Just back from the Victory

[MrGolf]

I'm not planning on writing a full blown review but I'll just list a few things from the top of my head. My disclaimer is that this is my first cruise.

 

Absolutely LOVED IT!!! I'm sure I'll go back on another one, though there are other vacations that I want to go on as well. We'll be back in the next few years.

 

Dining Room.....very nice and the food was very, very solid. I saw plenty of shorts, t-shirts and jeans....though it didn't bother me there were many that were upset. John from Barbados was my waiter and they can't get much better than him.

 

My kids absolutely LOVED Camp Carnival. They were crying as we were getting off the boat saying how much they'd miss the camp.

 

Music on the boat was okay, nothing special but again, I didn't expect the best.

 

Chair hogs, darn you.......

 

I never ate at the buffet so I can't comment.

 

Beds were extremely comfortable.

 

Getting on the ship is much easier than getting off. Chaos but thanks for CC, I expected some of that.

 

San Juan is a place that if I never visted again, I'd be better for it.

 

St. Marteen, I fell in love with as I did with St. Thomas.

 

Pizza, while not great, it was still good. We did this or burgers for lunches.

 

Cruise Director (Butch) was okay, but I thought the assistant CD (Big Sexy) was actually better. During the muster drill he told us on his next contract, he finally got his own ship.......I just can't remember which one.

 

All in all, it was a great, great trip. Much better than I had expected which is saying something.

 

If you have any questions, I'll try and answer them the best that I can.

 

 

One other thought. Plenty smuggled on their own liquor and water.

[jrmende63]

Hi, thanks for the mini review! Hubster and I are getting on Victory in September...we can't wait!

Julie

[Molly BPOE]

We were on Victory last May. If you had done the Bio-Bay Kayak in San Juan, you might feel differently:D We LOVED her and I am glad you did too.

[volfan22701]

when we took our first cruise last october. sold us on cruising. have the valor booked this year in october. cruising was much more than we expected. hope to do many more.

[Majestic-NJ]

Victory was soooo good to us last June 13th to Hallifax,NS(Canada) we rebooked for another Canada tour for June 12th to New Brunswick. Really looking forward to it again!

[amantalv]

The wife and I were on the Victory this past week as well. I can't agree more with what MrGolf has to say. We did do the buffet for all, but one breakfast and for lunches on the non port days. We had it for dinner on one night as well. The buffet was pretty good. Lots of variety. We were not dissapointed. Pizza was decent, burgers were good. The deli was pretty good as well. We did not try the Chinese food though.

Disembarkation is definately worse than embarkation. Chair hogs were in full force! The wife and I ended up on the funnel deck (21 and over) to be able to get a seat and relax a bit. If you have kids and want to be by the pool, this wouldn't work. Big Sexy was definately cool. Butch was alright. I will say this about him...he can sure teach some dance classes. I think he missed his calling. The muster drill was a pain, but only because people made it that way. If everyone would suck it up and just do it and get it over with, it would be much more pleasant. Too much griping and carrying on about how dumb it was. People don't realize it may actually prove usefull in an emergency and that if you just quiet down and go thru the motions, it will be over soon.

Many people had posted that the ship looks tired and what not...for a tired ship, it looked pretty good to me. There was never a time during the day where I didn't see people cleaning and/or maintaining the ship.

 

Had a great time! Looking forward to the next one!

[Imani68]

Thanks for your comments about you cruise! We really appreciate hearing how great a time recent Victory cruisers had. :)

[giggster11]

Sounds like you had a fun cruise. What kind of cabin were you in? We're on in 10 months. So far away.

[arf2005]

Many people had posted that the ship looks tired and what not...for a tired ship, it looked pretty good to me. There was never a time during the day where I didn't see people cleaning and/or maintaining the ship.

 

I'm one of those who suggested she looked tired (I'm not sure that was the word I used, but it works). I merely think it is time for them to replace carpets and some of the woodwork, etc. Even though I made that comment, I also said in the same review that I thought she was one of the (if not the) prettiest ships I've been on. The color scheme is perfect for a Caribbean voyage.

 

The multiple stains on the carpet, etc. had absolutely no effect on the good time we had on this ship. We were on the Valor last year when it was just over a year old, so I'm sure that had some effect on my view of the Victory - which may be a bit unfair. However, it is time for them to fix some things that can't be fixed by the daily/multiple cleaning that goes on around the clock.

[amantalv]

Sounds like you had a fun cruise. What kind of cabin were you in? We're on in 10 months. So far away.

 

We were in a forward balcony (on veranda deck 8) right behind the Bridge. I thought this would feel kind of weird, since we realized that that the edges of the bridge (the portions that stick out) were about 10 feet from us on the same level and would feel like the crew were right there on the balcony with us. Come to find out, that portion of the bridge is only used when docking and then leaving port. It was actually pretty interesting to see the captain out there navigating the ship towards the dock.

[MrGolf]

Amantalv, I have to say it was an honor to have met you and your lovely wife. I wish we had met earlier and would have had the chance to spend more time with the two of you.

 

We were on deck 7 in a forward Cat 11. We absolutely loved the view and the room while smaller than I expected, it worked out just fine.

[Thestral]

Sounds like you had a great time! My group just got off that same trip in January. I agree about San Juan. We hit it on the next cruise (Freedom in Jan of 09) and unless we do an excursion, we don't plan on even getting off the boat!

 

We did the Regatta excursion in St. Maarten and it was a total blast! Our boat (True North) won it's race, so our captain was a very happy boy. He hadn't won a race all day.

 

St. Thomas was sooooooooo much fun! We snorkled on the Castaway Girl and saw all kinds of fun stuff. Didn't hurt to have great rum either!

 

Weather was perfect and we found that if went up to the higher decks that there were less crowds and the drink crew could still find us. :cool: Big Sexy was hysterical!! Bruno was our *main* cruise director, but you're right, BS was funnier. We had some terrible entertainment one of the nights (outside entertainer) and I went to bed early that night. I would have been thrilled hearing either Bruno or BS do stand up- they were great! We also had the best Cabin Steward ever- Jonesy. (at least best we've had to date!) They really want to make sure you have a good time and have everything you need.

 

Glad you loved your first cruise. I've only done 3, but I can officialy say I'm hooked. I'm even having dreams about being on cruises. I'm seriously trying to figure out a way that I can find a roomie and go on one next January as well. I don't think I can wait till 09!

[LHP]

We will be sailing on her Canada/New England route in September.

I don't do the pool thing...so that won't be a problem. They still had the over 21 F deck??? I thought that was gone for good.

[baseball16]

Thanks guys so much for this review. We are going on the Victory 5-13-07

 

I was really concerned as we had a bad Carnival experience a few year back on an older but small ship. It made us leary but we thought we would give them one more try.

 

I'm like you I had read some of the bad reviews, so it's nice to hear you had such a great time.

[giggster11]

We were in a forward balcony (on veranda deck 8) right behind the Bridge. I thought this would feel kind of weird, since we realized that that the edges of the bridge (the portions that stick out) were about 10 feet from us on the same level and would feel like the crew were right there on the balcony with us. Come to find out, that portion of the bridge is only used when docking and then leaving port. It was actually pretty interesting to see the captain out there navigating the ship towards the dock.

Thanks for your input. With our guarantee I was wondering if we'd get something up front. It's good to know that it's not such a big deal with the wing of the bridge in front. The most important thing is just to be on the cruise and enjoying the great times.

 

 

We were on deck 7 in a forward Cat 11. We absolutely loved the view and the room while smaller than I expected, it worked out just fine.

 

Thanks for the info! We're most likely to be in an 8 of some sort as we booked a balcony guarantee but one can always hope!

[MrGolf]

Thanks for the info! We're most likely to be in an 8 of some sort as we booked a balcony guarantee but one can always hope!

 

I booked a balcony as well and ended up with a suite. Hopefully that works out for you as it did us.

 

Baseball dad, like anything I had a few small complaints but probably nothing different than I would have had for any other type of vacation. I guess the proof is the fact that we're planning to take another cruise in a few more years. We still want to go back to Hawaii and probably even Europe before we do this again. But I know we'll put it in our "vacation rotation" if you will.

[amantalv]

yeah, we're planning the next one already, and this time with more family even!

[habby]

MrGolf,

 

Please tell me whatever you can about the music on the ship. Lido deck band, type of music in the "dance club", any activity in the piano bar or karaoke?

 

Thanks!!

[cruisetmc]

We were on the Victory last September for a 7 day Canada/New England cruise. Loved the ship. Dining room was excellent. Loved the night clubs and shows.

[gypsyrose]

Thanks for your mini review. What did you do in San Juan? We were there during the day this year and fell in love with it. I guess if yours was a nite stop you are limited tho.