Carnival Victory - trip review with pictures

[CruisinCrow]

Ha! Thanks! Didnt see this post at first :):)

 

Glad you found them! Have a great cruise!

[Atkt18]

Anyone going on the Victory June 9th?

 

 

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[CruisinCrow]

Anyone going on the Victory June 9th?

 

I was going to suggest that you check on your Roll Call but I see you already found it. :) Have a great cruise!

[CruiseCrazyCouple0611]

:cool:

When we first booked the cruise, I had signed us up for the Mexican Cuisine Cooking and Tasting tour at Playa Mia. I know, normally I don’t even like to cook at home, much less on vacation! But I do like eating and the tour was something we could do even if the weather didn’t cooperate. Plus there was an open-bar, so Ron was all for it.

 

There were only six of us on the cooking tour, but we shared a large bus to the beach club with a group on the Playa Mia Beach Break tour. The bus ride took about 15 minutes and soon we were at Playa Mia, being introduced to our chefs, Oscar and Moises. The first order of business was to don aprons and chef hats and wash our hands. Oscar instructed us to sing “La Cucaracha” while we scrubbed. Unfortunately, none of knew the words so we sang, “La cucaracha, la cucaracha.....la la la la la la laaaa.”

 

 

The menu was fantastic – Chipotle Shrimp Sopes, Grouper Fillet with Sautéed Vegetables and Tamarind Sauce, and Caramelized Plantains with Chocolate Tequila Sauce. Yum! We started with the dessert, caramelizing the plantains with butter, cinnamon and sugar and making a chocolate sauce to pour over them. Then we decorated the edges of our plates. Chef Oscar gave us a few examples but we could decorate however we wanted. Ron is usually the one who makes food look pretty while I tend to just throw things on the plate, but my attempt at a swan wasn’t too bad.

 

Next was the sautéed grouper and vegetables, which were wrapped in foil and whisked away by the assistants to finish cooking in the oven while we made the shrimp sopes. The whole time we were cooking, the assistants brought us drinks (beer, margaritas or whatever we wanted) and Oscar and Moises kept us laughing. They were hilarious. When the sopes were finished, we went upstairs to eat our meal together. Everything tasted delicious, and we all commented that we couldn’t believe we had done it ourselves. Chef Oscar handed out copies of the recipes so we could make them at home.

 

 

 

 

 

This looked so fun, I tried to find this excursion for our September 11th cruise on the Victory, but couldn't find it. Maybe it's already sold out. We decided to gamble and wait until we are on board to see if it's offered from the shore excursion desk. Thanks for the great review and pics. You have us really excited about going!

[CruisinCrow]

:cool:

 

This looked so fun, I tried to find this excursion for our September 11th cruise on the Victory, but couldn't find it. Maybe it's already sold out. We decided to gamble and wait until we are on board to see if it's offered from the shore excursion desk. Thanks for the great review and pics. You have us really excited about going!

 

Oh, I hope Carnival didn't drop it! It was such a great excursion!

 

It looks like you can book it directly through Playa Mia: http://www.playamiacozumel.com/packages-mexican-cooking-workshop.php

They pick you up right at the pier too. You might want to do that instead of waiting to get on board.

Edited May 23, 2014 by CruisinCrow

[CruisinCrow]

I had a link to the Carnival excursion (http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304042) but it doesn't work anymore so Carnival must have dropped it.

 

Booking it directly might work out better anyway, since Playa Mia is providing the transportation. The Carnival excursion was more expensive.

 

Have fun!

Edited May 23, 2014 by CruisinCrow

[RWolver672]

That's a first...a male mermaid

Edited May 23, 2014 by RWolver672

[CruisinCrow]

That's a first...a male mermaid

 

I think they are called "mermen". You have to have mermen or there wouldn't be any merbabies. :)

[Cruiser 2 too]

Just found your post. Planning on doing this inteniary Dec 4-8 . Thank you for sharing!

[CruisinCrow]

Just found your post. Planning on doing this inteniary Dec 4-8 . Thank you for sharing!

 

Say hello to the seahorses for me. Have a wonderful time!

[happy cruzin]

Say hello to the seahorses for me. Have a wonderful time!

 

Thanks for the review and photos! We just booked the Victory for May 2015. Have never done a "short" cruise before - but are crusing with a group this time most of which have never taken a cruise.

I have already been warned about the seahorses! :eek: ;) :D