Charleston SC Cruise

[Croozer101]

Anyone taken the Oct or May Carnival Victory
cruise out of Charleston Sc to the Bahamas?
Good cruise?

[CabinForFour]

Good cruise? Absolutely! We have taken the Charleston to Bahamas sailing in October twice as well as a May Charleston sailing to Bermuda once. From the Carolinas, you can't beat the convenience of sailing from Charleston. Boarding for our first sailing out of Charleston was chaotic, but since then, they have really streamlined the boarding process there. There are some photos of our most recent Charleston to Freeport/Nassau sailing below (Two Little Sailors). I'd be happy to answer more specific questions if you're interested. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Two Little Sailors: Victoria's First and Benjamin's Fourth cruise -- Carnival Victory, October 2003 (http://community.webshots.com/user/cabinforfour)

Benjamin Sails to Bermuda-- Carnival Triumph, May 2002 (http://community.webshots.com/user/travelingtots)

Benjamin's Birthday Cruise -- Carnival Destiny, Jan. 2002 (http://community.webshots.com/user/travelingtot)

Benjamin's First Cruise -- Carnival Victory 2000 (http://www7.50megs.com/jamine/benjamin's_first_cruise.htm)


Paradise 3/04 - Exotic W. Caribbean
Carnival Victory 10/03 - Bahamas
Carnival Triumph 5/02 - Bermuda
Carnival Destiny 1/02 - S. Caribbean
Carnival Victory 10/00 - Nassau
Inspiration 7/99 - S. Caribbean
Tropicale 1/99 - W. Caribbean
Carnival Destiny 7/97 - W. Caribbean
Fantasy 4/96 - Bahamas
Fantasy 7/94 - Bahamas

[Croozer101]

Wow great pictures. What a beautiful family!
Yes I think we will do this cruise . The convience of going out of Charleston is too tempting. What time did they let you board? Our ship leaves on a Tues night at 10 pm.
How did you arrange the horsebackriding in Freeport? Thru Carnival? Thanks for sharing.

[beachbumXIX]

Hey, I have a question too! What other shore excursions did you do in the Bahamas? We're on the May sailing and it's been over 10 years since we've been to Nassau or Freeport. We like snorkeling the most and about 5 minutes of shopping, haha. We're really interested in seeing Atlantis, but don't want to waste a whole day walking around if that's all there's time to do. Is Blue Lagoon a good place to spend the day (with a 9 year old)? Thanks for any feedback.

[echo]

I love the cruises out of Charleston, close to home. Alittle more costly than others. We went to the Blue Lagoon once when we went. I enjoyed it since it was my first snorkeling experience.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.

[mystybeige]

Hey Guys !!

There is a thread started in The Carnival Roll Calls section on ths Cruise - May 31st out of Charleston - We are on it with our 4 kids !!!!

Join the fun and sound off in the roll call !!!!

[CabinForFour]

Thanks, platnick. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

The last two times we sailed from Charleston, we arrived around 2:00 and were parked, unloaded, and checked-in before 3:00. The ship sailed at 10:00.

We booked the horseback riding excursion online through Pinetree Stables (http://www.pinetree-stables.com/). It was excellent. Henry, the guide, is great! The other guide was nice too but not as talkative. The horses were well cared-for, although their mouths were a little "hard." Nonetheless, they were well trained and lots of fun.

To BeachbhumXIX, we went to Atlantis in 2000. The excursion includes a tour of the casino and aquariums, but it does not include use of the pool areas. Everything included in the excursion can be finished in a couple of hours. You could then go to the beach on your own to finish out the day. We really loved Blue Lagoon and will probably go there again if we find ourselves in Nassau for a fifth time. Our kids loved it, and I think a 9 year old would love it as well. Just FYI: don't bother trying to book Blue Lagoon on your own. The price through the ship is comparable, and it includes transportation from the port (rather than having to find your own transportation to the ferry terminal if booked on your own). We did book our 2 PM Dolphin Encounter on our own since we were planning to be on the island anyway. That was a lot of fun.

Hope this helps!

Two Little Sailors: Victoria's First and Benjamin's Fourth cruise -- Carnival Victory, October 2003 (http://community.webshots.com/user/cabinforfour)

Benjamin Sails to Bermuda-- Carnival Triumph, May 2002 (http://community.webshots.com/user/travelingtots)

Benjamin's Birthday Cruise -- Carnival Destiny, Jan. 2002 (http://community.webshots.com/user/travelingtot)

Benjamin's First Cruise -- Carnival Victory 2000 (http://www7.50megs.com/jamine/benjamin's_first_cruise.htm)


Paradise 3/04 - Exotic W. Caribbean
Carnival Victory 10/03 - Bahamas
Carnival Triumph 5/02 - Bermuda
Carnival Destiny 1/02 - S. Caribbean
Carnival Victory 10/00 - Nassau
Inspiration 7/99 - S. Caribbean
Tropicale 1/99 - W. Caribbean
Carnival Destiny 7/97 - W. Caribbean
Fantasy 4/96 - Bahamas
Fantasy 7/94 - Bahamas

[Croozer101]

CabinForFour,
So they let you board after 3? and your rooms were ready? Could you eat on board before they sailed? Dinner? I thought we would have to hangout in Charleston (not too hard) till 7 0r so.
When you were at Atlantis you could just go and use the beach even though you were not a real guest? Public beach? Could you change anywhere there? Thanks

[Croozer101]

Cabin For Four
Did you have a balcony room , outside room? on your Victory cruise?

[ertimariu]

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gifThanks for a great review, thinking about taking my niece and 2 nephews on this cruise in October. (17/11/10)

Have a few questions, for you, did you use air
travel provided by Carnival?

Did Carnival provide transfers between the airport and the cruise ship pier?

How far is the airport from the ship pier?

How was the Children's programs?

By any chance do you have any of the Capers that maybe you can email me - ertimariu@aol.com

If I think of anything else, I'll continue next time.

Thanks in advance.

ertimariu

[CabinForFour]

Platnick, they were already boarding when we arrived at 2:00, so we were onboard by 3:00. Our rooms were ready. Ours was the only sailing of the Victory out of Charleston that time, so they had prepared the rooms as they sailed down (empty) from Newport News the day before. Food is available on the Lido deck whenever you board (buffet and/or 24-hour pizza). Since you're in port, dinner is open seating.

We were told that none of Atlantis' facilities were to be used by us on the excursion. We caught a taxi to the public beach there on Paradise Island and played there for a while. You can see a photo of that beach at the link below for Benjamin's First Cruise. A storm was approaching that day, but we had been there before and it's a decent beach. However, there are no changing facilities there, so you'd have to wear your swimsuit under your clothes.

On our most recent Victory cruise, we had a 9A room with the wraparound balcony. It was awesome. On our first Victory cruise from Charleston, we were upgraded from a Cat 8 guarantee to a Cat 11 mini-suite! http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Both were great rooms, and we love the Cat 8 balcony rooms too.

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

Ertimariu, in the past, Carnival has not offered air transportation for cruises out of Charleston. We only live 2 hours away, so we just drive there. I'm afraid I won't be much help with the children's programs either. We have never used them. Sorry, I don't have the capers online...boy, that was a bust, huh? http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Two Little Sailors: Victoria's First and Benjamin's Fourth cruise -- Carnival Victory, October 2003 (http://community.webshots.com/user/cabinforfour)

Benjamin Sails to Bermuda-- Carnival Triumph, May 2002 (http://community.webshots.com/user/travelingtots)

Benjamin's Birthday Cruise -- Carnival Destiny, Jan. 2002 (http://community.webshots.com/user/travelingtot)

Benjamin's First Cruise -- Carnival Victory 2000 (http://www7.50megs.com/jamine/benjamin's_first_cruise.htm)


Paradise 3/04 - Exotic W. Caribbean
Carnival Victory 10/03 - Bahamas
Carnival Triumph 5/02 - Bermuda
Carnival Destiny 1/02 - S. Caribbean
Carnival Victory 10/00 - Nassau
Inspiration 7/99 - S. Caribbean
Tropicale 1/99 - W. Caribbean
Carnival Destiny 7/97 - W. Caribbean
Fantasy 4/96 - Bahamas
Fantasy 7/94 - Bahamas

[echo]

We had an OV room and it was real nice, had a small sofa in it. I loved the Victory, to me it's one of the prettist ships, due to all the decorations being ocean-like. And the food when we went was great. The shows if they are the same were some of the best to me.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.

[trophygirl]

Hi, We were on the Victory out of Charleston last year Oct 03, and are booked again this October 04. We had a great time. My son who is 14 had a great time with the teen group in camp carnival. I didnt see much of him. The Victory is a beautiful ship, the food was good, and there is alot to do, so much that we are hopeing to do some of the things we did'nt have time to do last year. We had a cat. 8A balcony room with 4 people and had plenty of room. There is lots of storage space. We did the Blue Lagoon which is a great beach. I have the capers from last year that i could fax to anyone that wants to see them, I don't have a scanner so I can't e-mail them.
I would love to talk to anyone who is going in October, My son met alot of teens his age and still talks on line to a few of them. Happy sailing everyone.

[tinydancer21]

The Carnival site doesn't have any sailing dates out of Charleston for 2005, do you think that means they aren't going to sail out of there again?

[GoinCruisin]

I wish the pricing would come down for both Charleston and Norfolk sailings... I would probably go more... as it stands now, I can fly to Tampa or NOLA and still have the cruise come out cheaper :(

[Nibby1]

May 29 and October 18 are the sailing dates out of Charleston for Carnival for 2005 (I think at least the October one is the Triumph rather than the Victory). Both are great ships. We went on the Victory to Nassau in May 2001 and to Bermuda on the Triumph in May 2002. Both were wonderful cruises.

[fanofseas]

We live in Newport News and are going on the victory out of norfolk with is a 20-30 min drive. The price of the cruise is a little higher but I think It's worth it just so I don't have to mess with the airports. And at the end of the cruise I'm back in my house 30 mins after I get off board.

[Croozer101]

I heard the Victory out of Charleston usually hits some choppy seas the first night. Enough to make you lay down sick. True?

[ncmom2four]

We'll be sailing on the Triumph out of Charleston for our first cruise next October 2005! We are sooo excited. It was wonderful to read the discussion here. Anything that makes us remotely imagine what we'll be experiencing is so much fun! :D

:) Shauna

[CabinForFour]

I heard the Victory out of Charleston usually hits some choppy seas the first night. Enough to make you lay down sick. True?

Not necessarily. We hit rough seas sailing from Charleston the first time, but the two cruises from Charleston since then have had exceptionally smooth seas. Like most locations, it really just depends on weather and water factors.

[Croozer101]

I hear that Freeport is still closed to cruises . Wonder where we will go in addition to Nassau or if they will just give us a extra day at sea?

[neverenufcruising]

I live in SC but haven't sailed out of Charleston. It's cheaper for us to drive to Tampa, Pt. Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, spend the night and cruise. The drive down isn't really that bad, we just make it part of the trip.

To me the convenience of the shorter drive doesn't make up for the big cost difference. Hopefully it will become more popular and the prices will get better eventually.