3/26 Victory Review

[toledo]

Our family of 5 had much more fun than we ever anticipated. Other than a bout of Norovirus at the end of the cruise, we would say it was nearly perfect. Embarking was so easy. We arrived at 12:00, waited in line for about 10 minutes, but then spent 20 minutes at the desk because a woman couldn't find our reservation. When we told her we had upgraded cabins and gave her the new cabin number, she found it immediately. We didn't do the Fun Pass in advance and it didn't slow us down. Our outside cabins on the Main deck were fairly spacious, however the bathrooms were small. I was surprised that the room steward isn't the one cleaning the rooms. He has other people doing it. The cabins were cleaned twice daily which was nice. Room stewards don't come back to work until 5pm so he pointed out a number to page him if something came up in the meantime. Well on the last day, it did. My son vomitted in the middle of the room at 4:15 and we couldn't get ahold of anyone to clean it up until 5:30. So much for pagers! He said I should have called "Room Service." People keep mentioning the carpet. I only noticed one stain on the Main Deck. The ship seemed to be in good condition. Also, we went to the deck above the Lido deck and found chairs each time. It's nice because you overlook all the activities going on below and there is a shaded part if you need to get out of the sun.

 

The food in the dining room was FANTASTIC. Am I the only person to ever say that??! Yes, sometimes some of it was unidentifiable, but I still ate it and it was good. 11 year old ordered off a kids' menu most nights.

Breakfasts became monotonous, both in the dining room and at the buffet. It was the same thing every day and the same things offered at each place. Camp Carnival was excellent for the 9-11 year old. It was just o.k. for the 12-14 year olds. Why did the have the scavenger hunt at 11pm? My daughter was really looking forward to this, but only two kids showed up so they didn't do it. The only other activity she wanted to do was "designing costumes out of toilet paper". I think she was the only one to show up for that! Club 02 was mainly a room for kids to hang out in. The first night I observed a 10 minute ice-breaker, where they had to talk to 3 different kids of the opposite sex. Then the staff member announced, "O.K. Time for karaoke". Well, that didn't exactly go over real well. I think some of the kids just looked at each other and said, "This is lame. Let's get out of here". Despite the activities, all 3 kids met friends and really enjoyed themselves. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to meet any of you Cruise Critic friends. We had the 8pm dinner seating and I bet that's when you met. The people we did meet were all really friendly; very few of the Wal-Mart types others have eluded to.

 

Western Carribean ports of call were a little different than I expected. I thought I'd love Grand Cayman, but it was our least favorite. Because there are 6 or 7 ships in port at the same time, it was a zoo. It took us an hour and a half to tender in. Booking Stingray City at the port was not as easy as I had hoped. Stingray City was WAY too crowded. Picture over 1,000 people groping maybe 30 stingrays! There were so many boats anchored on the sandbar, that we had to anchor about 20 yard out and swim to it. People who took the Carnival tour hated it. One person complained that their tour started late because they had to meet in the Carribean Lounge while the rest of us were lining up to get off. Another said their bus driver drove like a maniac and yet another told of how their boat hit another on the sand bar causing quite a bit of damage and injuring a person. Here's my advice if you really have to see the stingrays. Make your reservation in advance with a private tour company. It will be cheaper and far less people on the boat. Get in line at 7:30 (a half hour before the ship docks). The line forms on deck 0. Go down the stairs and take a right and then another right. This is the opposite side of ship you departed from in Costa Maya.

 

Costa Maya was quite nice. We took the bus in to town and walked down the sand street to the end of the town. It really isn't much of a town. I think half the people come from Cancun and sleep in tents behind their booths. We liked the beach area at Pez Quadro. Chairs were $5. Beers were $2. Coke was $1. A 30 minute massage on the beach was $10 (with a little haggling). Only advice here is to put sunscreen on before leaving the ship. We were fried when we arrived at the beach.

 

Jamaica seemed to be everyone's favorite. We went horseback riding on the beach (and in the water) with Hooves. The island was much greener than the other ports and we weren't hassled by the locals. Allow extra time to get anywhere as there is major road construction towards Dunn's River Falls. It took us an hour to go 7 miles, but I'd guess the falls are maybe 3 miles. This port had the best all-around shopping.

[bucket_O_beer4john]

Thanks for the review - we're doing eastern, but its nice to hear about the boat portion of the cruise. Nothing on the Victiry for weeks, then it pops up in three different threads today!

 

25 days! I can't wait!

[wendyc78]

We are anxiously awaiting our trip on Victory, but going Eastern, so thank you for the great review! I'm getting excited about everything except the Norovirus!

 

Glad you had a great vacation!!!!

[caprcorn28]

I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to meet any of you Cruise Critic friends. We had the 8pm dinner seating and I bet that's when you met.

Nope!! We met after the CC meeting in the lounge there! It was a short little "Hi, how are ya? My screen name is: " We had 8pm dinner too!! We left for dinner after the little meeting and walked in only about 5-10 minutes after 8p :( Bummer! (We were at table 305 - where were you?! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the food - we did as well!! So, you aren't the only one!!)

[bucket_O_beer4john]

We are anxiously awaiting our trip on Victory, but going Eastern, so thank you for the great review! I'm getting excited about everything except the Norovirus!

 

Glad you had a great vacation!!!!

 

What is your sail date? We're on April 30th.