AryMay's January Photo Review of the Victory

[ibcnusoon]

Great review! Can't wait until our Victory cruise!!

[AryMay]

I am feeling guilty about how long this review is taking me to write…especially when some of you have posted that you were leaving soon. By the time I finish I’m afraid you will be back and have your own review written! Let me know if you want me to continue…

 

In the meantime, I will at least press on with what we did in St. Lucia.

 

At one scenic overlook where we stopped for photos, Bob and I wandered down the road a bit. This guy walked by us swinging a machete and talking non-stop…to himself.

 

 

I marveled at the lush and colorful plants….

 

 

And debated about possibly getting my hair done! ;)

 

 

There were bathrooms available at some of the stops…but there was a charge

 

 

…and the lines were long.

 

[nycfa]

Keep it coming.....

 

Great review!! :)

[AryMay]

The caravan of Cosol groups all converged at one place where tables were set up with many, many different kinds of local foods for us to taste.

 

 

 

 

 

This blue van followed us from stop to stop and was filled with all sorts of complimentary drinks…pop, beer, rum punch, etc.

 

 

 

 

[AryMay]

For Bob, one of the highlights of the trip was a stop at a botanical garden. I have heard him tell several people that he literally cried because it was so beautiful…

 

 

 

 

Watching the hummingbirds in the flowers...

 

 

And it was here that we got our first glipse of the magnificent pitons.

 

 

 

[AryMay]

Here are all of Cosol’s drivers waiting while we toured the gardens. Our van was one of the last to leave because Bob was so enthralled with taking photos of the beautiful flowers! (Sorry to those who were waiting…)

 

 

As our toured continued, we stopped at another road-side stand…

 

 

 

And this was the view behind the venders...the city of Soufriere down in the valley below.

 

 

This was the view that I had been anticipating for months...and it was far more beautiful that what I had even imagined.

[AryMay]

Our tour took us to what is billed as the Caribbean’s only “drive-thru volcano”. It reminded me of what we saw when we visited Yellowstone…

 

 

 

The water was very hot from the vocano...

 

 

Yet another machete-yielding guy walking down the road…

 

 

The hotel (that sort of looks like a parking garage from a distance...) where The Bachelor was filmed...

 

 

[AryMay]

Ben dropped us off at a dock where we boarded a water taxi…a VERY FAST water taxi…that took us around the pitons to Jalousie Beach.

 

 

 

Much of the beach was owned by a luxury hotel and off limits to visitors, but we were able to swim at one end. The beach at that end was very rocky which made getting into the water difficult…and painful on the feet. The others brought their snorkel gear and said they saw a lot of fish when they swam out from shore.

 

 

I was content to just swim around until some man said “do you realize there is a snake right under you?” OK…no more swimming for me. We only had about 45 minutes at the beach so it wasn’t long before we had get back on the boat for the trip back.

 

Cosol was waiting back at the dock with a jug of spiced rum for everyone to taste.

 

 

This stuff was good...but STRONG!

 

[KrystalWaters]

Awesome! Wonderful review!:D My dream is to do this itinerary with more sea days. I'm leaning towards NCL 10-12 day. I just wish it was on one of their other vessels. Carnival needs to get with the program and have maybe 1 Southern itinerary that includes more sea days. It nothing worse when you feel you have to take a vacation from your vacation, if that makes any sense.:rolleyes:

[AryMay]

Awesome! Wonderful review!:D My dream is to do this itinerary with more sea days. I'm leaning towards NCL 10-12 day. I just wish it was on one of their other vessels. Carnival needs to get with the program and have maybe 1 Southern itinerary that includes more sea days. It nothing worse when you feel you have to take a vacation from your vacation, if that makes any sense.:rolleyes:

 

I totally agree with you. Having a southern Caribbean cruise that leaves from Florida would add some sea days AND eliminate that expensive flight to San Juan.

 

Although the ports were wonderful there were many things I didn't get to do on the ship because we were so busy.

[jigger]

Great review we sailed on the Victory March 2011, We also did Cosol tour, Great pics and review !

[KirkWN737]

Wonderful review!! For some reason there seems to be more reviews of the Victory than of any other ship. At least on the boards.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

[designgirl]

I like your review. I am checking out reviews to get a sample of the different ports before I book my FIRST cruise next year.

Your pictures of San Juan and the fort were great, not at all what I expected from reading about San Juan.

 

Erica

[momsthequeen]

Please don't stop....we are really enjoying reading your review. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us. We board the Victory on Sunday!!

[ILUVCRUIZN]

What a great review... :D

[newdestination]

I am really enjoying your review. Thank you for posting it.

[ibcnusoon]

We are thinking of doing Cosol tours in St. Lucia to the Pitons, too. How logn was the ride back to the ship?

[CaFireCaptain]

Love the photo intensive review, You are getting me more excited about my trip on every page. KEEP IT COMING.

[beach410]

Enjoying your review!

[CorbinCatFan]

Loved the Cosol Tours pictures. This might be the tour we do.

 

I do have a question. Our last cruise on the Splendor, they had sushi a couple of nights and tapas a couple of nights. Did you notice this on the Victory?

 

Enjoying your review. I love seeing the excursions that others have done as we are port people. If you like days at sea, I'd recommend the Splendor. Four days at sea was a bit too much.

[familycruzer]

You said you could use your ipad in your cabin to access funville. Did you need an internet package to do that?

[AryMay]

You said you could use your ipad in your cabin to access funville. Did you need an internet package to do that?

 

No package needed...it was free. I can't stress enough how slow it was however...you will need a lot of patience. I had better luck gettitng the pages to load first thing in the morning...trying to log on in the evening was pointless.

 

Get your account set up and try posting before you leave home...that will make it a little easier. Also have your family do the same so everyone knows which forum you are using.

[forbjz]

Ok. How did you get pizza for breakfast? Room service?

That sounds great if they serve it early enough.

[AryMay]

Ok. How did you get pizza for breakfast? Room service?

That sounds great if they serve it early enough.

 

You can get pizza 24 hrs. a day on Carnival ships. On the Victory, the pizzeria is located by the aft pool. One of the omelet stations is also located here in the mornings.

 

When Bob and I both decided we wanted pizza he just made us a whole pizza to share. I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure you can also get freshly made calzones and caesar salad as well from the pizza guy (at least we could on past cruises.)

 

Why eat boring, old eggs when you can have pizza!! :)

[smplyblessed619]

Still loving this review!!! I'm appreciating the time you're taking to post your thoughts/experiences & pics! St. Lucia was gorgeous as well. **drools @ computer screen** lol