Carnival Victory New Year's Review!

[mehitabel]

My sister and I ditched the traffic on New Year's Eve and went cruising instead! It was a GREAT decision.

 

Our cruise itinerary:

 

12/27--left Miami

12/28--Sea Day

12/29--Ocho Rios

12/30--Grand Cayman

12/31--Sea Day

1/1--back to Miami

 

I'd never been on Carnival before; I'm a big fan of Royal Caribbean and was pushing for that line, but my sister really enjoys Carnival and, to be honest, the price was much better. I wasn't sure what to expect; you know how it is when you love one line and hear what people say about the other cruise lines! I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised, overall, at the quality of Carnival's vacation.

 

Embarking was not bad. We got to POM at about noon--right when everyone else did! :D Security took the longest out of anything we had to do/wait for that day; then we checked in at the terminal and were told to wait until they called for general boarding--which happened less than 5 minutes after we sat down. We took our goofy boarding picture and were on board in about 10 minutes. Our stateroom wasn't technically ready, but we put our stuff in there anyway and went to explore.

 

The Victory is an easy ship to get around. It IS pretty garishly decorated, but you know what? THEY ALL ARE, more or less, on the mainstream lines. Lots of color, lots of neon, lots of twinkly lights. I know it's going into dry dock in March, and while it could certainly use a sprucing up, I didn't see anything egregiously out of order, dirty, or in disrepair. My sister wanted to check out the Serenity area first off, and it really was nice--lots of comfy chairs, lounges, and clamshell loungers, several hot tubs (already full of people!) and a bar. And most importantly, the wandering kids were chased out as soon as they set foot up there.

 

Our stateroom was interior, 7418 if anyone's interested. There was surprisingly ample room for both of us and the beds were comfortable. Is the shower small? Of course it is. But the water pressure was great and we never had a problem with water temperature--but it gets VERY hot and stays that way, so be careful! The hair dryer really is the worst one I've ever used. Really. I used it to thoroughly style my hair one night, then thought The heck with this, I'm on a cruise, and didn't bother with it again. If your hairstyle is that important to you, bring your own dryer. The tile was a little shabby, but I don't cruise for immaculate bathroom tile.

 

We were given (many) glasses of free champagne before and during sailaway. We watched a few ships on their way out of the channel, then followed behind. On our first night in the Pacific Dining Room, we met our waiters Norman and Rodolfo (who asked us our names and then remembered them without fail every single night thereafter) and our tablemates. We got so lucky--we were at a table for 10, and the other 8 people were kind, friendly, and talkative.

 

The food, throughout our time there, was so good! I think that's what surprised me the most. I liked the chocolate melting cake just fine, but the potato salad on the Lido Deck! I could have eaten just that and been happy.

 

That's a lie. Because the chateaubriand was amazing, the smoked duck breast delicious, the made-to-order pizza (get the prosciutto and arugula!), even the simple salads were beautifully done. The room service came a little lukewarm, but hey--room service. I'm not complaining.

 

The excursion in Jamaica was kind of a bummer. I'd done Dunn's River Falls a couple of times, but my sister hadn't. The last time I did the falls was 10 years ago; the time before that closer to 25 years ago. Things have changed. If I remember correctly, I wasn't herded into a huge group of people and made to hold hands (!) and chant ridiculous slogans (!!) while trying to not fall and take everyone with me (!!!). Eventually everyone got tired of the hand-holding and just slogged their way up. Super-crowded. We went from there to Bamboo Beach. Not a very pretty beach site. The food was pretty good, but our guide just seemed ticked off at everyone in the world, and most especially our group. We were all a little sad, looking at everyone else's group chowing down on jerk chicken and fruit while our lady was nowhere to be found. Our bus was the last to show up to bring us back to the ship, well past boarding time--if I hadn't booked through Carnival, I'd have been livid. But you know what? If that's how I have to spend a Monday, I'm pretty much okay with that.

 

Grand Cayman was, as always, lovely. We chose the all-inclusive day at Tiki Beach, and were glad we did (we'd both done the stingrays a few times before). Gorgeous water, plenty of space at the beach, delicious and ample buffet (jerk chicken, burgers, hot dogs, etc.), and free beer and rum punch. What's not to like? We rented some snorkel gear and I pretended to be an extra in "Finding Nemo." I also did a little duty-free shopping. Did I get an amazing bargain? Maybe, maybe not. In any case, I got some things I really like and I had fun doing it!

 

The cruise staff was generally great. The cruise director Marcelo was fairly entertaining, but by the end of the cruise he seemed a little over it. The karaoke host was SO funny and gave everyone a hard time who came up to sing. Including me. We spent 4 out of the 5 nights in the Arctic Nightclub--I love to dance, and it was great to see a hoppin' dance floor every time we went in at night. DJ Jazze is the bomb!

 

I'm not a huge show person, so I can't speak to the theater productions. We did see Percy Crews on the last night, and he was really funny.

 

New Year's Eve was very well done. I was concerned about people clogging up one area of the ship, but they had several things going on shortly before midnight--a lobby party, an on-deck party (which really covers several levels of the ship), and plenty of people just wanted to be inside at bars or in the casino. We all got hats and noisemakers and more free champagne, did the countdown, cheered and danced--and didn't have to worry about who was designated driver. It seemed as though a lot of the staff and crew had family aboard for this cruise, which my sister and I thought was very sweet.

 

What else can I tell you? We did end up getting some photos--but avoiding the CONSTANT photo shilling is something of a chore, particularly at night during dinner hours. You sort of have to run the gauntlet of photographers down the hallway and just keep saying "No, thank you!" if you don't want pictures taken. Sort of like the markets in Jamaica, actually. And I'd rather not be harassed for photo opportunities when I'm trying to eat my dinner in the actual dining room. We liked the pictures we did end up with, though.

 

The only other things I found annoying were the very frequent announcements on the PA. Look, guys, it's in the daily program. I can read. STOP TELLING ME THINGS ALL THE TIME. No wonder Marcelo was worn out by the end--that poor guy was talking all. The. Time.

 

I'll be back on Carnival, I'm sure. Feel free to ask any questions, and if I have the answer, I'll pass it on!

[DavyJoneses]

I agree with you about the pictures - especially when they come around the dinner table and want you to pose. Enjoyed your review - thanks.

[ChristineS72]

Awesome review!! Thank you for sharing!! I will be sailing in 43 days :)

[CARNIVALCRUISE3]

Great Review!

[mehitabel]

Thought of a couple more things:

 

We stayed in the Courtyard Marriott Doral in Miami the night before. Nothing special, but the price was good and we could park for free. There was a charge for the shuttle, but it wasn't exorbitant. And if you like ceviche, there was a wonderful, wonderful restaurant literally down the road: Divino Ceviche. Great food and REALLY good Pisco sours!

 

And, if any Carnival execs are checking in: please, please don't make your waitstaff dance almost every night! Those people are working their butts off; do they really have to do the Gangnam Style moves too? (Also, it almost always happened right when dessert was about to be served. I NEED MY SUGAR NOW!) Really, though, the waitstaff must be some of the hardest-working people I've ever seen. Let them do their excellent work without having to bust out dance moves on top of everything else.

[happy cruzin]

Good to hear!

We have the Victory booked in May - the Key West/Cozumel itinerary - with other couples who have never cruised before. She will have been through the 2.0 upgrades by then - so that's exciting! Have never done a cruise shorter than 7 days so that will be new and different too!

Now...do tell me more about this champagne before and during sail away. ;) Haven't heard anything about that being an option in a REALLY long time!! :D

[mehitabel]

I'm guessing the free champagne was due to its being a New Year's cruise, but it was my first time on Carnival, so I could be wrong. All the extra holiday charges have to go for something, right? :D

[NoName]

Thought of a couple more things:

And, if any Carnival execs are checking in: please, please don't make your waitstaff dance almost every night! Those people are working their butts off; do they really have to do the Gangnam Style moves too? (Also, it almost always happened right when dessert was about to be served. I NEED MY SUGAR NOW!) Really, though, the waitstaff must be some of the hardest-working people I've ever seen. Let them do their excellent work without having to bust out dance moves on top of everything else.

 

I couldn't agree more. It is demeaning for the staff, ridiculous to watch and slows down service substantially. How about putting some real entertainment in the showroom and leave the antics out of the dining room.

 

Kim

[happy cruzin]

I'm guessing the free champagne was due to its being a New Year's cruise, but it was my first time on Carnival, so I could be wrong. All the extra holiday charges have to go for something, right? :D

 

Ahh...makes sense!

[Namelocg]

Mehitable,

Just read your review. We were on the Victory for the Key West / Cozumel trip the week before you. We also had a great time but I wanted to tell you and anyone else that is interested that the next time you go to Jamaica book The Blue Hole excursion with Ricardo at Liberty Tours Jamaica dot com. It is a smaller version of Dunns River Falls and not only do you climb up, on the way down you can jump off the falls (if you want to). It is too hard for large tour buses to get to so there are only a few small groups there at any time. Afterwards you go to lunch at Scotchies for some of the best jerk chicken that I have ever had. As you can see from my signature I've done a few cruises and excursions and this is one that I will do over and over again. I'm actually planning to do it again in March but I have to book the cruise first. You can also go on you tube and search the Blue Hole Jamaica. There are some good videos.

[simplelife]

Thanks for the review. I'm excited about going on the Victory in June,

[abcsteward]

Glad your sister was able to talk you into a little Carnival Fun... :) And you enjoyed it... ;)

 

I sailed on the Victory a few years back and had a blast!!!