Victory Review 1/23-1/30

[Cruisin Christi]

I don't see why you couldn't, but don't take my word for it. Many people didn't finish all 5 glasses, including myself, because of different tastes in wine.

 

My husband and I were just talking about this last night. He likes more reds than I do and we wondered what they would say if he finished my reds and me his whites. I said I didn't think they would care as long as we both paid $10. Heck, I was shocked that my DH was even interested. I figured that would be one I did alone.

[navybaby1113]

My husband and I were just talking about this last night. He likes more reds than I do and we wondered what they would say if he finished my reds and me his whites. I said I didn't think they would care as long as we both paid $10. Heck, I was shocked that my DH was even interested. I figured that would be one I did alone.

 

If we're both going to pay the $10, I'm not sharing my wine!

[Cruisin Christi]

If we're both going to pay the $10, I'm not sharing my wine!

 

 

LOL!!! Normally I wouldn't but like I said I am not into reds as much as whites. I would like to know how to pair it better, but I don't think I would finish the whole glass unless it was awesome. He still may not do it at all. I will go alone.

[MindTheGap1918]

LOL!!! Normally I wouldn't but like I said I am not into reds as much as whites. I would like to know how to pair it better, but I don't think I would finish the whole glass unless it was awesome. He still may not do it at all. I will go alone.[/quote

 

Go alone if he doesn't go! I totally would have gone without my boyfriend if he didn't like wine as much as I do. Two couples from Canada sat at our table and they were a lot of fun. Having fun people at your table make it more enjoyable too!

[Cruisin Christi]

 

Go alone if he doesn't go! I totally would have gone without my boyfriend if he didn't like wine as much as I do. Two couples from Canada sat at our table and they were a lot of fun. Having fun people at your table make it more enjoyable too!

 

Oh I will, I am a total people person! Esp after a little wine ;)

[MindTheGap1918]

Barbados- We booked the 5 hour snorkeling excursion with Shasa Catamaran. What a fun day this was! Transportation is provided to and from the dock and you meet the catamaran on a beach and start your day. Jason (owner) and Julian were our guides for the day. The catamaran is also only limited to 12 passengers, which makes for a more personal experience. We went snorkeling with the turtles then we were taken to another reef to snorkel. After snorkeling, we met Jason’s wife, Tess, on the beach who dropped off our lunch and then we were out sailing again. The lunch consisted of fried flying fish, chicken, rice, macaroni pie, salad, and garlic bread! This was probably our best food off the boat! They of course also provided beer, rum punch, water and soft drinks throughout the day. Even the rain didn’t ruin our fun! We were back to the boat by 3:45, plenty of time to spare. I would highly recommend using Shasa!

 

 

Our Catamaran for the day!

 

 

Swimming with the turtles!

 

 

 

 

Banks beer, brewed in Barbados!

[MindTheGap1918]

St. Lucia- I booked a 2 tank dive for my boyfriend as a birthday gift through Scuba Steve’s Diving Service and I went along on the boat to snorkel. The dive spots were Anse Chastanet Reef and the Pinnacles. I would say the experience with Scuba Steve’s was so-so. I booked the premium diving service because it listed as there only being 8 divers. What I didn’t realize was they were going to load the boat with snorkel tours as well which made the boat a little crowded. The dive sites were near the Pitons which made for a very scenic ride. I am now regretting not doing an island tour of St Lucia. Next trip I guess! :(

 

 

Pitons

 

 

Marigot Bay

 

 

View of the Victory from dive boat

 

[MindTheGap1918]

More photos from inside the Victory....

 

Lobby Bar

 

Lobby ceiling

[MindTheGap1918]

St. Kitts was initially not one of the islands I was excited about visiting. I was tempted to stay on the boat and send my boyfriend scuba diving again. We were both glad we didn’t! We toured the island with Rose and Jim’s Taxi Service and had the pleasure of spending the day with Rose. She held a sign at the end of the dock and was waiting for us when we got off the ship. A group of 9 from our boat stood her up (Rude!!! Meeting time was 8:30AM and we waited until 8:50AM, but they didn’t show). Rose found a few other people to join us and there were only 7 people on our bus which was great! Rose gave us a full island tour including the Brimstone Fortress and Romney Manor. We had plenty of time to explore at each of the spots. She also stopped many places not on our original itinerary that she felt would be of interest/good photo stops. In my original email, I asked if we could to go South Friars (Shipwreck Bar) instead of Cockleshell and that wasn’t an issue. Some others in the group did not want to stay at the beach as long as we did, so she took them back to their ship and came back. Our day was pretty much at our leisure, we could spend as much or little time as we wanted at each place. I have lots of St. Kitts photos!

 

 

Rose's Taxi

 

 

Romney Manor and Caribelle Batik

 

 

Romney Manor

[MindTheGap1918]

More photos from our tour in St. Kitts....

 

View of Saba from Brimstone Fortress

 

Where the Caribbean and Atlantic meet

 

Monkeys behind the Shipwreck! No, they don't steal your drinks.

 

Shipwreck Bar at South Friars Beach

 

Beach at Shipwreck Bar

[MindTheGap1918]

Here’s where we get to one of our biggest trip disappointments. Originally, we were going to take a taxi to Orient Beach and spend the day there, but my boyfriend suggested we do an island tour. I booked with Bernard’s after reading such great things about his tour. After our day I wondered if we were using the same tour company that everyone speaks so highly about. Our 1st stop was a dump to feed iguanas (several roosters kept in small cages, garbage everywhere, surrounded by dilapidated shacks). Stopped in Orient Beach rather early (10AM-12PM) and of course the only place serving food this early was Pedro’s (where Bernard’s instructs their customers to go. Research on CC told me that there were better places on Orient). We walked down the beach and hung out at Orange Fever. We got 2 chairs, umbrella, and 2 drinks for $14. I walked next door to Andy & Cheryl’s at 11AM to get us lunch since Orange Fever didn’t serve lunch until 12PM. When we go back on the bus to continue the tour, we somehow ended up with people that weren't on our original bus and they crammed on to our bus. The newly added people wouldn’t have been an issue except they were drunk and extremely obnoxious (through the slurred speech and yelling, we learned they were on the Victory too :rolleyes:). When we stopped next in Marigot, our guide stated he would go get another case of beer. I stopped Junior (our guide) and expressed our concern about the disruptive tour members and if it was necessary to get more alcohol. Junior stated that they would be mad if he didn't and the tour was almost over and to deal with it, no apologies :mad:. Nothing. I’m all about having a good time with a couple drinks, (as you can see from my previous posts) but when one can't hear the tour guide and beer is being spilled on you, it tends to dampen your fun. The upsides were some of the scenic overlooks and hanging at Orient and Maho. St. Maarten is beautiful! Though I know many have had great experiences with Bernard’s (and I expect to get blasted for my opinion), I certainly would not recommend them to anyone I knew to be traveling to St. Maarten.

 

 

 

Orient Beach

 

 

Orange Fever. Great spot on Orient!!

 

 

Maho Beach watching the planes come in

[MindTheGap1918]

El Yunque Rain Forest- we booked this tour through Carnival since our flight did not leave San Juan until 6:40PM. This was pretty much nothing more than a waste of almost $60 on a time killer. We picked up our luggage in the mad cluster of people getting off the boat for tours and early debarkation. We got in a shuttle that took us an hour away to the rain forest. The “guide” dropped us at 4 spots where we could get out and wander around. I use the term “guide” loosely because he really just a driver didn’t give us a lot of information about the rain forest. Princess also had a tour we seemed to run in to at different stops and their driver was out of the bus explaining plants, flowers, bugs, etc. We actually followed that group around when we could so we could learn a little bit. It beat sitting in the airport any longer than we had to, but next time I think I will book and excursion privately for debarkation day.

 

 

 

Banana Tree

 

 

St. Thomas in the distance

 

 

Cocoa Falls

[MindTheGap1918]

And of course, no review would be complete without towel animals! :p

 

 

 

[MindTheGap1918]

For you future Victory cruisers that choose Anytime Dining, ask to sit in Oleksiy's (he told us to ask for Oleks, sounds like "Alex") section in the Atlantic Dining room. I'm not sure if waiters are rotated in the dining rooms, but if you are fortunate enough to have him as a waiter, you won't be disappointed (and ladies, he is cute! ;)). He was the waiter that initially sold us our wine package at dinner, but we weren't able to find him again til toward the end of the week. He is also very knowledgable about wine and would explain different things about the wine every time we ordered a bottle with dinner.

[cruisingmore]

Thanks for the review. We leave this weekend. We've booked with Bernards and I really appreciate the heads up. We'll make it very clear our expectations or take our business elsewhere since this isn't paid for until we meet them.

[MindTheGap1918]

Thanks for the review. We leave this weekend. We've booked with Bernards and I really appreciate the heads up. We'll make it very clear our expectations or take our business elsewhere since this isn't paid for until we meet them.

 

 

I really hope you enjoy your tour with Bernard's and you don't have the same experience we did. I know I'm in the minority amongst those who did not enjoy his tour. I did e-mail him to let him regarding what happened on our tour, but didn't hear anything back yet.

 

Have a fantastic cruise! :)

[LindyLou2]

Thanks for the great review and pictures. We leave this Sunday (Feb 13). :)

[MindTheGap1918]

Thanks for the great review and pictures. We leave this Sunday (Feb 13). :)

 

 

You're welcome and enjoy! Getting away from the cold and spending time at all those beautiful island is definitely the ticket!

[alreadypacked]

 

St. Thomas- My boyfriend went diving with Aqua Action Divers at Secret Harbour and I took the ferry to St. John on my own. AA Divers was offering a 3 tank dive that day which was a great deal compared to the ship and other dive operators on the island. He enjoyed the dives and stated he would use AA Divers again in a heartbeat. I spent my time at Trunk Bay. Going to St. John on your own is so EASY especially as a lone female! I did not once feel unsafe. Don’t waste your money on a cruise excursion. Carnival’s excursion was there and gone while I was still soaking up rays and snorkeling. As long as you plan accordingly and leave yourself enough time to get back to the ship, you won’t have a problem. It’s $12 round trip on the ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay and then $6 each way to Trunk Bay. There is a $4 charge to enter Trunk Bay (worth it, goes towards the National Park) There are chair rentals, snorkel equipment, and lockers available there. I stopped at Secret Harbour to meet my boyfriend after his dive so we could travel back to the ship together. Secret Harbour is a nice beach (though nowhere near as beautiful as Trunk Bay). You can rent chairs from AA Divers though you can only sit on certain sections of the beach. There is also a restaurant and restrooms available. Many people were snorkeling.

 

 

Trunk Bay from overlook

 

 

Trunk Bay

 

 

Secret Harbour beach

 

In St. Thomas, how did you get from the ship to Red Hook? Taxi? How long does it take?

[MindTheGap1918]

In St. Thomas, how did you get from the ship to Red Hook? Taxi? How long does it take?

 

 

I took a taxi from the dock (WICO) to Red Hook. When you walk off the ship, you walk through the shopping center to the taxi area and there is a dispatcher asking where you want to go. It took about 20 minutes to get from the dock to Red Hook. It cost me $13 one way to get there since I was traveling alone. I stopped at Secret Harbour coming back so it cost me $6 from Red Hook to Secret Harbour and then $10 from Secret Harbour to the dock.

[mimil]

We are going in July. What time did ya get into port. Are flight is at 8:55 to Dallas. We are VIP so we can get off first. Do you think we can make the flight.

[MindTheGap1918]

We are going in July. What time did ya get into port. Are flight is at 8:55 to Dallas. We are VIP so we can get off first. Do you think we can make the flight.

 

 

Did you book your flight yet? The Victory doesn't dock even until 7AM. On debarkation day, we took an excursion through Carnival and we were told to meet in the Caribbean Lounge at 8AM. We actually debarked right after the VIP members if I remember correctly and that was closer at 8:30! :eek: I would check with Carnival to make sure your flight is feasible and if there is an earlier debarkation, but it sounds like you'll be cutting it awfully close if making it at all!

[bluzchick]

Sorry to hear you didn't have a nice tour with Bernard, he was one of our favorites but we went with friends and didn't stop to feed Iguana's.

 

Loved looking through your pictures! I haven't logged in much since returning in January but kind of want to book another!

 

We didn't even think about wine tasting but will keep this in mind if we ever cruise again!!

[MindTheGap1918]

Sorry to hear you didn't have a nice tour with Bernard, he was one of our favorites but we went with friends and didn't stop to feed Iguana's.

 

Loved looking through your pictures! I haven't logged in much since returning in January but kind of want to book another!

 

We didn't even think about wine tasting but will keep this in mind if we ever cruise again!!

 

I was definitely disappointed with Bernard's, especially after hearing so many good things about the tour. I was really miffed our guide blew off our complaints too. I'm sure had we done a private tour, we would have felt differently.

 

I've been itching to go on another cruise ever since we got back! We are looking at doing one of the shorter cruises in the fall. I hope they have a wine tasting and a Chef's Table!