Carnival Victory 11-2 / 11-9 Review

[Memphis_Wife]

MORE!! I need MORE!!

We (DH and 2 DS) leave on this cruise in June! The pictures are great! MORE!!

[cruiselover00029]

After the falls I purchased a few trinkets from the vendors at the falls. We then proceeded back down with a stop at the fruit stand and then on the tubing. I am not a big picture taker so i am glad Aplmac joined in to give you his photos of the ship. I didn't take very many and his (or hers) are great. We got to the spot where we were to begin tubing and it was literally a spot on the side of the road. We had to wait because the tour that went before us hadn't finished yet. Once they were done our guides arrived with the tubes and the gear. We were given helmets and life jackets. My DH can not swim, this was not a problem. He did flip off of his tube but he is 6" 2' so he could stand in the water. I am not sure If the water is deeper at certain times of the year. This day were were accompanied by my husbands cousin and his wife and one of her friends. Her friends husband chose to stay behind. The guides took a liking to us ladies so we had a lot of personal attention. I was constantly floating off to the sides. I do not know why but there was always someone there to save me. There was also 2 little boys in our group. I was probably more worried about them than my husband. I was really scared for them. They looked to be about 8 - 10. The guides took really good care of them, but the mom in me could not stop worrying about these boys. I was scared on the river a few times so I am sure they were scared. All in all we had a great excursion. At the end they had a stand with drinks and rum punch. The gaveus the option to stop at a black sand beach at the end but everyone decided we wanted to return to the ship. We were tired and it was a long and full day.

[Aplmac]

[quote name='cruiselover00029'] [COLOR=Black][B]Just a few notes. [/B][/COLOR]
The bank machine at the bank across from the port dispenses [B]EC Dollars. [/B]
The exchange was about 2 to 1 if I remember correctly. [COLOR=Black]===> [COLOR=DarkGreen][B]2.7[/B] to 1 U.S.Dollar[/COLOR][/COLOR]

It was raining cats, dogs, mice, chickens, I mean it was [B]raining [/B]non stop
I thought this was going to get [B]cancelled[/B]. [COLOR=Black]===> Naawww. Standard "liquid-sunshine" Dominica weather,trust me!

[/COLOR] If you get [B]carsick [/B]this is [B]not [/B]the place for you. [COLOR="Black"]===> She knows what she's talking about -be warned![/COLOR]
There were a lot of windy roads with sudden [B]drop offs[/B]. [COLOR="Black"] ===> Sounds like Dominica![/COLOR]
I did [B]a lot of praying[/B] today.[COLOR=Black] ===> The crowded road up to Trafalgar Falls scared even me, and I [B]don't scare easily[/B][/COLOR]


I will try to [B]attach some photos[/B] and let them speak for themselves. [COLOR=Black]===> Your pics came thru admirably [B]- Congrats!![/B][/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Black] The morning of Nov.4th. we arrived at Dominica it was raining just inland of the town
This shot makes it look dark and mysterious almost..[/COLOR]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/medium/DOM-1001.jpg[/IMG]


[COLOR=Black]And by late afternoon it looked [I]like this![/I][/COLOR]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/medium/DOM-355.jpg[/IMG]

[cruiselover00029]

I don't remember what I did or ate in the evenings. We did not go to any shows. I used to on past cruises but for the past 5 years I have worked at a Broadway theater so when I go to those shows I tend to pick them apart. By then end of the day we were so tired we really did not want to do anything. Having a late dinner was great because there was no rush to return to the ship. We went to Karaoke one night not much else. We would usually go to dinner, wander around the ship and of to bed.

Next day was Barbados.

After the fun they had yesterday everyone wanted to know what I had planned for today. They were in for a surprise because I had nothing. We had planned on going to the beach with everyone else. We all met outside the terminal and took 3 cabs to the Boat Yard. The price was 20.00 per person. That included a drink, a chair and an umbrella. The drinks were hard to get. If you had the ticket in your hand they would just ignore you and wait on paying customers. The food was bad here too or should I say I did not like it. The water was beautiful and this was a nice relaxing day. There were guys renting jet skis, a guy with two horses and other water toys to play on. The water toys were free with the admission. Not much else happened today. The cab ride back to the boat was also included with the admission. Our driver was upset because we were wet. He did not want us sitting on his seats with our wet suits and shorts. That was understandable, but he did just pick us up from a beach. The guy who sat upfront said that they driver was really rude and cursed the whole way back. Oh well, whatever, we were going back to our cabin. BTW our usual ritual was return to the ship, go to the lido deck and get burgers and onion rings, then down to the cabin to clean up.

[cruiselover00029]

Aplmac I am jealous. I need a new camera because I LOVE YOUR PICTURES!

[Aplmac]

[quote name='Memphis_Wife']MORE!! I need MORE!! [COLOR=Black]===> Send [COLOR=DarkGreen][B]MONEY[/B]!![/COLOR][/COLOR] LOL!

We (DH and 2 DS) leave on this cruise [B]in June![/B] [COLOR="Black"]===> It'll be getting hot by then...end of dry season..[/COLOR]
The pictures are great! MORE!![/quote] [COLOR=Black]OK [B][COLOR=DarkGreen]your check[/COLOR][/B] just arrived in the Mail, so here are a few more pics
...this time pics [B]of the ship itself.[/B].okay?
_____________________________________________


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-238.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Seeing double[/B] again...too many drinks-in-a-funnel [I]Aaarghh![/I]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-101.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Lido pool[/B] area - [I]astern[/I]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/VICTORY-240-1000.jpg[/IMG]
[B]What the...[/B] You're standing in the middle of the Lido restaurant area
near the dessert table, under a huge overhead skylight - you look up...


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-922.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Neptune's Way[/B] - Deck 5


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/514/medium/DiningRoom-935.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Breakfast[/B] in the Pacific Dining Room


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/513/medium/DOM-350.jpg[/IMG]
A view of the very Southern tip of Dominica from our balcony.
Scott's Head it's called.
[I]No not the [B]balcony[/B].[/I]..that little bit of land U see sticking out !!


[/COLOR]

[Aplmac]

[quote name='cruiselover00029']Aplmac I am jealous.
I [B]need a new camera[/B] because I LOVE [B]YOUR PICTURES[/B]![/quote]
[COLOR=Black][B]You go right out[/B] and buy that Nikon D60 honey...never mind what your hubby tells you
- you tell him it's Christmas,baby and [B]Aplmac [I]said[/I][/B] you could get it..that's [I]right.[/I]

Oh and don't forget the [B]Sigma [/B]lens too.
A girl's gotta have "Accessories" ..and that applies to cameras too!
Besides, it'll [I]only be another $500 or thereabouts -[/I] LOL!


_________________________________________________
If you go over to the [U]Cruisecritic [B]Photo Gallery[/B][/U] at URL..
[B][URL]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/index.php[/URL]
[/B]you'll see among the[B] Top Posters [/B][I](small box at upper left)
[/I]there's some guy called [B]aplmac [/B]who's posted about a thousand pics.

If you start to poke around in the various categories further down the page
you'll find my stuff, several of which I've used in this thread to illustrate this and that!


Here's your favourite ship, docked at St.Thomas..
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-155.jpg[/IMG]


[COLOR=MediumTurquoise]and there's [I][B]that OMG waterslide[/B][/I] again![/COLOR]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Waterslide-175.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Silver][I]
Have you made the booking yet?[/I][/COLOR]
[/COLOR]

[cruiselover00029]

Aplmac I see in your signature you got off in in Barbados so I guess I have to take it from here. Next stop, St. Lucia...

We had pre-arranged a tour with Serenity Tours. When we got off the ship I found the representative and she took me to the person I had been speaking with to arrange the tour, John. He was super nice and has and the have an office here in my home state of MD. His sister runs that office. He took us to our driver Chris. We ended up having a private tour at no additional charge because the other couple cancelled. This tour included a lot of driving an photo opportunites. They provided snacks for us in the car which included coconut that was sweeter than any coconut I have ever tasted, EVER, and some little pastry things but they were really good. We also had a cooler with water, rum punch, fresh juice, and beer. This was all included with the tour and we hadnt even left the port. We drove around stopping at a lot of little places to take pictures. We stopped to taste bananas right off of the tree. We stopped to taste cassava bread and see how it was made. We stopped for hot creole bread. We went to the Toraille Waterfall and Botanical Gardens and the Sulphur Springs. While Dominica was my favorite day. This was my husbands. It was peaceful and beautiful. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes Really!

[cruiselover00029]

More Pictures. I am not a big picture taker but this was truly a beautiful island. Now if only I had that Nikon D60...

This is the Sulfur Springs. I thought it was amazing how green it was in the middle of a caldera.

[Aplmac]

[quote name='cruiselover00029']Aplmac I see in your signature you[B] got off in in Barbados[/B]
so I guess I have to take it from here. [COLOR=Black]===> Yes..we [B]live here(Barbados[/B])- so over to you.[/COLOR][/quote][COLOR=Black]We did a brief 'First Cruise' on Carnival [B]Destiny [/B]back in May of 2007
doing Antigua, Sint Maarten and a bit of St.Lucia
so don't be surprised if I butt in with a few pics of those islands too.


[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20DESTINY%20-%20May%2007/St%20LUCIA/St-2.jpg[/IMG]
[B]St.Lucia[/B]
[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20DESTINY%20-%20May%2007/St%20LUCIA/Castriesinlet.jpg[/IMG]
[/COLOR]

[cruiselover00029]

[FONT=Georgia][SIZE=2][/SIZE][/FONT]Toraille Waterfall Pics.

The water was so clear.

We had seen this boat sailing by our balcony in the morning. As we were driving away from the port our driver asked us if we had seen the Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. :confused: He said its right there. This was the same boat. I caught this picture when it was returning later that afternoon. Its not that good but I thought it was cool that I had actually seen the Black Pearl.

Okay I have to get some work done today. I promise I will not leave you hanging again. I will try to get back this afternoon if not this evening to finish Antigua, St. Kitts, and the return trip home.

Thanks for hanging in there and thanks to Aplmac for helping out.

[marniegirl]

This thread has truthfully been a fun "ride" so far, with cruiselover00029 and aplmac tag teaming back and forth!! Good times!

We are taking this cruise 1/18/2009. The photos and essays are wonderfully complimentary and provide luscious bits, much like cocktails and hors d'oeuvres before the feast!

aplmac===>thanks for the tip on the wide angle lens! You have reinforced what I've been telling my hubby...."I NEED a wide angle lens for Christmas!!!"

Continue.............



P.S. Recommendation for a beach day in Barbados, aplmac? We are 4 adults, 1 teen, 1 toddler. Chairs, umbrella rental and beach bar appreciated. Not too crowded. Thanks in advance. marniegirl

[Aplmac]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Farcus-363.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/FarcusFunnel-430.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Farcus_Funnel.jpg[/IMG]

[Jeans*Fanatic]

This has really been an amazing thread!!! I will make sure and subscribe to this one!! Since my trip is next May on this beautiful ship! I actually like green... (I have read some complaints about the green).

Aplmac and Cruiselover your pics are beautiful!!!

[CruisinJazz]

I have so enjoyed the pictures and reports!! Thank you!!

Aplmac...since you live in Barbados...any suggestions on must do's?? We are not the lay out on a beach type of people. We're going with a large group, but only 4 of us adults will stick together doing excursions. Would love your input on excursions that are a must! :)

[Aplmac]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-71.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black] Victory at Barbados![/COLOR]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-111.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black] Victory at Bridgetown Port, BARBADOS[/COLOR]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/VictoryElevator_Deck6-352.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black] This'll give you some idea of what the interior decor is like.
Typical elevator area - [/COLOR][I][COLOR=Black]Deck [B]6 [/B]- read the carpet![/COLOR]


[/I][IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/FunShip-1094.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black][B]Lido Pool[/B] - amidships[/COLOR]

[Aplmac]

[COLOR=Black]Life can be [I][B]tough [/B][/I]on board...


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Gone-195.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/LidoStern-099.jpg[/IMG]
Did I show y'all this one already?
[/COLOR]

[Aplmac]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-375.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black]Evening light on deck, while at [B]Dominica[/B]
just before sailaway - 4th. November 2008


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/DaBigTV-228.jpg[/IMG]
There's [B]a Drive-In[/B] on board? [I]Whoaa!

[/I]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Theatre-057.jpg[/IMG]
[B]The Caribbean Showlounge![/B]
Let's me here after dinner, for the Show..
[/COLOR]

[Jeans*Fanatic]

[quote name='aplmac']


[COLOR=black][/COLOR]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/VictoryElevator_Deck6-352.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=black]This'll give you some idea of what the interior decor is like.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Typical elevator area - [/COLOR][I][COLOR=black]Deck [B]6 [/B]- read the carpet![/COLOR][/I]


[/quote]

This really made me laugh! Because when I was on the splendor this month, I noticed a couple of days before the cruise was due to end, that there were numbers on the carpet and then it dawned on me "HEY THESE ARE THE NUMBERS OF THE DECKS"...LOL!!! I bust out laughing on the spot... I saw them but I never really looked at them until that moment!! Aweeeeee...such sweet memories!! Now new memories will soon begin on the Victory.... Thanks so much AplMac!!

[onceagain]

I am just so impressed with these pictures and your review - all of you. We'll be on the Victory one month from tomorrow!!!!

[Aplmac]

[quote name='Jeans*Fanatic']This really made me laugh!
Because when I was on the splendor this month, I noticed a couple of days before the cruise was due to end,
that there were numbers on the carpet and then it dawned on me "HEY THESE ARE [B]THE NUMBERS OF THE DECKS[/B]"...LOL!!!
I bust out laughing on the spot... I saw them but I never really looked at them until that moment!!
Aweeeeee...such sweet memories!! Now new memories will soon begin on the Victory....
Thanks so much AplMac!![/quote][B][COLOR=Black]Glad it tickled your fancy![/COLOR][/B]

[COLOR=Black]Now for some 'more serious' stuff..([I]yeaahh whatever![/I])[/COLOR]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/FunShip-1091.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/MiniGolf-178.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black][B]Mini-golf[/B] course [I]up hiigh[/I], up [B]forward [/B]- go up to the Waterslide entry area
then go over to the Starboard rail - and [/COLOR][I][COLOR=Black]look down dere.[/COLOR]


[/I]_________________________________________________

[Aplmac]

[quote name='onceagain']I am just so impressed with these pictures and your review - all of you. [COLOR=Black]===> Thanks! [COLOR=Gray]I owe Carnival a favor..[/COLOR][/COLOR]
We'll be on the Victory [COLOR=Purple][B]one month from tomorrow!!!![/B][/COLOR][/quote][COLOR=Black][B]And you're getting excited!
[/B]


Wait til you see all [I]this [/I]stuff..

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Elevators-324.jpg[/IMG]
Another elevator area, this time [B]on Lido Deck[/B], amidships..


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/WineBar-194.jpg[/IMG]
Cute little [B]Wine Bar[/B] on Deck 5.


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Dining_Rm-920.jpg[/IMG]
A cosy little area [I]at the very stern of the ship[/I] - [B]Pacific Dining Room[/B] on Deck 3
[/COLOR]

[Aplmac]

[COLOR=Black][B]Animals everywhere![/B]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Seahorse-055.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Seahorse-040.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Seahorses [I]every[/I][/B][I]where![/I]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Octopus-921.jpg[/IMG]
An octopus? on [I]a ship? [/I]
( a [B]big [/B]one,too....wait til you see it...somewhere along Neptune's Way)


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/CasinoLion-926.jpg[/IMG]
Several blue Chinese lions guards the Casino -this is just one of them!
[/COLOR]

[Jeans*Fanatic]

Okay I am looking at the style of the ship, from the animals to the decor.... What is the actual theme of the ship? or is there one?

[marniegirl]

I was on the Freedom for an Eastern Caribbean cruise, and would say that the decor is "Neptunian."

"That's my final answer Reege."