Victory Review 6/19 Sailing

[*CruiseFan*]

Where should I start?

 

Alrighty, first, so you all know we were on the Western Caribbean so our ports of call were Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios.

 

My cruise was my graduation suprise from my boyfriend and I got another suprise on the ship. Two years ago we went on the Conquest and met 6 guys from Chicago and had a BLAST with them. We've kept in touch and well, they were there waiting! I tore up to the floor above the Lido deck when I saw them. 1 was missing because his girlfriend wouldn't let him go unfortunately, but a very nice girlfriend of one of the guys came instead. The kicker? One of them was posting in our roll call thread pretending to be someone else.

 

Now, onto the review.

 

I'm going to start with the good and then get to the bad.

 

The GOOD:

 

The food (overall) is awesome and there is more than you can every eat in a lifetime. The pizza is good and yes, the Reuben is good. My boyfriend tried it the first day at sea because he had read everyone raving about it on here.

 

The service guys by the pool ROCK. Iputu is our boy. He was awesome the entire vacation. Our group had at least 2 buckets of Miller Lite at all times with us and he made sure they stayed cold by bringing extra ice when we ordered an extra bucket. But beyond the pool bar service the bar service overall was fantastic and we made extensive use of this service so I can definitely attest to this.

 

Scotee in the Piano bar is AWESOME. After midnight it's an "adults only" singalong and he's hysterical. We have his card to try and find out what ship he's on for next year - he's that great. He's got a really fun personality and is an amazing piano player. He's hilarious - seriously. You should definitely stop in. If you do, tell him "Tom, Sarah, and the gang" from the 6/19 sailing say hi - he might remember - we were kind of hard to miss.

 

We didn't make it to any shows so you'll have to read another review for that. Sorry, it wasn't our thing this trip. My boyfriend and I went to the dirty comedian on Wednesday night - Pete I think? He was funny :)

 

Our weather was good overall. They sailed us a little out of the way on the way to Grand Cayman so we'd have pretty weather. It POURED in Miami leaving, was overcast and drizzled on Monday, sunny in the morning on Tuesday then rain (for Cozumel), gorgeous on Wednesday, gorgeous on Friday, and overcast in Jamaica. Saturday was great until about 3.

 

The PORTS:

 

Cozumel - I love it. We went to Paradise Beach (GREAT for families or just relaxing) and then shopped a little and hit Carlos and Charlies until it was time to leave. We were partying most of the day and had a wonderful time! It was fun relaxing on the beach and then shopping, I recommend that :)

 

Grand Cayman - This is the most boring port in my opinion. We've done Stingray City so we just went to the beach this year. It's great for shopping but I'm not a big shopper, so the beach was the best choice for us. We shopped for about an hour after we got off the ship so I could buy a few souvenirs for my mom and nieces, but that's about it. We went to Sea Grapes on 7 mile beach. Say Sea Grapes to the cab driver, just FYI. It's very nice. Cab ride is 4 bucks. You can rent chairs and umbrellas and they have jet skis. There is a bar/restaurant right there that's open air and extremely convenient.

 

Ocho Rios - We did Dunn's River Falls and it was amazing. I've never experienced anything like that. I will say that if you have children younger than 8 (or a week shy as was one adorable girl who was with her extremely awesome parents our group made friends with) it might be too young. It depends and I would just use your best judgement. You have to hold hands and believe me - I didn't want to let go of anyone because it's slippery in some parts. We went to the falls on the Sundancer Yacht cruise and were only with 8 other people (none of which climbed the falls). When we got back we dropped our stuff off in on the ship and then headed to Margaritaville for lunch to meet our friends. Ocho Rios Margaritaville is VERY different from Montego Bay (our stop on the Conquest). Ocho Rios is more of a restaurant with a bar in it, and Montego Bay is more of a Bar with a little restaurant. It was laid back and we kicked back with cheeseburgers in paradise and some Red Stripes (Red Stripe Light for me - I can't drink the nasty stuff :p)

 

Now. I want to first say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Carnival and am absolutely cruising it again - it's by far my favorite. I hate saying anything bad, but well, I have to. I would also like to mention that the people on the cruise with us, between the 6 of us we've been on an average of 4 cruises at the minimum (one it was her first cruise, but the rest of us range from 4 to 10). We all had this general consensus and they asked me to make sure I post it.

 

The BAD:

 

Our service in the dining room was HORRIBLE. Our waiter was nice enough, but he couldn't seem to find a rhythm. Once again, I maintain the bar staff was excellent. Tania (we had late seating [8:30] in the Atlantic) was fab. Our head waiter forgot appetizers and got the wrong entrees and it was SLOW. His assistant was extremely nice and personable but for some reason our head waiter was the complete opposite. We really like to eat dinner quickly because we would rather hang out and laugh and talk instead of sit at dinner. The hostess was rude to us the first night so that kind of left a sour taste in our mouths. Also, the maitre'd was obnoxious. He says HELLOOO loudly and we were in the middle in the center right by a speaker so it made it worse. That and it's showtime (something he also said) seemed to cheapen dinner in my opinion. The rest of our table agreed AS did the table of the two families we met who have children. One of the women is actually the one who made the point that it cheapened the experience and was annoying. Sorry to those of you who liked it, please remember this is just an OPINION. The waiters were hilarious dancing though, so that was nice, but the thing that was bad was that half the tables around us were done eating by the time that starting and in some instances we hadn't gotten our entrees. Half the table was pissed each night. My boyfriend is the most laid back person I've ever met and he was annoyed - it was THAT BAD.

 

The lines in the restaurant on the Lido deck are ridiculous and they make people cranky. I'm not sure what the problem is but they need to fix it. I can't even describe it. It was just awful. A line of 25 people could take a half an hour.

 

Overall? I had a WONDERFUL time as did everyone with me. Our only qualm was the food service. The food and beverage director needs to get their act together and figure out how to better situate the restaurant on the Lido deck because it's pathetic that the lines were so bad. I've never had that on a cruise. They were bad at the inside and outside stations everyday. Even before Cayman when there was hardly anyone in line it took at least 10 minutes.

 

I'm positive others had excellent service and I envy you! I saw excellent tables being turned over quickly in the dining room, so it was just our waiter I believe because our entire section was slow. Therefore, I won't say that the entire dining room is a flop. The food was great (all but Wednesday which was crummy in the opinion of several) for the most part.

 

The worst problem Victory has is the lines. They really, really need to do something about it.

 

Now, will I/we all cruise Carnival again? Heck yes! Next year, but not on the Victory ;) I had a blast though.

 

Phew. Enjoy your cruises and remember, this is just MY OPINON (and that of those there with me), and someone else could have had a completely different take on the lines. Maybe they enjoy waiting in line, who knows.

[*CruiseFan*]

Almost forgot!

 

Our room steward was good more or less. We had beer bottles that were almost empty lined up he never threw away as well as a glass of watered down coke my boyfriend had. I finally dumped it all out and put them in the trash can but I've never had to do that before. He also woke us up at around 6:30 two mornings in a row to give us beach towels which was a bit annoying. He was nice and quick though, so no big deal :)

[kytten_kat]

Thanks for the review ... I can not wait until it is my turn on the Victory ...

 

What time did you get to the port and how long did it take to board and also to disembark ...

 

Candy

[mc'smom]

Great review !

 

:)

[gypsyrose]

Ashkarita, that is a really good review and a wonderful gift from your boyfriend. I love to read reviews from people who are still having a great time even when they get not so perfect service. Thanks.

[SunshineAllYear]

The lines in the restaurant on the Lido deck are ridiculous and they make people cranky. I'm not sure what the problem is but they need to fix it. I can't even describe it. It was just awful. A line of 25 people could take a half an hour.

 

We were on the Victory the week before you and we noticed the same thing. The lines took FOREVER! I couldn't believe it. We complained amongst ourselves about it too. I don't know what was up.

 

Other than that we had a great time! :)

[kelz66]

We were on the Victory the week before you and we noticed the same thing. The lines took FOREVER! I couldn't believe it. We complained amongst ourselves about it too. I don't know what was up.

 

Other than that we had a great time! :)

 

So were we!!!

 

The lines were a problem, but I found (especially at lunch) if the lines were long at one place , they were short or non existant in others.

 

So we got to try everything at lunch besides the Merridian buffet (which is always worth the wait).

 

We were always early risers and beat the breakfast lines. But we did the "short line search" for lunch..LOL

[*CruiseFan*]

Thanks for the review ... I can not wait until it is my turn on the Victory ...

 

What time did you get to the port and how long did it take to board and also to disembark ...

 

Candy

 

 

Embarkation was a NIGHTMARE. It started raining as soon as we got off our shuttle and everything went crazy. It was like they didn't know what to do. Anyhow, things got straightened out finally and it was easy once we got through the VERY long line :) I have no idea what the fun pass thing does for you because we were all in one big line and the people in front of us hadn't done their fun pass.

 

Debarkation was long. We had to be off first because of our early flight, but it was more the tiredness of very little sleep and lots of fun combined with the fact that the cruise was over and it was time to go back to work that made it bad :)

 

As for ports, we got to Cozumel at I believe 7ish but my boyfriend and I didn't get off the ship until almost 10. We knew we had all day so we weren't in a hurry. Grand Cayman we arrived at 7 and got off the ship at around 9 (with tender time), and Jamaica we arrived at 8 and had an excursion at 8:30. For some reason immigration clearances at the ports took longer than I've noticed before. If it didn't they didn't announced it as soon as we were cleared because it was like, 2 hours after we arrived when they announced (or maybe I just didn't hear it).

 

Thanks y'all! Glad the review helped. Just because I had a couple of things on ONE cruise that weren't great doesn't mean I'm going to dwell on that and ruin my vacation, so no worries. I think a vacation is what you make of it and I had an absolute BLAST, even with bad dining room service and long lines.

 

 

To the other Victory cruises - those lines are TERRIBLE. My boyfriend and I think it might be the omlette station - they need to move it. I dunno, it sucks though.

[PaulMedik]

My boyfriend and I think it might be the omlette station - they need to move it. I dunno, it sucks though.

 

 

 

Ashkarita:

 

 

The omlette station and the cereal should both be relocated and the lines would be very fast. We were pretty lucky with the various buffet lines but I did see some long slow moving lines that I'm glad I wasn't in.

 

I'm sorry we missed the initial get together Sunday; I couldn't think of another way to figure out who everyone else was though. I did see several folks with hats like Longhorn Mike was to be wearing and I also saw many pink bikinis....after I get all the pics online you'll have to check them out and see if you are in any of those bikinis.

 

We also had the 8:30 Atlantic seating. Our table was for ten people and the other five never did show when we were there. Our waiter definately fattened me up; I had two large lobster tails Monday night and he brought a third that was even larger and insisted that I eat it too; I had to please him so..;) We were finished with our deserts when other tables were just getting their entres but I think that had to do with the number of no shows at our table.

 

We also went to Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Got a pic with Paradise Beach Tom and sat out the storm in the upper dining area of Paradise Beach above the dressing rooms. I should definately have some pics of you because I took pics of my boys all over the place there...you'll have to check those out as well once I get them on Webshots.

[metfan123]

Yes, i am the one who was pretending to be someone else because i didnt want to ruin the surprise. I agree 100% with ashley's review. Iputu was the best, he made sure we were taken care of every minute that we were by the pool. If you go on the victory make sure that you find him and tell him that we recommended him (i'm sure that he will remember us). Grand Cayman was still trying to recover from the hurricane, there were alot of downed trees and some hotels were still closed (i think it was the hyatt and marriott on seven mile beach). Overall i have to say it was a very enjoyable cruise especially when you have friends like mike, ashley and my buds from chitown. Hey ashley, "franks and beans"

[*CruiseFan*]

He'll DEFINITELY remember us - we put his kids through college last week, LOL!n

 

Paul - Michael was in the Longhorn visor all week, not sure if that helps :) Also, I definitely agree with that suggestion. The omlette thingies they cook them on are portable so they could really move them wherever. Ah well, hopefully they'll figure it out.

 

Hey Ray - "Hi, I'm Sarah!"

 

 

And of course, "Franks and Beans!" and "I don't own a toothbrush, I don't bathe regularly" and whatever else the rest of the living in a van down by the river thing that Jeff does.

[dsclark]

I was on the Vic last xmas and the dining room service was the worst that I have ever had. It was the first time that I complained to the maitre'd. We would ask for mr prime rib, be given real wd inedible prime rib, then, by the time the waiter got back to us, the staff would be preparing to table dance. I looked at other tables and all the people got their food way before us. In fact, we would get our appetizers around the same time as people in other tables were ordering their deserts!

This was not a ships problem as much as it was a waiter problem. Everyone in his section got bad service.

[PaulMedik]

........(i think it was the hyatt and marriott on seven mile beach). .......

 

 

 

metfan123:

 

 

Dunno about the Marriott but the Hyatt was definately open and definately in great shape; That's where we went to. The Carnival excursion was at the next place up the beach and it was packed to capacity...we practically had the Hyatt to ourselves. :)

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Almost forgot!

 

Our room steward was good more or less. We had beer bottles that were almost empty lined up he never threw away as well as a glass of watered down coke my boyfriend had. I finally dumped it all out and put them in the trash can but I've never had to do that before. He also woke us up at around 6:30 two mornings in a row to give us beach towels which was a bit annoying. He was nice and quick though, so no big deal :)

 

How was the entertainment on the ship? Where did you spend most of your time at night? My friends are all in their mid - late twenties and do enjoy the bar and club scene. We found that on the Valor the night life was awesome and the club was packed every night. How would this compare to the Victory?

[*CruiseFan*]

We spent most of our time by the bar in the casino right next to the singer, Carlos. He was nice but I dunno, interesting, haha.

 

I hear the shows were good :) We would go from there to the Piano Bar and then to the disco - LOTS of fun :)

 

We did see a comedian one night and that was awesome!

 

dsclark - IDENTICAL to us.