Review of Carnival Victory 9/15-9/22-07

[jrmende63]

Here is my review as promised.

We consisted of Hubster, Randall and myself, Julie. Randall has a birthday on 9/26 and he asked for a cruise for his birthday. Randall will be 47 and I am 44. We live in South Carolina.

 

We flew out of Charleston SC on 9/15. I hate flying out on THE day of the cruise, but it was reality this cruise. Our flight was supposed to be leaving Charleston at 6:25 am, Arriving in NYC ( LGA) at 0830. At 0615 the attendant says our flight will be delayed for 1 or so hours. One of the crew had his Flight ID stolen and could not fly. ( The airlines issued a "ID alert" and his ID could not be used by anyone else, therefor rendering it useless to the thief.) At 0720 a new crew member came running up and we took off at 0730am. Once on board the Captain said if we had not found another Co-pilot, we would have been canceled:eek: :eek: )

 

We arrived in NYC at 0910. The flight was smooth and the crew very nice. Our inital views of NYC were of the new baseball stadiums. Pretty impressive!

We gathered our luggage and called Carmel Car Service. We had an existing reservation. We were told "you're late!" YAH , flights have a way of doing that to a person! Seems the car service did not check the flight # and thought we just did not show up. ( they were supposed to check the flight # before the driver was dispatched!) Our Driver, San,came to get us in a Lincoln Town Car. I would recommend Carmel car service.

 

Randall and I have decided we will NEVER drive ourselves in NYC. Traffic is Crazy there! San gave us a tour of NYC, it included driving on the sidewalk! We saw lots of NYC that we would not have otherwise seen, if not for San.

San got us to the pier at 1030. By 1040 we were checked in and sitting with about 150-200 other people. By 1200 the VIP's were allowed on board. We boarded at 1220.

 

The Firedoors were closed to the cabins. We went to the back of the ship and found the stairs. We then went to our cabin, dropped off the carry on's and met our steward, Francisco. Francisco said it was ok to leave the carryon's in the cabin.

[jrmende63]

Continuing the review: ( I have to do it parts due to the limited space on a post)

Randall and I went up to the Lido deck to the Mississippi BBQ grill and had the most wonderful minute steak sandwhich. Cesaer is the cook at the grill and so very nice and sweet. He told me it would be 6 min for the sandwhich. I assured him it was fine. I had the next 7 days to wait! They serve the sandwhiches with the best french fries!

 

By the time we finished eating and wandering around the pool, it was time to go to the cabin and unpack the carryons. We unpacked the carryons and went to check out the rest of the ship.

FYI you can ONLY get from Front to AFT all the way through on decks 5 & 9. Deck 9 you must go outside and back in again. Deck 5 you go down the side of the ship by the casino, but you don't have to walk through the casino.

 

We went to the Muster drill, pretty painless :) We went back to the cabin and gathered our Mardi gras beads for the Cruise Critic meet and greet. I left out the part where I met Queen Latonka, a member of our Roll call, in the port as we were waiting to board. Queen Latonka, her hubby, and their friends were sitting right behind us!

 

We went to deck 10 forward and found Queen Latonka and hubby sitting in their cabin with the door open. We said hello and joined them on their balcony for a view of the pier. We all 4 then went through the "secret door" on deck 10 for our sailaway.

[jrmende63]

Continuing:

Everyone that said they would be there were present! We had a great view of the bridge and Lady Liberty. Funship Special in hand, it was a wonderful sailaway!

 

We had late dinner seating in Pacific Dining room. 8pm seating at table 501. I can't remember all that we ate during the week, but can tell you the Warm Chocolate melting cake was terrible for 2 nights. Our Server, Deori and assistant Michael, asked why the cake was not up to par. I explained that what we had was total liquid and it should be some cake with a liquid center. Deori said he would speak with the Kitchen. He did it! The 3rd night, he brought the WCMC, ( by this time I had decided I would not eat it again) without asking me and assured me it was fixed. It WAS!

I can tell you the Raspberry cake with Raspberry Sorbet was Very good, Along with several other deserts that escapes my mind at the moment.

We had very good entrees, the duck being exceptionally good. I heard the lobster was good, but Randall and I did not get any lobster this go around. ( We had YUMMY Maine Lobsters in Portand, the same day as our formal night)

We were seated at a 10 person table with us and another couple. A few nights the end seats were filled with 1-2 people but as a whole, Randall and I and our tablemates and new friends, Kandy and Jeff were the only ones at the table. We got very personalized attention from Deori and Michael !

 

The first night's show was a "Welcome Aboard Show with Cruise Director, Malcom Burns. Comedian, Peter D Michaels was also featured. He was very good.

 

We hit the sack after the show, as we had been awake since 3:15 am!

[jrmende63]

The next day was Boston. We were due in port at 2 pm. This night was open seating in the dining rooms, due to being in port until 10pm. ( this was also the reason the 1st formal night was on Portland night) Boston is the ONLY port where you need a port pass. You must have the port pass or you can't get off the ship. (this is only if you don't have a Carnival excursion in Boston.) They do this so everyone is not trying to get off at once.

We got off the ship and walked into the terminal. There was a group selling transfers ( Carnival) to Quincy Market and a bus back to the ship for 16$ per person. There were not taxi's at the pier. Buses and trolleys were the transportation that Carnival used. Randall and I used the Transfers through Carnival. You could also buy a hop on hop off trolley pass, but I did not get the price of it. There were 2 different trolley companies that I saw.

 

Quincy Market is a neat place with LOTS of shops. It was very chilly in Boston, I had only brought short sleeves and a suede jacket. I ended up buying some long sleeve shirts and 2 hoodies. After walking to Paul Revere's house and part of the Freedom trail I was warm enough! Randall had on a Carolna Panthers jersey. We ran into a police officer that "arrested" Randall on the grounds of a non- Patriot jersey! I have photos of the handcuffs being placed on Randall!

 

We went back to the ship about 5:45pm. It was easy to find the bus going back to the ship. A Carnival rep had a sign holding showing us the right bus. I understand that a bottleneck of peope happened later that evening, but Randall and I had no problems with the transfer to the ship.

 

We ate in our dining room this night with open seating. We ate at 6:15 since it was open seating.

We did not go to tonights show. Instead retired early.

The show is listed in the Capers as :

The amazing Dana Tison and the Comedy of Frank Del Pizzo. There was only one show at 1030 pm. Get to the shows early when there is only one show. Seats go fast!

[jrmende63]

I will finish this review tomorrow evening. I am getting tired sitting at the keyboard. I hope this review is useful!

[cruisinstim8r]

I've enjoyed it very much. My parents live in Mt. Pleasant SC and we will be going on the Victory from Charleston next May. I also live near Portland ME so I went to take pictures of the ship on the 17th. You can see some pics at the 5-26-08 Victory Roll Call near the end. It was a great day weather wise. Hope you enjoyed our city. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

[jrmende63]

I've enjoyed it very much. My parents live in Mt. Pleasant SC and we will be going on the Victory from Charleston next May. I also live near Portland ME so I went to take pictures of the ship on the 17th. You can see some pics at the 5-26-08 Victory Roll Call near the end. It was a great day weather wise. Hope you enjoyed our city. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

Oh so you were the flashes I kept seeing from the balcony! Maybe you can answer a question since you live near Portland. Please email me at my screen name @ yahoo dot com. I have a question about something that was found in the Harbor the day we were there. I thought maybe you might have seen a news blurb about it.

We live 15 miles from Mt. Pleasant, SC! I just had dinner there tonight!

Glad you are enjoying the review.

[jrmende63]

Today is Portland, ME. Hubby and I love Portland. It is such a nice little town. Very walkable. And cute shops! We went to Portland Lobster Company with some cruise critic folks! Good Company and Good food! We had fantastic lobster and a good captains platter. Prices are reasonable. We got some really good deals at Stonewall Kitchens. A must try is Onion- Garlic Jelly. Sounds gross but really is very tasty on a bagel!

Portland was the first formal night. The Captain's Cocktail party was held in 4 different bars. The officers were presented in the Adriatic lounge. Cocktails and music were also in Black and Red Seas Lounge, Artic Disco, and the The Irish sea piano bar. Very good cocktails, Hors D'Oeuvers so so!

Vrooom was the show. The female singer is very good, the guy so-so.

We dressed up for the formal night and took lots of photos...2 came out decent!

[jrmende63]

Saint John, New Brunswick.

We had an excursion planned here...the only one we booked through Carnival.

We pulled into port not at the usual spot but a spot adjacent to the Mall. We had a tent set up with souvenirs as soon as we stepped off the ship. There was a Royal Caribbean ship in port that parked where the Victory usually parks. There was a bigger tent by the RC ship. As long as you had your Sign and Sail card and picture ID, They would let you walk through the tent that was set up in front of the RC ship. There was a Harley Davidson booth in the tent in front of the RC ship. We got a neat tee shirt from them. In between the tents was an open market, with people selling homemade crafts and soaps ect. I got a dishtowel as I like to get one from somewhere on the cruise.

Our excursion was the Saint John River Cruise. We met at 1230 ( ship time...you always stayed on ship time on this cruise. Saint John and Halifax were one hour later than EST that was on the ship) We got a tour of Saint John and a stop at the Bay of Fundy. Then it was on to the River cruise. It was cold out on the Saint John River, but very pretty. We saw lots of birds, and 2 Eagles. Lots of Lighthouses and trees were just beginning to turn the beautiful fall colors. When we returned to the dock, the Bay of Fundy had came in and the Saint John River was reversed. Really neat to see. The tide had risen as much as 20 feet. There were boats on the river bottom at low tide and the same boats were up in the air at high tide!

 

Back to the ship at 4:30 ish. Went to the Mississippi BBQ grill and had yummy Cheeseburgers and fries. There is a bar on the River boat cruise but not any type of food. We were starving after eating at 0800 in the open seating Pacific dining room for breakfast.

The CB and fries held us over until our dinner.

This nights show was Magic Moments with Rand Woodbury.

[SunnyinMA]

Quincy Market is a neat place with LOTS of shops. It was very chilly in Boston, I had only brought short sleeves and a suede jacket. I ended up buying some long sleeve shirts and 2 hoodies. After walking to Paul Revere's house and part of the Freedom trail I was warm enough! Randall had on a Carolna Panthers jersey. We ran into a police officer that "arrested" Randall on the grounds of a non- Patriot jersey! I have photos of the handcuffs being placed on Randall!

 

Thanks for the review - glad to see you enjoyed my hometown and yes we take patriotism seriously here :D

[jrmende63]

Wow after Boston, Portland and Saint John we were ready to have a seaday. We slept in until 8:30 am, went to breakfast.

We played Euchere with some friends and really had a good time.

The show tonight was a Silent Film Skit....really funny! and then Comedian Anthony Acosta...don't waste your time on him...he is NOT funny at all. This is the show people walked out of.

[jrmende63]

Halifax is a really neat city. We loved the Maritime Atlantic museum. Don't pay extra for the movie about the Titanic though, We could have saw it for free.

There was a carnival going on along the board walk. They had free sodas and water, hotdogs, and chips. We got a water bottle for free that other stands were charging for!

We walked all over the board walk. Lots of shops and places to eat.

Halifax was our second Formal night. Good food in the dining room!

Show was Livin' in America

 

Sea day on Friday, 9/21

this was a lazy day for us. Just spent napping, playing cards and enjoying the balcony.

This nights show was the Carnival Legends.

[jrmende63]

The balcony was worth the extra money. We saw whales, dolphins, flying fish( at least they were jumping out of the water!) from the balcony.

 

The Spa was reasonable on a manicure and hair cut. But watch out for the sales pitch! I walked out of there with 100+ dollars of products! Good products but expensive!

 

Pictures were good this time...but they are always taking your picture! Even when I said NO...they still took it! We got the Old time pictures taken...they turned out really well.

 

I asked the Maitre' D why shorts were allowed in the dining room when Carnival specifically states NO in the written liturature. If you want to see the Maitre" D DANCE :p Then ask him this question! I still don't have an answer! Except he did say some people don't get their luggage on time. I said yes, but the person I am refering to did get his luggage...I saw him several times in other clothing

 

The Victory is confusing but just know that decks 5 and 9 go all the way through the ship. Deck 5 goes inside, you do have to go down the side of the casino to get through. Deck 9 goes outside and then in again.

 

NO kids were in the hot tubs, slide was open on several days...but pools were 64 degrees:eek: Hot tub was nice. We did get in once...nice hottub.

 

We had a great time on the Victory and can't wait til our next cruise!

 

Any questions? I will try and answer them.

[jrmende63]

Thanks for the review - glad to see you enjoyed my hometown and yes we take patriotism seriously here :D

We would love to come back to Boston and really get to know the city. We really did not have enough time in the port.

[hshowalter]

Jrmende 63 My wife & I were also on your cruise. At Halifax on the boardwalk we gave a donation because it was the United Way. We really liked Malcolm in the Middle. He was far superior to John Heald on the Freedom.

[jrmende63]

Jrmende 63 My wife & I were also on your cruise. At Halifax on the boardwalk we gave a donation because it was the United Way. We really liked Malcolm in the Middle. He was far superior to John Heald on the Freedom.

I am sorry I didnot get to meet you!

As for the United Way, I had already given 1500.00 to United Way, this past month, so we did not give this time. But I did appreciate the bottle of water. It looked like a nice set up. I got a really neat picture of the Bubbles coming out of the machine.

The Freedom is my next ship, unless I book another before it:D. I have never met John Heald, so I can't coment on him as a cruise director. But I have to agree...We really liked Malcom too. I was just saying "Woo Hoo" tonight!