Victory 12/4 to 12/11 review

[Mike Dante]

Hi Folks

Just back from the Victory Western Itin. 12/4 to 12/11.

 

We flew in on Saturday, and stayed at the Intercontinental West by the airport(got it through priceline for $80). Although I read alot of bad posts about this place, boy was I happy. Great room, great staff, good location, although it is not near downtown, which is really ok, b/c with my wife and kids, we only wanted to get to the hotel, eat and then sleep...We went to La Carretta for some Cuban food and then went to a nearby Walmart for soda and water for the trip, then off to bed.

 

Embarkation:

We drove over to downtown, dropped off our car at Hertz, grabbed their shuttle and minutes later were in line to embark..We arrived at 11:15, and if I recall were onboard around 12:30 ish...Yes a bit chaotic, compared to Tampa, but they moved us through fairly quickly..No complaints here.

 

The ship

We have been on her already, as well as the triumph, so we had no need to roam the ship. We went directly to our room, a 6E on Spa deck. AWESOME location. After that , we hit the Lido for some food (yes , the same old carnival buffet food, but good nonetheless) --I will say, the Margerita Pizza was kind of dry this week though--Aaaargh!!!...Shortly after, the kids were in the pool...

Fast forward to nighttime:

We were greeted by our wonderful cabin steward team, who were always on top of everything, and enjoyed to chit chat with us in the hall while coming and going. They made great towel animals for the boys, left them cookies, cleaned the room, and freshened our beach towels everyday without being asked to...Cant ask for better than that....Off to the restraunt, Pacific early 5:45 seating.

Edgard from Panama and Gusti from Indonesia, were pleasant, attentive and always had a smile on their faces. They had gotten the kids up to dance with themevery night. Mind you, we have done 7 cruises in the last 5 yrs, all w/ carnival, so the food is no surprise to us. That being said, I never left hungry, nor unsatisfied.

I think the area that needs help is the buffets for lunchtime, but then again, I am on a cruise, so why bothe rcomplaining? I never had trouble finding something to eat, morning day or night that satisfied me. --And their desserts have come along way over the last few yrs.

 

Sea days:

Great sun, smooth sailing. The kids were on the slide, in the jacuzzi, or pool all day, so my DW and I worked on the tans, and it was a win -win for all of us. They had a good amount of activities on the first 2 sea days. I got my plastic ship on a stink in the battle of the sexes, and Dw took home the gold with her hula hoop win. Karl w/ a K was alot of fun around the ship. They should have more things on the last sea day though.

 

Ports:

Costa Maya was ok, we found a nice little beach area named the Oxtampah bar I believe? Jerry took care of us all day with lunch, sodas, beers ,tequila for under $50..The water was clear and calm, and we were not overwhelmed with pushy vendors. I did miss Cozumel though. But CM was an ok substitute.

Grand Cayman-

Tenders moved quickly, we did the Stingrays thing w/ Captain Bryan on our own. I had no problem, with the tour, however we left late, got back late and left us no time for the town (which was ok, as the DW didnt have alot of time to do damage shopping) ..Again, I was on vacation, so why cry about it? we were back in time for the tender, so move on to ocho Rios:

Years ago, without kids we did the falls, which is the wat to go. Since we had them with us, we just hung out in the village, and spent the whole afternoon at Margarittaville. Good food/drinks/service---They have a pool, slide, hottub, beach---nothing more to say about that.

 

Nightlife on ship:

THis was a family vacation, so we all went to bed by 11:00 most nights, so we could be up to enjoy our days in the sun.

The Vroom show was AWESOME, Asad the hypnotist was simply not to be missed--HYSTERICAL. We never made it to the late shows, but heard they were great as usual. We never did the clubs, and I managed to stay out of the casino all week, except for a quick donation of $100 to a blackjack table.

Karl, Filippe(flipper) and Dana the CD were all genuine, and a breath of fresh air for me (sorry John Heald fan club)

Camp:

Both kids were in the 6 to 8 group. They took a day to warm up to the concept that Mommy and Daddy needed some US time. We usually sent them after dinner till 10:00, and they did enjoy the activities.

Disembark:

Probably the best/easiest I have experience in some time. Off the ship by 10:30 ish, and right at the airport.

 

Thats about it from my viewpoint. I hope this helps someone, and I am more than happy to answer any ??;s

 

Happy Sails

Mike

[coho ken]

Thanks for the review. Can't wait to sail her in 104 days!

[Mom Mom of 7]

Hi Mike

Thanks for the review, we are sailing in 27 days I can't wait.

We chose the late seating & am thinking that we will be in the Pacific dinningroom as we are all in forward cabins. Do you know if that is early or late seating? Also what time will it be?

We wlii have 5 grandkids with us so hope to use camp carnival some but don't know if we will be able to sign them up that eve.

 

Char

[Mike Dante]

Hi Char

You can sign them up the 1st night up in the Ionian lounge, Aft promenade dseck, which is followed shortly by a party in the disco for the kids and family.

 

Pacific late, I dont know what time it was, but I will venture to say 8:00 dinner--which is late for the kids, so you may want to rethink it??

Atlantic has a 6:15 dinner seating, which I wouldv'e preferred.

 

Keep crossing the days off your calander and get ready for some FUNship FUN

 

Mike

[kokoko]

Your reveiw was most interesting. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it. We sail on the Victory in January. Can't wait and love reading anything about the Victory. Again thanks.

[Mom Mom of 7]

Thanks Mike, we chose the late because of the kid's. It seemed like our last cruise with the kid's we were forever telling them to hurry up & get ready. We had them so stressed that they didn't seem to really enjoy. We thought that a snack around 5:00 a small rest then start getting ready might be better.

Char

[saturnsl798]

Just got back from Victory here as well. It was my first cruise and I throughly enjoyed it. The crew did an excellent job of making people happy. Our dinner team was just awesome, they went out of their way to keep everything running smoothly. The food was incredible and always hot/cold and very delicious. Our embarkation/debarkation went very smooth. We arrived around 3:00p.m.(airline sent some of our luggage on an earlier flight and we could not find it. finally found it sitting in a different baggage claim area)and waited maybe 5min for someone to check us in. Debarkation we did the sefl-assist and was off the boat by 8:00a.m.(not so good since we had a 4:39p.m. flight out of miami, but had been told by a few people that you may not get off the boat unitl around 11 or 11:30).

Overall the cruise was very enjoyable, and will definitely cruise again in the near future.

[caprcorn28]

Thanks Mike for the review!!! I am so glad that Victory reviews are finally beginning to come in!!! Our trip is only a 104 days away as well!!!!

[broncoboxer]

Thanks Mike for the review!!! I am so glad that Victory reviews are finally beginning to come in!!! Our trip is only a 104 days away as well!!!!

 

Mine is 40 days away. And boy am I excited! :)