Victory family cruise review June 12, 2011

[tigger77732]

Well for 2 bears and a total of 5 outfits it was 59.99. Obviously you don't need to get that many outfits, but they had some deals where certain out fits were only $5 a piece if you got three. And we did get a dr outfit (which benefited St jude) for $10 bucks. So I know at least 25 of that 60 was for outfits!

It's really not a bad price!

[tigger77732]

These creatures were so beautiful. We saw several of them, approximately 5. They just seemed to float so majestically. They'd swim near you and then dodge you, but definitely stayed close. It was awesome! I really wished the rest of my family was able to experience what my son and I did.

After swimming a while with these gentle turtles, we decided to go into shore. It was time to head back to the ship. We made our taxi driver wait a little (since he made us wait in the morning) and of course no one wanted to leave this beautiful place. But sadly, we trekked our way back to the taxi cab.

Before heading to the ship, we shopped a little and picked up the island's Rum. Mt Gay rum. Yummmy! I had some in a rum runner concoction the other day (it eased my butt pain! LOL!)

[tigger77732]

Oh, I forgot, we also picked up some Delish Jerk sauce. We had it last night for dinner and boy was it good> It clears out your sinuses for sure!!!

I made it with red beans and rice and boy I felt somewhat back in the Caribbean.

Up next...St Lucia

[guntheros]

You're doing a great job with the review! We cruise in January on the Victory so this has been so helpful!!! Quick question... how many are there usually on the Sonny Liston tour?

Thanks, can't wait to hear the rest!

[tigger77732]

Sunny usually will have a bus full, so maybe 15-20. We had a blast both times!

[Funerin]

What kind of camera did you use for the underwater pics?

Thanks in advance!

[tigger77732]

I bought the Canon D10. It is awesome! I was very impressed with how the photos came out. I think I spent around $300 for it, but it is well worth it! some of the photos are w/ my Sont A300 DSLR, but I found myself using the Canon more often. it has a 12x digital zoom!;)

[newcrew42]

Ready for more!

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great ship. Great review. Glad you had fun.

[Harbie]

i was wondering what kind of camera you have for underwater photos>

[rxralph]

i was wondering what kind of camera you have for underwater photos>

 

 

See posts #31 and 32.

 

ralph

[tigger77732]

Today was our tour with Spencer Ambrose. We chose the Land and Sea tour and left the little ones at Camp Carnival. (this would be my 7 yr old's favorite place to be). (cost was $85 per person)

Small was our tour guide, brother of Spencer. Our van had approximately 8 people and the tour provided all the Piton Beer, rum punch, water and soda you could drink (This would end up being a problem).

We started with a tour of the island and stopped at a high viewpoint. Small was very informative and knowledgeable about his island.

Here, there are many tables of crafts, jewelry, shirts, hats for sale. I will say, the St. Lucians are a little more pushy than some other islands.

Next, we were on to the banana plantations. This also was very informative. We were told how bananas were grown and why the blue bags. Small had the freshest bananas for us to eat.

Those are infant bananas he is showing us.

This stop also had two ladies selling trinkets and sauces. We bought banana ketchup and banana bar-b-que sauce. I like it, my son, not so much.

Afterwards, we headed through two fishing villages on our way to the Pitons. We stopped at Anse la Raye for a break. Here, we could use the restroom and shop a little. Here, my husband purchased a nice hat and I got some spices that were in a calabash bowl! (which I believe I left under the bed in cabin #6350) Small also stopped at a house for fresh hot bread! Fresh, hot bread is always the best!!!

From here. we were on our way to the boat that would take us to snorkel between the Pitons. But first, we stopped at the sulfur volcanos. Peee yooooou! Stinky. This stop was ok, but I've been to Yellowstone, so I've smelled the stench before.

It was neat to hear about the history, though!

Next, we were on our way to the boat that would take us to snorkel and swim near the Pitons. This is where we would also be provided our delicious boxed lunch.

I will warn you now: beware of the yummy rum punch. Boy, will it sneak up on you. TIP: just because it is there does not mean you MUST drink it!

Up next...The Pitons>>>

[cespo]

Loving the review..I also have Spencers land and sea tour booked for Sept. and plan on going to St John instead of staying at St Thomas.

 

Can not wait to see what else you did at the other islands.

 

We have some good friend that are coming with us, and her husband and son plan on doing the volcano hike in St Kitt. I believe this is where you got hurt. If you don't mind me asking how did it happen...she is getting all worried now.

 

Thanks

Christine

[Tizzy]

Really enjoyed your reveiw and love the photographs you have taken.

We are going on Victory for the third year running in November.

I adore this ship and reading your reveiw has made me even more excited about our trip.

We are from the UK and we usually board in Barbados, which is so much easier for us.

It does feel a bit odd when everyone finishes their cruise earlier than us but it is the best option for us as we stay in Barbados for a few days before the start of the cruise.

[tigger77732]

@cespo- I actually fell in the rainforest in St. Kitts (more about that later) The Black Rocks(volcanic rocks) are very jagged, but they are not slippery. My husband and I were very amazed at that.

@Tizzy, I heard some guys from the UK kinda complain about this to guest services. They complained that Carnival doesn't do enough to say good bye to the Barbados guests like they do to the San Juan guests on Saturday night.

 

[tigger77732]

After a nice boat ride over to the Pitons, we had a a great boxed lunch! Man this food is very good down here in the Caribbean.

There is a private resort to the right, but we were allowed to use this area to sit and relax. There were changing facilities and showers here so it was pretty comfortable. After lunch we snorkeled. We brought corn flakes and today the fish reacted well to it. This snorkeling was very good here by the Pitons. And on this tour we probably had close to two hours here which was plenty of time to enjoy this area.

We saw a lot of different types if sealife, including a small black starfish, little crabs on the rocks, an eel, a good variety of fish.

[tigger77732]

I had so much fun watching this school of fish. It really was like Finding Nemo, watching them move back and forth in different shapes.

And I chased this interesting fish for a while.

After the beach and snorkeling, we headed back up the coast all the way up to the ship. Along the way, we were shown some neat rock formations. They took us to a crack in the mountains were the bats hang out and we passed what they call the The Lady's Slipper. Pretty cool!

This is where things start getting very foggy due to the yummy rum punch so I will end St Lucia here.

Oh and today (Thursday ) is the second elegant night, which somehow I totally missed. I don't remember seeing it on the fun times the night before, but obviously, I missed it. Needless to say, I missed the second Elegant night due to the effects of the rum punch. That kinda stunk because I really enjoy getting dressed up. Oh well, I guess I will have to wait until my next cruise:D

Up next, St Kitts> my absolute FAVORITE!

[poundcake09]

Loving the review!! Can't wait to do the Victory next May.... Waiting for the rest of your review.

[airlink diva]

enjoying your review!

What happen in Barbados is one of my peeves on some of my island tours and taxis.

We had a driver in Tortola that wanted to fill his open taxi. When it got to about 25 minutes, eight of us got off. He came running back asking why. We told him if he wasn't ready to go that we would find another driver. I think after a certain point, leave with who you have.

Otherwise having fun reading your review.

[newcrew42]

Loving the review!!!

 

:)

[tigger77732]

Hi, I'm back! Sorry, yesterday was rough for me.

Anyway, today was the Best day of our Vacation (even though this is the day I broke my tailbone and pelvis)

Today, we arrived at beautiful (and I really mean it) ST. Kitts. We had a tour booked with Javin-My Island tours! He is not mentioned a lot on CC and I am not sure why. I did see a blurb of him and decided to check out his website. He is also listed as #1 for Tripadvisor for tours in St Kitts.

Well, Javin met us as promised at the appointed time. I was excited to see him holding a sign with my name on it. This always puts one in a great mood! Javin does tours for all sizes, but it seems he specializes in personal, small tours. He is very professional. So once we met him we did advise him that my daughter decided not to go (did I mention how much she just loved Camp Carnival?). He did adjust the bill accordingly, which I thought was great! I was hoping he would, but did not expect it since we made reservations for 5.

So after our introductions, we headed to his SUV. We comfortably fit into his SUV and threw our backbacks in the back. He did make us sign a waiver of liability (I understand why!) One of the differences he touts on his tour is that we don't just drive around sightseeing, we actually get into the adventure! Rather than just seeing The Black Rocks we climbed the Black Rocks! Instead of snorkeling where everyone else snorkels, we snorkel a secluded ship wreck!

So first, we headed to the Black Rocks. Where we stopped, there were a few vendors just setting up and there was a vendor with drinks. Beer and soda cost the same! I thought that was funny. Here, I asked what the drinking age was and the lady said, no drinking age! She said they just passed a law where you have to be 18 to purchase it in a store, but no age on drinking, so of course, my husband just had to buy my son a drink (not the four year old!)

Like Father like Son!

Actually, the boys had the drinks after climbing the volcanic rocks! So before the drinks, we took in the beauty of the Black Rocks-

And then...we climbed down! Now, contrary to what some may think, the rocks are not slippery at all, but I will tell you, they look fatal if you DID fell, well, maybe not fatal, but they would tear you up!

Now, we only let the baby go down partially where it was dry. I didn't want to risk any further with him!

More...

 

[tigger77732]

Here's the "Before" picture...

And the "After" Picture

And this is where my little guy stayed while we took in the waves!

As you can see it was a steep little hill we climbed down, but that is what is soooo great about Javin, he showed us every step of the way, he made sure we were safe and took the correct steps to get down safely!

After safely ascending again, Javin took us driving around his hometown, Cayon. He said it was one of the largest towns on the island. It seems everyone knows Javin and he is friendly with everyone. Though most of the homes are small, I was quite impressed with how the people of St Kitts kept their homes tidy and clean. Unlike other islands, where homes look so tattered and as if you could blow them over, The people of St Kitts take a lot opf pride in their homes. Javin even took us to where his new home is being built. It was larger than most homes, but still quaint. It takes a lot of time to build a house here, because it is difficult to get supplies and sub-contractors. And oh, the view, He has a beautiful view of the Atlantic side. I just love it. We then stopped on the side of the road to taste fresh, pure sugarcane. Sugarcane production stopped in 2005 as apparently, it was a failure for the island. Javin told a story from childhood, where he would tie his pet donkey up at night and the donkey would eat sugarcane all night so he had plenty of energy the next day. He said most children had donkeys. He said, they would also act as lifeguards so the kids could go in the water, but be safely anchored to the donkeys.

Here's Javin- cutting fresh sugarcane for us!

After driving around a bit he led us to this road where we drove and then parked. Just a small road that ends and starts the entry of his childhood playground-The rainforest.

Javin provides hiking sticks for us!

At the beginning of the rainforest, Javin had fun giving us a quiz. He would find a particular fruit leaf, have us smell it and then try to guess what it was. I stunk at it, but my son and husband were pretty good at it!

There, we smelled, lime, avacado, orange, cocoa and some other things. It was pretty neat that so many different things were all in the rainforest.

After a bit of a hike, we entered the Cayon Ghaut. This is the river bed system that we hiked up. This is where the hike got a little more intense...

[tigger77732]

Now for the rainforest hike, it is recommended to wear some sort of water shoe. I chose Teva sandals for the hike and I do not feel that was the best choice.

Once we reached the Cayon Ghaut, again, Kudos to Javin, as he was very knowledgable and told us how to be safe while hiking the rocks. He would show us the proper steps to take and showed us when we should crouch and use our hands to support ourselves. He was very helpful with our son as well. Joey even chose to hold Javin's hand rather than his daddy's hand during most of the hike. This is very unusual for Joe as he is an extremely shy child around strangers. I think this goes to show what a great, kind person Javin is. Children sense these types of things.

Anyway, within 5-10 minutes of hiking, my left foot slipped on a rock and I fell squarely on my as* onto another rock that happened to have a ridge 12 inches across jutting up from the rock. It was horrible pain (I already have lower back issues and a previous surgery on a herniated disc), but I didn't want to ruin the hike for everyone else, so, I grinned and said I was ok and we continued on. I must say, the rest of the hike was pretty painful, but I did not let on. Every time we bent, or lifted ourselves up while hiking, I had an excrutiating pain. I also really gouged the screen of my camera when I fell. (luckily it's "shockproof")

I forgot to mention, Javin takes pictures along the way, which he then makes available to you for free on his website.

Well continuing on, we entered a bamboo forest while hikiing up the river.

See, I am sorta smiling! The bamboo forest would make haunting, creepy noises from its sawying in the wind.

We also had to cross an ancient aquaduct. We crossed very carefully as it was several feet up from the river.

This is how we were shown to walk so as not to fall!

Soon, we reached our destination of the river hike! Jordan pool!

As you will see, my older son is not in the picture as the water was chilly and he didn't want to have wet clothes, afterwards.

We had some fun for a while, cooling off in the pool. It was deep in some areas.

After our dip, we headed back down the route we took to get here. After our hike, Javin presented us with mango juice and water and fresh, yummy coconut pastires and a raisin pastry. It hit the spot after all that hiking. Javin told us, we were the only ones on the cruise ship that actually hiked in the rainforest because no other tours go in the rainforest.

After the rainforest we then heade to do some snorkeling. Javin provided snorkeling gear, but we already had some, we only borrowed his fins. He took to a remote area where there weren't too many people around. And this is where we snorkeled a ship wreck...

 

[tlightbody]

Great review! Thank you! We are booked on the Victory for Christmas! (Don't get me started on what I had to pay for our Jet Blue flights from Tampa!:eek:). Since I am still trying to figure out what we will be doing in each port, your review is quite helpful! Thanks again.

 

With the intensity of all of the ports would you recommend having a fixed seating for dinner or the anytime dining? I did see your comments, and I am now wondering what to do. I too love the intimacy of having the same waiter throughout the cruise. Just the little things that are so huge, like having my daughter's chocolate milk on the table before we even get there just makes it so special. This is one of the reasons I prefer Carnival over the like of NCL. We however chose anytime dining for this cruise because we will be in port everyday till 5 or 6 PM, and I think late seating with little ones (10 and 7) might be unbearable.

 

So afterwards, do you think it would have been more enjoyable to have a fixed dining time? Or would the hectic nature of all the ports made getting ready and to dinner on time been too stressful?

 

Thanks!

Todd

[tigger77732]

Well, Todd (my husband's name, too), we chose the anytime dining because of the port intensive itinerary. But to be honest, we made it to dinner most evenings by 6ish.

So in my opinion, the early dining would probably work for you guys. I did REALLY miss having the same waiter every night. The anytime dining service was quite spotty at times. Although, we had the same waiter/ress a couple of evenings, I still had to ask for ice tea each evening (and it wasn't really offered-I specifically had to say "excuse me, could I get some ice tea, please?) It was not automatically offered.

Have fun on this cruise! It was amazing!