How much we loved the 5/22/11 Victory, and why I'll never sail from San Juan again...

Hello, Everyone-

This will be a long detailed review. I usually have a lot more pictures, but being the Cruise Director for 5 other family members took away my photo time. Please feel free to ask questions, I will do my best to answer.

Traveling with us were my sister and BIL (their 2nd cruise) and my mom and her sister (cruise virgins). We booked this cruise in January as a 65th birthday gift for my mom. Since there is no longer a singles supplement and we had to pay two fares, my mom invited my aunt (who also turns 65 this year).

Travel Day - Saturday, 5/21/11

Our journey began at 7am on Saturday, 5/21. Don't skip ahead, this is a perfect example of why you should ALWAYS fly a day early. Our flight was scheduled to depart PHL at 9:40 and arrive in SJU at 1:30pm. After a hydraulic leak, two changes in aircraft, having to re-check in and move all the luggage, we arrived in SJU at 8:45pm. I lost track of how many times we said "thank god we are flying a day early". With the super late departure in San Juan, we considered flying day of, and I am pretty sure we would have missed the ship.

After claiming our luggage, we took a cab for the 6 of us to the Radisson Ambassador (I got three rooms on Priceline for $86 each). Cab prices are regulated in San Juan, and I had them printed (http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/getting-around-by-taxi/) in case our driver tried any funny business. He didn't. The ride was about 15 minutes and there was no wait to check in. Rooms were fine, nothing special, but we only needed them for one night. We arrived so late we did not visit the rooftop pool or the casino as we had planned, we were just grateful to be in San Juan!.

I had done some research on the area, and knew there was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant a block away called Tijuana's (http://www.tijuanaspr.com/). My aunt called it a night, while the rest of us went to dinner. Wow, what a pleasant surprise! 5 plates plus 6 large drinks was $104. The food was great, the drinks were strong, the live mariachi singer put us in the mood to vacation. I highly recommend this place. There is another Tijuana's near the pier, that is NOT where we went, and I have not heard great things about it, but if you are in Condado, definitely check out the location on Ashford Avenue!

We walked the block back to the Radisson and all went to bed, ready for Embarkation tomorrow.

Sunday, 5/22/11 - Embarkation Day

Mom and aunt were up early, went to breakfast, and walked the block to the beach to take pictures. I walked 3-4 blocks to the Walgreen's for soda, and a few toiletries that we left behind to save on luggage weight. I brought a folded up recycled grocery bag in my luggage to use for the walk - plastic bags would have been unpleasant.

We checked out of the Radisson at 11:30 and got a cab quickly to the pier. Our driver tried to overcharge us, and didn't look happy when I showed him my chart. Scumbag. No tip for you!

We walked right into the terminal and dropped off our checked bags. Headed up the escalator to check in and were on board in less than 30 minutes. Easy-peasy-beautiful Carnival cruise :)

We had to go to Guest Services as we had booked my sister and BIL in separate rooms to get the past guest rate. They flipped the rooms with no problems, and then headed to Lido for our first drink and lunch. At 1:30, we went to check the cabins, and all the luggage for all three cabins was already delivered. Our rum runners and travel iron (no flack - I used the ones in the laundry room every night but one when the line was 10 people deep and I gave up after a hlaf hour in line). We were in aft wrap #8433, everyone else was in oceanview cabins on deck 2. Our Bon Voyage gift to ourselves was ready and waiting:

We headed back off the ship to try and get in some sightseeing that we missed with our late arrival on Travel Day. There was a lot of traffic and the cab driver we talked to discouraged us from going to El Morro. We started walking, and it was hot. And muggy. And sticky. Ed and I decided to head to Senor Frog's since we had been to San Juan twice before, while the rest of our group walked to San Cristobal. Entrance fee was $3 or $4 per person. Everyone hit the CVS on their way back to the ship, we looked for champagne, but they didn't have any. Sister and BIL did bring on two bottles of wine, no problem. We were all back on board around 7. First night is open seating, no dress code. 5 of us went to the Pacific dining room and were seated next to what would be our regular table. There was no wait. Service was quick, then we all split up to un-pack and wait for muster.

Muster sucked, more than usual. The cabin stewards had knocked on doors and told everyone to head to their muster station (no vests) at 9:15. We did. A lot of people did. Then we stood there for 30 minutes. It was hot. And muggy. And sticky. And then they made all sorts of important announcements. And then they made all sorts of un-important announcements. And then they made them all in Spanish.

We raced up the stairs to sailaway and had to go to deck 11 to find a place along the railing. We had been excited about the night-time sailaway, but in reality, we were exhausted and couldn't wait to go to bed. BIL, Ed and I lasted till we passed the fort, then we went to bed.

St Thomas tomorrow...

Thank you for sharing, great stuff so far. :):):)

Monday, 5/23/11 - St Thomas

We arrived in St Thomas on time.

I'll be honest. I don't like St Thomas. This is our 3rd time here and I really don't like St Thomas. If we had been alone, we would have stayed on the ship, but no one in my family had been here before. We don't snorkel or shop, so we selected Sunny Liston's tour #2. The island is poor, and the weather was lousy. We had torrential downpours when we reach MountainTop and couldn't see a thing. Took some pictures with dirty statues and tried the Banana Daiquiri. It was good, not $8.50 good, but good.

Mountain Top was a mob scene of tour busses and Elvis, our driver, had to back all the way out. We dropped people off at the beach, and then headed back to the ship. Coki Beach was surrounded by construction and did not look at all appealing, and I was really surprised anyone got off the bus, but to each his own. It started raining again as we drove away. The weather cleared up as we approached the ship

and we headed back on board.

I have no complaints about Elvis, and my family was pleased that they got to see the island for $30, but I won't be getting off the ship in St Thomas anymore. It was by far the poorest-looking of the islands we visited, and I felt the least safe or enthused to be there.

We headed to the buffet for lunch, and then up to our balcony for sailaway and to watch the runners. While I may not have loved the island, this video my BIL took of a drunk guy almost missing the Jewel (docked behind us) was the highlight of the day for sure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalgeQRDlV4

We all took a nap and a shower and went to our assigned dinner at 8:15. Our wait team introduced themselves and learned everyone's names. They were Endricke and something-with-an-R. R was like a ninja, you never saw him but all of a sudden you had a roll or ice or a spoon....

We all enjoyed our meal and then headed back to call it a night. Vacation is exhausting!

Sunday, 5/22/11 - Embarkation Day

 

Muster sucked, more than usual. The cabin stewards had knocked on doors and told everyone to head to their muster station (no vests) at 9:15. We did. A lot of people did. Then we stood there for 30 minutes. It was hot. And muggy. And sticky. And then they made all sorts of important announcements. And then they made all sorts of un-important announcements. And then they made them all in Spanish.

 

 

I whole-heartedly agree with you on this , It was or should be done seperatly rather than make both groups suffer through that mess . If we go out of there ever again , I am going to try the closet or under the bed . LOL

Tuesday, 5/24/11 - Fun Day at Sea

or what I like to call "being burned alive on vacation". Holy cow it was hot. Something like 94 degrees hot.

I headed up around 8:30 with 4 towels and parked on deck 10 overlooking the main pool. BIL came up about a half hour later with their stuff (still just 4 chairs) and then went to get my sister. Ed trudged up about 15 minutes later. When BIL and sister came back, Ed and I went to buffet for breakfast. Did I mention we were hot? The sweat was pouring off of us within minutes. DS and BIL lasted about an hour and a half, and then bailed. We gave up their chairs. There were three empty chairs on the other side of us, and some young 'uns showed up. They pushed the chairs together and then the macho men trying to show-off carried over two more chairs and jammed them in the open space, almost cutting off Ed's foot in the process. An officer walking by at the time told them the chairs couldn't be butted up against each other and they put one back. Then they all left and I never saw them again, but it was nice getting to know their towels (they were quiet, polite and respectful).

At noon I went for our Meet and Greet in The Black and Red lounge. I ran into my mom who was trying to get herself set up on the internet (she had to check in with work each day). Our roll call was small and not very active, and not many folks were there. I stayed and chatted for a little while and then walked over to the internet cafe to get my mom situated. Back up to check on Ed and watch the drink contest. Down for lemonade and to cool off and back for Hairy chest contest (it was rigged!). Down for lemonade and to cool off and back to check on Ed. I bailed. Left Ed-the-Sunbathing-Warrior and headed to the Newlywed game. Always good for a laugh, especially when the oldest guy punched the CD in the face. Swear.to.god! He went to give an Arsenio-fist-pump when he finally got an answer right and Kark-with-a-K is vertically challenged. Alan literally punched him right in the face. The whole theater sucked in air and went "ewwwww" at the same time.

Headed back to see if Ed was on fire and he was gone. In 20 years, Ed has never left a sea day before 6pm. did I mention it was a scorcher?

Tonight was the first formal/elegant/dress-up/no-shorts-or-sneakers-but-some-people-wore-them-and-got-in-anyway night. Our waiters greeted us all by name and were very accomodating as we ordered multiple apps and entrees. There was a bottle of chilled champagne (two, actually) waiting for us from John Heald. I had messaged him on Facebook asking if he could put in a good word for a nice table to ourselves to celebrate the birthdays and he surprised us with the champagne. Mom and Aunt felt super special, and I was super proud of being a Carnival-addict. We only drank one bottle, so they saved the second for us the next night.

Early day in Barbados tomorrow....

ok folks, my hands are cramping up so I will finish tomorrow, feel free to ask questions!

Sunday, 5/22/11 - Embarkation Day

 

Our Bon Voyage gift to ourselves was ready and waiting:

 

/QUOTE]

 

My husband loves southern comfort, but we have never seen it on the alcohol list. Was this a special order or just a regular order with the bon voyage dept. and do you remember the cost....

Enjoying the review,the drunk guy was funny as heck,but you know you wrong for putting it you tube, LMAO but i would've put that fool on you tube to.

Hi Bernie, great review so far. I had to chuckle when I saw you were on the 9:40 US Air flight from Philly to SJU. We had that same flight last March and we too were delayed. That flight is always delayed:mad:. I had started tracking it about 3 months out and noticed that it never took off or arrived as scheduled. We always fly in the day before, so it didn't matter to us, but there were others on the flight who were cruising on Serenade of the Seas, which was leaving port that night at 7pm, who were in a real panic. What I found odd was that flight was only late on Saturdays and on time more or less all the other days of the week.:confused:

Always enjoy your reviews, Bernie! Looking forward to the rest!

Great review so far!

We're flying to San Juan (me, DH +3 kids) on Sat., and leave on the Victory this Sun! We're very excited. Although I'm concerned about the heat. I've just been convincing DH how temperate the Carib is. We'll see how it is next week. I am hoping to take the kids to El Morro on Sun. We were there solo 2years ago and walked in early on a Sun morning with no crowds. We'll try to get there early.

Also glad we're flying in from Chicago a day early! Enjoying your review, and anxious to hear more ...

We're flying to San Juan (me, DH +3 kids) on Sat., and leave on the Victory this Sun! We're very excited. Although I'm concerned about the heat. I've just been convincing DH how temperate the Carib is. We'll see how it is next week. I am hoping to take the kids to El Morro on Sun. We were there solo 2years ago and walked in early on a Sun morning with no crowds. We'll try to get there early.

 

Also glad we're flying in from Chicago a day early! Enjoying your review, and anxious to hear more ...

We fly in on Saturday too. Staying at the Marriott Stellaris on priceline! We have done El Morro and the other fort. My kids complained the whole time it was too hot with all the stairs but I think everyone needs to do it at least once. Beautiful!

The review is great so far can't wait to read more. We have sailed on the victory before just not this itinerary.

Southern Comfort was not on any Bon Voyage list I had ever seen, but I called and ordered it and it came right up. The cost was $65. I took an empty rum runner with me to bring the extra home.

my plans at work today have changed so I won't be able to work on the rest of the review until I get home tonight - see everyone then!

Hi Bernie, I love your review! This makes me MORE excited for this cruise we're on in July. Quick questions for you.

You stayed in cabin 8433, we will be in 8435. Did you have any trouble sleeping because of loud noises, chairs scraping on the Lido deck?

Also, were there stairs next to your cabin leading to the Lido deck? Thanks! I look forward to reading more!

I am concerned about this also. We will be in room 8384 in late June. I have read reviews and it sounds like a noisy part of ship. I hope not!

I had no trouble sleeping. You will occasionally hear some deck noise, but not a lot. I am a light sleeper. The Lido area is directly above the cabin. I always bring earplugs with me as Ed has a tendency to snore when he is in a strange bed, but we have been in aft wraps for our last several cruises and I don't recall any issues in any of them.

The stairs next to our cabin were crew stairs, but the Lido stairs are not far at all. Close enough that we could use our own bathroom, and come get sodas from our cooler when weating lunch.

If 8435 is the aft balcony, be advised there is none-zero-zilch privacy on that balcony, but it is a really nice size :)

Waiting for more! Thanks for posting a review of an itinerary we would like to do in the future.

Great review so far...we were on the May 8th sailing of Victory and we would totally agree with you on San Juan. While we absolutely loved all the ports, we will NEVER sail from that place again. The genius porters destroyed my GF's luggage and wouldn't have loaded it on the ship had we not pushed guest services to investigate further (Danijel actually got off the ship and brought on board a cart full of damaged luggage that would have been left behind). We also found the port staff to be rude and the entire embark/debark process to be very unorganized. Then Carnival's post-cruise transfer is a beat-up old Greyhound bus that leaked in the rain and stunk of mold. Never again.

Great review! Loved the youtube video!

Nice review, we were on the ship a couple weeks before you and loved this itinerary! We flew in two days early and stayed at the Marriott Stellaris and would stay there again in a heartbeat. We almost tried Tijuana's but opted for some pizza at Danny's across the street which was really good. The Condado area is great though.

Stayed at the Marriott Stellaris in December 2006 when sailed on the Serenade of the Seas. I looked at the restaurant website because I thought wasn't that the name of the place we ate. And from the pictures I can see that we did.

They had/may still have some sort of shrimp nachos--OMG really really good. One of the best meals we had while in San Juan and one of the least expensive and food in SJ is very expensive.

We flew in day before and stayed day after. So glad, took us 4 hours to get through customs. I thought it may have been the RCL unorganized mess, but it seems that San Juan is just bad that way.

DH wants to go back to San Juan-thought we might stay at La Concha Renaissance-sister hotel to the Marriott (and a few blocks away). He said can we still walk to that Mexican place for Dinner and he meant Tijuana's?

We where on at the same time!! And I'm pretty sure we where on Sunny's tour together in St. Thomas. We where the ones that got off at Coki Point and later regretted it! We went and paid the $20 to rent the chairs/umbrella and the downpour begun. Go figure!! Nobody came running back with a refund. I found the service staff at that beach quite rude and would never go back again. Wish we would have gone to Meagan's, but Sunny was so nice, I called him on the cell and he had Elvis come back and pick us up. Whew!

This was a great cruise! Wish I could do it again tomorrow!! Loved the guy sportin' the lime green speedo and the hot pink flip flops! LOL

Looking forward to reading the rest of this review!! Thanks for sharing your experience & photos with all of us :)