Victory 4/10 SOLO Trip report with pics (yes another 4/10 victory thread)

[cdamion]

Once back on board, I headed up to the hot tub on Serenity to relax with a nice view of the port and sailaway.

 

 

 

We had a coast guard escort as we sailed away:

 

 

What do I have to do to be on a sailboat in the keys?

 

[cdamion]

After relaxing in Serenity, I headed back by the main pool just in time for the hairy chest competition, which I have never seen before. I stuck around to watch it – don’t need to do that again.

 

 

[cdamion]

Tonight was Cruise Elegant night, so after spending some time by the aft bar on the ship with the great people I met at the meet and greet and some more casino time it was time for dinner. I like that Carnival still serves lobster on the short cruises.

 

One nice thing I realized about the early, short Key West port call is that this day is like a port day and fun day at sea all wrapped up into one, which is pretty cool.

 

After dinner the ship’s venues were much more full than the previous night. I spent time in the piano bar which was a mix of fun, but the piano player was a bit formal and abrasive to the point of running people out. She was friendly enough, but way too much like a teacher. The night club was fun as well.

 

Usually as a solo, I end up just relaxing and hanging out on the ship, but this time I spent a lot of time with the great people I met aboard – be it from the dinner table, the meet and greet, and a great new friend met in the piano bar. It really made this trip.

[cdamion]

While I was having a blast with the people I met on the ship, unfortunately the crew was just disappointing. It was becoming apparent that the crew just wasn’t up to par. With a few exceptions, they just weren’t the same friendly Carnival crew I was used to. The servers often seemed put upon to have to get drinks, and they seemed to be few and far between so sometimes it took a very long time to get a drink. Additionally, I would happen to be near the entertainment staff at times and they were very snarky saying things about the passengers very openly which I have never experienced before. It wasn’t directly to anybody’s face, but talking about passengers within earshot is not ok.

 

I can’t put my finger on it, but the attitude among the crew was more of taking care of people because

they had to and not because they wanted to. I have never experienced that on Carnival before.

 

Another first was that in the past, there have always been crew always tending to and cleaning areas of this ship. That just wasn’t the case this time – hand sanitizers sat empty, public bathrooms weren’t cleaned. It was just surprising.

 

The fun I was having with my new friends on board really made up for it though and I was having a great cruise with every day better than the next.

 

Finally at sometime in the wee hours of the morning I got back to the cabin for the nightly towel animal greeting.

[cdamion]

Enjoying your reivew. i have a quick question. i was on the Victory in October with some friends. We had a great time. But we also found the ship and especially the crew fantastic! This is the reason I chose her for my first solo cruise. Perhaps, they have had a change of crew since I was on there last.

I love the lido area. However, the small pool, where the slide ends on the main part of lido, seemed to have a real stinky smell. has that been taken care of? I hope so.

Also, there were babies in diapers in the main Lido pool. So after asking about it, nothing was done. this is bad for spread of diseases. So I went back to the adult pool and it was closed all day. Wonder if it was something similar since there were small kids in it.

 

I only noticed an odor once the entire cruise and that was getting on board in Key West. All the pools seemed fine. Never saw any babies with diapers in the pool. There were kids around, but definitely fewer than other cruises I have been on.

 

I am wondering if people are ending their contracts soon. I know the piano player was wrapping up her contract with the 4/10 sailing so there is a new one on board now.

[Sarah@Sea]

Tonight was Cruise Elegant night, so after spending some time by the aft bar on the ship with the great people I met at the meet and greet and some more casino time it was time for dinner. I like that Carnival still serves lobster on the short cruises.

 

One nice thing I realized about the early, short Key West port call is that this day is like a port day and fun day at sea all wrapped up into one, which is pretty cool.

 

After dinner the ship’s venues were much more full than the previous night. I spent time in the piano bar which was a mix of fun, but the piano player was a bit formal and abrasive to the point of running people out. She was friendly enough, but way too much like a teacher. The night club was fun as well.

 

Usually as a solo, I end up just relaxing and hanging out on the ship, but this time I spent a lot of time with the great people I met aboard – be it from the dinner table, the meet and greet, and a great new friend met in the piano bar. It really made this trip.

 

Was it Angela? Amanda? Something starting with an A? I was on Victory in March and the piano bar player kept asking the bartenders "where is everyone? have the shows let out? can you down and check by the casino and see if there are people there?" Sorta more focused on people not there than those of us who were there, even to the point she decided she was going to end at 1:30 instead of 2 AM, well a couple came in and were really enjoying things...lol...they were requesting a lot of the popular sing a long songs which she had already played once...but they wanted her to stay until 2...and I mean the rest of us would have stuck around and she was like I already sent my bar staff off, sorry. Just really kind of a let down that staying for 30 min as scheduled wasn't going to happen.

[cdamion]

Was it Angela? Amanda? Something starting with an A? I was on Victory in March and the piano bar player kept asking the bartenders "where is everyone? have the shows let out? can you down and check by the casino and see if there are people there?" Sorta more focused on people not there than those of us who were there, even to the point she decided she was going to end at 1:30 instead of 2 AM, well a couple came in and were really enjoying things...lol...they were requesting a lot of the popular sing a long songs which she had already played once...but they wanted her to stay until 2...and I mean the rest of us would have stuck around and she was like I already sent my bar staff off, sorry. Just really kind of a let down that staying for 30 min as scheduled wasn't going to happen.

 

Her name is Angela Johnson from British Columbia. Im sure it is the same person.

[cdamion]

Day 3 – COZUMEL

 

After sleeping in and relaxing, I decided to head up to Lido for some lunch and to watch our arrival into Cozumel. This was a day where I really missed having a balcony. I was tired and just chilling out there for the morning would have been great.

 

 

There were already three ships there, the Elation, the Paradise, and the Dream.

 

 

 

[cdamion]

I haven’t been on the Dream class and don’t see doing it soon, but I would love to have one of these balconies at the same level as my Oceanview cabin. A balcony so close to the water would be great.

 

 

Puerta Maya

 

 

 

I didn’t go to Senior Frog’s but I heard it was packed and very tame (unlike Fat Tuesday’s and Three Amigos).

 

[cdamion]

I love when two large ships dock next to each other creating a canyon.

 

 

 

 

[cdamion]

With four ships full of passengers in port, I thought the it would be packed, but it really wasn’t too bad.

 

 

I only stopped by briefly, but a few people from CC headed to Sunset Beach. It is within walking distance of the ship going towards San Miguel. There is good snorkeling from shore here, and everybody reported back that the food was excellent.

 

 

In Cozumel I decided to take off on my own and go off the beaten path a bit. I took a taxi into San Miguel and wandered around. Eventually I ended up finding a little open air place to eat. They didn’t speak English and my Spanish was worse than I thought. The food was very good though.

 

 

[cdamion]

After eating, I headed into the center of San Miguel near the ferry terminal, which was nice and relaxing.

 

 

 

 

[cdamion]

 

 

 

[cdamion]

[cdamion]

After wandering around San Miguel, I did some shopping and decided to have a drink and have a swim. I was going to go to Margaritaville, but a couple doors down I found a quiet little place called the No Name Bar and Beach Club. I got a Margarita and took a swim. Some of the Victory’s crew was there having cocktails as well.

 

 

 

[cdamion]

Eventually I took a taxi back to the ship to drop my stuff off and headed back out to the dock to have a couple drinks and relax before dinner. Tres Amigos and Fat Tuesday were a bit crazy for my taste – especially Fat Tuesday which reminded me of spring break parties – only with adults going nuts. I went on the other side of Fat Tuesday where there was a quieter bar and relaxed looking back towards the ship.

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[cdamion]

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One final look at Victory before our sea day and the return home.

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[cdamion]

Once back on board I cleaned up and headed to dinner where only a couple of my table mates were there. I have to say this dinner was disappointing. I had a chicken breast entrée that just wasn’t that good. With a sailaway of 10pm, there were still plenty of people on shore and the dining room was quite empty.

After dinner I joined the two tablemates there to head to the love and marriage show, which is another thing I never saw before (and won’t again). It was ok. People were coming in absolutely hammered and heckling. There was no shortage of drunk people on board after a night in Cozumel.

Once again, I bounced back and forth between venues on the ship, hanging out with a mix of people from CC, my table mates, and some other new friends.

The crowds were a bit lighter tonight because so many got really drunk in Cozumel. Once again the piano player seemed to push away people. The trouble was that she would focus too much on the games and shushing people rather than just playing music and inviting people to join along. Any time I was in the bar it really did feel like being in some kind of high school music class. Once I got used to her, it was pretty enjoyable.

I briefly checked out the deck party, which was ok. After the party I was headed down the stairs back to the deck with the bars and casino and there were a couple of the entertainment staff coming down behind me. Once again they were complaining about the passengers. I just don’t understand it, say what you will below deck, but bad idea in the public spaces.

The evening ended up on the Lido deck with some pizza, which was actually ok. Another late night.

One more day aboard Victory – the Sea Day.

[cdamion]

[quote name='msgemgirl']Enjoying the review so far. :)[/QUOTE]

[quote name='paradiscroozin']Great review so far! I love the DOF of some of these images, and the panoramas, vertical and horizontal! Really nice![/QUOTE]

Thanks!

[cdamion]

[quote name='diamondcharl']Totally subscribing! Love that you still had fun in spite of the negatives. Curious to hear them.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='erinmarie424']I am loving ALL the Victory reviews.... Especially since we sail on Thursday! I think yours is the first with a good shot of the showers on Serenity.... DBF is looking forward to checking that out.[/QUOTE]

Thanks!

[cdamion]

I tried to finish tonight, but ran out of time. I will finish up tomorrow after work. I have about 30ish pics left from around the ship on the sea day, so stay tuned.

Thanks to those following!

[cruzn buckeye]

[quote name='cdamion']I only noticed an odor once the entire cruise and that was getting on board in Key West. All the pools seemed fine. Never saw any babies with diapers in the pool. There were kids around, but definitely fewer than other cruises I have been on.

I am wondering if people are ending their contracts soon. I know the piano player was wrapping up her contract with the 4/10 sailing so there is a new one on board now.[/quote]
Good to hear about the pool. Maybe they got that under control. i love love love babies and kids.. I have a little grandson that is 10 months old that i adore. But I don't want him in the pool in a diaper either :rolleyes: not even a swim diaper.. just not sanitary and ends up getting the pools closed.

[cdamion]

[quote name='cruzn buckeye']Good to hear about the pool. Maybe they got that under control. i love love love babies and kids.. I have a little grandson that is 10 months old that i adore. But I don't want him in the pool in a diaper either :rolleyes: not even a swim diaper.. just not sanitary and ends up getting the pools closed.[/QUOTE]

I can deal with a swim diaper, but not a regular diaper.

I'll be wrapping this report up shortly with several ship pics.

[cdamion]

Here is the rest of the review finally with plenty of ship pics:

Day 4 – FUN DAY AT SEA

Once again I slept in after a very very late night. I really missed having the balcony, but it was ok to hang out in the ocean view cabin for a while. I am definitely glad I upgraded from the interior I originally booked. I should have had a balcony, but last time I only used it 2 days out of 7.

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After having lunch from the deli, I wandered around a bit. While the pool decks were crowded, it wasn’t horrible, you could find a deck chair if you wanted one. It was a bit windy but still warm. For a while it was too windy for the servers to be able to bring you drinks.

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[cdamion]

Eventually I ended up relaxing up on Deck 10 above the aft pool. I never thought I would complaint about it, but really the music by the main pool deck is too loud to be able to relax. Getting old I suppose. The aft pool was nice, the bartenders there were pretty good, but very busy so the waits could be long. I would say that the bartenders at the aft pool were my favorites on the ship, but I still never got that friendly Carnival crew feeling I’ve always felt in the past.

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I just wanted to mention these aft pools are no longer adults only. Not that kids were a problem, just don’t be surprised to see them in the pools.