Victory Review January 1-8th

[kirky]

Just got off the Victory on Sunday. First time cruiser with Carnival and 4th cruise in all. Three previous cruises were completed on RCI. One each of the eastern, western and Med. We arrived in Miami on December 31st and stayed at the Holiday Inn across from Bayside Market. I was impressed with this Holiday Inn as previously I haved stayed at the Holiday Inn Airport. Enjoyed Bayside Market on New Years Eve. Lots of great fireworks and good food. We arrived at the terminal on 10am and were on board by 11:30. Embarkation was better on this cruise than the last 3 we completed on RCI. I was pleasantly surprised to see we had all been upgraded to a ocean view. Our stateroom was much bigger on Victory than our previous ships (2 Navigator, 1 Brilliance). I did note that our room was far from clean when we arrived. I brought it to the attention of the room steward before we went for lunch assuming that he would do some further cleaning while we were gone but he did not. The mirrors and cabinets hadn't been cleaned and the medicine cabinet was just plain gross. It clearly hadn't been cleaned in some time. I had brought some bleach wipes so I just did it myself. We went to the Grand Buffet, Deli and Yanteze Wok for lunches. I found the the deli and Yanteze Wok to be good but was very unempressed with the buffet. I found the buffet to be inferior to both ships on RCI. I found the dinners to be very good and comparable to RCI. We took in a few shows and enjoyed them. Spent a great deal of time in the piano bar and enjoyed that as well. Our first stop was Costa Maya. We spent the day at the beach and had a good time but were disappointed that we missed Cozumel. My understanding is that some ships are still going to Cozumel but they can't handle the tendering of all ships so some are going to Costa Maya. I had no problem with Costa Maya except we were supposed to be in Cozumel from 8am to 12 midnight and we stayed in Costa May from 8am to 4:30pm. This cruise was only a 3 port cruise so I was disappointed that they shortened our day. We did Stingray City in Grand CAyman with Nativeway and they were excellent as ususal. We did Phil Lafayette in Jamica and he was great also. We did Dunns River Falls and the tube ride on the Swan River (I think) and that was a blast. Disembarkation was the best yet. I enjoyed this cruise but probably will try Princess or Celebrity next.

[todb]

Thanks for the review will be sailing Victory on Jan 29. What about deck chairs was there lots of ealy morning saving going on? How long to tender in grand Cayman? I also have Phil Lafeyette booked in Jamaica for Dunns and tubing.

[kirky]

The chair hogs were out in full force. You can sometimes find a few chairs up on the topless deck. The tender to Grand Cayman is very short, 5-10 minutes at the most.

[stacyinpa]

And we only got to 2 ports, Costa Maya and Jamiaca and they were short days. We didnt get into Caymen because of high sea swells so we ended up with 5 sea days, and they did not have enough to do for that many sea days on board. Not everyone wants to spend a fortune and play BINGO umpteen times a day.

 

We have sailed on the Inspiration 2 years ago and had a wonderful time. I was wanting to try the Triumph, but it also only goes to 3 ports and should the same thing happen again......since they are sister ships.

 

I loved the idea of being on the cruise but I can honestly say there wasnt enough to do being we had so many sea days.

 

Thanks for your review.

Stacy

[kirky]

Stacyinpa,

 

I sort of agree with you on that. The previous 7 day cruises I have done had 4 ports. I didn't think that one less day which make such a difference but it did to me as well. I went to the art auction 3 times and spent $1600 on art which I have not done before. I certainly had times where I thought "what should I do now - maybe eat again."