Carnival Victory 11-2 / 11-9 Review

[padre]

Cigar Dude, I am pretty sure this is the cigar bar on board the Victory

 

 

[Jayhawk]

How much should I expect to pay a cab to take us to/from Rockley beach (4 of us with 2 kiddos)? Any local stuff we should try to see on the way? We want mostly beachey that day, but like to always stop to see a few local sites/out of the way things if we have the chance.)

 

Thank you SO much for the pics and details. We leave in 4 weeks! We will have our 5 and 6 year old daughters with us, so any recommendations for tours and or beaches for them would be great. I suppose they are too young to zipline, huh???

[Cigar Dude]

Cigar Dude, I am pretty sure this is the cigar bar on board the Victory

 

Thanks Padre, looks nice! :)

[mncrusin]

Do you Victory folk know of a store right by the pier in San Juan? Looking for bottled water etc. and maybe some wine or "special water"

Thanks!

[onceagain]

I've heard there is a liquor store right near the pier - sounds like it's very close.

[padre]

The liquor store is in the terminal. Don't worry, you will see it! There are free sample tables set up as you are in line waiting to get on the ship. i had free samples from Bacardi, Cruzan, Baileys! Two samples from each and I was ready to cruise!!! I didn't even buy anything.

 

Any way... the liquor store is after you check in and get your SS card, but before you go through the metal detector and board the ship. I haven't done it, but everyone says you can buy from this store and put the purchase in your carry on and it won't get taken, maybe even a guarantee or something is advertised. This is at San Juan only, no other ports will allow this.

[Cigar Dude]

Thanks for the info padre. I'll be on the lookout for this when we get there! :)

[gaylensgigi]

Most likely ;) But my Victory cruise is a CC group (my first group) so I can't possibly change that. :D

Sounds like I organized it. I didn't..just going as a member

 

 

And I will be there too.Several of our group have been following along/posting here. Now, I know I read about 500 pages back about a place called Lobster Alive, can you refresh my memory,it sounds like the out of the way kind of place I want to try.

[DOTTE]

The liquor store is in the terminal. Don't worry, you will see it! There are free sample tables set up as you are in line waiting to get on the ship. i had free samples from Bacardi, Cruzan, Baileys! Two samples from each and I was ready to cruise!!! I didn't even buy anything.

 

Any way... the liquor store is after you check in and get your SS card, but before you go through the metal detector and board the ship. I haven't done it, but everyone says you can buy from this store and put the purchase in your carry on and it won't get taken, maybe even a guarantee or something is advertised. This is at San Juan only, no other ports will allow this.

 

 

We did the cruise out of San Juan on the Destiny in Oct 07, and bought to bottles of liquor and put them in carry on and nothing was said about it. Don't forget to get free samples!!!

[Kaboochi]

Do you Victory folk know of a store right by the pier in San Juan? Looking for bottled water etc. and maybe some wine or "special water"

Thanks!

 

I'm interested, where is the shop? Also are they open on Sunday? I would like to buy wine and can get it at a shop by our hotel but it might be easier to buy it at the pier. You said they sell water, do they also sell sodas like coke? Thanks so much, Kaboochi

[CruisinJazz]

I guess you got a good price on this cruise -and I say that because..

Sept. 6th. is coming right up on the statistical peak of Hurricane Season(Sept.10th.)

so be aware of the possibility of port cancellations etc

unless you have some control over the weather at that time of year!

 

 

____________________

I present Exhibit A -

NOAA's chart displaying peak-of-season statistics for the Atlantic Hurricane season/s.

where you'll notice that Sept 10th. is IT.

 

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, boy! See, I'm going on vacation! It happens to me no matter where I go! Even when I vacation in Vermont hurricane's follow me up there as well. LOL Our first cruise is on the Victory Sept 20-27th. hehe

[Aplmac]

Thanks for the info padre. I'll be on the lookout for this when we get there! :)

And you should look out for this at Barbados

immediately outside the Cruise Terminal proper..under the same roof,even

[Aplmac]

Now, I know I read about 500 pages back about a place called Lobster Alive,

can you refresh my memory,it sounds like the out of the way kind of place I want to try.

It's not that out-of-the-way

but it is on a sprawling 2-mile long curve of a pale-pink-sand beach called Carlisle Bay

which is just on the other side of Bridgetown from where your ship docks at Barbados!

 

If you're a big walker, you can walk it, if the sun's not too hot..

..distance overall from the pier is probably about 1.25-1.5 miles all things considered.

 

 

 

This..

is also Carlisle Bay, although about a mile along from where Lobster Alive is at

 

[Aplmac]

Even when I vacation in Vermont hurricanes follow me up there as well. LOL

Our first cruise is on the Victory Sept 20-27th.

No worries,mate

That time frame is past the peak -you're well on the down-slope by then.

 

Victory does the N.Eastern Caribbean route ..P.Rico to Barbados and back

and as a Barbados resident I can tell you that by Sept. 20th. we've done most of our worrying for the season

and are looking for late season storms to form out in the Western Caribbean(near Honduras)

-where Victory never ventures.

 

You're laughing -almost :D

 

 

 

Bottom Bay, Barbados

[phinfan63]

No worries,mate

That time frame is past the peak -you're well on the down-slope by then.

 

Victory does the N.Eastern Caribbean route ..P.Rico to Barbados and back

and as a Barbados resident I can tell you that by Sept. 20th. we've done most of our worrying for the season

and are looking for late season storms to form out in the Western Caribbean(near Honduras)

-where Victory never ventures.

 

You're laughing -almost :D

 

 

 

 

Bottom Bay, Barbados

 

I've seen you post this picture a couple times and it is absolutely gorgeous. Where is it located? Are there any restaurants, bars, chairs, etc... available at this beach?

 

Thanks!

[Aplmac]

I've seen you post this picture a couple times and it is absolutely gorgeous. ===> Yeaahh..not bad :D

Where is it located? ===> Even further out than Crane!

Are there any restaurants, bars, chairs, etc... available at this beach? ===> Oh no no..

 

Bottom Bay is off the beaten track

(nearby Merricks is even more off the beaten track,but you'll never find it)

 

Bottom Bay is not impossible to get to, but it is a taxi-ride of about an hour

- it's beyond Crane by another 2 miles or so, out near the extreme Eastern point of the island.

Fire up Google Earth and have a look -I've got Panoramio pics posted all along that stretch of coastline!

 

____________________________________________

 

 

This is Merricks -no-one ever goes there! ..except nesting turtles

 

 

 

Here's another one of your favourite..

Bottom Bay as you'll first see it, when you get there

although sea conditions will be rougher than shown here..

This was a particularly mellow early-October day, with unusually calm sea conditions

 

 

 

.

[cruiselover00029]

The liquor store is in the terminal. Don't worry, you will see it! There are free sample tables set up as you are in line waiting to get on the ship. i had free samples from Bacardi, Cruzan, Baileys! Two samples from each and I was ready to cruise!!! I didn't even buy anything.

 

Any way... the liquor store is after you check in and get your SS card, but before you go through the metal detector and board the ship. I haven't done it, but everyone says you can buy from this store and put the purchase in your carry on and it won't get taken, maybe even a guarantee or something is advertised. This is at San Juan only, no other ports will allow this.

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Just checking in and I saw this question about the liquor store. My DH and I decided to try this out after reading about it on CC. After we boarded and got all settled in we went back out to Walgreen's. On the way back on we stopped at the store in the terminal. We brought 1 bottle of "Special Water" and some drinking waters. The drinking water was not as cheap as Walmart, but they were cheaper than what they sell them for on the ship. We gathered our purchases and promptly placed them in my husbands backpack. We then proceeded to go through security. The bag went through with no problem. Usually when you board there is a table right there that collects the liquor. When boarding in San Juan the table is all the way at the top of the walkway. The security people are all the way at the bottom of the walkway in the terminal. There is no one there to tell you that you must check your liquor. Just a very lonely lady sitting at a table with a sign on it that says "Liquor Collection". Since it is in your bag, there is no way for her to know what you have so you just keep walking. It works!

 

I also found my capers. I am going to try to scan them and upload them today. They are from the very first cruise back in November so some things may have changed, but you will have an idea of what goes on.

[phinfan63]

aplmac ~ thanks for the information. I'm just not sure if we have time to go all the way over to (and past) Crane but both of those beaches are awesome. I really just need to take a land vacation there :D

[mncrusin]

Hey Cruiselover:

Fill us in...what did you do while on the cruise? Island adventures etc. Any tips for the rest of us before we leave on the Victory? What was your favorite thing this cruise?

Thanks for any feedback you can give...

[mncrusin]

Just went back to page one and realized you have all ready shared. Sorry. I have cut and pasted most of your advise already! Thanks for taking the time..

[Aplmac]

I'm just not sure if we have time to go all the way over to (and past) Crane

but both of those beaches are awesome.

I really just need to take a land vacation there :D

Yes, that's the real solution -a quick 5 days on the island

..then you can do Crane, Harrismith, Bottom Bay and Merricks

 

 

Harrismith Beach.. but you gotta know how to find it

 

 

___________________________

See other pics of these secluded beaches at

http://www.*****.com/BtmBay.html

 

 

................................

 

 

[phinfan63]

Everytime I think I've seen the best you come up with more. I've never been to Barbados but from your pictures I would have to say no one could beat the beauty of your beaches ~ awesome!

[Cigar Dude]

I think aplmac has more pics. In fact, I'm sure he does. Just keep posting them until we tell you to stop! :D

[kelz66]

I think aplmac has more pics. In fact, I'm sure he does. Just keep posting them until we tell you to stop! :D

 

And no one better tell him to stop....LOL

 

Keep them coming!!!

 

:D

[mncrusin]

ok, here's my next question ;-) I have read that some of the decks you can't walk from one end to the other, you may have to go up one, over, then down. Is this true on the Victory? if so, which decks?

information is power....