Carnival Victory Trip Review 3/26- 4/2

[Daliaha]

Carnival Victory Trip Review 3/26 – 4/2

 

1st let me state, we booked the entire trip, air fare and excursions thru Carnival.

 

This is my husband and My 2nd Cruise. Our 1st was on the Paradise in 1999.

 

This was our kids DD-8yo and DS 2yo 1st Cruise.

 

 

 

Our flight was at 6:40 out of Chicago O’hare Airport, with a plane transfer in Memphis at 9:15. Our seats were all over both of the flights and the rep got us all 2 by 2, also along with a nice family who was also sailing on the victory. It all went smooth as glass, and we arrived at Ft. Lauderdale at 12:30. We gathered our luggage (note the baggage claim area has horns that sound like ships horns when the baggage is coming on that caracal very VERY cool)

 

We found our carnival rep, got a ticket and stood in area of the baggage claim area until it was time to go…about 30 minutes... We arrived at the port of Miami at 2:30... Tipped the Baggage handler... (Another note… A man on the victory didn’t tip well enough and one of his bags ended up on the Valor... It was all of his and his wife’s formal clothes accident or not… no one can say… he got his bag back on the bus back to the airport he sat behind us and over heard his story)

 

Embarkation --We walked in to the terminal and were thru security in 3 minutes. We walked right up to the check in counter, and were walking upstairs to get our sign and sail cards in 8 more minutes. We received our room keys/ sign and sail cards and got our 1st “welcome back” it felt really good. Our kid’s cards were red white and blue. We were also told that a buffet lunch was being served on the lido deck. Walk around another corner and get our Embarkation Photo taken. We walk up the orange railed ramp, and were in the ship in less then 20 mins. Start to finish. It was amazing. We get our pictures taken for our sign and sail cards, and we walk down one level to our room.. 2251 Main deck , We had a beautiful view of the houses in Miami… Drop off our carry on items, and get some lunch on the Lido.

 

Our Cabin: 2251 Main deck, was very cool... It had 2 twin beds we had the steward push together, to make a King bed, made with King Linens... It also had a couch that was converted to a bed, and an upper bunk in the ceiling. We had 4 blue beach towels, folded and ready for our use. The room had a full ice bucket and 2 robes in the closet. As you walk in the room, to your left was a small closet with a safe. The next closet had the robes, and 12 hangers. The 3rd Closet had 12 hangers as well, and the extra bedding on the top shelf.

 

We met our room steward as we were exploring the cabin, Jerry who was from Nicaragua. We tipped him right away. I do not think he was expecting it, but it was our way of saying thank you as we asked him to put the beds together for a king size. We also tipped him a little something when our son got sick on the upper bunk and needed the sheets changed one night.

 

The bathroom: had 2 dispensers in the shower, one with shampoo, and one with green-tea scented body wash… It smelled so good… On the counter on the sink was a bowl of goodies, toothpaste, razors, apple body spray, bar soap, etc. We had tons of white fluffy towels too. 6 body towels, 4 wash towels, and 5 hand towels. On the floor next to the shower was a rolled up bath towel, for standing on. The wall cabinet had a mirrored door and tons of space for everything. Also the counter under the sink was good for glasses or kids shower toys. Oh and tons of extra toilet paper & Kleenex for just in case. There was a toilet brush, and a nice trash can, too…

 

The Dining room: Main Seating, Pacific Dining Room, table 339, Blue team… Our waiter was Anothey, from India... He was truly amazing. He took to our son, as it turned out he had a 2 year old at home as well, and would pick our son up and talk to him.

 

We were shown our table the 1st night, and each night after that we were allowed to walk on our own. We had a table for 4 people... a long bench seat, which went along a wall for 4 tables, and each table had 2 chairs on the other side. On one side of us, were 2 nice older Asian couples. The left side was the changing table it had 2 families. One was a family who almost missed the boat, and was informed their luggage was to catch up with them in Coasta Maya. Anthony explained the dress code to them, and they seemed offended when he did, and rudely said we won’t be back unless our luggage comes… They didn’t come back… The 3rd night a nice family from North Carolina came, and were sitting at our table accidentally, but they moved over. They had moved tables, because they were sitting at a table for 10 and were crammed in a tight space. The mom continually told us how sick she was... We didn’t think they should be in the dining room… As sick as she was… was kind of gross… But... what can you do… On the last night, my DD was extreamly upset about leaving Anthony, and he made her a little mouse out of a linen napkin from the dining room.. He told her to take it home, and think of him when she saw it.. Was truly very nice of him..

 

The food was out standing... everything was perfect… My husband fell in love with the balsamic vinegar dressing for the salad he had every night. I loved the creamy Italian. They offer you bread/ rolls at every single meal, (breakfast was always croissants or Danish or Chocolate chip muffins) a sample of what we had... Seafood Newburgh, Prime Rib, Steak, Lobster, Greek Salad, Field Green Salad, Quail, Assorted Chicken Dishes, Tuna salad on a baguette, Sushi, Navy Bean Soup, Germen lentil soup, Etc.. They fed you well, and Anothey seemed offended if you didn’t order more then one entrée, it seems funny. Dessert… lets just say... YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!! It was all good... Cappuccino pie, Chocolate soufflé, Key Lime pie, Chocolate tort, etc...

 

The Lido was ok, I didn’t like having to get it myself, I liked having people wait on me, though we did eat a few times there, and the food was good as well, it wasn’t the same. The hot chocolate there was out of this world though. Every time we would walk thru, I would get a cup... It was worth it… We also found a little trick to keep the kids happy on port days. We would take a few boxes of cereal from here, and put it in our beach bag. Corn pops, granola, Sugar smacks, Etc... Easy finger food, and no cranky kids... NOTE... open boxes can not be taken off the ship.

We attempted room service for Breakfast before Coasta Maya and it never came, We figured they were busy, or some college kids took the sign off the door the night before. No worries… we went to the Lido, and got something quick. However any other time we ordered it came very fast… (When we called via the phone). The Pizza was outstanding .. yum yum.

 

The ship: It was clean, it was wonderful, and it was perfect. Sure there are a few stains here and there, and believe me, I was looking and could only find like 3 total. The Promenade was nice, but got extremely crowded on the formal night. If you can avoid this area, I would... It was a sea of people total grid lock. I was glad we had 1st seating for dinner, and got our pictures done before all that mess. The Caribbean lounge is huge, we found that sitting on the 2nd floor gave us an advantage to leaving the shows, our room was right below this area, and we could catch an elevator and get to our room in 2 minutes after the shows.

 

 

The Casino… You can use your sign and sail card to pull money off your account. Also, you can use it to put the credits from the machine on to the card… its Money-less and paperless… very easy to work... Example… you put in 20 dollars you could put it on the card, and go to a different machine instead of getting that money smell on your hands… And we shall put it this way… Not bragging… But it’s possible to actually win in the Casinos on the ship, on the slot Machines. Im not a huge gambler, I just like to mess around... and only had 100 dollars to mess with this cruise, and put it on my sign and sail card... used $50 dollars the 27th, then left the rest on the card and forgot about it, until Saturday the 1st of April, I only wanted to get rid of the money I had to play… so.. I moved from Machine to machine, and finally ended up on a dollar Machine. With Max coins in of 2 $.. I was being lazy having to hit 2 buttons to play 1 coin, so I played max… one button to push. 10th dollar in, I hit a jackpot, bells whistles, lights…. And 2 nice grandma ladies came over and tried to help me understand what I won. I was in shock… the Casino people came over, and I was like “ did I do something good” ( I had played a few other machines before this one.. 5 cents penny etc and forgot I was on a dollar one)… The attendant said.. “Yes... Yes you did extremely well” Lets just say I had to fill out an IRS form and it was delivered to my room, under the door as soon as we hit Land in Miami) Funny thing was , and the attendants were standing there, I over heard them say to each other… and people think our slots or tight.. It made me laugh... ((This wasn’t bragging... just that the employees are nice on the ship no matter where you are... and able to help you))

 

The pools- Well, it’s nice to see chair saving is alive and well. The chair hogs had to of arrived before sun up to get some of these chairs. Some people had 1 shoe on a chair, the matching shoe was no where to be seen, they must have been wearing one shoe around the ship. Etc... We found out half way thru the cruise, if people didn’t come back for 30 minutes, we would place their items under our chair, use that chair, and when we were done at the pool, we would put their stuff back on it. Or if some one would say something ( No one ever did) we would gladly give them the chair…

 

Camp Carnival- ( Camp Terrible) as my 2 year old son called it by the end of the cruise was nice.. My 8 yoDD loved it.. We could sign them in right before our dinner.. tho our son hated it.. and cried a lot… Our DD was there every night. The last day we got little toys for the kids… a backpack and a little stuffed dolphin. BTW.. there was over 1000 kids under the age of 17 on our ship this week. Kids were every where.. and from what I could see.. The kids were well behaved… Expect for a few kids we shall call elevator bums,, who would sit in the elevator and ride it up and down, and beg for food.. I just laughed at them… But I’m sure some would take offence to it..

 

Coasta Maya- This is a breath-taking area. We looked off the deck and saw nothing but natural unspoiled land…We only walked to Majahual, along the dock looked at the shops.. Ian the super shopper on the Victory informed us all of how to have them lower their prices on items… And it worked well. In the middle of the city is pool; with a swim up bar, it was nice break for the kids, because of the fountains. After about 2 hours and watching “the legend of the seas dock” we started back to the boat. Come to find out.. They stopped letting people off the Victory as the LoS was docking. It wasn’t safe. We were done with our shopping and etc, when about 2/3 of the people were just getting off the ship. We had the ship to ourselves, for the rest of the port day.

 

(Water was rough when we left here.. don’t know why)

 

Grand Cayman- Tendering port... We are told to go to the Caribbean lounge and wait for our excursion to be called. Which we all did, and were on the tender fast... They have 90 people boats and 300 people boats... Ours was the 300 people... it was huge. We made it to the dock, past the other 4 cruise ships in port with us, and were at our excursion meeting area in 5 minutes. We did the Turtle Farm, Hell and Sting ray city.

Sammy was our driver…

 

Wow.. is all I can say… We had a 20 min stop at hell, and bought post cards at the store next to the Hell post office. Also got some Jamaican currency… for a souvenir… they have pretty money.

 

Made an unexpected stop at the Tortugas Rum Cake Factory, had 15 minutes

 

Went to Turtle City, and had about 45 minutes here. It was awesome, the turtle ponds and holding the little turtles. They also have a gift shop..

 

We made our way to the Marina, and got in a boat. It was a smaller vessel; it held 2 tour groups or about 50 people. The Man and Woman who ran the boat were nice, and we had a cooler with some water in it to drink. ** MAKE SURE YOU WEAR SUN SCREEN** the boat ride was about 30 minutes, and the people on the Boat were all carnival cruisers, and very pleasant. We had to wait for 5 – 8 minutes to get a good parking spot our driver told us, but once we were stopped and in the water… the driver got a sting ray for us to touch and hold and take pictures with. The lady, Maria, took pictures for all of us to buy, and placed them on a Disc via the lap top on the boat ride back… we didn’t have a water proof camera it was a nice treat.

 

We had our 8yo and our 2yo on this excursion it was a lot of fun… if you have kids, it’s a must do, Easy for any age group Old or young… Not infants under 2…

The Tender back was simple, we walked right back on the boat as it was ready to leave... 1 2 3 .. I think we had excellent timing for this event..

 

Ocho Rios/ Jamaica-- Enchanted Gardens and Dunn’s water fall Tour… Booked through Carnival. It was Amazing. I’m a waterfall freak; this was my tour pick… The Gardens are off of an abandoned Spa built in the 1970s. The Prime Minister of Jamaica owned the spa, but couldn’t keep up with his duties and the property, so he gave it to his right hand man, who only used the money for his own pockets, and the place fell in to disrepair. But the gardens are still their, and absolutely beautiful. As you walk along a paved trail you see many waterfalls, and ponds, and island floral and fauna. There is a bird aviary where you actually feed the birds. They land on our hands, and you can feed them, Doves, Peacocks, Parrots... Etc... We stopped at a little shopping village for some trinkets and Misc. wanted items… for 30 minutes.

 

After our time here we were off to Dunn’s water fall. They do lock the bus and you can leave your items on the bus… with out fear of getting anything wet. DS 2yo couldn’t do this, its do dangerous, but our 8yo daughter did this with my husband the entire way. My son and I could take pictures and watch them walk the falls from the board walk next to the falls, you can also get out at any time if you have had enough, and there are walk ways off the boardwalk with steps leading to the water. This was an awesome excursion… A must do again, when our DS is a little older… so we all can do it.

 

((Rough water this night... the ship was really rocking and rolling as we rounded Cuba))

 

Debarkation-- Pretty easy... We had to vacate our cabins by 9am... We met in the Caribbean lounge and waited for our color/floor to be called. We were off the boat, thru customs, and Immigration by 10am. We took a greyhound bus to Ft. Lauderdale Airport.

 

 

Words of Advice…

 

1- Bring a sponge thingy for the soap in the bathroom; the Green-tea scented body wash is awesome.

2- Acrylic nails and salt water don’t mix, and they become sticky, Use fresh water and soap in the bathroom to get the sticky stuff off, limit time in the water if your afraid of them becoming to icky.

3- When the time changes Daylight savings or vise-versa, the Ship changes everything over on Friday night going in to Saturday, so we are all ready for the docking on Sunday Morning… That doesn’t mean the dock workers wont over sleep that day and you will be late getting off the vessel... *giggle*

4- Use Sun Screen, The Caribbean sun is hotter then anything you ever will experience, we went thru 2 entire tubes in 7 days…

5- Get a message even if you’re a large person, I’m not small in the least, and I enjoyed every Minute of it, Don’t Be Afraid, the girls are very VERY nice…

6- Take a few boxes of dry cereal for kids on excursions, full kids are happy kids… and I’m sure it’s frowned upon by Carnival, but some times Parents know best.

7- Order extra Entrees at dinners, try something new. If you don’t like it, they will bring you something else.

8- Bring a shoe hanger for behind the door, this was the absolute number 1 thing we used daily… it helped with the kids little toys/ tooth brushes, misc. little items.

9- Say “thank you” to the crew. They work their butts off so you can relax… with out seeing their families or friends.

10- Tip a little extra if people seem to do a good job, 10 dollars a day per-person seems so low compared to some of the service and care these people give you. But don’t be afraid to adjust your bill if your room steward is horrible or your waiter is awful… It’s your right...Do it…

11- If you need a chair, and you realize people haven’t been to theirs in over 30 minutes, and you asked the people around you if they had seen the person… and they still say no… don’t be afraid to move peoples stuff below the chair, and sit in it.. Until they come back, or you are done... Some people just don’t come back, and saving a chair for “maybe sun time” is not polite.

 

 

**Little known fact: When you arrive at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, and you fly Northwest Airlines, You are not allowed to check in until 3 hours before your flight, Due to them having limited luggage holding areas. There is no food on the pre-ticket side of the airport, and there are no seats. Be prepared to look like refugees, and sit with your luggage. The air port will be filled with Cruisers coming home from trips, and you can compare stories, and share memories, but it’s a very boring time, especially since you were treated as a king on the boat that morning. **

 

Sorry this was long… I hope it helped... We had a blast…and cant wait to go again..

 

If you have any questions ask.. I will gladly help you...

 

 

-Dolly

[airlink diva]

One of the main reason I enjoy this board is reading the reviews. Thank you!!

[cheekie]

Wow...

 

I must say that was the BEST detailed review I have read yet!

 

Thank you!

[caprcorn28]

Awesome review Dolly!!!! Great job!!

 

I will get to mine...but how can I possibly hold a candle to this one?!? ;)

[cre8memories]

Thank you for such a great review...I sail her in 25 days......Yippeee.....

[bucket_O_beer4john]

Great! Thanks! Only 24 more days...... :D

[cathyoo]

Great review. Glad you had such a good time.

[Lori-n-NY]

Thanks so much for your review....I will be stepping on that ship on Sunday...yes this Sunday WOO HOO

 

The dining room you ate in was in near the front or the back of the ship? And what time did you eat? 5:45 or 6:15? We are trying to figure out which dining room we will be in.

 

 

I'll make sure my sailing buddies see your review, they will be thrilled.

Thanks again,

Lori

[toledo]

Great review, Daliaha! You described the cabins perfectly. Did you get "Just For Men" haircolor in your bathroom? We did. My husband thought one of his co-workders sent it as a joke (the same guy that sent us a bottle of wine), but he denied it. My husband's hair is now totally gray. How did Carnival know?

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your Stingray City tour. I don't know how you got over there so fast. We were lined up at the door from 8am until 9:30 waiting for a tender. We went on an 11am tour, which was too late to avoid the crowds.

 

Good point about Costa Maya and when other ships dock. We were in line there to get off and had to wait an extra 20 minutes while the other ship docked. You either have to get off REAL early or wait till later.

 

It sounds like you had a good time like us!

[hightownCO]

Dolly, thanks so much for the great review! I'm sailing Sunday with Lori and our new Cruise Critic pals. We can't wait!

 

Question for you....did you notice if the pool was open on embarkation day?

 

We can't wait for Sunday! Thanks again!

 

Sharon

[Daliaha]

The dining room you ate in was in near the front or the back of the ship? And what time did you eat? 5:45 or 6:15? We are trying to figure out which dining room we will be in.

 

 

Lori

 

The Pacific Dining room, Its on the back of the ship.. It was the 5:45 seating. Note: the Pacific dining room is also the place that is open for Breakfast and Lunch on the ship for your dining needs.. The Atlantic is the middle one, and closed all but for dinner.

 

The Pacific dining room has a mermaid theam, lots of boobies as my husband pointed out, as my son was fondling one statue close to the table. ( kids will be kids) He didnt know what he was doing...

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your Stingray City tour. I don't know how you got over there so fast. We were lined up at the door from 8am until 9:30 waiting for a tender. We went on an 11am tour, which was too late to avoid the crowds.

 

There were still about 20 boats when we arrived and it was crowded but not too many people maybe 300 or so?? probley less.. on the sand bar... (the stingrays were very full when we got there, and didnt want to eat anything, which didnt bother me one bit. If you want to feed them.. go earily. 8 or 9 am... Im thinken) but our tour was at 10am. But we hit Hell and the Turtles 1st, So.. Maybe at 12 :30 ish we were at the sand bar??? Sorry it was too crowded for you all.. :( .. But at least you all saw them.. They are so COOL!!

 

And nope no hair dye for us... We did get our past guest pins and Invites, Tuesday I beleive.. While in port. I heard they had forgotten some ones. after I informed them we got ours.. ( we never made it to the party.. just Too too busy) But the Pin is on my lanyard..:D LOVE IT!!

 

Awesome review Dolly!!!! Great job!!

 

I will get to mine...but how can I possibly hold a candle to this one?!? ;)

 

You Tease!!! Post it.. I wanna read yours and all them NOTES!! :cool:

 

-----

Everyone else...

 

Please ask if you need to know something.. I know I forgot some details, Like meeting our CC buddies in the camp carnival the 1st night, and the Duct tape braclets to find each other... Hehehe.. but some things are best left un-mentioned.. expect for Rob and the Yellow t-shirts.. !!! very very cool!!!!

 

-Dolly

[Daliaha]

Question for you....did you notice if the pool was open on embarkation day?

 

 

 

Sharon

 

 

I'm pretty sure I saw people in the pool, at least the middle pool, by the slide.. the slide was closed while in port.. And it was opened every single day after... no bad weather on this trip..

 

Every single deck chair was taken by 3pm when we arrived on the ship, and all the railing space for watching the ship leave port was as well, after the fire drill. It 2-3 people deep in a few areas, on the back of the ship. If you want to see Miami as you leave.. Camp your spot, and have some one else in your party take your life vest back to the room.

 

 

 

OoO note: when we left Miami on the 26, we had to go down the channel, turn around, and leave the channel, when we came back on the 2nd of april... The boat drove down the channel, and docked on the other side.. So the April 2nd boat would not of gone down the channel, and did the turn around.. Kinda dis-appointing in my book.. thats the fun of being on deck.. and seeing it spin around.. and waving at the boats as you pass.. at least I thought so.

 

 

-Dolly

[VentureMan_2000]

Very nice review... thanks for sharing.

[coho ken]

Dolly,

Great review...I have not even started on mine yet! Hoping to begin this weekend, but no promises, I'm still trying to get off Island time.

Ken

[da1425]

Thanks! Only 18 more days...I'm getting excited!

[Carbon-monkey]

Thank you for the great review. only 11 more days till we get on her

[Molly BPOE]

Thanks for the great review! I am looking forward to Victory in May!:D

[VentureMan_2000]

Dolly... did they ever announce how many people were on board the ship...

1000 kids... WoW!

[Daliaha]

Dolly... did they ever announce how many people were on board the ship...

 

1000 kids... WoW!

 

Dear Goodness.. the amount of people on the ship.. I want to say 2700.. But I'm not totally sure.. I just knew the 1000 kids, Because Dana the Cruise Director announced it daily.

 

 

BTW.. Dana is cool.. I really liked him.. even if his jokes were a bit corny..

 

Also, Ian the super Shopper was nice... Good hints on the ports, and what good deals there are..

 

Goodness, I totally forgot about the entertainment on the ship..

 

The shows were OK, One of them seemed to have a replacement dancer, who wasn't exactally... Um.. the size of the others.. She wasn't Fat per say.. just wobbly...Was the only person I watched the entire time she was on stage.. I couldn't keep my eyes off her, Kinda like a bad car accident.. you just have to look.

 

The Hypnotist on the ship was outstanding, I cant remember his name to save my life, but he was awesome.. Note.. if you go to see one, its open call to the 1st 20 people who sit in the chairs on stage.. so.. if you wanna do it.. be close and not up on the 2nd level.

 

 

-Dolly

[Momsacruiser]

Dolly, thanks for posting your review. We will be on the Victory this Sunday. Can't wait and your review really helped increase my anticipation.

 

Nina

[caprcorn28]

The Hypnotist on the ship was outstanding, I cant remember his name to save my life, but he was awesome.. Note.. if you go to see one, its open call to the 1st 20 people who sit in the chairs on stage.. so.. if you wanna do it.. be close and not up on the 2nd level.

*me me me* I remember his name!! His name was Asad!! I spent more of my time looking at him than at the hynotized people! hahaha J/K

It was excellent!!! A definite must see if he is on the ship again!

[scsagh]

Great review, Dolly! Not sure if I'll ever get around to writing one or not. Have to get over everything still moving before I can sit at the computer for very long.

 

Was great meeting all of you!

 

Sandy

[caprcorn28]

Hey there!! You, Dolly's family and Matt are all swaying...huh?! I can honestly say that I don't have it this time!! Hopefully it doesn't last long for any of you!! I remember that feeling all too well!! <blech> I was so sick after our '01 cruise...I didn't stop spinning for days...walking in to walls, stepping up in to our bathroom...all those goofy things.

 

*I have my pics downloaded - 537 of them - so I have pics from the ice cream eating contest for you! If you still have my little "business card" thingy, drop me an email and I can send you a link to the pics! Or your DD can always email Orianne (I think they exchanged addresses) and I'll let her forward it!!

 

Great meeting you guys too! Isn't nice to come home to no snow?!? :p

 

* back to Dolly's regularly scheduled review...Excellent one that it is!! *

[coolestwife]

:D Great review!!! Thank you... I CANNOT WAIT!!!!:D

 

hey cap! So how'd it go with surprising the kids?

[caprcorn28]

hey cap! So how'd it go with surprising the kids?

Hi!! Thanks for asking....It was AWESOME!!!! I would DEFINITELY do it all over again!!!

 

In short (I will try anyway - and try to describe it in the last thread that I started before leaving for the trip): They were UNbelievably surprised!! Tears, jumping up and down, high-fives. It was the best! We wanted to wait, of course to tell them about the cruise until Saturday...but my DD9 found out about it before the other two when she found the 'note' for the neighbor about taking care of the cat. That was alright. My surprise lasted until the hour before we left for the airport...That was my goal!!! I would do it again in a second because when we just initially told them that they were going on vacation, they didn't ask where, it didn't matter, they were THRILLED with the prospect of going somewhere! That was so important for me that they showed their true appreciation with not being "picky" of wanted to go somewhere in particular! That was an awesome thing!

 

I am trying to work on a review/report of sorts - if I don't Dolly will get on me!! She saw all my notes when we were sitting on deck! She probably won't let me get away with being a "slacker"!! hehehe!! I just have to get back in to "reality"...laundry is the first step that I am making. That, in and of itself is quite a feat! :rolleyes:

 

Ok Dolly....I will get back to work now!!

Thanks again for asking, Coolestwife! I love telling the story! ;)