Danacat222 Posted January 27, 2014 #1 Share Posted January 27, 2014 This was a cruise for my Mom's 73rd birthday, her 3rd cruise, second on Carnival...my 8th cruise and 4th on Carnival. We had a wonderful cruise though there were some issues that I will cover. Our vacation began on Saturday the 18th with flights from Richmond, VA to FLL. I rented a car at FLL from Budget, had an extremely long wait for the car but once I was at the desk and were finished being interrupted by rude people with no boundaries we were on our way. We had a reservation to stay 2 nights at BEST WESTERN PLUS Fort Lauderdale Airport South Inn & Suites. This location is right off 95 and is crazy easy to get to. We checked in and went to the room and unloaded, the desk help gave us suggestions for local restaurants and we went out to a diner and had the best cold beers and we went back to the hotel and got a great night sleep. The hotel stay included internet and breakfast, Sunday morning it was chaotic there with many travelers either going on cruises out of Port Everglades or having returned from a cruise. Breakfast offerings included yogurt, hot or cold cereals, pastries, sausage, bacon, Golden Malted Waffle (self serve, self-made), coffee and juices. We had a light breakfast and then went out exploring. Having stayed at Hollywood Beach back in October, we drove out that way and had an enjoyable walk on both the beach and boardwalk. After hanging out for a while we decided to venture to Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida, it's a massive outlet mall. We bopped around there and then went to Wal Mart, then back to the hotel area and some spontaneous shoe shopping then an early dinner before turning in early. We ate a quick breakfast Monday morning and left from the hotel at 8am for Miami airport to drop off the rental car, we went really early because we had no idea what to expect with traffic on 95 or how long the rental return might take. It was swift and painless, we took a taxi to the port which cost $24 + tip. We were sitting outside the terminal at 9:10am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riclop Posted January 27, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Thanks for the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 27, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Being that we were very early, we watched as the disembarkation process was ongoing and many were flowing out to get to their buses or shuttles. We were allowed inside at about 10:30 or so. We had Faster to the Fun and were directed to that line, after having our boarding pass and IDs inspected we were told to go to the screening area, though there was only 1 line for everyone and anyone with FTTF would be butting in line with those without, so it became a bit of a mess because the few of us with FTTF got in line behind the others without. Not a major problem as it was early but there were comments of "what's the point as we are needing to get behind those without, so defeats the purpose." And so onward we went into the terminal where there were all of like 4 people checking in customers with many ealybirds and wedding parties lined up. Again, we were there, not a big deal. After going through that we found seats and settled in for the wait to board. More employees were coming in to assist checking in and it was getting more crowded but not bad. I wish i had made note of what time VIP boarding started, weddings, Diamond & Platinum, then FTTF. Many with Zone 1 were trying to go before VIPS were finished and it was holding up the flow. We found that people were very very pushy and rude on this cruise. People lost their minds, no boundaries, no patience, no courtesy. My Mom was almost knocked over multiple times during the cruise and I was actually pushed [while of all things looking for a photo in the photo section]. 11:49am after dropping of carry-ons to cabin. 11:52am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseGirlKS Posted January 27, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Love the pics! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 27, 2014 Author #5 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Because we like to be out and about, we chose an interior on deck 7 forward 7256. The location was very good for going off ship and to get to the main shows in the Caribbean Main Show Lounge, getting to and from the elevators. There were at times some noise from the late night entertainment in the lobby bar area, but when we hit the sack we were pretty tired and it did not keep us up. Things were generally quiet in the hallway. The inside cabin had plenty of room. The bathroom (no pic, sorry) was fine, but the hairdryer was AWFUL! I regretted not taking a travel hair dryer and my flat iron. Bad hair every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustCruiseMe Posted January 27, 2014 #6 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Hey Dana, it's Yolanda (and Bobby) from Liberty. I hope you enjoyed your cruise and I am looked forward to your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C. Posted January 27, 2014 #7 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Looking forward to the rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 27, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted January 27, 2014 The ship was looking great but there is certainly some wear and tear that is visible. A few times while on deck 10 we could feel loose or worn slats and we could see wear and tear on stairs especially stairs outdoors. This in no way impacted out cruise but was just observation. We like the older ships and know realistically that nothing is perfect. The aft pool hosts the Pizza, Grill, bar, Swirls and coffee. It's a hoppin and busy area. The Caribbean Theater was really beautiful... I love its chandelier.... We love to look at all of the ships' art and features, these seems to always be better and more prevalent on the older ships. In the Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 27, 2014 Author #9 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Hey Dana, it's Yolanda (and Bobby) from Liberty. I hope you enjoyed your cruise and I am looked forward to your review. Heyyyy! I was thinking about you while on the cruise, Victory is like a smaller version of Liberty, we really enjoyed the ship a lot! We liked the ship more than Liberty but missed Guy's, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmasmomma11 Posted January 27, 2014 #10 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Can't wait to read more of your vacation post! My family and I are also from Richmond Va and are sailing on the Victory in a few weeks for our first cruise :) Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agc291 Posted January 28, 2014 #11 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We are from NOVA-Cant wait to see more. We will be on the Victory next monday on a 5 day and your review will get us in the mood. we sailed her out of PR and loved her, glad to see she is still in good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle1836 Posted January 28, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 28, 2014 love a picture review! thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer2 Posted January 28, 2014 #13 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Loving your review so far & the pictures too! My Mom & I sail for our girl's cruise on Monday, our 1st time on the Victory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 28, 2014 Author #14 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Since it was early and not crowded, we explored a bit, we had wanted to go see the dining rooms but they were taking inquiries only and would not permit us to go in and look around until after 3pm. Here is the Caspian Wine Bar... The Black & Red Seas Jazz Lounge.... And here is Mom having an adult beverage as Sailaway was starting up... And a gorgeous sun set.... At dinner, we met our waiter Sijan, he did a great job each night, he was very busy though, we did figure out that the later we went the more time he had to talk and for us to get to know him. He's been employed by Carnival for 10 years and his wife is a bartender in the Casino. Anyway, the first night I forgot to take food porn pics but i can tell you I had a pork chop steak that was very good, I felt that this cruise had the best quality of my 4 Carnival cruises, everything was served hot and tasted very good. I tried to order things I had not tried before and was pleasantly surprised. They sent out some cake for Mom and sang Happy Birthday to her. After dinner we went to Game Show Mania and then the Welcome Aboard Show. We were too tired to make it to the comedy club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 28, 2014 Author #15 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Can't wait to read more of your vacation post! My family and I are also from Richmond Va and are sailing on the Victory in a few weeks for our first cruise :) Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Small world, what part of Richmond, I live in the West End! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 28, 2014 Author #16 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) We woke up Tuesday morning to eerily calm waters... I cannot recall having ever seen the ocean so calm... You Tube Video It was a very beautiful morning, very mild. One thing you must try is Sea Day Brunch! I loved this on Liberty and have been looking forward to it. Brunch is only on Sea Day so be sure not to miss it. Mom had the Eggs Benedict, I had the Huevos rancheros. We each had an order of bacon and we shared the "Hash-Browned Potatoes". We also requested a table for 2, which was no problem. Service was a bit slow to start off but we were happily surprised that Sijan was our waiter. After brunch we went to the aft pool to relax. I loved the aft pool on Liberty, and this pool on Victory differed that it is not an Adult Only pool. Here lies the problem, there were parents with diapered children in the pool, as soon as I saw that I could not get in the pool. Also there were parents letting their kids go nuts in the pool with little or no supervision, some kids were even diving and belly flopping, I was a bit worried as the ship already had a tragedy a while ago with a child drowning in its main pool. On Liberty Carnival employees supervised the pool area closely, there was not of that supervision on Victory. Edited January 28, 2014 by Danacat222 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted January 28, 2014 Author #17 Share Posted January 28, 2014 After a few hours out by the pool, we decided to go to Tea Time. This is also only on Sea Day and is pretty much a light snack. This Tea was kinda pitiful compared to the one on Liberty. On Liberty they brought the teas and hot water, then they came around with the little sandwiches and then the dessert cart. This time they did not even show you the cart, they just asked what you wanted, so if you had never been to tea you would not know what to ask for. Since I had been i asked for the lemon cake and macaroons. When everyone at the table saw the macaroons, they all wanted to try but the server had moved on and so others at the table were expressing disappointment that they did not even have a choice. I did not take any teat time pics, i have 1 in my Liberty review. The fish outside the dining room...I'm a Pisces and I loved the ships' theme! After tea we headed back to the cabin for a short while and had a little something delivered for my mom from cruise director Goose & John Heald. We had some down time and then headed to dinner at about 8pm, this was the only "Cruise Elegant" night and it was the only night we had to wait. We requested to be seated in Sijan's section at a table for 2 each night. We were seated at 8:20pm. The tables next to the window [on Victory] provided the most privacy as far as a table for 2 goes. After dinner we wanted to check out the 10:30pm adult comedy show featuring Mike Lucas, we had some time to spare so we decided on Martini tasting at the wine bar. The Martini Tasting is fun, but not much alcohol. We could not finish all of the samples in time so the young lady gave us both glasses to carry with us. The comedy show sucked. Maybe he was having an off night but he was NOT funny. He really was bombing and several people left early. We wanted to, but we stuck it out. Went back to the room to find.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer2 Posted January 28, 2014 #18 Share Posted January 28, 2014 More great pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iluvsea Posted January 29, 2014 #19 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Can't wait we are on the 4 day Victory on Feb 13th to Cozumel and Key West. Did you try the Chef's Table? btw great review so far..:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted February 15, 2014 Author #20 Share Posted February 15, 2014 (edited) I have not had time to keep up with the review so onward I go... In short, the sea day was wonderful and relaxing. I see a few posts about winter cruising and the conditions at sea. I have cruised in December, January, March, and have never had a problem. On Carnival Victory the sea day water was extremely calm, eerily so. . I think i posted that before, sorry for being repetitive. Edited February 15, 2014 by Danacat222 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted February 15, 2014 Author #21 Share Posted February 15, 2014 (edited) Day 3 is Grand Turk. This was my 3rd time to Grand Turk, the previous 2 times we only just hit the beach, I had considered renting a golf cart but instead chose to do a tour. We were up early of course, and as always lots of cleaning going on about the ship... We witnessed a beautiful sunrise, it was amazing to watch the sun rise as we were arriving at the port. The water was a little choppy here this morning, but it was a gorgeous morning! What was really nice today was that we were the only ship in port. In October I was on Liberty with Victory in port and it was pretty crowded. Edited February 15, 2014 by Danacat222 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted February 15, 2014 Author #22 Share Posted February 15, 2014 And so we proceeded through the duty free shop, we went to find the meeting spot for our tour, booked through Carnival, The Gradd Turk Experience. This tour takes you around Grand Turk and will drop you off at a beach with pick-ups throughout the day. We boarded a van, the driver introduced himself and said that because only 1 ship was in port we would have a small group. The tour was with about 12 of us total. The van was comfortable with A/C. It was not very hot, back in October it was in the upper 90s, this day if it made it up to 80 I would be surprised. For most of the tour you are looking through large windows at various points of interest. It was nice to see the island for a change. I'm really glad we did that tour. We stopped at an area known for its salt mining history, the driver kept mentioning migratory birds, i would not have expected to see flamingos at Grand Turk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted February 15, 2014 Author #23 Share Posted February 15, 2014 We spend some time at the gist shop, where there are some historical displays and a video to watch, the gift shop sells some of the same jewelry that can be found at the Dizzy Donkey back at port for a bit less, just an FYI. Also they sell some art work, note cards, cooking and bath salts. There is a place to order carry out food and to buy drinks. Turks Head Cactus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danacat222 Posted February 15, 2014 Author #24 Share Posted February 15, 2014 We ventured to the lighthouse, on the way to and from we did see many horses, we saw several donkeys, a few dogs... We were told we had just 10 short minutes here, which was a disappointment, but what made that worse was when we were all back in the bus but waited 5 or more minutes for the driver to get back. Speaking of the driver, I saw him drinking Ginger Beer, which i guess he got at the gift shop, i wanted to try it and there was a little snack/drink bar at the light house, they did not have ginger beer so I had the next best thing. It was good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trumbull archer Posted February 15, 2014 #25 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Very nice review so far. My wife and I going on our 1st cruise soon, and its on the Victory. Getting excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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