Victory Review 5/21-5/28...<LOOOOONG & VERY LATE!>

[coolestwife]

First off, I’d like to thank everyone on these boards for all of the great tips, advice and just plain fun. You guys ROCK!

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our 3rd cruise. We have found that cruising is one of the best ways to relax and de-stress from the “real” world. The Victory is very pretty (though the deck layout is a little confusing). We didn’t see any wear & tear that was unusual for a ship that sees approximately 2,000 passengers per week. I have seen some others post that the carpets are stained badly in the hallways and stairways, but I didn’t see any thing that was any worse than what you might see in any high-traffic, well cleaned public place, so don’t go thinking that the ship is run down and/or filthy…it’s not.

Tip: Watch out for the sea horses on the ends of the stair railings!!!!

Tip: GINGER PILLS WORK GREAT!!! I normally get seasick but with 2 pills, twice a day…not this time!!

 

Day one - Saturday:

We flew in to Ft. Lauderdale on the day before sailing & stayed at the Amerisuites in Plantation, FL. This hotel was recommended to us by another member of our Roll Call, SteelPonyCowboy (Mike). They also stayed there and we shared a shuttle to Miami. The hotel is very nice and we got a reasonable rate through one of the online travel agencies. There is a very good restaurant in the same parking lot (what the heck is it called??? I can’t remember!). Reasonably priced, casual and very good burgers & fries. There is also a Super Target right next door, great for that last minute “Oh, crap...I forgot to pack XYZ!!” Unfortunately, I also can’t remember the name of the shuttle service, either… (Ummm…what’s my name again???). They were very good though and pretty reasonably priced, with one interesting tidbit you’ll find out at the end of the review (ha-ha…you have to read the whole thin, now!).

 

Day two - Sunday:

Our shuttle picked us up at 10:15am for the ride to Miami and we were there before 11am. Ahh….there was the Victory…and the Valor…and the Elation…it was very cool to see all three lined up at the dock! People were just finishing debarking and looking sad to go…poor people…had to leave my ship…boohoohoo LJ… We checked in, got our Sail & Sign cards (gold!) and sat down to wait for boarding. It wasn’t too long of a wait; I think we were on the ship by 12:15 or so. We went to the Atlantic Dining Room first and requested a time & table change to main seating (5:45) so that we could have dinners with Mike and SO, Carol. We wandered up to our cabins to see if the steward was finished and put our carryon’s down. We were in balcony cabin 8280 (Verandah Deck Aft) and Mike & Carol were a few doors down from us. I was so excited to see our balcony!!! DH and I went up to the Lido Deck pool bar (Triton’s), smoking side, to see if we could find anyone from our roll call (unfortunately, we didn’t, due to me totally failing to realize the a time as well as a location to meet might be a good idea…DUH!) and to get a beer.

Tip: Foster’s oil cans are 25.4oz for $5.95…this is slightly over 2 12oz beers which are $4 something…drink more, spend less!

We hung out there for a while and discovered 3 treasures: Pawadi, Tommy & I Putu. These three bartenders are shining examples of the service you wish to receive everywhere. They are fun & funny and love to make you laugh. They will remember your name and greet you with a smile every time they see you. After a couple of beers, we moved on to the lunch buffet. I had a plate from the Asian line and it was mmm, mmm, good…especially the Egg Flower Soup. DH had various tastes from the regular line including roast beef. He said it was very good. Then we wandered back to our room to sit on our balcony (*sigh* my balcony…how I miss it already) with (yes, another) cold beer and wait for sailing time. 3:30 was Muster Drill…fun for the whole family! That is, if you like to stand around with 2000 other people in 80 degree/65% humidity weather wearing the GOOFIEST life preservers you have ever seen.

Tip: (often repeated here on the boards) DON’T PUT THE WHISTLE IN YOUR MOUTH…eeeewwwww!!!! Where the heck has that thing been before you had it?!?!?

Muster drill is important, though…remember, it could save your life! Ok…back to the balcony (do you sense a theme starting here?) and sail away time!! We’re moving now!!! It was just a bit hazy in Miami that day but still beautiful. Got a great picture of a pontoon plane that was sort of buzzing the ship…if only I could get our new camera software loaded!

Off to 5:45 dinner! Now, I have to apologize, but I don’t recall everything that we had for the dinners…just the few dishes that I really liked. Sorry all you foodies out there! L I listed the stand-out’s at the bottom of the review. Side note: We were seated next to 5 tables of just graduated college seniors who thought it was their mission to drink the ship dry. There were a few times when they were pretty obnoxious but DH solved that a few days later by accidentally spilling our wine bucket (with ice) under their table. All of a sudden we were getting dirty looks!

We had a great time with Mike & Carol and after dinner we all wandered the top decks for a while.

Bed time and on to day 3.

 

Day 3 - Monday:

Sea day! Slept in a little then grabbed breakfast. We went up to the Funnel Deck (aka: The F-Deck, The Topless Deck, and many, many other names) to see what was going on and to catch some rays (DH – topless). A word to the wise…there is no opaque barrier (like a tarp or something) around the railing on that deck and don’t ask the bar waiter’s why there isn’t…they will have NO idea what you are talking about…believe me, I tried. AND the F-deck is DIRECTLY across from the entrance to the slide. I know the signs by the stairs say no cameras/photographic equipment up there, but unfortunately there was a guy on the slide deck with one of those field telephoto lenses that you see the photo journalists use…pointing right at the F-deck….sorta makes the signs pointless, huh? And you can see across from the slide to the F-deck with the naked eye (no pun intended)…I know because we went on the slide and I saw ONE topless woman there and a NEVER want to see anything like what I saw ever, ever again!! *shudder*. DH missed it, but I think my description to him made him feel like he saw it…

Later, more relaxing, drinking & eating. We met our next door neighbors, who were from Maryland. Very nice people, & DH and gentleman (Brian) struck up a friendship…they started calling each other “Boat Buddies”. “Hey, Boat Buddy…you over there?” Funny! J

 

Day 4 - Tuesday:

Costa Maya! We docked in Costa Maya at 8am and it was beautiful!! Got some pictures from our balcony of Chac Chi resort that is next to the port area and we were really excited to go through the hole in the fence to relax there all day. We waited for a bit to disembark so there wasn’t a huge crowd when we left. We set off using the directions to “the hole in the fence” that I found over on the Port of Call board. As we were coming up on the intersection to the fenced area, a family of 5 came to us and the mom asked if we were trying to get into the resort. We said yes and she said that at the secondary entrance a taxi driver told them that they couldn’t go in there. So we said, “Follow us! There’s another way in!” We walk past this little grocery and at the end of the street there is a guard standing there and he also told us no entrance. They are working on connecting some of the roads to the resort and he refused to let us through (DH even offered him some $$ to look the other way…no go). The other lady with us said that she had e-mailed the resort the prior Thursday and they told her no problem, that they welcome the cruise passengers at the resort. So we walked around to the entrance she had tried 1st and talked to the same taxi driver. He said, apparently the port owner and the resort owner had some sort of argument regarding allowing the cruise passengers onto the resort property and now no one but resort guests can go over there! LL I was sort of upset, because I’m sure the resort would love to have the $$ from all the cruise passengers and their beach area is soooo beautiful and pristine. Oh well…so we grabbed on of the cabs over to the beach area on the other side of the port at $2 per person. We sat in the shade of a canopy at the Cat’s Meow and had Pacifico beer and chips & salsa all day…not a bad way to relax!

Back to the ship to watch the stragglers wander up the pier for sail away. It never ceases to amaze me that some people have zero respect for the “time to be back on the ship” time. Don’t these people know that when they say the ship sails at 4pm…THE SHIP SAILS AT 4PM!!! Why do these people disregard the time that they give you to get back on board? If the ship sails at 4pm and every one needs to be on board by 3:30…what’s that ½ hour for? It’s so the crew can prepare for sailing. Not so they can stand around waiting for the 10 idiots meandering down the pier at 3:50pm. Ok…rant over…sorry…

 

Day 5 – Wednesday:

Sea Day! We just mostly relaxed and hung out at the pool bar. We hunted down our pictures that had been taken so far. Let me tell you…some of us are not very photogenic! We had some great laughs in the Photo Gallery that day!! (Mostly at ourselvesJ). We went to bed early so that we could be up on time to catch our early tender for our excursion the next day.

 

Day 6 – Thursday:

Grand Cayman! I had booked SNUBA on the Carnival website a few weeks before we left and we were very excited to try something new. I got up at 6:30am so that we could get ready and grab something to eat before we hopped on a tender. Up until today we had our balcony door open any time we were in the cabin (no….I forgot to pack a bungee cord…we just propped the door open with one of the chairs). The sound of the sea when you are sleeping is so relaxing. Anyway, I get up early & turn on the shower; leaving the bathroom door open so the mirror didn’t get steamed up right away (the water on the ship is HOT! Be careful!!). All of a sudden the smoke detector goes off, waking DH up and making me run around the cabin in a very comical manner (J). Then comes a knock at the door. Security. Oops… I throw a towel on and let him in. He takes a quick peek around to be sure that noting is on fire and radios in to the security station that all is well. Then he turns off the alarm and spies the open balcony door. He says, “Oh, the alarm went off because you have your balcony door open. All the smoke detectors have been reset to a higher sensitivity because of that fire on the other ship.” (I assumed he meant the Princess fire.) Now this made absolutely no sense to me when he said it, but I nodded and said “Ahhh” like I knew exactly how sea air could set off a smoke detector. At which point Security guy leaves. I look at DH, shrug, close the balcony door and turn back towards the bathroom. The smoke detector goes off again…What the!?!?! Since the balcony door was closed now, the only thing I could figure was that the steam from the shower was setting it off. So I closed the bathroom door & the alarm turned off.

Tip: Close bathroom door when showering. See above for reason.

After the excitement of the morning, I was ready for some SNUBAing (is that a word?). We hop the tender and head for shore. Grand Cayman is absolutely beautiful! The water looks like a swimming pool and it makes you want to dive right in….aaaahhhhhhhh……Oh sorry….I forgot & felt like I was back there for a minute. Where was I? Oh, yeah…headed for the excursion meeting place. You get off the tender and enter this rotunda thing that is packed with other people (there were 4 ships anchored in the bay that day) waiting for their excursions. I was sort of a mess in there but we found the pole with our sign on it but there was not time stated for the excursion (all the other tours had times & ship names on their signs). So sat down next to another couple & promptly found out that they had the same excursion but were supposed to leave an hour earlier. They said that their time had gotten pushed back because the water in the area we were going to was too rough and not clear at all. Uh-oh. So we sat around, trying to figure out if the excursion was going to be cancelled….you know…just for fun….guess what…it was. LL I was disappointed, but at least they were honest with us instead of scamming us out of our money and taking us out anyway. Plus we did get a full refund and were able to book an excursion for Jamaica.

So, on to 7 Mile Beach! What did we do there? You guessed it….bar! We met a couple from the Radiance of the Seas (TJ & Lori) who had won their cruise at an auction at his work. They were great and we ended up talking to them for several hours, hanging out & swimming. We headed back to the tender area about an hour before the last tender (I always like to be back on the ship like an hour before the latest time they tell you...I’m nervous that way….)

Side note: Radiance of the Seas was using their lifeboats as tenders, which I thought was weird. I guess with 4 ships in port there weren’t enough local tender boats?

So we’re back aboard and relaxing on our balcony, watching the tenders come & go. I also got some pictures of the life boats being brought back aboard the Radiance…way cool… Then, we’re off! Headed to Jamaica, mon!

 

Day 7 – Friday:

Jamaica, mon! Irie, no problem, mon (& all that stuff)…DH was very excited about this port. Um….for the…ummmm….Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee….yeah…that’s it…J

Tip: Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is good...not $25.00/pound good, but good!

Since we were able to get a refund on our cancelled SNUBA excursion, we booked the White River Tubing. It was a blast! We were shuttled up the mountain (1/2 hour ride) to the Spanish Bridge. There is a little “gift shop” area there where they try to sell you overpriced strings for your sunglasses and obviously used shot glasses. I mention the fact that they were used because the intention was to show you a particular shot glass and tell you that they “have everything you need”, indicating a famous plant that may be sometimes used for “medicinal purposes”. Um….no….”Let’s go Honey”. Anyway, we had to wait a bit because they forgot to bring up the life jackets with the inner tubes. So they finally get there and every one is getting ready and lining up to hop in the river. DH has his jacket on and properly clipped but one of the guides comes over and unclips the jacket and asks DH if we are enjoying Jamaica and finding everything we need. DH says, “It’s beautiful!” Guide: “Yes but are you finding everything you need?” DH: “It’s beautiful!” Guide: “We have every thing you need here. What are you looking for?” DH: “To have a great time!” By this time I’m looking at DH like he’s completely lost it! It was sooo funny!! The guide walks away and I told DH, “he was trying to sell you weed, Bubba….” DH busts out laughing….he totally missed it! Dork! HA! JJ I love that guy!

So we do the tubing down the river; the water is cold for the 1st 3 seconds, then it’s perfect. There were about 8 or 10 guides for our group of about 25 people and they help keep you from going ashore or getting left behind. They sing reggae songs too. But here’s the deal…they set you up to look totally silly by giving you a “paddle” that is about 3 inches wide and 16/17 inches long. It was mainly for you to push off tree branches and rocks so you stayed in the middle of the river….but, boy was it hard to paddle with them! I kept spinning around in circles….very graceful.

After about 45 minutes, we ended up at the White River Valley. The valley is gorgeous! It looks like a tropical golf course with little brightly painted shops. I wish I lived there!!! While we were there yet another guide tried to sell the green stuff to DH under the guise that he would get us a great deal on “T-shirts”….that’s funny because you generally can’t buy t-shirts behind the men’s room….it was funny though, until the guide got a little insistent. DH had to tell the guy finally, “Dude! I can’t do it!” We had a couple of Red Stripes and relaxed before the shuttle ride back to port.

When we got back to the port area our driver said he would take whoever to the shopping area or Dunns River Falls for $6 per person. We went to the shopping area because we really DID want to buy actual t-shirts. We got pretty good deals on shirts (4 embroidered for $20). They will not bargain with you very much at all like they do in Mexico. I sorta missed that.

We shopped a little then decided to go up to this little cantina on the 2nd story for another Red Stripe. We sit down & order and the guy puts the beers down along with a baggie…yep….more weed… Right at the same time I feel a hand on my back & a half turn around and a woman says to me, “You should really get your hair braided. It would look so good honey.” (Jamaican accent). I immediately turned back to DH and told her “No thank you” politely. As I turn back the bartender grabbed DH’s cigarette pack and is trying to stuff the weed (DH had pushed it away) into it. He was telling DH, “You gotta smell this, it’s great!” Dh tells the guy no and grabs his cigarettes back. I tell DH, “Let’s get out of here right now…I’ll tell you about it later.” So we get up & leave and as we are walking down the stairs a guy says, “Hey, you need a taxi?” We said no and he said, “You need some smoke?” NO! by this time we are really getting wierded out. I told DH that I think the lady that was talking to me was a cop and they were trying to bust him (the fees/bribes to get some one out of jail there must be exorbitant!). It was just too perfectly timed and coincidental that she distracted me right when the bartender tossed the baggie on the bar. Lest you think I’m paranoid, this lady was sitting with 2 other ladies when we first got there. They were all 3 dressed the same: black slacks, white polo shirts, black shoes & dark sunglasses. It was just weird & creepy! If we were royally stupid and actually bought what the guy was selling, I truly think I would be including a description of a Jamaican jail in this review!

Anyway, we go back to the ship & grabbed something to eat and then hit the slide (which is when I had my unfortunate glimpse of the F-deck). Last formal night and the food and the company was excellent. For some reason we were super tired and went to bed at about 8pm.

 

Day 8 – Saturday:

Last Sea Day! Well…the last day came WAY too fast…L I hit the casino for a while and gave them my money. We lounged around on our balcony for a while. DH napped. We wandered up to see our favorite bartenders. We talked to all the nice people we met. We generally had a great day.

 

Day 9 – Sunday:

Debarkation Day. Boooooooo!!!! L We did not do the self-debarkation since we were sharing a shuttle to FLL with Mike & Carol so we were off the ship at about 10am or so. The luggage area was packed but they had off loaded the luggage into areas by deck and we all found ours pretty easily. The tips to put something bright on your luggage are great. I had purchased fluorescent orange luggage tags at Target ($2.99 for 2) and they made it a snap to spot the bags at the airport and seaport. We got to FLL at 11:15 due to that fact that our shuttle driver was speeding and got pulled over on the freeway. Boy was he mad! J

We checked in for our flight which was 6 hours later and then this crazy lady in my head said, “Hey! We should get a refund on our flight and drive home!!” We live in California, and in case you didn’t know, it is 2,781 miles from FLL to our doorstep. I have no idea what came over me, but since DH is just as nuts as I am he said okay! We rented a car and drove for 46 hours straight (except for 1 hour for breakfast in Texas and 2 hours to nap in Phoenix). It was the perfect way to end our vacation and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Ok…I better stop writing now because this review has gone on too long….sorry!!! Now how may days does my countdown timer show till S&S III??!?!

 

 

Yummy dishes (in no particular order):

Marinated Palm & Artichoke Hearts

Won Ton Soup

Escargot (prepared very well, not rubbery at all)

Black Bean Enchiladas

Black Bean Soup

Lobster (always good!)

Lobster Bisque

Grilled Satay of Chicken Tenderloin (warning – contains peanut butter)

Delta Prawns

Penne Mariscos

[wmsherwood]

Thanks for a great review and a few laughs!! Good call in Jamaica-- sounds pretty dicey. The drive sounds like something I'd do, but my DW would not be pleased!! Of course, we live in Fl now so it isn't an issue. Gee, now I really can't wait for my next cruise!!

 

bill

[texas greeneyes]

Thanks for a great review...lots of information and still quite entertaining. Much appreciated!

[coolestwife]

Thanks! Glad you guy's didn't get bored reading it!:D

[Rickilynn]

Thanks for the great review. I will be sailing on the Victory in Jan and look forward to all the great things you have mentioned in your review. Only thin is we will be going on the Eastern cruise. Still you gave me a lot of insight on the ship it's self. Thanks for the shower and balcony door tip as we have been on several crusies but never had a balcony. I can hardly wait until Jan! Thanks again for the great review!

[JulieMcCoy]

"Tip: Foster’s oil cans are 25.4oz for $5.95…this is slightly over 2 12oz beers which are $4 something…drink more, spend less!"

Woo-hoo - glad to see someone else knows about the Foster's advantage. Years ago in the overpriced world of Disney, my brother found the Foster's, and we now have many vacation photos with Foster's cans in the background.

[coolestwife]

"Tip: Foster’s oil cans are 25.4oz for $5.95…this is slightly over 2 12oz beers which are $4 something…drink more, spend less!"

 

Woo-hoo - glad to see someone else knows about the Foster's advantage. Years ago in the overpriced world of Disney, my brother found the Foster's, and we now have many vacation photos with Foster's cans in the background.

 

You mean like this??

 

[tomsandi]

Great Review, Thank You. How did the ship look to you.

[coolestwife]

Great Review, Thank You. How did the ship look to you.

 

The ship looked great to me. We didn't see any areas that were run down or filthy. I, personally, liked the decor and didn't think it was too flashy or "Las Vegasy". I especially liked the bar top at the casino bar. It looks like sand with shapes of starfish and shells with a thick resin covering...very cool!

[Caribbean Dad]

The ship looked great to me. We didn't see any areas that were run down or filthy. I, personally, liked the decor and didn't think it was too flashy or "Las Vegasy". I especially liked the bar top at the casino bar. It looks like sand with shapes of starfish and shells with a thick resin covering...very cool!

 

I'm pleased to hear the Victory is holding up well. Absolutely exellent review cw. It sounds like you had a blast. Jamaica appeared to be interesting. To be perfectly honest, that is one island that I would consider just staying on the ship and enjoying all it has to offer without the other 2000 pax around. ;) :D No mon. No ganja here mon. :D

[coolestwife]

Thanks C_D! I was very surprised at the pushy ganja pushers!!:p

 

We had an absolutely great time and now the next one is waaaaaaay to far away!

[cruzzza]

You mean you could see on the funnel deck from the top of the slide???!!! :eek:

I won't be able to keep DBIL off of it!!! Speaking of which, he's a little overweight, will he be able to go down the slide at all?

[coolestwife]

You mean you could see on the funnel deck from the top of the slide???!!! :eek:

I won't be able to keep DBIL off of it!!! Speaking of which, he's a little overweight, will he be able to go down the slide at all?

 

You sure can!!:eek:

the slide is plenty big enough, even if he's overweight...We saw some pretty big guys going down it. I'd say it's probably about 3 feet wide....

[caribbean_mom]

Awesome review! Jamaica makes me nervous and now even more after hearing your stories there.

 

Glad you guys had a great cruise.

[coolestwife]

Awesome review! Jamaica makes me nervous and now even more after hearing your stories there.

 

Glad you guys had a great cruise.

 

It wasn't really scary...just wierd...if you're aware of your surroundings and what the locals are "actually" saying to you, you'll be fine. We did a Carnival excursion and the shopping area gave the impression that only tourists shopped there...