ShonandSuzie's Victory 1/22 Review (w/ many pics)

A week has passed and we have finally unpacked, uploaded, sorted and spent days remembering and reflecting so... now it's time to share our memories of a fabulous Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Victory with our cruisecritic friends!

We live in Michigan and love the heat, so when planning Suzie's 40th birthday cruise we knew a southern route out of San Juan would guarantee us hotness! We have done the southern itinerary several times before but Carnival Victory offered St. Kitt's (which was a new for us) at a good price (that was great for us).

After a bunch of planning:

We jumped on Airtran and headed to SJU. *We love Airtran b/c most times we are able to upgrade to business class for $50 bucks when we check in for our flight. That gives us 2 checked luggage each, nice roomy seats, good service and of cource----lots of snacks and cocktails! That's the right way to start a vacation, we think.

After flying and layovers and drinking "free beverages" all day, we finally arrived at SJU! We grabbed a taxi outside and in 10 minutes were at our home for 2 precruise nights- the Conrad Condado. I got the hotel on Hotwire for a very nice price and actually was a little worried that we wouldn't like it. It had mixed reviews. Well.........

we LOVED the hotel!It was clean, modern and "safe". Oh, and did I mention the service? B/C we really loved the "free" upgrade to a HUGE corner oceanfront suite we got! (did someone say "winning!"?)

Can't wait to read more and see your photos! We're sailing in April on the Victory.

Happy 40th birthday Suzie!!! I will be 40 on March 14 and I'm having a party then taking my kids on a cruise a few days later:D

We really loved the hotel, as I said, but it would have been "more perfect" if it had a long sandy beach front. The rocks and waves hitting the rocks were beautiful and serene but we like to lay out on a nice sandy sunny beach and that really wasn't an option here. There is some beach there because they have an entrance to a small covelike beach on the side. It was pretty full each day and kind of shaded by trees. Not to worry though...

What the beach lacked, the pools made up for in spades! Pool pics=next!

It was so beautiful out by the pools and rocks that there was even a wedding out there while we were there.

And you could see cruise ships from the hotel (although not from our room).

Like the calendar. Might have to steal that idea.

Great start!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

Can't wait to read more and see your photos! We're sailing in April on the Victory.

Yay! April is not too far away. :)

Happy 40th birthday Suzie!!! I will be 40 on March 14 and I'm having a party then taking my kids on a cruise a few days later:D

Well, Thank you and happy early birthday!

40, so far, has not been too bad. I keep saying 40 is the new 23. (although my achy hips may disagree!)

************************************************

So, how about the room number of our sweet suite was our wedding anniversary? How cute is that!?! It was meant to be!♥♥

We thouroughly enjoyed our time in San Juan's Condado area. We had dinner at a japanese steakhouse one evening and spent lots of time in the various casinos when we weren't out enjoying the sun. Funny thing, on this trip we learned that beer and wine is free in the casinos. All of the previous years we missed that little factoid somehow.

We did not rent a car this time and that was not a problem at all. There are stores and restaurants along the street that the hotel is on. There is a Denny's in the hotel itself and a Starbucks out front. There are many small local diners and such within a block. A longer walk takes you to Walgreens.

You're probably getting bored with the hotel so here we go----

on to the CRUISE!!!!

Like the calendar. Might have to steal that idea.

Great start!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

Thanks! That is on my wall over my desk and on the front of our refrigerator for months leading up to a vacation. It helps us cope with the day to day duties of life when we're not on vacation! lol.

We were in not rush to check out of the hotel on cruise day. We stayed in and enjoyed the delicious inroom coffee and views and space until the very last minute. We taped out luggage tags to our suitcases and headed down to the lobby where we grabbed a taxi and headed to the port. It costed about $15 and took about 10 minutes.

We arrived at the port at about 12:30, I think. BTW, this cruise was our 10th on Carnival and finally made us "platinum"!!! Yay! Platinum cruisers have a special VIP check in room which is cool. We have cruised in suites a few times and suite cruisers use this "special" room too. It's a nice way to begin your cruise--- line free and with special customer service.

The ship is beautiful, our OS was 7272 (*for my birthyear--how cute) and I even had a surprise waiting...

And we picked up a little money saving liquids at the cruise terminal to use throughout the week! (Gotta love cruising out of SJU!)

We walked around to find the Serenity Deck. I have not cruised on a ship with on of these yet so we were really hoping it would be all that we dreamed... and it was!

OS 7272

Many people say it is not worth the extra money to get a suite since you don't spend much time in the cabin while cruising. We think it's worth it. We like the seperate dressing room and closets for me, the jacuzzi bath tubs and the extra space in general. The entry hallway is a feature I appreciate too. This suite was actually smaller than the last few we had. Same category room so not sure why?

I love having cabins near elevators and stairs. We usually do this. One "problem" with this particular location this time was that we could clearly hear the lobby bar and the elevator bells. We have stayed in similar locations on other ships but never heard everything so clearly. I think there must have been a bigger gap under the door or something. Not sure but I had ear plugs so I stuck them in and slept like a baby each night. Whow wait, that's a stupid saying- "slept like a baby"- baby's are restless as hell. I slept like a grown up!

The hotel looks wonderful!! Glad you enjoyed it!

We will be on Victory in 3 weeks. Looking forward to the rest of your review and pics. Thanks for sharing.

Brenda

Awesome pics and review, thanks for sharing!

Finally, Shon can eat! See the big smile? Lol.

Our favorite= Deli! He hit this place every day at least once! This crew was not the best deli sandwich makers but they did okay.

The buffet was pretty good, I thought. There were several and then seperate islands with various items. It made it easier to quick grab something without feeling like you were a "rude line cutter". Even on this very first day, the lines were never bad for the buffets.

I like the Asian take out window. I LOVE their cellophane noodles. I have only ever had them on cruises and should try to find them at home.

We did "our time" dining and usually shared our meal with some cool friends we met at our Cruise Critic roll call meet and greet. We were fortunate enough to get the BEST wait staff on the ship (head waiter was Carlos) on our first night and thus requested their section each night. We ate between 6:30 and 8:30 at various times each night. We did have to wait a couple of times when we got there between 7 and 7:30 so I recommend going earlier or later. The food was great. No complaints.

Each morning, I use the room service form that you put out the night before and get coffee as my alarm clock. They did great room service on this sailing. It was right on time and hot every single day!

I am a coffee addict (by choice) and I NEED my coffee to get up. Without coffee, I am not this cute bubbly goofy friendly chick that you all have gotten to know. ;)

Dinner coffee is a little different.... Lol

Can`t wait to see and hear more about your cruise! We are planning on going on the victory next Christmas. It is our dream cruise! We have been on 2 NCL, so like seeing pics and opinions on Carnival.

Thanks:)

Awesome review...

Keep it coming !

Awesome pics and review, thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Can`t wait to see and hear more about your cruise! We are planning on going on the victory next Christmas. It is our dream cruise! We have been on 2 NCL, so like seeing pics and opinions on Carnival.

Thanks:)

I think you made a great choice! We've done NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival. We like things about all of them but probably have a preference for Carnival and Royal equally.

Awesome review...Keep it coming !

Thank you! Much more to come :)

The hotel looks wonderful!! Glad you enjoyed it!

We will be on Victory in 3 weeks. Looking forward to the rest of your review and pics. Thanks for sharing.

Brenda

Thank you! I will be awaiting your review and pics too!

 

OS 7272

Many people say it is not worth the extra money to get a suite since you don't spend much time in the cabin while cruising. We think it's worth it. We like the seperate dressing room and closets for me, the jacuzzi bath tubs and the extra space in general. The entry hallway is a feature I appreciate too. This suite was actually smaller than the last few we had. Same category room so not sure why?

 

I love having cabins near elevators and stairs. We usually do this. One "problem" with this particular location this time was that we could clearly hear the lobby bar and the elevator bells. We have stayed in similar locations on other ships but never heard everything so clearly. I think there must have been a bigger gap under the door or something. Not sure but I had ear plugs so I stuck them in and slept like a baby each night. Whow wait, that's a stupid saying- "slept like a baby"- baby's are restless as hell. I slept like a grown up!

Thanks so much for this review. We're on this cruise in October to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and are getting our first suite. We're in 7315 so will be a little farther away from the main elevators than your suite. We're also staying in the Condado area but in the Radisson. Joyce

St. Thomas is not our favorite port. We have seen it many times and skipped it once or twice. In the past, we have been to beaches, tours, shopping, and even trips to St. Johns. This year, I read a lot about the Champagen Catamaran snorkeling excursion to St. John. It was $89 pp thorugh the ship which was a little more than we like to pay for excursions. We usually don't do excirsions through the ship anymore but this one sounded like exactly what we wanted to do so we did.

The weather was fantatsic in St. Thomas when we arrived. We primarily cruise in September which is SUPER HOT and SUPER HUMID in St. Thomas. In January it was a nice 80 degrees. Perfect.

Our excursion was to leave at 11 a.m. so we have a lazy (well, Shon went to the gym but I had a lazy) morning. We went outside, had our photos taken and were pointed towards an open air taxi which held 20 people. We waited a while for some stragglers and then off we went to tour the island and find our Catamaran. I had been hoping we could get on the Catamaran right from the area that the cruise ship docked but it was on the other side of the island.

It was not too crowded at all!

They provide the equipment and directions:

The water is amazing! There weren't many fish on this day.

Low and behold, the guy working on the catamaran is from my home town. What are the odds?! And what a freakin awesome job! I may need to rethink my social work career.... Lol

Phase 2 of this excursion is "champagne".. and mixed drinks, rum punch, fruit, bread, cheese..... You can only drink after you snorkle. One drink=NO getting in the water. So, I had a drink or 2 or 3 or 4...and skipped the water! hahaha.

Not to worry, Shon did a great job exploring the water and beach area for the 2 of us! (and he certainly made up for the drinks later too!)

What a nice reveiw so far. And you seem like a lovely couple but with all that booze you smugled maybe your just a couple trouble makers.

Shons favorite song

They were a fun generous crew. And although I joke alot, we aren't as wild as you may think... we were pleased that this was not an "all out wild party boat". It was "civilized semi-wild fun". Just like us!

After our experience on the champagne cat Shon found his "swag" and then clumsily dropped the tip in the water...

All was well in the end and we jumped on the open air taxi and headed back to the ship. It was an awesome excursion and I would do it again-although I did not like the ride across the island.

We had no lines to get back on the ship, grabbed some lunch, went to our balcony and saw this:

I'll say it was a perfect day all in all and I am so happy that I experienced it with my best friend for life.

What a nice reveiw so far. And you seem like a lovely couple but with all that booze you smugled maybe your just a couple trouble makers.

 

Shons favorite song

Blahhhhhhhhhhhahahaha! That was a hoot Doc!:D

Oh, and we owe an endless supply of gratitude to you for our recent smuggling abilities! ;)

great review can't wait for the rest