Our February 8 Victory Cruise Mini Review

[jimbob70]

We just returned from our February 8 cruise on the Carnival Victory. Here are the highlights:

 

We arrived a day early in Miami and stayed at the JW Marriott downtown. That was very nice, we had a morning flight and our room was ready in about an hour after our arrival at 10:30 AM. We spent a nice evening at the Bayside Marketplace, having dinner at Bubba Gumps and visiting both locations of "Let's Make a Daiquiri."

 

Next day we headed to the port about 10 AM. When we arrived we were taken through security and up to the Captain's Lounge to wait for the ship opening, which was quick at about 11 AM. FYI: We did not receive an email suggesting arrival after 1 PM. We were the second couple on the ship as the two guys behind us elected to forego the picture!

 

Our aft cabin on Upper Deck, 6438, was ready. It was very clean, had no issues and the "pink" bathroom was in tip top condition. We went up to the Lido for a nice lunch- no lines yet!

 

A week prior we reached out to John Heald via Facebook to request a table for 2 in the MDR, early sitting. He responded with a nice note and the Maitre'D emailed us with a confirmation of our request. We got a nice table on the second level at the railing overlooking the lower level. There were no other tables for two next to ours-- they are lined up around the railing at this spot (next to the piano).

 

The wait staff was very attentive during the whole cruise. We did tip a little extra at the end.

 

The weather was perfect last week, sunny skies in the 80's. At our first stop in Jamaica we elected to do a little shopping and visit Margaritaville. The bar staff here were very friendly and entertaining. A respite from the hawkers outside.

 

At the Caymans we had a nice breakfast in the MDR and then reported to the main lobby about 10:30 AM. A nice Guest Service hostess escorted us past the line and onto the tender. All the Platinum perks were in place on the Victory during our cruise. A great experience overall.

 

Again, we did a little shopping and hit a couple of waterfront bars before returning to the ship. We enjoy the ship and tend to spend very little time on shore these days.

 

I think the "Pixels" photography team concept is a little overdone these days. They are lined up every evening along the promenade one after another and leave little room for foot traffic. And they have honed their hawking techniques on the frequent visits to Jamaica! Interestingly, they were not present to take the picture of you meeting the Captain. You had to supply your own camera for that. This is a small nit overall, we really enjoyed our experience on the Victory.

 

The onboard entertainers were good. Domino, Latin Fever, and Steve are all great at what they do. We arrived at Punchliner about 20 minutes early anticipating the lines we experienced on the Dream, but walked right in. A lot nicer to relax in your seat with a drink than be standing in another line. Good job Victory team! The room did fill up by the start, and the comedians were fine.

 

Our room steward did a nice job, kept our two buckets full of ice, and always greeted us by name. We did tip a little extra at the end.

 

Debarkation was smooth as well. Our flight was delayed 24 hours due to the snow storm, and we stayed the extra night in Miami Beach at Loews South Beach. We had a nice evening on the famous Ocean Drive strip. I had trip delay insurance which pays $300 towards expenses, so we splurged a little here.

 

A great time, and yes we are already planning our next voyage. Maybe a wraparound balcony this time!