Victory Cruise from Barbados

[hilandlass]

CARNIVAL VICTORY – 9TH – 16TH MARCH 2011

 

I posted the first part of this review about a month ago but couldn’t figure out how to add photos, I have had lots of advice from CC boards (thanks guys!) so will try again… from the start! The photos had to resized so they may seem a bit small, sorry!

 

 

I have never written a review before but found the reviews on CC so helpful for researching, booking and planning our 1st cruise so I thought I would share some knowledge. I will include some photos and hope that this will be of some help and interest but please forgive me if I digress from time to time!

 

 

We had been in Barbados for a week, staying in the Amaryllis Beach Resort which was lovely and relaxing – totally unwound; we headed for the Port in Barbados to embark on the cruise to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

 

Embarking was very simple, once through passport control you could just stroll onto the ship. This was the 1st day that we experience dull skies and a few spits of rain which meant that the ‘official’ photos of us boarding the ship were not good – hair frizzier than usual but it had to be done! Our carry on bags were x-rayed and one of mine was held back – the lady was looking at me sternly saying ‘Liquor! Liquor!’ I said ‘Just 1 bottle of wine which I am allowed!’ she did not seem convinced and went and spoke to someone who agreed that I could take it on. I think that she must have mistaken me for a US guest who embarked in San Juan. We were led to a ‘holding area’ in the Atlantic Dining Room, given a number to wait to be called to check in with purser and get sign and sail cards. This took around an hour but it was comfortable and we were looked after with drinks and snacks. Once checked in, armed with sign and sail cards, Funtimes mag and a deck plan of the Victory we could roam around until our cabins were ready at 2.30pm. You will need that deck plan…we were constantly lost! Even on the last morning, when I thought I had it sussed, we were at the wrong end of the ship looking for Immigration!

 

We were excited to see our cabin, which did no disappoint – I had booked mid ship balcony as I was concerned that I would have motion sickness, it was mid/aft 7369 but I didn’t need any of the medication or sea bands that I took with me. We had ordered a bottle of Vodka from Bon Voyage and it was there, 1.14L bottle which worked out at £24 which was not too bad, considering a Vodka and coke from the bar is about $7. The cabin was very spacious and clean with loads of storage room. The 2 huge cases we brought fitted under the bed and there were 2 cupboards that we never used. There was more room than in our hotel room in Barbados but the bed was smaller. The bathroom was a good size with good storage space and the shower was hot and very powerful.

 

We had to go to a Safety meeting in the Caribbean Lounge (theatre) where we met the cruise director Karl for a chat and then did a short muster rehearsal.

 

Sail away was around 5.30pm and we were on the Lido deck for that, I had expected a bit of a send off as around 400 had embarked in Barbados but there was nothing, considering when we left San Juan a few days later where 2500 had embarked, there was a huge deck party.

 

 

 

We were allocated early dining (6pm) in the Pacific Dining room, our table was right at the aft of the ship with the sea behind us which was lovely but it did obscure our view of the waiters singing (I will get to that later) and at times we felt a little pushed out of the way. Our dining companions were all from the UK and had been in Barbados at the same hotel so there was a real friendly atmosphere. Our waiters were excellent; they took our first names on the first night and used them throughout the trip which was a nice personal touch. The food was very good, the menu was different every night but there were also ‘carnival classics’ which were the same throughout the week, like the totally delicious Melting Chocolate Cake! On the first night, DH commented that he loved the cheesecake and next thing there was another in front of him!! (hmm, I should have tried that with the MCC!)

 

We bought a bottle of wine on the 1st night, our idea was that we would make it last a couple of nights but the waiters kept filling our glasses and before you knew it – gone! You can buy a wine package which would probably work out cheaper – cheapest bottle was around $25.

There were pros and cons to early dining – If you have a long tour booked at a port, you may not have time to get showered and ready for dinner by 6pm and at times I did find it a bit of a push. Early diners got the 9pm show slot and late diners (8.15pm) got a 7pm show slot, some later diners we were friendly with said that if they went for a snooze after coming on board, they were pushed for time to get to the 7pm shows. I think we probably spent more $ in the bars than intended as dinner was over by around 7.15pm and had time to kill before the show.

 

We went to bed quite early on the 1st night but were wakened by a (very loud) call over the tannoy ‘operation brightstar’ with a cabin number just a couple of doors up from ours, it did freak me out a bit as it was repeated 3 times around 2am and I was disorientated. This was followed by the sound of running and commotion up and down the hallway, it sounded like it was just outside our cabin and was quite alarming. Sadly, it transpired that a male guest had suffered a heart attack and died, he was only in his mid 30’s! It’s the kind of tragedy that you just can’t imagine would happen when you are having such a good time but I guess you just never know.

 

Thursday - ST Lucia

 

We are very early risers and beat the lines for breakfast in the Mediterranean café which can become very long between 8 and 10. I thought the choice was fine but DH likes different types of eggs all that was on offer was scrambled and boiled (and you just don’t know how long they have been sitting under that heat). There is a omlette station at the pool end but from what I could see (through the lines) there were no extras there but I could be wrong.

 

I am a bit ashamed to say that we did not explore the island, which I regret now but we were pretty exhausted with the excitement of the previous day and the commotion through the night so we decided to just take a wander around the port shops and spend the day exploring the ship and catching the rays. It was most enjoyable but I have seen the photos taken by our cabin neighbour and I think we missed out – aw well, next time!

 

 

This was the 1st of our ‘elegant nights’ and it was quite nice to have time on our hands to get ready before our early dining slot. Especially when my DH was wearing the full Kilt regalia! I was not sure whether to bring it or not but so glad we did. I had posted the question on CC before the trip and got so many replies urging us to go for it. I had been a bit concerned about the weight of it all so I decided to cheat a bit and instead of taking the tailor made 15 yard kilt that I had made for his 40th, I took a light-weight cheap kilt that is only used for stag nights & dress up parties. I figured it wouldn’t matter if we left it behind if we had too much weight in our luggage on the way home. It looked ok and swung ok (!!) and I think only a true Scotsman would notice it was only 4 yards of tartan!! I may as well not have gone out that night though…DH got so much attention and ladies asking for their photo with him, it’s a good job I don’t have self-esteem issues!! I had to laugh at one couple who asked if the wife could have her photo taken with DH, then she said ‘why don’t you have yours taken with the wife?’ her husband said ‘erm, no thanks!’ Charming!! Our cabin steward Augsto was totally enthralled with the kilt and said he had always wanted to wear one, he was so charming and accommodating that we said he could have it when we left (good move! Make friends with your cabin steward!) He could not do enough for us!

 

 

I tried to post this up to San Juan but it has rejected the post stating that I have too many photos!! So I will try and do it in segments.. hope it has been of some interest thus far!

[jimbo5544]

Nice start, are you really from the Scottish highlands?

[hilandlass]

Friday – St Kitts

 

We woke to the news of the horrors in Japan following the earthquake; we had gone up to the Lido deck to see if we were docked and the huge screen was live streaming the news and everybody was standing around stunned by the devastation caused. It was surreal and slightly disturbing to think that we were in Paradise and so many people were suffering elsewhere.

 

 

I had booked Royston’s tours with Ashton which was only $40 each. We were in a clean air conditioned mini-bus with a very pleasant French Canadian couple and their teenage daughter. Ashton was a wonderful tour guide, one of the best I have come across. DH nicknamed him ‘medicine man’ as he was so knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of his island and gave us a great tour of his childhood playground. We visited an old plantation, a rain forest, Brimstone Fort, the botanical gardens and batik centre and the beach, stopping off at loads of gorgeous viewpoints for photo opportunities. In testament to his guiding skills, while we were at the fort, the manageress took him aside and told him that she was delighted to see a tour guide who was so accurate with historical information and how he walked us through the site unlike many guides who stop the bus and give you 30 minutes to explore. We had a delightful lunch of Roti, (with a choice of fillings) and a cooler full of sodas, water and beer… aye, can you guess what we had!! There was no shortage of refreshments and we were asked to help ourselves (big mistake!) from when we got on the bus in the morning. We had a beach stop for about 40 minutes before making our way back to the ship – the whole tour was around 7 hours – this was real value for money, considering lunch and drinks were included as well as the entrance fee for the Fort, which I believe was around $8pp for adults. I had read a lot of rave reviews about Royston but can say that his cousin Ashton was worth every penny – what a star!

 

Ashton playing at 'Tarzan'!

 

 

 

 

 

You can see where the Atlantic and Caribbean tides meet behind us ...

 

 

We spoilt this next photo as you cannot see the road snaking between the hills.. Atlantic is on the left, Caribbean on the right...

 

Some of my photos are still rejecting...I will try and work out the problem..

 

Answer to Jimbo - Yes, we are from as far North as you can go in Scotland!! We overlook the Orkney Islands.

[Lucille Bluth]

This cruise is definitely on my to-do list! Great review so far!

[jimbo5544]

We are doing this cruise next (2012) August. Thanks for the reply to my question. We were supposed to be visiting your fair country this August (one of my daughter inlaws family is from there, and we were going to visit with them) but had top cancel due to a work cnflict (my son's not mine). Hope to get there in the next couple of years.

[RJHNorthyorks]

Thanks for posting. We leave for Barbados in 2 weeks time. Can't wait!!

[BOOGALOO509]

Many thanks for this review, my wife and I are doing the same trip in March next year.

 

We are staying in Barbados for a few day before the cruise and a few days afterwards. Can you tell me what time you left your hotel for the port and what time you got onto the ship. Were you able to get back off again in Barbados if you had wanted to or was your time spent with all the necessary activities before sailing. Finally what time did you have to get off ship at the end of the cruise, we are hoping to stay on quite late before heading across to our hotel.

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Regards.

 

John

[RJHNorthyorks]

Hi

I've been asking Virgin reps in Barbados your last questions. We have to vacate cabin at 8.30 and leave ship at 2pm to go to airport. Flight is at 7pm. Virgin offer some activities none of which we've liked look of.

We have considered booking a day pass at a hotel but at moment haven't done anything.

Ros

[BOOGALOO509]

Ros

 

Thanks for the information. As we are not flying home the same day as the cruise ends it would suit us to stay on board as long as possible to enjoy the facilities and then head across to the hotel for check in between 3 and 4.

 

Enjoy your cruise and make sure you leave some fun for us for next year:).

 

Regards.

 

John

[Bubbles3]

Great start. Looking forward to the rest.

[hilandlass]

Jon,

We were picked up (about 20 of us) from our hotel in Barbados around 10:30am, by the time we were booked in etc, it was lunch time so we just stayed on the ship. I'm sure you would be able to get off again but sailaway is around 5pm so you would have to watch your time. On disembark day, we were allowed to stay on board until 1pm (Ros advised that virgin rep state 2pm, maybe they have revised this as we were hanging around the port until after 3 before our bus came to take us to the airport).

cheers,

Ann

[hilandlass]

Thanks for the replies - I am still having trouble getting all my photos in even though I am resizing them.. will keep trying, if most of them fail, I will leave a link to the url where I have saved them...

 

Saturday - St Martin

 

Thankfully no drama this morning!! I had arranged for us to be on Bernard’s Tour, ($40 each) after waiting around the port area until everyone had arrived we were ferried onto 3 buses. We had about 20 on ours; mostly Dutch from another cruise liner and our driver was ‘Junior’. He was very jovial, full of fun and had a huge cooler full of cheer – (are you seeing a pattern forming here?? I researched well!!) Junior was from the Dutch side of the island and was a great tour guide; he took us to Cay Hill where we had beautiful views of Samson Bay Lagoon and the Marina. We covered the Dutch and French sides of the island with his witty commentary to keep us amused. I’m sure we had banana bread but it was the rum punch (at 10am!!) that sticks in my mind! This was to loosen up our inhibitions for our trip to the Orient Beach, right on the edge of the nudist beach! We spent a few hours here, we hired a couple of chairs with parasol for $15, DH (being the Scotsman abroad) managed to haggle/wangle snorkeling gear and fins from the guy included in the price so he was happy. To be honest, it was a bit rough for snorkeling but I enjoyed the sunbathing. There were jet-skis and paragliding trips to be had if you felt adventurous. We had bbq chicken from the beach bar which was really good and cheap. I forget the actual sequence of the tour but we also visited the beautiful French marina area of Marigot and had about 45 minutes there for the market. We then went to Maho beach to watch the planes almost land on the beach. Junior was very flexible and agreed to the majority vote to hang around this beach until a really big jet came it… or was it the fact that topless women got to drink at the bar for free!! And, before you ask, no, I like my dram, but not that much!! ;o) We got back on the bus about an hour later and were once again fortified with rum punch! We had a couple of photo stops then those who wished to shop some more were dropped in the centre of Philipsburg and the rest of us went back to the port at around 3pm. It was a really good day and great value for money.

 

 

DH worried about the Health & Safety issue!!

 

 

 

 

This was the final night for the US guests, at dinner all the waiters lined up on the stairway and balcony and sang to everyone - 'Leaving on a fun ship' to the tune of 'leaving on a jet plane' waving their white napkins, which was a lovely gesture.

 

 

 

 

I have just done a post preview and only 1 photo has worked! Hmm sorry folks!

[cjhbeh]

Slightly off topic.... we leave in about six weeks and heard Royston gone for summer.... Do you happen to have contact info for Ashton? He sounds like a great alternative. Thanks! Your review makes us so excited! Chantal

[BOOGALOO509]

Ann

 

Many thanks for that info, those times work out fine for us. On the morning of the cruise we can have a full breakfast before leaving for the port and on the final day we can have a hearty lunch before heading off to the hotel, brilliant.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review, good luck with the photo posting.

 

Cheers

 

John

[hilandlass]

Slightly off topic.... we leave in about six weeks and heard Royston gone for summer.... Do you happen to have contact info for Ashton? He sounds like a great alternative. Thanks! Your review makes us so excited! Chantal

 

Hi Chantal,

 

The email address for Royston tours is: roystontours@hotmail.com Ashton is Royston's cousin, they are in partnership but he told us that Royston takes care of emails etc as he is not very technically minded so I am not sure if you will get a reply from the email address if Royston is on holiday but its worth a try.

 

cheers,

Ann

[hilandlass]

Thanks for the comments - It's a shame that I cannot get all the photos to work but if you are interested in seeing them... if you copy & paste the URL link (leaving out the

 

I had booked us to go on a Fortifications tour with Segway tours so we disembarked and made our way to their premises at pier 2. There were about 10 of us there and we all got a 15 minute lesson on how to use/ride/drive the segway. I began to panic after my lesson because I thought my balance may not be good enough but thankfully, once we set off and I got used to it, I loved it and didn’t cause a major RTA!! We set of in 2 groups, ours was small with only 4 of us and the guide who was excellent at keeping us informed of all the historic facts and keeping us safe! We visited the Princess promenade, Heritage Monument, Roots Monument, saw the narrowest house in Old San Juan, rode the ancient blue cobblestone streets to the old San Juan Colonial neighbourhood up to the San Felipe del Morro Fort where we tied up our segways and got a guided tour of the inside. Entrance fees were included in the the price and the views were amazing. We followed the Wall of San Juan back down to the pier, the tour lasted 2 hours and I was quite sad to give up my segway at the end! This was the most expensive tour we took at $84 each but it was worth it for the experience and most of the Carnival tours were more expensive than this.

 

View from the fort..

 

 

On our trusty steeds!! Segways are such fun!

 

 

We wondered around Old San Juan for a while, it is really a beautiful city with lovely plazas.

We went back to the ship early afternoon as it was beginning to fill up again with the changeover of 2500 US guests. I did notice a lot more kids and teens on board, then realized it was ‘Spring Break’, this did change the atmosphere on the ship as most of the activities, games etc seemed to be geared to a much younger audience. Sail away was much later from San Juan (9pm) and we were treated to a beautiful sunset..

 

 

We went back to the ship early afternoon as it was beginning to fill up again with the changeover of 2500 US guests. I did notice a lot more kids and teens on board, then realized it was ‘Spring Break’, this did change the atmosphere on the ship as most of the activities, games etc seemed to be geared to a much younger audience.

 

There was a big sail away party for the new guests which was maybe a little more ‘fun’ than we could handle! I don’t want to sound like an old grouch as the youngsters were well behaved on the whole and but the corridors around the cabins were a lot more noisy, and it did seem like groups of teens were gathering outside our cabin to get all excited about ‘hot guys and girls’ – did they not have their own cabins to have these conversations in?? We noticed that we had a lot more trouble getting an elevator and quite often just got tired of waiting and took the stairs and you could forget taking a glass elevator in the evening – I watched 2 groups of teens ride 2 of the glass elevators for around an hour one night!! Also, strange things started to appear in the elevators, beer bottles, cups and saucers and a pair of skimpy panties!!

[BOOGALOO509]

Ann

 

Can I ask what currency you used during your holiday? Did you use US Dollars everywhere or did you use Barbadian Dollars and then US Dollars? We are trying to work out what is best as we will be spending the time after the cruise exploring Barbados and not just in the A/I environment.

 

Did you just use currency or were you able to use Traveller Cheques and Credit Cards?

 

Many Thanks again.

 

BTW, Virgin have just been in touch with us to say the hotel we had booked ahead of the cruise will close at the end of 2011 and they were going to move us to a different one. When we checked it out it seemed much worse and was nearer to Bridgetown than we wanted. We have found another one but at an extra cost:mad::mad:

 

Regards.

 

John

[RJHNorthyorks]

I guess you'd bookled Escape at the Gap. We're staying there next week. Loads of discussion about the closure on Trip advisor forums. We go on Weds so Hope its as good as others say!!

Ros

[MzChris87]

USD to BDS dollar is $2 to $1. US dollars are used everywhere on the island. When I visit my family I never have to change my money because it's accepted everywhere. Just beware that if u use the buses ( the big blue ones) you don't get change back. And most times u will get change back in barbadian currency. there's a bank in Bridgetown where u can change it back to US.

 

 

Ann

 

Can I ask what currency you used during your holiday? Did you use US Dollars everywhere or did you use Barbadian Dollars and then US Dollars? We are trying to work out what is best as we will be spending the time after the cruise exploring Barbados and not just in the A/I environment.

 

Did you just use currency or were you able to use Traveller Cheques and Credit Cards?

 

Many Thanks again.

 

BTW, Virgin have just been in touch with us to say the hotel we had booked ahead of the cruise will close at the end of 2011 and they were going to move us to a different one. When we checked it out it seemed much worse and was nearer to Bridgetown than we wanted. We have found another one but at an extra cost:mad::mad:

 

Regards.

 

John

[hilandlass]

Ann

 

Can I ask what currency you used during your holiday? Did you use US Dollars everywhere or did you use Barbadian Dollars and then US Dollars? We are trying to work out what is best as we will be spending the time after the cruise exploring Barbados and not just in the A/I environment.

 

Did you just use currency or were you able to use Traveller Cheques and Credit Cards?

 

Many Thanks again.

 

BTW, Virgin have just been in touch with us to say the hotel we had booked ahead of the cruise will close at the end of 2011 and they were going to move us to a different one. When we checked it out it seemed much worse and was nearer to Bridgetown than we wanted. We have found another one but at an extra cost:mad::mad:

 

Regards.

 

John

 

John,

 

I only took USD, in Barbados the rule is 2 Barbados $ to 1 USD and everywhere does that conversion even if it is not the exact rate of the day. USD are also accepted in all ports so it makes it simpler. We didnt use credit cards and only used my debit card when settling the sign and sail on the last night of the cruise.

 

Thats a shame about your hotel in Barbados.. can I ask where you were booked and where they wanted to put you? We were in the Amaryllis Beach resort and although I have seen some bad reviews about it, we were delighted with it.

 

Ann

[RJHNorthyorks]

Hi Ann

 

I wondered what it was like going through immigration on US islands. We're used to just wandering through in Europe. Did you have to go through the same sort of stuff as if you enter thye US?

Ros

[BOOGALOO509]

Ros/Ann

 

We were scheduled to stay at the Escape at the Gap and have now been told it will close at the end of the year so they were going to move us to the Savannah. That is much nearer Bridgtown and does not get a very good review on TA. In the end we looked at everything else they could offer us and have decided to go for the Sea Breeze.

 

It is an upgrade from a 3 star to a 4 star and is a bit closer to St Lawrence Gap which is where we want to be. In the end I told them I was not happy at having to pay the extra they were asking and got them to reduce the fee by 20%.

 

I am sure you will enjoy the Escape Ros it looks great and we are still bummed we will miss out on it. Let us all know how it is.

 

Chrissy.

 

Thanks for the info on currency I knew the US $ could be used everywhere but was not sure whether or not to us B$ as well. Given the exchange rates involving the £, the $ and the B$ it seems better for us if we actually go £ to $ and then spend that. We will end up getting about 8% more for our money.

 

Cheers

 

John

[hilandlass]

Hi Ann

 

I wondered what it was like going through immigration on US islands. We're used to just wandering through in Europe. Did you have to go through the same sort of stuff as if you enter thye US?

Ros

 

Hi Ros,

 

I am struggling to remember what immigration was like at San Juan (the only US island where we needed to go through immigration) so it couldn't have been bad! If my memory serves me right, it was fine, we got fast-tracked past all the US visitors who were leaving the ship and had to que for luggage etc.. As long as you have your passport and Esta form printed out it is easy enough.

 

cheers,

Ann

[Sunseeker7]

Hi John

 

We are travelling in April next year doing 3 nights in Barbados first at the Sea Breeze. When were you asked what dining time you wanted? We are hoping for late dining or any time dining, but no one from Virgin has asked this. Also did you get to choose your room location? We have just been given a guaranteed room type.

 

Loving the review! Keep it coming!

 

Dawn x

[Heartlands1]

In reply to Sunseeker 7's questions. Don't mean to jump in before Highland lass who's actually been on the cruise, but I thought you might like to hear our experience so far.

 

We are travelling with Virgin Holidays Cruises with 3 days at the Almond Casuarina embarking on November 16th. We asked for late dining at the time of booking. When I look on our booking on the Carnival site I see we are wait listed for this but that early dining is available. I asked Virgin when we will know if we've got late dining and they said not until boarding, however the Carnival site says we will be e-mailed when this is allocated. I posted a question on CC forum to see what past cruisers have to say and a CC member said that dining times are never allocated before 6 weeks before sailing. He also said that there is usually no problem getting late dining as early dining is more popular. So we'll just have to wait and see. I really don't fancy early dining as we shall be out nearly every day on this cruise and it will be a rush to get back. I was also disappointed that the shows for late diners are at 7.00pm before dinner. Our last two cruises were on the Liberty where that last show was at 10.00 after dinner and the adult comedy shows were really late at around 11.45.

 

With regard to your guranteed cabin, if you go on the Carnival website and log in to My Booking you will see when your cabin number is allocated. We booked in March and the cabin was allocated quite soon after even though we don't sail until November. To get into My Booking you will need to get your cruise reference from Virgin (if you booked with them). I had to phone them for this at the same time I phoned for our Flight reference which you need to select your seats on the Virgin flight.

 

Hope this has been on some help. Nice to see a few more Brits coming on this Forum.

 

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your review Highland Lass - the first I've seen from a Barbados boarder. We are a select group!