AryMay's January Photo Review of the Victory

[mumtopugs]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review! Keep it coming. It looks great!

[rlpolobear9]

You could and should use your sea pass to lock the safe

[AryMay]

After our little shopping trip we returned to the ship, showered and took a nap before dinner. With so many port days, this became our ritual each afternoon.

 

Tonight was our first night having dinner at our assigned table (#634) at the back of the upper level of the Pacific dining room. I had checked our table location the night before and was pleased to find out that we were by a window. Unfortunately with early seating the sun was setting about the time we got to the dining room so for most of our meal it was dark outside.

 

 

Being so far back on the upper level we missed out on some of the “action” when the waiters performed…but the great service we got from our waiters more than made up for that. Our headwaiter was “Sam” from Thailand and Remesto from the Philippines. Sam’s accent was such that we didn’t understand a single word he said all week…but he understood us well and never mixed up our orders. Remesto also served us well all week…and did so very cheerfully!

 

 

If anyone had trouble making up their mind on what to order…Sam just brought both items…or sometimes more! We usually ended up getting to try every appetizer because he brought so many extra to our table. It got to be a joke as the week progressed. We were sure he could read our mind and if we even “thought” about ordering something Sam would bring it!

 

Bob had tipped off the waiters that it was Kim’s birthday and when dessert time came they brought her a piece of cake with a candle and serenaded her with “Happy Birthday”.

 

 

But…they also brought many more desserts. I think she and Jim actually had six desserts that night!

 

 

Kim finished off the dinner by dancing with Remesto!

 

[AryMay]

You could and should use your sea pass to lock the safe

 

I don't think that would be such a good idea. If someone were to find your S & S card they could not only get into your cabin but also open the safe.

[smplyblessed619]

Loving the review so far! :) Looking forward to more & thanks for taking the time to post... BTW - St. Thomas is simply gorgeous!!!

[beerman2]

Thanks for the review and pics. Will be on the Victory in April 40 days away!!!

[AryMay]

Again...thanks for all of the kind words. I feel bad that this review is getting drawn out so long. I am long winded but short on time!! Good grief...I am only on the first day of the cruise!!

 

I’m kinda drawing a blank when it comes to remembering what we did each evening. Rather than do a day by day report, I’ll cover some of the things that I “do” remember and lump them all into this one post.

 

I am pretty sure that Monday was when our friends went to a gaming lesson in the casino right before dinner. Each night after that Lowell & Jim played black jack…sometimes Nancy joined but more often she was on a slot machine. Bob, Kim and I would watch some, but never played. Jim ended the week ahead a little…Lowell did not.

 

 

 

Each evening we all would go to the evening show in the Caribbean Lounge. Here is the schedule for each night.

 

Sunday – No show due to late sail away.

Monday (10:15) – Welcome Aboard Show. Pretty much the same as we have seen on every Carnival ship.

Tuesday (7:00 & 9:00) – (Elegant Night) “City Lights”

Wednesday (7:00 & 9:00) – juggler Victor Zuniga…included a lot of comedy as well

Thursday (8:15 & 10:15) – (Elegant Night) “Vroom”

Friday (7:00 & 9:00) – Magician Rand Woodbury

Saturday (9:00) – Singer Christina Alfred (the female half of the Carnival vocal duo)

Saturday (10:15) – Carnival Legends (guests impersonating famous singers)

 

The shows were all OK. I know we had seen Vroom before…can’t remember if City Lights was a repeat or not. I liked the juggler…a lot of his show was comedy based. The magician I could do without. Not necessarily because he wasn’t good…I just don’t like magicians in general!

 

 

 

A couple of nights we went to the Punchliner Comedy Club which was held in the Adriatic Lounge at the back of the ship on deck 5. The first time we saw Happy Cole. One of the comedians that was scheduled did not make it due to some “family emergency” and Happy was filling in for his show that night. This was an adult show and I felt like Happy was going out of his way to inject as many four-letter words into his routine as possible. Many of the topics were not even “adult” in nature and he was pretty funny…but the constant barrage of swear words detracted from the humor (in my opinion.) Unfortunately we never did make it back for one of his family friendly shows. I can’t remember the name of the other guy we saw. It was one of the family shows but the guy was just not that funny.

 

We made it to karaoke a couple of times but I never did get to see Superstar Live (karaoke with a live band.) It was usually held pretty late at night and with the busy port schedule we just couldn’t stay up late! I was sorry I missed it.

 

The regular karaoke was held in the Red & Black Lounge and usually drew a big crowd. One night there was a very drunken girl who pretty much took over and made a fool of herself. I felt bad for those trying to sing because she was constantly running up on stage and grabbing the microphone away from them or trying to “dance” on stage. The karaoke host did very little to try and stop her and actually played along with her which just made the situation worse. Sorry Jessica…you were not funny or cute.

 

I really wanted to spend time in the piano bar but it was ALWAYS empty. We never stuck around long enough to find out how bad the guy really was. Also…according to the Funtimes, the piano bar was supposed to be non-smoking. However...the times we did go in there were usually 3 or 4 people total…and they were smoking…one more reason we avoided the place.

[AryMay]

One night Bob and I finished the evening off in the hot tub. Our plan was to use the hot tubs in the Serenity Area…but the whole place was roped off with a sign that said “no entrance due to high winds”. We made our way to the hot tubs on the Lido instead.

 

 

 

The last evening of the cruise we did check out the movie on the big screen. We didn’t stay for all of it, but how cool is it to be watching “Pirates of the Caribbean” when you are sailing on the Caribbean Sea??

 

 

Some of the activities that we normally attend on a cruise but not this time due to the heavy port schedule...tea time, the past guest party and the farewell party. This was definitely a go, go, go type of week and I missed some of the “down time” we usually enjoy on a cruise.

 

Lastly…there were some evenings where Bob and I took some time to just get away from the crowds. We walked on the open deck and also used the “secret doors” to stand at the front of the ship feeling the wind in our faces as we sailed through the darkness. The only thing that would have made our time better...a full moon!

 

[AryMay]

Tuesday, January 24 – A Sea Day

 

This route on the Victory used to have a “port-a-day” schedule. Due to Dominica being dropped from the itinerary, now Tuesday is a sea day. Just having the one sea day was the one (although minor) downside to this cruise. I enjoy the more relaxed days at sea.

 

In the morning we walked around the ship a bit…

 

 

 

While Bob and our friends played miniature golf…

 

 

…I went to one of my favorite places…the deck outside the lobby. For much of the morning I felt like I had the world’s largest private balcony…I was the only one there! I read my book…and enjoyed just watching the ocean go by.

 

 

 

If you are looking for a quiet, peaceful place to spend a sea day...this was it. No loud music...no chair hogs. Eventually a couple of other people showed up...but for the most part the deck was mine...all mine!!!

 

[Yvonne]

Never been on the Victory, and may never be...but I'm really enjoying your review. I love reviews with a lot of photos!! :)

 

That's nice you had a great serving team in the dining room. We just went on the 1/28 8-night sailing of the Freedom and I can't say we had the same experience. :( We had a main waiter plus he had two assistants but still the service was extremely s-l-o-w most nights. There was very little interaction with them as they were so flustered and busy all the time, I didn't even feel like I could impose on them to take a photo of them together. And the main server sort of insulted one of our traveling companions as when she asked for two entrees one night he said he would "have to charge her double." I thought that was pretty rude of him. :( They never brought extra food to the table like your servers did. And I asked for lemons for my water the first night and got them, asked the second night and never got them. So I stopped asking. We were very disappointed with our servers.

[AryMay]

After lunch at the buffet the afternoon was spent watching some of the activities by the main pool. The hairy chest contest…and the ice carving.

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day and the chairs around the pool were all taken…some by real people…many by flip flops and towels.

 

 

We finally found two chairs together where Bob and I and Jim and Kim sat “tandem”. There were two chairs sitting next to us that went unoccupied for over an hour. After being unused for that long, we moved the towels and took possession. After another half an hour the couple showed up. They didn’t say anything...most likely since being gone so long they had no way of knowing “who” really had moved the towels in the first place!

 

 

Tuesday was the first of two “elegant nights” on the ship. I can’t even begin to remember all of the food that waiter, Sam, brought to our table that night…but it included multiple lobster tails for the guys!! The guys also discovered that they REALLY like the hot chocolate and demonstrated the proper technique of holding their cups. From that night on, Remesto would bring at least 2 cups for each of them.

 

 

Trying to walk along the Promenade Deck (deck 5) any evening was complicated because there were so many photographers with their backdrops set up. Instead of having professional photos taken, we used one of the lighted mosaic art pieces as our backdrop. The idea caught on, because when we were all done, others were waiting to do the same.

 

 

[AryMay]

Never been on the Victory, and may never be...but I'm really enjoying your review. I love reviews with a lot of photos!! :)

 

That's nice you had a great serving team in the dining room. We just went on the 1/28 8-night sailing of the Freedom and I can't say we had the same experience. :( We had a main waiter plus he had two assistants but still the service was extremely s-l-o-w most nights. There was very little interaction with them as they were so flustered and busy all the time, I didn't even feel like I could impose on them to take a photo of them together. And the main server sort of insulted one of our traveling companions as when she asked for two entrees one night he said he would "have to charge her double." I thought that was pretty rude of him. :( They never brought extra food to the table like your servers did. And I asked for lemons for my water the first night and got them, asked the second night and never got them. So I stopped asking. We were very disappointed with our servers.

 

Yes...we did have a good team. One reason is that our servers had the opposite experience from what you described. Most of the tables in our area were empty night after night. Not sure if that is due to the heavy port schedule or what.

 

I also asked for lemons the first night and they were on the table every night after that without me saying anything. In fact Remesto must have noticed that we were all using the lemons so the last half of the week he brought two plates of lemon slices each night.

[AryMay]

Too many photos to include in the last post...but I don't want to miss showing you the formal photos of our friends!!

 

 

 

Jim and Kim love to do ballroom dancing. As we walked through the ship, if they heard music they liked, they would just stop and start dancing wherever they were...the casino, the lobby, etc.

 

This photo is not the greatest, but this was in the disco on elegant night when they had music for "couples and lovers".

 

[AryMay]

Wednesday, January 25 – Barbados

 

Barbados…the pier was definitely “industrial” and not all that scenic.

 

 

 

Our neighbors for the day…

 

 

 

Welcome to Barbados…I’m sure this same photo is in the albums of many previous cruisers. The building behind the sign is full of little shops…the touristy kind you find at most cruise ship docks.

 

 

Today’s plan was to do a catamaran cruise with Shasa. The email directions said to walk through the shop area, go outside and someone will be there to meet us at at 9:30. At exactly 9:30 a van pulled up and off we went. There were two other couples from the ship with us in the van…and one other couple who was staying on the island that met us at the beach…a total of 12.

[Yvonne]

Yes...we did have a good team. One reason is that our servers had the opposite experience from what you described. Most of the tables in our area were empty night after night. Not sure if that is due to the heavy port schedule or what.

 

I also asked for lemons the first night and they were on the table every night after that without me saying anything. In fact Remesto must have noticed that we were all using the lemons so the last half of the week he brought two plates of lemon slices each night.

 

Yes, our servers were extremely rushed. I know they had 2 tables of 8, plus 3-4 tables of 4. Most people did show up every night. Occasionally one couple from one of the larger tables didn't come, and I know we didn't go two of the eight nights ourselves.

 

Your experience with the lemons is exactly how it has always been on any of our other cruises. You ask for something one night, it is automatically on the table waiting for you each night thereafter. So I was very disappointed about that. I know that having lemons in my water wasn't a life or death situation (ha ha) but I do enjoy it, so really missed not having them. I almost took my own one night (that I had gotten at lunch from the buffet and just kept in a tiny bowl in our refrigerator) but my husband thought it would be tacky. :( It probably would be, but might have gotten my point across to the servers that yes, I did want lemons. :) Oh well, that was just one small issue in our cruise and we did have a GREAT time so I know I really shouldn't complain.

[AryMay]

The van driver gave us a mini-tour on the way to the beach where we were to get on the catamaran. Here is our group waiting on the catamaran to pull up to the beach.

 

 

Can you believe the color of that water?!

 

 

Within just a few minutes, the catamaran arrived…

 

 

Julian…the first mate…waded into shore and had us all remove our shoes and put them in a basket. To get on the boat we had to wade out a few feet and then “jump” up onto the back of the catamaran. The boat was bobbing up and down with the waves and by timing your jump to when the boat dropped, it wasn’t as hard to get on as I had anticipated.

 

The front part of the catamaran was shaded so I was glad I was the first to board. The six of us in our group took up the bench seats in the front of the boat along with one other couple. The other four sat…or rather laid…on the back of the catamaran in the sun.

 

 

In order to not waste any time getting to where we would snorkel with the sea turtles, Jason (the captain) used the motor on the catamaran. As soon as we were on the way, Jason offered drinks to any who wanted something…pop, beer, water, or rum punch. When we arrived there were only one or two other small boats in the area. Our group had our own snorkel equipment, but there was equipment available for those that needed it. Jason also had snorkeling vests which one of the other couples used.

 

The depth of the water where we snorkeled was maybe 15 feet…I have a hard time judging distance. In my mind it doesn’t matter if it is 6 feet or 60 feet…either way the water would be over my head! It amazes me how buoyant salt water makes a person (especially those of us with our own built in flotation devices…fat!) Even without a snorkel vest I was able to float with no effort at all.

 

Julian got into the water with us and as he chummed the water, more and more turtles showed up. They had no fear of us and were just interested in getting the food that Julian was throwing out. I was behind Kim and she actually had her foot on one of the turtles at one point! She said it surprised her because she knew the water was deep but yet was surprised that she could touch the bottom…not realizing that she was actually stepping on the turtle!

 

I am sorry that I didn’t take my Canon D10 camera in the water to get some photos of the turtles…I just wanted to enjoy the experience and not worry about the camera. Lowell had a disposable, but the photos just didn’t turn out too good.

 

 

[AryMay]

Jason had put a ladder on the side of the boat and climbing it to get back in was just a bit of a challenge. (Remember I am an out of shape 50+ something lady.) If a person has any type of mobility issues this would be something to consider.

 

 

By the time we had finished snorkeling with the turtles quite a few other boats had showed up. In this photo you can see the Calabaza catamaran and others.

 

 

 

I had checked into Calabaza prior to booking with Shasa. You can probably see from the photo that their catamaran is much larger and they still only take 12 guests. In the end the cost was what swayed me to book with Shasa…$80 each instead of $110.

 

For the extra $30 each you would get more space, a nicer catamaran, steps into the water instead of a ladder, and nicer bathroom facilities I’m sure. (Jason had a marine toilet that required climbing down into one of the pontoons and closing the top over your head…this was very cramped and dark.) Having said that…we all enjoyed our day with Shasa very much and would book with them again.

 

Here is Jim going "down" to use the potty!

 

[AryMay]

Julian and Jason

 

 

After leaving the turtles, Jason took us to a place where we could swim over a reef…and then circle back to swim over a ship wreck.

 

He stayed on the boat and Julian once again got in the water and swam with us…chumming the water which attracted a LOT of fish.

 

It was a windy day and Nancy became sick from all of the bobbing up and down. I won’t begin to describe what happens when someone throws up in the water full of fish <yikes> :eek: but you can probably imagine. Poor Nancy. Julian came to her aid right away and helped her get back to the boat.

 

Nancy back on the catamaran...

 

 

While the rest of us continued our swim, Jason looked after Nancy…even giving her sea bands to wear to help the nausea. The swim turned out to be quite a long distance…especially in the rough water…but fun and interesting.

 

One of the couples had just booked the 3 hour snorkel trip…the rest of us had booked the 5 hour trip that included lunch. Jason put up the sails as he made his way back to the beach to drop them off. Along the way he showed us the hotel where Tiger Woods had gotten married.

 

 

Back at the beach, Julian helped the couple get off and then returned with an insulated bag. From there we sailed to a small beach and Jason anchored the catamaran. From Julian’s bag, they set out a small feast! Our meal included salad, cole slaw, macaroni pie, rice, flying fish, and chicken…all of it absolutely delicious!! With lunch and throughout the day Jason was constantly asking if anyone needed anything to drink. The rum punch was so good…

 

 

[AryMay]

After eating, Jason gave us a chance to get into the water and swim…or just wander down the beach. Snowy Minnesota seemed a million miles away as we enjoyed paradise!

 

 

 

 

Our day ended back at the beach where a van was waiting to take us back to the ship. (All transportation was included in the price.)

 

FYI…as we walked back through the terminal building with all of the shops there were people everywhere using laptop computers…apparently you can access free wi-fi. I debated about grabbing my iPad and going back, but it was getting close to 4:30…the time that everyone had to be back onboard.

 

The evening went pretty much as I described in a previous post…showers, nap, dinner, show, casino, etc. Here is a photo of Remesto entertaining us at dinner that night…

 

 

Coming up next...St. Lucia!

[Payd]

Anxiously awaiting the rest of your review.

 

Especially St. Lucia - my favorite!

[michiganirish]

we've done this trip twice without the sea day - thanks for helping me relive it - looking forward to the rest of the review.:)

[AryMay]

Thursday, January 26 – St. Lucia

 

Several months before the cruise I changed my computer background to a photo of the pitons in St. Lucia because I thought they were so beautiful. That day I was so excited to wake up and know that we would be seeing the pitons for REAL.

 

I also realized that the week was more than half over and I had yet to eat a slice of pizza! So…Bob and I ordered a pizza for breakfast that morning and ate outdoors by the aft pool. In my mind was a memory from our first cruise when I overheard a little kid say “you mean I can have pizza…for breakfast?!” Today I was that kid!! I had pizza…for breakfast…just because I could!

 

Today’s plan…meet up for a tour with Cosol 15 minutes after the ship docks. With cabins on deck 1, it was a breeze getting off the ship at each port. The gangplank was located on deck 0 in the front of the ship so it was simply down one flight of stairs and we were there. Coming back in the afternoon was even better. By then we were tired, and usually pretty “yucky” from swimming…and our beach bags were getting heavier by the minute. While everyone else had to wait to get an elevator, we just walked back up that one flight of stairs and we were “home”.

 

Cosol himself was waiting as we got off the ship and was dividing people up into groups with their respective drivers. Our group, plus 5 others, was assigned to Ben for our island tour.

 

I have so many photos that I won’t be able to even scratch the surface of all we saw that day…but will try and hit some of the highlights. St. Lucia is a VERY hilly (mountainous?) island with twisty, turny roads. They drive on the wrong side (left) of the road so at every curve you were sure you were going to run into someone coming the opposite direction. BUT…everywhere you looked was amazing beauty.

 

 

 

One of our first stops was at a banana plantation. (The bags are to keep bugs off the bananas as they grow.)

 

 

This is a flower from the banana plant. See the little, tiny baby bananas starting to grow?

 

 

We got to sample fresh bananas….

 

 

…and also banana ketchup…which didn’t really taste like bananas…or ketchup. But…it was good so I bought a small bottle. The lady told me the bottle usually sells for $5 but since we were on a Cosol tour we could buy it for $4. Most every place we stopped had the ketchup for sale but Ben told us we could get the best price by going to a grocery store…but I’ll get to that part later.

 

[AryMay]

we've done this trip twice without the sea day - thanks for helping me relive it - looking forward to the rest of the review.:)

 

You are welcome! Even though they take forever to write, doing these reports helps "me" relive the cruise!

[AryMay]

The island reminded me a lot of Roatan…although there was obviously wealth in some parts…you could tell many of the people lived in poverty.

 

 

We drove by a small, fishing village nestled in the valley…

 

 

…and saw some fishermen getting their nets ready.

 

 

Ben would stop at the scenic overlook areas for us to take photos…

 

 

…and at most of these stops were small souvenir stands trying to attract tourists.

 

 

There was even a guy who (for a fee) would let you pose with his snake.

 

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

I am enjoying your review!!! My Fun Group will be on the Victory in August and reading your review is so exciting!!!!!!!!