Carnival victory

[cruiser881438]

I am considering booking the 7 night southern carribean cruise on the Carnival Victory out of San Juan, but I have read alot of really bad reviews. The intineary looks amazing and is by far the best intinerary and cabin I could afford. Has anyone sailed this and is the intineary worth it???

[pittypat]

Don't let others thoughts steer you away from this cruise. My husband and I took this cruise two years ago and our returning again in one week. These are some of the most beautiful islands and I wouldn't miss it for anything. A trip is what you make it and this is one not to miss.

 

pittypat

[NCTribeFan]

"Has anyone sailed this..."

 

You know, I think I read that no one at all sails on that itinerary. I don't know why they would keep sending out an empty ship. Maybe if they'd stop, they could drop the prices some more on the ships that people do sail on.

 

:p

 

There are several recent reviews. You stated on the one hand that "I have read alot of really bad reviews," and then you ask if anyone's sailed the ship.

 

Well, obviously, people are sailing or else you wouldn't have read ANY reviews. Right?

 

Go up to the Search button, click on "advanced search" then type in Victory review in the keyword box, then under that box, select thread titles, then select just the Carnival board. Every review thread should pop up.

 

I think that if you do some serious research and reading you'll find that this ship doesn't get any more negative reviews than any other ship.

 

And don't forget that people who aren't happy tend to be more vocal than people who are. And also remember that the people who post on Cruise Critic are a TINY minority of all cruisers. Just because 2 or 3 people post not-100%-glowing reviews here doesn't mean that it's a horrible ship and the itinerary is awful and the ship will be full of <gasp> foreigners, and it's a terrible thing so don't waste your time and money.

 

Personally, I'm very much looking forward to my time in San Juan and on the Victory and hope it's packed with <gasp> foreigners! After all, isn't that part of why we travel to foreign places?

[SandyW]

This cruise offers some really really great ports! We've been to most of them when the route was done by Carnival Destiny. We didn't care for CD but really loved the ports and hope to do them again sometime. Friends of ours went on the Victory last December and we didn't hear them complain much about the ship or the ports. This is a very good sign as they are very vocal when they don't like something. We have been on Carnival Victory for another route...I really liked the ship and it's decor. Granted it's not as great as the Spirit Class ships but it still remains one of my favorites out of 14.)

[Jayhawk]

I'm sailing it on Sunday.

 

For a 6 day port trip (no days at sea) to incredible islands, do I really CARE that much about a ship I'll never be on :) ?? Of course, I haven't read any bad reviews, but even worst case, I don't cruise just for the boat experience. Not at these prices anyway!

[TheVegasMan]

We were on this ship in December and loved the different islands. A lot of people complain about the Puerto Ricans that are on the ship. They must be jealous that they come on the ship already tanned. :p Yes, there are a lot of them onboard and they are a boisterous group. The kids run around and jump in the pool. Isn't that what kids do?

[KnightsofColumbus]

We were on this ship in December and loved the different islands. A lot of people complain about the Puerto Ricans that are on the ship. They must be jealous that they come on the ship already tanned. :p Yes, there are a lot of them onboard and they are a boisterous group. The kids run around and jump in the pool. Isn't that what kids do?

 

 

I find it hard to believe that the ship is 70% puerto rican. From some of the reviews I've read they would have you believe that. If that was the case the whole damn island would have taken this cruise by the end of March. My guess is that early on a lot of puerto ricans may take it, but that will stop soon. I bet by summer it will be no more than 20%. I'm not too worried about it. If the people get to out of control I'll just go to the front desk and report it.

 

It might get annoying to hear the annoncements twice, but that's life sometimes you have to deal with stuff like that.

[TheVegasMan]

3,958,128 (July 2008 est.) Population of Puerto Rico.

 

Victory Passenger capacity - 2,758

 

In order for every resident of as you put it "The whole damn island" it would take 2,050 sailings. At 52 sailings per year all of Perto Rico will have sailed by the year 2048. That is if they make up 70% of the passengers. Anything less than 70% (My guess is more like 40%) and it will take a whole lot longer.

[Minoushka]

We are going mid March .Don't know the ship. Whoever said we are not spending much time on it is right .I hope to galavante all our great ports .So other then Breakfast and dinner we really will not be on ship much ...no seadays

Vacations are what you make of them

I hope to meet some nice PR and practice my Spanish

 

Remember you are on VACATION and supposed to ENJOY IT

[jbc1947]

We just returned from Victory Southern Carribean on Feb 1st. Our first cruise, so nothing to compare it to.

We had a blast!

I didn't notice many Puerto Ricans. I would say the ship was more than half full of Canadians.

The 7 ports were outstanding! We enjoyed every bit of this cruise, except embarkation, which was all messed up.

We flew down to PR the day before the cruise and stayed at one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at - the Condado Plaza Hotel. We want to return there.

Supposedly there were 300 kids on our cruise, but we never saw them.

We met some awesome people and we had a spectacular time.

We stayed in a cat 11 suite and it was more wonderful than we had anticipated.

The food was excellent in the dining room, and the Lido buffet was good.

There were many many empty lounge chairs at the pool every day.

Everything that we had read (on the negative side) did not happen to us. It was ALL a positive experience.

The casino is tight, so skip the casino and go to the shows instead.

We docked at every port and never had to be tendered (another positive).

The 2 excursions that we booked thru Carnival were well organized and well worth the money we paid.

We would do this itinerary again in a heartbeat.

[cruisin 07]

Did this cruise last Apr on the Destiny. Loved it so much going again this Mar. Just do your research and you will have a blast.

[stu & SAND]

Did this cruise last Apr on the Destiny. Loved it so much going again this Mar. Just do your research and you will have a blast.

 

Had a great time on the cruise last year, we loved the port schedule but we aren't the type of people to hang around by the pool either. We can't wait to do this cruise again but we have other things on our list to cross off.

 

BTW, hey Larry hope you are doing well.

 

stu and SAND

[wentworth]

We will be taking our 3rd southern carribbean cruise on March 8. All of

the cruises we have booked have been the last week of February or

1st week of March and we have encountered none of the problems

others have stated. I think the week you choose to cruise is very

important.

[Denicewu]

We did this same cruise last Feb over Valentines week and it was so great we are going again this Feb. I noticed more annoying amenricans then any one else. We loved it and are expecting a great time this time.

[lizardhowson]

We just returned from Victory Southern Carribean on Feb 1st. Our first cruise, so nothing to compare it to.

We had a blast!

I didn't notice many Puerto Ricans. I would say the ship was more than half full of Canadians.

The 7 ports were outstanding! We enjoyed every bit of this cruise, except embarkation, which was all messed up.

We flew down to PR the day before the cruise and stayed at one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at - the Condado Plaza Hotel. We want to return there.

Supposedly there were 300 kids on our cruise, but we never saw them.

We met some awesome people and we had a spectacular time.

We stayed in a cat 11 suite and it was more wonderful than we had anticipated.

The food was excellent in the dining room, and the Lido buffet was good.

There were many many empty lounge chairs at the pool every day.

Everything that we had read (on the negative side) did not happen to us. It was ALL a positive experience.

The casino is tight, so skip the casino and go to the shows instead.

We docked at every port and never had to be tendered (another positive).

The 2 excursions that we booked thru Carnival were well organized and well worth the money we paid.

We would do this itinerary again in a heartbeat.

 

Great to hear your 1st cruise was a hit.

 

We have the Victory booked this year.

[KnightsofColumbus]

We just returned from Victory Southern Carribean on Feb 1st. Our first cruise, so nothing to compare it to.

We had a blast!

I didn't notice many Puerto Ricans. I would say the ship was more than half full of Canadians.

The 7 ports were outstanding! We enjoyed every bit of this cruise, except embarkation, which was all messed up.

We flew down to PR the day before the cruise and stayed at one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at - the Condado Plaza Hotel. We want to return there.

Supposedly there were 300 kids on our cruise, but we never saw them.

We met some awesome people and we had a spectacular time.

We stayed in a cat 11 suite and it was more wonderful than we had anticipated.

The food was excellent in the dining room, and the Lido buffet was good.

There were many many empty lounge chairs at the pool every day.

Everything that we had read (on the negative side) did not happen to us. It was ALL a positive experience.

The casino is tight, so skip the casino and go to the shows instead.

We docked at every port and never had to be tendered (another positive).

The 2 excursions that we booked thru Carnival were well organized and well worth the money we paid.

We would do this itinerary again in a heartbeat.

 

 

I'll be on this ship in the near future. I'm in a cat. 12 and was wondering if you got priority debarkation. Also, how was the priority embarkation? And how many electrical outlets did you have?

 

Thanks!

[sanmarcosman]

3,958,128 (July 2008 est.) Population of Puerto Rico.

 

Victory Passenger capacity - 2,758

 

In order for every resident of as you put it "The whole damn island" it would take 2,050 sailings. At 52 sailings per year all of Perto Rico will have sailed by the year 2048. That is if they make up 70% of the passengers. Anything less than 70% (My guess is more like 40%) and it will take a whole lot longer.

 

That's reassuring. Lots of eye candy for years to come! ;)

[alinehu]

Sanmarcosman:

And and that is if every puertorrican goes just one time. And those of us that repeat ships?? :) We do that also...why do they keep talking of us like we are savages? :confused:

[UME6869]

You can't take all the bad reviews to heart. I read reviews on everything vacation we have taken and 100 percent of the time we have not found most of the bad things to be true. If we booked our trips according to bad reviews we wouldn't have done most of the wonderful things that we have. Yes there might be a few things that we find to be true, but thewy sure arn't things that would ruin a trip. I think most of the bad reviews are from people who can't be pleased no matter what happens. Yes there are times when people do experience bad things on vacation but for the most part, don't pay attention to it. We also booked this cruise for may 17 09, even after reading the reviews. I'm not at all worried about it. This cruise is mostly about the islands. We have been on many cruises with less stops than this one and with the same amount of bad reviews and we still had a great time. Don't allow them to talk you out of booking this cruise, it's all about the ports of calls and you won't be one the ship much anyway. We took a cruise in Hawaii on the pride of america(NCL) and it stopped at just as many islands as this one and it was the best cruise we ever took. Sorry Carnival fans. If I would have based my trip on the reviews of that cruise, we never would have went and would have missed the trip of a life time. Book the cruise and don't worry, you'll have a blast.

[Cigar Dude]

Great to hear your 1st cruise was a hit.

 

We have the Victory booked this year.

 

Yep, us too, and we'll be on the ship WITH YOU!

 

So, don't screw this up for me! :D

 

Can't wait!!!!!!!

[cruiser881438]

"Has anyone sailed this..."

 

You know, I think I read that no one at all sails on that itinerary. I don't know why they would keep sending out an empty ship. Maybe if they'd stop, they could drop the prices some more on the ships that people do sail on.

 

:p

 

There are several recent reviews. You stated on the one hand that "I have read alot of really bad reviews," and then you ask if anyone's sailed the ship.

 

Well, obviously, people are sailing or else you wouldn't have read ANY reviews. Right?

 

Go up to the Search button, click on "advanced search" then type in Victory review in the keyword box, then under that box, select thread titles, then select just the Carnival board. Every review thread should pop up.

 

I think that if you do some serious research and reading you'll find that this ship doesn't get any more negative reviews than any other ship.

 

And don't forget that people who aren't happy tend to be more vocal than people who are. And also remember that the people who post on Cruise Critic are a TINY minority of all cruisers. Just because 2 or 3 people post not-100%-glowing reviews here doesn't mean that it's a horrible ship and the itinerary is awful and the ship will be full of <gasp> foreigners, and it's a terrible thing so don't waste your time and money.

 

Personally, I'm very much looking forward to my time in San Juan and on the Victory and hope it's packed with <gasp> foreigners! After all, isn't that part of why we travel to foreign places?

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously people are sailing on the ship.... not all or most of them are cruise critic members and reading my post! So what I was asking when I said has anyone sailed on this ship is has anyone reading my post sailed on this ship. I did not think they were sending an empty ship out to sea.

 

The bad reviews I have read have not been about the number of puerto ricans on the cruise (gasp???) but about the bad entertainment, long buffet lines, bad food, and bad service. So when I was asking is the intinerary worth it I meant worth the bad entertainment, long buffet lines, bad service and bad food. I am also looking forward to my time in San Juan and can't wait to explore the city, in fact I am taking a cruise out of San Juan one way or the other because I want to go there I was just consdering booking another ship or line beacuause of the bad reviews about the ship.

[TheVegasMan]

Why do they keep talking of us like we are savages? :confused:

Must be the loincloths that you wear and the spears you carry around. :D

[KAWS]

We are going mid March .Don't know the ship. Whoever said we are not spending much time on it is right .I hope to galavante all our great ports .So other then Breakfast and dinner we really will not be on ship much ...no seadays

Vacations are what you make of them

I hope to meet some nice PR and practice my Spanish

 

Remember you are on VACATION and supposed to ENJOY IT

 

Well said! I get so frustrated reading about people that are "sick" of the PR people going on the ship. They have as much right as anyone else to go on the ship. I could say the same about some of the other departing ports too.

 

Geesh just go with the intention of having fun!

[jbc1947]

To KnightsofColumbus: We had 4 outlets in the cat 11 suite. We never used the power strip we brought.

Priority embarkation was a joke. There was some customs problem going on and it took us 4 hours to board.

Debarkation was a breeze - called at 8am to leave. We found our luggage oh so easily! We breezed thru customs (no line). There were taxis lined up, waiting to take us to the airport. We were at the airport by 8:30am. Very organized and speedy.

[KnightsofColumbus]

To KnightsofColumbus: We had 4 outlets in the cat 11 suite. We never used the power strip we brought.

Priority embarkation was a joke. There was some customs problem going on and it took us 4 hours to board.

Debarkation was a breeze - called at 8am to leave. We found our luggage oh so easily! We breezed thru customs (no line). There were taxis lined up, waiting to take us to the airport. We were at the airport by 8:30am. Very organized and speedy.

 

 

Thanks did you get priority because you were in a Suite or because you had an early flight?