Our tour guide pointed out different churches and sites and spoke very good English. We drove towards the fort ( we were told we would stop there) but were tour by the driver that we couldn't get any closer than what we were, which was pretty far. Moved on to the rainforest area and stopped for about 45 minutes at Rodney Manor which has beautiful botanical gardens and is the home of Caribelle Batik. They offered a demonstration of how their process works, which was interesting but was very short. I wish I had brought extra money that day so that I could've purchased something here. All of their dresses were $40-$60 but did offer pillow shams, shirts, hair ties and little knick knacky things as well for cheaper. After this we drove to Friars Bay but could only stay for about 15 minutes because it was about 4:15 and people were wanting to get back to the ship. The beach was quite small but did have loungers with tiki hut type umbrellas as well as shipwreck beach bar. At the entrance of the bar was an area where they fed monkeys so they were hanging out as well as a mongoose! After our short stop at the beach we went to the look out where you can see the closest the Caribbean Sea & Atlantic Ocean get with out touching and then back to the boat. Over all it was about 3 hours for a very informative tour that took us all across the island. The shopping area here is HUGE and open, more like a city square or something.

 

Tonight they offered comedy and a more than magic show as well as vintage photos. They also offered bingo different quizzes and trivia, and a 1980s party. The buffet was a Mediterranean theme as well as the usual formal dining and alternate dining choices. The seaside theatre offered Cats & Dogs: Revenge of the Kitty and Up in the Air.

[shellinglady]

I am sailing on 6/12/11 on the Victory I am so excited I am like you another day at see would be nice. Glad to hear you had a nice time, Thank you for your review I love reading them.

[Prairie_Gal]

Thanks for your review, I enjoyed it. Glad you had a good cruise.

[agc291]

**** Forgot to mention that St. Lucia was another elegant night!

 

Day 6 Philipsburg St. Maarten

 

Arrive at 7, Board by 4:30, Sail Away 5

 

This was by far our favorite island!! We took the water taxi to the first stop and walked down the boardwalk through the shopping areas. This was also the worst island for vendors!! They would clearly hear you say no and ask you again two seconds later! There is a nice street that goes behind the boardwalk that is shaded and has a lot of shops, mostly jewelry. This has a one way street running between the shops so keep a look out for cars. After walking around a bit we went to a bar on the beach next to the water taxi stop we got off at. ST. Maarten also had the 2 for $3 beers but they also included American beer in this. We found Carib to be much easier to drink out in the sun, wasn't so filling! After having a few drinks we rented beach loungers. The ones we rented were past the long row of rocks that goes into the water and belonged to a hotel and had white loungers with tan cushions. We got the 2 loungers, an umbrella and 4 alcoholic drinks for $15 so make sure you ask around!!! The water where we were wasn't very clear, especially in comparison to the other islands and had a lot of seaweed on the bottom which was kind of creepy to walk through! After laying out for a while we went back to shop a bit longer before heading back to the ship. Just a warning we went 2 streets behind the board walk, instead of 1 the second time and we were in a market type area full of locals that weren't exactly pleasant! We went back to the other street, did some shopping and went back to the water taxi. Now here is another warning!!!! Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get a water taxi ( or you can follow the boardwalk back) We waited at least 20 minutes for a taxi to get us... when we got back to the ship there were 2 huge lines to get back on the boat.

 

Tonight's buffet theme was "American", in addition to the regular options. They had to Carnival Legends show, comedy, magic show, towel folding demo, free cruise raffle, etc.

 

Toy Story 3, Jonah Hex, Up in the Air & Tina Turner concert were the seaside Theatre options.

 

 

Photo Gallery 4-11

Fun Shops 5:30-12:30

Shore Excursions 5-6

 

Debarking was a breeze. We were group 10, and we were off between 9:30 & 10. We would have self disembarked but it was 7-8 EEK! so we finished packing and had breakfast on the lido. We didn't tour Puerto Rico , instead we headed to the airport hoping we could get switched to an earlier flight. We had no such luck. Everyone is right about the signs for the agriculture check, THERE AREN'T ANY!! There are some to show you where it is and that is it. After that and security you can purchase alcohol to bring with you on the plane, along with perfume and anything else you want. The restaurants there were pricey so I would recommend eating before getting to the airport. They had dominoes, a chicken place, burgers and sports bars.

[agc291]

This cruise really was a GREAT vacation and I would consider taking the same itinerary again! I hope this may answer some of your questions! Have fun on your future Victory cruise!

[kapcruiser]

I just read your detailed review. Great. I will be traveling with my sons around your age, would you suggest this cruise for them?

[teckelmom]

Thank you for a great review. We're on the 2/5/12 sailing and are very excited

[agc291]

I just read your detailed review. Great. I will be traveling with my sons around your age, would you suggest this cruise for them?

 

Sorry I just saw this!! but yes i would!! It is a lot of fun! We are trying to book it again but are considering the Victory repo cruise to Miami instead.

[Crazyone123]

Thanks for the review we are leaving in 14 days

 

:cool::cool:

[cruiseclues]

Nice review, thanks. :):):):)