Victory Review April 20-27

[gypsyrose]

This may get kinda long and I will try to post pics w/ the review. Not sure if I will get the whole thing done at 1 posting but if not I will come back to it later.

 

This was our 4th Carnival cruise and we had a wonderful time as always. We flew into Miami early Friday morn and went to South Beach. We stayed at The Marsielles Hotel on Collins Ave for 2 wonderful days.

 

Julian at the front desk was kind enough to let us check in at 9am and we were even suprised with a view of the ocean. Although the hotel is a little older we were very pleased with our accommadations. We layed on the beach, played in the pool, walked Lincoln Road and did a lot of people watching. I really enjoyed our stay at Sobe and hope we can go back again soon. My Dh even suggested just taking a trip there sometime instead of Myrtle Beach.

 

Sunday morn we took a cab to the port and was camped inside the new Miami terminal by 11 am. Let me warn you: Take a jacket, it was FREEZING in there. It was a painless embarkation and we were on the lido deck enjoying our 1st bucket of beer before noon.

 

We met up w/ our roll call friends, The Sunshine Club, at 2pm. Spanky had made name tags for everyone and most (sorry, I didn't) wore yellow to be recognizable. Little did we know at the time, but we had a celebrity in our group. Spanky went on the next day to win.......The hairy chest contest..Wooo Hoooooo!!!!!

[Wags67]

Hi Gypsyrose:) Sounds like you made the right hotel choice for SB. DH & I will be arriving in Miami in Oct. I was debating about the Marseilles hotel and based on your likings I'd like to say thank you for ending my misery lookin' for a hotel in SB. I'm going to book there tonite!!!!

Do you remember how much cab fare was from MIA to Marseilles and from Marseilles to the port?? These are the last details I need to complete our cruise plans.....

I am so glad you posted!!!1

Thanks in Advance!

 

Your pics are great!!!Thanks for sharing!

[Elaine515]

Wish I knew how to post pictures... More more...We want more... :) We just got off the Victory April 13th and had a great time but want to see your pictures and hear more about your cruise....

[gypsyrose]

Muster drill was painless and we headed to our balcony for sailaway afterwards. This was the smoothest sailing ride we have ever had. The seas were really calm. We were on the 10th deck and we never felt any movement. We usually take meds to avoid sickness but after the 1st day we stopped taking them.

 

 

We had the 6pm dinner and unfortunately 1 of our bags did not make it to the room. Wouldn't you know it would be the bag w/ my makeup:eek: Oh well. We went on to dinner and had our worst table so far. We were put in a corner booth w/ another couple who arrived before us so they sat against the wall. All we had to look at was them or the wall. Not the best seating in the room but we made do. We will always check out our table for now on. We were upstairs so we missed everything that goes on. Food was not as good as previous cruises but we certainly never went hungry. The steaks were usually tough, the seafood tasted too fishy. Cream brulee was excellent but only available 1 nite. Lobster was the best we have had so far. And the soups were all excellent.

 

That nite we went to the piano bar to check out Bob Style. In all of our cruises we have never had a good one. Well, we finally found 1. Bob was a little slow to get started, but buy him a shot and he's ready to go. We ended up going in there almost every nite of the cruise. Bob, bob, bob!

 

[gypsyrose]

Hi Gypsyrose:) Sounds like you made the right hotel choice for SB. DH & I will be arriving in Miami in Oct. I was debating about the Marseilles hotel and based on your likings I'd like to say thank you for ending my misery lookin' for a hotel in SB. I'm going to book there tonite!!!!

Do you remember how much cab fare was from MIA to Marseilles and from Marseilles to the port?? These are the last details I need to complete our cruise plans.....

I am so glad you posted!!!1

Thanks in Advance!

 

Your pics are great!!!Thanks for sharing!

 

 

There are much nicer hotels, but...we paid $265 total for 2 nites. Well worth it since most are that a nite. Cab to hotel was $32 and $33 to the port. It is flat $24 from port to Mia on the return. The hotel also serves breakfast on the front porch.

[Wags67]

There are much nicer hotels, but...we paid $265 total for 2 nites. Well worth it since most are that a nite. Cab to hotel was $32 and $33 to the port. It is flat $24 from port to Mia on the return. The hotel also serves breakfast on the front porch.

 

Thanks so much for a quick reply!! I've been reviewing alot of hotels and wasn't sure which one I wanted and Marseilles was one of them....Thanks again and I look forward to more pictures..

[gypsyrose]

Monday was our 1st sea day and we enjoyed our 1st pot of coffee and croissants on the balcony. We make this a routine every morn and get our moneys worth out of our balcony. We see the occassional flying fish but never anything else so far. We just love to sit out there and listen to the water crashing up against the ship and looking out and seeing nothing but water and sky.

We had another meet and greet at 11am. Not wanting to be a chair hog, we did not bother getting any chairs that morn. Well, after our meet and greet, there were not 2 chairs together anywhere. Even on deck 11. We gave up and went to eat then finally found some that we dragged together. I know, we should have moved the saved items. We tried 1 time and we were told the 5 chairs were being saved for their kids in the pool.

 

 

We did not really see much on the Big screen (except for Spanky, over and over;) ). We watched the news 1 morning and saw part of Ray Charles in concert. Other than that, we never really watched anything. We came thru the lido deck a couple of nites and a lot of the deck chairs were full w/ people watching movies. I think it is a great addition.

 

Tonite is the 1st formal nite and captains dinner. They had it spread out over the promenade deck which I liked because you can walk up to the bar and get a special drink w/o taking 1 from the tray. Most people were dressed really nice and lots of people were getting there photos made. Carnival did a better job this time by numbering the photo stations. When you had your pic made, the photographer gave you a paper w/ a # on it. When you went to look for your photos you just look in that section. Much easier!! Also, when getting off in port they grouped those pics by time frame. So, if you remembered when you got off the ship you could find your pic easily.

[gypsyrose]

Tuesday was Cozumel. We had booked a private tour w/ Gerri for 10:30. Gerri was waiting for us in front of Carlos and Charlies w/ a sign w/ our name on it. He has a real nice air conditioned suburban. Gerri is a really friendly guide and very knowledgable Cozumel. HE took us all over the island giving us a lot of history and showing us places we would not have seen otherwise. We went to the east side and visited several beaches and walked out on some cliff like overhangs???? Not really sure what to call them but they were really nice. Had a Dos XX at Coconuts. We got to see an iguana at one of our stops which was really cool. Gerri dropped us off at Paradise Beach after the tour where we had some great spicy chicken quesadillas and more dos xx.

We were too tired from the sun to go into Senor Frogs afterwards but of course we couldn't pass on a Kodak moment

 

 

[gypsyrose]

Sadly, this is the cruise that Steven Manning went missing from. We did not go to the dining room since our sail away was for 6pm. We had a couple who must have gone by local time and did not get back to the ship till almost 6:30. Everyone was booing them but they just casually walked back to the ship. Guess they didn't realize they had kept the ship from sailing away on time

 

I took a shower to get ready to go out for dinner when the CD made an announcement that we had a situation on board. Not exactly what I wanted to hear. He proceeds to explain that they had a report of a missing person and requested that everyone go back to their cabins and wait until further notice. He also stated the coast guard had been notified and a search and rescue was in progress. I went onto the balcony thinking we would be stopping but we didn't. Malcom, the CD, announced again that there were still people walking around the ship and it was very important that everyone report to their cabin at once that all venues, bars and dining areas were closed. Our cabin steward came around w/ 2 other officers checking to see that we were in our cabin. I looked out the door 1 time and she was standing in the hall way watching all the cabins and said "Please, don't come out". Around 9 we were released from our cabins. No word as to what happened to the guy. Our thoughts and prayers are w/ his family still.

We went to the buffett and had dinner then went to the piano bar. I can not really remember which shows were which nite and don't want to browse thru the capers but we saw the Living in America show and it was pretty good. The magician had a mechanical failure and as a result he was a failure. The Vroom show was absolutely fabulous!! Highly recommend that show.

Not sure which nite we finally caught the sunset but it was amazing.

 

[gypsyrose]

Wednesday was another sea day. After our last experience w/ chair hogs we decided to get out fairly early (so we thought). We went out around 9 and there was nothing available. Our cabin was on the panorama deck (10) so that is where we like to lay. There was one small section they had not placed chairs so we pulled several out and made us a spot. Another couple came and put there "savings" down then left only to return about 3 hours later.

 

 

 

 

We went to the Silent Film Skit tonite hosted by Malcom (Woo Hoo). It was really fun and entertaining. So much so that I forgot to even take a picture.

 

Thursday we anchored out of Grand Cayman. We had booked a tour w/ Nativeway for the Rays, Reef and Rum Point. Sharon had emailed us the week before to let us know that Rum Point would be closed that day for a private function. Disappointing but what can you do? We were met by our guides at the pier and taken by bus to our boat.

 

 

It was a nice ride to Stingray City. WOW!!! What a beautiful sight. This was by the far the most beautiful water I have ever seen.

 

 

The water was only maybe 4 feet deep so it was perfect to just stand there while the stingrays swam all around. We had a couple of screamers in our group which does distract a little but what can you do but still make the best of it. We got to hold 1 and feed them squid. They really like that and will just come up on your chest practically trying to get fed.

[imlulu]

Gypsy,

Does the Victory now also have mini golf???? We are thinking of doing a 5 day again at end of June. AM trying to convince my 15 yr old ds it will be fun.

[gypsyrose]

After stingrays we went to 2 snorkel spots. At one you could pick up a starfish. They were beautiful but you could only hold them for a short time so they wouldn't dry out.

 

After the tour we went to Senor Frogs for lunch and a bucket of Dos xx's. Our waiter told us they have the best guacamole so of course I had to have it. I was very impressed when he brought a cart over to our table and made it fresh for us. It was excellent!!

 

 

 

 

This was a tender island and the process was quick and easy. We went to the promenade deck that morn and waited maybe 15 minutes in line for a tender sticker then went to deck 0 and got on the tender. Coming back we probably waited about 20 minutes to get on a boat.

 

Tonite was past guest reception and it was held in the karoake lounge. We went for our free drink, heard the speech, watched the video and had our pic made w/ Funship Freddy... Woo Hoo.. My first!!

 

[gypsyrose]

Gypsy,

Does the Victory now also have mini golf???? We are thinking of doing a 5 day again at end of June. AM trying to convince my 15 yr old ds it will be fun.

 

 

Yes, they have the mini golf and water wars although we never even went up there. The ship has so much to offer for all ages. We had a great time. They were constantly cleaning. I heard 1 man grumble and complain about everything but honestly, as long as you don't go looking for bad things, you will love the Victory and have a great time.

[gypsyrose]

Friday we docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We did not book a tour for this island. We had planned on spending the day at Margaritaville. We slept in then had our usual coffee and croissants on the balcony, or so we tried. It is VERY hot today, had to take it inside. We went off the ship around 11 and walked to Island Village which is a gated shopping center w/ guards to keep the locals out. We were approached for taxi rides along the way but a simple no thank you was all it took. No one approached us for drugs, guess we don't look the type.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were finished walking around neither of us were hungry or ready for a drink so we just stuck our head in Margaritaville, took a pic and headed back to the ship.

[imlulu]

Thanks for replying so quickly!!!!

[gypsyrose]

Tonite was our final formal nite. There was 1 guy waiting outside the dining room in shorts and flip flops. I am not 1 to let what someone wears bother me or ruin my vacation, I just noticed it is all. He made the comment to his tablemates...This is as good as it gets. He was approximately 60 something which in my opinion is old enough to know better. If someone feels that way, and is dressed that way, maybe they should go grab a pizza and a beer. Anyway, we enjoyed our dinner and said goodbye to our wait staff. We tipped extra as usual. It's sad to see all the empty tables on the last nite.

 

Tonite was the Legends show where passengers dress as Madonna, Frank Sinatra, Elvis etc and perform. It was entertaining.

 

We wanted to stay up late but ended up on our balcony enjoying our last nite on the cruise.

 

I was up before 5 to get everything packed and ready to go. We had a 10:55am flight and was doing self assist. We pulled into port before 5 am. It is so peaceful and pretty.

 

 

 

We went to the lido at 6am for our last breakfast (and meal) on the ship. Found our steward, Rosie, and gave her an extra tip then headed to the show lounge at 7 to wait to get off the ship. I have read that some thought we were delayed getting off the ship so that FBI could come onboard but I think we were off fairly early. We went thru customs, got a cab and was in the airport waiting at our gate by 8:30.

[gypsyrose]

Overall, we had a wonderful cruise. Truly enjoyed meeting all our roll call friends. Hello Sunshine Group!!! Hope to crusie w/ you all again!!

 

Here are a few more random pics. If anyone has any ???? ask away. It may be tomorrow before I answer but I will.

View from our balcony

 

 

 

This was at 7am on the last sea day. CHAIR HOGS!!

 

[CruiseJunkee2]

Gypsyrose - thanks so much for posting this - we leave on Sunday on the Victory and cannot wait!!

 

Did you have a lot of springbreakers still on the ship?

 

Looks like you had a great time!!

[lcpagejr]

Gypsyrose..Thanks for the review. Brought back some nice memories. The Victory is one of our favorite ships. Have cruised her twice in the past. Glad to see she is still doing well!

[RickMG]

Thanks for the great photos and your review of the Victory. My wife and I will be on it in a little over a week. Glad you guys had a great time. :D

[grandmato4]

Sounds as if all is still the same on the Victory as it was in Feb when we sailed. Nice review and great pictures !

[gypsyrose]

Gypsyrose - thanks so much for posting this - we leave on Sunday on the Victory and cannot wait!!

 

Did you have a lot of springbreakers still on the ship?

 

Looks like you had a great time!!

 

No, we didn't see very many kids. That is mainly why we travel when we do. You will have a great time. Be sure to go see Bob in the piano bar. Even if there aren't many in there at that time, it will fill up. Be sure to come back and write a review.

[cathyoo]

great review and excellent pictures. Thank you for sharing your memories.

[Buster27]

Thank you SO much for your wonderful review and pics. I LOVE see the pictures.....we've done this trip also and LOVE the Victory and it brought back such good memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mainer208]

Great review and your itinerary was a good one. We stayed on SB at the Richmond which is right next to the Marseilles. We were there two nights and the breakfast at the Marseilles was busy both mornings we walked by.

 

Great deal on the SB hotel. We paid almost that much for one night but the location is great right close to Lincoln Road.

 

Appears that chair hogs were out in force big time on your ship. That is discouraging but you seemed to not let it bother you.

 

Thanks again for sharing your photos and review.