Thanks to All on the Victory 1/9

I would like to thank all of you that were on the Victory 1/9-1/16. That was truly the best cruise I've been on and it's because of all the party people that were cruising last week. You totally made our vacation that much more fun!!!

Go Blue Team!

We would love to hear about your trip. Tell us more. my family will be on the Victory 4/24/05. What condition is the ship in? How was the staff? Did you do Eastern or Western? How was the food? Did you use Camp Carnival?

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Dayna

Hi Dayna,

Our trip was great!

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale a day early (because you never know with MA weather) and we stayed in South Beach. We got to the ship at 11:30 on Sunday morning and were boarding at 12:30. I was suprised at how fast the line went to get on. I had previously traveled on the Victory in April 2002 and it took forever to get onboard.

We went to the eastern caribbean (San Juan, St. Thomas and St.Marten)...the first two days of the cruise the boat was rocking.. My DH got seasick but the sea-bands took care of that within an hour. I heard rumor that the captain took the stablizers off the ship because the seas were so rough that they had to make up time so we'd get to San Juan by 5:00PM.

Good Points: Like I stated in my post, the people is what made the cruise awesome...Kareoke in the Adriactic Lounge almost every night was PRICELESS, we had a blast dancing in Club Arctic (w/people of all ages) at night. The band that played on the deck by the pools during the day were great too. They were the first band I've seen actually get the crowd really involved (constantly pulling people up to sing and dance with them on the center stage). I also liked how they made the newlywed/not so newlywed game into a midnight show for adults only...

Bad Points: The lines for food in the Mediterrean Cafe were so long, no matter what time we went (for breakfast or lunch) it was packed. I hear that the open seating in the Atlantic and Pacific diningrooms were better and you never had to wait for a table. Wish I knew then! It was a hassle on Thurs when we went to St Thomas because they made us get up between 6-8AM to go back through immigration since we had visited a foreign port and went back to a US one. That was just a major inconvenience (especially when you are hungover). Another disappointment was in the dining room, we had really liked our waitress/busboy that were assigned to us the first night. Then the second night we got a new waiter/busboy and they weren't 1/2 as good as the first one. We were told that our original waitress had acquired some new tables and couldn't take care of us (we were just a table of 4 too).

As far as camp carnival goes...I don't have kids (yet), but we did meet quite a few couples that did have their kids onboard and in camp carnival (they were between the ages of 6-10) and they raved about it. Also the kids would come up to us and say how much fun they were having.

The ship was immaculate all week, we were on the Victory in April 2002 and it looked just as good last week as it did in 2002. The food was good, I preferred the Dining Room for dinner over the Lido deck. The staff was SO friendly, our cruise director (Dana Hodson) was a riot... I think he left the ship when we did on Sunday though. You are going to have a blast! I'm so jealous... I would love to go again soon.

If you have any other questions let me know :-)

-Kelly

Dayna,

We were on the Victory last week, and I thought I would throw my opinion in, too. Kelly seems to beat me to all these responses, but I sure agree with almost everything she says. I am a bit confused because I have already read a couple of negative reviews about the cruise and wonder how there could be such a difference in opinion.

We arrived Saturday night in Miami and stayed at the Hilton. Carnival reps were at the hotel and we registered Sunday morning. When we arrived at the port, it took us about 20 minutes before we were on ship.

Positives-Other passengers, crew, entertainment, Irish Sea Bar (Kevin is fabulous-arrive early), beautiful gym including whirlpools, saunas, and steam bath. Try the East Side Deli (great sandwiches), Mississippi BBQ (hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and steak sandwiches) and pizzeria. The Disco is beautiful and offers a variety of music. The ship was spotless. Excellent rum coladas at casino in San Juan. We rented a car in St. Marteen and took a tour with Sunny Liston at St. Thomas. Our room steward (Harold) was excellent.

Negatives-buffet was not impressive. We ate in formal dining or one of the other spots listed above. Shorts are okay for breakfast and lunch. Also, it can be confusing getting from one spot to another. Not all of the decks go straight through. You may have to go up or down a level and then back. Kids were not a problem. I walked into Camp Carnival one day and was amazed to see how the kids were enthralled in the activities. (guess that's a positive). Slots were extremely tight. Stay away or they can ruin a vacation.

Our trip was great. Again, there was a fabulous group there that wanted to have a good time. Read everything you can beforehand on these sites so that you feel prepared before boarding. Read your capers daily and talk to others about their positive experiences. Breakfast and lunch (free sitting) in the dining room are great times to meet others and find out what they are enjoying.

Most importantly, go with the attitude that you're going to have a great time and find a way to do it. If you're not enjoying yourself, look further for something else to do.

Remember that you can order anything you want in formal dining including two or three different items. I saw a couple in the elevator (probably in their 60's) and the guy had 4 lobsters.

You are booked for a week of fun. Don't allow anyone or anything to keep you from having your fun. If you should have any questions feel free to contact me at d_sedy@yahoo.com

Thanks Kelly and Stan, great responses. We ae going with a fun group of 11. (6 adults 5 kids) we are doing the Western. we did it last year on the Triumph so we know the layout of the ship. Glad to hear all is well and can't wait to see how beautiful this ship is. we are also planning to come into FLA, the day before, so no rushing in the morning. Thanks again. These boards are great.

Dayna

Kelly and Stan, thank you so much for your reviews! DH and I will be on the Victory within ten days, whoo-hooo! :D

Dayna, I'm curious . . . where did you find these negative reviews?? I generally give more weight to the positive reviews because I really think that attitude makes all the difference--that being said, it never hurts to get another point of view.

The reviews were not so much as negative as Stan made them seem. Some of us mentioned about a stench ( smell ) on various areas of the ship more than once and really had no idea where it came from.

Also we made mention of the smoke alarms going off repeatedly, and I mentioned a bad experience that I personally had in the salon.

Thus to me is not negative reviews just facts.

As far as the long lines at the buffet ????????? Never ONCE did I incur a long line

Of course I was to full from the wonderful breakfast to be in line at 12 noon when I am sure the lines were long. We went to the buffet around 100 1;30 or so, But truthfully the only long buffet line I saw was the night of the grand buffet...

The other food stations tasted wonderful, best turkey sandwhich is at the deli....

Enjoy your vacation and be glad you are doing the western route.

I'm glad to hear so many good things about the Victory. I just reached single digits on my clock! :D Can I start packing now? WooHoo!

I'm sorry, mc'smom. Evidentally I misinterpreted your review. I received the impression that you were upset with the cruise.

But when I talk about negative reviews, I was especially talking about the research I did before going on the cruise. There are so many people that love or hate the Victory-it really made me wonder how the people could be on the same boat. Maybe it's because she's so large with so many different activities that some are finding lots to do and others are not trying.

There are many negative reviews if you check all the sites out (besides Cruise Critic). Many seem to come from the summer when Victory goes on the Canada run or from years past.

just happened to find this site by mistake, but I had to let you all know that it was as good as it could of been for my wife and I. We booked thru a travel agent in Ct and flew into Fort Lauderdale (bad experience) and stayed at an Inn for the night (also a bad experience) The next day we caught a transfer to miami and got go the ship at 1:30 and didn't get onboard until almost 3:30. :confused: What was great is that when we got to our Assigned room 9275(Lido Deck) we were surprised to see that we got upgraded to a room with a balcony:) From that point on it was just a great experience for the both of us. from going to the auctions,shows, shopping,karioke and even the casino. Getting off the ship was a bit of a headache because of debarking by decks made it just as long getting off as it did for us to get on. At this posting I am booking another cruise for January 2006 for the western carribian