ShonandSuzie's Victory 1/22 Review (w/ many pics)

[BCcruzer2]

Loved your review and pics, thanks for sharing. I just booked our first cruise today for the Victory March 2013, your review has me totally excited!!

[westcoastfun]

great review! Love the pics! Ps. I am afflicted with the same skin condition from the sun! hate it, just wanted to let you know you are not alone!

 

So as I started saying, I got in a bit of sun trouble while at the Boatyard. Not really burned but I have this wacking sun exposure issue where I "bubble up" when I get too much sun too fast. This is primarily an issue in the winter when my skin is so used to our extreme dumb sunless Michigan weather and then I "shock" it with the extreme caribbean sun. So beacuase this happened in Barbados, I decided to hide from the sun in St. Lucia.

 

We initially had planned to take a taxi to a beach since we did Cosol's tour (our favorite of all time, btw) a few years ago and a land and sea tour a couple years ago. Instead, this became another "sea" day. We explored and chilled and the sun even went behind the clouds long enough for us to hang out on the Lido deck a bit.

 

 

^OUCH!!

 

 

 

[shonandsuzie]

Looks like you had a fantastic trip.

Thanks for the review and all the pics!

You are very welcome. I enjoy sharing!

absolutely loved your review. we sailed the Victory in 2003 when it didn't have a serenity deck. I loved the way you braught your personality out in your review and sharing so much info. 1 of the best reviews i've ever read...thanks!

:)

Wow. Thank you!

Loved your review and pics, thanks for sharing. I just booked our first cruise today for the Victory March 2013, your review has me totally excited!!

Woooo! Hope you have a great cruise on Victory like we did.

[shonandsuzie]

great review! Love the pics! Ps. I am afflicted with the same skin condition from the sun! hate it, just wanted to let you know you are not alone!

Sorry to hear that. I hate it and it itches sooooo bad. But now that I'm back in sun-free Michigan, no rash to worry about. I guess that's the trade off. I am sure there is a cure, somewhere..... wish I could find it. :)

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Great Pics!!

[kapcruiser]

Great review....thanks

 

Do you know if you can buy bottles of alcohol from room service?

[Cruzin' Daddy]

Very nice review! Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! What type of camera did you use?

[shonandsuzie]

Great Pics!!

Thank you! :D

Great review....thanks

Do you know if you can buy bottles of alcohol from room service?

You can preorder bottles for your cabin from Carnival's bon voyage department. They will be in your room when you get onboard. We have never done this but friends of our's have and it was very convenient! :)

Very nice review! Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! What type of camera did you use?

Thank you. We've been through 3 camera's in 3 years. This one is a Olympia VG-140. It was only about $100 bucks. It's super simple but has some fun features.

[ibcnusoon]

I'm just catching up now. Oh my gawd, too funny. Lovin' your review!!

 

Somewhere after the drinking frenzy, Shon and Jim time warped and start swinging and jumping from the Boatyard's pier rope! It was great fun to watch and they even gave the other guys (and girls) the courage to try, too!

 

 

 

 

Then Shon started clinbing things....

 

 

 

 

and then dancing with random people on the way to the ship afterward....

 

 

 

You have to love fellow cruisers! So fun!

 

The day in Barbados was awesome! I did overendulge in the sun a bit but it was fantastic!

BTW, that sun issue will be visited again in the next few posts....

[ibcnusoon]

hahaha. I would have never thought St. Lucia was a partying kinda island. lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were hanging out for our St. Lucia "sea day", we saw a bunch of crazy drunk people coming back to the ship. Various people at various times were just stumbling and falling and being ridiculous. very entertaining.

 

[ibcnusoon]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

And as explored. We found a cool feature of the Serenity deck that we missed on other days.

 

This entire wall of showers. Different types to try. Like a water park for adults!

 

 

 

 

 

[ibcnusoon]

Nice! What time did you get there, where did you rent beach chairs from and how much? This is exactly what we want to do. I'm also traveling with my older parents and I heard there's a casino very close t Maho too?

 

 

 

Woo hooo! Maho beach day in St. Maarten. Let me start by saying, we LOVE orient beach. (Man, I say we LOVE a lot, I'm noticing) Anyway, we always go to orient beach here. I love the clear water with the gentle waves and the silky sand at Orient beach. I know some people dont wear tops but I've only ever saw a couple people like that whenever we've been there. I recommend that everyone go to Orient beach at least once.

With that said, our friends from previous cruises have been to Maho beach to watch the planes land and have finally convinced us to try it.

 

We (along with Jim and Rosemarie again) took a shuttle type taxi to Maho. The rate was $7 a person, I think. We had another crazy taxi driver here. His van had no air and he pretended like it did and during our drive I think his engine or transmission was dying. It smelled like burning vehicle of some sort, that's for sure. We were all dying from the fumes. Then he said, it's just my brakes. WTH? "Just the brakes" with all these winding hills. eek!

But it all worked out and we made it to the beach alive. (Aren't you so glad!? haha)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kapcruiser]

Are the activities at boatyard included in price?

 

Also, i am planning on buying bottles from bon voyage, but wanted to buy more if we ran out. My 3 boys will be traveling with us.

[shonandsuzie]

hahaha. I would have never thought St. Lucia was a partying kinda island. lol

 

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

Nice! What time did you get there, where did you rent beach chairs from and how much? This is exactly what we want to do. I'm also traveling with my older parents and I heard there's a casino very close t Maho too?

Yes. St. Lucia was halarious! We think it's the rum punch they give out on the excursions. It has certainly done us in before--however never to the point of the people falling on the ground walking back to the ship! Lol

 

For Maho Beach: We left the ship at about 10:30-11. The cab ride took about 20 minutes (I think). We got the chairs from the little bar for $5 each. There was a restaurant at the other end of the beach that also had chairs you could rent for $5.

There was a casino and shopping area right next to Maho beach but we didn't get a chance to check it out so I don't know how good it was. It looked pretty nice though.

[shonandsuzie]

Are the activities at boatyard included in price?

 

Also, i am planning on buying bottles from bon voyage, but wanted to buy more if we ran out. My 3 boys will be traveling with us.

Yes, the chairs, rope swing and climby water stuff are all included in the fee. They had a "menu of options" as you enter the Boatyard and they collect your money and give you a wristband that corresponds to your package right there at the entrance.

[ibcnusoon]

Yes. St. Lucia was halarious! We think it's the rum punch they give out on the excursions. It has certainly done us in before--however never to the point of the people falling on the ground walking back to the ship! Lol

 

For Maho Beach: We left the ship at about 10:30-11. The cab ride took about 20 minutes (I think). We got the chairs from the little bar for $5 each. There was a restaurant at the other end of the beach that also had chairs you could rent for $5.

There was a casino and shopping area right next to Maho beach but we didn't get a chance to check it out so I don't know how good it was. It looked pretty nice though.

 

 

Thanks. I think we'll get off the boat early, take a taxi to Marigot for a little shopping and french pastries, then head over to Maho. Did you rent from the other bar on the other side of Sunset Beach Bar? If we get there by noon, I guess we'll be able to rent chairs too?

[KimmiePie]

Wonderful review and great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing!

[shonandsuzie]

Thanks. I think we'll get off the boat early, take a taxi to Marigot for a little shopping and french pastries, then head over to Maho. Did you rent from the other bar on the other side of Sunset Beach Bar? If we get there by noon, I guess we'll be able to rent chairs too?

Yes, we rented them from the Driftwood bar. (It looks like a boat) What you can't see in my pictures very well is that there are 2 levels where there are loungers to rent there.Not a huge area but probably 20 chairs.

Noon should be fine. People came and went the entire time we were there.

Wonderful review and great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing!

Thank you :)

[elcuchio24]

Great review, you guys are awesome!:)

[Kevin Hort]

Our final stop was at the beach. Cockleshell Beach. It was okay. Not my favorite beach but it had sand, water and foo foo drinks.

BYW, they had a pig there. Gross. But I guess people like seeing it there.

 

 

 

 

Our future home there in "heaven"

 

 

That pig is Wilbur. He is very famous at Cockleshell Beach. We have several pictures of Wilbur ourselves! We leave on the Victory in three weeks. Can't wait! Thanks for this review. The timing couldn't be any better. We are also in Michigan, Muskegon to be exact. We moved here from Ann Arbor about 12 years ago. Where in Michigan are you from?

[shonandsuzie]

Great review, you guys are awesome!:)

Thanks a lot :)

[BenjiRodney]

Loved your review can't wait to do this cruise again 11/04/12.

[steelers10]

Happy belated birthday Suzie! That was such a wonderful review! You too know how to do it right! We will be on this cuise June 3rd. Can't wait to do and see some of the things you all did. Four months away but your review makes very excited. Thank you so much.

[smplyblessed619]

More St. Kitts- our favorite part; aka Heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st off - Wow, what a great review! You guys look like you had a ball...Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

2nd - These two pics are gorgeous!!!! This will be on my "bucket list" for sure....wow...again, very pretty.

 

Thanks again! Also Happy BIRTHDAY!! Woot Woot :)

[shonandsuzie]

Great review, you guys are awesome!:)

Thank you!

That pig is Wilbur. He is very famous at Cockleshell Beach. We have several pictures of Wilbur ourselves! We leave on the Victory in three weeks. Can't wait! Thanks for this review. The timing couldn't be any better. We are also in Michigan, Muskegon to be exact. We moved here from Ann Arbor about 12 years ago. Where in Michigan are you from?

We are from Kentwood. Outside of Grand Rapids.

This is a great time of year to cruise from these part, huh? This snow is my enemy. :D