Vicotry

[k2]

We just got off of the Victory and had an amazing vacation. The itinerary was the best yet!!!! Any questions that I can help with???

[bicky]

Good to hear you had a great time. What port did you like best and why? We are going in 2 weeks, can't wait. I have read that the Piano Bar on Victory is quiet, was it? thanks Vicky

[nycfa]

What did you do in each of the Islands?

[k2]

Wow... we tried to space out the tours and loved all the islands. Our excursions were so different I could not pick one over another. I will say that ST. KITTS is beautiful. Thenford Grey was a great host. It was so amazing how one side is like a rainforest and one side was arid with cactus growing. All the views were incredible.

 

The water in Barbados was perfect. We did the 5 hour swim with the sea turtles, snorkel and lunch with Bolador Tours. They were great, the boat was awesome and it was the most relaxing day! I will do this again someday!

 

St. Thomas was Magens Bay. If you ever wanted to try paddle boarding this is the place. It was sooooo much fun! I now have a new favorit hobby!

 

The Piano bar was quiet. We did go in for a short time and sang along but there was a lack of energy and the tunes were just a bit off.

 

St. Lucia we stayed by the port. If you do not have a tour booked, stay on board. The shopping is overpriced and mediocre at best. We will tour this island next time.

 

St. Maarten has a water taxi, we did not take it to the beach, but will next time. We shopped a bit at the port it was ok but overall relaxing. Pace yourself on this one... we ran ragged, but had a great time. You have to do this one more than once to squeeze everything in!!! We will be back!

[Lisah101]

any chance you have a copy of the menus?

[spangaroo]

We too just returned from Victory. Had an amazing time as well. The weather was absoutley perfect!

 

St Thomas: Sapphire Beach. GORGEOUS Beach. There was an incident with three locals that had a gun on the beach and the police came and arrest them. It was scary but when I realized what was happening, I took my daughter and walked in the opposite direction.

 

Barbados: We went to The Boatyard.For $12 per person, we had received a chair, umbrella, use of the water trampolines, rope swing, pier, 9 oz. rum drink, and transportation back to ship...Could not beat the price! We walked to The Boatyard from the ship, about a 15-20 minute walk. The water is the clearest I've ever seen.

 

St Lucia: We did a Cosol Tour that I pre-arranged prior to going on cruise. Hands down the best tour ever. Left at 8:45am and they had us back to the pier by 3:30pm. Took us to the banana plantations and had fresh bananas, had a feast of local foods for breakfast, there was a blue van that followed us with drinks of water, soda, beer, and rum punch, went to the volcano park, botantical gardens, took a water taxi to a beach and got to swim for an hour and had hot breads with cheese as our afternoon lunch/ snack. Highly reccommend them.

 

St Kitts: Went to South Friar's Beach. Nice beach with a bar called Shipwreck. Lots of mongoose there along mountain. It rained at first but then cleared for afternoon. It's a seculed area and a lot of locals appeared to go ther along with other cruise guests but not over crowded. Black sand beach with clear water.

 

St Marteen: Took water taxi to downtown and walked shops. Shops were nice but a lot of hagglers walking streets...did not like this at all but after a couple of no thanks you's, they finally left you alone. Then we took at cab to Mullet Bay Beach...WOW! Crystal clear blue water with volcanic rock on one side. Nice beach with white sand and a small bar/ restaurnat where you could get drinks and food. Then we took a 10 minute cab ride to Maho Beach and saw the airplanes coming in...the CRAZIEST thing I've ever seen! Loved it and taped these big airplanes flying in over my head...unbelievable!

 

Been home for 2 days though and I'm still swaying! Victory staff was great and made up for the fact that the ship is showing her age but still a nice ship and itinerary.

[travelplanner4thefamily]

We sail 3/11/2012 and really are getting excited. How was the boarding process and what time did you get to the ship for boarding? Thanks

[tipsy]

How was the siren pool area?

 

are there any areas on board that can find a quiet spot w/ lounge chairs? not big on hanging out at the pool unless something is going on.

 

thanks

[k2]

How was the siren pool area?

 

are there any areas on board that can find a quiet spot w/ lounge chairs? not big on hanging out at the pool unless something is going on.

 

thanks

Check out deck 6 in the very front 'secret deck' area as some call it. There are some chairs that are tied up, but if you ask they will untie them and you can just relax with virtually no one around. Very quiet ;)

[k2]

We sail 3/11/2012 and really are getting excited. How was the boarding process and what time did you get to the ship for boarding? Thanks

 

We arrived at the pier at 11:30 and were eating at the Lido by 12:30. Very easy process.

[Cruiseoholic000]

I am thinking of going on a Southern Caribbean cruise 2012 with two other friends. We are debating Victory or Valor. I think we are leaning towards the Valor due to scheduling etc. None of us have ever sailed on Carnival. How was the entertainment & food. Did you have breakfast room service?

[k2]

It is my understanding that the Valor is replacing the Victory, so timing will determine the ship (I think). I sailed the Glory which I believe is sister to the Valor. Outside of one being a bit newer and a wee bit bigger they are virtually the same. The valor has fish and chips, and the steak house while the Victory does not. I have sailed both RCCL and Carnival. Comparisons are so subjective, but personally I now prefer Carnival. That being said, I did not get room service, but I can tell you that I never had an issue with lines in the morning or getting off of the ship. Breakfast was also available in the dining room and those in our group who went, loved it! The entertainment was good (pretty standard cruise stuff). We loved the movies on the Lido, the music by the casino was always very good, the Piano Bar was OK, the shows were good, and the Comedy club was funny (we went to the family show). The food was excellent with the exception that for some reason the lobster was very very salty. Not sure what the deal was :confused: but everyone noticed it and were a bit disappointed. The ice cream 24x7 is a hit with all of us and the warm melting choc cake for desert is a must! Hope that helps!

[sillysailor 1955]

We just booked the Victory for 10/28 sailing... so glad to hear so many positive reviews.:D

[BenjiRodney]

We loved the Victory last November and St Kitts was our fav stop. We are doing it again this November, too good to pass up again.

[WiscoGirl32]

K2 - Thanks for the review. Question for you inn St. Thomas on Magens Beach with the paddle boarding...Soooo want to try this!! Did you rent them or where there people giving lessons?? How Fun!! Any pictures of the paddle boarding or the whole cruise?

 

Thanks, Jena

[k2]

Jena, Here is a picture you can see how calm the water is... great for a first time try. He gave us a quick intro... It was quite easy and very relaxing. I LOVE IT! I think it was $25 or $30 to rent for an hour. Hope that helps!

[WiscoGirl32]

Jena, Here is a picture you can see how calm the water is... great for a first time try. He gave us a quick intro... It was quite easy and very relaxing. I LOVE IT! I think it was $25 or $30 to rent for an hour. Hope that helps!

 

Wow!! So awesome! Very excited to give it a try! Was this person walking around asking or did you have to go to a specific place to rent and get a quick overview? Oh another question about Magen's. What is the fee the get into the beach? Any prices on chairs, umbrellas, ect. Was there a specific spot you sat at that had a bar/restaurant for drinks and food? Thanks so much!!

[k2]

If you are facing the bay the boat/board rentals are to your right and the gift shop and bar are likely to your left. Chairs are $5 to rent, Loungers are $7, entrance fee is $4 per person, taxi is $8 per person each way, drinks were $4-$7 depending on what you want, and we did not eat there. There was a security deposit on the chairs that you get back (I think it was $5 each). You won't need an umbrella as there is plenty of shade. We sat near the restrooms. :)

[vwortho]

Hi K2, We are booked with Bolador tours in couple of weeks and can't find any info on them. Can you give us few details on the day and catamaran. Were they easy to locate once you got off the ship? Any Pic's.

Thank you!

[k2]

Hi K2, We are booked with Bolador tours in couple of weeks and can't find any info on them. Can you give us few details on the day and catamaran. Were they easy to locate once you got off the ship? Any Pic's.

Thank you!

 

Check out my post for Bolador Tours in the port of call boards. That will help with contact info. Make sure to bring his email and contact phone number with you off the ship. Follow the signs to tours and you will see 'gate 2'. Head up to that desk and if he is not there they will call him for you. He sends a van to transfer you to the beach where he will then pick you up on shore. He transferred us to the catamaran with a smaller boat. The beach was amazing and had the most powdery sand I have ever seen. He was a bit quiet at first, but I think he just wants to wait and see what tone you want to set for the cruise. He was very laid back and friendly. I really enjoyed getting to know a bit about him and Mike.. They are real down to earth guys and seem to really enjoy the water. You will love this tour.... Here are a couple of pics...

[k2]

Hi K2, We are booked with Bolador tours in couple of weeks and can't find any info on them. Can you give us few details on the day and catamaran. Were they easy to locate once you got off the ship? Any Pic's.

Thank you!

 

I forgot to tell you... be careful the rum punch is potent and the food is excellent! :D

[keishashadow]

OP glad u enjoyed ur cruise:), just paid ours off! It's our first time on this itinerary and there is so much to see and do, i'm afraid i'll overschedule activities.

 

1) We have Thenford booked for St. Kitts, how much time did you have at the beach? Other than the views, were there any other parts of the tour that stood out for you?

 

2) Any issue grabbing a taxi back to the ship from Magens Bay?

 

3) Cosol is another tour we booked. Again, wondering how much time you had @ the beach.

 

We're beachy types;). In addition to the Cosol & Thenford tours, have full day tour booked in Barbados with Sarah/Glory Tours that does the caves/gardens/glass bottom boat turtle swim and another comprehensive tour in St. Maarten thru Bernard. Was considering just doing the beach on our own @ St. Kitts ala St. Thomas, but you make the tour sound so great i'm second-guessing myself lol.

[k2]

OP glad u enjoyed ur cruise:), just paid ours off! It's our first time on this itinerary and there is so much to see and do, i'm afraid i'll overschedule activities.

 

1) We have Thenford booked for St. Kitts, how much time did you have at the beach? Other than the views, were there any other parts of the tour that stood out for you?

 

2) Any issue grabbing a taxi back to the ship from Magens Bay?

 

3) Cosol is another tour we booked. Again, wondering how much time you had @ the beach.

 

We're beachy types;). In addition to the Cosol & Thenford tours, have full day tour booked in Barbados with Sarah/Glory Tours that does the caves/gardens/glass bottom boat turtle swim and another comprehensive tour in St. Maarten thru Bernard. Was considering just doing the beach on our own @ St. Kitts ala St. Thomas, but you make the tour sound so great i'm second-guessing myself lol.

 

St. Kitts is a beautiful Island. Thenford Grey is very informative and had answers to every question. The beach time was at least 2 hours of fun, but food was not cheap and drinks were close to boat prices. There is a Pig there that just kind of lives there (he drinks beer).

 

There are all kinds of Taxi's at Magens Bay... so no worry. Our taxi driver wanted us to schedule a time for him to come back and pick us up, but we opted out because we did not want any time limits. That being said, when we were ready there were a ton of taxi's available.

 

We did not tour Cosol, so I can't add much there. We tried to get rest in St Lucia and St Maarten. I am sure we would have loved tours but also would have been exhausted. We realized that doing it all at once would ruin it, so we will go back and do more. I would do our tours again in a heart beat. Maybe do them and add some but go to bed early every night ;)

[keishashadow]

St. Kitts is a beautiful Island. Thenford Grey is very informative and had answers to every question. The beach time was at least 2 hours of fun, but food was not cheap and drinks were close to boat prices. There is a Pig there that just kind of lives there (he drinks beer).

 

There are all kinds of Taxi's at Magens Bay... so no worry. Our taxi driver wanted us to schedule a time for him to come back and pick us up, but we opted out because we did not want any time limits. That being said, when we were ready there were a ton of taxi's available.

 

We did not tour Cosol, so I can't add much there. We tried to get rest in St Lucia and St Maarten. I am sure we would have loved tours but also would have been exhausted. We realized that doing it all at once would ruin it, so we will go back and do more. I would do our tours again in a heart beat. Maybe do them and add some but go to bed early every night ;)

 

lol i shall keep an eye out for him/her pigginess.

 

i'm worried about about burning out running around, think you have the right idea to be selective and save some for next time around,

[k2]

St. Kitts... and yes my son is Tebowing in Brimstone Fortress :)