Victory 10/3/2010-10/10/10

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Thank you so much for the review! Can't wait to sail 1/2/11! I got some great tips, thank you again! I am hoping the clean up the hot tubs/pools while in dry dock..I have noticed in some recent pics that they are looking kinda rough

 

You look amazing and congrats on the anniversary!

 

Thanks. I am envious. I wish we were going again but my DD is getting married in April & we are in the midst of wedding plans.

I am sure the drydock will fix the Victory's problems. It was not bad & we knew going into the cruise that she was going into drydock soon & had a few issues.

I will post about embarkation tomorrow. It was easy but there was one thing at the airport that was a little confusing.

Juli

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Again, great review. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

 

Thanks. I loved your review too. I read so many before our cruise they all started to run together so I went back & read yours again!

Is our cruise really over already? lol!

[Dirkgun]

Thanks. I loved your review too. I read so many before our cruise they all started to run together so I went back & read yours again!

Is our cruise really over already? lol!

 

 

Thanks, it is a fun way to relive the cruise and now it is fun to look back at it. This forum is great. Yeah it does go way too fast. All the build up and anticipation then.... it happens in the blink of an eye. (it seems) We are planning one now for June 2011 for my son and a couple of friends for High School Graduation and they all want try Western Carribean... I want to go on the Victory again.

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Our Last Day

 

The dining room was open till 9:00 AM so we went to eat breakfast there about 8:45. We had a nice leisurely breakfast & it was wonderful to have one last omelet.

 

We went up on the Lido to join friends to wait to get off the ship. We were in zone 14 & our friends had a earlier zone number but they just hung out with us reminiscing about our week.

 

Debarkation was the easiest ever. We walked off the ship & grabbed our bags. We turned in our customs form & I don't think they even looked at it. We were out of there in a matter of minutes!

 

We looked around for John Ripka but he was no where to be found that day & I had my camera out & ready!

 

We walked a block or two & stored our bags at the GPS store beside the Segway Tour store. It was $3 per bag & well worth it to not have to haul luggage around.

 

Saying goodbye to Old San Juan

 

 

We went over to Senor Frogs to look at shirts & ended up having a VERY GREEN drink (it was 5:00 somewhere) & chips & salsa. We thought about touring a little more in San Juan but it was so hot & humid we didn't want to end up all sweaty & then sit in airports & on planes for the rest of the day.

 

Senor Frogs

 

 

 

 

Great hat!

 

 

I need some of these chairs at home!

 

 

It has to be 5:00 somewhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a 3:20 flight & I had read what a zoo the airport can be so we left San Juan a little after noon. We joined friends to split the cab so it was $19 for the six of us plus $1 per bag. So if there are just two of you try to join another couple or two & split the cab fare. The cab ride was about 20 minutes.

 

We got to the airport & we knew we had to go through the USDA line to get our bags inspected. We walked into the airport & saw a sign to the left that said USDA Inspecion or something like that (we knew it meant USDA Inspection). We got in that REALLY long line & stood there for about 10 minutes. One couple standing with us had a flight in one hour so they were panicking. The man walked up towards the front & realized we were standing in the wrong line. The line we were in was for a flight but the USDA sign was right beside it.

Are we the only ones that have ever done that? I wish I had taken a pic of the sign (and I scrapbook so I should know better). Turn to the left as you go into the airport & then the USDA inspection is on the left.

There was no one in line at the USDA so we were through it in minutes. We went to the Delta counter (we had already done our boarding passes they just had to print them) & we were ready to get on the plane within 30 minutes after getting to the airport (unfortunately it was way to early for our flight).

Our friends had a longer wait but I don't remember which airline they used. Maybe we timed it just right & got lucky. I was expecting the lines to be horrible. Also, there were only two ships in port that day so I am sure that helped.

We bought a chicken wrap at a place called Quick something that was really good. We took it on the plane with us & split it & had plenty.

 

This is the worst part of any trip especially when it takes you all day to get home! And I don't know how anyone can go to the Caribbean for eight days & catch a cold but I did. At least it was just for the last couple of days & I think I drank enough rum punch to disguise the symptoms until the cruise was over.

 

It made for an interesting plane ride home though especially when my ears popped & I almost jumped out of my seat! I thought the plane had exploded. I scared the poor girl sitting next to me to death!

 

How did the week go by so fast? It was hard to believe we were on our way home!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

The Good, The Bad & the Ugly of Our Cruise!

 

The Good (or GREAT)

 

*Celebrating our 26th anniversary with my best friend

*Getting to spend eight wonderful days with him

*Getting on the ship knowing no one but each other & coming home with so many wonderful new friends

*Seeing so many beautiful islands in such a short period of time with each one being so unique

*Our whole day in Barbados (especially our sailboat ride with captain Pete)

*The rum punch at Lobster Alive (best drink of the week)

*The food at Lion's & the aloe massage on the beach in St. Kitts

*First glimpse of the Pitons in St. Lucia & the rest of the scenery there

*Spectacular views in St. Thomas

*Glad we got to see Dominica before Carnival stops going there even though it was pouring down rain

*Very thankful for the great group we toured with in Dominica as we all made lemonade out of lemons so it was a good day

*Really enjoyed Mr. Nice's fruitstand in Dominica

*Getting to swim under the waterfalls in Dominica & St. Lucia

*Enjoyed the location & room at the Sheraton Old San Juan

*Great food & atmosphere at the Latin Roots in San Juan

*Very easy embarkation & debarkation in San Juan

*Hearing the booom of the ship horn

*Ordering room service & eating on our balcony

*We had GREAT FUN hanging out in the Piano Bar every night

*We enjoyed the entertainment

*Loved seeing the dolphins swimming alongside the ship

*Had fun going down the water slide

*Not sure where to put being in the Marriage Show. It was a lot of fun making fools of ourselves though.

*Bought & took lots of pics to scrapbook

*Made so many great memories

 

 

The Bad (It really wasn't bad just not as good)

 

*The ship is about to go into drydock & could use a little attention but nothing major (again I knew that going into this cruise)

*The pools & hot tubs were pretty murky towards the end of the week

*The atmosphere on the ship is a little different as we were probably in the minority speaking English (again we already knew that) There were huge groups of Puerto Ricans but we never had any problems that some CC posters have complained about. We made friends & formed our own groups

*I have never seen the lines so long at the buffets (again I read that before our cruise) so we ate in the restaurant more & it was good

*The food service was ok. We always had to ask to refill our water

*Not getting to go to St. Maarten (can't predict the weather)

*The flooding in St. Kitts that canceled our catamaran tour even though we had a great day there

*The torrential rain & cancellation of our river tubing in Dominica. We made a lot of memories that day though

*Our tour in St. Lucia even though we loved the island

*Not getting a picture of John Ripka in San Juan (lol)

*Airfare from Nashville & the long flights

 

 

The Ugly

 

We had to get off the ship!

Our cruise went by way to fast!

Spending all day in airports & on planes to get home.

The mountain of laundry to do when we got home!

 

 

I am really glad we went on this cruise & we had a great week. That being said, I did not choose the Victory for the ship (even though I thought it was pretty) or the time on the ship. I chose it for the itinerary. This is not the cruise I would choose if we had a lot of sea days as it does have a different ambiance.

 

I would love to see all the islands again as there were so many excursions to choose from at each one that it was almost impossible to decide what to do. I am not sure I want to cruise from San Juan again though (even though I would not take anything for having the memories of this one) & it is a lot more expensive to fly there & the all day travel each way is draining.

 

I really think it is the people you surround yourself with that make a great cruise! We choose to be around positive people that look on the bright side of life. So to the many new friends we made, thanks for for making our Victory cruise so amazing!

[missymac]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. Glad you and your husband had a great time! :)

[stardj]

I just came back from a cruise on the Victory October 17th to 24 and while I found this review to be good, I must say if I had not takin the cruise yet and was just in the planning stages and wanted to read a review I would have stopped reading this one part way because I don't know you and all the pictures are of just you two. I would want to see pictures of the boat and the islands etc not seeing both of you in different poses. Just my opinion and observation. Glad you had a good time. I was there for my 15th wedding anniversary and loved it too.

[Diggie]

I really enjoyed the review and will be going in April!

;)

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

I really enjoyed the review and will be going in April!

 

;)

 

Thanks. Hope you have a great time too!

Looked at your bio. I am impressed! Congratulations. Keep up the great work!

Juli

[Diggie]

Thanks Juli!

[jjamiestar]

I just came back from a cruise on the Victory October 17th to 24 and while I found this review to be good, I must say if I had not takin the cruise yet and was just in the planning stages and wanted to read a review I would have stopped reading this one part way because I don't know you and all the pictures are of just you two. I would want to see pictures of the boat and the islands etc not seeing both of you in different poses. Just my opinion and observation. Glad you had a good time. I was there for my 15th wedding anniversary and loved it too.

 

My husband and are taking this cruise in February and the pictures remind me of the fun/silly stuff we like to do! Your review is superior. Some comments are completly unwarranted and need to be kept to the posters self. Thank you for spending all this time writing us an amazing review!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

My husband and are taking this cruise in February and the pictures remind me of the fun/silly stuff we like to do! Your review is superior. Some comments are completly unwarranted and need to be kept to the posters self. Thank you for spending all this time writing us an amazing review!

 

Thanks. As I explained earlier I just use a point & shoot (hope to buy a 'real' camera one day if I knew I would learn to use it) so I have a tendency to not take a lot of pics of the ship because there are so many great ones out there. Thanks to all of you who post that are wonderful photographers. Unfortunately I am not!

Also I scrapbook so I like for us to be in the pics we take (so we know we were really there, lol) otherwise I could buy postcards of the places we visit.

I wasn't going to post pics but the last review I did everyone kept asking for them so I finally learned how & I am excited! I definitely could not post a lot of the pictures I took as my DH likes to make them interesting sometimes!

A review is subjective. There is no way to please everyone. I just wanted to provide a little insight into our cruise after all the amazing information I gained through CC.

I know you will have a great time on your Victory cruise! Sounds like you know how to have fun!

Juli

[mimomf2]

I just came back from a cruise on the Victory October 17th to 24 and while I found this review to be good, I must say if I had not takin the cruise yet and was just in the planning stages and wanted to read a review I would have stopped reading this one part way because I don't know you and all the pictures are of just you two. I would want to see pictures of the boat and the islands etc not seeing both of you in different poses. Just my opinion and observation. Glad you had a good time. I was there for my 15th wedding anniversary and loved it too.

 

Wow, that was kind of harsh! This is Cruise Critic, not Review Critic!

Juli, your review was awesome. I felt like I was right there with you!;)

Your observations were spot-on, and were a reminder that not everything is perfect on a cruise, but if you put in a little effort, you can actually enjoy yourself and have a good time!

[Babs02]

Thanks for the review, we're considering doing our first Carnival cruise, on the Victory next year and have felt this review was helpful. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for sharing your photos

 

Babs

[Cinderose]

Isnt a review what its all about - your own experiences??? There for why not would you be in every photo??? Id rather see that than no photos posted at all! Stardj lighten up - this was a great review! Just makes me more excited on what to expect on my April Victory cruise! Thanks Cool Breeze!

[HalfMoonLovers]

Thank you so much for that wonderful review. I loved the pics!

[pokergirl34]

Great review!!! I loved the pictures of you and your husband and new friends. I will be on the Victory in 3 weeks :). We are also staying at the Sheraton OSJ; I'm happy to see some pictures from there. Thanks for your honest review of Spencer Ambrose's tour. We were planning on doing that but really had second thoughts about being rushed around all day. Your review really has helped us make a decision!! :)

 

Thanks so much!

[Prairie_Gal]

Thanks for your review Juli, I really enjoyed it and your pics. I can tell you and your DH have a great attitude and a great spirit.

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Thanks for the replies.

I just wanted to update our St. Kitts day. We didn't get to go river tubing because of the mudslide & I didn't really think anything about it because we had a fun day there but I received half our money back through PayPal. I pushed send refund thinking it would go to my bank account & it went back to Antours. I had to e-mail them & ask them to resend it & they did. I was so impressed with their customer service! They sent me several e-mails to make sure I received the money so I would feel very confident booking with them.

Hope all you future cruisers have a great time on the Victory. It was such an amazing experience being able to see so many unique islands in such a short period of time.

Juli

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Great review!!! I loved the pictures of you and your husband and new friends. I will be on the Victory in 3 weeks :). We are also staying at the Sheraton OSJ; I'm happy to see some pictures from there. Thanks for your honest review of Spencer Ambrose's tour. We were planning on doing that but really had second thoughts about being rushed around all day. Your review really has helped us make a decision!! :)

 

Thanks so much!

 

We loved the convenience of the Sheraton. It seemed like the 7th floor had the largest balconies. Ours was huge!

I really think we just hit an off day on Spencer's tour. He gets great reviews. I think it would have been a lot different had he been there.

We did love St. Lucia though. Make sure to have your camera ready. The scenery is GORGEOUS!

I hate it for St. Lucia that they have been experiencing so much bad weather. The people there were amazing.

Hope you have 'great fun' on your trip!

Juli

[anjanetted]

I love your posts!!! Also I have heard other people talk about papa bear. Can you book through him ahead of time?? If so what is it called?

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

I love your posts!!! Also I have heard other people talk about papa bear. Can you book through him ahead of time?? If so what is it called?

 

We had a great day with Papa Bear. He is very like-able & it was a good way to explore St. Thomas.

We did the island tour & beach break with some of our roll call members but he has several packages on his website.

I emailed him with questions & he was prompt in responding. We booked ahead of time but did not pay until the end.

Here is his website.

http://www.havefunwithus.com/

[SoonerOne]

We got back on the ship to rumors that we would not be going to St. Maarten. Unfortunately the rumors were true. a few minutes later we received a letter from Carnival stating our call to St. Maarten was canceled because the harbor was closed due to adverse weather conditions. We received an $8.18 credit per person for the government fees & taxes for St. Maarten.

We always cruise during hurricane season so this is always a possibility but we have never missed a port before despite encountering Hurricane Rick last year when leaving San Diego.

We were disappointed because we were really looking forward to Orient Beach & most of all because we had been to busy all week to shop for souvenirs so we were saving shopping for St. Maarten. My wallet is probably thankful we didn't stop there.

Anyway, we knew we would have a good time with a day at sea & we really had not had much time to explore the ship.

We were also grateful that with the crazy weather we had that week we only missed one port.

 

We also missed a port, St Lucia due to the hurricane. Me, personally, I was glad, I needed that sea day to rest up. We got a small refund also....I loved the Victory, cabins have more storage space because there is no refrigerator in the rooms and the bathrooms are larger. The staff was awesome and the food was great. We tried the new anytime dining and will do that from now on. Thanks for the review and pictures:)

[ripaula]

Juli,

DH and I will be taking our first ever cruise next month, and I think your review & pics have added to my excitement greatly! Hoping to meet some great folks like you guys on our "maiden voyage"!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

We also missed a port, St Lucia due to the hurricane. Me, personally, I was glad, I needed that sea day to rest up. We got a small refund also....I loved the Victory, cabins have more storage space because there is no refrigerator in the rooms and the bathrooms are larger. The staff was awesome and the food was great. We tried the new anytime dining and will do that from now on. Thanks for the review and pictures:)

 

If you haven't been to St. Lucia you should go. It was gorgeous. If I had to miss one of the islands I would probably rather miss St. Thomas.

We just got off the Elation & had an inside cabin & the room did seem small after our balcony room on the Victory. It was really nice!