Carnival Victory July 22-27th-Review without pics

[CruiserKatie]

Background: Me (45), Husband (46)

Son (18) his GF (18, well on july 25, she turned 18)

My 8th cruise (4 carnival, 4 RCI)

My DH 6th cruise( 4RCI , 2 carnival)

My Sons 4TH CRUISE (2RCI, 2 Carnival)

His GF FIRST CRUISE

 

This was their HS graduation gift. I said during the sophomore year, if they were still together, I would take them on a cruise ( little did I expect them to be together, 2.5 years later)

 

Pre Cruise:

We drove from Central Illinois to Saint Augustine, Florida where we stayed the night. The beach there was terrific! The sand was soo white and so soft, it was like powder. We were only there about 12 hours total, but we went on the beach before we went to bed, and before we left to head to Southern Florida. Definately, would go back and spend more time.

 

We did a 3 night mini-pre cruise stay at Pompano Beach, Florida. This is just north of Fort Lauderdale. We stayed the Beachcomber resort. We had a 1 bedroom suite with a patio. Our patio was directly on the ocean, i have never stayed anywhere where I was less than 100 feet from the ocean. We just jumped over our patio fence, and we were on the beach. It was very handy. The resort also had two very nice pools which were right outside our doors also. It is an older resort, but if I could have the same location of room, I would definately go back. My husband and I had the bedroom, and the kids had the sofa and pullout sofa in the living room. The room had a small kitchen and ONE bathroom. It was 240.00 a night, and definately worth it.

We ate the the Rustic House in Fort Lauderdale which is famous for his mallots that you smash your crabs with. It was pretty pricey, food was okay, but atmosphere was fun! One night we did EXTREME GO KARTING which was terribly over-priced for the time you actually were on the track.

We had a banana boat ride one day at our resort. It was reasonable priced (20.00 per person for 30 minutes!). It was nice just to relax and do nothing for a couple days prior to boarding the ship especially after the long drive (20 hrs) from Illinois.

 

Next up, Monday-embarktion day!

[CruiserKatie]

Monday-July 22--

 

We got up, loaded up the Suburban and headed towards Miami. Traffic was pretty bad considering it was 1000am on Monday. We made it to the port by 1030am.

 

We had FTTP passes which let us breeze thru the checking process, and we were on the ship a little after 11am. We decided to risk it and see if our luggage and rooms were ready. We were in 7417 and 7421 ( inside cabins). THEY WERE READY and OUR LUGGAGE WAS THERE!

 

We changed into swimsuits and shorts,and headed to the LIDO deck for some lunch.

The lines were manageable at this time, because it was early. Food was okay, nothing to get excited about. We ate, and went the SIRENS pool. This is the pool at the very back of the LIDO deck. It is smaller than the main pool and much quieter. I sat in the pool area and read my book, the the two lovebirds went exploring but ended up with me after about an hour. MY DH went and took a nap!

We stayed in the pool until the muster drill was announced and then we ran down ( 2 flights only) to our rooms and changed for the muster drill.

TIP: don't bring your phone with you, because you know its the last time you have any contact with the outside world unless you want $$$$ phone bill, and I got yelled out by the crew for texting during the drill! Really, I thought i graduated from HS along time ago.....anyway, NO PHONES during the drill.

After the drill, my husband and I went to the sail away party, and the kids went to their room.

When you are leaving port, you get a great view of Miami Beach and all its greatness! Dont miss it!

 

We did anytime dining. Not a fan, honestly. I never felt like I got to know my servers, and in turn, they never got to know me and my likes(tea to drink, coffee with dessert, ect). Also because, the waiters tables are all on different times, it seemed like the food was slower coming out. Our servers were very nice, and towards the end of the cruise, we just asked for the same server. I don't remember what I had to eat the first night, I wasn't over impressed with the food any night. My warm melting cake was overdone the first night, and it wasn't melting in the inside, it was just normal cake almost, thank goodness, I kept getting it, because day 2 it was perfect!!!

 

We went to the Welcome Show which was always fun and entertaining. Later that evening, we did some Karokoe( okay, my son's girlfriend did some Karokoe, we just watched :). Went the late night adult comedy show, which I fell asleep during the second half. I don't know if it was the drinks or just pure exhaustion, but i missed the second half of the show!

So, we went to bed by midnight that night probably!

 

Next up....SEA DAY

[CruiserKatie]

Tuesday--Sea Day:

 

We got up about 830 and went to breakfast and to "hog" a few chairs. Basically, we spent the day in the sun. It was hot but as long as you were in the water, it was nice.

 

The kids got up early for them ( 900, and went to the gym and worked out and ran their 2 miles on the treadmill( both are great athletes, and used to having some kind of practice daily). They spent most of the day in the pool or in a chair after their workout and lunch.

 

Lunch time was crazy. The lines were awful. Luckily, we noticed that alot of the guest did not realize there was a second grill past the dining room, next to the Sirens Pool. We ate most of our lunchs at the grill to avoid the long buffet lines in the lido dining room. Again, not overly impressed with the food.

 

Tonight was formal night. My son and his gf looked fabulous and took some formal pictures with the photographers prior to dinner. Dinner was good. Lobster night! Now it is the norm for my son to get several lobsters at Formal night....( one time, he and our tablemate had a contest who could eat the most lobster plates....he had 5 lobster plates)...so he knew he would eat MULTIPLE plates of LOBSTER.

 

Table service was SOOO slow this evening, that he was going to order a second plate when they called "showtime", by the end of the show, and when our server finally came over to the table, everybody was OUT of the mood for LOBSTER. It was kinda a let-down actually.

Here is the story of COSMAN:

He was a bar server in the Atlantic dining room for anytime diners. He was a nice looking young man from Romania. However, he always looked like he was about to cry. My son's girlfriend who doesn't know a stranger, asked him why he was so sad..and told him to smile more...he actually liked the attention and everytime during the rest of the cruise, came over and talked to her and SMILED. We learned this was his second contract with Carnival and he wasn't going to renew. He was homesick and tired. Carnival works these poor servers to death...He and several others told us their work hours..OMG, no wonder they are so tired. When we docked at Half Moon Cay, he was on the beach selling drinks before 1000am. He did say he was off at 1pm that day( until dinner, he had to be back on duty by 5pm), and was coming back to the island to swim. He said this was his favorite stop.

Anyway, i got off subject ;)

 

That evening, I went to my room early and the my husband and two kids went to the adult comedy shows. They didn't miss one during the cruise.

 

Next up;;; Grand turk!

[sgcass123]

You stopped your review.......keep going..... you have to finish what you start! :)

[diamondcharl]

Enjoying the review so far.:)

[CruiseCrazyCouple0611]

We will be on the Victory in 7 weeks. It sounds like this was a let down for you guys. We are also doing anytime dining and have loved this experience in the past. When we find a server we love, we request them every night. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Too bad you have no pics to share, it sounds like you are an adorable family.

[crazychuckie]

We are OK that it is a year later..... there are few and far between Victory reviews. Let us hear from ya!