Carnival Victory : April 29 - May 4

[Ratch]

The sunrise at Nassau:

 

My wife catching the sunrise from the clamshell:

 

Coming it to port in Nassau:

 

Taking off parasailing:

 

Way up:

[Ratch]

Us at Junkanoo Beach:

 

Drinks at Senor Frogs:

 

Heading back to the Victory:

 

Formal night purchased picture on our anniversary:

 

Our camera from formal night (we clean up pretty nice as they say):

[Ratch]

Stingray Adventure:

 

More rays:

 

The terrifying bite:

 

Our purchased picture feeding the rays:

[Ratch]

Beautiful Half Moon Cay beach:

 

Our writing in the sand:

 

Me trying the slide:

 

The theater before the Love and Marriage show:

[Ratch]

Getting off the ship in Grand Turk:

 

Margaritaville pool:

 

Me waiting out the rainstorm:

 

My wife drying off after the ride with Tango:

[Ratch]

The Victory hanging out with The Liberty:

 

Us enjoying the weather:

 

Me and my frog legs:

 

Catching a bit of the movie:

[Ratch]

Finally got omelets for breakfast:

 

The Liberty trying to race us home:

 

The packed Lido Deck:

 

I guess I'll have another Corona:

 

Us dressed up for our last dinner:

[withaneye7]

Great review! Loved all the detail.

[caro1998]

Thanks so much for posting the pics! I was wondering what the Margaritaville Bar looked like that everyone always talks about....

Caro

[DOTTE]

Thanks for the review! Nice pics.

[Sandpiper10]

great job on the review! I enjoyed it being detailed and your pictures! happy anniversary

[lover101]

thanks for the review - love your pictures they look great . I was on this ship last year when it left from Puerto Rico was in room 7227. thinking about taking this itinerary

 

thanks for sharing!

[boaterette]

Great review and you guys make a cute couple. Happy anniversary.

[LUVMYGSDOG]

Thanks for posting the pics! Enjoyed the ones of South Beach. We were there in February.

 

 

Kim

[beeburkhard]

Thank you for the pics and the awsome review. Going on the Victory in December for our honeymoon and after your review looking forward to it. Your pics are awsesome. Thank you for taking the time to do the review.

[seastar720]

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Victory next month. First time cruising for me and my family. Very excited!!!

[Ratch]

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Victory next month. First time cruising for me and my family. Very excited!!!

 

This was my wife's first cruise and only my 4th. I am not a super-cruiser like alot of people I see on here. I wish I could go more often though because I really do enjoy them. You and your family will have a blast.

 

My one suggestion would be...look at the Fun times each night and come up with a plan for the next day. There is so much going on that at times it can feel like you are always chasing the next activity. Remember to relax and enjoy yourself as well since you are on vacation. I am the type of guy that likes to be on the go, but I have to remind myself to slow down and just enjoy the time and if I miss something (the mega deck party) it is OK.

 

Have fun.

[Ratch]

Thank you for the pics and the awsome review. Going on the Victory in December for our honeymoon and after your review looking forward to it. Your pics are awsesome. Thank you for taking the time to do the review.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. You will really enjoy this cruise and the ports. Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay are great. Try to get yourselves in the Love and Marriage show as the newlyweds...if not, at least go to it. As I said it is always one of my favorite activities onboard.

 

Have fun!

[Ratch]

I will try to finish up my review and end with a few thoughts from our trip.

 

With our relatively early bedtime I was of course up way too early. I went up around 6:30 AM and saw that we were just pulling in to dock. I was able to watch as they tied us up and then saw behind us that the Liberty was just turning around in the harbor to pass alongside us to dock in front of us. I watched as they passed and waved at the few early risers on it's deck. After the Liberty was clear then there was a Celebrity ship right behind it as well. It was interesting that I was unable to see a single person outside on the Liberty. People on that cruise must sleep in.

 

Our group #14 was suppose to disembark at 9-9:30. I went down to get my wife and we cleaned up. We head up to grab breakfast at the buffet and it was a beautiful morning in Miami.

 

After breakfast I needed to run down to our room to grab a plastic bag to wrap the sunscreen in for the flight and found they were already cleaning it. This was fine since we were done but man they come right in as soon as you leave for a second.

 

We went down to find a chair on deck 5 to wait till our turn. It's also always interesting how subdued everyone is on debarkation day. Not sure if everyone is tired from the week of fun or sad that their vacation is over.

 

It seemed like everything was running very smoothly getting off the ship and our number was called at around 8:30. We walked down to deck 3 and waited in a fast moving line and were walking off the ship in no time. On my past cruises, luggage was always placed in a huge open area by zone number and you had to search for your bag. Now they have luggage carousals like at the airport. This seemed to work really well and we quickly found our bags and were headed to customs. The customs line went very quickly with no hassle and we were outside the terminal and ready to go to the airport.

 

We decided to take a cab to the Miami airport because we thought it may be quicker than waiting for one of the buses to fill up. The line to get a cab was short and we were at the airport shortly after for $25 plus tip.

 

Our flight didn't leave until 10 AM so we had time to burn. My wife found some neat jewelry for herself and the babysitters in the airport and we both grabbed an early lunch before boarding. We had a connection in Detroit and the flights were both pretty smooth and easily on time.

 

We got to Minneapolis around 6 (scheduled to get in at 6:22) and after getting to our car were heading back to Wisconsin at 6:45. Our oldest boy usually goes to bed around 8:30 and we figured that would be roughly when we got home. So we called Grandma to tell her to keep him awake so we could see him when we got home.

 

We got home right at 8:30 and he was very happy to see us. Everything went well all week and all kids and babysitters were still alive. That was our only demand for the week.

 

All in all it was a great vacation. We had a few snafu's along the way as everyone does, but nothing major.

 

Before signing off from my review I just wanted to point out a few things from our experience:

 

- The big screen on Lido Deck. I don't think they use this thing very well. Most of the time it has videos of waterfalls and fish playing on it. Later in the cruise it is showing scenes from the cruise video. I think they should have movies playing on it more than just late at night. Also, I know not everyone likes sports but they could have a game on with no volume and still have music playing. It just seems like a big waste to me the way it is used right now.

 

- As for the movies they show, I wasn't overly impressed. I understand they need to be family friendly but the ones they showed were really old. They could find some much better newer movies to show. The one movie we sat and watched for a bit, "The Weding Planner" we really enjoyed sitting out and watching but we have seen it 100's of times on TBS already.

 

- The only tap beer they have on board is Carnivals Red Frog beer. You can only get it at a few bars as well. I got mine from the lobby bar. It is good but not outstanding. I am a bit of a beer snob coming from Wisconsin, I know.

 

- I have found that over the course of a cruise I usually piece together 1 new (to me) movie that is showing on the TV's in the rooms. This cruise that movie was, "Hope Springs". It was good and it's something I look forward to getting in. We watch while getting ready in the room and it always seems like it's at a different part so we eventually see the whole thing.

 

- Just outside the casino they have a huge map that is suppose to light up along the cruise route to show you where you are. The lights were not working on the map until the last day. I always find it fun to monitor the progress of the ship and see where we are in the ocean.

 

- Initially I was bummed that there is a charge for the specialty coffees that my wife got a few times. I thought about it and didn't end up minding to pay for them. First off they aren't too expensive, and secondly they are no different than ordering a beverage that you have to pay for. So this is a wash to me.

 

- The gelato on board looks delicious and we planned to try some the entire trip. We never did end up getting any since we were always stuffed from our desserts at meals. This is definitely something I will try on my next cruise.

 

- They have a few game tournaments listed in the Fun Times (ping pong, mini-golf, etc.). I went to check them out but no one was ever playing. I think people would be interested in doing these if they knew about them. I think they could announce them on the Lido deck and people hanging out would probably join in. They never announced them so people probably didn't pay attention in the Fun Times.

 

- We got extremely lucky with the weather. We were told on our way back to Miami that it had rained there the entire time we were gone and that there was flooding in the streets. We were on a flight home with a couple that was in Miami for the week vacationing and they said they couldn't do anything. They had to rent a car and drive to Key West. So if you are going on a cruise...start praying for good weather...though you will have fun no matter what, it does help to have nice weather.

 

- Finally my wife wanted me to mention to plan to feel the swaying of the boat for at least a week after you get on land. We are just now starting to get our feet under us.

 

I think this finishes up all I have to say about our trip. If you stayed with me through this entire review...thanks. I know it was long. Since we don't cruise as often as we would like this will be a nice reminder of the great time we had. Also, it will be nice to look back on when we do go again. There are always little things I learn while on a cruise but by the time I go again I have forgotten. Maybe this will help me remember.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[Ratch]

Sorry I need to brag a bit now....this is what we had to go home to. No matter how great vacation is, it can't compete with these 2 little guys. Tyler is 2 and a half and Dylan in 6 months.

 

[Cruise Traveler Susan]

Great review - and sweet little boys. thanks for writing it.

[seastar720]

A few silly questions... Which non-alcoholic drinks are for free and which do we have to pay for? Can we buy alcoholic drinks without buying the plan? Thanks.

[Ratch]

A few silly questions... Which non-alcoholic drinks are for free and which do we have to pay for? Can we buy alcoholic drinks without buying the plan? Thanks.

 

First off there are no silly questions when it comes to cruising. I had tons of questions before I went on my first cruise and as I said in my last post I still remember new things each time I have gone.

 

As for drinks, free drinks include regular coffee, juices (apple, orange, some other fruit type), tea, tap water.

 

Yes you can buy any of the alcoholic drinks without the drink plan. I have never gotten the drink plan because first off it is new and secondly I did the math and it wouldn't have paid for me. You can find other threads in here about the exact drink prices on cruises but from my experience they are roughly, $5.75 for a bottle of beer, $7-$9 for fruity drinks, $6-$8 for regular mixed drinks (whiskey sours are what I drink).

 

You can also buy single sodas while onboard or get a soda plan. You can check on Carnivals site for that cost...I have not used it. Or you can bring some soda onboard in your carry on. This is what we did this time. We brought 1-8 pack of Sprite to leave in our cabin.

 

The specialty coffees that my wife occasionally got (spiked with bailys, or your typical Starbucks type coffees) have a charge. I think the spiked coffee was only like $3.75.

 

The negative with the drink plan is that all people in the cabin need to get it if 1 person wants it. I knew I would drink a bit more than my wife but we would have both needed to buy it so it definitely would not pay off for us.

 

Long story long, you can order any of the drinks alone and just pay for what you actually drink. Otherwise the drinks listed above are free. Hope that helps a bit.

[seastar720]

Thanks! I guess we would use the Sail and Sign cards for purchasing drinks?

[Ratch]

Thanks! I guess we would use the Sail and Sign cards for purchasing drinks?

 

Yup you use your Sail and Sign card for everything on the ship. The only thing you need cash for on the ship is for the casino and any extra tipping you may choose to do.

 

It is very handy but can be scary when you get that final bill since you were only using plastic all trip. Note...when you buy drinks they do already include gratuity into the price so just be aware.