Carnival Victory Review 11/13/20 with pictures

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great Review! I haven't had the chance to do that itinerary yet on the Victory but I want to. I'm a pilot for American Airlines and whenever I can I fly the trips to St. Maarten. It is one of the most amazing things in the world. What I do on cruises is get off the ship and get a taxi to take the wife and such over and we spend the day.

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Oh my goodness - I love your review and love the photos. I hope you can answer a couple questions for me.

 

We have a 12:40 flight on USAirways and plan to do self-assist when we debark - are there many taxis waiting to drive passengers to the airport and how long is the ride to the airport?

 

I have read that the airport can be a nightmare - is a 12:40 departure pushing it?

 

We are very interested in booking tours with Cosol and Royston - both sound amazing!

 

If only April was right around the corner - I'm ready to cruise now.:D

 

Thanks for the great review too!

 

I just wanted to comment about the San juan Airport. I'm a pilot and fly there very often. The lines for security can be very long at times but at around 12:40 departure you should be fine. It's about 10-15 minutes to the port. There are many taxis. To make it go faster, make sure you do not have any plants, animals, etc. that would catch the US Department of Agriculture. Since Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the US they are EXTREMELY strict on this and I've seen it take people an hour+ because they had something of suspicion in their luggage. I've had whole families called off of the plane because one of their kids decided to take a flower home and "smuggle" it into her luggage. I would say 12:40 might be pushing it mainly because the ship may get delayed. So if it doesn't cost you a fortune (and if US Airways has another flight that day) I would push it back. Other than the above, you should be fine.

 

**I'm sorry I kind of impeded on this thread to answer this question.

[erby2283]

T

 

I have a question for you. Was there anything you researched that you did not do on your cruise but later wished you had? Or maybe something you did not have time to do at one of the ports that you really wanted to do? We haven't booked any excursions yet but will start researching soon. Thanks.

 

I really enjoyed Royston's tour in St. Kitts and Cosol's tour. I know the price might turn some people off but it was well worth it. My advice would be to make sure you plan ahead and not to "wing it" it in any of the ports (especially Barbados).

[erby2283]

Oh my goodness - I love your review and love the photos. I hope you can answer a couple questions for me.

 

We have a 12:40 flight on USAirways and plan to do self-assist when we debark - are there many taxis waiting to drive passengers to the airport and how long is the ride to the airport?

 

I have read that the airport can be a nightmare - is a 12:40 departure pushing it?

 

We are very interested in booking tours with Cosol and Royston - both sound amazing!

 

If only April was right around the corner - I'm ready to cruise now.:D

 

Thanks for the great review too!

 

At the time I was searching flights (which was every day), it was cheaper for us to fly out Monday than Sunday and still saved $100 even after paying for a hotel. Although I was anxious to get off the ship at that point, it was nice not having to deal with the crowds at the airport. I would think you'd be okay, but better to be safe...

[erby2283]

I will be in St Maarten next month for the first time and I was considering using Jo Junie as a tour guide. Based on your experience dealing with the family that was always late, would you still recommend him as a tour guide or do you think it is best to take a taxi to tour St Maarteen?

 

I would't use him, but only because when compared to the tours we took in St. Kitts and St. Lucia, I didn't get that knowledge of the island. He didn't take us anywhere that made me go "wow" or where I wanted to take tons of pictures. Some friends we met on the the two tours in St. Lucia and St. Kitts went on Bernard's Tour. We saw them at the airport and they had a great time. I don't like to say bad things about people but if I go back, I will book with someone else.

[hancogran]

I would't use him, but only because when compared to the tours we took in St. Kitts and St. Lucia, I didn't get that knowledge of the island. He didn't take us anywhere that made me go "wow" or where I wanted to take tons of pictures. Some friends we met on the the two tours in St. Lucia and St. Kitts went on Bernard's Tour. We saw them at the airport and they had a great time. I don't like to say bad things about people but if I go back, I will book with someone else.

 

I'll second Bernard's Tours. :D It's one of the best tours we've ever been on and very reasonable too. Bernard is a very personable individual and very knowledgeable about the island. I'd go back on the same tour again if we ever go back to St. Marten! :)

[DetroitCruiser313]

GREAT Review!!! I Love every bit of your review and PICS!! Now I cant wait until my cruise in OCT... Im going to take a couple of the tours you took..

 

But i want to know can you book the ZipLines from the boat?? Maybe you know even tho you didnt do the ziplines..

thanks

[travellover39]

I really enjoyed your review and the fabulous pics. You really captured the islands.:D

 

You had me chuckling "the late family" :D

[erby2283]

GREAT Review!!! I Love every bit of your review and PICS!! Now I cant wait until my cruise in OCT... Im going to take a couple of the tours you took..

 

But i want to know can you book the ZipLines from the boat?? Maybe you know even tho you didnt do the ziplines..

thanks

 

If you're referring to a Zipline tour offered by the cruiseline, I would think as long as they are not sold out, you can go to the excursion deck and book there.

[erby2283]

I really enjoyed your review and the fabulous pics. You really captured the islands.:D

 

You had me chuckling "the late family" :D

 

Thanks for the kudos.... As for the "late family", they're just lucky the Sicilian in me was on vacation too...

[travellover39]

Thanks for the kudos.... As for the "late family", they're just lucky the Sicilian in me was on vacation too...

 

I know all about the sicilians, my DH is half sicilian and he would have said something. They were very rude and unfair to the others. Happy you had a good time on your cruise. :)

[bipacco224]

Thanks for the great review!!!!! We are headed on the Victory in June.

The late Family, well you handled it better than me. I would have paid Jo the 180.00 and told him to just leave them.

[erby2283]

Thanks for the great review!!!!! We are headed on the Victory in June.

The late Family, well you handled it better than me. I would have paid Jo the 180.00 and told him to just leave them.

 

Have a great cruise! It's coming up soon!

[aberthelot]

What an amazing cruise. Would do it again in an heartbeat. It was interesting reading your review how closely it was to ours. Our room was amazing as well as we had a huge balcony that wrapped around...walked it off at over 40 feet. Our friends next door opened up their door so it gave us even more!

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan (very nice) and ate at a small cafe/bakery across from the Ponderosa. Awesome food and bakery. Short walk to the beach.

 

We got on the Victory around 12:30 and on in less than 15 min. (priority privaleges) We took the free trolley up to the largest Fort..awesome. Was even free that day!

 

In Barbados, we rented a car with the other couple. A little crazy driving on such narrow roads...went to see Farley Hill mansion ruins and gardens, over to Bathsheba. Ended up having an amazing lunch at a hotel there but it should be awesome for $75! right on the ocean. Wished we could have got to Crane and Harrismith Beaches but simply ran short on time and didn't want to risk not getting back. Next time.

 

St Lucia, loved loved loved. Took the Spencer Ambrose Tour Land and Sea.

I probably saw you at the beach...I was in heaven.

 

We loved St Kitts, what a surprise. We didn't organize a tour there but ended up with a taxi driver (in green shirts) who knew everybody...goalie on the cricket team, firefighter..really nice guy. They love us Canadians there as we donated all their school buses, school curriculum, medical center. Would go back. We went to the beach at South Friars Bay...really nice swimming and fish..excellant food at the beach restaurant.

 

I am going to try to get my pics posted ...just need some time. So much has happened this week, I need another vacation! Maybe you will recognize us!

Hi there,

We have room 6434 booked on the Victory for next January. Do you have any pics of the cabin and the trip posted? Also, are we treated as VIP when embarking the ship because of this cabin booking?

Thanks.

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Friday November 18th

 

When I got up today and watched us approaching St. Kitts, I tried to remember my last trip there in 2007 but apparently, that trip was uneventful. I wondered how anything could top the tour we took in St. Lucia. I had booked a tour with Royston and there were only 6 of us in all. As it turns out, all of us were on Cosol’s tour the day before but each had a different van driver. Royston wasn’t there yet but had advised all us when we booked that if he wasn’t there when he arrived, he would be shortly. He also provided us his cell phone number. We were one of the first off the ship and we waited about 10 minutes for Royston. We followed him towards the van and we proceeded on our trip that was only supposed to be 4 hours ($45). He drove through town and it was relatively quiet given the time of day. We drove away from town on a road that Royston said drove around the whole island. Our first stop was on the side of road and took me a second to realize what I was supposed to be seeing….monkeys. Apparently, monkeys first inhabited the island via the ships that brought the slaves. A few escaped and now there are just as many monkeys as people! We continued on the tour which followed the coastline stopping at various locations. Being a dog lover, I got a little depressed seeing so many homeless dogs wandering around. I wanted to take all of them home! My BF got a little hungry along the way, Royston stopped so he could get some chicken from a street vendor. My BF was the only one who was hungry (he eats like a horse) but he said the seasoning on the chicken was excellent! We proceeded towards the “Central Forest Reserve National Park.” We were the first to arrive for the day and it was so peacefully and quiet. It really made me appreciate what it must have been like 200+ years ago. Leaving the park, you encounter the largest oak tree known on the island. It’s close to the house of one of the slave masters. The tour than took us to “Brimstone Fort.” Royston paid our entrance fee and we spent about 45 minutes walking around. There were 2 archaeologists who were beginning to excavate the hospital of the fort. A map was recently discovered and it wasn’t until that map was found that they realized the location of the hospital on the fort. The hospital was located next to ammunition storage. Royston said that was due to the fact that small pox and other air born diseases would not spread if the fort was attacked b/c the ammunition storage would incinerate the hospital thereby taking care of any contamination concerns. After the fort, we continued along the coast of St. Kitts making brief stops and got more depressed with every dog I saw…lol. It was finally time for lunch and we had two options: a street vendor who offered chicken, ribs, rice, salad or a Roti. A Roti is a wrap filled with either chicken or conch, potatoes and curry. Four of us ordered the chicken and/or ribs which came with a salad and rice and the other two ordered conch roti. I ate the rice while my BF ate the ribs. It was kind of hard to eat while Royston was driving but we managed. We literally stopped in the street while Royston went into a local restaurant to get the Roti’s. We then proceeded towards a quiet beach hut that had a couple picnic tables. We finished eating there and then a couple people left to snorkel and swim. My boyfriend snorkeled but said when he saw a sting ray, bigger than he was, swimming straight towards him, he had had enough  We stayed here for an hour or so and Royston said he could continue to take us around the island or we could stay at the beach or he could take us back to the ship. We all voted to see more of the island. Remember, this tour was only supposed to be 4 hours and it was already on hour 6! Royston not only drove us all the way around the island, he took us UP the island. To some of the highest points on the island that allowed us the most picturesque scenes I had ever seen. One shot even showed a small portion of the island that had the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other side. Royston brought us back to the ship with about an hour to spare. He truly made it an unforgettable day – and for a great price, which included all drinks and lunch. I would highly recommend him for anyone wanting to see beautiful views of St. Kitts with just a brief beach stop!

We did some shopping back in port and got a couple pictures with the monkeys. I should have read what a rip off it was – I would have been better off getting a picture earlier in the tour on one of our stops where a lady had one with her.

I think St. Kitts was our favorite Island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous Pictures !! Thanks for posting

[Cruiser 2 too]

Thanks for a great review! Your photos are beautiful. Again , thank you for sharing.