Victory 5/27-6/1: Lots and Lots of Info!

Just off the Victory 5/27/13-6/1/13. This was my 14th cruise and we (me & dh) sailed with 10 of our adult family/ friends.

We flew down to FLL a day early and stayed at the Sleep Inn Dania, 1500 SE 5th Ave., Dania, FL 33004 (954) 874-1800. We’ve stayed there before and it’s great for a short pre or post cruise stay. The hotel is right next door to a 24-hr Walgreens. Also, across the street is a plaza with a Mexican Restaurant, Pizzeria, Publix, and a Dollar Tree. They offer a free airport shuttle. The shuttle took about a half an hour from the time we called to come and pick us up. We had an early flight and arrived there at 10am. Our rooms were not ready but they had a room where they offered to keep our luggage locked and we used the pool while waiting. The pool area was small but very nice with a hot tub, tables, chairs, umbrellas, and chaise lounges. The hotel also offers a free continental breakfast which was adequate (waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage links, hardboiled eggs, cereals, fruits, juices, coffee, toast, etc.) We booked several months ahead of time and did the Advance Pay Rate which was $55. Rooms were nice and roomy with flat screen tv’s. I would definitely recommend for a short stay. NOTES: Walgreens does not sell beer. Publix does. Publix was also cheaper for soda.

We arranged shuttle transportation with QLS Transportation (Quality Limo Service), 2114 N. Flamingo Rd., Suite #1115, Pembroke Pines, FL 33028 (954) 907-0750 for 12 people @ $10pp. We used to be loyal to SAS Transportation but had problems with them last fall so we’ve now used QLS for our last two trips and they’ve been fantastic both times. Our pick up time was 10am and they were there at the hotel at 9:40am. They used a very spacious shuttle bus. It was very clean and the a/c worked well. Our return pick-up time at Port of Miami was scheduled for 10am and again they were right on-time. NOTES: QLS offers earlier pick-up times to get you to port from hotel/airport than SAS, they are cheaper, and they will also drop you off at hotels near the airport after the cruise whereas SAS will only drop off at the airport. You have to pre-pay with a credit card with QLS. They charge your credit card 2 days prior to service. SAS you can pay in cash.

Embarkation May 27th: A few days prior to the cruise I received a letter from Carnival stating that the Victory crew had to go through quarterly immigration inspection and that embarkation would be slightly delayed. They instructed us not to arrive prior to 1:30. I then asked John Heald on FB what his opinion was about how long the delay would be and he said he thought it would be minimal and embarkation should start by 11:30. We decided to stick with our 10:00 am shuttle time. We are platinum so we were brought through the priority line and into the platinum lounge. Check in was very quick and we didn’t even get to sit down and were called to board. We were in our room by 11:15am. Our room was ready for us. We dropped off our luggage and proceeded to the lido for the rest of the afternoon. NOTES: We had 4 balcony cabins in a row on the Panorama deck and asked the room steward to open all of the dividers so we had one huge long balcony. I know others have stated that this was not possible but it was no problem for us. Some of the dividers blocked the balcony doors to the cabins but it was a minor inconvenience and worth it to have that huge balcony for our group. NOTE: Bring bungi cords if you are going to open the dividers. During the night the dividers would swing and “bang” in the wind because they were not secured. We closed them every night at bedtime and rather than lock them (which the steward would have to do because it requires a special tool) we used bungi cords to secure in place and then would reopen in the morning. It worked great! Pictured below is balcony with all 4 dividers opened.

Food: Food was very good. No complaints. Loved the Reubens from the deli and the pizza was very good. We ordered room service several times and it was quick every time. There were 12 in our group so I ordered coffee and tea in the morning and they’d send carafes of hot water and coffee for all of us which was really nice. The Chinese food restaurant was really good too! NOTES: The Victory does have the chicken tenders in the grill area every day. I know a lot of people enjoy those and some of the ships do not offer them anymore. We were on the Glory in January and they were not offered I’m assuming because of the addition of the Guy Fieri burgers. Sushi was also available on deck 5 by the casino bar.

We go in 50-something days!!!!

Closely watching!!!

Bar Service/Cheers Program: A few in our group purchased the Cheers program. The price has increased on the Victory. It was $49.99 per day plus gratuity so it came out to $57/day. They met their 15 drink limit on day one and were cut off. No evaluation…just cut off. That was the only day they made their 15 drink limit. Also, we were on lido early and they were not ready to sell it til almost 1pm. Any drinks bought before 1pm were credited back to their account and went toward the cheers program. Also noteworthy, the Cheers program cannot be used on Half Moon Cay. For the first time ever, I ordered a bottle of vodka from room service on night one. It was very easy. I just dialed room service and requested a bar set up and then requested a bottle of vodka. She listed my options. I bought a bottle of skyy vodka and it was $55 even…no tax or gratuity added. I just tipped the lady that brought it to the room. It arrived chilled in an ice bucket with two glasses of orange juice. We also tried the martini tasting on Deck 5 Aft. It was $17 to sample 4 different kinds of mini martinis (your choice) and they also give you a cute martini charm and it says Carnival on it. NOTE: The funship glasses were still readily available on the Victory. They had them in several different colors. They were not available on the Glory in January so I was surprised to see them on the Victory. I also had about a dozen drink coupons left over from previous cruises and had no problem whatsoever using them.

Great start - keep it coming! :)

Casino: Was very stingy L Out of the 12 of us I think 8 of us played either slots or blackjack and we all lost. I called the Players Club beforehand and was told I qualified for the standard bonvoyage package which was chocolate covered strawberries and a photo coupon. I didn’t get either L Wish I would’ve had him send me an email like I usually do but I forgot to ask for it this time.

Weather: It was sunny and hot the day we left and that was the last we saw of the sun. It literally was cloudy, breezy, and/or rainy the rest of the week.

Port: Grand Turk. The skies were very dark and it was raining and windy. Sometimes it was just sprinkling and at other times was a downpour. We rented a cabana and divided the cost between the 12 of us so it was only $11 each. We were very glad to have it on this rainy day. We stored all of our valuables in there and hung out in there until the rain lightened up. We then headed down the beach to barhop. We only made it to the Local Village Bar before it down-poured again. We stopped for a drink. There was a limited selection of beer and no other alcohol offered. I had read on the GT boards that they were closed down for a while and it appeared from our experience that they were not fully operational yet. This was my 4th visit there and it was not the same as in past visits. The Corona’s were $4.50 but were skunked. The wifi did not work either. The owner was there and was very nice and accommodating but we didn’t stay for long. On the way back we had hoped to stop at the Crew Bar. We went there last May and had a fantastic time but this time it looked abandoned. The beautiful pool that we used last year was now green and covered in algae. We stopped at the next bar which was very nice. It was an open air bar with a big tiki roof and it was owned by the White Sands Resort (which also owned the Crew Bar). All of the mixed drinks/frozen drinks were $7.00 and the beer was $5.00. We also had conch fritters and poutine and both were very tasty! We eventually made it back to Margaritaville and had an absolute blast for the rest of the afternoon. There was a live DJ, great music, plenty of contests, and lots of jello shots. LOVED it there! Pictured below: Conch Fritters from the 2nd bar we stopped at (owned by White Sands Resort).

Pictured below: Margaritaville in full swing!

PORTS: Half Moon Cay. We were nervous about being able to tender in as it was breezy and raining again. We watched from our balcony as the tender boats were approaching the ship and they were really rocking back and forth. I was actually pleasantly surprised that we were able to make it in. We rented the Private Oasis. Cost was $1495 for 12 people ($125pp). We also had the Oasis 2 years ago and it has gotten even better than the first time we rented it. The spread of food they put out was amazing. There were brownies, cookies, banana bread, cherry pastry, cous cous(sp?), chips, salsa, sourcream, guacamole, shrimp salad, german potato salad, coleslaw, fruit tray, vegetable tray/dip, and roasted vegetable medley. Then for lunch you had a choice of jerk chicken, grilled chicken, burger, or grilled fish. All were freshly prepared to your liking. The bar service was amazing too. We had unlimited bottled beer, mixed drinks, and frozen drinks. Our bartender was fantastic. He made us every type of frozen drink you could imagine (mango, banana, strawberry daiquiris, Miami vice, etc.). They updated and put in all new outdoor furniture, a new 8 person hottub, and a new waterslide. The bartender left at 2:40 to go back to the ship but left us with an abundance of drinks and unopened beer. He prepared 3 mixed drinks per person and left about 20 unopened beers in the fridge for us. The weather was crappy again but we had the best time at the Oasis. I would highly recommend it if you ever go with a group and have the chance to rent it. Coming back on the tender it was chilly and raining. Carnival had staff waiting with warm towels…very nice touch and much appreciated! NOTE: Because we rented the Oasis we were directed to line up on Deck 1 to be on the first tender. We went down to deck 1 and they were lined up from the elevators all the way down the hall as far as the eye could see. We went to Guest Services (3 of us were platinum) and they escorted all 12 of us down to the tender so we didn't have to wait in that line. So in this case Platinum trumped having an excursion booked and we were very happy with that Platinum perk!

Pictured below: The beach as seen from the Oasis. Notice the dark skies :(

Pictured below: The spread put out before lunch. Notice the new furniture too....loved the improvements!

Pictured below: New 8 person hottub at Private Oasis.

We were also on this cruise. Had a great time but, wish there had been more sun.

This was our first cruise as Platinum and we made it on the first tender also at Half Moon. It was nice being able to pick any spot we wanted.

Glad you had a good time in spite of the weather.

Thanks and looking forward to more :) We are on the Victory in 58 days!!!

Ports: Nassau. Another rainy day. This was my 8th visit to Nassau so we just ventured out on our own and did some shopping. We then walked to Junkanoo Beach which is a public beach just past the British Colonial Hilton. The entrance to the beach is quite a ways past the Hilton. The beach had A LOT of glass down near the water. There was an actual huge pile of garbage near the fence. The guys that operate the concession stand were trying very hard to rake the sand up near the concession and there was also a volleyball court. It was ok and I’m glad I went there just to see it for myself but highly unlikely that I’ll return. On the way back to the ship we stopped at Senor Frogs. I got a Bahama Mama in a souvenir Yard glass and it was $16. We also got an order of Chicken nachos and those were $21 (ouch)! It was a great party atmosphere in there but the sun actually peeked out and we made a beeline back to the ship so we could lay out on the Lido Deck. We only got maybe an hour of sun and then the clouds and rain reappeared.

Pictured below: Junkanoo Beach

Other: This is the first cruise in 14 that I’ve hated the mattress. It was super hard. There are no mini fridges in the balcony cabins. Bring your own hair dryer because theirs sucks. It was that vacuum hose thingy hanging on the wall. Elegant Night is Tuesday (seaday), The Past Guest Party is Wednesday afternoon (after Grand Turk), chocolate buffet is Friday afternoon (Nassau). The platinum gift was the tervis tumbler. Still no live band on the lido. L There was only a DJ. He was very good but I still miss the live music. However, I was happy that they got rid of the guitar soloist. I didn’t think that was conducive with the Lido Deck atmosphere when I saw them perform on the Glory in January. There was an excellent Phillipino band that played nightly at the casino bar. They covered a wide variety of genres and really sounded good! The Groove for St. Jude was during sailaway party on Friday leaving Nassau. Debarkation was very smooth and quick. Fastest immigration I’ve ever been through. The customs officer didn’t look at our BC or DL…just asked where were you born and said, “Have a Nice Day”. It was super quick!

Well that’s it folks….If you have any questions, ask away!

We were also on this cruise. Had a great time but, wish there had been more sun.

 

This was our first cruise as Platinum and we made it on the first tender also at Half Moon. It was nice being able to pick any spot we wanted.

 

Glad you had a good time in spite of the weather.

We really did make the most of the bad weather. That's the first time I've ever had 4 consecutive days of crappy weather on any cruise I've taken. We had a few newbies with us and I felt bad about the weather but they had fun anyways and understood you can't control Mother Nature. Glad you enjoyed the cruise, as well!

We were on this cruise too. We Loved it! I too wish the weather had been better, but we didn't let that bring us down. It was great!:D

Sounds like you had a great time, despite the lack of sunshine! Can't wait for this same cruise in 6 days!

Was there live music on the lido deck?

Thanks for the review, I will be on this cruise in February. Glad to hear you had a good time even with the bad weather!

Was there live music on the lido deck?

Nope. DJ only. I really miss the live music :(

We will be on Victory in about 30 days!! So excited! Just curious, how was the cruise director on this ship? Is his name Goose? We had Karl with a K on Liberty last year and he did a great job! I am hoping this one is the same way!

Thanks for the review!! Sailing Victory for the first time in October!!

I assumed there were mini fridges in the rooms, but there are not? You said in balcony rooms- what about others? (Guessing if balconies don't have, nothing else does- but figured it couldn't hurt to ask!! We are in a balcony for our first leg, with our boys, 10 and 6. Second leg we are doing connecting rooms. Love my kiddos, but Momma can't do 185 sq ft of living space for 2 cruises with them on top of me!! ;)! I had thought about purchasing beer at one of our ports on the first leg, and putting in the room fridge of the second leg- but sounds like I am going to have to rethink that plan!!)

We will be on Victory in about 30 days!! So excited! Just curious, how was the cruise director on this ship? Is his name Goose? We had Karl with a K on Liberty last year and he did a great job! I am hoping this one is the same way!

I thought he was great. I've sailed with him as CD twice now. He's not as "in your face" as some of the other CD's (which I like). He tended to stick to the inside stuff (game shows, main theater, etc...) as a matter of fact I didn't see him outdoors once!

Thanks for the review!! Sailing Victory for the first time in October!!

 

I assumed there were mini fridges in the rooms, but there are not? You said in balcony rooms- what about others? (Guessing if balconies don't have, nothing else does- but figured it couldn't hurt to ask!! We are in a balcony for our first leg, with our boys, 10 and 6. Second leg we are doing connecting rooms. Love my kiddos, but Momma can't do 185 sq ft of living space for 2 cruises with them on top of me!! ;)! I had thought about purchasing beer at one of our ports on the first leg, and putting in the room fridge of the second leg- but sounds like I am going to have to rethink that plan!!)

Nope no fridges in any of the rooms. My son had an inside and they didn't have a fridge either. I ordered beer from Bonvoyage to have in the room as soon as we got on. It was there wrapped in plastic with a big bow but it was warm. We just took the 4 warm bottles to the lido bar and exchanged them for a bucket of cold ones.

I realize schools would have already been out in parts of the country when you sailed, but were there many kids on board? I just have a weird feeling there are going to be next to no other kids on either of our sailings. We always travel "off season", and still pull our boys (with approval) from school, and work around days that our district has off, that aren't national holidays (aka- "peak season" for prices!!). Of our 10 day vacation, they will only miss 3.5 days of school. So it works well for us, but concerned that there won't be may other kids.

I realize schools would have already been out in parts of the country when you sailed, but were there many kids on board? I just have a weird feeling there are going to be next to no other kids on either of our sailings. We always travel "off season", and still pull our boys (with approval) from school, and work around days that our district has off, that aren't national holidays (aka- "peak season" for prices!!). Of our 10 day vacation, they will only miss 3.5 days of school. So it works well for us, but concerned that there won't be may other kids.

Yes I saw a lot of kids in the pools and hottubs everyday. We always sail in January with our kids which is off-season as well and we have to pull them out of school. There has always been a good number of kids on each cruise for my kids to mingle with and make friends. I've never taken them when they haven't been able to find anyone their own age.