Victory 8/31/06 Review

[nybumpkin]

We returned today from our four-day cruise on Carnival Victory from New York to Halifax. (No, the house has not stopped rocking yet.) This was our fourth cruise, the second aboard Victory. DH, me, sons 15, 10 and 6. This was the cruise we booked “because we could”; it was Labor Day weekend (back when DH was teaching college, we couldn’t take a long Labor Day weekend), the price was right, and we decided to stuff all five of us in a balcony cabin. Being a short cruise, and sandwiched between two 8-day cruises (Legend in June, Liberty next February), my expectations weren’t nearly as high – but I was pleasantly surprised.

Embarkation and Sailaway: We had the smoothest, quickest embarkation yet – arrived at the pier 11:45 and were aboard in less than ½ hour, and that included the bomb-sniffing dog searching the trunk of our car. There was no line at all in the terminal – DH and I kept giving each other incredulous looks. Once aboard, up to the Lido deck for lunch and a “Fun Ship Special.” Lifeboat drill was around 4:45 and the ship sailed around 5:10 – the best sailaway we’ve had yet. We were under the Verrazano Bridge before we had to get ready for dinner. (BTW, for sailaway they allow kids and cameras up on F-deck – the best place to experience going under the bridge, along with the top deck forward. Everyone cheered as we went under the bridge.)

The Ship: You know how they say you never forget your first? Boarding Victory was like coming back to visit an old friend. We already knew where everything was. At the same time, we loved being “wowed” by the atrium again. Yes, I did notice the difference in size between Victory and Conquest, and there were worn areas; the seats along the Promenade deck are tired, and some aren’t that comfortable. Ditto the seating in the Mediterranean Café on Lido deck. Still, the overall experience is great, and it was fun finding things we didn’t find before – like the fish sculpture outside the Pacific dining room. (Our sons kept insisting that it used to be a sunflower – they just remembered Conquest’s aft atrium.) And our favorite find on this cruise – the Ionian Lounge on deck 4 aft. We never found it on our first Victory cruise and only knew to look for it because we liked Alfred’s on Conquest. (And before a certain CCer asks – I’m a nonsmoker who doesn’t give a rat’s tail about how smoky the ship was. Suffice it to say I didn’t notice people smoking in places they shouldn’t have. The Ionian Lounge is a smoking lounge.) The ship is well cared for; everything was clean, the bathrooms were regularly maintained (including the papers to use on the doorknobs for those worried about Norovirus), and the crew was very proud of the ship.

Cabin: We booked a guarantee balcony cabin for 5 and received quad cabin 8270 with a rollaway bed on deck 8 (Verandah), port side near the forward elevators. No noise problems, save some passengers who were rather loud in the hallways. Our last two cruises we had two cabins, and we’re definitely spoiled – but we managed just fine with one cabin (although we’ll be happy to have two cabins again on Liberty in February). Our cabin steward was Yumi; we did not see him often, but he kept our cabin in great shape, especially considering there were five of us in there. Even with five in the cabin, we did not use all of the storage space that was available. We’ve always booked a balcony, and even on this run I think it was well worth it. We used it fairly often.

Voyage: This sailing was fairly warm and there was no fog (unlike our first Victory cruise). The pools got a workout (although I never saw the waterslide in use), and they used the Magrodome to cover the aft pool at night and on the last sea day – when I assume we ran into the remnants of Ernesto, and the weather was bad. That day was a bit on the rough side, although nothing like riding out Hurricane Dennis on Conquest last year. While there were a fair number of sunbathers, there were no chair hogs - it wasn't THAT warm to encourage them.

Food: We had 6:15 seating in the Atlantic Dining Room, and were given table 118 near the main entrance (but with a decent view of the windows). The 6:15 seating is my favorite. Service was great; David (Guatemala) was our headwaiter, Francis (India) our assistant waiter, and Raman (Russia) our bar steward. No complaints about the food, although my appetite was somewhat off – David was happy to indulge my desire to have two appetizers and a dessert on Halifax night in place of appetizer, salad, entree and dessert. I love Carnival’s soups – aside from the dining room fare (pumpkin soup and wild mushroom soup have been well documented), we had a really good hot and sour soup at the Yangtze Wok station on Lido deck for lunch). The kids were well cared for in the dining room; middle son (our fussiest) asked for seconds at least two nights – in fact, the last night the second helping was waiting for him when he finished his first! Raman was lots of fun; he taught our kids some words and phrases in Russian.

Activities: We’re partial to the trivia contests, and DH managed to win a gold (plastic!) ship on a stick on our first sea day. Now we have one from each ship we’ve sailed on. (Not so for past guest pins; when we asked at the purser’s desk whether they were available, they advised the cabin steward would deliver them. Didn’t happen. Guess we’ll have to sail Victory again to get one or ask the “home office.” I refuse to buy one on e-bay – that’s cheating!) The main shows were “Living in America” and “Vroom,” both of which we saw two years ago but enjoyed seeing again. The sight lines in the Caribbean Lounge are not that great; you probably want to be on deck 3 if you can. Greg the guitar player (see earlier posters’ reviews) was still in the Irish Seas piano bar; we didn’t hang around there, but he seemed to have a following, even though he doesn't play piano. Our favorite place was the Ionian Lounge, the cigar bar on deck 4 aft. In the afternoon on sea days, there was a tea with a classical music trio (there's no smoking during tea); at night; there was the Michael James jazz trio. They will be on the ship until January – very good, and very personable. DH and I would put the younger kids to bed, then head down for a drink, music and (for DH) a cigar.

Kids’ activities: The main down side to our cruise was Camp Carnival. For those who have seen my other postings, you know that my younger sons have always loved Camp Carnival. Didn’t even want to leave when camp was done. This time, it was okay – just okay. The counselors just didn’t seem engaged or enthusiastic with the kids, and the range of activities wasn’t nearly as good as we’ve had on previous cruises. This on a cruise with lots of kids! While activities were scheduled to end at a certain time, the Camp Carnival staff invariably asked us to pick up the kids 30 or 20 minutes before that scheduled time. The impression it gave us was a staff that wanted to be finished working at exactly the scheduled ending time and didn’t want to work any longer than they had to. They noted the large number of kids as the reason. I know there were lots of kids on board (although, frankly, I never saw larger than usual numbers at Camp Carnival) and lots of first-time cruisers who had no idea how the process worked – but we’ve had lots of kids and first-timers on all our previous cruises and didn’t have the same experience. As for activities – we actually reached the point where our 10 YO asked not to go to Camp Carnival, and one time while there he called the cabin to ask if we could come to get him. Youngest son was called on the carpet once for improper behavior; when we asked him about it, he said he was bored. Bored??? That’s never happened before. Even Funship Freddy was scarce (LHP, I know you’d be thankful). The only time youngest son saw him was at the Camp Carnival Hunt for Freddy. This was the first time I didn’t leave a tip for the Camp Carnival staff, and I also noted it on the comment card. Maybe it was a function of a four-day cruise – not enough time to bond with the kids, as we experienced on our past cruises – but other staff members, especially the dining room staff, bonded just fine. They knew our kids better than the Camp Carnival staff, even though they saw them for less time.

Oldest son went to Club O2 and had a great time. Mostly he hung out in the ClubO2 space, listened to music, played Xbox games, and went to pizza with his friends. Some late-night swimming in the aft pool. Way too many late nights; he’d better get it out of his system in time for school this week.

Port: Our only port on this cruise was Halifax. We were there two years ago on Victory, went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and walked around. Like that time, we did not book any excursions in advance this time; we figured we’d wait to see how the weather was. It was really nice – temperatures around 70 and sunny. We walked up the hill to the Citadel, but decided not to enter – it would just take too much time. Instead, we walked back down the hill to Alexander Keith’s brewery for a tour. (Kids are welcome – they just get to drink lemonade or iced tea instead of ale.) It was a lot of fun – they have re-enactors who share life in a 19th century brewery and pub (complete with pub games – oldest son and I lost) and samples of two of Keith’s ales. Then we went for lunch at Stayner’s Wharf, where they had Keith’s on tap and some of the best fried clams I’ve ever had – fresh and sweet. We then split up for the afternoon – Youngest son wanted to take the Theodore Tugboat Harbour Tour, while older sons wouldn’t be caught dead aboard Theodore. Dad and older sons opted for the Harbour Hopper amphibious tour. Both tours were really good. Theodore is a one-hour harbor tour aboard a tugboat designed for younger kids; they get to see all of the boats working in Halifax Harbor (all of whom are Theodore’s friends). The kids also get to sit in the captain’s chair on the bridge. Captain Stu and his crew were great with the kids. The Harbour Hopper gives you a ½ hour land tour of downtown Halifax and ½ hour tour of the harbor. DH and older sons had a great time. We booked both tours on our own, and they were much cheaper than the Carnival excursions.

Disembarkation: We arrived back in New York a little after 7:00 am, and self-assist disembarkation began around 8:00. We were off around 9:45 (I’m not crazy about self-assist, given there’s five of us, so we put our bags out the night before) and we were back home a little after noon. Now I’m working on laundry and finalizing back-to-school lists; hello, reality!

Next up: Carnival Liberty, February 17, 2007. Can't wait!

[rvrgirl]

We had a great time on the Victory too. Do they still have the silly seahorses on the end of the stairs:confused: I still think I have bruises from them. LOL!

[luv2cruz44]

Thanks for a very good review. Added some new information to my little notebook in preparation for our cruise aboard the Victory on 9/30. We too have the Harbor Hopper booked on our own. Thanks again.

 

Ann

[luv2cruz44]

Thanks for a very good review. Added some new information to my little notebook in preparation for our cruise aboard the Victory on 9/30. We too have the Harbor Hopper booked on our own. Thanks again.

 

Ann

[TanIslandGirl]

Welcome home. Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise on the Victory.

We did the same cruise 8/17-8/21 and also enjoyed it. Nice review.:)

[wiskt]

And our favorite find on this cruise – the Ionian Lounge on deck 4 aft.

 

 

Great review. Glad you had fun, I also did on 8/26

 

I happened upon the Ionian Lounge by accident as well. I thought it was a pleasant surprise. It was a fun place when the orchestra set up for classical music at night. Always great to find a room you were not expecting just when you thought you had seen them all on the ship.

 

21 days until Mexico!

[nybumpkin]

We had a great time on the Victory too. Do they still have the silly seahorses on the end of the stairs:confused: I still think I have bruises from them. LOL!

Still there - as well as under the tables along the Promenade deck. At least I knew to look out for them this time!

[enjoyinglife]

Thanks for the great review of the Victory! Especially the food. We had been hearing really bad things until very recently, maybe the last two weeks food reviews have been looking up!

 

I am still concerned about Camp Carnival activities - although my son will be 14 on our next cruise in February so it wont be as important as when he was younger. He is also bringing a friend this time, so camp carnival is not as important for this cruise. But, too many people have complained about Camp Carnival activies being "laxed?" -some their only complaint. Thank you for taking the time to note it on your comment card. If enough people do ths, something may change for the positive.

 

Glad your cruise was great, looks like we leave the day after you leave on the Liberty. We can't wait also!

[nybumpkin]

But, too many people have complained about Camp Carnival activies being "laxed?" -some their only complaint. Thank you for taking the time to note it on your comment card. If enough people do ths, something may change for the positive.

 

Glad your cruise was great, looks like we leave the day after you leave on the Liberty. We can't wait also!

I thought about the Camp Carnival portion of my review for some time. These women (and aside from the teen program, it's always been women) put a lot of effort into this program and deal with a fair number of demanding parents. I don't want to sound as if my kids didn't like the program at all this time - there were activities each liked, such as 6YO's hunt for Freddy. (We watched them set off on the hunt, face paint and all, chanting a Camp Carnival theme.:) ) It just wasn't consistent this time. Maybe one problem is the Camp Carnival space itself; the Deck 11 dedicated space was limited to the 2-5 group, and the other groups were placed in other locations during the day - generally the Arctic Seas disco or the Black and Red lounge. Our 6 YO really wanted to have a chance to play with "the toys" in the playroom, rather than do non-hands-on activities. On Conquest and Legend, the playroom was divided for 2-5 and 6-8 YOs, so he had some time with "the toys."

[trvllover]

It's great to read another positive review of the Victory, (I was getting a little concerned).

 

I am counting down the days...I'm so excited!

[Lisa0719]

thanks for the review. we missed meeting you onboard. we had a great cruise. we took the FRED free bus up to CITADEL and did enter, then took the bus to the public gardens, awesome, and finally to the Alex Keith brewery tour. thought that was great. we managed to keep the mood going by bringing a few back with us!

[trvllover]

thanks for the review. we missed meeting you onboard. we had a great cruise. we took the FRED free bus up to CITADEL and did enter, then took the bus to the public gardens, awesome, and finally to the Alex Keith brewery tour. thought that was great. we managed to keep the mood going by bringing a few back with us!

 

Were you able to bring them back on the ship or did they hold them for you?

[Lisa0719]

we had carried a back pack with us. we just put them in there and carried it on. nobody stopped us or questioned when the bag went thru the x-ray machine.

[trvllover]

we had carried a back pack with us. we just put them in there and carried it on. nobody stopped us or questioned when the bag went thru the x-ray machine.

 

Good to know, I would love to bring a 6 pack with me back on the ship! Thanks! :)

[nybumpkin]

I thought about bringing some back, but figured I didn't want to carry it around Halifax all afternoon. Now I wish we had walked back to the ship via Keith's and picked up some to go!:D Lisa, glad you had a great time.