Carnival Victory Cruise to Nowhere from NY, June 17-19, 2004

Returned on Saturday, June 19 from a Cruise to Nowhere on the Carnival Victory. DH and I went with a group of 51 people, mostly from upstate New York. Ages ranged from 30’s to 60’s. Those with youngsters left the kiddies at home.

We chartered a bus from our home town which was very convenient – no wasting time in airport check-in routines, flying across the country, etc. Most of us wore lime green “We’re Going Nowhere” t-shirts that I had ordered and sold. The bright color made it easier for us to keep track of each other during check in. We got lots of compliments and inquiries about them once on the Victory.

Arrived at the port of New York a little before noon and the check-in was painless. We probably spent a half hour in lines, went through scanners, got checked in . . . all as expected. We were onboard by about 12:30 and left our luggage in our rooms. We were told the rooms would not be ready until 1:30 but ours was ready at least an hour early. This was the earliest we have ever been able to board and it was luxurious to go through the buffet, no crowds at the bars, the hot tubs were empty, plenty of deck chairs. We got on our bathing suits and spent a little time in the sun, tried out the water slide (awesome) and I went into a hot tub. Went back to our rooms to get ready for the muster drill. The drill is supposed to start at 4:30 and it was 4:55 by the time everyone was there and lined up. I can’t help but think that if everyone was on time for the muster drill, it would probably take only 10 minutes instead of more than a half hour.

Our group all had cabins on the Lido deck and they were typical Carnival balcony staterooms. Our bed was made up as a queen, plenty of storage, the bathroom was adequate. Shower works great. In my opinion, the pink décor in the bathroom was cheerful and bright, not gaudy. We never used our safe as it was locked by the previous occupants. We asked the room steward to unlock it – he called for someone to do so – they never came and we weren’t going to wait around all afternoon for that.

We went up to one of the top decks for sail away. It had been raining and you could see another storm moving in with the lightening and thunder not far off. Didn’t actually get wet and was able to get some nice pictures of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty in a kind of foggy and eerie light.

Enjoyed meals in the dining room both nights and breakfasts in the dining room both mornings. Very good service and the food was great. Didn’t get to know our wait staff but that’s OK, they did an excellent job.

A dining room disappointment: Our group of 51 were supposed to be seated in the same area of the same dining room at the same time. Didn’t happen. We had 3 tables of 8, another table somewhere out of sight, another group of 4 was in a different dining room at a different time. Another couple was in the same dining room but at a different level, etc. etc. We could have been seated at 6 tables for 8 and the remaining 3 at a table for 4. No excuse, Carnival. There were several nearby tables that should have been ours. Miscommunication between Carnival and our TA, I guess. We booked this cruise last July – we should have been accommodated.

Formal night was not as formal as on previous cruises. In my opinion, some reasons are a more casual attitude on 2 day CTN’s, and some people were mistakenly told by their TA that there was no formal night.

Cabin steward was nice and energetic. Had to call him a few times to replace some missing items on the 2nd day (wash clothes, toilet paper, deck towels) – nothing important LOL!

Balcony dividers: The first day we asked our steward to open the partitions between the balconies. He hesitated and explained that on some balconies, the balcony divider will block the balcony door to the room of the next cabin. We said go ahead and open them anyway and we will deal with them. Every door wasn’t blocked – it was every other room that had the blocked door. Solution: bungee cords (and of course I had 2 of them with me). Using a bungee cord DH attached the handle of our balcony door to the latch of the partition – so you just had to swing them open together. It was heavier than usual but workable. Some of our group didn’t bother and closed the partitions. Our cabin was in the center of about 8 or 10 opened balconies – very nice.

We had a group photo taken the last night and it was quite an ordeal, however, it came out nice. We were told by the photo people to meet at 10:00PM after dinner and then go find a photographer and he/she would come to the dining room and take our picture on the stairs. The photographer first wanted to try the lobby stairs – nope we didn’t fit. So back to the dining room stairs – we fit there. The picture came out pretty good and was ready for purchase at 1:45AM. I purchased the picture and DH and I walked around the ship until around 4:15AM. We wanted to see the lights of New York City but it was foggy and we didn’t actually pull in until about 7:00AM. They had said we would be arriving at 4:45, didn’t happen. Also, the Queen Mary 2 was supposed to pull into the pier right next to the Victory at 8:00AM. We left at 9:00AM and she was nowhere in sight. Got home and looked at the NYC web cam and there she was – right next to the Victory. Sorry I missed her.

Disembarkation was confusing. Carnival gave us no information. One of our group called and asked what time we got off and was told be off by 10:30AM. We knew that was not a good answer. We went down for breakfast in the dining room when they opened at 8:00AM and returned to our room at 8:55AM. Good thing I was all packed except for closing the suitcase and a couple little things because they had the room all cleaned and had moved our suitcases to the sofa. No problem, but I didn’t think it appropriate to use my own bathroom one more time – went to a public area instead. We learned later that we were supposed to be out of our rooms by 9:00AM. Sorry Carnival – if we had known we would have been more efficient, but still it was 8:55AM so we were technically not late. I hope the leftover wine that I poured down the bathroom sink didn’t offend the next passengers. Now I know why people complain about messy rooms when they arrive – they clean the cabins before the previous passengers left. And it’s not always the previous passenger’s mistake – they were misinformed!

We took our luggage to an outside area and waited to leave the ship. Some of our group had scouted out the disembarkation situation and saw that the exit area was packed – you couldn’t even get off the elevators near that area and walk in or through the area. After a while, we learned it was clear, we all walked off and went to our waiting bus. Very sweet! Our bus was the first in line and a beverage machine was right in front of the bus where we purchased water and soft drinks for the ride home.

Nice and fun trip. Our group is “brainstorming” for another trip next year. We shall see . . . some want to go to Bermuda, some want to sail Carnival Miracle out of NY.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Oh my gosh, we were on the trip with you and I am still telling people about your great shirts!! Agree with your review and it is very similar to the one I had written. I kept thinking they had forgotten to leave a final copy of the Capers in our room. I think A LITTLE INFORMATION would have been nice on the final morning.

Yup, we were there with you. We had a really nice time and I hope my review doesn't come across as negative. I just wanted to be informative and possibly help someone who comes across the same kind of stuff. Also, when you don't expect perfection and don't sweat the small stuff, makes a more enjoyable cruise. We are all fairly experienced cruisers and figured out the debarkation procedure, but it would have been nice to have some information. It was so nice to get off the ship, walk through the port of NY and right to our waiting bus. Sure beats flying to Miami or FLL.

I totally agree. I wasn't there to make friends with the wait staff, just have fun and we did. New York was convenient for us too and would never fly to Miami for a CTN. Last week at this time we were waiting for the show to start.

Yeah, . . . memories . . . last week at this time we were finishing dinner and heading to the casino.

Thanks for the review. I asked this question on another thread but I will ask here too - did anyone put cash down on your sail and sign card and if so - was there a midnight cut off on the second night for using your sail and sign??

Terri