Carnival newbie cruising with Victory (trip report and photos 5/29/17 - 6/2/17)

A little background info on who we are: 2 families and 1 cruising solo uncle (ages and initial J-5, J-12, J-15, G-21,C-33, J-39, S-43, R-44 and J-50 years old). We took a Disney Cruise (except the uncle) in 2014 and really enjoyed it but when I checked on prices this year –ouch – they were outrageous (maybe I lucked out in 2014 and got a deal or something) so I started shopping around and Carnival fit the dates and prices I was looking for. My nephew and his wife took their honeymoon on the Victory(which they loved) so that helped seal the deal…

We booked our first Carnival cruise on Victory out of Miami for May 29th –June 2nd with stops in Key West and Cozumel. I booked 2 rooms in February thru a Carnival PVP (Wanda) who was really helpful, we went with 7341& 7343 mid ship balcony rooms; the uncle booked later when we told him we were taking the cruise and did the guaranteed rate and got an inside room on deck 1. **All the rooms have recently been remodeled and we knew this but the only issue we had (which was minor) was the rooms were supposed to be adjoining and when we boarded they were not; I am not sure if the remodel changed this (???) or not but it was still OK** I contacted Wanda to check on price drops and she did help me with this which I thought was awesome. **This is where I will say that I found the customer service at Carnival more helpful than that at Disney Cruise Lines, Disney was not helpful at all on checking rate drops**

Everyone who knows me knows I am a planner, I do not like surprises or spending unnecessary time and money when we are on vacation. I researched the cruise line, the ship, the destinations, the pre-cruise hotels everything and it was exhausting:D **We travel with my best friend and her family and she jokes that I book the vacations and she just shows up** Cruise Critic was very helpful giving me insight on the ins and out of Carnival and what to expect. It was hard to get advice from people who have sailed on Carnival, some would tell me it is the best Cruise line and they loved it while others would say it is a party ship or the Walmart of the seas (but hey I like Walmart)! I like to experience things for myself then make my own judgment so I will try and give you my honest opinion and you can file it with the million other ones out there:D

Looking forward to your review!

We just got back from the 4-day that was after yours. Can't wait to see how things were for you and compare :) I enjoy reading different perspectives and what types of things that other cruisers do compared to what we like on our cruises.

Pre-cruise planning…

Once we got the cruise booked I started checking on excursions, drink packages, what I needed to bring, hotels, flying vs driving, etc.

One thing we did that I was so glad we purchased was the Faster to the Fun option:

*We boarded faster

*We used the guest services line about 3 times and we walked right up while the line was 30 people deep because you have your own separate window

*Dis-embarking the ship early was worth it, we were off at 8:15am way earlier than most people (I will get into this at the end of the report)

Excursions:

Key West - we decided to wing it since we weren’t going to be in port very long and didn’t have a lot of time. We ended up getting a deal when we got off the ship for one of the trolley companies but I will go into detail on that later.

Cozumel – we really wanted to do the jeep tours thru Carnival but since we had a 5 year old with us we couldn’t (the minimum age was 8) so I started looking on Trip Advisor for private excursions that would work. I found an awesome deal for $69 per person which included a guide, jeep, snorkeling, island tour, tequila tasting and lunch. Best of all the 5 year old could go on this one so I booked it and we were set.

Drink packages:

We are not really drinkers so the Cheers package was out; I only bought 1 of the Bottomless Bubbles package prior to the cruise for my son since I drink water and my husband sweet tea. However…. when we got on board and he tried the tea he hated it so I added another Bottomless Bubbles package for him. I found that the water tasted fine as well as the lemonade so I was covered.

I purchased the 12 pack of water thru Carnival ($4.50) ahead of time and had it delivered to our room. We carried on 2 – 12 packs of soda but only ended up drinking 1 while on the cruise.

What to bring:

This was a tough one since we stopped a few days in Orlando on the way down and I had stuff for there and the cruise. I decided to pack all our “dinner dress clothing” in one suitcase and set it aside. I put the things we would only need on the cruise in a suitcase and set it aside. I packed clothing for Orlando and Miami and when we got to the hotel in Miami we did laundry and repacked for the cruise. I did not want to end up with tons of luggage on the ship and not really needing it all.

I read the boards and the lists showing all the “must have” items which some of them I packed but I can honestly say there is tons of storage in the rooms and I did not need those items:

*over-the-door shoe organizer (didn’t even unpack it since the bathroom has 4 shelves in it plus hooks and plenty of counter space)

*extension cords (there were plenty of plugs for charging your electronics as well as USB plugs)

*metal hooks (there is a door stopper and 2 other hooks in the room which we used to hang our lanyards, backpacks,etc.)

*clothes hangers (they had plenty but you can request more if needed)

*beach towels (we didn’t bring them from home we just used the ones from the ship even on the excursion)

I brought items to decorate our door but we ended up not putting them up (also the doors did not seem to be metal but not sure on this). We did use a fold up laundry bag, ear plugs, towel clips for the chairs on the balcony, insulated travel mug and Poopouri for the bathroom. I also brought a foldable travel tote and stuck it in my suitcase to put our souvenirs in to bring home.

Hotel:

We would be arriving in Miami on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend so hotels were pretty pricey. I ended up finding a pretty good deal thru AAA at the Hampton Inn Coconut Grove Miami location. It was clean, had laundry facilities, free breakfast and a small pool. The location seemed safe but the proximity to US-1 made for a lot of traffic.

Flying vs driving:

We were traveling from Tennessee so we decided to drive down to Orlando on Thursday night, spend 2 days at Universal Studios then head down to Miami on Sunday. This worked out much better for us but if we were going straight to Miami and taking a cruise I believe we would fly next time.

Extras:

I added some cruise cash onto our account to give us some $ ahead, I set up a credit card for the extra charges.Be prepared to spend money on photos, arcade (if you have kids), the casino (if you have big kids;)), drinks, souvenirs, bingo (at least 1 time) and any other little extras they may have on the ship.

I am a planner too! Thanks for the tips on what isn't necessary to bring!

Looking forward to your review!

Thanks

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We just got back from the 4-day that was after yours. Can't wait to see how things were for you and compare :) I enjoy reading different perspectives and what types of things that other cruisers do compared to what we like on our cruises.

I do too, I like to read what others have done to see what their experience was and if we missed anything.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am a planner too! Thanks for the tips on what isn't necessary to bring!

Your welcome...

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Following! Can't wait to read more

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for the report.

That was a helpful planning guide!

Will be following along.

Enjoying your review!

Sorry it has been so long in between posts, work and life have been hectic so lets hope it stays calm and we can finish this;)

Almost time…

I downloaded the Carnival Hub app and kept up with the countdown clock (which was killing me with anticipation).

Here we are getting closer and closer...

You can’t open the app until you connect to the ships Wi-Fi but you can watch the countdown clock tick ever so slowly:D

Traveling…

We left out Thursday night (5/25) and drove thru Atlanta, big mistake, I was hoping since we would be going thru so late we would miss the back up because of the I-85 bridge collapse but no we hit it full force.

After some Google map searching on my phone we took side roads thru the city and got around the traffic mess. This was Memorial Day weekend but I was sure we could avoid some of the traffic by traveling so late on Thursday night, well I guess everyone thought the same thing because we had traffic all the way to Orlando.

We stayed at Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Studios from 5/26 – 5/28.

The resort was beautiful and I wished we had more time to visit...

We left Orlando on Sunday (5/28) and drove to Miami, traffic was heavy off and on but the trip was uneventful.

We arrived at the Hampton Inn Coconut Grove Miami around 4pm but only 1 room was ready.

My friend (Cindy) and her family checked in first and got the 1st room; we took our luggage and stored it in her room then waited for a call to let me know when our room next door would be ready. After 30 minutes we decided to eat first then worry about the room later. I found a place thru Trip Advisor called “Groovy’s Pizza & Grill” that was in walking distance (but you had to cross busy US-1). The food was excellent and I would highly recommend it.

I'm enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

After we got our bellies full we walked back to the hotel and the room still wasn’t ready. We all waited in Cindy’s room until I got the call then moved our luggage over.

We checked out the pool (pretty small)...

...did laundry, repacked for the cruise, went down to the breakfast dining area and played cards and ate cookies (the front desk had them out for the evening).

All in all it was a nice place to stay.

Following! Can't wait to read more

 

 

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Thanks...

Thanks for the report.

Thanks...

That was a helpful planning guide!

Will be following along.

Thanks...

Enjoying your review!

Thanks...

I'm enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

Thanks...

Day1 (May 29th) Embarkation:

We got up around 7am, got ready, ate breakfast and checked out of the hotel by 9:30am. There was a shooting on I-95 that morning and it was all over the news; they had shut down a portion of the interstate and was searching for the suspect. I was afraid this would affect us getting to the port but we didn’t have any problems. We made it thru the MacArthur Causeway just fine but as we got to the cruise terminal exits there were cops there checking some cars but letting others go thru (we didn’t get stopped). I am assuming they were still searching for the shooting suspect.

Here is where it got a little “busy”.Since we drove in my husband John dropped us off at the terminal entrance where a porter helped get our luggage, he was friendly and helpful letting us know which entrance to take. People were still leaving the cruise terminal from the previous trip so you had people coming out and people going in, nothing too chaotic but busy none the less. Cindy and her husband Jason were in a separate car where they were pulled on the opposite side of the entrance to unload their car where a porter came up to them with his hand out waiting for a tip before he even touched their luggage. This really aggravated Jason as there was so many cars and people walking thru there he finally unloaded the bags from the car himself and the porter finally put them on a buggy. He did tip him a little bit but he was not happy at all. They both parked in the outside parking area which would prove to be a good decision when we arrived back to port on Friday.

**One tip… be sure to have anything you plan to carry on the ship with you ready to go when you get out of the car.

Both of our families purchased Faster to the Fun but uncle (Roger) did not so we went 2 different directions at check in. We got in line which was moving fast, we entered the terminal entrance where we got in separate lines and they checked our boarding passes, passports (or birth certificates) and driver’s license. I saw that Roger had already went thru ahead of us but there were 8 of us and only 1 of him:D We went up to the terminal waiting area where the FTTF had a section located next to the bathrooms.

 



 

We were told no photos as you enter the waiting area but we slid some in anyway.



 

 



 

Roger had to wait in the regular waiting area and could not sit with us. Now I know that somewhere I read that you cannot get into the terminal until it is 30 minutes prior to your online check in time but since Roger booked his cruise later than us he couldn’t get a check in time till 12-12:30pm window; we were all sitting in the waiting area by 10:34am so they did let him thru no problem (he was in loading zone 6).

At 11:20am they started boarding passengers; since it was Memorial Day they announced that all members of the military could go ahead and proceed to load first (I thought this was a nice move on Carnival’s part). Just a few minutes later they let the Platinum, Gold, Suite then FTTF people head up to load (yeah that is us). Up the escalator to another set of people checking your boarding passes, if you had your passport your photo was scanned when you first checked in, if you were using your birth certificate this is where they took your picture to identify you later. You were not given your sign and sail cards, they would be in the mailbox next to your room. (We were told this was to stop people from trying to enter their rooms early if they did not have the FTTF option.) We had a group photo taken and were headed to the ship by 11:30am.

John, Gavin, me (Shonda), Jacob, Cindy, Jaycee, Jason and Jordan

 

I thought that the lobby was pretty; I liked the green colors and the sea theme throughout the ship.

 

 



 

 

We headed straight to the room to get our S&S cards and put away our carry on bags. The doors to the hallways were closed so we just opened them up and went on back. The room stewards were still cleaning but our room was ready and our cards were there no problem.

 

The cabins have been recently refurbished and were nice and spacious.



 



 

Notice the 2 pegs on the wall (we used them to hang stuff on) and shelves to the left. I ordered water prior to leaving home and it was in our room when we arrived.



 

USB plug near the desk area.