Carnival Victory 11-2 / 11-9 Review

[Aplmac]

[quote name='Jeans*Fanatic']Okay I am looking at the style of the ship, from the animals to the decor....
What is the actual [B]theme [/B]of the ship? or is there one?[/quote][COLOR=Black][B]Marine.[/B][/COLOR]

[Aplmac]

[COLOR=Black]Here are a few lighting fixtures that caught my eye, while on board[/COLOR]


[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Chandelier-964.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/518/medium/Victory-922.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/Neptuneslights-957.jpg[/IMG]


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[Aplmac]

[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/Reflections-319.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black][B]Morning [/B]has broken..[/COLOR]


[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/Wake-995.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black]Looking out those big stern windows in the Pacific Dining Room
this is [B]Victory's wake[/B][/COLOR]


[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/BetweenDex-376.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black][B]Between decks..[/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR=White] .[/COLOR]

[Memphis_Wife]

Great job with the pictures! I am amazed that none of your pictures have any crowds - most have NO people at all. Did you take the pictures very early in the morning? While people were in port? The reviews that I have been reading on the Victory all speak of terrible crowding and rude PR people, blah blah blah!

[Aplmac]

[quote name='Memphis_Wife']Great job with the pictures! [COLOR=Black]===> Thanks!

[/COLOR]I am amazed that none of your pictures have any crowds - most have NO people at all. [COLOR=Black]===> Refreshing,huh?[/COLOR]
Did you take the pictures very early in the morning? [COLOR=Black]===> Some...but I chose my [B]decks[/B], and my times..[/COLOR]
While people were in port? [COLOR=Black]===> I'm a [B]half-day[/B]-tour kinda guy
so when I get back onboard, population is minimal, yes..

[/COLOR]The reviews that I have been reading on the Victory all speak of terrible crowding
and rude PR people, blah blah blah! [COLOR=Black]===> Rubbish.[/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Black][B]Here's one or two more...

[/B][IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/Puerto%20Rico/PR-003.jpg[/IMG][B]
Puerto Rico harbour

[/B]
[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/Balcony%20cabin%206431/Balcony-073.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Still P.Rico[/B] harbour -you may have [I]had this one already
but this version is way bigger

[/I]
[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20-%20Nov%2008/VictoryElevator-21.jpg[/IMG]
You're inside one of the elevators now!!

[COLOR=White] .[/COLOR]
[/COLOR]

[InletCam]

GREAT PHOTOS APLMAC!

 

:cool:

[Aplmac]

GREAT PHOTOS APLMAC!

Thanks Inlet...I've been checking yours too, over on the CC Photo Gallery!

You've caught some nice ones in That Twilight Time, when the ships' lights are on

with still some colour in the sky...Neat!

 

You got a good spot there.

I have to drive to my nearby port...mind you it's only 5-10 mins. away

but I think I'm right in saying that all you do is go out into your front yard?

 

 

 

 

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This one's taken

on the deck just before you get up to Waterslide level.

I posted one similar,but this one's difrnt and bigger

 

[Aplmac]

And speaking of waterslides

the fun begins right here at this very point!

 

 

[Aplmac]

And this one to match my new avatar.. :)

-just in case y'all hadn't noticed..

 

 

[Aplmac]

You might like to see this...

 

This is the Lido Pool at the stern of the ship

[Aplmac]

I am amazed that none of your pictures have any crowds - most have NO people at all.

Here's one showing we didn't cruise alone!! :)

 

Sailaway from St.Thomas -at sunset, 3rd. November 2008

[cruiselover00029]

Aplmac, I am trying to finish my review but I cant because I cant stop looking at your pictures. I look at them and they just make me smile and remember the amazing time I had.:)

 

Just a few notes. I really liked the decor of the ship. Someone asked about the theme. I watched a piece on the ship where the designer spoke about it but I don't remember exactly what the theme is. I know some people don't like the decor but I thought it was one of the prettier ships I had been on. It is amazing that Aplmac was able to capture so many photos with no people because it was full. It really only felt crowded at feeding time. Maninly breakfast. At the begining of the week there was only 2 omlet stations at the serving stations by the main pool. By the end of the week there were omlet stations everywhere. Even the asian station had omlets in the morning. i guess they seriously underestimated the omlet demand at the begining of the week.

 

Watch out for those seahorses. As much as I read about them here I had many bruises on the first day. I soon learned not to turn the corners so sharp.

 

If you have any more questions let me know.

 

I am sure I am missing lots of stuff.

 

Oh BTW in Barbados, I am not sure if I told this story. At the beach they had a contest for the ladies in bikinis. They got up on the bar and danced and the crowd voted on who won a $50.00 bar tab. My husbands 60 something aunt was talked into doing this by a stranger. Yes she was wearing a bikini. It was probably one of the funniest moments of the trip. I did not get any pictures because I had only waled up to the bar to get a beer when I discovered what was going on. I did not have a camera and I was so traumatized that I couldn't move to go get it.

 

Okay back to the review. Next up Antigua.

[cruiselover00029]

We did not have anything planned today. I wanted to do Eli's Eco tour but it had a lot of swimming and my husband can not swim. We ended up winging it. I have never been to an island that didn't have some kind of setup for excursions when you exit the ship. These excursions are usually just as good if not better than the excursions on the ship. There was a little both right past the exit on the right. For 35.00 we got an island tour and some beach time. This time all six of our crew went. We can be a rowdy bunch and we like to laugh A LOT! He was very soft spoken so that forced us to be quiet and listen at times. I forget what beach we went to but it wasnt the one they had originally sold us on. We stopped at Shirley Heights. My husband is in the Army so that was pretty cool. We asked Howard to take us to the best beach. The sand seemed really rough. Turns out it was mostly ground up shells. This was a great beach to collect sea shells at. Once you got in the water the sand was as smooth as silk and the water was warm. The food was good to. Our driver left us and came back to pick us up. He even stopped in town so we can get some souvenirs. Not much excitement this day. We returned to the ship and up to the lido we went for our burgers and onion rings. Then things got interesting. It was time to leave, but we werent moving. The ropes werent even pulled in. We were sitting on the side of the ship where we could see the water and the port side where we returned. The gangway was still down. What was going on. About an hour later we see a boat coming back and these people rushing back to the ship. I can only imagine that a Carnival excursion was running late and as they are sure to let you know. If you book with them they will not leave you, and leave we did not.

 

Next it was down to the cabin until dinner. After dinner I am sure we wandered around a bit and then went to bed. I slept a lot on this cruise. I guess I am not as young as i used to be. My husband would just sit out on the balcony while I slept.

[cruiselover00029]

Okay so now we have been moving and vacationing for 7 or 8 days. I am a port hog. I want to spend as much time off of the ship as possible so today came as a shock to me. We did nothing. We awoke and we were so tired. We got off the ship with the family but we just couldn't. We decided to get back on. I spent the day sleeping and relaxing and I do not regret it. I was pooped. Sorry I don't have more for you. I didn't even explore the ship I just slept. I did pack later after dinner and prepare to go home. The next morning we were up early for debarkation and this was just as painful as embarkation. I know there are a lot of people moving to the same place at the same time but we have been on other cruises and it never took this long. We didn't get off the ship until about 12:30 pm. When we got to customs there were a lot of people who did not have their forms filled out. A lot of them did not write English. I actually got into an argument with a man about this. One of our friends is a school teacher. There was a man from Puerto Rico that her and her husband had been talking to since we were in line at embarktation. He spoke English, his wife did not. We saw them all week long and well guess who was at immigration when we got there. They did not write English so my friend got out of the line to help him. Her husband stayed in line. When she was done she joined him back in line. The man behind them got really upset and was saying she routed them and making a fuss. His wife was trying to tell him wat was going on but he wasnt trying to hear it. I am a very unpatient person (I am working on it) and I could take it any more. I knid of went off on him. He got it then! He was being so rude. She was trying to do a nice thing and he was being a jerk. Anyway, I think this contributed to the long wait time.

 

Once we were off we caught a cab back to the El Convento. As I mention we did not stay here but the other people with us did. They treated us like rock stars once again. This place was so great. I cant wait to go back and actually be a guest. They had arranged to keep all of our bags since we had a late flight. We all went shopping again. They kept those bags to. At about 4pm they called 3 taxi vans to the hotel and we all proceeded to the airport. Our flight was at 7pm. We breezed thru and off to our gate to wait. Guess what, our flight was delayed. The flight attendands were coming in on an international flight that was running late and they also had to go thru customs. We did not take off unil 9:30pm. Oh well the joys of traveling! I was happy to get home. I really missed my kids and my life. Vacation is nice but I was glad to be home.

 

Thanks for letting me re-live my vacation. I was determined to fining this. If you have any questions please ask away!

[CruisinJazz]

Thank you so much for posting your review cruiselover!!!

[Aplmac]

Although we didn't do Antigua on this Victory cruise

here are some Antigua pics taken on two other cruises!

 

Dockside at St.Johns.

 

 

Very close to the dock at St.Johns, Antigua, near the ice cream place

 

 

We found this amazing little shop in a side street

with all these wind chime things hanging.

HAD to take a picture!!

 

Genuine Pirate ship docked right near to ours, near the boardwalk.

[Aplmac]

A few shots of the Port area at St.Johns, ANTIGUA

 

 

That's their new Hospital, getting up on the hill there..

 

 

 

 

There's that Pirate Ship again..

[Aplmac]

We caught one of these mini-vans...

over to Nelson's Dockyard..

 

 

 

 

 

Where these rich guys are contemplating a purchase..

 

 

These three giant windlasses used to help winch boats alongside, in olden times

[Jeans*Fanatic]

Still more beautiful...absolutely beautiful pictures!!! Thanks so much aplmac!! I am really enjoying this!!! Can't wait to see more if you have any more that is...:D

[Relayer]

Thanks so much for the wonderful pictures! I am sitting here 79 days out from sailing on Victory and the pics have left me more anxious to cruise than ever! Just what I needed on a dreary, foggy morning in North Carolina. There is actually sun, sand, ocean and a ship waiting out there!

 

I am 8 months since my last cruise and the "need" is really kicking today!

[Aplmac]

We woke up to find St.Kitts looking like....

 

 

This is an evening shot,actually -taken as we were backing out!

 

 

 

These sea-defence rocks are right at the base of the Port Zante pier

 

 

.

[Aplmac]

We simply went up to the sales desk in the little bldg. there at the base of the pier

and bought ourselves two half-day tours to historic Brimstone Hill Fortress

cost us U.S.$ 20 per person - it's all I need for a go-ashore!

and we were back to the ship before 2 p.m.

 

_____________________________________

 

On the way to Brimstone Hill...

 

 

we stopped at the amazing Caribelle BATIK Boutique

This is the old Plantation bell-tower..

 

Caribelle has nicely manicured grounds - very pleasant...and nice stuff to buy,too!

 

 

 

 

 

this is the Boutique

 

 

and this is a cute little Gazebo out in the grounds

So if you do a West Coast tour, they'll probably stop you in here

that's almost a certainty!

 

 

[Aplmac]

These old geezers had quite a musical thing going

they were right at the town-side entrance to the Cruise Complex

 

 

Lookin the other way from the old boys

it was a quiet Sunday in Basseterre, the capital

so not much was going on..

 

 

Here's a Carib Indian petroglyph thing we stopped at

also on the way to Brimstone Hill

.

[Cigar Dude]

Wait! That's it? :confused:

 

I know you have more pics! :confused:

 

 

WE NEED MORE PICS!!!!!

 

WE NEED MORE PICS!!!!!!!! :) :)

[Memphis_Wife]

Aplmac - it does not even look crowded at the St Thomas sail away - you need to share your secret for where the crowds are NOT! I love finding little spots that are away from the crowds on a cruise.