Carnival Fantasy vs Victory

[dolphinrc12]

Hi guys!

 

I usually cruise Royal so I am not very familiar with the Carnival ships. I am looking for a short 4 day quick getaway cruise in October. There are two options right now:

1. Carnival Fantasy to Cozumel and Key West

2. Carnival Victory to Freeport and Nassau

 

I have been to the Bahamas too many times to count. I would really love to try somewhere new. However, the ship is also very important to me. I enjoy having a bigger ship especially one with an adults only area. Both cruises are essentially the same price. I also live in Florida and am within a 2 hour drive of both ports. I am also concerned about the short port day in Key West on the fantasy which I believe is from 7:00am - 2:30pm.

 

Any recommendations/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Thank you!

[RWolver672]

Hi guys!

 

I usually cruise Royal so I am not very familiar with the Carnival ships. I am looking for a short 4 day quick getaway cruise in October. There are two options right now:

1. Carnival Fantasy to Cozumel and Key West

2. Carnival Victory to Freeport and Nassau

 

I have been to the Bahamas too many times to count. I would really love to try somewhere new. However, the ship is also very important to me. I enjoy having a bigger ship especially one with an adults only area. Both cruises are essentially the same price. I also live in Florida and am within a 2 hour drive of both ports. I am also concerned about the short port day in Key West on the fantasy which I believe is from 7:00am - 2:30pm.

 

Any recommendations/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Thank you!

 

That's a tough one seeing how you like a bigger ship (Victory wins) but have been to the Bahamas too many times to count (Fantasy goes to Cozumel and Key West so it wins).

 

Personally, we like the larger ships so we would go with the Victory which we have cruised on twice. We weren't that impressed with Key West.

[dolphinrc12]

Thanks for the input! I have heard bad things about Victory. Good to hear you have cruised her and would recommend her. Any reasons why you didn't like Key West?

[Tapi]

I'd pick the key west / Cozumel itinerary any day over Nassau / Freeport. Yes, the ship arrives early, but there's plenty to do, even early in the morning.

 

With that in mind, the Fantasy is Carnival's oldest (26 years old) and one of its smallest ships. You will not be picking this ship for its amenities, but because of price and convenience, so go with realistic expectations. But she does have some nice spots, including the adults only Serenity Area all the way in the back of the ship, with hot tubs overlooking the wake of the ship.

[RWolver672]

Thanks for the input! I have heard bad things about Victory. Good to hear you have cruised her and would recommend her. Any reasons why you didn't like Key West?

 

I won't say we didn't like Key West. We just weren't that impressed with it. We go on a cruise to visit far away islands. Slightly off topic but on one of our cruises, the ship had propulsion problems and we went to Key West instead of St. Maarten. Two of our table mates were from Florida. They both said that it was a wasted trip because they could drive to Key West if they wanted to see it.

 

Key West to us just seemed like visiting another town. Mile Marker 1 was the only thing we saw worth the stop. Well, watching the sunset was too.

[loubetti]

I won't say we didn't like Key West. We just weren't that impressed with it. We go on a cruise to visit far away islands. Slightly off topic but on one of our cruises, the ship had propulsion problems and we went to Key West instead of St. Maarten. Two of our table mates were from Florida. They both said that it was a wasted trip because they could drive to Key West if they wanted to see it.

 

Key West to us just seemed like visiting another town. Mile Marker 1 was the only thing we saw worth the stop. Well, watching the sunset was too.

 

Whoa! As a Floridian you really didn't tour Key West. As to driving there, it's 4 hours from where I live and I live in southeast Florida. Did you visit Ernest Hemingway's house? Did you see the southern-most point in the USA? That's just the start too.

 

Oh well, no accounting for taste- no offense.

 

"Far away islands"? To me that is Hawaii, Bali, or the Canaries, not the Caribbean. Even from Michigan.

 

You'll retire down here some day. :D

[RWolver672]

Whoa! As a Floridian you really didn't tour Key West. As to driving there, it's 4 hours from where I live and I live in southeast Florida. Did you visit Ernest Hemingway's house? Did you see the southern-most point in the USA? That's just the start too.

 

Oh well, no accounting for taste- no offense.

 

"Far away islands"? To me that is Hawaii, Bali, or the Canaries, not the Caribbean. Even from Michigan.

 

You'll retire down here some day. :D

 

In Michigan Lou, a four hour drive is just a side trip. Hemingway's house wasn't open the day we were there and we probably wouldn't have went through it anyway. Tried to go into one of the bars that was so popular and couldn't get in the door because it was so crowded. As I said earlier, the only thing we saw that was interesting was Mile Marker 1 and watching the sun disappear into the ocean.

 

"Far away islands" is a matter of opinion. Outside of the US is far away.

 

Already retired and will never live in Florida. ;) Nice state but too hot in the summer. Drove from Michigan to Florida once and will never do it again. Your expressways are a nightmare.