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My Carnival Victory review 4/1-4/8/2012 (Long with lots of pix!)


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For those of you wondering about the size of the safes, at least on Victory, they are really pretty substantial. At one time, we had 2 iPads, 2 Kindles, 1 DS, 4 rechargable batteries, 3 cell phones (turned off), 4 passports, money and travelers checks, and 2 cameras stuffed in ours. And it still shut nicely! We operated ours by swiping a used Walmart gift card we had brought along just for that purpose.

 

 

 

 

After dropping things in their room, Mandy and my aunt came down to our room. The kids really liked the size of the balcony, and we had to drag them back in to go get lunch. We got our traditional Day 1 food – grilled Reuben sandwiches from the deli for Mandy and I, pizza for Tim, and bits of everything else for my aunt and Jon.

 

 

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We headed up to the second level of the Lido area, and marveled yet again, how no one seemed to know that area was there. We were the only ones. As the cruise progressed, more people found “our” area, but it was never crowded.

 

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Before leaving the Lido, we filled our water bottles with ice water, then made a quick stop at the front desk to get spare room keys. Only one set worked, so we ended up going back again later to get another set made.

 

Next: off to tour the fort

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My cruise may be leaving before you finish this review.:(

 

Could you please give a quick recap of your excursions?

 

Our excursions planned

St Thomas--Champagne Cruise

Barbados-- ariel trek Zipline/ Cave tour

St Lucia-- COSOL

St Kitts--Beulah(tourstkittsandnevis.com)

St Maarten--Bernard

 

 

I look forward to your long review, too :D:D

 

Thanks!

 

My cruise is a long ways off but I have tentatively planned the champagne cruise, cosol, and Bernard's. I would live to read your reviews when you get back.

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By 2:30 pm, we were back off the ship, and headed to the nearest fort, San Cristobal. Although it was only about 82 degrees, the humidity was near 75% and the sun was brutal. We made sure to slather on the sunscreen! Admission to the fort was $3 per person and children under 15 were free.

 

 

 

 

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Within a short time, we had emptied all four water bottles, and needed a restroom. Fortunately, we were also able to refill our water bottles at the nearby water fountains.

 

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By 5 pm, the weather was taking it’s toll and we were done with the fort. We meandered through the streets of the old city for awhile . . . .

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before heading back down to the CVS, where we stocked up on our three bottles of wine, batteries, and two 8-packs of canned soda. It was hard to find bottles of soda in the store. We had no problem getting any of it onboard, although security did make my DH dump out the water he had left in his water bottle. The rest of us got ours through. Go figure!

 

 

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Once back onboard, the men headed to the pool (no surprise there!) while Mandy, my aunt and I unpacked the luggage.

 

While I don’t always bring a shoe holder along on my cruises, this time it was definitely a plus to have. I hung it on the bathroom door and it did a wonderful job of keeping all of our counters neat. We had a big cabinet in the bathroom, but that quickly became full with 3 toothbrushes, 2 toothpaste, a man’s razor with cord, hair mousse and spray, makeup, lotion, aloe, 3 hairbrushes, etc. Plus, if I kept at the guys enough to put their stuff back in the shoe holder when they were done with it (DS, sunglasses, key cards, etc), it was all very easy to find the next time they needed it.

 

We also threw in about a dozen wire hangers from the dry cleaners while packing. They took up no room at all in the luggage. Sure, I could have asked the room steward for more, but these were much thinner than the ones that were already in the closets, giving us a little more space, and I didn’t see our steward anywhere around at the time to ask for more.

 

As mentioned before, our room steward, Jeffery, and his assistant, who’s name I can’t remember, were very good at taking care of us, and were quick to respond to our extra requests, like more ice, etc. The first time he met us, he checked us off his list, asked if we were smokers or used insulin (probably to give us a sharps container if we needed. Both no.), and asked who everyone was. To me, with my swiss cheese memory, it was amazing how after just one time meeting us, he could remember all of our names.

 

By 7 pm, we were ready for supper. Each time we cruise, we like to use the first night to check out the dining room that we were not scheduled to be in for the cruise; this time, however, we were actually turned away and told we had to go back to our “own” dining room. Not quite as “open” seating as it used to be! We were seated quickly, however, at a six-top, so we had plenty of room. And service was quick and done well.

 

 

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Looking into the upper floor of the dining room

 

 

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The kids loved this gigantic fish outside the dining room!

 

 

On prior cruises, I would usually walk away overstuffed, since it’s hard to realize how much you’ve actually eaten over the course of two hours or so. This time, I vowed to stay away from that first bread course, and made good on my promise about half of the time. (It really was good bread!) Some of the portions on this cruise seemed to be on the smaller side, too, which also helped.

We all started with caesar salad, then on to the main course. Several of us got the same thing each night, so I only took pictures of the dishes we ended up ordering.

 

 

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Sweet and sour shrimp with noodles

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Chicken ala grecque

 

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Grilled chicken

 

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And off the comfort menu this night, southern fried chicken.

 

The southern fried chicken was wonderful, as long as I didn't think of how many calories I was probably getting. During the ship's tour later in the week, my DH asked the main chef for the recipe, and he sent it to the room shortly afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And for dessert:

 

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Most of us got the creme brulee (my personal favorite!)

 

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But Mandy got the black forest gateau (bing cherries and heavy cream!)

 

And Tim was the holdout, getting lime sherbet.

 

 

By 8:45, we were done with the meal, and slowly meandered back to our cabins, to hang out until muster was called around 9:30 pm. As we were waiting on our balcony, RC's Adventure of the Seas passed us by on her way out of port.

 

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We had muster station H, and while we were never really crowded, and there was a breeze coming in from somewhere, it seemed to take forever to be done. At 9:50 pm, people were still straggling in, and finally by 10 pm, we were released.

 

We had planned a meet and greet at the front of the ship for sailaway, but found it almost impossible to recognize anyone with the huge crush of people who were out on the deck. We gave up and found a good place on the port side to watch sailaway. We left port late, setting a precedent for most of the rest of the trip, but by 10:15 pm were on our way.

 

We alternately watched dancing on the main deck, and the old city walls passing on shore, as we started our drink bill.

 

 

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By 11 pm, the action was slowing and moving to the casino bar, and we were ready for bed.

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This night, we noticed much more noise than in prior times on the Victory, and my aunt and DD commented on it as well. It was coming from below us, from what we think was a wedding reception in the Adriatic Lounge. The rest of the trip, the noise was more muted, but this night it made sleep a bit more difficult until it quieted down around 2 am.

 

Next up: St. Thomas

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By 8:45, we were done with the meal, and slowly meandered back to our cabins, to hang out until muster was called around 9:30 pm. As we were waiting on our balcony, RC's Adventure of the Seas passed us by on her way out of port.

 

 

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I'm surprised, I thought RCCL ships were over by the Pan Am pier.

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Subscribing for sure!

Cant wait to read the review and see the pictures as I am sailing in less than 2 weeks :) Excited! Thank you!

 

Please share....how do you subscribe to follow this continued post without going through a long, drawn out process? I'm off to work and, want to follow the progress of the review later on. Thanks!;)

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I'm surprised, I thought RCCL ships were over by the Pan Am pier.

 

They are. But Victory was pulled in front first to the dock and our room was all the way at the back. Therefore, we were facing over across the bay to where Adventure was docked. On the water, the distance isn't all that much. Driving wise, it's a different story.

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Please share....how do you subscribe to follow this continued post without going through a long, drawn out process? I'm off to work and, want to follow the progress of the review later on. Thanks!;)

 

 

Look at the header bar up above: THREAD TOOLS

 

Use the pull-down menu to "Subscribe to Thread".

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They are. But Victory was pulled in front first to the dock and our room was all the way at the back. Therefore, we were facing over across the bay to where Adventure was docked. On the water, the distance isn't all that much. Driving wise, it's a different story.

 

 

Aaah, thanks. We never sailed into or out of San Juan so I had no clue!

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we're leaving this evening:D:D:Ddidn't think i could get any more excited, then i found your TR! thanks+++ pics r great & u have a lovely family

 

 

Have an awesome time, tell us allll about it upon your return! I don't sail her until Thanksgiving!

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before heading back down to the CVS, where we stocked up on our three bottles of wine, batteries, and two 8-packs of canned soda. It was hard to find bottles of soda in the store. We had no problem getting any of it onboard, although security did make my DH dump out the water he had left in his water bottle. The rest of us got ours through. Go figure!

 

 

 

Hello there! I would also like to buy some wine to take back in the ship. Didnt you have a problem doing this? Can i just walk in with my wine? I was wondering what is the best way to do this. Thank you for the wonderul review.

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