Victory questions from a Carnival newbie

[erin1998]

Good afternoon everyone......:D

I have previously sailed with Celebrity, Disney, and our last few cruises have been on Royal Caribbean. I found a wonderful itinerary leaving out of Barbados on the Victory at the end of next year. Since I have never sailed with Carnival before, I know nothing about their ships. I tried looking at their website and didn't really find what I am looking for, so I thought this would be the best place to ask my many questions.....for starters, what restaurants are included in the cruise price? (we are not dining room people...I know, gasp, but we prefer the buffet, grill type places for all our meals), how many pools are there?, any waterslides? mini-golf?

Can anyone tell me the difference of the balcony staterooms? What is the difference of an 8A to an 8E or a 9A? Is it just location?

Sorry, I have many questions...:rolleyes:...I guess basically any info on this ship would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much :)

Erin

[obx_fintoo]

Good afternoon everyone......:D

I have previously sailed with Celebrity, Disney, and our last few cruises have been on Royal Caribbean. I found a wonderful itinerary leaving out of Barbados on the Victory at the end of next year. Since I have never sailed with Carnival before, I know nothing about their ships. I tried looking at their website and didn't really find what I am looking for, so I thought this would be the best place to ask my many questions.....for starters, what restaurants are included in the cruise price? (we are not dining room people...I know, gasp, but we prefer the buffet, grill type places for all our meals), how many pools are there?, any waterslides? mini-golf?

Can anyone tell me the difference of the balcony staterooms? What is the difference of an 8A to an 8E or a 9A? Is it just location?

Sorry, I have many questions...:rolleyes:...I guess basically any info on this ship would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much :)

Erin

I can't help much with the Balcony question, since we have only stayed in inside rooms on the Victory. Normally the letters simply mean you are on a higher deck, but this is not always a good thing IMO.

 

The good news is you will have lots of dining choices as opposed to the dining room. On the mid Lido deck is the main buffet area, the NY deli - reubens are awesome!, the Hong Kong Noodle company. To the aft same deck is the Pizzeria and another grill area. This is the spot to get omelets in the morning! Yum! :)

 

There are two pools on the Lido - Triton's Pool is the center with stadium like deck levels around it and the stage. There are two pool bars (smoking and non) in this area. There there is another pool all the way aft.

 

We have done two cruises to nowhere out of a close by port on the Victory. It is a nice ship with large staterooms and roomy bathrooms. The deck plans make it somewhat confusing to get around sometimes (can walk from front to back on several decks) is the only complaint. If you go, enjoy! It does look like a great itin!

[nybumpkin]

There is no real difference between the balcony 8A to 8E cabins themselves - the only difference is location. 8A cabins are on deck 6, 8E are on deck 10. We have had two balcony cabins on deck 8 and one on deck 10 on Victory; you may have some noise in deck 8 cabins from the Lido deck above, but I've had no complaints. I prefer deck 8 to deck 6 (we had balcony cabins on deck 6 on both Liberty and Valor) - deck 6 cabins are above the promenade deck with its lounges and casino.

 

Then there's the 9A, described as a "premium balcony." These are extended balconies and include the aft corner cabins with balconies that wrap around the corner. We booked one (8428) on Victory this past August and it was out of this world. If you love spending time on the balcony, these are great cabins. For us, it was well worth the price - but if you plan on going ashore each day (there are no sea days on the Southern itinerary) and don't plan on much balcony time, you may want to stay with a regular balcony for this cruise.