Back from the Victory!

[akchic]

Just got back from my cruise on the Victory January 2-9th. We had an excellent cruise! Here's a brief review:

 

Easy to get on the ship. Took about an hour from when we were dropped off at the port until we were on. Very smooth. Eating lunch by noon onboard.

 

Very clean ship. Cabin's constantly attended to. Comfortable. Quiet.

Spent most of our time up on deck sunbathing. A little annoying with all the chair savers. People would just leave a towel on their chair and be gone for hours.

 

Found the cruise director to be annoying. Good entertainment. Enjoyed the dance shows. Great magician and juggler.

 

Food was very good. Always good variety and many choices.

 

We're not drinkers or gamblers so not much experience with that. I liked that you were not constantly bothered to be alcohol.

 

I'm a non-smoker and never had any problems with smokers lighting up near me.

 

For excursions we did our own thing. Rented a car in Cozumel. Great fun! Hung out at some beaches, checked out the ruins... Driving was easy everywhere except in town. Stressful.

 

At Grand Caymen we walked off the ship found a local tour company who did the swim with the sting rays and did that. Half the price of the cruise ship tour and only 11 of us on the boat for lots of personal attention. A total highlight!

 

Jamaica was a little crazy! We had a cab driver take us around. Did the river tubing. Great fun! Rambo our river guide even sang to us out on the river. Then hung out on the beach near the cruise ship dock.

 

Getting off the ship the last day was nuts. We just to carry our own luggage off. We and many others. Had to stand around for a long time with our luggage. Moved really slow.

 

Overall this was a great first cruise for us. Feel free to ask questions.

[mermaid40]

Hi akchic,

So glad to hear you enjoyed the Victory. Few questions...What nights were formal? What time did you get off of the ship in Grand Cayman since you didn't do a Carnival excursion, and what time do you need to be on the ship in Grand Cayman?

 

What time did you get to the port?

 

Thanks for the review!

Also any suggestions or helpful hints for anyone sailing on the Victory soon?

[mathgal]

akchic...I saw from one of your earlier posts that you had booked a guarantee cabin. What category did you book and what cabin did you end up with? I just booked three cabins for our family cruise on the Victory in August. We booked two inside (IS) guarantees and one ocean view (OV) guarantee cabin. There will be 3 of us in the ocean view which will be a first for us. From what pictures I've seen the ocean view cabins at least have a couch. We have booked guarantee cabins on both of our other cruises and been upgraded both times.

 

Did you have to get tender tickets in Grand Cayman?

 

What beach did you go to in Jamaica? Was it near Margarittaville? Also any information you could give on the river tubing would be appreciated...we have done the falls before and thought the tubing sounded interesting. Did you just find a cab driver when you got to Ochos Rios or did you have some one booked ahead of time?

 

Sorry for so many questions but I'm already getting excited about our cruise (and its still a loooooong time away!) :)

[joesafety]

We left on a Sunday and the formal nights are on Monday and Friday.

Our experiance was great as well. Getting on the ship was a breeze although because we had booked air through Carnival which included transportation from the hotel to the pier we didn't get to the ship until about 1pm.

 

We too were a bit upset with all the deck chair hogs, get there early or you are out of luck.

 

Service was great in the dinning room and our cabin steward was terrific. The entertainment in the show lounge was also very good and yes I thought the cruise director was annoying as well.

 

On our cruise if you didn't have a tour booked with Carnival or an independent you could not get off the ship until at least 10:30 am and we left Grand Caymen at 4:30.

 

The river tubing in Jamaica was awesome, we too had Rambo as our guide and he sang for us as well. I would recommend A-Z Jamaica Planners for your tour in Jamaica. They were great.

 

We booked a guareentee 8A cabin and ended up in an 8C. Same cabin but only 2 decks up.

 

The overall experiance was great and as we were first time cruisers we would go back in a minute.

[akchic]

I think we got to Grand Caymen around 8am. We were off sometime between 8:30 and 9:00. At first they said we would need tender tickets, so my dh went to wait in line, but then while he was waiting they announced that tickets were not needed so we could just get off.

 

On shore we just asked in a store where we could find a tour for the sting rays. They told us. We walked down and booked the tour with no problems. It left at 10am and was great! Small group. Lots of personal attention and we did the same thing everyone else did who went on Carnival's excursion for half the price.

We did not reserve in advance. We ended up going back on board around 2pm even though it didn't leave til 4:30. We were tired and thought that we could avoid a long wait for a tender by getting on early.

 

We had booked two inside guarantee cabins. We were upgraded to two ocean view cabins on the 1st deck. I really didn't mind being on deck one. It was quiet and comfortable.

 

I'm sorry, I don't know the name of the beach in Jamaica. It's the first one you see when you get off the ship. Cost us a dollar to get in. They stamped our hands so we could come and go.

 

Did not reserve ahead of time for the tubing. When we got off the ship we found a cab driver (there are plenty who really want to help you out). It was a bit intimidating at first because we had all these guys saying they would take us wherever we wanted. I told a security guy what we were looking to do and he pointed to one guy in a yellow shirt. That's who we went with.

 

He tooks us tubing first thing. Was kinda freaky leaving all of our stuff in the car while we went tubing, but we couldn't take it with us on the river. He was there to meet us on the other end. No problem. Then he drove us around a little, up to the rainforest, down some backroads. Reggae music playing in the car. Pointed out trees and plants. It was great! I highly recommend the river tubing. It's quite fun. I thought about going to the falls, but didn't want to go somewhere with a ton of people.

 

Any other questions - let me know.

[mermaid40]

akchic

The stingray tour you took from the pier.....how much was it and did it only go to Stingray City? We would like just to see the Stingrays and skip the snorkel to Coral Gardens.

 

thanks!

[wantacruise]

Just curious--are there specific taxi drivers/companies that are recommended--you mentioned one in a yellow shirt that a security person pointed out. Were there other drivers like this? We will be on the Victory in June and want to go to the falls and around on our own but, I have heard that may not be the safest plan!?