Carnival Victory Review - August 19, 2012

[nycfa]

My first review so please be kind.... ;)

 

We booked this cruise in January under the Early Saver Rate. We originally booked an Ocean View cabin on the Main Deck. However as the rates dropped we upgraded to a Balcony on Deck 7. Cabin 7357. Excellant location since just a quick walk to the stairs and two flights up you were right at the lido deck buffet area (maybe this had something to do with my weigh gain?!? :p )

 

We are a family for 4. DH & I are both 43 and DD#1 is 10 and DD#2 is 7. DH & I have cruised before but that last time was pre kids back in 2001. This is the first cruise for the kids.

 

I turned Gold on this cruise and DH is Red.

 

We flew down from JFK on August 18 on an 8:30 am flight. We booked a room at the El Caribe Hilton using points as DH is a Hilton Honors Member.

 

We got to the hotel about 1-1:30 pm and we were able to upgrade to an oceanview for $15.

 

This was our view!

 

 

 

 

We explored the hotel a bit, swam in both the pools and ocean before heading back to shower. A friend who did the cruise in July said they ordered Papa John pizza for dinner and they delivered. We got the number from the Concierge and called. They called us when they arrived at the hotel. We got a large cheese and a 1 liter of soda for $20 plus tip. Prefect for our family who have been up since 4 am.

[nycfa]

We relaxed this morning and hung out in the hotel room. I had to do a few things for work on our computer. The kids watched TV.

 

We got bagels and muffins from Starbucks in the lobby for breakfast.

 

We checked out around 11 am and took a taxi over to the ship. $12 plus $1 per bag.

 

At the dock we got a porter ($2 per bag) thought you could easily bring your bags down yourself. It's not a far walk. But with 5 bags and two kids....$10 worth it!! LOL

 

There were only a few people in line and we were given Zone 7 for boarding.

 

Boarding started about 12:15 ish and we were on board and sitting in the lido deck eating lunch by 12:45 pm.

 

The gangway was broken so everyone had to board on Deck 0 like when you dock in the islands but really wasn't a big deal.

 

The longest line was getting your card picture taken right before you got on but really it moved very quickly!

 

By the time we finished eating our rooms were ready (1:30 pm) and we headed down to check them out.

 

We had a kind size bed, a sofa bed and a pull down. Bathrooms have plenty of space for storage. We were a bit cluttered with 4 people but that was more our fault for over packing. There was plenty of space. With the balcony it was nice, almost like a separate room to hang out on.

 

We went to walk around the ship a bit then came back to the room to head over to Fort Crisotbal and there was a knock on the door. LUGGAGE! All of it was there and it was only 3 pm. Nice!

 

[nycfa]

We walked over to the Fort which was an easy 5-10 min walk (assuming you are not traveling with a 7 year old who is complaining she is hot and tired before you even cross the first street :eek: )

 

I highly recommend going over to check it out. It was very interesting and you have some nice views. You can get a nice picture of you with the ship in the background

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the ship, unpacked a bit then headed to dinner. After dinner we hung out some more until the Muster Drill at 9:30 pm which I thought was quick and painless.

 

We watched sail away from our balcony before heading off to bed for our day in St. Thomas tomorrow!

[ComeSailWithME]

Great start, looking forward to reading more :)

[CruzerDeb]

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

[jimbo5544]

We were right down the hall in 7295!

[ibcnusoon]

WOW! Another Victory review! You guys are awesome, I love it!! I'm done planning our cruise to death and love reading about what others did!!

 

Looking forward to your review and sailing the Victory in November!! :)

[kimmyg726]

Yeah!! I love reading the Victory reviews. Thank you for writing yours.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

Kim

[Herfnerd]

Subscribed and waiting for more - great so far!

[kimmyg726]

Subscribed and waiting for more - great so far!

 

 

Herfnerd--We leave one month after you. Hope you post a review when you get back :)

 

Kim

[natttagirl]

We are sailing on the Victory on Sep 23rd.. Cannot wait

[Dirkgun]

Great start....subscribed. We leave on Victory again in December we have 4 rooms on Deck 7 (our first balconies) Starting at 7386 I hope we will like them. :eek::D

[nycfa]

We were right down the hall in 7295!

 

We probably passed either other dozens of times!! LOL

 

I love that we faced the dock at each port. I always looked for some pier runners....nada!

[nycfa]

Great start....subscribed. We leave on Victory again in December we have 4 rooms on Deck 7 (our first balconies) Starting at 7386 I hope we will like them. :eek::D

 

I LOVED the balcony! Early mornings while the kids and husband slept, I would grab a hot tea from the lido, sit out there with my book and watch us pull into port! It was AWESOME!

[Jdfireman]

Can you tell us any REAL facts about the open bar package if you saw the info on it

 

Thanks

[hockeyluver]

Looking forward to being on the Victory..... wish it were this itinerary but its not...

[nycfa]

Both of my kids especially my oldest DD is very into animals so we booked a Sea Lion Swim at Coral World.

 

We caught a taxi at the port. $9 per person. I know from here it's about a 20 min ride...unless you got our driver. :rolleyes: 10 min in he stops to asked were everyone is going again. Talks one family into a different beach. So that adds a stop (before everyone was going to Coki/Coral World). Now we are stopping at Sapphire. Then he drives up this hill and stops does anyone want a picture of St. John? No, then he is digging around in the cab of his truck.....at this point I'm done and pretty much told him so. 45 min and we aren't at CW yet?!?! Come on!!! I'm a very patience person but really? No one asked to switch beachs, do a photo op, nor do w need whatever it is you need a pen for!!

 

Okay, off my soap box on that....it's a vacation moving on!

 

We were still good on time since our Swim wasn't until 11:15 am and we got there by 9:45 am.

 

We had prepaid when we booked the Swim so I just gave our names and showed them a copy of my reciept they emailed me.

 

They gave us wristbands and we went inside. We listened to talks on Sharks and Sting Rays. Visited the underwater viewing area. It was cute. It's not a huge place. You could kill an hour maybe two there.

 

We then met up with the Trainer doing our Swim at 11:15. It ended up being just our family and a 16 yr old girl from another family.

 

It was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it. We swam with Omar who is about 300 lbs. You are with two trainers and a photographer. They took a lot of pictures (171) and you could buy the CD for $50.

 

After the swim we ate lunch there then headed over to Coki Beach.

 

I'd read here and on Trip Adviser that it was more of a local beach which I could see. I also read it wasn't as clean. I didn't notice at first but the thought popped in my head and I took a good look and the sand did have some butts and other trash but honestly I wasn't stuck with OMG this place is a mess! KWIM?

 

The water itself was Beautiful. The snorkeling was wonderful. I'd recommend going there without a hesitation.

 

I have also read vendors were aggressive.....I did not find that to be true. A simple no thank you and they moved on.

 

We did not rent chairs. Just laid out our towels. We went down to the end further from CW since it was less crowded. It's a small beach so if there is a lot of ships in port I can see that being an issue.

 

But we had a great experience there!

 

 

Coki Beach as seen from out on the pier at Coral World

 

 

 

At the far end of Coki Beach looking back towards Coral World

 

 

[nycfa]

Can you tell us any REAL facts about the open bar package if you saw the info on it

 

Thanks

 

Sorry I saw the signs for it, but didn't look. I don't drink and DH only had a couple beers at dinner so we did not investigate it further

[Jdfireman]

Sorry I saw the signs for it, but didn't look. I don't drink and DH only had a couple beers at dinner so we did not investigate it further

 

Thank you for a Honest answer

[ibcnusoon]

I LOVED the balcony! Early mornings while the kids and husband slept, I would grab a hot tea from the lido, sit out there with my book and watch us pull into port! It was AWESOME!

 

Me too!!! We had an inside on Lido when we got the upsell call for a balcony. It was my first balcony ever.

 

The best part of the cruise for me was scheduling room service the night before, waking up just when it was to be delivered, and taking my tray, me in my robe and PJs, and sitting out on the balcony watching us pull into port, looking at the island and watching the people and cars start their day. :)

 

I never had a balcony before and now I'm in love!!

[trippingpara]

Another Victory review! Loving it!

[nycfa]

Sea day was the latest I slept in which was 7:30 am.

 

DD#2 and I went to the Lido Deck for breakfast. Helpful tip: Visit the Omelet Station at the Aft Pool. Almost never a line. If there is a line only one or two people. There is a mini buffet there with bread, saguage, bacon....you get the bacon YOURSELF! Take as many slices as you like!! LOL (inside buffet the bacon police are on duty!).

 

We ate there everyday and made friends with the Cook Sajal. Super friendly and an excellent Omelet maker. Oh and after watching him flip omelets so easily for a week I thought, Hey I can do that at home....sadly I have found this not to be true. :rolleyes: LOL

 

My DH & DD#1 ate in the dinning room for breakfast. Which they said was fine but with early get up and outs all week, the buffet is a much better option.

 

Before kids DH & I loved Sea Days.....nap, read, nap read....kids...not so much. Much prefer more island time.

 

Basically the kids tried out all the pools and the water slide. They said the water slide was too slow. DD#2 and I did the hot (warm) tub.

 

But really everything was a bit crowded and let's just say some people need to watch their children a little more closer. Mine are no angels but I also keep a close watch on them IMO. But again, we just moved onto other things. No biggie!

 

We did lunch at the buffet and that afternoon I talked them into going to the Camp Carnival for the Magic Act.

 

My youngest DD is very shy in new situations and can quickly turn to tears. Since they were and separate age groups that wasn't going to help either. But since this was listed as ages 6-11 I thought great, they can stay together and check it all out.

 

Well, they did sit together, the magic act as great BUT.... a lot of the kids in camp where very loud and not listening. My older DD said the counselors kept saying they were sending the magician away if people didn't start listening.

 

So that ended up being the only experience with Camp Carnival. Honestly I didn't think I would get them to do anything anyway, with my youngest being the way she was plus there were so many ports.....

 

So NO blame on Camp Carnival....I work with a lot of kids with Girl Scouts and PTA and sometimes you just get a tough crowd. I think that's what they had on this cruise. Again no biggie! We just found other stuff to do. :D

[nycfa]

Having read about Afternoon Tea here on CC.

 

I made a point of attending it.

 

JUST AS DESCRIBED!!

 

I took my younger DD (older one didn't want to go) and we sat at a large table for 8 with some other ladies.

 

The crowd looked mainly mother/daughter but there were some husband and wife couples there as well.

 

Everyone had a mini tea pot which they filled with hot water. They came around with the tea box for you to choose your tea.

 

They came around with cucumber sandwiches and salmon (bite sized).

 

Then came the dessert trolley....OMG....get the Lemon Cake if they have it!!!

 

All very nice. A piano (i think) playing in the background.

 

It was in the pacific dinning room on the back of ship.

 

We were there about 30 minutes and it was a lot of fun!

 

Highly recommend it. The little one couldn't wait to tell her sister all that she missed LOL

[sooner33]

38 days until we sail , thank you for the review

[nycfa]

When we booked this cruise the first excrusion we booked was the Turtle Swim with Calabazza.

 

Alas this is where Tropical Storm (as he still was a TS at that point) Issac got involved....:mad:

 

We were at breakfast when we heard announcements the Carnival ones were cancelled so we figured the odds were good ours was as well.

 

We got off and waited at the Gate 1 sign. Cool Running came out for another couple and told them they were cancelled. DH & I are talking and I turn around and see Gina standing there. I’m like Gina? She is yes! How did you know it was me? I’ve seen your picture all over the internet.

 

Needless to say we were cancelled. She was very sweet and suggested the Boatyard for us. We said good bye (she gave us all hugs) and we headed over for a taxi. Lordy taxi luck I’m not having…..we get in a cab and are waiting 30 minutes for it to Load up. One other couple comes and we are still waiting. Everyone is slow getting off the boat with the weather. Another taxi guy walks over and asks were we are going? Boatyard. How long you been waiting? 30 min. How many are you? 4 Want to go now? YES! We all get off and zip over to his cab and off we go! DH is like this is wrong….NOPE, wrong is waiting 30 mins and going NOWHERE!

 

We get to the boatyard and they are not charging to get in as you can’t use the water toys or dock. But the restaurant and bar are open so we go and get a couple of chairs and the kids play in the sands. You could swim up to about your waist. We were there until about 1 ish and took a taxi back to the ship. We ate lunch at the buffet and it started to DOWNPOUR! Prefect timing. The Boatyard was fun and I’d definitely recommend it. Even not being able to use the toys and stuff my kids still had a great time.

 

 

 

View of Boatyard from the water. Nice looking day out....NOT :cool:

 

 

 

 

Toys and dock

 

 

 

Looking down the beach towards the Hilton

 

 

From the Pier looking back towards the ship