Victory x 2....a b2b review! (with an obscene number of pictures...just sayin')

[summercruisin']

So, as I was saying (got a little off topic there), after our lunch, we went to guest services to get directions for the safety drill. We then headed back to our room and caught a little nap. Now, you will find that we are a family of sleepers :p. I know there are people who cruise and go, go, go. There are people who cruise for the shows and the auctions and to sit in the pool or fight over chairs or sing in the piano bar or see the comedians or gamble...but we are not those type of folks. In fact, we did very little of those things (my apologies for those who were hoping I'd be able to tell you a little about them. Lucky for you, I've seen LOTS of comments about the comedians...in fact, I almost went one night...and the shows and so on). We cruise for the beaches (my saline therapy) and to relax. A lot.

 

Before napping, I did get some pictures of our bathroom though....so that's good, right?? :o

 

Here you go...

 

the shower

 

the pitiful hair dryer (thank goodness I air dry!) I do like that they have added a nightlight. I don't recall that from any of our cruises before.

 

a medicine cabinet

 

 

and the contents of the basket of goodies

 

 

While we were catching a quick nap, people were still coming on board (so it was pretty early). And, it was BEFORE the safety drill, despite the confusion I may have caused by talking about it earlier. Sorry.

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

Most of our bags were delivered before our nap (gotta love that platinum status!), and the final one came while we were napping. So, once we were up and at 'em again, I began unpacking while waiting for the muster drill. Seems like it was supposed to happen around 3:30 (I should have dug out our Funtimes before writing today), but it was late and actually occurred closer to 4:10. Pretty soon, we set sail (later than scheduled). We usually watch sailaway from our balcony, and today was no exception, although we didn't stay there long because I saw there was sushi on the Promenade deck near the casino. Woohoo!

 

 

We sat by the Coral Sea Cafe to enjoy our sushi (to get away from the kinda loud live band that was set up right beside it), and it was really good. I am not a sushi pro or a sushi snob, though, so keep that in mind. :cool:

 

We then walked around a bit and took a few pictures...

 

the Coral Sea Cafe

 

 

 

And DD strikes a pose...

 

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

Now, we always schedule late dinner, because (as I mentioned before) we cruise for the beaches. It is very difficult to drag me out of the sand even with the threat of getting left behind (really, what kind of threat is that? :cool:). So, we certainly do not intend to cut our beach days short to rush back for dinner. My sincere apologies for those who plan a late dinner in order to avoid children (I've seen you mention that around here! :rolleyes:). I will insist our children behave at the table, though. We also always do assigned dinner, as DS does better with the same servers every night at the same table. In fact, he sits in the same seat every night and expects us to do that as well. This will matter later...

 

Anyway, after exploring a while, we found ourselves back in the Mediterranean :D looking at the desserts set up for dinner.

 

 

like I needed ANY of that before dinner. I almost turned away, but then I saw this...

 

 

oh, friends. It was like hearing a choir of angels. You see, many years ago, Carnival used to serve a fabulous dessert in the dining rooms that included three types of chocolate mousse. When they stopped serving it, I was nearly devastated. I know....it's crazy. Luckily my local Harris Teeter carries something that kinda sorta fills the void, but here it was...chocolate mousse (albeit, only two types, but who am I to complain??). Had to have it.

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

As I filled a plate with the strawberry napoleons as well as the mousse (if you're gonna ruin dinner, you may as well go all out ;)) and made up a new family rule about being allowed to eat dessert first on the first night of a cruise :D, I could almost feel the last bit of stress slip away.......divine.

 

DD was happy about the new rule...

 

 

(she lost those top two teeth just days before...makes for goofy pictures)

 

After filling up on sweets, we went back to the room to finish unpacking and to freshen up for dinner. Now, I'm not a girly-girl at all (in fact, I didn't even pack make-up....not a bit), so it doesn't take me long to get ready for dinner. So we watched a little TV and headed to the dining room.

 

We had dining in the second floor of the Pacific Dining room. It was easy to find if you could find this awesome fish...

 

 

There, we found our table (a booth for four) and met our wait staff for the first time. They were AWESOME!!! Every one of them. Our head waiter, Wilber, was so much fun during the dancing. His assistant, Gede, was so fabulous. And all the others were wonderful as well. We absolutely could not have asked for better servers. I'll have some pictures of them at some point.

 

everyone's happy to be here...

 

 

 

Since our servers were so great right from the start, we felt a tad guilty for showing up with very little appetite, and we promised not to do that again!

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

I'm terrible about remembering to take food pics, and I often just give up. I know some people think it's crazy anyway, and it makes my DH feel just a little awkward, but I take them when I remember (often after a few bites...sorry! :o).

 

If nothing else, I try to take them so I can remember what I had and loved (for next time).

 

This evening we had the cream of broccoli soup...

 

 

and the barley soup

 

 

and roasted duck

 

 

and escargot

 

 

 

My DH loves almost everything and is usually adventurous, but he will admit he was a little nervous trying the escargot. He liked it, though. Crazy man tried to pull the whole "now you gotta try it" mess. Silly boy. No thanks.

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

I can't remember what else we ate, because by the time we got through the appetizers, we were miserable (and apologizing to the wait staff). I think DS had the salmon (which he loves....it is on the very short list of things he will eat). I should have looked at the menu before writing this post to jog my memory (sorry :o).

 

After dinner, we headed back to our room to go to bed. We had our first towel animal...

 

 

We actually had him before we went to dinner (you can probably tell by the picture), as our room steward came in while we were out and about eating desserts. On previous cruises I can remember we sometimes didn't get towel animals, or (perhaps worse) we always got that thing that no one wants to try to explain to their children. :eek::cool: So, it was a relief to get a cool doggy.

 

We made short work of getting in bed, since we knew we would have to be ready to go early in the morning to get any decent amount of time in Key West the next morning...which I will tell you all about soon!

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[poptart]

enjoying your review and pictures. I too cruise for beaches :D looking forward to the pictures.

 

I so wish I was brave enough to go without make up! you look beautiful.

 

so sorry for the loss of your dad, but how wonderful to enjoy a last gift from him. so precious.

[summercruisin']

Okay, a little more about our room (before I move on).

 

We stayed in a balcony cabin on the Verandah deck (deck 8). It was a category 8D on the starboard side. We originally booked a cabin on deck 6 at the Early Saver rates in November. When the big sale came out, we got price drops, and we chose to upgrade because we could get the same cabin on both legs of our b2b cruise (a big convenience!). IF you ever plan to do a B2B cruise, it is worth every effort to get the same cabin for both trips! We also worked it out so that when my sister joined us, she would be in the cabin next door. We had hoped to be able to open up the balcony divider and share a big balcony, but we ended up with two rooms with doors side-by-side, so if we opened the divider, it would block one of our doors. So, that was a no-go (but it worked out okay anyway).

 

There was a guest laundry area directly across our room, which was convenient for the two times I needed to touch up iron DS's shirt. On elegant nights, there were often three or more people waiting in line for the iron within an hour of the two main dinner seating times.

 

The closest stairwell and elevators were not very far away (towards the aft of the ship), and those stairs, if we went just one deck up, deposited us in the Mediterranean restaurant. It also put us right by the pool at the back of the ship, which was always the quietest one...more details on that later.

 

The same stairs would take us down several decks to our dining table. Camp Carnival was at the front of the ship, so we had a bit of a walk to take DD there (I'll talk about that a little later as well). DS chose not to go to Camp Carnival this time at all, which was not surprising. DS is very independent, cautious, and bright (and not ashamed to make a ridiculous scene if uncomfortable). He also is usually a strict rule-follower (especially away from home), so we knew whatever rules we set, he would follow very closely. Therefore, we felt safe giving him freedom to roam the ship a bit, and our cabin location was great for that. As mentioned before, the Mediterranean and rear pool (which is where the pizza place is located) were just one deck up. In addition, the shops, the atrium, and other places he wanted to check out were not too far away either.

 

The only down side about our cabin was that we were below the deck that surrounded Tritan's pool. It was noisy. It wasn't terribly so, but we could most definitely hear chairs being dragged across the deck every single day. There was one time that I swear the chair hogs must have really ticked off someone, because I think that someone made it his mission to drag every. single. chair across the deck one after another. :mad: Incessant.

 

The convenient location mostly made up for the noise, but I think next time, I will go back to booking a cabin without public areas above or below, since it is unlikely we will get to cruise b2b or with the whole family next time (they all want to rent a house on some island next year instead! :D).

 

Our muster station was station E, which was just below us on the 4th deck. Our room was equipped with life vests before our arrival.

 

Our room steward was great, even though I don't remember his name :o. I don't think he ever told me his name, but he did call me by name every time he saw me. And one day he struck up a conversation asking about our plan to travel back-to-back. When he asked, it wasn't like he was digging for information as much as it was gracious curiosity.

 

Since I knew that the Victory does NOT have little refrigerators in the rooms (and DH has meds that need to stay cool), I took a soft-sided cooler with me. On the first evening, I put a few of my Diet Mt. Dews in it, and from that first evening on, our room steward kept it filled with ice. I never had to ask. When it began leaking after the second day, I emptied it and put the sodas in a plastic grocery bag tucked in the cooler. From then on he filled the grocery bag with ice and tucked it in so it wouldn't leak any more.

 

DH and I slept on the "king" sized bed (two singles pushed together...but still very comfy). DD slept on the sofa turned into a bed, and DS slept on the bed that comes down from the ceiling. In the past, DD's sofa-turned-bed was oriented the same way as the pull-down bed above it, but this time, it was up against the wall to the bathroom, perpendicular to the bed above it and parallel to DH's and mine. We liked this a little better, because it allowed for the little table to be beside our bed (under DS's) and for a little more walking room, therefore, in the center of the room.

 

We had no problems with the A/C, the plumbing, the shower, or anything else.

 

There was a LOT of space for storage. There were three closets (although one of them was filled with the life vests and the safe. We also put our shoes in this one). We always take extra hangers, because there are never enough. One of the closets had two nice comfy robes, which came in handy later in the week.

 

There were three drawers for clothes, a small cabinet right beside the drawers, a bigger cabinet with three shelves, and an even bigger cabinet under the ancient-but-it-worked TV. Then there was room under the beds, of course, for empty suitcases. We had no problem finding places for everything.

 

The cabin was the first place that we noticed some wear and tear on the Victory. There was rust on the metal pieces around the shower, for instance, and the carpet looked worn. The ceiling tiles no longer fit in the ceiling as they should, and it appears no one tries any longer to make them. Nonetheless, we were very comfortable.

 

As expected, there was only one outlet in the cabin, and DH's reading light didn't work.

 

I think that is everything cabin-related. If you have any questions, just ask! :D

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

enjoying your review and pictures. I too cruise for beaches :D looking forward to the pictures.

 

I so wish I was brave enough to go without make up! you look beautiful.

 

so sorry for the loss of your dad, but how wonderful to enjoy a last gift from him. so precious.

 

Thank you so much. I have a ton of beach pics to share :D. Thanks for the compliment. I usually take makeup on cruises, but I never wear it at home, so I guess with everything else on my mind, I deferred to habit when packing. It worked out, though.

[summercruisin']

Day two....Key West

 

I usually am NOT a morning person. But for some reason, I was up early on day two...couldn't sleep. So, my reward was getting to see the sun rise over Key West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[summercruisin']

our trail

 

 

I also got to see these pretty buoys in the gorgeous blue water...

 

 

and the folks on the dock hard at work to tie us down.

 

 

heavy rope!

 

 

I saw boats in the harbor and jet skis lined up for visitors

 

 

[freddymale]

great review so far.looking foreword to the rest

[summercruisin']

After watching the sights a bit, I realized I'd better get DH up and going if I wanted to get off the ship before time to get back on. We headed up to the Mediterranean dining room to pick up a quick (yeah, right :rolleyes:) breakfast. DH always gets the omelettes every single day of his cruise. He looks forward to them all year long. So he headed to the omelette line, and I guided the kids through the buffet. We had the usual fare...bacon, waffles, roasted potatoes, cereal (for DD), and I don't remember what else. DH moved through the omelette line pretty quickly (first and LAST time it went quickly!) and brought me an omelette too. It was delicious.

 

We managed to get off the ship about an hour after it docked, and we had planned in advance to do the Conch Train tour. We took this tour last time we were in Key West, and with the limited amount of time on the island and the absence of real beaches, it's all we could think of to do. And, booking the tour was easy, since there was a guy standing on the pier selling the sticker tickets right there. He charged the tickets to our room with no Carnival upcharge - 29.99 pp for DH and me; kids free. Online they advertise their regular price at $30.45 with a few dollars off if you purchase online in advance.

 

Finding the train "station" from the dock is pretty easy. You just simply walk down the pier and past a few shops....

 

 

wait, it's not quite that simple to walk down the pier and past those shops after all. Of course, you have to get the typical ship-from-the-pier shot...

 

 

And get past this place, where you can get some world-famous key lime pie on a stick and dipped in chocolate (just look for the alligator)...

 

 

We didn't try it, since it was so early in the morning, but I'll bet it's yummy!

 

And then I got drawn in by Caribou, the bamboo store. Last year we rented a vacation home that had bamboo sheets, and they are, in a word, AMAZING. I cannot tell you how awesome these sheets feel. Now, I'm usually pretty frugal. I don't buy new clothes very often; I never spend money on manicures / pedicures or other girly stuff; I don't even carry a purse usually, so I certainly don't buy a new one each season or to match each outfit; name brands mean absolutely nothing to me, and so on. BUT, ever since sleeping on those bamboo sheets, I really really really wanted some. I had looked online a bit, but I couldn't find any that were 100% bamboo and from a source I trusted. So, we stopped in Caribou, got our free bamboo leis, and ordered bamboo sheets (at a painful price, but they did give me $25 off and free shipping back home). We also got me a bamboo t-shirt from which I've derived my new motto--"Live the life you love."

 

Okay, so we finally got out of there, bypassed the rest of the stores, and turned left on the first street we got to (maybe Front St?). After walking just a little further, we saw the Conch Train station and hopped on the train that was waiting to depart.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[bonnys]

I agree on the bamboo sheets. They are amazing! I bought some from Cariloha (in Grand Cayman) as well and love them. I was worried about them wearing out too soon so I went to a store here in Charlotte, NC, Tuesday Morning, and found some. They are just as wonderful and under $75 for king size. So if you have one near you, check them out.

[summercruisin']

For our $60 total, we got to ride around Key West on a train (the "engine" of which is a converted jeep) and get a pretty detailed tour of the island. The tour guide pointed out several historical sights, pointed out architectural details common to the area over the decades, told stories from the island, and more. Here are a few of the sights...

 

the old hotel with its carriage entrance

 

 

a church tower

 

 

and several quaint old houses that make you want to consider living there, until you get home and google "houses for sale in Key West" and find out how expensive they are :eek:. Nevermind....gonna have to save up some more.

 

 

[summercruisin']

I agree on the bamboo sheets. They are amazing! I bought some from Cariloha (in Grand Cayman) as well and love them. I was worried about them wearing out too soon so I went to a store here in Charlotte, NC, Tuesday Morning, and found some. They are just as wonderful and under $75 for king size. So if you have one near you, check them out.

 

AHHH....yes! It's Cariloha (not Caribou....must have been thinking safari or something!). My apologies to the store! They are wonderful sheets, and we DO have a Tuesday Morning near me! Thanks so much for letting me know I may find good sets there!

[summercruisin']

the original school bell on an old schoolhouse

 

 

a well-known bar

 

 

As you probably noticed, some of the pics are blurry since we were moving pretty quickly. Because of that and a crowd of people, I couldn't get a good pic of the Hemingway House either. Good thing I have one from a past cruise! :D We didn't get to go there either time, which is a shame since I am a literature teacher...

 

 

After riding through the full tour, we stopped at a store for a few minutes and then got back on the train for the "hop on-hop off" feature. For this part, we were able to choose which of a handful of stops we'd like to get off to take pictures or explore more. Some of the sights they encouraged us to visit were the Hemingway House (one day......), the butterfly conservatory , the lighthouse, the southernmost point, Flagler station, and a few others.

[summercruisin']

We chose to walk to the southernmost point to get a picture...

 

 

Just for a fun little comparison, here's our family pic from the last time we were there...

 

 

Goodness, the kids have grown!

 

If you go to get your picture by the southernmost point, be prepared to wait in a bit of a line. If you are a friendly type, it's fun to strike up a conversation with the others waiting around with you, hear their "story," make a friend, and make arrangements to trade cameras to take each other's picture :)

 

After that, we decided to walk to the lighthouse. We saw some of the local wildlife...pelicans, roosters, butterflies, and cats (not 6-toed, I don't think...I didn't check, but I thought it was a cool shot)...oh, my!

 

 

 

contd in next...

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

 

 

Okay, okay...one of those was a fake :p. I'll let you try to figure out which one!;)

 

The lighthouse is a fairly short walk (well, for those who are very mobile) from the southernmost point.

 

 

Last time we went, we just walked by, since we had a LO with us. This time the kids wanted to climb it. I almost didn't do it, though, after I saw the prices :eek:. The lady at the desk gave us a great deal, though, so we went up the lighthouse and also walked through the museum. I'm glad we did it.

[silvercrikhix]

Enjoying your review, thanks for sharing! :D

[summercruisin']

The lighthouse has a VERY steep, narrow, winding staircase.

 

 

IF you have issues with heights or claustrophobia, you may want to pass on this little experience. There was a poor girl who had gotten a little freaked out after getting to or near the top and had to come back down on her bottom. In order to let her pass, each of my family had to balance precariously on a teeny-tiny narrow part of the step hanging on to the pole in the middle. But, we made it, and the view was cool. The breeze was too!

 

the ship from a window near the top

 

 

and the ship from the top (zoomed in)

 

 

At the top of the lighthouse, there are some neat little picture plaques that tell you what you are looking at. That was convenient, because it was hard to pick stuff out from this...

 

 

[summercruisin']

Right beside the lighthouse, there is this cool old tree that sends roots DOWN from the branches above. Those roots, if they are allowed to reach the ground, implant themselves and eventually look like other smaller trees growing up into the big original (but they are really part of the original instead...interesting!)

 

 

As you will find all around Key West, there are several statues around the lighthouse. I kinda like the detail in this one...

 

 

DD really liked this one...

 

 

And there were pretty blooming trees all around as well...

 

[summercruisin']

After our lighthouse visit, DD wanted to go back to the store we had visited briefly before to find the .99 activity and coloring book she had spotted before :rolleyes:. I wish I had bought it then, as it was ALL she could talk about for hours. We promised to go back and get it, especially since it was a good excuse for DH to buy some hot sauce he saw and for me to buy some strawberry margarita mix I saw (btw, it was fabulous! Now I'm going to have to order some more from the company).

 

The store was close to the train station where we began, so we caught the train back to that area and had some time to spare. We got a few pictures of neat stuff around...

 

 

I've got a picture of my dad with this statue that I took when I went on the Ecstasy with my parents way back in 2000 (same itinerary as this trip).

 

 

We got talked into trying a piece of bread with a mixture of olive oil and seasonings that a lady was standing outside of a store giving samples in order to get sales (it didn't take much to "sucker" us in, as I LOVE to cook and I LOVE olive oil dips). So, we ended up in that store buying a sampler pack of several mixes. We still had a little time left, so we wandered through a small shopping mall, and upstairs we found these birds...

 

 

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

I'm not sure what the entire story of the bird place is, but the owners have a free show (we didn't have time to see it). They have a bucket to collect money "for the birds," and they allow people to hold them for pictures. However, the guide told us these birds were a little jumpy around smaller people (and DD was both intrigued and terrified at the same time), so he took us to another area to find smaller, friendlier birds.

 

Much better....

 

 

 

We finally dragged DD out of there and headed back to the ship. Who says you can't have a full day in Key West, even if you have to be back on board at 1:30??

 

 

The line was incredibly long, but it moved pretty quickly. As I have mentioned on reviews previously, when you encounter one of these really long lines, pay close attention as you get closer to the ship. There is almost always a second gangway open (especially if it is nearly time to depart), and for some reason (human nature?), people will ignore it and continue to stand in the long line with everyone else instead of venturing to the other door. Sometimes Carnival has someone directing people to the other door, but more often than not, they leave it up to passengers to figure it out.

 

Truthfully, it is a bit of a downer that we had to be back onboard so quickly. I would love to spend enough time in Key West to get a taste of the cuisine, to see the night life, and to see a few more spots. I'm thinking we will have to return for a few nights next time we get a chance to drive there from our FL house (should be a fun drive, too!)

Edited July 21, 2013 by summercruisin'

[pcrum]

I love your reviews. Wish I could look as good as you do without makeup!! Victory is on our short list of a cruise we must do before Dec. in order to make platinum status, so I'm loving your review.

 

Welcome to FL. I live in Orlando and I must say I think we have had rain every day this summer!!