First Timer Thoughts and Comments Following Victory 12/26

[wbsander]

My wife and 10 yr old daughter and I just returned from the 12/26 Victory Southern Caribbean cruise. What follows are my somewhat random comments, mainly directed to my biggest questions and concerns as a first timer, some or most of which started by reading this board.

 

Embarkation - We flew into SJU from Atlantic City and arrived on time at about 1:30PM. We used Carnival’s transport, and had collected our luggage and were on a shuttle by 2:30, and at the port by 2:45. It took us about 30 minutes to set up our sign and sail and get on board. Very smooth and easy.

　

Cabin/Noise - We stayed in 9266, a balcony on the Lido, directly across from the forward elevators and very close to the automatic glass doors out to the Triton Pool area. We had no noise issues whatsoever from the elevators or anything else. We even had no issues after going to bed around 1:30 AM New Years Eve, while things were still cranking pretty good out on deck. We had a group of two or three college age kids next door, and even they didn't disturb us at all, although we could occasionally hear them on the balcony. I could also smell their morning "wake and bake" on the balcony, I wanted to ask them if that was on the room service menu or if they had to special order it. All in all, no problems with noise, etc. Our cabin steward Jury was great as was his assistant Chris.

 

Dining/Table Assignment - We were assigned to the Atlantic Lower, at 6PM, in the very back. My first comment to everyone at the table, as well as our waiter, was "isn’t there anything available thats actually in the kitchen?". It reminded me of going to a familiar restaurant for the first time after having a baby, and realizing that there is a little kids section that you never knew about, but now you’re definitely in it. I thought about asking for a move, but we hit it off pretty immediately with out table mates, and all three families had girls between 8 and 10, and the girls really hit it off and became fast friends, which was much more important than moving out of the pantry. And actually, from a practical standpoint, we had easy access to our table after the first night, from the aft elevators, in through the back door of the dining room, as well as fast easy access to rest rooms during dinner.

 

Food- We found the food to be surprisingly good. The only entree I didn’t care for was the Red Snapper, all the rest were very good. On a couple of occasions I ordered two appetizers, and twice I combined a steak with the lobster or shrimp to make a surf and turf, all of which was no problem. Desserts were very good, I thought. Our waiter Bertram was fine, though not overly outgoing, in sort of a Caribbean way (from St. Vincent). He warmed up more and more as the cruise progressed, and he was very nice with the kids. His assistant remembered our coffee/espresso orders right from the start, and they seemed to take good care of one of our table mates who had the wine package, and took good care of her unfinished bottles.

 

Buffet Lines - There were some lines to deal with, but if you were a little flexible it was nothing terrible. Most mornings I had to wait about 10 min for an omelette, which I was willing to do because I hate powdered eggs. As for other times, the lines seemed to come and go, and there was always the ability to get something decent quickly if you needed to.

 

Tipping - I was impressed with the level of service throughout the ship, and had no problem with the $10 or $11 or whatever it is per day per person. I tipped the Cabin Stewards an extra $60 for the week, they indicated that they share the tips but I gave $40 to Jury and $20 to Chris individually anyhow, what they do from there is up to them. I tipped our waiter and his assistant $40 for the week, the service was fine, no problems. I tipped a couple of bartenders $5 and same with the woman at the coffee shop, who was really nice to us, remembered our coffee orders and was really nice, personable, and interested in how our days were. As far as the portions of my automatic gratuity going to people who I never saw and didn’t need anything special from, I just figure there are a lot of folks doing a lot that I don’t know about, and without the face to face contact that tends to generate tips for them. Some would say that this should just be built into the fare, but I didn’t have a problem with the way it was done.

 

Entertainment - I was not too impressed with the shows. We went to see the Vroom show, sort of a Motown/Rock/Disco revue, and I honestly thought it sucked. Went to the magic show, which was very good and funny. Caught half of one comedian’s family friendly act at the comedy club, it was OK, we laughed, but not great. I haven’t thought a lot about what I would rather have seen, but overall I was unimpressed with the entertainment, and preferred to spend an hour in the casino.

 

Casino - I played regular blackjack for an hour or so each night, and won every night but one night when I fought hard to break even. In total I won about $500, betting between $10 and $25 per hand, mostly at the $6 - $200 table, but sometimes the $25 table. I found the dealers to be very personable and professional, and for the most part really enjoyed the other players, just the right level and amount of conversation while playing. As always occurs, there were a couple of crazy and/or stupid players that would sit for a bit, but for the most part if you were sufficiently bothered by the effect on the game, if you got up and went for a drink they would be gone by the time you got back.

 

Excursions - We enjoyed the two excursions we booked, the 5-Star Turtle in Barbados, and the Castaway Shipwreck Snorkel in St. Thomas. They both were big "cattle boats’, but that was to be expected. They both generally delivered what they advertised, but the Castaway snorkel I thought was rather poorly supervised in that they encouraged the snorkelers to take a long swim in deep water with nothing to see, just to get over a shipwreck in about 40 ft of water, and look at the deck of the shipwreck. I saw very tired snorkelers, and a lot of potential for someone to get into trouble. By the time that was over, the time for snorkeling was done. There was plenty to see in shallow water near the catamaran, and I think most would have been happier, and definitely safer, staying closer. Maybe they just really want to be able to call it the "shipwreck" trip, but I think they either need to tie in to the wreck to let people check it out, or else explain carefully to people that they are going to spend a long swim with nothing to see, and get really tired, if they really want to see the wreck. In St. Lucia I had my own dive trip planned with friends who live there, and in SXM we mostly stayed aboard although I walked into town to compare some prices on watches in the ship’s jewelry shop. As an aside, I found that the discounted prices on the ship were very close to prices in both Phillipsburg and Charlotte Amalie. The ship will match any price that you can get a jeweler on shore to write down in a quote, but naturally they know this and are totally unwilling to do so. In the end I paid about $50 more for a Tag Heuer Aquaracer on the ship than the best price I found ashore, because I felt more comfortable dealing with Carnival than a Caribbean dealer, although two of the four Tags I (now) own I have bought in the Caribbean (one in SXM and one in Grand Cayman) without any problems, I just didn’t feel that $40-$50 in savings justified getting it ashore.

 

Debarkation - We were amazed at how easily and quickly we got off the ship. We were assigned #8, and the information we were given indicated that 9AM would begin calling the numbers after the self assist and priority passengers. Well, at 8:40 (just as I got my omelette), our number was called. I bypassed the rest of the breakfast buffet, quickly ate, then we grabbed our carryons from the cabin and off we went. We were off the ship and through customs by 9:15, and at the El San Juan where we were spending Sunday night by 9:30. Luckily our room was available, and we were snoozing poolside by 10 AM. I love the El San Juan (mainly the grounds/pools), it was a very nice place to chill out for the day, but $15 cheeseburgers and $25 breakfasts was a bit of a shock after the Victory!

 

All in all Carnival met and then exceeded our expectations. We love the Caribbean and will continue out yearly trips to St. Lucia, with occasional other islands mixed in, and we’re not ready to become regular cruisers, but we will certainly give it another shot before two long, when we need a quick, easy getaway for a great price!

[sparks1093]

Thanks for the review, we're considering this ship and itinerary for April 2013.

[guntheros]

Really enjoyed your review! Did your daughter and her new friends use camp carnival at all? Just wondering how she liked it if she did.

[jess*lynn]

We'll be joining the Victory on the 22nd also flying from Atlantic City. Small world :) Did you fly Spirit? If so, was it horrible with the carry-on bags?

 

I'm also interested in how your daughter like Camp Carnival - we are traveling with our 11 year old niece, it'll actually be a week before her 12th birthday, and I'm concerned that she will feel like she is too old for the group she is in. Do you have any ideas of what activities they did?

[lettienets]

Thanks for the positive info, I am leaving Jan 22 and looking forward to the cruise. I only have one tour booked in Barbados (north island beach and shop... been everywhere else. Love the beautiful Harrison caves if anybody is thinking of that tour) as I have been to the other places, but never tire of them.

When in St Luica did the ship dock at Point Serafine with the orange roofs and shops or the Carenage right in town?

[wbsander]

Really enjoyed your review! Did your daughter and her new friends use camp carnival at all? Just wondering how she liked it if she did.

 

My daughter did use Camp Carnival, and she liked it OK, I don't think she loved it. She made some friends by the pool the first day, and their parents I think went off the ship and left the kids at camp, so if they were there my daughter wanted to be there as well. We never left the ship with her aboard, so we allowed her to sign herself out of camp, and she only did so once, and came back to the cabin (she was not allowed to sign out to wander, only to come back to the cabin or to find us). I think she liked the games, movies, etc. OK, but with her its more about the friends, if she likes who's there she won't care what's going on. She also went to one show (Vroom) with the Camp, and we looked down and half the kids were sleeping through the show (I wasn't far behind). Importantly, all the kids seemed to like the staff, they would all greet them by name while away from Camp and around the ship, and the kids clearly liked them all.

[jimbo5544]

Nice review, we are on the Victory in August. Thanks

[wbsander]

We'll be joining the Victory on the 22nd also flying from Atlantic City. Small world :) Did you fly Spirit? If so, was it horrible with the carry-on bags?

 

I'm also interested in how your daughter like Camp Carnival - we are traveling with our 11 year old niece, it'll actually be a week before her 12th birthday, and I'm concerned that she will feel like she is too old for the group she is in. Do you have any ideas of what activities they did?

 

Yes, we flew Spirit. I have used them before, ACY is super convenient for us. The down side is very cramped seating, and now the "pay for everything" system. I joined the $9 fare club, which pays for itself if you're purchasing bags, and payed for one bag and one carryon each. My checked bag was dive and snorkel gear which I only paid for on the way down, I left it with my friends in St. Lucia for our February trip. Spirit was pretty much ontime all the way, and I have to tell you that now that carryons are for a fee, there is no problem finding overhead space, the difference is remarkable.

 

As for the kids club, I definitely think my daughter would have had more fun in the 12-14 (15?) group, if it was not for the friends she met. If your niece is that close, I think you might want to cheat her up if you can. I haven't given it much thought, but I'm not sure that any other problem would be caused by a "mistake" on her D.O.B. as stated on her Camp Carnival docs, or if they cross check that with anything else. Best to think that through pretty carefully, though.

[wbsander]

There was one other point which I meant to comment on, but forgot. Before we left I read some pretty disparaging comments regarding the passenger demographics on Victory being heavily Puerto Rican. While its true that there was a pretty noticable puerto Rican contingent on the ship, any effect on our cruise experience was positive. No loudness, rudeness, or anything else I read about (didn't believe, though), but maybe a little color, spirit, something. Sure, sometimes you might ask someone something and realize that there was a language problem, but no other problem whatsoever.

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great Review. I really want to take that itinerary on the Victory. I can't stand Spirit Airlines; (1) because I'm a pilot for a competing airline and (2) I'm 6'7" and it doesn't really work out with my long legs.

[lettienets]

There was one other point which I meant to comment on, but forgot. ...............

When in St Luica did the ship dock at Point Seraphine with the orange roofs and shops or La Place Carenage right in town?

 

Thanks

[wbsander]

Thanks for the positive info, I am leaving Jan 22 and looking forward to the cruise. I only have one tour booked in Barbados (north island beach and shop... been everywhere else. Love the beautiful Harrison caves if anybody is thinking of that tour) as I have been to the other places, but never tire of them.

When in St Luica did the ship dock at Point Serafine with the orange roofs and shops or the Carenage right in town?

 

Point Serafine.

[boaterette]

Loved your review. What is wake and bake though?

[CourtneyLovesCruising]

Loved your review. What is wake and bake though?

 

It is slang for using cannabis first thing in the morning.

[beerman2]

Very good review. Will be on the Victory in April.

[wbsander]

It is slang for using cannabis first thing in the morning.

 

Correct. That was part of my meal plan in college, but it's been 20 years. Didn't bother us, though, it makes for better neighbors than rowdy drinkers, any day!

[gelo7]

Great review.

[CourtneyLovesCruising]

Correct. That was part of my meal plan in college, but it's been 20 years. Didn't bother us, though, it makes for better neighbors than rowdy drinkers, any day!

 

I know many people are bothered by cannabis smoke as they are by cigar or cigarette smoke. I'm glad that the smell didn't taint your experience.

[glrounds]

I know many people are bothered by cannabis smoke as they are by cigar or cigarette smoke. I'm glad that the smell didn't taint your experience.

 

I get 40-year-old flashbacks from cannabis smoke. :D I would prefer a cabin full of smooth heads to rowdy drinkers, also.

 

 

[DetroitCruiser313]

Nice Review!! Taking this cruise in OCT!! Cant Wait!!