Victory review with LOTS of pictures & fun times & menus Ocho Rios & Grand Cayman

We decided we would leave Thanksgiving night (while everyone was out black friday shopping and waiting in parking lots so the roads would be clear)... tried to nap after eating Thanksgiving dinner before our 13 hour drive to Miami but who can nap when your vacation is waiting! We were both pretty restless, hubby managed to sleep for 6ish hours of course waking up every hour or so ... 1 am and the alarms went off & it was time to hit the road and we were out the door in 20 mins!! :D As soon as we crossed the GA/FL line we hit a huge truck tire and it messed up my front bumper a little :mad: we arrived in miami a little after 12 so it really wasnt a 13 hour drive, I am not a good hotel planner with cities im unfamiliar with so when i googled hotels in downtown miami and Hilton Garden Inn popped up & a rate of $123 I called.. The woman at the desk said they were close to the port & about 15 minutes from South Beach so i booked- crock of poo! They are literally RIGHT beside the airport..I am a very light sleeper, fortunately i hadn't been to sleep since the night before so i had been up for 30 some odd hours and I was able to sleep, and the woman told us we could check in early because we knew we would be getting there before 4 ...when we got there they told us we had to wait til 4! We had planned on napping but that didnt happen, we went across the street to dennys & had breakfast then drove around for a bit & went back to the hotel & sat in our car for 2 hours- they sent security out to our car to see why we were loitering!! are you freakin kidding me?!? Red head, temper, no sleep- yeah that didnt go well for them. They got us a room right then (about 3) The room was nice and the ac worked very well (we love it cold) , we freshened up and went to South beach- it was a VERY windy day & was overcast, there was hardly anyone was on the beach! We hung out there for a short amount of time & then strolled down through all the outdoor food places & shops for a while and enjoyed downtown miami -music was playing everywhere -pretty awesome place!... We headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner and then went back to that side of Miami to find Bubba Gump in Biscayne where we managed to spend $115 for dinner ,this place is a little pricey , we usually spend about $70 for the 2 of us for anyone interested in eating here ..Biscayne also happens to be an outdoor mall - that luckily for me stayed open till 11pm because despite making 3 packing lists and double checking suitcases I forgot to pack something pretty important and i wasnt going commando for the whole vacation:rolleyes: Parking is $20 in this area so if you plan to visit youre now forewarned.

Once at the port we only had to wait outside in a short line for about 5 minutes & we were the second people there for priorty/fttf so we didnt have to wait behind anyone once past security when we got up the elevators we were directed to the captains lounge and we were there until about 11:30 and then it was time to make our way down the gangway!

In the captains lounge we met an awesome couple Dottie & Chris who we met several other times throughout the cruise & another story about them & united parking later.

WELCOME ABOARD!!!! We were the second people aboard -quite different from being the last on our last cruise!

Since we paid for faster to the fun we thought we would be able to go straight to our room & have our stuff we were so excited to see our ocean suite :D... Not the case :eek:, our room wasnt ready until about 12:30, during that time we went to the buffet aft- Mediterranean of course dragging along our carryons which included a suitcase, a purse, a small bag, and hubbys asu's and got some lunch and of course drink of the day!

and the desserts looked yummy! so we had to try one of each..

da really rich chocolate cake of some sort didnt care for, the coconut cake was good, and then something else i didnt care for

hubby tried the caramel cheesecake and the dark chocolate cake stuff

we attempted again to go to our room this time successful , & we were almost all the way fwd so heres a peek down the hallway from the elevators

We got to our cabin we were on empress -7228

annnnnnnnd still no luggage so no swimming for us :confused:

that couch folded out into a bed

i took this one a few days later hence the towel animals but in that cabinet is a mini fridge- and fully stocked

and next to the mini fridge is the safe

dressing area with a second closet

looking in from the balcony

the other closet & while i was taking all these pics our luggage arrived around 1:30... They busted the screen in my laptop :eek: i know i know i should have carried it on, but i thought it would be okay since we had fttf and thought our luggage would be going straight through security to our room... not the case it was with everyone elses being tossed around ...luckily my christmas present is a new laptop so i wasnt that concerned

annnd of course carnivals robes

We were hunting for our life jackets (just to know where they were since they werent in either closet or the drawers)

turns out they are in the 3rd nightstand

larger balcony

and our room steward

This guy was an awesome room steward, we ended up leaving him an extra tip! He asked me every day what towel animal I wanted, only one night i made a request and he did his best ... and he told me every day how pretty i was lol so of course he got brownie points

there is a picture of him i will post later , i took it of him with the towel animals

On to exploring more of the ship

The staircases... and yep those seahorse noses HURT when you nail your legs on them!

the seahorse sliding doors out to the lido

big screen

I am enjoying your photos and the descriptions. Thank you for taking the time to share this with everyone

Keith

We are sailing the Victory in February!! I am loving your pics and your review! Thank you! We are going to Key West and Cozumel! :)

Loving this review! We leave 12/28 on victory, same itinerary. Excited!

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Thank you for sharing your review and pictures. Can't wait to read more.

Since we paid for faster to the fun we thought we would be able to go straight to our room & have our stuff we were so excited to see our ocean suite :D... Not the case :eek:, our room wasnt ready until about 12:30, during that time we went to the buffet aft- Mediterranean of course dragging along our carryons which included a suitcase, a purse, a small bag, and hubbys asu's and got some lunch and of course drink of the day!

Wait you purchased FTTF and you were in a suite? I thought if you paid for a suite they gave you the same perks as FTTF anyway.:eek:

love picture reviews!! thanks for sharing

Wait you purchased FTTF and you were in a suite? I thought if you paid for a suite they gave you the same perks as FTTF anyway.:eek:

No you don't get the same perks as FTTF, you only get priority boarding with booking a suite and luggage tags #1 when it is time to get off

Wait you purchased FTTF and you were in a suite? I thought if you paid for a suite they gave you the same perks as FTTF anyway.:eek:

Thanks for your review.

I was actually wondering the same thing... Being in a suite gives you 2 of the 5 perks, so why pay extra?

Thank you for sharing, can't wait to read the rest of the review. Your pictures are awesome. By the way, thank you for telling us about the hotel. Because of the close proximity of the hotel, and the way they treated you, we will not be staying there.

Wait you purchased FTTF and you were in a suite? I thought if you paid for a suite they gave you the same perks as FTTF anyway.:eek:

The only perk with a suite is priority boarding, you have to wait till 4 or whenever everyone elses rooms are ready and you have to wait till normal time for luggage however we got screwed on both of these perks anyways so we might as well have kept the money! You also get priority tendering (at grand cayman) however there wasnt a line so again wasted money on fttf!

Got any pictures from sailaway of your neighbor, Carnival Liberty? We were on the front of Liberty when you passed us.

Got any pictures from sailaway of your neighbor, Carnival Liberty? We were on the front of Liberty when you passed us.

i have sail away but im not sure if its got liberty in the pics

Thank you for sharing, can't wait to read the rest of the review. Your pictures are awesome. By the way, thank you for telling us about the hotel. Because of the close proximity of the hotel, and the way they treated you, we will not be staying there.

Glad I could help atleast one person avoid their lies! They even had the audacity to email me a survey .....lol