Going to Western Carib on Carnival Victory 5-9 and have basic questions

[kevandju]

1.) I know boarding the ship can be a pain in the butt. I completed the funpass info online as I heard that was supposed to speed things up. Now do I print this info out and get in a special line with this or what? Also what time should I arrive at the port to board the boat, don't want to go at prime time and wait forever.

2.) Where, when, and how do I go about purchasing soda cards?

3.) Our ports are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ochos Rios. Is there any must do excursions? I've read to do everything through locals and not the cruise ship and you get a much better price. We are pretty adventurous, so any recommendations would be great. I thought I read something about going from tree to tree on a rope and pulley system in Jamaica, but I can't find that anywhere.

4.) When we order drinks at the bar, do we tip the bartender, or is that something that we pay for at the end of the week?

5.) Is there anything I should avoid doing because it is just that bad, like certain excursions, or something else.

Thanks for any help you can give me, there is going to be 8 of us and I want to make sure we have a really good and relaxing time.

[imatarb]

Hi there! I'll also be on the Victory 5/9 sailing, and have met about 45 CC'ers on the Roll Call board. Head over there, if you'd like and introduce yourself. I think we're going to be a pretty fun group. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Anyway, in response to a few of your questions:

1) the fun pass is something that you can print and take with you, once you've completed it. We did ours months in advance, and it was noted on our docs, so we aren't required to print it out (although I will, just to be safe).

2) shore excursions - I have booked ours separate from the ship, and I feel we got great deals. For Cozumel, we are doing snuba through Mayan Tours [url="http://www.snubacozumel.com/dives.html"]Snuba[/url] and for Grand Cayman, we're doing a Stingray City and Coral Gardens tour through Nativeway [url="http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html"]http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html[/url] and then Ocho Rios will be a highlight tour lasting approx. 4 hrs. with Phil Lafayette. He's a local who runs a wonderful tour of Dunn's River, shopping and lunch. He'll customize it however you'd like! [url="http://www.phil-lafayette-tours.com/Tours.html"]Phil Lafayette[/url]

As for ordering drinks, I'm not sure, but I think the gratuity is included in the price. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please!)

If you have any questions, plese email me at [email]imatarb@mi-networks.com[/email] and I'll be happy to help!

Lisa [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[b]Monarch of the Seas - 1994
Royal Majesty - 1996

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2004;5;9;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Until VICTORY is ours 5/9/04


<MARQUEE>A day at sea is better than any day at work</MARQUEE>

[PINEVIEW01]

1.)If you fill out the fun pass early enough, it will be on your docs. If not go to view and print a copy. Either way get in the line for fun pass completed. Arrive early or real late. The ship starts loading before the time the give you. Took me a couple of cruises to figure that out. Last cruise on the Holiday, we where drinking foo foo drinks by 12 and the time listed is 1:30.
2.)At any of the bars on the ship. First day.
3.)Sting rays/shopping at Grand Cayman, Dolpins/shopping Cozumel, Dunns falls in Ochos Rios. Above depends on your activity level[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]
4.) Tip the bartender at time of puchace. When you get them from the servers the 15% is included.

Melody

Paradise, 9-5-04
Holiday, 4-10-04
Inspiration, 11-30-03
Inspiration, 1-26-03
Victory,3-31-02
Sensation, 11-28-98
Holiday, 3-19-94

[CruiseFever]

The above are wise suggestions and replies

We always go really early to the port and that is THE one way you know you'll get on the ship as soon as possible. FunPass or Skippers Club priority boarding are not near the almost guarantee of early boarding you'll get by being at the pier no later than 10AM, regardless of the port

While shore excursions are not bookable pre-cruise (yet, it's coming) It's really easy to book them onboard from your cabin on the Victory via FunVision, your in-cabin interactive television.

I think one of the most important aspects of booking shore excursions, though, is to first decide what you want to do, get some prices, and make sure those excursions fit nicely in your budget. They can add up really fast and often cruisers don't think about those incidental expenses that are NOT included in your cruise fare.

After that, come here and ask specific questions about specific excursions. In many cases you may find that some member here has done the same, or close to the same, excursion offered by the ship for less money or had a better time by booking with an outside vendor like [url="http://www.shoretrips.com,"]www.shoretrips.com,[/url] a cruise critc approved source.

As far as soda cards are concerned, IMHO, unless each member of your party is a huge soda drinker I'd watch how many of those cards you buy. On our last cruise we bought one card for two of us and had a hard time making it pay for itself over just flat out buying soda at the regular price. One reason for that is that we brought a 12-pack of Dr Pepper (not served on board) for my daughter who really didn't drink much else.

Next time I think we'll bring more soda from shore but still buy one card for those occasions when we're thirsty for a soda but don't want to go back to the cabin.

As far as other suggestions, we've sailed the Victory three times and one of the best suggestions I can make is to go to Carnival.com, find the deck plans for the ship and memorize them. That will effectively add a half day of quality cruise to your vacation rather than wasting it stumbling around not knowing were you are. I think that's great advice for any cruise on any ship.

The Victory is an awesome ship with an awesome crew. Based on the excellent questions you've asked here today I bet you'll be well prepared for your journey.

Here's more on the Victory:
[url="http://www.lifeiscruising.com/victory__west"]http://www.lifeiscruising.com/victory__west[/url]
[url="http://www.lifeiscruising.com/victory__eastern_"]http://www.lifeiscruising.com/victory__eastern_[/url]
[url="http://www.lifeiscruising.com/victory__eastern_"]http://www.lifeiscruising.com/victory__eastern_[/url]

If you have any other question about the Victory or cruising in general come back here and ask them, somebody will have the answer for sure

Welcome to the board


Happy Cruising

Chris

[url="http://www.LifeIsCruising.com"]www.LifeIsCruising.com[/url]

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[This message was edited by CruisingIsLife on 05-04-04 at 12:02 PM.]