July 5th 4 Day Carnival Victory Review

[sharonny]

Just back from 4 day Carnival Victory to Canada. Myself, my 78 yr. mother & my 21 yr old son. I can say without a doubt that we had a very good time and will be sailing this itinerary again. My 2 younger sons want to cruise past the Statue of Liberty and think it would be totally cool to sail in the fog. :)

Embarkation Day: After a quick and easy flight from Buffalo to JFK our wait time for Super Shuttle was about 10 minutes once we got our luggage. The driver was fantastic, he took us on our own mini tour of NYC. His driving skills were amazing and we ended up arriving at the pier at around 11:00 am. We were quickly checked in and sitting within minutes. Carnival staff were very friendly and helpful although there appeared to be great confusion regarding the numerous wedding parties that were in attendance including guest that were not sailing. The bride, groom and their guests were boarded first, followed by VIP, then wheelchair assisted, which is the group we fell into. We were on board by noon. Since I only have Port Canaveral to compare it to. I must say Port Canavaral is much smoother.

Our Cabin: Main Deck 2281. Great cabin, great location. 10 elevators close by (6 regular elevators along with 4 glass Atrium elevators). One thing that I should note regarding our cabin. There was no clearance at all maneuvering my mom’s rollator through the cabin door. It was very difficult for her to manage the door alone.

Dining: Atlantic Dining Room. We did not plan on eating every night in the dining room but it turned out to be so enjoyable we did. Our waitstaff was great. The food was very good. Two of our tablemates decided to exit at the first port. The rest were very enjoyable company. We did use room service daily for our morning coffee (very good), bagel and fruit platter. Lido Rest wasn't as tasty.

The Ship: Was very pleasing to the eye and very green. It was always being cleaned. Personally I didn’t like the tiered lido deck layout, but that is just a personal opinion. It left me feeling like everything was crowed together. Wasn’t very handicap friendly. Whenever there was something going on on the stage by the slide you could not get to the Mediterranean Rest. without backtracking. I did have a few occasions where I was not able to find locations like the Ionian Bar on deck 4 which I started looking for on Friday and finally found on Sunday. No it wasn’t because of the drink specials.

Entertainment: Missed the comedians, but loved the shows.

Casino: As usual I made my contribution, but my mom (playing slots) and my son (playing poker) both came out winners.

Saint John: We didn't do any excursions just walked around all over and shopped. So pretty and peaceful there. Loved the Market Square.

OK now for some of the not so goods. Not Carnivals fault but boy oh boy were there a lot of rude people of this cruise. While I don’t expect Carnival staff to put themselves in dangers way, I do however expect them to take necessary steps in making sure passenger are safe. I was involved in a confrontation with another passenger in the Caribbean Lounge defending my mom who was sitting resting in her rollator seat (in the handicap spot) when she was verbally attacked. Had it not been for another passenger (whom I’d like to thank) escorting us away I do believe we may have been in harms way. Carnival staff did absolutely nothing but watch. Another problem we had was with the Pursers Desk. On our final day I had closed out my account. My mom and sons accounts were still open, yet when they went to use there cards they said they were closed (we had 3 seperate accts) Mom found out in the store while making a purchase which she wasn’t able to do. We waited in a line forever then finally left, I came back at midnight (people were steaming mad by then) and stood in line for about 35 more minutes before it was my turn to be told it was there mistake, same for son. Then I get a bill under our door saying I owe $$ I call desk and am again told it was a mistake. I’d rate the organization at the pursers desk very low. The line was probably about 100 deep with 2 people working. When one man asked if they could get additional help they told him no. :eek:

Debarkation: Pretty easy. Ours was one of the last colors called. We were off by around 10 am. Skipped wheelchair assistance which was a mistake. Mom was exhausted having to try to go so fast to keep up with the flow. NYC is very fast paced. Lucked out with a great porter who was a great help. Got a Taxi van which was very nice, got another mini tour of NYC and ground zero. Arrived at JFK and managed to get on an earlier flight and was home safe and sound by 4:30 pm.

[Kempa]

Thanks for your great review. It was very informative. I will be sailing on the Victory in a month and your review was very helpful.

[MrPete]

Thanks for the read Sharon!

 

I got quite confused when walking around the disco, as I had sailed this ship before. I started thinking I was nuts, cause I thought there was a staircase that let from the disco down to the Ionian.

 

Well, I was watching an old video yesterday crom a cruise back in 2000, and sure enough, as I was filming, not only did I see it, I walked up it!

[nybumpkin]

We didn't find the Ionian Lounge until our second cruise on Victory - and then only because we had found Alfred's Lounge on Conquest and figured Victory had to have a lounge in the same place!

[bleuiz]

Just back from 4 day Carnival Victory to Canada. Myself, my 78 yr. mother & my 21 yr old son. I can say without a doubt that we had a very good time and will be sailing this itinerary again. My 2 younger sons want to cruise past the Statue of Liberty and think it would be totally cool to sail in the fog. :)

 

Thanks for the review..........Seems like we had different experiences on this cruise (sorry your mom had a rough time with other passengers)

[buddyjo143]

Thanks for your review. Someone posted a similar experience with rude passengers on the ask a cruise question board. I saw some rudeness. I am sorry for that experience. Otherwise it sounded like you had a nice time.

[LHP]

Thanks for a great review. We are headed that way in September.

 

We have been on the Conquest, so perhaps we will be able to find the bars.

I think this will be one cruise that I will be using that special Platinum line if the other one is 100 people deep!!

 

Glad you enjoyed this time with your Mom. (and son)

[Cassinster]

I'm pleased to read this review, as we are going on the Victory for 7 days in September. We are hoping there will be fewer kids (nothing personal) and the ship will be very restful at that time.:)

[sharonny]

We really did have a great time. I'm on vacation, there was plenty to do you just have to get up and do it. I am totally hooked on cruising. I cannot wait until I am able to go again.

 

Smiles to all!

[LisaT12]

Thanks for the review -- sorry you had a problem with rude passengers -- but I guess that could happen anywhere. It's great that you didn't let it spoil your trip.