Carnival Victory Review 9/20-9/27/09 w/ Pics!

[IslandToIsland]

9/25 Day 5 Antigua

 

Today we decided to go to Jolly Beach Resort. We got off the ship and headed up Market St. to the local bus station. It was only $3.00 US for two people. The only bad thing is we waited and waited for the bus to leave. They wait until it is completely full before they head out. The ride itself wasn't bad, but for us we would rather spend the extra and take a taxi instead of waiting for the bus to leave. The bus drops you off right at the resort entrance and it is only a short walk to the front desk where we purchased our day pass. The pass is $60pp and includes all you can eat and drink and use of all the resorts ammenities.

 

The beach was beautiful and they had 2 pools. One right after the entrance and one down the beach some. This one had a swim up bar and little tables in the water. It also had a volleyball net set up on one side. The grill by the pool served jerk chicken, burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, etc. They also had a buffet, but we didn't make it to that.

We met up with a couple of people from our roll call and sailed on a catamaran. I was a little nervous at first, but it turned out to be a nice experience. When we returned from the sail, we spent the rest of our time there relaxing in the pool. We ended up taking a taxi back and did a little shopping in port before we had to get back on the ship.

 

 

 

The water here is beautiful!

 

 

This was the pool right by the entrance

 

 

 

Big pool further down

 

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This was us going for a sail

 

 

I really enjoyed our day at Jolly Beach Resort, how can you not?!:)

[IslandToIsland]

Great review. I love reliving my Victory cruise through your text and pictures. It seems like (so far) we did about the same things. Thank you for taking the time to do this as I know how long it can take.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read it. :) Your Victory review was great as well! I just loved this itinerary and would do it again in a minute. It's very hard to pass up!

[Scarlett824]

Great review! I am enjoying reading it and loving the pics!

 

We did this cruise on July 26 and did almost all the same stuff as you. :cool: This was the BEST itinerary and the BEST beaches. I would love to do this cruise again. The only thing I would change is the ship. We did not love the Victory. It was good that we were so busy on the islands that we weren't on the ship much. Also, on this cruise we made lots of use of our balcony. As you stated, the first thing I would do every morning was run out to the balcony to take pics. And every evening we would go out there and watch the sunset and sail away. It was amazing.

 

What did you guys do at night? Did you go to any of the lounges or see any shows? What did you think of the entertainment?

[IslandToIsland]

Great review! I am enjoying reading it and loving the pics!

 

We did this cruise on July 26 and did almost all the same stuff as you. :cool: This was the BEST itinerary and the BEST beaches. I would love to do this cruise again. The only thing I would change is the ship. We did not love the Victory. It was good that we were so busy on the islands that we weren't on the ship much. Also, on this cruise we made lots of use of our balcony. As you stated, the first thing I would do every morning was run out to the balcony to take pics. And every evening we would go out there and watch the sunset and sail away. It was amazing.

 

What did you guys do at night? Did you go to any of the lounges or see any shows? What did you think of the entertainment?

 

We seen the Vroom show, not sure if thats what its called, but it was the one where they were dancing and singing to different songs of each decade. We did not get to see it from the beginning, but I thought it was entertaining. We also seen the R rated comedian. We thought he was really funny. I can't remember his name though. Aside from that we just checked out the different lounges, shops and hung out on the Lido.

 

What was it you didn't like about the Victory?

[IslandToIsland]

9/26 Day 6 St. Kitts

 

This was our last island and we decided to go to Cockleshell Beach. We took a taxi there and were probaly the first people on the beach. When we arrived, I just had to go see Wilbur the pig. He was sprawled out snoring away in the shade. There was also a goat and a monkey in a cage close by. The poor goat, the monkey was harrassing him. They also had a dog on the beach who was very friendly.

 

We snorkeled here and seen many starfish. We found some good snorkeling by the dock area and also all the way to the left of the beach on the Reggae Beach Bar side. As the afternoon approached, the beach was packed. There were alot of college kids there who were having some sort of reunion. Alot of them brought their dogs, so there were many dogs on the beach that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of videos I took of them.

 

 

 

We were on the opposite end, where the Reggae Beach Bar is located

 

 

There is some snorkeling around this peir

 

 

 

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A little later, I will give my final thoughts, post pics of the ship, and our last day in PR.

[chachi]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review. I'm enjoying looking through your photos. This is definately an itinery I want to do.

[azurewater]

Great job on the reveiw and photos. We are going December 13th (that is 74 days to go!). I have booked Levi for the Rousseau Treasure tour and Spencer on St. Lucia. After reading so many Victory tours, I feel like I have been there already!

 

I have an aquapac that I used to snorkel with in Mexico a few months ago. At first I did not use my good Canon 850IS, I was just chicken. Used an older Kodak from my digital camera collection. After a few days and quite a few dives, I put in my Canon and it was all good. Of course, I was continuously checking the locking mechanism...especially after husband would use it. : ) I recently bought a refurbished Olympus underwater camera on ebay. Cannot wait to try it out.

 

Well, thanks again for taking the time to write your reveiw. The future cruisers of the Victory certainly appreciate it.

 

Joy

[jenms2000]

the monkey needs to leave the goat alone!!!:mad: i love goats and that monkey really bugged the poor goat. i loved the picture and video of wilbur too. thanks for posting it.

jen

p.s. i bought an aquapac last night.

[IslandToIsland]

Hey Tracey-it was great meeting you and Marcus and I am really enjoying your review. Can't wait to see the rest.

Thank you Wendy, it was nice meeting you as well. It was a great week!

[Crystalbast]

I love the video of your BF feeding the turtle. That was so cool!

[Old Fan]

Thank you! You've done a great job promoting this cruise experience. If Char and I have half the fun you guys did, it will be well worth the price of admission. Great review.

[dallas52]

great review, we will be going the last of Feb. cant wait, planning on what to do at all the ports. thanks again

[IslandToIsland]

9/27 Debarkation Day

Debarkation took a loooong time due to a full customs check. We did not mind at all because our flight wasn't until 6:55pm. We had blue tags number 14 and we weren't officially off the ship and outside the port area until probably about 1:30pm. There were others with much higher than us so I can only imagine when they were able to get off. While we waited they had set up lunch for the next group, so we left the lounge we were waiting in and went upstairs to grab a quick lunch before debarking.

 

Once we were off the ship we went to pier 2 and there was a place that would hold your luggage for a small fee. We dropped our luggage off and headed to El Morro. It was probably about a 15-20 min walk. Once there, we explored a bit then headed back and did some last minute shopping before grabbing our bags and heading to the airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Here are some pics around the ship

 

The Atlantic Dining Room

 

 

 

 

Club Arctic

 

 

Black and Red Seas Lounge

 

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Adriatic Lounge

 

 

 

 

Irish Sea Bar

 

 

South China Sea Club

 

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Seven Seas Atrium

 

 

 

 

Lido

 

 

Seaside Theater

 

 

Mini Golf

[IslandToIsland]

Final Thoughts

 

Well as you know by now, we had a fabulous time. I can honestly say I really have no complaints, although I don't consider myself to be a picky person either. I can enjoy myself pretty much anywhere, especially on a huge ship with tons of food and entertainment. Not to mention waking up on a different island everyday. Now that is indeed paradise.:D

 

The food was good and I really can't comment too much on the entertainment. We only seen one show and a comic, but both were entertaining in my opinion. We gambled a bit, but didn't win.:( I didn't use the pool, but all were filled and in working order. We did use the adult hot tub and I never seen many people in it at all. It's hard to take advantage of everything the ship has to offer because everyone is so tired by dinner. We did what we could and have no regrets.

 

I can't say enough about this itinerary. It's just AWESOME! The one thing I heard from a few people is how they really didn't like Dominica. If you book an excursion and actually experience the island, I don't see how you can dislike it. But thats just my opinion. Each island is beautiful in its own way. I would not hesitate to do this itinerary again.

 

I was so sad to go, but having another one booked helps ease the pain.:p

I hope all of you upcoming Victory cruisers have as much fun as we did.:)

[tiggerman101]

 

I can't say enough about this itinerary. It's just AWESOME! The one thing I heard from a few people is how they really didn't like Dominica. If you book an excursion and actually experience the island, I don't see how you can dislike it. But thats just my opinion. Each island is beautiful in its own way. I would not hesitate to do this itinerary again.

 

I feel exactly the same. I loved this cruise and it is easily my favorite I have done so far. Dominica is my favorite port with St Lucia being my second. We did the same exact tour in Dominica and it was an incredible day. I honestly flinch when I hear people say they didn't like the island. Most of the time it is because they didn't get out to see the beauty of it.

 

There are so many cruises I have on my "to do" list, but this would be the first one I would eagerly repeat. Thanks again. Your review was wonderful.

[Dirkgun]

This is such a great review. Thanks for the pics and time spent. We leave on this cruise on Super Bowl Sunday and I can hardly wait. Especially after seeing the great time you had.:D

[Belfast Scorpio]

A great review and pics; we join this cruise on 21 October can't wait

[jimbo5544]

I echo everyone comments. Really really nice review and pics. We can really see how much you enjoyed yourselves. Nice job!!

[IslandToIsland]

Thank you all for the nice comments. :)