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Back from 4 Day Victory - Key West and Cozumel October 2017

LMaxwell

By LMaxwell,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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Who likes really long reviews that delve into minutiae; that calls out the good, the bad, credit where it is due and demerits where things are not up to snuff? We had a really nice vacation on the Victory, our second trip on this ship. If you are reading this in the future, the ship is due for a drydock in early 2018 with some 2.0 upgrades, so take what you can as relevant and other things may change, but some may not.

 

Things that are important to me may or may not be so important to you. My reviews are based on my own observations and feelings. You may feel differently, you may not care or be impacted at all. I like having discussions with people so if you have more questions, ask, and I will provide more detail on something, if I can.

 

Since our last cruise on Victory (same itinerary 2 years ago) I'll talk about some of the changes and let you know if they improved or took away from our experience. I do have the FunTimes for the 4 days, and the kids club programming for ages 2-5 also.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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I originally booked this cruise in March of 2016 for the Halloween week sailing but was contacted by Carnival that the ship was chartered. They offered me some alternative weeks for price protection but rebooked it for 10/2 and they actually gave me $75 OBC and an additional coupon for something like $40 off. Sounds good to me.

 

I do not like the terms and conditions of Early Saver, so I do not take advantage of that program and book under Past Guest w 2 category upgrade. I pay the regular deposit amount at that time. I also select my pier check in time when I make my booking. I have heard others say they have had to wait to make final payment. That has not been my experience. When I make deposit I select check in. Others may experience different, if they do I am not sure if it has to do with the rate they book under, that is why I mention booking under Past Guest.

 

Originally I booked an interior room on Deck 1. I accepted a $20 upgrade a few months ago to an interior on deck 10. Then right around final payment time I accepted a $40 upgrade to an oceanview back down on deck 1 (Each time I had a selection of a few different rooms).

 

Just before sailing I checked my account and a refund of some port taxes brought my OBC up to around $95.

 

My total for cruise fare, taxes, fees was $825 for 3 people in a Riviera Deck oceanview with $95 OBC. Cruise rate was 522 and taxes were 303. When I booked I had a 15% discount due to an issue on a prior cruise. Very good pricing, but dollar for dollar, a 7 day cruise on MSC Divina in an interior room (less OBC but way way more perks) came out to less per person per day. But in the 4 day category from a port we could drive to, all things considered, this was a really great price.

 

I have also been on NCL Sky, Majesty of the Seas, and next month will be on Enchantment of the Seas, more or less covering the Florida based older mid-sized ships that do short sailings from Florida. I haven't been on a Fantasy-class in a while (Ecstasy) and try to stay away from them due to age at this point, but I think if price was really low and ship had 2.0 upgrades I'd consider it bc I am generally positive about the product Carnival provides. This is just to provide some frame of reference on my experiences

 

We purchase insurance from a 3rd party so check for your own rates.

 

I always let grats hit my account and get offset by OBC, that is why I do not prepay them.

 

I booked direct with Carnival and could not get any additional OBC or amenities shopping the reservation out to a few different TA's. Usually I can, this time no dice.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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Sometime in the past year Carnival has been moving more and more towards not giving you your room key at check in and instead supplying them onboard in your mailbox when the rooms open. I was a vocal opponent of this method when I learned of it initially. Did my mind change?

 

Well here is my experience; after going through security and passport check point you are "done". You go upstairs and no "next" line to go check in, you are just waiting for your zone to be called. We were told the photo from our passports would be the photo attached to our cards onboard. So far, so good. I had attached a card to my account during my online check in so nothing further needed for payment. Just before boarding a guy with a handheld tablet took our photos again saying we needed them for our cards. Okay then...uh....

Onboard we did not need to make any purchases prior to room opening and our cards were waiting as promised, sealed envelope, and they worked.

 

So my experience was generally positive with regards to this system. It worked as intended, and I had a good result. The envelope says if the package was tampered with to go to the Platinum GS line. I never went to GS at all but whenever I did pass by the line was always long. Like...always. <shrug>

 

I do prefer to have the card in hand when boarding, but I do see efficiency here, so it's fine. Carnival critique blasted to smithereens. (so far)

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SMSACE6

SMSACE6

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Enjoying your review of the Victory, a ship that I did very much like. Looking forward to hearing more. I do always appreciate your reviews, and opinions, whether I agree or not, I like your way of explaining your take on things. Carry on. Looking forward to more review.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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First impressions: The atrium is fun and funky looking, but tight and congested because they are trying to sell you everything as you board and they funnel everyone into one spot. Head down, keep moving. If you've never been on a ship before the lighting and decorating are going to be pretty impressive. You enter on deck 3 and I def caught a little whiff of smoke. Deck 3 has access to the sea view promenades on either side of the ship under the lifeboats. The exterior promenade doesn't wrap around, but still a nice place to be.

 

The quad panoramic elevators go from decks 2 to 11 and look great. They are a design element disappearing on newer cruise ships as they get rid of huge soaring atriums to put more cabins in. The atrium is the main hub of the ship with guest services and excursions on Deck 3. Photo gallery, library/board game room/chef table (all same room) is on deck 4. Deck 5 has the fun shops, sports bar, candy store circled around atrium. I went into the clothing/sundries shop half expecting dumb pricing and was pleasantly shocked how reasonable prices were in there. At least for hats, shirts, and bags. And big selections. I don't really know about other stuff. If you're looking for inexpensive souvenirs you will find some. The same can't be said of other lines. The gift shop on the NCL Escape sucked with very little logo gear if that's your thing.

 

Then you get to the deck 5 interior promenade past the open Casino and, I'm sorry, this area just reeks. It permeates a lot of deck 5; from the atrium down beyond even the night club. From Alchemy back it wasn't so bad (the Black and Red Sea lounge, Adriatic lounge). We got to taking our cabins deck and then using forward, mid, or aft elevators to avoid deck 5. The casino is open floor plan and tables all along the promenade had smokers.

 

Also on the promenade is a video arcade, the swanky looking nightclub; another throwback to another era that many new cruise ships either don't have or have very small ones, this nightclub is good sized and in the middle of the action. Bar was quite large. So that is a bonus. There's internet computer kiosks, a coffee bar with snacks for sale (NCL charges for snacks too, RCI does not. It looked like standard cookies and cake from the buffet to me, and not nearly as nice as a dinner or tea time dessert, so not sure who is buying...)

 

I actually like the theming and nautical names all around the ship for various venues.

 

Deck 4 is basically the upper levels of both dining rooms. We had the aft dining room (pacific) upper level, at the rear with panoramic window views. We had a booth, early seating, not sat with strangers. And...amazingly, the setup in the area we were in made it feel very spacious, not on top of your neighbors at all. That wasn't the case for all tables in the DR, but for the booths and tables near the window, that's a winner. I think both dining rooms are beautiful with nautical artwork all over, sea god statues, seafish, mermaids.

 

Deck 4 also has the Ionian Room; a woefully underutilized bar and dance venue that would look at home on QM2.

 

Deck 3 is basically the lower levels of the dining rooms. Getting to either dining room requires you go to the proper elevator bank otherwise it becomes a "you can't get there from here" sort of thing. Using our cabin deck to figure out where we wanted to end up and using that elevator worked a lot better than what happened to a lot of people who went to deck 5, across in the crowded promenade, smoky casino area, then caught another elevator down to 3 or 4, or up to mid-deck Lido (buffet entrance). Carnival Corp ships are not laid out as well as Royal Caribbean. I find the same thing on Princess ships too.

 

Deck 9 is Lido where the buffet is and I find this to be about the worst laid out buffet of any ship. The seating area is tight, the walkways in the buffet are tight, the congestion and lines are long, and the look is very dated. This is kind of a shame because the food is actually pretty darn good. Outside by the pool deck there is a burger and hotdog section, a comfort kitchen section, then as you work your way into the buffet an asian takeout window on one side, and a deli takeout window on the other side, and then these funnel to mirror images of the buffet. The hot foods in the buffet are in the last few feet and there's no stations, so everything is line and it's just not done well.

 

Beverage stations are plentiful and always had <good> coffee, hot chocolate, tea bags, iced tea, water, lemonade, ice, etc. They were all always clean, well stocked, functioning.

 

I sincerely hope that in the January 2018 drydock they gut the buffet and reconfigure it.

 

I also think the pool deck shows excessive wear and tear. I like the real teak decking, but it is very worn and not maintained well. They had a section of the chairs on one whole side with barriers because they were cutting out old railing, refinishing the floors, etc. If you were on Deck 9 you just saw the surrounds, but if you were on deck 10 or higher you had a view to a small construction site. I get it, it has to be done sometime, but this was more than regular maintenance and the whole section remained closed for the cruise. The whole area just looks shabby and worn. It gives off cheap motel vibe, not fun resort. For an area a lot of people will spend time at, or at least walk through, it deserves a full makeover to give a better impression.

 

At the aft of deck 9 is the pool w retractable roof. This was a nice section, had its own ice cream machine. It also had the Seafood shack ($) and the 24 hour pizza counter (always long lines, same as last cruise too.) They did have a few late night hours listed as "Pizza Plus", not sure what was offered then. The pizza is great. They just need 1 or 2 more workers. Having 2 guys working at peak times means you can wait 40 mins at lunch time for pizza.

 

I guess that's more than first impressions and also disjointed and out of order so you can try to follow along <shrug>

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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Hey, can I stop here for a second and tell you about our room? I am so glad I upgraded to the Oceanview. I think Carnival's Oceanview rooms might be one of the best values on mass market cruise ships. The rooms dwarf and inside-balcony I have had on any other line. They are very large and spacious rooms with tons of closet space, big 3+ seater sofa, a real sized coffee table, a fridge, lots of room to move around. Even with a crib in the room, it was never in the way. We never folded up the stroller, and it wasn't in the way. On NCL Escape in a balcony we could not WALK in the room with the crib and the stroller always had to be folded up just to get to the bathroom. Horrible. Carnivals oceanview rooms are bigger than D1 balconies we have had on Allure of the Seas. This was a deck 1, run of the mill OV room.

 

The rooms were recently renovated to look like the Carnival Breeze so all the furnishings, carpet, bathrooms, mirror, desk area, etc. are all new and look gorgeous. Honey toned wood, brown and blue upholsteries, cream walls, lots of LED lights, a trick light up mirror, USB ports, 3 reading lamps, digital thermostat, really nice Samsung interactive TV on a swivel.

 

The hallways are redone, bright, and super wide. Carnival did an excellent job keeping stewards carts put away when not in use (On MSC we almost never saw carts. On NCL and RCI I wonder if they ever put them away; they are ALWAYS in the friggin way in narrow halls). I would not be surprised if newer ships had narrower hallways though.

 

Price per square foot, decor, value, size, etc. Carnivals OV is a huge winner. Even if I book a cheap interior in the future I'll probably upgrade to the OV.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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That is not to say there aren't some management decisions, rounding of corners, that I noticed. Our window was filthy when we boarded and worse when we debarked. I get it, low deck, ship at sea, salt water. But the ship was docked with our window about 15 feet off the pavement at Miami and on other ships (Royal, NCL) they were always power washing on turnaround day. It makes an impression.

 

Also we went to our room around 1:45 or 2:00PM and even though it was ready, it wasn't "ready". The towels had been stocked and bed made, but it wasn't clean, sand all over floor, hair in bathroom, soap dispenser in shower empty, some trash from previous guest, no glasses, etc.

 

We did call our steward and asked if our room was meant to be ready it didn't seem fully done; we also asked for bathrobes and ice. He said I had to call room service. Room service said I had to ask the steward. <sign> RS delivered the ice but then the steward took care of it from then on.

 

To his credit when we came back after dinner our room was absolutely spotless and fully stocked. We didn't even meet the steward until day 3 or the 4 day cruise. He did ask if we wanted morning or evening service. I said whatever you have been doing has been fine. And he said he would mark both on the form for his managers. He did have an assistant. I have no idea how many rooms they had It looked like our morning service was the big one and at night he made the bed and exchanged some used towels. It was perfectly fine for us.

 

They did miss the Fun Times one day and accidentally took my sons travel blanket (to be fair, could be mistaken for a sheet or towel) on the final evening. But really, I thought the service overall was good and when we did finally meet our guy he was friendly. It may sound overly critical when typed out, but it really was pretty good overall and our room was clean. I've definitely had worse service elsewhere.

 

Again, it is about impressions and it's a little sad that I have to follow up telling you how fabulous the room itself is with a less than stellar experience. There's a few "touch points" on a cruise and the cabin and cabin steward are definitely heavy in that and Carnival might want to give its crew a bit more resources (more help and or less cabins) to really impress guests.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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I'd like to talk about the main dining room now.

 

The Victory has a new breakfast menu that is being trialed and it was, IMO, excellent. And the FULL menu is available on the final morning; no skimpy cut down menu for the final day like on some other lines. Menu borrowed from another site. Breakfast is open seating, service and food excellent. Take a look at the menu and decide for yourself. Everything was hot, prepared well, presentation excellent. A+ on this breakfast menu

 

carnivalbreakfastmenu.jpg

 

But, a change from 2015 is no more lunch in the MDR. This is a big negative for me. On our 2015 cruise we had lunch in the MDR on both "port" days. The itinerary is a little odd with arrival and departure times, so having the MDR was great. This time without MDR there were huge lines in the buffet, 35+ minute waits for pizza, etc. I guess lunch wasn't that popular or Carnival was able to save big bucks here so they cut it out. Not a deal breaker, but a dissapointment.

 

Dinner has switched to the new American Table/American Feast format. Really liked this menu. The Feast (Elegant night) was missing our favorite Indian dish available on all other nights, and there was no separate side dish menu. It also seemed like dessert choices were smallest on Feast night. But all the food we ordered was excellent. I know food is subjective and all, but Carnival buries Royal Caribbean, NCL, MSC, and even Princess IMO. I know they are a budget line so I don't know how they do it, but again, service, presentation, quality, taste, all rank as excellent. We would order multiple dishes to share and everything was superb.

 

For my wifes birthday they brought over a special "4 course" dessert and sang to my wife. We had a three person service team and they were very good at their job. I mentioned earlier that we had a booth near the windows on the upper level and this is not such a congested area so you are not right on top of your neighbors. Carnival, could you PLEASE clean the MDR windows? Panoramic windows caked in salt and hard water stains in kind of a drawback in an otherwise gorgeous decorated dining room. I wish they uncovered the piano and used it. I find the waiter dancing shows tacky and interrupts service but what do I know; people find it fun, so whatever.

 

Other MDR events: Seaday Brunch - huge winner. Steak and eggs were excellent, prepared as requested. The menu is extensive and portion sizes large, no room for dessert this time. In fact, I'd say Seaday Brunch is one of the highlights of the cruise. Again, they simply bury RCI and NCL here, no comparison. We do not do the $5 Dr Seuss breakfast because it is the same day as Seaday Brunch and no way I would give up the free brunch to pay for other food, it is that good, seriously.

 

Also, on Seaday Carnival still has Tea Time. Free regular tea, or $1.95 for Art of Tea specialty tea. Scones, cucumber sandwiches, lox on toast, fruit tarts, pies, cakes, etc. Another free event and a relaxing way to spend 20-30 minutes. Not well attended or advertised and I am afraid this will be gone eventually as a cost cutting measure, get it while you can.

 

Dress code is not enforced in any way. I did not see anything that offended me, but you will see a little bit of everything and it's no problem. On a 4 day cruise I think "elegant" night with the cut down menu is a joke. Maybe throw away the Can-Can outfits they make the waiters dress up in to do their stripper dancing on podiums and bring back lobster tails at no charge??

 

Overall I rate Carnivals main dining rooms a solid A though and if you like food and value the MDR experience it's worth a solid look.

 

One has to wonder if a Royal Caribbean exec has ever sailed a Carnival ship and gone to the MDR and then thought "Oh...okay, yeah, we get it now".

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bstrong3

bstrong3

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Who likes really long reviews that

delve into minutiae; that calls out the good, the bad, credit where it is due and demerits where things are not up to snuff? We had a really nice vacation on the Victory, our second trip on this ship. If you are reading this in the future, the ship is due for a drydock in early 2018 with some 2.0 upgrades, so take what you can as relevant and other things may change, but some may not.

 

 

Things that are important to me may or may not be so important to you. My reviews are based on my own observations and feelings. You may feel differently, you may not care or be impacted at all. I like having discussions with people so if you have more questions, ask, and I will provide more detail on something, if I can.

 

Since our last cruise on Victory (same itinerary 2 years ago) I'll talk about some of the changes and let you know if they improved or took away from our experience. I do have the FunTimes for the 4 days, and the kids club programming for ages 2-5 also.

 

If you could email me a copy of the fun times it would be much appreciated, my wife and I are on the Oct. 16th sailing . TY John

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