REVIEW: Carnival Victry 2/7/10 -2/14/10 Southern Caribbean

[klm2]

Loved your review, thank-you. Our turn is coming up soon and can't wait to have our toes in the water and our ass in the sand.....

[Dirkgun]

Barbados - Today we were at the beautiful Island of Barbados. Here we met up with a taxi driver and he took us on a tour of the island. We started in the city… he took us to the golf course that Tiger Woods got big money for coming to the opening of. He showed us some monkeys right off the bat and fed them some bananas which was a cool site. It seemed all the taxi drivers were doing the same route.. all of them asking each other if they had seen monkeys and where.

He then took us to the oldest church on the island. It is a gorgeous place on the inside and has some cool things in it. There is a picture of President Ronald and Nancy Reagan from when they came to the island and went to mass there and where they sat. The church had its original bell from 1696 I think… they don’t use it anymore because it broke…. They had it fixed but they never sound the same apparently so they had it replaced but the have the original so you can see it.

 

 

 

[Dirkgun]

Next we went to the second highest point on the island where you could see both the Atlantic coast and the Caribbean coast. Of course they also had vendors and crafts you could buy. They also had this monkey on a rope or leash (semantics I guess) it was hilarious. You could touch it and it would put up with you touching it. Then I guess if it thought you liked it or were ok…. He would get down from his perch and come lay out in front of you and point to his back or put your hand on his head to … “pet me here this where it itches” He layed out and pointed to his side and kind of showed my wife and daughter where and how to scratch him… It made us miss our dogs at home.

Now came the only kind of problem… we wanted to go to Bathsheba (on the Atlantic coast) then to the beach but our driver said lets go to the beach first then to Bathsheba. We did not really know the logistics of the roads and directions etc. so whatever…. Anyways we went to the beach which was great then when we were done he wanted to take us back to the ship and was kind of upset when we said no we were going to Bathsheba first. Long story short… he did it and was good about it (and we did compensate him for it).

The beach was Paynes Bay for some snorkeling and swimming with the Sea Turtles. It was great there, we ended up taking a glass bottom boat out to the turtles then on to a shipwreck for some snorkeling… it was awesome. In case you were not aware… snorkels and masks do not float …. I knew this from previous experience (last time we were in Barbados actually). My wife accidentally dropped her mask when she was getting in. The boat operator saw it and before she could even say anything he dove in to get them for her… he was sharp (and it happens a lot). Then my Dad figured it would be easier on him to enter the water from the side of the boat so he did his best Jacques Cousteau impression and just fell in backwards from the side of the boat…. His mask and snorkel were just on his head not in place…. So off they came. Nobody saw this until he said something SO the boat captain was asked to dive in again this time about 20 – 25 ft down but he did get them and he earned a nice tip for it. Kind of funny though.

 

[Dirkgun]

More from Paynes Bay and the snorkeling there.

This one there is a sting ray down on the bottom... you kind of have to look close.

[Dirkgun]

Bathsheba was very pretty cool rock formations and a pounding surf. Completely different than the Caribbean side. I will also tell you that no matter what anyone says about the roads on Dominica or St Lucia…. Barbados has by far the worst roads. Potholes that will swallow small cars and windy roads when it does not seem like there is a reason for it…. Or maybe it was just that our driver was screaming over there and back so he could try to get a second tour for the day.

We got back to the ship fairly early so we went and had some lunch then some of us went back out to the little shopping mall at the pier. We found a lady that did beautiful flower arrangements and put them in bamboo vases. So we had her do three up, one for each of our rooms on board. They were beautiful , too bad we had to leave them on the ship after the cruise was over because of customs.

 

 

[cuted126]

another perfect day on the Victory... we had the best weather the entire cruise.

 

I love it!

[Dirkgun]

As usual sail away was great. If I ever go to an island just for beaches I think Barbados would be one to go to. It has some of the nicest water and nicest sand…. As if any of the Caribbean had bad water right? I think we went to the show this night after another delicious dinner (all the nights kind of run together). It was a magician/comic and then a comic (percy cruz “2”) they both were good. But definitely for me the highlight of this cruise was definitely the ports….. all of them.

[barbevrn]

More from Paynes Bay and the snorkeling there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one there is a sting ray down on the bottom... you kind of have to look close.

 

 

 

Awesome pictures. Can you give an approximate cost for a cab and for the glass bottom boat? Trying to plan for our cruise in April.

 

Keep the review AND pictures coming

[Dirkgun]

We paid $30 per person for this tour we did .... he originally wanted $25 but when we made him go all the way back over to Bathsheba (like he originally told us we were doing) we added the extra $5 per person in. I think if you just want to go to the beach probably like $10 per person and the glass bottom boat was $20 per person for about an hour and a half of snorkeling with the turtles and over the shipwreck site. I Hope that helps.:D

[barbevrn]

We paid $30 per person for this tour we did .... he originally wanted $25 but when we made him go all the way back over to Bathsheba (like he originally told us we were doing) we added the extra $5 per person in. I think if you just want to go to the beach probably like $10 per person and the glass bottom boat was $20 per person for about an hour and a half of snorkeling with the turtles and over the shipwreck site. I Hope that helps.:D

 

Yes it does. Thank you!

[ETski]

We paid $30 per person for this tour we did .... he originally wanted $25 but when we made him go all the way back over to Bathsheba (like he originally told us we were doing) we added the extra $5 per person in. I think if you just want to go to the beach probably like $10 per person and the glass bottom boat was $20 per person for about an hour and a half of snorkeling with the turtles and over the shipwreck site. I Hope that helps.:D

Just loving your review and the pictures are amazing. We are doing this cruise in May and I have been following your great review. I have a question regarding Paynes Bay. How far is it from the ship and is beach big enough to sit and relax on.Also is there chair rentals? We are cruising with a group of 10 and not everyone will want to do the glassbottom boat tour. Also was this a prearranged tour or did you arrange it at the pier?

Edited February 26, 2010 by ETski

[triphopcooper]

Thank you for your awesome review. I am experiencing a little Deja vu looking at all your wonderful pictures. I especially like the sea turtle photos the most. I do have to argue with you regarding Barbados as having the worst roads. We got to experience the roads on Dominica going up the mountainside and I don't think I've ever been that scared. What made the whole experience worse was that they decided to do road construction allowing only one lane of traffic to pass by.

 

[Dirkgun]

Thank you for your awesome review. I am experiencing a little Deja vu looking at all your wonderful pictures. I especially like the sea turtle photos the most. I do have to argue with you regarding Barbados as having the worst roads. We got to experience the roads on Dominica going up the mountainside and I don't think I've ever been that scared. What made the whole experience worse was that they decided to do road construction allowing only one lane of traffic to pass by.

 

 

Ouch those are bad roads. They weren't where we went on Dominica but they certainly look bad there in that picture. I really think the rate of speed we were travelling back over to the other side of Barbados had a lot to do with it though...lol

[Dirkgun]

Just loving your review and the pictures are amazing. We are doing this cruise in May and I have been following your great review. I have a question regarding Paynes Bay. How far is it from the ship and is beach big enough to sit and relax on.Also is there chair rentals? We are cruising with a group of 10 and not everyone will want to do the glassbottom boat tour. Also was this a prearranged tour or did you arrange it at the pier?

 

 

I would guess about 5 or 6 miles from the ship.... maybe? I don't know I am just guessing and looking at it on google maps. As far as people on the beach, yes there is lots of room and definitely lots of chair rentals in fact there are everything rentals (jetskis, snorkle equip, massages and hair braiding etc). I know we paid $10 per chair (kind of dumb because then we went in the boat and did not even use them. I think if you go down the beach a ways you might get a better deal... also try haggling with them they are very competitive with each other. The tour is kind of a funny story... we had one prearranged and when we went to meet our driver at our agreed upon time, other people around told me that he had already gone with some other people. So we just found another driver that seemed good. There are lots of them there.... just make sure you agree on what you want to do. I hope you enjoy your trip.

[barbevrn]

Come back.........we need more! :D

[CruiseLover824]

Awesome review so far....can't wait to read more! I am heading out on the Victory in April! Your pics are great! They are making me more excited than I already am!:D

[Zack Adams]

Great pictures Dirkgun:) I am impressed with that D10 and plan on picking one up soon to carry where the DSLR dare not tread:D

 

Looks like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing :)

[h_blond2]

More from Paynes Bay and the snorkeling there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one there is a sting ray down on the bottom... you kind of have to look close.

 

 

 

These pictures are terrific! I love them!

[Dirkgun]

I will post more... I just have been busy the last couple of days. Sorry, I promise.

[cantwait06]

This is a really great review, thank you so much for sharing! I am looking forward to hearing about St. Kitts, St. Marteen, and St. Lucia!

[t_nix]

Great review! Love the pics!!!

[triphopcooper]

This is a really great review, thank you so much for sharing! I am looking forward to hearing about St. Kitts, St. Marteen, and St. Lucia!

 

I don't think you'll be seeing any pictures from St Marteen since we could not dock on that day due to high sea swells. The only pictures would be taken from the ship. I know that there were a lot of upset people having missed this port, myself included. I waited to do my shopping in hope of doing in on St Marteen. I really wanted to get a box of chocolates from the Belgian Chocolate Box downtown.

[ladyj3641]

 

I'm curious to know who you originally booked your excursion with...I want to make sure that I don't use them and get left behind!!!

[Dirkgun]

I'm curious to know who you originally booked your excursion with...I want to make sure that I don't use them and get left behind!!!

 

His name was Edwin Lovell with Scenic Barbados Tours. In all fairness.... I did get a somewhat nasty email when I got home that I just did not look for him (we looked for almost a half hour until two different people told us thye same thing) and that we should not listen to cab drivers who are trying to get tours for the day??? So you make up your own mind. If it were me I would make sure they had a sign for us telling us whom they were waiting for. Either way there are plenty of capable drivers there. Enjoy your trip. :D

[Bronxgirl23]

We were on the Freedom last week and booked the Victory for next Feb. while on board.....Loving your review....can't wait to read the rest. Thanks!!