Just off Victory, forgot how much fun Carnival can be!

Wife and I booked last min bc we both had some free time from work and love to cruise. Left our two kids at home with Grandparents. We havent been on Carnival in a while and while I can see where it gets a bad rap from, thats all snotty people being jerks. Carnival rocks.

The last couple of cruise we went on have been NCL (hated) and DCL (w/ young kids, nothing compares to DCL) so we havent done carnival since before we had kids. We actually did this same itinerary for my 30th bday on the Destiny and found out a month later we were expecting #1 (it was a great trip!) This trip was just the same. Great people, great service, great food and just an overall great time. Stark contrast to NCL where the employees cater to you and seem genuinely happy to be doing their jobs. Our room steward knew our names from the first moment we met and always interacted with us. He was fantastic. Same with the people @ dinner. I hated NCL simply bc their bartenders and anyone working on the ship had a chip on their shoulder and made you aware of it. Nothing like that here. It just makes you feel more welcomed and helps keep the mood up.

We love Key West so we wanted to do more then just hit the city. The times at Key west suck, I dont understand staying in Cozumel late but Key West in the morning but whatever. We did the Kayak Nature Tour through the ship but it was run by Lazy Dog. Peyton was our guide and she was awesome. We all almost got flipped when we accidentally ran into about 6 manatees. It was nuts. They went crazy! Saw lots of Nurse Sharks, plenty of mangroves. Very good excursion. Highly recommend. Got lunch at some food truck that was on DDD, Key Lime @ Kermits and then raced back to the ship. The heat on those trams was BRUTAL!

I was shocked at Elegant night and how dressed up people got. I kind of felt bad I only had a nice pair of slacks and a polo. Some people however need a refresher on what "elegant" is. This is where I say I see where the line gets its bad rap from. Every night there were people showing up to Pacific room for dinner looking like trash. You dont have to dress up but my god have some self respect. Dinner every night was great. We like to sit with people since we spend all day together and we had one of the most fun tables of any cruise weve ever been on. Every night we laughed and stayed til they almost forced us to leave. Jose and Waylan were awesome servers. I ate like a slob and Jose made sure to keep bringing food for me. Food was very good as well. I never had anything I didnt like. Well in the dining rooms at least. The Buffets were eh. That was, when you could get to them. On the final sea day, they had one open to start lunch and the line was out to the pool. You can only eat a burger and fries so many times. We went to the seafood shack which was surprisingly very good. Seeing 1.50 oysters on a cruise ship was very unnerving. We got a dozen and they were well worth it. The Lobster rolls were amazing. Worth the $$$

Cozumel i find blah but we went to Mr Sanchoz and minus a 30 min downpour when we got there, it was good. I really dont get why staying there late is a big deal. Place seemed to shut down by 6 anyways.

Serenity pool is fantastic with the exception that there is no pool other then two hot tubs that are twice as hot as the air temp. Seriously, its the middle of summer in the Caribbean. Shut the heat off.

The only problems we had were the internet was atrocious. I prepurchased the "Premium" which tells you skype and social media and stuff work. No. Nothing worked. It would take 20 mins to refresh a website. Alot of people said that. I dont know if it was bc it was a cruise loaded with kids playing as well but then it should be limited to how many they sell. The other one was a jerk photog in Key West. We had facetimed with out kids and saw Mr & Mrs Potato head. They wanted to see one of us next to them. So when we got off, no one was around them and my wife went up to stand next so I could snap a pic. This jerk kept jumping in front of me so I couldnt take it. I was like, dude its one photo. He said something nasty and I told him to F-off. I never get that mad on vacay but this was so rude. I refused to buy any pics on board but then again how could you when you can never find them. How carnival makes money with their system is beyond me.

Filipe is also a trip. The "Woo Hoo" thing is still stuck in my head. The last night we only caught the tail end but they were doing this music thing in the atrium. It was awesome. People were fighting for a spot to watch. People were going up and down in the elevators just to watch. I have a video of the end when the entire atrium is singing Whitney Houstons "I will always love you". Just highlights how much fun these cruises are.

We have another trip with our kids on the Sunshine in October and im seriously pumped to go back on. I still dont think you can compare anything to DCL with all they do (and charge) but I really would rate Carnival up there in terms of what you get, how youre treated and all the fun you can have. We have to go on the Allure next year for my moms 60th and I really wish we could change to one of the new Carnival ships but she already put down deposits for all of us.

Anyways, thats all I can remember now. Maybe some more will pop in my head but otherwise it was an awesome trip.

One thing I forgot. When we were leaving Miami, out on the Port side in the harbor in front of Star Island, we saw a large boat and a bunch of people on it. They were on wave runners and looked to be out of control. I mentioned to my wife someone was going to get hurt with how they were acting. Well, an hour later she was getting ready for dinner and I was watching TV and I got the local Miami news. Wave Runner accident on Star Island. Two people died from that charter. They crashed into the bridge. Horrible.

Great review. Sounds like you had an awesome time. I used to sail Disney as well, and yes they are great. Carnival though has some great ships, great food, and great fun. You'll love the Sunshine, they have upgraded food choices, ropes course, sports square and tons of stuff for the family.

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HI GR!

We have been on several RC and Carnival cruises, and a DCL in May... We were thinking about NCL next year. Can you tell me why you hated it? Which NCL ship were you on?

Just an FYI- we did the Oasis last year (sister to Allure) and LOVED it! I would do either ship again in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the perspective!

HI GR!

We have been on several RC and Carnival cruises, and a DCL in May... We were thinking about NCL next year. Can you tell me why you hated it? Which NCL ship were you on?

 

Just an FYI- we did the Oasis last year (sister to Allure) and LOVED it! I would do either ship again in a heartbeat.

 

Thanks for the perspective!

We were on the Epic for a week and the Breakaway for a CTN out of NYC. I base this mostly on the Epic since we were only on the Breakaway for 48 hours. This was also 4 years ago so maybe things have changed. I did comment in my review that it felt like they were understaffed service wise so that might have changed.

1. Service was atrocious. Only time I have ever considered to withdraw the tip charges. I gave $ to the people i felt deserved it (room steward). Throughout the ship the bartenders were just terrible. Rude. Some didnt even give you the right drink and then claimed thats what you ordered. Wait staff in dining rooms was terrible. Never checked on you. Just threw food down and walked away. They just never made you feel special like I mentioned they did on the Victory cruise. Its night and day. Maybe thats snobby of me but other lines do it and thats part of the experience.

2. Room. Paid for a balcony. Got one of those hidden balconies with an over hang so our view was sea and then a clunk of metal. You couldnt even see the horizon. I get all lines have these but that should be put in room notes. We like to sit on our balconies and read and enjoy the view. Nothing enjoyable about staring at a metal wall. When we went to guest services, they of course didnt give a crap and just shooed us away. Didnt even offer anything to compensate. Just said too bad.

3. Didnt feel like a cruise. We like to sit with random people for dinner. We like having the same waiter and time and formal nights. I dont remember if there was a formal night but the others did not apply. My wife and I love each other but after spending a whole day together, its nice to meet some new people and share stories at dinner. I also didnt like the excessive upcharging (which I know is everywhere now too). What to eat good food, add 25$ pp. Their MDRs were bland. The only time you ate good was if you paid more. The ship also didnt feel like a cruise ship. It felt like a strip mall at sea. Walking inside on the Victory, you have outside windows. I dont really remember that on the Epic. It just didnt feel like we were on a cruise.

4. Chair hogs. It was legit impossible to get a decent chair on a sea day. The amount of people on the ship + people going out at 6:30 am to reserve them made it impossible. I went back to my inital review and remember there was a family in a suite who saved 10 chairs and never used all of them. It was infuriating.

There were some good no doubt and we had a great time like we always do but compared to other lines, I put them at the very bottom. Like I said, I like the 'cruise experience' and it just seemed anything but that.

Wife and I booked last min bc we both had some free time from work and love to cruise. Left our two kids at home with Grandparents. We havent been on Carnival in a while and while I can see where it gets a bad rap from, thats all snotty people being jerks. Carnival rocks.

 

The last couple of cruise we went on have been NCL (hated) and DCL (w/ young kids, nothing compares to DCL) so we havent done carnival since before we had kids. We actually did this same itinerary for my 30th bday on the Destiny and found out a month later we were expecting #1 (it was a great trip!) This trip was just the same. Great people, great service, great food and just an overall great time. Stark contrast to NCL where the employees cater to you and seem genuinely happy to be doing their jobs. Our room steward knew our names from the first moment we met and always interacted with us. He was fantastic. Same with the people @ dinner. I hated NCL simply bc their bartenders and anyone working on the ship had a chip on their shoulder and made you aware of it. Nothing like that here. It just makes you feel more welcomed and helps keep the mood up.

 

We love Key West so we wanted to do more then just hit the city. The times at Key west suck, I dont understand staying in Cozumel late but Key West in the morning but whatever. We did the Kayak Nature Tour through the ship but it was run by Lazy Dog. Peyton was our guide and she was awesome. We all almost got flipped when we accidentally ran into about 6 manatees. It was nuts. They went crazy! Saw lots of Nurse Sharks, plenty of mangroves. Very good excursion. Highly recommend. Got lunch at some food truck that was on DDD, Key Lime @ Kermits and then raced back to the ship. The heat on those trams was BRUTAL!

 

I was shocked at Elegant night and how dressed up people got. I kind of felt bad I only had a nice pair of slacks and a polo. Some people however need a refresher on what "elegant" is. This is where I say I see where the line gets its bad rap from. Every night there were people showing up to Pacific room for dinner looking like trash. You dont have to dress up but my god have some self respect. Dinner every night was great. We like to sit with people since we spend all day together and we had one of the most fun tables of any cruise weve ever been on. Every night we laughed and stayed til they almost forced us to leave. Jose and Waylan were awesome servers. I ate like a slob and Jose made sure to keep bringing food for me. Food was very good as well. I never had anything I didnt like. Well in the dining rooms at least. The Buffets were eh. That was, when you could get to them. On the final sea day, they had one open to start lunch and the line was out to the pool. You can only eat a burger and fries so many times. We went to the seafood shack which was surprisingly very good. Seeing 1.50 oysters on a cruise ship was very unnerving. We got a dozen and they were well worth it. The Lobster rolls were amazing. Worth the $$$

 

Cozumel i find blah but we went to Mr Sanchoz and minus a 30 min downpour when we got there, it was good. I really dont get why staying there late is a big deal. Place seemed to shut down by 6 anyways.

 

Serenity pool is fantastic with the exception that there is no pool other then two hot tubs that are twice as hot as the air temp. Seriously, its the middle of summer in the Caribbean. Shut the heat off.

 

The only problems we had were the internet was atrocious. I prepurchased the "Premium" which tells you skype and social media and stuff work. No. Nothing worked. It would take 20 mins to refresh a website. Alot of people said that. I dont know if it was bc it was a cruise loaded with kids playing as well but then it should be limited to how many they sell. The other one was a jerk photog in Key West. We had facetimed with out kids and saw Mr & Mrs Potato head. They wanted to see one of us next to them. So when we got off, no one was around them and my wife went up to stand next so I could snap a pic. This jerk kept jumping in front of me so I couldnt take it. I was like, dude its one photo. He said something nasty and I told him to F-off. I never get that mad on vacay but this was so rude. I refused to buy any pics on board but then again how could you when you can never find them. How carnival makes money with their system is beyond me.

 

Filipe is also a trip. The "Woo Hoo" thing is still stuck in my head. The last night we only caught the tail end but they were doing this music thing in the atrium. It was awesome. People were fighting for a spot to watch. People were going up and down in the elevators just to watch. I have a video of the end when the entire atrium is singing Whitney Houstons "I will always love you". Just highlights how much fun these cruises are.

 

We have another trip with our kids on the Sunshine in October and im seriously pumped to go back on. I still dont think you can compare anything to DCL with all they do (and charge) but I really would rate Carnival up there in terms of what you get, how youre treated and all the fun you can have. We have to go on the Allure next year for my moms 60th and I really wish we could change to one of the new Carnival ships but she already put down deposits for all of us.

 

Anyways, thats all I can remember now. Maybe some more will pop in my head but otherwise it was an awesome trip.

We were on this cruise too and I agree with you on everything - except we didn't have any photog issues and we ate alone all week since it was our 25th anniversary. (We were the "balcony couple" who really should have won and been in the marriage show instead of the couple where the guy took his shirt off! JS!! LOL!)

I love Carnival. It's so much fun and they make you feel welcome (except when we arrived in Miami in the termimal. Jeez - bad day or what??!)

Key West was like 10th level of hell hot. And yes please make that serenity deck have a POOL!!!! That would have been heaven. We were up there a lot too. It's my favorite spot on the ship - and this was our second time on Victory!

So glad you had a great time. I love the Victory, I hope Vista is just half as good.

Loved your review. The employees are definitely Carnival's greatest asset. And yes, there is as much fun going on as a person could wish for, but also lots of places and opportunities for quiet, rest, and relaxation.

For my money Carnival nearly always does it right.

Great review! Glad you had a fun trip. We are doing this itinerary in a bit over a year. I also don't get the short day in KW. It's such a fun place to be.

As for NCL in my opinion, the service hasn't gotten any better. Never enough bartenders which leads to SLOW service. They were nice, just incredibly overwhelmed. Dining room service was atrocious. We saw our meals sitting on the waiter's station for 20 min before he brought them to us one night. Lunch in the dining room on embarkation day took over two hours! And the waitstaff acted like it was no big deal. This was this past Jan on the Pearl.

(y) Really enjoyed reading your review! Thanks!

Love hearing about people having a FUN time on cruises. :D

We were on this cruise too and I agree with you on everything - except we didn't have any photog issues and we ate alone all week since it was our 25th anniversary. (We were the "balcony couple" who really should have won and been in the marriage show instead of the couple where the guy took his shirt off! JS!! LOL!)

 

I love Carnival. It's so much fun and they make you feel welcome (except when we arrived in Miami in the termimal. Jeez - bad day or what??!)

 

 

 

Key West was like 10th level of hell hot. And yes please make that serenity deck have a POOL!!!! That would have been heaven. We were up there a lot too. It's my favorite spot on the ship - and this was our second time on Victory!

Congrats on the anniversary. Didn't see the marriage show, took a nap. We're you guys the couple on the end on the second level with the speaker? If so, that was my wife next to you whom you asked if the speaker was ok.

I don't know how you drank in key west. It was so hot I couldn't even breathe. The ice must have just melted after one sip. We walked 5 blocks in the shade and I was soaked.

The drinks at Serenity were also awesome. After key west I ordered the Mojito. They didn't have mint so instead they added a second shot. I was like totally not the same but I'll take it. Little things like that go a long way. We went back up before dinner to get another and the bartender remembered that one order from 6 hours ago. Made us the same drinks minus the shot. I wanted to remember dinner.

You mentioned Miami. Disembarkation was a breeze for us. We were off the ship by 7:50 and in Ft Lauderdale airport by 8:30. Our flight wasn't until 11:15. I was nervous the night before we would be cutting it close. Same with getting on the ship. Once they called our number it was like 10 mins and drink in hand.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise!

Sounds like a great cruise, thanks for your review.

OP, we agree totally with you....NCL Epic is one big disaster IMHO......from the ship itself (no windows to see the sea, no atrium w/glitz, a ship that NCL crammed as many cabins in as possible to pump up the pax count on a ship that should hold about 1/3 less pax etc) to the most unhappy crew on earth, + the worst food ever! To say the least, we were NOT fans of the NCL Epic and have shied away from NCL since.

Glad you enjoyed CCL, we agree, thus far, their food can not be beat and there is LESS up-charging than their competitors!! Enjoy the Sunshine with the family!!

OP, we agree totally with you....NCL Epic is one big disaster IMHO......from the ship itself (no windows to see the sea, no atrium w/glitz, a ship that NCL crammed as many cabins in as possible to pump up the pax count on a ship that should hold about 1/3 less pax etc) to the most unhappy crew on earth, + the worst food ever! To say the least, we were NOT fans of the NCL Epic and have shied away from NCL since.

Glad you enjoyed CCL, we agree, thus far, their food can not be beat and there is LESS up-charging than their competitors!! Enjoy the Sunshine with the family!!

Going on back on Carnival and sailing the Vista, I can only hope it as good as our last cruise on NCL Escape.

Our last cruise on Carnival wasn't very good at all. 3 out of the 7 nights our MDR food/service was terrible.

If you compare apples to apples getting the 2 perks (SDP and UBP) included on NCL verses paying for those on Carnival , NCL pricing is better.

Also that's comparing similar cabins/decks.

Was the food truck from DDD a cart with tacos behind a small restaurant? Garbos Grill? Wanted to try that last time in KW but got rained out. We will be on Victory in a few weeks so looking forward to giving that a go again. Thanks for the review.

And I definitely know what you mean about NCL bartenders. They were very rude on the Escape, the only time I complained about bar service on a ship in my entire life.

Was the food truck from DDD a cart with tacos behind a small restaurant? Garbos Grill? Wanted to try that last time in KW but got rained out. We will be on Victory in a few weeks so looking forward to giving that a go again. Thanks for the review.

 

And I definitely know what you mean about NCL bartenders. They were very rude on the Escape, the only time I complained about bar service on a ship in my entire life.

Yea that was the place. It was very good. The guide from lazy dog told us about it. I believe we got the grouper taco. Jalapeños were hot. Very hot.

The bartenders would actively try to find people ordering soda vs mixed drinks bc they didn't want to make them. I've never seen anything like it.

I don't want to crap all over NCL because we did have a good time. At the end of the day, it just wasn't our favorite. To each their own.

OP, we agree totally with you....NCL Epic is one big disaster IMHO......from the ship itself (no windows to see the sea, no atrium w/glitz, a ship that NCL crammed as many cabins in as possible to pump up the pax count on a ship that should hold about 1/3 less pax etc) to the most unhappy crew on earth, + the worst food ever! To say the least, we were NOT fans of the NCL Epic and have shied away from NCL since.

 

 

 

Glad you enjoyed CCL, we agree, thus far, their food can not be beat and there is LESS up-charging than their competitors!! Enjoy the Sunshine with the family!!

The one thing I loved about both the epic and especially on the Breakaway was the Spa. We got the package to hang out in the thermal pools and stuff. They were incredible. When we did the CTN on breakaway we spent 90% of the time in there. Took like 3 naps, relaxed in the pools. I had smokers cough by the end of the weekend.

We did the same thing on the Dream and it didn't even compare.

Yea that was the place. It was very good. The guide from lazy dog told us about it. I believe we got the grouper taco. Jalapeños were hot. Very hot.

 

The bartenders would actively try to find people ordering soda vs mixed drinks bc they didn't want to make them. I've never seen anything like it.

 

I don't want to crap all over NCL because we did have a good time. At the end of the day, it just wasn't our favorite. To each their own.

For garbos grill did you have any time crunch with getting back to ship? I love the KW, Cozumel, Sea Day itin but wished they'd stay til 3 or 5 in KW, last time felt so rushed and when we got rained out at Garbos we didn't want to risk it and just went to the ship for lunch

For garbos grill did you have any time crunch with getting back to ship? I love the KW, Cozumel, Sea Day itin but wished they'd stay til 3 or 5 in KW, last time felt so rushed and when we got rained out at Garbos we didn't want to risk it and just went to the ship for lunch

Yea. Once the tour was over and we were back in the lower city area, it was close to 1130. The last trolley back to the ship is 1230. We had to haul ass to go garbos, eat quick and then do the same to Kermits. Walked an ate the Pie to the line and headed back to the ship around 12:20.

The time in key west sucks. You have to get up early and rush around and it's still not enough time. I wish they would start with the sea day, go right to Cozumel, leave early there and do a later longer day in Kw. I don't get the reason they promote staying late in Cozumel.

Thanks for your thoughts.

We were on the Epic for a week and the Breakaway for a CTN out of NYC. I base this mostly on the Epic since we were only on the Breakaway for 48 hours. This was also 4 years ago so maybe things have changed. I did comment in my review that it felt like they were understaffed service wise so that might have changed.

 

 

1. Service was atrocious. Only time I have ever considered to withdraw the tip charges. I gave $ to the people i felt deserved it (room steward). Throughout the ship the bartenders were just terrible. Rude. Some didnt even give you the right drink and then claimed thats what you ordered. Wait staff in dining rooms was terrible. Never checked on you. Just threw food down and walked away. They just never made you feel special like I mentioned they did on the Victory cruise. Its night and day. Maybe thats snobby of me but other lines do it and thats part of the experience.

 

 

2. Room. Paid for a balcony. Got one of those hidden balconies with an over hang so our view was sea and then a clunk of metal. You couldnt even see the horizon. I get all lines have these but that should be put in room notes. We like to sit on our balconies and read and enjoy the view. Nothing enjoyable about staring at a metal wall. When we went to guest services, they of course didnt give a crap and just shooed us away. Didnt even offer anything to compensate. Just said too bad.

 

 

3. Didnt feel like a cruise. We like to sit with random people for dinner. We like having the same waiter and time and formal nights. I dont remember if there was a formal night but the others did not apply. My wife and I love each other but after spending a whole day together, its nice to meet some new people and share stories at dinner. I also didnt like the excessive upcharging (which I know is everywhere now too). What to eat good food, add 25$ pp. Their MDRs were bland. The only time you ate good was if you paid more. The ship also didnt feel like a cruise ship. It felt like a strip mall at sea. Walking inside on the Victory, you have outside windows. I dont really remember that on the Epic. It just didnt feel like we were on a cruise.

 

4. Chair hogs. It was legit impossible to get a decent chair on a sea day. The amount of people on the ship + people going out at 6:30 am to reserve them made it impossible. I went back to my inital review and remember there was a family in a suite who saved 10 chairs and never used all of them. It was infuriating.

 

 

There were some good no doubt and we had a great time like we always do but compared to other lines, I put them at the very bottom. Like I said, I like the 'cruise experience' and it just seemed anything but that.

Thank you for the feedback! Some of the things you mentioned were already concerns for us, I have heard such negative things but the amenities look really interesting... Guess we are still undecided.

Glad you enjoyed this trip!! And thanks again for sharing.

Thanks for a credible review. I wanted to see a recent review from cruiser with experience instead of a newbie. We were a little concerned about the Victory, but we got a great deal. An Ocean Suite on the Victory vs an Interior on Royal for the same price? :) Yeah, I'll take the suite. Thanks for the tip about the internet. I was just about to purchase the internet package.

We love Key West so we wanted to do more then just hit the city. The times at Key west suck, I dont understand staying in Cozumel late but Key West in the morning but whatever.

It's due to distance and the relatively slow (but steady) speed that cruise ships travel.

Ships have to leave Key West fairly early in order to get to Cozumel the next day at a reasonable hour. I was on this same itinerary on Imagination years ago and I disliked the port-times, too. But if you look on a map you'll see how far it is from Key West to Cozumel.

The journey back to Florida from Coz involves a sea-day for the transit, which is why you can stay in Cozumel later...not that there's much to do there after 6pm.

I really enjoyed your review. Carnival is my favorite cruise line.