1st Time Cruiser Review-Carnival Victory Sept 20-27, 2009

[CruisinJazz]

We had late dining, 8:15pm in the Pacific Dining Room, lower level right beside the windows. With this itinerary the late dining would definitely be needed so you aren't rushed to get back to the ship each day. The first evening is open seating. We had gotten cleaned up, went to dinner, then off to the muster drill and then onto the Roll Call Meet & Greet. It was great meeting a few of the people from our roll call. I wished I had been able to stay to meet everyone, but it got extremely hot by the Siren Pool since they closed the roof (not sure what you call this??). During the day it's open or closed depending on the weather, however, we found it closed every evening and it felt hotter than a sauna.

 

Me with the lei and Janie....

[CruisinJazz]

I personally was very disappointed in the meals in the Pacific Dining Room. In my opinion the food in the dining room on most nights tasted like cafeteria food...pre-plated, warmed up and service was very slow. I felt the food in the Mediterranean which is buffet style was alot fresher and tasted a lot better. I personally liked breakfast in the Pacific Dining Room more than in the Mediterranean. The dining room was basically empty, food was fresh, eggs cooked to order, service a lot faster and I loved meeting new people each morning...hearing the excitement of who was going to do what. The Mediterranean in the mornings was packed, but the lines tended to move pretty well.

 

We headed to the Black and Red Seas bar for karoake once we finished dinner the first night. My husband sang Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and received a standing ovation. Everyone's mouths basically dropped open. Yes, he really does sound like Louis Armstrong and it's a shocker to most people to hear that come out of a big, goofy looking white man. ha! We called it a night and headed off to our cabin to get shut eye for our first port of St. Thomas.

[CruisinJazz]

And this is the sight we woke up to... St. Thomas:

 

[koza]

Thank you soooo much for writing the review and sharing your pictures. I will be on Victory in two weeks from tomorrow :), and reading such a great review adds on to the excitement!! Looking forward to reading the rest!

PS Your San Juan pictures are amazing!!!:cool:

[CruisinJazz]

Thank you soooo much for writing the review and sharing your pictures. I will be on Victory in two weeks from tomorrow :), and reading such a great review adds on to the excitement!! Looking forward to reading the rest!

PS Your San Juan pictures are amazing!!!:cool:

 

You're more than welcome! Glad you're enjoying the review and pics! :)

[CruisinJazz]

I have never been to any of the islands before so it was very hard to make a decision on what to do. We were originally going to take the ferry over to St. John's to go to Trunk Bay, however, during breakfast we decided to go to Magen's Bay instead.

 

Magen's Bay....

 

[CruisinJazz]

Magen's Bay has a few picnic tables, food, drinks, shop, bathroom facilities and taxi's are abundant.

[MrsKnuts2]

sorry double post

[MrsKnuts2]

I love your photographic style :cool:

Great review!

[CruisinJazz]

I will have to continue with this a bit later.... :)

[CruisinJazz]

I love your photographic style :cool:

Great review!

 

Thank you! Something was wrong with our memory card that we didn't catch until after we had gotten home and downloaded the pics. :(

[erin1998]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review and post your pictures! We are sailing on the Victory in a month and can't wait!!!

I love your Magen's Bay pictures. That is where we are spending our day when we are in St.Thomas!

Erin

[CruisinJazz]

The next morning we woke up to Dominica. I have to say this was one of my most favorite islands! This island is an extremely poor island, is not set up with all the tourist traps (as of yet at least), the people are extremely poor however are very proud of their island and friendly as can be. Having read reviews here on CC, I decided to book a tour with Levi with Bumpiing Tours. The 4 of us had decided on the Pools, Falls and More Tour which would have gone to Trafalgar Falls, The Emerald Pool and Champagne Reef. We had rough seas during the night so everyone who had booked the same tour we had didn't show up for this tour. We decided to make things easier for Levi by joining his group going to Titou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls and boy am I glad we did!!! The roads are extremely narrow, some paved, some not paved, sheer cliffs on one side of the road from time to time, winding up and around over this way and that over the mountains. They're doing alot of construction on the roads at this time to widen the roads. Levi said when they were filming Pirates of the Caribbean 2 they had a very hard time getting tractor trailers where they needed to go. Ummm, tractor trailers were on these roads??? I could NOT imagine it! LOL

 

Titou Gorge is very easy for people to manage...easy walk, easy swim. They give you a swim belt (preserver) in which everyone has to wear no matter if you're a strong swimmer or not. If you know how to doggy paddle you can do this excursion. Make sure you have Keen shoes to wear! The bottom of the gorge is very rocky and those without any type of water shoe was having a hard time. You first get into this pool of water that is ice cold and I mean ICE cold! You then swim through a gorge with sheer cliffs on both sides of you and the rainforest over top with vines hanging down to the waterfall. Absolutely gorgeous waterfall! Levi climbed up the side of the gorge and dove into the water where it was deep. He has a rope to help people across towards the waterfall should you need help.

 

Trafalgar Falls was next and the parking was something else here! We were the only ship in port and the parking lot was clogged! I can not imagine what they do when there is more than one ship in port! Levi was in constant contact with others to know what the traffic was like every where we went so that we wouldn't get held up. He also bottled water, soda's and beer for everyone through out the day.

 

Trafalgar Falls has a bit of a hike, but can be taken slowly and managed. Please do NOT put small children on your shoulders!!! There are large boulders that are extremely slippery from the water and a man slipped with a small child on his shoulders (they were not part of our group). Thankfully the man fell on his bottom and the child was fine. Again, you will want Keen shoes for this excursion for traction. It is extremely slippery with climbing over large boulders. You can sit on your bottom and slide down the boulders if you don't feel you can manage to get over them without slipping. There are multiple hot springs to sit in and man did it feel good!!!

 

After this part of the excursion those wanting to go back to the ship could be dropped off while the others went on to Champagne Reef. I had really wanted to go to Champagne Reef, but I also really wanted time to walk around by the port. So, Justin and I decided to be dropped off back at the ship, get cleaned up just a bit and walk around the Port. The excursion with Levi and Bumpiing Tours was $40 per person plus tip without Champagne Reef added. Worth every single cent!!!

 

Dominica by the port

[CruisinJazz]

They cut into the cliff to widen this road...this is the road they were trying to get tractor trailers through for Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

 

 

[CruisinJazz]

My expression when seeing the road with Levi beside of me driving. Levi does have Ginger Root (the actual root) for anyone to chew on in case of getting car sick.

[CruisinJazz]

There are stands at both Titou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls where you can buy little knick knacks and such. We had left our money in the van and didn't have time to walk back to the van to get it. We also left our water camera behind on the ship. Pooey! Sorry we didn't get photo's inside of the gorge and the waterfall you swim to.

 

The pool you step into at Titou Gorge....

[gillespieda]

Thanks for the great review so far!! I am enjoying it!

[Megan_Strick]

I have never been to any of the islands before so it was very hard to make a decision on what to do. We were originally going to take the ferry over to St. John's to go to Trunk Bay, however, during breakfast we decided to go to Magen's Bay instead.

 

Magen's Bay....

 

 

 

I was kind of partial to Magens Bay when I went since it was my name and all. I still have a magnet on my fridge if it from 1995 :D

[WAcruisers]

What a wonderful review so far!

[CruisinJazz]

Traffic jam when trying to park at Trafalgar Falls....

 

[CruisinJazz]

Trafalgar Falls...

 

[CruisinJazz]

[CruisinJazz]

[CruisinJazz]

Really cool bar in Dominica with fantastic rum punch!

 

[CruisinJazz]

Anyone up for some Snake Alcohol?? I sure as heck wasn't going to try it!