Carnival Victory review - 2-6-11

[Rob&Bonnie]

We just returned from our Cruise Critic Buddies (CCB's) reunion cruise on the Carnival Victory. The CCB's met on this board 3 years ago, and consisted of 6 couples. 5 of the original group were on this trip and were joined by some new CCB's!

 

We booked this cruise through a Carnival PVP using early saver, with the original booking for an OV room. Early saver worked well for us, with several price drops. The final outcome - an upgrade from OV to balcony and a $100 OBC. We had room 7333, mid ship, which was in good shape, clean, and VERY conveniently located.

 

Pre-cruise - We planned a pre-cruise kick off party at Senor Frogs on Saturday. To make things easy, we booked the Sheraton Old San Juan for the night - right across the street from the cruise terminal and Senor Frogs. The hotel is in a great location and was clean, great for a pre cruise stay of one night. It does not have beach access, and the pool was very small, so if that is what you are looking for you would be disappointed. We had lunch at Raices 2 blocks from the hotel which was AWESOME. Sunday morning we walked across the street to the cruise terminal, luggage in tow.

[Rob&Bonnie]

Sail-away - We checked in early on Sunday, walking through security at 11:00. The ship wasn’t ready for us yet, so we grabbed some chairs and waited until about 12:00 when they started boarding. We did visit the duty free shop, buying 1 bottle of Jack Daniels and 1 of Jim Bean, then putting 1 in each of the 2 backpacks we had. The bottle of Jim made it through security, the bottle of Jack did not. We headed up to the Lido deck to get some food and to scope out chairs for the Superbowl party. We managed to get a group of deck chairs directly across from the big screen for the game and happily ordered our first drink of the day to celebrate. Ahren from South Africa made sure to check in on us several times to take drink orders, and continued to look for us the rest of the cruise.

 

During the afternoon we each took turns going to our stateroom to check on luggage. One bag was delivered around 2, but the 2nd bag still wasn’t there at 7. This concerned us as both bags were checked in together, and really early. Finally the room steward found out that our big bag was being held by security. Our bag didn’t even make it as far as the naughty room - we had go back OFF the ship to see security. It seems the leatherman toolkit that has accompanied us on every cruise we have been on is no longer allowed due to the 1.5” knife it included. Good thing the room steward checked for us - if we hadn’t gotten down there, we would have been sailing without it. The leatherman went into the trash, and we were allowed to bring the suitcase onboard.

 

The Superbowl party was great, with a good mix of Steelers/Packers fans. While vocal, the bantering back and forth was mostly friendly throughout the game. The safety drill was delayed until Monday to accommodate the party - Thanks Carnival!

 

Dining - We were not overly impressed with the buffet food, though we are not big buffet fans as a rule. It was pretty typical, nothing too special, but decent food. We ate mostly in the main dining room for breakfast and dinner, with occasional snacks from the buffet.

 

We had any time dining for this trip, something new for us on Carnival. Our servers were good, but the layout of the dining room makes it odd. They put 3 two top tables about a foot apart, so you had no choice but to hear every word from the table next to you. It was awkward as you could hear everything but couldn’t really comment without being rude. I would have rather had the tables together with that little space. Talking to the couples from the other tables later in the cruise revealed that they felt the same way. Hopefully Carnival will get better at this with time.

Food in the main dining room was great, service was great. We never waited more than 2-3 minutes for a table, and never felt rushed through dinner.

[Rob&Bonnie]

St Thomas - we booked a jet ski excursion (private) for St Thomas. We got a cab, which we had to wait for the driver in while she raced around trying to drum up more customers. She was really pushy, and we were not impressed. Finally we headed out, where she drove like a maniac while talking non stop on her cell phone. We’ve always said that in St Thomas stop signs are only a suggestion, and this trip was no exception. Our first stop was Sapphire beach, where the “Cab Driver of the Year” spent 20 minutes trying to convince the departing passengers to commit to a time for her to come back and pick them up. She then told us she would be ‘right back’, and that we should feel free to go look at the beach and take some pictures. All in all, the cab drive to the Westin that should have taken 30 minutes took 90 minutes. We politely took her phone number to ‘call her when we wanted to come back’ and threw it in the nearest trash bin.

 

The Westin is a pretty resort, located on a hill. From the lobby they have a shuttle to the pool and beach area. We took the next shuttle down, walked to the beach - only to find out that they had canceled our excursion because of the rough seas. As the beach area was not all that great, we took the next shuttle back to the hotel lobby, then called a cab to take us to Coki Beach.

 

So after over 2 hours of transportation we finally could relax….Coki was great. Water was warm, snorkeling was great. There was some construction going on behind us, and we wished we had moved a little farther away from that area, but as we spent most of the day in the water it didn’t make that much difference.

 

We hailed a cab from Coki back to the port later in the afternoon and walked through some shops on the way back to the ship. DH was nice enough to buy me a very nice sparkly as a 30th anniversary gift from our favorite jewelry store.:D

[Rob&Bonnie]

Day at Sea - We hung out at the pool most of the day, and explored the ship a bit. We had our Cruise Critic meeting scheduled for 2:00, and Carnival was nice enough to open a lounge to accommodate us and provided bar service for an hour. The original cruise group all showed up, and some of our roll call friends joined us. A good time was had by all.

 

Barbados - We’ve been to Barbados several times, so we planned a beach day at the Boatyard with some friends. As usual, we spent most of the day in the water. Lunch was a Lobster’s Alive, which was pricey but good. It was a nice, relaxing day.

[Rob&Bonnie]

St Lucia - we booked a group of 27 with Herod’s, with 19 from our ship and 8 from the Carribean Princess. Herod had made arrangements for a boat which unfortunately didn’t work out, making him an hour late for our tour. During the hour, his staff was on the phone and getting updates for us - so we never felt neglected. He finally got to us in a party type boat (instead of a speed boat), which did not make 6 of the CP participants happy so they dropped off the tour. They really missed a great day!

 

We went out to the Pitons for some snorkeling, and while there Herod’s staff switched the boat to the promised speed boat for the rest of the trip. He also had his mother make us lunch, which we enjoyed with drinks before moving on. Next stop was a black sand beach for some swimming, then we sped along the coast in the speedboat back to the ship.

 

Herod was really upset about the start of the day, and he worked really hard to make the trip special to make up for it. I would highly recommend this tour!

[Texas Realtor]

Really looking forward to this review. We are leaving in 9 days. Thank you in advance. I am going to do a review and I will have tons of pictures.

[Rob&Bonnie]

St Kitts - we took what we are now calling the All Terrain Mini Van Tour (ATMV) with Royston. I’m still unsure how to review this tour, so lets just say it was ‘interesting’. Royston came to get us in his mini van, which has a broken windshield and no side windows. Not to worry though, if it rains he stops and pops in plexi glass panels so you won’t get wet. This was our first clue that this would be interesting. On our way out of town he was stopped by the police, so we really got a taste for island life! It was pretty funny - they don’t ask for identification on St Kitts, they just ask your name. After the ticket was written we popped the plexi glass back out as the rain had stopped and moved along.

 

This tour was advertised as going to the Fortress and the Batik factory, a plantation and other local sites, all of which we did. Everyone else walked the grounds around the fortress, we drove it, only getting out when we went up the stairs to the actual fort. I think he would have driven there as well if the van would fit. From there we drove THROUGH the plantation. I don’t believe there were actual roads where we went, just right through the fields, over the rocks and onto a posh hotel’s grounds. I think we were more impressed with the hotel than the hotel visitors were with us. As we crashed out of the fields in the scratched and dented mini van with broken or no window and into their grounds, we must have looked like the Clampetts arriving in Beverly Hills. Not to worry, we were just cutting through on our way to the Batik factory. The batik factory was interesting, though a pretty quick stop.

 

Next we took a ride to see a beach area that pretty impressive, with a lot of volcanic rock and awesome ocean views. This stop had a lot of tour busses, one of the few ‘normal’ places we visited. We left there and drove to see where some fishing boats are moored. We thought he was pretty brave taking the mini van through the beach area, where again - no roads to be found, but then he went even farther by driving the mini van into the water and along the beach over the mooring ropes. Yes folks, we have pictures of the waves hitting the side of the van as drove along the beach, stopping occasionally to wait for the waves to roll out and lower the ropes enough to drive over.

 

We left the beach area after a few minutes and headed back toward town, with Royston calling in our lunch order from a local store. We arrived in town where he parked the car in the middle of the road and ran in to get our sandwiches. Apparently he wasn’t worried about holding up the 10 or so cars behind us that he blocked…. He finally hopped back in with our lunches, and we headed out toward South Friars beach.

 

But wait! On the way we took a trip up a closed road to catch another view of the island. Yup, this road had rock slide debris on one side, and a cliff on the other, with lots of overgrown bushes whacking the sides of the van as we merrily made our way this steep road veering back and forth around the rocks. At the top he took the van across a field (no roads again) and pulled within 2 feet from the edge of the cliff so we could get a really great view. I might have enjoyed this if I wasn’t busy having that heart attack… There is a reason this road is CLOSED, and seriously - could you leave more than 2 feet between a vehicle that has WHEELS and a cliff? Maybe stay a safe distance away and we could get out and WALK over to see the view? I admit, the view was great, but it would have been just as good standing outside the van. We stayed a few minutes, then headed back down the road, dodging rocks and bushes.

 

Next we stopped at South Friars beach to eat lunch. We’d been on the road for 5 hours, so we were hungry at this point. The ‘sandwiches’ were some type of wrap with curried meat and potatoes. I’m not a big curry fan, but this was pretty good. We had the option of staying on the beach for a while, with Royston coming back for us later, but we opted for going back to the ship at this point. Not to be discouraged, Royston took us through some of the neighboring streets to see some of the new tourist houses that have been built. On one street he told us he had to run around because there were some ‘potholes’ on the other side that he didn’t want to hit. The man who drove through fields, closed roads and into the surf is afraid of potholes? They must have been the size of the Grand Canyon or he would have headed in, I’m sure.

 

We walked through the shops and back to the ship to get some much needed alcoholic beverages….

[Rob&Bonnie]

St Marteen - We finished the cruise with a relaxing day at Orient Beach. After the ATMV tour the day before, we needed something unexciting - like naked people wandering around. We overheard one young lady say “I know how men feel now, I have no idea where to look”. Rob and I decided not to add to anyone’s nightmares, and kept our clothes on. We did a fair amount of people watching while we rode the waves. Our favorite was the his and hers matching thongs…..to each their own. We headed back to the ship early as it started to rain, and we still needed to pack up in time to put the suitcase out that night.

 

Disembarkation - Sunday came all too quickly. We woke up late (for us), and packed up the rest of our things by 7:30. At this point they were already calling for the early groups for debarkation. We skipped breakfast and headed to the lounge to wait for our number to be called.

 

We were off the ship by 9:00, and headed to the Marriot Stellaris for our post cruise stay. We decided to wear bathing suits and cover ups for this, so we were able to check our bags, eat breakfast in the restaurant, then head to the pool at the hotel. We’ve stayed at this hotel in the past, and love the beach and pool area. We hung out, then when the room was ready went up with the luggage, changed and took a walk. We decided to have dinner at the Beunos Aires steakhouse a couple blocks away, which was great, then headed to the casino to donate some money. We had a couple of drinks, and went to bed early as we were traveling the next day.

 

All in all, we had a great cruise with a great group of friends. This was one of the best cruise passenger group we’ve had over several cruises, with everyone on board friendly and polite. There was a mix of people - from Europe, Canada, UK, US, Puerto Rico, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. This ship was clean, the food was good, the staff was awesome. We’d take this cruise again without hesitation.

[cruiser fanatic]

any Funtimes?

[Rob&Bonnie]

Sorry, no funtimes. We aren't big ship activity people, so I can't speak to much of that. We did hang out at the Karoake bar (we are lurkers, not singers), and did go to the comedian show (not so funny IMO).

[hazelgreen]

Rob&Bonnie, it was so nice to meet you all and we had a great time too. I think that Herod's tour was truly one of our highlights and St Lucia is so pretty.

 

Which comedians did you see? We somehow ended up seeing all 4 of them thru the week, and the first two were way funnier than the last two, or maybe I was just giddier the first part of the week :rolleyes:

 

nrrice, I have all the Funtimes and a scanner, so will try and get those posted if I can figure out how to do so.

[cruiser fanatic]

Rob&Bonnie, it was so nice to meet you all and we had a great time too. I think that Herod's tour was truly one of our highlights and St Lucia is so pretty.

 

Which comedians did you see? We somehow ended up seeing all 4 of them thru the week, and the first two were way funnier than the last two, or maybe I was just giddier the first part of the week :rolleyes:

 

nrrice, I have all the Funtimes and a scanner, so will try and get those posted if I can figure out how to do so.

 

Thank You.

[BlueHonu]

Thanks for the review!!

 

We will be on Victory in April. We have Royston booked for St Kitts.:confused: It sounds interesting. Should I be worried?

[Luke gs Daddy]

What happen that you know with 1 bottle making and 1 did not? Is it just the luck of the draw?

We are going in April and I want to try to get one on.

BTW I have 2 from Bon Voyage , so no smart arse comments from the flamers.

 

Thank you.

 

We are with them^

[westmich]

Thanks for the review!!

 

We will be on Victory in April. We have Royston booked for St Kitts.:confused: It sounds interesting. Should I be worried?

 

OMG...that is just what I was thinking! lol. He sounds rather eccentric. :rolleyes:

 

I am sure we will have fun!

[Prairie_Gal]

Great review! Thanks for posting it.

[CBussey64]

any Funtimes?

 

I do have the Funtimes from this cruise and am working on my review right now .... I will get them scanned in during the next couple of days. Keep watch!

[excalwop]

St Kitts - we took what we are now calling the All Terrain Mini Van Tour (ATMV) with Royston. I’m still unsure how to review this tour, so lets just say it was ‘interesting’. Royston came to get us in his mini van, which has a broken windshield and no side windows. Not to worry though, if it rains he stops and pops in plexi glass panels so you won’t get wet. This was our first clue that this would be interesting. On our way out of town he was stopped by the police, so we really got a taste for island life! It was pretty funny - they don’t ask for identification on St Kitts, they just ask your name. After the ticket was written we popped the plexi glass back out as the rain had stopped and moved along.

 

This tour was advertised as going to the Fortress and the Batik factory, a plantation and other local sites, all of which we did. Everyone else walked the grounds around the fortress, we drove it, only getting out when we went up the stairs to the actual fort. I think he would have driven there as well if the van would fit. From there we drove THROUGH the plantation. I don’t believe there were actual roads where we went, just right through the fields, over the rocks and onto a posh hotel’s grounds. I think we were more impressed with the hotel than the hotel visitors were with us. As we crashed out of the fields in the scratched and dented mini van with broken or no window and into their grounds, we must have looked like the Clampetts arriving in Beverly Hills. Not to worry, we were just cutting through on our way to the Batik factory. The batik factory was interesting, though a pretty quick stop.

 

Next we took a ride to see a beach area that pretty impressive, with a lot of volcanic rock and awesome ocean views. This stop had a lot of tour busses, one of the few ‘normal’ places we visited. We left there and drove to see where some fishing boats are moored. We thought he was pretty brave taking the mini van through the beach area, where again - no roads to be found, but then he went even farther by driving the mini van into the water and along the beach over the mooring ropes. Yes folks, we have pictures of the waves hitting the side of the van as drove along the beach, stopping occasionally to wait for the waves to roll out and lower the ropes enough to drive over.

 

We left the beach area after a few minutes and headed back toward town, with Royston calling in our lunch order from a local store. We arrived in town where he parked the car in the middle of the road and ran in to get our sandwiches. Apparently he wasn’t worried about holding up the 10 or so cars behind us that he blocked…. He finally hopped back in with our lunches, and we headed out toward South Friars beach.

 

But wait! On the way we took a trip up a closed road to catch another view of the island. Yup, this road had rock slide debris on one side, and a cliff on the other, with lots of overgrown bushes whacking the sides of the van as we merrily made our way this steep road veering back and forth around the rocks. At the top he took the van across a field (no roads again) and pulled within 2 feet from the edge of the cliff so we could get a really great view. I might have enjoyed this if I wasn’t busy having that heart attack… There is a reason this road is CLOSED, and seriously - could you leave more than 2 feet between a vehicle that has WHEELS and a cliff? Maybe stay a safe distance away and we could get out and WALK over to see the view? I admit, the view was great, but it would have been just as good standing outside the van. We stayed a few minutes, then headed back down the road, dodging rocks and bushes.

 

Next we stopped at South Friars beach to eat lunch. We’d been on the road for 5 hours, so we were hungry at this point. The ‘sandwiches’ were some type of wrap with curried meat and potatoes. I’m not a big curry fan, but this was pretty good. We had the option of staying on the beach for a while, with Royston coming back for us later, but we opted for going back to the ship at this point. Not to be discouraged, Royston took us through some of the neighboring streets to see some of the new tourist houses that have been built. On one street he told us he had to run around because there were some ‘potholes’ on the other side that he didn’t want to hit. The man who drove through fields, closed roads and into the surf is afraid of potholes? They must have been the size of the Grand Canyon or he would have headed in, I’m sure.

 

We walked through the shops and back to the ship to get some much needed alcoholic beverages….

 

will be on the Victory in 331 days. Royston tours was one of our planned tours After reading this It will be the tour we take. Thank you for posting this Can't wait to give a go:D. Those potholes must be some from the Washington DC area.:cool:

Paul

[mittypooh]

I love your review. Especially the report from St. Kitts. I needed a drink just reading it. LOL. I will be on this cruise on March the 6th and cannot wait.

[Rob&Bonnie]

Luke gs Daddy

 

I wish I knew! The scanner said my bottle was just wine, and let it go. I'm thinking because it was similar to a wine bottle shape? The Jack is a more square bottle, definately not similar to wine bottles.

 

We were prepared for not getting either bottle on board, and it really didn't matter to us either way.

[IslandBoundKS]

We were on this cruise with you and joined you for Herod's tour on St. Lucia. It was such a beautiful island and a great tour once the issue with the boat was resolved! Thanks for arranging it. I loved reading your review and seeing what other options for excursions people chose on the different islands. It was a wonderful trip!