Thoughts on Carnival Victory for Family?

It's been a while since my family has been able to go on a cruise and we finally are able to do so! Can't spend a fortune and think we found a possibility-the 5 night itinerary out of Miami on the Carnival Victory.

We've been on a couple of Princess Cruises and one Royal Caribbean. We know that Carnival is a little less in quality which is fine with us but I've seen a lot of mixed reviews for this particular ship. Some say its ok, some say food is terrible, etc.

It will be myself, my husband and my 3 and 6 year sons. We are mainly looking to 1) get on a cruise again-we've missed cruising and bc of unemployment and other reasons we haven't gone in a while 2) pretty good food and 3) some parents/date nights & rest while kiddos go to the kids club. We aren't too picky outside of these points.

What are your thoughts? Any feedback is appreciated! Please...thank you!

Hi there. We are actually going on Victory in 2-weeks (Sept. 2nd), and bringing our 1-year old. I've been on many Carnival ships and there were quite a few young children on all of them. The reason we chose this one is because of the low cost and all inclusive nature of cruises, making it easier for families with young children. We love cruises and want to keep our family together. I think you will have a wonderful time. DO IT! PS: Don't worry about negative comments toward Carnival cruises. I think people set their expectations a bit too high and forget that there are 2-3 thousand other passengers aboard who they have to share the space with. We just go with the flow and have a great time. Carnival may be the "economy" brand but I've been on 5 of them so far and had the time of my life. Hope this helps.

Did the Victory a few years ago with the family. Kids were 4, 9, 19, 20, and older. We had a wonderful time. The only thing was there wasn't as much for the kids. No basketball court but we did play ping pong. That was in '05 so maybe there have been some changes.

We will be going in January 2014, taking our kids ages 2, 11, 13 and 14. I've never worried about reviews on hotels, resorts.....etc. Sure, I do read reviews but mostly just to see what activities and such other people do. I've only been on a few cruises and this will be the first taking the whole family.

The first two cruises we've been on were booked in the late 90's and early 2000's when all these forum and review sites weren't even known about! You booked through a travel agent and got on your boat without having anything cloud your mind with doubt....and had a great time!

We are going on the victory and will have a great time. Fun times and memories are what you make of it. Regardless of what "kids activities" are available, we will be on a good old fashioned Clark Griswold vacation so go make it fun!

In my opinion, most people that post reviews are doing so because expectations were set too high and they weren't making the best of things. Again, keep having fun, the ship will be just fine and your family will love it!